Black Agenda Radio – 01.25.16

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective.

– Dr. Anthony Monteiro was one of the organizers of a conference on the Black Radical Tradition, earlier this month, at Philadelphia’s Temple University, the school were Dr. Monteiro taught African American studies until he was fired for his radical activities. We asked Monteiro if the conference accomplished what the organizers expected?

– Who is ultimately responsible for poisoning the water in majority Black Flint, Michigan? Black Agenda Report editor and columnist Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo says the blame stretches all the way to the White House. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo blew the whistle on racism and corporate corruption when she worked for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. She says what happened to Flint, Michigan, goes far beyond environmental racism.

– Flint, Michigan’s water problems began when the State seized power from the local government. Atlantic City, New Jersey, is also facing a State takeover and the privatization of its water supply. BAR executive editor Glen Ford reports.

– The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement is circulating a petition, charging the United States with genocide against Black people. Movement president Herdosia Bentum says the petitions will be presented to the United Nations, which is holding hearings in Jackson, Mississippi, Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC. The Uhuru movement has set up encampments in each of the cities. Herdosia Bentum explains.

– Five years ago, Carl Dix and Dr. Cornel West co-founded the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, which has been confronting the Mass Black Incarceration State, ever since. Dix says the Network is holding conferences in key cities to map out plans for the next phase of struggle.

Interview with Eric Weltman from Food and Water Watch – 12.24.15

Eric Weltman is Senior Organizer for Food & Water Watch in New York. He has over 20 years of experience leading social justice campaigns and building progressive power. Eric has helped direct ground-breaking coalitions, organize high-visibility media events, write influential publications, and manage successful initiatives to pass legislation, fund programs, and elect candidates. Eric also has extensive experience conducting trainings on media outreach, advocacy, organizing, and public speaking. He has taught urban politics at Suffolk University, and written for such publications as The American Prospect, In These Times, and Dollars & Sense. A native of New Jersey, Eric graduated from the University of Michigan and earned an M.A. in Urban & Environmental Policy from Tufts University. When he’s not changing the world, Eric enjoys being with his wife, Sarah, and son, Zach, reading history books, taking walks around New York City, watching “Burn Notice” and “House,” juggling, and eating Thai food.