| Black Agenda Report

Patrick D. Anderson
Some Critics Argue that the Internal Colony Theory is Outdated. Here’s Why They’re Wrong
12 Jun 2019
The internal neocolonialism thesis is not “race-centric” but anti-colonial, and explains Black elite behavior. “The internal colonialism thesis not only accounts for class distinctions among Black Americans but also provides an historical answer to the whyand howof Black class…
Jahan Chowdhry, BAR Comments Editor
Letters from Our Readers
12 Jun 2019
This week BAR readers discussed the Central Park Five, US support for jihadism, and Black Lives Matter. Strong comments arrived for “DA and Cops Led the Central Five Lynch Mob,” “How US Foreign Policy Spawned Terror and Trump,” and “
by BAR contributor Ann Garrison Ann Garrison
UN Rapporteur on Torture Says Assange Could Die in Prison
12 Jun 2019
Julian Assange has been moved to Belmarsh Prison hospital and the UN Rapporteur on Torture has warned that he could die there. “The Rapporteur said, ‘This is persecution, not prosecution,” by the US, UK, Swedish, and Ecuadorian states.’”
by BAR contributor Danny Haiphong
The Torture of Assange Is Public Policy in U.S. Prisons
12 Jun 2019
The psychological torture imposed on Julian Assange is not unlike the decades of torture imposed upon Black political prisoners in the US. “For exposing the crimes of war, Assange is being treated like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sundiata Acoli, and the rest of the Black liberation movement’s…
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Freedom Rider: The Central Park Five and the Limits of Suffering
12 Jun 2019
Corporate media green-light films that ratchet up an emotional response without motivating anyone to action. “Where is the movie about the Black Panther standoff with police in Los Angeles in 1969?”
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
How the Democratic Party Strangled Black Politics
13 Jun 2019
Nothing changes on the electoral scene, and little at the grassroots level, unless the structure of capitalist hegemony over political discourse in the U.S. -- the corporate duopoly -- is broken. “Today’s Black Caucus sleeps, eats and votes with the enemy.”
Tamara Lee
An Intersectional Labor Movement Must Resist “Colorblind” Approaches to Organizing
19 Jun 2019
We must explicitly reject “melting pot” approaches to class solidarity. “The ‘new labor energy’ must do more than acknowledge that intersectional struggles exist in order to radically confront intra-group conflicts.”
Flint Taylor
Chicago Police Tortured Victims With Electric Shocks, Burns and Beatings
19 Jun 2019
“All you could feel was that machine he was running, that box with the wires on it.” This excerpt recounts some of the torture unleashed by police in Chicago during the 1980s, under Police Commander Jon Burge.
Josh Ruebner
Will New Black-Jewish Caucus in Congress Advocate for Israel?
19 Jun 2019
Congressman John Lewis has joined a new caucus that will likely rally other Black lawmakers in defense of the apartheid state. “Caucus member Zeldin has smeared Representative Ilhan Omaras anti-Semitic.” Five members of the US House of Representatives announced last week…
Jahan Choudhry
Philadelphia to Celebrate Mahatma Gandhi and the Black Freedom Movement
19 Jun 2019
The Indian freedom struggle inspired liberation struggles in Africa and Afro-America. “Gandhi pioneered a philosophy of the movement which was based in the life-world of the peasantry and the poor.”