Yearly Archives: 2012

The Sacramento Chapter of the Black Panther Party hosted a gathering of former Panthers from across the country Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 to celebrate Black Panther History Month. The program included book signings and presentations by Elbert “Big Man” Howard, Aaron Dixon, Meres Sia Gilbert and Steve McCuthen. Black Panther historical archivist Billy X served as moderator for the event.

The legendary Sifu Bill Owens has trained 121 black belts in the 40 years since he founded Cascos Martial Arts Academy at 7415 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland. He himself is a world renowned champion as well as a teacher of a range of martial arts from Karate and Wun Hop Kuen Do to Filipino Stick Fighting and Brazilian Capoiera. Right now he needs 60 new students. Stop by or call him at (510) 638-9990.

The prison system and the SHU is not going to shut down anytime soon. So we will have to be more realistic and pragmatic in our approach to addressing the mental health of prisoners. We can start off as prisoners by pledging we’ll not become collaborators with the CDCR in their endeavor to assault our sanity!

The images emerging from the current siege of Bani Walid are gruesome. NATO’s henchmen are attacking their own people with bombs and chemical weapons, injuring and killing scores of civilians. Women, children and old people lie maimed or dismembered on the side of the roads, many of them buried in the rubble. Ethnic cleansing of people with black skin is being carried out by Arab supremacists, but the Muslims of Bani Walid refuse to accept that people with black skin are to be hunted and killed.

“All politics is local,” said Tip O’Neil, the great former speaker of the House. Gov. Jerry Brown brought it home as he addressed the state convention of the NAACP at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel in the presence of delegates and the mayor of San Mateo, Brandt Grotte.

Raising awareness about domestic violence must be a continuing effort all year long, because it’s the only way to break the cycle that has become a part of this society’s collective psyche over the centuries. Today, I promise that I will continue to be my best toward all women. I hope to lead by example for others to emulate.

In an earlier statement, I said that Richard Aoki is and was my respected friend, comrade, mentor and crime partner. I received the feedback that I had used fine words but had given no examples to show what I meant. I accept that criticism and the following is my response. I hope that you can see what kind of cat the brotha was.

The new draft Step Down Program allows for any CO (correctional officer) or staff member to have any prisoner placed in SHU for anything they deem necessary, citing safety and security and public safety, even without any disciplinary action. Many of us have seen first hand the abusive nature of sadistic, racist and misogynistic CO staff who fabricate information to “break” prisoners.

We are illegally being held in the SHU and Ad-Seg while being subjected to sensory deprivation, both physical and psychological torture, inadequate health care and isolation. PBSP and CDCR officials are refusing to comply with CDCR official policy. It is necessary we prisoners get more involved with our destiny.

During those four days in the CSW cell, Perez was made to defecate in a bucket in public, while still in restraints. The staff members – aka the Green Wall Gang – would cut the tape off and pull down his pants and boxer shorts as they shouted obscene comments and laughter. No contraband was ever produced.

Recently, I had an opportunity to speak with Cynthia McKinney, and I asked her about leadership. She replied that at the local level in the Black communities, there is leadership. It no longer gets media coverage, but it is there. Real leaders are those with the courage to dissent and to resist. It is the act of resistance that transforms an elected person into a leader.

On Oct. 12, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan announced that 44 of his officers would face some manner of punishment for their abuse of Occupy protesters last year. Some have hailed this decision as a sign that the Oakland Police Department is finally going to start holding its officers accountable. A look at the recent decisions by Jordan and the OPD, however, dispels any such hope.

“Champion ended his strike Oct. 19, after having lost over 51 pounds and having at least one major demand met: He has been promised that he will be released from his highly restrictive confinement after seven years of being held in ‘the hole.’”

Graduation is only the first step! When graduates of the Latin America School of Medicine in Cuba (ELAM) come home to the U.S., they need help finding jobs, financial support while they study for their required exams and help finding training opportunities in the medical field. IFCO announces a new partnership to help graduates on the next steps of their journey.

Revered political prisoner Kenny Zulu Whitmore writes: "All of my pro-se litigation over the years has been met with a one-word decision, 'Denied,' never giving me a legal reason or an arguable appeal. Now I finally have legal representation, and I am launching my campaign to raise funds for my legal defense.

The earlier children are encouraged to be physically active, the more likely they’ll stay active as they get older, providing a strong foundation for a lifetime of health. Young kids need 60 minutes of active play every day, but it doesn’t have to be all at once. It can be as simple as incorporating fitness into everyday activities.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is scheduled to consider a new funding option for Free Muni for Youth when it meets on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at its Oakland headquarters, 101 Eighth St., at 10:30 a.m. Youth pass advocates will hold a brief press conference in front of the MTC building immediately following the commission’s vote on the funding proposal.

Action is being taken to give some relief to those seeking some place safe to recreate “Home Sweet Home.” Prop C reads: “Shall the City amend its Charter to: create a Housing Trust Fund that supports affordable housing for low-income and moderate-income households; and change the affordable housing requirements imposed on some private residential developments?”

You cannot bury thousands of human beings under conditions that amount to torture – and you cannot leave it up to the torturer to establish the criteria for what constitutes torture. They never see anything wrong with what they do even when violating the law and the humanity of people. The STG policy makes it easier for CDCR to confine us to their dungeons.

Malcolm X is one of the best known figures of the human rights struggle and one of the most attacked by institutions that serve the elite. A new book – “A Lie of Reinvention” – defends his legacy against an attempted ivory tower assassination. Editor Jared Ball says Manning Marable's book on Malcolm "is a corporate product, a simple commodity to be traded, but for more than money; it is a carefully constructed ideological assault on history, on radical politics, on historical and cultural memory, on the very idea of revolution."