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‘We don’t work, nobody works’
February 7, 2012
DeBray “Fly Benzo” Carpenter, Kilo G and Claude Carpenter – along with the rest of the Black Star Coalition and unemployed Bayview residents – marched to the job site, bringing the contractor’s work to a screeching halt by standing unmoved in front of the heavy construction equipment. “We don’t work, nobody works,” declared DeBray. Support this young leader, Fly Benzo, who is facing four years in prison for copwatching. He refuses to stop fighting for justice for Kenneth Harding, the 19-year-old murdered by SFPD last July. Pack the courtroom Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1:30 p.m., Dept. 27 at 850 Bryant, and for the days to follow.
‘Skin deep’ in more ways than one
January 31, 2012
“Take the kinks out of your mind, instead of out of your hair,” said Marcus Garvey. Black women today who strive to take his admonition to heart are in a better position than their sisters of the past. Research focusing on the products used in African-American beauty salons – and homes – is increasing.
Community benefits win big: Construction contracts and jobs for Oaklanders
January 28, 2012
We finally have legislation that benefits the taxpayers of Oakland. Desley Brooks took a giant step to bring economic parity to the community of the poor. What she has done will slow down the Oakland process of importing labor and exporting capital. Pack the Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7, regarding local hire and a Jobs Center.
Standing up for Survivors Village and housing justice
January 25, 2012
Protestors chanted: This auction is illegal and immoral. It is a way to steal homes, redistribute wealth and prevent the right to return. The sale of blighted property is the city’s attempt to remove poor homeowners who have already suffered tremendously from economic and natural disaster.s.
Why all the robo-signing?
January 24, 2012
The Wall Street Journal reported on Jan. 19 that the Obama administration was pushing heavily to get the 50 state attorneys general to agree to a settlement with five major banks in the “robo-signing” scandal. The settlement would let Wall Street bankers off the hook for crimes that would land the rest of us in jail.
Congolese say South Africa’s Congolese immigrant sweep targeted anti-Kabila refugees
January 23, 2012
Two hundred Congolese immigrants, especially activists opposed to the Kabila regime, were, they said, “hounded out of their shops and homes by scores of South African police, then summarily arrested on ludicrous, trumped up charges of ‘public violence.’”
Jailhouse snitch used against Aiyana’s dad
January 23, 2012
Mertilla Jones, grandmother of Aiyana Stanley-Jones, the 7-year-old killed by Detroit police last year in a SWAT-style assault on her home, held Aiyana’s mother Dominika Stanley tightly in her arms as both wept uncontrollably in an elevator at 36th District Court in downtown Detroit.
Cynthia McKinney: U.S. war machine pervades Africa
January 22, 2012
Does the Obama administration plan an African continent-wide Plan Colombia? Why such a militarization of U.S. relationships all over the world – and even here at home? Will chaos and wars – like what is happening in Libya today – be created all over Africa and the rest of Asia? Please circulate this message widely so that maybe we can get some more responses from the administration about its policy direction. Tell the White House that you will cast your vote for peace – to stop the drones and bring our troops home.
Restoring hope for Black farmers and a healthy Black community
January 20, 2012
Throughout American history, African-Americans have landed on the short end of discrimination. So, as I surfed through the website of the National Black Farmers Association, my attention was immediately captured by a glaring banner stating, “Black Farmers Awarded $1.15 Billion in Settlement.”
The way to occupy a bank is to own one
January 19, 2012
The campaign to “move your money” has gotten a groundswell of support. Having greater impact would be to “move our money” — move our local government revenues out of Wall Street banks into our own publicly-owned banks. The San Francisco bank proposal is sponsored by city Supervisor John Avalos.
Picking up the pieces: Kenneth Harding’s mother calls on community to march for justice this Sunday
January 19, 2012
“It’s time for the killing, brutality, terrorizing and occupation of our communities by the police to stop,” writes Denika Chatman, mother of Kenneth Harding Jr., murdered by SFPD last July. Since then police attacks on the community, especially his supporters, have intensified. Denika is calling everyone to make a dramatic demand for justice by surrounding Candlestick Stadium during the NFC championship game Sunday, Jan. 22. Gather at noon at Third & Palou, Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco.
Lumumba is an idea
January 17, 2012
In the 1960s, many African countries acquired independence from colonial powers. The name that gave meaning to the struggle for independence, the right to claim a national identity and to be a human being in Congo was Patrice Emery Lumumba, the founding father of a political order in Congo. He was the first legally elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from the Kingdom of Belgium in June 1960. Before his assassination Jan. 17, 1961, he wrote: “For the people, I have no past, no parents, no family. I am an idea.”
MLK: Amerikkka’s Most Wanted
January 16, 2012
He was considered by some the most dangerous man in America. He spent many nights locked up in jail cells. There were constant attempts made on his life. During his last years, he was constantly harassed by law enforcement. The real reason for his untimely demise before the age of 40 still remains a mystery.
Rwanda will never be the same, after Victoire Ingabire’s return
January 16, 2012
As with the path that the U.S. Civil Rights Movement took after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, nothing in Rwanda will ever be the same after Victoire Ingabire’s defiance of the Rwandan government’s unjust laws. She sparked a spirit of resistance.
Let us honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
January 15, 2012
As we celebrate the commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 83rd birthday, let us remember that he not only fought for racial justice and equality, but also called on us to end poverty and eliminate war. In his Nobel lecture, Dr. King said: “(T)he poor in America know that they live in the richest nation in the world, and that even though they are perishing on a lonely island of poverty they are surrounded by a vast ocean of material prosperity. … (T)he infection and sickness of poverty (must) be exposed and healed – not only its symptoms but its basic causes. … (W)e must not be afraid to pursue the remedy no matter how formidable the task.”
Cynthia McKinney: 12,000 U.S. troops bound for Libya
January 15, 2012
It is with great disappointment that I receive the news from foreign media publications and Libyan sources that our president now has 12,000 U.S. troops stationed in Malta and they are about to make their descent into Libya. Black Libyans continue to be targeted for harassment and murder in Libya by U.S.-NATO allies on the ground.
Urgent message from South Africa: Free Ayanda Kota
January 12, 2012
Ayanda Kota, chairperson of the Grahamstown, South Africa, Unemployed Peoples’ Movement, was brutally beaten and arrested by the police today. Will he suffer the same fate as South Africa’s Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid leader and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, who died in 1977 at age 31 in police custody, or Andries Tatane, a math teacher and community newspaper publisher whose police murder, caught on video during a protest on April 13, 2011, shocked the nation?
Haiti: Seven places where the earthquake money did and did not go
January 12, 2012
The U.N. estimated international donors gave Haiti over $1.6 billion in relief aid since the earthquake – about $155 per Haitian – and over $2 billion in recovery aid – about $173 per Haitian – over the last two years. Yet Haiti looks like the earthquake happened two months ago, not two years.
Nonprofit housers mourn demise of redevelopment agencies
January 11, 2012
The unanimous California Supreme Court ruling Dec. 29 in support of a state law to abolish redevelopment agencies throughout California has so-called nonprofit housing developers in mourning, as more than 400 redevelopment agencies will close their doors after Feb. 1, 2012, as a result.
Aid as a Trojan horse: On the anniversary of the Haitian earthquake
January 11, 2012
In the ’60s, Haiti thrived with style and panache, brimming with laughter, flavor, music and color. Things dear to the Haitian soul were valued – things that could not be bought. Aid required that Haiti’s economy be changed – to benefit the U.S. Yes, the earthquake has hurt Haiti, but capitalism has hurt it more. Don’t miss the premiere of “Haiti Rising from the Ashes,” a dynamic new film by young pan-Africans Chris Zamani, M.D., Minister of Information JR and filmmaker Siraj Fowler, 7 p.m., at Twin Space Continuum, 2111 Mission St., third floor, San Francisco.
