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
  • omnibus

Letters from Our Readers
BAR Comments Editor Jahan Choudhry
25 Nov 2020
🖨️ Print Article

This week the lives of the incarcerated, Susan Rice’s bid to be Secretary of State, and the incoming administrators of the empire were on your minds. We share your letters for “Letters of Life From Slow Death Row,” Black Misleaders Back Susan Rice As Top Diplomat,” and “Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism.”

In “Letters of Life From Slow Death Row” incarcerated writer David Gilbert reviews a collection of prison letters written by life sentenced prisoner Tiyo Attallah Salah-El. 

Mariann Garner-Wizard writes:

“Salah-El's life and attitude as reflected in this review remind me poignantly of Marilyn Buck, released from federal prison after nearly three decades just in time to die of a deadly cancer. Her life in prison also transcended the walls with a voluminous correspondence, deep friendships, AIDS education and fundraising, teaching English to dozens of incarcerated Spanish-speaking women, mentoring dozens of poets, contributing to radical journals, earning a Master’s degree, and on and on. ‘Can't jail the spirit’ was her watchword.

“David Gilbert has a similar indomitable spirit and it's good to read his review of this important book. When we reflect on what is possible even under the most brutal conditions, and the many thousands of people locked away needlessly, the loss to humanity is staggering. What could we not accomplish with equal educational opportunity, decent housing, job security, and universal health care? We must build schools and homes, NOT prisons! Thanks for this thoughtful review!”

“Black Misleaders Back Susan Rice As Top Diplomat” by Glen Ford anticipates Black misleaders continuing to back Rice for the position of Secretary of State despite her complicity in the deaths of more than six million Africans.

Wallace Nixon writes:

“With no identity and no economic base the black is totally susceptible to being bribed with some cash and prestigious positions. There are literally thousands of Ben Carsons,Colin Powells, Condoleezza Rices and Eric Dysons ready to associate with white power for a bag of goodies. The political party they sell out to is of little importance because their self-esteem soars when they are close to movers and shakers! Status seeking is their religion and in the U.S. the cracker has all the marbles.”

“Biden-Harris and the Diverse Faces of U.S. Imperialism” by Tye Salandy argues that the multi-racial faces in the new administration will bring no real change in U.S. imperialism.

Semawazi Chungu writes:

“Truth of the matter is African Americans have little to celebrate the Biden-Harris victory over Trump. We were presented with a choice of two donkeys with little to distinguish between them. After Biden's inauguration -- assuming it comes on time -- we will be lamenting the same inequalities, the same racist project, the same massive incarcerations and the same palliative bullshit being spewed for our consumption. And if that were not enough, the millions of African Americans who thought their salvation lay in casting their votes for the alternative donkey is testimony to the mind-numbing propaganda we have been made to swallow and do so without raising an eyebrow. Worse yet, evangelical Africans in the mother continent have been praying for Trump to emerge victor. Yes, that same Trump who labeled their entire continent a shithole continent. Sick is as sick does.”

We must continue to study the workings of the empire and understand the ways it can be disrupted.

Jahan Choudhry is Comments Editor for Black Agenda Report.  He is an organizer with the Saturday Free School based in Philadelphia, PA.

COMMENTS?

Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport

Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com

Comments

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
21 April 2021
This week pro-Zionist censorship and police brutality were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
by Jahan Choudhry, Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
07 April 2021
In "On Anarchism and Black Revolution" Peter James Hudson examines the historical roots of critiques of anarchism a
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
31 March 2021
This week the U.S. state’s propaganda and the Black elite were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
10 March 2021
This week Pan Africanism and the Black Panther Party were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
03 March 2021
This week the blackout in Texas, the recent film on Fred Hampton, and Democracy Now’s international coverage were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
24 February 2021
This week you discussed the struggle against the dollar and neocolonialism.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
17 February 2021
This week color-blindness on the left and the Black Misleadership Class were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
10 February 2021
This week you discussed the multilayer crisis facing American people.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
03 February 2021
The federal government’s stimulus payments and the role of black police officers were on your minds.
Letters from Our Readers
Jahan Choudhry BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
27 January 2021
This week our readers talked about the weakness of the U.S. left, the storming of the Capitol, and the crisis of U.S. imperialism.

More Stories


  • Funeral for skulls brought back to Louisiana
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    New Orleans Buries African American Skulls Used in Racist Research
    06 Jun 2025
    Nineteen Black people who died at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 1871 and January 1872 were decapitated and their skulls were removed and sent to Leipzig, Germany for study…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Ukraine Terrorism and the Question of U.S. Involvement
    04 Jun 2025
    The U.S has been involved in every aspect of Ukraine’s military activity against Russia. The recent drone attacks and sabotage were likely committed with U.S. help. Of course, is possible that…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    MEMOIR: The Making of a Rebel, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, 1980
    04 Jun 2025
    “We cannot write in foreign languages unspoken and unknown by peasants and workers in our communities and pretend that we are writing for…those peasants and workers.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Struggle for a Somali Nation
    04 Jun 2025
    Despite shared language, culture, and religion, Somalis still struggle to become a cohesive nation.
  • Jon Jeter
    Pizza Goeth Before a Fall? Changes in Americans’ Eating Habits Foretell a Deep Recession
    04 Jun 2025
    Wages can't keep up with prices, debt is crushing workers, and racial capitalism keeps us divided over shrinking slices. This isn't just inflation—it's collapse.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us