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2008 November

Monthly Archives: November 2008

New Black Caucus chair signals more progressive agenda

In selecting Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., as its new chair, the Congressional Black Caucus chose one of its most progressive members who, days after Sept. 11, 2001, was the only person in Congress to vote against authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

Israeli gunboats kidnap Gaza fishermen, peaceworkers

While Adham and the more than 3,500 professional fishermen who scour Gaza's waters for needed sustenance and sources of income are accustomed to Israeli navy harassment, Tuesday's encounter was different, heightened.

Three years and 69 days: Obama’s victory as seen from New Orleans

Three years and 69 days was a lifetime ago in political terms. There are still many Americans living today who grew up in an apartheid America where the concept of even allowing Blacks to vote in many states and counties was considered impossible.

Congo in crisis: What President Obama can do to right past wrongs in U.S....

Some of us remember the first elected prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, as he brought to the world the vision of a prosperous Congo where this beautiful land will benefit the Congolese people and not world corporations. A modern day holocaust is occurring in this picturesque land of abundance.

Herman Wallace in trouble, hospitalized – updated 11/29

Robert H. King, Angola 3 activist, former political prisoner, called to tell me that Herman Wallace, while visiting with Jackie Sumell and her friend, had what appeared to be a heart attack or stroke. Alarmed, Jackie banged on the door of the locked visiting room to get guards' attention.

Dispatches from Donna in Gaza

All of us in the Free Gaza Movement, whether passengers on the boats or part of the support teams, are outraged that 1.5 million Palestinians are being collectively punished by the apartheid policies of the Israeli state.

Now that all things are possible, it’s our turn

We elected a Black president. Now tell me what we can't do. I want to see us use that muscle to prove to ourselves and the world once again that Black people are master builders. We built the White House. We built the South and much of the North. And nobody's going to lock us out of construction any longer. We're demanding our piece of the pie. Will you back me up on that?

Wanda’s Picks for Nov. 28

The Luggage Store Gallery presents the Bobby Hutton Memorial Benefit, Nov. 29-Dec. 6. The opening reception is Saturday, Nov. 29, from 8 to 10 p.m. at the gallery, 1007 Market St. in San Francisco. The show features work by 27 artists - among them, Emory Douglas, Rigo 23 and a photo essay by Billy X.

All-out war, the deadliest war on the planet, in Congo

The war in Congo is a U.S. proxy war; the U.S. uses Kagame, the Rwandan army and terrorist Gen. Laurent Nkunda as their African proxy force in Congo, but this is war. It has been the deadliest, though barely reported, war on the planet for years.

Freedom is cream corn and sausage

I recall listening to a recording of Albert Woodfox describing how it felt after 15 years or something crazy long like that to finally get a contact visit from his mom and feel her hug. Now, after nearly 36 years in solitary confinement, Woodfox could soon be released on bail.

What the same-gender-loving African American can learn from the Prop 8 issue

Being homosexual compromises or revokes the entitlement that most white gays and lesbians are born and raised into. Many feel they must make a choice between their full entitlement - by abstaining or by remaining in the closet - and expressing their sexuality.

Polluter pays!

Lennar's LEN stocks had sunk to $3.60 per share by mid-November despite restructuring and partnership with the financial firm CB Richard Ellis, headed by Richard Blum, a UC regent and husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a principle sponsor of the Lennar-funded Proposition G.

King-Garvey shareholders protest land grab by bailed out bank

A Yes We Can Coalition of Asian and Black King-Garvey shareholders chanting, "Stop the land grab; yes, we can!" marched outside Citibank subsidiary Citi Community Capital in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District on Thursday, Nov. 13.

Cynthia McKinney stopped from leaving U.S. to speak in Syria

Today I was slated to speak in Damascus, Syria, at a conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 60th year that the Palestinian people have been denied their Right of Return enshrined in that declaration. But I was not allowed to exit the country.

‘This is criminal’

This story, dictated by Malik Rahim to the Bay View two days after Katrina, was the call heard round the world that Black and poor New Orleanians were being abandoned in nothing less than attempted genocide and volunteers were needed. Now Malik is in a winnable race for Congress Dec. 6. Go Malik!

Malik Rahim for Congress Dec. 6!

Malik Rahim has spoken out with courage, asked the difficult questions and built viable community alternatives. He is a strong organizer who acted while the politicians waited. Now he wants to take his courage to Congress.

Mining for bling

Vanguard journalist and Current TV producer Christof Putzel traces gold to its origins in one of Africa's biggest gold mines in the Democratic Republic...

Wanda’s Picks for Nov. 21

Dropped in to see the McCoy Tyner Trio with Marc Ribot on guitar. Tyner is always a treat and this ensemble featuring Gerald Cannon on bass and Eric Kamau Gravett on drums is phenomenal!

Pimping Blackness in the fight against Prop 8

After Proposition 8 passed, Black gay men holding "No on Proposition 8" signs were verbally assaulted by white gay anti-Prop 8 protesters. They were called "niggers," and "their people" were blamed for its passage.

From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King

Robert King takes us on a lyrical journey "From the Bottom of the Heap" to the depths of a darkness so dense flashlights can't pierce the intangible conscience or sensibility of a nation or a people who would subject another citizen to what King describes in his autobiography as a normal state of affairs for Black men.