Monthly Archives: April 2010

The San Francisco Labor Council, working hand in glove with Lennar, expects Lennar to give the jobs building thousands of condos to its construction trade union members – mostly white men who don’t live in San Francisco. To appear concerned about the 40-50 percent joblessness in Hunters Point, they want $2.3 million in federal stimulus money to build a training center.

Congolese women are telling world leaders, "Listen to the Congolese for a change. We CAN bring an end to the geo-strategic resource war in the Congo.” Come hear Kambale Musavuli, the dynamic young Congolese leader who travels the U.S. breaking the silence about that war that has taken 6 million lives. He's speaking Sunday, April 18, 6:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland.

“Death at a Funeral,” produced by actor and comedian Chris Rock, hits theaters today with an all-star cast of actors and comedians. I had the opportunity to chop it up with comedians Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan, two of the most talented Black comedians in the game right now.

Be sure to fill out the census form you received in March, because completing your census form gives you a voice to shape our community today and create a brighter future for tomorrow - and avoids a visit by a census worker.

Godwin Agaba, Rwandan correspondent for the African Great Lakes regional outlet 256.com, is now in hiding, though still reporting. This week Godwin Agaba confirmed that Rwanda’s presidential election is effectively closed; all the viable opposition has been excluded.

An interview with Dr. Melissa Rose - meet her Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 p.m., at the Jazz Heritage Club, 1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco, for a life-transforming evening of films and discussion with Minister of Information JR and two Cuban-trained doctors about the challenges facing Haiti and how we can help. Hear about JR's plans to lead another Haiti delegation soon.

For decades, the Saint Louis de Gonzague school has groomed some of Haiti’s most elite political players. Francois Duvalier, the iron-fisted dictator who ruled Haiti for 14 years, sent his son to the school. Now its grounds are home to nearly 11,000 Haitian families, driven out of destroyed neighborhoods in central Port au Prince.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, law enforcement officers are one of four professions most involved in the use of illegal anabolic steroids.

Bonding has historically blocked Blacks from working. Don't let it stop Liberty Builders from building the new Bayview Library and hiring and training the community. Tell the mayor the Bayview Library must be built by the people it serves: Call (415) 554-6141 or email gavin.newsom@sfgov.org. Tell the Supervisors too. Get their contact info at www.sfbos.org. Good jobs will bring peace and prosperity to our hood.

We believe that we inmates are being used for political gain due to the economy and budget cuts. We are starting to believe we are being pushed to the edge so that the Nevada prison system can justify their request for more funds. In less than 60 days there has been two unjustified assaults on two different inmates by correctional officers here at Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC).

Over 200 protesters disrupted the evening commute at Embarcadero BART station in San Francisco on April 8 demanding justice for Oscar Grant, who was shot and killed on an Oakland train station platform New Year’s Day 2009.

We have learned the lessons of Katrina, and we seek to work for the accountable reconstruction that New Orleans never had. The Louisiana-Haiti Sustainable Village Project seeks to support the Haitians in leading their own recovery.

The Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) did not inform its public housing residents that they are protected by Berkeley’s good cause rent laws that state it is not a good cause to evict when a landlord – including the BHA – wants to sell an occupied residential rental property in Berkeley.

Community outrage over Florida-based developer Lennar sending an armed ex-SFPD officer to a meeting where a scientist invited by the EPA was criticizing a controversial report favoring Lennar’s massive development plans for Hunters Point will be aired on Monday, April 12, at a 9 a.m. hearing in the Legislative Chamber, Room 250, of San Francisco City Hall. Don't be tricked. The meeting time was advanced from 10:30 to discourage attendance. Please be there!

The latest “evolutionary debutante” is Ardi – Ardipithecus Ramidus – whose complete skull and pelvis crowns her as the greatest grandmother of modern day humans. About 2 million years ago these women evolved into the species Homo erectus. They walked upright out of Africa to populate the world.

The new Bayview Library must be built by the people it serves. No more exclusion of Blacks as with Third Street Light Rail. Bay View publisher Willie Ratcliff's company, Liberty Builders, is competing to build it with a team of top Black construction professionals committed to hiring from the community. Come to the Bay Area Black Builders meeting Saturday, April 10, 12 noon, at 1099 Sunnydale, Vis Valley, San Francisco.

I regard Paul Robeson as my hero and one of the greatest men who has ever lived. His words have a relevance that continues to inspire us, decades after his utterance. Of his art, he said: “[It] is a weapon in the struggle for my people’s freedom and for the freedom of all people.”

by Ann Garrison “Genocide ideology” became a crime in Rwanda in 2003, the same year President Paul Kagame officially became Rwanda’s president, with that year’s...

Oakland rapper DLabrie connects with POCC Minister of Information JR after his relief trip to Haiti and year-long battle in Oakland courts based on false charges. Upcoming events: Haiti Report-backs in Berkeley Thursday, April 8, 7 p.m., hosted by Rev. Sandra Decker, and the big show at the Jazz Heritage Club, 1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco, on Wednesday, April 21, 6:30 p.m. Saturday 2-5 p.m. is the 12th Annual LIL' BOBBY HUTTON DAY at the West Oakland Library, 1805 Adeline St. Be there!

Iraq and virtually all the rest of the Middle East and Central Asia have been continually dosed for almost 20 years with thousands of tons of weaponized ceramic uranium oxide gas, also known as “depleted uranium.” It lasts for billions of years and never stops indiscriminately maiming and killing, which is a war crime.