There is a famous term for what the pro-fascist element is doing. It comes from an iconic film. The term is “gas lighting,” i.e., to lead people to believe that what they are actually experiencing or seeing is not really happening. (Photo: Anthony Tilghman) NNPA NEWSWIRE — It is important to note that both Antifa […]
Author Archives: Bill Fletcher Jr.
Posted inOPINION
COMMENTARY: Israel, settler colonialism and religion
Whether one is discussing the British colonization of Ireland, the British colonization of North America (and the ultimate founding of the USA), or the Boer/Afrikaner invasion of southern Africa, religion was used by the colonizers as a justification. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA) NNPA NEWSWIRE — That the Zionist movement, established in Europe during the 19th […]
Posted inOPINION
COMMENTARY: The Illness of King Donald, or why Progressives Cannot Concede any Ground to a Sympathy Vote for Trump
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the executive editor of globalafricanworker.com and former president of TransAfrica Forum. By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Newswire Contributor When word broke of the President and First Lady testing positive for Covid19, an image flashed into my mind. The image was from the 1980s series St. Elsewhere, about a hospital and its […]
Posted inCommentary, Coronavirus, OPINION
COMMENTARY: Science Vs. Myth — The COVID-19 Crisis
By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Newswire Contributor Trump’s decision to cut funding for the World Health Organization (WHO)—which we warned about last week—is yet another example of his efforts to obscure reality and distance himself from any responsibility for the mess that the USA finds itself in as a result of his handling of the […]
Posted inCommentary, INTERNATIONAL, OPINION
COMMENTARY: The Danger of the “Ethno-Nationalist” State
By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Newswire Contributor One of the most common features of right-wing populist and fascist movements is the demand for ethnic and/or racial purity. During the course of the 20th century we saw it in its most egregious forms in colonial and White minority regimes in the global South, and in the […]
Posted inCommentary
Supreme Court Seeks to Gut Labor Unions
Bill Fletcher, Jr. The Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Harris v Quinn essentially means that personal care attendants who are represented by a union do not need to pay a service fee that would cover the cost of representing and advocating on their behalf. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority justified this decision purportedly on the […]
Posted inCommentary
Bush Marched Us Off to War While Cutting V.A. Benefits
Bill Fletcher, Jr. In 2003, we were lied into a war with Iraq. Just about everyone now admits that. At the same time that we were being lied into the war, the then Bush administration was cutting benefits to veterans. This was such an odd set of circumstances. At a point when the U.S. was […]
Posted inCommentary
A Backdoor Approach to Lowering Wages
There has arisen a peculiar phenomenon over the past seven years. Conservative legislatures in states such as Florida and Wisconsin have passed statutes that limit the ability of cities and counties to raise minimum wages and pass other legislation to advance the interests of workers. This has become part of a well-oiled operation by the […]
Posted inCommentary
Black America was Silent During Rwandan Genocide
It was 20 years ago this month that the monstrous Rwandan genocide unfolded. In less than 90 days, close to 1 million Rwandan Tutsis and their Hutu allies were murdered by right-wing Hutu extremists, instigated by the government of Rwanda. The scale and speed of the genocide defied imagination. Dramatized in the film Hotel Rwanda, […]
Posted inCommentary
Israel, Occupied Palestine and the Dred Scott Decision
I found myself thinking about the notorious Dred Scott decision (1857) by the US Supreme Court while traveling the streets of Occupied Palestine this past January. I was there leading a small delegation of African Americans who were trying to better understand the nature of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. There are many ways that the conditions of Palestinians […]
Posted inCommentary
African ‘Ghettos’ in Israel
It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The streets of South Tel Aviv were teeming with people. We first saw a very large wedding party heading towards a park. We then saw hundreds of young men hanging out, socializing, walking, and sometimes just looking for something to do. The shops were closed on this Jewish Sabbath […]
Posted inCommentary
Eager for a War With Iran
Some of the responses by the Republicans and their friends to the Iran nuclear deal have been nothing short of amazing. The deal includes greater and closer inspections of Iranian sites, some relief from the sanctions, and the delay in certain steps that the Iranians had been contemplating. After six months this is to be […]