Monthly Archives: September 2012

Derrick Gaines, 15, was shot and killed by Officer Joshua Cabillo of the South San Francisco Police Department on June 5. His family continues to courageously demand that the truth be heard. Join Derrick’s family and friends Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Arco station where he was murdered, at 2300 Westborough Blvd, South San Francisco, for a speakout at 4 p.m. and a march at 5 p.m.

Oakland is the home of the national medical cannabis movement, but even here when people think of using it, they usually think of smoking it. The reality is that more of its healing properties are exposed when it is digested. Hear Ms. Parker, along with Roseanne Barr and Cynthia McKinney, at 'The Political Future of Medical Marijuana' Sept. 27 at Oaksterdam University.

Two letters follow: The first, by Mutope Duguma, describes the current Pelican Bay State Prison Short Corridor situation. The second, by Pelican Bay inmate and hunger strike leader George Franco, is reposted here and now so readers can compare prison officials’ promises with the situation described by Mutope Duguma a year later.

The America’s Cup World Series could be the second world series in San Francisco within a year’s time in that the San Francisco Giants might be in Major League Baseball’s World Series. The Giants have more in common with the Bay than McCovey Cove as America’s Cup Oracle Team USA’s Jimmy Spithill throws out the first pitch at the Giants vs. Atlanta Braves game.

The Los Angeles Richard Aoki Commemoration Committee will acknowledge the life and legacy of San Francisco Bay Area activist and organizer Richard Aoki, member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF), on Sunday, Sept. 16, at 4 p.m., at Centenary United Methodist Church in Little Tokyo at 300 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles.

The massacre in Marikana, South Africa, of striking mine workers has caused dismay and disbelief the world over. Thirty-four miners were slaughtered and 78 others wounded by a hail of police gunfire. How could this happen in a post-apartheid South Africa? How could this happen under a predominantly Black government, led by the African National Congress?

In December 2010, Sgt. Christopher Hall led an emergency response team at Macon State Prison in central Georgia responding to a fight between an inmate, Terrance Dean, and a guard. Hall’s team broke up the fight, handcuffed Dean and took him into the prison gym. Dean emerged with a massive head injury, comatose and clinging to life.

A bill opposing the shackling of pregnant prisoners, AB 2530, passed unanimously by the California State Legislature, is now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, with 30 days to either approve or veto it. Last year, a previous version of this bill was also passed unanimously by the legislature, but it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Brown. AB 2530 supporters have created two webpages for the public to contact the governor.

This photo comes with a sad story. The child with the sign is Olga, Althea Francois’ daughter. This picture was taken by the FBI and sent to Althea’s parents. They told her parents that she was putting their grandchild in dangerous situations. This set off a chain of events that Althea wondered about for many years.

Prisoners in Pelican Bay’s SHU have announced a push to end all hostilities between racial groups within California’s prisons and jails. The handwritten announcement, sent to prison advocacy organizations, is signed by the PBSP-SHU Short Corridor Collective. The statement calls for the cessation of all hostilities between groups to commence Oct. 10, 2012, in all California prisons and county jails. It also calls on prisoners throughout the state to set aside their differences and use diplomatic means to settle their disputes.

When Andre Ward stood on the ropes and raised his arms in victory after demolishing Chad Dawson, I was reminded of a similar scene when a young Cassius Clay stood next to the ropes with a raised fist after demolishing “Big Bear” Sonny Liston, and said: “I shook up the world. I’m the greatest.” Both tend to beat their opponents psychologically before they get into the ring.

At least 200 people from across San Mateo County packed the Board of Supervisors chambers this morning giving hours of testimony against $44 million in new jail spending slated for approval in the 2012-2013 budget. Chanting, “No new jails!” as they left the supervisors’ chambers, opponents of the proposed jail sent a clear message that a new jail is not welcome in the county.

The day is Buy Black Wednesday. I am setting foot in the Pan Afrikan Market Place called Little Nubia, modeled after Harlem in its “hey day,” old Timbuktu and Black Wall Street. So there are over 600 Black businesses in a 10-square-block area. Red, black and green is everywhere. Flags from every Afrikan nation flutter in the summer breeze.

John “J-Rock” Carter was a juvenile lifer who was sentenced at 16 years old under a law that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled was unconstitutional in Alabama v. Miller. Irony of Ironies. J-Rock never lived to see it. J-Rock fought for justice. He put himself on the front line of the struggle against inhumanity – and paid for it with his life. But his contribution will never be overlooked, ignored or down-played.

Paul S. Flores’ new play, “Placas: The Most Dangerous Tattoo,” is riveting. I was sitting on the edge of my seat all through intermission; the drama was that intense and unsettling. Fausto, Edgar’s father, spends nine years in prison and upon release decides to have his tattoos removed for his son, whom he doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps.

Far from bringing “discredit to the Panthers,” as Rosenfeld contends, the Black Panthers’ armed street patrols dramatically reduced the level of violence visited by Oakland’s white cops upon the city’s Black residents, earning the admiration of 62 percent of inner city Blacks, according to a 1969 Wall Street Journal poll. Rosenfeld’s portrayal of the Panthers, including Richard Aoki’s role in the organization, is grossly inaccurate. His analysis of the violence surrounding the party’s challenge to racial inequality and injustice is simplistic and racist.

Mumia Abu-Jamal writes that on Sept. 9, 1971, prisoners at Attica state prison in upstate New York rebelled, took hostages and demanded to be treated as men. And the state, under orders of then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, unleashed a hail of bullets that killed dozens of men – prisoners and prison guards alike – and then lied about it. The Correctional Association has called for Attica to be shut down, as it remains a grim symbol of expensive, brutal failure. If it does, it’ll be 41 years too late. [Watch the excellent video on Attica by Freedom Archives posted with this story.]

Richard Aoki has been used as a sensationalized hook to sell Seth Rosenfeld’s book. The recently released FBI documents still don’t pass the burden of proof and only fuel more speculation as to Rosenfeld’s motives. The only thing that I believe can be confirmed by these heavily redacted files is that the FBI believed it had an informant.

Undefeated WBA/WBC super-middleweight and World Showtime Super Six Classic champion, 2011 Boxer of the Year and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andre “Son of God” Ward (25-0, 13 KOs) will face WBC light heavyweight champion “Bad” Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs) in the fight HBO is billing as the Ward vs. Dawson – world champions – “Made in America” “fight of the century!”

With the storm approaching New Orleans, I spoke to Dwight Henry, co-star in the film, “Beasts of a Southern Wild,” currently in Bay Area theaters. I spoke to three men who are riding the storm out: Parnell Herbert, Angola 3 activist and playwright, Mwalimu Johnson, community organizer and prison abolitionist, and Malik Rahim, former Black Panther.