Black Media Appreciation Night is rolling around again. Here is our opportunity to return the love that so many Black journalists, artists and organizers have dished out to us over the years in the form of articles, broadcasts, songs and events. We are inviting and urging you to come out to support the people who care about reporting and making art so that your voice can be represented on the airwaves and screens across the planet. Come show your love to this year’s award winners, led by Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza. Early bird tickets are only $25.
Sep 6, 2015
According to an email from a political prisoner at USP Canaan, the federal prison where Imam Jamil (H. Rap Brown) is held, the imam’s jaw is swollen to at least twice its normal size, and he is in a lot of pain. A family member had confirmed the bad news. Please call or fax USP Canaan and ask – demand – that Imam Jamil be given immediate adequate medical attention. The phone number is 570-488-8000.
Sep 1, 2015
Today, California prisoners locked in isolation achieved a groundbreaking legal victory in their ongoing struggle against the use of solitary confinement. A settlement was reached in the federal class action suit Ashker v. Brown, originally filed in 2012, effectively ending indefinite long-term solitary confinement and greatly limiting the prison administration’s ability to use the practice, widely seen as a form of torture.
Aug 31, 2015
Aug. 12, 2015, I sat waiting for the mail to come as I did each day. This day it was different because for the first time my dad was in his first lockdown on the mainline. He had only been there 15 days – abruptly moved on July 29 after a meeting with the DRB (Departmental Review Board) on July 28. Each day I waited to hear from him hoping and praying he was OK. Finally the mailman delivered the letter I was waiting for.
Aug 30, 2015
This interview was broadcast live on Aug. 18, 2015, on Terry Collins’ show, The Spirit of Joe Rudolph. Terry Collins: A lot of people around here are definitely in deep mourning for the murder of Hugo Pinell on the 12th of August, this month. From my correspondence with him over the past three or four years, I know he was a person full of love. Kiilu Nyasha: If there was one word that could describe Yogi Bear, it would be love.
Aug 28, 2015
Dr. Everett D. Allen’s testimony to Sen. Richard Durbin’s United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights at its hearing on “Solitary Confinement as Torture” on June 19, 2012, was previously published by the Bay View, and this testimony was presented to the second hearing, held Feb. 25, 2014.
Sep 5, 2015
It’s been 10 years since the watery carnage of Katrina, and one year since the fiery rage lit the night skies of Ferguson, Missouri, and between the two harrowing events lay the state of Black America isolated, demonized and damned. When the levees broke and the rushing waters of Hurricane Katrina swept into the wards of New Orleans, the 9th Ward – the Blackest ward – received the greatest damage, and the least relief.
Sep 1, 2015
All of Us or None’s upcoming Formerly Incarcerated and Convicted People’s Western Regional Conference is Sept. 20-21 at Oakstop, 1721 Broadway in downtown Oakland. It will be a time for people to discuss employment, housing, crimmigration, which is the connection between the punishment system in the U.S. and immigration policies, and more. Check out one of the main organizers, Manuel La Fontaine, about the conference and his life experiences.
Aug 31, 2015
The morning of Dec. 7 (2006) found me traveling through the UPPER AND LOWER NINTH WARD of NEW ORLEANS, where hundreds and thousands of homes were destroyed by the aftermath of HURRICANE KATRINA in August 2005! The storm ripped the hearts and souls of residents who fled the City to other parts of the country now waiting to COME BACK HOME.
Aug 30, 2015
Aug. 29, 2015, of this year marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s lethal brush with New Orleans. Although Katrina did not hit New Orleans head-on, the whip of her tail as she swept past the city’s southeastern perimeter caused a surge of wind and waves that only a head-on Category 3 could deliver. Amongst the survivors of the storm is New Orleans’ oldest resident, Racism.
Aug 30, 2015
The warring parties in South Sudan’s 20-month civil war signed a peace agreement in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, earlier this week. Professor Horace Campbell says the recommendations of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan, which include using the country’s oil wealth to benefit its people, must be implemented if there is to be any hope of lasting peace.
Sep 6, 2015
On Sept. 19-20, 2015, The Seventh Annual One Love One Heart Reggae Music Festival will be going down at Camp Pollock in Sacramento, featuring headliners Everton Blender, Big Mountain, Pato Baton, Sister Carol, Pablo Moses and more. This is one of my favorite Reggae festivals in Northern California, and it is organized by one of my favorite people in the Reggae community, Denise Carter.
Sep 4, 2015
Directed and performed by Dr. Ayodele Nzinga and The Lower Bottom Playaz, “King Hedley II” is the ninth of the late Afrikan playwright August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, a 10-play docudrama of Afrikan life in the U.S. during the 20th century. This all Afrikan theatre company is on its way to performing the cycle in its entirety, a feat unparalleled in world history, and delivers a riveting performance. Hurry! The play closes Sunday.
Sep 3, 2015
“Akiti the Hunter” is a beautifully crafted piece of children’s literature that is available at Barnes & Noble nationally. This classic story of a young African superhero who is strong mentally and physically is retold by Denise Bolaji Ajayi Williams and illustrated by Anthony Mata. My 3-year-old was fixated on the colorful and striking drawings that brought this well written story to life.
Sep 2, 2015
Aisha Fukushima is one of the most internationally traveled artists now on the scene in the Bay behind the legendary Hip Hop independent gurus Hiero. Her blend of Hip Hop, Soul, Jazz, Spoken Word and international sounds is a deviation from the assembly line Hip Hop that is trending right now in Cali and across the country. More importantly, she is a raptivist, an activist who uses rhyming to get her message out.
Sep 1, 2015
West Coast pioneering MC Tajai of Souls of Mischief and Hieroglyphics, who can be on heard on Hip Hop classics like “93 til Infinity,” the debut classic of Souls of Mischief, and “One Life, One Love” on the “3rd Eye Vision” Hiero album, where he traded verses with his Hiero brothas Del and Casual over a Dj Toure-produced soundscape. Tajai in this interview talks about the Hiero Day Hip Hop Festival in Oakland, which is coming up on Monday, Sept. 7.
