Category: Black Liberation

Salute to Herman Wallace & Angola 3

By JEFF MACKLER Herman Wallace, a murder frame-up victim, spent 41 of his 73 years in solidarity confinement at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. He was released from prison just three days before his death from liver cancer, Oct. 4 in New Orleans. The prison warden had initially defied a federal court order … Continue reading Salute to Herman Wallace & Angola 3 →

March on Washington ignored fightback

By ANDREW POLLACK The 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington, held on Aug. 24, drew perhaps 100,000 participants. The main conclusions to be drawn from the day’s happenings are how very far we need to go to organize, educate, and mobilize around the issues that were raised, and especially, how far we … Continue reading March on Washington ignored fightback →

The march on Washington — past & present

By ANDREW POLLACK The militant outpouring on the streets in reaction to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, racist murderer of Trayvon Martin, combined with a series of other recent attacks on people of color in the U.S. (such as the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act) has most observers predicting a big turnout … Continue reading The march on Washington — past & present →

Film: Fruitvale Station

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “Fruitvale Station.” Directed by Ryan Coogler; starring Michael B. Jordan, Olivia Spencer, and Melonie Diaz “Fruitvale Station” is filmmaker and director Ryan Coogler’s first work and is as polished as any seasoned Hollywood filmmaker’s. He opens his film with the authentic, jumpy, low resolution of the cell-phone videos taken by passengers of … Continue reading Film: Fruitvale Station →

Glen Ford: Trayvon verdict shows racism persists in U.S.

Socialist Action reporter Marty Goodman interviewed Glen Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report. Socialist Action: The African American community is reeling from the murder of Trayvon Martin and the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the racist vigilante. What does this say about present day life in the U.S.? Glen Ford: I think one of the … Continue reading Glen Ford: Trayvon verdict shows racism persists in U.S. →

What one ‘neighborhood watchman’ did

By JOE AUCIELLO Sooner or later, every politician in the United States learns to handle an unwanted or uncomfortable question, either by answering a different question than the one that was asked or by simply changing the subject. Something similar is happening in the national dialogue in America with the conclusion of the Trayvon Martin … Continue reading What one ‘neighborhood watchman’ did →

Trayvon Martin verdict stirs mass outrage

By MICHAEL SCHREIBER The acquittal of the vigilante killer, George Zimmerman, gave notice to the world that racism is alive and well in the United States. For many days after the verdict was handed down, protesters repeatedly took to the streets of cities and towns throughout the U.S. and internationally. The initial marches and rallies … Continue reading Trayvon Martin verdict stirs mass outrage →

Film: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH “42,” written and directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Chadwick Bosemen, Harrison Ford, and Nicole Beharie. “42” is a fictionalized film biography that covers the years 1945 to 1947 in the life of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, when he rose from the Kansas City Monarchs, a Negro League team, to play with the … Continue reading Film: Baseball legend Jackie Robinson →

The Legacy of Malcolm X

Part II of Socialist Action’s 1992 resolution, “Black Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution.” Malcolm X’s evolution was a precursor of the coming generalized working-class radicalization. He was clearly influenced by the revolutionary events on a world scale that involved genuine revolutionaries of all colors in a united working-class struggle for emancipation from wage slavery. Symptomatically, in … Continue reading The Legacy of Malcolm X →

Oppressed communities & self-defense

By DANIEL ADAM The Newtown, Conn., shooting on Dec. 14 has produced a wave of fear. Like other violent tragedies that shake confidence in humanity and heighten feelings of vulnerability, the shooting has widened openings for reactionary politics that threaten the struggles of working and oppressed people. The two prominent responses to the Sandy Hook … Continue reading Oppressed communities & self-defense →

Black self-determination & socialism

To commemorate Black History Month, we are reprinting the first part of the 1992 Socialist Action resolution, “Black Self-Determination and Socialist Revolution in the United States.”  African Americans are an integral part of the American working class. They are also an oppressed nationality, and we support their right to self-determination up to and including the … Continue reading Black self-determination & socialism →

Django: Pulp Western look at slavery

By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH Django Unchained, a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. “Django Unchained” takes place in 1858, two years before the Civil War—the year that William Wells Brown published the first Black drama, “Leap to Freedom,” John Brown held an anti-slavery convention, Abraham Lincoln said  “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and … Continue reading Django: Pulp Western look at slavery →

Obama and the Black community

By GLENN FORD Presentation given on Dec. 14 in New York City by Glenn Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report (www.Blackagendareport.com). Ford’s speech was at a forum, “Post-presidential Election Analysis: Domestic & Global Impact — Will Things Fall Apart?” Transcription and slight editing by Marty Goodman. Usually when people talk about post-election assessments they want an … Continue reading Obama and the Black community →

Interview With Mumia: Fighting the Empire

by Rafael Rodriguez Cruz / July 2006 issue of Socialist Action newspaper Attorney Rafael Rodriguez Cruz did the following interview during a visit with political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal on death row at the State Correctional Institution at Waynesburg, Pa., and in later correspondence with Mumia in late May 2006. Mumia was charged with the murder … Continue reading Interview With Mumia: Fighting the Empire →

NY protest against ‘stop & frisk’

<!--[if !mso]><![endif]--> On Father’s Day, June 17, several thousand marched behind a banner demanding that the New York City police “End Stop and Frisk” and “End Racial Profiling.” Said NAACP President Ben Jealous, a central march organizer: “Stop and frisk is the most massive local racial profiling program in the country.” The ethnically diverse rally … Continue reading NY protest against ‘stop & frisk’ →

Broad coalition responds to NYPD spying

NEW YORK—After months of revelations by the Associated Press of spying by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the Muslim community here and throughout the Northeast, the AP recently exposed surveillance by the N.Y. cops on racial justice, antiwar, labor, anti-repression and other movements as far afield as New Orleans.The revelations have broadened a … Continue reading Broad coalition responds to NYPD spying →

Kevin Cooper: A ‘Scapegoat’ on Death Row

<!--[if !mso]> <![endif]-->Investigative journalist Patrick O’Connor has written a new book, “Scapegoat: The Chino Hills Murders and the Framing of Kevin Cooper.” Below is the talk that O’Connor gave on a recent Northern California speaking tour.“Scapegoat” is a book about a horrific murder case, painfully recounted. It is also about how justice can go astray. … Continue reading Kevin Cooper: A ‘Scapegoat’ on Death Row →

Justice for Trayvon Martin!

<!--[if !mso]> <![endif]--> Fight back against racist lynchings! Outrage at the murder of Trayvon Martin has sparked a wave of protests in recent days. Demonstrations numbering in the tens of thousands have been held in New York; 8000 marched in Philadelphia, 3000 in Seattle—and more in Chicago, Washington, DC,  and Los Angeles. Demonstrations as large as 25,000 have … Continue reading Justice for Trayvon Martin! →

A tale of courage and determination set during the Black holocaust

For Black History Month, or at any time, here is a book worth reading. “The Book of Negroes,” a novel by Lawrence Hill (published by Harper Collins, 2007, Toronto, 680 pages), won the 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was CBC Radio’s “Canada Reads” 2009 top choice. Hill’s protagonist is a holocaust survivor. Aminata Diallo, an … Continue reading A tale of courage and determination set during the Black holocaust →

For a Revolutionary Black History Month

As we once again approach February, the papers and TV stations will feature programming that shows more Black faces than usual.  Some will show movies, some documentaries and some will feature history in celebration of Black History Month.Undoubtedly, Martin Luther King Jr.’s epic “March on Washington” speech will be samples, its grainy, black and white … Continue reading For a Revolutionary Black History Month →