Black Agenda Radio 06.21.21

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: Joe Biden made his international presidential debut at the G7 meeting, proclaiming that “America is Back,” and meeting the Queen of England. But what does that mean for the future of the world? Journalist Richard Medhurst provides a political analysis. And, New York State Assemblyman and former Black Panther Charles Barron has mixed feelings on legalization of marijuana.

But first -- What’s the ultimate cost when Black social movements accept corporate funding? This month, Dr. Joy James, professor of humanities at Williams College, moderated a summit meeting of activists and organizers on Accountability in Social Justice Movements. The founders of Black Lives Matter report they amassed $90 million, much of it last year from corporate philanthropists following the George Floyd protests. What does the donor class hope to get in return? Dr. James put the issue in historical perspective.

That was Dr. Joy James, speaking from Williams College. The G7 nations held their annual meeting this month, to much fanfare. A gaggle of European nations, plus the US, Canada and Japan, consider themselves to be world leaders. But another way of looking at the G7, is a collection of white settler regimes and former and present colonial powers. We spoke with Richard Medhurst, an independent journalist and political commentator who was born in Damascus, Syria. Here’s how he views the G7.

That was Journalist Richard Medhurst, speaking from Vienna, Austria. Charles Barron, the former Black Panther and current New York State Assemblyman from the neighborhood of East New York, took part in a webinar on legalization of marijuana, organized by the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. The session was called “Reefer Madness” – which kind of sums up Charles Barron’s view of the matter.