Monthly Archives: August 2020

Oakland in the ‘80s and ‘90s blessed us with the likes of Tony, Toni, Tone, young MC Hammer, Digital Underground, Too Short and Dawn Robinson of En Vogue, just to name a few, at a time when there were only a few home studios. Joe Capers, aka Blind Joe, a blind musician and producer, was one of the creators of the sounds of the Oakland music scene in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Racial violence against Black America is a regular part of America’s history; hiding and denying this racial violence is also a part of America’s history. For decades, African Americans have complained about police brutality. White America dismissed them or paid little attention and this denial allowed White America to feel innocent.

Eric G. King, a 33-year-old vegan anarchist political prisoner and poet, was arrested and charged with an attempted firebombing of a congressperson’s office in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2014. As part of his plea and sentencing, Eric publicly and proudly acknowledged that his intent was to take direct political action in solidarity with the community of Ferguson, Missouri, following the August 2014 police killing of Michael Brown Jr.

PROTEST FOR SEP 1 CANCELLED – BUT....WE WILL HAVE A short but important PRESS CONFERENCE AT 11:30 am TUESDAY at MLK/Bay View Park to deliver our message and demands! PLEASE JOIN US IF YOU ARE ABLE TO!

Getting counted in the census might seem trivial, especially when faced with systemic obstacles, financial instability and the lack of essential resources. In the Black community, there is more to getting counted than it seems: the question of why Black people should get counted travels deep through generations dating back to the 1700s.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Dr. Denis Mukwege is receiving death threats, and not for the first time. Dr. Mukwege has won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Sakharov Prize and a long list of other human rights awards for treating women victims of sexual violence used as a weapon in the resource wars that plague eastern Congo. He founded Panzi Hospital in Congo’s South Kivu Province for surgical and post-surgical treatment of victims.

Another star shines in the night sky. Ronnie Goodman passed away in early August this year. He died on the street, just after his 60th birthday, on the same corner where he’d been living for more than a year. We stood around waiting for the medical examiner to come and take him. The cops had put a sheet over him.

The wave of strikes by athletes against racist police violence is not ebbing. On Thursday night, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins took the field, held a 42-second moment of silence (in honor of Jackie Robinson), and then walked off. They left behind a shirt that read “Black Lives Matter” on home plate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to Ms. Verlie Mae Pickens, who is well known and a leader in the Bayview community, celebrated her 104th birthday on June 11, 2020. The COVID-19 forced postponement of the yearly celebration of her birthday, normally a large festive party and dinner to honor Ms. Pickens.

The 2020 census has inspired more and more youth to step up to get their families counted. Talking with a few young Frisco natives, new perspectives are gained on the dynamics of growing up in hard-to-count communities.

Are we aware the economy is in free-fall? During the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, health has been a central topic, but what about financial health? With the stock market being stunted and the government doling out trillions of dollars to individual citizens, small businesses and corporations, we need to know what is happening with our finances.

By 2023, the U.S. will be 40 percent “minority,” and 50 percent of the entire population will be under 40 years old. These are the demographics that cannot be ignored as progressives move forward building opposition to institutional racism and plutocratic governing.

Called the most contaminated site in the United States and despite a moratorium on further condo construction on Parcel A, the only part of the shipyard approved for development, the massive excavation project pictured here is currently occurring at the perimeter of the Parcel E-2 landfill. Reinstating the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) would require the Navy and EPA to explain why they are allowing this dangerous project to occur.

From the Buried Alive Project, Dallas Attorney Brittany K. Barnett reflects, “I feel that we’ve spent a lot of time trying to reform things that should be completely reimagined, completely transformed. I’m almost getting allergic to the word ‘reform’ because we’re just tinkering with a broken system.”

This public webinar will focus on voices from Soledad Prison, both currently and formerly incarcerated, as well as other system-impacted people, following the July 20 attack on Black prisoners at CTF Soledad.

We have left no legacy behind in the Fillmore. I’m telling you that in 10 to 15 years the only way you’re going to know that this part of San Francisco used to be Black is by looking at the bricks, or by the tour guides on buses that tell you, “This used to be the great jazz district.”

A firearm can be used as both a tool and a weapon. Being Black in America should already make you want to own a gun for protection. If you’re Black, female, and/or short, I think it’s even more necessary to learn how to safely use a gun.

Grave Injustice – again, and again and again. The Black Farmers’ Appeal to rectify the injustices of the Pigford v. Glickman class action discrimination lawsuit. Supported by the Pigford Debt Campaign, a grassroots organizing, popular education and legal advocacy campaign, the Black farmers organized to file a class action lawsuit seeking restorative land justice from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for decades of systemic racial discrimination in the delivery of lending services to Black farmers.

San Francisco – In a statement released Aug. 22, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin emphasizes the importance of AB 767, a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Grayson, which would expand California’s Victim Compensation Board benefits to include victims of police violence.

CDCR prison officials reign down relentless terror on disenfranchised prisoners, many of them disabled, who suffered extreme brutality, systematic racism and retaliatory practices at the Correctional Training Facility-Central (CTF-C), at Soledad on March 5, 2020, May 19, 2020, and July 20, 2020. Without warning or lawful orders, dozens of prisoners were injured severely, aggravating old injuries and causing new injuries to their bodies.