Black Agenda Radio - 11.23.20

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: Community Control of police -- We’ll hear from two advocates of making cops accountable to the people. Colin Kaepernick demands freedom for Mumia Abu Jamal. And, a former political prisoner is briefly jailed for registering to vote.

But first – Native Americans say the holiday “Thanksgiving” is a celebration of genocide at the hands of European invaders, and should be replaced by a National Day Mourning.  We spoke with Nick Estes, an activist member of the Sioux nation who teaches American Studies at the University of New Mexico.

Black Psychology students at Bowie State University, in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, last week held a panel discussion on Police Brutality and Community Control of the Police. One of those that spoke was Netfa Freeman, an organizer with Pan-African Community Action, which is pushing for community control of the police. Freeman says police are a militarized force of oppression. 

Former Black Panther Party member Dhoruba Bin Wahad spent 19 years as a political prisoner. He told the Bowie State University panel that we need to create a national front of organizations, all demanding Community Control of Police.

Colin Kaepernick, the National Football League quarterback who has effectively been banned from playing because of his political beliefs, was part of a virtual press conference last week, demanding the release of the nation’s best known political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal.  Kaepernick says Abu Jamal’s continued imprisonment is a crime against humanity.

Former Black Panther Jalil Muntaqim spent 49 years in prison until he was released on parole in October. When Muntaqim returned to his family home in Rochester, New York, he registered to vote—a mistake for which he was briefly jailed. We spoke with Muntaqim’s cousin, Blake Simons