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2015 December

Monthly Archives: December 2015

Women prisoners in California are hunger striking in solidarity with detained immigrants

Something very significant is brewing in California right now. Female prisoners in the Yuba County Jail are organizing in solidarity with immigrants in detention. On Monday, Dec. 14, a group of women began a hunger strike, joining hundreds of other detainees taking part in hunger strikes at facilities across the country. The Yuba County Jail hunger strike is led by, and in support of, Rajeshree Roy.

Cuban National Assembly member Kenia Serrano speaks on diplomatic normalization with the US

Kenia Serrano is a member of the Cuban National Assembly, as well as the president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People. We sat down with her to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, Cuban-developed medical technologies that the U.S. has been denying its residents because of the blockade, the release of the Cuban 5 and the security of our beloved Black Liberation Army political exile Assata Shakur.

In solidarity with the people of Haiti, flood the State Dept. with social media,...

The Haitian people are determined to thwart what they see as an ongoing “electoral coup d’etat” by Haiti’s ruling elite, President Martelly and their U.S., French and Canadian backers – marching in the streets almost daily in their tens of thousands, risking their lives to insist that the fraudulent election be thrown out. On Dec. 16, the 25th anniversary of Haiti’s first free election in 1990, large-scale demonstrations will take place again throughout Haiti. We are echoing and amplifying their demands with a day of action and solidarity with the people of Haiti.

SFPD racism is systemic: In wake of Mario Woods’ killing, SFSU public health students...

The Public Health Organization of Graduate Students at San Francisco State University condemns the actions of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) in the unjust shooting of Mario Woods, a young African American man who was a resident of Bayview Hunters Point, on Dec. 2, 2015. The current situation in which SFPD officers kill community members with impunity is intolerable.

Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation third annual coat drive Dec. 18 in Oakland, Dec. 20...

The Kenneth Harding Jr. Foundation is proud to announce our third annual coat drive. This year we’ve partnered with Kiss My Black Arts and New Beginnings Sister Circle. This is our third year with sponsorship from One Warm Coat and with continued support from local businesses within the San Francisco area.

Jesse Perez prevails: Prison guards found liable for retaliatory abuse of California’s solitary confinement...

In what amounts to an improbable plaintiff victory, a federal jury unanimously found several Pelican Bay State Prison guards liable for retaliating against a prisoner in solitary confinement for successfully exercising his first amendment right to file a prior lawsuit against other guards. In the case, I was the prisoner plaintiff alleging that the guard defendants conspired to retaliate and did retaliate against me.

Rev. Pinkney, marking one year in prison, endures the routine lies of prison officials

On Dec. 14, civil rights leader and political prisoner Rev. Edward Pinkney will have spent a year in Michigan state prison. An all-white jury convicted him of five felony counts of forgery for changing dates next to signatures on a petition drive for a recall election, though no evidence of guilt was presented. While Pinkney’s appeal proceeds slowly through the grinding gears of the judicial system, he remains in the clutches of the state.

Burundi: Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hears testimony on political crisis

Burundian insurgents attacked three army bases early Friday morning. Fighting continued through the night and the dead in Burundi’s streets were estimated to be as high as 89 this morning. The government and opposition told conflicting stories about who the dead were and how they died. Two days before the latest attacks, a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee held a hearing on the situation in Burundi. KPFA’s Ann Garrison has this report.

Author Leroy Moore releases new book, ‘Black Kripple Delivers Poetry & Lyrics’

“Black Kripple Delivers Poetry & Lyrics” is straight up an activist and love book of original poems and song lyrics that have been written and collected for almost two decades. Many poems in this book were first published in 1999 in my chapbook by Poor Magazine’s Poor Press. This book contains poetry and lyrics of songs. Most of the poems and lyrics touch on issues that Black disabled people deal with but only get a little media attention.

All eyes on San Francisco Dec. 15: Tell Supervisors to vote for NO NEW...

The No New SF Jail Coalition’s position has been clear since day one – what San Francisco needs to keep its residents safe is housing, healthcare, mental health support, harm reductive substance use support, education, meaningful employment, community organizations, re-entry support and pre-trial diversion. NOT jails. We need you to call the Board of Supervisors, tell your friends and come out strong on Dec. 15. UPDATE: The vote to reject the new jail was UNANIMOUS! There will be NO NEW SF JAIL.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: After 34 years of wrongful incarceration, showdown in federal court Dec. 18...

On Dec. 9, 2015, in cities around the world, supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal marked his 34th year of wrongful incarceration. Finally, on Dec. 18, we have a rare, one-time opportunity to get Mumia the medical attention he desperately needs. U.S. Federal District Court Judge Robert Mariani will conduct an extensive public hearing on Mumia’s medical crisis and has asked for testimony from Mumia. Credit for this victory is due in no small part to the public outcry.

Do you live in a ‘hot spot’? need health insurance? Covered California can help,...

Covered California has released a list of the top areas in the San Francisco Bay Area where high numbers of people who qualify for subsidized health insurance are believed to reside. The “hot spots” released today show the estimated highest concentrations of subsidy-eligible uninsured individuals – people who qualify for help to buy health insurance through Covered California but have not yet taken advantage of it.

‘I Am San Francisco: (Re)Collecting the Home of Native Black San Franciscans’ coming to...

You are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2-4 p.m., in the African American Center of the San Francisco Main Library of “I Am San Francisco,” a major exhibit that tells the personal stories of Black San Franciscans at a time when the Black population has been almost entirely forced out and includes a display of historic copies of the San Francisco Bay View, back to 1994, with the headline “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter’s 10th Anniversary

Ten years ago, in 2005, two revolutionized comrades, Shaka Zulu, now the chairman, and Kevin Rashid Johnson, now minister of defense, came up with the concept to create the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter in reflection of the Black Panther Party-Prison Chapter that was originally created in 1971 by Comrades W.L. Nolen and George Jackson to fight against injustice and abuse as well as in-prison criminalization of prisoners who resisted being victims.

African American Legion Post 198 to address War Memorial Commission Board of Trustees Dec....

Commander Samuel Patterson of American Legion Post 198 will address the War Memorial Commission about the discriminatory practice of not allowing African American Legion Post 198 to hold a benefit for veterans in one of the rooms in the War Memorial Building, which was built for veterans’ use. Post 198 has been working in our communities for 35 years with integrity.

Coltrane Church needs to remain in the Jazz Preservation District

The Coltrane Church, a pillar of the community known worldwide, is concerned it may be pushed out of its home in the West Bay Center and is asking readers to call West Bay and Center Director Floyd Trammell. The Coltrane Church is the last cultural, spiritual and historical institution in the Jazz Preservation District. The church has been serving the city of San Francisco and the Fillmore for more than 47 years.

Peskin in, jail out

Aaron Peskin becomes the District 3 supervisor on Dec. 8 and will then join his colleagues in rejecting the planned new jail for San Francisco. There likely was a board majority against the current jail plan even without Peskin’s vote, since London Breed’s district is against it and she is up for re-election, but his replacement of Julie Christensen ensures the jail’s defeat.

Justice for Mario Woods: #BlackLivesMatter issues demands and Lets Talk Communities and CRC Media...

As the community prepares for a showdown at the Police Commission meeting this evening, the following list of demands has been released by Etecia Brown on behalf of #BlackLivesMatter, #BlacknSF and #Last3Percent and these videos have been posted by CRC Media Corps and by Jameel Rasheed Patterson on behalf of Lets Talk Communities.

South Sudanese and Congolese flee from one war zone to another

South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are two of the world’s most resource rich and war-torn nations in the world. The U.N. Refugee Agency now reports that fighting between local armed groups and the South Sudanese army in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State has forced more than 4,000 South Sudanese to flee into a remote corner of the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Concerned USF law students’ statement on SFPD’s killing of Mario Woods

We, as concerned law students at the University of San Francisco, are outraged at the officers of the San Francisco Police Department who shot and killed Mario Woods without justification. This use of unnecessary lethal force, and subsequent denial of fault by the San Francisco Police Department, epitomizes the failure of American policing that has become the spotlight of protest in communities around the country.