Monthly Archives: August 2014

The names represented in this article are just the “known” political prisoners and no disrespect to any brothas and sistas left off the list. The purpose of the list is to illustrate the current plight of our movement’s political prisoners, who, despite surviving countless hostile encounters with the state’s security forces, are on the verge of succumbing to old age and infirmities behind the walls and gun towers of the empire’s Prison Industrial Complex.

Santa Cruz County is seen by many as a model for enlightened jail and prison policies. But last month the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury released a report on the unusual number of deaths in the county jail in 2012 and 2013 titled “Five Deaths in Santa Cruz: An Investigation of In-Custody Deaths.” The Grand Jury found that a lack of after-hours mental health evaluations and failures to follow procedures on the part of jail staff likely contributed to the deaths.

Bayview Hunters Point Community Legal is hosting our first annual Summer Benefit Concert on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2-5 p.m., at 4100 Third St. Join us for a day of fun, music and community. We will have live performances from local musicians Alvin Jett and The Third Street Project, great food prepared by a neighborhood chef for sale and a silent auction with items donated by several local artisans and businesses, including Giants tickets!

As more and more white unions gained entrance into the AFL, more and more Negroes lost jobs and the opportunity to enter others. Astute observers of the time noted that Negroes were being excluded from occupations which they once held under slavery, that Negroes were being segregated into separate locals in trades where whites and Blacks formerly worked side by side, and that the economic plight of the Black was growing worse while unionism advanced.

Congratulations to Gerald Lenoir for carrying the torch and blazing the way for so many social justice issues from HIV/AIDS awareness in the Black community to his recent work in just migration for Pan Africans. Much success on your new work! Farewell to Alona Clifton and much success in Atlanta. Congratulations also to Almaz Negash, founder and director of African Diaspora Network in Silicon Valley for her national recognition and award at the Continental African Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C.

Rev. Walker and 49ers JOHN YORK became GOOD NEIGHBORS and continued under his son, JED YORK’s leadership, appointed President of the team! Definitely hopes were high for ONE MORE GAME this past JANUARY! SUPER BOWL fever, BUT that didn’t happen. On a beautiful quiet morning back in January of this year, sat down with DR. WALKER in his impressive office to ask his thoughts about the 49ers move.

The purpose of this particular article is to clear up misconceptions that have surfaced about Marcus Book Store. By now, most people are aware that in May 2014 San Francisco Marcus Book Store became the site of a tragic event: The store was ransacked and dismantled in broad daylight by the people who acquired the building in a bankruptcy sale. Their action was part of an overall scheme to publicly embarrass our family and dismantle an African American-owned legacy business recently designated by City officials as a cultural landmark. The Sweisses are accountable for their actions, morally and legally.

Anita Woodley is a very talented and self-taught North Carolina-based thespian and playwright who was brought up in Oakland, California, and is returning to perform her two award winning plays, “Mama Juggs” and “The Men in Me,” at the New Parish on Sunday, Aug. 17. Since becoming a full-time artist, this family woman has learned a lot about herself and her craft, and that is exactly why I wanted to expose SF Bay View readers to the talent of Anita Woodley.

Black August Memorial (BAM) is a 31-day salute to New Afrikan Revolutionary Nationalists (NARN) who advanced and improved our struggle for New Afrikan liberation. BAM is important to me because we get the honor of uniting with the NARN. We get a chance to prove our level of endurance, dedication and commitment in struggling in the way of first-rate freedom fighters and we should take advantage of the opportunity given.

The Internet has opened up a whole new world of bargain shopping in which just about any product or service can be obtained online. There are deals being offered via email and the Internet that often seem too good to be true; and while there are tremendous deals online, there are just as many scams out there that even the most savvy Internet user should be aware of to avoid being ripped off.

The Jericho Movement is stepping up its work to free political prisoners, especially those caught in FBI Director Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO web. Nineteen members of the Black Panther Party are in prison today. Collectively they have been incarcerated for 800 years. Jericho has long been a supporter of Nebraska’s political prisoners, Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa (né David Rice) and Ed Poindexter, known as the Omaha 2.

A man who has spent 35 years in solitary confinement – one of the longest stints in a U.S. prison – may soon be released into the general inmate population. In an exclusive interview outside the gates of the largest prison in America, Warden Burl Cain of the Louisiana State Penitentiary said he is prepared to take Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore out of what is known as closed cell restriction if the inmate, who is 59 years old, no longer represents a safety risk.

In the summer of 1963, the KQED Film Unit invited author James Baldwin to investigate racism in San Francisco. Baldwin agreed to be filmed while he scrutinized the liberal, cosmopolitan image projected by the city. Before “Take This Hammer” was televised, KQED’s Board of Directors insisted that 15 minutes of footage had to be removed, which some felt portrayed race relations in an overly negative way.