I have been scrambling for the past two weeks. So much is going on and I've come to realize that I'm just one person and if I spread myself too thin, I run out of time and miss deadlines. I hope you've been keeping up with me online. I know, I know, some of you are so resistant to technology, but I'm patient.

Since the last issue, our brothers of the San Francisco 8 held at 850 Bryant have been released, all but two - hurray! In the Jena 6 case, the state appeal court overturned Mychal Bell's charge as an adult, another point for the justice side. There is a lot left to be done, so the rally is still on Thursday, Sept. 20, but it's a lot better than it was. People are encouraged to wear all black that day in solidarity with the Jena 6.

We might be celebrating the release of Herman Wallace soon if his buddy Robert King has anything to say about it. Remember in Herman Wallace's case, the commissioner in the district court of Baton Rouge ruled in a hearing in State Court that Wallace hadn't received a fair trial and recommended that his case be overturned.

This means, according to King, a new trial, "but Judge Michael Erwin," he said, "who has shown bias in the past concerning Herman, continues to show the same trend by sitting on the recommendation. The judge should have adopted or rejected this recommendation 30 days after the commissioner's finding. Instead he sat on it for nearly a year, sending the case into limbo. The press conference is necessary to bring attention to the case. We want it to happen in the next couple of weeks."

Another thing that happened a couple of weeks ago was the death of Angola 3 supporter Anita Roddick, who had a massive stroke while dining with her husband Gordon. When the late Anita Roddick, creator of The Body Shop, and her husband heard about the Angola 3 - Albert Woodfox, Herman Wallace and Robert King Wilkerson, who'd all been imprisoned for 30 years at that point, 29 in solitary confinement - Roddick and her husband became supporters. (See Anita Roddick's last story on the Angola 3 and a tribute to her at www.sfbayview.com.)

Now that Roddick is dead, the family requests in lieu of flowers and gifts, people send money to Angola 3 defense fund. Visit www.anitaroddick.com/readmore.php?sid=36.

I remember when I first heard of A-3. It was when Marina Drummer, an activist and philanthropist here in the San Francisco Bay Area, another longtime A-3 supporter, sold her house and dedicated her life and resources to freeing these three brothers from prison.

Healing in Oakland

I spent the past weekend with other San Francisco Bay Area Africans in a retreat

Zimbabwean elder Mandaza Kandemwa performs a healing. Photo: Wanda Sabir

What was so wonderful about the Oakland Muuyu Dare Group formation was the space we created between us to be able to talk freely. We didn't always agree; yet, since we knew each of us had the best intentions for African people at heart, we could hear each other and agree to let the ancestors' spirit guide us. How often do Africans get together and hear each other's dreams?

Sister Annette's Sunday morning was a prophecy. In her dream, she was homeless. And that morning the group encountered three situations where people lost their homes. One woman saw us seated at the picnic table and asked us if she could pray with us. The other I brought of the destroyed Ausar Auset Center at 5272 Foothill at Fairfax, which had been hit by a car during the weekly sideshows on the street late at night.

The wall was gone, and when I arrived at 8 a.m., bumpers, glass and other traces of the car the police pulled out earlier were left, along with passenger and driver caps and socks. Iron gates were twisted in odd shapes. One wondered what speed the driver was traveling to have completely knocked out a wall, its ceramic tiled border, the corner blocks and, as I said, the heavy gate.

Neter Aameri and other members of the Ausar Auset Society were inside the debris covered room. Dust covered everything, books and vitamins lay on the floor, tables were inside shattered display cases. The two men were taking inventory while they waited for the owner to come and survey the damage. He never showed up by evening when I checked back, nor had he arrived Tuesday when I spoke to Neter Aameri that afternoon.

Neighbors came over to commiserate as I took notes and photos. All had a story to

The Ausar Auset Society was severely damaged, losing $50,000 to $75,000 in inventory, which was not covered by insurance. To help, call (510) 533-5306. Photo: Wanda Sabir

Minister Keith Muhammad who was at the mosque across the street from Ausar Auset, said the youth who drive recklessly for fun have no respect for life. We'd just been talking about this at the retreat - Mandaza said that the cheap value Africans place on each other's lives is not unique to Africans in America.

Witnesses said the driver and the unconscious passenger were picked up and driven away. I haven't heard anything regarding capture of the suspects. No one except the victims had any sympathy for the suspects. When I left they were looking for the blessing hidden in the rubble.

You can send the Ausar Auset Society donations; they didn't have insurance to cover their inventory loss, which was estimated between $50,000 and $75,000. For information, you can reach them at (510) 533-5306.

Ramadan Mubarak! Blessed Month of Fasting!

Maafa Awareness Month

The month set aside here in the San Francisco Bay Area to reflect on the legacy of slavery, its residual psychological effects and how America can heal from the trauma, approaches. Save the date: Sunday, Oct. 7, for the invitational sunrise ceremony at San Francisco Ocean Beach. The commemoration is for people of African descent. Related events are open to the entire community.

We'll be having pre-Maafa events at the Family Resource House of Unity and The Black New World. There are other events planned following the ritual at Ocean Beach, like the film and discussion at the San Francisco Main Library, Sunday, Oct, 28, 1-5 p.m. Stay tuned for the complete schedule, and come out. Visit www.maafasfbayarea.com for information or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it You can also call (641) 715-3900, ext. 36800.

Wangari Maathai speaks with Michael Krasny

City Arts and Lectures presents Wangari Maathai, Thursday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m., at the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco. Maathai, the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, a grassroots environmental, non-governmental organization which has planted over 30 million trees across Kenya. She is the author of "Unbowed: A Memoir." For ticket information, call (415) 392-4400.

"The planting of trees is the planting of ideas," Maathai has said. Maathai and GBM established a Pan African Green Belt Network in 1986, creating similar tree planting initiatives all over Africa. She is a member of Kenya's Parliament and president of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council.

50th Anniversary of the Little Rock 9

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, Sept. 25, 1957, HBO premiers a documentary by Little Rock natives Craig and Brent Renaud, which looks at the school 50 years later. Ironically, it is just as separate as it was before Black children were allowed in, only this time the separation is both economic and educational.

Most of the Black kids enter the high school unprepared for the academic challenges and they fail. The once affluent neighborhood looks abandoned with boarded-up houses, rundown streets and the emergence of a drug culture where Black on Black crime mirrors the urban formula found here in Oakland, Bayview Hunters Point and elsewhere.

"Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later" shows the viewer that justice and equality are as far off today as they were when the high school students agreed to risk their lives for future generations. The one veteran of the civil rights movement looked like she was about to cry when she visited a classroom where the Blacks were in one room and the whites in the opposite.
For information about the film and the viewing schedule, visit www.hbo.com/docs/programs/littlerockcentral/index.html. The film screens Sept. 25, 11 p.m.

Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary

Here comes the Monterey Jazz Festival, Friday-Sunday, Sept. 21-23, www.montereyjazzfestival.org/artists/arena.htm or call (925) 275-9255. Featured artists for this 50th anniversary are John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension, Dave Holland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter, Eric Harland, Issac Delgado, Los Lobos, Otis Taylor Band, James Hunter, Diana Krall and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra with special guest Kenny Burrell premiering "Monterey Moods," Terence Blanchard Quintet with Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra premiering "Requiem for Katrina," Ornette Coleman 3 Bass Quintet, Next Generation Jazz Orchestra with artist-in-residence Terence Blanchard, Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Winning Big Band from the Next Generation Festival hosted by Mort Sahl, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck Quartet with special guest Jim Hall, and the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary All-Stars with Terence Blanchard, Nnenna Freelon, Benny Green, James Moody, Kendrick Scott and Derrick Hodge.

‘Shakespeare's Lost Masterpiece' opens

Larry Allen's play was read earlier this year to rave reviews. The play tells the story of a homeless man who has an original handwritten manuscript of William Shakespeare, a manuscript a professor of renaissance literature wants. It's said to be a tragic comedy of errors. Michael Lange directs the play and Lonnie Ford is cast as the homeless man. The play continues through Sept. 28. The Bay Area Repertory Theatre (BayART) is located in the Malonga Center, 1428 Alice St., Oakland.

Visit www.bayarearep.org or call (510) 464-3086. BayART is a new emerging theatre founded by James Brooks, Winston Young and Michael Lange. Since OET closed, there hasn't been a strong Black theatre presence in Oakland.

Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit her website, www.wandaspicks.com, for an expanded version of Wanda's Picks and for exciting "web exclusives." This print edition is an abbreviated version of Wanda's Picks; all she wrote will be posted to www.sfbayview.com. The omitted portions are not to be missed!

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