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.