Isaiah J. Poole – Millennials in Poll Fake Right, Go Left

At first glance, a poll released this week by USA Today and Rock the Vote, done by Ipsos, seems to confound our narrative that a majority of millennials identify more with progressives than conservatives. In fact, when asked that question point-blank when it comes to economic policy, 38 percent of respondents in the poll identified as conservative to some degree, …

‘Fighting Dirty,’ Clinton’s ‘Inflammatory Distortion’ of Sanders’ Single-Payer Plan

Perhaps spurred by palpable momentum around Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton took aim this week at a centerpiece of her chief rival’s platform—and political career—a Medicare-for-All program that he says would save the average U.S. family thousands of dollars a year in healthcare costs. At campaign stops in Iowa and New Hampshire on Monday and Tuesday, both Hillary and …

Robert Reich – “The Big Short” and Bernie’s Plan to Bust Up Wall Street

If you haven’t yet seen “The Big Short” – directed and co-written by Adam McKay, based on the non-fiction prize-winning book by Michael Lewis about the housing and credit bubble that triggered the Great Recession — I recommend you do so. Not only is the movie an enjoyable (if that’s the right word) way to understand how the big banks screwed …

Black Agenda Radio – 01.11.16

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

– What may be remembered as an historic conference on the Black Radical Tradition was held at Temple University, in Philadelphia, this past weekend, from January 8 through the 10th. Many hundreds of activists from all across the country gathered to review the experiences of the current grassroots mobilization against police violence, and to put it in perspective with past Black movements in the United States and the fight against predatory capitalism, worldwide. The conference was titled “Reclaiming Our Future: The Black Radical Tradition in Our Time.” It was put together, largely, by students, activists and organizers from Philadelphia, and keynoted by speakers including Angela Davis, Cornel West, and Anthony Monteiro.

– An extraordinary panel discussion unfolded under the title, “Challenging White Supremacy: The Black Radical View.” Umi Saleh, formerly known as Phillip Agnew, of the Florida-based Dream Defenders presented a devastating critique of those whose claim to leadership is based on the size of their Twitter followings, most notably DeRay McKesson, of Campaign Zero. Saleh called Social Media an “asylum for neoliberal values” and described McKesson’s political leanings as “counter-revolutionary and anti-movement.”

– Jamala Rogers is a veteran organizer based in Missouri, and author of the new book, “Ferguson is America: Roots of Rebellion.”

– Robin DG Kelly rounded out the panel on Challenging White Supremacy at the conference on the Black Radical Tradition. Kelly is a veteran activist and public intellectual, who teaches history at UCLA.

The Trouble with For-Profit Healthcare: Even the Insured Face Mountains of Debt

For one in five Americans, just having medical insurance isn’t enough to forestall the damaging consequences of the nation’s for-profit healthcare system. A comprehensive new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the New York Times finds that while an unsurprising 53 percent of people who are uninsured face problems with medical bills, a whopping 20 percent of working-age Americans …

Nixon Boumba – The Struggle for Land Justice Knows No Borders: Corporate Pillaging in Haiti

The January 2010 earthquake provided a perfect opportunity for many to come and do business in Haiti. Even prior to the earthquake [4], Bill Clinton led the discussion on developing Haiti through corporate investment. President Martelly turned that approach into a credo: “Haiti is open for business [5].” We understand the pretext for this so-called development. The concept of extraction isn’t very …

Shamus Cooke – Does Bernie Sanders’ Imperialism Matter?

Critiquing Bernie Sanders from the left can be a lonely project. There is a “hope”-powered hysteria surrounding his campaign, and bursting the “hope” bubble can produce a fierce backlash. The Sanders “hope” explosion is so fierce because capitalism has become a hopeless place. Hope can be positive by pushing people into political action, but it’s also exploited by the establishment …

Leid Stories – 01.05.16

Cops Gone Wild; Justice Gives Deep Cover
Developments in Chicago and South Carolina bring into sharp focus the national crisis of police killings of unarmed people. Overwhelmingly they have been, and tend to be, people of color, statistics show, and were killed, or are likely to be killed, by white officers who rarely are successfully prosecuted for their crimes. Leid Stories explains how the judicial system provides deep cover to rogue cops and why efforts at “reform” simply won’t touch the matter of criminal complicity by prosecutors and even judges in aiding and abetting injustice.