Kween among men: an interview wit’ the Oakland-based songstress Kween
Kween is one of the many talented vocalists hovering around the Bay, right alongside Ledisi, Femi, Netta B, Silk E, Chela Simone and others. Behind the mic, Kween is a beast, with a very distinct style and beautiful voice complemented by her seamless chocolate kiss complexion.
Minister JR from Haiti, Part 1: Starvation and Jim Crow racism
Today, on the one month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, I went all over Port au Prince and saw the devastation firsthand and the occupation by Brazil under the guise of the U.N., and of course the U.S.A. I rode through Port au Prince all day and didn’t see one act of recovery going on. I don’t see where the millions of dollars that have been raised for Haiti are going. Everywhere people are starving.
Skater world: an interview wit’ pro skater Karl Watson
The middle schoolers of today are fast becoming known in the hood as the skater generation. Skate culture, born in the U.S., is a phenomenon around the world. Bay Area based pro skater Karl Watson has been skating for over 20 years, and he has been all over the world on his boards.
Review of ‘The Book of Night Women’
Under the system of lifelong forced servitude, Black people could be tortured to death at a moment’s notice with impunity. White oppressors could sense that at some point the coin will flip. This mirrors today, where police continue to kill Black people with impunity.
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!
The First Annual Mindfunk Public Art Festival: Meet the founder, visual artist Eesuu Orundide
Eesuu has been one of my favorite visual artists for the last six years that I have been aware of his work. I like the vibrant colors and the overall vibe that his work transmits. He has recently finished a new sculpture and has founded an annual art festival in West Oakland. It will sound better reading it if you hear it from Eesuu direct.
Legendary writer, poet and cultural critic: an interview wit’ Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka, one of the most fiery political poets and cultural critics in Black Amerikkka, recently celebrated his 75th birthday. He is the father of the Black Arts Movement of the ‘60s and after 2001, New Jersey abolished the poet laureate position because they couldn’t fire him, the incumbent, after he wrote his controversial piece, “Somebody Blew Up America.” On Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 p.m., Amiri will be speaking in the Koret Auditorium of the San Francisco Library, 100 Larkin St., as well as at the Black Dot Cafe, 1195 Pine St. at 6:30 in West Oakland on the same day. Here’s a quick Q & A that I did with Amiri Baraka …
Mac to the Future: an interview wit’ Bay Area rap kingpin Mac Mall, Part 1
There are a lot of artists in the Bay that I like for different reasons, but I have to say Mac Mall is one of my favorite all around artists. He was 16 years old when “Illegal Business” was released, his debut on Young Black Brotha Records out of Vallejo, who also brought the Mack, Mac Dre, Ray Luv and Young Lay to the world. Actually, this is the record company that put Vallejo on the Bay Area hip hop map. The lyricism and swagger of the young teenage Mac Mall on songs like “Illegal Business,” “Sic Wid Tis,” “Ghetto Theme” and “My Opinion” made him a legendary rapper out the gate.
Live From the Oakland International Film Festival:
We got wit’ Samm Styles to do this interview, because we wanted our readers to be educated and understand the importance of the Oakland International Film Festival to movie-goers, filmmakers and local business, specifically.
The mind of Gil Scott Heron: an interview wit’ the legendary musician
I’m a big fan of making art for a purpose and the legendary Gil Scott Heron is one of the most passionate writers, songwriters and musicians that has been produced in Amerikkka. Gil Scott Heron is known as a movement griot as well as one of the godfathers of rap music. “Revolution is change, and change is inevitable, so you might as well direct it as opposed to just going through it,” he advises.
Chairman Fred Street Party 2009
This beautiful event is celebrated all over the world, but from my experience, can’t nobody do it like the Chi (Chicago). Due to the national nature of the SF Bay View, it is important for us to cover events and campaigns from around the world that can lend a hand to our education and understanding of the war that has been and is being waged against us.
Black Ramadan: an interview wit’ Muslim Siraj Fowler
Islam is a very prominent faith in the Black communities of Amerikkka, and during Ramadan the SF Bay View thinks that it is important for us to have the best possible understanding of the different cultures among us so that organizing can be facilitated against a common foe, the organized bodies that are oppressing us.
Educate to liberate: an interview with teacher Sister Linda Johnson of Umoja House
Sister Linda Johnson has been a legendary educator in East Oakland since the ‘80s. At her school which is known as Umoja House, she has taught generations of students who have grown up to be productive members of their communities. As a community, we must make it a high priority to give our children the best education possible so that they can come back and help solve some of the problems that we have as a people.
Independent gangsta stories: an interview wit’ Oakland street lit author and publisher Renay Jackson
Renay Jackson is the literary son of the timeless writers who were the first popular street-lit legends, Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim. Renay Jackson’s stories of ghetto street life are based right here in the Bay Area’s Black experience. This extremely talented author is also a publisher of six titles who teaches people in Oakland about self-publishing in workshops at libraries in Oakland throughout the year. The home of independent rap music is also quickly becoming the home of self-published lit.
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.
Distortion 2 Static: an interview wit’ D2S’s Beats Me
Recently, the Bay View newspaper won the SF Bay Guardian’s 2009 Best of the Bay Award for best local newspaper because we are a “fight-back” publication. While at the party, I ran into my media-making buddies from Distortion 2 Static, a local Hip Hop TV show, who had also won a 2009 Best of the Bay Award, theirs for best local TV show, and I thought about the fact that I had never written anything to expose our readers to what they do.
Black AIDS - Beating the odds: an interview with Hard Knock Radio’s Anita Johnson
AIDS is an epidemic that we hardly talk about in the Black community, and that is a dangerous thing when we are dropping like flies from it all over the world. To all of the readers, I would say adults but adults aren’t the only ones having sex, think about the last time that you had unprotected sex with someone. BAM! You could have have contracted HIV that fast. If that would have happened, you traded in your health and life for an hour of fun? How intelligent is that? And be clear although I’m writing this for the readers, I am at the same time talking to myself so I am not coming from no holier-than thou pulpit.
Jamie Scott's son, 18, fights to free the Scott Sisters in Mississippi
Now 18, Terrance Scott tells Minister of Information JR in this gripping interview: “Seeing what they did to my mother, it put a rage inside me.” Terrance is the son of Jamie Scott of the Scott Sisters of Mississippi, who have served 15 years of double life terms for a robbery they didn’t commit that netted $11.
The teaching of a nation: an interview with author and Alkebulan Books owner Shannette Slaughter
Shannette Slaughter’s former Black bookstore, Alkebulan Books, is legendary in the Bay Area because of the assistance it has given thousands to educate themselves in a society where the television shows we watch and the music we listen to tries to direct our attention to strict consumerism, where we buy a whole bunch of stuff that we don’t need and we have no concern for the plight of our people. They call it “programming”; we call it “mind-control.”
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.
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