Black Agenda Radio

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: Human Rights Watch pretends to defend vulnerable people from abuse by powerful forces all around the world. But, most of the time, Human Rights Watch defends U.S. foreign policy. And, as the pace of prison activism increases by the month, Prison Radio brings you voices from behind the bars. If you listen to the Democrats, you might believe that the nation and the world are in crisis because of two people: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But, if you’ve been following Black Agenda Report’s discussions with Dr. Anthony Monteiro, the Duboisian scholar based in Philadelphia, you’ve probably developed a more scientific view of what’s happening in the world.  Human Rights Watch claims to be a neutral international rights organization, but has always acted as an extension of United States foreign policy. The actual relationship between the international NGO and the superpower is most clear in the case of Rwanda, where the United States backs Paul Kagame’s vicious Tutsi minority dictatorship. The Rwandan regime imprisons or kills who that point out that hundreds of thousands of Hutus, who constitute the overwhelming majority of Rwanda’s population, were killed by Kagame’s forces during the bloodbath of 1994. Human Rights Watch defends the Rwandan government’s repression of dissidents like Joseph Nkusi, who lived in exile in Norway but was deported to stand trial in Rwanda for challenging the regime’s genocide story. Ann Garrison is a writer living in Oakland, California, and frequent contributor to Black Agenda Report. She’s spent many years covering the repression in Rwanda. Khalfani Malik Khaldun is an inmate at Wabash Valley prison, in southern Indiana. Khaldun recently published an essay for Prison Radio. It’s titled, “There is a Storm a’Coming: Repression Breeds Revolutionary Resistance.” And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: Human Rights Watch pretends to defend vulnerable people from abuse by powerful forces all around the world. But, most of the time, Human Rights Watch defends U.S. foreign policy. And, as the pace of prison activism increases by the month, Prison Radio brings you voices from behind the bars. If you listen to the Democrats, you might believe that the nation and the world are in crisis because of two people: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. But, if you’ve been following Black Agenda Report’s discussions with Dr. Anthony Monteiro, the Duboisian scholar based in Philadelphia, you’ve probably developed a more scientific view of what’s happening in the world.  Human Rights Watch claims to be a neutral international rights organization, but has always acted as an extension of United States foreign policy. The actual relationship between the international NGO and the superpower is most clear in the case of Rwanda, where the United States backs Paul Kagame’s vicious Tutsi minority dictatorship. The Rwandan regime imprisons or kills who that point out that hundreds of thousands of Hutus, who constitute the overwhelming majority of Rwanda’s population, were killed by Kagame’s forces during the bloodbath of 1994. Human Rights Watch defends the Rwandan government’s repression of dissidents like Joseph Nkusi, who lived in exile in Norway but was deported to stand trial in Rwanda for challenging the regime’s genocide story. Ann Garrison is a writer living in Oakland, California, and frequent contributor to Black Agenda Report. She’s spent many years covering the repression in Rwanda. Khalfani Malik Khaldun is an inmate at Wabash Valley prison, in southern Indiana. Khaldun recently published an essay for Prison Radio. It’s titled, “There is a Storm a’Coming: Repression Breeds Revolutionary Resistance.” And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: It’s been almost 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King broke with a Democratic President over the Vietnam War, but talking peace is still politically risky; and, whether you want to reform the U.S. prison system, or abolish it altogether, you’ll want to be in Washington on August 19, for the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March.  Lots of folks give lip service to the idea of community control of the police. But some people in Washington, DC, are doing something about it. Netfa Freeman is with Pan African Community Action, in the nation’s capital. Freeman’s organization supports a community control of the police plan similar to the system envisioned by the late Black Panther Party leader, Huey P. Newton. However, with all the political energy and outrage directed at President Donald Trump, or the Russians, there doesn’t seem to be as much focus as before on the issue of police terror in Black America. The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations is engaged in two main projects. One, is an upcoming, two-day Electoral Politics School, to be held April 8th and 9 th , in St. Petersburg, Florida. The other is the Coalition’s commitment to Black Community Control of the Police, a key item in the Coalition’s 19-point National Black Agenda for Self-Determination, adopted last year. In Philadelphia, Black Is Back Coalition organizer Diop Olugbala says the two issues are intertwined. Prison reform and prison abolition groups across the country are gearing up for a Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March, set for August 19 th in Washington. Paster Kenneth Glascow is founder the “The Ordinary People Society,” comprised of formerly incarcerated persons. He’s also an “outside” spokesman for the Free Alabama Movement, which is run by prison inmates, themselves. One of the Free Alabama Movement’s key organizers is Kinetik Justice, also known as Robert Earl Council, a prisoner who was recently singled out for retaliation by Alabama prison authorities. Pastor Glascow explains. On April 3 rd , peace activists will gather at the New York University School of Law for a discussion to mark the 100 th anniversary of the U.S. entrance into World War One, which was supposed to be the War to End All Wars. It’s also the day before the 50 th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s historic speech at New York’s Riverside Church, in which he broke with ] President Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War. We spoke with David Swanson, the author and activist who publishes the influential web site, War Is A Crime. He’s one of the organizers of the April 3 rd event at New York University. Half a century after Dr. King’s Riverside speech, it seems that even discussion of peace is considered politically suspect. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left. I’m Nellie Bailey.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: It’s been almost 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King broke with a Democratic President over the Vietnam War, but talking peace is still politically risky; and, whether you want to reform the U.S. prison system, or abolish it altogether, you’ll want to be in Washington on August 19, for the Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March.  Lots of folks give lip service to the idea of community control of the police. But some people in Washington, DC, are doing something about it. Netfa Freeman is with Pan African Community Action, in the nation’s capital. Freeman’s organization supports a community control of the police plan similar to the system envisioned by the late Black Panther Party leader, Huey P. Newton. However, with all the political energy and outrage directed at President Donald Trump, or the Russians, there doesn’t seem to be as much focus as before on the issue of police terror in Black America. The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations is engaged in two main projects. One, is an upcoming, two-day Electoral Politics School, to be held April 8th and 9 th , in St. Petersburg, Florida. The other is the Coalition’s commitment to Black Community Control of the Police, a key item in the Coalition’s 19-point National Black Agenda for Self-Determination, adopted last year. In Philadelphia, Black Is Back Coalition organizer Diop Olugbala says the two issues are intertwined. Prison reform and prison abolition groups across the country are gearing up for a Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March, set for August 19 th in Washington. Paster Kenneth Glascow is founder the “The Ordinary People Society,” comprised of formerly incarcerated persons. He’s also an “outside” spokesman for the Free Alabama Movement, which is run by prison inmates, themselves. One of the Free Alabama Movement’s key organizers is Kinetik Justice, also known as Robert Earl Council, a prisoner who was recently singled out for retaliation by Alabama prison authorities. Pastor Glascow explains. On April 3 rd , peace activists will gather at the New York University School of Law for a discussion to mark the 100 th anniversary of the U.S. entrance into World War One, which was supposed to be the War to End All Wars. It’s also the day before the 50 th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s historic speech at New York’s Riverside Church, in which he broke with ] President Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War. We spoke with David Swanson, the author and activist who publishes the influential web site, War Is A Crime. He’s one of the organizers of the April 3 rd event at New York University. Half a century after Dr. King’s Riverside speech, it seems that even discussion of peace is considered politically suspect. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left. I’m Nellie Bailey.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: The New York City Police Department was forced to lighten up on stop and frisk. So, now the cops are staging huge raids on public housing, and charging hundreds of young people with criminal conspiracy; And, Mumia Abu Jamal remembers the people’s lawyer, Lynne Stewart. The National United Anti-War Coalition, UNAC, will hold its yearly conference in Richmond, Virginia, on June 16 th through 18 th . The theme of the conference is “The Need for an Independent Path” – meaning, a path to peace that is independent of the two corporate parties. UNAC’s Sara Flounders, explains. Under the supposedly liberal Mayor Bill De Blasio, New York City cops have scaled back their stop-and- frisk practices, but have dramatically increased their sweeps of public housing projects, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of people on RICO conspiracy charges. The cops call the policy “precision policing.” Josmar Trujillo, of the Coalition to End Broken Windows, says the sweeps have had a devastating effect on poor communities in Harlem and the Bronx. Funeral services were held in New York City, this Saturday, for people’s lawyer Lynne Stewart, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 77. Stewart represented many political prisoners in her long career. But, she herself spent four years in federal prison for vigorously representing her client. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, pays his respects to Lynne Stewart. Mumia and other inmates at prisons across the state of Pennsylvania say they are forced to drink and bathe in brown, smelly, tainted water. The foul water also exacerbates the effects of Abu Jamal’s Hepatitis C, an infection that afflicts 5,000 other inmates, but which the State of Pennsylvania refuses to treat. The Campaign to Bring Mumia Home has been organizing “National Days of Action” to highlight the water crisis. Black Agenda Report producer Kyle Fraser spoke with organizer Sophia Williams. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.  

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: The New York City Police Department was forced to lighten up on stop and frisk. So, now the cops are staging huge raids on public housing, and charging hundreds of young people with criminal conspiracy; And, Mumia Abu Jamal remembers the people’s lawyer, Lynne Stewart. The National United Anti-War Coalition, UNAC, will hold its yearly conference in Richmond, Virginia, on June 16 th through 18 th . The theme of the conference is “The Need for an Independent Path” – meaning, a path to peace that is independent of the two corporate parties. UNAC’s Sara Flounders, explains. Under the supposedly liberal Mayor Bill De Blasio, New York City cops have scaled back their stop-and- frisk practices, but have dramatically increased their sweeps of public housing projects, resulting in the arrest of hundreds of people on RICO conspiracy charges. The cops call the policy “precision policing.” Josmar Trujillo, of the Coalition to End Broken Windows, says the sweeps have had a devastating effect on poor communities in Harlem and the Bronx. Funeral services were held in New York City, this Saturday, for people’s lawyer Lynne Stewart, who succumbed to cancer at the age of 77. Stewart represented many political prisoners in her long career. But, she herself spent four years in federal prison for vigorously representing her client. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, pays his respects to Lynne Stewart. Mumia and other inmates at prisons across the state of Pennsylvania say they are forced to drink and bathe in brown, smelly, tainted water. The foul water also exacerbates the effects of Abu Jamal’s Hepatitis C, an infection that afflicts 5,000 other inmates, but which the State of Pennsylvania refuses to treat. The Campaign to Bring Mumia Home has been organizing “National Days of Action” to highlight the water crisis. Black Agenda Report producer Kyle Fraser spoke with organizer Sophia Williams. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.  

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: the Democrats remain determined to blame the Russians for their failure at the polls, but fail to mount any real alternative to the Trump budget; How will the Black Lives Matter movement fare in the Age of Trump?; and, a Day of Outrage over tainted water in the Pennsylvania prison system. School is in session, April 8 and April 9, at the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. Black is Back chairman Omali Yeshitela says Black Liberation is in the lesson plan. Ever since losing last November’s elections, the Democrats have made hatred of Russia the official religion of their political party. It’s as if today’s Democrats are channeling long-dead Republicans from the 1950s McCarthy era. We spoke with Ajamu Baraka, the former vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, a co-founder of the U.S. Human Rights Network, and editor and columnist for Black Agenda Report. How will the Black Lives Matter movement fare in the Era of Donald Trump? Dr. Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor has been exploring that question. Dr. Taylor is a noted author and activist, and a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. She spoke, recently, at Wayne State University, in Detroit. Dr. Taylor compared the social destruction that occurred under the status quo of the Obama administration, and the dramatic descent into racist scapegoating under Donald Trump. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, used to reside on death row, in the Pennsylvania prison system, before the courts rolled back his sentence to life in prison. But, some people are living on death row that no longer face the death penalty, as Mumia Abu Jamal reports for Prison Radio. Foul, tainted water threatens the lives of inmates throughout the Pennsylvania prison system, including the surviving members of the Move 9, who have been locked up since 1978, in the death of a policeman. The Move Organization and a coalition of groups has declared Monday, March 6, a Day of Outrage. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: the Democrats remain determined to blame the Russians for their failure at the polls, but fail to mount any real alternative to the Trump budget; How will the Black Lives Matter movement fare in the Age of Trump?; and, a Day of Outrage over tainted water in the Pennsylvania prison system. School is in session, April 8 and April 9, at the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. Black is Back chairman Omali Yeshitela says Black Liberation is in the lesson plan. Ever since losing last November’s elections, the Democrats have made hatred of Russia the official religion of their political party. It’s as if today’s Democrats are channeling long-dead Republicans from the 1950s McCarthy era. We spoke with Ajamu Baraka, the former vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, a co-founder of the U.S. Human Rights Network, and editor and columnist for Black Agenda Report. How will the Black Lives Matter movement fare in the Era of Donald Trump? Dr. Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor has been exploring that question. Dr. Taylor is a noted author and activist, and a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. She spoke, recently, at Wayne State University, in Detroit. Dr. Taylor compared the social destruction that occurred under the status quo of the Obama administration, and the dramatic descent into racist scapegoating under Donald Trump. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, used to reside on death row, in the Pennsylvania prison system, before the courts rolled back his sentence to life in prison. But, some people are living on death row that no longer face the death penalty, as Mumia Abu Jamal reports for Prison Radio. Foul, tainted water threatens the lives of inmates throughout the Pennsylvania prison system, including the surviving members of the Move 9, who have been locked up since 1978, in the death of a policeman. The Move Organization and a coalition of groups has declared Monday, March 6, a Day of Outrage. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: the MOVE organization will hold a three day event to dispel confusion about why the Philadelphia police killed 11 of their members, burned out a whole city block, and put nine MOVE people in prison for life, in the 1970s and 80s; and, an advocate for the people of the Congo says it may be a good thing that Donald Trump doesn’t yet have a policy on Africa. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other law firms have sued the State of Louisiana for denying poor defendants even the semblance of adequate legal counsel. Lawyers Committee president Kristen Clark says Louisiana violates the Constitution by depriving people charged with crimes with the means to defend themselves -- and that’s why the state is the “Incarceration Capital of the World.” In 1985, Philadelphia police bombed the residence of the MOVE organization, killing 11 of the group’s members, including 5 children, and burning down a whole city block. Eight years earlier, nine MOVE members were sentenced to life in prison in the death of a policeman. But MOVE keeps on moving, and on May 5 th will hold a three day event, in Philadelphia, to counter decades of disinformation about the group. Ramona Africa is MOVE’s Minister of Communications. President Donald Trump does not yet seem to have yet developed his own policy on Africa. That means former President Obama’s policies are still largely in effect – which is not necessarily a good thing, since Obama vastly increased the U.S. military presence in Africa, and continued Washington’s support for friendly dictators in the region. Kam-BAH-lay Moo-sah- VOO-lee is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC, and a spokesperson for the Washington-based advocacy organization Friends of Congo. He is particularly concerned about the lasting mark made on U.S. policy by two war hawks of the Obama administration: Samantha Power and Susan Rice. Under their influence, the U.S. State Department created a strange new agency, called the “Atrocity Prevention Board.” Moo-sah-VOO-lee explains. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: the MOVE organization will hold a three day event to dispel confusion about why the Philadelphia police killed 11 of their members, burned out a whole city block, and put nine MOVE people in prison for life, in the 1970s and 80s; and, an advocate for the people of the Congo says it may be a good thing that Donald Trump doesn’t yet have a policy on Africa. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other law firms have sued the State of Louisiana for denying poor defendants even the semblance of adequate legal counsel. Lawyers Committee president Kristen Clark says Louisiana violates the Constitution by depriving people charged with crimes with the means to defend themselves -- and that’s why the state is the “Incarceration Capital of the World.” In 1985, Philadelphia police bombed the residence of the MOVE organization, killing 11 of the group’s members, including 5 children, and burning down a whole city block. Eight years earlier, nine MOVE members were sentenced to life in prison in the death of a policeman. But MOVE keeps on moving, and on May 5 th will hold a three day event, in Philadelphia, to counter decades of disinformation about the group. Ramona Africa is MOVE’s Minister of Communications. President Donald Trump does not yet seem to have yet developed his own policy on Africa. That means former President Obama’s policies are still largely in effect – which is not necessarily a good thing, since Obama vastly increased the U.S. military presence in Africa, and continued Washington’s support for friendly dictators in the region. Kam-BAH-lay Moo-sah- VOO-lee is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC, and a spokesperson for the Washington-based advocacy organization Friends of Congo. He is particularly concerned about the lasting mark made on U.S. policy by two war hawks of the Obama administration: Samantha Power and Susan Rice. Under their influence, the U.S. State Department created a strange new agency, called the “Atrocity Prevention Board.” Moo-sah-VOO-lee explains. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: Activists plan to counter President Trump’s threatened crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities,” by expanding the movement to resist unjust laws and government repression; and, prison abolitionists say the U.S. system of mass incarceration is a continuation of old time slavery. They plan a Millions March for Prisoners Human Rights, in Washington, DC, this summer. Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and visitors from seven mostly Muslim countries is a reflexion of the new president’s larger vision of who should be an American, according to author and activist Arun Kundnani. Kundnani recently wrote an article titled “Recharging the Batteries of Whiteness: Trump’s New Racial Identity Politics.” But, Trump’s anti-Muslim policies are nothing new. Kundnani says the seven targeted countries had already been singled out for special treatment under the Obama administration. President Trump has long threatened to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to collaborate in the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. However, rather than go on the defensive, activists are vowing to broaden the sanctuary movement beyond immigration issues. According to Sue Udry, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the movement will be expanded to include resistance to other forms of state repression. Anti-mass incarceration activists from across the country will converge on Washington, DC, on August 19 th , for a Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March. Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser spoke with one of the organizers: Brother Dee, of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. Brother Dee prefers not to give his full name, to avoid retribution by the authorities. He explained what the march in August is all about. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: Activists plan to counter President Trump’s threatened crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities,” by expanding the movement to resist unjust laws and government repression; and, prison abolitionists say the U.S. system of mass incarceration is a continuation of old time slavery. They plan a Millions March for Prisoners Human Rights, in Washington, DC, this summer. Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and visitors from seven mostly Muslim countries is a reflexion of the new president’s larger vision of who should be an American, according to author and activist Arun Kundnani. Kundnani recently wrote an article titled “Recharging the Batteries of Whiteness: Trump’s New Racial Identity Politics.” But, Trump’s anti-Muslim policies are nothing new. Kundnani says the seven targeted countries had already been singled out for special treatment under the Obama administration. President Trump has long threatened to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to collaborate in the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. However, rather than go on the defensive, activists are vowing to broaden the sanctuary movement beyond immigration issues. According to Sue Udry, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, the movement will be expanded to include resistance to other forms of state repression. Anti-mass incarceration activists from across the country will converge on Washington, DC, on August 19 th , for a Millions for Prisoners Human Rights March. Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser spoke with one of the organizers: Brother Dee, of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee and Jailhouse Lawyers Speak. Brother Dee prefers not to give his full name, to avoid retribution by the authorities. He explained what the march in August is all about. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: A new report on mass incarceration in the United States, this time focusing on the 160-thousand men and women who are serving life sentences behind bars; Mumia Abu Jamal speaks with Eddie Africa, the Move activist who has been a prisoner of the State of Pennsylvania for 38 years; and New York City organizers launch a Campaign for Community Control Over the Police.  Donald Trump’s ban on visitors and refugees from seven mostly Muslim countries sparked protests all across the country, last week, including in Columbia, South Carolina. Black activist and author Kevin Alexander Gray was one of the organizers of the Columbia protest. The Sentencing Project, in Washington, DC, has released a new study on the rapidly aging U.S. prison population, which now includes160,000 people serving life sentences. The report is titled, “Delaying a Second Chance: The Declining Prospects for Parole on Life Sentences.” Researcher Nazgol Ghandnoosh is one of the authors of the study. The overall U.S. prison population has decreased somewhat in recent years, but the number of men and women serving life sentences continues to go up. We asked Ghandnoosh why that’s happening. Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall has been incarcerated in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years, serving a life sentence for a crime committed when he was a juvenile. Marshall is edits a magazine behind the bars, at Rockview prison, and is a correspondent with Prison Radio. Marshall’s editor on the outside, Noelle Hanrahan, had trouble contacting him for several weeks, because the prison was on lockdown. Marshall explained why he was out of touch. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, is also locked up in Pennsylvania. Abu Jamal’s commentaries on Prison Radio have a worldwide following. This week, he has a conversation with another, but lesser known, political prisoner, Eddie Africa, who has been behind bars for 38 years. A coalition of 26 anti-police terror organizations in New York City has launched a Campaign for Community Control Over the Police. The coalition plans a series of community organizing meetings, beginning on February 18 th . Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Spencer spoke with Brother “Shep” Olugbala, chairman of the campaign’s outreach committee. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: A new report on mass incarceration in the United States, this time focusing on the 160-thousand men and women who are serving life sentences behind bars; Mumia Abu Jamal speaks with Eddie Africa, the Move activist who has been a prisoner of the State of Pennsylvania for 38 years; and New York City organizers launch a Campaign for Community Control Over the Police.  Donald Trump’s ban on visitors and refugees from seven mostly Muslim countries sparked protests all across the country, last week, including in Columbia, South Carolina. Black activist and author Kevin Alexander Gray was one of the organizers of the Columbia protest. The Sentencing Project, in Washington, DC, has released a new study on the rapidly aging U.S. prison population, which now includes160,000 people serving life sentences. The report is titled, “Delaying a Second Chance: The Declining Prospects for Parole on Life Sentences.” Researcher Nazgol Ghandnoosh is one of the authors of the study. The overall U.S. prison population has decreased somewhat in recent years, but the number of men and women serving life sentences continues to go up. We asked Ghandnoosh why that’s happening. Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall has been incarcerated in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years, serving a life sentence for a crime committed when he was a juvenile. Marshall is edits a magazine behind the bars, at Rockview prison, and is a correspondent with Prison Radio. Marshall’s editor on the outside, Noelle Hanrahan, had trouble contacting him for several weeks, because the prison was on lockdown. Marshall explained why he was out of touch. The nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal, is also locked up in Pennsylvania. Abu Jamal’s commentaries on Prison Radio have a worldwide following. This week, he has a conversation with another, but lesser known, political prisoner, Eddie Africa, who has been behind bars for 38 years. A coalition of 26 anti-police terror organizations in New York City has launched a Campaign for Community Control Over the Police. The coalition plans a series of community organizing meetings, beginning on February 18 th . Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Spencer spoke with Brother “Shep” Olugbala, chairman of the campaign’s outreach committee. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: There’s a new version of the Reparations bill that John Conyers introduces in Congress every year; TPP is finally dead, but NAFTA is still remains among the UN-dead, like Dracula; and, a veteran Black activist in Greenville, South Carolina, makes her case against police impunity. But first, February 1 st is the kick-off of a national push to establish a single payer health care system by allowing everyone to join the Medicare program. The campaign is called “Health Over Profit for Everyone,” or HOPE. For decades, polls have shown that large majorities of Americans support single payer health care. Dr. Margaret Flowers, a pediatrician and veteran political activist, says single payer takes on even greater urgency with the dismantling of Obamacare. Every year since 1989, Detroit Black Congressman John Conyers has introduced his bill on Reparations for Black Americans. This year, the bill has been updated. Kamm Howard, chairman of the Legislative Committee of ’COBRA, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, helped Conyers’ staff write the new version of the bill, HR. 40. TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership, President Obama’s so-called free trade bill, is finally dead. President Trump signed the papers killing the measure, last week. However, Lori Wallach, director of Global Trade Watch for Public Citizen, warns that NAFTA and other corporate trade schemes are still very much alive. Efia Nwangazq is director of the Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination, in Greenville, South Carolina, and a leader of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network in that state. The veteran activist thought she’d be going on trial, last week, for blocking traffic, more than two years ago, in protest against the decision by a grand jury not to indict the cop that killed Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri. However, Greenville authorities dropped the charges the day before her trial, depriving Nwangaza of the opportunity to put on a political defense – which she had looked forward to doing. Nwangaza wanted to show a jury why it is necessary to fight against police impunity – and also to make the case that Greenville, South Carolina is not the kind of town it pretends to be. And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. Be sure to visit us at BlackAgendaReport.com, where you’ll find a new and provocative issue, each Wednesday. That’s www.BlackAgendaReport.com. It’s the place for news, commentary and analysis, from the Black Left.