Feature Archives

Kwanzaa is celebrated annually from December 26th to January 1st. The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are considered tools for addressing issues facing the African American community. Events will be held in San Francisco, Sacramento and Stockton.

During the December 7th, 2010 Oakland City Council meeting, outraged and grieving family members, friends and members of the public demanded to be allowed to speak during "Open Forum" at the beginning of the meeting. When the council refused, supporters chanted to the front and Derrick's father spoke along with several others. Later many more spoke. The council's response was to offer to agendize the topic for a future meeting.

Derrick Jones was shot and killed by the Oakland Police Dept on Monday November 8th 2010 on the 5800 block of Trask Street. On November 11th, protesters took to the streets to protest the murder of another unarmed man by the police. Family members of Jones and Oscar Grant joined a demonstration on Bancroft Way before marching to the Fruitvale BART station, the site of Grant's fatal shooting. BART shut down the station for several hours during the evening commute because of the protest.

On Friday, November 5th, former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced for the shooting death of Oscar Grant, III. Mehserle received the minimum jail sentence possible from Judge Robert Perry, two years. Subtracting the 146 days Mehserle has already been behind bars in an LA County jail and another 146 days for "good behavior," he is expected to be released from state prison in less than one year from now. Concerned community members gathered together in Frank Ogawa Plaza by Oakland City Hall to respond to the sentencing and to honor Oscar. Police arrested 152 people in a march that followed.

Recently in West Side Modesto, about 100 people gathered in protest against the police killings of Francisco Moran in early September 2010, and the recent murder of Rita Elias by a Stanislaus County Sheriff. Banners read, "RIP Francisco Moran, RIP Rita Elias," "DISARM MPD," and "From LA to Oakland to Modesto, Resist Police Terror, 209 RISE UP!" Family members and friends of Elias wore shirts with her image, and earlier that day they had helped fundraise for her funeral expenses and for her three children that she leaves behind.

On the morning of September 22nd, settler security personnel in Silwan in East Jerusalem shot and killed Samir Solhan. Solhan, a father of four, was a well known figure in Silwan. The Palestinian residents of Silwan rioted in the following days protesting the murder. Although the police readily accepted the settlers' security personnel's version that he was in fear of his life, testimonies and video tell a different story.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) houses prisoners of every faith imaginable; Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, Episcopalian, Baptist, Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist, Hinduism, Taoism, Paganism, Voodooism, Satanism and many other beliefs. Just like many Americans in large and small cities and towns throughout this country, men and women who practice their beliefs behind prison walls have a right to do so without bias, prejudice, or interference. Unfortunately, this was not the case for four Muslim prisoners serving out their sentences as fire fighters at the Ben Lomond fire camp in the remote hills of Santa Cruz County, California.