Leid Stories – 0 for 2, Baltimore Prosecutor Tries Third Time for A Conviction in Freddie Gray Case; Remembering Muhammad Ali – 06.06.16

Lawyers for Caesar Goodson, the Baltimore police officer facing the most serious charges in the death of Freddie Gray on April 12 last year, are in court today challenging the admissibility of key evidence. Goodson goes on trial tomorrow on charges of depraved-heart murder, three counts of manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. While in Goodson’s custody, the indictment says, Gray suffered irreparable—and, eventually, fatal—injuries to his spine.

Attorney Alton H. Maddox Jr. disassembles State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Moseby’s handling of the case, which yielded an acquittal for Officer Edward Nero two weeks ago in a nonjury trial, and a mistrial last December in the case of Officer William Porter.

Leid Stories pays tribute to the world-renowned boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali, who died June 3 at a Phoenix-area hospital, where he was being treated for respiratory complications associated with his 32-year battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 74 years old.

Black Agenda Radio – 6.06.16

Welcome, this is Black Agenda Radio, the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford with my co-host, Nellie Bailey., here is a weekly hour of African American political thought and action

– Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney says Black people have no stake in the Republican or Democratic parties. McKinney was the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2008. She has since earned her PhD in Leadership and Change. We asked McKinney if she has ever seen anything like the current disarray in both major parties this election season?

– Political activists from around the nation are planning to be in Philadelphia, in late July, for the Democratic National convention. Dr. Anthony Monteiro is a native Philadelphian, a member of the Black Radical Organizing Committee, and one of the organizers of last January’s national conference on the Black Radical Tradition. Dr. Monteiro says this is the most “consequential” election season in, perhaps, a century.

– Rev. Edward Pinkney is serving a sentence of 30 months to ten years in prison for allegedly tampering with a voter petition in his hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan. The mostly Black city has long been under the thumb of the Whirlpool Corporation. Rev. Pinkney spoke to Prison Radio on how he became a political prisoner.

– Studies show that Black girls are suspended or expelled from school at six times the rate of white girls. Education Week magazine spoke with researchers on the causes of these wildly disproportionate punishments. Adrienne Dixson, a professor of Critical Race Theory at the University Illinois.

– The United States seems to be closer to its long time goal of overthrowing the left wing government in Venezuela. The Venezuelans say Washington is gearing up for a military intervention. Utrice Leid, host of Leid Stories, on the Progressive Radio Network, recently interviewed Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston.

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.

Leid Stories – No Mincing of Words Here, It’s ‘Free Your Mind Friday!’ – 06.03.16

It’s our weekly open forum, dedicated to listeners’ views about the week’s programs, news issues and events, or any subject worthy of further discussion and/or debate. No mincing of words on “Free Your Mind Friday;” say what’s on your mind and let the proverbial chips fall where they may.

Call 888-874-4888 and join the best speakfest on the planet. But beware, astute Leid Stories listeners just might take you on!

Leid Stories – Asia, Venezuela, Brazil, Britain and the U.S. In Focus – 06.02.16

Dr. Gerald Horne, John J. and Rebecca Moores chair of history and African American studies at the University of Houston and frequent analyst of world affairs on Leid Stories, tells us what we need to know about President Obama’s 10th “pivot-to-Asia” trip; what’s behind the push against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff; Britain’s June 23 referendum on whether to leave the European union; and the Clinton drag on Obama’s “legacy.”

Horne, who also teaches diplomatic history, is the author of more than 30 books (including, most recently, Paul Robeson: The Artist As Revolutionary; Confronting Black Jacobins: The U.S., the Haitian Revolution and the Origins of the Dominican Republic; and Race to Revolution: The U.S. and Cuba during Slavery and Jim Crow.

In addition, he has written more than 100 scholarly papers that focus on struggles against imperialism, colonialism, fascism and racism.

Leid Stories – Haiti: Presidential Vote Rife with Fraud, Elections Council Suggests A Rerun; A Very Happy Birthday, Indeed – 06.01.16

A five-member independent council charged with oversight of Haiti’s contentious presidential election yesterday released its finding that the election was so marred by fraud, only a new election would restore voter confidence.

Kim Ives, editor of Haïti Liberté who has been reporting on Haiti and related developments, discusses the electoral council’s report and the ripple effects it appears to be having, including in the Obama administration.

Utrice Leid, host of Leid Stories, waxes somewhat philosophic on the occasion of her 63rd birthday.

Leid Stories – 2016 Political Horse Race Heads Into Home Stretch – 05.31.16

The 2016 preliminaries come to a close in the month of June for the duopoly, with nine primaries that will lock up the delegate count for Democratic and Republican nominees at their respective national conventions in July.

At the start of the home stretch, Leid Stories “polls” listeners about their political attitudes and possible choices.

Leid Stories – Memorial Day: A Deep-Rooted History Long Forgotten – 05.30.16

Leid Stories observes Memorial Day recalling its deep roots in Civil War history.

Our guide through the sociohistorical minefield is Dr. David W. Blight, professor of American history at Yale University and director of the Gilder-Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition.

VIDEO: A southern world view: The old South and proslavery ideology

Leid Stories – Call It As You See It on ‘Free Your Mind Friday!’ – 05.27.16

Let’s hear what you have to say—about anything you consider worthy of further discussion and debate. It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories, and listeners call the shots. The entire program is devoted to their opinions and ideas. It’s the gathering place for thinking minds.

Give us your take! Call 888-874-4888 and speak—and free—your mind!

Leid Stories – The Clinton Foundation: Money and Politics – 05.26.16

Charles Ortel, a former Wall Street banker and investor whose digging into the financials of General Electric in 2007-2008 proved that the conglomerate had fraudulently overvalued its stock by hundreds of billions of dollars, has been detailing exclusively on Leid Stories major financial and accountability problems with the international philanthropic conglomerate operating as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Today Ortel, who has charged that the foundation is engaging in massive charity fraud, takes us into the Clintons’ hidden world, where money, politics and power intersect. His sweeping overview puts into perspective many unanswered questions about how the foundation has managed to evade scrutiny; how the Clintons leveraged political power and influence for financial gain; and their “special” relationship with President Barack Obama.

Leid Stories – The Clinton Foundation: How $60 Million ‘Disappeared from Its Books’ – 05.25.16

Charles Ortel, a former Wall Street banker and investor whose digging into the financials of General Electric in 2007-2008 proved that the conglomerate had fraudulently overvalued its stock by hundreds of billions of dollars, has been detailing exclusively on Leid Stories major financial and accountability problems with the international philanthropic conglomerate operating as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

Today Ortel, who has charged that the foundation is engaging in massive charity fraud, traces the “disappearance” of $60 million that allegedly was given as a “soft” political contribution to the foundation during the time that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Virginia), a close friend and political ally of Bill and Hillary Clinton, was a lead member of the foundation’s board.

McAuliffe is being investigated by a joint FBI-U.S. Justice Department probe looking into illegal contributions he allegedly accepted through the foundation for his own election campaign.