Culture Currents

The Ancestors hold the hearts of their children as the struggle continues to break the chains of bondage in our modern reality of feet on the earth of the past. Calling in the courage and honor of the risen Ancestors to the Slave Rebellion Reenactment seals the bond of love and self-determination in those who will be liberated.

Few musicians have had such an everlasting impression on the music of the 20th century internationally as the legendary Reggae and Dub producer and vocalist Lee “Scratch” Perry. “Vision of Paradise” is a new documentary that Scratch is the subject of as well as an executive producer along with Volker Schaner, who we contacted in Germany to get this exclusive interview.

Congratulations to William Rhodes on a successful trip to South Africa, where he took a quilt created by his students at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School in San Francisco to honor the legacy of an international hero, President Nelson Mandela, and returned with art panels from workshops conducted with youth in various townships and regions from Cape Town to Johannesburg.

I’ve known the man that the music world calls Balance for many years. Ever since I can remember he has been on his music grind, whether it was recording, performing or learning the game from his 9 to 5 job at Rasputin’s in Berkeley, where he is the rap buyer.

I talked to the founder of Cultural Links to Academic and Social Success (CLASS), Andrea Lee, about her experience falling in love with traveling, then yearning to take others abroad to learn what life is like in different parts of the world. Andrea is the head of the Dance Department at Laney College and has been taking people all over the world for many years.

DJ Fresh is a legend in the arena of DJing around the world but he is also known for his contributions of putting out lesser known artists right here in the Bay Area. DJ Fresh is a dude who you may catch hanging out with Bicasso of Living Legends fame one day, and the next day he might be in the studio wit’ young hood mascots like Yung Moses, DLO or Sleepy. You can’t put Fresh in the box of being backpacker or gangsta; he’s just hip hop.

It's a fundraiser, accent on FUN! Amazing music-makers coming out to support Black media, SF Bay View and Black New World Media. Be there!

Dominican-born Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (24-0-16 KOs) needs his mouth washed out with soap for making an obviously inflammatory, untrue, publicity stunt claim that Andre “SOG” Ward (26-0-14 KOs) is “definitely a dirty fighter.” Later, Rodriguez was quoted as having said: “I’m trying to be in a clean sport. I don’t believe he’s (Andre Ward) dirty at all. I think he’s a great fighter ….”

Nelson’s film documents what those who lived through it already know – that the Panthers quickly became a mass movement throughout the country. Their message of unqualified resistance to racism, armed self-defense and anti-capitalist revolutionary politics galvanized the creation of chapters of the Party in nearly every city and state of the U.S. Much has been written by and about the Panthers. But Nelson’s film is the best short introduction to the Party to date.

“Driving While Black” is one of the few comical films in the San Francisco Black Film Festival this year, yet its subject matter deals with a not-so-funny topic. What I liked most about this film is that is a satirical look at how police of all ethnicities treat young Black men. I sat down and talked to the writers, Dominique Purdy and Paul Sapiano, about how they came up with the concept to write a comedy about police terrorism.

On the heels of the San Francisco Police Department killing of alleged bus-fare-evader Kenneth Harding, KPFA devoted the entire morning program – the Morning Mix – on Wednesday, July 20, to police terrorism aka “excessive use of force.”

They smiled and they grinned with the deeds they had done. / They chanted, “Chairman is dead,” while they splashed through his blood. / The media made up lies; the States Attorney told tales. / Before I was born, I was cellies with my Mama in a jail cell. - POCC Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.

Theme for the week: "Martin King to Barack Obama, from ‘I Have a Dream' to ‘Yes, We Can.'"

The men's season for Bats Up Guns Down is set to begin on March 26th, 2023, weather permitting. The first tournament event will be held on April 8th, 2023, which will be an Autism Awareness and Pre-Easter Celebration for kids.

In speaking with fathers, it is painfully obvious that “split parenting” is one of the most difficult and gut wrenching experiences anyone who loves his children can go through. It’s all too real, and we are left to find ways to make this potentially devastating situation not only tolerable but one in which adults can learn to communicate and children can somehow thrive.

Meet Ngozi Ogbonna. Ngozi has lived in the Bayview her whole life. Graduating from Immaculate Conception Academy in 2011, she now attends San Francisco State University. Ngozi attributes her appreciation of education and her job success largely to ICA: “ICA teaches girls to be independent while also learning how to make a difference in the world.”

Roaring free, Paul Redd transitions to the ancestors in the brilliance of a love remembered and shared by Brothas.

Ebony Colbert Sparks is one of the most talented writers that I've met. She is the personification of "you can do anything you put your mind to."

Sunday, Oct. 12, marks our 19th Annual Maafa Commemoration. This is a time when we gather to remember our African ancestors, especially those who endured the transatlantic slave trade or the Middle Passage, the Black Holocaust. It is a time for Pan Africans to gather and celebrate life and recommit ourselves to the work of liberation: spiritual, psychological, economic and political.

The 16th of June 2010 saw Andre Ward, WBA super middleweight champion of the world, and Oklahoman-born Allan “Sweetness” Green at a pre-fight press conference in Oakland’s Oracle Arena. On June 19, they fought. Andre Ward won all 12 rounds. Green was hospitalized after the fight.