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

On class in Black politics.
Cedric Johnson, This Is Hell
06 Jun 2019
šŸ–Øļø Print Article

"As the state has been hollowed out as a result of neoliberalization - who is going to suffer the most? Blacks who work for the postal service, Blacks who had public sector jobs and HAVE seen their pensions raided along with everybody else, Blacks who are public school teachers... It's easy to see how the condition of Black people is connected to the resurgent power of the capitalist class. It's not separate, it's deeply connected.

Political scientist Cedric Johnson examines the realities of class in Black political life - from the limits of electoralism and a solely race-driven analysis in challenging the slow decline of a people (and nation) under de-industrialization and neoliberal austerity, to the power of a Marxist, materialist lens in understanding the power dynamics in capitalist society.

Cedric wrote the article Coming to Terms with Actually-Existing Black Life for New Politics, reposted as What Black Life Actually Looks Like for Jacobin.


More Stories


  • Al Jazeera Staff
    ā€˜If you sleep, settlers will burn your house’: fear in the West Bank
    28 Jan 2026
    The Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja has held out against violent Israeli settlers – until now.
  • Gabrielle Emanuel
    A vaccine trial is called 'unethical' and a 'unique' opportunity. What's its fate?
    28 Jan 2026
    A controversial hepatitis B vaccine study, funded by the U.S. but paused by Guinea-Bissau, has become a flashpoint in the political battle over vaccine safety and scientific integrity. In the January…
  • Indrajit Samarajiva
    Wolves Crying Wolf (Canada, Denmark, etc)
    28 Jan 2026
    Nothing demonstrates the hypocrisy of the "rules-based order" faster than seeing its enforcers shocked when the same rules of imperial force are directed at them.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio January 23, 2026
    23 Jan 2026
    In this week’s segment, we cover state repression and regime change efforts. While the corporate media parroted state narratives about a popular uprising in Iran, all evidence indicates that recent…
  • ICE Protest
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    ICE Domestic Repression in Minnesota
    23 Jan 2026
    Mnar Adley is the founder and director of MintPress News, an independent media outlet. She joins us from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Donald Trump's ICE enforcement is used as domestic police…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us