Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Tag: Ella Baker Center

Wanda’s Picks August 2021: Interview with Pamela Price

Wanda Sabir’s interview with Pamela Price, Esq., running again for County of Alameda District Attorney, is a deep dive into aspirations that strengthen the DA progressive movement to unseat injustice in our justice system.

Shouting out loud: Not to free the elderly from prison now...

For those in positions of power in this state who, for whatever reasons, choose to ignore public calls and demands for change, know that united grassroot forces will seize every opportunity to SHOUT OUT LOUD that reforms are a dire necessity.

50+ organizations demand San Francisco release people from jails to mitigate...

“The proven and most effective way to combat the spread of infectious diseases inside of jails is to reduce the imprisoned population and release people back into their communities.” - No New SF Jail Coalition

Wanda’s Picks for February 2020

Happy Black History Month! We get an extra day and we need it too to get our Black Joy parade gear picked out for Sunday, Feb. 23. It’s an attitude, not an outfit.

Zach Norris releases new book, ‘We Keep Us Safe,’ ...

Oakland – After more than 20 years of experience as a thought leader in criminal justice and community empowerment, Ella Baker Center Executive Director and author Zach Norris will launch his new book “We Keep Us Safe“ on Tuesday, Feb. 4, in Oakland. In the book, Norris presents a vision for how the United States can achieve safety and security for everyone, especially the most vulnerable members of society.

Victory over military cop convention

On March 27, the San Francisco Bay Area’s Stop Urban Shield Coalition claimed victory in its four-year battle to stop Urban Shield, a war games and weapons convention for cops held in Alameda County every year since 2007. I spoke to Tracy Rosenberg, executive director of Media Alliance and co-facilitator of Oakland Privacy, a citizen’s coalition that works regionally to defend the right to privacy and enhance public transparency and oversight regarding the use of surveillance techniques and equipment. She has worked with the Stop Urban Shield Coalition since 2014.

Supervisors President London Breed joins city leaders in announcing first-in-the-nation legislation...

President London Breed today joined City leaders and community advocates in announcing groundbreaking legislation that will eliminate all existing criminal justice fees within the City and County of San Francisco’s jurisdiction. This includes fees related to adult probation, home detention, alcohol testing and others which are ​levied on individuals coming into and out of the City’s criminal justice system.

Defending sanctuary and fighting for abolition: It’s our time to be...

We find ourselves in a moment with a great deal at stake. Our communities are fighting to define and create sanctuary spaces, while enduring a dangerous presidential administration that has emboldened white supremacist and xenophobic action. The Trump agenda has caused increased harassment, fear and even death. In the movement for abolition of policing, imprisonment, surveillance and the entire prison industrial complex, now is our time to be bold.

Illinois prisoners boycott overpriced phone calls, commissary and vending machines

During the month of April, at least 100 of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center, about an hour outside of Chicago, Illinois, participated in a boycott of the overpriced phone calls, commissary goods and vending machines. “Mass incarceration is a luxury business,” stated Patrick Pursley, one of the men who joined in the boycott. The boycott comes at a time of growing demonstrations led by those inside U.S. prisons.

Get your Prop 47 convictions reclassified, even if you are not...

Urgency to end mass incarceration and the criminalization of poor people and people of color is growing. The general public’s awareness that it simply does not make sense to lock up people with substance abuse or mental health issues is setting the stage for important reforms to our justice system. With this understanding, California voters passed Proposition 47 “The Safe Neighborhood and Schools Act.”

Quest for Democracy 2015: Formerly incarcerated people lobby for justice in...

Our Formerly Incarcerated Quest for Democracy (Q4D) Day continues to grow and evolve. This year we had over 250 committed people. We had around 30 teams advocating on legislation relevant to formerly incarcerated people and our communities. Grassroots co-sponsors got a chance to educate community members about their bills. And Sen. Holly Mitchell as well as Assemblymembers Reginald Jones-Sawyer and Autumn Burke addressed participants.

A durable and sustainable plan: Reducing corrections spending in California

The month of March marked the beginning of state budget hearings that will set next year’s fiscal priorities for the welfare of Californians. The first version of the state budget shows no clear plan to provide adequate relief for people living in poverty, fails to make restorative investments to the social safety net, and continues to increase corrections spending.

Enough already with tasers for San Francisco police!

San Franciscans working from 2004 to 2013 to keep tasers out of SFPD officers’ hands as they “talk down” people in public crisis are today celebrating SFPD Chief Greg Suhr’s Wednesday, April 10, decision to drop his “less lethal” taser proposal for San Francisco cops. Idriss Stelley Foundation Program Director Jeremy Miller affirmed: “The Police Commission should be commended for engaging this issue seriously in a manner that befits their political responsibility. Tasers torture and kill. They are unaccountable weapons for unaccountable officers. But it was the people of San Francisco who forced Suhr’s hand.”

Groups urge Congresswoman Lee to push back against federal prison phone...

As part of a larger effort called the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, a delegation representing Bay Area organizations is petitioning Conngresswoman Barbara Lee to ask the FCC to address the high cost of prison phone calls by passing the Wright Petition.

‘The Scottsboro Boys,’ a review

The parody currently on stage at American Conservatory Theater, “The Scottsboro Boys,” staged by director-choreographer Susan Stroman (“The Producers”), through July 22, 2012, takes a historic tragedy in American history and recasts it as buffoonery. Black America should not be surprised. Classic guilt is always re-envisioned in this paradigm. The boogeyman is always Black and male.

CDCR: Bay View is contraband for mentioning George Jackson and Black...

About two weeks ago, the IGI (Institutional Gang Investigator) searched my cell in SHU and confiscated my Bay View newspapers, saying they are contraband if any articles speak on George Jackson or Black August. They said that the newspaper with said articles would be used to re-validate me at my six-year review. I should not be penalized for a newspaper article.

These budget cuts will kill our children

Join the rally Tuesday, Feb. 22, 12 noon, on the north steps of the Capitol in Sacramento to oppose California budget cuts to CalWORKS and MediCal that will have a deadly impact on children and families.

West Oakland’s Bike Man: an interview wit Bikes 4 Life owner...

Bikes 4 Life is on the cutting edge of the earth conscious movement that has to take place in this country if the human race is to survive. From the naked eye, it is a used bike shop that repairs and sells used bikes. In reality, it is one of the community anchors in West Oakland where people go to socialize and congregate and discuss community issues, including bikes.

Politics makes strange bedfellows

THE VERDICT is INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER. Justice for Oscar Grant says: ' All out to Broadway and 14th!' And heed these wise words: 'Requesting Activists and Citizens over 50 years old to show up at 14th street and Broadway. HANDS AROUND OUR YOUTH! We the older generation need to be present to protect our youth from possible police brutality. We must bear witness to our youths right to assemble and peacefully demonstrate. Let OPD know these are our children and deserve to be respected as full USA citizens with the right to peacefully demonstrate without police or outside interference. Come and protect our children.'

Stand with Van Jones!

The right wing bullies at Fox News – Glenn Beck and his ilk – are going after a man known for years of progressive work in the Bay Area: Van Jones. Van’s real crime? He’s the triple threat: He’s Black, he’s effective and he is empowering the people in this country who have the least resources.