Click here to access article by Ajamu Baraka from Common Dreams. [My original commentary on May 1st is here.]
I just read this article again and had a slightly different reaction. I think that Baraka is not advocating simply more efforts at reforming the fake democratic structure of capitalist society, but sees the necessity to ward off efforts at further curtailment of civil liberties in order to provide space for serious revolutionary action. Because his emphasis in this article was overwhelmingly on the first part, I didn't see the second part. However, I believe it is strongly implicit.
Such a misreading the first time around is due to the fact that I read dozens of articles everyday and sometimes read them too fast and miss nuances of meaning. I think my reaction came from a concern that far too much time and energy is consumed by progressive activists in reform activities and not enough on building a revolutionary movement. In other words, far too much time is spent on defense instead of offense.