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2011 March

Monthly Archives: March 2011

Fracking crackdown

With growing national alarm over the health and environmental threat of toxic chemicals in natural gas drilling, five members of Congress are reintroducing bills to repeal the exemption of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Bombing Libya 1986-2011

In 1987 I was a member of the first U.S. Peace Delegation to Libya to commemorate the first anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986. When I return next year, how many flowers will we need for all the graves of Libyan children killed in this latest massacre?

For the state of Black America, the issue is jobs

From March 29th through the 31st, the National Urban League brings its fight for urban jobs to Capitol Hill with its 2011 Legislative Policy Conference. This year’s summit will make the case for targeted action to tackle the persistent unemployment crisis in Black America.

The art of rappin’ ‘in Black & White’: an interview wit’ rapper Hasan Salaam

I have known the talented emcee Hasan Salaam for about half a decade, and I have always admired his style on the mic, his insightful lyrics and his deep recognizable vocal tone. He is one of the more humble rappers on the East Coast scene as well as one of the dopest.

Hiding Africa’s looted funds: Silence of Western media

There has not been any concrete effort to expose the banks that collude and connive with corrupt leaders who are impoverishing the people. No effort has been made by the political elite in Europe and America to force the banks to return these stolen monies to the poorest of the poor.

Who you callin’ a ‘cheater,’ cheater?

My T-shirt reads, “If Barry goes to jail, then baseball can go to hell!” An all-Black jury is seated to determine if Major League Baseball is guilty of running a profit-then-deny scheme by a bunch of lying, cheating racist ringleaders.

Toward African freedom in Libya and beyond

The fundamental stimulus of the attack on Libya is greed, not the protection of the Libyan people. In fact, the people of Libya have suffered more during this bombardment by Western powers and their allies than during the entire 41 years of the leadership of Muammar al-Gaddafi. We must be clear that the attack on Libya is an attack on Africa. The great danger of the attacks on Libya is that they are being used by the U.S. to test the effectiveness of AFRICOM, the African Command, and this adventure will open the door to direct military intervention in Africa.

20th anniversary of the Welfare Poets: an interview wit’ founding member Rayzer

The Welfare Poets have shared a stage with Dead Prez, Immortal Technique and the revolutionary Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Minister of Information JR Valrey speaks with founding member Rayzer about what has kept them going strong for 20 years.

Transit case raises question: Can the poor ever find justice?

Sylvia Darensburg, an African-American mother of three in East Oakland, experiences the reality of transit inequality. Sylvia relies on AC Transit to get to her job during the day and to college classes at night, each trip taking an hour or more each way.

San Francisco solar back on track?

The so-called Greenest City in the Country has withered on the vine ever since a much-criticized decision to ban certain trade unions from working on municipal solar projects led to what is believed to be the nation’s first community protest and work stoppage at a solar installation and a nine-month delay in breaking ground on new solar projects.

The Black mayor of Waterproof, Louisiana, has spent nearly a year behind bars without...

A legal dispute in the rural Louisiana town of Waterproof has attracted the attention of national civil rights organizations and activists. Waterproof Mayor Bobby Higginbotham has been held without bail since May of 2010.

Two trials and an anniversary: Bonds, Bailey and Mixon

AT&T Park shook so hard I thought I was on a pogo stick the night Barry Bonds crushed a 3-2 Mike Bacsik pitch into right center to go past the great Hank Aaron and crown himself Major League Baseball’s all-time home-run king. He circled those bases to a deafening hometown roar.

The faces of local hire

The new local hiring law is a tool to maintain and promote San Francisco’s working class by giving local workers a leg up on projects they pay for as taxpayers. It goes into effect this week amid high hopes and growing excitement.

Emails show regulators conspiring with Lennar to cover up Shipyard development danger

The decades-long fight by Bayview Hunters Point for environmental justice goes to court Thursday on whether the City of San Francisco and Lennar failed to disclose the potential health impacts of development on the toxic Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund site. Meanwhile, emails just obtained through a public records request reveal a coverup conspiracy by the SF Health Department and EPA with Lennar. Pack the courtroom Thursday, March 24, 9:30 a.m., at 400 McAllister St., Room 613, San Francisco.

Can Barney out-legislate Bahati on LGBT rights?

Congressman Barney Frank has amended the financial services bill to discourage development banks supported by the U.S. not to assist nations engaging in gross human rights violations.

‘I Will Follow,’ new Black independent film showing now

“I Will Follow,” about a day in the life of a woman letting go of her own life and moving on, has a one week engagement at the Metreon in San Francisco and AMC 16 Bay Street Theaters in Emeryville. The film stars Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Blair Underwood, Omari Hardwick and Beverly Todd.

No radiation threat, say media, as reporters pulled out of Japan

The media are doing damage control to help keep people from flooding out of Japan and further destabilizing the Japanese economy. Given the evidence, the history of disasters and epidemics of disease, reporting on Japan’s absence of a radiation threat is criminal.

Against all odds Aristide returns to Haiti

Aristide returned to Haiti today. I’ve not seen such genuine happiness on the faces of Haiti’s poor in over seven years. Welcome, President Jean Bertrand Aristide and family. Today is a good day for the poorest of the poor. Blessed be the endless Haiti revolution against the organized tyranny of the “civilized” and “schooled” peoples. On this day, we remember the sacrifice of the warriors who took up arms in self-defense against the occupation and coup d’etat. We recall the 20,000 slaughtered by the coup regime from 2004 to 2006, slaughtered with the complicity of U.N./U.S. firepower.

The return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Haiti

Join the rally Friday, March 18, 4:30, at UN Plaza, San Francisco, to celebrate the return of President Aristide to his homeland after almost seven years of forced exile, following a coup orchestrated by the U.S., France, Canada and Haitian elites.

The Egyptian youth uprising: a statement in support from the perspective of a U.S....

The youth movement in Egypt has been defined as a revolution, but it more resembles an uprising against tyranny - an uprising reminiscent of the Black youth uprising that occurred in the United States against the tyranny of Jim Crow segregation.