Filmmaker Kevin Epps releases new book, ‘Black Alcatraz’
In 2008, award winning filmmaker and community activist Kevin Epps wrote, directed and produced a documentary, “The Black Rock,” a film that tells the story of the African American history on Alcatraz. This month, Epps is releasing a companion book to that documentary called “Black Alcatraz,” which goes deeper into the experiences of the Black prisoner on the island while correlating those stories to today’s prison system.
Zach Norris releases new book, ‘We Keep Us Safe,’ Feb. 4
Oakland – After more than 20 years of experience as a thought leader in criminal justice and community empowerment, Ella Baker Center Executive Director and author Zach Norris will launch his new book “We Keep Us Safe“ on Tuesday, Feb. 4, in Oakland. In the book, Norris presents a vision for how the United States can achieve safety and security for everyone, especially the most vulnerable members of society.
Parent with ACEs: Is it time to change your parenting playbook?
A recent UCLA study shows that the children of parents with four or more Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as abuse or neglect, are twice as likely to develop ADHD, which makes it more likely children will become hyperactive and unable to pay attention or control their impulses.
Spoiler alert: The Black guy doesn’t die first!
‘Beyond Us: Black Minds in Horror,’ a collection of films curated by award-winning horror author Crystal Connor, will screen Feb. 16-17
by...
Join us as we center diverse perspectives from the Black Speculative Literary Arts landscape!
Artwork by Thaddeus Howze (@ebonstorm)
by Audrey T. Williams
The AfroSurreal Writers Workshop of Oakland – and
friends – will share from their speculative works in...
Stress busters for working parents
Working parents, among others, may find themselves increasingly short-tempered, anxious or depressed as a result of stress at work. This may be especially hard if you’re parenting with ACEs – that is, if you’re dealing with unresolved trauma from your own childhood.
Our 2020 Vision: Make Africa Great Again
Afrika is our Black Power Base. Our life force. Our African Sun. Where is your home base, Black man? It’s Africa.
How Stevie Wonder helped create Martin Luther King Day
At Dr. King’s funeral, Stevie Wonder learned of John Conyers’ bill to make his birthday a national holiday. To overcome the resistance of conservative politicians, Wonder put his career on hold, led rallies from coast to coast and galvanized millions of Americans with his passion and integrity. But it took 15 years.
When the Panthers died
When the Panthers died, I cried,
I tried to hold back my tears,
While in my mother's womb, I was consumed with fear . . .
Poetry, prayers, protest against gentrification and displacement planned for MLK Day
On Martin Luther King Day, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, at 10:00 a.m., noted Bay Area grassroots leaders will host a protest rally at the Oakland City Church to highlight the plight of the unhoused.
The art of David Bruce Graves’ ‘Heaven and Earth’ – Artist Talk Friday, Jan....
At a time when ignoring the planet and its species hastens the end of life as we know it, Graves’s work poses options, some involving magical thinking. The artist illustrates across multiple compositions how powerful Black people are.
Give Dr. King the birthday present he wants: VOTE in Cali’s March 3 primary
What would MLK think about our fractured and divisive country and world of today? He would be shocked by so many unhoused, hungry, suffering people, mass incarceration, children in cages, extreme poverty, the climate crisis, and trillions spent on the Pentagon, ongoing wars and now, nukes in space (Space Force), a new war for oil looming, and extreme income inequality. He would be upset by the lying fascists running and ruining our country.
‘My Friend Fela’ doc, a definitive view of a man on a mission
This is a very important film for today’s times. Fela was a political Black revolutionary who used music as his sole weapon to address injustices perpetrated by the government, mostly in his country of Nigeria.
New season, building movements, more victories on the way!
Please join N’COBRA Saturday, 25 January, 12 Noon, for our first Bay Area commUNITY gathering for Reparations at the beautiful Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St. in downtown Oakland (near the 12th Street BART station). Be prepared to offer serious views and action plans.
The Great Afrikan Return?!
While this is not the first time a White House occupant was a White supremacist, the vociferous espousing of ethnic cleansing of America has become an open debate and policy. Yet Black activists, as far as I know, are giving little attention to the prospects of being expelled from the U.S. in light of the U.S. government’s vicious expulsion of Latin Americans, or Hispanics, and others.
Wanda’s Picks for January 2020
Happy New Year, everyone! Happy to be in 2020 – We get an extra day in February; it’s the 30th anniversary year for the Celebration of African Americans and Their Poetry, Saturday, Feb. 1, and the 25th anniversary of MAAFA San Francisco Bay Area Ritual, Sunday, Oct. 11.
Remembering Big Man
Elbert “Big Man” Howard: He of the powerful words repeating, demanding, commanding, insisting that we, the people, must be responsible, must continue the fight, the struggle for human rights and justice.
Panther community service programs grow
What do Panthers do when they’re released from prison? They serve the people! Shaka Zulu leads the launch of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party-United Panther Movement Free Breakfast Program...
#WritingWhileBlack: Black conventions and doing for it ourselves
How Black authors and publishers are empowering our communities through Black events, anthologies and Black takeovers of white dominated genres.
by Sumiko Saulson
Harriet as Igbo
by Biko Agozino
This is not a spoiler. “Harriet” is a film without spoilers because the audience already can tell how the movie...
Latest News
We need political courage on homelessness and recidivism
With the Democratic primary right around the corner, we mustn’t neglect the difficult topics of the rising rates of adult and youth homelessness and the persistent obstacles faced by individuals transitioning back into society after periods of incarceration.
A tribute to San Francisco’s first Black surgeon, Dr. Oscar Jackson
The most amazing person I ever met was Dr. Oscar Jackson, an eminent Black San Francisco surgeon, businessman, military officer, world traveler, explorer, philanthropist, fraternity brother, husband, father and remarkable storyteller.
The struggle to build housing when you are homeless
POOR and Homefulness have launched an effort to work with conscious legislators to exempt poor and homeless people from exorbitant building permit fees and requirements which make it impossible for homeless and poor people to manifest our own solutions and stay in our neighborhoods and communities.
The shocking death of Rwandan gospel singer and dissident Kizito Mihigo
“Kizito Mihigo had been persecuted for advocating compassion for all the victims of the genocide, Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, refusing to blame all Hutu people for the Rwandan Genocide. Kagame has become fiercely vengeful with dissident Tutsis because they are breaking up his constituency.” – Professor Joseph Bukeye
Bloomberg’s bigoted remarks: Black voters will decide 3/3 whether his apologies...
“We put all the cops in minority neighborhoods,” said Michael Bloomberg. “Why do we do it? Because that’s where all the crime is. … The way you get the guns out of the kids’ hands is to throw them against the wall and frisk them.”