Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017, marked the death of the 1,044th person that we know of killed by Tasers in North America. The most recent Taser-related death occurred after a man, Marcellus Toney, was detained by Oakland Police for allegedly trying to flee a multi-vehicle accident. This unnecessary death throws into relief the primary reason why the people of San Francisco have consistently rejected Tasers for the SFPD. Yet on Nov. 3, the San Francisco Police Commission will vote again on a renewed proposal to arm the SFPD with these weapons. Why?
Oct 16, 2017
On Oct. 15, 2017, Prisoners United in Glenn Dyer Detention Center courageously led the way in a hunger strike that will span across two counties and four jails. Santa Rita Jail, Santa Clara County Main Jail and Elmwood D.O.C. will continue the strike in solidarity on Oct. 22. We are calling for support from families and the community to contact the Alameda County Sheriff administration, at 510-272-6878, and Alameda County Board of Supervisors, at 510-272-6347, to meet our demands.
Oct 12, 2017
The Oct. 14, 2015, victory was achieved through three hunger strikes and the non-violent legal and political action of thousands of California prisoners, their families, supporters and their attorneys. Now, however, we believe that CDCR is still engaged in constitutional violations that deny prisoners due process and seeks to put us back in the hole – for many, indeterminately under the guise of Administrative SHU.
Sep 30, 2017
Many in this country believe all citizens enjoy the right to free speech. But this is a myth. Free speech is reserved only for those who control the media and other power structures and those who agree with the political establishment. Oppressed nations in particular are regularly denied free speech, especially when that speech involves pointing out what’s wrong with Amerika. Once locked up in U.$. prisons, people further lose their ability to read and communicate freely.
Sep 29, 2017
Are you living in segregated housing – SHU, Ad-Seg, PSU, Condemned Units? Are correctional officers coming around to your cell every half hour or hour to conduct security/welfare checks? Are these checks conducted in a quiet manner? Or do these checks disturb you? Do they interfere with your ability to sleep, or cause physical or mental health problems? The PHSS Committee to End Sleep Deprivation and CFASC/Family Unity Network want to help prisoners pursue this grievance.
Sep 28, 2017
Like George Zimmerman, Aljerwon Moran, a 23-year-old African American man, was accused of second degree murder. Zimmerman and Moran both admitted to pulling the trigger causing the death of another human being. Both alleged the homicide was done in self-defense. However, Zimmerman is a free man – and Moran is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail.
Oct 20, 2017
Oct. 20, 2017, marks the sixth anniversary of the martyrdom of Muammar Qaddafi, revolutionary Pan-Africanist and champion of the Global South. This day also marks the sixth anniversary of the historic battle of Sirte, where Qaddafi, along with a heroic army, including his son, Mutassim Billal Qaddafi, and veteran freedom fighter Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, fought until their convoy was bombed by French fighter planes. Wounded and demobilized, they were captured by Qatari scavengers and executed by Al-Qaeda operatives.
Oct 18, 2017
Oct. 14 marked the seventh anniversary of Rwandan political prisoner Victoire Ingabire’s arrest shortly after she attempted to run for president against Rwanda’s military dictator, President Paul Kagame. The Brussels-based International Women’s Network for Democracy and Peace commemorates Oct. 14 as Ingabire Day, a day of solidarity with Victoire Ingabire and all political prisoners. I asked Claude Gatebuke, Rwandan genocide survivor and founder of the African Great Lakes Action Network, to explain Victoire Ingabire’s message.
Oct 18, 2017
I recently attended the first Caribbean Peace Conference in Bridgetown, Barbados, Oct. 6-7, 2017. The theme of the Conference was “Resisting Nuclear and Environmental Disaster: Building Peace in the Caribbean.” Attendees included representatives from Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Venezuela and Barbados. The purpose of this conference was to consolidate a serious Caribbean Peace Movement equipped with a concrete agenda and guiding philosophy.
Oct 17, 2017
As the trial over the police murder of Luis Demetrio Gongora Pat, an innocent, unhoused Mayan father, husband, brother and son who was killed 18 months ago on the streets of San Francisco, approaches, the witnesses to his murder are mysteriously dying. One witness, John Visor, died in his single room occupancy (SRO) hotel room on Aug. 11. Last week another person related to the case also died mysteriously in his SRO room in the same hotel. “It is critical that the death of John Visor be examined by an independent agency to uncover any foul play that might have occurred,” said lawyer for the people Adante Pointer.
Oct 13, 2017
In a disturbing report leaked to Foreign Policy, the FBI manufactures threats from so-called “Black Identity Extremists” (BIE): “The FBI assesses it is very likely Black Identity Extremist (BIE) perceptions of police brutality against African Americans spurred an increase in premeditated, retaliatory lethal violence against law enforcement and will very likely serve as justification for such violence,” the report reads.
Oct 18, 2017
A clinician actually fighting for America’s ultimate underdogs – as his academic “focus” – immediately grabbed my attention. Dr. Jonathan Lassiter, PhD, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of psychology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, visited San Francisco this past summer, as he was enrolled in the Visiting Professors’ Program at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at UCSF. He’s a polymath, a critical thinker and notably a healer.
Oct 12, 2017
“Whose Streets?” exemplifies what the great Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) stated about an organized Black people, that there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Although the policeman who killed Mike Brown escaped punishment, “Whose Streets?” shows how the people still won and continue to win. What is beautiful about “Whose Streets?” is the peoples’ will and commitment to not relinquishing their power and right to claim what is theirs – their neighborhoods, their streets and their right to occupy both.
Oct 12, 2017
Shanon Nelson, owner of Amari Hair Extensions, the online hair boutique, is both anxious and excited about the future. The seasoned entrepreneur and former business professor with an MBA is poised to take her love of travel and international business for a foray into the massive $500 billion Black hair care and beauty industry.
Oct 6, 2017
Folks have probably heard by now that the African American Museum and Library, Oakland (AAMLO), is without a permanent director. While the search is being articulated and mounted, Susan D. Anderson, Bay Area author and founder of Memory House, will act as interim director and chief curator for the next six to nine months as the Oakland Public Library (OPL) mounts a national search to find the right person for the job.
Oct 6, 2017
About a year ago Bayview’s Hilltop Park received a renovation which covered a new lawn and upgraded the plaza, amphitheater and lighting surrounding the sundial. Earlier this year an artist who was born and raised in the neighborhood felt the need to add his own artistic touch to the park: local hero Malik Seneferu. The Hilltop Park sculpture, titled “Harbor’s Landing,” features a bird, its blue color reflecting the cobalt blue of the summer sky, emerging from the blue Bay.
