Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. This week we are going to dedicate the entire program to the issue of so-called Black Identity Extremists, the term the FBI invented to justify its permanent witch-hunt against Black individuals and organizations that fight for Black people’s rights and interests in the United States. Human rights activists regard the Black Identity Extremist label as the part of the FBI’s attempt to repackage, for the 21st century, its old and discredited Cointelpro dirty war against Black and Left Wing organizers.
Some of those activists recently formed an umbrella group to coordinate the resistance to the FBI’s latest offensive against Black people. It’s called the Black Identity Extremist Abolition Collective. The Collective plans to hold political education and organizing events in cities across the nation. The first session was held at the People’s Forum, in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Five organizers, representing key human rights groups, were unexpectedly joined by Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner. They discussed the threat posed by the FBI’s attempt to demonize and neutralize radical politics in the Black Lives Matter era. Ajamu Sankofa is one of the founders of the Black Identity Extremist Abolition Collective.
Myaisha Hayes is with the Center for Media Justice, which has challenged the FBI’s reincarnation of Cointelpro. Hayes knows all too well that the Bureau’s aim is to turn Black activists into political prisoners.
The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights has been in the forefront of the resistance to the FBI’s attempts to criminalize political organizing and speech, especially in Black and Muslim communities. Aya Saed represented the Center at the People’s Forum event, in New York.
Fifty years ago, the FBI designated the Black Panther Party the greatest domestic danger to U.S. national security, and tried to destroy the organization through a campaign of assassination and imprisonment. Johanna Fernandez is with the Campaign to Bring Home former Panther Mumia Abu Jamal. She’s also a professor of History and African American Studies at Baruch College. Fernandez provided an historical context to the FBI’s Black Identity Extremist offensive.