Keeping
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The Malclom X Jazz Arts Festival Performance Workshop (PW) is a
community dance and theater program located in Oakland California. With
it's roots in African American culture this training program prepares
youth to be an integral part of Oakland's annual Malcolm X Jazz Arts
Festival now in it's 6th year. An ongoing program, the PW teaches
dance, theater, spoken word, stage production as well as social and
political education.The dance curriculm has an emphasis on history with
workshops ranging from traditional African dance, Lindy Hop and other
dance styles of the Harlem Renaissance, old school funk and boogaloo
styles of the 1970's into today's new school Hip Hop dance styles. The theater aspect offers workshops on stage
production, poetry and, social/political education that focuses of
critical thinking and examining the cycle of violence in our community.
All of these workshops culminate to the annual Malcolm X Jazz Arts
Festival. In addition to the festival students perform through out the
Bay Area on a regular basis.
An Oakland church was burglarized over the weekend by a thief who stole all the food that it gives away each week to the needy. The Zion Tabernacle Church of God lost bread, ham, chicken,
vegetables, pies and milk - and even the dolly it uses to carry the
food inside, Pastor Elmer Randolph said Tuesday as he surveyed the
empty interior of the church at 2147 East 15th St. in the city's San
Antonio neighborhood. Now, all that is left is the seasoning and empty cupboards in a
church where a sign on a wall reads, "Give us this day our daily
bread." Police have made no arrests. "You can't believe that people would do things like that, especially when you're giving the food away," Randolph said. The thief broke in through a bathroom window late Saturday or early
Sunday, then broke a lock to the food storeroom, Randolph said. He said the thief apparently knew the church gives away food to 100
or so people most Mondays, so it would be well-stocked over the
weekend. Local stores and food banks donate some of the items, and donations from parishioners buy the rest. "It's gonna cause other people to come help us do more," Randolph
said. "We're coming back, so no quitting. My mother taught me that a
winner never quits and a quitter never wins." SOURCE:SFGATE.COM
The Washington Post, New York Times, and Los Angeles Timeslead with news that the Bush administration and Congressional leaders are moving closer to agreeing on the $700-billion bailout plan for financial firms. The LAT says that in its rush to pass the plan, the Bush administration is agreeing to measures that "would have been inconceivable even a few weeks ago." But deep skepticism remains on both sides of the aisle
and suddenly lawmakers aren't being shy about questioning whether the
plan would really succeed in shoring up the nation's ailing financial
system. The WP points out that some lawmakers are now saying
it might be unrealistic for them to pass a plan by Friday. And as
doubts increased in Capitol Hill, investors responded in kind and
continued to send the markets on the dizzying rollercoaster ride that
has been all too familiar lately. The Dow Jones industrial average
tumbled 372 points, or 3.3 percent, which more than erased Friday's
huge gains. "It marked the first time in the Dow's history that it has
moved more than 350 points, four days in a row," notes the Wall Street Journalin a Page One piece.The WSJ's world-wide newsbox leads with a look at the presidential candidates' assessments of the bailout plan.
Neither candidate said how he would vote if the bailout reaches the
Senate floor, though they agreed on several key aspects they want to
see changed. Barack Obama and John McCain both want to put limits on
executive pay as well as increase oversight of the Treasury while also
demanding greater transparency of how the money is spent. USA Todayleads with word that the Department of Veteran Affairs will publish new regulations today that will "substantially increase"
the disability benefits for veterans with mild traumatic brain
injuries. The move marks the first time the government has officially
acknowledged that even those with mild symptoms can struggle to make a
living when they get back home. These veterans could receive $600 a
month, whereas they now collect a mere $117. The department expects
somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000 veterans to benefit from the new
regulation.
CARE, one of the world's leading international humanitarian
organizations fighting global poverty, will present singer-songwriter, John Legend, with its Humanitarian Award for Global Change during its 62nd
Anniversary Celebration's Diplomatic Celebration event on June 17,
hosted by the British ambassador, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, and Lady
Sheinwald at their residence in Washington, D.C. Legend will be
recognized for his work and dedication to fighting extreme poverty in
Africa primarily through his Show Me Campaign.Over the past decade, CARE has recognized individuals who have made
significant contributions to the fight against poverty and social
injustice, and whose work has advanced international understanding, cooperation, friendship and development. Previous recipients have
included Nelson Mandela, Sir Elton John, Melinda Gates, and Archbishop
Desmond Tutu who received CARE's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999."John Legend represents a new generation of young people who are
embracing the idea that ending poverty is within our grasp," said CARE
president and CEO, Helene Gayle. "We are honored to acknowledge John
for the tangible changes he is making in the lives of men, women and
children in Africa." SOURCE:SOUL TRACKS
(06-09) 11:59 PDT SAN FRANCISCO
--
Violent crime in the Bay Area's biggest cities dipped in 2007 after two
years of increases, and property crimes such as burglaries and thefts
were off more than 4 percent, according to an FBI report released
Monday. Although the overall trend was positive, the report offered mixed
news for many Bay Area cities. The region's 0.3 percent drop in violent
crime - killings, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults - was less
than the state's 3.2 percent decrease and a 1.4 percent decrease
nationally.And 11 of the 15 Bay Area cities with at least 100,000 residents saw
their homicide totals either jump or stay flat in 2007. Among those
cities was San Francisco, which recorded 98 homicides last year, up
from 86 in 2006, even as violent crime overall dropped 1.9 percent.Even with a dramatic drop in killings in Oakland - from 145 in 2006
to 118 last year - the Bay Area's big cities reported a total of 358
slayings in 2007, up from 353 in the year before. The number of
homicides fell by 9.6 percent in California and by 2.7 percent
nationally.Homicide is "always going to be the last statistic to change," said
Police Chief Chris Magnus of Richmond, where the 47 homicides in 2007
were the most in the decade and enough to give the city the highest
per-capita homicide rate among California cities with at least 100,000
people.
It's so hard to predict
because there are so many factors involved," said Magnus, whose city
had 42 killings in 2006. When it comes to many street rivalries in the
city, he said, "it's almost impossible to know about it before they
decide to settle it with a gun." Magnus said police are making progress, using crime mapping to focus
on hot spots, starting a surveillance-camera program, joining a newly
formed West Contra Costa County gang task force and keeping officers on
neighborhood beats longer so they can gain residents' trust.Richmond has had 15 homicides this year, but violent crime overall was down 20 percent through May, Magnus said.Farther east, fast-growing Antioch saw a 30.9 percent increase in
violent crime in 2007 - the largest jump among 65 big cities in the
state - and a 9.8 percent increase in property crime.Police Chief James Hyde said one problem Antioch is having is an
increasing number of at-risk young people who lack a stable home life.
Still, he said, the city is on pace to lower its crime numbers
significantly this year, with the number of violent and property crimes
down 15.4 percent through May. Antioch has not had a homicide this year
after recording 10 killings in both 2007 and 2006. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM
Burma: It Can't Wait campaign with the US Campaign for Burma and the Human Rights Action Center. Candis' on-screen love, Billy Baldwin, raises his voice in support of the campaign and universal human rights. Billy's spot describes the atrocities going on in Burma - there are 70,000 Burmese child soldiers, not to mention torture, massacre of monks, and systematic rape are everyday occurrences under Than Shwe's ruthless dictatorship. The recent devastating cyclone may have killed more than 100,000 people - and yet the dictatorship is refusing aid to the desperate victims. In addition to Billy's PSA, Jennifer Aniston & Woody Harrelson, Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman, Eva Longoria Parker, Ellen Page, Jason Biggs, Syvester Stallone, and Eddie Izzard have also participated.
OAKLAND
— Residents facing gang violence and other illegal activities in their
communities are invited to attend the Neighborhood Summit 2008 on
Saturday. The event is organized by the city's Neighborhood
Services Division and will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Laney College,
200 Fallon St., Oakland. The goal of the summit is to address
residents' concerns about crime and to educate them on how to be
proactive. This year's theme is "My Block, My Community, My
Responsibility." So far this year, Oakland has had 55 homicides, compared with 39 at the same time last year. "We will discuss what community policing means in Oakland," said Edith Guillen, a neighborhood services coordinator. The
summit includes a variety of workshops based on ideas from residents
and recent incidents involving crime that has affected neighborhoods.
Some of the featured workshops will be Understanding and Recognizing
Gang Activity, Youth Led Dialogue on Youth Culture and Violence, and
Teen Prostitution. Other seminars include Personal Safety and
Self-Defense and How to Build Strong, Cohesive Neighborhoods. Workshops
will be translated in Spanish and Cantonese. The summit is the
latest in an effort to help reduce crime. Last week, a citywide meeting
at the Oakland Convention Center focusing on violence prevention and
intervention brought out nearly 3,000 residents. Joseph Marshall, founder of the Omega Boys Club, is the summit's keynote speaker,Organizers say they are expecting the largest turnout for the summit since the event began in the 1990s.So
far, more than 500 residents, nonprofit organizations, county
representatives and church and school groups have signed up for the
summit. Several Measure Y service providers, including California Youth
Outreach, plan to attend.Summit organizers will hold a news
conference today to promote the event and recognize residents doing
good works in their neighborhoods. The news conference is scheduled for
10:30 a.m. at Laney College.Sandra Beal, chairwoman of the
Garfield/Lower San Antonio Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council, said
the purpose of the summit is also about community building. She said
it's designed to give residents an opportunity to get to know one
another and recognize the positive aspects of their community.and Oakland police
Chief of Investigations Jeffrey Israel is the master of ceremonies.
Mayor Ron Dellums and Oakland police Chief Wayne Tucker are special
guests.SOURCE:OAKLAND TRIBUNE
The conference is called "Beyond the City Limits: The Rural African American Experience in the West." This is a unique conference in that it examines the life of African Americans in the rural West, rather than focusing, as so much recent work has done, on the urban experience. Academic presenters include professors and graduate students from NYU, Fresno State, and elsewhere, with the afternoon dedicated to presentations about Allensworth, including presentations by the Friends of Allensworth, the California Parks Department, and the Descendants of Allensworth. The paper I will be presenting at this conference is called "Rural African American Communities in the San Joaquin." This paper examines some of the numerous rural all-black (or mostly-black) colonies and townships established between Stockton and the Grapevine since the 1880s. Beyond Allensworth, this paper introduces communities such as the Bowles Colony, Cookseyville, Lanare, Fairmead, South Dos Palos, Teviston, and other less well-known townships that have been overlooked under the shadow of Allensworth. Several of these communities still exist, in one form, or another. Also, on my panel will be Mark Arax, former LA Times reporter and author of a series of LA Times articles called "Black Okies" and the well known book, "The King Of California: J. G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire." The "Black Okies" article chronicled the remnants of the all-black community on the outskirts of Allensworth known as Tiverton. Although now predominately an community of Hispanic farm workers, this town was, at one time, populated almost exclusively by African American farm workers who had come from the south to the San Joaquin Valley for work. The free conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the University Business Center, Alice Peters Auditorium at California State University, Fresno. Please visit www.csufresno.edu for a campus map. Michael Eissinger Department of History California State University, Fresno
The Oakland Tribuneheaped criticism
on the Oakland police today for its botched investigation into the
murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey. The unsigned editorial was
especially critical of OPD brass for allowing homicide Detective Derwin
Longmire to lead the investigation even though he had a long
relationship with Yusuf Bey IV, the CEO of Your Black Muslim Bakery.
Alleged gunman Devaughndre Broussard claims that Bey IV coerced him
into confessing to Bailey's murder after Longmire allowed the bakery
leader to meet privately with Broussard at police headquarters. The
editorial was unusual because the Trib rarely criticizes
Oakland police. One gripe, though. The editorial stated that Sunday's
60 Minutes program on the murder investigation "didn't break any
ground." That's untrue. In the program, Broussard made a startling new claim — that Longmire had urged him not to finger Bey IV in the murder case.
— Robert Gammon
Tracing the graphic art made by Emory Douglas while he worked as minister of culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until its discontinuation in the early 1980s, this MOCA exhibit is a must. Douglas’s powerful visuals helped define the trademark visual style of the group’s newspapers, posters, and pamphlets. Douglas’s substantial body of work exists as a powerful graphic record of the Black Panthers’ legacy, reflecting their development and evolving mission to improve the lives of African Americans by calling for resistance and change, as well providing social services to their communities. With a firm understanding of the need to disseminate information and communicate the party’s agenda visually, Douglas’s bold illustrations and striking images spoke forcefully to a community ravaged by poverty, police brutality, and poor living conditions. With unmistakable humanism, Douglas portrayed a populace that was emerging from segregation and proudly fighting to assert their rights to equality. Organized by MOCA Ahmanson Curatorial Fellow Sam Durant, the exhibition includes approximately 150 of Douglas’s most influential works, which serve as a testament to the efficacy of visual art to communicate a political position. Through January 20, 2008. Free. Museum of Contemporary Art, 8687 Melrose Ave., Design Plaza G102, West Hollywood, 310-289-5223. www.moca.org.
Lots of Trouble BART parking lots are assault-and-robbery hotspots, a vicious killer is finally caught down south, and botanical bandits snip stems. By Anneli Rufus -- We're not even supposed to notice BART parking lots. But they've become gauntlets, scenes right out of the Wild West. It has been a summer of mayhem. In the Bay Fair station's parking lot June 9, three teens beat a man about the face and fled with his phone and laptop. At El Cerrito del Norte on June 17, a woman was slammed to the ground and her phone was stolen by a teen whose flirtatious advances she had spurned. At the Coliseum station that day, six men attacked another, hurling him to the ground and demanding his money. He managed to wrestle free and escape. At Pittsburg on June 21, two men accosted a couple, punching the man and fleeing with the woman's purse. An hour later, three armed men trailed another into the Bay Fair lot, injured his face, broke two of his teeth, stole $400, and fled in his SUV. At the Coliseum station on August 2, two juveniles wielding a replica rifle robbed a man. Back at the Coliseum on August 13, two teens seized and ran off with a man's backpack. At Bay Fair on August 15, a teen gunman knocked a woman to the ground, escaping with her purse and phone. At Union City on August 22, two juveniles and an adult jumped a man, punched him in the face and stomach, and fled with his wallet and headphones. That same day at Hayward, a teenage girl demanded a woman's purse and chased her, attempting unsuccessfully to seize it. SOURCE OF THIS STORY
American Blackout chronicles the recurring patterns of voter
disenfranchisement from Florida 2000 to Ohio 2004 while following the
story of Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. McKinney not only took
an active role investigating these election debacles, but has
found herself in the middle of her own after publicly questioning the
Bush Administration about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Featuring:
Congressional members: John Conyers, John Lewis, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones,
Bernie Sanders and jounalists Greg Palast and Bob Fitrakis.
Lesbian entrepreneurs seek to replace Caleb's Reef with Oakland's only upscale GLBT nightspot.The dilapidated storefront that used to be Cabel's Reef — a GLBT bar that opened 23 years ago on a stretch of Telegraph Avenue that now includes art galleries, boutiques, and hipster coffee shops — is now completely gutted. By September it will have undergone an infrastructure overhaul in addition to major reconstructive surgery. Graphic designer Susanne Borman and her partner Lori Dynes, a retired Wells Fargo marketing manager, plan to transform the old dive into a chic, two-story GLBT venue called the Vibe.The name says it all: Trading the Reef's Cheers-style setup for swankier digs that include flat-panel TVs, a video jukebox, built-in seating, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, soft LED lighting, and an upstairs dancefloor, the co-owners plan to create an upscale cocktail lounge targeting Oakland's 25-and-up queer community. The city's few gay watering holes include the divey White Horse and the Bench and Bar, a campy salsa club oriented toward exotic dancing.The couple got the idea about a year and a half ago, Borman says, in part because they wanted a reprieve from their corporate jobs, and partly because they realized that demand for safe GLBT venues in the East Bay far outpaced supply. "We've infiltrated everywhere in Oakland," Borman says. "I've got five gay households on my block." She adds that when the queer women's bar Velvet opened a few months ago on MacArthur Boulevard, four hundred women lined up outside to get in.
After scoping out real estate, Borman and Dynes found Jack Everhart, who offered a prime opportunity. Granted, the new owners inherited some of the bad blood associated with Cabel's Reef, which ostensibly shut down because ex-owner Everhart was ready to retire from the nightlife business. The city had enjoined him to close at 11 p.m. due to neighbor complaints about drug use in the adjacent parking lot. "To my knowledge he was never required to close at 11," Borman surmises, but for the most part he did. "That was one of the things we needed to address when we made the purchase from Jack. We're gonna have a minimum of two security guards every hour that we're open — one at the door and one roaming."
Vibe's cofounders seem inured to — even emboldened by — the venue's spotty history. "We wanted to run an
above-board and transparent situation," Borman says. "We have a lot of
meetings where people come, and we hear their concerns." She notes that
the Vibe plans to feature six signature cocktails inspired by local gay
bars that came and went before it. One of them will bear the Jack
Everhart name. SOURCE OF THIS STORY
Aborn leader of worship, award-winning gospel artist Byron Cage has
come to be known as the “Prince of Praise.” Dedicating more than 18
years to directing worship at two of the country’s most prestigious
mega-churches, Byron Cage inspires people to take active roles in
bettering their mind, body and spirit. In choosing to partner with the
Strength in HarmonySM campaign, Byron Cage has made a commitment to supporting the healthy lives of those who have supported his career. The Strength in HarmonySM
campaign is designed to encourage those at risk for chronic kidney
disease to recognize warning signs and to obtain early medical
intervention. Strength in HarmonySM is being offered by Ortho
Biotech Products, L.P., in partnership with The COSHAR Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization with a focus on health education
through faith-based initiatives.I got involved because I have a personal
interest and a willingness to be of service,” Cage relates. “I not only
have an opportunity to share good music, but to also give a message. My
Aunt Liza died of kidney disease, so there is a definite interest on my
part to use my celebrity status to heighten awareness in our community.”To read more on this article please purchase: 2006 November/December issue of Homes of Color Magazine.
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