Friday night, March 11, prisoners took over Holman Prison in Alabama. At around midnight a fight between inmates escalated to include guards and even the warden. Staff fled, and the rioting prisoners took over general population, lighting guard towers on fire and barricading the doors. The incident began when an officer responded to a fight between two prisoners with excessive force and was stabbed in response. “He went in swinging his stick and throwing inmates around,” said one prisoner. “People get tired of seeing their fellow convicts get treated that way (and) are getting more and more aggravated every day when their rights are being taken away, even the rights we’re supposed to have as human beings.”
Mar 14, 2016
One more political prisoner has died in custody. Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa passed away from complications of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Friday, March 11, 2016, at 11:55 p.m. He was not alone and was loved until the very end. With the exception of two visits to an outside hospital in Lincoln, Mondo spent the last six months of his life in the Nebraska State Penitentiary infirmary.
Mar 10, 2016
On Feb. 17, 2016, Ohio state prisoner Cornelius Harris, held in the high security U.S. Penitentiary at Florence, Colo., after being transferred against his will from the state to federal prison system, began refusing meals, vowing not to eat until he is transferred back to Ohio. Recently, he has refused not only food but fluids. Cornelius is sacrificing his health and possibly his life because hunger striking is the only peaceful way he can try to be heard.
Mar 9, 2016
Like many of you, I was of the belief that I was to be released from prison, effective Feb. 10, 2016. That belief was based on the 30 years I was required to serve. I have fulfilled that commitment while following all rules and regulations like any other prisoner would be expected to. I was sentenced under federal statute 4205(a), requiring that any person sentenced to more than 45 years must serve 30 years to receive mandatory release.
Mar 7, 2016
There really IS life after prison. Rashad Price (Mabu Shakur) and Eugene Thomas (Jama M. Shakur) were close friends in Georgia prisons for many years. They organized so effectively that officials constantly separated them. Now both are free, doing well and still keeping in touch – Rashad in his home state of Texas and Eugene in Georgia. Hear what these proud fathers have to say.
Mar 1, 2016
On Friday, Feb. 12, United States District Magistrate for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Cynthia Reed Eddy, issued a decision denying both parties’ motions for summary judgment and ordering a trial in the case of Shoatz v. Wetzel, which challenges the 22-year solitary confinement of Abolitionist Law Center client and political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz. The trial will mark the first in the country in a case challenging long-term solitary confinement.
Mar 14, 2016
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sparred about U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, and particularly Honduras, during this week’s debate in Miami, Florida. In other debates, they have discussed the Middle East, Libya, Egypt, Russia, China and North Korea, but not Sub-Saharan Africa, aside from a few statements as to whether or not the U.S. should have intervened in Rwanda 22 years ago. KPFA’s Ann Garrison reports.
Mar 14, 2016
The announcement of Donald Trump’s visit to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) came one week before his scheduled March 11 appearance. Within minutes, there was a Facebook page announcing plans to protest. There was also a moveon.org petition calling on the administration at UIC to cancel the rally. By later that afternoon, over 5,000 people signed up to protest and, by later that night, 50,000 had signed the petition.
Mar 12, 2016
Although the courts said we lost, we all know our fight for justice has just begun. Realize the issues of racism, gentrification, poverty and houselessness are all linked and so are we all. So as we continue to fight for the crumbs and bang on the systems that oppress us, we also need to build our own – for Mario, for Sandra, for Alex, for Amilcar, for O’Shaine, for Kenny, for Josiah – for so many more and for all of us.
Mar 12, 2016
![On Jan. 22, 2016, CBC News reported: “Scientists investigating the disease in the U.S. and Canada met in Seattle [and] agreed on the scale of the problem, said Dr. Martin Haulena, the veterinarian for the Vancouver Aquarium … ‘This is, if not the, certainly one of the biggest wildlife die-offs that have ever been recorded, and we’re not just talking marine die-offs.’ … [It] has decimated the creatures from Alaska to Mexico.” Pictured are common murres washed up on the beach of the Juneau, Alaska, boat harbor. Thousands of them cover beaches along the Alaska coast. – Photo: AP](http://web.archive.org./web/20160315215806im_/http://i2.wp.com/sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Bird-die-off-common-murres-on-Juneau-boat-harbor-beach-0116-by-AP.jpg?resize=184%2C184)
In the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power meltdown following the tsunami of March 11, 2011, the international community has totally failed in keeping the public properly informed and protected from the fallout. Scientists and environmental officials express concern at the unusual events and wonder about the causes. The media present the facts but fail to make any connection to the ongoing state of affairs stemming from the tragic 2011 events at Fukushima.
Mar 11, 2016
It was a few minutes before we began chanting that I found out what we were going to do – that we were going to do anything at all besides be passive observers at the white supremacist rally disguised as a presidential campaign. My nerves churned a bit like anyone’s do as they realize they’re about to engage in an altercation that could become physical. Or violent. It’s a strange thing that happens when you know you’re in a “no turning back” situation. What you won’t do is back down from the principles on which you stand. Or turn away from the ledge from which you’ve been forced to leap.
Mar 8, 2016
I really loved my Sister Nida Ali, who flew home to Allah this morning (March 3). I think what I appreciated the most about her was her ability to be a spiritual warrior who walked the planet earth. She really loved Allah and Allah’s servants. She was loyal and forgiving too, and she took care of a lot of people. Sister Nida Ali’s Janaza or funeral is Tuesday, March 8. What a fitting day to celebrate a great woman’s life: International Women’s History Day!
Mar 7, 2016
Congratulations to Mary and Willie Ratcliff and Muhammad al-Kareem for the People’s Liberation Movement as manifested for 40 years in the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Congratulations to the collective voices which have graced its pages over this history, especially ancestors such as Kevin Weston, and, to JR Valrey, much respect for envisioning such a wonderful tribute program on Feb. 21.
Mar 3, 2016
The Oakland International Film Festival is one of the premiere multi-cultural annual events in the Bay Area. Every year this festival educates Oakland and the surrounding area about the world around us, locally and internationally. I sat down with David Roach, the director of the Oakland International Film Festival, to discuss this year’s line-up and his take on what has been happening on the cinema scene and in Hollywood recently.
Mar 2, 2016
San Francisco’s award-winning AfroSolo Theatre Company celebrates the life of Dr. Carlton Benjamin Goodlett (July 23, 1914 – Jan. 25, 1997) during San Francisco History Days at the Old Mint, March 4-6, 2 p.m., at the Old Mint, 88 Fifth St. in San Francisco. Dr. Goodlett was a physician, psychologist, newspaper publisher, political activist and civil rights leader in San Francisco.
Mar 2, 2016
Come enjoy the soulful sounds of Lenny Williams and other artists from around the Bay Area as we celebrate the 36th Annual Black Cuisine. The Black Cuisine Festival honors the cultural contributions of African Americans and their tradition of sharing delectable food and bringing people together. We will continue to honor the memory of Dr. Davis and his many Black Cuisine cooks at the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center, Saturday, March 5, 2016, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
