Bro. Shaka Speaking On Police Terror To Harlem Youth In The Hood

Occupy The Courts!

Bro. Shaka Shakur, a coordinator of the Peoples Survival Program in Harlem was arrested at work after a taskforce of police agents raided his apartment in the Bronx with a baseless warrant.  In the course of the raid the police also took the opportunity to violate the home of veteran Black Panther Cyril "Bullwhip" Innis under the guise of an alleged search for illegal weapons.

PRESS CONFERENCE/COURT HOUSE RALLY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2012 9:00AM THE BRONX COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT Part B

Video of Bro. Shaka discussing his upcoming court case at a press Conference in support Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, another Harlem community leader under attack by the NYPD. January 12, 2012.

Save The Date and come out on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 as we collectively "Occupy The Bronx Courthouse" in support of those who actively fight against Police Terror by the NYPD.

Additionally, Thanks to the very successful fundraising event organized by CEMOTAP; We now only need a balance of $2,500.00 to cover the legal expenses for Bro. Shaka Shakur.

For those who were unable to attend this community fundraiser and still wish to contribute to the legal expenses needed to win this case; We ask that you please make out your check or moneyorder payable to our attorney
Michael W. Warren with a notation for the Shaka Shakur Defense Fund and to then Mail Your Support Contribution To:

Michael W. Warren, P.C.
580 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11238

For more information contact:

Phone - 212-650-5008

Emails - peoplessurvivalprogram@aol.com, safiyanuhfoundation@yahoo.com, Panthershepcat@aol.com

Directions to Bronx Criminal Court:

215 East 161st Street (near Sherman & Sheridan Avenues) C, D or 4 train to the Yankee Stadium/161st Street Station. BX 6 or BX 13 to East 161st Street & Sheridan Avenue; the BX 1 to East 161st Street & Grand Concourse

 A Statment of Thanks and Blessings From Shaka

Click Photo for NY1 Coverage

Community members, social activists, religious and political leaders all came together outside of the Manhattan Supreme Court for a press conference in support of Joseph "Jazz" Hayden and to rally against the NYPD's racist practice known as Stop and Frisk.

Jazz was a recent victim of retaliation by the NYPD when he was arrested by the same 2 officers he filmed last summer during a Copwatch. He has been out filming police activity and Stop and Frisks in Harlem for the past 3 years and posting these videos to youtube(playlist) and allthingsharlem.com. For full story and detail behind the arrest view here - http://bit.ly/AmEj6y.

The court decided to send Jazz's case to the Grand Jury and his next court date will be on April 17, 2012. Please come out again and support him on this day. More details will follow.

All Things Harlem - Video Coverage

 JOIN US ON THE STEPS OF THE MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT   
IN SUPPORT OF HARLEM COMMUNITY ACTIVIST   
JOSEPH “JAZZ” HAYDEN

JANUARY 19, 2012
8:30AM
100 CENTRE STREET

 
 
A LONGSTANDING MONITOR OF POLICE CONDUCT AND THE RECENT VICTIM OF
AN ILLEGAL STOP AND FRISK AND RETALIATORY ARREST.
 

AND CHALLENGING  
  POLICE MISCONDUCT IN OUR
COMMUNITIES
 
Current Speakers: 

Charles Barron, City Council

King Downing, American Friends Service Committee

Liz Fink, civil rights attorney

Kassandra Frederique, Policy Associate, Drug Policy Alliance

Robert Gangi, Senior Policy Advocate, Urban Justice Center

Jazz Hayden, Campaign to End the New Jim Crow

Sarah Kunstler, civil rights attorney

Rev. Stephen Phelps, Senior Minister, The Riverside Church

Yusef Salaam, defendant in the Central Park jogger case

Chet Whye, Executive Director, Harlem4 Center for Change

Jumaane Williams, City Council

Nahal Zamani, Advocacy and Program Manager, Government Misconduct and Racial Justice, Center for Constitutional Rights

Michelle Alexander at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem - January 12, 2012

Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow, speaks about the political strategy behind the War on Drugs and its connection to the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people in the United States.

If you think Bill Clinton was "the first Black President" then watch the video below and see how much damage his administration caused for the black community as a result of his get tough attitude on crime that appealed to white swing voters.

This Thursday, Jan 12, 2012 - Author Michelle Alexander, will be doing a book event for The New Jim Crow at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. It's the launch of the paperback version of The New Jim Crow.

On December 2, 2011 - Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, Founder of allthingsharlem.com, was arrested by the NYPD in retaliation by 2 officers he filmed in an earlier Copwatch this summer.  

Jazz and All Things Harlem are asking for your support with his case and to fight for the right to film and report on the police activity in our communities - which have turned into police states. 

Jazz's next Court Date is January 19, 2012 at 100 Centre Street Criminal Court Part F, 9:30am  Please Come out for a Stop/Frisk and Media Rights Day of Action at the Courthouse. (More Details to Follow)

Here is a letter from Jazz detailing the incident 

 Dear Friends,

I wanted to share this story of these NYPD officers taking revenge on me.  As you might know I make it a habit of filming the many incidents of the NYPD, Stopping and Frisking people in the Harlem community.  On December 2, 2011 when I was leaving my weekly Campaign To End The New Jim Crow Working group meeting at Riverside Church I was pulled over by 2 NYPD officers.  It turned out that it was the same 2 officers I had filmed in a Copwatch, Stop and Frisk incident this summer.  

During the video below you can hear the officer's talking to me and saying that they know who I am and know my background.

At minute, 5:05 the officer can be heard saying, "You done selling drugs yet or what? I know your rap sheet."  Then again around 5:55 the officer can be heard saying, "Go Sell some more drugs Sir.  We know your background, I know who you are."

Flashback to a few weeks ago when I was driving through Harlem and these same officers pulled me over.  As they approached my car and recognized me they said, "hey we know you, you're that murderer."  I asked them why I was being stopped and they eventually said that one of my brake lights was out.  They asked me for my license and registration which I gave them and then I was asked to step out of the car.  I complied and got out of my car but told them that they had no right and no consent to search my car or myself, but that they could pat frisk me.   After I told the officers that, they asked me to go to the back of my car and stand there.  

As soon as I got to the back of my car one officer immediately ignored my statement and went right inside my car and began searching it.  After a few minutes of this illegal search the officer came out of the car and "proudly" presented a Pen Knife (a knife that can be bought at any hardware store or discount store).   I was then arrested for Felony Possession of a dangerous weapon and taken to the 32nd precinct.  Shortly after I arrived there and was being booked, they asked me if I had any medical problems and I told them about my high blood pressure.  I was then taken to Harlem hospital for a few hours where my blood pressure was measured extremely high (163 over 103).  I was kept at the hospital until it subsided and then brought back to the 32nd precinct.  This all took place on a Friday night and I ended having to stay at the 32nd precinct until late Sunday night, without food or medication, when I was finally able to see a judge downtown.  

At the court hearing the prosecution requested that I be held on a bail of 16k.  The affidavit that the NYPD filled out made no mention of my alleged brake lights being out and I wasn't charged with any traffic violations.  The officers cited in the affidavit that they saw me moving my hand on the console in my car and that was their reason for stopping me.  After I showed my legal aide lawyer the videos and work I have been doing on my CopWatch to fight against Stop and Frisk he pointed this out to the judge.  After reviewing the evidence and my record the Judge released me on my own recognizance.  

I am now scheduled for another court date on January 19, 2011.  I am asking you to come to the court and support me if you can against this NYPD injustice.  Community groups including the Campaign to End the New Jim Crow, WBAI and others will be supporting me on this day, please join them.  

Stop/Frisk and Media Rights Day of Action on January 19, 2012 at 100 Centre Street Criminal Court Part F, 9:30am

(More details to follow)

Sincerely,

Joseph “Jazz” Hayden

Email: info@allthingsharlem.com

PS: Read the Resolution passed by WBAI's Local Station Board below:

RESOLUTION PASSED  In Support of Jazz Hayden  Former WBAI producer Jazz Hayden -- a co-founder of "On the Count" -- was  stopped in Harlem for a traffic violation Friday night, December 2, 2011.  When he was pulled over, the cops said, "We know you," according to Jazz Hayden.  They were the SAME cops he filmed at a cop watch stop and frisk during the  summer: The cops then proceeded to search his car and arrest him for a pen knife. They kept him for close to 48 hours and asked for $16k bond, but the judge released him on his own recognizance.  Jazz Hayden has a January court date. The WBAI LSB respects and supports Jazz Hayden and condemns such police harassment and arrest. We invite listeners to express their solidarity with Mr. Hayden by coming to court in January, and request that WBAI cover this story.

On December 1, 2011, the Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP), along with the Campaign to End The New Jim Crow, held a forum Organizing to Reform the NYPD at Riverside Church.

Check out ATH's Full Video Coverage of the event.

MODERATOR: Liliana Segura — Associate Editor, The Nation

PANEL SPEAKERS: Candis Tolliver — Lead Organizer, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU); Christine Rodriquez – Outreach Specialist, The Ali Forney Center; Khary Lazarre-White, Esq. — Executive Director & Co-Founder, Brotherhood-SisterSol; Lorena Borjas — Outreach Worker/Community Organizer, AIDS Center of Queens County (ACDC); Senior Outreach Worker, Latino Commission on AIDS; Robert Gangi — Director, Police Reform Organizing Project; Senior Policy Advocate, Urban Justice Center; Sanayi Beckles — Families for Fair Policing

A great man in the Harlem community, Jamal Joseph, has penned memoirs in his new book Panther Baby which will be published February 7, 2012.

Algonquin Books Blog - In the 1960s he exhorted students at Columbia University to burn their college to the ground. Today he's chair of their School of the Arts film division. Jamal Joseph's personal odyssey—from the streets of Harlem to Riker's Island and Leavenworth to the halls of Columbia—is as gripping as it is inspiring. Eddie Joseph was a high school honor student, slated to graduate early and begin college. But this was the late 1960s in Bronx's black ghetto, and fifteen-year-old Eddie was introduced to the tenets of the Black Panther Party, which was just gaining a national foothold. By sixteen, his devotion to the cause landed him in prison on the infamous Rikers Island—charged with conspiracy as one of the Panther 21 in one of the most emblematic criminal cases of the sixties. When exonerated, Eddie—now called Jamal—became the youngest spokesperson and leader of the Panthers' New York chapter. He joined the "revolutionary underground," later landing back in prison. Sentenced to more than twelve years in Leavenworth, he earned three degrees there and found a new calling. He is now chair of Columbia University's School of the Arts film division—the very school he exhorted students to burn down during one of his most famous speeches as a Panther. In raw, powerful prose, Jamal Joseph helps us understand what it meant to be a soldier inside the militant Black Panther movement. He recounts a harrowing, sometimes deadly imprisonment as he charts his path to manhood in a book filled with equal parts rage, despair, and hope.

Video Trailer

Also see a Sneak Peak of the book at Algonquin Books Blog

Pre Order the book on Amazon

Malik Zulu Shabazz is the leader of the New Black Panther Party, an eloquent spokesperson, and a warrior for social justice.

Shaka Shakur is a community activist that has been organizing in Harlem and now stages events at the National Black Theatre. To our surprise, spoken word is another of his skills. He performs "God is Black" and "FYI"

Tyrene is the daughter of Queen Nasira Sekou, a community activist in Harlem. She follows in the footsteps of her mother. Her mother was the victim of racial abuse in the 32nd Pct. where she works.

Click to read more ...

Occupy Harlem proposes more inclusion in strategizing and planning with Occupy Wall Street during their General Assembly meeting on Wednesday November 9, 2011 at St. Phillips Church in Harlem.

Citizens Against Recidivism honored, Joseph "Jazz" Hayden, with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his life's work of activism around the issues of Criminal Justice. The event was at Citizens Against Recidivsim's annual award ceremony on November 5, 2011 at Tian restaurant in Harlem.

New York State Senator Bill Perkins addressed the audience at the awards ceremony.

For more information on Citizens Against Recidivism visit www.citizensinc.org.

Uptown residents Larry White (left), 76, and Joseph “Jazz” Hayden (right), 70, have both spent decades in prison, and now act as prison activists. (Photo by Nat Rudarakanchana)

The Uptowner - On a quiet Friday evening, a band of grizzled but passionate prison activists wound its way through the corridors of Riverside Church, into a bright business-like meeting room. On the agenda this night: the launching of a campaign to end what they call the “New Jim Crow.”

“We do this and we live this 24/7, all day every day,” said Joseph “Jazz” Hayden, a 70-year-old organizer and activist who had been in prison for 20 years. “But others don’t necessarily know what we’re doing, or know much about the issues we’re dealing with.”

Read Full Story

For information on the Campaign visit www.endnewjimcrow.org

(Harlemites and beyond) who are unemployed, retired, underemployed or just struggling to pay their medical/utility/tuition bills.

JOIN our “Construction Jobs Now” picket line

10am Wednesday, November 9

Columbia University @116^th St. & Broadway

Right now, Columbia University has many new construction/non-construction jobs in a billion-dollar expansion program. Asians, African-Americans, Latinos and women are being denied a fair share of the work.  President Bollinger, WE NEED REAL JOBS to put women and workers of color in Columbia’s construction workforce immediately. We demand not only fairness but jobs to bring us up to par after centuries of discrimination. Hundreds of thousands of our unemployed  need real jobs now, not next week not next year but now!

We can’t wait patiently, idly at a time where   unemployment is reaching new high.  We need a real jobs program put together by serious people rather than the same bulls*** that’s been going on for centuries.

• Ø WE WANT IMMEDIATE JOB PLACEMENT FOR QUALIFIED WORKERS.
• Ø WE WANT GUARANTEED WORK FOR  LOCAL WORKERS
• Ø WE WANT  JOBS  NOW

Why should construction workers with decades of experiences have to be apprentices?  Why are young (white) boys from Rockland, Suffolk, Essex, and Orange counties being ushered into the work, sponsored into the union? And we’re still waiting? How many local people have they hired?

Our Congressman is being used as a shill for Columbia University. Bill Lynch Associates is their well-paid house Negro, hired to silence the voice of the people.

We are the voice of the unemployed people the 99% who make less than $30k

WE WANT JOBS  NOW          WE   NEED   JOBS   AND   WE   NEED   THEM   NOW!   Any program of Columbia that fails to deal with ongoing unfair hiring practices is unacceptable.         We need the support of students/staff in our struggle.

Join us outside PROTEST THE GAMES THEY’RE PLAYING INSIDE

Billions of dollars are bypassing us – and staying in the hands of Columbia’s 1%

For info: contact FIGHTBACK at 212-962-1371 or email:jhjameshaughton@gmail.com

James Estrin/The New York Times

Still not convinced that the NYPD is one of the most corrupt agencies in NYC? Read this article. The department of justice needs to do a mass investigation. All these corruption cases listed were discovered by external agencies outside of the NYPD's Internal Affairs, yet the Commissioner and the Mayor still make every effort to disgustingly defend the force in light of all wrongdoing. It's the culture. - ATH

NY Times - Seven narcotics investigators are convicted of planting drugs on people to meet arrest quotas. Eight current and former patrol officers are charged with smuggling guns into the state. Another is charged with making a false arrest, apparently as a favor for his cousin. Three more are convicted of robbing a perfume warehouse.

Read Full Story

On Friday September 30, 2011 Occupy Wall Street protestors gathered at Zuccoti Park (Liberty Square) and marched to One Police Plaza to protest police harassment and brutality. Thousands showed up for the peaceful march which ended with a massive general assembly discussion held outside NYPD headquarters.

NYPD Forearms Woman Rep of National Lawyers Guild (Green Hat)

On September 22, 2011, CUNY law students participated in the march for Troy Davis. Green hats were worn by the law students to represent the National Lawyers Guild. At 0:04 seconds of this video, a woman representative is aggressively forearmed in the head and neck and pushed out of the frame by an NYPD officer.

The Daily Bail
When Eric Holder took his position as Attorney General, he began his term with a strong speech addressing the United States as a "Nation of Cowards" regarding the issue of race. Now when the time comes to address real issues surrounding race like the execution of Troy Davis and the mass incarceration of Black men, Holder and the Department of Justice have been frighteningly quiet.

Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow, discusses the New Jim Crow during the panel discussion and talks with Joseph "Jazz" Hayden of allthingsharlem.com about the importance of movement building.  Watch Videos

(Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Not a word from President Obama on the Troy Davis case. But be sure he'll make time to pardon another Turkey this Thanksgiving.