Daily Archives: August 3, 2013

Mediators working on behalf of California prison hunger strikers concluded their meeting with CDCR Secretary Jeffrey Beard on Friday, Aug. 2. The meeting comes on the heels of nearly 100 family members of hunger strikers visiting the Capitol Tuesday, where they presented a petition signed by over 70,000 people demanding negotiations with hunger strikers to Gov. Brown’s office.

California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano issued a statement Thursday urging CDCR to meet with prisoner hunger strike mediators and work toward meeting the prisoners’ demands. Prisoners throughout California have been on hunger strike for 25 days. Demonstrators demanded that the CDCR and governor negotiate with strikers immediately and end any and all retaliations against their protest.

As we continue to struggle with the verdict in this murder case – as the only juror of color states that George Zimmerman “got away with murder” and as the nation lurches through yet another tragic episode that forces us to deal with our racial legacy – new ways of viewing race are surfacing. Social scientists have been studying these issues for decades. Unconscious bias. Implicit bias.

City College is OPEN and ACCREDITED. These are the words posted by Interim Chancellor Thelma Scott-Skillman on the front page of the college website. With all the recent negative publicity surrounding City College over its threatened loss of accreditation, there is growing concern that it may discourage students from returning to the college.

Two days ago, the U.S.-NATO installed regime in Libya sentenced the respected academic and political philosopher Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim to death by firing squad. Dr. Ibrahim was once Libya’s secretary for education and is a Qaddafi loyalist. He has written extensively on the Jamahiriyan ideology or what is known as the Third Universal Theory.

The Civil Rights Movement, which led to a massive expansion of educational, political and economic rights for African Americans and others who were traditionally marginalized, has been under attack since before it started. The ongoing attacks against public sector workers and unions seem to be more of the same. Rather than happening in far away states, though, the attacks are happening to workers in the Bay Area.

The Bay is known as a place where people seem to be more politically and socially aware. Souley Vegan owner Tamearra Dyson is only adding to this legacy with her groundbreaking restaurant. Her spot is one of my favorite restaurants in Oakland and the Bay Area. Meet Tamearra “cook like yo’ grandma” Dyson, as she talks about Souley Vegan, veganism and her life’s journey.