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.
Tags:
African Americans,
Amiri Baraka,
anti-Chinese riots,
BART police officers,
California,
Chinese Exclusion Act,
Enoch Pardee,
Gaelic,
Gitmo,
Hispanics,
Japanese Exclusion Act,
Jerry Brown,
Lovelle Mixon,
Minister of Information JR,
non-violent crime,
Oakland,
Oscar Grant,
Police Chief Parker,
police state,
prison hospitals,
prisoners,
racial profiling,
Ramsey State Penitentiary,
rape,
Spanish,
Texas,
the Black Amazon Queen,
the Black Arts Movement,
the Bush administration,
the ghetto,
the Native American,
the Pell grants,
the public schools,
the Umbra Writers Workshop,
the Wall Street Journal,
Three Strikes,
Toni Morrison,
torture,
traffic profiling,
“Blues City: A Walk in Oakland”,
“Califia”,
“East Village Other”
Sadly, over the years, we have lost many of our friends and family members as a direct result of practices and policies that demean and devalue lives within prison walls. This mentality allows atrocities to occur far from the public’s watchful eye. We are sure that if the citizens of this country knew what occurs – not in some distant foreign country – but within our own borders, there would surely be a call for immediate reform.
Tags:
24-hour lockdown,
America,
Guantanamo Bay,
H. Rap Brown,
Imam Jamil Al-Amin,
Pelican Bay,
prisoners,
Super Max Prison,
The Black August Organizing Committee,
the Bureau of Prisons,
the Congressional Black Caucus,
the family and friends of Imam al-Amin,
the High Security Unit,
the United Nation’s Human Rights Commissioner,
unwarranted isolation,
“free speech”
Haitian priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste was a Jesus-like revolutionary. In jail and out, he preached liberation of the poor, release of prisoners, human rights for all and a fair distribution of wealth. Though he died May 27, he remains present in the hearts of millions. Watch a video he recorded just for SF Bay View.
Tags:
"My rosary is my only weapon!",
Amnesty International,
Bill Quigley,
Cite de Soleil,
deported,
Dignity,
Father Gerard Jean-Juste,
Florida,
Freedom,
Haiti and Latin America,
Haitian priest,
he U.S.-supported coup government,
human rights,
Kreyol,
liberation,
liberation theology,
Miami,
Mon Pere,
Port au Prince,
Prisoner of Conscience,
prisoners,
revolutionary,
St. Claire,
starving children,
the Bible,
the Declaration of Human Rights,
the poor,
trumped up charges,
U.S.,
wrongfully imprisoned
Will the Obama-Nation become an abomination if it fails to
stop the bombing of nations? From Gaza to Afghanistan, the
American people must take a stand and tell Obama to forge
a better plan to free the land.
Tags:
'rEvolution',
Abu Graib,
Add new tag,
administrative segregation,
Afghanistan,
Africom,
Al-Qaeda,
Assata Shakur,
capitalist exploitation,
COINTELPRO,
corporate bailouts,
Cuba,
democracy,
detention,
dispossessed,
Free Palestine,
Free Puerto Rico,
Gaza,
gentrified,
Guantanamo Bay,
Hail to the Chief,
Haiti and Latin America,
Herman Bell,
humanitarian,
hypocrisy,
Inauguration Day,
Israel,
Jalil A. Muntaqim,
Kiilu Nyasha,
killing,
liberation,
Malcolm X,
Manchurian candidate,
Martin L. King Jr.,
National Security Agency,
North Korea,
Patriot Act,
political prisoners,
prisoners,
prisons,
racism,
raping,
rendition,
revolutionaries,
San Francisco County Jail,
sexism,
starving,
Taiwan,
Taliban,
torture,
Zionists
California’s adoption of mandatory minimums, drive for three-strikes laws and participation in the nationwide “War on Drugs” campaign of the 1980s has created a burgeoning prison system fractured along racial, humanitarian and economic lines.
Tags:
African Americans,
Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous,
America,
Assembly Bill 900,
big business,
California,
Chris Brizzard,
CIA,
Geo Group Inc.,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Group 4 Falck,
Guantanamo Bay,
Hispanics,
job training programs,
Johnson vs. California (2005),
Justice Clarence Thomas,
Level Four cell in Calipatria State Prison,
mandatory minimums,
Medical and health care,
Mujaahid F. Haaris,
prison system,
prisoners,
privatization,
Republican Sen. Tom McClintock,
San Diego,
the California Department of Corrections,
the FBI,
the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction,
the Supreme Court,
the Wackenhut Corrections Corp.,
three-strikes laws,
Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations,
training programs,
work,
work incentive programs for lifers,
“Corrections Today”,
“Migrant Operations Center”,
“War on Drugs” campaign
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