Half a century of Black liberation journalism, is a huge feat for the San Francisco Bay View to be engaged in, in a world where the police kill Black babies over diapers, the government is trying to make it illegal to speak against big tech and data survelliance centers, all while the government commits genocide on the people of Haiti and Cuba, for refusing to be willing slaves to their capitalist and imperialist fantasies.
The determination and discipline of the San Francisco Bay View newspaper founder Abdul Karriem and current stewards, the Ratcliffs, has to be acknowledged, because it is still monthly, a financial challenge to publish a free to the public – Black newspaper.
As the current Editor in Chief of the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, it is a high honor to lead an institution in the Black community, that internationally has played and continues to play integral part in our liberation movements around the planet. As we continue the fight to liberate political prisoners like Mumia Abu Jamal, Kamau Sadiki, Aaron Patterson, and others – it is important that we continue to have our own media institutions, where we can speak to each other, uncensored, and without a filter. We are asking our community to provide sustainable support, for an institution that we have always needed, but never needed it as much as we do now – as we live in an era where Obama made it legal for the government to spread lies and propaganda. As Trump and his Epstein-class buddies takes lying, stealing, kidnapping, raping, killing, polluting, and cannabalism to new levels, it is the Bay View’s job to keep people informed, so that we can organize to collectively defend our lives, love ones, community, people, resources, and land; locally and around the planet from these survelliance, economic, and ecological terrorists.
The San Francisco Bay View is a serious weapon used against ignorance, that the ruling class wishes would wilt away and die. Over the years, we had been threatened for our reporting like what happened in the Chauncy Bailey murder case, we have been banned from radio stations like KPFA because of our coverage of the unjustified police beating of Nadra Foster inside of the “progressive” Berkeley station, we have fought legal cases because of our exclusive frontline coverage of the police murders of Gary King, Oscar Grant, Lovell Mixon, and so many others. As we turn this corner of fighting for over 50 years, with our pens or i should say nowadays our cell phones, we need our community’s support more than ever. We have begun the 50 x 50 fundraising campaign to continue the work of the newspaper in the streets, as well as to raise money for the 50th anniversary celebration that is scheduled for later in the year. If you would like to play an active part in financially supporting this revolutionary platform for Black and oppressed people, we can utilize your assistance. Thank you.
JR Valrey, Editor in Chief, San Francisco BayView