Black Nationalism and the Peoples' Movement - Ford Pt3

[KoKo]

On Reality Asserts Itself, Glen Ford, executive editor of Black Agenda Report, talked with Paul Jay about the role of black politics within the black community and the nation as a whole.

Ford began with a discussion of two major tendencies in black politics.

“One is the self-determinationist tendency, that is, the political tendency that says black folks have every right to organize among each other for their own goals, regardless of what the larger society, i.e. white folks, think, and that that is legitimate,” said Ford.”

“There is also what I call the representationist strain, which says that black folks should have representation at all strata of the general society and that this can be achieved, and by--progress should be measured by the extent to which there are blacks in business, or blacks in politics, blacks in all of the various strata, and that this does not require any transformation of society.”

“These two tendencies coexist in conflict in every black brain,” said Ford. “And they are at war sometimes with each other. And I think that all black politics actually flows from this twoness, one the imperative to build a world that is worthy of black people, and the other to achieve black representation in the larger society.”

Ford and Jay also discussed the necessity of black leadership not just in black communities, but for the nation as a whole.

“If the black community is not organized in ways that reflect the progressive character of our people, then there is no possibility of an effective left movement for the country as a whole,” said Ford. “So the fate of progressive politics in the United States is dependent on this internal struggle in black America between those who want transformation of society and those who have attached themselves to the powers that be.”

Transcript & VIDEO AT:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10834

Black Nationalism and the Peoples' Movement - Ford Pt3
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay: Glen Ford addresses the question whether black Americans constitute a nation, and if so, what is their role in the movement of the whole people

October 25, 2013
Giving Grassroots Leaders a Voice - Ford Pt2
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay: Glen Ford, Exec. Editor of Black Agenda Report, talks about helping create black radio news. He says that news media creates leaders by deciding what events are important and who is authorized to speak on the importance of those events

October 24, 2013
Growing Up Black in American Apartheid - Ford Pt1
On Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay: Glen Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report, tells his story as a red-diaper baby, growing up facing racism in the North living with his white activist mother, and living in the Deep South with his black deejay father

FULL PARTS OF INTERVIEW, HERE:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10834