Black Agenda Report Executive Editor Glen Ford was buried August 7 in Lumpkin, Georgia. That land in the Southern Black Belt, located within the settler-colonial space known as the United States of America, produced for him—like so many before him—a clear sense of the intersection of class, white supremacy and the National Question.
In the African tradition, our ancestors may leave the physical world, but they never leave us. That is why we evoke them. When we do so and allow their presence to infuse our consciousness and vision, they become a material force through us.
So, while Glen’s physical body was placed in the fertile soil of southern Georgia—a soil drenched in the blood of the Indigenous and African peoples sacrificed by the insatiable greed and venality of invaders seeking land and profit—Glen will be with us through our practice of continued opposition and visioning of a liberated future for Africans and collective global humanity.
Liberation and transformation, and an unshakable optimism that the people can win and that we can defeat fear, materialism, the inhumanity of capitalist exploitation, colonial oppression, and all forms of societal oppressions encompass the political goal that animates the Black internationalist tradition that Glen embodied.
This goal reflects a global political project that names the enemy of oppressed colonized peoples and workers. It is a project that stands without apology with the experiments underway in nations struggling for national liberation and self-determination. It is a project that operates in fierce opposition to murderous sanctions against nations, nuclear weapons, mass incarceration, imperialist wars, fascistic policing, and the denial of the basic human rights to housing, education, healthcare, food, water, a clean environment, and a means to live with security. And it is the goal that informs the work of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), of which Glen was a member.
For Glen and BAP, our Black internationalism means we comment on and work on issues from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It means we name the enemy of humanity and struggle against this beast: The Pan-European colonial-capitalist white-supremacist patriarchy that continues to despoil the Earth and degrade humanity.
In this historic struggle we take on and pledge to continue, we say: Thank you, Glen. We know you are still with us, and together we will build a new world for all of us by defeating the monsters that attempt to rob us of our humanity. We know you are alive, Glen, because we live. And through us you are alive and will be alive forever. Ashé, Ashé, Ashé.
PRESS AND MEDIA
Tributes began to emerge as soon as the word was out that Glen Ford had passed. For instance, BAP Coordinating Committee member and co-founder of Black Agenda Report Margaret Kimberley wrote a moving tribute to Glen that highlighted his life-long work. Black Agenda Report also dedicated a special edition to Glen’s memory, with articles by Danny Haiphong, BAP member Pascal Robert, BAP Solidarity Network member Ann Garrison and others. Global Research News Hour produced a show dedicated to Glen’s memory that featured BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka, BAP member Jared Ball, as well as Ann Garrison, Eritrean activist Elias Amare and Haitian activist Dahoud André. Other publications, outlets and people who produced tributes included Hood Communist, Latin Waves Media, Black Myths Podcast, Left Lens, African People’s Socialist Party, filmmaker Eze, This is Revolution, Jared Ball and LA Progressive.
BAP member Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture discussed the latest contradictions in the struggle against the U.S. blockade on Cuba on Jared Ball's "iMixWhatiLike" on Black Power Media. Later in the day, Asantewaa (pictured below on the mic) and other members of BAP-Philly rallied in front of City Hall to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the Cuban revolution. Photos by activist Joe Piette can be found here.
BAP’s U.S. Out of Africa Network Coordinator Tunde Osazua appeared on Radio Sputnik’s “By Any Means Necessary,” hosted by Sean Blackmon and BAP member Jacqueline Luqman. He discussed the recent U.S. drone strikes on Somalia and the legal rationale of “collective self-defense,” which the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) employed to defend the deadly attack, despite no evidence U.S. forces were threatened. Tunde also appeared on Radio Sputnik’s “The Critical Hour” to discuss the issue.
Ajamu was quoted in BAP Solidarity Network member Frances Madeson’s article in Truthout about African asylum seekers. Ajamu also appeared on RT America’s “The World According to Jesse” about the situation in Haiti. Meanwhile, independent outlet PressCast interviewed BAP-NYC member Chris Bernadel on Haiti.
BAP Solidarity Network Coordinator Julie Varughese discussed on Radio Sputnik’s "The Critical Hour" how former Afghan President Hamid Karzai told RT that the U.S. “War on Terror” created the dynamics that caused the people to side with the Taliban.
BAP-Bay Area member Jeremy Miller wrote in the San Francisco Bay View about the case of Keita O’Neil, who was killed in a police confrontation in San Francisco.
EVENTS
August 12: BAP member organization Pan-African Community Action is partnering with D.C. International Women’s Association for a forum, “Unity in Resistance from Domestic Colonialism to Imperialism.”
August 19: Register for BAP’s next webinar, “From Black August to Black Liberation: Commemorating the Struggle of Political Prisoners.”
TAKE ACTION
Sign BAP petitions calling for an end to the 1033 program and peace in Afghanistan.
Dedan Waciuri, who represents 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.
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.