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2013 April

Monthly Archives: April 2013

National Black leaders decry economic exclusion from 49ers’ stadium construction

“We must leverage our athletic success for economic development in our community,” says Magic Johnson. Everett L. Glenn, president of the National Sports Authority, a division of ESP Education & Leadership Institute, is applying that principle to construction of the 49ers’ new stadium under construction in Santa Clara.

March for the Innocent begins 600-mile trek from San Diego to Sacramento

The California Innocence Project director, Professor Justin P. Brooks, along with attorneys Alissa Bjerkhoel and Michael Semanchik, will walk 600 miles from San Diego to Sacramento to protest the incarceration of their innocent clients, bring attention to the cause of wrongful convictions, and present clemency petitions for 12 clients, “The California 12,” to Gov. Jerry Brown.

The SF Black Film Festival is back: an interview wit’ Kali O’Ray

There are two film festivals in the Bay Area that are famous for presenting excellent work by Black filmmakers: the Oakland International Film Festival and the San Francisco Black Film Festival. In a few weeks, thousands of people will be trailing into theaters all over San Francisco to check out what the SF Black Film Fest has deemed some of the best Black indie films of the year.

Speaking to UN Meeting on Palestine, Cynthia McKinney calls for public debate on pro-Israel...

Pro-Israel forces inside the U.S. are willing to use their money to buy political influence and protection for Israel across the political spectrum. I do believe that much of the suffering could be alleviated if we would put sufficient energy and resources behind putting out in public view how the pro-Israel lobby misdirects U.S. and European policies and prevents pro-peace and justice politicians from ever having the opportunity to put those values, along with our basic human dignity, permanently on the table for public debate. - Cynthia McKinney

LA mayor holds contractors accountable for lack of Blacks hired on Phase I of...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and local Black community activists were outraged at the appallingly low percentage of Blacks working. The mayor demanded a more aggressive campaign to ensure Black participation and increase employment among African Americans as part of advanced utility relocation activities for the Crenshaw-LAX Transit Corridor Project.

Erotic literature wit’ novelist Mary Honey B Morrison

In a conversation with my comrade Tyson, I learned that Black people in the U.S. bought twice as many erotic and gangsta lit books as we do anything else. Mary Honey B Morrison had a lot of prolific and enlightening ideas when it came to literature, expressing one’s self and sexuality, so I wanted to turn our readers on to a legendary author in our midst.

Life expectancy of prisoners

Have you ever heard of a prisoner with life insurance or health care? No. This is because every prison sentence could very well end up in death to the inmate. We are not expected to survive prison. We have no health care insurance plan, and because we do not pay our doctors and caregivers, they have no motivation to give us reasonable care and respect.

Women and abuse

Every day women throughout the world find themselves in abusive relationships. What makes us so susceptible to abuse? Many people believe that if we witnessed abuse as children or experienced abuse then we are more likely to end up in an abusive relationship. However, this is not always the case.

Britain’s involvement in assassination of Congo’s Lumumba confirmed

A senior British politician has revealed Britain’s involvement in the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Congo’s first prime minister. The leader of the Congolese independence struggle from Belgium was brutally murdered just seven months after taking office on the direct orders of the U.S. and Belgium. Britain, whose involvement had long been suspected, also had a hand in it.

Oakland International Film Festival thrilled thousands

The 11th Annual Oakland International Film Festival opened at the Grand Lake Theater on April 4 with a myriad of dope narrative flicks and docs including “Watching Phoenix Rise,” “Mugabe: Villain or Hero” and the most popular movie in the festival hands down, “The Licks,” and thousands of cinema lovers in the audience.

Crooked laws, crooked cops

Crooked laws, crooked cops – they all need 2 be stopped. It’s a shame, a shame how they getting away wit’ murder, wit’ no blame. RIP Kenneth Harding, James Earl Rivera, Derrick Gaines, Oscar Grant, Alan Blueford, Jason Smith, Kendrec McDade, Christian Gomez and all the brothas and sistas who have lost their precious lives to this rotten system and their minions. You are not forgotten.

Superintendent implicated in cover-up of Oakland School Police killing of Raheim Brown

Perhaps you’ve heard or read the name Raheim Brown Jr. He’s the 20-year-old Black man who was beaten then shot and killed by Oakland School Police Department Sgt. Bhatt. What real justification can there be for officers – who were hired to secure a school dance on a school campus – to venture from their assigned duty posts and beat, shoot and kill innocent youth?

Hands off the Bay View

Fascist repression can only flourish when the voices of its victims have been brutally silenced and isolated within the concrete confines of a man-made construct where the scrutiny of the media cannot transcend the walls. But contrary to the fascist intent, the voices of resistance reverberated within the depths of this concrete hell as New Afrikan revolutionary prisoners since our arrival have refused to remain silent and have waged a continuous campaign to put an end to this racial injustice. And for over 20 years the San Francisco Bay View has played a critical role in allowing our voices to be heard.

White woman’s burden: Angelina Jolie, the G8 and rape in the DRC

On Thursday this week, in a performance that raised eyebrows and caused teeth gnashing among Congolese peace and justice activists, movie actress Angelina Jolie thanked the G8 summit of the world's eight wealthiest nations for their effort to end sexual violence in war. KPFA’s Ann Garrison has the story.

Palestine prison

It is one of the ironies of history that the descendants of the beleaguered Warsaw Ghetto in Poland, subjected to the bitter hatreds and repression of the Nazis, have established an entire sea of the oppressed and impoverished on their periphery: the open-air prison ghettoes of Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank.

SFUSD recruiting people of color for substitute teacher positions

At the Bayview branch of the San Francisco Public Library a group of about 25 people, mostly African Americans, sat listening attentively to a San Francisco Unified School District human resources recruiter. The recruiter, Amy Chacon, was giving a presentation on what it’s like to work for SFUSD – and hoping to attract substitute teachers for SFUSD “hard to staff” school positions.

San Mateo County residents protest toxic jail on Earth Day

Community members from around San Mateo County gathered outside of the new jail site and the County Center wearing hazardous materials suits and gas masks to illustrate the toxic nature of the new jail. They spoke about the ways a new jail will harm communities and the environment as well as draining the county’s budget of desperately needed resources.

Corcoran SHU staff told to ignore legal mandate to protect lives of hunger strikers

In preparation for the July 8 peaceful protest action (hunger strike, work stoppage etc.), Corcoran SHU administrators are directing staff to dispense with California law and state procedures and policy regarding mass hunger strikes and instead institute a policy designed to raise the potential for maximum casualties (deaths) amongst prisoner participants.

Afro-Venezuelans say no to the advance of the undemocratic, racist and fascist far right

We, Afro-descendants of Venezuela, meeting in the city of Caracas, express our condemnation of the rise of fascism and racism led by Henríquez Capriles Randonski and leaders of the Venezuelan far right in not accepting the results of the April 14 elections that led to the victory of the candidate of the homeland, Nicolas Maduro Moros.

Greg Curry on Lucasville Uprising and 20th anniversary hunger strike demanding media access

One big reason the story of Lucasville has to be told again and again is that not only did this tragic, desperate uprising lead to 10 deaths, but five men are still on death row and many more have been given lengthy sentences who declare their innocence. Here is the story in short of Greg Curry, one of the prisoners who received a life sentence even though he had nothing to do with the uprising or the murders.