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Cynthia McKinney: We are here because we love humankind
May 27, 2011
How wonderful to be at a conference (the International Conference on Global Alliance Against Terrorism for a Just Peace in Tehran, Iran) where the word “love” is used; we are here because we love humankind. We are here from all corners of the earth; we are against terrorism; we want peace.
Gang injunctions, unfettered police power gentrify Oakland
May 4, 2011
Labeled a crime fighting tool, gang injunctions are ineffective, counter-productive and further strain the relationship between residents and police. Pack the courtroom Friday, May 6, 2 p.m., 1225 Fallon, Dept. 20, Oakland, for a hearing on the Fruitvale gang injunction.
Wanda’s Picks for May 2011
May 4, 2011
Happy Mother’s Day to Yuri Kochiyama! I’d like to also wish the women who haven’t seen their children in a long time, some since birth, a special Happy Mother’s Day. Our prayers are with you even if you feel alone at a time when in America prisons systematically separate mothers from their children, often permanently.
Wanda’s Picks for April 2011
April 10, 2011
When Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, he was about to join the sanitation workers in their protest for a union and more decent wages. The movement for civil rights was taking hold in the North and America didn’t like it – so off with King’s head.
Fulfilling King’s dream
April 4, 2011
On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, while supporting Black sanitation workers fighting for collective bargaining rights. His support was part of his “Poor People’s Campaign,” a second phase of the civil rights movement.
Deep inside every one of us is a Revolution waiting to happen
February 16, 2011
Once again, the world is rising up against oppression. In the U.S., our time will come. Remember the kind of commitment we saw in Malcolm X, who was murdered 46 years ago this month. On the morning of Feb. 21, Malcolm received a phone call saying, “Today is the day.” He showed up anyway, knowing that that day could be his very last day on this Earth. Malcolm did not let fear control his commitment to the cause of freedom and justice. That is the real stuff we all are made of. Deep inside every one of us is a Revolution waiting to happen.
Awakening the power of the human dream of freedom
February 5, 2011
Individuals in North Africa, Europe and West Asia are rewriting the history of their countries as “people power” takes center stage. This “people power” has always existed within us; history is written by those who recognize the power of the human dream of freedom and who set about making that dream a reality, against all odds.
MLK’s legacy and the renewed assaults on the working class and oppressed
January 15, 2011
In 2011 the MLK federal holiday comes at a time where everything Dr. King and the civil rights movement fought for during the 1950s and 1960s is under attack by Wall Street and their surrogates in the administration and Congress.
Lucasville prison uprising leaders go on hunger strike
January 7, 2011
Four death-sentenced prisoners, wrongfully convicted of crimes following the 1993 prison rebellion in Lucasville, Ohio, started a hunger strike Jan. 3. They say they would rather die, if they must, on their own terms, rather than on a gurney by lethal injection. They want to strike a blow against confinement conditions so inhumane that they amount to torture.
Congolese youth, be the vanguard of the peaceful revolution and salvation of your country!
January 1, 2011
Congolese youth, the great Congo of today is ours. This gift is not just hereditary, but also because millions of Congolese have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country since 1482. We must do everything in our power to assure that our beautiful Congo remains in the hands of the sons and daughters of the Congo.
Hunger strike of the Lucasville uprising prisoners starting Monday, Jan. 3
December 31, 2010
Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar), Jason Robb and Namir Mateen (James Were) will start a hunger strike on Monday, Jan. 3, to protest their 23-hour-a-day lockdown for nearly 18 years. They were sentenced to death for their alleged roles in the 11-day Lucasville rebellion in April 1993. They are innocent! They were wrongfully convicted! They are political prisoners.
Wanted! Black leaders for California prisoner release court order
November 4, 2010
Allen Jones, a prison reformer in San Francisco, is calling out all so-called Black leaders for being silent on the recent court order by three federal judges to release 44,000 inmates from California’s overcrowded prison system.
Was Speaker Pelosi’s ‘swamp’ a Black thing?
August 27, 2010
How could Porter Goss oversee the investigation of Congresswoman Maxine Waters in light of their conflict over the CIA-crack connection? He should have recused himself. Is Nancy Pelosi in on this political hit as well? So far, all eight suspects since she vowed to ‘drain the swamp’ of corruption are Black.
From Oakland to Arizona, Black clergy say, ‘Our struggle is one’
July 9, 2010
With Arizona’s harsh new immigration law threatening to unleash a wave of racial profiling, Bay Area African-American clergy and community leaders traveled to Phoenix late last month on a four-day solidarity mission.
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.
Paul, the magnificent: Tribute by Mumia Abu-Jamal on Paul Robeson’s birthday
April 9, 2010
I regard Paul Robeson as my hero and one of the greatest men who has ever lived. His words have a relevance that continues to inspire us, decades after his utterance. Of his art, he said: “[It] is a weapon in the struggle for my people’s freedom and for the freedom of all people.”
From Cynthia McKinney: An unwelcome Katrina redux
January 19, 2010
“From the very beginning, U.S. assistance to Haiti has looked to me more like an invasion than a humanitarian relief operation,” says McKinney. The SF Bay View, Block Report Radio, POCC and Haiti Action Committee are preparing to send a media-medical team to Haiti to serve the people most in need. Come to the fundraiser Sunday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St. in West Oakland. Bring medical supplies. Spread the word!
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.
King’s legacy serves as a call to arms on crisis in Haiti
January 15, 2010
Today provides a moment for reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born 81 years ago on this day. It is also a moment of intense anguish for the survivors and those continuing to suffer in the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti.