‘Operation Small Axe’: Organizing LA for the trial of cop who killed Oscar Grant
An organizing meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 3 at 5 p.m. at Chuco’s Justice Center in Inglewood for people interested in monitoring the trial of Johannes Mehserle, the former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer who shot Oscar Grant, an unarmed 22-year-old Black man, in the back on an Oakland BART platform on Jan. 1, 2009. Mehserle is the first police officer in California ever to be charged with murder.
The struggle ain’t over
The struggle ain’t over. Those who’ve given in to the euphoria of the moment need only speak with young people in the hood. Try telling them how far we’ve come from the lynchings, trained attack dogs, our leaders murdered and shut up in these pens on trumped up charges. Those youngsters will tell you that’s the same shit they see every day.
Defend Minister of Information JR Monday: Rally 8am, Court 9am
The Bay Area is rallying around Minister of Information JR, facing three years in prison for covering the Oakland Rebellion that demanded justice for Oscar Grant and for his courageous coverage of police terrorism known throughout the country. Influential organizations are calling an 8 a.m. rally on Monday, Dec. 7, then to pack Courtroom 11, 1225 Fallon St., Oakland, the courthouse made famous by the many rallies the Black Panther Party held there.
'Operation Small Axe' trailer
‘Operation Small Axe’ takes a raw and unflinching look at life under police terrorism in Oakland through the stories of Oscar Grant and Lovelle Mixon. Now that the trial of killer cop Johannes Mehserle has been moved out of Oakland to LA, ‘Operation Small Axe’ is also ona move. MOI JR says, ‘We will bring the resistance to LA, starting on Saturday, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m., at the Kaos Network, 4343 Leimert Blvd, Los Angeles’ for a screening and political education class. Spread the word.
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. returns to the Bay Area
POCC Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. will be hitting Northern Cali Nov. 7-13 for the 40th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and Defense Captain Mark Clark. Come out to support Chairman Fred, Block Report Radio and the SF Bay View – 7 events in 7 days, in Oakland, Sonoma, Stanford, Pleasant Hill, Santa Cruz, San Francisco.
Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. Speaking Tour: 'You Can Kill a Revolutionary But You Can't Kill the Revolution!'
Prisoners of Conscience Committee Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. will be hitting Northern Cali Nov. 7-13 to talk about the 40th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and Defense Captain Mark Clark. Come out to support Chairman Fred, Block Report Radio and the SF Bay View!
‘Operation Small Axe’ highlights resistance in Oakland’s occupied territories
The new short film, “Operation Small Axe,” by Prisoners of Conscience Committee Minister of Information JR Valrey, debuted in October at the Eighth Oakland International Film Festival with screenings at Merritt College, Jack London Cinema and the Uptown. The short has been shown at other venues as close as the Rock Paper Scissors Gallery in Oakland to as far away as Cape Town, South Africa.
Tickling the keys: an interview wit’ pianist and rapper Kev Choice
Kev Choice is one of the the dopest young musicians I know in Oakland. And I would have to say that L-Boogie aka Lauryn Hill agrees with me, since she hired this dude to be her band leader. Kev Choice tickles the keys like Herbie, emcees like Posdonous and is a band leader like Duke Ellington. The Kev Choice Ensemble out at Yoshi’s in Oakland on Monday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m.
California’s mean streak, from Native annihilation to Oscar and Lovelle: Ishmael Reed on history
Ishmael Reed is one of the most read writers of his generation, along with Toni Morrison and Amiri Baraka, living in America. In 1962, Reed co-founded “East Village Other,” a well known underground publication at the time, and was a member of the Umbra Writers Workshop, which helped to give rise to the Black Arts Movement. He has published nine novels, four collections of poetry, six plays, four collections of essays and a libretto. He currently lives in Oakland, and I approached him one day while he was visiting KPFA’s studios to ask him what he thought about the state of affairs between the police and Oakland’s Black community, with the backdrop of the police murder of Oscar Grant and, in a separate incident, the police murder of Lovelle Mixon, after Mixon allegedly killed four Oakland police officers.
The POCC’s ‘You Can Kill a Revolutionary ... But You Can’t Kill the Revolution Tour’ update
On July 23 the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC) kicked off the “You Can Kill a Revolutionary … But You Can’t Kill the Revolution Tour” in Oakland, California, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party.
Casualties of war
Mass imprisonment is a consequence of the war on drugs. It is estimated that over 600,000 of the 2,300,000 people in state and federal prisons are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. This does not include the other 5 million people who are either confined in county jails or on probation or parole, a majority of whom are nonviolent drug offenders. This means out of a United States population of over 250 million people, over 7 million people are in one way or another under the supervision of the prison system.
The POCC presents ‘You Can Kill a Revolutionary ... But You Can’t Kill the Revolution!’ Tour
The Prisoners of Conscience Committee is embarking on a six-month tour and education campaign around the planet called “You Can Kill a Revolutionary But You Can’t Kill the Revolution.” The purpose is to educate and re-inform people about the 40th anniversary of one of Black and colonized people’s “September 11ths,” the “Massacre on Monroe,” where the U.S. government by way of the Chicago Police Department assassinated 21-year-old Chairman Fred Hampton and Defense Captain Mark Clark of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, at approximately 4:35 in the morning on Dec. 4, 1969, on the West Side of Chicago.
Ghetto intellect: an inner-view of the rapper the Jacka
On other coasts, you could just put on a red, black and green bandana or arm band and be talking to all white people but call your yourself a Black conscious or political rapper. Conscious of what I don’t know, but the Jacka, on his new album “Tear Gas,” shares the knowledge that he has with what revolutionary theoretician Frantz Fanon called “The Wretched of the Earth” instead of thinking that the information that he has makes him more elite, or better than someone else.
Oscar Grant murder: Double standard of justice in Oakland
The murder of a 22-year-old unarmed Black man, Oscar Grant, by a transit cop in Oakland during the early hours of New Year’s Day sparked national indignation. Onlookers captured the shooting on cell phones, and their video footage was transmitted to millions via the Internet and TV.
Enjoli Mixon, keep ya head up
by D’Andre Moore
his photo appeared in the Orlando Sentinel and other major newspapers with this caption: “Lovelle Mixon’s sister, Enjoli Mixon, said she had just walked to the store when SWAT officers stormed her 74th Avenue apartment in search of the shooting suspect. Lovelle and two SWAT sergeants died in the ensuing shootout.” – Photo: [...]
War of words: Police invade the comments at SFBayView.com
Ever since the police murder of Lovelle Mixon, after he allegedly murdered four Oakland police officers in East Oakland on March 21, the SF Bay View newspaper website, sfbayview.com, hundreds of messages have been written in the comment sections at the end of the articles by people who are undercover cyber police and people with strong pro-police sentiments, with some coming right out and saying they are members of police departments.
War of words: Police invade the comments at SFBayView.com
Ever since the police murder of Lovelle Mixon, after he allegedly murdered four Oakland police officers in East Oakland on March 21, the SF Bay View newspaper website, sfbayview.com, hundreds of messages have been written in the comment sections at the end of the articles by people who are undercover cyber police and people with strong pro-police sentiments, with some coming right out and saying they are members of police departments.
Brain matter: an innerview into the life of rapper T-Kash
T-Kash, the former local television star from KRON’s First Cut turned internationally known rap star on Paris’ political label Guerrilla Funk Recordings, is a very under-rated voice and mind in Bay Area and international hip hop. His international debut, “Turf War Syndrome,” is a classic that not many people in the hood are up on.
Dreams can come true: an interview with Oakland rapper Acktup
Hardworking is an understatement when you talk about Acktup, who has released a new album every three months since he started releasing music. All of his albums have sold at least a thousand copies a piece, with “1000 Degrees” selling 3,000 copies. “No Competition” and “King Mentality” is currently in stores, while he is still in the lab cookin’ up “Mobbin Like Me,” which is due out in August.
Oscar Grant’s family thanks supporters as killer cop’s hearing begins
“Our success here to secure justice for Oscar Grant will no doubt be that line in the sand that will say to all police officers, ‘If you kill or break the law, you will go to jail,’” wrote Oscar Grant’s Uncle Bobby, Cephus Johnson, in a message of thanks to supporters. Watch Davey D’s video on the week’s events. Oscar Grant’s family asks supporters to return to the courthouse next week.
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