Monthly Archives: December 2016

Sharon Fennell, also well known by her disc jockey name Sista Soul, has been a Humboldt resident for over 30 years. Fennell, through her volunteer work at KHSU, has grown to become an advocate for prisoners and shown faithfulness in bringing awareness to the conditions and contradictions of America’s penal system. After 36 years, Fenell – or Sista as she is called by friends and close acquaintances – has decided to move on. She has one more radio show this Sunday, Dec. 18.

Thanks to a strong increase in demand, Covered California is giving consumers more time to sign up for health coverage that will start on Jan. 1. More than 25,000 new consumers selected a plan during the first two days of this week, which is more than enrolled at this time last year. “This strong demand shows that Californians are using the competitive marketplace that Covered California provides,” said Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California.

A young man shown on video in a physical confrontation with BART police has been acquitted of four counts of battery on a police officer, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced Thursday, Dec. 16. Jurors deliberated two days before finding Michael Smith, 22, not guilty Wednesday afternoon of the four counts. Jurors deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal on two additional counts of battery on a police officer and one count of resisting arrest. Prosecutors on Friday are expected to announce whether they will dismiss the remaining charges or retry Smith.

I ain’t gonna front – I shed tears when Trump and his minions were elected. The impending doom that is a Trump presidency is the result of a white America unable to swallow the conspicuousness of Black perfection, and a corollary of white rage. Black people have been shot, burned and lynched, but we did not die. Our hearts and minds have been subject to unspeakable trauma, and still we got back up. Persistence and lightenin’ spits from our fingers and truth is our ammunition. This is all too much for white America. Our perfection is our savior and it should not be feared.

A few months ago, I exposed the corruption of this particular unit and others across Gatesville, Texas, striving for justice, peace and respect to no avail. In response to the grievances, articles and complaints the women here have written, we’ve been subjected to more abuse. Out of retribution, the mailroom has banned the San Francisco Bay View newspaper from subscribers to receive and also ransacked several dorms to confiscate all newspapers any offenders were in possession of.

The Congolese Solidarity Campaign, together with Abahlali baseMjondolo and other progressive African movements, will be in Pretoria to organize a picket outside the embassy of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, Dec. 15, 9:00 to noon. The protest aims to declare the Congolese Solidarity Campaign’s decision to refuse to acknowledge Mr. Kabila as president of DR Congo and to oppose him from extending his power unconstitutionally beyond Dec. 19, 2016, the date his second and last term in office expires.

Dear Kos, I’ve read your posts frequently over the years, and even sent a donation. Thanks for all your good work. I’ve felt a level of smugness creep in, however, which especially reflects in your recent headline, “Morons who voted for Republicans now worry they will take away their health care—as promised.” You even name call a woman who voted Republican a “moron.” Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment falls in this same category.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9 to 1 today to fully fund the Free City College program championed by Supervisor Kim. The vote today is the fourth official action that the Board has taken to support making City College free for all San Franciscans. The $9 million budget appropriation provides $7 million in direct program funding that will allow City College to enroll, tuition-free, any San Francisco resident taking credit courses.

“Mama at Twilight: Death by Love” is a love story that offers a frank examination of family life in the inner-city as it intersects mass incarceration, poor access to health care, religious taboos and struggles under the burden of imposed tropes of man and womanhood. The Lower Bottom Playaz traditionally offer works that interrogate the experience of being human through the lens of the North American African experience. “Mama at Twilight: Death by Love” follows this tradition.

Today Swift Justice received information that Kinetik Justice (Robert Earl Council), co-founder of the Free Alabama Movement, was assaulted by two correctional officers at Limestone Correctional Facility last week. Swift Justice asked us to pass these words along: “TODAY I ask EVERYONE, no matter what state or country, to unite and protect Kinetik Justice in a time he needs us most!”

Wes Clark Jr., the son of retired U.S. Army general and former supreme commander at NATO Wesley Clark Sr., was part of a group of veterans that traveled to Standing Rock to stand in solidarity with the water protectors. During their visit, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit for the pipeline and these veterans joined with elders in a ceremony celebrating the announcement.

In my opinion, if there ever was a murderous conspiracy committed by a city governing body, Oakland is it. Building and Fire Codes, Health Codes and Fire and Safety Regulations mean nothing to building owners, law enforcement and agencies designed to protect residents. Oakland city government members are elected, charged with and paid to see that code enforcement is being carried out in all public and private buildings in its zones. As a result of a monstrous dereliction of their duties, 36 young people have lost their lives in the most horrific way one can imagine. They were burned alive and/or killed by smoke inhalation, trapped in a flaming inferno with no warning and no means of escape.

The death of Fidel Castro, for those of us living in the belly of the beast, has meant being forced to endure non-stop lies and hypocrisy from the mass media about Fidel. According to our “free press,” Fidel was a “brutal dictator” who would not allow “democratic” elections like we have here. Two words put the lie to the story that U.S.-style elections bring justice and prosperity: Donald Trump.

Since September, over three hundred Black Jews have announced their intention to refuse any military order to report for reserve duty, accusing the Israeli government of state-sponsored racism against citizens of Ethiopian origin. The soldiers, who include fighters from all Israel Defense Forces infantry brigades, as well as some of its most specialized commando units, say that as long as the state does not respect their civil rights, they will in turn refrain from fulfilling their civic obligations.

Oakland needs the motto “Love Life” as a way of spreading brotherly-sisterly love to everyone. To put it differently, “love thy neighbor,” even if you live in a luxury apartment and your neighbor lives in an encampment. Oakland had a visible homeless community even before people started calling it the “new” Oakland. Treating people like trash and clearing homeless encampments are acts of violence because they violate someone’s humanity – no matter what excuse is used to justify it.

The trial of the killer cop who shot an unarmed Black man (named Walter Scott) is off. Hung jury. If the videotaped killing of Scott wasn’t shock enough, the hung jury certainly suffices. The images are, to say the least, chilling. But video, apparently, wasn’t enough, at least to one of the jurors hearing the case, who refused to convict ex-cop Michael Slager of the killing. The murder of Walter Scott, caught on tape, proves, if proof were needed, that Black lives don’t matter, at least for that juror. And guess what? Apparently, videotape doesn’t matter – when a Black person gets killed by a white cop.

This fight, Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev, felt like the Jack Johnson vs. James J. Jeffries fight of July 4, 1910, between world heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson and undefeated, coming out of retirement heavyweight contender, James J. Jeffries. Both fights were billed as the “Fight of the Century.” Both occurred during a time of hostility and escalating racial tensions between Afrikan people and people of European descent – and in a U.S. known for its Jim Crow laws and the rise of the KKK.

An ever growing number of folks are finding love with partners outside their race and raising children of blended cultures. There is also an increase in the number of families and individuals adopting children of color who have no actual knowledge or involvement with their cultures. Regardless of the culture or ethnic background of the adults, it is critical that certain realities be kept in mind. Children of color have distinct cultural histories and mores that should be acknowledged and consistently reinforced.

Censorship of the Bay View around the country appears to have become a habit, a way to kill the paper once and for all. We have physical evidence now that the major media can report on prison strikes and not be censored. If you are a lawyer, read these three protests from prisoners who want and need and deserve their papers and help if you can. If you are a prisoner who hasn’t received your paper, do some brainstorming with your comrades. Make a way out of no way – and tell us when you succeed.

After earning both soaring praise and burning ire for sitting out the national anthem, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has turned his protest against police brutality into a positive force for change – by opening an education-based camp to empower kids. Kaepernick, in other words, wants to teach young people how to be the change – to educate themselves and stay healthy and safe. On a recent Saturday, Kaepernick hosted a free youth camp called Know Your Rights.