Monthly Archives: February 2018

We're on the search for 2-3 graduate-level interns to support our research, advocacy/mobilization, and communications projects based out of Oakland, California this summer. We're accepting...

  The Department of Energy offers 8-10 week summer internships to minority high school, undergrad and graduate students at its Headquarter and site offices and national laboratories. Positions involve scientific research...

President London Breed today joined City leaders and community advocates in announcing groundbreaking legislation that will eliminate all existing criminal justice fees within the City and County of San Francisco’s jurisdiction. This includes fees related to adult probation, home detention, alcohol testing and others which are ​levied on individuals coming into and out of the City’s criminal justice system.

I am overwhelmed that today, Feb. 6, is the start of my 43rd year in prison. I have had such high hopes over the years that I might be getting out and returning to my family in North Dakota. And yet here I am in 2018 still struggling for my FREEDOM at 73. I do not think I have another 10 years, and what I do have I would like to spend with my family. Nothing would bring me more happiness than being able to hug my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

How you can help Imam Jamil: Yahya Abdussabur, a leading supporter of Iman Jamil Al-Amin, in distributing this letter by email, writes: The letter is part of the continuing effort to gain freedom for our beloved Imam Jamil Al-Amin. As Allaah has enjoined on us, “Enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil” and as the Holy Prophet has said, “Want for your brother what you want for yourself.” Please sign this letter and encourage your jamaat, friends and associates to do the same.”

I sing the song of the Black Man --- The Eternal Black Man --- The uncreated, unborn, everlasting --- Alpha and Omega Man --- The Afrikan, the Indian, the Mexican and the CaucAsian --- I am that I am --- I am all men in different variations --- The tallest and the shortest man --- The thinnest and the broadest man --- I am the bass, the baritone and the soprano man --- My range covers the whole spectrum --- From the bottom to the top of man --- I am the Huemanitarian --- From which all men get their color and hue --- Of all the carbon copies --- I am the Original Man --- The origin of man ---

In a major class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court here, conditions at the Alameda County Jail at Santa Rita sound more like they come out of a Charles Dickens novel than a modern day correctional facility. At a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 31, lawyers for pregnant prisoners at Santa Rita claim their clients are being inhumanely mistreated by jail personnel, urged to have abortions and routinely denied medical attention, warm clothing, nutritious food, blankets and even fresh air.

We continue to see and hear lies coming from U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies in respect to their hyper-surveillance of groups and individuals who are New Afrikans and who engage in constitutionally protected activities such as protests, rallies, marches, litigation and political efforts. With this essay, I seek to give a detailed explanation into the ongoing campaign of retaliation and harassment the members of the NABPP-PC have been subjected to.

Feb. 15 is the official release date for “Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters,” associated with the reference guide “100 Black Women in Horror.” The new book is being released on Mocha Memoirs Press, a publishing house out of North Carolina that does a lot of work with Black authors and women authors alike and is owned and operated by Nicole Kurtz, an African American woman.

The Bay View is the people’s microphone. It’s one of the few voices we have. It may not be a big microphone, like CNN or the New York Times. But we need as many small and medium sized mikes as we can get. The San Francisco Bay View should not be a dwindling institution. It should be an expanding one. An ever thriving one. The light and voice of the people should not be a flickering candlelight, but a raging fire. If this community watchdog loses its bark or is put to sleep, it will truly be open season on us and our communities.

Two women, Elana Meyers Taylor, the No. 1 bobsled driver in the world, from Douglasville, Georgia, with Lauren Gibbs of Los Angeles as her brakeman, are expected to win the Olympic gold medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, the first bobsled gold for the USA in 16 years. Aja Evans from Chicago, Illinois, is brakeman for another team, with Brianua Jones ready for any replacement duties. Americans of African descent are well represented in this very high tech sport.

My tears flowed when I heard the world could be losing the San Francisco Bay View newspaper as a source of life, light and power due to lack of funding. This harrowing news reminded me of a hard lesson I’ve learned: Any cause, no matter how noble, can and will be lost without money to fuel it. I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hours buying and reading newspapers. Hands down, the Bay View produces the realest, rawest, richest content of them all. For more information on how to donate or support, call 415-671-0789, visit www.sfbayview.com/support or write to SF Bay View, 4917 Third St., San Francisco, CA 94124. Or donate to the Bay View’s GoFundMe campaign.

In the December 2017 issue of Bay View, our Brother Terrance Amen stated the following: “We all know what the problems are, but very little energy and effort are focused on the solutions.” Our Campaign to Redistribute the Pain 2018 focuses all of our energy and effort on the solution to the problems that we perpetuate from the way that we are spending our money while in prison. Invariably, solutions create issues because solutions call for sacrifice.

Know who Aaron Pointer is? How about Cuno Barragan? Or Dave Roberts, Wayne Cage and Bill Murphy? They are all retired persons of color who currently don’t receive pensions from having played Major League Baseball (MLB). Mr. Pointer doesn’t receive a traditional pension from MLB because the rules for receiving MLB pensions changed in 1980. Pointer and the other men do not get pensions because they didn’t accrue four years of service credit.

Hi, invisible ghost, whose pictures are in black and white. They show your racist expression in the light of day. You hung Black bodies with your little ghost child looking on. Like a virus that has gone into hiding only to reappear from your dormant stage and upset humanity’s long, beautiful, joyful, proud period of struggling to keep their better angels safe, your ghostly and invisible stench incites us to pick up arms and force you back into confinement over and over, again and again, like a flu shot each winter.

Celebrate Dr. Espanola Jackson Day on her birthday, Feb. 9, with the San Francisco Bayview Hunters Point community. We take this opportunity to honor the memory of Espanola as a community leader during Black History Month. For details of the event, which will be held in the Alex Pitcher Room at the Southeast Community Center, go to the Facebook and register your RSVP online with Eventbrite. All are welcome. Spread the word.

Dr. Belay D. Reddick asked for a show of hands: How many of the Oakdale federal prison inmates had ever heard of spoken word? Close to two-thirds of the 150 prisoners gathered last month in the prison’s chapel raised their hands. He then asked how many of the men had ever attended a spoken word event, a question that alluded to the presentation of his latest re-entry project. Last month’s event featured nationally-acclaimed championship poet Sha’Condria “iCon” Sibley of Alexandria, Louisiana.