NewsOne’s Bakari Kitwana interviews Vijay Prashad about the implications of the recent killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Ladan. Kitwana and Prashad discuss the American public’s euphoria surrounding this news and what this death means for the war in Afghanistan, and the future of America’s enemies—from Al Qaeda to the Taliban.

They also talk about the meaning of Bin Laden’s demise to the 2012 presidential race. Says Prashad, “Forget Obama. Forget 2012. What are the long-term implications for American power and authority in a world where others are trying to build up international law as a counter to cowboy-ism?”

Prashad also shares insight on the way he sees the death of Bin Laden already playing out in civil rights and human rights circles: “In 1981 Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12333, which disallows the US from pursuing targeted assassinations. Likewise, international law forbids this type of action. I’m very disturbed that there is no qualified discussion about the legality of this type of action. People on the liberal to progressive side seem to have lost their bearings and are no longer able to be serious when it comes to the question of utilizing armed force overseas.”

Vijay Prashad is professor and director of International Studies at Trinity College. He is the author eleven books, including his most recent The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World.

Bakari Kitwana is CEO of Rap Sessions, Editor at Large of Newsone.com and author of the forthcoming Hip-Hop Activism in the Obama Era. (Third World Press, 2011)

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Bakari Kitwana speaks with Oakland Activist Dereca Blackmon about last week’s sentencing of ex-transit officer Johannes Mehserle, who earlier this year was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 videotaped shooting death of Oscar Grant. Blackmon was one of the organizers of protests in the days immediately following the shooting of the unarmed 22-year-old Grant on a train platform on New Year’s Day.  Blackmon talks with newsone.com about where do we go from here, and practical responses to incidents like these that persist around the country.

“We have to be more organized if we are going to hold people accountable to our communities, says Blackmon. “And that means we need to put more thought, investment and dollars into answering the question, what does accountable policing looks like?” Equally important, she says, is the average citizen, who “has to continue to be vigilant in expressing their voice and concern about these issues.”

Dereca Blackmon is co-founder of the Coalition Against Police Executions, which formed in the aftermath of the police shooting death of Oscar Grant and the former Executive Director of Leadership Excellence, a leadership and social justice organization for African America youth.

Bakari Kitwana is CEO of Rap Sessions and author of the forthcoming Hip-Hop Activism in the Obama Era. (Third World Press, 2010)

Dereca Blackmon is Executive Director of Leadership Excellence which operates under the leadership of a ten-member Board of Directors, a fifteen member youth advisory board, and a dedicated staff of eight. We are a community-based, non-profit organization committed to Black youth wellness. For over 20 years, we have helped children, teens and their families transform their lives and their communities through self-awareness and critical thinking.

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