Letters
Send A Letter To Holder
To Eric Holder, US Attorney General:
We write to you with a sense of grave concern and outrage about the US Supreme Court's denial of a hearing to Mumia Abu-Jamal on the issue of racial bias in jury selection... Inasmuch as there is no other court to which Abu-Jamal can appeal for justice, we turn to you for remedy of a 27- year history of gross violations of US constitutional law and international standards of justice as documented by Amnesty International and many other legal groups around the world.
FROM THE FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL COALITION, NYC
Feb 1, 2010,
12:26
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Letters
Haiti: Blessed, Not Cursed
"We are humbled by the tribulations of the people of Haiti. At this time of destruction, suffering, death, and survival, we offer our condolences, our prayers, and our aid. At the same time, as scholars of the African and African-American experience, we are dismayed by the inhumanity of those who have used this tragedy as an opportunity to espouse groundless explanations for Haiti's troubles..."
--the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University
Jan 29, 2010,
11:35
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Letters
BET, Why Do You Hate Us?
A teenager writes to BET: All of the values that my parents seek to instill in me and my brothers seem to be contradicted by a more powerful force from the media, and your shows are at the forefront.
By Janita Patrick
Aug 3, 2009,
12:02
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Letters
Meetings to Support Mumia
Meetings and events are being held to support Mumia Abu-Jamal. On April 6, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Abu-Jamal's appeal for a new guilt-phase trial. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to consider the Philadelphia DA's separate appeal, which is attempting to execute Abu-Jamal WITHOUT a new sentencing hearing. NEW EVENTS ADDED FOR LOS ANGELES, HOUSTON AND BALTIMORE.
From the Free Mumia Coalition
Apr 10, 2009,
07:45
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Letters
A Black Music Avant Garde?
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| Art Credit: Afroasiatic Mokkassar |
Is there a Black American avant garde under the age of 50? I speak of the Black American because that is what I am and that is what I will be no matter where I go. What does the Black American musician / artist do now with the space s/he has been given?
By Morgan Craft
Mar 5, 2009,
14:42
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Letters
Simulating Murder
(On The New York Post Simulation of the Murder of The President of The United States). This is not just racism, it is a threat to the chief executive of the United States. What are we going to do about it?
By Amiri Baraka
Feb 20, 2009,
16:21
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Letters
Your President is Black
Dear Daughters,
Your president is Black. I never thought that I'd ever say those words to you; in fact I can't say that I even imagined what it would be like to say those words to you.
By Mark Anthony Neal
Feb 6, 2009,
12:45
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Letters
Now, I Will Fly the Flag
On Jan. 20, 2009, I will hang a flag in my front yard for the first time in my life and the flag will be flying upright.
By Verna Avery-Brown
Jan 9, 2009,
13:08
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Letters
Fighting Voter Suppression
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| Bertha Lewis |
The real issue in reports about alleged "voter fraud" is a coordinated attempt by the GOP to discourage people from voting.
By Bertha Lewis, ACORN
Oct 24, 2008,
13:36
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Letters
Va. African Burial Ground
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| An African burial ground in Richmond, Va. is covered by a university parking lot. |
A Call to Action: It’s Time to Reclaim Richmond’s African Burial Ground! The Richmond, Va. community, especially Richmond’s Black community, is facing an immediate and historic challenge: Can we rescue the city’s oldest Black cemetery?
By The Defenders’ Sacred Ground Project
Jul 1, 2008,
10:32
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Letters
'No' to R. Kelly
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| photo-sfgate.com |
Statement and Petition from Black Men Against the Exploitation of Black Women: "This is about more than R. Kelly's claims to innocence. It is about our survival as a community. Until we believe that our daughters, sisters, mothers, wives and friends are worthy of justice, until we believe that rape, domestic violence and the casual sexism that permeates our culture are absolutely unacceptable, until we recognize that the first priority of any community is the protection of its young, we will remain in this tragic dead-end."
Sent by William Jelani Cobb
Jun 18, 2008,
12:36
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Letters
Pride and Prejudice
Helen Burleson, a 78-year-old Black African American woman in Chicago, has received email and calls from around the world about her letter circulated on the Internet that defends Michelle Obama's statement that this is the first time in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American. Here is Burleson's letter.
Jun 18, 2008,
12:11
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Letters
The ABC Debate Travesty
If you missed the Democratic presidential debate on ABC Wednesday night, Editor & Publisher called it "perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years." Sign a petition here to tell ABC News what you think.
Apr 18, 2008,
10:07
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Letters
Letter from Assata Shakur
On her 60th birthday, Black Panther fugitive Assata Shakur sends greetings from Cuba, where she has lived for nearly 25 years. She says: "In some ways it was easier for my generation. Racism was blatant and obvious...Not much has changed, but the system of lies and tricknology is much more sophisticated."
Apr 1, 2008,
11:24
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Letters
FOX Attacks Obama
Reporters like NBC's Tim Russert focused on the "Reverend Wright controversy" only after FOX and other right-wing media did. It happens over and over: FOX airs a right-wing smear and the mass media repeat it. Moveon.org has launched a petition demanding the big networks stop parroting FOX and distracting Americans from real issues.
Mar 21, 2008,
17:04
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Letters
No to Illegal Surveillance
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| credit: tallkleft.com |
Please join the emergency petition to STOP TELECOM IMMUNITY. Check out the video of Americans speaking out against warrantless surveillance and retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies that may have aided the Bush administration's illegal domestic wiretapping. From People for the American Way
Feb 28, 2008,
17:56
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Letters
Journalists Seek Support
It has been five long months since African American journalists, Tonye Allen and Ann Brown, hailed that cab last year on October 16, 2006. Blatant victims of racial profiling and police brutality, the couple has struggled since then to share their story, gain public support, and raise funds in their bid for freedom in a foreign land. By Makeda Smith
Mar 23, 2007,
12:45
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Letters
Boost Mobile’s Dis-Service
Tyechia Thompson of Washington, D.C. finds Boost Mobile’s commercial featuring a woman “with bionic butt cheeks” and voice over by Charlie Murphy degrading to Black women’s intellect and bodies.
Jan 31, 2007,
21:25
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Letters
Brown, Garland and Campbell
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| Ruth Brown |
Given our barren artistic landscape, we can ill afford the absence of these three giants--Ruth Brown, Phyl Garland and Bebe Moore Campbell. Jolynn Hope Brooks writes from Atlanta
Nov 29, 2006,
14:40
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Letters
Rape, Mythology and Courage
Violence against women of color in the United States is the real issue in the Duke rape case, says Veronica Njeri-Imani. Race, sex, and class undergirds the court case that began being tried in public, on the news and streets of Durham, N.C., not behind closed doors with a robed judge.
Aug 10, 2006,
07:16
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Letters
California Country Blues
"There has to be an effort made to reconnect African Americans back to rural land. I think the concept of township is so important. We have to learn as Black tourists to rural areas to target our Black dollars. There are so many fledgling African American rural communities scattered nationally. They are in need of economic lifelines," writes Reginald A. Fagan from San Luis Obispo, California.
May 9, 2007,
16:42
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Letters
Congress Sells Out Internet
Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon.com doesn't have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer. From MoveOn.org
Jun 16, 2006,
13:32
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Letters
Seeking Mumia’s Death
The State of Pennsylvania has recently filed its appeal seeking to reinstate the order to execute Mumia. If their appeal is upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has pledged to sign the third warrant for Mumia's execution. From Fatirah, Philadelphia
Jun 16, 2006,
13:55
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Letters
One "Wrong Black Body?"
Responding to Mark Anthony Neal's essay on the Duke rape case, Paula Matabane of Atlanta questions the repeated assertion that Claudette Colvin, a pregnant teen-ager who refused to give up her seat in Montgomery Ala. before Rosa Parks, was not supported by civil right leaders because she was the "wrong Black body." Matabane says that Rosa Parks told a different story.
Jun 16, 2006,
13:40
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