Editorial Board

Bill Fletcher, Jr.

Jr.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member and Columnist, Bill Fletcher, Jr., is the executive editor of globalafricanworker.com, former president of TransAfrica Forum, and a lifetime trade unionist. He is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies, and the author of The Man Who Changed Colors, “They’re Bankrupting Us” - And Twenty Other Myths about Unions and the novel The Man Who Fell From the Sky. He is also the co-author of Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice, which examines the crisis of organized labor in the USA. Mr. Fletcher is also Co-editor of "Claim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral". Other Bill Fletcher, Jr. writing can be found at billfletcherjr.com. Contact Mr. Fletcher and BC.

309 pieces

Cover Story

Accountability, John Conyers and the Impeachment Controversy – Part 3

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

The current issue is always free to everyone So, what do we make of the controversy surrounding the actions taken at the office of Congressman Conyers when protesters demonstrated against his alleged failure to move impeachment proceedings against President Bush? Did it make sense strategically? Was Conyers the right target? Where did race come into…

The current issue is always free to everyone So, what do we make of the controversy surrounding the actions taken at the office of Congressman Conyers…

Continue reading 6 min

Commentary

Iraq Moratorium: The THIRD FRIDAY of every month beginning Friday September 21st

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

HELP!!! We are facing a $50,000 shortfall from now until December. With money getting tight for so many people, the number of new BC Paid Subscribers and BC Contributors is way down. Please become a BC Paid Subscriber, or send what you can as a BC Contributor. Already a BC Paid Subscriber? Login to see…

HELP!!! We are facing a $50,000 shortfall from now until December. With money getting tight for so many people, the number of new BC Paid Subscribers…

Continue reading 4 min

Cover Story

Another Side to Race and Immigration

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

It really hit me in the 1980s while living in Boston. At that time the southern Irish economy was a complete mess. People were the greatest export from Ireland, and a lot of them were coming to the USA. At the same time, immigration from Haiti and the Dominican Republic was increasing, and into Boston…

It really hit me in the 1980s while living in Boston. At that time the southern Irish economy was a complete mess. People were the greatest…

Continue reading 5 min

Commentary

Bush Administration Keeps the Kerosene on the Somali Flames

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

The current issue is always free to everyone Despite clear evidence that the US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia has done little to stabilize the country and bring about national reconciliation, the Bush administration persists in what can only be described as cavalier and irrational actions that deepen the crisis. Two examples of this are worth…

The current issue is always free to everyone Despite clear evidence that the US-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia has done little to stabilize the country and…

Continue reading 3 min

Commentary

Travesty of Justice: The Elio Carrion case and the Acquittal of Ivory Webb

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

You had to have seen the video. You know what I am talking about. The grainy video of Iraq war veteran Elio Carrion being shot several times by California police officer Ivory Webb while the former sat unarmed. The blatant brutality of the action made it seem almost unreal. Yet we were just reminded—if we…

You had to have seen the video. You know what I am talking about. The grainy video of Iraq war veteran Elio Carrion being shot several…

Continue reading 3 min

Cover Story

Choices for Black Labor

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

I came of age politically in the middle of the Black Power movement. Within the ranks of organized labor, both the Black Power movement and the Anti-Vietnam War movement had a significant impact through the mid-1970s. Caucuses were being formed to challenge the bureaucratic leaderships of many unions. Wild-cat strikes were taking place in workplaces…

I came of age politically in the middle of the Black Power movement. Within the ranks of organized labor, both the Black Power movement and the…

Continue reading 11 min

Commentary

Why You Should Support the Black Commentator

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

Too many of us take it for granted. We assume that this great on-line magazine – BlackCommentator.com – will be here forever. I have seen this happen before. I have seen great on-line magazines that received thousands of hits per month disappear because of one thing: the hits were not matched by financial contributions. Only…

Too many of us take it for granted. We assume that this great on-line magazine - BlackCommentator.com - will be here forever. I have seen this…

Continue reading 3 min

Cover Story

Anti-Immigrant in Black Face?

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

The current issue is always free to all readers The picture in the ad immediately caught my attention. The photo was of a very dignified older African American man looking into the camera, very determined and equally pensive. Underneath his photo was a caption giving his name—T. Willard Fair—and the fact that he was the…

The current issue is always free to all readers The picture in the ad immediately caught my attention. The photo was of a very dignified older…

Continue reading 5 min

Commentary

Jackie Robinson and Bitterness

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. Editorial Board

The recent commemorations of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 entrance into Major League Baseball have brought attention to what has and has not transpired on the ball field, as well as in the USA over the last 60 years. Much of this attention deservedly went to Jackie Robinson-the-man, and the courage that he exhibited in his protracted…

The recent commemorations of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 entrance into Major League Baseball have brought attention to what has and has not transpired on the ball field,…

Continue reading 5 min