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Latinos, Blacks join fight for civil rights in Arizona
May 23, 2010
A united front of Black and Latino Arizonans mobilized against a state law that they see as a threat to their civil rights. Gov. Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law on Friday, making Arizona the first state in the nation to make it a crime for a person to be undocumented.
Remembering Dr. Dorothy Height
May 10, 2010
President Obama delivered the eulogy Thursday for our beloved Dr. Dorothy Height. Dr. Height never did receive the mainstream recognition that she more than deserved, so I am proud that my president lifted her legacy for all America and the world to see and honor.
Michelle Alexander’s ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’
May 6, 2010
Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” (published by The New Press, 2010) looks at the invisible people and the invisible birdcage that keeps the masses of Black people locked in and alienated from society – the targets of the War on Drugs.
NOLA vs. the po-po
March 10, 2010
The veil of authority and legitimacy shielding most urban police forces against popular suspicion and distrust simply doesn’t exist in New Orleans. Hardly anyone likes or trusts the po-po. The actual point of this piece is to reflect a little on the war currently raging between the people of New Orleans and the NOPD.
Martin Luther King Day special: Ben Jealous statement, Cornel West speech, Dr. King in Memphis documentary
January 18, 2010
In the spirit of Dr. King and guided by Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee, the SF Bay View and Block Report Radio are preparing to send a media-medical team to Haiti to serve the people most in need. A fundraiser will be held Sunday, Jan. 24, 6:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St. in West Oakland. Spread the word! Be there! Bring medical supplies.
‘The Other America’
January 15, 2010
“The Other America” by Martin Luther King Jr. “is a chilling, troubled speech made with the background of urban riots, pleas for Black Power and the Vietnam War.” – Ishmael Reed
Blacks in talk radio: an interview with Black program director and talk show host Rob Redding
December 16, 2009
In this conversation between two young Black men who are passionate about the potential role of radio in the Black community, Minister of Information JR begins: “Rob Redding is one of few Black program directors at a mainstream talk radio station: KMLB in Monroe, Louisiana. He is also syndicated on XM Radio and on Green 960 AM in the Bay Area.”
Nevada Prison Board hearing, Part 2: Shocking public comments
April 20, 2009
“You could hear a pin drop” when prisoner Marritte Funches’ letter was read at the April 14 hearing of the Nevada Board of Prison Commissioners. These are four of the shocking public comments submitted to the Prison Board on April 14.
Notes from the occupied territories: Black America and the police
March 24, 2009
When the full story is finally told and, though not likely freely admitted by many, deep within the spiritual thinking of numerous African Americans, an emotional candle will be lit in memory of Lovelle Mixon.
Attorney General Eric Holder: ‘A nation of cowards’
February 19, 2009
We need to confront our racial past – and our racial present. In things racial, we have always been and continue to be essentially a nation of cowards. This Department of Justice, as long as I am here, must – and will – lead the nation to the “new birth of freedom.”
‘Fired up, can’t take it no more’
February 6, 2009
The place was the historic Black Dot Café in West Oakland; the event, a “Town Bizness” town hall meeting hosted by the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC) with the presence of Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.
Huey: a memory (1942-1989)
February 5, 2009
Huey P. Newton’s name and, more importantly, his history of resistance and struggle is little more than a mystery for many younger people in their 20s. Huey P. Newton was a rebel – and more, a Black Revolutionary.
Voting as addition and subtraction
October 24, 2008
Every single eligible citizen who is 18 years old on Election Day has the constitutional right to vote. A right that cannot be restricted because of tricks, wealth, property ownership, fiscal judgment, gender, national origin or race. That’s the law, but …