August 10, 2012
Eighteen-year-old high school senior and Oakland resident Alan Blueford was shot to death by police on May 6 under curious circumstances. The coroner’s report, showing Blueford never shot at the officer, was finally released after the July 19 press conference Alan’s parents were forced to organize.
July 30, 2012
During the week of July 15, 2012, Haitian officials ordered a group of residents of La Visite Park to evacuate the area. On Monday, July 23, around noon, 36 commandos arrived in La Visite Park to evict 142 families, who fought back with stones in a battle that lasted four hours. Dozens were injured. Initial reports noted that four children were shot dead along with eight adults.
May 24, 2012
OPD held a town hall meeting May 23 at Acts Full Gospel Church to try and calm down residents angry about the murder of Alan Blueford. As Chief Howard Jordan rattled off lie after lie, folks turned their backs to him. The church could not contain the outrage. The argument moved outside into the bright sunlight, where the police shuffled, anxious, like so many cave dwellers. Compare the response in Hunters Point when San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr attempted to hold a townhall on July 20, 2011, four days after police murdered Kenneth Harding, 19. See the videos.
May 15, 2012
The real plan for Haiti’s northeastern region – especially the Caracol Bay area – is one that was hatched by Canadian mining corporations, with the U.S. and South Korean sweatshop zone being a side project and distraction. If this mining plan is given a green light while Haiti is under foreign occupation, it will permanently strip the country of much of its mineral, cultural and ecological wealth.
January 11, 2012
In the ’60s, Haiti thrived with style and panache, brimming with laughter, flavor, music and color. Things dear to the Haitian soul were valued – things that could not be bought. Aid required that Haiti’s economy be changed – to benefit the U.S. Yes, the earthquake has hurt Haiti, but capitalism has hurt it more. Don’t miss the premiere of “Haiti Rising from the Ashes,” a dynamic new film by young pan-Africans Chris Zamani, M.D., Minister of Information JR and filmmaker Siraj Fowler, 7 p.m., at Twin Space Continuum, 2111 Mission St., third floor, San Francisco.
December 8, 2011
The “peacekeepers” are the fastest-growing branch of the U.N., with a budget of U.S. $8 billion and over 110,000 troops serving 15 operations. Ten percent of this budget is spent on Haiti – a small country that is not at war – to train foreign troops for future warfare against their own civilians.