A Black Agenda Radio commentary by editor and columnist Jared A. Ball

The hip hop world is abuzz with rapper Lupe Fiasco’s branding of President Obama as biggest terrorist of them all. But Fiasco’s political views are not very different than many other hip hop performers. Rather, the suffocating liberalism of “mainstream” politics and corporate culture prevent radical performers from getting “room to breathe or airtime to occupy.”

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

The vilification campaign waged by the West against Moammar Gaddfi is just the latest chapter in a “massive U.S. psychological assault, a vast disinformation operation in which the corporate media act as megaphones for government liars.” In reality, there is no evidence for allegations that Gaddafi ordered his soldiers to rape hundreds of women, but “that does not seem to matter to a corporate media that are bent on glorifying the Benghazi-based rebels.”

NATO War Planners Underestimate Gaddafi Support

“I think there is some naivete among the war planners” at NATO regarding Moammar Gaddafi’s support among the Libyan public, says Vijay Prashad, professor of International Studies at Connecticut’s Trinity College. “There are going to be very large sectors in Libya that will stand with Gaddafi” against the foreign-backed rebels. “There will be a big fightback, especially if there are European troops in Libya.”

Obama Has Reverted to Bush Foreign Policies

The assault on Libya is evidence of the profound crisis afflicting U.S. imperialism, says Omali Yeshitela, leader of the African People’s Socialist Party and chairman of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations. President Obama came into office spouting peaceful rhetoric, but has “resorted to the same kind of techniques as the former administration.”

Broad Mobilization in October

Protestors will converge on Washington on October 6 for a mobilization to “Stop the Machine, Create a New World.” Kevin Zeese, one of the organizers, says “It’s not just about ending the wars, but to bring economic justice, as well, and end the corporatism that is dominating our government.” Protesters are planning for a lengthy stay in Washington’s Freedom Plaza, similar to the demonstrations in Cairo, Egypt’s Tahrir Square.

Nurses Push for “Main Street Contract”

The National Nurses United union is spearheading a “Main Street Contract” campaign for jobs, good housing, public education, guaranteed health care and fair taxation. Jean Ross, a president of the union, says austerity hysteria is really designed to keep wealth concentrated among “the few people at the top.”

Anger Among Democratic Base

President Obama “is feeling the heat” from traditional Democrats and will have to shift course to keep their support, says Dr. Timothy Canova, professor of International Economic Law at Chapman University in Orange, California. If Obama’s handlers “are reading the polls, they’ll see that people are much more concerned about jobs than the deficit.”

Haiti Housing Unsafe

A recent U.S. Agency for International Development report shows that “hundreds of thousands of people are occupying buildings that could very easily collapse if there is another tremor or particularly bad weather” in Haiti, says Alex Main, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. However, the report’s other findings, that far fewer Haitians were killed or displaced than previously estimated, “are not based on strong methodology,” says Main.

Dr. Ball’s Mixtape Manifesto

BAR editor and columnist Dr. Jared Ball’s new book, I Mix What I Like: A Mixtape Manifesto, celebrates the mixtape as a form of “21^st century emancipatory journalism.” The genre “originated to circumvent state or corporate control over the cultural expression of a colonized population,” says Ball, who teaches communications at Morgan State University. Go to www.IMixWhatILike.com

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by BAR editor and columnist Jared Ball

Journalist Ellis Cose styles himself the top reporter on the Black bourgeois beat – a landscape of delusion. Cose’s new book “concludes that the youngest generation included in the study, the ‘Gen 3s’ or those born after 1970, feel that while racism is still alive it is not a serious barrier to success.” Which is, of course, clear evidence of the deep damage done to Black Harvard Business School graduates. Neither they nor Cose ever learned that the depths of societal “racism cannot be judged on an individual basis, it has to be judged institutionally.”