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An epidemic of brutality: Oakland filmmaker feels police wrath
November 15, 2010
Hours after San Francisco Bay Area radio show host JR Valrey screened his documentary film, “Operation Small Axe,” about police brutality at a university in Philadelphia, daily newspapers in that city carried articles about two separate lawsuits filed against Philly police alleging brutality. “Police brutality is definitely not ‘isolated incidents,’ as officials always say after each new killing or beating by police,” said Valrey, host of the Block Report, a program aired on KPFA-FM, the Pacifica station in the Bay Area.
Queen of queens
November 14, 2010
Queen Nyoka is an up and coming reggae artist out of the Bay who makes her words count when it comes to chanting down Babylon.
Cops entrap Justice for Oscar Grant marchers: two eyewitness accounts
November 10, 2010
I was swept up and arrested Friday night in Oakland at the end of the Justice for Oscar Grant march. As usual, most Bay Area TV stations gave a factually awful – very pro-police – spin to what happened.
What part of ‘killed_unarmed_Black_man = murder’ doesn’t OPD understand?
November 10, 2010
Another unarmed Black brother, Derrick Jones, 37, barbershop owner and father of an infant girl, met a violent death on Monday night, shot and killed by two Oakland police officers while “fleeing.” March for justice Thursday 3 p.m. from Bancroft & Seminary.
‘We come out to protest police brutality and what happens? We get a police state!’
November 7, 2010
Police agencies from at least nine counties, plus Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA and DOJ descended upon Oakland. They were intent on demonizing the people to remove the focus from the unjust and outright farce of a sentence received by Johannes Mehserle. The people have a right to assemble, demonstrate, march and take a stand against a system that continuously oppresses, brutalizes and murders them. We demand the immediate release of all those arrested on Nov. 5 and dismissal of all charges. (Includes three videos)
Johannes Mehserle sentenced to two years with double credit for time served
November 5, 2010
Judge Robert Perry has sentenced former BART transit cop Johannes Mehserle to the minimum sentence of two years in state prison for the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Judge Perry gave double credit – 292 days – for his time served. Tune in KPFA 94.1FM or kpfa.org 4-6 p.m. for a special report on the Mehserle sentencing hosted by Minister of Information JR with Davey D and Sabrina Jacobs. Their guests include Cephus Johnson (Oscar’s Uncle Bobby), Jack Bryson, John Burris and M1 of dead prez.
Why liberal justice is not justice for Oscar Grant
November 3, 2010
There is a something dangerous about the pervading view of justice for Oscar Grant that constrains the perception of injustice to the bullet in the back, the soft verdict, the light sentence. For an alternative view on the day of Mehserle’s sentencing, Friday, Nov. 5, 4-6 p.m., tune in KPFA 94.1 FM for special coverage with guests Cephus Johnson, Oscar’s Uncle Bobby; Jack Bryson, Oscar’s friends’ father; Oscar’s family’s attorney John Burris; journalists Dave Id and Thandisizwe Chimurenga; M1 of dead prez; and Askia Sabur, whose Philly police beating was, like Oscar’s murder, caught on video.
The coming Mehserle sentencing: Redrawing the line on ‘outside agitators’
November 1, 2010
With the upcoming sentencing of Johannes Mehserle on Nov. 5, the rebellions of January 2009 that brought about his arrest could very well be set off once more. And once again we expect to hear the mantra blaming “outside agitators.”
Mumia, the media and more: Davey D, MOI JR and Malcolm Shabazz on Hard Knock Radio
October 29, 2010
Hard Knock Radio is a must-listen show broadcast weekdays on KPFA 94.1 FM at 4-5 p.m. On Oct. 26, the show kicked off with this historic conversation between host Davey D, Minister of Information JR and Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X.
Longshoremen will shut down all Bay Area ports Saturday to win justice for Oscar Grant
October 22, 2010
Local 10 of the ILWU is calling for a labor and community rally on Saturday, Oct. 23, 12 noon, at City Hall, near 14th & Broadway in Oakland, to demand justice for Oscar Grant and the jailing of killer cops. Bay Area ports will shut down that day to stand with the Black community. Get ready for the rally Friday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m., with a screening of Minister of Information JR’s film ‘Operation Small Axe’ plus revolutionary art by Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland.
Labor to state: Jail killer cops
October 14, 2010
Labor unions and community activists in the Bay Area and beyond have a responsibility to condemn the received view of police violence and to demand a modicum of justice for Oscar Grant. They can do so by responding to the call by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 to unite on Saturday, Oct. 23, at Oakland City Hall in support of “jail for killer cops.”
Pam Africa: 100% death penalty abolition must include Mumia
October 10, 2010
Minister of Information JR speaks with Pam Africa about a secret memo signed by the U.S. members of the Steering Committee of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty that can be summed up as “throwing Mumia under the bus.”
Community responds to Mehserle request for retrial in the shooting of Oscar Grant
October 4, 2010
Community groups are denouncing an announcement today by the defense team for former BART officer Johannes Mehserle that they are seeking a retrial in the shooting death of unarmed Oscar Grant III.
4th Wurld experience: an interview wit’ Atlanta radio’s Dj 4th Wurld
September 27, 2010
I was recently politickin’ in Atlanta with the radio broadcast legend Tenisio aka Dj 4th Wurld of WRFG, who specializes in playing rap music from the continent of Africa. African rappers from the continent are waiting in the shadows for their shot, and Dj 4th Wurld is working the door, giving only the dopest a seat on his radio show.
The stolen life of Jimon Clark
September 4, 2010
Jimon Clark, a young bright Black male, 13 years old, was executed on the mean streets of East Oakland on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010. His execution was a one-day news story. His young life was so much more. We need police who are trusted by the East Oakland community.
Wearing your politics: an interview wit’ jewelry-maker Mercedes Martin
August 15, 2010
Mercedes Martin is one of the new young emerging political artists out of the Bay with a whole lot to say. The thing is that she does not rock a mic or joust with her pen; she is a political jewelry maker who tends to hover around personalities like Oscar Grant, Malcolm X and political musicians.
California Assembly votes to report on human rights to U.N. committees
August 13, 2010
The California Assembly took the historic step of making California the first state to agree to publicize the text of three human rights ratified U.N. treaties and to submit the required reports to the State Department for consideration by the U.N. treaty committees.
Cops push to ‘Free Johannes Mehserle’; Oscar Grant forces push back, protest KTVU
August 8, 2010
Supporters of killer cop Johannes Mehserle rallied in San Jose Aug. 2 with no counter-demonstrators. KTVU was there and last week presented two features on Mehserle’s life story, presumably intended to soften his public image and engender sympathy for him as the Nov. 5 sentencing date approaches. Justice for Oscar Grant supporters will protest in the parking lot outside KTVU on Thursday, Aug. 12, 12:30 p.m., at 2 Jack London Square, Oakland. Be there to honor Black August! And Oscar Grant supporters are asked to demand the maximum sentence for Mehserle.
Watching justified rage consume Oakland
August 3, 2010
After a POCC People’s Investigation into the Oakland 2010 Rebellion’s shutting down of Foot Locker, what baffled me was that many people could not politically put together that liberating merchandise was putting political pressure on downtown to pressure government to prosecute the criminals that killed Oscar Grant on New Year’s morning of 2009.
Oscar Grant vs. Mehserle: Face off in Walnut Creek
August 2, 2010
A rally staged in support of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in Walnut Creek July 19 drew hundreds of protesters, dozens of journalists and photographers and plenty of police.