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2010 May
Monthly Archives: May 2010
Breastfeeding protects baby’s health
More African-American mothers are breastfeeding. When Dr. Young came to Howard University Hospital in 2004, only 22 percent of the mothers breastfed. Today, about 60 percent of the mothers who deliver at the hospital breastfeed, she said. “It’s improving, but for the health of babies, we need to get that number to 80 to 90 percent.”
Gray-Haired Witnesses to hold fast, challenge America’s conscience
On June 21, the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice will undertake a fast and appear at the Department of Justice and the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 21, 2010, calling upon the nation to exercise an authentic system of justice in the case of Gladys and Jamie Scott and all other women who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced, punishing and destroying our families and children.
May Day amidst global mayhem
May Day, the day celebrated for over a century as an emblem of workers’ power, seems to have become a symbol of its fall. Social and communal wealth has been funneled to banking and corporate interests – bailouts for billionaires – while workers have faced, at best, a plague of cutbacks; at worst, mass layoffs and firings as businesses reorganize by being even more antagonistic to labor.
‘The Greatest Threat’: New book by political prisoner Marshall ‘Eddie’ Conway
April of 2010 will mark the 40th year that I have been held unjustly. I would say illegally but the fact is that those in power change the definition of what is legal whenever it suits them. I am here because of what I believe, not for anything I have done.
Say no to Canadian troops for Congo and yes to Canadian diplomacy
The Democratic Republic of Congo does not need more militarization; it needs justice. Canada can help to advance justice, peace and stability in the Congo without sending a single soldier.
Remembering Malcolm
Malcolm spoke of U.S. imperialism in Africa when most of us were hoodwinked into believing the U.S. were the good guys. Not only did Malcolm disabuse us of those foolish and faulty notions, he railed against U.S. racism and its racist foreign policies. He envisioned dire consequences of U.S. thuggery around the world but particularly in Africa.
Three perspectives: Police terror kills 7-year-old girl
"Damn Detroit Police Department! You burned, shot and killed Aiyana Jones, a little 7-year-old girl. You threw a stun grenade through the front window and lit the little girl’s blanket on fire! And then you shot off a bullet that landed in her neck!" - Read this account by Kimora Lee Simmons, another by a 12-year-old girl and the full story by veteran Detroit journalist Abayomi Azikiwe.
Haiti: Hanging with Rea Dol at the site of the future Sopudep School
Rea Dol and Dodo were at the airport with a sign with my name when I arrived. We then headed to the building site, where a wall is going up around the perimeter. Rea is the principal of SOPUDEP School in Port au Prince, founded as part of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s National Literacy Project. She’s building a new school to replace the one that was damaged in the earthquake.
Vacant homes for homeless families
The housing bust and faulty government policies have immersed the United States in a full blown economic and housing crisis. The cruel irony of this crisis, and what makes it so profoundly immoral, is that the commodity at its root – housing – is not at all in scarcity.
Haiti Awareness Day and Celebration Tuesday, May 18
On May 18, 1803, 207 years ago, the Congress of Arcahaie adopted the Haitian flag. Gen. Jean-Jacques Dessalines created it by ripping the white from the center of the French flag and uniting the red and the blue. Celebrate Haiti's Flag Day with exciting Haitian dancers and drummers and Wanda's account of her journey there.
Bullet through Bay View’s window: Who’s afraid of Black power?
“We’re trying to get in. Some people don’t want us in.” That’s the message Willie Ratcliff took from the bullet that crashed through our bedroom window at 1:45 a.m. on Thursday, May 13. Ratcliff has a hunch it was fired by someone trying to scare him out of competing to build the new Bayview Library. Someone must be scared that Black power is about to break the 12-year lockout of Blacks from construction in San Francisco. Black power does not bow to a bullet.
Wanda’s Picks for May
We lost the great Lena Horne this month on Mother’s Day, May 9. She was 92, her birthday June 17, 1917 – her funeral Friday, May 14. I found out recently that Ms. Horne was at the March on Washington with sisters Mahalia Jackson and Dorothy Height.
Culture clash!
Recent DNA analysis confirms the earliest inhabitants of modern day China migrated from the African continent thousands of year ago and brings to full circle a genealogical journey I have embarked upon to embrace my African and Asian roots. I grew up in public housing in southeastern San Francisco where racial tension and conflict today exist between the African American and Asian communities sparked by culture clash and kindled by gentrification.
Digital colonization: a challenge for change
When the gentrifiers come into our streets and neighborhoods and speculate on our real estate, we can see our demise coming and we just might have a chance to stop it. But when the e-colonizers come into our digital communities or e-estate, we can’t see them. E-gentrifying is much more subtle, insidious, less clear.
Gentrification journalism
In this manifesto that shows why JR Valrey is rightly called the Minister of Information, he exposes "gentrification journalism" as "the public relations team that is put in place to make gentrifiers feel safe," the media's twisting of the murders of Chauncey Bailey and Oscar Grant to demonize Blacks and the hyper-funding of "hyper-local media" as an effort to drown out community media. Everyone who wants to stop the exodus of Blacks from the Bay must read this.
Notre Dame’s first Black valedictorian
Katie Washington, a biological sciences major from Gary, Ind., has been named valedictorian of the 2010 University of Notre Dame graduating class and will present the valedictory address during commencement exercises on Sunday, May 16, in Notre Dame stadium.
Remembering Dr. Dorothy Height
President Obama delivered the eulogy Thursday for our beloved Dr. Dorothy Height. Dr. Height never did receive the mainstream recognition that she more than deserved, so I am proud that my president lifted her legacy for all America and the world to see and honor.
Arizona rappers unite to protest immigration laws: ‘By the Time I Get to Arizona’...
For those wondering if hip-hop artists in Arizona would speak out against the state’s immigration laws, you got your answer. The hip-hop community in Arizona came together to protest by remaking Public Enemy’s song, “By the Time I Get to Arizona.”
Opposition builds against Oakland gang injunctions
At a community town hall on May 8, the discussion is expected to generate ideas for building community responses against violence that don’t involve police. The town hall will take place from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at Oakland City Council chambers, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. No gang injunctions!
Rwanda opposition candidate Victoire Ingabire: Kagame, set me free
I am calling upon the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, to let me recover my full freedom and liberties, so that I can enjoy my political rights which are the reason I came back home from exile, hold the constitutional congress of my political party, register the party, compete during the elections and let the Rwandan people decide.