Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-bs3jh-...
Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and
analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Margaret Kimberley, along
with my co-host Glen Ford. Coming up: the Green Party gears up to take
on the two corporate parties in November. And, the Movement for a
Peoples Party plans to be on the presidential ballot in 2024, but its
members are in the streets, today.
But first – by some measures, the current movement against police
brutality is the largest political movement ever seen in the United
States. But Clarence Taylor, a professor emeritus of history at Baruch
College, in New York City, reminds us that brutal, repressive cops have
been part of Americana for most of the nation’s history. Professor
Taylor has written a book, titled, “Fight the Power: African Americans
and the Long History of Police Brutality in New York City.”
When the corporate Democrats defeated Bernie Sanders’ first race for
president, in 2016, a number of Sanders’ supporters left the Deocratic
Party entirely, and formed the Movement for a People’s Party. Nick Brana
is National coordinator for the M.P.P. Now Bernie Sanders has been
forced out of the presidential race once again. We asked Nick Brana if
Sander’s second defeat has resulted in a boost in recruitment for the
People’s Party movement.
The Green Party held its national convention this weekend, and nominated
party co-founder Howie Hawkins as their presidential candidate. Angela
Walker, a Black activist from Milwaukee, is Hawkins’ vice presidential
running mate.
Black Agenda Report’s Margaret Kimberley is a Green Party activist, and
BAR editor and columnist Ajamu Baraka was the Green’s vice presidential
candidate in 2016. Both Kimberley and Baraka spoke at the Party
convention. First, Margaret Kimberley.
Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Highlights
This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"Cancel Culture, anyone?" -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.
"Kat's Korner: Ellie Goulding and Lady Gaga -- one ..." -- Kat's latest album reviews.
"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Sisterhood"" -- Isaiah's latest comic.
"Iraq snapshot," "UK leaves base but stays in Iraq," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot,"
"Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq: Another high profile death from coronavirus,...," "When a fake ass stands exposed," "We are Sisyphus," "Corna Corona, will you ever go away?," "Gloria Steinem betrays a friend to cover up a rape," "What was Samantha Power's role in the conspiracy?,"
"COMMON DREAMS is a joke -- and a dirty one at that," "Diabetes," "Tomato, Mushroom and Chicken Bake in the Kitchen," "In it all together? Don't make me laugh," "SEP's Joseph Kishore and the fight for ballot access," "Outrageous," "Covid," "A green future with a Green candidate?," "Shame on the Greens!," "Criminal Maxwell," "Angela Walker," "Howie," "racism at vanity fair," "Grab bag," "Karen walks into Subway," "Bed Pooper Amber Heard Caught Lying," "Julian Assange," "The real Gloria Steinem," "No to Joe, yes to Howie," "Tired of the lies and the liars" and
"Tammy Duckworth tries to privatize US water -- she's hideous" -- news coverage in the community.
"Future Hillary" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.
"More trouble for NETFLIX," "PEACOCK gets an F," "PEACOCK," "NETFLIX," "MARVEL AGENTS OF SHIELD," "all the trouble ellen's created for herself" and "Robert Altman" -- TV and film coverage in the community.
"your feedback on 'dolls! dolls! dolls!'" and "1 more time on the book 'dolls! dolls! dolls!'" -- Rebeeca on books.
''The Mamas and the Papas and Laura Nyro," "Stevie Nicks, SOLID GOLD, Tina Turner, Madonna, Ray Parker Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Dionne Warwick, Shannon and Laura Branigan," "Tina's remixed "What's Love Got To Do With It" drops Friday," "Who's a singer I miss?,""5 great tracks from Cat Power," "5 songs to check out," "I Love How You Love Me (The Paris Sisters)" and "Tina's new video is out" -- music coverage in the community.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Truest statement of the week
If power is measured by corporate endorsements and
the kiss-up antics of Democratic politicians, the movement popularly
known as “Black Lives Matter” is awesomely powerful, its name painted into the streets of
cities across the nation. Record-breaking contributions have also
flowed to a broad range of social justice organizations from the
public-at-large, with bail funds amassing almost $100 million . Even tiny projects have seen their previously forlorn GoFundMe accounts suddenly stuffed with contributions.
The cash windfall alone is enough to make one giddy – including life-long activists old enough to have participated in the radical mass movements of half a century ago. The “fascist pigs” have not been “offed,” but some of them have been indicted and Democratic politicians now claim they want to rein in the ‘warrior cops” that only yesterday were hailed as “heroes” of the constant “wars” waged against Black and brown America. “Policing” as we have known it has been discredited in ways that cannot easily be reversed, with 70 percent of white people under age 45 agreeing that George Floyd’s killing was part of “a broader pattern of excessive police violence toward African-Americans.” Sixty percent of white folks of all ages told New York Times pollsters they feel “positively” about the “Black Lives Matter” movement – meaning a significant slice of Trump supporters object to police behavior, as do overwhelming percentages of Black and brown Americans.
There is no doubt that, in the arena of public perception, we have witnessed a stunning rout of the forces that erected the modern Black Mass Incarceration State in response to the Black rebellions and radical movements of the 1960s. The Democratic Party – whose politicians of all races have for five decades been the hands-on urban managers of the world’s largest police state – pretends to have suddenly seen the light. In Covid-19/Great Depression Two America, the servants of capital say we are all Black Lives Matter -- until the “crisis of legitimacy” passes.
But the oligarchs that rule this country and both its corporate parties have no intention of dismantling the racist police state, beyond staffing the blue legions with more Black, brown and female officers, embedding the multiracial occupation army deeper in our communities and increasing their intelligence capabilities. The “reforms” trotted out by local and national Democrats do not alter -- but rather, enhance and make culturally more palatable – the police mission to contain, control and politically neutralize Black America.
-- Glen Ford, "Don’t Let the Democratic Party Bury the Movement" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
The cash windfall alone is enough to make one giddy – including life-long activists old enough to have participated in the radical mass movements of half a century ago. The “fascist pigs” have not been “offed,” but some of them have been indicted and Democratic politicians now claim they want to rein in the ‘warrior cops” that only yesterday were hailed as “heroes” of the constant “wars” waged against Black and brown America. “Policing” as we have known it has been discredited in ways that cannot easily be reversed, with 70 percent of white people under age 45 agreeing that George Floyd’s killing was part of “a broader pattern of excessive police violence toward African-Americans.” Sixty percent of white folks of all ages told New York Times pollsters they feel “positively” about the “Black Lives Matter” movement – meaning a significant slice of Trump supporters object to police behavior, as do overwhelming percentages of Black and brown Americans.
There is no doubt that, in the arena of public perception, we have witnessed a stunning rout of the forces that erected the modern Black Mass Incarceration State in response to the Black rebellions and radical movements of the 1960s. The Democratic Party – whose politicians of all races have for five decades been the hands-on urban managers of the world’s largest police state – pretends to have suddenly seen the light. In Covid-19/Great Depression Two America, the servants of capital say we are all Black Lives Matter -- until the “crisis of legitimacy” passes.
But the oligarchs that rule this country and both its corporate parties have no intention of dismantling the racist police state, beyond staffing the blue legions with more Black, brown and female officers, embedding the multiracial occupation army deeper in our communities and increasing their intelligence capabilities. The “reforms” trotted out by local and national Democrats do not alter -- but rather, enhance and make culturally more palatable – the police mission to contain, control and politically neutralize Black America.
-- Glen Ford, "Don’t Let the Democratic Party Bury the Movement" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Truest statement of the week II
With the unveiling of Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden’s “joint task
force” proposals for the 2020 Democratic Party platform, Sanders has put
the final nail in the coffin of his so-called “political revolution.”
The joint task force initiative was first announced when Sanders gave his endorsement of Biden in mid-April. The task forces were composed of leading members of the Sanders and Biden campaigns, including two members of the Democratic Socialists of America: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The initiative was meant to promote “party unity” ahead of the election.
The result of the Biden-Sanders collaboration is nothing short of a total repudiation of all the central pillars of Sanders’ campaign amid the greatest social and economic catastrophe in US history.
-- Genevieve Leigh, "Sanders-Biden task forces and the debacle of Sanders' 'political revolution'" (WSWS).
The joint task force initiative was first announced when Sanders gave his endorsement of Biden in mid-April. The task forces were composed of leading members of the Sanders and Biden campaigns, including two members of the Democratic Socialists of America: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The initiative was meant to promote “party unity” ahead of the election.
The result of the Biden-Sanders collaboration is nothing short of a total repudiation of all the central pillars of Sanders’ campaign amid the greatest social and economic catastrophe in US history.
-- Genevieve Leigh, "Sanders-Biden task forces and the debacle of Sanders' 'political revolution'" (WSWS).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Sunday here on the west coast. Are you shocked? Us too.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Glen Ford gets another truest.
Genevieve Leigh gets a truest.
They're just targets now, right? That's the plan?
Ava and C.I. weigh in on WARRIOR NUN.
Saturday, Howie Hawkins became the Green Party's presidential nominee.
A book to check out.
What we listened to while working on this edition.
Repost.
Repost.
Repost.
Repost.
Mike and the gang wrote this and we thank them for it.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Still no plan
Last week, we wondered "Editorial: What are the goals?" There are no goals. There is no plan to withdraw all US troops from Iraq. Last Thursday, Ellen Mitchell (THE HILL) reported:
When does it end, when does the Iraq War end, when are US troops not in Iraq?
Last week, a US military convoy was attacked. Iranian journalist Habib Abdolhossein Tweeted:
When do US troops get to come home?
When does the US government stop using them to prop up a government that doesn't really exist?
There is no plan in place. 17 years later and there's still no plan.
The US government was happy to lie the country into war and it was happy to rush to war. But it's not eager to plan how to extract the country from this never-ending war.
The top U.S. general in the Middle East predicts that a small amount
of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future.
“I believe that going forward, they’re going to want us to be with them,” U.S. Central Command head Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told reporters Tuesday after he met with Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, according to The Associated Press.
“I don’t sense there’s a mood right now for us to depart precipitously. And I’m pretty confident of that.”
“I believe that going forward, they’re going to want us to be with them,” U.S. Central Command head Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told reporters Tuesday after he met with Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, according to The Associated Press.
“I don’t sense there’s a mood right now for us to depart precipitously. And I’m pretty confident of that.”
When does it end, when does the Iraq War end, when are US troops not in Iraq?
Last week, a US military convoy was attacked. Iranian journalist Habib Abdolhossein Tweeted:
Some unconfirmed reports suggest at least 3 people (most probably #Americans) have been killed in alleged attack on #US military logistics convoy in Al Diwaniya south of Baghdad. An #Iraqi militant group has claimed responsibility, saying roadside bomb hit the convoy.
2:47 PM · Jul 11, 2020
When do US troops get to come home?
When does the US government stop using them to prop up a government that doesn't really exist?
There is no plan in place. 17 years later and there's still no plan.
The US government was happy to lie the country into war and it was happy to rush to war. But it's not eager to plan how to extract the country from this never-ending war.
TV: The Chatty Nun
When you're an abled kid and watching a show like THE BIONIC WOMAN or THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, you might -- as some have shared with us -- wish you were in a parachute or rocket accident so you could get a pair of bionic legs, a bionic arm and either a bionic ear or eye.
That's a sense of wonder and adventure that shouldn't be discounted. By the same token, when disability/challenge is used as a plot point and as a temporary one, we should be aware how that plays out -- specifically at a time when the US government is deploying men and women to war zones where they will get injured (or killed).
Season four of ARROW, for example, was outright disgusting as it left Felicity disabled and we all knew it was a stunt. Stan had blogged about ARROW, watching it each week. On January 28, 2016, he did his final post (the show would run for four more seaons):
Sorry, I'm done with ARROW.
I was mad watching the latest episode and turned it off around the time the now paralyzed Felicity couldn't reach a cabinet.
I might have hung around if this were the new Felicity.
But to put her through this and the audience through it only to later reverse it (as the nervous show runners are already telling the press)?
That's insulting.
All around.
Including the reality that some viewers of Arrow are challenged or disabled and they will not have a miracle cure.
I'm just not into this show anymore.
The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War have both failed to create peace but they have produced many deaths and a lot more wounded. Maybe show runners should be aware of that when running their shows?
It's hard to watch WARRIOR NUN, NETFLIX's latest superhero TV show, without thinking about that as the heroine, Ava, becomes heroic only after she gains the ability to walk.
Rosie Knight (NERDIST) observes, "As we learn in the first episode of the show, Ava was quadriplegic, a wheelchair user raised by sadistic nuns in a strange and secretive sect. Granted, at first, the tropey setup does appear to offer up the chance to explore the abuse of disabled people at the hands of those who care for them. But instead, we get a story about a hero who couldn’t save the world until she became able-bodied, steeped in the ever-present Hollywood message that a life as a disabled person isn’t one worth living."
It should be noted that WARRIOR NUN is based on Ben Dunn's comic of the same name. It should further be noted that no such trope exists in the comic -- nor does the character Ava.
Simon Berry, creator of the TV series and sole writer credited for the first episode, needs to explain why he felt the need to engage in such tropes? Rosie Knight also points out:
The strangest thing about Warrior Nun is that they only introduce Ava's disability as a "tragic" footnote so it can seem like she's overcome something. (Her mother died in a car crash and she was raised by abusive nuns; isn't that a "tragic" enough back story?) In fact, her disability is really only centered briefly so that when she's "cured" the creators can show her running joyously over the beach, the camera lingering on her now "working" legs and dancing wildly in a small bar… as if people in wheelchairs can experience neither the joy of dancing nor beautiful scenery.
This is a serious problem. Sadly, it's not the show's only problem.
There's also the excessive dialogue -- which isn't even bad exposition because the useless chatter is not about setting up anything. But how the supporting characters do blather on -- and about nothing. It's like one of those bad DOCKERS TV commercials or a season one episode of ALIAS where we they take a 'breather' from the action and spy moves to sit outside at a wooden picnic table and dish, dish, dish.
Vapid, for those not wise to this already, is not an attractive color.
And characters obsessed with trivial nonsense -- as Ava's new 'friends' are (she notes they were friends with each other, but not her friends) -- are not fascinating or interesting so repeated interludes with these characters serve no dramatic purpose nor will they turn a bad superhero series into an Igmar Bergman film.
What they do is spoil every early episode.
They're in episode four, these awful characters, but by then, the show finally has revealed larger themes and a larger purpose.
It's finally interesting.
That it took four episodes to get to that point is a huge problem.
Another problem emerges in episode eight. Beatrice has been an interesting supporting character. In episode eight, she helps Ava who is struggling with her powers. The scene suggests more than it shows or tells. Beatrice explains a WWII nun had problems as well and why -- she was a lesbian and when she's imprisoned by Nazis for being a lesbian, she goes into a rage that unlocks her powers.
The scene suggests that Beatrice herself is a lesbian and possibly Ava is either bi-sexual or a lesbian.
Suggests.
And then never brings it up again in that episode or the two that follow.
What might have been characterization instead merely passes for titillation.
And they could use more of Beatrice because Kristina Tonteri-Young is a strong actress. Alba Baptista, who plays Ava, is also an engaging actress. Otherwise? The series is cast with an international body of unknowns -- and after one or two episodes, you start to realize why they never broke out in their own country or any other.
WARRIOR NUN could be so many things -- sadly, even after the show picks up the pace in episode four, it's still actually not enough to warrant ten episodes -- let alone the second season some viewers are already demanding on Twitter. Instead of creating a fascinating world, it relies on worlds created by others -- not just the comic book it's based upon but also films like LOST SOUL, THE EXORCIST, DOMINION, STIGMATA with a dash of THE DA VINCI CODE stirred into the motley mix. In the end, WARRIOR NUN doesn't live up to expectations; in fact, it doesn't even live up to its title.
That's a sense of wonder and adventure that shouldn't be discounted. By the same token, when disability/challenge is used as a plot point and as a temporary one, we should be aware how that plays out -- specifically at a time when the US government is deploying men and women to war zones where they will get injured (or killed).
Season four of ARROW, for example, was outright disgusting as it left Felicity disabled and we all knew it was a stunt. Stan had blogged about ARROW, watching it each week. On January 28, 2016, he did his final post (the show would run for four more seaons):
Sorry, I'm done with ARROW.
I was mad watching the latest episode and turned it off around the time the now paralyzed Felicity couldn't reach a cabinet.
I might have hung around if this were the new Felicity.
But to put her through this and the audience through it only to later reverse it (as the nervous show runners are already telling the press)?
That's insulting.
All around.
Including the reality that some viewers of Arrow are challenged or disabled and they will not have a miracle cure.
I'm just not into this show anymore.
The Iraq War and the Afghanistan War have both failed to create peace but they have produced many deaths and a lot more wounded. Maybe show runners should be aware of that when running their shows?
It's hard to watch WARRIOR NUN, NETFLIX's latest superhero TV show, without thinking about that as the heroine, Ava, becomes heroic only after she gains the ability to walk.
Rosie Knight (NERDIST) observes, "As we learn in the first episode of the show, Ava was quadriplegic, a wheelchair user raised by sadistic nuns in a strange and secretive sect. Granted, at first, the tropey setup does appear to offer up the chance to explore the abuse of disabled people at the hands of those who care for them. But instead, we get a story about a hero who couldn’t save the world until she became able-bodied, steeped in the ever-present Hollywood message that a life as a disabled person isn’t one worth living."
It should be noted that WARRIOR NUN is based on Ben Dunn's comic of the same name. It should further be noted that no such trope exists in the comic -- nor does the character Ava.
Simon Berry, creator of the TV series and sole writer credited for the first episode, needs to explain why he felt the need to engage in such tropes? Rosie Knight also points out:
The strangest thing about Warrior Nun is that they only introduce Ava's disability as a "tragic" footnote so it can seem like she's overcome something. (Her mother died in a car crash and she was raised by abusive nuns; isn't that a "tragic" enough back story?) In fact, her disability is really only centered briefly so that when she's "cured" the creators can show her running joyously over the beach, the camera lingering on her now "working" legs and dancing wildly in a small bar… as if people in wheelchairs can experience neither the joy of dancing nor beautiful scenery.
This is a serious problem. Sadly, it's not the show's only problem.
There's also the excessive dialogue -- which isn't even bad exposition because the useless chatter is not about setting up anything. But how the supporting characters do blather on -- and about nothing. It's like one of those bad DOCKERS TV commercials or a season one episode of ALIAS where we they take a 'breather' from the action and spy moves to sit outside at a wooden picnic table and dish, dish, dish.
Vapid, for those not wise to this already, is not an attractive color.
And characters obsessed with trivial nonsense -- as Ava's new 'friends' are (she notes they were friends with each other, but not her friends) -- are not fascinating or interesting so repeated interludes with these characters serve no dramatic purpose nor will they turn a bad superhero series into an Igmar Bergman film.
What they do is spoil every early episode.
They're in episode four, these awful characters, but by then, the show finally has revealed larger themes and a larger purpose.
It's finally interesting.
That it took four episodes to get to that point is a huge problem.
Another problem emerges in episode eight. Beatrice has been an interesting supporting character. In episode eight, she helps Ava who is struggling with her powers. The scene suggests more than it shows or tells. Beatrice explains a WWII nun had problems as well and why -- she was a lesbian and when she's imprisoned by Nazis for being a lesbian, she goes into a rage that unlocks her powers.
The scene suggests that Beatrice herself is a lesbian and possibly Ava is either bi-sexual or a lesbian.
Suggests.
And then never brings it up again in that episode or the two that follow.
What might have been characterization instead merely passes for titillation.
And they could use more of Beatrice because Kristina Tonteri-Young is a strong actress. Alba Baptista, who plays Ava, is also an engaging actress. Otherwise? The series is cast with an international body of unknowns -- and after one or two episodes, you start to realize why they never broke out in their own country or any other.
WARRIOR NUN could be so many things -- sadly, even after the show picks up the pace in episode four, it's still actually not enough to warrant ten episodes -- let alone the second season some viewers are already demanding on Twitter. Instead of creating a fascinating world, it relies on worlds created by others -- not just the comic book it's based upon but also films like LOST SOUL, THE EXORCIST, DOMINION, STIGMATA with a dash of THE DA VINCI CODE stirred into the motley mix. In the end, WARRIOR NUN doesn't live up to expectations; in fact, it doesn't even live up to its title.
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