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2016 July

Monthly Archives: July 2016

Wanda’s Picks for August 2016

The new “Black Woman Is God” exhibit, curated by Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green, features the work of over 50 Black women artists in a variety of genres: film, mixed media installation, sculpture, paintings, photography – in a range of sizes covering entire walls to intimate corners. We travel below ground into spaces where lives are born and secret formulas are calculated … brews stirred.

50 years since the 1966 Hunters Point Uprising and ‘Black Lives [Still Don’t] Matter’

Join us Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-3 p.m., and Wednesday, Sept. 27, 3-5 p.m., at the Linda Brooks Burton Library, 5075 Third St., at Revere, San Francisco, to honor the life of the many Black men and women whose lives were taken too soon and to learn more about the 1966 Hunters Point Uprising. We must, as Arthur Schomburg challenges Black Americans, “dig up our past in order to remake our future.”

WNBA teams show what Black Lives Matter solidarity looks like

Two more teams have come together to make a political statement. The Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty of the WNBA have chosen to advocate an idea that really should not be radical but somehow is, in the United States of 2016: the idea that Black lives matter. These are public and visible displays of real solidarity: white players joining with their Black teammates, wearing the same shirts and standing alongside them in a show of multiracial unity against anti-Black bigotry.

Black woman prisoner in Alabama fights for voting rights: Transformation v. modification

I want to address a point overlooked and ignored, that Alabama Constitution Article VIII Section 177 (a) and (b) are contradictory. The former states, “Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 18 years … shall have the right to vote.” The latter, however, states, “No person convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude … shall be qualified to vote until restoration of civil and political rights.”

Haitians at DNC: Where is Haiti’s $6 billion?

Haitians at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia are trying to bring attention to Haiti, where Bill and Hillary Clinton are accused of defrauding the country of billions in earthquake relief money and destabilizing the nation’s economy and state institutions. Mainstream media has moreover tried to ignore this most significant part of the Clintons’ background. It is where Bill and Hillary Clinton spent their honeymoon. But since then, the poor island nation has become a source of undue enrichment for friends and family of the Clintons and for the Clintons themselves.

Black August 2016

From behind the enemy lines of the California State Prison System, from within the “belly of the beast” that is the Amerikan injustice system, I greet you all and call for your full attention to the annual commemoration of Black August and invite all prisoners and families throughout Amerika to join us in honoring our beloved martyrs with fasting, studying and sharing respect and unity with Panther love and knowledge in the spirit of our fallen comrades.

Black August Memorial: an interview with Kasim Gero, Patuxent Prison

On FLEA Days, Tupac Shakur, Baltimore, Kwanzaa, women-comrades and the revolutionary experience of Black August ... Kasim O. Gero is currently housed as an inmate at the Patuxent Institution in Jessup, Maryland. The unedited answers to these questions are his added consent to this interview and dissemination of information in alignment with the mission of George Jackson University.

Master builder Anthony Ratcliff mourned

Anthony Ratcliff died on July 23, 2016, after a valiant fight against throat and lung cancer. He was born in Oakland, California, on May 18, 1956, to mother Geneva Cleopatra Draper Ratcliff, a homemaker (now deceased), and father Dr. Willie Ratcliff, a contractor and publisher of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Anthony was greatly beloved and will be sorely missed. His homegoing service is Friday, July 29, 1 p.m., at Common Ground Covenant Church, Sacramento.

Learn how to prevent a painful sickle cell disease crisis during the summer

For most of us, the summer represents fun: playing outdoors, cooling off in a pool and enjoying a family vacation. But for the many children, teens and adults living with sickle cell disease, these activities can trigger an extremely painful “crisis” episode – the most common manifestation of this genetic, chronic and deadly disease. Enjoying a summer day at the pool can end up in the hospital if you’re not aware of the crisis triggers.

Rwanda, the Clinton dynasty and the case of Dr. Léopold Munyakazi

I answered some heartbreaking calls from Dr. Léopold Munyakazi phoning from an Alabama jail this week. Dr. Munyakazi is a gentle Rwandan born scholar, with a PhD in linguistics and further advanced degrees in French and African linguistics. He has lost his immigration case in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and will all but certainly be deported to Rwanda to face prison or worse.

Members of the Frisco 5 officially reject the San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s Hero...

On July 28, 2016, the San Francisco Human Rights Commission will be presenting the Frisco 5 with a Hero Award. While we appreciate the consideration, some of us cannot accept this award. It is insulting to us that the very administration who executes the will of developers and big business instead of the will of the voters would think that awarding us for fighting their failed policies would be acceptable. How can we accept such an award when our city is in a state of crisis?

The psyche of a sexually abused child: Why children may protect the cops who...

In hopes of getting people to understand the mind and psyche of a sexually abused minor, I took a moment to speak with child psychologist Phyllis Haugabook. Phyllis is a therapist who has worked with sexually, mentally and physically abused children for over 17 years. Listen to what she has to say about the effect sexual abuse has on the psyche of the child and why so many sexually abused children often protect their abusers.

The ‘fundamentalism’ in police operations

As police murders accumulate, and police chiefs get fired and replaced because they cannot stop it – as in Oakland and San Francisco – the notion that this represents a political crisis becomes a truism. It is not a “crisis of policing,” which would suggest a situation beyond the capacities of the police. It is the police who have become the crisis.

Kevin Durant is a Warrior

Kevin Durant, the 6-foot-10 basketball star, is now a Golden State Warrior, as he signed a two year $54 million free agent contract to join the team. He announced his decision on July 4, Independence Day, and the announcement sent shockwaves throughout the NBA and the country. After being wooed by six different teams over the 4th of July weekend in the Hamptons of New York, Durant was ready for a change and a new basketball experience.

Coalition that stopped new SF jail wins human rights award as jail system blasted...

The No New SF Jail Coalition has been selected to receive the prestigious Hero Award by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and its Equity Advisory Committee. The coalition celebrated a monumental victory last December, when, after years of community organizing and advocacy, they persuaded the Board of Supervisors to reject plans for a new jail in San Francisco.

Indeed, Western Civilization is in a war

Republican Newt Gingrich, long known for his fascistic views, recently declared that “Western Civilization is in a war.” Truth be told, he is on solid ground. Indeed, Western Civilization is in a war, a war that has been raging since its inception. It has been at war with itself and with the entire non-European world for centuries. Long before anyone heard of Jihadists, Al-Qaeda and ISIL, Western Civilization was at war.

Treasure Island whistleblowers face immediate retaliation from power broker consortium

The truth about the radiation and chemicals that poison Treasure Island has been deliberately hidden from view since 1941, when the Navy began using the island as a trash dump. To conceal the extent of the toxicity and the poisoning of many sailors and civilians, recent plans to redevelop the island have required powerful players to shroud activities there in an even thicker fog than the mist that daily crawls under the Golden Gate Bridge.

B.L.A.C.K organization: Building Leadership and Community Knowledge

The need for organizations to help promote economic growth within the community is so important, and it’s in the hands of the people. Building leadership in the community is important because it shows passion and dedication, how far we have come as a community as well as how far we still have to go in order to gain wealth. I sat down with Renaldi, one of the co-founders of B.L.A.C.K, and this is how they are making strides to buy Black wealth. Check it out …

Black teenage Brooklyn-based metal band documented in ‘Breaking a Monster’

Unlocking the Truth is a Black middle-school-aged trio from Brooklyn who are reclaiming what it means to be into metal – and millennium babies. The Luke Meyer documentary about Unlocking the Truth called “Breaking a Monster” came out on Friday, and I think the documentary title is a good fit for a young band of this caliber. Catch “Breaking a Monster” while you can at Landmark Opera Theater or Shattuck Cinemas in the Bay Area now.

Do we need white revolutionaries to rise up?

The recent deaths of Alton Sterling, 37, and Philando Castile, 32, at the hands of state-sanctioned violence are additional tragedies in an endless list of Black victims, and a reminder that premature Black death continues to take center stage in the Black narrative. With our heads in our hands and our eyes swollen, we keep asking, when will Black lives matter? White silence about these atrocities is almost as dangerous as the hand that pulls the trigger.