Listen to this week’s episode of COVID, Race, & Democracy:
On Friday, March 31st, black community leaders and supporters held a demonstration in front of the headquarters of Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama demanding an end to the bank’s racist policies and calling for payment of reparations to black people.
The protest was prompted by Region’s abrupt cancellation of all accounts and lines of credit of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund and the bank’s action prematurely calling in the black nonprofit organization’s mortgage loan on a property under renovation for a bakery cafe and community kitchen in an impoverished Black community in north St. Louis.
It’s not the first time Region’s has come under criticism. They face growing community opposition for their role in the funding of new private prison construction in Alabama, including protest demonstrations organized by the Alabama Students Against Prisons. In 2022, Regions was forced to refund $141 million to customers and pay a $50 million fee for fraudulent overdraft fees.
The African People’s Education and Defense Fund is a black nonprofit organization associated with the Uhuru Movement, which was the target of a multi-city militarized FBI raid this summer. Indictments of Movement leaders are expected on unfounded charges of acting as pawns of the Russian government to create dissent and influence public opinion.
Friday’s protest was followed by an evening Teach-in.
The call to boycott Regions Bank comes after widespread public exposure of the role of the slave trade in the birth of the American banking and insurance industries and during a time of growing demands for reparations to black people for slavery and colonialism.
For more information, visit handsoffuhuru.org
We thank the volunteers at WBPU Black Power 96.3 FM in St. Petersburg, Florida, for production assistance.
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On March 31, 2023, Common Pleas court Judge Lucretia Clemons denied Mumia Abu-Jamal’s request for a new trial. After 43 years in prison, Black Panther and journalist, Mumia Abu-Jamal has exhausted nearly all of his avenues for relief. At 68 years old Mumia is suffering from cardiac disease and has had a double bypass, and nearly died from lack of treatment for acute Hepatitis C.
Judge Clemons stated that she was dismissing the claim of striking Black jurors on procedural grounds, dismissing Mumia’s claim about the prosecutor excluding Black people from the jury, without addressing the merits of the claim.
Additionally, there’s the note from supposed “eye witness” Robert Chobert, who, after the initial trial, asked Prosecutor McGill, “Where is the money that is owed to me?” This note was scrubbed from any filings and buried by the prosecution for 40 years. This dramatic “Brady evidence” previously unavailable to the defense, was dismissed by the Judge in her written opinion as not “being material,” meaning that it would not have affected the jury’s verdict. It allows the ruling by the original trial court Judge Albert Sabo, who infamously said, “I am going to help them fry the n—word”, to stand.
Judge Clemons also dismissed records from Prosecutor McGill that extensively tracked and monitored another key witness, Cynthia White, who’s pending criminal cases were ALL dropped by the prosecution following her testimony.
We hear from Mumia’s grandson Jamal ibn Mumia Hart III speaking on Black Power Media the day of the announcement that his grandfather would not be granted a new trial.
Jamal Jr. on Black Power Media
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US military engagement in Somalia has been increasing, but Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz has introduced a resolution to withdraw all US troops within 365 days of its passage. Pacifica’s Ann Garrison has more.
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The massive general strike in Israel and the shutdown of the country forced Prime Minister Netanyahu to temporarily halt a vote on a bill that would have allowed his party to dispense with the judiciary. Israelis in large numbers demanded “democracy” against Netanyahu. However, according to trade unionist Assaf Adiv who participated in the protests, there is no democracy without equality for Palestinians and one state for all is the only real solution.
Assaf Adiv is a leader of the MAAN Workers Association which represents Palestinian workers. He spoke to Pacifica’s Steve Zeltzer.
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Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society members Gia Davila and Laura Rodriguez, were arrested along with two others during a peaceful protest at the University of South Florida.
The protest was to demand that USF president Rhea Law commit to defending Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs in the face of constant attacks by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials.
Videos show officers brutalizing protestors and students, many of them women, who were slammed onto the ground and walls, placed in chokeholds, kicked, scratched, groped, and more.
Gia and Laura are facing felony and misdemeanor charges. They have been banned from appearing on campus, putting Gia’s academic future in limbo. The community has joined the effort to fight the charges, and has demanded that the charges be dismissed.
Hosts Ruth Beltran and Ali Abdel-Qader spoke with Gia and Laura on their show, the Ruthless Truth, on Pacifica Affiliate WSLR in Sarasota Florida.
Sign the petition by the SDS: https://www.change.org/p/drop-the-charges-on-the-tampa-4-stop-desantis-attacks-on-diversity-rhea-law-step-down?redirect=false
And that concludes today’s edition of Covid, Race & Democracy. We thank all of Pacifica’s sister stations and affiliates who contribute to the production of this show. Today’s program was produced by the CRD Collective with production assistance from volunteers at WBPU, Black Power FM in St. Petersburg Florida.
Thanks for listening.
Music :
The Staple Singers – When Will We Be Paid
Sounds of Somalia, traditional Somali music
Immortal Technique featuring Mumia Abu Jamal, “The War Against Us All”
