top
East Bay
East Bay
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Stop the War on the Black Community - Support African community self-determination

by Uhuru Movement (– oakland [at] blackisbackcoalition.org )
Diop Olugbala and Black is Back Coalition unites with struggle for justice for Alan Blueford, demands an end to the Oakland police and city government's war on the black community.
Calls for all people to attend the upcoming Oakland events - Black Community Convention on Sunday 10/7, and the Day in Solidarity with African People on 10/6.
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
Stop the War on the Black Community – Come to Day in Solidarity with African People on October 6th, and the Black Community Convention on October 7

On September 18th and October 2nd, the Black is Back Coalition and Uhuru Solidarity Movement challenged the Oakland City Council to end the war on the black community of Oakland and to pass a resolution proclaiming October 6th the Day in Solidarity with African People. Despite powerful statements by Black is Back representatives during the open forum in council chambers on 9/18, including by Diop Olugbala and Bakari Olatunji, there has been no response by any member of the city council to these demands.

The Black is Back Coalition calls for an end to the Oakland government policy that results in more than 40% of the city’s budget being spent on police and prisons to attack African people and instead calls for a policy of economic development and African community control of the police and all other vital institutions.

At the city council meeting on September 18, Black is Back Oakland chairman Diop Olugbala spoke during the open forum and stated the position of the Black is Back coalition of complete solidarity and unity with the demands of the Blueford family for justice for Alan Blueford.

Olugbala also laid out that “it’s clear that the city council of Oakland is useless. I don’t think it is the individuals, it is an organizational, a structural question. It is the city council and every other agency with the US government’s responsibility to make sure that this war against the black community continues to rage on.” He called for all present to participate in “building a movement for power and self determination for African people.”

This is an urgent struggle, as demonstrated by the reality that:
- A child born in the black community of West Oakland will live 15 years less than a white child born in the Oakland Hills.
- More than half of the Oakland city budget goes to the police, prisons and courts. Less than half a percent goes to economic development,
- An African arrested in Alameda County on drug charges is 34 times more likely to do time than a white person.
- Every 36 hours an African is killed by the police in the U.S.

Olugbala stated that for those in the white community “who can increasingly hear the criticisms being raised against this government, this is a call for you to turn your backs in every way possible on this government that has done nothing but wage war on oppressed people not only in this country but around the world – and stand in principled unity and solidarity with the movement led by African people ourselves who are the victims of this war.” He then announced The Day in Solidarity with African People – October 6th, 2012. 2:30 – 7 pm at the the Niebyl Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. This event is being organized by Uhuru Solidarity Movement, and calls for the white community to unite with the black power movement’s demands for reparations and self determination led by African people.

Oluglbala continued, “We are calling for African people ourselves to establish our own city council. How many times are we going to go to this city council expecting results when the power has always been in our hands? That’s why they want us to come here instead of organizing solutions on our own. “ He then announced the Black Community Convention - October 7, 2012. 4 – 7 pm at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland. Organized by the Black is Back coalition, the BCC will bring together African community activists to discuss and establish economic development and self reliance programs led by African people, and end the police attacks on the entire community. Families of victims of police murder will be speaking including Cephus Johnson, Adam Blueford and others.

The keynote speakers at both events will include Omali Yeshitela, dynamic organizer and theoretician, founder of the African Socialist International and leader of the Black is Back Coalition. Also speaking is Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, a veteran organizer for justice and reparations to the African community, and author of the ground breaking history - Overturning the Culture of Violence.


For more information, contact the Black is Back Coalition – oakland [at] blackisbackcoalition.org • 510 569-9620
- uhurusolidarity.org • 510-394-1780 • oakland [at] uhurusolidarity.org
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network