Aṣe to the memory of those nearly 1000 Jonestown victims (majority children and elders) buried in a mass gravesite at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, CA. “Never again” is not just a pledge, it is a call to action. Don’t forget to participate in the fourth annual “Tweet for African Ancestors of the Middle Passage” 11/25-27– warm-ups: Wednesday continuing through the massacre of indigenous people called, Thanksgiving, ending on – BIG PUSH: “Black Friday.”

Congratulations to John Burris, Esq. on his induction into the California Lawyers Association, Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame 2020 last month. It was so wonderful to see so many juris, attorneys and judges tip their hats to a man who is really a servant of the people. Sometimes I get lucky and find myself on the right list. I met Mr. Burris when I was Project Director for the AIDS Volunteer Clearinghouse for the Volunteer Center for Alameda County. We were on the 6^th Floor and he had the entire 4^th Floor Suite. I’d see him in the elevator and lobby sometimes. However, I saw him more often at Black Rep at many plays. When I thought about a career in law, Constitutional Law, he was my role model. I used to want to be just like him and then New College Law School closed and I decided not to attend Stanford University rather pursued a Masters in Writing at USF when my project ended.

On the Fly
TaSin Sabir @ The Inkblot Gallery in Alameda, CA

View photos in person in window of Inkblot gallery on Central Avenue in Alameda. More info at www.inkblotgallery.com

Holding tightly, but barely holding on as we slip in and out of fear and into hope for yesterday times.

Having some editorial overview or moderated content is fine but I have not included sites that go through an application soft cialis process much like seeking new employment. It is an inability in men who are unable to afford the cost of surgery and implantation can simply go with sildenafil 50mg check for more now this choice after recommendation of a medical professional, is an effective solution to this problem. Are you aware of sexual dysfunction? Some price of sildenafil good service of the many symptoms of this condition include: Non-consummation or else not having sex for prolonged period. Men’s 50mg viagra sale obsession with the size of their sexual organs is widely talked about and mocked at.

Here is the campaign for the 4th Annual Ancestral Social Media BLACK FRIDAY Blast:

1. Beginning Wed.-Thurs., Nov. 25-27, we will begin sending tweets, texts and emails. This is a run-up to the big TWEET on Black Friday, Nov. 27. If you have international contacts, this text is a global effort. Year 1, Tweets were made across the world. In Oakland, CA, we built an altar at Lake Merritt, the site of the June Libations for African Ancestors. The public were invited to write down the names of their ancestors on the sidewalk– the result was a living altar. Visit FaceBook.com/maafabayarea

This year people are encouraged to TWEET:

#REMEMBER the Ancestors;

#LIBATIONS 4 African Ancestors;

#COMMEMORATE African Ancestors;

#OUR ANCESTORS LIVE THROUGH US

2. The image on FACEBOOK and TWITTER and TEXT and EMAIL is our Adinkra logo: Nyame Dua[1](which is the altar for ritual).  Also post the brochure on FACEBOOK and attach to emails.
3. On Black Friday, Friday, Nov. 27 the message changes: we will Tweet, post on Facebook: BLACKPower2AfricanAncestors, plus anything else you might want to TWEET. Make sure the TWEETS all include the word: Ancestor(s) and Black (smile).  We are reclaiming the economics of blackness. We are no longer parcels to be spent at another’s will.

On Friday, the Andinkra changes to “FAWOHODIE”, the symbol for independence”, “freedom,” “emancipation.”

If there are local events to highlight, I would put them on the Facebook post, especially alternatives to spending with the capitalists.   Do not forward, start your own correspondence with your peoples. We want to have at least 10-12.5 million tweets for the numbers of our ancestors who made the journey (12.5 million) and those who survived (10 million).

A Film Review: Belly of the Beast
By Wanda Sabir

Mary J. Blige sings in “What You’ve Done” in “Belly of the Beast,” that some acts can’t be undone. She sings of “strength and no power”; “blame”, “pain” and resistance.

“But while I still got time (Time)
I’ll just keep on fightin’ (Fightin’)

“’Cause it ain’t over (No it ain’t over), ’til it’s over (‘Til it’s over)
It ain’t over ’til it’s done (Oh ’til it’s done)
‘Til these shackles are broken (Ooh, ooh, ooh)
It ain’t over (Ooh, yeah, yeah)

‘Cause some wounds never heal, do you see what you’ve done? (See what you’ve done, oh, ooh, ooh) . . .

“We won’t lay down, we’re survivors (We won’t lay down)
All my scars are my reminders (My reminders)
We won’t lay down, we’re survivors (Oh-oh, oh, oh)
All my scars are my reminders

“’Cause it ain’t over (‘Cause it ain’t over)
(‘Cause it ain’t over, ’cause it ain’t over, ’cause it ain’t over)”

I have been thinking a lot about justice. How justice seems to benefit the perpetrators more so than the victims. All the funding and resources seems to get spent on the bad guys, the ones who harm. What about the innocent victims who survive only to struggle with embodied nightmares? These demons haunt the victim who is then prey for  the hyenas circling sniffing for blood. Their tongues wrap the barely mended, saliva binds, teeth crush until escape is impossible without fracture, so the survivor stays and grows used to another noose, neck broken but not completely severed.

Eugenics, a system of population control seeped in systemic racism and sexism is an othering of major proportions by the politically powerful and elite, those who maintain and feed the dominant discourse was defeated in California not once but twice. “Belly of the Beast,” (2020) directed by Erika Cohn, a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning director tells the more recent story. Produced by Angela Tucker (dir. “All Kinfolk, Ain’t Skinfolk”), it is now streaming on POV.

Shot over a period of seven years, we meet two amazing warrior moms– Kelli Dillion and Cynthia Chandler and many supporting cast who are just as phenomenal. They don’t don capes or fly through the air, but they could.  We meet women whose stories are represented here legs dangling from examine table(s) before tucked in stirrups. Women who risk retaliation to tell this important story.

Sunny California until 1979 was the capital of eugenics—20,000 people were sterilized forcefully and through deceptive procedures. If a person was poor or “insane,” “criminal,” or “unfit,” Mexican or Black, the state facilitated the person’s sterilization. Yep, there were big bucks in decreasing the population of unfavorables.

The Central Valley in California is home to the largest women’s prison in the world. At the height of the recent sterilization there were two prisons, the other Valley State Prison for Women, both institutions made Chowchilla the epicenter for this insidious secret mission to systematically rid the state of less favored populations: Black woman, poor women, Latinx women, Indigenous women. All of this might have remained unknown except for one woman, Kelli Dillion.

Kelli Dillion, now, City of Los Angeles Commissioner, Co-Chair of Empowerment Congress Southeast and Executive Director of the Non-profit, Back to the Basics, complained of pain in her uterus and the doctor scheduled her for exploratory surgery. He told her that he saw cysts, but if there were any malignant cells he would remove them. Later when Kelli awakened from the procedure the doctor told her everything went fine.

A domestic violence survivor, Kelli left behind two young sons during her 15-year sentence and dreamed of returning home to an opportunity to start again, raise a family.  When she started to lose weight and began having menopausal symptoms and she didn’t get any answers from prison medical staff, she wrote a letter to Justice Now. Cynthia Chandler, co-founder and lead attorney, subpoenaed Kelli’s medical records and had the heartbreaking task of reading the records to Kelli detailing what happened to her.

Kelli’s dreams were shattered. There was no reason for the sterilization other than the California Corrections medical contractors’ decision to save the state money by decreasing this woman and other women’s ability to bring children into the world. There was this unspoken narrative that certain women were not fit mothers and that it was a tax savings to sterilize these women “while everything was out on the table. A couple snips and it’s done,” a nurse who set up an ObGyn clinic at CCWF said.

It was as if these women were felines who were to be spayed, not human beings with rights and feelings. One doctor would almost forcibly make women agree to sterilization if they were having a second or third child, his nurse responsible for gathering the signatures. She stated after the bill’s passage ending the practice that she thought sterilization was useful and did not regret her role in a process that left 100s of women unable to bear children.

Justice Now launched an investigation and letters from incarcerated women spoke of requests to sign medical forms while cut open and in various states of consciousness. One women shared being forced to have a C-section when she was perfectly capable of vaginal child birth.  “Why would I want to have major surgery?” She says.  While in the operating room she was asked to sign a form agreeing to the tubal ligation.  In medical records Justice Now and the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) uncovered, there were tubal ligations connected to these C-sections which cost the state of California $100,000s of dollars. The interviews and surveys sent into CCWF, and the stealth meetings on the prison yard where documents exchanged hands led organizers like Justice Now and California Coalition for Women Prisoners to learn the forced sterilization was bigger than the organizers had imagined. We hear the voices of these women and their stories read aloud in the film narrative. (I met some of these women myself on legal advocacy visits with CCWP.  One woman said the doctor told her a hysterectomy would help her headaches. She suffered from mental illness.)

One loses her agency once she dons an orange garment and a number replaces her name, which made it hard for the team at Justice Now to identify the scope of the travesty given the anonymity of the victims.  The Center for Investigative Journalism and Justice Now, an organization located in Oakland which has on its board women who are incarcerated and also the formerly incarcerated, pushed the State of California legislature to ratify and enforce new legislation to stop CDCR from sterilizing incarcerated women.

Corey Brown (CIJ) says in “Reveal,” “Of the 144 tubal ligations performed on inmates from fiscal years 2005-06 to 2012-13, auditors found, more than a quarter were done without evidence of the required consent. Fifty white women, 53 Latino women, 35 [B]lack women and six women classified as “other” received the procedure. All of them had been jailed at least once. Most read at less than a high school level.”

Governor Jerry Brown signed SB1135 Sept. 25, 2014, new legislation specifically including prisons in the eugenic ban, yet, in the federal prison system here in California and elsewhere in the country, not to mention the other state prisons, sterilization is still happening. To sterilize a person is to shred said person’s humanity—and for it to continue in other legislative bodies like the federal government makes one question what kind of “beasts” hold these offices.

As California looks to establish a commission on reparations for African American descendants of enslaved people, the persons sterilized should also be compensated monetarily. Kelli is currently supporting “California reparations bill AB3052, which provides justice and compensation for the survivors. Should it pass, it is evidence that California has a willingness to acknowledge the medical injustices, the medical malpractices, and the lack of respect for human life for people of color, in which they have suffered at the hands of the people who were supposed to preserve it and protect it.” The criminal legal system needs to step up and reform its still inadequate medical care for women, especially women who are aging and now at risk for Covid-19.  “Belly of the Beast” closes with a brief look at the fallout from the legislative victory four years ago—now incarcerated women at CCWF are denied reproductive care or made to wait unnecessarily for treatment. It is appalling that taxpayers pay for the healthcare for politicians—most, if not all, able to afford their own coverage, while for the more vulnerable among us—there are no services.

Nonetheless, this win against the powerful CDCR is encouraging and can serve as a blueprint for continued systemic change.

Watch Mary J. Blige on Variety Music for Screens Nov. 30, 2020, 10:45 AM PT 

PUSH Dance Company Fundraiser and PUSHfest Global continues

Join Raissa Simpson, PUSH Dance Company founder and company, Wednesday, November 4 at 6 p.m. PDT as they share memories of persistence and creative change during Covid-19. Tickets start at $10.  Debuting is also the company’s first film project, a few other works, plus a discussion on Afrofuturism with scholar Halifu Osumare.  To attend this event, please go to: http://pushdance.org/festival  Video trailer: https://youtu.be/XbUhrQb9CnI

The dancers are: Annie Aguilar, JP Alejandro, Lydia Clinton, Ashley Gayle, Niara Hardister, Erik Lee, Kao Vey Saephanh, and Patrick Seacrease

October 7 through November 18, PUSHfest Global has hosted and continues to host a wonderful series of virtual programs on Wednesdays, 6 p.m. The hosts have been great and the choreographers and dance performances outstanding. There are moderated pre and post show discussions which include a lively audience. For more information visit: http://pushdance.org/festival

Afrofuturism Virtual Series con’t. with Kim McMillon, Ph.D.

The November 8th, 2 p.m. PT program will include Samuel Delany, the winner of four Nebula awards and two Hugo Awards for his excellence in Science Fiction. Delany was inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2002. The panel includes: Hope Wabuke,  Avotcja, Dr. Ayana Jamieson and Dr. Grace Gipson.

The 3-part series will end with a curated Afrofuturistic poetry reading on December 13 at 2 pm (PST). Poets reading include Ayodele Nzinga, devorah major, Eugene Redmond, Darrell Stover, Michael Warr, Avotcja, Lenard Moore, Tureeda Mikell, Ishmael Reed, Staajabu, Glenn Parris, and C. Liegh McInnis with Kim McMillon as moderator. To register visit: https://bit.ly/30fthgf

SF Main Library, African American Center & Maafa SF Bay Area Author Event

MAAFA San Francisco Bay Area & the San Francisco Main Library, African American Center free Virtual Discussion Series, Saturdays, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5, 11-1 p.m. PT

On Sat., Nov. 7, join QM Dòwòti Désir, author, “Redlining a Holocaust, Memorials and the People of the AfroAtlantic: Wòch kase wòch” in conversation with Professor Wanda Sabir

https://sfpl.org/events/2020/11/07/author-qm-dowoti-desir-redlining-holocaust-memorials-and-people-afroatlantic-woch

Social Justice Book Club: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo — Nov. 16, 7 p.m.

SFPL presents a Social Justice Book Club focusing on antiracism and understanding systemic racism and inequity.

We will be discussing Ijeoma Oluo’s, So You Want to Talk About Race. This book, part memoir, part instruction manual, offers a contemporary, accessible take on the racial landscape in America, addressing head-on such issues as privilege, police brutality, intersectionality, micro-aggressions, the Black Lives Matter movement and the “N” word. We will use the book as a guidepost to host a discussion about race. Reading the book is not required but is recommended.

Registration: http://bit.ly/SoYouWant11-17-20

San Francisco Bay View  Fundraiser, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 20-21

Come on out to the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper’s incredible fundraiser and celebration to continue on the legacy of our historic national Black newspaper on Zoom and at our beautiful neighborhood gathering space Mendell Plaza on Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21. The event includes a lineup of virtual and in-person musicians, speakers and food – all local, all multicultural, all love! Find more information here. Can’t make it? Donate!

Friday, Nov. 20, from 6-8pm, join us in person at Mendell Plaza and on Zoom at tinyurl.com/bayview1120. Friday includes a lineup of musicians, speakers and food – all from the neighborhood, all multicultural, all love. Friday features:

• Wanda Sabir, Bay View Arts & Culture Editor and founder of Ma’afa Bay Area, speaking on her work with the Bay View and in Bay Area Black culture. ON ZOOM.
• Willie & Mary Ratcliff, Bay View Publisher & Editor, speaking on the history of the Bay View National Black Newspaper and the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. ON ZOOM.
• Nube Brown, Bay View Managing Editor, reading poetry and letters from prisoners and discussing the importance of supporting liberation journalism. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Malik Washington, Bay View Assistant Editor and On the Street Reporter, out to make your day brighter and everyone’s voices louder! IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• A ride along with Dennis, the newspaper distributor. ON ZOOM.
• D10 Supervisor Shamann Walton with some words! IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Rico, aka One Tyme, hip hop artist from Bayview. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Stephanie Woodford & Trio, Fillmore jazz musicians. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• SPOOOKY BOOOGIE, CCSF improvisational musical collaborative. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Dat Boi Bpoppin, aka Branden Powell, Bayview resident and hip hop dancer. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Keli Lord, CCSF’s African American Studies Department Ambassador and Bayview resident. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• A pop-up art auction! IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Homecooked BBQ from Mother Brown’s Dining Room! IN PERSON.

Saturday, Nov. 21, 1-3pm will be a little more virtual than in person. Join us in person on Zoom at tinyurl.com/bayview1121 and for some food and song from 2-3pm at Mendell Plaza. Saturday includes video interviews with local restaurants and businesses on Zoom and later speakers and food at Mendell Plaza, featuring:

• Juan Gonzalez & Alexis Terrazas of El Tecolote. ON ZOOM.
• Bayview mural walk with Nube Brown. ON ZOOM.
• Ali & Teresa of Palou Market. ON ZOOM.
• The family behind Naughty Boy Retail on Third n Palou. ON ZOOM.
• Joanna Haigood of Bayview’s Zaccho Dance Theatre. ON ZOOM.
• April Spears of Cafe Envy & Auntie April’s. ON ZOOM.
• Bernadette of The Jazz Room co-interview with Xan from Fox & Lion Bakery. ON ZOOM.
• Arieann Harrison & Gwendolyn Westbrook of Mother Brown’s. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• Family band The Curtis Family C-notes. IN PERSON & ON ZOOM.
• African food provided by Eskender Aseged’s Radio Africa Cafe & Kitchen! IN PERSON.

Can’t make it? Donate!

Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)’s First Virtual Art Series Collaboration continues through January 2020

Meet Us Quickly: Painting for Justice from Prison is a digital exhibition of the work of twelve artists incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison curated by Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, co-host and co-producer of Ear Hustle. It is online now at moadsf.org/meet-us-quickly

To listen to two radio interviews with collaborators in the project: Demetri Broxton, Senior Education Director and Jo Kreiter, Director and Founder, Flyaway Productions, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 visit: blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks

Rising from the Ashes: A Fundraiser for Asual Aswad and Michele Lee

Our Brother Asual Aswad, phenomenal photographer and artist and Sister Michele Lee, educator, medicine woman, and author, lost everything including three of their four dogs in the Bear Fire/North Complex Fire in Butte County. A friend created a GoFundMe to help Asual with photography equipment and both Michelle and Asual with other personal essentials so that he and his partner who is an Oakland Unified School teacher can more easily start anew.  I hadn’t known I knew anyone affected by the raging fires prior to this. Fires purify; however, in the purification all that is left are ashes. I can’t imagine how it must feel to see your life’s work go up in blazes and fall to the earth dust. It’s a good thing Michelle is a medicine woman and both she and Asual understand cycles and rhythms and what it means to live on the land in synch with the rotating cycles, knowing that nothing lasts forever and that things can change in an instant without warning.  In March this year, I invited Michele Elizabeth Lee to join me to talk about her book, “Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of African American Healing” (2017). Listen: Wanda’s Picks Radio Show: http://tobtr.com/11687982

[1] The Nyame Dua symbol depicts a cross-section of a palm tree, or the top of a tree stump. It represents God’s presence and protection. Nyame Dua is also the name of the place outside a dwelling or in a village where sacred rituals take place.