Black Agenda Radio - 04.03.17

Black Agenda Radio

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: The Greens charge the Democrats with stealing them blind in a special election in Philadelphia; Black self-determination is an election issue in St. Petersburg, Florida; and, a lesson, on how to denounce and shame sell-out Black politicians.

But first, there seems no end to the anti-Russian hysteria Democrats have been spreading since they lost the election, in November. We spoke with Dr. Gerald Horne, the professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, who’s written extensively on the McCarthyism of an earlier era. Dr. Horne calls the current scare campaign “the Putin derangement syndrome.”

The Pennsylvania Green Party thought they had an excellent chance to win a special election for a state legislative seat from the Kensington section of Philadelphia, last week. But, the Greens say, the Philadelphia Democratic machine blatantly stole the election in broad daylight. Sheri Honkala, the Green Party candidate, has been activist in Kensington for decades. Both she and her Democratic opponent, Emilio Vázquez, were write-in candidates -- Honkala, the Green, because officials rejected her voter signature petitions, and Vazquez because the original Democratic candidate was charged with corruption. Hardly anybody in Kensington votes for Republicans. . But, despite the Greens running a vigorous campaign, with lots of boots on the ground, the Democrat was awarded the election by a huge margin of votes. Honkala says, it’s a fraud and a crime.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, 20 year old Eritha Akile Cainion is running for the City Council on a platform of Black Self-Determination. She’s putting into practice some of the 19 points of the Black Is Back Coalition’s National Black Agenda for Self Determination. The Coalition this weekend holds a two day electoral political school in St. Petersburg, to help train a new breed of Black political activists and candidates. City Council candidate Cainion explains the message that she brings to her campaign.

Black community activists in New York City recently disrupted a speech that Bronx city councilman Andy King was trying to give before an audience at the Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture, in Harlem. Shannon Jones is a co-founder of the organization “Why Accountability,” which is working in solidarity with the 120 young men swept up in a huge police raid of a public housing project in The Bronx. Andy King is the councilman for that district, but rather than come to the aid of his constituents, King cozied up to the cops. And then KIng went to the Schomburg Center, according to Shanon Jones, and tried to pose as a criminal justice system reformer. In an interview with Black Agenda Radio producer Kyle Fraser, Jones explained why councilman King.needed to be shamed and made accountable, to the people of Harlem and the Bronx.

And that it’s for this edition of Black Agenda Radio. 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.