Black Agenda Radio Commentaries

Black Agenda Radio Commentaries


Black Agenda Radio for Week of July 4, 2016

July 05, 2016

Philadelphia Anti-Police Terror Activists Gear Up to Shut Dems Down The city fathers in Philadelphia have sanctioned Democrat-friendly demonstrations during the party’s national convention, later this month, but have yet to issue parade permits for activists of the People of Color DNC Resistance Against Police Terrorism and State Repression or Shut Down DNC. “We are organizing, not just in the Black community, but in the brown community, as well,” said Erica Mimes, of the Philly Coalition for REAL Justice. “We’re raising the Palestinian issue, the issues in Puerto Rico. We’re going to organize and speak directly to the issues that impact our communities the most, because that’s what’s being forgotten by this entire congregation of activists coming into the city.” Trump’s Billions, and Sanders’ Small Contributors, Made Political History Donald Trump’s personal fortune allowed him to spout “a solid dose of racism and sexism,” but also to “talk about a lot of things that nobody had in ages in the Republican Party,” such as “dumping on Wall Street” and pointing out that “you don’t need to cut Social Security or be at endless war with Russia,” said Dr. Thomas Ferguson, professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, at Boston. Ferguson is author of Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Politics. “If he loses this general election,” said Ferguson, “Trumpism could disappear as fast as it descended on us. You’ve got to be a real billionaire to thumb your nose” at the GOP establishment. Ferguson noted, however, that Bernie Sanders did succeed in funding a historic Democratic primary campaign with small contributions. Mass Incarceration in Palestine and the U.S. “The U.S. government is helping to fund the Israeli occupation of Palestine – that is, the apartheid wall and the apartheid court system, to the tune of about $3 billion a year,” said Nyle Forte, a young Newark, New Jersey, minister and PhD candidate who recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Palestine. Forte and other activists, including political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, will address “The Politics of Incarceration in Palestine and the U.S.,” July 15, at New York City’s Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Educational Center. Forte said Israeli imprisonment of Palestinians rivals U.S. levels of Black incarceration. Like Israel, “the U.S. is becoming, more and more, a national surveillance state,” he said. 4th of July Highlights Litany of U.S. Crimes “The United States is the only country to use a nuclear weapon, now has a military presence in over 100 countries,” and “kills people at will,” said BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley. “The Congress says nothing, the corporate media says nothing,” and “the two major parties collude” in silencing dissent against U.S. atrocities abroad, said Kimberley. “Everywhere, from Gaza to Somalia to Afghanistan – and I’m leaving many nations out – the U.S. is responsible for terrible crimes.” CLICK BELOW TO HEAR BLACK AGENDA RADIO Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.