Commentary

COMMENTARY: Biden and the Black Misleaders’ shame

FLORIDA COURIER — The disgraceful promotion of Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy is all the proof one needs that the Black Misleadership class is a grave danger to their community and to the nation. Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 precisely because of his rightwing credentials. But he no longer has Obama’s imprimatur to protect him and his racist history is now out in the open for all to see.

Published

7 years ago

July 5, 2019

Vijayakumar B

By Margaret KimberlyThe disgraceful promotion of Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy is all the proof one needs that the Black Misleadership class is a grave danger to their community and to the nation.

Biden was chosen to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008 precisely because of his rightwing credentials. But he no longer has Obama’s imprimatur to protect him and his racist history is now out in the open for all to see.

Not too smart

He was always a lesser light in the Senate and was no better as vice president. Even in 2008, he opined that Obama was “clean and articulate” – a remark which ought to have disqualified him from vice presidential consideration with a Black candidate.

But Obama’s goal was to make clear his own rightward trajectory. Choosing a senator who was anything but progressive and a staunch Zionist gave great comfort to the Democratic party donor class.

The unwavering support from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) should be an embarrassment, but these are shameless people. One wouldn’t know that Biden thanked Dixiecrat Senator James Eastland for assisting him in bringing anti-busing legislation to a vote. These facts are inconvenient for people whose presence in office is meant to squelch any effort at Black self determination.

Busing opponent

Biden began his political career in the 1970s and the hot issue of the day was how to integrate public schools.

Biden called busing “asinine” and lamented that White people who were “good citizens” would be forced to send children to “inferior” (read Black) schools. He opposed school desegregation and he said so quite openly and used all the common racist tropes of that era.

Stop the GOP

The duplicitous work of the CBC isn’t difficult to get away with. Black politics has been reduced to one overarching goal: keeping Republicans out of office.

If Black voters support Biden as much as they are said to, it’s because they have been convinced that he is best able to defeat Trump. The Democratic Party establishment and their friends in corporate media are hoping to make this debatable point a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Black voters will again be the losers in 2020, even if the Democrats manage to defeat Donald Trump. The desire to defeat him overrides all else. Every issue of importance to Black people is ignored, every need will be unmet in what we are told is a foolproof plan to get rid of the orange-faced racist.

Biden enablers like James Clyburn and John Lewis excuse the overt racism with claims that they too did business with the segregationists. But they won’t say anything about mass incarceration, police murder or displacement of entire communities caused by gentrification.

Failed strategy

The old canard of making do with a lesser bigot in order to forestall a worse one is an old and failed strategy.

Another failed strategy is to ignore the blatant sucking-up to rich donors. Biden recently told a group of them that he wouldn’t “demonize” the wealthy and assured them that “nothing would fundamentally change.”

Bernie Sanders is a Democratic candidate who can beat Trump who also speaks to the needs of the people. But he is unacceptable because he does that.

The Democrats and their funders have already decided that we can’t have free college, Medicare for All, or an increased minimum wage. Sanders is an existential threat to the austerity project, so his candidacy is dead on arrival.

Marching orders

The CBC and up-and-comers like Stacy Abrams protect Biden because they are told to do so. They have no independence from the Democratic party donor class and they won’t drop Biden unless the one-percent clique tell them to.

For now, the dim-bulb former vice president is hidden. He makes few appearances and doesn’t talk to the press because he’s “gaffe-prone.” He isn’t just a cynical opportunist; he is also stupid and can’t be trusted to be unscripted with the media.

No wonder Democrats miss Obama, who is very smart and could convince everyone that he was on their side. They are now left with the dregs, an old-school party hack who can’t hide his mediocrity.

What we must do

The 2020 election will end in disaster for Black people no matter who becomes the next president. Dumping the Democrats is the only solution to what ails us. They don’t want to change, and they aren’t even likely to win.

If Biden crashes and burns, another puppet will be presented as the savior. Black misleaders will prop up that person too and their constituents will be the losers.

Margaret Kimberley is a co-founder of BlackAgendaReport.com, and writes a weekly column there. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.

Vijayakumar B

Posts by Vijayakumar B

Up Next

COMMENTARY: Reparations For Slavery Are Long Overdue!

Don't Miss

Black Lives Matter Co-Founder and Black Futures Lab Release Second Black Census Report

Vijayakumar B

1 Comment

Black History

Oakland Protesters Rally to Defend Haitian Immigrants and TPS

The Haiti Action Committee traces its roots to the international movement that emerged following Haiti’s 1991 military coup, which overthrew the nation’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Political violence sent thousands of Haitians fleeing the country, while U.S. policies resulted in refugees being intercepted at sea, repatriated, or detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Published

11 hours ago

August 20, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Activists Gerald Smith and Romaine Charite at 14th and Broadway in downtown Oakland near City Hall protest in support of Haitian immigrant rights. Photo by Carla Thomas

By Carla Thomas

Protesters gathered in downtown Oakland near City Hall at 14th Street and Broadway on Thursday, Aug. 13, calling for protections for Haitian immigrants and an end to deportation policies affecting Haitian communities across the United States.

Organized as a call to action by the Legalization for All Network and supported by the Haiti Action Committee and other community organizations, the demonstration carried a clear message: “Defend TPS! Legalization, Not Deportation!”

Participants focused attention on the termination of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haiti and immigration policies protesters described as continuing attacks on Haitian immigrants under the Trump administration.

Haitian Romaine Charite of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization urged demonstrators to stand with Haitian families and led chants:

“When Haitians are under attack, what do we do? We fight back.”

Injustice to one is an injustice to us all.”

“Dump Trump!”

Charite and other protesters condemned the federal government’s treatment of Haitian immigrants, describing the policies as an attack on a population already facing extraordinary hardship.

Haiti’s TPS designation was terminated effective July 27, 2026, removing temporary deportation protections and work authorization for hundreds of thousands of Haitian beneficiaries who lacked another legal basis to remain in the United States.

Gerald Smith, a protester and former member of the Black Panther Party during the 1970s, said Haitians were being unfairly targeted and warned that ending TPS would have a devastating impact on Haitian families and communities.

“These policies are racially motivated and unfair,” Smith said. “Everyone deserves the right to self-determination and protection from persecution.”

The Haiti Action Committee cited the continuing political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Haiti as evidence that returning large numbers of immigrants to the country could place already vulnerable people at greater risk.

The Oakland gathering, which drew about 20 participants, reflected a decades-long history of Bay Area activism surrounding Haitian democracy, refugee rights and U.S. immigration policy.

Those policies sparked protests involving Haitian communities, Black activists, artists, college students, churches, labor organizations and human rights advocates. Prominent figures, including dancer and activist Katherine Dunham, tennis champion Arthur Ashe, and TransAfrica leader Randall Robinson, joined campaigns challenging the treatment of Haitian refugees.

In 1992, Haiti Action Committee joined other Bay Area organizations in a dramatic demonstration on San Francisco Bay. Boats carrying Haitian participants were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard while supporters gathered along the waterfront and reportedly chanted, “Let Them Land!”

More than three decades later, protesters have returned to the streets of Oakland, centering on protecting Haitian immigrants, opposing deportation and pressing for immigration policies that provide families with a pathway toward permanent legal residency.

For more information, visit Haitisolidarity.net.

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Commentary

From Palestine to Oakland: Seeds for Liberation Examines Shared Struggles for Freedom

The screening was hosted by the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America and the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation. Following the film, director Matthew Solomon joined local community leaders for a discussion about solidarity, resistance, and the historical connections explored throughout the documentary.

Published

11 hours ago

August 20, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Documentary film, "Seeds for Liberation," highlights the Palestinian struggle and the shared fight for freedom and liberation in the United States and abroad. Graphic courtesy of www.seedsforliberationmovie.com

By Carla Thomas

Community members gathered at the Black Panther Party Museum on Saturday, Aug. 15, in downtown Oakland for a screening of “Seeds for Liberation,” an award-winning documentary examining the Palestinian liberation movement and its connections to Black, Chicano and other movements for collective liberation.

The film reveals the face of conflict, struggle, and injustice today and yesterday. In one scene, a bleeding child pleads for help on a shell-shattered rooftop after a bombing in the Gaza Strip last year. In another scene, newly freed Nelson Mandela addresses thousands at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990, at the end of apartheid.

Directed by Solomon and executive-produced by Donna Hadjikhani and Alana Hadid, “Seeds for Liberation” situates Palestinian experiences within the broader history of anti-imperialist and decolonial movements.

Through interviews with historians, legal scholars, activists and organizers, the documentary examines Palestinian resistance. It also details the role of social media in shaping the public’s understanding of the impact of Palestine’s 77-year occupation by Israeli forces, events in Gaza and the West Bank, and relationships between liberation movements across generations and geographic boundaries.

The film includes perspectives of people connected to the Black Liberation Army, La Raza Unida and the Stop Cop City movement. Those featured talk about colonialism, U.S. foreign policy, policing, racial justice and their views of what solidarity with Palestinians has meant.

Solomon developed the documentary following his previous film, “Reimagining Safety,” which explored alternatives to traditional policing.

“I use film as a medium to connect personal testimony with larger social and political questions,” said Solomon, who is currently touring the film across the nation as well as Canada and other countries.

Executive producer Hadjikhani brought a personal connection to the project. An Iranian American designer and social justice advocate, she traveled to Gaza and the West Bank as a college student in 1993 during the First Intifada. Hadid has since focused on Palestinian stories and other underrepresented voices.

The Oakland screening carried added historical significance because it was held in the Black Panther Party Museum, where the history of Black resistance and community organizing provided a backdrop for the film’s examination of interconnected struggles.

Activist and artist Cat Brooks passionately spoke about the fight for the freedom of all people. “No one is free until everyone is free,” she said.

Brooks played a key role in the struggle for justice for Oscar Grant, who was gunned down by a BART police officer in 2009 and is co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP), whose mission is to rapidly respond to and ultimately eradicate state violence in communities of color.

Rather than treating liberation movements as isolated chapters, “Seeds for Liberation” asks audiences to consider how movements separated by time, race and geography have influenced one another and how solidarity has continued to evolve across generations.

HASHTAGS

#PostNewsGroup #CarlaThomas #OaklandPost #SanFranciscoPost

#SeedsForLiberation #BlackPantherPartyMuseum #Oakland #Palestine #FreePalestine #BlackLiberation #ChicanoMovement #CollectiveLiberation #SocialJustice #CommunityOrganizing #Solidarity #DocumentaryFilm #IndependentFilm #OaklandEvents #EastBay #BlackHistory #LiberationMovements #MatthewSolomon #HueyPNewtonFoundation #BayAreaEvents

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Black History

NABJ Convention Brings Black Journalists, Civic Leaders Together in Atlanta

Among the conference’s most closely watched sessions was Thursday’s Newsmaker Plenary, where House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries discussed the national political climate with NABJ President Errin Haines. Journalist Joy-Ann Reid later led a fireside conversation with legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, creator of the term “intersectionality,” and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the 1619 Project.

Published

11 hours ago

August 20, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump (left), House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (middle), Rev. Al Sharpton (right) stand at the NABJ conference in Atlanta on Aug. 13 with Elmore and Christine Wonsley, the parents of Nolan Wells, a Black 18-year-old who died July 4th weekend in Mississippi

By Brandon Patterson

ATLANTA—The 52nd National Association of Black Journalists conference brought thousands of journalists, students, media executives and civic leaders to Atlanta Aug. 12-16 for its 2026 Convention and Career Fair, a five-day gathering centered on the theme “Our Revolution: Truth, Power and Black Journalism.”

The plenary also turned toward grief, accountability and justice as the parents of 18-year-old Nolan Wells, Christine Wells-Wonsley and Elmore Wonsley, appeared with civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Crump was also the attorney for Trayvon Martin’s, Michael Brown’s, and Tamir Rice’s families. Moderated by journalist Tiffany Cross, the Wells family’s appearance focused on unanswered questions surrounding Nolan’s July death in Mississippi and calls for a federal review.

Reid and journalist Don Lemon also joined a separate discussion with Cross, columnist Michael Harriot and journalist Chandra Whitfield about career disruption, resilience and building independent platforms as Black journalists face layoffs and wider media industry upheaval.

Across generations, attendees exchanged ideas about sustaining careers and serving Black communities.

The gathering reflected NABJ’s long-standing role as both professional home and public forum for Black journalists. For Black-owned legacy newspapers, including ours, the Atlanta convention reinforced a familiar mandate: defend truth, elevate Black voices and connect national debates over politics, justice and media power to the communities most affected.