Donald Trump’s lynch party seeking the extradition of Assata Shakur from Cuba includes every U.S. president -- most especially Barack Obama, who doubled the bounty on her head and demanded “that a home-grown Black revolutionary and escaped political prisoner be returned to captivity.” As for the Congressional Black Caucus, there is “no chance that the CBC as a body will protest either Trump’s persecution of Shakur or his general policy on Cuba.”
Berlin, Germany--WTF, Rosa Park's house moved to Berlin, Germany
Detroit planned to demolish the home, so now it’s in an artist’s yard in
If you want to visit the home where civil rights legend Rosa Parks lived, you have
a trip ahead of you — all the way across the Atlantic Ocean. That’s because her
home is in the backyard of an American artist living in Germany.
It seems like back-of-the-bus treatment for the black woman who had the guts in
1955 to refuse to give up her seat to a white man in Alabama and go to the back
of the bus. Instead, she gave birth to the civil rights movement.
Why is her home in Berlin? The short answer is that Detroit planned to destroy it.
When Parks’ niece Rhea McCauley found out, she paid $500 for the home, which
Parks moved to in 1957, and cast around for ways to save it. She reached out to
artist Ryan Mendoza, who happened to be in Detroit at the time and had previously moved a house from the city to Europe for an art project.
Though they both appealed to Detroit’s mayor to protect the building, they said the mayor had no interest. So Mendoza and volunteers disassembled the home,
packed it in shipping containers, transported it to Germany, and put it back together in an expensive operation that took several months, reported Deutsche Welle.
Mendoza said, “The Rosa Parks house should actually be a
national monument and not a demolition project,” he told Deutsche Welle.
“The basic question, the fundamental question I ask myself: ‘Is the house
worthless or is the house priceless?’ For the American institutions so far the
house has been deemed worthless,” he told Agence France-Presse. “It was put
on a demolition list; that’s not a detail.”
Mendoza believes it’s apt that the house now stands in a country that tore down
a wall and was removed from a nation that plans to build a wall.
SEAN GALLUP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Rosa Parks’ niece Rhea McCauley (right) stands outside her aunt’s home, now in Berlin.
McCauley said she hopes one day the U.S. will “grow up” and ask for its treasure
back.
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, POLICE DEPARTMENT
North Korea--‘Self-Restraint’ Is Only Thing Stopping War With North Korea, U.S. General Says
A photograph supplied by North Korea’s state news agency purports to show the Hwasong-14, what the country called its first intercontinental ballistic missile, at an undisclosed location before its test launch.Credit Korean Central News Agency, via European Pressphoto Agency
SEOUL, South Korea — “Self-restraint” is all that is keeping the United States and South Korea from going to war with the North, the top American general in South Korea said on Wednesday. His comment came as the South’s defense minister indicated that the North’s first intercontinental ballistic missile had the potential to reach Hawaii.
The unusually blunt warning, from Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, the commander of American troops based in Seoul, came a day after North Korea said it successfully tested the Hwasong-14, its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
Washington and its allies confirmed that the weapon was an ICBM and condemned the test as a violation of United Nations resolutions and a dangerous escalation of tensions....
BeyGOOD: Beyoncé Partners With UNICEF to Bring Safe Water to Children in Remote Areas in Burundi, East Africa
Global entertainer and humanitarian, Beyoncé has teamed up with UNICEF through her BeyGOOD philanthropic arm to announce the launch of BEYGOOD4BURUNDI, a multi-year partnership to provide safe water to the most vulnerable children in Burundi, known as the "Heart of Africa." The partnership will support programs to improve water, sanitation and basic hygiene practices in the hardest-to-reach areas of the landlocked East African nation, where nearly half the population has no access to safe water.
Ghana, West Africa
LOOK: Colin Kaepernick, in Ghana, tweets about finding his independence on July 4
Kaepernick says he went home -- to the land of his ancestors -- for personal discovery
Colin Kaepernick took to social media July 4 to explain why he took a recent trip to Ghana to find his own independence. His Twitter post features a video of his journey, while an Instagram post featuring the same video included a message from Kaepernick, starting with a quote from Frederick Douglass.
BAM news national
Harlem, NY
Please Donate to the Larry Neal 80th Birthday Tribute
A Tribute on September 9 at The Schomburg Center in memory the Great Revolutionary Black Arts Movement Activist, poet, philosopher/Cultural Worker on his 80th Birthday
A repurposed day care center stands amid a handful of empty lots on Capitol Street in Jackson, Miss. No development of any kind has taken hold in this mid-point to the city’s downtown area. What stands out as cars come by are the red letters spelling out the “Lumumba Center” painted on the windows in honor of the short reign as mayor of legendary community activist and movement lawyer Chokwe Lumumba.
Lumumba, who passed away three years ago after serving only nine months of his term, served as a center point for radical change in Jackson. That center point is housed in the Lumumba Center and represents the tradition of Black self-determination and cooperative economics he advocated for during his organizing and political life. That center point is Cooperation Jackson.
Jackson, Miss., is perhaps one of the Blackest cities in the United States, with a population of over 180,000 people, 80 percent of them being Black. Everything about Jackson — from the story of African enslavement to the great era of the civil rights movement — proudly shapes the town’s history and its people. Mississippi winds whisper the names of freedom fighters like the great Fannie Lou Hammer and Medgar Evers. It is this tradition of Black resistance, unmistakably flowing in the blood of Black Jacksonians, that continues today out of necessity....
A Chicago Police officer, left, watches as an evidence technician officer investigates a gun at the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot in the head and killed and another 18-year-old man was shot and wounded on the 7300 block of South Sangamon Street on April 25, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
After countless shootings and hundreds of murders during the first half of 2017, Chicago is getting more federal aid.
Twenty additional federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) have been sent to the city after President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that: “Crime and killings in Chicago have reached such epidemic proportions that I am sending in Federal help.”
Philadelphia--PhilAesthetic explores local Black Arts Movement
Ayana Jones Tribune Staff Writer
The African American Museum of Philadelphia is marking its 40th anniversary by curating PhilAesthetic: A Celebration of Philadelphia’s Black Arts Movement, a multimedia, pop-up exhibition that opens this week. The celebration is an unprecedented collaboration between four cultural institutions: The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, Philadelphia Dance Compay, the New Freedom Theatre and AAMP.
“PhilAesthetic is a shared celebration amongst Philadelphia’s African-American legacy cultural organizations,” Patricia Wilson Aden, AAMP president and CEO, told The Philadelphia Tribune. “All of these organizations, for the first time, are offering programs with a shared theme. PhilAesthetic is all about the Black Arts Movement,” she said. “The Black arts movement is that time between the late ‘60s and early ‘70s where we had a lot of creative energy percolating up not only from neighborhoods in Philadelphia, but also nationally and internationally.” “What we wanted to do is highlight the fact that these legacy organizations very often had their genesis during that time period and those legacy organizations have associated with them artists that have had impact not only here in Philadelphia but across the globe For so long we believed that these legacy organizations haven’t been celebrated collectively as they could and should be, “ Aden said. “We really want people to appreciate the fact that they have had this fantastic, immeasurable and invaluable imprint. The culture community is changing, the neighborhoods in which they exist are changing and very often their impact is under appreciated,” she added. PhilAesthetic is anchored by a two-gallery exhibition showcasing four decades of works by some of the top Black visual artists. It also features community workshop performances and pop-up exhibits at the three partner institutions where visitors can explore the stories, history and work of each of community cultural organizations. “One of the objectives of our project is to tie generations together,“ said Helen Haynes, PhilAesthetic producing director. “We talk about the Black Arts Movement and we talk about what the boomers’ experience with it, but a lot of the millennials and the Xers haven’t had that same experience with these institutions. “We want to attract younger people to these institutions. This programming is really designed to attract younger people to the institutions to really get them more involved with them and also different cultures to these institutions,“ she said. PhilAesthetic launches Thursday with a free reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the AAMP, 701 Arch St. The reception features live performances by the Clef Club Ensemble, Ursula Rucker and Kulu Mele African Dance and Drum Ensemble. Through August, each partner institution will host a series of performances showcasing the diversity of artwork created by the Black Arts Movement artists and their influence on contemporary performers. A performance titled “Fierce! Three Generations of Jazz, Funk and Hip-Hop” will be held June 24 at 8 p.m. at the Philadelphia Clef Club, 738 S. Broad St. The event features Jamaaladeen Tacuma and his band, soul-singer Lady Alma as well as rapper, singer and songwriter Hezekiah. An event titled “The Ultimate Supa Sisters!” featuring Ursula Rucker, Sonia Sanchez and Jessica Care Moore will be held July 14 at 8 p.m. at AAMP.
BAM news local
oakland--support black woman is god exhibit
Jun 28 at 11:16 PM
We are transforming the Bay Area art scene and the world, so we need your support! With your help, we look forward to bringing you beautiful gifts of art and community.
Our names are Karen Seneferu and Melorra Green. We are artists, activists, and change-makers. We love Black art and work to create spaces for Black women artists who are often marginalized in the art world.
Last year we had 2,000 people come out to the opening reception of The Black Woman Is God at SOMArts in San Francisco. So many performers, artists, healers, and stewards helped make this mammoth exhibition possible — providing a platform for 60 Black visual artists to contribute over 100 pieces of artwork and over 75 dancers, drummers, and performers to activate the exhibition at the opening reception.
Since then, SOMArts has created space for us to bring The Black Woman is God back in 2017 and the exhibition has gotten bigger. We are reaching out to you for financial support to show appreciation for those who continue to give without requesting to be paid. Let's show the artists, the communities and the world that The Black Woman is God is not only an exhibition but a movement that has the power to bring about healing and transformation.
This is what we have done so far and what we are asking you to support:
The City of Oakland was supposed to end up with a new two-year budget after its Tuesday night council meeting. Instead, a large assembly of activists shut the meeting down and prevented a vote.
Chanting "defund OPD," in reference to Oakland's police department, and urging more spending on housing, homeless services, and similar programs, the group took over the chambers and prevented the meeting from continuing before the actual discussion about the budget began.
Members of the council appeared caught off-guard by the disruption, but then declared a recess and slowly exited the room.
Councilmembers Desley Brooks, Rebecca Kaplan, and Noel Gallo left City Hall shortly after the disruption. The remaining councilmembers then quickly reassembled inside the locked council chambers, but only to vote to adjourn. Although a typical budget resolution only requires five councilmembers' votes to pass, certain parts of the proposed budgets this year require six votes. As a result, there was no quorum last night after the disruption.
Elaine Brown is the CEO of Oakland and the World Enterprises, and also a staff member in Supervisor Keith Carson's office.
The Oakland City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on a deal to sell city-owned land near West Oakland's BART station to a nonprofit that improperly obtained hundreds of thousands in county tax dollars, according to the Alameda County Grand Jury. The city would sell the land for a nominal price, even though it's worth $1.4 million, in order to subsidize an affordable housing project on site.
Further complicating the deal is the fact that the nonprofit's leader sued the City of Oakland last year, alleging that councilmember Desley Brooks attacked her at a barbecue restaurant. The lawsuit is ongoing, and Brown is seeking millions in damages from the city.
The nonprofit, Oakland and the World Enterprises, was set up by former Black Panther Elaine Brown to build affordable housing and operate an urban farm in West Oakland. It also plans to build a grocery store, restaurant, fitness center, and technology center at the location.
But according to the Grand Jury, Brown's group was given $710,000 by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson at the same time Brown was a paid staff member in Carson's office. "[T]he dual role of the county employee in these transactions constituted both a failure of good governance practices by the county of Alameda and a conflict of interest," concluded the Grand Jury in their investigation, which was published yesterday.
Brown is currently listed as a staff member in charge of job creation and West Oakland constituent services on Carson's supervisor web site.
Oakland-- the anti-police terror project on oakland city council member lynette mcelhaney
The Anti-Police Terror Project & The Oakland Justice Coalition just started a petition to Oakland City Council Member Lynette Gibson McElhaney demanding that she: Withdraw the nomination of Sarah Chavez-Yoell to the Oakland Police Commission's selection panel.
The Anti-Police Terror Project & The Oakland Justice Coalition just started a petition titled: "We demand REAL community oversight of the Oakland police department." Here's why this is important: Oaklanders need to be safe and secure, we need housing and job security, we need a city that spends it's budget on jobs for the youth, housing protections, and the arts. And we need a city that spends less money on the police. We need to be living in an Oakland where the OPD is held to the same level of responsibility as civilians and where residents have security in knowing that if they are victimized by the police, such as Jasmine Absulin was, that the OPD will be held accountable. Currently we do not live in this type of Oakland but we're ready to fight in order to create it! In fighting for a better Oakland we're highlighting the egregious conflict of interest that currently exists within the Oakland Police Commission, an oversight panel that is supposed to keep the police in check. We deserve a police commission that can objectively analyze the misconduct of officers and a selection panel, currently chaired by Sarah Chavez-Yoell, the wife of a violent officer is a conflict of interest that residents can not afford. Marvin, join us in demanding Sarah Chavez-Yoell, wife of a known violent officer, Lieutenant Mike Yoell, be removed from the Oakland Police Commission immediately! In Oakland, we know far too well the outcomes of an unchecked police force. From the COINTELPRO attacks of the 1960s, the current Negotiated Settlement Agreement stemming from the Rider's case, and the more recent child rape case of Jasmine Absulin (also known as Celeste Guap), accounts of corruption, scandal, and violence are all too familiar and can have deadly outcomes. When elected officials at the highest levels of city government know what's going on but turn a blind eye to police abuse bad outcomes will occur. Oakland officials ignore the intrinsic criminality of police behavior while calling for more cops to address crime on the street. It is the height of hypocrisy. The Oakland Police Commission is supposed to address the lack of oversight of the Oakland Police Department. It is supposed to put civilians in roles to hold the department accountable for misconduct. But how does this occur when the selection panel appointed to choose commissioners has a bias toward violent officers? District 3 City Council Member Lynette Gibson McElhaney’s recent appointment of Sarah Chavez-Yoell to the police commission raises considerable red flags. Chavez-Yoell is the wife of former OPD Lieutenant Mike Yoell, an officer with numerous incidents of violence. His "checkered past" includes excessive force, hitting a teen with a car, sexual harassment and "many other high-profile incidents”. The commission used to hold Oakland police accountable cannot consist of people that sympathize with and are married to violent officers. We demand a fair and just police oversight commission and for this to happen Sarah Chavez-Yoell must go! The Anti Police-Terror Project and the Oakland Justice Coalition request your support in demanding that Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney:
Immediately withdraw her appointment of Sarah Chavez-Yoell from the Oakland Police Commission's selection panel due to a conflict of interest.
Select an individual from community who can objectively make decisions based on the needs of community.
Create a community-centered vetting process for the replacement appointee prior to actual selection
"Conflicts of interest are the number one thing that can and will tank the credibility of the Oakland Police Commission. That process has begun with the appointments to the Selection Committee." - Cat Brooks
On behalf of the organization, I want to thank you for your presence and rousing speech at the "Black And African Business Expo". The speech left us educated and inspired.
Judging from the comments of those who attended, the expo was very successful. Most of the credit goes to you and other vendors who made their presence felt. I hope your speech imparted into everyone, especially the youngsters, the importance of "Black Dollars".
Again, we were pleased to have your participation in this outstanding expo, and we thank you for your valuable contribution.
I will be sending you pictures and looking forward to your write up on the expo. GCEA will plan to do an interview with you about the Black Arts Movement Business District.
One last thing, is there any suggestion, critique or observation you can point out that can make us a better host in the future.
My name is Troy Williams. On Monday, Juneteenth, Black Liberation Day, I agreed to be the editor for the Bay View newspaper. It is with great honor, respect and much consideration that I step into this position.
I recognize that over the past 40-plus years the Bay View has been a voice for the people. Simply put, we speak truth to power, logic to the illogical, from the perspective of those who seldom have a platform to speak from. And, what greater truth is there than examples of people whose lives have been touched, transformed and empowered by what they read in the Bay View newspaper. I first heard of the Bay View while serving time in prison. Two and a half years ago, I was serving a life sentence and paroled from San Quentin State Prison with $200 to my name, a skill set and a plan for my life. As we move forward, I will share more about me. But for the purposes of this introduction, I will state that I am most noted for founding a media organization inside the walls of San Quentin....
