March 8, 2010
The founders of the U.S. did not like corporations and for the first few decades of the existence of this nation, corporations were only given limited “privileges” and not “rights.” But after the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1868 – which extended equal protection under the law to all male citizens of the U.S regardless of race – attorneys for the corporations recognized the opportunity that had been gifted to them and started to scheme for corporate personhood.
Back on the front burner! The Obama White House has taken the “bull by the horns” in an effort to move the momentum of national health reform forward in the midst of stagnation, charges of political corruption and back room deal making and a shifting tide of public opinion regarding the need for massive overhaul of our nation’s health care system.
Tags:
Ahimsa Porter Sumchai M.D.,
antitrust exemption,
Attorney General Jerry Brown,
economist Ben Stein,
increase insurance premium rates by 39 percent,
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner,
Langston Hughes,
national health reform,
Obama administration,
Obama White House,
private health care industry,
uncompensated care for the uninsured,
WellPoint Inc.
March 7, 2010
It is time for a revolution. Government does not work for regular people. It appears to work quite well for big corporations, banks, insurance companies, military contractors, lobbyists, and for the rich and powerful. But it does not work for people.
Tags:
AIG,
Bank of America,
bank repossessions,
Bear Stearns,
Bill Quigley,
Center for Constitutional Rights,
Citigroup,
Declaration of Independence,
Fannie Mae,
foreclosure,
Freddie Mac,
giant triplets of racism materialism and militarism,
illegal torture,
Martin Luther King Jr.,
military bases,
Pentagon,
radical revolution of values,
registered lobbyists,
silence is betrayal,
surveillance,
the auto industry,
Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP),
U.S. revolution,
Wall Street
February 25, 2010
In the depths of a near-Depression, the Vermont Senate on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for health and safety over jobs and tax revenue when it chose not to renew Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s operating license when it expires in 2012.
Tags:
ABC News,
Amherst College,
Arnie Gunderson,
Beyond Nuclear,
Bob Nichols,
Cathy Garger,
Conservation Law Foundation,
Entergy,
loan guarantees,
Mount Holyoke College,
Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS),
nuclear reactors designed to leak,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
President Obama,
radioactive reactor coolant,
radioactive tritium,
State Attorney General William Sorrell,
tritium,
Vermont Public Interest Research Group,
Vermont Senate,
Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant
February 20, 2010
These short but moving statements of solidarity with the family of Oscar Grant come from parents whose children were also murdered by police. Let’s spread the word to every mayor, city council and police department in the country that the days when police could murder young Black men – or anyone – with impunity are over!
Tags:
"I am Oscar Grant",
Allene Person,
BART Officer Tony Pirone,
BART police officer Johannes Mehserle,
Black media,
Juanita Young,
Kathie Cheng,
Los Angeles media,
Malcolm Ferguson,
Nicholas Heyward Jr.,
Nicholas Heyward Sr.,
Oscar Grant,
Oscar Grant's family,
Timur Person
February 18, 2010
Taking a first step toward “creating an economy of inclusion,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has unveiled his administration’s long anticipated Economic Opportunity Strategic Plan. By July 2011, the mayor said, he would like to see 25 percent of the city’s spending on contracts going to disadvantaged businesses, including 14 percent for African-Americans.
Tags:
Black newspapers,
Carl Singley,
city’s participation goals,
Deputy Commerce Director Kevin Dow,
disabled-owned businesses,
disadvantaged business participation in city contracts,
Economic Opportunity Strategic Plan,
economy of inclusion,
Eric Mayes,
jobs in neighborhoods,
Mayor Michael Nutter,
minority participation,
minority-owned businesses,
National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA),
Office of Economic Opportunity,
Patricia Coulter,
Pennsylvania Convention Center,
Philadelphia Tribune,
unemployment,
Urban League of Philadelphia,
women-owned businesses
February 17, 2010
The U.S. Justice Dept. refuses to charge the NYPD officers who murdered Sean Bell on his wedding day in 2006. We can’t let this happen again; it’s ON US to get Oscar Grant’s killer cops convicted of murder! Minister of Information JR is hosting two events on two days, tonight in West Oakland and tomorrow in Los Angeles.
Tags:
Attorney General Eric Holder,
Boyce Watkins,
Cephus “Uncle Bobby” Johnson,
criminal justice system,
Dedon Kamathi,
insufficient evidence,
Jack Bryson,
Kaos Network,
Keisha Brunston,
Michael Oliver,
Minister Keith Muhammad,
Minister of Information JR,
Movement for Justice for Oscar Grant,
Nicole Paultre-Bell,
NYPD officers,
Oscar Grant,
Oscar Grant’s killer cops,
POCC Chairman Fred Hampton Jr.,
police intimidation,
President Barack Obama,
Rev. Al Sharpton,
Sean Bell,
Sean Bell’s killer cops,
Thandisizwe Chimurenga,
violation of Black civil rights,
William Bell
February 15, 2010
On Thursday, Feb. 11, Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother of an infant son, was informed she would be granted an administrative discharge from the Army. “I don’t know why they didn’t give her an honorable discharge,” her mother said. “Other single parents they’ve discharged got one. … it’s going to be a hard situation for her.”
Tags:
Afghanistan,
Angelique Hughes,
Army day care,
Army is not really friendly to families,
Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson,
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Phillips,
childcare plans,
Courage to Resist,
court-martial,
Dahr Jamail,
deployment,
general discharge,
Hunter Army Airfield Military Reservation,
Jeff Paterson,
Kamani,
military families,
Oakland,
parenthood responsibility,
Rai Sue Sussman,
single mother,
treated unfairly,
“Other Than Honorable” discharge
The distribution of federal funds to state, county and municipal governments and the distribution of political power at every level of government depend on the Census. With only a short time until Census Day – April 1, 2010 – improving the accuracy of the 2010 Census is of critical importance to the Black Diaspora. We cannot afford to be excluded from the count again in 2010.
Tags:
2000 Census,
2010 Census,
BE COUNTED Center,
Census Bureau,
Census Day April 1,
Census information,
Census taker,
Count on Change 2010,
distribution of federal funds,
distribution of political power,
John Payton,
LDF,
NAACP,
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,
National Coalition on Black Civic Participation,
National Urban League,
temporary employees,
U.S. Census Bureau,
undercounted
February 7, 2010
The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl 44. I can’t believe I’m even typing the words. Four and a half years ago, after the levees broke, the concern was not whether there would be a Saints, but whether there would even be a New Orleans.
Tags:
Algiers,
Crescent City,
Dave Zirin,
displacement,
Education Secretary Arne Duncan,
former Black Panther Malik Rahim,
French Quarter,
Hurricane Katrina,
Louisiana Superdome,
New Orleans,
New Orleans Saints,
Ninth Ward,
Peyton Manning,
President Barack Obama,
Quarterback Drew Brees,
Scott Fujita,
Sean Payton,
Speaker of the House Republican Rep. Dennis Hastert,
Super Bowl champs,
Tim and Pam Tebow
February 5, 2010
Cynthia McKinney sets the theme for Black Resistance to Police Terrorism Month, marked by five events in two weeks – four in Oakland, on Feb. 7, 17, 21 and 22, and one on Oscar Grant in Los Angeles, on Feb. 18, the eve of killer cop Mehserle’s Feb. 19 hearing – featuring your favorite speakers coming to Cali from around the country. And pack the courtroom Feb. 22, 8:30 a.m., 1225 Fallon, Oakland, for Minister of Information JR’s trial. Free JR!
Tags:
Afghanistan,
Amadou Diallo,
André Shepherd,
Aryan Nations,
Atlanta Police Department (APD),
bachelor party,
Black and Latino communities,
conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death,
Cynthia McKinney,
Dr. Justine McCabe,
Eighth Munich International Peace Conference,
FBI Special Agent Andrew Arena,
Filiberto Ojeda Rios,
Free Gaza activists,
Gaza,
Georgia congresswoman,
Green Party,
Green Party of the United States,
Green Party presidential candidate,
hate crime,
Kathryn Johnston,
Kevin Harris,
killer cops,
manslaughter,
Marijuana,
Munich American Peace Committee (MAPC),
Munich Peace Conference,
narcotics officers,
NATO,
New York Police Department (NYPD),
Nobel Peace Committee,
Obama Justice Department,
Oscar Grant,
Oscar Grant New Year’s Day murder,
peace prize,
Peace through Conscience award,
perjury,
police terrorism,
President Obama,
Puerto Rican Independentista,
racial profiling,
Randy Weaver,
Ruby Ridge,
Sammy Weaver,
Sean Bell,
shot in back,
shot in genitals,
troop surge,
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
violation of civil rights,
white supremacist organization,
wrongful death,
“no-knock” warrant
January 21, 2010
1) Lennar paid federal lobbyists $240,000 to win them a $320 million cash bailout characterized as a retroactive tax refund. 2) In the accounting for its fourth quarter report, announced on Jan. 7, 2010, Lennar used $284.9 million of the $320 million to offset its quarter losses. 3) Lennar then reported the remaining $35.6 million as profit, earned income. 4) Taxpayers, yet again, footed the bill.
Tags:
AIG,
Ann Garrison,
bioremediation,
create green jobs,
credit default swaps,
derivatives,
earned income profit,
Eric Rosenbaum,
extend unemployment benefits,
federal bailout for big industrial homebuilder-lenders,
foreclosure and distressed real estate,
forest restoration,
Gretchen Morgenson,
higher education,
Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009,
Lennar Corp.,
lobbyists,
mortgage-backed securities,
New York Times,
predatory lending and foreclosure,
private prison realty,
public transportation,
real estate investment trusts,
recession,
retroactive tax refund,
San Francisco Board of Supervisors,
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom,
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
Sigmund Freud,
solar installation,
tax credit,
tax refund,
Too Big to Not Build tax bailout plan,
trickledown economics,
Worker,
“jobless recovery”
January 18, 2010
A new report released today finds that African Americans and Latinos are experiencing the brunt of the economic recession, from joblessness to foreclosures, and that targeted economic policies are required to address the racial economic divide in the U.S.
Tags:
Ajamu Dillahunt,
Black communities in crisis,
Brian Miller,
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC),
economic inequality,
economic policies,
economic recession,
flu epidemic,
Foreclosures,
gaps of income and wealth between races,
income,
joblessness,
Martin Luther King Day,
Martin Luther King Jr. Day report,
Mazher Ali,
Mike Prokosch,
poverty,
racial disparities,
racial economic divide,
unemployment,
unemployment statistics,
United for a Fair Economy,
wealth,
“State of the Dream 2010: Drained – Jobless and Foreclosed in Communities of Color”
In the spirit of Dr. King and guided by Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee, the SF Bay View and Block Report Radio are preparing to send a media-medical team to Haiti to serve the people most in need. A fundraiser will be held Sunday, Jan. 24, 6:30 p.m., at the Black Dot Café, 1195 Pine St. in West Oakland. Spread the word! Be there! Bring medical supplies.
Tags:
African American sanitation workers,
American firepower,
Ben Jealous,
Benjamin Todd Jealous,
Black Dot Café,
Block Report Radio,
broader distribution of wealth,
capitalistic economy,
Civil Rights Movement,
Cornel West,
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Ebenezer Baptist Church,
economic democracy,
equal opportunity for all humankind,
equality,
Haiti Action Committee,
Haiti and Latin America,
Haitian-Americans,
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,
justice,
King legacy,
Martin Luther King Day,
NAACP,
Nobel Peace Prize,
Obama presidency,
Peace,
Pierre Labossiere,
racial and economic justice,
scourge of poverty,
SF Bay View,
silence of our friends,
unionized workers,
Vietcong-inflicted injury,
Vietnam war
January 13, 2010
In response to “Why are no Blacks working?” by Bay Area Black Builders President Joseph Debro that appeared in print and online in the SF Bay View, Tom Owens, a high level official with the AFL-CIO Construction Trades Department, sent the following message via email to Debro. Debro’s emailed rebuttal follows.
Tags:
AFL-CIO Construction Trades Department,
African American workers,
Associated Builders and Contractors,
Bay Area Black Builders,
Bay Area Black Builders President Joseph Debro,
disadvantaged communities,
hiring hall agreement,
National Association of Minority Contractors,
open-shop business model,
Port of Oakland Project Labor Agreement,
prevailing wages,
right-to-work states,
skilled trades apprenticeship programs,
Tom Owens,
union construction,
Visitacion Valley Community Development Corp.
The idiotic controversy that is the focus of the nation’s media and which claims Nevada Sen. Harry Reid uttered racist comments is mind boggling in its obtuseness. Democrats and honest Republicans, white and Black, cannot seem to gather the moral energy and mental clarity to call the Republicans who are promoting this issue by their true name: demagogues.
Tags:
Barack Obama,
Black Alliance for Just Immigration,
Black Studies,
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein,
Ebonics,
Flava Fav,
hymietown,
International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
Jean Damu,
Jesse Jackson,
John Heilmann,
light skinned,
Mark Halperin,
National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA),
Negro dialect,
Nevada Sen. Harry Reid,
racism,
Republican demagoguery,
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele,
Sen. Strom Thurmond,
Snoop Dogg,
Southern strategy,
Trent Lott
January 11, 2010
It has been one year since Oscar Grant was brutally murdered by BART policeman Johannes Mehserle. The power of the people of Oakland and the Bay Area has ensured that he is standing trial for murder and not getting away unscathed as is the normal practice in police killings and brutality of our community members.
Tags:
Aidge Patterson,
Anita Gay,
Black Dot,
Cynthia McKinney,
Gary King,
Holly Works,
Johannes Mehserle,
Judge Jacobson,
Judge Robert Perry,
LA Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant,
Lesley Tiyesha Phillips,
Minister of Information JR,
Oakland Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant,
Oakland Cop Watch,
Oakland Rebellions,
Oscar Grant,
Pan African Film Festival,
police brutality,
police killings,
police sweep,
“Operation Small Axe”
More than 40 people representing a diverse cross section of Los Angeles communities met at Chuco’s Justice Center Jan. 3 to plan for the press conference and protest on Jan. 8. Coming together as the Los Angeles Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant, they were united by at least two common threads: outrage at the slaying of Grant and a belief that Mehserle should be convicted of murder.
Tags:
Aidge Patterson,
Alameda Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay,
Anakbayan L.A.,
Chuco’s Justice Center,
Deandre Brunston,
Johannes Mehserle,
John Burris,
Joshua and Jedi Jimenez,
Kayla De Los Reyes,
Keishia Brunston,
L.A. County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry,
Los Angeles Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant,
Michael Rains,
Michelle Lolles,
Oscar Grant,
Thandisizwe Chimurenga
January 9, 2010
On Friday’s Hard Knock Radio and Flashpoints shows on KPFA at 4 and 5 p.m., Minister of Information JR reported straight out of Los Angeles on the first pre-trial hearing since the murder case of Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer who executed Oscar Grant, was moved there from Oakland.
Tags:
acquittal of police,
BART police,
Block Report Radio,
Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center,
Flashpoints,
Hard Knock Radio,
Johannes Mehserle,
killer cop,
KPFA,
KTLA News reporter Lynette Romero,
Mary Ratcliff,
Minister of Information JR,
Oakland Tribune columnist Tammerlin Drummond,
Oscar Grant,
police terrorism,
Prisoners of Conscience Committee,
Rodney King,
San Francisco Bay View,
Simi Valley,
Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson
January 6, 2010
Lynne Stewart is one of the last of a dying breed of political lawyers who represent victims of government tyranny as her quest in life. Now she is one of America’s newest political prisoners. She represented people like Larry Davis and members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, among other high profile cases.
Tags:
Bill Kunstler,
Black Liberation Army,
Black Panther Party,
Black rights,
blind Muslim sheik,
civil rights struggle,
community control,
economic political prisoners,
equal rights for Black people,
Harlem,
human rights struggle,
inner cities,
Larry Davis,
Lynne Stewart,
Minister of Information JR,
Mumia Abu Jamal,
Ohio 7,
political lawyer,
public works,
quality education,
Richard Williams,
skin privilege,
Weather Underground,
World Trade Center
English