Monthly Archives: May 2009

I love the music of the innovative hip hop group 5 Star Generalz, from Oakland, Cali, because they are funny, creative and push the envelope on what Bay Area hip hop sounds like. They are like a mix between the Luniz, Digital Underground, and Cheech and Chong.

Ras Ceylon is a very unique artist that lives in the Bay. He's politically active, his family is from Sri Lanka, he reps Rastafarianism and has linked with Askari X, Tajai of Souls of Mischief, Chairman Fred, Stic.man and a whole host of others to create a piece of audio art.

Oakland has always been filled wit' a gang of lyrical MC's that "gas" ever since Hip Hop really got started in the Bay. Shady Nate is somebody that I could easily see being the King of Bay Area rap in a couple of years.

Most Americans are not familiar with Assata Shakur. After all, she's not exactly the type of Black superhero that they parade around during Black History Month. This is the type ignorance that some legislators in New Jersey hope will allow them to extradite Shakur back to the U.S. under the cover of our darkness.

It is an honor to honor you on your birthday. You who give so much, you who receive so little, deserve all the love and respect that we are capable of. The amount and the quality of the work you have produced would be an amazing feat for any human being.

On a windy April 24th, hundreds gathered into Humanist Hall on the periphery of downtown Oakland to celebrate the 55th birthday of Mumia Abu Jamal, a former Black Panther who has been a political prisoner for the last 28 years, as well as celebrate the release of his newest book, "Jailhouse Lawyers," published by City Lights (www.citylights.com).

“This is a Congolese sister, not the U.N., who is building a school with her own money and donors, to give back to her country,” says Kambale Musavuli, spokesman and student coordinator for Friends of the Congo, paying tribute to Noella Coursaris Musunka.

If you're a Black man working security for Lucasfilm at the Presidio, Darth Vader will get you for cheerfully greeting employees in the morning with a friendly "God bless you."

The outbreak of swine flu worldwide captured immediate attention because it is a new strain - a combination of a virus found in pigs that changed enough to cause infections in farm workers in Mexico with other known flu viruses including influenza A. Billions of people on earth have no "herd immunity" to a new virus.

The City of San Francisco has applied for a $14.6 million grant to fund the infrastructure for dirty developer Lennar to build 10,000 luxury condominiums and a stadium on the Superfund site of the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point. Tell the state to just say NO!

The U.S. Constitution requires that an accused person who lacks the means to hire a lawyer is provided one. Yet budget cuts are forcing public defenders to turn away defendants who have no other legal recourse.

The San Francisco Housing Authority is spending $5 million to create hundreds of jobs where many of us live. But Blacks will be excluded unless Black contractors can borrow from a loan fund so they can hire Black workers. Pack the Housing Commission meeting Thursday, May 14, 4 p.m., at 440 Turk St. to demand our fair share.

Shout out to First Lady Michelle Obama, who presented the bust of Queen Mother Sojourner Truth, a woman who experienced first hand the hardships of slavery, yet emerged strong, so strong she had to remind America she too was a woman, a woman deserving all the respect and honor reserved for privileged white women.