Tag: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Individuals in North Africa, Europe and West Asia are rewriting the history of their countries as “people power” takes center stage. This “people power” has always existed within us; history is written by those who recognize the power of the human dream of freedom and who set about making that dream a reality, against all odds.

In 2011 the MLK federal holiday comes at a time where everything Dr. King and the civil rights movement fought for during the 1950s and 1960s is under attack by Wall Street and their surrogates in the administration and Congress.

Four death-sentenced prisoners, wrongfully convicted of crimes following the 1993 prison rebellion in Lucasville, Ohio, started a hunger strike Jan. 3. They say they would rather die, if they must, on their own terms, rather than on a gurney by lethal injection. They want to strike a blow against confinement conditions so inhumane that they amount to torture.

Congolese youth, the great Congo of today is ours. This gift is not just hereditary, but also because millions of Congolese have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country since 1482. We must do everything in our power to assure that our beautiful Congo remains in the hands of the sons and daughters of the Congo.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan, Bomani Shakur (Keith LaMar), Jason Robb and Namir Mateen (James Were) will start a hunger strike on Monday, Jan. 3, to protest their 23-hour-a-day lockdown for nearly 18 years. They were sentenced to death for their alleged roles in the 11-day Lucasville rebellion in April 1993. They are innocent! They were wrongfully convicted! They are political prisoners.

Allen Jones, a prison reformer in San Francisco, is calling out all so-called Black leaders for being silent on the recent court order by three federal judges to release 44,000 inmates from California’s overcrowded prison system.

How could Porter Goss oversee the investigation of Congresswoman Maxine Waters in light of their conflict over the CIA-crack connection? He should have recused himself. Is Nancy Pelosi in on this political hit as well? So far, all eight suspects since she vowed to 'drain the swamp' of corruption are Black.

With Arizona’s harsh new immigration law threatening to unleash a wave of racial profiling, Bay Area African-American clergy and community leaders traveled to Phoenix late last month on a four-day solidarity mission.

President Obama delivered the eulogy Thursday for our beloved Dr. Dorothy Height. Dr. Height never did receive the mainstream recognition that she more than deserved, so I am proud that my president lifted her legacy for all America and the world to see and honor.

Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” (published by The New Press, 2010) looks at the invisible people and the invisible birdcage that keeps the masses of Black people locked in and alienated from society – the targets of the War on Drugs.

I regard Paul Robeson as my hero and one of the greatest men who has ever lived. His words have a relevance that continues to inspire us, decades after his utterance. Of his art, he said: “[It] is a weapon in the struggle for my people’s freedom and for the freedom of all people.”

"From the very beginning, U.S. assistance to Haiti has looked to me more like an invasion than a humanitarian relief operation," says McKinney. The SF Bay View, Block Report Radio, POCC and Haiti Action Committee are preparing to send a media-medical team to Haiti to serve the people most in need. Come to the fundraiser Sunday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St. in West Oakland. Bring medical supplies. Spread the word!

In the spirit of Dr. King and guided by Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee, the SF Bay View and Block Report Radio are preparing to send a media-medical team to Haiti to serve the people most in need. A fundraiser will be held Sunday, Jan. 24, 6:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St. in West Oakland. Spread the word! Be there! Bring medical supplies.

Today provides a moment for reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born 81 years ago on this day. It is also a moment of intense anguish for the survivors and those continuing to suffer in the wake of the tragic earthquake in Haiti.

I remember back in the good ol’ days of 2005 and 2006 when being against the wars was not only politically correct, but it was very popular. Those were the halcyon days of the anti-war movement before the Democrats took over the government – off of the backs of the anti-war movement – and it became anathema to be against the wars and I became unpopular on all sides.

Last week President Obama spoke boldly about persistent racial discrimination and criticized the “structural inequality” that presents “the steepest barrier” to African American equality in the 21st century.

Recently Cynthia McKinney has been traveling to Gaza on human rights missions challenging the illegal Israeli military blockade. She, along with a number of others who were bringing humanitarian aid to the area, were confronted by the Israeli military on two occasions. The first time the Israelis rammed their ship and nearly sank it. The second time, People’s Advocate Cynthia and the rest of the Free Gaza 21 had their boat commandeered and were kidnapped by the Israelis and taken to prison. Check out the People’s Advocate in her own words.

The world saw Israel’s despicable violence, thanks to al-Jazeera Arabic and Press TV that broadcast in English. I saw those broadcasts live and around the clock, not from the USA but from Lebanon, where my first attempt to get into Gaza had ended because the Israeli military rammed the boat I was on in international waters … It’s a miracle that I’m even here to write about my second encounter with the Israeli military, again a humanitarian mission aborted by the Israeli military.

The Hampton House Motel in Miami’s predominantly Black Brownsville section was one of the places where famous Black recording artists stayed during segregation after performing for all-white audiences on the beach. The performers were not allowed to stay in predominantly white hotels. Miami-Dade County is restoring and renovating Hampton House after it fell into disrepair over the years. But ironically, the construction work on the Black historic site does not include any Black contractors, subcontractors or laborers.

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