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When should we stop excusing the Russian invasion?

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Published by New Politics on May 11, 2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been met with strange responses on the part of segments of the USA Left and among many progressives.  While, generally speaking, there has been a strong condemnation of the Russian invasion, there has simultaneously been a tendency to excuse the Russian invasion and place the responsibility for the aggression solely on the US government (and NATO).  Not only is such an analysis factually inaccurate, but it arises from an analytical error rooted in a downplaying of the entire issue of the right of nations to self-determination. Read more.

Freedom Dreams Deferred

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Freedom Dreams Deferred: The State of the Black Liberation Movement

Published by BlackCommentator.com on December 16, 2021

I have found this year to be one of extreme distress for the Black Liberation Movement. There were many warning bells going off that apparently were only heard by the freedom dreamers. What we see is an unrecognizable movement around us. How did we get here? Who have we become? How do we get on track?

Robin Kelley talks about the Black radical imagination in his seminal contribution to our struggle, Freedom Dreams. Kelley examines the “emancipatory vision” of generations who push our movements in new and radical directions. The vision has been not just been put at bay as Kelley suggests. I believe the accumulation of ancestral knowledge and contemporary lessons that begs for our rigorous study and appreciation has been trampled on by those seeking gratuitous fame on the backs of the Black working class.

Our movements have seen an awakening on many levels that must be summed up, discussed and put into new transformative strategies for the next period. I believe the answers to the above questions can be found in the renewed commitment to building a strong and viable Black Left. Read more

It’s Time for a Change

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Published in the St. Louis American on April 1, 2021

It’s time for a change

The City of St. Louis will have a big decision on April 6. Voters will not just be electing a new mayor, we’ll also be hitting the reset button for a new direction for a city that’s been stumbling around in the dark for far too long.

The next mayor will inherit a violent, incorrigibly racist place where, if the current population loss continues, it will be a big town instead of a city. Where our funky laundry continually flaps in national media markets, obscuring the aspirations of most of the decent folks who live here.

City Treasurer Tishaura Jones and Alderwoman Cara Spencer have both run campaigns with progressive platforms. Woke voters are looking beyond the promises and looking at other issues. In Spencer’s case, Black voters have inquiring minds about two people.  Read more