Monthly Archives: June 2011

“The San Francisco Black Film Festival,” June 17-19, opens with the Mario Van Peebles directed film, “Things Fall Apart,” starring Curtis (50 Cent) Jackson III, Ray Liotta and Lynn Whitfield.

In controversy is the minister of health’s announcement of what the government of Rwanda calls voluntary vasectomies (sterilizing) of 700,000 males.

Nobody can assure us that in its agony, the empire won’t be dragging human beings down to catastrophe.

On May 23, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision ordering California to release tens of thousands of inmates from its overcrowded prisons on the grounds that their living conditions – including lethally inadequate healthcare – were so intolerable as to be “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Reginald “Neli” Latson is a wrongfully convicted 19-year-old autistic young man. This case has raised concerns about how law enforcement deals with the developmentally or mentally disabled. Latson had done nothing wrong and acted completely within his rights.

Suggestions that the government of Muammar Qaddafi is on its last legs and that life in Tripoli has drawn to a standstill as a result of the NATO bombing campaign are not based on reality. Journalists have a duty to report the truth regardless of the whims of their governments.

The Poor Righteous Teachers appealed to young people trying to find themselves and their Blackness, like me. It was an honor for me to interview Wise Intelligent because of how much I gained from his conscious lyrics.

The lyrics to B.B. King’s classic “The Thrill is Gone” was the first thing that ran through my head when I showed up at both of the rallies that were held to “protest” the release from jail of Johannes Mehserle on Sunday, June 12. The speakers seemed to be a tad bit angry but not focused enough to do anything significant that would put police murders on the national radar. JUST ADDED: Minister of Information JR leads a full hour of debate on issues swirling around the murder of Oscar Grant by Johannes Mehserle broadcast on KPFA Wednesday morning.

Rwandan, Congolese and American activists rallied in Chicago Saturday to protest the appearance of Rwandan President Paul Kagame at “Rwanda Day,”

“I just think my mother died of a broken heart, but she made sure we were strong enough to deal with this,” said Martina Correia, Troy Davis' sister. “It’s not just the inmate who is on Death Row. That whole family is on Death Row.”

In a letter to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles, former death row inmates who have been exonerated ask that the execution of Troy Davis be halted due to serious doubts about his guilt.

The NATO war against Libya is not a humanitarian endeavor. It is a blatant war of aggression and a violation of international law. Tripoli’s Nasser University was bombed. University staff were injured and killed. There is no justification for this.

Rwanda's controversial policy to eradicate all thatched roofs in the country by the end of this month has led to forced evictions and left many without shelter.

Perhaps those who are quick to implement the “stop snitching on Obama” policy on Cornel West should stop trying to counter his argument by telling West to remain silent. Instead, he should be silenced with relevant and meaningful action on the part of the Obama administration.

San Francisco State University graduated more than 8,000 students at its commencement exercises on May 21. Among our impressive graduates are three African American students with something in common and unique perspectives on success.

With a last name like Sparks, Elisha Jacqueline Shanai Sparks was destined to be an explosion of vitality on the stage.

The article regarding the Georgia prison strike by Bruce Dixon of Marietta, Ga., was well needed. My name is Abdul-Mujahid-Khalil. I’m here with the brother Hamim, aka Shawn Whatley, and the rest of the guys mentioned in the article.

As part of the solution to the country’s serious housing shortage, the Venezuelan government will take over 210,000 square meters of land as a first step to utilizing idle land that belonged to collapsed banks of the 1970s and 1990s.

One year after a Detroit police assault team shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones to death in her home while A&E’s “First 48” TV show was filming, neither Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy nor U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has brought charges against those responsible.

Author Deeann Mathews has done something that the musicians in our community have needed to do for a long time en masse. She learned the ins and outs of the music business, then wrote a book about it, called “The Freedom Guide for Music Creators,” to share her wisdom.