| Black Agenda Report

by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
White House vs. Gov Paterson: Is That Any Way to Treat a Brother?
23 Sep 2009
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford People who remember the days when Black elected officials were scarce and low-ranked, might conclude that last week's spectacle is a good problem to have: A Black president carrying out the “political execution” of a Black state governor. But what does this…
Dr. Ron Daniels
Congressman John Lewis Betrays Black Cherokee Freedmen
22 Sep 2009
by Dr. Ron Daniels Deep ties of blood and history bind African Americans and Native Americans. But a great injustice was done to the Black Freedmen of the Cherokee Nation, who were stripped of the right to vote. Black Congressman John Lewis rubbed salt in the Freedmen's wounds by honoring tribal…
Bill Quigley
Healthcare Revolution That is Second to None
22 Sep 2009
by Netfa Freeman The U.S. health care jungle fares badly when compared to health care systems in other wealthy, capitalist countries. However, even western Europe and Canada can learn a great deal from the examples of Cuba and Venezuela, where health care is a human and constitutional right and the…
Bill Quigley
The Two-Faced Power of Racial Oppression
22 Sep 2009
by Henry D. Rose The summer of 2009 provided plenty of racist reruns from the past, plus scary glimpses into the future. The future “reserved for us by our enemies” is “a place where civility masks oppression, where everything is fine as long as people don’t call Blacks nasty names,” and where “…
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
“Black is Back” on Nov. 7: D.C. Rally and March on White House
22 Sep 2009
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford Click the flash player to listen to or the mic below to download the MP3 audio of this commentary. The “period of passivity in Black politics” that accompanied the ascent of Barack Obama, is about to end. The…
by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon
Why the Public Option is Doomed To Fail, and What Can Be Done About It.
23 Sep 2009
The generous, expansive public option on the lips of Congressional progressives, which would be open to all and compete to lower insurance prices is largely imaginary, while the president's stingy, divisive and means-tested version is all too real. But what about the third version of…
Bill Quigley
Street Report from the G20
30 Sep 2009
by Bill Quigley When the people who preside over the largest economies on the planet come to visit, the town goes on lockdown. This year, in Pittsburgh, strange and painful sounds pierced the air, weapons of mass control similar to “devices that have been used in Fallujah, Mosul and Basra Iraq.”
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
The Great Black Hole of Casino Capitalism
30 Sep 2009
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford If all the talk of economic “recovery” sound insane to the growing ranks of the unemployed and dispossessed, they're right. “The great investment banks are through, dead and gone, no longer willing or able to…
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
Gov. Deval Patrick Joins Condemnation of Hyatt Firings
30 Sep 2009
A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford Hyatt Hotels pounced on their Boston housekeepers like a great predator, firing the staff without notice and attempting to replace them at half the wages. A governor and a union stepped up in solidarity with…
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: Obama Knows Best
30 Sep 2009
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley The youthful Barack Obama was a strange variety of “community organizer” - he didn't like protests. Obama's feelings haven't changed in the interim. The president believes protesters like those that showed up for the G20 summit, in Pittsburgh,…