Black Agenda Radio - 02.18.19

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: A fellow immigrant comes to the defense of Ilhan Omar, the Black congresswoman who stood up to both the Zionist lobby and former death squad organizer, Elliot Abrams; and, we’ll discuss the Restorative Justice doctrine of the prison abolition movement.

the United States has declared economic war on the socialist government of Venezuela, and seems on the verge of military action. The Trump administration blatantly seized billions of dollars in Venezuelan assets, and has declared its intention to replace Venezuela’s government with a president of Washington’s own choosing. We spoke with Ajamu Baraka, of the Black Alliance for Peace.

The U.S. government, both corporate political parties and the corporate media routinely lie about Venezuela, claiming the Socialist government is a dictatorship. Ron Kovalik is a lawyer and author, who has served as an official observer of Venezuela’s elections process.

Ilhan Omar, the new Black congresswoman from Minnesota, was last week chastised by the top Democrat in Congress, Nancy Pelosi, for saying that congressional support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins, baby” – meaning, it’s all about the huge amounts of money that Zionists wield in the U.S. political process. Congresswoman Omar, who was born in Somalia,  also confronted President Trump’s Hit Man on Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, who 40 years ago managed death squads in Latin American for the Regan Administration, and was convicted of lying to Congress. We spoke with Sha-hid Boo-TAR, a lawyer and former head of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Boo-TAR was born in Pakistan. Last primary season, he ran against Nancy Pelosi, for Congress. Boo-TAR says Congresswoman Omar is a brave and righteous woman.

President Trump surprised lots of people with his support of a recently passed prison reform bill. Trump loudly and proudly campaigned as a law and order candidate. Vincent Lloyd is a professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University. Lloyd is author, along with Joshua Dubler, of a recent article on “restorative justice” – a philosophy to replace and abolish mass incarceration. We asked Lloyd how prison abolition is faring in the Age of Trump.