Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Spike Lee Movie Whitewashes Police Repression of Blacks
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
17 Sep 2018
🖨️ Print Article

Robin DG Kelly, the author and essayist, agrees with Boots Riley’s critique of BlacKkKlansman, the Spike Lee movie whose hero is a Black cop who spies on Black activists. “It basically erases state violence,” said Kelly, a professor of history at UCLA. Riley wants to “focus our attention on the larger question: What has been the function of the police in relationship to our struggles for land, bread, freedom, justice and power?”

Police Repression

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio January 23, 2026
23 January 2026
In this week’s segment, we cover state repression and regime change efforts.
ICE Protest
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
ICE Domestic Repression in Minnesota
23 January 2026
Mnar Adley is the founder and director of MintPress News, an independent media outlet.
Ilyasah Shabazz
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Shabazz Family Lawsuit Against the FBI and NYPD
03 October 2025
The investigation of the 1965 assassination of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz, Malcolm X, was compromised by the NYPD and the FBI from the very beginning

More Stories


  • Meet me at Mary’s Place…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Meet me at Mary’s Place…
    10 Mar 2021
    “…he said if you can enjoy A real nice affair (Over at Mary's place—oh) Then you'll make it Your business to be right there… (Over at Mary's place— oh)”  —Sam Cooke
  • Why Cornel West’s Tenure Fight Matters
    Robin D.G. Kelley
    Why Cornel West’s Tenure Fight Matters
    10 Mar 2021
    Harvard’s administrators completely miss the point of tenure, which was created to allow scholars to do their work, speak their truth, and stand up for something without risking their jobs.
  • Movements Not Saviors: Lessons from Bobi Wine’s Tweet for Juan Guaido
    Netfa Freeman and Jemima Pierre
    Movements Not Saviors: Lessons from Bobi Wine’s Tweet for Juan Guaido
    10 Mar 2021
    Bobi Wine’s flirtation with US Venezuelan puppet Juan Guaido indicates that the Ugandan is also auditioning for the imperial puppet job.
  • Letters from Our Readers
    Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
    Letters from Our Readers
    10 Mar 2021
    This week Pan Africanism and the Black Panther Party were on your minds.
  • BAR Book Forum: Amy Cooper’s “State of Health”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Amy Cooper’s “State of Health”
    10 Mar 2021
    Unlike the US and other corporate-ruled countries, activists inside and outside of government collaborated to bring about radical social change in Venezuela.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us