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Blackalicious Set To Touch Down This Friday

January 24, 2013 By

Blackalicious Flyer

This Friday.. Blackalicious will grace the stage at New Parrish and bring some serious heat. It’s been a while since we got to see this Oakland based duo catch wreck in tha Town and everyone is looking forward to it backing Blackalicious will be ‘Jazz Mafia’. Also on the bill will be Kev Choice and Raw G and your truly (Davey D) on the turntables….In the meantime here’s a couple of interviews we did with group members Chief XL and Gift of Gab..

We caught up w/ Chief XL at Kevvy Kev’s Bang the Drum celebration at Golden Gate park.. We talked to him about his work, parenting, Hip Hop from overseas and being the Chief.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgDMVwxx4pk

We caught up w/ Gift of Gab at Kevvy Kev’s Bang the Drum celebration at Golden Gate Pk.. We asked if emceeing was gift or skill obtained through practice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7knci6Q4xUI

 

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Artist Interviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Occupy Skid Row: Public Enemy’s Historic Concert Exposing LA’s Dirty Secret

January 24, 2013 By

Chuck D Occupy Skid RowLos Angeles Community Action Network and Public Enemy came together last year for a historic event called Occupy Operation Skid Row. It was a musical festival featuring legendary hip hop acts like Cypress Hill, Kid Frost, YoYo, Mellow Man Ace along with General Jeff of Rodney O & Joe Cooley.

Jeff for those who don’t know is dubbed the Mayor of Skid Row, because of the work he’s done for years to try and alleviate the harsh conditions of one of the nation’s largest concentrations of homeless and LA’s dirty little secret..As Chuck D pointed out the overwhelming majority are Black and they are shunned and ignored.

Below is a short documentary that brings the event to life.. It also touches upon some of the challenges facing those on skid row as well as how this large homeless population gets used by police to manipulate crime stats. Many are arrested for petty crimes like sleeping on sidewalks, urinating or drinking in public.. Their arrests get entered into crime databases and help highlight favorable results.. This was a tactic former LA Police Chief William Bratton did when he was running the department.. He arrested over 27 thousand people in LA skid row in a 3 year period and gave out 36 thousand citations.. Skid row is home to 15 thousand people.

You can peep the interview we did with Chuck D on the eve of the event...HERE 

You can also peep the concert /documentary as well.. Enjoy and Reflect

http://vimeo.com/57948440

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Oakland City Council Votes for William J Bratton….Community is Outraged

January 24, 2013 By
5 Oakland police officers surround one lone women who expressed outrage at the City Council voting to extend a contract to former LA and NY police chief William J Bratton

5 Oakland police officers surround one lone women who expressed outrage at the City Council voting to extend a contract to former LA and NY police chief William J Bratton

Oakland—After a marathon meeting that saw an attendance of more than 500 Oakland residents and nearly 4 hours of public testimony, the Oakland City Council voted in the early hours of Wednesday morning to move forward with spending $250,000 on a contract to hire controversial police consultant William Bratton.  Bratton’s notorious policing methods—including stop and frisk, gang injunctions, and curfews—remained center stage, as countless residents called for an end to harmful, divisive policing policies in Oakland.  Despite several Council members turning out pro-Bratton elements of their districts and a strong police presence in the chambers that heightened tension among participants, many residents stuck the meeting out to the bitter end, calling for public safety strategies that were more inclusive of community input and participation. Toward that end, Oaklanders recommended broader and better after school and restorative justice programs, job training, and services for residents returning from prison and jail.

Desley Brooks

Desley Brooks

Noting how the Council seemed to be playing into people’s fear, Councilperson Desley Brooks took a strong stand against the contract asking questions about what had been delivered on the existing contract and suggesting that the Council had been sloppy in considering the proposal to amend it. “Rejecting this contract tonight,” Brooks stated, “isn’t about not addressing crime.  It’s about doing the hard work that needs to be done.”  Brooks offered the lone voice of dissent on the Council.

“Sure it’s frustrating that the Council is moving ahead with the contract and Bratton despite all common sense, but many residents seem more ready than ever to band together and fight for a smarter, more sustainable way of dealing with harm in Oakland,” said Rachel Herzing of the Stop the Injunctions Coalition.  “Our work will continue to fight Bratton-style zero tolerance policing however and whenever it comes to our neighborhoods—to carve out wider and wider spaces for the real innovation and creativity in implementing strategies that are viable, that take into account the knowledge and experience of the community itself, and that are effective in making our city healthy and strong.”

That above piece came courtesy of  Stop the Injunctions Coalition

Below is the interviews we did with City Council women Desley Brooks

Here is our interview w/ Isaac Ontiveros of Stop the Gang Injunction Coalition..

I attended this marathon meeting and wrote an open letter to Oakland City Council and the Mayor Jean Quan…You can chime in by hitting this link..http://on.fb.me/VZGSAk

Dear Oakland City Council members Rebecca Kaplan Pat Kernighan Desley Brooks Lynette Gibson McElhaney Libby Schaaf Larry Reid Noel Gallo for City Council Dist. 5 Oakland Mayor Jean Quan…….

After 5 hrs of testimony and over 500 people from all over speaking out against Chief Bratton and his infamous Stop and Frisk policies, y’all decided in a 7-1 vote to go ahead and vote for him anyway last night..During the discussion we heard some of you note that you wanted strategies from Bratton to make Oakland policing more efficient but not have racial profiling and Stop and Frisk.. Well if Bratton coming to consult Oakland is not going to lead to racial profiling and Stop and Frisk, will you all put that in writing and make that crystal clear?  How about putting in his contract Stop and Frisk and similar profiling tactics like the nicknamed ‘Jump Out Boys‘, ‘Open Halls‘ , ‘Run Up and Freeze‘ etc WILL NOT be used by police in Oakland?The point was made at the meeting that in order for crime to come down in Oakland, trust between the community and police is needed. How is the community supposed to trust OPD if they have a consultant who may recommend intrusive policies like Stop and Frisk?

Last night speaker after speaker expressed concern about this.. Why not ease those fears? This is especially important now that the judge who prohibited Stop and Frisk in NY has just reversed her position on many of the tactics used in this procedure..You can read about that here—–> http://nydn.us/WV8cws

In NYC which many like to point to, you still have large scale protests against NYPD..around this issue including last springs march of silence that brought out close to 40k people… You even have police officers in NY objecting to stop and frisk because of the pressure to meet quotas.. You can see that here—-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KeuRilK51c

Again why not put this in writing and take Stop and Frisk off the table if its not about that in your 7-1 decision to bring in Bratton?

We await your response Thank u
Davey D

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

One Hood Challenges the Media Portrayal of Black Youth

January 23, 2013 By

cad1

The above documentary, “Game Changers” was written and produced by Chris Moore for WQED TV. According to Mr. Moore, “Jasiri X and Paradise Gray of One Hood Media are Game Changers who are teaching young black men how to play the media game and control their own images. In this day of the Internet they don’t need anyone’s permission to blog or shoot their own videos, they control the vertical and the horizontal, and thus they realize the power that they have to change the way they are perceived in popular culture. It is a transformative moment when these students finally get in the game, they become Game Changers.”

One Hood Media Academy, established by Jasiri X and Paradise “The Arkitech” Gray, in conjunction with August Wilson Center for African American Culture and a generous donation provided by the Heinz Endowments, is the tool to help African American young men critically analyze media messages, broaden their experience of media, and develop the creative skills needed in producing their own media. The mission is to improve self-image, dispel stereotypes, and provide a positive forum of self-expression.  The program is offered to 25 young African-American men, ages 13-19.  The course will include, though not limited to, the art of blogging, video production, and social media. Applications for entry are now being accepted until February 1, 2013. The Academy will be held at the Elite Studios, 901 Western Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA.

David Banner

David Banner

One Hood Media Academy’s opening ceremony will be held at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture on January 25, 2013 at 7 p.m. with special guest, Grammy award winning, multi-platinum artist David Banner.  A Conversation with David Banner will include an in depth discussion with David Banner regarding the Black male image in Hip Hop, his career and current activities, as well as current state of Hip Hop.  The ceremony will also feature a performance by One Hood Media Academy graduates Jordan Montgomery and Cameron Layne.

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Why March Madness is Awesome

January 23, 2013 By

When you think March Madness versus the Superbowl or the World Series the NCAA Championship basketball seems to stand out above the rest. But why do fans bet on March madness over the others? It’s one of the most unpredictable sporting events that is ever changing throughout the competition. Many believe that the Madness of the game is the box office draw, because college teams battle it out to attain the victor over a series of games. Not only is it an unpredictable sporting event it is also has no continuity from year to year.

The faces change every year as many players move up to the NBA while it’s the end of the road for others. However, the ever changing teams are like pieces of a huge puzzle that one feels connected to though Alumni status or hometown college team. When you think of March Madness your body gets that itch, that intrigue and that undeniable urge that you have to watch, even though the game seems unfair.

In addition, March madness has so many great aspects surrounding it that one cannot turn away. The crazy month long battle is like an addiction for most men and women who love basketball in general. The games are intense, fast paced and some of the best basketball games to watch live or on your TV. Moreover, one can admit that adding a wager on the game or joining a Madness pool is probably one of the most gratifying feelings especially if your predictions are accurate and you walk away the winner.

In closing and after all the criticism of the tournament one may say that it is unfair and a terrible way to crown a champion, but that is what makes March Madness so awesome!

 

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , ,

39 Emcees Come Together to Do the Ultimate Cypher to raise Money for Haiti

January 22, 2013 By

Haiti-devastationHip Hop Congress for Haiti is a Hip Hop song created by Hip Hop Congress & RonDavoux Records to Raise Awareness and Inspire people to donate money and supplies to Haiti in support of rebuilding the country after the devastating earthquake in 2010. The song features Rap,R & B, Soul & Spoken Word from 39 Artists from around the world supporting Haiti in solidarity. HHC/RDV is releasing this song on the 3 year Anniversary to remind everyone that the struggle in Haiti is far from over. The song also discusses various topics about Haiti’s Historical Value from the perspective of  each Artist & their diverse views!
http://hiphopcongress.nationbuilder.com  and http://www.HipHopCongress.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvlYjns5c-g&feature=youtu.be

Yung Azz J of RDV (Oakland,CA)
DLabrie of RDV (Oakland,CA)
Stress of Crimson Vision (Queens, NY)
Damion Glass (Oakland,CA)
Rahman Jamaal of RDV (Redwood City,CA)
Akil the MC of Jurassic 5 (L.A to Atlanta,GA)
Marvaless (Sacramento,CA)
Bueno (Sacramento,CA)
Bigg Mann of Cap Biz/Geddog Records (Sacramento,CA)
Knowble of Serendipity Project (Santa Cruz, CA to Boston,MA)
Knobody of Hieroglyphics (Oakland,CA)
Tone of GorillaPits (San Leandro,CA)
KLoc of GorillaPits (San Leandro,CA)
Remy Red of The Dragons (San Leandro,CA)
XSF of The Dragons (San Leandro,CA)
D-Nick of F.E.W (Chicago, IL to Flint, MI
YDMC of RDV (San Jose,CA to Atlanta,GA)
Ony Oz of One Survival Movement (Richmond, CA/Sacramento,CA)
Ms Vybe (Sacramento,CA)
Dorn the Overseer (L.A)
Blaze 5 (Las Vegas ,NV)
Halo Bzerk (Las Vegas ,NV)
Dru Diamondz (Bronx N.Y)
Big Roma
Dot Goodie of Hustlanity Ent/Team Goody (Oakland,CA)
Lil Blood of Livewire Records (Oakland, CA)
Maj Gutta of Hustlanity Ent. (Oakland, CA
Rux – RuxWorld /Nu Realm Ent. (Vallejo, CA)
Chonkum of BlockMonsta Muzik/Team Goodie(Oakland, CA)
Young Deshi (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Sellassie of In House (San Francisco, CA)
Machetero (Watsonville, CA)
Mikhael (Bay Area,CA)
Megabusive of Isolated Wax (San Jose, CA)
Johnny Afro of KZSU Stanford Radio (East Palo Alto, CA)
Pygmalion
Nat the Boss of HHK Records (Oakland, CA)
J Ross Parrelli (Auburn,CA/Long Beach, New Jersey)
Hippie Hop (Tracy,CA)

CHANGING THE WORLD ONE CYPHER AT A TIME!!
Contact – RDVbiz1@gmail More Info or Download -www.DLabrie.com

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Video New Music Tagged With: , , ,

Drone Strikes Kill 3 as We Dance at Inauguration Balls & Celebrate Dr King’s Bday

January 22, 2013 By

Predator dronePeeping today’s NY Times as we just celebrated Dr King’s holiday and noted the following story..

An American drone strike on Monday on a car east of Sana, the capital, killed three people suspected of being members of Al Qaeda, said Yemeni security officials. On Saturday, two American drone strikes killed eight people in Marib Province. Yemen, aided by the United States, has been battling the local branch of Al Qaeda. The United States rarely comments on its military role in Yemen but has acknowledged targeting Qaeda militants in the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/world/middleeast/yemen-drone-strike-kills-3.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

I know I know, many reading this will say something cute like; This is chess not checkers and we don’t know all that’s going on.. and others wlll say we need to protect America.. blah blah blah.. save it..We all know when things are wrong..

Drone Operator

Drone Operator

The key word in this article is SUSPECTED…The 3 killed last night brings the total killed by drone strikes to 11… Last I checked drones don’t fly down and order you to stop your car, put your hands up, toss out the keys and keep your hands on the steering wheel, while someone checks out your ID and registration, then brings you into custody, where you have a chance to raise bail, talk to a lawyer, have a trial and prove your innocence.. In short you don’t get a chance to surrender.. drones shoot and kill.. And while many try to avoid this ugly fact just remember, those operating drones, may one day be on your city street wearing a badge and carrying gun..

Also one should note that more and more police departments are getting drones. In two years corporations will be able to get and use drones privately, that means everyone from Wal-Mart to private security companies…

Maybe all that’s going on is a way to get us conditioned for all out oppression. Maybe this is designed to desensitize us so we will easily toss such atrocities away.. You can see this happening as folks will now only flinch if they are informed the victims of drone strikes are children.. If adults many kind of shrug their shoulders and say oh well.. Far too many of us are becoming what we once said we despised and fought against..

Well since we were celebrating Dr King’s birthday yesterday  remember what he said; The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I can not be Silent.

If you wanna go indepth about what we are doing w/ Drone strikes peep Dirty Wars which just premiered at Sundance and peep this interview with investigative reporter Jeremy Schahill…. http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/22/dirty_wars_jeremy_scahill_and_rick

What’s even more disturbing about these drone strikes is the fact that yesterday there was a drone ‘die in at the inauguration.. I know it wasn’t reported on many outlets.. Why spoil the happy feelings? Here’s  what was sent to President Obama before the inauguration

Friends,

The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance sent this letter to President Obama to seek a meeting to discuss the illegality and immorality of the killer drone strikes. Consider mailing this letter with your signature to the president.

Also consider joining NCNR on January 21 in a die-in replicating the effects of a U.S. drone strike. We have a responsibility to force our government to end its policy of using killer drones.

Kagiso, Max

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, 325 East 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218

Email mobuszewski at Verizon.net; Phone 410-366-1637
—————————————————————————————-

Dear Mr. President:

Congratulations on being elected president for a second term. We expect you to now embrace your Nobel Peace Prize and end all of the U.S. wars.

As members of peace and justice organizations opposed to your continuation of the Bush administration’s failed wars, we are writing to condemn your use of unmanned aerial vehicles (or drones) to kill citizens in at least seven countries. Besides opposing your war policies, we have great concern for people caught up in conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia and Yemen. The use of drones is wrong on many levels: the illegality and immorality of assassinations, the violation of international law and the Constitutional protection of due process, the targeting of civilian populations, and the disregard of sovereignty. We are especially troubled by your refusal to release the flawed document which purportedly gives you legal cover to determine who is on the kill list.

Your use of killer drones is and will continue to create more enmity toward the United States. Because of the lack of transparency, it remains unclear how many civilians are known to have suffered losses of life, limb or property as a result of strikes. The Bush administration did not seem to have any concern for the communities under attack. Sadly you have increased the use of drone strikes, and as a result there is rampant anti-U.S. sentiment throughout these areas in conflict.

Furthermore, we are also concerned that U.S. drones are used to eliminate political opponents of corrupt leaders. This happened in 2010 in Yemen, when a state governor who opposed President Ali Abdullah Saleh was labeled as a leader of Al Qaeda and killed.

We believe that you should issue a directive terminating the killer drone program. This would have a profound effect around the world, and could initiate a process of healing. As citizens, we do not see the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia and Yemen as enemies. These are our brothers and sisters. Instead of wasting billions of dollars on immoral drone strikes, take the money from the program and give it to non-governmental organizations working on providing jobs and incomes to people so that they do not join terrorist groups. There would be much support for such a program in these war-torn countries.

We believe U.S. wars and drone attacks have been demonstrable failures. Now is the time to take the risks of peace. Imagine leading a country which has denounced the madness of war, and instead wants to assist and make friendship with the people of the Middle East and Central Asia.

We look forward to your response. Should you agree to endorse a foreign policy with the goal of peace and justice, we will stand with you. Rejecting our proposal will mean more death and destruction. We will then continue to protest, risk arrest and denounce a foreign policy of endless wars.

We would be prepared to meet with members of your administration to discuss our proposal to immediately end killer drone strikes and to start a process of healing with the victims of U.S. wars. Please give serious consideration to our proposal of reconciliation and diplomacy rather than pernicious killer drone strikes.

In peace,

Max Obuszewski, Baltimore, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Beth Adams, Leverett, MA; Maria Allwine, Baltimore; Susanne Bader, 211 Eureka St., Grass Valley, CA 95945; Ellen E Barfield, Phil Berrigan Memorial Veterans For Peace [VFP], National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, War Resisters League, Baltimore; Ruth Benn, NYC War Resisters League; Fred Bialy, concerned citizen of the U.S., El Cerrito, CA; Hoa Binh; Bonnie Block, Madison Pledge of Resistance, Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Madison, WI; Toby Blome, Bay Area CODEPINK, El Cerrito, CA; Diana Bohn, Berkeley, CA; Barbara Briggs-Letson, California; Linda K. Brown, Baltimore; Michael G. Bucci, CEO, Development Resource Group, Chair, MicroLeadership, Inc., San Diego, CA; Dianne Budd, M.D., CodePink, San Francisco, CA 94122; Bill Carpenter, San Francisco, CA; Tim Carpenter, national director of Progressive Democrats of America, Washington, D.C.; Tim Chadwick, member of the human race, Bethlehem, PA; Francis Collins, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, San Francisco; Robert Cooke, Pax Christi Metro DC-Baltimore, Gaithersburg, MD; Charlie Cooper, Generations for Peace and Democracy, Baltimore; Susan Crane, Redwood City Catholic Worker, Redwood City, CA; Fran Donelan, Baltimore; David Eberhardt, Baltimore; June Eisley, Pacem in Terris, Wilmington, DE; Arla S. Ertz, San Francisco, CA; Gil Field, San Diego VFP, San Diego, CA; Joy First, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Madison Pledge of Resistance, and Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Mt. Horeb, Wi; Eileen Fleming, author, reporter, founder WeAreWideAwake.org, Florida; Edward G. Fox, Dr. P.H.; Andrea Freeman, San Anselmo, CA; Carol E. Gay, president, NJ State Industrial Union Council and chair, NJ Labor Against War, Brick, NJ; Edward L. Gilmore, San Diego Chapter of Veterans For Peace; Shirley Golub, co-founder & secretary; San Francisco Chapter–Progressive Democrats of America; Emily Greene, Mentone, AL; Edith M. Hallberg, Bay Area CODEPINK, Berkeley, CA; Carole Hamlin, Baltimore; Susan Harman, CodePink, Oakland, CA; Norma J F Harrison, 1312 Cornell Ave., Berkeley, CA 94702; John Heuer, VFP, Chapel Hill, NC; George Homanich & Judy Homanich, Broome County Peace Action, 316 Prospect St., Binghamton, NY 13905; Joanna Katz, Berkeley, CA 94702; Tarak Kauff, VFP; Chuck Kaufman, national co-coordinator, Alliance for Global Justice, Washington, D.C.; Ingrid Kepler-May, 600 Grizzly Peak Blvd., Berkeley, CA, 94708; Janie Kesselman, Peace Center of Nevada County, Nevada City, CA; Malachy Kilbride, Arlington, VA; Kathy Labriola, Ninth Street Co-op, 1714 Ninth Street, Berkeley, CA. 94710; Barbara Larcom, Baltimore; Martin Lefstein, Jewish Voice for Peace, affiliation purposes only, Parkville, MD; Linda LeTendre, Saratoga Peace Alliance, Saratoga Springs, NY; Stan Levin, VFP, chapter 91, San Diego, CA; Eleanor Levine, co-coordinator, East Bay CodePink and Golden Gate CodePink, San Francisco Bay Area, CA; JoAnne Lingle, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center; Mary Liston Liepold, Ph.D., Peace X Peace; Bro. John Mahoney, 738 S. Beechfield Ave., Baltimore 21229-4423; Kevin Martin, executive director, Peace Action, Silver Spring, MD; Maurice Martin, San Diego VFP; Bobby McCormick; Chris Moore-Backman, director, Chico Peace and Justice Center, Chico, CA; Don Muller, Sitkans for Peace and Justice, Alaska; Richard J. Ochs, Baltimore; MJ and Jerry Park, co-founders and co-directors of Little Friends For Peace, Mount Rainier, MD 20712; David Patterson, San Diego VFP, www.sdvfp.org; Rafe Pilgrim, veteran, Florida; Carol Pinson, Martinez, California 94553; Lars Prip, VFP, Janesville, WI; Andy Lee Roth, Media Freedom Foundation/ Project Censored, San Rafael, CA; N. Riggleman, 25136 Tollhouse Rd., Tollhouse, CA 93667; Jan A. Ruhman, San Diego VFP & Vietnam Veterans Against the War/OSS; Phil Runkel, Waukesha, WI; Manijeh Saba, New Jersey; Judith Sandoval, VFP, San Francisco; Helen Schietinger, Washington, D.C.; Holly Severson, San Francisco, CA; Robert M. Smith, Brandywine Peace Community, Philadelphia, PA; David Soumis, VFP/No Drones Wisconsin, McFarland Wisconsin; Alice Sturm Suter, retired nurse practioner, NYC Metro Raging Grannies and North Manhattan Neighbors for Peace and Justice; Trish Swain, Sparks, NV; Daniel Venzon, San Diego, VFP; Tom Watson, Rio Vista, CA; Zohreh M Whitaker, 2041 Campton Circle, Gold River, CA 95670-8301; Paki Wieland, Northampton Committee to Stop War(s); Michael Wong, vice president, VFP chapter 69, identification purposes only, San Francisco.

Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. Assaulted by Oakland & Emeryville Police on Eve of Chief Bratton Hearing

January 22, 2013 By
Fred Hampton Jr

Fred Hampton Jr

Apparently the State is not happy with the fact that Chairman Fred Hampton Jr of the P.O.C.C./BPPC is building bridges and doing work in Oakland with like-minded community organizations dedicated to improving life conditions for oppressed, repressed and terrorized citizens in the city of Oakland and beyond.

Tonight, at approximately 4pm, The Chairman and three of his comrades were trailed by police into the Target shopping center in Emeryville, just outside of West Oakland. Initially, they were stopped by two Oakland Police vehicles (IN EMERYVILLE). The police flashed their lights and ordered the passengers to both put their hands up and roll down the windows.  As this was occurring, another 10-12 police cars arrived and blocked off the entire parking lot.

The passengers were separated and one of the sisters in the vehicle was pulled from the car, slammed against a police SUV and her arm twisted.  Her arm was so badly injured that an ambulance later took her to a nearby hospital. BEFORE THE COP HAD EVEN OPENED THE CHAIRMAN’S WALLET HE SAID “Are you still at the same address in Chicago?” THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS BEFORE THEY PULLED HIM OVER. THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION OF HARASSMENT IN RESPONSE TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

When asked why they were being pulled over, it was explained to them that a robbery had occurred in which a cell phone was stolen and the phone had been tracked to the Target parking lot. NOT THEIR CAR BUT, THE PARKING LOT. The Chairman pointed out that there were some 300 additional cars in the lot and so why their car but, received no answer.

The police then brought the supposed ‘victim’ of the robbery to the scene and paraded each one of the passengers in the Chairman’s vehicle in front of a bright light for the ‘victim’ to look at. S/he identified no one.

Following this, the police attempted to just walk away as if nothing had happened.  The Chairman and additional passengers requested and received the Sergeants name and are planning to file a formal complaint.

It should not be overlooked that last month, The Chairman sat on a panel examining the MXGM report “Every 36 Hours” that focused on the execution of Black men, women and children by police, security guards and vigilantes every 36 hours in Amerikkka. Additionally, last week, The Chairman joined hundreds of community members in speaking out against the hiring of William Bratton as consultant to the OPD at a City council Public Safety meeting. It should also not be overlooked that a follow up City Council meeting to address the Bratton issue is being held tonite  (Tues Jan 22 2013).

For more info and updates on this please go to http://chairmanfredjr.blogspot.com/2013/01/please-spread-widely-apparently-state.html

Here’s a recent intv we did w/ Chairman Fred about the plight of political prisoner Leonard Peltier,  Gun Control and killings in Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qu8Cl0sfRQ

 

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

U.S. African and Mideast Policies: War As Foreign Aid and Regime Change As Democratic Transition

January 22, 2013 By

Former political prisoner Dhoruba Bin Wahad recently penned an excellent essay breaking down whats going on in Mali, Congo and the Middle East.. he also challenged the type of stances many of us have taken with respect to these regions that are embroiled in conflict… To support his essay we interviewed him so he can expand upon his analysis. In true form Dhoruba pulled no punches.. Peep what he has to say..

Hard Knock Radio Interview w/ Dhoruba speaking on African and Middle East Policies

U.S. African and Mideast Policies: War As Foreign Aid and Regime Change As Democratic Transition

by Dhoruba Bin Wahad

Africans in the Diaspora are in a crisis of conscience searching for what it means
to be “African centered” or Pan-African, and citizens of Racist Nation-states
with histories of Imperial domination. We are confronted today with “New Age
Imperialism” where national elites collaborate to oppress the poor and hungry
of the planet rather than wage war with each other over the control of strategic
resources. This global convergence of interests has found its natural opposition in
the international character of the Muslim Ummah.

The US and Race based Democracy – “Democratic Fascism”.

In the U.S. where over 2.5 million American citizens are locked away in prison
and another 15 plus million owners of major “felony” convictions, the African-
American population and other national “minorities” of non-European background
are subjected to a contrived system of fascism masquerading as “democracy” –
a political and social system of police and corporate control, a police state with
unprecedented power (after 9/11 terrorist attacks) that employs a “National
Security” rationale to conceal its crimes of “rendition”, torture (enhanced
interrogation), indefinite detention, and targeted assassinations . Like most modern
“national-security” states, U.S. policies are most closely associated with its perceived
“national interests” primarily involving access to strategic resources and “trade”.
The West’s bogus advocacy of supporting individual freedom by supporting
“Democratic regime change” in its former colonial territories mask not only their
own internal inequalities based on race, religion and gender, but conceal the often
violent cooptation of legitimate revolutionary people’s movements that oppose
entrenched oligarchies, Autocrats, while marginalizing and demonizing Islamic
based anti-imperialist forces across Africa and Mid-East. Islam has replaced the
specter of “communist global domination” as the foremost threat to global Finance
Capitalism and Western global domination. That the West’s perceives opposition to
neo-imperialist diplomacy in secular dimensions, characterizing this opposition as
the “clash of civilizations) is not without historical basis.

Up until the overthrow of the western stooge Shah Reza Palhavi of Iran, a strictly
Islamic based mass movement had never overthrown a modern non-secular
Nation State backed by the Western Imperial powers. Needless to say the Iranian
“revolutions” sent shock waves throughout the region and shook regional Sunni
comprador classes (Oil Sheikdoms) across the region to their reactionary roots. But
to the masses of Muslims on the streets of Arab capitals the Iranian revolution was
a ray of hope – but its Shia dimension served the US and Europe’s historical fallback
tactic of divide and conquer . We now see how effective the West’s early divide and
conquer strategy of containment has been and how it has the region tittering on the

brink of war. Many Arab Sunni rulers, with US blessings, covertly intensified their
alignment with the European settler-state of Israel to contain Iranian geopolitical
influence even as Israel gears up for military strikes against the Islamic Republic. US
and NATO troops are stationed in Muslim lands, military bases across the Mid-
East are designed to project Western military power into the region. All this a
consequence of US divide and conquer fear tactics in the region.

With the support for US militarism abroad (war on terror) a fundamental principle
of both the Right wing and “moderates” in the US congress , it is little surprise
that white American politicians are also major supporters and instigators of anti-
Islamic fervor both inside and outside the US. Because the ramifications of “the
war on terror” has disproportionately affected the immigrant Muslim population
in the US (African-American Muslims have lived under religious, racial, and
political repression for decades) U.S. military and diplomatic actions in Arab
countries of North Africa, Iraq, Syria, as well as in Pakistan and India have all been
characterized as unique, untypical resistance or an “Arab Spring”. This definition of
uprisings across Muslim North Africa by the western media and westernized Arab
intellectuals are aimed at one thing. Dividing the Muslim Ummah along racial and
historical lines, while isolating African Muslims from the general process of Pan-
African unity and democratization.

The use of the contextual term “Arab Spring” to characterize the mass uprising of
NORTH AFRICANS against the rule of despotic Arab elites is purposely and artfully
crafted to discourage sub-Saharan Black Africa and its Muslim populations from
emulating their North African counterparts while appealing to the “Anti-Arab”
sentiments among many Pan-Africans and within the Black Diaspora. ECOWAS
and the African Union’s recent support of French military intervention in Mali and
as US surrogate in Somalia, and else where on the African continent are testimony
to how eagerly Africa’s political elite are utilizing the “West’s war terror” to secure
their positions and prop up their power while ignoring persecuted and marginalized
Muslim minority populations.

In countries like Nigeria the US is on the ground
supporting the Christian dominated government’s “anti-terrorist actions” in the
North of the country against an Islamic insurgency. In Somalia, the US drone war has
spilled over into neighboring countries, like Eritrea, Al-Yemen and has led to tribal
unrest in Northern Kenya. While the US and its European Allies seemed appalled
by the Muslim insurgencies in the North of Mali (consistently failing to mentioned
that this crisis was long in the making and connected to the Western European’s
deposing of Libya’s Ghadaffi and the silent collusion of Black Africa’s leaders) both
the US and Europe are neither horrified or outraged by events in the Eastern Congo.

Africa, A War Zone Without End

Nearly 3 million people have died in Congo in a four-year war over Coltan, a heat-
resistant mineral ore widely used in cellphones, laptops and playstations and
other strategic minerals. Eighty percent of the world’s coltan reserves are in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Often dismissed as an ethnic war, the conflict in the
Congo is really over natural resources sought by foreign corporations —
diamonds,tin, copper, gold, but mostly coltan”

In an article titled “Why the U.S. Won’t Help”, a Nairobi newspaper explained, ‘Right
from the days of the Cold War, Western governments have been comfortable
with a situation in which African regimes squandered meager resources on the
instruments of war, borrowing from the West to finance domestic consumption. The
war in the Congo and the countries involved in it are a case in point’… In 1998, the
State Department licensed commercial weapons sales by U.S. manufacturers to sub-
Saharan Africa worth up to $64 million, on top of the $12 million in government-to-
government deliveries that year. These figures have quadrupled since 1998 and the
region is no closer to stability than it was when Patrice Lumumba was assassinated
by the US, French and Belgians in 1960s.

The hypocrisy of the US and Europe asking Africa’s political elite to develop and
democratize while cutting levels of non-military international aid and increasing
weapons and military training to the continent’s Armies does not seem to have
registered with African-Americans, neither those (Pan-Africans) who claim
solidarity with the current crop of African leaders, or those elected to public office.
This lack of outspoken opposition to US militarization of Africa, especially under
the Obama administration is inexcusable and attributable to the uncritical and
unprincipled support of the Obama regime by African-Americans. Moreover,
Obama’s policy of destabilization and “democratic regime change” of governments
it is at odds with suggest that there is little real commitment to developing human
resources and a new “partnership” with Africa, the U.S. needs to redirect the focus
away from strengthening military capacity, coopting ethnic and national elites and
more toward promoting human development in Africa.

END

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Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Lupe Fiasco Thrown off Stage at Pre-Inauguration Concert in Washington DC

January 21, 2013 By

Lupe Fiasco

Looks like Lupe Fiasco is gonna stick to his principles no matter what.. We’re getting reports that he was dragged off stage from security at a StartUp RockOn  event in Washington DC..Apparently he performed his anti-war, anti Obama song Words I never Said for 30 minutes.. The concert hosts tried to get him to change songs.. Lupe refused and the next thing you know guard hit the stage and dragged him off..   Wow..  I guess Obama supporters ain’t having the disses unless your  Kid Rock or  Ted Nugent…They talk smack all day and never get shut down…From the way the reports go, this reminds me of the time when Lauryn Hill came to perform at the DNC Rock the Vote Party in 2004… She kept the crowd waiting for 2 hours.. She showed up grabbed the mic sang the words Politicians are shady.. hummed a little and left never to return.. Lupe decided to make his point known by staying for 30 minutes..

Here’s a few of the tweets collected by Buzz feed about Lupe’s performance and shut down

including this one from reporter Josh Rogin  and Matt Dornic

Lupe Fiasco just got thrown off stage here at the Hamilton Live after he went on an anti-Obama diatribe mid set.

Things going terribly wrong at @lupefiasco performance during #SURO. Kicked off stage, bashing obama.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/lupe-fiasco-thrown-off-stage-at-inauguration-conce

You can see a video of Lupe and his encounter below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ScQl5_GQao

Here’s the official statement from organizers which came out a short while ago…

StartUp RockOn is all about startups helping startups. At Sunday night’s Inauguration Celebration at the Hamilton Live, organizers set out to honor innovative visionaries with grants, accolades and a party worthy of the success we achieved at the RNC and DNC this summer.

Lupe Fiasco performed at this private event, and as you may have read, he left the stage earlier than we had planned. But Lupe Fiasco was not “kicked off stage” for an “anti-Obama rant.” We are staunch supporters of free speech, and free political speech. This was not about his opinions. Instead, after a bizarrely repetitive, jarring performance that left the crowd vocally dissatisfied, organizers decided to move on to the next act.

The party continued as planned, and we celebrated the announcement of CodeNow’s winning the Grant Challenge. CodeNow is a non-profit startup based in Washington DC that teaches “underrepresented high school students basic skills in computer programming.”

StartUp RockOn was founded last year by three startups: HyperVocal, EventFarm and Fighter Interactive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22l1sf5JZD0

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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