Friday: Communal Cypher and Court Hearing

 

From Shades of Silence

Within a state of pure Silence, all that exist is Colors of unknown

rhythms. A Sacred absence in time where Silence came first and

Our Silence is the Sound of the alchemist of Chaos sabotaging the

Silence will be the last.

agents of authority.

shadesofsilence.org

Towards (A) Communal Cypher West Coast Benefit Show is being coordinated to raise funds for the Trayvon 2. Engaging Hip Hop as a tool of Decolonization and continuing to build Black and Brown people struggles, we intend to support a thriving local underground West Coast Hip Hop Community from Los Angeles to Oakland all the way to Seattle. On an occupied continent in creative commUNITY, we rise and decolonize, supporting those targeted for speaking for the liberation of our people(s) and building ties across arbitrary borders for our peoples’ survival.

The Trayvon 2 (Hannibal Shakur and Tanzeen Doha) were arrested while protesting the George Zimmerman not­guilty verdict in the murder of Trayvon Martin. The Trayvon 2 are the only people being charged and were the only Muslims arrested, and are currently being railroaded through the judicial system on false charges. For more information, updates on developments in the case and ways to support the Trayvon 2’s freedom, visit thetrayvon2.wordpress.com.

June 13, 2014

Os Qilombo, (2313 San Pablo, Oakland). 6PM to ­Midnight
Featured Hip Hop Heads/Creative Minds/ ARTists: Dani M. Cornejo, E the Ref, Monotheist, Shango, Poesi(A), MC K­Swift, Alas, Ruby Ibarra, Savage Fam (See here for samples of their music/videos)
Cyphers/Elements: Graffiti/Arsenal Culture, Bgirl Cypher, Comedians, raffles,
vendors, food , community bridging thru hip hop

“All Prisoners are Political” Shades of Silence

“La Sexta” Shades of Silence via Enlace Zapatista

On this path of decolonization, across the arbitrary borders, building Towards (A) Global, Regional, Local Hip Hop Communal Cypher: creative revolutions always lead to drastic changes.

Live from Oakland, It’s bigger than Hip Hop

Trayvon2 Audio Interview

Facts about the case

1) The Trayvon 2, Hannibal Shakur (Lamar Caldwell) and Tanzeen Doha, are two local activists being prosecuted for protests held last July against the George Zimmerman not­guilty verdict in the murder of Trayvon Martin. According to the San Jose Mercury News, they are the only two people being prosecuted in relation to the July protests.

2) They are being railroaded through the judicial system on false charges of felony vandalism (now dropped to misdemeanor vandalism) of a window. Why? Because they are Muslim and they speak out against racist injustice, and because of their past activism against racism and imperialism. Tanzeen worked actively on questions of race, religion, and colonialism at UC Davis and other universities like San Francisco State and San Jose State. Hannibal was active in the protests around Oscar Grant’s 2009 murder by BART police.

3) The case against them is already full of irregularities and they are still just in the pre­trial phase. Hannibal and Tanzeen were initially charged separately, Tanzeen only with a misdemeanor. Oddly, they were made co­-defendants well after the arrest. They were arrested on the spurious charge of felony vandalism.

4) The state has been dragging its feet since August on these totally false charges, maximizing the impact of this lengthy prosecution on the lives of Tanzeen (who is a husband and father) and Hannibal (who is battling cancer). One week, the prosecution even forgot the court date!

5) The state is acting like it has something to hide. After it was made clear by a witness that arresting officers were lying on the stand, the judge didn’t even address the perjury and then only dropped the felonies to misdemeanors.  At an earlier court date, they asked for another continuance because the arresting officer had not responded to repeated subpoena attempts. The judge had to issue a warrant for the arresting officer. These young men are entitled to a speedy trial and they should not be prosecuted on such flimsy evidence. Why is the state dragging this out? Why is the state avoiding presentation of the evidence? Why are officers allowed to so blatantly lie on the stand? The police and prosecutor are trying to stretch this out to maximize the level of inconvenience and the problems these two men face.

The Trayvon 2 are being charged with vandalism of a window, an outrageous charge designed to arrest activists found anywhere near a broken window. Clearly, the DA is using the threat of nonexistent evidence to force these young activists to admit to something they did not do.

We’ve seen the state targeting activists in this way before. The only reason the state and its white supremacist allies have failed is because the resolve of oppressed people has been stronger than the resolve of the oppressive state.

On June 13, let’s tell the state to drop ALL charges

Cypher Rally for the Trayvon 2
Friday June 13 at 8:30am
Wiley Manuel Courthouse, 661 Washington Street (corner of 7th and Washington St, downtown Oakland)

Outside Spectator Sports And the Hip Hop Capitalist Industry. Excerpt From “Hip Hop without Borders: ‘Revolutionary Tourism’ and The Zapatista Little School Segunda Ronda” by Poesi(A)

Its been months since sharing palabras/comida/stories/ and understanding Autonomy with the Zs. I sit back, reflect: What is the art of poetry?

I ask: there is something to be said about spectator sports and empire. What is it about “games” on tv stations created to “entertain us” and the subtle messages where corporations make billions thru indoctrination…So the Seahawks won the Super Bowl while corporations made billions and funded the white rapper who sold out faster than corporate narco­politrikkks in a city filled with settlers, transplants,walking zombies, gentrified neighborhoods. Native, Black and brown children dying. A School District and City shut down Africatown. Across town a stadium, robots watching the objectification of bodies for commodity, life goes by in a game…business as usual in the Metropolis…

Everyone talking about Sherman in the age of no hope for Obamanation. Pigs shot a brother, here comes the settler white guilt, another mother mourns the loss of her child…a pig shot a pig, Dorner in LA, Seattle Police chief and their guinea pig FBI investigations… Oakland the momentum…turn off your TV, and bump locally thinking globally…creative revolutions always lead to drastic changes…what is it about indoctrination and decolonization?

so I go back in the time to a conversation with a six year old in a Z autonomous community (synchronicity) chill beat laid back blasts the music hip hop rhymes flowing from the headphones of a…

our footsteps, our words, our songs.

Live from Oakland, It’s bigger than Hip Hop

(Access Full Piece here on Shades of Silence and news from Enlace Zapatista here.)

ARTISTS AUDIO/MUSIC OF THOSE PART OF FRIDAY’S CYPHER

SAVAGE FAM: https://soundcloud.com/savagefambam
RUBY IBARRA: http://www.rubyibarra.com/
ALAS: https://soundcloud.com/alasmusika
MC K­SWIFT: http://www.mckswift.com/site/
POESI(A): http://poesiamariarte.tumblr.com/
SHANGO: https://soundcloud.com/shadowwryder/last­of­a­dying-
breed­ft
DANI M. CORNEJO: http://debajodelagua.org
MONOTHEIST
E THE REF

Slideshow: Lxs Zapatistas no están solxs! (The Zapatistas Are Not Alone!)

Photos by Bay Area Intifada

(Scroll below slideshow for English translation.)

Como miembros de diversas comunidades autónomas y como estudiantes de La Escuelita Zapatista, nos reunimos hoy en el Consulado mexicano de San Francisco para demostrar nuestro dolor y digna rabia ante el asesinato del maestro Zapatista Galeano en la comunidad autónoma de La Realidad, Chiapas. Repartimos volantes con información sobre lo sucedido en La Realidad, y manifestamos nuestra rabia con gritos rebeldes y el ruido de las cacerolas. En respuesta al incremento de agresiones en contra de bases de apoyo Zapatistas en Chiapas, Mexico, como el pueblo digno y rebelde del área de la bahía nos hemos organizado a condenar en los términos mas fuertes, el escalamiento de los ataques en contra de nuestros compañeros y compañeras del sur.

 

El asesinato del querido maestro Galeano a manos de grupos paramilitares respaldados por el gobierno crea el imperativo de construir relaciones autónomas y liberatorias aquí en la área de la bahía. Como tales, representamos nuestra fuerza en los que están aquí pero también de los que faltan, para denunciar los gobiernos títeres de tanto Estados Unidos y Mexico por su impunidad y brutalidad cometida en contra de los pueblos indígenas del continente. Nos unimos a muchos otros quienes protestan en cuidades alrededor del mundo como parte de una Semana Global de Acción en solidaridad con los Zapatistas y recordando al compañero Galeano.

 

¡GALEANO VIVE!

 

(Scroll below slideshow for English translation.)

 

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ENGLISH TRANSLATION

 

As autonomous community members and students of the Zapatista Little School from around the Bay Area, we gather today at the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco to demonstrate our dignified pain and rage while denouncing the murder of Zapatista schoolteacher Galeano, in the autonomous community of La Realidad, Chiapas. (Read the Zapatista communique here.)  We distributed flyers with information about what happened in La Realidad, and we expressed our rage with our rebellious cries and the noise of our pots and pans. In response to the escalating aggression against Zapatista bases of support in Chiapas, Mexico, as the dignified and rebellious people of the Bay Area we have organized ourselves in order to condemn, in the strongest terms, continued attacks against our compañeros and compañeras in the south.

 

The death of endeared teacher, Galeano, at the hands of government-backed paramilitary groups creates the imperative to build autonomous and liberatory social relations here in the Bay Area. As such, we will show our force in numbers and expose both the U.S. and puppet government of Mexico for the impunity and brutality committed against the indigenous people of the continent. We do so joining the countlesss of others who are demonstrating in cities around the world as part of a Global Week of Action in solidarity with the Zapatistas and in rememberance of our fallen compañero Galeano. See here to read a denuncia coming out of the West Coast, signed onto by countless individuals and groups. See here for solidarity shown from Palestine.

 

¡GALEANO VIVE!

 

West Coast Warrior Hip Hop Tour Part III: Shining Soul

 

Oakland stop of the tour ft Poesia and MC Lovelle. Photo by Bay Area Intifada

After an unexpected performance during a RAC Mutual Aid Food Program sharing Sunday in LA, Shining Soul is heading further south in Tongva Territory with ALAS and Zro Prophet for Monday’s performance in UC Santa Barbara. [Read more about the food program here and details about tonight’s performance here.]

While the four artists were in Oakland, Shining Soul  sat down with us and talked about intentions of their music and the West Coast tour, struggles in their communities, and building a culture of resistance. (Scroll below the video for the interview.)

 

[Barely edited transcription:]

BAI: Thanks for taking time. I guess let’s start off with who you are.

Franco Habre: Hello, my name is Franco Habre, aka the Bronze Candidate, one half of Shining Soul. An MC slash beatmaker.

Alex Soto: My name is Alex Soto, aka MC Liasion, one half of Shining Soul. I MC in the crew. Originally I’m from the Tohono O’odham Nation from the Community of Sells but currently based out of Phoenix, Arizona.

BAI: How would you introduce your music?

F: Basically, it’s two cats from the hood in Phoenix, Arizona: one Chicano, one O’odham, indigenous. We’re individuals that took on hip hop as their form of expression. It’s dope beats, dope rhymes in the spirit of De La Soul and Public Enemy. It’s kind of the flavor we got.

A: Or to be summed up, we’re putting the rap game on smash while smashing the state. A lot of our music is in that sprit of hip hop. The hip hop we grew up on, as is mentioned, De La and Tribe, you know, hip hop throughout the 80s and 90s. They all promoted a positive message. But in our case, we’re not from those areas. We’re from where we’re at and in this case, as brown and red, we express the same spriit of that, with that fierceness of Public Enemy and with the cultural pride of anyone from the native tongues, like Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, but in a way that addresses what’s happening, all while keeping our music, as far as on par or dope beats and dope rhymes. It’s one thing to have a message–another thing not to have the skills to match that message. We feel our music embodies that and of course we’re still growing and still learning. In the process of creating music to build on that, we’ve got to have that foundation, that cultural foundation of who we are and represent. In some ways we’re messengers for our communities, even though I don’t like to be a name and be at the forefront, that’s just how shit goes when you rap. But that’s, then again, an MC.

BAI: How do you stay humble wihen you’re in the spotlight all the time?

F: Hmm. That’s a good question. I’m naturally an introvert, so when I get on stage, it’s like I’m performing this other side of me. I’d say I’m naturally that way. But I take people’s praise, their criticsm and use it to outdo myself creatively for the next song, the next project, the next beat. Obviously, at the end of the day, it’s for the people. That’s who we’re trying to outreach to. That’s who we’re trying to connect wtih. That’s who we kind of have an affinity or kind of groom to these messages or overall hip hop heads. So they’re the greatest determination of whether Shining Soul is still relevant and how we can adapt to what’s happening and the people’s response to our music. And also, we can be aware of what’s happening on a political level; to realize, being from the quote unquote ground zero with a lot of this, these colonial projects via racist laws or projects that are about to develop indigenous lands just to create these different places. So it’s a matter of listening and talking less, hopefully, more listening being that we do rap. So that’s the best thing: listen to the people and stay relevant and still stay real. 

Bay Area Zapatista Solidarity Rally & Noise Demo // Acción en solidaridad con lxs Zapatistas

JUSTICE FOR GALEANO!

STOP THE WAR AGAINST THE ZAPATISTA COMMUNITIES! 

AN ATTACK ON THE ZAPATISTAS IS AN ATTACK ON US ALL!

Bay Area Solidarity Rally & Noise Demo (FB LINK)
THURSDAY MAY 22, 2014 
10:00am 
Mexican Consulate in San Francisco (532 Folsom St) 

Bring banners, drums and pots+pans! 

On May 2, 2014, in the Zapatista territory of La Realidad, Chiapas, Mexico, the group CIOAC-Histórica [with the participation of the Green Ecological Party and the National Action Party (PAN)], planned and executed a paramilitary attack on unarmed Zapatista civilians. An autonomous Zapatista school and clinic was destroyed, 15 people were ambushed and injured and Jose Luis Solis Lopez (Galeano), teacher at the Zapatista Little School, was murdered. The mainstream media is falsely reporting this attack on the Zapatistas as an intra-community confrontation, but in fact this attack is the result of a long-term counterinsurgency strategy promoted by the Mexican government.

more information:
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/
http://www.anattackonusall.org/

——————–

¡JUSTICIA PARA GALEANO!

¡ALTO A LA GUERRA CONTRA LAS COMUNIDADES ZAPATISTAS!

¡SI NOS TOCAN A UNX, NOS TOCAN A TODXS!

Acción en Solidaridad en el Area de la Bahía  (FB ENLACE)
JUEVES 22 de MAYO
10:00am
Consulado de México en San Francisco (532 Folsom St)

¡lleven pancartas, tambores y cacerolas!

Zapatista classroom Oventic. Galeano, a schoolteacher was killed after participating in the Zapatista Little School. Photo by Bay Area Intifada..

El 2 de mayo de 2014, en el territorio zapatista de La Realidad, Chiapas, México, el grupo CIOAC-Histórica [con la participación del Partido Verde Ecologista y el PAN] planeó y ejecutó un ataque paramilitar contra zapatistas civiles desarmados. Una escuela y clínica zapatista fue destruida, 15 personas fueron emboscadas y heridas y José Luis Solís López (Galeano), maestro de la Escuelita Zapatista, fue asesinado. Los medios dominantes están presentando el ataque contra los Zapatistas falsamente como un enfrentamiento intracomunitario, pero este ataque es el resultado de una estrategia contrainsurgente de largo plazo promovida por el gobierno mexicano.

más información:
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/
http://www.anattackonusall.org/

Desde “El Norte” Pronunciamiento de Solidaridad Con L@s Zapatistas

Photo by Bay Area Intifada

(English translation below)

A las Cinco Juntas de Buen Gobierno.
A las bases de apoyo del EZLN.
A cada una de las familias zapatistas.
Al Comité Clandestino Revolucionario Indígena-Comandancia General del EZLN.
A la Red contra la Represión y Por la Solidaridad.
A los y las compas de La Sexta Nacional e Internacional.
A L@s Alumnos de la Escuelita Zapatista.
A todas las personas de buen corazón.
A los Medios alternativos de comunicación.

Con nuestros corazones llenos de dolor y rabia alzamos nuestra voz gritando YA BASTA! con los ataques contra nuestras y nuestros compañeros y compañeras, maestr@s, votánes, herman@s zapatistas.

Desde acá en los rincónes de abajo y la izquierda de Turtle Island, nos hemos enterado de la emboscada contra las bases de apoyo del EZLN, La Realidad, organizada por los tres niveles del mal gobierno, el supremo paramilitary Enrique Peña Nieto, Manuel Velasco Coello, y los jefes paramilitares de la CIOA-H. Por la presencia y la documentación del Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, y la denuncia de la Junta de Buen Gobierno Hacia la Esperanza sabemos que hay quince zapatistas gravamente heridos de balas, machetes, piedras y garrotes y muerto a nuestro Maestro de la Escuelita Zapatista, José Luis Solís López “Galeano”.

Denunciamos a los medios pagados de arriba que manejan y manipulan la información al “modelo Acteal”, publicando puras mentiras diciendo que lo que ocurrió el 2 de Mayo de este año fue un “enfrentamiento” armado entre los zapatistas y la CIOAC-H. Coviertiendo a los agresores “víctimas” de los zapatistas. Ésto es pura mentira y táctica que muestra la complicidad y colaboración de los medios de comunicación comerciales con los asesinos materiales . “Fue una agresión planeada con anticipación, organizada militarmente y inscrita en un clima creado y alentado desde arriba.” 

Talking With Savage Family Member As the Warrior Hip Hop Tour Kicks Off

Friday May 2, in Neskonlith, Secwepemc Territory, the Warrior Hip Hop Tour will pop off a month-long journey down a segment of Turtle Island’s western coast. The intention of the tour is “to begin to build a culture of resistance through hip hop and art, and to inspire and educate others through hip hop.” See this page for details and dates of the tour. And visit this page to help financially support the tour, which has yet to be fully funded. If you’re in the northwest this weekend, see the first show when the tour kicks off at Neskonlith Hall, Neskonlith, Secwepemc Territory on Friday, May 2 at 5:15 PM til late. There will be dinner and admission is by donation. The show will also feature Zro Prpht, ALAS and Shining Soul.

 

Bay Area Intifada is honored that these musician-warriors were interested in sharing their thoughts and hopes about the tour, why they do what they do slash how they are who they are, and stories from their people. The first artist we talked to is čəpəyətkʷwen, of Savage Family, from Lower Elwha nəxʷsƛ̕ay̕əm (Klallam). Check out one of their videos below.

 

 

 

BAI: So, I said I wanted to “interview” you, but I like discussions more and I don’t want to frame your story with my questions. So But there are some basic things to start with. So, how would you want to introduce yourself and your music?

 

Č: Our music is directly related to indigenous struggle of decolonization. To us, decolonization is the complete undoing of what colonization does—complete undoing in terms of ideology as well as system collapse. To figure out how to undo even building and dam constructions and to return to a healthy way of living, to mirror the ways of our ancestors. This is completely rooted in the idea of decolonizing the land, not just decolonizing the mind. We are focused on indigenous warriorism and system collapse, which would mean the destruction of what has now become known as western civilization.

Sunday Event: Solidarity With Antione Thomas

El Quilombo 2313 San Pablo Ave, Oakland

Sunday,22 February 2014 4PM

Come show some love and support for Antione Thomas who was brutalized by pigs and is now serving 65 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit

Antione was stopped while driving with a friend and was subject to a cavity search. He filed a complaint against the pigs who did it and two years later he was convicted of a robbery he didn’t commit. There is evidence to exonerate him and he needs our support to be able to fight this case.

There will be a screening and some folks sharing their stories

Come donate and show support and enjoy food, art, discussion and hear more about how you can support him and his family.

The Facebook page is here.

Clarification and Correction on the Albany Bulb Piece

We woke up this morning to a pleasant Albany Patch review of our piece on the Albany Bulb fight.

The post shares our article under the alleged intention of ensuring their bourgeois readers keep up with “diverse perspectives.” Smhh. We’d like to point out that our article doesn’t focus on just one perspective among many. Our piece focuses on the impact the bulb’s seizure will have on the neighbors living there and how it will disrupt the networks of support that the Bulb residents have developed to sustain themselves.

Pigs Are Haraam Part II: Cops Out Their Own Undercover

Under Cover BART Police Officer Christopher Vogan being unmasked by SFPD

By Jabar

Bay Area, California

On the evening of July 3, 2011, a houseless man by the name of Charles Blair Hill got off a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train at San Francisco’s Civic Center station and was confronted by two BART police officers; Myron Lee and James Cromwell. Less than a minute later, Charles Hill was laying on the floor dead, shot multiple times by Officer James Cromwell.

As news of the story spread, Bay Area-based activists with “No Justice, No BART!“– a group created in response to the murder of Oscar Grant two years earlier–started meeting to respond to yet another senseless police murder.

Protestor hops on top of BART train

For weeks in a row, demonstrators stopped trains with their bodies, marched up and down Market street in downtown San Francisco and brought public transportation to a halt.

The Story of a Show: Olmeca in Seattle

Flyer by Poesia

Back in August 26th, 2013, the world renowned underground revolutionary artist from LA, Olmeca,touched down in Seattle. He was joined on stage withSista Hailstorm, Julie C, and Poesia (who also did this flyer artwork to the right) for an intimate show. If you missed it, which you probably did due to that fact that this show was largely overlooked by the Hip Hop community in Seattle, there is video below. But my aim in this narrative is not to guilt you for not coming. Actually, I want to share an important back story to how this event even came about. For me, organizers of the event, and for the author of the narrative below, the beginning of this story started on a rainy night down at Westlake at the dawn of Occupy Seattle, traveled across the imaginary lines we call ‘borders’ south to Chiapas, the heart of the Zapatista movement, and back up before landing at South Side Commons in Columbia City. I first met Tabs, aka Isolina, one organizer of this event, on one of those early Occupy nights. Actually, the first time I saw her, she was getting arrested by the SPD for sitting on the ground. She became one of the powerful voices advocating thedecolonization framework for Occupy, and a big supporter of Hip Hop Occupies to Decolonize early in the game while we were still battling the doubtful for a voice in the movement. I talk a lot about the importance of art and culture in movement, revolution, change. It is, to me, a fundamental aspect of humanity, and thus just as fundamental in inspiring, galvanizing, and organizing the masses, beyond just “a tool of outreach”. So I guess, take the story below as a case study, and remember, it’s always bigger than Hip Hop. Here it goes, in her words:

“When I reflect back on the journey we took in December 2012, I can hardly believe that was part of my life. It was a shared experience with four other female bodied people. A shared experience, that was potent, eye opening, and an affirmation that our ancestors are with us holding our hands, holding us up, and guiding us through a very tricky world. We are on a path and we do not know where it will take us.