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Rest in power, Elbert ‘Big Man’ Howard, founding father of the...

At 6:13 a.m. on July 23, Big Man joined the ancestors. Above all else, Elbert “Big Man” Howard loved his comrades and all oppressed people, who he never stopped fighting for. His Celebration of Live will be on Saturday, Aug. 25, 1 p.m., in the Bobby Hutton Grove inside of DeFremery Park, Oakland. Big Man was responsible for a free medical clinic for sickle-cell anemia and a work-study program for parolees at Merritt College. He was the first editor of The Black Panther newspaper, rebuilt Black Panther chapters decimated by COINTELPRO and built Solidarity Committees in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

The Bay View is the people’s microphone, the people’s paper

The Bay View is the people’s microphone. It’s one of the few voices we have. It may not be a big microphone, like CNN or the New York Times. But we need as many small and medium sized mikes as we can get. The San Francisco Bay View should not be a dwindling institution. It should be an expanding one. An ever thriving one. The light and voice of the people should not be a flickering candlelight, but a raging fire. If this community watchdog loses its bark or is put to sleep, it will truly be open season on us and our communities.

Wanda’s Picks for December 2017

Those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area reflect on the legacy and work that illustrated the life of Queen Mother Makinya Kouate. After Maulana Karenga gave the students from Merritt College a mimeographed sheet with notes about a harvest festival called Kwanzaa, the Oakland-Berkeley team started hosting community Kwanzaas in their homes. Later Sister Makinya would travel to Africa and learn more about harvest festivals

Empowerment Summit for Formerly Incarcerated Students and Families at Merritt College...

On April 19-20, Bay Area community members and groups representing a wide range of stakeholders, including students with criminal records and their families, higher education program administrators, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and other elected officials, local employers Checkr and Uber, workforce development professionals, and social service agencies will gather to discuss barriers to education and employment for students with records and learn about opportunities for record clearing, advocacy, empowerment and coalition building.

Honoring Sister Makinya Sibeko-Kouate, Queen Mother of Kwanzaa, who brought Black...

Sister Makinya Sibeko-Kouate (July 1, 1926-Feb. 4, 2017), named Queen Mother of Kwanzaa in 2015, hosted one of the first Bay Area Kwanzaas in her home, then took it across the world to 36 American states and 13 African nations, plus Europe and Mexico. She taught every grade from pre-school to post-graduate, wrote for the California Voice, hosted a show on KPFA for a decade, and performed as a pianist and dancer. A small ceremony will be held Thursday, Feb. 23, 1 p.m., in the Evergreen Mortuary chapel, 6450 Camden St. in Oakland.

Huey P. Newton’s brother Melvin speaks on their Panther histories

BlockReportRadio.com interviews Melvin Newton, about his brother Huey P. Newton and their history in the Black Panther Party in Oakland California. Melvin talks about Huey facing the death penalty after killing Oakland Police officer Frey, the Huey Newton Defense Committee, Huey's concept of globalization called Intercommunalism, the founding of Black Studies at Merritt College, and more.

Frisco 5’s Sellassie interviews Bobby Seale publicly on Friday

This upcoming Friday, activist and rapper Sellassie of the Frisco 5 will be interviewing Bobby Seale, the co-founder and chairman of the Black Panther Party, in front of an audience. I hooked up this Q&A with Sellassie so he could talk about his experiences with the Frisco 5’s hunger strike as well as his upcoming event with Bobby Seale. Stay tuned.

Black Friday: What legacy will you leave?

Uppity Edutainment presents “Black Friday: What Legacy Will You Leave” on April 21, 2016. Ric Mathis, executive producer of Mathis Multimedia Group, will explore in this documentary why African Americans have consistently remained in the lowest percentile of America’s wealth gap, while also presenting insight on how to restore the circulation of wealth in Black communities.

The Cuban Embassy’s First Secretary Miguel Fraga in a candid Block...

At Merritt College, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party, on the 74th birthday of its co-founder, Huey P. Newton, the African American Studies Program fittingly hosted a talk by the recently opened Cuban Embassy’s First Secretary Miguel Fraga, where he spoke on Cuban-U.S. relations. Afterwards, he and I continued to talk about the embargo, U.S. relations with Haiti, Venezuela and Bolivia, funding of Radio Marti, and the dissipation of the radical Latin American bloc of nations opposed to U.S. aggression and hegemony in the region and in the world.

Original Black Panther Elbert ‘Big Man’ Howard broadcasts jazz liberation

As a founding member of the Black Panther Party at the age of 28, Howard swiftly became the party’s minister of information, editing the group’s official newspaper, traveling to Japan as a spokesman and initiating a free medical clinic for sickle-cell anemia and a work-study program for parolees at Merritt College. Now, at age 78, Elbert "Big Man" Howard hosts Jazz Connections, a biweekly jazz show on KRCB-FM in Rohnert Park, and Jazz Styles, a monthly show on KOWS-FM in Sebastopol – playing the same music that he and his comrades relaxed and shared ideas to 50 years ago.

It’s about time for The Lumpen

Rickey Vincent’s new book, “Party Music,” about the Black Panther Party singing group The Lumpen is a great read. The revolutionary singing group was all about the ideology of the Black Panther Party in song and music. The Lumpen had a powerful show. They mixed the contemporary music of James Brown, Curtis Mayfield and Motown and changed the lyrics to provide a positive message in their music.

Wanda’s Picks for February 2013

The 23rd African American Celebration through Poetry is Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, 1-4 p.m. at the West Oakland Branch Library, 1801 Adeline St., in Oakland, (510) 238-7352. All are welcome and if anyone didn’t hear of the event in time to be a part of the featured program, we do have an open mic at the end of the program.

Wanda’s Picks for January 2013

This year, on the 150 anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, we all need to heed the words of Sister Jayne Cortez: “And if we don’t fight / if we don’t resist / if we don’t organize and unify and / get the power to control our own lives / Then we will wear / the exaggerated look of captivity ...” And don't miss Wanda's excellent, no holds barred reviews of “Django Unchained,” “Lincoln and “Red Hook Summer,” plus Dr. King birthday events listing and much more

Richard lives! More thoughts on my friend, Richard Aoki

In an earlier statement, I said that Richard Aoki is and was my respected friend, comrade, mentor and crime partner. I received the feedback that I had used fine words but had given no examples to show what I meant. I accept that criticism and the following is my response. I hope that you can see what kind of cat the brotha was.

‘Merritt College: Home of the Black Panther Party,’ an interview wit’...

Most people do not know enough about the Black Panther Party, which was founded at Merritt College in Oakland in October of 1966 by Minister of Defense Huey P. Newton and Chairman Bobby Seale. This happening is important to Black history nationally and worldwide because the Panthers were and are an example of Black people fighting for self-determination no matter the cost.

Wanda’s Picks for June 2012

I would like to wish all the fathers a blessed and happy Fathers’ Day 2012. It is a hard time to be a parent of a youngster, not to mention an adolescent or youth. The challenges are great, in direct proportion to the rewards. I’d like to congratulate the young fathers who are stepping up and participating in their children’s lives, especially when society equates parenting with one’s largess or paycheck.

Conscious Daughter: Rap legend served ‘special’ purpose

Karryl Smith (Special One) and Carla Green (CMG), better known as The Conscious Daughters (TCD), exploded nationally on the hip-hop scene when their first single, “Funky Expedition,” from the debut album “Ear to the Street” dominated video stations like MTV, BET and The Box in the early 1990s.

Paramedic whistleblower alleges Oscar Grant cover-up, system-wide racism

Paramedic Sean Gillis, an instructor and supervisor at the Oakland Fire Department, filed suit on Friday against the OFD, alleging that the OFD mistreated Oscar Grant in its response to Grant’s 911 calls on Jan. 1, 2009, destroyed all evidence of the mistreatment, ordered Gillis to stop his investigation and are retaliating against him.

Beauty and brains: an interview with the fashion show organizer and...

Hanging out back stage at a recent fashion show in Oakland, I met the beautiful and intelligent model Mercedes White. I wanted to profile her because she was not just an arm piece or a nice body profiling clothes; she is modeling to pay for her education. She told me that she is driven to become a medical doctor.

Live From the Oakland International Film Festival:

We got wit’ Samm Styles to do this interview, because we wanted our readers to be educated and understand the importance of the Oakland International Film Festival to movie-goers, filmmakers and local business, specifically.