Monthly Archives: August 2011

Local housing authorities across the nation are preparing for major cuts to HUD’s Section 8 housing voucher programs after being directed in June by HUD to come up with lists to prioritize which voucher recipients would be dumped in the event of major cuts to the subsidized housing program.

The Prison Literature Project has been sending free books to prisoners all over the country since the 1980s. The prisoners are sophisticated readers. They read philosophy, history and anthropology. They study the Black Panthers and foreign languages. There is a hunger for knowledge.

After hunger strike leaders reached an agreement last week with the CDCR to end the hunger strike that swept across California’s prison system, prisoners have started to transition to eating food again. Their concerns include not wanting fellow prisoners to die.

Minutes after the outrageous police killing of 19-year-old Kenneth Harding a stone’s throw from my home and office, I joined the crowd and for two hours listened to the witnesses, shared the anger and echoed the calls for unity. Let us demand the right to “own and operate and control the economy of our community,” as Brother Malcolm advised. Now – right now – is the time for us to prove that it’s not the police, it’s not the prison guards or the big developers who have the power to impoverish and enslave us and drive us off our land. The ultimate power belongs to the people, and we will use it.

Mr. James Lowe is a man who believes in keeping promises. He taught fifth grade at Malcolm X Academy in Hunters Point for 22 years. He promised that two years after retiring from teaching, he would be back at Malcolm X as an Experience Corps volunteer. This fall, James will keep that promise.

For the past four years all aid agencies, including the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and U.N. relief agencies, have been blocked by the Ethiopian military from feeding starving people in Ogadenia. There are millions of starving people, maybe as many as 6 million, though no one can say for sure because no one is allowed into the region.

How well indeed the creator saw fit to have the Muslim population worldwide join the hunger strike started by brothers in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay July 1, which continues in other California prisons, including I heard at the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF).

“Imprisonment is an aspect of class struggle from the outset. It is the creation of a closed society which attempts to isolate those individuals who disregard the structures of a hypocritical establishment, as well as those who attempt to challenge it on a mass basis.” – Comrade George Jackson, field marshal of the Black Panther Party

As minister of justice, my message to all the members of the NABPP-PC is long live the Panther! Empower yourselves: Don’t fear freedom. To clear our minds, I propose that we eat one meal a day throughout the month of August – and fast completely on Aug. 7 in honor of Jonathan Jackson, again on Aug. 21 in honor of George Jackson and again on Aug. 31 in honor of Hasan Shakur and all other true revolutionary comrades who have fallen in the struggle.

Don’t let the California prison hunger strike and the support that flowed from various media outlets, including the Bay View, go for nothing. All prisoners are obligated to contribute in some way. Get organized, develop a plan, stick to the plan and make it happen. Don’t give up! We cannot stop now.

Dhanifu Karim Bey, an elder in Los Angeles’ conscious community, a former Black Panther and a long time school teacher, is being forced to fight for his life unjustifiably in court in a three strikes case. Pack the courtroom Friday, Aug. 5, 8 a.m., Norwalk County District Court, Department J, 12720 Norwalk Blvd., in Norwalk.