California Ethnic Studies Bill Sidelined
Powerful interests donât want students to âinterrogate the systems of power and privilege that are at stakeâ in todayâs struggles, said Dr Gilda Ochoa, a key player in crafting legislation requiring all students in Californiaâs public university system to pass an ethnic studies course before graduation. The bill was put on hold in the face of fierce opposition. Seventy-five percent of the stateâs K1-12 students are non-whites, but few students or teachers âhave learned this crucial history,â said Ochoa, a professor of Chicano/Latino Studies at Pomona College.
Muslims Always Implicated in White Menâs Mass Shootings
Even when white men are the perpetrators, Muslims are always somehow brought into the discussion, said Dr Maha Hilal, co-director of the Justice for Muslims Collective and author of an article titled âLeave Muslims Out of This; Letâs Discuss White Violence on Itâs Own Terms.â Corporate media cover mass shootings âas if white violence can only be understood within a context of violence by Muslims,â said Hilal, although whites have historically committed horrific violence in the US.
Everywhere in the Diaspora, Blacks are Treated as âthe Enemyâ
âItâs always been important for us to be seen as enemies of whatever is considered decent, right or correctâ by the white patriarchy,â said Cheryl Rodriguez, co-editor of âTrans-Atlantic Feminism: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the Diaspora.â Rodriquezâs co-editors included women scholars and activists from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ghana and Uganda.
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.