Cynthia Mckinney | Hip-Hop and Politics

Cynthia McKinney Speaks on the Legacy of Nelson Mandela

December 12, 2013 By mrDaveyd

My condolences to the family and loved ones of Nelson Mandela and to the people of the Republic of South Africa and all of Africa. I had the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela on several occasions. It is true that he was a transformational leader;

I also visited Robben Island and saw the prison where he lived and worked and the cell in which he was incarcerated.
Mandela’s is a very moving journey, one that carried the dreams and aspirations of an entire nation and world of people ready for change and alleviation of suffering. And to all of us who work for the day that oppression is a phenomenon unknown to humankind.

-Cynthia McKinney-

We had an opportunity to chop it up with former Congresswoman and Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney about Nelson Mandela and his legacy. She talked to us and explained why he was a transformative figure. We talked about his long friendships with Libyan Muammar Gaddafi, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the key roles they all played in helping Mandela get free and Apartheid to end..

McKinney noted that the US government along with Israel put up major roadblocks at every step of the way to hinder the African national Congress and Mandela and that should not be forgotten..

She talked about the contradictions of Gaddafi being killed and Obama who led the charge for regime change in Libya speaking at the memorial. We also talked about Winnie Mandela and why she is not only forever linked with Mandela, but why she is important in her own right..

Click the link below to download or Listen to HKR Intv

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: Cynthia Mckinney, Mandela Memorial, Nelson mandela

The Real Horror of Benghazi Was Ethnic Cleansing-Let’s Talk About That

May 13, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Black people were slaughtered in Libya after NATO Invasion

So everyone is talking about Benghazi as if they actually know where that city is on the map and up til now really didn’t care to know..It sad to see that 4 Americans died and that there were probably some missteps and leading up to their deaths, but lets keep it 100… the US had basically invaded Libya along with NATO at the urging of the global corporate powers who saw Libya as a threat to their economic dominance.. Libya was set to introduce its own World Bank for African nations and its own currency to rival the dollar..This would have in effect ended a lot of the economic repressions African nations were experiencing..

The US upon learning this armed some crazy anti-black Arab rebels who positioned themselves as part of the ‘Arab Spring‘..Folks were enamored and cheered them on even after it was revealed early on that many of those rebels were connected to Al Qaeda.. Thousands of Black Africans who lived in Libya or were migrant workers from other countries were lynched in the streets.. The human rights violations were atrocious.. Read about it HERE .. You can also read about it HERE. There are scores of articles and detailed reports of this ranging from the UK Guardian to Amnesty International.

There were public hangings, Black people rounded up and put in cages like animals in a zoo and made to eat the new Libyan flag.. again I kid you not they were made to eat the new Libyan flag..There are videos on-line showing this.. That was the horror of Benghazi..Thats the Hooror no one wants to talk about..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDqT5L9kNnw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4icorYD_mE

Black Libyans What was going on in Benghazi and throughout Libya was ignored by our President who traces his direct roots to Africa. It was ignored by many white progressives who saw any and all uprisings in the region as one and the same. They figured since Al Jazeera which is owned by the rulers of Qatar and were staunch supporters of this anti-black armed rebel cabal, that they were somehow ok.. They were ok even after Black progressives and other international human rights organizations, many who had been to Libya, many who lived in the region issued report after report from folks on the ground about the horrors of Benghazi and Black Africans being torched. Many folks simply turned a blind eye….

They were ignored even after former Congresswoman and Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and other delegations came back, one which included the now the late grandson of the Malcolm X came back to report, things were ignored..Even as we had Black Libyans on our airwaves speaking for themselves it was ignored..

Here’s a great indepth interview from Libyan journalist Gerald Perreira http://www.blockreportradio.com/radio-mainmenu-27/1320-libya-resistance-after-m-gaddafi.html

These horrors were ignored by many in our Black punditry class who didn’t wanna ruffle feathers with the Obama administration as he sought a second term..It was a damn shame..and just goes to show you how much folks are willing to sell their souls at the door for political access and short-term gain..

Black Libyans So now we have hearings about what went on in Benghazi and no one is talking about imperialistic actions or regime change or the fact that the US had a US Libya Business Association which was made up of all these Big Oil companies that made 1.2 billion a year and stood to make even more once Libya was taken over.. It should be noted this US Libya Business Association had its website go dark during the NATO invasion creating the illusion that we weren’t doing robust business in Libya when in fact the US and quite a few companies were.. You can see the newly revamped site here.. http://www.us-lba.org/

We are talking about Benghazi and the horrors of 4 Americans being killed, but if you ask even the most well read people about this subject who were the other 3 other than Ambassador Stevens and what did they do, they can’t tell you a damn thing.. The horror of Benghazi was thousands Black people killed and tens of thousands chased from their homes and bunch of Americans, including many Black ones who ignored it.. Nuff said..

-Davey D-

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Al Qaeda, Benghazi, Cynthia Mckinney, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, World Bank

RIP Malcolm Shabazz.. Grandson of Malcolm X Robbed & Killed in Mexico

May 9, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Malcolm Shabazz

Got a disturbing phone call earlier today noting that the grandson of Malcolm X, Malcolm el Shabazz had been murdered in Mexico. Initially I heard it was Mexico City but published reports are stating it was in Tijuana.. I doubled checked and hear it was actually Mexico City.. In either case the word was he was robbed, shot and tossed off a roof..I’m at a loss for words..I can only imagine what his family is going through.. The father of two was a good man destined to do great things..

Below is a link to give you crucial details as to what went down with Malcolm http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/05/malcolm-xs-grandson-killed-in-mexico-city.php

I met Malcolm a few years back when he was attending school here in the Bay Area and would frequent our radio station.. He was pretty open, candid and someone who had grown and was continuing to grow spiritually and politically..He was someone who we started to see traveling a lot.. he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca and later he went to Libya and then Syria..He was definitely getting an international perspective on things..

Here’s a couple of interviews he did at KPFA on the Block Report w/ JR and HKR (Hard Knock Radio )that can give you some insight as to who he was and what he was about..

http://sfbayview.com/2010/the-legacy-of-el-hajj-malik-el-shabazz-lives-an-interview-wit-his-grandson-malcolm-shabazz/

http://sfbayview.com/2010/mumia-the-media-and-more-davey-d-moi-jr-and-malcolm-shabazz-on-hard-knock-radio/

http://www.blockreportradio.com/news-mainmenu-26/1000-live-from-saudi-arabia-an-interview-with-el-hajj-malcolm-shabazz.html

http://www.blockreportradio.com/radio-mainmenu-27/1316-hajj-malcolm-shabazz-speaks-on-the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-jr.html

Earlier this year many of us were alarmed when we heard reports that Malcolm Shabazz had been detained by the FBI and was holed up somewhere for a couple of days with no rhyme or reason given as to how and why..he later issued a statement explaining his ordeal.. You can read that below..That in itself is harrowing and should be cause for alarm..

“I sincerely appreciate the care & concern of the People over my well-being after Press TV’s report of the most recent events which have transpired regarding the F.B.I.’s harassment of me.

Given the storm of lies, and half-truths that come with being associated with being the descendant of El Hajj Malik el Shabazz, also known as Minister Malcolm X, any and everything that I do; great or small, good or not so good, real or imagined is subject to controversy. However, in this missive I will take this opportunity to properly & fully disclose what transpired.

In the beginning of 2012 I had been informed that I was under investigation by the F.B.I.’s Counter Terrorism Task Force Unit located in Goshen, N.Y.

The agents of this division-and in collaboration with others-have visited several residences of which I was known by them to frequent. However, they would never come when they knew me to actually be there. They would leave their cards with the residents asking them to tell me to call them, and then would tell surrounding residents to observe the house and to notify them if they saw me.

These are the homes of long-time friends, and very close supporters. Yet, when federal agents begin knocking on someone’s door on multiple occasions to snoop, and ask questions, whether one is guilty of an offense or not, it’s enough to coerce people into distancing themselves from you. This cheap tactic employed by the F.B.I. is a means of agitation & harassment. They seek to neutralize my networking abilities.

They have visited locations in California, Chicago, Miami and most aggressively in New York.

People were advising me that if I had nothing to hide, then I should just contact them as requested and cooperate. Though I must say that in these kind of matters I am of a particular ethic. For one, I have been engaged in no criminal activity of their concern, and they could have located me if they so chose. Secondly, I don’t recognize the authority in them beckoning me.

It wasn’t even until my mother informed me that they had been contacting her that I truly became agitated. She advised me to see what they had to say, and so I obliged the next time they came around looking for me. My encounter was with 2 federal agents of Goshen, N.Y.’s Counter Terrorism Task Foci Unit. The primary agent identified himself as Special Agent Tom Brozicky.

They expressed concern over-as they put it-my “international travels”; I have lived & studied in Damascus, Syria for over a year, and now the U.S. is instigating conflict within the very same region; I went on ex-congresswoman/former presidential candidate Cynthia Mckinney’s delegation along with Dr. Randy Short to Libya, and met with Leader Muammar Gadhafi one week prior to N.A.T.O. intervention and I was most recently getting ready to travel to Tehran, Iran to be a participant of the International Fajr Film Festival and give a lecture addressing the issues of Hollywood and violence:

– Modern Violence & Terrorism,
– Provoking clashes between religions & populations

I was picked up by authorities after I filed for a visa to Iran, and 2 days prior to my departure. A detective squad from the City of Middletown Police Department surrounded me in the street about 2 blocks from where I was residing. They asked me my name, and I gave them an alias, but they were already well aware of who I actually was. I didn’t tell them my real name because I didn’t know what was going on. When I was brought before a Judge of City of Middletown court I was surprised to be informed that I was being charged with Grand Larceny, and False Impersonation charge. Then I was sent to jail, and told to appear again 7 days later. Then following court date the bogus charge of Grand Larceny, which they only put to justify stopping me in first place, was dropped. And they left me to face the False Impersonation. I was offered 90 days for the offense of giving the authorities the wrong name which I declined before bailing out after 2 weeks.

When I was being held within the belly of the beast on trumped up charges, to my rescue came the journalist at Press TV based in Iran. My relationship with powerful & progressive news outfit began in April of 2012, and prior to that I had discussions with their journalist regarding current events internationally. I developed a positive rapport with some of them, and as a result was invited to travel to Iran to discuss the impact of Hollywood in stereotyping Muslims, Iranians and African people. From January 15th through 18th, 2013, I was a featured interviewee for the Press TV documentary “The Façade of the American Dream”. And prior to my date of departure to Iran, Lifetime television released a television bio-picture called “Betty & Coretta” which was a sensationalistic misrepresentation of my grandparents, my mother and me. This film aside from being poorly acted, and shallow in depth also threatened to inflame old controversies, and open unhealed wounds and to remind the public of sad outcomes without ever identifying B.O.S.S.I., the C.I.A., F.B.I. and other forces that set the climate for my grandfather’s assassination, and made my family a long-suffering casualty of COINTELPRO, and other anti-Black repression programs. Naturally, anything done to stir up old hatred of The Shabazz Family will impact me as the name-sake, and first male heir of Malcolm X, and whether I am high or low in fortunes does not exempt me from this reality.

The formula for a public assassination is: the character assassination before the physical assassination; so one has to be made killable before the eyes of the public in order for their eventual murder to then deemed justifiable. And when the time arrives for these hits to be carried out you’re not going to see a C.I.A. agent with a suit & tie, and a badge that says “C.I.A.” walk up to someone, and pull the trigger. What they will do is to out-source to local police departments in the region of their target, and to employ those that look like the target of interest to infiltrate the workings in order to set up the environment for the eventual assassination (character, physical/incarceration, exile) to take place.

For several months prior to my arrest in late January, 2013 I faced a pattern of harassment from law enforcement which is usually reserved for important figures. On Thursday, November 1, 2012 @ 11:53pm in the park circle area of Middletown, N.Y. I was stopped by officers of the Middletown Police Department, and given a ticket for “J-Walking” (crossing in the middle of the street), which then escalated into a “Disorderly Conduct” supposedly because of the exchange of words that I had with the officers. I told them that they couldn’t possibly be serious for writing me a “J-Walking ticket”, that I didn’t appreciate how they were treating me and that they shouldn’t be looking at me as less of a man because they were in police uniform. For this I was arrested, the officers stole the little amount of money that I had on me, they then stripped me and threw me in a freezing precinct cell for the remainder of that early morning. I was finally taken before the “Judge Steven Brockett” around 1:30pm. He gave me an unreasonable bail, and then ordered that I be remanded to the Orange county Jail.

This penalty may seem a bit extreme or harsh to most of you, but here is where it gets worse: On Tuesday, October 30th, exactly 2 nights prior to this incident, the same officer “J Berman” who wrote me the ticket for “J-Walking” & “Disorderly Conduct” stopped me coming from out of a store in the same area, and questioned me as to what I was doing.

I told him that I was coming out of the store. He asked to see what I bought which was a pack of sun flower seeds. I had actually just so happened to be eating a few while he was talking to me, and I spit one of the shells on the ground. At this point officer “J Berman” threatened to write me a ticket for littering. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded, but I went home that night.

Yet, it still doesn’t even begin there. I had an encounter with other officers of the Midletown Police Department one week prior to officer “J Berman’s” threats to write me a ticket for spitting a sun flower seed on the ground: I was coming out of a restaurant with my mother, and her friend. As the 3 of us entered the car to leave 2 police cars converged on our vehicle, and boxed us in. My mother was petrified. With guns drawn I was then ordered to step out of the back seat. I asked them why to which they replied that I had several warrants for my arrest. I told them that they were mistaken, but I still complied with their request. Humiliated in front of all on-lookers I was then thrown on the car while the officers ripped through my pockets. After they were done they said that it was my lucky day because I actually didn’t have any warrants at all, and so I was free to go! One of these officer’s name was “R. Ribeiro”…

You may wonder if it could possibly get any worse than this. Well, it does! Approximately 3 weeks prior to the public humiliation of my mother, and me by “R Ribeiro” and another officer of the Middletown Police Department I found myself subject to the discrimination & prejudice of Mayor Joseph M. Destefano of Middletown, N.Y. himself. A friend, and I went out to eat at a restaurant in Middletown, N.Y. which is owned by the Mayor, and to our surprise he appeared from nowhere and asked us to leave. When we inquired as to why he stated that officials of the Middletown Police Department told him not to let us patronize his establishment. Mind you that this goes without incident.

As I stand for the people, God-Willing, I would pray that the same people wouldn’t hesitate to stand for me. If these unjust & heinous actions are tolerated & allowed to be done to me without recourse, then no one is safe. Just as Huewy P Newton of the Black Panther Party stated that police are in the white community to protect & serve, yet occupy ours like a foreign troop… I tell you that we shouldn’t fall victim to the conditioning of feeling inferior or fearful at the presence of law enforcement for no apparent reason.

With that being said, I was not arrested by federal agents. I was taken in by a squad from the City of Middletown, N.Y.’s Police Department. I was not being held in an “undisclosed location” so to speak. I was actually being held in the Orange County Jail in Goshen, N.Y. However, from the time that I was booked at the precinct, to standing before a Judge the next day who told me to come back in 7 more, to being processed at the Orange County Jail and up until 7 days later I was not permitted to make any calls to notify anyone of my status; as though I had just been kidnapped from of the street.

Unfortunately, until this day my family hasn’t been fully abreast of my situation as I haven’t had the opportunity to properly consult with any of them. Dr. Randy Short who notified Press TV of my situation is a close comrade of mine who was on our delegation in Libya. Media reports from Press TV about my situation were not intended to create controversy. In reality, I have a few associates that are affiliated with this reputable International media outlet, and they had expected to meet with me in Iran. So when I disappeared, and rumors spread, the inability to get concise information from a credible source prompted them to rouse public attention on my behalf, for which I am grateful. In April of 2012 I had the opportunity to be a guest analyst/contributor on Press TV. This network has a large following all over the world, and millions find it’s news, documentaries and programming to be both an educational, and insightful alternative to the conglomerated, and highly biased mainstream American & British news media. Regarding the Source magazine, nothing that they published was vetted by me, and was made by persons, at best, vaguely familiar with my situation. Further, I have never had an affiliation or relationship with The Source, nor have they ever directly consulted with me about anything.”

Email: mecka1084@gmail.com

Facebook: Hajj Malcolm el Shabazz

Twitter: Malcolm71084

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News Tagged With: Cynthia Mckinney, Malcolm X, Malcom Shabazz, Mexico City, RIP Malcolm Shabazz.. Grandson of Malcolm X Robbed & Killed in Mexico

The Death of Hugo Chavez; Reactions from Immortal Technique, Cynthia Mckinney & More

March 6, 2013 By mrDaveyd

Hugo Chavez

There’s a lot to be said about Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela who passed away yesterday from complications due to cancer.. For many he was considered a friend and a champion of the poor. He was seen as a hero who was willing to stand up to the United States and other western powers who have an egregious record in South America of undermining democratically elected leaders..

Two movies.. Harvest of Empire and South of the Border bring US policies out in painful detail.. They show how private companies and media outlets including our own CNN worked overtime to try and overthrow governments throughout Latin America. You can see in the clip that starts off South of the Border the round the clock demonization of South American leaders by our so-called esteemed media..

It’s important to understand our policies and what doesn’t get reported here in the states when viewing Hugo Chavez. A lot of what he did and didn’t do centers around the desire to see him removed from office by our own government..

It’s also important to understand that while Chavez was a charismatic singular face attached to Venezuela in terms of how he’s depicted here, in Latin America, he was part of a large movement. In short , he didn’t obtain his position in a vacuum. Nor can you explain Chavez or Venezuela in a 30 second sound bite..

Shortly after getting the news that he passed we broke into regular programming on KPFA and gathered up some folks to speak to Chavez and his legacy.. Our roundtable of guest are movers and shakers in a variety of circles and knew Chavez or did lots of ground work in the country over the years..

CynthiaMckinneyred-225 Our first guest was former Green Party Presidential candidate and congresswoman Cynthia McKinney..She set the tone by breaking down US foreign policy in Latin America and the great lengths our government has gone to try and undermine leaders they didn’t like. McKinney talked at length about Cointel-pro and what has happened to leaders domestically, hence we should not be shocked at the type of hostilities shown internationally..She also talked about Chavez and what he meant to his people as well as sharing her own stories about him…Here’s our interview..

We spoke with author and Professor Sujatha Fernandes who wrote the ground breaking book ‘Who Can Stop the Drums? Urban Social Movements in Chávez’s Venezuela‘ .. Here Professor Fernandes reveals a significant dimension of political life in Venezuela since President Hugo Chávez was elected. Fernandes traces the histories of the barrios, from the guerrilla insurgency, movements against displacement, and cultural resistance of the 1960s and 1970s, through the debt crisis of the early 1980s and the neoliberal reforms that followed, to the Chávez period.

During our interview with myself and fellow KPFA host Mitch Jeserich, Fernandes provides additional keen insights around what life on the ground was like for the average Venezuelan and the impact Chavez’s policies had on folks..She also speaks to why Chavez had been and will continue to be demonized here in the US..

Also on the line with us and Fernandes was Carlos Martinez who lived in Venezuela and is the co-editor of the book Venezuela Speaks; Voices from the Grassroots. Here Martinez and his co-editors gathered a collection of interviews with activists and participants from across Venezuela’s social movements. From community media to land reform; cooperatives to communal councils, from the labor movement to the Afro-Venezuelan network, Venezuela Speaks! sheds light on the complex realities within the Bolivarian Revolution. These interviews offer a compelling oral history of Venezuela’s democratic revolution, from the bottom up.

During our interview, Martinez put the work he’s done into context and further expounded upon why Hugo Chavez was important and his overall impact on the region..

You can peep their interview here…

Immortal Technique

We spoke with activist and popular Hip Hop artist Immortal Technique who talked about his trips to Venezuela and what he learned from traveling extensively around the country. He said he learned a lot and it was clear that Chavez meant a lot to the poor folks and poor communities. He noted that Chavez was not very well liked within the circles of the elite and they were constantly working to get at him.. Immortal talked at lengths some of the key strengths of Chavez as well as some of his actions and policies that were problematic.. Tech also noted that one can not sum up Chavez in a quick sentence, his presidency was much more complex..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LzOth38jxtM

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2013 Daily News, Hard Knock Radio Intv Tagged With: Bolivarian Revolution, Carlos Martinez, Chavez, Cynthia Mckinney, Cynthia Mckinney & Activist React to Death of Hugo Chavez, Harvest of Empire, Hugo Chávez, Immortal technique, Latin America, South America, South of the Border, Sujatha Fernandes, United States, Venezuela

Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente Were Right by Shamako Noble

November 2, 2012 By mrDaveyd

“In 1956, I shall not go to the polls. I have not registered. I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no “two evils” exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say.” -W.E.B. Du-Bois

“The Green Party isn’t the alternative. It’s the imperative.” -Rosa Clemente

“For me, it’s simple. It’s either the Greenhouse or the penitentiary.”-Cheri Honkala

“Four years later and I’m kicking it with the Green Party VP candidate. Again.” -Rahman Jamaal

Sword of the West Shamako Noble

Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente were right. There is something taking place with the relationship between Hip Hop and the Green Party. Maybe it’s because the Green Party, much like Hip Hop, can be blamed for a mess much larger than itself. Maybe it’s because both of them have spent their whole existence fighting corporate media, corporate influence and getting shut out of the conversation. Maybe it’s because they are stuck in a world where the “mainstream” dictates definition, your perspective, and your contribution. Maybe it’s because they both imagine a world where education is accessible to all, there are no more evictions and no more foreclosures, where food production, resolving community challenges and culture is localized and more money is spent on education and housing than war and imprisonment.

Or, as 2004 Presidential candidate for the Green Party David Cobb put it, “maybe it is because Hip Hop and the Green Party are both revolutionary calls for such systemic social political and economic change that you just can’t get it until you get it.” Whatever the case may be, it is a relationship that keeps expanding. That expansion was given to us not just by the natural development of our economic and political situation, but also by leaders like Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente. When they took this route, I did not get that. I get it now. And it looks like a lot of other people are getting it, too. Note: No matter who you are, some of this article will and should be unfamiliar to you. And that’s part of the point.

2008: The Green Party Meets Hip Hop, and Hip Hop meets Obama

Dr Jared Ball

In 2008, Hip Hop had it’s first Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate in Jared Ball and Rosa Clemente. This was significant coming off of the National Hip Hop Political Conventions of 2004 and 2006. At this time they were at the forefront of a process that continues to unfold today. At that time Rosa Clemente famously said, “The Green Party is not only the alternative, it’s the imperative.” Jared and Rosa, and artists like Head-Roc out of the DC Statehood Green Party Chapter were on a curve that continues to expand even as this race between “two-parties”continues to tighten.

When Jared Ball, professor, media activist, organizer, and a leader in the National Hip Hop community ran for President on the Green Party ticket in 2008, a lot of people (myself included) didn’t know how to process that. Still, when Jared Ball ran the “Hip Hop For President” campaign he raised a possibility that hadn’t yet been considered in a lot of circles in any serious way– a Hip Hop presidential candidate on an independent party slate bringing up and championing the issues present in the communities where Hip Hop has impact. Hip Hop had already made some very significant strides with the National Hip Hop Political convention and a plethora of activity that took place on the state and national level. There were also a lot of folks from the Green Party who were interested in further developing that kind of a relationship including Anita Rios, former Co-Chair of the USGP National Committee and Dean Meyerson and founder and Executive Director of the Green Institute.

Head-Roc

Jared Ball had a vision. And he teamed up with the DC Artist Head-Roc to execute a creative and artistic strategy for that. Head-Roc and Jared Ball created a two-man artist/candidate multimedia presentation that would be great indicator of what was to come. His reasoning is simple, “George Jackson remains correct. After the fact of monopoly capital the vote becomes meaningless. Our only hope for electoral politics is to develop viable alternatives to what currently exists. If we are to vote, we must develop a party worthy of that effort and struggle. It is the Green Party that best represents that hope.”

In other areas, the large majority of political activity which took place under the moniker “Hip-Hop” did so either in an independent, non-electoral or non-political party way, or in many cases in a way that made the work seem automatically pro-democratic party in nature even when it was not explicitly taking that position. There are many who believe that the Democratic Party machine engagement contributed to the split of the original collective who helped to organize the National Hip Hop Political convention at the time.

Soon President Obama was winning the nomination, and it was all but sure that the Hip Hop vote would lean in his direction. It was a legitimate position at the time, because every rapper and there mom were taking photo ops with the soon to be President. My position on Obama at the time can be found here (http://debugcommunity.blogspot.com/2008/01/barack-obama-is-new-oj.html). But the Green party delivered a one-two punch that would shock the world. Former Democratic Party Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney became the Presidential candidate for the Green Party, and announced as her running mate, Rosa Clemente.

Both Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente had a great deal of support within the Hip Hop community, although that support would struggle to be organized. Jared Ball and Head-Roc would continue their campaign, only re-focused in a manner that was supportive of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, setting their own egos aside long enough to get in line with the Green Party program.

Rosa Clemente at the Poor People’s March 2008

And while Cynthia McKinney had developed a particular platform on a national stage, Rosa Clemente was a new and unexpected element. Rosa, who was a founder of the National Hip Hop Political Convention, a member of the Malcom X Grassroots Movement and one of the people who would help define Hip Hop Activism since it’s inception, added something new into presidential politics. She was a candidate who related explicitly as Hip Hop. Rosa would go on to make appearances at the Hip Hop Congress National Convention in Biloxi, MS and the National Hip Hop Political Convention in Las Vegas, NV. This would be the very same year that, in a moment of movement prophecy, Rosa Clemente would stand with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, marching with National Coordinator of that organization, Cheri Honkala, and thousands more people at the March For Our Lives in St. Paul, MN.

Rosa was also working to get dead prez at the march following a performance taking place at one of the many cultural events during the RNC protests. This march hit many sites in St. Paul including prisons, shelters and significant areas of St. Paul movement history. Halfway through the march Rage against the Machine, who were hosting a concert that was spontaneously canceled, directed their 4,000 attendees to join the March already holding 6,000 attendees being led by Cheri and Rosa. Little did the world know, but that march held both the 2008 and 2012 Vice Presidential candidates of the Green Party. And they were marching for the lives of poor people, Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, White, Women, Men, other gender qualifications, Children, Elders, unborn and ancestors alike. It was a prophetic moment, indeed.

2012: Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.

Cheri Honkala

Fast forward to 2011, and Cheri Honkala is running for Sheriff in Philadelphia. And get this– Cheri and the Greens were running on an explicit platform of NO EVICTIONS, NO FORECLOSURES. Imagine for a hot second a sheriff who simply refused to evict poor people from their homes! Now imagine hundreds of them. That’s a good example of what it looks like. Hip Hop culture can get focused about implementing our program, not just envisioning it. On top of that, there are folks in Hip Hop on the ground doing this kind of work locally, nationally and internationally every day.

Fast forward a year later, Cheri is now the Vice Presidential candidate for Green Party running on a ticket with Massachusetts-bred Dr. Jill Stein, whose Green New Deal slides closely with the platforms and concepts first elaborated on in the platform statement released by the National Hip Hop Political convention some eight years earlier in 2004. And Cheri Honkala, as PPHRC-founder & organizer, has a long history of working with other organizers and cultural producers like Mic Crenshaw in Portland, OR, Manny Phesto in Minneapolis, MN and Rebel Diaz in Chicago. The Green Party in general, and Cheri Honkala specifically, have often reflected many of the radical positions that have been expressed in Hip Hop movement and activism. While there continues to be critique and refinement around the value of the Green Party, this presidential and vice presidential campaign continues to embody much of that natural connection.

Just take a look at some of the activity that has taken place over the last two weeks.

George Martinez

We begin with a rally in New York where Global Block Foundation founder, first Hip Hop candidate to win a seat in New York (2002), former Chairman of the Hip Hop Association and current U.S. Ambassador George Martinez. George was also a Congressional candidate from within the Occupy movement. George Martinez performed in support of Dr. Stein and Ms. Honkala and is currently advocating a three-point platform which fits directly into the platform of the Green New deal as well as this past year’s monumental occupy movement. That platform is as follows:

GROAmerica (Grass Roots Organizing America) is an integrated community empowerment and civic engagement initiative that represents the evolution of multiple experimental and collaborative, organizing frameworks. GROAmerica operates with a sense of urgency, as inner city communities everywhere are at a crossroads of economic instability, street violence and failing trust in public institutions. It is designed to promote local activism and resource exchange to connect community members that are not otherwise engaged to local resources. It fosters practical, creative and culturally relevant solutions to address long-term community needs. And can be used to address emergency issues and conditions in any community. The end goal is to build a grassroots system between public, private, civil society and community stakeholders to collectively identify and tackle local issues through the convergence of cultural expression, civic engagement, and community resource management/mobilization.

GROAmerica is an open source, do it yourself (DIY) model with a three-pronged approach:

a) public assemblies that combine culturally relevant dialogues, tool driven workshops and creative expression;

b) issue/needs-based direct actions;

c) Community-resource Mapping Network System (ComMNS®): a GIS mapping and mobilization system connecting community resources and needs

That was followed with the Stein campaign’s Associate Campaign Manager, Erika Wolf attending the “Give a sh*@” Happy hour hosted by Chicago Votes, an organization headed and created by Chicago’s National Hip Hop Political Convention 2006 Co-Chair, TJ Crawford. Later on the week, Cheri Honkala came to the Bay Area where she attended a community Q&A hosted by myself at San Jose’s own Silicon Valley De-Bug with the support of the Santa Clara County Green Party. It taking place there is significant as De-Bug as been at the forefront of culture, justice, labor, immigration and youth work in the South bay since its inception in late 90’s. One of it’s founders, Raj Jaydev is well-known in the community for his work with families, organizations and individuals. He welcomed the event into the space with grace, gratitude and vision. In attendance at the event where some independent Hip Hop notables such as DLabrie, Rahman Jamaal and B-Jada of Hip Hop Congress and RonDavoux Records, Dione Johnson of the Multi-Media Center, Society of Metafizix, Arman Mahoudi of KSJS and Open University and Malcom Lee of The San Jose Zulu Nation Chapter and many others. It was a potent mix of attendee’s who related as Hip Hop, Occupy and the Green Party. She took questions about police brutality, health care, forgiving student debt, the Green New Deal, and how she ended up being the VP candidate.

Presidential debate Roundtable w/ Cheri Honkala

The process continued the next day the following day with a group of 70 plus students at De Anza college in Cupertino, the sixth largest community College in the state of California. That was followed by an event at Youth Uprising hosted by the Hip Hop Chess Federation’s visionary and founder Adisa Banjoko. Honkala couldn’t stay because of traffic concerns with the Giants game, but the movie screening itself, “Brooklyn Castle” portrayed the struggles of public education and programs for our youth. That was followed by a post-presidential debate panel discussion hosted by Hip Hop journalist and historian Davey D, who’s been on top of covering the campaign since the Democratic National Convention. It was there Davey noted that much of the mainstream press wasn’t covering the third party candidates. The Panel included folks like Rob “Biko” Baker of the League of Young Voters, Josh Harley of Youth Together, and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi

Jacobs-Fantauzzi is a Green Party Candidate for Mayor of Berkeley who is also the founder of Students for Hip Hop at UC Berkeley. Kahlil was also responsible for co-hosting a community event for Cheri Honkala, where they took questions together as local and national representatives. Among many issues they both nailed home from a national and a local perspective, was how both of them were being locked out of the conversation. Cheri elaborated on being locked in a warehouse for over 8 hours with Dr. Jill Stein while nobody knew where they were after trying to participate in the Presidential debates. Kahlil shared how the Democratic Club of Berkeley refused to be democratic when it came to his participation, making efforts to refuse his voice in their public debates. DLabrie performed the powerful cut, “It Ain’t EZ,” while J.R. Valery, noted and respected activist, organizer, journalist and freedom fighter from Oakland dropped science on how candidates can best engage non-profit and public radio stations.

2012 and Beyond-What else is possible?

jill-stein-tar-sands-blockade.jpg.400x300_q85_crop-smart

Dr Jill Stein

Have whatever opinion you’d like, but here are the facts. The movement and the platform of the Green Party along with the people interested in taking leadership and understanding are increasingly young people, people of color who may or may not identify as Hip Hop but are definitely connected to Hip Hop activity and political action. They are also more and more people interested in supporting the Green Party as a place to challenge the Democractic Party paradigm as the electoral vanguard of the movement.

Taking a look at the Green New Deal, and the work of Dr. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, and leaders like Rosa Clemente and Jared Ball, it becomes an unavoidable question. Or even better, an answer to a question that was asked of us four years ago when Jared and Rosa first ran. Was getting Hip Hop involved with Green Party worth the effort? Well, in many ways, it looks more and more like an inevitability with the mere question becoming what role, if any, will you play. Even Bakari Kitwana, Co-Founder of the National Hip Hop Political Convention, and author of the the upcoming book, “Hip Hop Activism in the Obama Age” acknowledges that a functional and healthy relationship between Hip Hop and the Green Party could help resolve some of the Green Party’s challenges with expanding it’s base, reach and community grounding while the Green Party offers a political infrastructure that Hip Hop has yet to develop, and that is still young enough to be open to creativity and leadership.

If you want to vote for Obama, cool with me. Honestly, as a Black man, and a father who wants his children to see that and know that they can have that ambition, I feel that. As a son who was happy that his parents got to live to see that, I can understand that. I can relate to that and respect that decision. As Tina Bell Wright, noted Hip Hop Professor and writer of the “Rise Up, Hip Hop Nation” series said, “in 2008, a vote for Obama was a vote for history.” But we have still got some key questions that need rapid answers.

Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi

If you are in a state that is already going to Romney, or already going to Obama, and you agree with the Green Party platform, why wouldn’t you vote in it’s favor? Why not support candidates like Jill Stein, Cheri Honkala and Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi. If five percent of the electorate voting for the Green Party candidates means 20 million dollars in the next four years to develop the party, what position will you take in that? If you don’t believe in the Democratic Party anymore and you’re only voting for the lesser of two evils, when do we start building something different? What are our plans for making these ideas real in the next two weeks and the next four years? Do the tactics and strategies of electoral organizing and community organizing have to also remain as an either/or or can we begin to use them as a tandem strategy of both/and?

Will there be a space to discuss internalized classism, corporate influence and poverty in US politics or will that be pushed further and further into the margins to be filled with conversations about race, gender and sexuality that, while true, don’t addresses the whole of our challenges as a planet or community right now? When we know that the lesser of two evils aren’t bringing up the education-to-prison pipeline, or ecological disaster, how long will we wait to address them on our own or through other means? What are the daily, weekly and monthly actions that happen on a consistent basis that will build the relationships and credibility for that? What else is possible?

David Cobb

David Cobb is one Green leader excited about the possibilities. “We need each other,” he says. “The Green Party needs the youthful energy, the cultural component, and the multi-racial juice Hip Hop brings and represents. And frankly, we need Hip Hop to push and challenge us on important issues like white supremacy, the school-to-prison pipeline, and a host of subjects. We don’t know what we don’t know in the Green Party, and we need to be schooled by Hip Hop.”

Cobb also reminds us the need goes both ways.

“Hip Hop also needs the Green Party,” he continued. “Hip Hop needs the institutional capacity we have developed, the fully developed political program that incorporates peace, justice, ecology and democracy. And frankly Hip Hop needs the focus that a serious, radical electoral campaign can provide.”

written by Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress

Filed Under: 2012 Daily News Tagged With: Barack obama, Cheri Honkala, Cynthia Mckinney, Democratic Party, Election 2012, Green Party, Head-Roc, Jill Stein, national hip hop political convention, Rosa clemente

Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

May 31, 2010 By mrDaveyd

Cynthia McKinney Mourns the Dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza:

People of the U.S. and the world must end Israeli impunity now!

by Cynthia McKinney

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSFwyWyVo74

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZenysNLAfc8

I am outraged at Israel’s latest criminal act. I mourn with my fellow Free Gaza travelers, the lives that have been lost by Israel’s needless, senseless act against unarmed humanitarian activists. But I’m even more outraged that once again, Israel’s actions have been aided and abetted by a U.S. political class that has become corrupted beyond belief due to its reliance on Zionist finance and penetration by Zionist zealots for whom no U.S. weapons system is too much for the Israeli war machine, and the silence of the world’s onlookers whose hearts have grown cold with indifference.

I recently visited the offices of IHH, the Turkish humanitarian organization that sponsored one of the Freedom Flotilla boats, and that was targeted by the Israelis for its murderous rampage. Reports are still coming in as to the full extent of the senseless Israeli violence. Of course, I expect Israel’s apologists in the press and in the United States government to shift into high gear to support Israel’s lying machine. Take note of their names. The 12,000 internet squatters/written word grenade throwers, hired by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to defend Israel and attack peace activists online, are already busy spreading their orchestrated disinformation in cyberspace. Be very careful what you read and believe from special interest press and the internet. You could be reading one of Israel’s hired hacks. As a news diversion from what Israel has just done, I suspect that we can also expect to see a lot of historical footage of war’s atrocities on television: today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day long ago set aside to remember the sacrifices of U.S. war dead.

I encouraged and supported U.S.S. Liberty veteran Joe Meadors’s participation in the Freedom Flotilla. Unfortunately, the fate of the U.S.S. Liberty innocents on the high seas, while in international waters, has now been visited upon the participants in the Freedom Flotilla, in large measure because of the Congressional- and Presidential-level cover-up of the 1967 Israeli attack on that U.S. surveillance ship. Combined with the failure of just about every other effort to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and crimes against the peace. Belgium and Spain changed their domestic laws of universal jurisdiction after Israeli appeals to do so. The entire musical chairs gang of rotating Israeli leadership are war criminals. During my imprisonment in Israel for attempting to take crayons to the children of Gaza, I called Israel a failed state. If Israel is threatened by unarmed, humanitarian activists to the point of massacring them, then Israel is a failed state. Israel is a failed nuclear state.

Obama’s most recent granting of an additional $205 million for Israeli “missile defense” is unconscionable, when in the same week, reports revealed for the first time, Israel’s offer of nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa. Just last week, a paper bearing the signature of former Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, was released by South Africa, revealing that in 1975, Israel could offer South Africa nuclear weapons “in three sizes.” South Africa’s then-Minister of Defense, P.W. Botha, was South Africa’s signatory to the letter. This information would make the entire Obama Administration look sadly farcical as it points an accusing finger at Iran, except that U.S. obeisance to the Israeli bloodthirst is deadly serious. With deadly outcomes.

Earlier this month, Israel was granted admission to the Organization of Economic and Community Development (OECD), a direct affront to ongoing Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) efforts across the world. Once again, Israel has thumbed its nose at the global community–with bloody results–because it can.

I am proud to serve on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Its next sitting will be in London, where we will examine corporate complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestine. The Tribunal will sit from November 5 – 7. Please put this on your calendar. We all must do what we can, where we are to end wars against the people at home and wars against human rights abroad.

Finally, a friend just sent a message to me saying that the Israelis had lost their minds. Sadly, based on the past, the Israelis could very well conclude that they can do anything–imprison me for trying to take love to the children of Gaza and kill humanitarian activists trying to do the same–because they know, in the end, they’ll get away with it. Instead, I would suggest that we are the ones who have lost our minds, our souls, our spirits, and our human dignity if we allow the Israelis to get away with murder–again–and we do nothing.

I am calling on the people of the United States to change course now.

On this Memorial Day 2010, I am stunned and outraged beyond belief while mourning the dead of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza.

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Essential videos to peep, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Cynthia Mckinney, Free Gaza, Freedom Flotilla, Joe Meadors, U.S.S. Liberty

M-1 of Dead Prez launches from the Ghetto to Gaza Speaking Tour

September 14, 2009 By mrDaveyd

P.O.C.C ,Block Report Radio &Hip Hop Congress Present: Ghetto to Gaza in Northern California (Oakland, S.F, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Sonoma Ct)

M1 of dead prez speaking about his Travels to Gaza in support of those at War and in an intense struggle for basic human needs. Also J.R Minister of Information w members of P.O.C.C , Richard Brown of the SF 8, Nadra Foster from KPFA, DLabrie, and more!!

Please Come Out and Repost This!!!

Support S.F BayView

M1, of the prolific rap group dead prez, will be on a speaking tour called “From the Ghetto to Gaza” through northern Cali from September 23-29.

Sacramento, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 9 p.m., Capitol Garage, 1500 K St.

East Oakland, Thursday, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m., Wose Community Center, 8924 Holly St. – Minister of Information JR will interview M1

San Francisco, Friday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m., POOR Magazine, Redstone Building, 2940 16th St. at Mission, Second Floor Theater – Richard Brown of the San Francisco 8 will interview M1
·

West Oakland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 6 p.m., Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St. – Nadra Foster, the 12-year volunteer KPFA broadcaster who was beaten by police inside the station, will interview M1

San Jose, Sunday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m., DeBug Magazine, 701 Lenzen Ave. – Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir will interview M1

Santa Cruz, Monday, Sept. 28, 7 p.m., Barrios Unidos, 1817 Soquel Ave.

Sonoma, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., Multi-Purpose Room, Student Union Building, Sonoma State University

The Minister of Information JR
POCC Block Report Radio
www.blockreportradio.com

M1-Gaza-0909-web Welcome M-1 of dead prez to the Bay Area – East and West Oakland, San Francisco, Sonoma, San Jose, Santa Cruz – for six days of sharing his recent experiences in Gaza, Cairo and Europe and comparing them with ghetto life in the U.S. – six events Sept. 24-29 benefiting the SF Bay View and Block Report Radio. Get ready for some explosive revelations! Get a foretaste with 24 hours in Gazaby M-1. And listen to Khalil Bendib’s interview with M-1 this evening, on KPFA 94.1FM – hear it in the archives at http://www.kpfa.org/archive/show/47 .

24 hours in Gaza

by Mutulu Olugbala, aka M-1 of dead prez

http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/24-hours-in-gaza/

M-1 of dead prez reports back from his trip to Gaza

You may have heard me say, “I work for the people; the streets are my office.” Well, my recent mission to Palestine was a testament to that statement. Through the Existence is Resistance organization, I bore witness to a very moving and eye-opening experience. As a man-at-arms in an African Liberation Movement in the U.S. which is currently in the process of re-organizing and re-inventing itself in these times, I see the role of international solidarity critically important to our future world view. So when asked, “Why are you all the way over there when there is a war going on in your own community?” I proudly quote dead prez’ “Psychology” (“Let’s Get Free,” 2000): “My enemy’s enemy is my man!”

With respect to all the progressive organizations and cultural workers who have been putting work in to stop the siege on Palestine and amass resources and resistance to the same imperialism which is plaguing my community, I say, “Asante sana!” (“Thank you very much!”) You have provided critical political education at a time when the hip-hop community in particular has been devoid of analysis of the world around us. In places like Chicago and New York, I would continually bump into artists like Rebel Diaz, Shadia, Mansour, DAM (Palestine) and Immortal Technique, who I’d like to report as courageous fighters!

Now that we have kicked the preliminaries (as the old Flavor Flav would say), let’s get to the details … Moments after we rocked a solar-powered event on 23rd and the FDR in Manhattan promoting our recent release, “Pulse of the People,” I jumped on a plane to Cairo, Egypt. The plan was to join a caravan that would originate there and move north to the border of Gaza with loads of resources which had been donated for the people there who had been under an Israeli imposed, U.S. backed embargo for months.

From my trips to Cuba in the past years, I was aware that an embargo is only a nice way to say war, so I knew what to expect. Upon arrival in Egypt – which is northern Africa, in case you forgot – I could feel the intense military repression in the air. Nonetheless I was awed by finally touching and seeing a place that held such importance in the history of civilization. Fuck colonized Egypt; to me this was Kimet!

As I was toured through the recent developments and structural work like the Anwar Sadat Memorial and felt the pulse of the cluttered city streets, I was awed by the backdrop of the Nile River, which had been dirtied by the recent Arab neglect. Unfortunately, it was like a “toy” tag on a “burner,” for all my graf writers out there. Nonetheless, it was a moment I will never forget.

As my new-found comrades Ayman, Mazzi and I toured through Egypt just an hour off the plane, we could not help but to be drawn to the pyramids in the near distance as the sun began to set on this powerful land. In a moment of spontaneity, we urged our guide to take us closer to get a better look at these incredible wonders of the world.

As the sun continued to set, I found myself on the back of a camel, trodding through what seemed like the Kasbah on our way to the sands of the desert in which these six pyramids were implanted. Unfortunately, night fell upon us as we were on the way and we had to turn back, but our efforts produced a great memory and a backdrop which was indescribable.

Later we arrived at the hotel, which would serve as the headquarters for the caravan, war-room for the organizers and hostage zone for the Egyptian government who had assigned agents to follow and document every word and action taken by the Viva Palestina group, whose numbers would reach around 200 people. As we settled in, there was an update meeting called for the people who had just arrived.

It was at that meeting that we learned that the preliminary caravan, which had been sent forward to prepare for our entry into Palestine, had been turned back by armed soldiers at the Suez Canal! It was at that moment that we realized there would be serious worldwide opposition to this support which we planned to bring there.

At the center of the meeting was British Parliamentarian George Galloway, who was the chief planner and organizer of this mission. Seated to his left were two very familiar faces to me, New York City Councilman Charles Barron and Green Party presidential nominee Cynthia McKinney. I was elated to see these two, who I had worked with before on many occasions.

“The revolution is like the back of the camel, to be ridden by the masses …” – M-1

And I was especially anxious to speak with Cynthia McKinney, who had, just days before, been freed from an Israeli jail for attempting to get into Gaza to investigate the crimes against the people there. It was good to be amongst comrades in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Later I would retire my room with mc’s S.O.U.L. Purpose (U.S./Iran) and LowKey (Britain), only to break night preparing for the next day.

Little did we know that the Egyptian government had no plans to let this mission succeed. Under the watchful eye of the Israeli government, we endured countless exercises in futility at the U.S. Embassy while being followed by suspicious looking Arab agents carrying sub-machine guns.

The idea was to exhaust our resources by paying for useless, unnecessary documents and dealing with bureaucratic paperwork to delay the mission as much as possible. Plus, while waiting on the Egyptian government to deliberate these matters, which they had been made aware of months prior, we were not allowed to leave the vicinity of the hotel, which we were paying to be held hostage in!!

Was this the same place that U.S. President Barak Obama recently visited in a so-called attempt to ease relations precisely in this region? Is this a glaring example of political lip-service or what? The Viva Palestina group spent the next couple of restless days plotting, planning and strategizing around how we could heighten the pressure to free us from this Egyptian purgatory.

There were international demonstrations called in the U.S. and Britain in which people stampeded the embassies and flooded officials with phone calls. In the final analysis, even with all the efforts, we were still left with undesirable choices to make.

With some forces who had been in Egypt for up to seven days already with no success at breaking the siege on Gaza, we were now faced with the fact that the Egyptian government would not allow the resources we had gathered to bring into Gaza to cross the border. I am talking hundreds of thousands of dollars and pounds literally “jacked” from us!

“The road to Rafah, Viva Palestina …” – M-1

Some of these resources were in the form of two ambulances, many trucks full of food, medicine, wheelchairs and equipment, basic household needs, children’s books and school supplies and the list goes on and on! On top of that, we were now reduced from spending three days in Gaza to now only being given 24 hours to get in and out! It was pretty ridiculous if you can fathom it; however, in war we have to make decisions on our feet and move strategically.

With the leadership shift from Galloway to Charles Barron in the heated hours, and around-the-clock negotiations, it all came down to a final decision-making meeting in which all cards were placed on the table before everyone in the Viva Palestina caravan. In a room full of people from every walk of life: white, Black, Asian, Palestinian, Jew, rich, poor, political, non-political, uninformed, young , old, tired, adventurous and of course police planted agents, we had a discourse of which type I had never been a part of. And I am thankful for the seasoned leadership of Mr. Barron that helped to pull us through. At one point, there was even the “discovery” of an agent in that very meeting, which caused a huge conflagration that almost ended in physical harm to the snitch!

Our decision was to accept the offer made to us by the Egyptian government and bring some sense of hope to the Palestinian people who would be waiting on the other side of the Rafah border. And in the wee hours of the morning, we loaded up the vans and trucks with our people and our belongings and left the hostage hotel to embark on a six- to eight-hour caravan to the Gaza Strip.

The journey through the sand was remarkable. Only the pictures can describe these moments. On a comfortable chartered bus I daydreamed and listened to one the head organizers, Nancy, deejay to our anxiety and excitement. One of my favorite songs is the one that demanded us to “wave our kufiyas in the air!” which many of us wore. Even though they have become a passing fashion statement, we wore the red and white ones, and I felt extremely proud when the brothers got together to wave our Red, Black and Green Liberation flag in the immigration office as they chanted loud enough for the people to hear us on the other side in Gaza.

One thing I will never forget is the Palestinian people on the Egyptian side of the border who were not allowed to get back into their country since the embargo began. I felt unworthy of passing through the checkpoint as tears rolled down their faces and their children pleaded to be on the bus with us. I would have given up my seat in one second if it would not have compromised the mission.

As we endured a couple more hours of bureaucracy and finally made it to Palestinian land, many of us could not believe we were actually in the Gaza Strip. There was the warmest welcome planned even though they had prepared for this moment over a week ago. Who knows when their Israeli captors will allow the border to open again?

For all intents and purposes, we were visiting an open-air prison that is intended to never be given its human rights ever again! During the press conference and the hubbub, I saw many reactions to our arrival. There were families reunited and political opportunism ran amuck. Many of us were exhausted but elated to inhale the experience to the fullest. The next 24 hours would change my life …

Stay tuned for the finale …. Power to the People!

[Author’s note: The views I am expressing here are mine alone, and subject to input from all certain people who shared this experience. Please excuse any error in my recollection; it wasn’t done intentionally. Thank you.]

Learn more about M-1 and dead prez and their latest album, “Pulse of the People,” at www.deadprez.com and www.myspace.com/m1rbg. Join M-1 on his historic speaking tour Sept. 24-29, “From the Ghetto to Gaza” – six events in six days in East and West Oakland, San Francisco, Sonoma, San Jose and Santa Cruz to benefit BlockReportRadio.com and SFBayView.com. Contact Minister of Information JR at blockreportradio@gmail.com or the SF Bay View at (415) 671-0789 for more information

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News Tagged With: Cynthia Mckinney, Egypt, M-1, M-1 of Dead Prez launches from the Ghetto to Gaza Speaking Tour, M-1 of Dead Prez launches Speaking Tour from Gaza to the Ghetto, M1, Palestine

Kanye West vs George Bush-The Katrina Mix-We Remember

August 28, 2009 By mrDaveyd

daveydbanner

This is a Hip Hop audio mix that captures so of the thoughts sounds surounding the nation’s worst tragedy in history… In this mix you will hear from people like former Black Panther H. Rap Brown, rappers Juvenile & Master P, Mayor Ray Nagin, reporters Sam Sheppard and Geraldo Rivera and of course Kanye West and George Bush

Below is the link to the mix

logoKanyevsBush

Kanye West vs George Bush-The Katrina Mix

This is a audio mix that speaks for itself.. 5years ago.. Monday August 29 2005 Black America got her own 9-11. She was hit with an act of terrorism in New Orleans that was just as devastating if not more than what took place when those Twin Towers were felled by planes… Yes, you read that correctly.. Most people mistakenly believe that the city of New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Lets make sure folks understand this once and for all.. Much of neighboring Mississippi was destroyed by HurricaneKatrina which hit the state with its full level 5 impact.

New Orleans which was initially in the path of Hurricane Katrina was spared at the last moment… What hit New Orleans were winds that were around level 3.. The devastation that took place in New Orleans was the city’s levees broke and the entire 9th Ward and other parts of New Orleans was flooded. Did the winds break those levees? Was it the surge of rushing water? Thats what’s been suggested. That’s what then President George Bush told us.. Well here’s the deal.. New Orleans was hit by several acts of terrorism. It started on Monday August 29th 2009 when those levees bursted open..

We attended the International Tribunal for Hurricane Katrina and Ritain 2007 and heard 4 days worth of testamony from residents who were still displaced from their homes. This tribunal was one that was conveened by former Congress woman Cynthia McKinney and a number of organizations in New Orleans. There were a panel of judges who came from all over the world who listened in shock as horror story after horror story was told of what went down in the aftermath of Katrina. The most telling testamonies came from resident after resident who talked about hearing a number of large explosions nearwhere the levees were breached. Talk to the residents of the Lower 9th and they will tell you emphatically those levees were blown up. After hearing so many speak and documentaries made, where its been emphatically suggested that 9-11 was an inside job, why wouldn’t the blowing up of the levee fall under the same cloud?

But if that’s hard to swallow, lets look at the testamonies that came from engineers who did independent studies. Professor Robert Bea who headed up the engineering team from UC Berkeley spoke at the Tribunal and spoke for a couple of hours where he painstakenly showed how the levees were designed in such a way that they were ‘destined to fail’. So negligent were the designs that one could only conclude that it was deliberate-hence an act of domestic terrorism.

We heard the horric accounts of police shootings, and vigilante killings of Blacks by roving mobs of whites. Former Black Panther Malik Raheem put together a documentary where he captured white residents bragging how they had gone on pheasant hunts to shoot Blacks seeking refuge in one of the unflooded parts of the city. He estimated there were more than 200 killings. He showed bodies of Blacks who were shot in Algiers in his documentary ‘Welcome to New Orleans’

Again, the terrorism experienced came in the aftermath of Katrina here entire communities mainly poor Blacks were run out of the city with most never to return. I recall when San Franciso and the Bay Area was devasted by the 1989 earthquake. The entire Marina district in San Francisco home top the wealthy was destroyed. Within a year those houses were fixed. The Bay Bridge that collasped was fixed. The 880 highway that collasped was leveled and eventually replaced.. But the homes in West Oakland where the poor lived still had visible damage 5 years after the quake. In New Orleans 5 years after Katrina we still have the Lower 9th is disrepair and many of the folks still scattered around the country. If thats not terrorism what is?

something to ponder

-Davey D-

Return to Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Breakdown FM Interviews, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Breakdown FM-kanye West vs George Bush, Cynthia Mckinney, Geraldo Rivera, H. Rap Brown, Hurricane Katrina, Kanye West vs George Bush-The katrina Mix Breakdown FM, Kanye Wesy vs George Bush, Malik Raheem, Mayor Ray nagin, Professor Robert Bea

Cynthia McKinney, Charles Barron & M-1 of dead Prez Arrive in Gaza

July 16, 2009 By mrDaveyd

daveydbanner

More than 200 people came on to Gaza to bring humanatarian supplies.. New York City Councilman Charles Barron, Cynthia McKinney and M-1 were among the folks

http://www.vivapalestina-us.org/2009/07/we-are-in-gaza/

Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Viva Palestina USA arrived in Gaza with a convoy of desperately needed humanitarian aid. She traveled with a group of Rabbis, UK Member of Parliament George Gallaway, elected US officials and hundred of citizens of the United States.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/cynthia-mckinney-and-charles-barron-enter-gaza-relief-convoy

Cynthia McKinney and Charles Barron Enter Gaza on Relief Convoy
by BAR Editors

“The U.S. Embassy required American citizens to sign papers waiving their right to protection by their own government.”

M-1 of dead prez always represents for the people- photo-Next left Notes

After days of maddening delays by Egyptian and U.S. authorities, on Wednesday the Viva Palestine US caravan crossed from Egypt into the Gaza strip, home to 1.5 million besieged Palestinians. Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, New York City Councilman Charles Barron and Dead Prez rapper M-1 are among the 200 delegates who attempted to deliver hundreds of thousands of dollars in humanitarian aid. The Egyptians, who control the only non-Israeli entrance to Gaza, at the town of Rafah, reportedly prevented the activists from delivering some of the 47 vehicles purchased.

The activists have been warned they must leave Gaza in 24-hours, or will have to stay until the Egyptians open the border crossing for normal business. The Egyptians have been helping the Israelis enforce a blockade of Gaza since 2007.

The supplies are meant to aid recovery from Israel’s brutal December-January assault on Gaza in which at least 1,400 people died.

For McKinney, this is the third attempt to enter Gaza. She was a passenger in the relief vessel Dignity when it was rammed by the Israeli navy in international waters,

December 30. The heavily damaged craft was forced to limp into a Lebanese port. Then, in late June, McKinney and 20 other human rights activists were arrested when their boat Spirit of Humanity was boarded by the Israeli Navy on the high seas. McKinney spent days in an Israeli prison before being released, but within days was on her way to join the Viva Palestine US caravan, organized by British Member of Parliament George Galloway.

“The Egyptians government harassed the convoy at every opportunity.”

The American delegates were angered at the extent of U.S. government collaboration with Egyptian and Israeli efforts to frustrate the humanitarian mission. The U.S. Embassy required American citizens to sign papers waiving their right to protection by their own government should they enter Gaza. “This was not required in the first Gaza convoy nor was such an item required in the Free Gaza Movement,” said McKinney.

The Egyptians government, which gets more U.S. aid than any foreign government other than Israel, harassed the convoy at every opportunity, roughing up delegates on the bridge at the Suez Canal. Meanwhile, two Israeli destroyers ostentatiously passed through the canal on Tuesday heading to the Red Sea. Israeli sources say the warships are on a mission to stop arms smuggling to Gaza.

On Tuesday, McKinney and Barron sent the following letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

Dear Mr. President
Dear Madam Secretary
Viva Palestina USA, a humanitarian relief effort for Gaza, is now in Egypt and requests your immediate assistance. We were supposed to have arrived in Gaza on Monday, July 13, 2009, but our arrival into Gaza was delayed because our departure from Cairo, Egypt was delayed by at least two days. Last-minute bureaucratic questions and additional requirements caused the delay. The people of Gaza can’t wait.

You have noted that Israel’s siege of Gaza should be eased and medical supplies should be allowed in. We are implementing what you reportedly put into writing. The people of Gaza need your help and we have important assistance for them. Please contact the Egyptian authorities and ask them to let Viva Palestina USA humanitarian assistance proceed through the Rafah crossing. We need your help today so that we can help the people of Gaza rebuild their lives devastated by occupation and brutal invasion McKinney and Barron signed the letter on behalf of “200 Viva Palestina USA volunteers and thousands of Viva Palestina USA donors.”

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Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Charles Barron -davey d hip hop news, Charles Barron & M-1 of dead Prez Arrive in Gaza, Cynthia Mckinney, George Gallaway, M-1 arrives in gaza, Viva Palestina USA

Cynthia Mckinney Kidnapped & Detained by Israeli Government-Free Cynthia McKinney

June 30, 2009 By mrDaveyd

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CynthiaMckinneyred-225 Green Party: President Obama and the US State Dept. must demand release of Cynthia McKinney and 20 other human rights activists on Free Gaza relief boat seized by Israeli gunboats
• The Free Gaza’s ‘Spirit of Humanity’ was delivering medical and other supplies following Obama’s call for relief to wartorn Gaza; the boat was in international waters

WASHINGTON, DC — Green Party leaders are calling on the White House and US State Department to intervene and demand the immediate release of 21 human rights activists, including former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney and Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire, who were taken prisoner by the Israeli navy after gunboats surrounded and seized the Free Gaza Movement relief boat ‘Spirit of Humanity’ on Monday.
“This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip,” said Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 candidate for President of the United States. “President Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that’s exactly what we tried to do. We’re asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey.”
Read Cynthia McKinney’s latest statement here: http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/970-call-off-your-attack-dogs-cynthia-mckinney
Ms. McKinney had earlier sent appeals to President Obama and the State Department for assurances of protection for the relief mission. The Spirit of Humanity was sailing in international waters when it was seized. Greens stressed that the relief boat represents no threat to Israel and must be allowed to continue its voyage to Gaza.
For more information and updates, see the Free Gaza Movement web site (http://www.freegaza.org), including the latest release on the seizure of the relief boat (http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/hope-fleet-news/976-israel-attacks-justice-boat-kidnaps-human-rights-workers-confiscates-medicine-toys-and-olive-trees).
For communications and updates from Cynthia McKinney, visit her Green Party page (http://www.gp.org/cynthia/index.php) and blog (http://dignity.ning.com).
The Spirit of Humanity was carrying medical supplies, cement, olive trees, and children’s toys to Gaza after the Israeli invasion in December and January damaged or destroyed 50,000 homes, 800 industrial properties and 200 schools damaged or destroyed, 39 mosques, and two churches. The supplies were confiscated by the Israeli navy.
The Green Party of the United States condemned the invasion and massacre of Palestinians and has endorsed the call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel until the Israeli government guarantees full human rights, including political rights and democracy, for all Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis.

MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information: http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
• International Committee of the Green Party: http://www.gp.org/committees/intl
Green Party releases:
• “Breaking news: Cynthia McKinney aboard detained Free Gaza Movement relief boat,” June 25, 2009 http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=228
• “Greens join Global Day of Action for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions on March 30 to end the Israeli occupation,” March 26, 2009 http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=192
• “Green Party: Israel-Palestine truce must include end of Israeli occupation and observance of international law or violence is likely to resume,” January 19, 2009 http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=169
2009 Annual National Meeting of the Green Party, Durham, NC, July 23-26 http://www.gp.org/2009-ANM
• North Carolina page http://ncgreenparty.org/2009-ANM.html
• Media credentialing page http://www.gp.org/forms/media
Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog

EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION
Against Israeli Piracy & Kidnapping
Free Cynthia McKinney and all kidnapped human rights workers!

WEDNESDAY 4-6 PM

at the

ISRAELI MISSION
800 Second Avenue
(Second Avenue @ 43rd St.)

Last night, Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel.

The seizure of humanitarian supplies and abduction of human rights workers is an act of piracy, a crime under international law. When the boat was attacked, it was not in Israeli waters and was on a human rights mission to Gaza. Israel’s deliberate and premeditated attack on an unarmed boat in international waters is a clear violation of international law. Join us tomorrow from 4 to 6 pm at the Israeli Mission to demand an immediate and unconditional release of the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, all 21 human rights workers, and the humanitarian supplies.

According to an International Committee of the Red Cross report released yesterday, the Palestinians living in Gaza are “trapped in despair.” Thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed earlier during Israel’s December/January massacre are still without shelter despite pledges of almost $4.5 billion in aid, because Israel refuses to allow cement and other building material into the Gaza Strip. The report also notes that hospitals are struggling to meet the needs of their patients due to Israel’s disruption of medical supplies.
Let the Humanitarian Aid through!
Free Cynthia McKinney and all kidnapped human rights workers!
Stop the blockade of Gaza!

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~ END ~

Filed Under: 2009-Daily Hip Hop News, Political articles, Southern Shift Tagged With: Cynthia Mckinney, Cynthia Mckinney Arrested & Detained by Isreali Government-Free Cynthia McKinney, Cynthia Mckinney Kidnapped & Detained by Israeli Government-Free Cynthia McKinney, Davey D Hip Hop Corner June 30 2009, Davey D Hip Hop news June 30, Free Gaza Movement, Gaza, Green Party, Isreal, Noble laureate Mairead Maguire, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY

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