March 11, 2010
The BMW – Black Man Working – campaign is underway. It is no longer acceptable to take money out of our community without putting some back. We will make this an uncomfortable business environment for those who do not return community benefits as we define them. The Bay Area Black Builders meet Saturday, March 13, 12 noon, at 1099 Sunnydale, SF – contractors, workers, jobseekers welcome.
Tags:
African American males,
African-American contractors,
Bay Area Black Builders,
Black communities,
Black Man Working campaign,
Black men incarcerated,
BMW (Black Man Working),
community benefits,
construction,
crimes of desperation,
criminal injustice system,
Donald Earl Harris aka Focuz,
Focuz Speakz Freely,
hard hats,
labor surplus,
Mother’s Day,
outside construction companies,
prison industrial complex,
uncomfortable business environment,
undereducated,
unemployed,
untrained,
work force discrimination
People charged with drug offenses in San Francisco may have their cases dropped or convictions overturned due to alleged evidence tampering and substandard conditions in the police crime lab, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced Wednesday. Those arrested prior to 2008, however, may never be able to get a fair trial, since all drug evidence has since been destroyed.
March 8, 2010
The dirt is in the details. Dirty early transfer, dirty development, dirty politics is not the answer to any of the conditions that plague Bayview Hunters Point or San Francisco as a whole. Now it is our call, our time to get involved to say no to the dirty onslaught upon BVHP and San Francisco.
Tags:
asbestos,
Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase II Development Plan Project Draft Environmental Impact Report,
dirty early transfer,
early transfer – transfer before cleanup is complete,
EARTHWORKS,
environmental justice movement,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Environmental Protection Agency’s Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC),
heavy metals,
hydrocarbons,
MacArthur Genius Award recipient,
Naturally occurring asbestos (NOA),
Nyese Joshua,
PCBs,
pesticides,
radionuclides,
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
short fibers v. long fibers,
volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds,
Wilma Subra
“How can I learn who I can be, when I don’t even know who I am? Ethnic Studies provides me the foundations to learn who I AM!” declared Monet Wilson, a Y-MAC leader at Balboa High School. The San Francisco School Board’s unanimous vote marks a victory for Ethnic Studies in high schools 40 years after the historic trail-blazing fight that brought Ethnic Studies to San Francisco State.
Tags:
Balboa High School,
Chinatown Community Development Center,
Coleman Advocates,
Ethnic Studies,
Filipino Community Center,
HOMEY,
mainstream history textbooks,
Monet Wilson,
Pinoy Education Partnership,
POWER,
San Francisco Board of Education,
San Francisco State University,
San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD),
Y-MAC
March 6, 2010
According to documents recently released online by the Office of the City Manager in Berkeley, the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) may receive kickbacks from a local non-profit housing developer in a scheme to privatize, revitalize and sell off its public housing. The scheme involves a vice president of consultant ICF International. Berkeley’s public housing residents oppose the sale of their housing and invite the public to join them Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Intercity Services, 3269 Adeline St., Berkeley.
Tags:
3x3 Committee,
3x3 member Jesse Arreguin,
affordable housing,
affordable housing strategies,
Assemblymember Nancy Skinner,
Bay Area Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area Clinic,
Becky O’Malley,
Berkeley City Council,
Berkeley City Manager’s Office,
Berkeley Councilman Moore,
Berkeley Daily Planet,
Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA),
Berkeley’s public housing residents,
BHA Chair Carole Norris,
BHA Commissioner Adolph Moody,
BHA consultants Scott Jepson and Eric Novak,
BHA Executive Director Tia Ingram,
Carole Norris,
City Manager Phil Kamlarz,
City of Berkeley,
community development,
conflict of interest,
conflicts of interest,
corruption complaint,
Councilmember Darryl Moore,
Eric Novak of the Praxis Consulting Group,
HUD assisted programs,
ICF International,
ICF International subsidiary ICF Macro,
ICF’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) team,
Keith Carlisle,
kickback schemes,
LIPH (low-income public housing) program,
low-income neighborhood revitalization,
Mayor Tom Bates,
Office of the City Manager in Berkeley,
Polly Quick of ICF International,
privatize public housing,
Project-Based Section 8,
Residents Awareness in Action,
Scott Jepson of the EJP Consulting Group,
Section 8 program,
sell off public housing
March 5, 2010
A “Celebration of the Remarkable Life and Work of Frank S. Greene Jr., Ph.D.,” will be held Saturday, March 6. The ceremony begins at 1:30 at Santa Clara University Mission Church, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, and will be followed by a reception at 2:30 in the Williman Room of Benson Memorial Center. Greene removed countless barriers for Blacks in technology and business and expanded opportunities in those fields for young people.
Tags:
100 Black Men of America,
Albert Dotson Jr.,
Arthur J. Greene M.D.,
Congresswoman Barbara Lee,
David Packard,
Debra Watkins,
Fairchild Semiconductor Research and Development Labs,
Fr. Paul Locatelli S.J.,
Frank Greene Scholars Program,
Frank S. Greene,
Frank S. Greene III,
Hattie Carwell,
high-speed semiconductor computer-memory systems,
Howard Gray,
Hugh Burroughs,
integrated circuit patent,
James Hill III,
Jennifer Andaluz,
NewVista Capital,
Robert Johnson,
Robert Noyce,
Silicon Valley Engineering Council,
Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame,
Stanford University,
Technology Development Corp.,
William Hewlett,
William Kindricks,
ZeroOne Systems Inc.
February 25, 2010
No notice has been paid to the root causes of violence in the Black community. On CBS5, I suggested unemployment in the Black community is directly related to Black people being locked out of the public works construction and that white people might be in danger working in a Black community without a diversified crew.
Tags:
Bay Area Black Builders,
bio-chemical engineer,
Black man working,
Black unemployment,
City/Lennar Draft Environmental Impact Report,
construction lockout,
economic opportunity,
EPA,
Fillmore,
general engineering contractor,
government cheese,
Hayes Valley,
Hunters Point,
Hunters Point Shipyard,
Joseph Debro,
Kabuki,
Lennar,
National Association of Minority Contractors,
non-diverse work crews,
police occupying force,
poor Black population,
public works construction lockout,
San Francisco Examiner,
San Francisco police,
Section 8 housing,
Third Street rail,
unlock the doors to economic opportunity,
Vis Valley,
Visitacion Valley Community Development Corp.,
Western Addition,
white ex-cops,
white ex-cops working for Lennar,
white workers
February 22, 2010
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors proposes to cut General Assistance (GA) beginning April 1, 2010, to only three months of every year to thousands of unemployed workers living in poverty. Pack the press conference, rally and meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to protest these cuts on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 9 a.m., 1221 Oak St., Oakland.
Tags:
Alameda County Board of Supervisors,
Alameda County Social Services Agency,
crime,
Criminal of Poverty: Growing Up Homeless in America,
East Bay Community Law Center,
General Assistance (GA),
homelessness,
housing instability,
hunger,
Lisa Gray-Garcia,
Luan Huynh,
Medi-Cal,
POOR Magazine,
POOR Magazine/POOR News Network,
recession,
Steve Ricardo,
three-month time limit,
unemployment
Today at the Alameda County Courthouse, made famous by the “Free Huey!” rallies held on the steps by the Black Panther Party, all charges were dismissed against POCC Minister of Information JR Valrey! Join POCC Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and Pam and Ramona Africa for a Power to the People Victory Celebration tonight, Monday, Feb. 22, 6:30 p.m., Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St., West Oakland – YOU are invited!
Tags:
BART board,
Black community,
Black Dot Café,
Black Panther Party,
Block Report Radio,
El Hajj Malik el Shabazz,
Free Huey!,
freedom fighter,
Fruitvale BART platform,
Haiti and Latin America,
killer cop Johannes Mehserle,
KPFA’s Hard Knock Radio,
legal defense fund,
Malcolm X,
Marlon Monroe,
Mary Ratcliff,
National Lawyers Guild legal observers,
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums,
Oakland PD,
Oakland Police Department,
Operation Small Axe,
Oscar Grant,
Pam Africa of the Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal,
POCC Minister of Information JR Valrey,
Prisoners of Conscience Committee Fred Hampton Jr.,
punk rock artist Holly Works,
Ramona Africa of the MOVE organization
February 15, 2010
The Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) community was hopeful of your appointment almost a year ago by President Barack Obama and felt that finally there was to be deliberate dialogue, transparency, community engagement and participation in formulating solutions for environmental issues.
Tags:
adverse health effects due to exposure,
Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP),
Benjamin Chavis,
communities of color,
eliminating the sources of pollution,
environmental cleanup,
environmental justice fairness and equality,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
environmental racism,
First National People of Colour Environmental Leadership Summit,
historically underrepresented in EPA decision making,
history of excluding people of color from the leadership,
Hunters Point Shipyard (HPS),
Hunters Point Shipyard Regional Advisory Board (RAB),
Laura Yoshi,
Lennar Corp.,
life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants,
Lisa P. Jackson,
Michael Montgomery,
no community involvement,
nosebleeds,
Notices of Violation (NOVs),
particulate matter,
people disproportionately impacted by pollution,
President Barack Obama,
public participation in decision making,
RAB dissolved,
racial discrimination,
rashes,
Redevelopment Agency,
reinstatement of the RAB,
Superfund containments,
testing of BVHP community members,
toxic and hazardous waste facilities,
U.S. Navy,
United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice,
United States Navy,
vulnerable subpopulations
“This is a critical situation,” says Joe Debro, president of Bay Area Black Builders, a new organization that joins the forces of Black contractors, workers, jobseekers and design professionals to stop the lockout and win contracts and jobs in the construction industry by any means necessary, in an explosive interview broadcast Feb. 12 on CBS5 News.
Tags:
Bay Area Black Builders,
Black contractors,
Black design professionals,
Black jobseekers,
Black workers,
construction industry,
Joe Debro,
Joe Vasquez,
locked out of construction work,
movement for economic equity,
stimulus-funded projects,
stop the lockout,
violence,
young jobseekers
February 12, 2010
In December 2009, leading climatologist Dr. James Hansen cited new satellite data doubling or tripling previous sea level rise predictions. Climate change, he said, “is really a moral issue analogous to that faced by Lincoln with slavery,” an apt comparison considering the dangers for peoples of color in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco.
Tags:
100-year flood hazard area,
2006 Final Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Impact Report,
23-acre Parcel E-2,
Al Gore,
amplification affects on the aquifer,
Amy Goodman,
Antarctic ice sheets,
Bay Area Air Quality Management District,
Bay estuary,
Bay water rise,
Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood,
Bush administration,
Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Draft Environmental Impact Report,
Carol Harvey,
chronic nosebleeds,
climate system tipping points,
climatologist Dr. James Hansen,
Cypress Freeway,
Dan Miller,
deadly water rise-earthquake-amplification-liquefaction combination,
Democracy Now,
Dr. Peter Palmer,
Dr. Ray Tompkins,
earthquake amplification,
earthquake zones,
earth’s gravitational field,
environmental justice,
EPA,
EPA Superfund Site,
Eric Brooks,
geological rock formations,
green energy,
Greenaction,
Greenland,
Hunters Point Shipyard Restoration Advisory Board (RAB),
Hunters Point Shipyard Superfund site,
hydraulic pressure measurements,
Iraq toxic wastes,
Lennar,
Lennar-Redevelopment Draft EIR,
liquefaction,
Loma Prieta quake,
Marie Harrison,
NASA Goddard Space Studies Institute,
Navy,
nazism,
organic chemist Dr. Raymond Tompkins,
poisons,
political subterfuge,
radiated animal carcasses,
radiation materials,
radioactive toxic soil,
radiological contamination,
radium dials,
radium-radon-polonium gas combination,
radon gas,
Redevelopment’s “Master Developer” of the Shipyard,
San Francisco Bay,
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC),
San Francisco Community Choice,
San Francisco Planning Commission,
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
San Francisco Redevelopment Commission,
San Francisco State University,
satellite data,
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR),
sea level rise predictions,
Shipyard Parcels A and B,
shock wave amplification,
Threadwell & Rollo,
toxic chemicals,
toxic gas pressure,
toxic Superfund site,
U.S. Geological Survey maps,
underground fire,
Yosemite Slough Bridge,
‘49ers stadium,
“Big One”,
“residential standards”
February 11, 2010
Proposition 11 in 2008 gave the redistricting responsibility to a 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission that draws district lines after the Census. Applications are available through Feb. 16, 2010, and the commissioners are paid $300 per day.
Tags:
Assembly,
Board of Equalization,
California Legislature,
California state auditor,
Carol McGruder,
Citizens Redistricting Commission,
elections,
equal representation,
one person one vote,
political party central committee,
Proposition 11,
redistricting,
registered voter,
state Senate,
U.S. Census,
United States government
February 10, 2010
Five years ago this month, Coleman Advocates started off on a bold new journey after three decades of fiercely independent and uniquely successful fights for San Francisco’s children. The board hired a young, ambitious and passionate leader named NTanya Lee, who shared with civil rights visionary Ella Baker the deep conviction that everyday people can and should determine their own destiny.
Tags:
A-G/College and Career for All Policy,
Black Family Agenda,
Black History Month,
children,
Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth (CACY),
community based organizations,
Ella Baker,
Grassroots Leadership Institute,
grassroots organizing,
multi-racial organizing,
NTanya Lee,
Prop B’s Affordable Housing Fund,
quality schools for all,
San Francisco,
systemic inequity,
youth leadership,
“bottom up” organization
January 27, 2010
The Bay Area Black Builders and friends shut down a pre-bid conference for a library in the heart of Hunters Point. This action was designed to send the mayor of San Francisco a message: If Black people do not work in Hunters Point, no one works here.
Tags:
Bayview,
Bayview Library,
Black architects,
Black workers and Black contractors,
Charlie Walker,
Chinatown,
Civil Rights,
employment laws,
Fillmore,
Hunters Point,
Joseph Debro,
large white contractors,
minority employment,
Nedir Bey,
public works projects,
San Francisco,
San Francisco Human Rights Commission,
surety bond,
terror of unemployment,
unemployed veterans,
Visitacion Valley,
Willie Ratcliff
January 26, 2010
In its comments on the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Environmental Impact Report, POWER focused on the carcinogens and radiological contamination at the Shipyard; the dangers of liquefaction; climate change and sea level rise; transportation impacts from the proposed development; the connection of the development to the existing community; and the preservation of historic Ohlone sites.
Tags:
abatement procedures,
adjacent elementary schools,
Administrative Orders on Consent,
Alice Griffith public housing development,
American Indian Movement West,
asbestos,
Bayview Hunters Point,
beryllium,
Bret Harte Elementary School,
cancer clusters,
Candlestick Point,
Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase II Development Plan Project Draft Environmental Impact Report,
carbon tetrachloride,
carcinogens,
chemicals and radioactive materials,
chlorinated pesticides,
chloroform,
chromium,
chromium VI,
climate change and sea level rise,
construction activities,
copper,
early transfer,
Early Transfer Cooperative Agreement,
ecological assessments,
environmental and human health exposures,
Environmental Impact Report,
environmental justice,
environmental racism,
environmental review process,
hazardous contaminants,
hazardous materials,
heavy metals,
heavy metals (arsenic,
heavy metals (chromium VI,
historic indigenous ceremonial and burial sites,
historic Ohlone sites,
human and ecological receptors,
Hunters Point Shipyard,
Hunters Point Shipyard (HPS),
hydrocarbons,
Indian People Organized for Change,
International Indian Treaty Council,
lack of enforcement,
lead,
Lennar’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR),
liquefaction,
Louisiana Environmental Action Network,
MacArthur Foundation ‘genius’ grant recipient,
manganese,
Marylee Orr,
mechanism for immediate notification,
mercury,
mercury and nickel),
Muhammad University of Islam,
Muhammad University of Islam (MUI),
naphthalene,
nickel and zinc),
Ohlone nation,
Ohlone Profiles Project,
PCBs,
People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER),
pesticides,
petroleum hydrocarbons,
polluters,
polluting industries,
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
protection of human health and the environment,
radiological cleanup activities,
radiological contamination,
radionuclides,
remedial activities,
San Francisco Board of Supervisors,
San Francisco Planning Department,
San Francisco Redevelopment Agency,
semi-volatile organic compounds,
site remediation,
Superfund site,
Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC),
tetrachloroethane and others),
toxic spills,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
U.S. Navy,
United Native Americans,
volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds,
volatile organic compounds (VOC: benzene,
Wilma Subra Ph.D.
January 23, 2010
Public housing and Section 8 tenants appeared at the Jan. 19 Berkeley City Council meeting to protest and speak out against alleged illegal activities of the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) and its policies to privatize and sell their 75 public housing units to an unnamed nonprofit housing developer.
Tags:
affordable housing,
affordable housing strategies,
Berkeley City Council,
Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA),
BHA Chairperson Carole Norris,
BHA Director Tia Ingram,
CalWORKs,
Councilman Kriss Worthington,
Councilman Max Anderson,
displacement,
General Assistance,
habitability issues,
homelessness,
housing assistance program,
ICF Consultants,
Intercity Services,
intimidation,
Keith Carlisle,
lack of repairs,
Lynda Carson,
minimum income requirements,
mismanagement,
National Health Care for the Homeless Council,
nonprofit housing developer,
Penelope McKinney,
public housing,
recall the board,
Rose Flippin,
Section 8,
severely handicapped,
Social Security,
SSI,
subsidized housing projects,
Tequoia Nickson,
Zsanna Secreas
January 11, 2010
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 12 noon, a press conference will be held on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco by the Ohlone, the original people of the land. It will begin with a welcome and blessing by the Ohlone and, at its conclusion, they will deliver letters to the Planning Department calling for their inclusion in the planning process for Lennar’s development of Candlestick Point and the Hunters Point Shipyard and an extension of the draft EIR comment period.
Tags:
American Indian Movement West,
Ann Marie Sayers,
Anthony Sul,
archeological sites,
Board of Supervisors,
California Senate Bill 18,
Candlestick Point,
Candlestick Point-Hunters Point Shipyard Phase II Development Plan Project Draft Environmental Impact Report,
Carmen Sandoval,
Charlene Sul,
City Attorney Dennis Herrera,
Corrina Gould,
draft EIR,
Espanola Jackson,
Francisco Da Costa,
GreenAction for Health and the Environment,
Hunters Point Shipyard,
Indian Canyon,
Indian People Organized for Change,
International Indian Treaty Council,
Mayor Gavin Newsom,
Mishwa Lee,
Native American Heritage Commission,
Neil MacLean,
Ohlone,
Ohlone Cultural Center,
Ohlone Indigenous sites,
Ohlone Profiles Project,
POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights),
Rosemary Cambra,
United Native Americans
January 6, 2010
Craft labor unions since 1865 have been ambivalent about their racial policies. They were inclusive for a time. But in the 1900s through 1970 craft unions became virulently anti-Black. Because of public pressure and court actions, craft unions’ discrimination has become subtler. In coalition with large white contractors, they control training and work in the construction industry.
Tags:
Bay Area Black Builders,
Bridge Housing,
construction bonds,
construction industry,
craft unions,
economic justice,
Joseph Debro,
Mel Simmons,
National Association of Minority Contractors,
project labor agreements (PLA),
Public works construction,
Visitacion Valley Community Development Corp.
The exact moment in time has arrived to pull down the veil of the corrupt, ethics depleted political status quo being perpetuated at City Hall via Supervisor Sophenia Maxwell, who represents District 10. Her controllers do not want to see her moved from that seat one second before January 2011. They have a well established relationship and flow with Ms. Maxwell right where she is. Putting the sledge hammer of RECALL to that coup will speak volumes to that power structure.
Tags:
BVHP Redevelopment Project Area,
District 10,
early (dirty) transfer,
hazardous dust exposure,
Lennar,
Nyese Joshua,
polluted air,
Precautionary Principle,
Proposition P,
recall,
residential standards,
Restoration Advisory Board (RAB),
San Francisco Board of Supervisors,
Sophie Maxwell,
Superfund site,
Supervisor John Avalos,
Supervisor Sophenia Maxwell,
voting record
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