March 8, 2011
There is no possibility of understanding what is happening in Libya within a Eurocentric framework. Libya’s system and the battle now taking place on its soil stands completely outside of the Western imagination. The battle that is being waged in Libya is fundamentally a battle between pan-African forces on the one hand, who are dedicated to the realization of Qaddafi’s vision of a united Africa, and Libyan Arab forces who look toward Europe and the Arab world for Libya’s future.
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.
January 10, 2011
On or about Dec. 16, Terrance Bryant Dean was severely beaten by guards at Macon State Prison. The Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights asserts this brutal beating was in retaliation against the multiracial group of prisoners who staged a peaceful protest demanding their human rights.
January 6, 2011
“Since the start of the Dec. 9 peaceful work stoppage and appeal for reform and respect for human rights, some inmates have been targeted and others have simply disappeared. We are urging the Department of Corrections and Governor-Elect Nathan Deal to act now to halt these unjust practices and treat these men like human beings,” said Ed Dubose, President of the NAACP of Georgia.
December 24, 2010
Eight days after the start of Georgia’s historic prisoners’ strike, advocates met with state corrections officials and visited a prison. “The prisoners have done all they can do now. It’s up to us to build a movement out here that can make the changes which have to be made,” said Rev. Kenny Glasgow of The Ordinary Peoples Society (TOPS).
December 20, 2010
Four and half decades after El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X) made the Hajj to Mecca, his grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, made his pilgrimage. In this, the first interview to be published in the U.S. about his experience, Malcolm says, “Now, by the Will and Grace of Allah, I am a revolutionary Muslim who is in service to the people, especially to the masses of downtrodden and oppressed.” Don’t miss Malcolm’s Report Back from Mecca, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 6:30 p.m., at Twin Space, 2111 Mission St., San Francisco.
December 14, 2010
In a protest spreading through Georgia’s prison system, inmates are striking for better conditions and to be paid for their work, which they’re now forced to do for free. They’ve locked themselves down in peaceful protest but are being punished violently, some beatings resulting in broken ribs and one man beaten beyond recognition. Sign the petitions and learn other ways you can help.
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.”
July 22, 2010
After Malcolm X passed on, his writings and teachings really took root in the minds of a new generation, inspiring young Black people in Oakland to create the Black Panther Party. Forty-five years later, his first male heir and grandson, Malcolm Shabazz, has come to the Bay. Meet him and Cynthia McKinney Thursday, July 22, 7:30 p.m., at Twinspace, 2111 Mission St., San Francisco.
July 8, 2010
“They’ve made Johannes Mehserle into a victim in this case and he’s nothing but a brutal killer,” said Aidge Patterson, leader of the LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant. He believes a lack of media coverage of the first cop to be tried for murder in California was intended to quiet people down. “This is obviously one of the most historic cases in the entire country and it should be on every news station, but they’re good at keeping people ignorant.” Thank Minister of Information JR for convincing the Black press to cover the story.
July 6, 2010
At the Toxic Triangle hearing on June 12 at St. John’s Baptist Church, residents discussed the many undiagnosed and unidentified health and skin problems that have resulted from the many pollution sources such as Chevron, the Navy’s Hunters Point Shipyard and the PG&E toxic site.
May 19, 2010
Malcolm spoke of U.S. imperialism in Africa when most of us were hoodwinked into believing the U.S. were the good guys. Not only did Malcolm disabuse us of those foolish and faulty notions, he railed against U.S. racism and its racist foreign policies. He envisioned dire consequences of U.S. thuggery around the world but particularly in Africa.
May 7, 2010
At a community town hall on May 8, the discussion is expected to generate ideas for building community responses against violence that don’t involve police. The town hall will take place from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at Oakland City Council chambers, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. No gang injunctions!
April 19, 2010
Davey D interviews Minister Christopher Muhammad, leader of the Stop Lennar Action Movement, on Hard Knock Radio about Lennar’s latest mischief-making. Tell the SF Board of Supervisors to tell Lennar ‘No guns at community meetings’ Tuesday, April 20, 2 p.m., SF City Hall Room 250. Pack the Supervisors’ Chambers as they vote on a resolution condemning Lennar.
April 11, 2010
Community outrage over Florida-based developer Lennar sending an armed ex-SFPD officer to a meeting where a scientist invited by the EPA was criticizing a controversial report favoring Lennar’s massive development plans for Hunters Point will be aired on Monday, April 12, at a 9 a.m. hearing in the Legislative Chamber, Room 250, of San Francisco City Hall. Don’t be tricked. The meeting time was advanced from 10:30 to discourage attendance. Please be there!
April 2, 2010
On Feb. 18, Lennar sent an armed operative to a town hall meeting hosted by the Stop Lennar Action Movement (SLAM), featuring Wilma Subra, a world renowned scientist who was brought to San Francisco by the Environmental Protection Agency. A former police officer, the man had NO permit to carry the weapon, signed in under a false name, was taking pictures of the crowd and refused to provide correct information. RALLY MONDAY, APRIL 12, 9:30 A.M., STEPS OF SF CITY HALL! Hearing follows. Demand justice!
July 7, 2009
What was amazing about the hearing Monday was the prosecution’s admission that it didn’t have enough evidence to convict these men. As attorney Daro Inouye said of Jalil Muntaqim, who pled no contest to the prosecution’s charge of conspiracy, his client picked up a loaded grenade to save his brothers, his friends, his fellow defendants, and he didn’t plead guilty. That language did not pass his lips.
June 10, 2009
A Michigan judge ruled this week that the Rev. Edward Pinkney, a Benton Harbor minister and longtime vocal community activist who recently served 13 months in jail, couldn’t attend his own hearing in Grand Rapids before the Michigan Court of Appeals because he is under 24-hour house arrest and probation for quoting the Bible.
June 4, 2009
An all-white Berrien County jury had convicted Rev. Pinkney, the founder of Benton Harbor’s Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizers (BANCO) and an associate pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church, in March 2007 on allegations of voter fraud. He won release from prison on bond in December 2008 only after the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took an interest in his case and helped with his defense.
May 28, 2009
Signs reading “Justice for Oscar Grant,” “Abolish the Three Strikes Law” and “Demandamos Justicia Ya!” floated above a sea of ralliers of different ages, religious beliefs, genders and ethnicities. From Bakersfield up to Sacramento, activists, teachers and family members came together to rally against laws that have failed to serve the betterment of their communities.