Black Lives Matter Logo Who would’ve thought four years ago, in 2016, that then-49ers QB Colin Kaepernick and defensive back Eric Reid would start a movement by taking a knee during the national anthem? In 2016, this form of peaceful protest … [Read more...]
Willie O’Ree: 1st Black NHL player
Willie Eldon O’Ree at Hall of Fame induction Willie Eldon O’Ree, (born Oct. 15, 1935) a former professional ice hockey player from Canada, is called the “Jackie Robinson of Ice Hockey” for having broken the color barrier in the National Hockey … [Read more...]
Colonel Allen Allensworth, founder of a town in central California
Colonel Allen Allensworth After slavery African Americans took their skills and begin to build thriving cities. Blacks in California were no different. In 1908, African Americans in California built a flourishing town called Allensworth, an … [Read more...]
Public Defender Brendon Woods visits SQ
Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods Brendon Woods, Alameda County’s Chief Public Defender, knows that prisoners take a dim view of lawyers from the PD’s office. And he wants to change that. Woods, 48, and a native New Yorker, is the … [Read more...]
Police continue to shoot about 1,000 people a year
987 people were fatally shot by police officers in 2017 Police across the country shot and killed approximately the same number of people in 2017 as they did in each of the previous two years. Because there is no official nationwide tally of fatal … [Read more...]
50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of peace
"King’s Dream was to end class divisions and racism" The message of peace and racial justice from Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years ago is still being echoed in 2018 America. Nonviolent protests around the country are seen in recent Occupy Movements, … [Read more...]
SQ volunteer creates lasting values
San Quentin volunteer Chris Wilson says violence is no way to solve racial issues in America. “I believe that no movement that is based on anger alone can create anything of lasting value. Even if I weren’t a Buddhist, I would argue that persistent … [Read more...]
Trump credited with expansion of hate groups
A recent report credits President Donald J. Trump’s administration with boosting the recruitment and expansion of hate groups in America. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Year in Hate and Extremism report identified 954 hate groups in … [Read more...]
FBI report reflects historical similarities
The FBI in 1956 created its secret Counterintelligence Program—COINTELPRO—to take action against Black organizations viewed as subversive. Sixty-one years later, on Aug. 3, 2017, the FBI published an intelligence assessment titled Black Identity … [Read more...]
Black Lives Matter protests Los Angeles jail expansion
A Black Lives Matter coalition gathered at the Los Angeles County Hall of Administration to protest the expansion of county jails, reported the Los Angeles Times. Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, led the demonstrators … [Read more...]