15March2010
15March2010
I feel so honored – this is THE poetry slam event in the bay area and I’m one of three judges on April 3rd, 7pm at the historic Warfield Theater in San Francisco. The teen poets are fierce, funny, filled with fire. Also with that blinding truth. Oh, and I know I’m in for quite a night because my judges’ instructions included this:
Have fun. Clap and laugh and cry as much as you want to. Stand up and jump around. You will be booed. There is no doubt about it and it’s all part of the fun. The crowd wants all 10’s, and while we love high scores, you can’t give everyone a ten. All we ask is that you do your best and make your own determinations based on your own criteria. Even if the emcee pokes a little fun at the “judges” in general.
It usually sells out well in advance, so get your tickets now. Bring tissue and wear your heart on your sleeve.
12March2010
Chinaka Hodge, Playwright and Poet
Chinaka Hodge is magnetic – at once warm, introspective, and energetic. She joined me on the KPFA Morning Show today to discuss her latest work. This former Youth Speaks poet is now a successful playwright – and she puts herself squarely in the tradition of Ntozake Shange. Her first play, “Mirrors in Every Corner” is now playing at the Intersection for the Arts in SF until March 21st, 2010. It explores what race means. She asked, “if the lights are out, how do you know you’re black?” I responded, “how do you?” Her response: you don’t. Her School Board parents – Greg Hodge and Jimoke Hinton Hodge must be proud. No pat answers for this brilliant rising star.
Chinaka is raising new questions about race and family issues for the new generation and it’s catching on. The show has been sold out, but sometimes being a radio host has its perks.
She offered me tickets gratis for next week. I hope to see you there!
11March2010
Latest interview: Roger Thurow, author of Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in the Age of Plenty. He’s a man on a mission – having left a 30 year reporting career at the Wall Street Journal to work on international agricultural policy full-time. It was all about Africa, he told me – the Green Revolution of the 1970′s that increased farming yield never made it to the motherland and the food aid and international development and trade policies are self-interested and do not feed hungry people in the long-term.
Turns out that the Gates Foundation and their billions brought the Green Revolution back to life in Africa, supporting a variety of projects that help farmers have a higher yield. The irony, he told me, is that the majority of starving people are small farmers themselves. I asked a critical question about the role of the world bank and IMF in funding projects and increasing third world debt to moderize farming – and his response was straightforward. Bottom line, farmers must have the capital, sometimes just $50, to moderize their process. If they can, they can feed local folks.
According to him, African nations are taking up regional strategies that may make a difference. And he reserved his greatest optimism for President Obama’s 31 words at the inauguration and subsequent proposals with complementary bills in Congress that would direct billions of US dollars toward key agricultural projects that will make a difference.
Let’s hope he’s right.
9March2010
This radio promo was produced at the start of our OaklandSeen pilot series. It’s a media project with the radio as a foundation. Now, the website will launch on the 16th at http://www.oaklandseen.com, and that will expand the OaklandSeen social networks on Facebook and Twitter.
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And mark your calendar for our OaklandSeen launch – Thursday, March 25, 2010 at Somar on Broadway in Oakland.
9March2010
Cornell West and Aimee Allison
11February2010
[Aimee Allison | OaklandSeen] For much of the time Sweet Jimmies was the heart of Oakland nightlife in the 90′s, I would catch glimpses of nighttime boisterous dancing and singing at the spot through the grainy lens of Soul Beat TV. Now Soul Beat and Sweet Jimmies nightclub are a decade gone, and I find myself longing for that Oakland spirit. “Sweet Jimmie” Ward died Friday night at the age of 74 – a former longshorman who was one of hundreds of thousands who came from the South to work at the shipyards or on the Army base during World War II and stayed to raise families and start businesses and shape neighborhoods. Ward made Sweet Jimmies into the place to go – dressed to the nines – where old soul from Mississippi and Lousiana and Georgia was alive.
Those in Sweet Jimmie’s generation brought small town manners and blues and political organizing and art. They created a legacy and culture in Oakland that defines us today. Now, Oakland’s black population has plummeted under the weight of unemployment and police sweeps and shady mortgages. But you can still see the storefront of the old Sweet Jimmies at 577 18th Street in downtown Oakland. Many people don’t know that for many years it was an important meeting place for African-American political and community organizations. It was a center of influence. And while many celebrate the remaking of culture and nightlife in the city, I am taking a moment to mourn what we lost. See, Sweet Jimmies wasn’t just another nightclub, Jimmie Ward just another nightclub owner. He represented an era here in Oakland. And that era is over.
The public service for Jimmie Ward is this Thursday at Good Hope Church at 5717 Foothill Blvd. The event will begin with a quiet hour at 7 p.m. A public funeral will follow on Friday at noon in the same location.
Aimee Allison is Executive Producer of OaklandSeen. Follow them on www.facebook.com/oaklandseen or www.twitter.com/oaklandseen.
11February2010
[Aimee Allison | OaklandSeen] Hassani, you are our son. In the six months since you have been missing, the community hasn’t forgotten you. We’re doubling our resolve to make Oakland a city where all children – ignored, vulnerable, poor – are safe and protected. The small group that held a candlelight vigil speaks for thousands of us – we want the police to continue to investigate the case. More than that, we want to understand where the system that places and tracks foster care children has failed, and what we can do to fix it.
Thanks to the community members who organized last night’s candlelight vigil at Oakland police headquarters. They are The Citizens for the Lost, a group cofounded by Sherri-Lyn Miller and Courtney Tascoe-Burris. The group has held fundraisers, vigils and searches since the boy went missing. Just a note: Courtney is the daughter of well-known civil rights attorney John Burris who is represented the Oscar Grant family. For more info or to get invovled: contact Sherri Miller or Courtney Tascoe Burris at
findhassani@gmail.com
*****
Hassani was last seen on August 10, 2009 at approximately 4:15p.m. He was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt and gray pants.
Hasanni, has cerebral palsy, and was reported by Louis Ross as missing from a car outside a shoe store in Oakland’s Rockridge district. Oakland police have indicated the disappearance may be homicide. Both of Hassani’s foster parents were arrested in connection with the case but the district attorney declined to file charges due to lack of evidence.
Hassani is still missing and needs located.
The reward for information about the boy’s whereabouts is $75,000.
Anyone with information about Hasanni is urged to call the Oakland Police Department at (510) 777-3211 or (510) 238-7934 or Crime Stoppers at (510) 777-8572. or National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)
14January2010
Early yesterday, I found out friends Walter Riley and Barbara Rhine were in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit, I wrote for my local media project www.oaklandseen.com and www.facebook.com/oaklandseen about it to spread the word. SF Gate blogger Zennie62 picked it up, then KICU and so on. In the evening, we recieved word that Walter and Barbara had been found, and are in fact doing what they can to help. Here’s the story that KTVU did on the issue yesterday.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/22231394/detail.html
29September2009
One of the best new shows is America’s Best Dance Crew – it’s exciting, lifts up talent from communities that don’t get much play – putting often under appreciated hip hop dance talent on the national stage. It encourages young people to dream – just love that. Now, if you’ve been following the show, you might not know that Nichelle Thrower of the newest winning group, “We Are Heroes” trained in Oakland at the New Style Motherlode dance studio youth program. There she is, sistah in the white. We Are Heroes was the first all-female crew to win – not surprising considering the girl-power I see every week at the studio. My son’s one of the newest members of the 9-13 year old company called Sparkle. The high school aged company is amazing. The dance crew craze is growing (hit it’s peak back in the late ’80s and is now resurging).
New Style Motherlode has an amazing program – committed, hardworking young people serious about their art. Check out the performances from this past weekend at the Rockridge Street Fest in Oakland. Is the Nichelle of tomorrow among these talented young people?
