On August 29th, more than two-hundred Bay Area residents demonstrated outside of developer Lennar Corp.'s Headquarters in San Francisco and then headed to Oakland to rally in front of the Oakland Police Department (OPD). The local chapter of the Right to the City Alliance, a national coalition of more than 35 social justice organizations, along with allies and supporters, aimed to bring attention to rogue developers, gentrification and criminalization of communities of color from the Bay Area to New Orleans.

Lennar Corp, a housing redevelopment corporation based out of Miami, plans to redevelop Bayview Hunters Point but Bayview residents are calling for more affordable housing and a stop to the project, which has been sending toxic dust into nearby homes and schools. Outside of Lennar's San Francisco office, Katrina Survivor August Forman spoke about the connection between community displacement and corporate greed, calling the Bay Area's decline in Black and working class residents a "dry Katrina." Because of the constant threat of displacement, Forman said, "We are all Katrina evacuees."

In Oakland, speakers noted that the displacement of communities of color was not only economic but in many cases closely connected to the demonization of youth of color through such tactics as gang injunctions. Oakland resident Sister Beatrice X explains, "The Oakland Police department harasses working class communities and just recently raided a housing complex in West Oakland with military tanks and swat teams, they are using brute force to literally push us out."

Demonstrators also drew parallels between recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the Gulf Coast and the spike in ICE enforcement in California. Protesters demanded that OPD stop working with ICE and criminalizing the migrant community.

Photos | Past Indybay Katrina Coverage

As part of a week of international conference of Anti-Zionist Jews organized by the International Jewish Solidarity Network (IJSN), Reuven Abergel, a Mizrahi Anti-Zionist Jew, visited the Bay-Area. Reuven is one of the founders of the Israeli Black Panthers, an anti-Zionist, and a social activist. Abergel participated in several meetings and panels and spoke about Zionism, racism, and colonialism and ways to resist them. Abergel also discussed the oppression of Mizrahim in Israel and his vision of a united struggle against Zionism and Colonialism composed of Mizrahim and Palestinians and the need to educate the next generation of youth in Israel to become active in global solidarity work.

Abergel was also interviewed on local radio programs. In a response to a question on Flashpoints about the claim by Zionists that critics of Israel are Anti-Semitic, Abergel replied “it is just a way for them to sell lies, to try to protect themselves from the horrific crimes that they commit”. Abergel also added “I’m asking people in the world, how can you accept this occupation? If this was to happen in your country, your homes, you would not sleep. Wake up and stop it, or it will get to your homes”. Reuven Abergel also spoke about his personal experience as one of the Ringworm Children, a group of thousands of kids from Jewish-Arab background that the state of Israel did radioactive experiments on without their knowledge or family consent. The experiences were done under the supervision of the division of social medicine, a department in the Israeli ministry of health that implemented Eugenic ideas and philosophy.

Abergel immigrated with his family to Israel from Morocco in the fifties, and became politically active after a popular uprising by Moroccan Jews in Wadi-Salib Haifa in 1959. In 1971 Abergel founded the Israeli Black Panthers. Inspired by the Black Panthers in the U.S. and determined to stop the racist and discriminatory way in which the state of Israel treated its Arab-Jews, the Israeli Panthers led and organized many demonstrations and uprisings against the establishment. Abergel’s home became the headquarters for the Panthers, and Abergel’s Israeli citizenship was taken away making him a refugee in the state of Israel.

Since the death of the Israeli Black Panthers due to internal conflicts, Abergel has been a Mizrahi anti-Zionist activist and has organized many visits to Palestinian refugee camps and demonstrations against the apartheid wall. In 2002 Abergel met with Arafat when the latter was under an Israeli siege. Abergel also organizes regular food and water deployments to Bedouin villages that the states of Israel has yet to officially recognize, as a consequence these villages lack basic infrastructure such as roads electricity and water transportation.

Reuven Abarjel, discusses Zionism, Racism, and Colonialism-visits the Bay-area l Who’s against who? Between the conflict and the social, Reuven Abergel | Another Act in the Mizrahi-Palestinian Tragedy, Reuven Abarjel and Smadar Lavie I Reuven Abergel, Founder of Israel's Black Panthers, in support of the Academic Boycott of Israel l A small segment from The “Ringworm-Children” documentary, YouTube | Israel compensates for ringworm treatment | The Ringworm Children a collection of articles | Reuven Abergel’s web-page (Hebrew) | Israeli Denial of Right to Water as Means for Pushing Bedouins off their Land | Bedouin citizens of Israel denied water as means of transfer

The San Francisco Bay View newspaper has been forced to stop printing its weekly paper due to financial strain. The last printed copy went out on July 2nd, marking the 697th issue the Ratcliffs have published since starting the paper in 1992.

One of the only Black-owned radical publications in the U.S., the SF Bay View newspaper has provided a public platform of communication and solidarity between U.S., African, Latin American, and Caribbean activists and incarcerated people who are challenging imperialism throughout the world and from both sides of prison walls. On its last run, the paper was printed and delivered to thousands of homes in Bay View Hunter's Point and Oakland, dozens of locally owned businesses in the Mission District of San Francisco, and hundreds of people in prison.

The Bay View has maintained itself as an individually-funded free paper through a trickle of advertising revenue, national prisoner and resident subscriptions, and a small pool of donors, which has included the staff itself. Its printed, weekly format has been key to bridging the ‘digital divide’ in more ways than one, as many of its subscribers have no or very little access to the internet and few sources of trusted, current, community and activist-oriented news.

Read more | The end of an era, the dawn of a new day | Interview with Willie Ratliff | Aug. 9: Community Forum & Party

SF Bay View website

Racism and anti-immigrant hysteria have been increasing in Italy in recent years. Hate crimes have been on the rise with reports of gangs of right-wing youth attacking Roma in Rome, Genoa, Turin, Milan and other cities.

Seventy years ago this month, Italy's Fascist regime published a "Manifesto of Race", which paved the way for its notorious racial laws persecuting Jews and members of other supposedly "inferior" minorities.
Now, the country's rightwing government has again stepped up special measures against an entire ethnic group.

In their election campaign earlier this year, Berlusconi and his allies had already made clear their intention of deporting tens of thousands of Roma back to Romania and former Yugoslavia. In mid-June a March decisions by Italy's highest appeal court was released stating that "it is acceptable to discriminate against Roma" because the court found that "they are thieves". Following the release of the court rulling, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, announced that a file is to be drawn up containing a DNA data base with digital fingerprints and photos of all Roma irregardless of their citizenship.

Unicef has protested that this is discriminatory and a violation of the UN's Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The Catholic magazine Famiglia Cristiana denounced the move as "an indecent and racist proposal" reminiscent of "when Jewish children were identified with a yellow star on their sleeves".

The European Parliament voted July 10th to adopt a resolution calling on member states to "review and repeal laws and policies that discriminate against the Roma on the basis of race and ethnicity." In November 2005, the European Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia reported that Roma minorities are the ethnic group most susceptible to racism in the European Union. A spokesman for an Italian NGO opposed to fingerprinting states that life expectancy for Roma living in Italy is already under 60.

Read More | Anti-Gypsy sentiments out of control in Italy | Berlusconi government steps up its attacks on Roma and foreigners | Plight of the Roma: echoes of Mussolini | Move to fingerprint Gypsies reminds many of Italy's darker days | Italy Leads Fascist Revanche in Western Democracies

European Roma Rights Centre | Italy Indymedia

On Wednesday August 20th people will share stories about how they have experienced racism in the areas of education, housing employment, law enforcement relations, health, or immigration. This rare listening and documentation session will take place at United Presbyterian Church in Watsonville, 112 E. Beach Street, starting at 6:30pm. You can share your stories anonymously, if you choose.

The four listening and documentation sessions are leading to a county-wide dialogue in October. For questions and more information, call Simba Kenyatta at 831-459-9349 or email skenyatta [at] cruzio.com

Audio: Simba Kenyatta on indynewswire | July 30th: Santa Cruz | August 20th: Watsonville

Between 1973 and 1976, more than 76 traditional Lakotas and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) were killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. These deaths were part of the F.B.I.'s "Reign of Terror", designed to destroy traditional peoples' resistance to corporate projects such as uranium mining. A free film screening and information night on Wednesday, June 4th at 7:30pm at the RCNV (515 Broadway) in Santa Cruz will include literature on John's case and related resistance movements, and will be introduced by a friend and supporter of John Graham.

Our Sacred History & White Man Lies is a new documentary film offering a unique look at the government's brutal repression of indigenous resistance to land theft. From Pine Ridge to the corrupt present-day investigation into the 1970's murder of AIM leader Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, the film reveals the history and background of many of the pawns and players that are setting up former AIM members for her murder.

John Graham was arrested in Canada in December 2003 and charged with the 1975 murder of his friend and comrade in AIM, Anna Mae Pictou Aquash. When Anna Mae was found murdered on Pine Ridge, authorities attempted to conceal her identity and cause of death. Now, 30 years late, the US government has once again fabricated a case based on flimsy testimony, framing former AIM members for her murder. In 2007, John Graham was extradited to South Dakota, and is in prison awaiting trial for September 2008. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. Read More and Download a Flyer

Bay Area environmental and social justice organizations are demanding a halt to San Francisco's proposed highly polluting Peaker Power Plant Project. Also known as the Combustion Turbine Project, the plant is proposed to be built in Southeast San Francisco, right next to the Bayview Hunters Point community that is already overburdened with pollution.

The SFPUC revealed that peakers must run at least 18 years in order to pay themselves off and will be contractually allowed as much as 30 years of operation if necessary to pay off those costs. The critical flaw in this model is that in 2016, after the Department of Water Resources is no longer required to purchase electricity capacity from the peakers, the City and County of San Francisco will be fully on the hook for the remaining $110 million cost of the project with no guarantees of power purchasers. PG&E, the biggest such potential customer, has already said no, largely due to a new state mandate for it to cut its production of new fossil fuel projects.

Peaker Power Plant Now Has Deep Economic/Environmental Flaw | Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | In the Bayview Hunters Point we do not want any Combustion Turbines using fossil fuel

As the longest running festival of its kind, the UCSC Women of Color Film and Video Festival has sparked dialogue across communities – locally, nationally, and trans-nationally – by providing a platform for critical explorations at the intersections of race, nation, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. The festival took place March 14th and 15th at UC Santa Cruz along with spoken word and hip-hop on Friday night at the Hide Gallery in Santa Cruz. The space of the Festival has always served to promote collaborative organizing not only among students from various disciplines, but also among professors, campus research units, and the local community. It has become a much anticipated and acclaimed event for its commitment to visual expression, scholarship, activism, and pedagogy.

This year’s festival, bodies in flight: migration and transit, brought together cultural productions by U.S.-based women of color and women internationally that speak to issues of migration and dislocation associated with a range of global developments, including but not limited to: histories of colonialism and enslavement, the expansion of “transnational” and “global” capitalism, and the ongoing empire/nation-building ventures of U.S. militarism. Conceiving of “cultural production” as a broad and dynamic category of activity, this year’s festival featured not only film and video screenings, but also performance, multimedia artwork, and discussions facilitated by representatives from Bay Area community organizations. Festival organizers aim to engage participants, and all members of the UCSC community, in an interrogation of current immigration debates as they interface with questions of sexuality and gender-based asylum, incarceration, rights discourses, and the formation of categories of race, sexuality, gender and nation. Read More

On Tuesday, February 19th, in a ruling unrelated to the pending US Third Circuit Court decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected death row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal of a 2005 ruling by Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe, which denied Abu-Jamal’s Post Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) petition, on grounds that it was not "timely." Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted—many believe falsely—of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, and his trial was riddled with improprieties.

This recent PCRA petition was based on affidavits by two witnesses who did not testify at the original 1982 trial: Yvette Williams and Kenneth Pate. Yvette Williams states that key prosecution witness Cynthia White told her that she had been coerced by police into giving false testimony against Abu-Jamal. Other defense witnesses have given similar accounts of Cynthia White’s coerced testimony. As Amnesty International has documented, White’s alleged eye-witness account was altered, as each subsequent account given to police further served to support the prosecution scenario used to convict Abu-Jamal. Kenneth Pate says that prosecution witness Priscilla Durham confided to him that she had lied in court when she stated that she heard Abu-Jamal confess at the hospital. Even before Pate’s affidavit, Durham’s account was seen as very suspicious. The alleged “hospital confession,” where Abu-Jamal reportedly declared, “I shot the motherf***er and I hope the motherf***er dies,” was first officially reported to police over two months later, by hospital guards Priscilla Durham and James LeGrand and others. Only 2 of these five witnesses were called by the DA: Gary Bell (Faulkner's partner and “best friend”) and Priscilla Durham.

Many are concerned that recently discovered crime scene photos have been largely ignored by the corporate media, while the media has already reported on this rejection by the state Supreme Court. Mumia's case is rapidly approaching its end, as an appeal for a new trial is pending. A decision is imminent, and emergency demonstrations in response to the outcome have already been scheduled. Robert R. Bryan, Mumia's attorney, said, "If the federal decision is favorable, then the Pennsylvania Supreme Court judgment will be moot. Otherwise, I plan to seek relief in the U.S. Supreme Court. I will not rest until Mumia is free. "

Report with responses to the court's decision | PDC press release on PCRA denial | PDC: Fact Sheet Presents Evidence of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Innocence | Indybay's recent coverage of Mumia Abu-Jamal | Journalists for Mumia Abu-Jamal | NYC Coalition to Free Mumia | San Francisco Mobilization to Free Mumia | Educators for Mumia | Mumia’s Radio Essays | PDC's links to legal affadavits and declarations | About "Murdered by Mumia"

On Wednesday, February 20th, students at D-Q University which is California's only tribal college, reported that Yolo County deputies had begun arresting them for allegedly "trespassing" on campus. As many as four students were taken to the Yolo County Jail, and it is believed that more arrests may follow. Students are calling for support from the community, and are asking for people to come out and witness the deputies' actions. D-Q University is located at 33250 Road 31 in Davis.

In 1970, groups of Native Americans and Chicana/o students from several universities and colleges organized themselves to lay claim to a decommissioned military installation. Their goal was to create a learning environment through the unified cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Since students and members of the community started a revitalization process in 2005, dozens of students have remained on campus and have been able to organize workshops and classes based in Native Philosophy and Cultural Revitalization. They are committed to the pursuit of an indigenous education while working towards the future as they honor the past.

Update from Feb. 21st | 5:53pm: News advisory | 2:20pm: Emergency at DQ University | 12:41pm: 3 DQU students arrested! | 6/25/2007: Native American Students at D-Q University Struggle to Save Student Representation | Indian Country: Struggling to reopen California's only tribal college | Davis Wiki: DQU | DQU on MySpace

On February 11, 2008, more than two hundred participants of the Longest Walk 2 embarked on a five-month journey on foot from San Francisco. They plan on arriving arriving in Washington, D.C. on July 11, 2008. Native American tribal leaders, religious groups, environmentalists, teachers, students, and people from throughout the world are joining the walk with its "peaceful and spiritual call to action to protect Mother Earth and defend human rights."
Audio: Native Americans Begin the Longest Walk 2

A rally and press conference was held at the University of California Berkeley, to commence the Longest Walk 2. Photos at the Tree Sit

The mission of the walk is to raise awareness about the planetary crisis by walking to reconnect with the land, increase respect for cultural diversity, stimulate dialogue about connections between nature and culture, and protect sacred lands and diverse spiritual practices.

2008 marks the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk of 1978 that resulted in historic changes for Native America. "In 1978, our communities faced many hardships such as non-existing religious rights and criminalization of our people who fought for cultural survival. This is why the Longest Walk was necessary," states Jimbo Simmons of the International Indian Treaty Council. "As Indigenous Peoples in the United States our environment and our cultural survival are directly correlated and are still imperiled today. This is why we must walk once again."

Thousands converged on the Nation's Capitol in 1978 to join efforts that defeated 11 pieces of legislation in Congress that would have abrogated Native American treaties. In addition to this success, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) of 1978 was also passed.

Veterans of the original walk and younger generations alike have been clear that the 2008 Longest Walk is more than a commemoration. Open to people of all nations and cultures, the Longest Walk 2 is being organized by original walkers as well as the next generation of Native American activists. Walkers will be documenting issues impacting the communities they visit.

Read More | An Indigenous Spiritual Walk For Survival from Alcatraz to D.C. | The Longest Walk Call For Support | Longest Walk Northern Route receives permit

2/7 Santa Cruz Fundraiser with Dennis Banks | 2/8 Oakland Potluck and Registration | 2/9 Oakland Kickoff Concert | 2/10 Berkeley Benefit Show | 2/11 Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony and Kick-off | Labor Solidarity: 2/11 Berkeley Rally, 2/12 Sacramento Rally and Press Conference

LongestWalk.org

Native Americans have been in the United States from the beginning, yet according to health and employment statistics, they, like other people of color, still have not achieved equality. For example, between 1998 and 2000 Native American infants in the United States were 1.7 times more likely to die than white infants in their first year of life.

The Lakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in North Dakota, who supported the culturally and politically nationalist American Indian Movement, faced brutal counter-insurgency tactics complete with FBI-armed and -trained death squads that murdered 61 political activists on the reservation between 1973 and 1976. As part of that terror war against America’s first nations, American Indian Movement member Leonard Peltier was framed by the FBI and remains in prison to this day. Read More