Tune in Thursdays 4 to 5pm (PST), online [link], and in the San Pablo Bay Area at 89.5FM KZCT [link], breaking the blockade of censorship, with research archives and verified sources! View past headlines [link]. Join the Community Journalist program, send news & info to [NorthbayMDS@gmail.com].
Know more with the Community Journalist's Notebook [link]! 
Listen to this episode at [http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/45730009]
Black Rider Liberation Party calling on all communities:
Free Comrade Jihad!
Comrade Jihad Mujahid Muhammad, Minister of Spiritual Affairs for the Black Riders Liberation Party, while acting as eyes and ears against Pig violence and human-rights abuse in deep East Oakland on Lovelle Mixon day, March 21st, 2013, was kidnapped by pigs under a faulty pretext, and charged with a convenient offense, for which the fascist prison-state took one year of his life. Late last month, this Comrade of the People was set to be released, but was instead turned over to Santa Clara prison-state authorities, and now, we demand, NOT ONE MORE DAY! FREE COMRADE JIHAD!
He has endured, and suffered, enough! Please Support with Donations to get Comrade Jihad out on Bail! [www.youcaring.com/other/free-jihad-/156844]
The Black Rider Liberation Party (BRLP) of Oakland [link] (with other chapters in California) is a self-help and defense organization that is training the community to care of itself, with programs including the "Watch-a-Pig" copwatch program, the Health Corner, cultural programs and revolutionary hip-hop, prisoner support programs, the Game Green program of replanting the streets and creating gardens, literacy programs to educate the People on law and history, martial arts training programs, and bringing peace in the community by providing an example of overcoming street rivalries and uniting to rebuild the community against the oppressor's system of economic domination. They work in a coalition of all nations with the Inter-Communal Solidarity Committee, whose newspaper, "Turning the Tide", is distributed by our affiliate "First Amendment Distributions" in Vallejo, while working within their own community, and never turning their backs on the lumpen, the "lowest class", those that so-called society has turned their backs on. It is the lumpen are those that suffer the most human-rights abuse by the oppressor, and is a social status economically enforced against most of the captive nations in the USA (New Africans, Chicanos, Indigenous nations).
Photo showing the Black Rider Liberation Party at Lafayette Middle School in West Oakland, to teach about organizing community programs, for the safety and health of the People! Visit their official website here [2ServeThaPeople.wix.com/brlp], or contact them [510 731 9083], [510 725 0867] [shangoabiola@gmail.com]
Free Jihad Fundraiser & film screening.
Live Performances, raffle prizes, free food, and guest speaker
at Qilombo liberated zone, 2313 San Pablo Ave., Oakland CA 94612
April 5th, 7pm to 12 midnight
- Film screening of BRLP documentary "LET UM HEAR YA COMING"
- Music and performances by Ras Ceylon, Shango Abiola, E Da Ref, Ms. Incredible, Fly Benzo, and more!
Special message from the BRLP:
WE NEED DONATIONS BECAUSE OF THE HIGH PRICE BAIL AND TO GET A LAWYER.
THE MORE MONEY WE RAISE, THE MORE THE COMRADE CAN GET OUT AND WORK ON PROVING HIS INNOCENCE. THIS FELONIOUS CHARGE COULD BE HIS 3RD STRIKE!!!
"Most of today's black convicts have come to understand that they are the most abused victims of an unrighteous order." - The Great General George Jackson.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE! AS ALOT OF YOU KNOW ALREADY, OUR MINISTER OF SPIRITUALITY, COMRADE JIHAD MUJAHID MUHAMMAD, WAS CAPTURED BY THE OAKLAND POLICE ON 77TH AND BLACK ARTHUR (AKA MACARTHUR) ON MARCH 21ST, 2013, WHICH ALSO HAPPENS TO BE THE 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF LOVELLE MIXON DAY, A DAY THAT LIVES IN INFAMY, TO NOT ONLY THE RESIDENTS OF OAKLAND, CA, BUT TO BLACK PEOPLE ALL OVER THE U.S. WHEN HE CORRECTED 4 PIGS IN A GUN BATTLE ON THE SAME BLOCK COMRADE JIHAD WAS ARRESTED ON.
("The Ghosts of March 21", a new documentary film reexamines the evidence about the death of Lovelle Mixon, a warrior of New Africa [link]. The film is on tour across the nation, and will be sponsored by Minister of Information JR Valrey, host of Block Reportin' radio.)
COMRADE JIHAD WAS TARGETED FOR HIS INFLUENCE IN THE COMMUNITY, BEING A DEVOUT MUSLIM, AND HIS ORGANIZING AS A MEMBER OF THE BLACK RIDERS LIBERATION PARTY. AS A FORMER PARTICIPANT IN SELF-GENOCIDE, COMRADE JIHAD IS A SHINING EXAMPLE TO ALOT OF OTHER BROTHERS OFF THE BLOCK OF WHAT POLITICAL EDUCATION, STREET SMARTS, DISCIPLINE AND SCIENTIFIC STRATEGIES CAN DO TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF THE LUMPEN PROLETARIAT FROM SELF DESTRUCTION TO REVOLUTIONARY AFRIKAN INTER-COMMUNALISM.
COMRADE JIHAD INSTANTLY FLOURISHED IN THE RANKS OF THE B.R.L.P. WITH A FEARLESS "GO HARD OR GO HOME" ATTITUDE WHEN IT COMES TO BANGING ON PIGS! HE HAS PUT HIMSELF AND HIS FREEDOM ON THE LINE FOR BLACK PEOPLE ALL OVER THE BAY AREA, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA... ALWAYS WILLING TO ACCEPT THE MOST DANGEROUS MISSIONS WITHOUT HESITATION.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE ONE TIME HIM AND COMRADE SGT. ASKARI HAD TO BREAK UP A FIGHT AND PREVENT A RIOT AT FREMONT HIGH, SOME OF THE TEACHERS WERE QUICK TO CALL THE POLICE AND SIT BY, HANDS OFF ON THE SIDE OF THE SCHOOL, WHILE THE MISGUIDED YOUTH ATTACKED EACH OTHER. AFTER BREAKING UP THE FIGHT, THE COMRADES THEN HAD TO PROCEED TO CONFRONT THE FASCIST OAKLAND PIGS WHO WERE TRYING TO ILLEGAL DETAIN AND ARREST A YOUNG CHICANO STUDENT. THE COMRADES INSTANTLY SPRUNG INTO ACTION INFORMING THE YOUNGSTER OF WHAT TO LEGALLY SAY, TO FIND OUT IF HE WAS BEING ARRESTED OR DETAINED AND IF NOT, TO INFORM THE POLICE THAT THEY NEED TO LET HIM GO.
THE YOUTH REPEATED AFTER THE COMRADES, AND THE FRUSTRATED PIGS RELUCTANTLY RELEASED THE YOUNG MAN.
AS COMRADE ASKARI SPOKE TO THE YOUTH, COMRADE JIHAD STOOD POSTED UP AT READY, IN CASE THE PIG DIDN'T COMPLY. THE YOUTH WHO WERE JUST FIGHTING EACH OTHER 5 MINUTES AGO NOW TURNED THEIR RAGE TO THE ENEMY OCCUPYING ARMY (OAKLAND POLICE) AND WERE HURLING INSULTS AND TELLING THE POLICE " WE DON'T WANT YOU ON OUR CAMPUS"!
THE COMRADES, BACKED BY OVER 150 STUDENTS ARMED WITH KNOWLEDGE AND HEART, DROVE THE PIGS AWAY. THE SITE OF THESE NEW GENERATION PANTHERS' GENUINE CONCERN FOR THEIR WELL BEING INSPIRED COURAGE IN THESE YOUNGSTA'S THAT NORMALLY ARE NOT DIRECTED AGAINST THE POLICE. THE COMRADES THEN WAITED FOR THE DETAINED YOUNG MAN'S MOTHER TO ARRIVE TO INFORM HER OF WHAT HAPPENED. SHE THANKED THE COMRADES WITH TEARS IN HER EYES. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT ORDEAL WE HAD TO MOUNT UP AND MOBILIZE AT CITY HALL TO PROTEST THE HIRING OF KILLER BILL BRATTON'S AS A FASCIST CONSULTANT FOR THE OPD FOR 2 WEEKS AT $250,000. THIS WAS ALSO THE NIGHT OF THE 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MURDER OF RAHEIM BROWN.
THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF OUR COMRADE JIHAD'S DEDICATION AND COMMITMENT TO THE LIBERATION OF AFRIKAN AND ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLE. WE HAVE MANY, MANY MORE. AND AFTER SERVING TIME IN SAN QUENTIN AND FOLSOM (YET AGAIN), HIS RESOLVE HAS NOT BROKEN. HIS LETTERS ARE STILL IN HIGH SPIRITS WITH FAITH IN ALLAH (GOD), THE STRUGGLE, AND THE PEOPLE!
HE IS NOW BEING HELD ON TRUMPED UP CHARGES OF BURGLARY AND AN UNIDENTIFIED PRISON CHARGE. THE WARRANT FOR THIS CHARGE WAS ISSUED ON HIS ORIGINAL DATE OF RELEASE FROM NEW FOLSOM MARCH 21ST, 2014. INSTEAD OF BEING RELEASED HE WAS TRANSFERED TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY WHERE HE IS CURRENTLY BEING HELD.
DURING HIS INCARCERATION, COMRADE JIHAD PARTICIPATED IN THE AUGUST HUNGER STRIKE WHILE HE WAS BEING HELD AT SAN QUENTIN, BEFORE BEING TRANSFERRED TO NEW FOLSOM
WE NEED SUPPORT, IN NOT JUST DONATIONS AND FUNDRAISING SUPPORT, BUT LOGISTICS FOR FUNDRAISING, AS WELL.
IF YOU CAN HELP WITH THIS ENDEAVOR, WE GREATLY APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT IN ADVANCE. LETS SHOW COMRADE JIHAD THAT THE MOVEMENT SUPPORTS AND TAKES CARE OF ITS OWN, AND THAT WE APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT HE AND THE B.R.L.P. ARE DOING IN THE COMMUNITY. THIS IS NOT CHARITY, THIS IS AN INVESTMENT IN THE END TO BLACK ON BLACK VIOLENCE COMPLETE LIBERATION FROM KKKAPITALIST OPPRESSION. BY SUPPORTING COMRADE JIHAD, WE OUR SUPPORTING OURSELVES BECAUSE HE IS A PROVEN LEADER AND FREEDOM FIGHTER, AND WE WILL SURELY CONTINUE THE FIGHT REGARDLESS OF THE OBSTACLES.
THE ONLY ANTIDOTE TO THE MENTAL SICKNESS OF "BLACK ON BLACK" TRIBALISM IS BULLETPROOF BLACK ON BLACK LOVE AND AFRIKAN INTER-COMMUNALISM THROUGH UNITARY CONDUCT AND REVOLUTIONARY INTER-COMMUNAL SOLIDARITY.
ACTION HEADLINES!
with articles researched for veracity, and archived for historical purposes, by participating Northbay MDS committees, each leading it's own section.
* Predator billionaires use influence at Berkeley Housing Authority to evict senior citizens from formerly public housing [link]
* "Debi Bliss fighting for homeless in area" from "Vallejo Times-Herald" (2014-03-30) [link]
* Richmond Progressive Alliance proceeds with lawsuit to correct unlawful business practices of Chevron [link]
* Lawsuit filed to save Richmond's people from dangerous and fatal petroleum rail-shipments [link]
* Lest We Forget: Chevron Oil Refinery Explosion at Richmond (2012-08) [link]
* "Corrected Billboard Defends Transparency at Guantanamo Bay" [link]
* Domino's Pizza owners admit to wage theft (2014-03) [link]
* Pressure Mounts on AG Harris to Act in Lopez Case: NAACP & Local Attorneys Weigh In to Demand Action - “Bring Back Justice Cruz Reynoso as Special Prosecutor” [link]
* Local fascism watch: Violence-loving gun criminal (and congressional assemblyman) hosted by Napa County Republican Party Central Committee [link]
* Public bike and nature trails to be privatized [link]
* "Cesar Chavez: Then, Now, and the Power of the Organized", from "Common Dreams" news [link]
* Esteemed New African Scholar at Temple University in Philadelphia is attacked and forced out by European American cultural chauvinists managing the university [link]
* "Progress in Benton Harbor: Rev. Pinkney, FBI, and ACLU are talking" [link]
* "Venezuela: When Some of the Most Important News Comes in the Form of Corrections" [link]
* "Ukraine: The Danger of False Narrative; Like a decade ago with Iraq, Official Washington’s pundits and pols are locked shoulder-to-shoulder in a phalanx of misguided consensus on Ukraine, presenting a false narrative that is taking U.S. policy into dangerous directions" [link]
"Mentally ill suffer in US imprisonment cycle", 2014-03-29 by Rob Reynolds from Al Jazeera [link]:
Hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people in the US are caught in a perpetual cycle of homelessness and imprisonment. In the US, it's estimated that nearly half a million mentally ill people are in prison. In the third of our four part series, Al Jazeera looks at the issue of the criminalisation of mental health in the United States. Many people find themselves caught living through a cycle of homelessness and imprisonment.
Families United March on State Capital Sacramento
[https://www.facebook.com/events/155737031274252/]
MARCH ON THE CAPITOL!! Tuesday, April 8at 10:00am - 3:00pm, at the California State Capitol [1315 10th Street, Sacramento, California 95814]: Join the United Families of California at the fifth annual Victims' Rights March at CalVCP 400 R Street, Sacramento offices in Sacramento on Tuesday, April 8th at 10:00 a.m. The March will conclude at the State Capitol where we will gather for a Rally in support of crime victims' rights!
We have buses leaving Oakland, Richmond, and SF. If you are looking to get on the bus, please send names as soon as possible to me, please inbox me. Thank you. Bus ride is free. Your name will have to be registered with the bus to board.
Come early to sign a ribbon with the name of a loved one or a statement of support. Then, tie that ribbon onto a flower and bring it on the March with you. Bring your own signs to support victims' rights or remember a loved one lost to crime. The March will begin with a moment of silence. See march directions map link here: [http://vcgcb.ca.gov/victims/victimsrightsmonth/rally.aspx]
The Victims March on the Capitol is a call to action for victims and their supporters to come together every year on the steps of the California State Capitol to have their voices heard by their elected officials. This event is not a memorial, but rather a rally in which we encourage victims to visit their legislator’s offices and let them know how you feel about public safety issues. If you need help identifying your legislator, please stop by the Crime Victims United Booth at the March and we will help you!
The theme for 2014 NCVRW is “30 Years: Restoring the Balance of Justice,” which is intended to also commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the passage of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) in 1984.
If you would like to have a photo of your loved one included at this year's March for release form see link below and If you would like to have an informational booth at this year's March contact Christina or call Debbie Rollins at 916-340-3676 for directions. Hurry Booth are going fast!
follow link: [http://www.crimevictimsunited.com/11-news/news/22-victims-rights-week]
"Justice for Josiah! (Antonio Guzman Lopez)"
[facebook.com/pages/Justice-For-Josiah/1431331023779235] [justice4josiah (@) riseup.net]
The Justice For Josiah!" campaign held a Press Conference, Thursday, April 3, 11:30am at the Martin Luther King Libary @ SJSU in San Jose [facebook.com/events/551177261663079]. The campaign is being coordinated by Antonio's widow Laurie Valdez, mother of orphaned Josiah jr. and Angelique.
Follow on Twitter: #JusticeForJosiah #JusticeParaJosiah #Justice4Josiah
* "The Anatomy of Police Murder and Cover Up", 2014-03-30 from the "Justice For Josiah!" campaign [link]
* "Partner of man shot by SJSU police speaks out", 2014-03-01 from "ABC7 News" [link]
* "Police find no gun following a report of a man with a gun", 2014-03-19 by Philip Beadle and Yasmine Mahmoud from "Spartan Daily" newspaper [link]
Special thanks to Melanie Cervantes and Dignidad Rebelde, for this beautiful work of art, depicting the last photo of Josiah and his father together.
"Justice for Alejandro Nieto!"
* "Hundreds In SF Protest Murder of Alejandro Nieto on March 29, 2014", by Labor Video Project [link]
* "Protesters March to Remember Alejandro Nieto", 2014-03-30 from "Mission Local" [link]
* "Latino gunned down by police, community outraged", 2014-03-27 by Laura Waxman from "El Tocolote" newspaper [link]
* "SFPD Kill Scholarship Student & Security Guard After ‘Gentrifiers' Get Suspicious", 2014-03-25 by Jason Wallach for the Center of Political Education [hiphopandpolitics.com/2014/03/25/sfpd-kill-scholarship-student-security-guard-gentrifiers-get-suspicious]:
I am upset this evening because today I learned about Alejandro Nieto, who was killed by a barrage of San Francisco Police Department bullets last Friday evening near the service road leading up Bernal Hill.
I attended the vigil in Alex’s (as he was known to friends) honor that took place at the site where he died, on the service road leading up Bernal Hill. At the vigil, I learned that he was a scholarship student at City College of San Francisco, studying Criminal Justice. He wanted to be a parole officer to help guide young men’s lives into good directions. He was a devout Buddhist who believed in creating the peace in his community that he wanted to see spread across the Earth. He was a loving, caring individual. I found out through a poem that his birthday was March 4th.
I also learned that the SFPD shot him last Friday as he ate a burrito just before heading to work as a security guard. He was wearing his work-authorized tazer on his belt, but the police did not ask him about that. They did not consider the source of racist fear that motivated the (mostly) white dog-walking residents to frantically call police because of Alejandro’s presence. The cruel irony is that his job was to provide a sense of security for patrons at a restaurant/bar — so they could eat in peace. But Ale’s presence — his simple presence IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT HE GREW UP IN — was enough to create a sense of IN-security for his recently arrived neighbors… and that not only could he not eat in peace, but because of it Alejandro is now Resting in Peace.
There is so much work to be done on so many levels to prevent this type of thing from ever happening again. It won’t be changed in a day. But if we show up for Alex in the coming days, maybe we can show that he did not die in vain. (Cuz for right now, it sure feels like his life was senselessly stolen from him.)
There will be a Town Hall meeting about this police murder of one of our community members tomorrow, Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 6:00 PM at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School, 3125 Cesar Chavez. Alejandro’s family and friends are asking for community support and presence at this meeting. Please come if you can.
* "SFPD to answer questions on fatal shooting of Alejandro Nieto", 2014-03-25 by Rebecca Bowe from the "Bay Guardian" newspaper [link]: [begin excerpt] A report in the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that just before the shooting, Nieto was “acting erratically and threatening passersby,” quoting an unnamed witness who said a man had threatened his dog with a “pistol-type stun gun” and yelled profanities. It also referenced a past incident involving Nieto's alleged use of a stun gun.
A person who declined to be named told the Bay Guardian that about half an hour before the shooting occurred, two men who were walking down the pedestrian pathway on the north slope of Bernal Heights Park alerted a jogger that there was a man ahead wearing a gun on his hip. They told the jogger that they had called the police. The jogger, who was about 50 feet from the man and started moving away from him after receiving the warning, was too far away to see whether he had a weapon but noticed that he was “pacing back and forth” and “air boxing.” [end excerpt]
Comments posted 2014-03-28 at [https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/03/27/18753193.php?show_comments=1#18753311]: Yelling profanities and threatening people is not an excuse to kill somebody. Air boxing is not a crime. Threatening animals that are trying to attack you is not a crime. When he pointed the gun at them, how did the cops know it wasn't a toy or something? This is on the police, not Alejandro. Doesn't the department give training on dealing with mentally disturbed individuals? Did anyone besides SFPD witness the killing? Did anyone see Alejandro Nieto point his taser at police? Did anyone hear the police warn him? Was he wearing headphones or earbuds or otherwise handicapped from hearing at the time he was killed?
"Justice for Alex Nieto, March 29, 2014", video produced by Gloria La Riva from the ANSWER Coalition, posted 2014-03-30 by SanFranciscoANSWER [youtube.com/user/SanFranciscoANSWER], at [youtube.com/watch?v=RvQIljPzBLY]: 28-year-old Alex Nieto was murdered by SF police on March 21, in his neighborhood of Bernal Heights, a victim of racist profiling by SFPD. The massive gentrification in the Mission district and Bernal Heights and all SF has also made targets of longtime Black and Latino residents and all working-class people in San Francisco. A community coalition has formed to demand indictment of SFPD and justice for Alex Nieto.
"Community March: Justice for Alejandro Nieto! Jail killer cops!", call to action from ANSWER Coalition [http://www.answercoalition.org/sf/events/community-march.html]: March 29, 2014, 2:00 pm, at the Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St. near 25th St. in San Francisco, California. Contact: ANSWER Coalition at [answer@answersf.org] or [415-821-6545].
On Friday night, San Francisco police officers shot and killed Alejandro Nieto in an act of blatant racist murder. Three cops surrounded Nieto in a triangulated formation and riddled him with bullets. They are now trying to excuse the killing saying Nieto had a gun and that he was acting erratically.
None of their lies add up. First of all, acting erratically is not a crime and cannot be the basis for killing someone. Nieto—a City College of San Francisco student and security guard—owned a taser gun as part of his work. The taser gun has a bright yellow stripe down the side specifically to differentiate it from a real gun. The cops were not in any danger, perceived or otherwise.
In fact, they murdered a Latino man for the crime of eating his dinner in a neighborhood that is becoming yet another center of gentrification in a city that is rapidly being reserved for the wealthy.
Bernal Heights, like many neighborhoods in San Francisco, used to be a place where working people could own homes and rent affordably. Now, it—like the Mission today and Noe Valley many years ago—is being converted into a place where wealthier people live in homes that sell for millions or rent for many thousands of dollars a month.
The police in this city are the protectors of the wealthy developers and tech company owners who are driving the rest of us out.
Alejandro Nieto should be alive today. The police officers who killed him must be arrested and tried for murder. The ANSWER Coalition joins with many other community organizations and thousands of individuals in calling for a truly independent investigation into this latest atrocity.
We urge everyone who believes in justice to join the community march on Saturday, March 29, 3 pm at the Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St., near 25th St. to say: Justice for Alejandro Nieto! Jail killer cops!
According to videos, the crowd is huge at nearly a thousand, but thinned down once people started marching up the hill, might have been hard on Elders and disabled under the rain. According to a participant close to the family of Alex Nieto, "It was a big crowd. We estimated 600. Justice for Alex Nieto! Jail All Killer Cops!"
* Photos by Ki Won Yoon, posted in "Justice 4 Alex Nieto, killed by SFPD on March 21, 2014" [facebook.com/groups/721427181211650/]
Don Refugio Nieto es un hombre valiente e integro
Una Poema para Alejandro Nieto, by JA, 2014:
En el corazón del barrio
La misión en San Francisco, California
Un jóven se come un burrito
Y muere asesinado de 14 balazos
Parece gracioso
Pero no lo es
La policia de San Francisco
Le disparó a Alex Nieto
Catorce disparos
Que muerte tan muerte
Que cobardes, que tristeza
Llenaron de dolor la familia
De un jóven de 28 años
La montaña de Bernal Heights
Fue la tumba de Alex Nieto
Ahora ahí quedan flores y rezos
La voz de la comunidad
Que habla con nuestros hermanos Ohlones
Ellos escuchan
Se levantan, son aguilas y gavilanes
vuelan, danzan, cantan y rezan - se unen a la lucha.
--------------------------------
In the heart of San Francisco's
Mission District
A young man eats a burrito
And is shot to death with fourteen bullets
It sounds funny
but it is not
The San Francisco Police Department
Shot Alex Nieto fourteen times
What death more like death
What cowards, what sadness
They filled with sorrow
The family of a 28 year old young man
Bernal Heights is now his tomb
Now there are flowers and prayers
The voice of the community
Speaking with our Ohlone brothers and sisters
They listen, they rise, they are eagles and hawks
They fly, dance, sing and pray - they join the struggle.
The time, is now.
This is the foundation, grasp the lessons.
Intercommunal Solidarity, those who are without it are the most vulnerable...
Bobby Seale [https://www.facebook.com/bobby.seale1]:
”Seize The Time” was first published more than twenty years ago. I tape-recorded and wrote most of this book under the strain of being a political prisoner in the San Francisco County Jail in 1969 and 1970. At that time, most protest organizations, particularly anti-war and civil rights groups, were targeted for attacks by all levels of government. Seize The Time was published while I was incarcerated and a defendant in two major political trials-consecutive, racist, political trials that I eventually won.
I am often told that ”Seize The Time” is a 1960's protest-era classic. Whether it is indeed a classic or not, I am uncertain. However, I am certain that the Black Panther Party For Self-Defense, as it was originally called, founded during that era and depicted in this book, remains a classic example of African and African American people'' age-old resistance to racism and class oppression. Looking back on that era and thinking about all of our dedicated members through the years, it is clear to me that our "do or die" revolutionary methods in racist America provided a contemporary example of struggle for oppressed people the world over. More importantly, the Black Panther Party exposed institutionalized racism and further defined the phenomenon of white America's self-righteous and fascist absolutism. In effect, Seize The Time continues to have universal appeal as an account of an oppressed people's struggle for human liberation.
Standing on our constitutional and democratic human rights, we made Malcolm X's philosophical polemics, "the ballot or the bullet" and "by any means necessary," come alive. The Party initiated national Black community Survival Programs and "working coalition" politics with progressive white radical and people for color organizations. Our work caused the late F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover to intensify the government's COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) attacks against the Party. These attacks on Panthers, on our homes and our offices, most often led by state and local police, were particularly vicious during the 1969. On December 4th of that year in Chicago, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were murdered in their sleep during a police raid. Two days later, a telephone conversation between then-California governor Ronald Reagan and J. Edgar Hoover preceded the police attack on the Los Angeles Black Panther party office. A four-hour shoot-out ensued between Los Angeles Police and Black Panthers. These attacks were nothing more than the fascist pig power structure's attempt to terrorize us out of existence. But we weathered it and in city after city won the majority of our political trials. Tragically, twenty-five Panthers lost their lives and there are still Panthers locked away in prisons across the country doing hard time on charges manufactured by the government.
”Seize The Time” is also about the co-founder of the Party, Huey P. Newton, during his political revolutionary glory days. Before Huey went to jail in 1967, there were only about seventy-five Black Panther party members and two chapters, Los Angeles and Oakland, California. When Huey came out in 1971, there were over forty-five chapters and five thousand dedicated and politically educated Black Panther party members. The statement has been made that the Party experienced its most dramatic growth when Huey was in jail. What is often missed in this statement is Huey's importance as a revolutionary political prisoner, a symbol for Black America and oppressed people around the world. Whatever difficulties may have come Huey's way in later years, I think he will probably be best remembered as I captured him in Seize The Time. On August 22, 1989, my friend and old comrade Huey was shot dead. Huey had not fallen victim to the many police guns and bullets nor the prison death houses we both had faced. Huey, had been killed by a young drug dealer. I am troubled by the question that if Huey P. Newton, who struggled against all odds in the sixties and seventies, could get caught up in the vicious cycle of Black community self-destruction, then were will this destruction end? Somebody has to deal with this; somebody has to deal with all of this self-destruction.
At this time more than ever we need activists who are motivated and dedicated to organizing people, raising consciousness and instilling self-respect and Black community love in African Americans. We especially need creative Black youth who know our history and who understand that Black Unity is the catalyst to help humanize this racist world. We need socially conscious activists who will work toward the economic empowerment of our people. We need activists who cross all ethnic and religious backgrounds and color lines who will establish civil and human rights for all, including the right to an ecologically balanced, pollution-free environment. We must create a world of decent human relationships where revolutionary humanism is grounded in democratic human rights for every person on earth. Those were the political revolutionary objectives of my old Black Panther Party. They must now belong to the youth of today.
”Seize The Time” is available on my website:
[http://www.bobbyseale.com/html/orderform1.htm]
All Power To All The People!
Free Robert Seth Hayes #74A2280
Petition by Jericho Movement, sign it here [https://www.change.org/petitions/tina-m-stanford-free-robert-seth-hayes-74a2280]:
Robert Seth Hayes has been incarcerated since 1973 for his involvement with the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army. A victim of the FBI’s illegal COINTELPROgram, he has been behind bars for 41 years and is currently in his sixties. Seth has maintained an exemplary prison record throughout this time. Seth—a husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend—is nearing his thirteenth parole hearing in 2014.
---
To: Tina M. Stanford, Chairwoman, New York State Board of Parole.
Release Robert Seth Hayes #74A2280 on Parole in 2014.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s, Robert Seth Hayes was a free man, closely involved in the nation-wide struggles for racial equality and social justice. Seth worked in the Black Panther Party’s free breakfast for children program and began dedicating his life to the betterment of Black people. His knowledge of the effects of racism on the Black community convinced him that the Black Panthers’ program of community service and community self-defense was what was needed.
The FBI and numerous police departments have since apologized for the massive illegal campaign (COINTELPRO) against social movements that left dozens dead and hundreds behind bars. However, the victims of these campaigns are still incarcerated, torn away from their families and communities years later. Seth is now in his sixties—any longer incarceration will do nothing to restore justice. A 41 year sentence is both unjust and unnecessary.
Seth is a man who has refused to allow his years of incarceration to embitter him. He has used it to deepen his commitment to humanity and self-betterment.
While in prison, Seth continues to work for the betterment of the community in which he lives. He has participated in programs with the NAACP, the Jaycees and other organizations and has worked as a librarian, pre-release advisor and AIDS counselor. Whenever possible, he has taken college courses. He has been a mentor and leader to youth both inside and outside prison walls.
Seth has been diagnosed with both Hepatitis C and Type II diabetes. He has been extremely ill and has had great difficulty procuring necessary healthcare. He has needed the help of his lawyers and some state political leaders in order to get adequate treatment.
We ask you to release Robert Seth Hayes as a first step in healing the wounds of America’s violent and racist past. We ask that he be returned to his community of family, friends, supporters, and loved ones. We welcome him back.
Sincerely, [Your name]
ACTION CALENDER!
OMALI YESHITELA Speaks at Commemoration Day
Sunday, April 6 at 1:00pm - 4:00pm
at Uhuru House [7911 Macarthur Blvd, Oakland, California 94605]
$5 to 15 donation requested
World Renowned African Leader Omali Yeshitela in Oakland for April Events for Black Power, Self-Reliance and Black Community Health and Justice Uhuru Movement Will Host a Series of Events to Honor the Legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Hutton. Both were assassinated by the U.S. government in April 1968.
Watch and spread the link to the promo: http://vimeo.com/90610284
The Uhuru House hosts activities to bring about change in the community and is part of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund aiming to end disparities in health, education, healthcare and economic development in African communities. The Oakland center is soon to be the home to the well-known Uhuru Foods & Pies and upcoming Uhuru Jiko kitchen, a part of Black Star Industries which includes an independent worldwide African marketplace. For more info, contact Bakari Olatunji at 510 569 9629 or email oakland@inpdum.org
Uhuru House will host a series of events for the purpose of establishing ongoing economic development and self-reliance within black communities. The three days of activities will begin on Friday, April 4th at 7pm with the showing of the historical film “Eyes on the Prize: the Black Power Years.”
On Saturday, April 5th, and also at the East Oakland location, the Uhuru House presents a Health Fair where practitioners will offer health and wellness workshops, clinics, and information sessions from noon to 4pm. Later that afternoon at 2:30, Uhuru Movement organizers will hold a ceremony to re-open the Uhuru House Garden Project that had been established in the ’90’s.
Finally, on Sunday, April 6th, the Uhuru House will hold a commemoration of the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and “’Lil” Bobby Hutton, who were both killed in April of 1968 in the midst of the struggle for African community political and economic self-reliance. The Sunday event will feature Chairman Omali Yeshitela, leader and founder of the Uhuru Movement, and longtime leader and activist for African self-determination worldwide.
States Bakari Olatunji, local organizer with the Uhuru Movement, “Every year we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; however, we often whitewash the memory of Dr. King who, later in his life, represented the interests of black workers and spoke out against the violence of the U.S.”
Bobby Hutton was the first member of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, CA.
On April 6, 1968, just shy of his 18th birthday, Hutton was gunned down in West Oakland by Oakland police, just two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King.
Continues Olatunji, “’Lil’ Bobby Hutton is not just a local hero, but was a young man who stood tall for African people everywhere against police violence, poverty and oppression. We want to remember both these leaders and emulate the stand they took.”
Media Alliance and Independent Arts & Media presents...
Wavelength: Workshops for the Future of Bay Area Media, Arts & Democracy
[wavelengtharts.net], Service, support and advocacy for artists, journalists and media producers in the 21st century.
* Save the Dates! April 7, May 5, June 2, 2014, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Wavelength Media/Arts – a joint service project co-founded by Media Alliance and Independent Arts & Media is hosting a three-part discussion series on April 7, May 5 and June 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. to explore the needs of working and aspiring artists and media producers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As an Media Alliance [510-832-9000] [www.media-alliance.org/index.php] constituent, you are in the best position to guide this process and set the stage for a new suite of services designed for your benefit.
To ensure your participation, please RSVP by emailing Tracy Rosenberg at tracy@media-alliance.org or Jason Wyman at jason@artsandmedia.net
Please join us!
Your participation will shape these conversations and define our programming for 2014 and beyond.
The three-part Wavelength Media/Arts discussion series will explore and define:
(1) What type of “Professional Development” services should be offered to advance a thriving independent, noncommercial arts and media sector;
(2) “Advocacy” and government policy issues affecting arts- and media-makers, such as housing, health care and Net Neutrality;
(3) Communications” and connections which exist between artists, media-makers and the communities they serve.
April 7: “Professional Development” – at CounterPULSE (San Francisco)
May 5: “Advocacy” – location TBD (Oakland)
June 2: “Communications” – at CounterPULSE (San Francisco)
The events on April 7 and June 2 will be hosted by CounterPULSE in their new space at 80 Turk Street, just a block from the public transport hub at Market and Powell Streets in San Francisco.
Occupy Sonoma County! Media and Publicity Group
Monday, Apr. 7, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Join us in planning programs for the Occupy Sonoma County Community Media and Publicity committee.
Environmental Center of Sonoma County, 55 Ridgway Ave., Santa Rosa
Occupy Sonoma County! Business Meeting
Monday, Apr. 14, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Join us for the Occupy Sonoma County monthly business meeting.
Environmental Center of Sonoma County, 55 Ridgway Ave., Santa Rosa
The Guatemalan Genocide
Tuesday, Apr. 15, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Professor Beatriz Manz, UC Berkeley, will speak on the Guatemalan genocide as part of Sonoma State’s Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series.
Warren Auditorium, Ives Hall, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park
Women's Equality N.O.W. (National Organization for Women) in Sonoma County
Wednesday, Apr. 16, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Regular monthly meeting - recurring. For information - 545-5036
Round Table Pizza, Marlowe Rd. Shopping Center, Santa Rosa
Occupy Beale AFB! International Peace Activist, Kathy Kelly, to join Good Friday Vigil at Beale
Friday, April 18:
3-5pm, Main (Schneider Gate), North Beale Rd. (Kathy will attend Good Friday action at Livermore Labs that afternoon, and will speak in Grass Valley at 1pm on Saturday, April 19.)
[www.OccupyBealeAFB.org] [www.facebook.com/OccupyBealeAirForceBase]
Kathy's visit is being organized by Earth Justice Ministries, the Peace and Justice Center of Nevada County, and Occupy Beale. For updated information go to the Earth Justice Ministries FaceBook Page [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Justice-Ministries/191209080998773] or contact [occupybeale@earth-justice.org].
Good Friday, April 18, 3 to 5 p.m, Kathy Kelly at Beale: Kathy Kelly, a world renowned peace activist, will join anti-drone demonstrators at Beale for a Good Friday prayer vigil that will include songs, prayers, Holy Communion, and words from Kathy Kelly. Several people will attempt to deliver a letter with "A Call from People of Faith to Stop Drone Killings." This will take place at the main (Schneider) gate of Beale, at 4875 N. Beale Road. Kathy will speak in Grass Valley the next day.
Saturday, April 19, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Kathy Kelly will speak in Grass Valley on "Seeing through the Smokescreen: War and Peace in the 21st Century." The program will be held at 1 p.m. at Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters/Tomes at 671 Maltmann in Grass Valley. This is being sponsored by Earth Justice Ministries, the Peace and Justice Center of Nevada County, Occupy Beale, and other local organizations.
Kathy Kelly is coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence [http://vcnv.org], a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. In 2011, Kathy Kelly was a passenger on "The Audacity of Hope," the U.S. boat in the international flotilla to break the illegal occupation of Gaza. She has taken nine trips to Afghanistan, where she has lived alongside ordinary Afghan people in Kabul. She has joined activists in the United States to protest drone warfare outside of military bases in Nevada, upstate New York, and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. Kathy is author of Other Lands have Dreams.
Kathy has worked nonviolently on a range of peace and social justice issues. Her arrests include draft board actions, opposition to U.S. support of the Contras and other Central American death squads, crossing the line at Fort Benning's military training school, and a number of anti-nuclear protests at various sites, including planting corn on nuclear missile sites. There a just a few of the actions mentioned in her book, "Other Lands Have Dreams."
Kathy was a member of the Gulf Peace Team, an international encampment of peacemakers at the Iraq-Saudi border in 1990. In 1995 she served for three months as a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Haiti. Kathy was one of the founders of Voices in the Wilderness, which broke the sanctions against Iraq by bringing in relief supplies and medicines to children and families. Kathy and other members lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003 "shock and awe" bombing. They have also lived alongside people in war zones in Gaza, Lebanon, Bosnia, and Nicaragua. She is a war tax refuser. She has been nominated more than once for the Nobel Peace Prize.
100 Thousand DJs for Change presents...
Grand Ball for Diversity
Saturday, Apr. 19, Noon to Midnight
A call for peace and justice for the innocent victims of law enforcement violence and brutality.
Film, music and food
$8-10, no one turned away
Arlene Francis Center, 99 6th St., Santa Rosa
KBBF Radio Fundraiser
Saturday, Apr. 19, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Music TBA - come, dance, and enjoy!
Food and drinks for sale
$10 adults, $15 per couple, $5 students, children under 12 free
Carpenters Labor Center, 1700 Corby Ave., Santa Rosa
Veterans United Against Drone Warfare and Militarism
Mon. April 28-Tues. April 29:
Sacramento Veterans for Peace is calling for a mass convergence of veterans and supporters to join in a united front against drone warfare and global militarization.
More Info: Barry Binks <bbinks@me.com>
Celebration of Life and Struggle
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Welcome Home Lynne Stewart!
Free all political prisoners! End racist mass incarceration! Abolish the death penalty! Stop police brutality and murder!
Join Lynne Stewart and Pam Africa,
Sunday, May 4, 6 pm reception; 7pm rally
At the Humanist Hall, 390 27th Street, between Broadway and Telegraph, Oakland
Donation $10
Initial Bay Area Tour Schedule:
* Friday, May 2: San Francisco, Host: National Lawyers Guild, 6 pm 518 Valencia St., SF
* Saturday, May 3, Palo Alto, Host: Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, afternoon
* Saturday, May 3, San Jose, Host, San Jose Peace and Justice Center & NLG South Bat, evening
* Sunday, May 4, Oakland, Host: Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal & Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
* Monday, May 5: Marin, evening
* Tuesday, May 6: Sacramento, evening
Sponsors: Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal & Lynne Stewart Defense Committee [510-268-9429] [jmackler@lmi.net]. Tour endorsers (initial list): SF Bay Area National Lawyers Guild • Middle East Children’s Alliance • United National Antiwar Coalition • Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal • World Can’t Wait • Freedom Socialist Party • Marin Peace and Justice Center • Peninsula Peace and Justice Center • Sacramento Area Peace Council • WILPF • SF Gray Panthers • Socialist Action • International Action Center • Freedom Archives
"WALK TO PEACE"
May 17 to 27
From San Francisco to Beale AFB......more details coming soon
Sign up for one or more days: [www.facebook.com/events/1380107975587685/?ref=22]
Empty The Tanks! Amnesty for Orcas held captive at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Saturday, May 24, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
protest at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, 1001 Fairgrounds Drive, Vallejo, California 94589
[https://www.facebook.com/events/212114148965548/]
This is the 2nd annual Empty the Tanks demonstration. This is a day for everyone around the world to stand up against marine mammal captivity. The abuse and exploitation of these sentient beings has no place in the 21st century.
On May 24th, protests and educational events will be held all over world in front of marine mammal parks and aquariums. If the park is exploiting marine mammals for entertainment and profit then we want people out front creating noise and awareness. The only way to close their doors for good is to get the general public to stop buying tickets. We need your voice, your posters, and your dedication to seeing an end to the captivity industry.
Please wear blue and join us for a non-violent peaceful demonstration on May 24th at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 1001 Fairgrounds Drive, Vallejo, California 94589. Stand with us to tell the captivity industry that enough is enough! The show is over. It's time to Empty the Tanks!!
No comments:
Post a Comment