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ICTR lawyers: No justice for Congo from international courts
October 11, 2010
Human rights activists around the world have called for international justice and an end to impunity in the wake of the “U.N. Mapping Report on Human Rights Abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” But many don’t expect justice from an international criminal tribunal.
Tea parties: The politics of fear
October 11, 2010
It’s been said that money is the mother’s milk of politics and, while that’s true, it’s also true that fear is powerful currency in the hands of unscrupulous politicians.
Obama’s Congo moment: Genocide, the U.N. report and Senate Bill 2125
October 1, 2010
The official Oct. 1 release of the U.N. report documenting the Rwandan and Ugandan armies’ massacres of Hutus in the Congo, should be a defining moment for President Barack Obama. The Congo bill he authored as a senator, passed in 2006, forecast much of the explosive information in the report.
Barbara Boxer and the militarization of Africa
September 20, 2010
Sen. Barbara Boxer co-sponsored the LRA Disarmament Act, even though it strengthens the hand of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, whose human rights record includes not only war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, but also the criminalization of homosexuality, with a penalty of 14 years to life.
Just pay up
September 12, 2010
For decades, Black farmers dealt with devastating discrimination from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because of it, many lost their land. It cost them dearly, and it took the government years to admit it. The Senate needs to appropriate the funds for Pigford II, lest the shame grow even deeper.
Political cost of standing with Kagame mounts by the hour
August 28, 2010
The leaked report from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) mapping atrocities committed in D.R. Congo points to crimes which might be labeled genocide against Rwandan Hutu refugees and Congolese Hutus committed by Kagame’s Rwandan army between 1996 and 2003.
Push Kagame harder, activists tell Obama
August 25, 2010
A nationwide coalition of U.S. activists is calling on President Barack Obama to intensify pressure on the government of newly re-elected Rwandan President Paul Kagame. They want Obama to immediately terminate all military assistance and freeze the $240 million scheduled for Kagame’s undemocratic regime.
Black leaders stand strong for Congresswoman Maxine Waters, champion of economic justice
August 6, 2010
“There was no ethics violation.” – Joseph Debro, president of Bay Area Black Builders. “Rep. Waters is far too valuable to our community to give up without a fight!” – Danny Bakewell Sr., chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. “This is a political witch-hunt that singles out advocacy for the poor.” – Len Canty, chairman of the Black Economic Council
Will Obama side with Africa’s enemies, the corrupt leaders?
August 6, 2010
President Barack Obama’s decisions could free millions of Africans from bondage – the one imposed for decades now by African dictators often with Western collusion – save millions of lives in avoided bloodshed and help unleash the great reservoir wherein Africa’s vast potential has been condemned.
Africa advocates to Obama: Don't recognize Kagame's election
July 27, 2010
President Obama said, in his 2009 speech in Accra, Ghana, that America should support strong institutions and not strong men. But Obama has expanded AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command, and now he remains silent as Rwanda’s strongman, President Paul Kagame, prepares a sham presidential election to retain his brutal grip on power.
Cynthia McKinney: Vilsack must keep Black farmers on their land
July 21, 2010
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack admitted in a press conference today, “I did not think before I acted.” It is clear from his press conference that he failed in his treatment of USDA Georgia State Rural Development Director Shirley Sherrod. Unfortunately, Secretary Vilsack has also thrown Black farmers under the bus.
Back to Port au Prince
July 18, 2010
There is a growing discontent amongst the people in Haiti with the political establishment under the direction of President Rene Preval. Many people believe that Preval has mortgaged the nation to powerful multinational corporate interests and subjected the people to military occupation by the U.S. and the U.N. under the guise of providing “security.”
The Zionist attack on the Free Gaza Flotilla
July 6, 2010
The vicious, premeditated and illegal attack on the six-boat Freedom Flotilla by Israeli Zionists on May 31 in international waters left nine humanitarians shot dead – one of whom was an American citizen – and over 40 wounded on the Turkish ship, Mavi Marmara, as well as many others traumatized and injured from being badly beaten, jailed and/or hospitalized.
Cynthia McKinney: Rwanda, release Professor Peter Erlinder
June 13, 2010
“Peter Erlinder is in need of all assistance the international organization for human rights lawyers can muster. He is in the hands of a murderous, brutal regime,” declares six-term Congress member and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney. Professor Erlinder was jailed after traveling to Rwanda to defend Victoire Ingabire, leading candidate challenging incumbent President Paul Kagame.
Three perspectives: Police terror kills 7-year-old girl
May 19, 2010
“Damn Detroit Police Department! You burned, shot and killed Aiyana Jones, a little 7-year-old girl. You threw a stun grenade through the front window and lit the little girl’s blanket on fire! And then you shot off a bullet that landed in her neck!” – Read this account by Kimora Lee Simmons, another by a 12-year-old girl and the full story by veteran Detroit journalist Abayomi Azikiwe.
Sean Bell’s killer cops will not be charged by U.S. Justice Dept.
February 17, 2010
The U.S. Justice Dept. refuses to charge the NYPD officers who murdered Sean Bell on his wedding day in 2006. We can’t let this happen again; it’s ON US to get Oscar Grant’s killer cops convicted of murder! Minister of Information JR is hosting two events on two days, tonight in West Oakland and tomorrow in Los Angeles.
Second letter to Lisa Jackson, EPA chief: Bring back the hope
February 15, 2010
The Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) community was hopeful of your appointment almost a year ago by President Barack Obama and felt that finally there was to be deliberate dialogue, transparency, community engagement and participation in formulating solutions for environmental issues.
Who dat? Dat’s the Super Bowl champs!
February 7, 2010
The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl 44. I can’t believe I’m even typing the words. Four and a half years ago, after the levees broke, the concern was not whether there would be a Saints, but whether there would even be a New Orleans.
Haiti and America’s historic debt
January 14, 2010
Once the French army had subdued L’Ouverture and his rebel force, Napoleon intended to advance to the North American mainland, basing a new French empire in New Orleans and settling the vast territory west of the Mississippi River. By 1803, a frustrated Napoleon – denied his foothold in the New World – agreed to sell New Orleans and the Louisiana territories to Jefferson.
Black businesses shorted on stimulus contracts
January 6, 2010
Since President Barack Obama signed his stimulus package into law in February, the U.S. Department of Transportation has handed out more than $150 million in contracts to companies for street, highway and bridge construction. New statistics released by the Transportation Equity Network (TEN) show that from that pot of money not a single dollar had been allocated to any African-American owned business.
