The Murder of Oscar Grant and the Continuing Struggle for Justice for the African Community

The news that former BART cop Johannes Mehserle will stand trial for the murder of 22 year old Oscar Grant III signals a victory for the African community and all those who stand opposed to police violence and injustice. 

During the hearings, BART cop, Anthony Pirone, who was caught on video punching Grant in the face just minutes prior to the deadly shooting, confirmed that Grant posed no threat to the officers.

We know that this is a rare occurrence to have a police officer stand trial for the "use of deadly force." History shows that police are systematically acquitted of murder.  In fact, the courts, crime labs and prison system all work together to ensure that police departments are rarely held accountable for their crimes. Case in point, the Oakland Riders, four cops accused of brutally beating suspects in West Oakland, falsifying police reports and planting evidence were acquitted time and time again.

Most recently, eleven Oakland officers were fired for falsifying search warrants that they utilized to raid peoples' homes in East Oakland. This is the same police department whose internal affairs chief was exposed as having killed Jerry Amaro III, after having kicked him to death in 2000. For nine years, this information was covered up by the Oakland Police Department. 

It should be as conspicuously clear to anyone who is paying attention that the police are a brutal presence in the African and other oppressed communities and that they lie to cover up their crimes. The mainstream media, for the most part, will only expose their crimes after the proverbial cat's body has completely jumped out of the bag. On a daily basis, the media works to justify the presence of the police in the black community, which is kept impoverished and under seige by the U.S. government imposed drug economy that in turn is used to justify more police. 

At this time in history, in spite of a black president, one million African people are locked down in prisons under this "war on drugs."  In California, even though African people make up just 5% of the population, they represent 50% of those incarcerated in the one of the largest prison systems in the world. 

While the city of Oakland spends nearly half of its general budget on this war, one in five households live on $5,000 or less per year and virtually none on economic development. Even their other budget that is supposedly earmarked for economic development is spent on police related services and gentrification efforts, buying banners and planters to superficially make a neighborhood look friendlier for shoppers using Community and Economic Development Agency monies that are supposed to go to alleviate the poverty in Oakland. 

The actions of Lovelle Mixon in Oakland, California on March 21st take place within this context. Mixon, having recently been released from prison in the fall of 2008, faced an unprecedented economic downturn. He was living in a city in which the public slaughter of Oscar Grant was captured on numerous phone and video cameras for the entire world to see. 

We will never know exactly what was in the mind of Lovelle Mixon on that afternoon when he was pulled over on a "routine traffic stop," but we do know that the events of the day took place within a political context of police terror, repression and violence against the African community. 

Recent revelations in the media also point to the coverup of lies that took place about exactly what happened in the apartment building where the Oakland SWAT team raid took place, resulting in the deaths of the third and fourth officers, so much that an independent panel will be called in for the investigation. 

We may never find out what exactly happened in the apartment where SWAT officers Erv Romans and Daniel Sakai and Lovelle Mixon were killed; however, we do know that that the same entities that reported the reported the police version of events also reported the state crime lab results that pinned a rape of a child on Mixon. This was a rape that, if it did happen, was not reported to the school that stands within a mile of the area where they say it occurred. These were lab results that came out after Mixon was killed. 

Time and time again, we see the war on the African community being carried out with the full support of the public and in conjunction with the media slander of an entire community. When Jody "Mack" Woodfox was killed by Oakland Police Officer Jimenez in July of 2008, there was no outcry from the public. Woodfox was killed by multiple shots to his backside while running away from the police.   Oakland police officer Hector Jimenez is also responsible for the shooting death of 20 year old Andrew Moppin, on New Year's Eve, 2007. 

When Jose Luis Buenrostro was killed in mid day just a block away from his house, the media reported the police version that the 16 year old had hidden a sawed off in his pajamas. They also came out with subsequent articles that insinuated that the Oakland Aviation High School student was somehow affiliated with a gang, assigning a low price to his life. 

When 71 year old Casper Banjo, a pillar in the Black Arts Movement had an epileptic seizure and was surrounded and shot right in front of house near Eastmont Mall, there was dead silence on the part of the general public and media. So far there have been no consequences for any of these deaths. 

It is time for those of us who say that we are about social justice to fully understand the role of the state, the organized system of violence that arises in society when there exists haves and have nots, colonized and colonized, oppressor and oppressed. 

For too long, white progressives, who may come out for a big march against the U.S. war in Iraq have stood silently where the African community faces this police terror, in the name of safety, in the name of diversity, with the celebration of a black president and in our name.

No longer can we afford to stand silently by while young people like Lovelle Mixon face no future. The African community has been the hardest hit by the economic collapse. No longer can we seek the means for our own survival - whether it be eco-friendly, DIY, gay friendly or in some other way alternative - if it does not include the complete and total transformation of a system based on genocide and slavery. 

The problems that African people face - in the U.S., on the continent, and around the world - are our problems to face, embrace and address. Let's support the African Village Survival Initiative and its collective response to the economic crisis. Let's say yes to collective and community gardening, rainwater harvesting, solar and wind energy, economic self-reliance, but it has to be under the umbrella of African self-determination, not within a system that robs self-reliance from the peoples of Africa and all over the world.

Come out on next Thursday, June 11th to hear from Omali Yeshitela, the brilliant leader of the Uhuru Movement addressing "Why We Must Organize to Stop Police Terror Against the African Community."  The first of two events will take place at 7pm at the Humanist Hall at 390 - 27th St. in Oakland with a second event on Sunday, June 14th from 4 to 6pm at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd in East Oakland. 

To hear Yeshitela speaking on the situation in Oakland, you can listen to this broadcast:

http://uhurunews.com/radio/playaudio?resource_name=lovelle-mixon-and-african-resistance-in-oakland-the-role-and-composition-of-the-african-people-s-socialist-party-2009-03-22-2009-03-29-audio

Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee will present a slide show on The Crisis of Imperialism and the Question of the State

You can read her blog entry, "African People Have a Right to Resist."

Email 

oakland@uhurusolidarity.org for more info

From Oscar Grant to Lovelle Mixon: Why We Must Organize to Stop Police Terror Against the African Community

Two Events This Month!

Thursday, June 11th, 7 to 9:30pm

Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St., Oakland

Sunday, June 14th, 4 to 6pm

Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland

$5 to $25 sliding scale 

No one turned away for lack of funds

Building the Movement for Economic Development, Reparations & Justice

Find out what the Uhuru Movement's solutions are for police violence, poverty and injustice and get involved in work that supports the African Village Survival Initiative, because environmental justice, gay rights, women's rights and the rights of all people must be addressed through the overturning of the culture and system of violence and genocide and the building of a new world where all people can live. 

With Presentations by: 
Omali Yeshitela, Leader and Founder of the Uhuru Movement 
on the movement for economic development, reparations and justice 
Penny Hess, 
Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee 
presenting a slide presentation on Environmental Justice Through African Liberation

WE DID IT! Uhuru Foods Will Be at the Maker Faire

Thank you to all Supporters! Visit our booth at Maker Faire 

A huge "Thank you!" to all the supporters of Uhuru Foods from Massachussetts to Florida to California who sent heartfelt e-mail letters of deep unity with the Uhuru Movement and Uhuru Foods. Thanks to everyone who made phone calls, as well.

Because of the broad base of support for the Uhuru Movement, we were notified this morning by Ovations that Uhuru Foods' booth location and contract has been reinstated at the Maker Faire. If you plan to be at Maker Faire, sign up to volunteer at our booth, stop by to make a donation or get your meals from Uhuru Foods. This important fundraiser for African self-determination will be a great success with all of your support.

To find out more about Uhuru Foods and the African Village Survival Initiative, to join the AVSI solidarity committee or to make a donation, go to www.apedf.org or  www.uhurufoods.org

Urgent Call-in: Demand Uhuru Foods is Included at the Maker Faire

Dear Uhuru Foods and Uhuru Movement Supporters,

We are calling on people to write letters and make calls to express shock and outrage at the decision by Ovations, the food coordinators for the Maker Faire 2009 to terminate the contract of Uhuru Foods, without explanation, just 7 days prior to the event. 

(See sample letter)

As you may know, Uhuru Foods has been coordinating popular food concessions at fairs and festivals for 30 years to raise resources in support of the Uhuru Movement programs for African genuine economic development and self determination. The booths have offered good quality natural foods, and the opportunity for thousands of volunteers to concretely demonstrate their support for genuine economic development for the black community.

On Friday, May 22nd, Nancy Davis of Ovations notified Uhuru Foods that they were terminating our contract just one week prior to the faire. She refused to give a reason for excluding Uhuru Foods. Uhuru Foods has had an excellent relationship with Maker Faire promoters in the past.

We believe that excluding Uhuru Foods runs counter to the mission of the Maker Faire. The Maker Faire focuses on generating thought and action towards building a sustainable future.
The predominantly white middle class community that produce and attends the Maker Faire have always appreciated being able to support Uhuru Foods. Excluding Uhuru Foods ensures that the festival is an exclusive enterprise that does not include the voice, perspective and struggle of the African working class.

Without any explanation from Ovations for the cancellation, we can only assume that they do not support the independent voice and self determination struggle of the black community, They are choosing to exclude African led programs for true sustainability and justice that African people are leading through the Uhuru Movement. Just as during the early 1960s, some opposed the leading struggles of black people in the South who challenged the status quo with such bold actions as the lunch counter sit-ins.

Read more and participate in the Call-in

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Meeting, Tues, 5/19 at 7pm

When: Tuesday, May 19th, 7 to 8:30pm

Where: Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St., Oakland

What: Uhuru Solidarity Movement meeting

Come out to participate in the work of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, a part of the African Liberation Movement building a movement on the ground against the policy of police containment and terror in Oakland and beyond. We will study the legacy of Malcolm X on his birthday and the COINTELPRO program that destroyed the Black Power Movement of the 1960's. Find out how to get involved with the African Village Survival Initiative and support the work to build sustainability, justice and programs led by and for the black community. Uhuru means freedom!

Save the Dates! June 11th & 14th Community Forums to Stop Police Terror

From Oscar Grant to Lovelle Mixon:

Why We Must Organize to Stop Police Terror Against the African Community 

and Build the Movement for Economic Development, Reparations & Justice!

Thursday, June 11th, 7 to 9pm

Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St., Oakland

Sunday, June 14th, 4 to 6pm

Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland

Dinner following the event

Keynote Speaker:

Omali Yeshitela, Leader and Founder of the Uhuru Movement

Addressing the growing African liberation movement in the U.S., in Africa

and throughout the African world

With Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee

Addressing the question of Environmental Justice through African Liberation

$5 to 25 sliding scale

No one turned away for lack of funds

oakland@inpdum.org

Two Oaklands: One Solution This Thursday!

Thursday, April 30th, 7pm:

Two Oaklands: One Solution

Economic Development for the African Community and an End to the Policy of Police Containment
390 - 27th St., Oakland, CA

Donation Requested (no one turned away)

The killing of four Oakland police officers and Lovelle Mixon on March 21st has brought to the surface the economic and political crisis in our city.

40% of the Oakland general fund budget goes to police services, while only a half of one percent goes towards economic development

The Uhuru Movement invites concerned members of our community to discuss solutions for peace and justice.

We can develop Oakland into a model city for shared prosperity and true social justice!

Speakers:

Shanrika Turney, Local Uhuru moement organizer presenting on the current campaigns of the Uhuru Movement

Bakari Olatunji, member of the African People's Socialist Party presenting on the history of the Black Panther Party

Wendy Snyder, Uhuru Solidarity Movement presenting on the roots of the crisis in the city of Oakland.

The Uhuru Movement is building the African Village Survival Initiative, a collective response to the economic crisis to ensure the African community can meet its own needs through self-reliant programs and institutions: community gardening, solar energy, rainwater catchment, holistic health practices and economic development.

Call 510-625-1106 or email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org to find out more about the event and/or how to volunteer for the programs.

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Study: From the Black Panther Party to the Uhuru Movement

Tuesday, April 14th, 7pm
Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St., Oakland
(between Broadway and Telegraph)
oakland@uhurusolidarity.org
510-625-1106

The Uhuru Solidarity Movement invites people interested in learning more about the historical legacy and current campaigns of the Uhuru Movement and how to join in solidarity with the struggle for African liberation and justice.

The Uhuru Solidarity Movement will hold a study to provide an orientation to people interested in studying the history of the Black Power Movement in Oakland from the Black Panther Party to Uhuru.

We want to educate and understand COINTELPRO, the military disinformation and assassination campaign of the FBI and the tactics the U.S. government has used to discredit and undermine struggles of the oppressed for national liberation.

We are interested in discussion and dialogue about how to address the serious conditions that the African community in Oakland and the SF Bay area faces.

We believe that we must join in solidarity with the African led movement for liberation, sustainability and shared prosperity.

Come to the study and you will learn about the Uhuru Movement campaigns including:

** The struggle for economic development, not police containment in Oakland and around the U.S.

** The "City Hall 2" in Philadelphia, where the city attacked the African community's right to free speech in challenging Philly Mayor Nutter's war (police) budget

** The Campaign to Free Ajamu Bandele, Uhuru Movement organizer in York, PA who has been framed up for his work exposing the drug economy as part of the war on the black community

** The African Village Survival Initiative and its collective response to the global economic crisis through community gardening, solar energy, rainwater catchment, sustainability and economic developent

** The African Socialist International building in East and West Africa and North America, uniting African people into one organization

** The Uhuru Solidarity Movement first national conference on Saturday, May 2nd in Philadelphia, PA to build organization everywhere of white people and other allies taking a stand against police violence, economic attacks and injustice against African people everywhere.

Upcoming Uhuru Movement Events

The solution to the economic crisis
and violence in Oakland:
Economic development
to the African community
and an end to the policy
of police containment

The killing of four Oakland police officers and Lovelle Mixon on March 21st has brought to surface the economic and political crisis in our city.

The Uhuru Movement invites concerned members of our community to discuss solutions for peace and justice.

We can develop Oakland into a model city for shared prosperity and true social justice!

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, April 14th, 7 to 9pmUhuru Solidarity Movement Study Group, Humanist Hall, 390 – 27th St., Oakland

Tuesday, April 21st, 7 to 9pmUhuru Movement & Uhuru Foods Organizing Meeting, Humanist Hall, 390 – 27th St., Oakland

Sunday, April 26th, 2 to 6pmEarth Day at the Uhuru HouseSupport the African Village Survival Initiative

Thursday, April 30th, 7 to 9pmCommunity Forum:A Solution to the Economic Crisis & Violence in Oakland: Economic Development, Not Police Containment, Humanist Hall, 390 – 27th St., Oakland

Come out to the Uhuru Foods breakfast booth every Saturday at the Grand Lake Farmers Market & Shop at Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles at 3742 Grand Ave in Oakland
For more info, email Oakland@uhurusolidarity.org or call 510-625-1106

Support Economic and Social Justice, Not Police Containment in Oakland

Why & How We Must Participate in the Solutions to Oakland's Problems

Two weeks following the killings of four Oakland police officers and Lovelle Mixon, many in Oakland are still trying to make sense of what happened and put forward solutions to the underlying problems that we face in our city. As the economic crisis deepens throughout the country, we see the rapid escalation of violence - in nursing homes, family homes, immigration offices, and yesterday's killing of two police officers by a 22 year old white man in Pittsburgh, PA who had just recently lost his job and was concerned about losing his guns.

We can see that the economic crisis is at the root of many of these killings - people losing their jobs and with it their ability to feed themselves and their families. In these troubled times, many people are suffering. And yet, African communities across the U.S. have faced an economic crisis for a long time now. The unemployment rate in the black community has always been disproportionate to the rest of society. Joblessness, homelessness, poverty and oppression follow the historic legacy of a two tiered system and reality that maintains the wealth and privilege of white people in opposition to the impoverishment of African and Mexican communities. This oppression coincides with the lucrative prison economy of California, fueled by the lives of young black men like Lovelle Mixon who are caught up in the poverty and hopelessness and forced into a fierce struggle just to survive.

The Uhuru Movement has stated that the events in Oakland are the result of the failed policy of police containment, which offers no future for the African working class communities. The police are part of the state, an apparatus that encompasses the courts, the prisons, the navy and the army. They exist to maintain the divisions between the wealth and poverty, the employed and the unemployed, the imprisoned and the free.

While we can only surmise what was in the mind of Lovelle Mixon when he shot and killed the Oakland police officers (what happened in the house on 74th Avenue, we still do not know), there are some things we do know. The city of Oakland spends 40% of its billion dollar budget on its notoriously brutal police department, infamous for the "Oakland Riders," fabricated search warrants, consistent killings of young black and Mexican men and unsolved homicides in East and West Oakland. This portion of the budget going to a militarized police force does not include the amount in overtime monies paid to officers nor does it include the thousands of dollars paid by the city in police brutality settlements.

It is commonly understood that the same public policy functioned in the brutal public killing of Oscar Grant III on January 1st by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. This police killing is in the consciousness of every young African person as they face the daily presence of the OPD in their neighborhoods and the constant reminder that they could be the next victims of deadly police violence.

We also know that the city government spends just one half of one percent of its budget on community economic development in a city one in five households in our city live on $5,000 or less. Oakland is a city of haves and have nots maintained through the violence of the state. This is a city of the hills, the cool hip, artsy neighborhoods versus the impoverished and desparate flatlands where black children live 15 years less than white children in the hills.

The Uhuru Movement has always provided a forum and a voice for the most oppressed sector of the African community. The Uhuru House community center in East Oakland provides this space through which the African community has stood up on numerous occasions for economic and social justice and struggled for community control of the police, housing and education.

The black community-led Uhuru Movement has recently initiated an international collective response to the deep economic crisis we are experiencing that is hitting the African community especially hard, called the African Village Survival Initiative.

For those of us who want to see social justice and peace in our city, the African Village Survival Initiative is a program and a vision for the future we can all support. This program is a prototype for creating green, sustainable energy, farming and economic self-reliance programs that can be reproduced anywhere in the U.S. & worldwide. This is a program that we can support that will be led by the African working class community themselves to grow their own food, build their own programs, meet their own needs and hasten the transformation of this terrible reality into something new and something good for everyone.

We can struggle for genuine economic development and an end to the failed policy of police containment that has created the volatile conditions in East and West Oakland. We can support programs like the African Village Survival Initiative in Oakland and beyond. The more of us who can participate in real community based solutions the sooner we can bring about the change our city and our world needs.

Learn about the African Village Survival Initiative and the campaigns and programs of the Uhuru Movement. Join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement and Uhuru Foods that raise funds and support for the Uhuru movement. Attend our study this Wednesday, April 8th from 7 to 9pm at the Jump 'N Java Cafe, 6606 Shattuck Ave, Oakland

Call (510) 625- 1006
oakland@uhurusolidarity.org

Today's Coverage of Killings of Police and Mixon

These articles make some interesting points:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_12019917

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/28/INO216MACK.DTL

Video Coverage of Lovelle Mixon Video

Video footage from the March 25th, 2009 Vigil for Lovelle Mixon and victims of police violence in Oakland:

Uhuru Movement Statement on the Killings of 4 Officers and Lovelle Mixon

International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement
7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
(510) 569-9620
Oakland@inpdum.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

WHAT: Uhuru Movement statement on the killing of
four Oakland officers and Lovelle Mixon
CONTACT: Bakari Olatunji, 510-304-2078

The Uhuru Movement thanks all of our friends and supporters who have voiced their concerns about the position taken by the Uhuru Movement on the March 21 killings of four Oakland policemen and twenty-six year old Lovelle Mixon.

We unite with your interest in dialog and resolution to this situation and in building unity among the various communities in Oakland through genuine social justice.

The Uhuru Movement has always understood that our friends may disagree with some of our positions—positions which always uphold justice for the African working class community.

We understand and unite with your concerns that the tense situation in Oakland must be resolved.

It is unfortunate that it takes a situation like this to bring Oakland’s real problems to the surface.

We have to take the March 21 events in the context of the long history that the Oakland police department has had with the Oakland African working class community.

It was the infamous brutality of the Oakland police that gave rise to the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in the 1960s.

There has been the exposure of the notorious Oakland “Riders,” whose brazen violence, harassment, racism and dishonesty are well known.

There have been relentless police murders of African community members young and old, such as Casper Banjo, an elderly African man and well-known, respected artist who was blatantly shot by the police last year.

There are hundreds of African and Mexican working class people who have been murdered by police over the years, real human beings whose names fade from the collective memory so quickly. Many of these victims have been blatantly slandered in the media, doubling the pain of the grieving families.

The recent cold-blooded, point blank BART police murder of young Oscar Grant was only unusual because it was caught from many angles on video.

But it is much more than this. Oakland has a very clear publicly supported policy of police containment, implementing an incessant martial law with ever-present SWAT teams and police helicopters circling over neighborhoods daily.

California’s prison population is the fourth largest in the entire world and the OPD does everything possible to feed young African men and women from Oakland into that system for their entire lives.

Discriminatory legislation such as Three Strikes locks up countless African people as young as 14 years old for things that white people get to go to rehab for.

It has long been documented in articles by journalist Gary Webb in the San Jose Mercury News, for example, that the US government is responsible for imposing the devastating crack cocaine plague in African communities, and it is well known that the police have and continue to facilitate this.

The Uhuru Movement does not support the loss of life of any person. But the loss of life at the hands of the police in the African community of Oakland has been going on for half a century.

The “tensions” in Oakland are caused by the police, not by an impoverished community struggling to survive.

Even the mainstream media sources such as the New York Times and National Public Radio have had to mention in most reports that many in the African community do not support the police’s position in this case, and understand that Mixon’s actions were the result of years of oppression of a whole community which has come to a boiling point.

Lovelle Mixon’s life, like that of thousands of young African men in the impoverished neighborhoods of Oakland, was over long before he was killed by police. He faced a hopeless dead end of joblessness, poverty and criminalization by a society that would rather lock up young African men than make college or jobs available to them.

The police are not social workers; they are a military force with the assignment to carry out a violent containment policy against a whole community. The purpose of the police is to maintain power for the status quo and uphold the relations of poverty and wealth in the city.

If we want to move forward and “build bridges” as a city there is only one road to do so. We have to truly understand the calls of a community under siege and demand an immediate end to this completely failed public policy of police containment, this war without terms waged against the African community of Oakland.

We have to demand a policy of genuine economic development for the African community—development that truly benefits and uplifts the deeply impoverished African working class of this city, and is not just another cover for gentrification and dispersal of the oppressed.

We appreciate your continued support of the Uhuru Movement and urge you to take an active stand in transforming Oakland into a model city of shared prosperity and true social justice.

Uhuru!

RIP Lovelle Mixon

Lovell Mixon (below) with his uncle Curtis Mixon




The mainstream media, for the most part, portrays Lovelle Mixon as a despicable human being beyond reform - child rapist and urban terrorist.

The comments on previous posts to this blog attest to many peoples' willingness to believe in this picture of him.

I did not know him personally but I know a little bit about what young African men face in East Oakland and I know the history of this phenomenon - some from books and some from having lived to see the Stuart Case, the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King, the frame up of Fred Hampton Jr. and numerous other events unfold. Mostly, however, I have learned from the brilliant teachings and campaigns of the Uhuru Movement.

I learned from young men like Lovelle in my classroom as a teacher at Castlemont High (just down the street from where the events took place and also down the street from the Uhuru House), young men and women who were brilliant, ready to take on the world, but who were treated as less than intelligent and whose pride and brilliance prevented them from putting up with the miseducation, irrrelevance and boredom that often came with being in school.

It turns out that Derrick Mixon was Lovelle's cousin. Derrick was a 9th grader at Castlemont High who was witty, hilarious and creative and only lived to age 15 before he was killed last summer. There was no outcry about this young man's death. He was one of many young men whose unexplained death was unnoticed by the outside world.

With what I have learned from the Uhuru Movement about the history of slavery, the hundreds of years of lynchings of African people by regular white folks (my people), about the everyday terror of the chain gangs, police violence and prison system, there is no possible way that I could just believe what they want me to believe. The historic figure of the black man as rapist figures into the popular imagination to such a degree to stir up white nationalist lynch mob justice and to separate him from his community. And this young man is already dead.

It is time for white people who consider ourselves forward thinking and progressive to stand with the victims, stand with the families and with the communities who have suffered enough and whose movement can overturn a system that we also hate for its inhumanity, its brutality, its perpetual war here and in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

I encourage you to come out to support tomorrow evening - Wednesday, March 25th at 6pm at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland.





For other views diverging from that of the mainstream on Lovelle Mixon and the events in Oakland, see:

http://uhurunews.com/story?resource_name=stop-the-genocidal-war-on-the-african-community-now-economic-and-social-justice-for-the-african-community

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=765a336402b359f577a09d8e09eb00dd http://blogs.newamericamedia.org/nam-round-table/1633/lovell-obama-the-theory-behind-the-image

http://www.feministing.com/archives/014439.html

A decent letter to the editor by Sally Norvel of Alameda (at the top):

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/EDB616LGMA.DTL

This article is mainstream but has a lot of details about his life that I haven't read about yet:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/us/25parolee.html?ref=us

Defend African People's Right to Resist!

Defend African People's Right to Resist!
March, Candlelight Vigil and Rally for Lovelle Mixon and Family
Wednesday, March 25th, 6 to 8pm
Gather at Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
6:30 March to Eastmont Town Center
Rally & Return to the Uhuru House

Contact: 510-569-9620, oakland@inpdum.org

Stop the Genocidal War on the African Community Now!
Economic and Social Justice for the African Community!

Statement from the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement

The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement calls on all progressive-minded people to stand against the brutal, long-standing, publicly-supported policies of police containment that keep the African community under the grip of a colonial occupation for which the Oakland Police Department is the front line of assault.

We call for support for the African community demands for genuine economic development and social justice for the African community.

The deaths of four members of the OPD on March 21, 2009, were the result of these relentless policies, which are manifested daily in the cold-blooded police murders, brutality and harassment of African men and women, youth and elderly by the heavily armed, military style Oakland police force;

In draconian laws such as Three Strikes that discriminatorily lock up tens of thousands of African people for life in the multi-billion dollar California prison industry;

In the hostile, substandard education system that profiles African male children as young as six years old as criminals and “super-predators,” and feeds the shameful juvenile prison industry that violates every principle of international law;

In the highly-documented government-imposed illegal drug trade which is often the only last-ditch source of employment in a community whose own economic infrastructure has been destroyed by “urban renewal” and gentrification;

In the specific targeting of African homeowners for predatory subprime mortgages, thousands of which are now in foreclosure;

In the cruel foster care system that turns African babies and children, victimized by this system, into profitable commodities for the lucrative white foster-care industry.

It was the historic brutality of the Oakland Police Department that gave rise to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in the 1960s.

We recognize that African communities of Oakland and throughout the US are locked down under a deadly colonial occupation no different than the conditions imposed on the Iraqi and Afghani people under the US military occupation and the near genocidal colonial assault on the Palestinian people by the illegitimate state of Israel.

We believe that all oppressed and colonized peoples have a right to struggle for liberation and to resist, as Malcolm X said, by any means necessary.

Just like the resistance of Nat Turner and Gabriel Prosser, enslaved Africans once vilified and today considered heroes, African people in Oakland have a right to struggle against this government-imposed terror. This is exactly what our brother Lovelle Mixon did.

We believe the actions brother Lovelle Mixon took were in fact a direct response to a system that upholds itself and protects itself through the imposition of a police state within the African community to enforce systematic harassment, torture, death and destruction on the African community, so that it can continue to thrive.

Africans have come to the conclusion that if you do not resist oppression from the police, you will end up unjustly murdered by them, all criminal charges will be dropped against them, hence injustice within the system perpetuates itself while Africans continue to die.

Knowing the history of how the police treat Africans, Lovelle Mixon felt he had to defend himself in the face of the oppressive police state. And he did so, honorably. Like the missiles launched from Gaza and the Iraqi resistance forces, African people will rightfully fight to free themselves against oppression in every form.

We call on the citizens of Oakland to unite with the demands raised by the Uhuru Movement for genuine economic development to the African working class community, for reparations for the families of victims of police violence, for a community controlled police review board with subpoena powers and for an immediate end to these failed public policies of police containment which have brought so much suffering to the African community for so long.

We call on Oakland citizens to join us in rejecting the knee-jerk criminalization of the oppressed African community by the city and state governments, and in recognizing that in order to go forward as a city we must unite in the quest for economic and social justice for the African community.

Uhuru!

The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement is an organization led by the African working class to defend the democratic rights of the African community.

Four OPD and One Young African Down in Billion Dollar War

In urgent response to yesterday's events in Oakland, we are inviting people to come out to the Oakland Uhuru House Today:

Stop the Billion Dollar War on the African Community!
Remember Oscar Grant, Jody Woodfox, Casper Banjo, Andrew Moppin, Gary King Jr.
and all the Victims of the Oakland Police Department Policies of Police Containment

WHEN: Sunday, March 22nd, 4 to 6pm
WHERE: Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland

Yesterday, in what the media is calling a "routine traffic stop,” four Oakland police officers, two of whom were members of the SWAT team were shot by a young African who was later shot and killed by police in East Oakland. Following the shootings of the first two officers, hundreds of police, sheriff, highway patrol and helicopters terrorized the entire community around 74th and MacArthur. 27 year old Lovelle Mixon, the suspect described as having "an extensive criminal history" was killed at the scene.

These events are in direct response to what has been happening in the African community of Oakland. Every day, the notoriously brutal Oakland Police Department comes into the neighborhoods to attack us and we have a right to resist. Nearly half of the city's billion dollar budget goes to support a militarized policy of police containment while one in five families in Oakland communities live below the poverty line. African people are on lock down in their own communities and never see justice for the police killings of African people. Lovelle Mixon is a victim of the policy of police containment and economic embargo of our African community.

The city and the media are using these events to cover up the police violence that plagues the African community and win support for their policies.
Come out today to get organized in unity with the African working class and join the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement and unite with the following demands:
Jail the killer cops
Reparations to the families of the victims of police violence
Economic development not police containment to the African community

Stop the Billion Dollar War on the African Community!
Build a sustainable future based on justice and liberation!

Justice for Oscar Grant and all the Victims of Police Violence!
Join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement!
www.uhurusolidarity.org
oakland@uhurusolidarity.org

All Resources of the U.S. Empire Are Blood Resources

Tuesday, March 10th, 7 to 8:30pm

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Study

3127 Herriott Ave (off Virginia and High St), Oakland

We will watch a slide presentation, "All Resources Are Blood Resources" by African People's Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess showing the foundation and ongoing collapsing system of U.S. imperialism based on slavery, colonialism and genocide from the diamonds in Sierra Leone to the prison economy in the U.S.  The presentation will be followed by a discussion of the theory of African Internationalism, the philosophy of the Uhuru Movement and the programs and campaigns of the Uhuru Movement including the All African People's Development and Empowerment Projects, the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, the African Village Survival Initiative in the U.S. and the work of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement and Uhuru Foods to win unity and support for these programs and building a new world based on justice and true sustainability under the leadership of the African revolution.  Email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org or call 510-295-7834 for more info.

Oscar Grant's Birthday

Oscar Grant III would have been 23 year's old today. Broken hearted family and friends mourn today a young black life taken away by the public policy of police containment and terror against the African community.

It is very moving that there are friends and family members and organizations holding actions to honor his life. The Uhuru Movement is calling on people honor Oscar Grant's too short life by getting involved in the movement for justice for the African community.

This Sunday, March 1st at 2pm, the Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party and founder of the Uhuru Movement, Omali Yeshitela will be speaking on "US War, Economy in Crisis and Police Terror Against the African Community" at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd in Oakland.  Support the independent voice and movement of the African working class. Participate in the long term strategy of the Uhuru Movement for freedom and independence for African and oppressed peoples. Join in solidarity with the struggle to overturn a filthy rotten system that would take the life of this young man in his prime and countless others in Oakland, in the U.S. around the world. Let's destroy the system that is already in a state of collapse that is built on slavery and genocide and let's participate in building a new world. Hear the vision of the Uhuru Movement and get involved. Call (510) 569-9620 for more info, for transportation to the event or for more information. Email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org

Two Weeks From Today: Omali Yeshitela Speaks!

Not One More Black Life! USM Rally This Thursday

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Rally
Humanist Hall, 390 - 27th St., Oakland
With Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee & Bakari Olatunji, West Coast Representative of the African People's Socialist Party and Chair of the InPDUM Oakland organizing committee

Many people rightfully continue to be outraged at the brutal murder of Oscar Grant III. However, the majority of the police crimes - the police killings, the brutality, the planting of guns, the falsification of search warrants - take place without any significant public outcry and with the majority of the city of Oakland's budget.

Bakari Olatunji, the West Coast Representative of the African People's Socialist Party and Penny Hess of the African People's Solidarity Committee will speak at Thursday's rally.

Olatunji will speak about the need for the African working class to lead their own struggle against the brutal daily conditions of police violence, poverty and oppression and demand economic development for the African community in Oakland, connecting to the struggle to unite with other African people for the liberation of Africa's resources to benefit African people everywhere.

Penny Hess will address the economic crisis, the continuation of U.S. imperialist wars, the escalating attacks on the African and other oppressed communities and the necessity for white people to find solutions to our problems with this social system by struggling for reparations from the white community and for a better world under the leadership of the African liberation movement. We can participate right now in building the capacity o the Uhuru Solidarity Movement's political actions and in the weekly work of Uhuru Foods farmers markets and streetfairs which help fund the Uhuru Movement campaigns and programs.


The Uhuru Solidarity Movement is calling on the white community and allies of the African working class led Uhuru Movement to embrace the struggle for justice and reparations for the family of Oscar Grant and all victims of police violence as our own. Come out to learn more and get involved. oakland@uhurusolidarity.org (510) 625-1106

Community Speak Out Today at the Uhuru House

Come out to support the Community Speak Out today Saturday, January 31st at the Uhuru House at 12 noon at 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland and join organization to build economic development, justice and reparations for the African community. Reparations is necessary because it means repair for the damages caused by the system - the police killings,  and the destruction of the African community by the imposition of the deadly drug and prison economy, the gentrification, the foreclosures, the inferior schools, the child welfare system's intervention in African families, the list goes on and on.

Take a stand and join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement. Come out tomorrow to organize white solidarity under the leadership of the African working class led movement for liberation and freedom: Sunday, February 1st, 10am to noon, World Grounds Cafe, 3726 Mac Arthur Blvd between 35th Ave and High Street in Oakland

Call 510-295-7834 for more info or for transportation to either event.

 

Oscar Grant Punched in the Face Before Being Shot!

Just in case you missed this. It came out a couple days ago:

Oscar Grant was punched in the face by another officer before being shot by Mehserle.

BART hasn't disclosed the name of the officer. This shows the complicity of the BART police in their policies of terror and murder.  Remember they also left Grant for dead after Mehserle shot him and ran around taking peoples' phones and cameras!

Stop the City of Oakland's War Budget! Join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement!

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Orientation & Meeting
World Grounds Cafe, 3726 Mac Arthur Blvd (between 35th Ave and High St.), Oakland
Come learn about the theory and practice of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, organizing solidarity from the white community and other allies with the African liberation movement.

Join the work of justice and reparations for the family of Oscar Grant and all victims of police violence.
oakland@uhurusolidarity.org


Watch the interruption by InPDUM leader Bakari Olatunji challenging Oakland Mayor's war budget:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDTNnOnCxPU

In a city where one in five families live on less than $5,000 a year, the city spends 40% of its billion dollar budget on its occupying army in the African and other oppressed communities where it has brutalized, killed and trampled on the peoples' rights. The city spends one half of one percent on community economic development!

Join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement to take a stand against the public policy of war and police containment and stand for economic development and justice!

Oscar Grant Punched By Another Officer Before Being Shot

http://www.ktvu.com/video/18554358/index.html

Internal Affairs Chief of OPD Beat Man to Death

Embrace the worldview of the African working class and revelations like these don't surprise you. This is what happens every day to African, Mexican and indigenous peoples in this country. 

In March of 2000, Jerry Amaro III was beaten so badly by then-Lieutenant Edward Poulson of the Oakland Police Department, that his five broken ribs and collapsed lung resulted in his death from pneumonia. Not only that, he spent three days at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without any medical care whatsoever. 

Not only that, Poulson told five officers to lie about the incident and cover it up. He was "disciplined" by then-police chief Richard Word  who conducted an internal affairs and homicide investigation finding that none of the officers involved was guilty. Word suspended Poulson for two weeks.

It seems that people in Oakland who are suspected of using government sanctioned drugs are fair game to be beaten and left to die. It would seem also that cops that brutalize and murder Africans and Mexicans and then cover it up are rewarded for their "courageous" actions.  Just last year, Chief Wayne Tucker made Poulson the head of the Internal Affairs Department. And guess what? Just in case you didn't know, the Internal Affairs Department is supposed to investigate the police. 

Right now Oakland is a city with a budget crisis due to the money spent on the war on the impoverished African and Mexican communities. Amaro was killed just blocks away from the Oakland office of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, the Uhuru House. The Uhuru Movement calls on the African community and its allies to demand an end to these brutal policies committed by the occupying army of East Oakland and demand monies for the development of  economic life that will make life better for the communities of East and West Oakland.

Come out to support the Community Speak Out! Stop the Crimes against the African and other oppressed communities. Join the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement!

Saturday, January 31st, 12 noon to 3pm

Community Speak Out:

 Against the City's Crimes Committed Against the African Community

Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland

Sunday, February 1st, 10am to noon

Uhuru Solidarity Movement Orientation

World Grounds Cafe, 3726 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland

White Solidarity with the African Community's Struggle for Justice

oakland@uhurusolidarity.org

 

March for Justice on MLK Day

The march yesterday calling for justice for Oscar Grant and the families of all victims of police violence was successful in its participation of the people - between the two rallies and the march there hundreds of participants. It was also successful in its impact on and response from the community. Leaders from the Black Power Movement and the growing resistance of the African community in the form of leaders young and old were present and a significant outpouring of solidarity from Mexican, Asian and white people for the struggle for African liberation as we marched through the historic African community of West Oakland, past the Oakland headquarters of the Marcus Garvey movement to the sites where Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton was assassinated by the government to Li'l Bobby Hutton Park, recognizing the government's brutal attack on the African freedom struggle and the strength of the organized resistance of the freedom fighters in the struggle.

Check out today's San Francisco Chronicle for a decent article on the march.

Come out to an orientation of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement on this Sunday, January 25th from 10am to noon at World Grounds Cafe,3726 MacArthur Blvd (between 35th Ave and High St.) in Oakland.

Email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org for more info.

Listen to Uhuru Radio Today

Tune into Uhuru Radio for two shows today addressing the movement for justice for Oscar Grant:

10am
"Uhuru On Tha Move!"
Chimurenga Waller will talk live with Bakari Olatunji in Oakland, California about the police murder of Oscar Grant, and with community members in Augusta, Georgia about the police murder of Justin Elmore.
1pm
"Solidarity, Not Charity!" Hear African People's Solidarity Committee (APSC) Chairwoman Penny Hess speak live with Oakland organizer Wendy Snyder about the movement for justice for Oscar Grant and other victims of police murder in Oakland, California.

Come out to a meeting today to finalize plans for tomorrow's March for Justice.

Meeting today is at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland at 4pm

Email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org if you need directions and/or a ride.

March on Monday! Join the Uhuru Solidarity Movement!

Take a Stand! Show Real Solidarity!

The Uhuru Solidarity Movement is calling on white people and other allies of the African liberation movement to join the march on this Martin Luther King Day holiday under the leadership of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) representing the African working class. Read the position of the InPDUM on Uhuru News

and listen to the broadcast, "Solidarity Not Charity!" on this Sunday at 1pm on Uhuru Radio.

On Monday, January 19th, gather at 11:30 at West Oakland BART for 12 noon march through the historic sites of the Marcus Garvey and Black Power Movement, ending at West Oakland BART for a rally from 2 to 3pm. 

The People's Court - the Tribunal to Charge the City and Other Officials with crimes of genocide against the African community will take place on Saturday, January 31st at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd in Oakland. (Note the date change)

Email oakland@uhurusolidarity.org to participate in the march or tribunal.

Come Out Tomorrow to Oakland City Hall!

Here is the information about the actions that the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement will be participating in tomorrow.
http://www.apscuhuru.org/emails/oakland/justiceforoscargrant0113.html

Build the March on MLK Day, January 19th!

The way to show solidarity with the struggle for justice is not to destroy black businesses and draw the attention of the police to further brutalize the African community!

The way to show solidarity is not to arrogantly and recklessly disrupt a peaceful yet righteous march led by African people for justice.

The way to show solidarity with justice for the African freedom struggle is to support the organization representing the interests of the African working class. Be a part of it! Show your unity! 

Come out to the Uhuru House tomorrow to help build the march on Martin Luther King Day!

SUNDAY, JAN 11TH, 4 TO 6PM

UHURU HOUSE, 7911 MACARTHUR BLVD, OAKLAND

510-569-9620 

inpdum_oakland@yahoo.com

The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement calls on the people to come out to help organize the march on Monday, January 19th on the Martin Luther King Holiday for JUSTICE and REPARATIONS for the family of Oscar Grant III.

The InPDUM is a grassroots organization, led by the black working-class community. It was founded in 1991 in Chicago by the African People's Socialist Party.

InPDUM membership is open to anyone united with democracy for the African community and that self-determination is the highest expression of democracy. InPDUM is known and respected around the world for demanding reparations to African people for slavery and colonialism, demanding an end to the police containment of the African community and pushing for real economic development.

For the march, we want people to come ready to join the teams to:

1. Distribute leaflets and posters. 

2. Make contact with other organizations, schools, church groups, temples, mosques who would want to participate.

3. Make powerful placards and banners for the March based on the demands.

4. Join the security and logistics team to ensure that the march is disciplined under the leadership of the African working class interests.

Uhuru Movement Demands:

1. Jail and Prosecute Killer BART Cop Johannes Mehserle and Charge All BART Cops Involved With Accessory to the Crime of Murder

2. Reparations to the Family of Oscar Grant

3. Economic Development for the African and Oppressed Communities in Oakland

4. Immediate End to the Public Policy of Police Containment of the African and Oppressed Communities in Oakland

5. Immediate Release of All Arrested Demonstrators

Join the March on MLK Day January 19th,  Gather at West Oakland BART at 11:30am 

March at noon; Rally at 2 to 3pm

Help organize the march by attending meetings at the Uhuru House, 7911 MacArthur Blvd on Sundays at 4pm. Call 510-569-9620 or email inpdum_oakland@yahoo.com

Organizing Meeting for Justice for Oscar Grant III

This meeting is organized by the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement for the community to come together to continue to strategize around actions regarding the BART police murder of 22 year old Oscar Grant.

Thursday, January 8th, 6pm 

Uhuru House, 7911 Mac Arthur Blvd, Oakland

510-569-9620, inpdum_oakland@yahoo.com

InPDUM is a grassroots organization, led by the black working-class community. It was founded in 1991 in Chicago by the African People's Socialist Party.

InPDUM membership is open to anyone united with democracy for the African community and that self-determination is the highest expression of democracy.

Protest the BART Police Shooting of Oscar Grant III!

22 year old Oscar Grant of Hayward was gunned down by a BART police officer on the morning of New Year's Day.

Numerous videos taken by witnesses from their cell phones show that Grant was face down on the ground in handcuffs when he was shot in the back at close range on the Fruitvale BART station  platform at 2am following a New Year's Eve outing with his friends.  

In this new year, it is the same old story. Police killings of African men like Oscar Grant have reached epidemic proportions. In fact, the number of police killings outnumber the killings of U.S. soldiers in Iraq in a war that is clear for anyone to see who has been paying attention against the African community in the U.S.  This war usurps the budgets of cities like Oakland which pays out the majority of its monies to "public safety" justifying the war in the eyes of the outside world by the "war on crime" and "war on drugs." This has been the reality for decades since the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960's and 70's.

Last year in Oakland, the Oakland police killed Casper Banjo, Jose Luis Buenrostro, Jody Woodfox and at least four others. The previous year the OPD killed Gary King Jr. and Andrew Moppin on New Year's Eve. The heavy handed policing in East and West Oakland is justified by the economic reality that these communities face that make them "high crime" areas, code word for the conditions faced by African and Mexican communities because of the legacy of slavery and colonialism.  

Oscar Grant III's young life was brutally taken away by the police. In this case, there were many witnesses making the police unable to fabricate a story and say that Grant had a weapon. Grant's family members and friends have come out to express their grief in losing their son, nephew and friend making the press unable to slander Grant's character like they normally do. His four year old daughter is left without a father to raise her and a family and community mourns the loss of this well loved young man who worked as a butcher at the Farmer Joe's Market in the Dimond District of Oakland.

In this time of hope and change, we have to take an honest stand against the policies in place that systematically ends young lives yet never stirs an outcry from white people who call ourselves progressive. 

We can stand up against the U.S. war in Iraq or in other places, but we say nothing about the killing of African people who are criminalized by the police and media.

It is time to speak out! We must stand up against this cold-blooded murder.

The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement and the Uhuru Solidarity Movement will join the protest called for this Wednesday, January 7th at 3pm at the Fruitvale BART Station. 

Stop the war the African community! Justice and reparations for the family of Oscar Grant III! Jail the killer cop!

The Uhuru Solidarity Movement works under the leadership of the Uhuru Movement to organize political and material solidarity from the white community with the African led Uhuru Movement. Uhuru Means Freedom!

Email oak_office@apscuhuru.org or call 510-625-1106 to join the work of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement