Yearly Archives: 2008

A lot of people who met Tupac Shakur say he was such a one-of-a-kind person that you walked away knowing that he was going to make history. I never met Pac, but I could say the same about Malik Yusef, the Wordsmith, from the Rollin' Hundreds in Chicago.

Today we had an exclusive interview with Troy Anthony Davis' sister Martina Correia, who has been standing for justice for her brother for 19 long years. Troy Davis is scheduled once again for execution Monday, Oct. 27, by the state of Georgia if a stay is not granted.

Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Prescott Joseph Center we honored the legacy of the San Francisco Bay Area's premiere artists: Berkeley resident Joy Holland and Oaklander by way of St. Louis Casper Banjo, with featured artist Keith Hopkins, another Oaklander. The exhibit is titled "Breath of Our Ancestors."

On the 10th anniversary of the lynching of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, Brandon McClelland, a 24-year-old Black man in nearby Paris, Texas, was dragged to his death on Sept. 16 by two White men. On Oct. 5, parts of Brandon's skull were still on the ground and local officials were still denying this lynching was a hate crime.

The Army Times reports that the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade Combat Team is returning from Iraq to defend the Homeland as "an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks." But at the same time, the Bush administration may be seeking a justification to establish martial law and intervene militarily within the USA.

On Oct. 1, the much-anticipated United States Africa Command (Africom) was officially launched. This military reorganization of U.S. forces to oversee developments in the entire continent has been met with strong objection from the major political states and regional blocs there.

Due to the great outpouring of support in Michigan, Rev. Edward Pinkney has become the Green Party candidate in the 6th District Congressional race. He is running against incumbent U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, a political heir to Whirlpool Corp.-Harbor Shores Community Redevelopment Inc.

We, the undersigned paid and unpaid KPFA staff, do not have confidence in the management of KPFA's Interim General Manager Lemlem Rijio. Rijio's actions during the past two years have caused the alienation of a large number of staff members, have created turmoil within the station and have resulted in her losing credibility with many staff members. Her shift of KPFA's culture away from one of collaboration and mutual support helped create the climate leading to the tragic and unnecessary police arrest of unpaid staff member Nadra Foster.

At 4 p.m. on her very last day of employment as the executive director of the Pacifica Foundation, Nicole Sawaya permanently appointed Lemlem Rijio as the general manager at KPFA-FM, a position Rijio has been occupying on an interim basis for two years. Rijio has been under fire as of late, with Berkeley police violently arresting a station programmer who had allegedly been banned in a dispute over copier usage. Seventy-four of 215 station staffers have signed a statement of no-confidence in her leadership.

At a press conference in Oakland, Tandenico Jones, a member of LIFETIME, declared: "The governor and the Legislature need to come to agreement that doesn't just cut services to balance the budget. Our economy is so bad right now; costs for everything have gone up. If the services I depend on are cut, all the efforts I've made to move my family forward will slip away."

The officers were waiting, loaded firearms dangling from their waists, steel filled chests puffed out, glassy stares behind helmets. She was one woman alone. She was a reporter doing her job. She was attacked by the police for no reason at all. Her only crime was being a media producer in a hostile location.

A new KPFA policy essentially bans all listeners from the station except those that management deems "authorized" and it permits police to remove anyone not authorized. KPFA recently called the police on an unpaid staff person, Nadra Foster. The calling of police by any progressive organization or institution is a racist act by definition. If anyone should be banned from the station, it should be the present management, which needs to be replaced immediately.

Black radio really is vanishing. Out of 10,315 commercial AM and FM radio stations in the United States, only 168 are Black-owned. In the new film “Disappearing Voices: The Decline of Black Radio,” veteran radio personality Bob Law and independent filmmaker U-Savior explain why.

It is a sad commentary when the management of KPFA Radio, a nonprofit dedicated to social justice in my hometown of Berkeley, Calif., calls the police on a staff member who volunteers her time, donating talent and skill to bring the mission of that organization to bear.

As a member of first the advisory board and later the governing Local Station Board at KPFA through 2006, I witnessed events that I believe gave rise to what the writers of yesterday's Berkeley Daily Planet commentary call a threat of "civil war," and I contribute these words to the struggle for a just peace. KPFA managers are apparently oblivious to the everyday police war on Black people that I believe KPFA is obligated by its mission to cover.

On Saturday, Aug. 30, on the South Side of Chicago, in the Negro League Club aka the POCC's "Lamp Post," the 60th anniversary celebration of the birth of Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Black Panther Party kicked off with a film festival and ended with a Chairman Fred Hampton Streetz Party on Chairman Fred Hampton Way.

Three years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita battered the homes of hundreds thousands of Louisianans, too many residents are still unable to afford to rebuild their homes or find an affordable place to rent.

Almost 20 years ago, we declared this KPFA building a sanctuary against violence, a new home for peace and a network that was created nearly six decade ago to promote peace and understanding among all communities. And here we have the Pacifica patrones mimicking their corporate twins, using police power to sustain their political point of view.

As I read the post about what happened to Nadra Foster, I broke out in a cold sweat and my heart started to beat faster and faster. I experienced painful flashbacks and felt that burn of tears welling up in my eyes. I knew this would happen again.

I was outraged to hear that my "daughter," Nadra Foster, was attacked, brutalized, hogtied, arrested and charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, assaults on police, and other charges, with bail set at $81,500!