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Haiti on our minds
February 5, 2010
Haiti, once the colonial-era “Pearl of the Antilles” (Caribbean), then the “Mother of Revolutions,” has suffered for nearly two centuries for daring to fight for – and win – its freedom from European colonialism, slavery and plunder. If it hadn’t been bled and exploited for centuries, Haiti would’ve had the wherewithal to protect its people.
New Martin Luther King Day report shows that economic policies must be targeted to address racial disparities
January 18, 2010
A new report released today finds that African Americans and Latinos are experiencing the brunt of the economic recession, from joblessness to foreclosures, and that targeted economic policies are required to address the racial economic divide in the U.S.
Black joblessness becoming showdown between Black leaders and Black president
December 3, 2009
African-American joblessness – nearly twice the national rate – is quickly becoming the first showdown between Black leaders and the nation’s first Black president as national Black and civil right leaders raise their voices telling the Obama administration it’s time to end the jobs crisis in the Black community.
Cynthia McKinney: My visit to Cape Town, South Africa
October 16, 2009
At the Cape Town film festival, Cynthia McKinney debuted Minister of Information JR’s “Operation Small Axe,” a film that will get folks ready for the venue change in the Oscar Grant killer cop case. It’s screening Saturday, Oct. 17, 1:30 p.m., at the West Oakland Library, 18th & Adeline, for Black Panther History Month and Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 p.m., SF State Student Union for the Black Student Union.
The challenges of Congo advocacy in the 21st century
October 5, 2009
One hundred years ago, a global outrage surrounding the death of an estimated 10 million Congolese resulted in the end of King Leopold II of Belgium’s rule in the Congo. Ordinary people around the world from all walks of life stood at the side of the Congolese and demanded the end of the first recorded Congolese holocaust. A century later, the world finds itself facing the same issue, where the Congolese people are subjected to unimaginable suffering.
Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign applauds extension of Recovery Office and creation of Long-Term Recovery Working Group
October 3, 2009
The Gulf Coast Civic Works Campaign welcomes President Barack Obama’s decision to create a federal working group to examine our nation’s long-term recovery policies in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to extend the mandate of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Recovery.
An open letter to Speaker Pelosi: Make good on your promise to rebuild the Gulf
August 31, 2009
On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina took the lives of more than 1,836 people, displaced more than 1 million residents, and damaged more than 200,000 Gulf Coast homes in a 90,000 square mile area. The damage caused by the flooding, storm surge and high winds destroyed schools, hospitals, roads, community centers, bridges, parks and forestlands. In the end, the Gulf Coast suffered more than $100 billion in damage, making Katrina the costliest and most deadly hurricane in the history of the United States.
Casualties of war
July 28, 2009
Mass imprisonment is a consequence of the war on drugs. It is estimated that over 600,000 of the 2,300,000 people in state and federal prisons are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. This does not include the other 5 million people who are either confined in county jails or on probation or parole, a majority of whom are nonviolent drug offenders. This means out of a United States population of over 250 million people, over 7 million people are in one way or another under the supervision of the prison system.
Moving off the lie of the budget cut into community reparations
July 18, 2009
Where do we go now? Yes, keep up the struggle for budget justice, but let’s look at another frame based in our own gifts, our thrival, not just survival – a plan of action to move off of the grid of philanthropy pimps, globalization pimps, non-profit pimps, to reject the lie of budget cuts, to reclaim our land and resources stolen from us so long ago!
Madagascar: Troops defy orders to put down opposition protests
June 6, 2009
The depth of the crisis and the level of social discontent in Madagascar directly affected a group of soldiers of the Army Corps of Personnel and Administrative and Technical Services who had been ordered to move against protestors on the streets. The soldiers refused to obey orders to fire on the people and repress anti-government demonstrators. Following this, they then declared they would not obey government orders either.
A Black president doesn’t mean racism is gone in America
April 23, 2009
Sonoma State University has the whitest and likely the richest student population of any public university in the State of California. Research shows that the SSU administration has specifically sought to market the campus as a public ivy institution.
Women’s History Month 2009: Black women still fighting workplace racism
March 30, 2009
National Women’s History Month’s roots go back to March 8, 1857, when women from New York City factories staged a protest over working conditions. International Women’s Day was first observed in 1909.
El Salvador left poised for election victory
February 28, 2009
In less than three weeks, 3 million to 4 million people will mobilize to vote for El Salvador’s next president – likely ushering in a new progressive chapter in the country’s long, violent history of dictatorships.
San Francisco at a crossroads: City budget crisis 2009
February 17, 2009
Despite the city’s considerable wealth, our local economy is suffering. Ten thousand more San Franciscans are unemployed than a year ago, 1,000 families have lost their homes to foreclosure and more people are waiting in lines for free food than anyone has seen in a generation.
White recession, Black depression: Let’s make racial inequality a piece of Black history
February 17, 2009
As the United States delves further into a serious long-term recession, African Americans are facing the challenge of coming from a seven-year silent recession into a depression. What the national economy is going through could decrease the Black middle class by a staggering 33 percent.
Five bailout lessons from Katrina
December 26, 2008
Year end bonuses continue while foreclosures increase? The needs of the poor must take priority over the wants of the rich.
Cynthia McKinney and Cindy Sheehan report from human rights conference in Cuba
December 11, 2008
We celebrate 60 years of failure. Human rights have been converted from a noble goal into an instrument of foreign policy used by rich and powerful nations against the poorest and weakest people of the world.
Mumia speaks to the youth
August 1, 2008
I was honored to be able to interview political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal and soak up some of his knowledge. In this interview we will discuss issues involving the foster care system, gang injunctions and the incarceration of young people.
Black and Brown communities unite to demand an end to San Francisco’s gang injunctions
November 7, 2007
On Wednesday, Oct. 31, a coalition of Black and Brown groups and individuals gathered at City Hall to express their opposition to San Francisco’s gang injunctions. Several themes emerged from those who addressed the crowd, including gentrification, racial profiling and the misuse of city money. During the course of the rally, it became clear that City Attorney Dennis Herrera, the political force behind the injunctions, has become an extremely unpopular figure in Bayview Hunters Point, the Mission and the Western Addition – neighborhoods in which the gang injunctions are now in place.