| Black Agenda Report

Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
OK to say the F-word?
23 Sep 2020
P.O.E.T. are the only letters behind my name— So you scowl; scold; spank my hands with rulers and switches worn smooth from serial beatdowns, dare I use the F-word… “Where’s the jackboots, the stiff salutes?” “Where’s the lil’ funny mustached fella—the flamboyant baldheaded buffoon?” you chide “…
Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
.Biden and the Democrats Have No Plan to Stop the Bleeding—at Home or Abroad
23 Sep 2020
The Democrats say they’re running against the most “dangerous president in modern American history,” but Joe Biden has no prescription for resolving any of the crises facing Black and working class people. “Trump is the symptom of the U.S.’ racist and imperialist system and Biden is no threat to…
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
Freedom Rider: The Democrats’ Supreme Failure
23 Sep 2020
The corporate Democrats refuse to back measures that appeal to huge majorities of their base, preferring instead to campaign against one evil man and his appointees. “Finger pointing and prayers to St. Ruth are all they have.”
Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
The US Dictatorship of (White) Capital and its Tools of Bamboozlement
24 Sep 2020
The New York Times and fellow corporate media discourage Americans from organizing against the rule of the rich by pretending that People Power is a fantasy. “The ruling class is very much aware that the only force capable of countering the power of Capital is the Power of the…
Riva Enteen
Fear and Russia-Loathing in the National Lawyers Guild
30 Sep 2020
Trump’s election, Russiagate and the smear campaign against Julian Assange have deluded and disoriented many “left” organizations. “I was shocked at the virulent animosity to anything Putin.”
Andrew Ford
How Criminal Cops Often Avoid Jail
30 Sep 2020
Dozens of New Jersey officers who have been criminally charged with official misconduct avoided the jail time called for under the law. “Jersey City officers accused of violent official misconduct secured pretrial intervention deals.” When New Jersey lawmakers sought advice about police…
Jon Schwarz
Hunger in America, Especially for Children, Has “Skyrocketed” During Pandemic
30 Sep 2020
Census data show 19 percent of Black households did not have enough food to eat in the past week, compared to 7 percent of white households. “I see amazingly-increased numbers of severely underweight children coming to our clinic.”
Margaret Flowers
Racism and Health
30 Sep 2020
The racist roots of healthcare in this country run as deep as the slavery underpinnings of policing. “There is evidence that single payer healthcare systems improve health outcomes for black people.” The current uprising across the nation is a take-off moment for systemic racism in the United…
Jefferson Cowie
Is Freedom White?
30 Sep 2020
Now as in the past, much of the talk about American “freedom” is really about white people’s presumed right to dominate everyone else. “Cries for freedom so often exist in an uncomfortable romance with racial bigotry, religious intolerance, misogyny, land hunger, violence, and a belligerent…
Gwendolyn Wallace and Roberto Sirvent
Health Justice and Black Liberation: Ugo Edu
30 Sep 2020
State violence directly impacts communities’ and individual’s ability to feel well, safe, dignified, respected, and valued. “Black liberation is tied to environmental justice.”