Summary: 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.
