Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Many Blacks Would Welcome Police Exit from Their Communities
Glen Ford, BAR executive editor
10 Dec 2019
🖨️ Print Article

“The whole battlefield array of weapons is now deployed in Black and brown communities.”

Donald Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, is a comedian. He must have been joking when he warned certain communities that they better start showing more “respect and support” for the police. Otherwise, said Barr, these communities “may find themselves without the police protection they need.”

Well, there are lots of people in Black communities that would like nothing better than to see the cops withdraw back to their suburban enclaves and never return. Black folks know that calling the police to help with a family problem is rolling the dice with death. Attorney General Barr has got to be joking, when he pretends that the cops just might withdraw their so-called “protection” from the Black community if folks don’t start giving them proper respect. But, why should anyone respect an occupation army whose mission is to incarcerate and terrorize the community. We need protection from THEM, and will ultimately have to provide that, ourselves. 

The movement for community control of the police is gaining ground, working towards abolishing the police altogether, and creating new and democratic ways of providing community security.

Mass Black Incarceration

Related Podcasts

Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Involuntary Servitude in the Prison System
24 June 2022
Savannah Eldrige is the founder of Coaliton to Abolish Slave
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
White Capitalist Law vs “Uncontrollable Blackness”
01 September 2020
The United States “criminalizes Black Americans,” but Black men “are not looking to be controlled” by this racist system, said Douglas
 Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
Getting Out the Word: #PrisonsKill
25 August 2020
The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, IWOC, “is committed to the militant organizing of prisoners that takes its leadership and focus from

More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio April 3, 2026
    03 Apr 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the impact on the voting rights of Black people if the SAVE Act is signed into law. But we begin with a discussion of an historic vote at the United Nations which…
  • UN resolution vote
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Crime Against Humanity
    03 Apr 2026
    Kwesi Pratt Jr. is General Secretary of the Socialist Movement of Ghana.
  • Stop the SAVE Act
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Votes Jeopardized by the SAVE Act
    03 Apr 2026
    The SAVE Act would require proof of U.S. citizenship to be presented in person in order to register to vote in this country and would disenfranchise millions of people who are currently able to vote…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    A Weak Left Stands By as Russia Stands Up for Cuban Sovereignty
    01 Apr 2026
    Russia finally makes good on promises to help Cuba, but its level of commitment is unclear. The left are clearly immobilized, even as Iran demonstrates how to fight back.
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Against Nuclear Imperialism, Kwame Nkrumah, 1960
    01 Apr 2026
    “We are not freeing ourselves from centuries of imperialism and colonialism only to be maimed and destroyed by nuclear weapons.”
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us