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Occupy the Hood’s national effort coordinated by Ife Johari Uhuru, Detroit single mom
November 22, 2011
“I think that we’ve decided that the twinkling fingers and all of that may not be for us,” said Uhuru. “We remain in solidarity. But we want to be able to speak and then act autonomously and really get involved in grassroots causes.”
The road from Attica
September 9, 2011
Sept. 9 marks 40 years since the uprising at Attica State Prison in upstate New York and the deadly and sadistic retaking of the prison – and mass torture of hundreds of prisoners all the rest of the day and night and beyond – by state police and prison guards on the morning of Sept. 13, 1971. Attica and its aftermath exposed the powder kegs ready to explode inside the U.S. prisons.
From Harlem to the United Nations: Hands off Africa and Africans worldwide!
August 17, 2011
Thousands of people stood in unity at the Millions March in Harlem on Malcolm X Boulevard and 110th Street in Harlem, New York, on Saturday, Aug.13, to make the demand, “U.S. / NATO HANDS OFF AFRICA AND HANDS OFF AFRICAN PEOPLE!”
The People’s Lawyer: an interview wit’ Lynne Stewart
August 16, 2011
Lynne Stewart is one of the legendary activist lawyers of our time and also one of the many political prisoners of our time, who was incarcerated because her style of lawyering was called aiding and abetting a terrorist organization, by one of the biggest terrorist organizations ever known to humanity: the United States government.
Strike updates: Stop prison torture at Pelican Bay
July 12, 2011
Support for the hunger strike grows with solidarity actions across the U.S. and Canada this past weekend.
A series of noise demonstrations outside jails, detention centers and prisons occurred internationally in St. Louis, New York City, Oakland, Los Angeles, Montreal and Kitchener, Ontario.
Rethinking Malcolm: What was Marable thinking?
July 8, 2011
The new book by Manning Marable, “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,” will help us to get a deeper understanding of Malcolm X and the times we’re living in now. This will not be a direct result of what Marable has done, but rather of what needs to happen now because of what he has done.
McKinney human rights fact-finders show Libyan deaths, injuries not ‘propaganda’
June 9, 2011
In the CIA kick-started war on Libya, The New York Times report Monday by John F. Burns, calling Libyan civilian casualties “propaganda,” does not square with a series of WBAIX in-hospital interviews.
Malcolm and the music
May 19, 2011
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), born 86 years ago on May 19, 1925, was loved by the oppressed and hated by the oppressors. Our “Black Shining Prince,” in the words of Ossie Davis, aimed to “use whatever means necessary to bring about a society in which the 22 million Afro-Americans are recognized and respected as human beings.” His influence is immeasurable – from music to foreign policy to religion. Today Islam, followed then by very few, is the second largest religion in the United States and Canada.
Black and Brown workers protest White contractor in Harlem
May 14, 2011
West Harlem streets around City College of New York were suddenly filled with angry workers’ chants on May 10: Black and Latino construction workers protesting the construction of City College’s new dormitory by a White-owned firm, while legitimate Harlem-based Black and Latino contractors were not hired, a pattern City College has followed for 30 years. Read how Harlem Fightback! and other coalitions have fought and are once again fighting back.
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.
The day the music died: Malcolm X' assassination, Feb. 21, 1965
February 18, 2011
On the afternoon of Feb. 21, 1965, I went to the Audubon Ballroom to hear Malcolm X speak. It was the saddest day of my life. An update has been added to this story, originally published in 2009.
50 years after Lumumba: The burden of history
January 25, 2011
It wasn’t just Patrice Lumumba his assassins wanted to kill, it was the genuine self-determination, dreams and aspirations of African people, writes Horace Campbell, reflecting on the murder of the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Jan. 17, 1961. Two poems by Lumumba follow the story.
Wet paint: an interview with visual artist Sophia Dawson
January 11, 2011
Sophia Dawson is an artist I met in Harlem, New York, at this year’s Black Panther Film Fest, where she had a striking painted piece of Black Panther co-founder and Chairman Bobby Seale. I have seen a lot of dope, conscious-minded Black visual artists over the years; she is definitely one of the more talented ones.
Blacks, prison and joblessness
November 24, 2010
“This system treats us like throw-away people,” says Carolyn Brown, a Seattle volunteer with prison reform group Justice Works! An African American with a record, her effort to find a job is deeply frustrating due to systemic racism.
Malcolm Shabazz on the three chapters missing from ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X’
October 18, 2010
Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, otherwise known as Malcolm X, explains why he does not support the inclusion of three chapters omitted from “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”
The death of Sister Soul
August 22, 2010
From the first time I ever heard of Abbey Lincoln she was associated with the struggle for the freedom and dignity of Black folks. She could have found commercial success, but Abbey was committed to the liberation and elevation of her oppressed people; once you experience that freedom high, nothing can compare with it.
Political lawyer Lynne Stewart unjustly held captive: interview with her political partner Ralph Poynter
January 6, 2010
Lynne Stewart is one of the last of a dying breed of political lawyers who represent victims of government tyranny as her quest in life. Now she is one of America’s newest political prisoners. She represented people like Larry Davis and members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, among other high profile cases.
Mumia Abu-Jamal could face death any day now
November 4, 2009
“Resistance is growing – preparations are in progress,” Dr. Suzanne Ross, a clinical psychologist and co-chairperson of the Free Mumia/NY Coalition explained to The Final Call. Ms. Ross said she attended the emergency meeting at the Abiding Truth Ministries church in Philadelphia on Oct. 17, where plans were laid out for the upcoming campaign to get Mr. Abu-Jamal freed.
The Kaos Network: an interview with owner Ben Caldwell
October 16, 2009
Ben Caldwell is a mainstay in Los Angeles’ Black cultural district known as Leimert Park. He has had a part in assisting in the careers of many of LA’s most talented artists over the last 20 years, but most notable would be the influence that he and his venue, the Kaos Network, had on the legendary LA artist collective known as Project Blowed.
Legendary writer, poet and cultural critic: an interview wit’ Amiri Baraka
October 13, 2009
Amiri Baraka, one of the most fiery political poets and cultural critics in Black Amerikkka, recently celebrated his 75th birthday. He is the father of the Black Arts Movement of the ‘60s and after 2001, New Jersey abolished the poet laureate position because they couldn’t fire him, the incumbent, after he wrote his controversial piece, “Somebody Blew Up America.” On Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 p.m., Amiri will be speaking in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Library, 100 Larkin St., as well as at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St. at 6:30 in West Oakland on the same day. Here’s a quick Q & A that I did with Amiri Baraka …
