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2014 March

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Petition for Black Victims’ Restitution

The New Afrikan Prison Rights Movement is presently promoting the concept of a Black Community Victims Foundation. The BCVF will be responsible for serving our victims of violent crimes. The BCVF will be community-based and independent from government and/or law-enforcement influences. This is a health and safety issue. We hope to establish a chapter in every New Afrikan community.

Joe Debro on racism in construction, Part 3

Here we attempt to trace some of the historical antecedents and current socioeconomic processes that have served to prevent Black and Mexican American entrepreneurs from being assimilated into the mainstream of national business activities. In so doing, we must examine the evolution of Negro and Mexican American labor in the United States and its relationship to white-controlled labor unions, business and government.

Lawsuit challenges explosive crude-by-rail shipments to Richmond, Calif.

Environmental justice and conservation groups filed a lawsuit March 27 against Kinder Morgan and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to halt the shipment of highly explosive and toxic crude oil into the City of Richmond, a community already burdened by intense pollution caused by the fossil fuel industry. “This dirty and dangerous project does not belong in Richmond.”

Souls of Mischief’s Phesto Dee speaks

Phesto Dee, a quarter of the membership of Souls of Mischief, is arguably the most vicious and complex lyricist in the whole Hiero camp. Phesto’s respect in the game has recently been documented and highlighted on the new documentary, “’Til Infinity,” which is set to premiere on April 6 at 9 p.m. at the Black Repertory Theatre, as a part of the Oakland International Film Fest.

An end to ‘the hole’? 6 signs that solitary confinement reform is coming

Roughly 80,000 people are held in solitary in the United States on any given day, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in many cases for minor violations of prison rules (or no violation at all – ed.). Much of the momentum in the movement to reform the use of solitary confinement in the United States comes from the work of prisoners themselves.

We are the world

We human beings are a political, social, cultural and economic force trapped within the colonial powers of our oppressors’ system, in and out of prison. Our struggle is for absolute self-determination and liberation on a national and international level, by way of changing from scientific capitalism into a scientific socialist system, which is crucial for changing and ending human suffering.

Evangelist Sabarah Israel – an extraordinary life

Sabarah Israel was born Nada Marleane Swanson on Feb. 13, 1933, in Oakland, California. Also known as Nada Hall and Nada Tillman, her passing came on June 10, 2013, at age 80. She was a retired missionary and evangelist. An alumna of Berkeley High School, class of 1951, she later graduated from College of Alameda and attended U.C. Berkeley briefly in the School of Social Welfare.

Demand a special review into the death of Shadae ‘Dae Dae’ Schmidt

Shadae Schmidt, aka Dae Dae, was a 32-year-old African-American woman who died of a heart attack on March 13, 2014, at CIW prison in Chino. We suspect her death is due to medical negligence because she had been asking for medical help for weeks. We are asking for as many people as possible to demand that the federal medical receiver’s office conduct a special review into Shadae’s death immediately.

Not just me, we!

To more or less justify their new plan of attack on prisoners, CDCr is adding street gangs to their already burgeoning list of people they can throw into extreme, inhuman isolation for the ficklest of reasons. Waving at someone can be construed as a gang signal.

TheatreWorks’ ‘Once on This Island’ – redemption song for Haiti

TheatreWorks’ production of “Once on This Island” is a beautifully choreographed story about love and loss, faith and selflessness. A musical based on the Caribbean writer and Black arts movement pioneer Rosa Guy’s adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s “Little Mermaid” set in a mysterious tropical island, when Napoleon appears defeated, we know it is Ayiti (Haiti).

Proven innocent: The case of Bobby McClelland

As the world laid to rest Nelson “Madiba” Mandela, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 27 years, I thought about the case of Bobby McClelland. He was arrested 23 years ago on May 19, 1990, for an alleged attempted murder and processed through the same Los Angeles County Jail that was recently indicted on 18 federal counts for, amongst other things, obstruction of justice.

Power concedes nothing: A discussion on CDCr’s insidious regulatory semantics and judicial collusion in...

Our struggle to abolish SHU torture units is inextricably linked to the broader struggle to seize cultural hegemony in the U.S. from the ruling class and its tool, the state. Our collective efforts have repeatedly exposed the state’s contradictions and sparked the people’s appetite for freedom and new social relationships. These activities undermine the reactionary character structure upon which authoritarian society is based. These actions are thus revolutionary.

SFPD-enforced gentrification killed Alex Nieto

The standing-room-only town hall was yelling above the police as they spoke about the murder on March 21 of young Raza organizer, City College of San Francisco student and beloved son de la mision (of the Mission), Alejandro Nieto, 28, by police in Bernal Heights Park. Join the march on Saturday, March 29, for Alex Nieto at 2 p.m. from Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St., to Bernal Heights Park, San Francisco.

Richmond to have highest minimum wage in California

Last week, the Richmond City Council voted in favor of a city ordinance that will increase the local minimum wage from $8 to $12.30 an hour by 2017. The increase will be phased in over three years and positions Richmond to have the highest minimum wage of any city in California. “I wish it could be more, but it showcases that Richmond has the political will to move forward,” said Mayor McLaughlin.

Take our Obamacare survey – after you sign up by Monday

The deadline to choose a health plan for you and your family is Monday, March 31. If you’re in California, go to the website Covered California, www.coveredca.com, to sign up. (Those in other states visit www.healthcare.gov.) We at the Bay View would like to find out what our readers have experienced since the official launch of the Affordable Health Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, in October of 2013.

The current state of recycling

A tragic impact of increased gentrification and the rapid development of neighborhoods like the Mission is the almost complete elimination of neighborhood-based recycling centers in the most populated neighborhoods in the city. In the past year, five recycling centers have been evicted and shut-down. Most recently Safeway has evicted Market Street’s San Francisco Community Recyclers Center at Church and Market.

Will Navy’s radiological survey of homes on Treasure Island mean evicting 2,600 residents?

On March 24, following years of monthly RAB meetings with a skeptical Treasure Island community, the Navy announced “a radiological finding beneath a non-leased housing unit” and will “conduct radiological surveys of all the units under lease within Site 12 at the former Naval Station Treasure Island.” Supervisor Kim asks: “What is the Navy’s commitment and contribution ... to ensure that (current residents) have a safe place to live? Moreover, are there any health concerns living here on the island while the survey is being conducted?”

The hearts of warriors

The connection between the minds and hearts of the people has grown so distant, so impersonal, so unlike the revolutionary spirit of the 1960s that the heartbeat of the movement can barely be felt or heard anymore. Come closer. Has the system been so effective in beating the fight out of the struggle that, when the eyes of warriors meet, we no longer recognize each other?

Richmond Vice Mayor Jovanka Beckles: Victories we can be excited about

Welcome to my first newsletter! There are so many good things happening in Richmond, and although we have our share of challenges, I’d like to focus here on some of the many things we have to be excited about. For example, when we work together, we have made significant positive changes. I am absolutely confident that we can build on and continue to make wonderful changes to our city.

Pelican Bay earthquake prompts double locking of cells, reveals need for united front

Know your enemy from your friend. On March 10, not too far from Pelican Bay State Prison, a 6.9 earthquake struck in Eureka and the powerful vibration was felt miles around. At that moment my thoughts began racing and the thought which prevailed was this: “If these haphazardly-designed concrete slabs began collapsing, we’d all be in the same damn boat – crushed dead.”