Monthly Archives: October 2011

Veteran comedian and activist Dick Gregory was arrested Sept. 3 for blocking the entrance way in a protest against British Petroleum for its handling of a $20 billion victims’ compensation fund, yet his protests continue.

A new light rail line through South Los Angeles to the airport that promises thousands of jobs got the green light Sept. 22 from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) board of directors. Now that the project can move into its construction phase, the Black communities the rail line will pass through are asking whether they’ll benefit and who will win the contracts and jobs.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez condemned the killing of Libyan head of state Muammar Qaddafi as an “assassination” and “a disregard of life.” The Libyan leader was confirmed dead Oct. 20 by the rebel National Transition Council (NTC) with images of Libyan rebels displaying his corpse beamed around the world.

We as fellow occupiers of Oscar Grant Plaza propose that on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1 percent. We propose a citywide general strike and we propose we invite all students to walk out of school. Instead of workers going to work and students going to school, the people will converge on downtown Oakland to shut down the city. All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them. ... The whole world is watching Oakland. Let’s show them what is possible.

Last night, I watched in horror alongside the rest of the world as Oakland police and 16 other police agencies from across the Bay Area fired tear gas and war grade weapons at the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now more than 50 writers have released a statement denouncing a “crackdown on free speech” by Oakland police and Mayor Jean Quan.

Earthquake evacuees living in temporary housing and shelters in the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki have developed deep thrombophlebitis, the swelling of a vein caused by a blood clot. Diseases of the blood and circulatory and lymphatic systems are among the most widespread consequences of the Chernobyl contamination, especially among evacuees.

Seven San Francisco mayoral candidates have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to send in election observers and monitors and federal investigators to protect San Franciscans’ voting rights from the official mayoral campaign of Interim Mayor Ed Lee and from the “independent expenditure committee” also trying to elect him outside the campaign spending confines of the official campaign.

Last Thursday morning, Oct. 13, in the rain at jam-packed Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza in the financial district of New York, it was cleanup time by the occupiers. For the cops it was a low-profile day, but I counted 26 officers in uniform – 23 blue- and three white-shirted – scattered around the perimeter in twos and threes plus seven undercover men, presumably FBI/CIA, in suits.

DeBray Carpenter aka Fly Benzo and his brother, Tommy Clayton aka Pladee, are being choked yet again by the San Francisco INjustice system. His third arrest since he began leading the protest against the police murder of Kenneth Harding was Tuesday, Oct. 18, probably to silence him on Saturday, Oct. 22, the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. Pack the courtroom for Fly’s next hearing on Thursday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m., 850 Bryant in Dept. 12. Click to see the message from Fly's lawyer.

A municipal bank is finally on the table, and Supervisor and mayoral candidate John Avalos has scheduled a public hearing at San Francisco City Hall for Oct. 24, 10 a.m., in Room 250. There will be time for public comment. At least four mayoral candidates are outspoken advocates for a municipal bank: Supervisor Avalos, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Terry Baum of the Green Party and state Sen. Leland Yee.

Pack the courtroom -- Dept. 12 at 850 Bryant -- at 1:30pm today for the arraignment on bogus charges of DeBray Carpenter, better known as Fly Benzo, resistance leader in Bayview Hunters Point. Public Defender Jeff Adachi has assured he will be well represented, but he needs and deserves a crowd of supporters too. Fly is the keynote speaker Saturday at the October 22nd rally to stop police brutality. The mayor is in charge of the police department. Hold Mayor Ed Lee accountable for this attempt to silence a community leader. Call him at (415) 554-6141. Free Fly Benzo!

As we embark upon the fourth annual Breaking The Silence: Congo Week, Oct. 16-22, 2011, I greet you in the name of many Congolese youth who are seeking to ride the winds of change that blew from the African youth revolution in Soweto in 1976 to the streets of Cairo today, now making their way across the Atlantic to America, symbolized by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Congolese youth are not going to give up. They’re fighting day and night, educating their peers, their communities and mobilizing throughout the country to bring about change, whether it comes today or tomorrow. They’re clear that they have to be organized to protect their interests, and no one, no one, can protect their interests like they can.

There are those who would have you believe that seeing a black cat (like me?) cross your path will bring you bad luck. But the Native Americans had no idea when they first saw that white cat named Christopher Columbus that he would be bringing them and the whole world 500 years bad luck!

Comrade was an exceptional individual and driven by his passion for revolution. The immense amount of knowledge he had acquired prior to our meeting he had honed to be as sharp as a samurai sword. While in prison, he studied economics, history and philosophy, transforming himself into a political theoretician and strategist.

We must protest this latest attack on the Bayview Post Office. The post office must be flooded with letters and calls to the San Francisco Postmaster’s Office, (415) 550-5001. All political leaders must be made aware that this community is not passive or unaware of our rights.

"Most people realize that crime is simply the result of a grossly disproportionate distribution of wealth and privilege ... an aspect of class struggle from the outset. Throughout its history, the United States has used its prisons to suppress any organized efforts to challenge its legitimacy," wrote George Jackson in "Blood in My Eye."

In another step to privatize Berkeley’s 75 occupied public housing town-homes, billionaire Stephen M. Ross, CEO and founder of The Related Companies and 95 percent owner of the Miami Dolphins, is in talks with the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) to buy Berkeley’s occupied public housing through one of his companies.

I had never believed in hunger strikes, thinking that they’re counter-productive. However, when the gang unit began to work in concert with the chief medical officer, I decided to participate in this and the next hunger strike. Here's why.

“This is an excellent exposé of the foundations laid for the U.S.-NATO war in Libya,” writes Les Blough, editor of Axis of Logic. “Please note that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), based in Washington, D.C., was at the root of this international crime against the government and people of Libya.”