Leid Stories – 05.19.15

The U.S. and A World of Trouble: From the Inside Out, From the Outside In

Diplomatic scholar, historian, attorney and prolific author Dr. Gerald Horne discusses U.S. foreign policies under President Barack Obama and their global and domestic impact.

Today’s focus includes trade and money wars; how China has redefined the axis of economic power; ISIS and U.S. Gulf strategies, and a clarion call in Africa for total integration.

Horne is the John J. and Rebecca Moores chair of history and African American studies at the University of Houston. He also teaches graduate courses in diplomatic history. He has written more than 30 books, and more than 100 scholarly papers and reviews, on struggles against imperialism, colonialism, fascism and racism.

From Drones Abroad to Police Brutality at Home, UN Slams US Human Rights Record – Lauren McCauley

The United States’ human rights record faced fierce criticism on Monday during a hearing of the United Nations Human Rights Council, when a panel of more than 100 international leaders voiced concern over violations spanning from police brutality and the continued use of the death penalty to the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay prison. According to those present at the hearing …

Leid Stories – 05.06.15

Struggling Detroiters Repel New Taxes
The High Cost of Police ‘Reforms’
Struggling Detroiters Repel New Taxes
The High Cost of Police ‘Reforms’

Still under the yoke of bankruptcy, Detroiters yesterday voted down a measure by the city to offset corporate tax breaks with new taxes for residents. Proposal 1 went down in flames, but the city continues to bank empty lots and foreclosed homes for future sale to real estate interests, and 25,000 homeowners face water shutoffs this month.
Abayomi Azikiwe, our correspondent in Detroit, reports.

It’s routine now, especially in the aftermath of particularly egregious conduct by police officers, for public officials and advocates alike to call for “reforms.” But the evidence is showing little, if any, movement on what is widely acknowledged as a national crisis.
Meanwhile, the toll climbs, and African American and Latino communities inordinately bear the brunt of the lethal consequences of police misconduct and excessive use of force.
Leid Stories says these targeted communities not only must press their demands, they should play a leading role in defining and deciding what “reform” means.

It’s Time to Abolish Fraternities

When I was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin in the early 1990s, the Greek system was an entirely foreign concept to me—unsurprisingly, since I was a foreign student. My blonde roommate from Minnesota asked me in a thick Midwest accent if I was “gonna rush,” to which I responded, “Where to?” Observing her desperate courting of …