Political Media Review

Angela Davis has written and lectured extensively on a variety of historical, social, political, and economic issues.

With the publication of Mad Bomber Melville, Leslie James Pickering has done a great service for those who—as he puts it—“can take inspiration from someone who was far from perfect but never gave up the struggle” (133). Pickering’s biography of Sam Melville does not seek to idolize its subject but is an honest effort to preserve an important history which holds challenging lessons for present day readers.

Angela Davis is an icon of the highest sense, an icon critical of their own iconic status. From her rise as a critical socio-political force in the late 1960’s to her still defiant role as an activist-academic, Davis is a great example of protracted struggle met with theory and praxis.

Jalil Muntaqim (a.k.a. Anthony Bottom) was nineteen when he was sent to prison. He’ll turn 60 this year. He’s serving two concurrent sentences of 25 years to life.

It is impossible to come in contact with commercial media and not be exposed to the specter of criminal justice as entertainment. Turn on the news and you can see car chases. Turn on afternoon fare and it is syndicated reality shows featuring people being chased down by police.

Incidents such as that of activist Brandon Darby informing on fellow activists, and the Tulia, Texas drug arrests scandal are but two examples of a trend that law enforcement has increasingly relied on as a method for policing, but which is increasingly returning disastrous results.

Victoria Fontan offers a fascinating perspective on the Iraq War and War on Terror, arguing that humiliation plays a key role in both. She starts with the premise that humiliation was instrumental in the shift from liberation to counterinsurgency in Iraq and, more generally, serves as the central rallying cry for fundamentalist terrorism across the globe.