Leonard Peltier: Statement of solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal

Whether or not you approve of capital punishment is irrelevant as long as minorities are executed with alarming disparities. Whether you approve or not is of secondary concern when people like Mumia Abu Jamal, myself and many others are convicted and sentenced to die with evidence that would exonerate ‘most any white man. As such, every single progressive organization should oppose the death penalty as we now know it.

The Bay View’s First Amendment Campaign: an update

As reported in previous issues of the Bay View, the Bay View, its readers, the community and those of us behind enemy lines had been working with attorney Anthony D. Prince to develop a litigation strategy that would address the state’s suppression of legitimate historical and cultural expressions by relegating those expressions and beliefs to the realms of gang activity.

SF 8: Paying the costs

Pack the courtroom Thursday, Feb. 18, 9 a.m., in Dept. 22, 850 Bryant St., San Francisco, to support the only remaining SF 8 defendant, Francisco Torres, who will be in the courtroom! Dismiss Cisco’s case, a 36-year-old case based on torture!

Riot at Ely State Prison: It was a battle!

This is not my first riot but it was definitely the best. It’s so good to see solidarity in action, to see prisoners of different races and factions coming together like this. We need more of this before we can really start making positive changes in this system!

Compassionate release for Jamie Scott!

The Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys Scott of Mississippi, were accused of an $11 robbery and given double life sentences. The sisters have always proclaimed their innocence. Now one of them has been hospitalized.

The big lies against Cuba

Cuba’s policies of internationalism have arguably been the most politically advanced in the world – from the direct military intervention to help in the defeat of Apartheid in southern Africa in 1988 to direct medical aid and solidarity with Haiti – before the earthquake. Since the earthquake, Western media has been suspiciously silent on the exceptional role Cuba has played in support of Haiti with more than 900 health care providers on the ground, the largest and most organized contingent on the island.

Just what Haiti doesn't need: Rwandan police

In case anyone needed further evidence that President Paul Kagame’s Rwanda is the Pentagon’s proxy, 140 Rwandan police are about to undertake special training before heading to Haiti, as reported in the Rwanda New Times, because, according to Rwandan Police Chief Edmund Kayiranga, “Rwanda wants to be involved in promoting peace in other countries” and, if need be, they would send more peacekeepers to other countries.

BMW: Black Man Working

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.

Drug cases dismissed due to evidence tampering in SFPD crime lab

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.

NOLA vs. the po-po

The veil of authority and legitimacy shielding most urban police forces against popular suspicion and distrust simply doesn’t exist in New Orleans. Hardly anyone likes or trusts the po-po. The actual point of this piece is to reflect a little on the war currently raging between the people of New Orleans and the NOPD.

Upcoming Events

• 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Shipyard cleanup: meet expert Matt Hagemann (Lady of Lourdes Church Community Room, 410 Hawes St. at Hunters Point Blvd, San Francisco)
• 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: HOTEL VOICES--Theatre and performance project from Single Room Occupancy Hotel residents (First Christian Church, 111 Fairmount Ave., Oakland (near the Grocery Outlet))
• 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM: "Back From Haiti" - Reportback (SF State Univ., Richard Oakes Room, Cesar Chavez Student Center (upstairs on the T-Level), 1600 Holloway, San Francisco)
• 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM: HUMP DAY ST. PATRICKS DAY COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA (VELMA'S, 2246 JERROLD AVE., SAN FRANCISCO)
• Thu Mar 18 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Use Less, Save More: Energy Efficiency Webinar (http://bit.ly/cDSck7)

‘John Brown’s Truth: A Musically Improvised Opera’ by William Crossman

Harper’s Ferry … freeing slaves … Virginia … hanging … white man – this is the extent of my knowledge of John Brown. I wasn’t aware that it was 150 years ago, on Oct. 14-15, 1859, that this happened, an event which many say forecast the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved Africans. See the opera Sunday afternoon, March 14, 3 p.m., at the East Side Cultural Center.

Balancing act: an interview with the Bay Area rap artist Balance

I’ve known the man that the music world calls Balance for many years. Ever since I can remember he has been on his music grind, whether it was recording, performing or learning the game from his 9 to 5 job at Rasputin’s in Berkeley, where he is the rap buyer.

Medea Project presents ‘Dancing with the Clown of Love’

Multi-layered with healing at its center, the large cast of “Dancing with the Clown of Love,” some infected, everyone affected, shared stories written over the past two years at the Women’s HIV Program at the University of California San Francisco – documented in a short film that opens the show. Hurry! The run closes this weekend.

For Akua Njeri (Deborah Johnson)*

Akua Njeri (fna Deborah Johnson) is a former member of the Illinois Chapter Black Panther Party. She is a survivor of the Dec. 4, 1969, assassination of Chairman Fred Hampton and Defense Captain Mark Clark. She is the widow of Chairman Fred and the mother of Chairman Fred Jr.

Remembering Althea Francois, beloved Louisiana Black Panther, prison abolitionist, ‘pillar in our struggle’

Althea, I see and visualize you walking around heaven with Harriett, Martin, Malcolm, John Brown, Nat, George, Clara, Billie etc. You fed the hungry – mentally, spiritually and physically – and clothed the needy. You gave the blood of your intellect for the liberation and spiritual salvation of all the oppressed and exploited people, the masses.