October 1, 2009
More than nine months – and almost a dozen court dates – after the arrest of journalist M.O.I. JR aka JR Valrey as he covered protests over the cold-blooded murder of Oscar Grant, the Oakland police and Alameda County District Attorney’s Office still haven’t faced up to the fact that they have no case.
September 11, 2009
In this critical KPFA election, the Bay View recommends the Independents for Community Radio slate (www.IndyRadio2009.com), especially two young candidates who were well received when they spoke at our Grand Lake Theater event during Cynthia McKinney’s Triumph Tour plus incumbents Henry Norr, Sasha Futran and Akio Tanaka. We also support labor journalist Steve Zeltzer (www.VoicesforJusticeRadio.org).
August 7, 2009
Now 18, Terrance Scott tells Minister of Information JR in this gripping interview: “Seeing what they did to my mother, it put a rage inside me.” Terrance is the son of Jamie Scott of the Scott Sisters of Mississippi, who have served 15 years of double life terms for a robbery they didn’t commit that netted $11.
August 4, 2009
Welcome former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, the people’s advocate, to your Bay Area city Thursday-Monday, Aug. 20-24. She’ll discuss her stay in an Israeli prison, her triumphant trip to Gaza and the importance of independent media. Click the picture for her schedule. Check back often for updates. Cynthia is our Paul Robeson. Show her your love!
June 5, 2009
A preliminary hearing to begin June 8 will decide whether the San Francisco 8 will have to stand trial for the 1971 murder of a SFPD officer. SF 8 member Richard Brown reports in this Block Report that more evidence has surfaced on the torture tactics used to extract the inadmissable confessions that this case is based on.
May 9, 2009
I love the music of the innovative hip hop group 5 Star Generalz, from Oakland, Cali, because they are funny, creative and push the envelope on what Bay Area hip hop sounds like. They are like a mix between the Luniz, Digital Underground, and Cheech and Chong.
March 11, 2009
Photo exhibit and fundraiser Friday, March 13, 6-7:30 p.m., at Youth Radio, 1701 Broadway, Downtown Oakland: Help this young artist study in Egypt this summer.
February 28, 2009
‘Since the police murder of Oscar Grant, there has been an awakening of the sleeping giant, the social consciousness of the people,’ writes Minister of Information JR. Call DA Tom Orloff, (510) 272-6222, to demand the charges be dropped against JR Valrey and all protesters. Stay tuned for more on the war against police terrorism in Oakland, birthplace of the Black Panther Party.
February 1, 2009
We want to call the names of those who made their transition in January and offer condolences to their loved ones who have yet to cross that bridge. I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that Ave Montague is gone.
January 13, 2009
Minister of Information JR, now out of jail, tells how and why Oakland was rocked by rebellion Jan. 7 after nearly a week of official silence following the New Year’s police execution of Oscar Grant. Look for a report – both here and in the February paper that will hit the streets Jan.30 – on the Town Bizness Townhall Meeting Against Police Terrorism that had people spilling out the door Friday.
January 9, 2009
The only journalist arrested while covering the Jan. 7 rebellion and one of only three protesters charged with a felony was POCC Minister of Information JR. Charged with arson (of a trash can), he is totally innocent. Tell Mayor Dellums, DA Orloff and Rep. Lee to drop all charges against all protesters.
November 2, 2008
We’re leading off the relaunch of SFBayView.com with an array of news and views about the foment at KPFA since police brutalized Nadra Foster, a 12-year unpaid programmer and Black single mom, inside the station after they were called by management and about KPFA’s retaliation against Minister of Information and Bay View Associate Editor JR Valrey for covering it.
October 25, 2008
Political prisoner Aaron Patterson was tortured by Chicago police and brought up on trumped up charges originally in 1986, when he was framed for a double homicide. In 2003, Gov. Ryan of Illinois acknowledged the torturing tactics of the Chicago Police Department under the leadership of Lt. Jon Burge and tenure of then prosecutor and now Mayor Richard M. Daley.
October 24, 2008
On Oct. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the death-row case of Troy Anthony Davis, putting him on the fast track to be murdered by the state of Georgia for the murder of a Savannah police officer in 1989. But on Friday, Oct. 24, in his third 11th-hour reprieve, the federal appeals court in Atlanta granted a stay so Troy’s lawyers can file claims of his innocence. Block Report Radio speaks with Troy’s sister Martina Davis about his case.
October 24, 2008
Recently KPFA has been making headlines for a number of reasons, most notably the Aug. 20 police beat down of Black programmer of 12 years Nadra Foster after a member of the KPFA management team called the police on her with approval from Pacifica management after Foster was accused of using a KPFA telephone for a personal call. So whose job is it to report on issues such as these in the Black community in and around KPFA or nationally? A daily or weekly Black public affairs show.
August 25, 2008
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, between 1 and 2 p.m., Nadra Foster, a young Black woman programmer and single mother, was beaten to the ground by the Berkeley police, arrested, hog-tied and taken to jail, after the management of KPFA radio and the Pacifica Foundation had called the police on her, falsely accusing her of being “banned” from the station.