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2016 June

Monthly Archives: June 2016

Dr. Raymond Tompkins: How and why does pollution poison Bayview Hunters Point? Conclusion

The air has gotten worse, not better. So these are some of the things that are caused by the dust, the construction and the latent chemicals they have not cleaned up since World War II – plus the current concentration of light industry just outside our neighborhood that all blows into our neighborhood. Yet currently less than 1 percent of African Americans who live in Bayview work in that area and reap the economic benefits. All we get is the pollution and death.

Governor’s new budget supports more incarceration

The budget signed June 27 by Gov. Jerry Brown reflects Sacramento’s relentless reliance on incarceration. Although the budget includes some repairs to the social safety net, it nonetheless aggressively builds up California’s system of imprisonment, adding another $270 million to the state’s large-scale jail construction program, extending contracts for private prisons, increasing the number of prison guards and funding construction on a dilapidated prison in Norco.

Dr. Davis’ dream comes true: Grand opening of the George W. Davis Senior Center

A 20-year vision became reality when Bayview Senior Services invited the people of Bayview Hunters Point to the grand opening of the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center and Residence on Saturday, June 25. The celebration marked the victory of a dream over despair. As we all gain inspiration from his memory, his wife, Cathy Davis, has captained the project to a successful completion with last Saturday’s unforgettable grand opening.

99 seasons: A vigil for eviction fighter Iris Canada

Carved into the skin of San Francisco’s Black community is a desecration, a lack of recognition of the sacred. This desecration is being levied upon Iris Canada, a 99-year-old elder who has lived most of her life on Page Street – an elder who is in the fight of her life. She lived a life on Page Street long before condos, con-men and the poison cloud legacy they leave behind from places like New Hampshire – “home” of her landlord, Peter Owens.

Hugo Pinell, aka Dahariki Kambon: Decades of assassination attempts against the man most feared...

The recent victory won by the prisoner hunger strikers, the “solitary settlement” in Ashker v. Brown, is indicative of the solidarity among prisoners today, and it is for this reason I am sharing my story and history of Dahariki Kambon. We must carry on the spirit of what he stood for; his fight was against the racist oppressors and their cruel laws and policies of injustice and inequality.

Brexit

The national referendum determining Britain’s exit from the 28-nation body called the European Union – dubbed “Brexit” by the hip British press – has sent shock waves around the world. That it has done so is a reflection of how narrow the national – and global – media is and how little they see of the world they purport to cover. It is also a window into the world of rising right-wing nationalism – and a walk away from the very notion of globalism.

Mayan resistance to police terror

“Get on the ground! Get on the ground!” Moving in slowly like they were on a hunt, high-powered weapons pointed down, the descendants of slave-catchers aka police stalk an indigenous man crouching on Shotwell Street holding a soccer ball. They shout disgustedly and dismissively in English from the video screen; my heart stops. I try to keep watching, reminding myself I need to wear my reporter hat instead of my trauma-filled police-terror-from-my-life-of-houselessness blanket. We are watching the extrajudicial murder of Luis Demetrio Góngora Pat by San Francisco police. Why did they kill him? “He was a homeless man.”

Suicide crisis in California women’s prison: Advocates demand justice for Erika Rocha and Shaylene...

Erika Rocha was 35 years old and one day away from her Youth Parole Hearing on April 15, 2016, when she committed suicide at the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Corona. Since her death, the suicide crisis at CIW has only worsened. On June 1, yet another young woman of color died at CIW. Her name is Shaylene Graves and she was 27 years old and six weeks away from returning home to her loving son, family and friends.

Oakland City Council votes to ban coal exports

On Monday, June 27, the Oakland City Council voted to approve an ordinance that would ban coal from being handled and stored in the City of Oakland, including a resolution to apply the ordinance to the proposed Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal. The council will hold a second vote on that ordinance at their July 19 meeting. Community members and advocacy groups applauded the council’s action.

Verlie Mae Pickens: Celebrating my 100th birthday!

I celebrated my 100th birthday on June 11, 2016, with family members, friends and community members at the brand new Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center. On June 12, my church, Jones Memorial United Methodist Church, honored me with a wonderful birthday celebration after the church service. And at our June meeting of the Network for Elders in the Bayview, Network members had a very special birthday party for me!

Afeni Shakur, 1947-2016

She was born Alice Faye Williams in the dusty little town of Lumberton, North Carolina, on Jan. 10, 1947, a dimpled little Black girl, who grew into a petite young revolutionary known as Afeni Shakur, mother of a young rap icon and actor, Tupac Amaru Shakur. Like many country people – and far too many Black people – she looked down on herself for years, as not smart enough, not pretty enough – you know: too Black. Afeni Shakur, after 69 springs, returns to the infinite.

Beat maker Maki releases ‘Kilo Hero’

One of the dopest producers in the Bay that many have never heard of is Maki, known as one of the most serious and consistent beat makers. Maki just released a compilation album produced solely by him called “Kilo Hero,” and it features some of the hardest voices in Bay Area street music. Check out Maki of Sounddope Productions and Blahk Operah as he talks about the soon-to-be 2016 summer classic in the streets, “Kilo Hero.”

SF Bay View banned inside Indiana prisons: Do Black Lives Matter behind the walls?

In the December 2015 issue of the San Francisco Bay View, I wrote an article entitled “Do Black Lives Matter Behind the Walls” and introduced to the Bay View audience the newly formed New African Liberation Collective (NALC). While this particular issue was allowed into prisons throughout the state, it was seized at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, where I was being housed, based upon the orders of the Internal Affairs Department as a security risk.

Obama’s AFRICOM nominee would expand terror war, seek authority to assassinate

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee questioned Marine Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, President Obama’s nominee to become the next four-star general commanding AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command. Most of the discussion focused on the conflict in Libya, where territory is now controlled by seven different forces. KPFA’s Ann Garrison has more.

Illinois prisoners boycott overpriced phone calls, commissary and vending machines

During the month of April, at least 100 of those incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center, about an hour outside of Chicago, Illinois, participated in a boycott of the overpriced phone calls, commissary goods and vending machines. “Mass incarceration is a luxury business,” stated Patrick Pursley, one of the men who joined in the boycott. The boycott comes at a time of growing demonstrations led by those inside U.S. prisons.

First Lady of the Mob: Remembering The Jacka

Real love and loyalty is everlasting. On Feb. 2, 2015, at the young age of 37, the Bay Area lost The Jacka, one of its most talented and influential artists to ever breathe on a mic. The Jacka’s life was stolen from him when some coward murdered him in East Oakland off 94th and MacArthur. That dreadful day, the Bay Area lost a legend, and, simultaneously, Deltrice lost the love of her life.

Attorney Adante Pointer speaks on Bay Area police underage sex scandal

A predator who takes pleasure in sexual behavior with a minor has no place on any police force, period! The worst type of criminal is the one who wears a badge. No one is above the law. Check out what civil rights attorney Adante Pointer, with the law offices of John Burris, had to say about this underage sex scandal currently disgracing many Bay Area police departments. About Celeste Guap, Pointer says, “These officers knew that she was underage and that she was vulnerable and sought to exploit her vulnerability for their own interests.”

Oakland City Council President Lynette McElhaney weighs in on OPD sex scandal

Oakland City Council President Lynette McElhaney has been one of the few fearless voices inside city government who is speaking out about the outrageous and unthinkable sex scandal where more than two dozen officers from law enforcement agencies all around the Bay had sex or inappropriate dealings with a young woman in the sex trade. Here she is in her own words.

Babies on the blade: ‘Diamond’ speaks out on police and young prostitutes

“Police are some of our best customers,” stated Diamond, 29, as we sat and talked. Diamond is one of the many names she goes by while working as a prostitute now in cities throughout the Bay Area. With the recent Bay Area police sex scandal, involving the sexual exploitation of Celeste Guap, much of it when she was a minor, it is important for victims of sexual violence to speak out! Here is Diamond’s story.

Human rights watchdog IACHR opens case against violations caused by Chalillo Dam in Belize

In an important decision, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has opened a case against the Government of Belize regarding the controversial Chalillo Dam built on Belize’s Macal River in 2005. The decision is in response to a petition from The Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy filed in 2004 on behalf of the Maya people and those living downstream of the dams who say their rights have been violated.