Black Agenda Radio – 03.14.16

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective with Glen Ford and his co-host, Nellie Bailey.

– A national poll commissioned by In The Public Interest has found broad support for reining in the spread of charter schools and for making them conform to the same standards as traditional public schools. The poll also shows majorities oppose an over-emphasis on standardized testing in the classroom. David Cohen, executive director of the In the Public Interest, said the survey shows Americans continues to have a high regard for public schools and teachers, despite the propaganda put out by school privatizers.

– Parents, teachers and activists gathered recently, in Philadelphia, for a national conference of the Opt Out movement, which seeks to end excessive standardized testing in the public schools. We spoke with Dr. Denisha Jones, a board member of United Opt Out, and an assistant professor of Early Childhood Education at Washington DC’s Howard University. The organization demands ““an equitably-funded, democratically based, anti-racist, desegregated public school system for all Americans – one that prepares students to exercise compassionate and critical decision making.” Dr. Jones says none of this can happen if kids are spending all their time taking tests.

– Robert Gangi, executive director of the Police Reform Organizing Project, in New York, has been monitoring courtroom activity around the city. Gangi reports that the courts are busy prosecuting Black and brown men on minor offenses, an indication that the “broken windows” philosophy of policing is alive and well in New York.

– Earlier this month, a death squad assassinated Honduran indigenous people’s leader Berta Caceres. Caceres was at the top of the hit list for the Honduran regime that was installed in a U.S.-backed coup, in 2009. She fought countless battles against land grabs by multinational corporations. Her friend, Beverly Bell, a co-founder of the group Other Worlds, says the regime and its backers in Washington, killed Berta Caceres.

– President Obama will visit Cuba later this month. The President claims his trip is designed to further normalization of relations and peace in the region. But political analyst Eric Draitser, founder of StopImperialism.org, says Obama has scaled back tensions with Cuba while escalating Washington’s war against Venezuela.

Black Agenda Radio – 03.07.16

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective with your host Glen Ford and co-host, Nellie Bailey.

– The FBI has issued new guidelines for advising teachers who to look out for in terms of political dissent in the classroom. The FBI’s guidelines are mainly targeted at Muslims, but, according to Michael German, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, the language could also be used to persecute almost any person or group that a teacher did not like or understand.

– In Inglewood, California, community members protested yet another police killing. 31 year-old Kisha Michael, a mother of three sons, and 32 year old Marquintan Sandlin, a father of four daughters, were shot dead by a police SWAT team, apparently while they were asleep in a car. Keith Jackson is an organizer with the Stop Mass Incarceration Network. He assisted the victim’s families in organizing this weekend’s protest.

– Virginia Sewell is the aunt of Kisha Michael, the mother of three who was killed by the Inglewood, California police. Ms. Sewell says the community is outraged.

– Donald Trump has caused sheer panic among establishment Republicans, many of whom claim they’ll leave the party if Trump wins the presidential nomination. But, how should the Black Left view the Trump campaign? We asked Dr. Anthony Monteiro, a member of the Black Radical Organizing Committee, which put together a conference on the Black Radical Tradition, in Philadelphia, back in January. Monteiro says both political parties are in trouble, and Trump’s rise is just a symptom of the crisis.

– This month marks the 15th anniversary of the historic United Nations conference Against Racial Discrimination, Xenomphobia and Related Intolerance, in Durban, South Africa. BAR editor and columnist Ajamu Baraka, a founder of the U.S. Human Rights Network, attended the Durban conference back in 2001. Later this month, Baraka will be in The Netherlands to lead a panel discussion at on the Durban process.

It’s Our Money with Ellen Brown – What’s It Going to Take? – 02.03.16

People all over the world who just want a fair chance to thrive in their local economies are confronted with the seemingly indomitable, supra-governmental power of global private financial interests. But this hasn’t stopped them from trying – and some are making good progress. Ellen talks with public banking protagonists in Ireland and England about their homeland efforts in the face of deeply entrenched money powers while co-host Walt McRee talks with PA Project Founder Mike Krauss about a breakthrough in their efforts in Philadelphia. And Matt Stannard discusses our universal sense of fiscal vulnerabilities on the Public Banking Report.

Smart Show (goharrison) with Cary Harrison – 12.21.15

ANTARCTIC ICE DRILLS: knowing whether rising carbon dioxide levels played a part, along with factors such as changes in Earth’s rotational tilt – would help scientists to better understand how ice sheets will behave as the world warms

Guest 1: Al Jazeera America’s Jake Ward

Inside Hitler’s Secret Nazi Bunkers (Exclusive)

Guest 2: Cary harrison takes you under Berlin’s current subway system into the 3rd Reich’s recently-discovered bunker systems.

Energy Stew – Alan Roth – 11.06.15

It looks like Vitamin D is more valuable than previously understood. You’ll want to learn the details so you’ll know how much you need and all that it can do for you.

The scientist I’m interviewing is my brother, Alan Roth, and he has found amazing evidence of its important properties. You probably haven’t heard that hospitals using it are saving many lives.

How many lives might you save just by telling people about it?

Vitamin D is measured in thousands of International Units and to many the idea of taking thousands of anything can cause concern. It even worries doctors who recommend it. On the show you’ll learn why these extreme numbers were created.

A Just Cause – Spotlight on Capitol Hill with U.S. Rep Charles Rangel reflecting on 9/11 – 11.01.15

The host Cliff Stewart, Lisa Stewart and Lamont Banks talks with U.S. Rep Charles Rangel about his thoughts on 9/11. Where are we today and “Never Forget” the tragedy to New York city and the United States of America.

Lawrence Davidson – Deep Poverty in America: the On-Going Tradition of Not Caring

In the assessment of poverty in the United States there is a category known as “deep poverty.” The definition of deep poverty, as given in a recent article on this subject in the Philadelphia Inquirer of 30 September 2015, goes as follows: “deep poverty is measured as income of 50% or less of the poverty rate.” In other words, the …

Lawrence Davidson – On the Age-Old Tradition of Not Caring

Part I — Deep PovertyIn the assessment of poverty in the United States there is a category known as “deep poverty.” The definition of deep poverty, as given in a recent article on this subject in the Philadelphia Inquirer of 30 September 2015, goes as follows: “deep poverty is measured as income of 50% or less of the poverty rate.” …

Ask Beatty – 09.28.15

Did Pope Francis’s visit impact you in terms of how you might treat others more lovingly and respectfully? Did his powerful messages about injustice, inequality, mass incarceration, poverty and racism touch you on a deep level?

Beatty also talked about recent research that demonstrated how technology is interfering and potentially destroying our personal connections. (If we let it!)
She stressed the importance of our taking ACTION if we are serious about improving the quality of our lives and relationships.

And finally, Beatty will be on a panel ,”Does Sexy Have An Expiration Date?” on October 13th 2015, from 6-9 pm at the Hungarian Consulate in New York City. She stressed the importance of not allowing anyone, (including the media) to tell you if or how often you should be having sex.

John Kiriakou – The Pope Goes to Prison in America

ope Francis arrived in Washington today, snarling traffic and drawing some 300,000 people into the city. I’m excited that the Pope, who has called out capitalism for its indifference to the poor, and who has reached out to gay Catholics, has come to the United States. But I’m even more excited about his follow-on trip to Philadelphia, where he’s going to …