Local News & Views

In the wake of the senseless acts of violence that have taken away the lives of Oscar Grant, Derrick Jones and countless other Black men, I’ve grown to feel numb.

“If Washington, D.C. wants to know what San Franciscans want this Christmas, we are here to say, ‘We want our jobs!’” Bay Area truckers are surrounding the Transbay Terminal and Francisco City Hall at 7 a.m. Monday demanding access to the trucking work underway right now as part of the local federal stimulus projects. By paying per load rather than per hour, the City of San Francisco is undercutting the prevailing wage and exploiting workers.

Leonard Bradley was murdered by San Pablo police officers on Nov. 14, 2009. Family and friends are invited to attend the one-year anniversary of his death at Harmony Missionary Church, 4113 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 14.

Rally to build KPFA’s audience in communities of color and diverse communities Thursday, Nov. 11, 4:30 p.m., KPFA, 1929 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley. The potential elimination of Hard Knock Radio is a political insult to our communities and the mission of the Pacifica radio network. The programmers of color who work at KPFA have long standing contacts in the broader community. Our communities have fought, sacrificed and worked hard for KPFA, and the station’s budget must not be balanced on our backs. Hands off Hard Knock Radio!

I was swept up and arrested Friday night in Oakland at the end of the Justice for Oscar Grant march. As usual, most Bay Area TV stations gave a factually awful – very pro-police – spin to what happened.

Another unarmed Black brother, Derrick Jones, 37, barbershop owner and father of an infant girl, met a violent death on Monday night, shot and killed by two Oakland police officers while “fleeing.” March for justice Thursday 3 p.m. from Bancroft & Seminary.

Unemployment for African American males in the southeast sector is well over 50 percent, but you have these contractors bringing billions of dollars worth of work into our community, much of the work we are more than qualified to do, and they tell us they don’t have to hire us? The time for excuses is over! Change is coming whether the good ol’ boys like it or not! This Local Hire legislation for publicly funded construction projects is only the beginning.

Police agencies from at least nine counties, plus Homeland Security, the FBI, CIA and DOJ descended upon Oakland. They were intent on demonizing the people to remove the focus from the unjust and outright farce of a sentence received by Johannes Mehserle. The people have a right to assemble, demonstrate, march and take a stand against a system that continuously oppresses, brutalizes and murders them. We demand the immediate release of all those arrested on Nov. 5 and dismissal of all charges. (Includes three videos)

Press reports don’t describe Jelvon Helton as a young San Francisco champion who was murdered while celebrating the Giants’ victory. Instead, article after article in the mainstream media simply states that a gang member was killed.

“How can you trust a criminal to preside over their own trial? We already know that the people who are supposed to be watching out for the health and safety of the community are paid contractors with the Lennar Corp."

We must protect Hard Knock Radio, Flashpoints and Full Circle from the KPFA chopping block because in essence we are protecting our right to an accessible community radio station, where we can learn, teach and participate in local struggles for community power.

DeWitt Lacy, who has made defending poor people his career, writes: “I need your vote to make sure we finally get our fair share of city services and resources (and) to put a voice in office that will not cave in or crumble under the many political pressures of City Hall.” If you live in San Francisco's District 10, the Bay View strongly urges you to vote for DeWitt Lacy as your No. 1 choice. If you're in District 6, make James Keys your No. 1 choice. They will open doors to the many who have been locked out. VOTE 100% on Election Day, this Tuesday, Nov. 2!

The question Bayview residents should be asking themselves is what’s more important, pensions or schools? After-school programs for kids or pensions? Parks or pensions? Health services for seniors or pensions? Join Jeff Adachi and the SF Bay View newspaper in voting YES on Prop B.

A group of artists, the Sit/Lie Posse, has liberated six San Francisco billboards and 60 bus shelter ads to defeat Proposition L which would ban sitting on the sidewalk. “Symbolically we are asking: Who owns the city, who controls public space and what is the fate of San Francisco?”

Tuesday, Nov. 2, is our day to VOTE 100%. You may take a printout of this Voter Guide or the print edition of the Bay View newspaper into the voting booth with you. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find your polling place, check the back of your Voter Pamphlet. For more information, call the Elections Department at (415) 554-4375 in San Francisco or (510) 267-8683 in Alameda County. No matter where you are in the U.S., if anyone tries to discourage you from voting, harasses you when you go to vote or interferes in any way with your right to vote, call (866) OUR-VOTE.

At a meeting with the Coalition on Homelessness, Police Chief George Gascon confided he knew a sit/lie law was unnecessary “scapegoating” (Gascon’s word), but he was under tremendous pressure from Haight Street businesses to promote it. Many Haight merchants, however, oppose sit/lie, Prop L.

The threat of impending rainfall did not deter hundreds of people from showing up and calling out for justice for Oscar Grant on Saturday, Oct. 23 in downtown Oakland.

Angry and grieving family members rallied at the Fruitvale BART station to mark the 15th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. One speaker, Norman Curry, spoke of how his mother was shot point blank by an officer who called her by name, “Anita (Gay).”

Local 10 of the ILWU is calling for a labor and community rally on Saturday, Oct. 23, 12 noon, at City Hall, near 14th & Broadway in Oakland, to demand justice for Oscar Grant and the jailing of killer cops. Bay Area ports will shut down that day to stand with the Black community. Get ready for the rally Friday, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m., with a screening of Minister of Information JR’s film ‘Operation Small Axe’ plus revolutionary art by Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland.

Whose community do you really want it to be? Right now, Bayview sits on the brink of change – destruction for some, destiny for many. I am fairly new to voting like most people my age and it seems like there’s no point. The sad reality is that in BVHP of the 30,000 people who could vote, only about 4,000 people actually vote. How can 4,000 votes be split among 16 Black D10 candidates? Who should stand down so we can put someone in office that looks like me and will stand on the side of the community?