It is the white rulers who spent millions building prisons in Haiti and funding and training the Haitian police and military. It is the white rulers who have turned a blind eye to the atrocities of the Moïse administration. It is the white rulers who have condoned the lack of parliamentary elections, the ruling of the country by decree, and the rewriting of the Haitian constitution. Most importantly, it is the white rulers who have affirmed Moïse’s illegal extension of his ruling mandate. —Jemima Pierre, “Haiti: Black Despots and White Rulers”
After the “anti-democratic” Trump forces were defeated, the Biden-Harris administration assured it would re-commit to neoliberal orthodoxy in both domestic and foreign policy with its slogan, “Build Back Better.” That promised a return to the “traditional” U.S. values of decency, democracy and human rights.
Yet, the Biden-Harris administration, as well as most U.S. policymakers and political representatives, employ a double standard: While expressing concern for oppressed people and rhetorically supporting “democratic” processes and human rights in their domestic and foreign policies, they inflict harm on millions of people around the world through their wars, subversions and sanctions.
While neoliberal Democrats pretend Black lives matter in the United States, the Biden-Harris administration blatantly supports dictatorial rule in Haiti—and they are getting away with it.
As BAP recently stated in response to the situation in Haiti: “The abandonment of the people of Haiti affirms once again the United States is committed to white power.”
But it is not just in Haiti where the lives of non-Europeans are pawns in the global chessboard of U.S.-Western imperialism. The Biden administration already has abandoned peace in Afghanistan for longer term geostrategic and capitalist interests. The U.S. war in Afghanistan is referred to as the “longest U.S. war.” That is only because the more than 200-year-old war against Indigenous peoples in the United States and the 70-year-old war with North Korea are excluded.
Within the first month of the Biden administration, we also have witnessed the escalation of tensions with China; support for fascist oppositions in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia; a rejection of calls to end the militarization of U.S. police forces through the federal 1033 program; the expansion of the U.S. military presence in Africa; and a U.S. troop presence increase in Syria.
As we said in our last newsletter: “The Biden-Harris administration intends to pick up exactly where the Obama-Biden administration left off in 2016, with an aggressive assertion of U.S. military power to offset its declining global economic, political and moral position.”
This is the essence of the neoliberals’ “Building Back Better.” And that is why we—the forces committed to peace, self-determination, People(s)-Centered Human Rights, ecological sustainability and life—must organize ourselves and build a better oppositional movement that places the people, the planet and peace over profits.
PRESS AND MEDIA
On the February 9 episode of “Voices With Vision” on WPFW (89.3 FM in Washington, D.C.), Netfa Freeman, who represents BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action (PACA) on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, and co-host Craig Hall, spoke with BAP Coordinating Committee member Jaribu Hill about the Biden-Harris’ administration’s fake progress on the 1033 police-militarization program and mass incarceration. Then they chatted with Derek Musgrove, who has created a website containing research about what he calls the “Black Power Era” in Washington, D.C., chronicling and mapping out the who-what-when- and where of Black Power events in the district from 1966 to 1998. As always, the show began with the voice of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal talking about the long history of fascism in the United States.
The February 16 episode of “Voices With Vision featured BAP member Dr. Jemima Pierre, a Haitian-born Associate Professor of Black Studies at the University of California Los Angeles, breaking down the situation in Haiti in a way one wouldn’t hear in the U.S. capitalist press. Anchored by the background beat, “Midnight” by A Tribe Called Quest, she explained the United States had overseen Haiti’s politics and economy, while its sovereignty has been supplanted by brutal United Nations (UN) “peace-keeping missions” and “stabilization forces.” After Mumia Abu Jamal's commentary on the Trump impeachment verdict, the co-hosts opened the show with a clip of comedian Paul Mooney.
Jaribu also discussed BAP’s work on the 1033 program 28:17 minutes into WBAI’s “Equality and Justice Radio” program. KPFA Evening News interviewed Netfa about BAP’s petition demanding Biden abolish the 1033 program. The interview starts 13:08 minutes into the show.
BAP member Dr. Jared Ball of I Mix What I Like on the Black Power Media YouTube channel interviewed PACA organizers Max Rameau and Netfa, elaborating on the issues raised in a recent article PACA produced in response to critics of their campaign for Community Control Over Police.
BAP member Erica Caines, founder of Liberation Through Reading and co-editor at Hood Communist, discussed her latest article with Sean Blackmon and BAP member Jacqueline Luqman on Radio Sputnik’s “By Any Means Necessary”. The article in question is “The Caribbean Diaspora Has A SOUTHCOM Problem”. Erica also delved into U.S. President Joe Biden’s troubling support for Haitian President Jovenel Moïse as he has remained in power after his term’s expiration and how U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris weaponizes her identity in support of U.S. imperialist objectives.
Jemima also wrote a piece for Black Agenda Report titled, “Haiti: Black Despots and White Rulers.”
Sean and Jacqueline interviewed Netfa 27:46 minutes into “By Any Means Necessary” on the situation in Libya on the 10th anniversary of the NATO-backed overthrow of the government of Muammar Gaddafi, and the shifting loyalties of the international patrons of the major factions on the ground.
BAP Coordinating Committee member Margaret Kimberley discussed the Texas crisis, U.S. interventions, and Biden’s relationship to Black politics on the “This Is Revolution” podcast. Margaret and BAP Solidarity Network Co-Coordinator Danny Haiphong appeared together on Radio Sputnik’s “The Critical Hour” to discuss sanctions, Haiti, U.S./China relations and Trump’s political future.
The U.S. state “is using the so-called insurrection at the Capitol… to impose an ideological conformity that supports and sustains the neoliberal project” in the United States and abroad, BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka said on a Dissenters webinar. He warned Democrats are “setting us up” to “usher in a form of neofascism” that could win liberal and even progressive support because it is ostensibly aimed at Trump’s older brand of fascism.
BAP member Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture represented BAP at a rally Saturday in Philadelphia held to support Amazon workers who are trying to organize a union at an Alabama facility. Asantewaa can be heard speaking at the 58:37 mark in this video.
Margaret and Danny interviewed philosopher and activist Cornel West on the Black Radical Tradition on the latest installment of Black Agenda Report’s Left Lens.
EVENTS
February 22: Peace & Solidarity Commission, Communist Party USA and the Claudia Jones School for Political Education are co-hosting a webinar, “What Is AFRICOM?” It will feature Maurice Carney of BAP member organization Friends of the Congo and BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka.
March 13: Dissenters is hosting Anti-Militarist Organizing 101 training for young people, with a priority on 18- to 24-year-olds.
TAKE ACTION
Sign BAP petitions calling for an end to the 1033 program and peace in Afghanistan.
Sign a letter to Joe Biden demanding the United States alter its policies toward Haiti.
Dedan Waciuri, who represents BAP member organization Black Workers for Justice on BAP’s Coordinating Committee, is being charged for inciting a riot and damaging government property. Sign this petition to demand charges be dropped.
Our brother, former political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim, faces the possibility of re-incarceration for filling out a voter registration form. Sign this petition to demand charges be dropped.
The Black Latina Girls and Women Fund was created by BAP member organization AfroResistance, a Black Latina women-led organization in the service of Black Latinx women in the Americas. This fund offers financial support by giving money directly to Black Latin womxn, girls and femmes who are experiencing severe financial need across the region, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether in Brazil, Colombia, United States or Panama, Black Latina girls, women, and femmes are organizing in their local communities in the fight against several forms of state violence. You can donate here and people are encouraged to use the hashtag #BlackLatinaGWFund.
Sign up to join BAP’s U.S. Out of Africa Network to receive the bi-weekly AFRICOM Watch Bulletin in your inbox.
Make sure you keep up with us throughout the week by subscribing to our YouTube channel, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram and Twitter.
No Compromise, No Retreat!
Struggle to win,
Ajamu, Charisse, Dedan, Erica, Jaribu, Margaret, Netfa, Nnamdi, Paul, Rafiki
P.S. Freedom isn’t free. Consider giving today.
Photo credit: Photograph by Orlando Barría / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock