- search results

A group of journalists is determined to seek a fair retrial of death row prisoner, noted journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, and they point to evidence they say provides further proof of his innocence: photos from the crime scene that the jury never had the chance to see.

This the second part in a short series to give you the raw information regarding the investigation into who killed Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey, the investigation into the Black Muslim Bakery and the whole controversy surrounding the Oakland Police Department's involvement in a cover-up.

Hidden among the almond groves outside of Chowchilla, California, lies the largest women’s prison complex in the world, Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) and Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), where an estimated 11,000 women are held behind bars. “Conditions are horrible,” said Mary Van Der Horst, a member of All of Us or None, a group of former prisoners organizing for civil and human rights. Van Der Horst said that there is not enough food and hygiene is poor at the two facilities.

Every week in the mainstream media there is a new episode in the saga surrounding the assassination of Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey, which took place Aug. 2 in downtown Oakland. Hours after his murder, the police made the heavily publicized arrest of 19 suspects from Your Black Muslim Bakery.

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the historically Black Fillmore district – since dubbed the “Western Addition” – underwent a massive phase of urban renewal in which block after block was literally razed to the ground to make way for redevelopment. The impact on the Black community was devastating.

The resolution does not compel any action but calls upon the city to halt construction, order health assessments and communicate these reports to the district and the public.

It would be a liability to accelerate the transfer of a federal Superfund site from the National Priority List with the data gaps that exist in the characterization of this property. The city admits it cannot clean up the Shipyard’s radiation-contaminated sites, which comprise the bulk of Parcels D and E. Parcel F, the Shipyard’s underwater region, has not been adequately studied.

On Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, Mayor Gavin Newsom claimed “the CDC and the California Department of Public Health agree with the San Francisco Department of Public Health that there was no significant health risk created by the grading activities at the shipyard.”

“The police say to us all the time that they can’t do their jobs because we won’t talk and tell on someone. Well, we ARE telling on PG&E … so now we tell them it’s your turn. Do your job! Do it now!”

On Sept. 18, at the Civic Center Courthouse, two judges presided over hearings to determine if gang injunctions proposed earlier this summer by City Attorney Dennis Herrera would go into effect. The injunctions target two communities of color – the Mission and Fillmore districts – where, according to city officials, gang activity has created such a public nuisance that implementing injunctions has become necessary to restore the peace.

Nevertheless, recent news articles have discussed plans to speed up the pace of the cleanup and possible use of the Shipyard to house a new 49ers stadium.

Turning to Lennar’s recent activities, Sumchai’s politics came into focus. “We have to fight to control this property. We have to be stakeholders at the table of what goes on in the development of not only this property but other properties throughout southeast San Francisco.

California’s adoption of mandatory minimums, drive for three-strikes laws and participation in the nationwide “War on Drugs” campaign of the 1980s has created a burgeoning prison system fractured along racial, humanitarian and economic lines.

On the murky day of Aug. 8, Black Oakland remembered the life of career journalist Chauncey Bailey, who had been murdered the week before on a downtown Oakland street. Hundreds of people filled every place imaginable in the East Oakland Catholic Church of St. Benedict.

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting, the 253 seats of City Hall’s main chamber were not enough – so many people attended that people had to sit in separate rooms on the first floor and watch the proceedings on television screens. And throughout the meeting, people stood outside the main chamber’s doors, waiting their turns to speak to the Board.

When Daniel Landry attended the City Attorney’s latest gang injunction press conference on June 21, little did he know how it would turn out. As a local who grew up in the Fillmore (aka Western Addition), Landry wanted to ensure that some community representation took place. “Someone needed to be there to give it some balance,” said Landry. “When the gang injunction came down on Oakdale, I wasn’t able to be there. This time I wanted to be way ahead in terms of addressing the issue.”

“I have several friends who have died from asbestos, died from inhaling asbestos. Don’t let any of these people tell you it’s not toxic. I have complained about all those trucks with all that dust. They bring it through our neighborhood with no cover.”

I found out that Lennar pays for the studies conducted by the SFDPH. Dr. Bhatia told me that there is nothing wrong with the air or the dust and that people couldn’t possibly be experiencing health care problems.

“We have been living the Lennar nightmare for seven years. We are original owners with perpetual water intrusion. I am trying to organize my neighbors (168 defective homes) and share information in hopes that together we can make a difference ... We are absolutely devastated. I am writing from Novato, California.” — Tamara

“We’re asking for a temporary shut down of the construction at the shipyard, so we can access the levels of exposure from arsenic and lead. And we can’t trust the Health Department under Mitchell Katz to do it.”