| Black Agenda Report

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: Russiagate and Democratic Defeat
06 Mar 2019
It should now be clear to all honest and sane people that the only collusion was between the corporate media and the Democratic Party to spin a phony tale. “They pointed fingers at Bernie Sanders, the Green Party, Vladimir Putin and even leftist celebrities.”
by BAR poet-in-residence Raymond Nat Turner
My Wise Country Cousin on de Dems dissin’ Kids
06 Mar 2019
Did you see de Kids questin Madum Di-Fi— catchin’ her befo’ she cud spin de big lie…? Lawd, de ‘tude an’ disdain she cudn’t cunseel show’d her true colors on de Green New Deal… She tolt ‘em dat she know’d whass bes fo’ dem— jus’ lak Miss Nancy, Cap’n Steny, an’ Unca Jim! De Dems dinosores an’ will…
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
The Black Stake in the Green New Deal
07 Mar 2019
Black people should see the Green New Deal as an arena of struggle for self-determination, communal repair, and justice-creation. “In its broad outlines, the Green New Deal is a transformative program that calls for democratic reconstruction of U.S. society.”
Nicolas J S Davies
The Conflict of Our Time: US Imperialism vs the Rule of Law
13 Mar 2019
The U.S. gives lip service to international law while relentlessly pursuing global domination. “The U.S. recognizes no permanent geographic limits to its imperial sovereignty.” The world faces many overlapping crises: regional political crises from Kashmir to Venezuela; brutal wars that rage on in…
Jonathan Lambert
Study Finds Racial Gap Between Who Causes Air Pollution And Who Breathes It
13 Mar 2019
Air pollution is disproportionately caused by white Americans' consumption of goods and services, but disproportionately inhaled by blacks and Hispanics. “Blacks and Hispanics bear 56 and 63 percent more air pollution, respectively, than they cause by their consumption.” Pollution, much like…
Jeff Bryant
Denver Teachers’ Strike Was a Rejection of Education ‘Reform’
13 Mar 2019
Teachers in the school district that was supposed to be the model for education reform just rebelled—and won. “One of the principal demands of the striking teachers was to scrap the ProComp system. Former superintendent of Denver Public Schools Michael Bennet pushed privatization…
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Sharla Fett on “Recaptured Africans”
13 Mar 2019
The illegal slave trade continued right up to the Civil War, requiring US authorities to “recapture” and then expel the human cargo. “U.S. law mandated the ‘removal’ of Africans seized from illegal slavers, which led to their detention in federal camps and a second forced passage to Liberia.”
Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
BAR Book Forum: Alys Eve Weinbaum’s "The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery”
13 Mar 2019
Slavery is everywhere banned, but the ethos of the slave trade thrives in the baby-buying business. “Life in contemporary ‘biocapitalism’ is complexly connected to life in ‘slave racial capitalism.’”
Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
13 Mar 2019
This week readers engaged with the question of reparations for slavery and Black America’s stake in environmentalism. Strong responses came for “Reparations Now? Maybe In Order to Get the Job Done It’s Time to Call It Something Else”and “The Black Stake in the Green New Deal.”
by BAR contributor Ann Garrison Ann Garrison
Chelsea Manning Defies Secret Grand Jury, Julian Assange Scoops Michael Cohen
13 Mar 2019
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning is jailed for refusing to testify against Julian Assange, whose confinement in Ecuador's London embassy puts the lie to much of the Russiagate fantasy. “No journalist will go to prison for Russiagate lies even if they lead to nuclear war.”