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2008 July

Monthly Archives: July 2008

Reflections on Zimbabwe 40 years later

When I arrived in Rhodesia, 1968 had already been a momentous year in the United States. U.S. setbacks in Vietnam had led Lyndon Johnson to announce his withdrawal from the 1968 presidential campaign. Days later, on April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5. Meanwhile, Black Power activists in the United States, led by young Blacks like me, were urging Black Americans to be proud of our African heritage. I felt lucky to be in Africa.

Marcus Garvey Way in the works

In an effort to help reverse the decline of San Francisco’s African-American population by recognizing its unique cultural and artistic identity, the Board of Supervisors has approved a resolution urging the Department of Public Works to rename Eddy Street between Laguna and Divisadero to Marcus Garvey Way as well as proclaim Aug. 17 Marcus Garvey Day in San Francisco. The resolution was unanimously approved on Nov. 26, 2007.

‘Black in America’ misses the ‘why’

In a country where racism is still alive, it is important for White America not only to see, but also to understand Black America's story as well. For too long only a partial testament has been given to the adversity that affects millions of our people on a daily basis. Someone should take the time to find the "why." It is this question that millions of people never ask. Did CNN's "Black in America" answer it?

Live from the streets of San Salvador

The Prisoners of Conscience Committee delegation from the United States returned recently from a fact-finding mission in El Salvador. We were in three cities - San Salvador, Suchitoto and Sansonate - and we talked to former combatants, government officials, union leaders, community leaders, members of street organizations, former political prisoners and more. One of my favorite groups that we met was Radio Zurda, a collective of youth who do a political radio show heard in El Salvador and Honduras, targeted towards a youth audience.

U.N. weighs in against demolishing public housing

The U.N. Human Rights Council concluded, "Thousands of Black families would continue to suffer displacement and homelessness if the demolition of 4,500 public housing units is not halted. ... We therefore call on the Federal Government (U.S.) and state and local authorities to immediately halt the demolitions of public housing in New Orleans."

Third Circuit denies Mumia a rehearing

Power to the people. Free ‘em all.

California Hotel is raided by City of Oakland

Oakland's California Hotel residents have organized and taken over management and maintenance since building was abandoned by property manager John Stewart Co.

Outrage as Inglewood police officer murders another Black man

“Kevin Wicks was shot unnecessarily and there is a crisis [of confidence] in the Inglewood Police Department. They need to be held more accountable and there needs to be a sense of urgency.”

One on one with Yusuf Bey IV: Part 2

Over the last year, there have been hundreds of stories in the local and national media accusing young men from Your Black Muslim Bakery of the murder of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey. Yet with all that coverage, we have not heard Yusuf Bey IV himself, successor to the Bakery's founder, address these accusations.

SF Health Dept. waited six weeks to notify community of Lennar’s huge toxic exceedence...

“It is ‘normal,’ he said, for a child to have nosebleeds and asthma.”

One on one with Yusuf Bey IV: Part 1

After the death of Chauncey Bailey, some journalists created an investigative collaborative called the Chauncey Bailey Project - known in the Black community as the Anti-Muslim Bakery Police Project - which seems to be a vehicle for digging up real and imaginary dirt on Your Black Muslim Bakery and the Bey family.

The New Jersey 4: Correcting the injustice

by Quandra Chaffers On Tuesday night, June 24, a small room inside the Women's Building of the Mission District filled with people who gathered to...

Federal class action against City of Antioch documents police targeting of African American tenants

ACLU finds the City of Antioch and its police department are engaged in a concerted campaign of intimidation, harassment and discrimination against African Americans who receive federally funded Section 8 housing rent assistance.

California Hotel tenants fight for their human right to housing

“The California Hotel is just the first building,” said Robbie Clark, an organizer with Just Cause Oakland, who led the chants and rallying cry with tenants and supporters Monday. “There will more than likely be others. We have to come together as a community and prevent the displacement of residents.”

All of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard must be cleaned to residential standards

The United States Navy has spent over $600 million trying to clean up the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. Most of the money was wasted - more then $300 million by International Technologies - with little supervision by the United States Navy Base Closure Team in past years.

The sinking Titanic

Like a colossal ship navigating through the uncharted ocean of financial uncertainty, the Miami homebuilder Lennar Corp. is a “sinking Titanic.”

POCC speaks before the United Nations: an update wit’ POCC Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.

This is terrorism. (We should) not wait for some white left producer to later come out with some movie when it is safe to say, “OK, this is wrong."

Israeli political cops beat prize-winning Gazan journalist

“His homeland, Gaza, is surrounded, starved, attacked, forgotten. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless.”

Another world is possible: Boots of the Coup interviews Mumia Abu Jamal

"There is a very thin line between those of us who are political and those of us who are not ... that is why I say that there are millions of Malcolms. They just don’t know it yet."

‘State of Black San Francisco’ conference raises questions

Findings of the 2008 State of Black San Francisco public conference predicted our present: "a combination of violence, economics and lack of Black leadership has contributed to a situation that could soon turn SF into a city with only a handful of very rich and very poor African Americans."