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‘We don’t work, nobody works’
February 6, 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.
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.”
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.
Police critic Fly Benzo keeps catching hell since police murder of Kenneth Harding
November 24, 2011
We get criminalized in Bayview Hunters Point on the T-Train, and the police chase people down because they don’t have a transfer. I spoke before the Board of Supervisors, and a couple of days later Kenneth Harding was shot down over a $2 transfer. African American youth in San Francisco have a 70 percent unemployment rate, so our population is rapidly decreasing. It’s going to continue to decrease when the police are criminalizing our poverty. When I tried to videotape a cop, they put me under arrest, they beat me up. I was hospitalized, and I was put in jail. They gave me $95,000 bail.
Meet Yvette Mari Robles, former director of BMagic and 10 Women Campaign honoree
November 7, 2011
The 10 Women Campaign, to be held this year on Thursday, Nov. 17, 7:30 p.m. – come at 6:30 for the reception – at ODC Theater, 3153 17th St., San Francisco, is a biennial celebration of women whose risk-taking work in law, politics, activism, business, philanthropy and the arts empowers women.
Nov. 8: The control and power of your vote
November 5, 2011
Though we have witnessed our leaders and family members being killed, tortured and brutalized as they fought for their civil liberties, we cannot give up the fight by not voting. People have died so you could do so. Of the 16 running mates for mayor, only Public Defender Jeff Adachi has placed his money where his mouth is.
Jeff Adachi for Mayor: Jobs, jobs, jobs – and summer school too
October 8, 2011
Malcolm X, one of my heroes, believed that “[o]ur objective is complete freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary.” I am asking for your support in this election so that we can reach this objective together.
The Southeast Sewing Club, back by popular demand
October 4, 2011
The highly popular sewing class offered at the Southeast Community Facility, or “Sewing Club” as most locals refer to the class, is back by popular demand. Space is still available and residents are encouraged to drop in for the class. There are no requirements but to show up; however, if you have a project you would like help with – even a simple hem – bring it to the class.
Foreclosure victory as homeowners pack courtroom
October 4, 2011
It’s become standard procedure for real estate companies and their eviction attorneys to “move quickly to take the homes from these homeowners, harassing and scaring them, using guerrilla tactics like threatening to get the sheriff to remove them in four hours. But if we all stay together,” Delia Aguilar, an organizer with the Bay Area Moratorium (BAM), said, “we can defeat them and keep our homes.”
Court blocks Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment until Navy completes toxic cleanup
September 16, 2011
Contrary to Mayor Ed Lee’s claim in a press release issued yesterday by the Mayor’s Office, the Superior Court issued an important victory for Bayview environmental health advocates by blocking the proposed early transfer of the toxic parcels of the Hunters Point Superfund site.
Kenneth Harding police murder aftermath: Victory for Kilo G
September 3, 2011
Kilo G. Perry is an Afrikan man and a man of his word. He is such a trusted man of his word that he has been dubbed “the voice of Bayview Hunters Point” by poor Black and Brown people of San Francisco. Comrade Kilo G is the producer of Cameras Not Guns, a youth educator and peacemaker, and a single father of a 3-year-old baby boy.
John Avalos for Mayor: Overcoming the obstacles to staying in San Francisco
September 2, 2011
For the last 10 years, I’ve been championing the protection of services and programs that benefit working class and poor communities, as well as advocating for jobs and the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing in San Francisco. From my years with Coleman Advocates to working as a union organizer for Justice for Janitors, during my years as a legislative assistant in the District 6 Supervisor’s office and since becoming District 11 supervisor, most of the legislative work I’ve done is to serve low-income families.
Bayview Library: building down, price up $2 million
August 29, 2011
On the corner of Third and Revere, where the Bayview Library used to be, nothing is left but bare ground. One of the few places in the neighborhood where youngsters felt safe and enriched and everyone was welcome is gone. If the City had allowed the low bidder to build the new library, it would have been at least halfway to completion by now. The youngsters who love the library would be watching their parents and older brothers and sisters build a beautiful new library for them to return to in a matter of months. Liberty Builders, my general contracting company, was that low bidder.
When is a riot a rebellion?
August 10, 2011
Several days of unprecedented revolt by the most impoverished minority-populated neighborhoods of London have shaken the normally staid and reserved British aristocracy. Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his Italian vacation in sunny Tuscany to return to the red-orange glare of a burning city.
SFPD tightens its chokehold on Bayview Hunters Point since killing Kenneth Harding
August 9, 2011
The latest target of a San Francisco police wave of terror is Kilo G. Perry, videographer, freedom fighter, peacemaker and educator and the disabled single father of a 3-year-old boy. Ever since the July 16 killing of Kenneth Wade Harding Jr., 19, at Third and Oakdale by the SFPD thugs in blue, our Bayview Hunters Point community has been threatened, harassed and terrorized by the police more than in recent memory – some say more than in 45 years since the September 1966 rebellion.
Stop stealing our jobs, our freedom, our land and our lives
August 7, 2011
Minutes after the outrageous police killing of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding a stone’s throw from my home and office, I joined the crowd and for two hours listened to the witnesses, shared the anger and echoed the calls for unity. Let us demand the right to “own and operate and control the economy of our community,” as Brother Malcolm advised. Now – right now – is the time for us to prove that it’s not the police, it’s not the prison guards or the big developers who have the power to impoverish and enslave us and drive us off our land. The ultimate power belongs to the people, and we will use it.
Devastating report exposes unequal treatment of BP illness claims
July 31, 2011
Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) set up in the aftermath of the BP drilling disaster, has denied all damage claims for illnesses associated with exposure to the toxic BP crude oil and/or toxic chemical dispersants that were applied to the oil spill.
Corporate press readers, what say you about the police killing of Kenneth Harding?
July 29, 2011
What is that feeling of sickness grumbling deep in my abdomen? Did I drink too much coffee? Is the caffeine inducing some nervous, sea-sickness-like feeling? No, that’s not it. It’s the fear. These people have gotten to me; scared the living wits out of me.
Betty McGee: Living for others
July 29, 2011
Betty McGee, PhD, serves as the Bayview Hunters Point Health and Environmental Resource Center’s (HERC) executive director, working to create a more environmentally just San Francisco.
Riding Muni is getting dangerous
July 28, 2011
On Saturday, July 16, a 19-year-old young man, Kenneth Harding, from Seattle, Wash., came to San Francisco at the wrong time. He rode a transit vehicle to Bayview Hunters Point’s Palou station only to exit and have an encounter with two police officers about paying his $2 fare.
