‘Bushwick 32’ supporters arrested on phony charges, are due in court for trial July 16th...CALL OF SUPPORT!!!...click here for more info
The CIW's BURGER KING CAMPAIGN COMES TO AN END WITH HISTORIC PRESS CONFERENCE, SIGNING CEREMONY AT U.S. CAPITOL & THE ROAD AHEAD IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR FAIR FOOD!...click here for more info
10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don’t) by: DaveyD full story...
40 Years Later, (The Late) Martin Luther King Still Silenced full story...
Racism and Resistance:The Struggle to Free The Jena Six full story...
Dispatches from the Terrordome full story...
Rape, Pillage, and Ignore full story...
CHECK THE UPCOMING SHOWS PAGE FOR NEWLY POSTED SHOWS!
REBEL DIAZ in THE VILLAGE VOICE:
"The NYPD Rips Up Rappers"
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-07-09/news/cops-rip-up-rappers
REBEL DIAZ MEMBER G1's APARTMENT STORMED BY NYPD EARLY THIS MORNING,
DAYS AFTER BRUTALITY INCIDENT;
ARMED, WARRANTLESS INVASION WITH NO PROBABLE CAUSE HAS COMMUNITY
FEARING NYPD SCARE TACTICS.
PERSONAL STATEMENT FROM G1 OF REBEL DIAZ:
Early this morning, at around 2am, I, Gonzalo Venegas aka G1 of Rebel
Diaz, was in my home in Harlem, working on my computer in the living
room, when several police officers burst into my unlocked apartment,
with guns drawn, ordering us to get down and put our hands up.
I was
in the apartment with my roommate DW who was in the adjacent bedroom,
and my friend MM, who slept on the couch nearby.
Both were awakened by
the home invasion and were witnesses to the events occurred.
The
uniformed police officers did not knock, nor announce themselves, nor
verbally identify themselves before or during their entry into my
apartment.
They pointed their guns at us the whole time as they
verbally barraged MM and I with questions as to who we were and what
we were doing there.
As I lay on the ground with my hands up, I
replied loudly and clearly that I lived there, and that everyone in
the house was supposed to be there.
They replied incredulously,
repeatedly yelling their questions as to who we were, with threats as
to what would happen to us if I was found to be lying.
After various
other taunts and threats, including accusing us of harboring a
fugitive criminal suspect, they departed just as quickly as they had
arrived, down a side stairway adjacent to my apartment.
They did not
stay to search me or my roommates, or the apartment for any signs of
the supposed fugitive they were looking for.
After a few seconds of disbelief and shock, I decided to follow the
officers outside in order to fully understand what had just happened,
and to document their identity.
One police van sped off as I came out
of the side door of my building.
The remaining police squad car was
pealing off when I ran into the middle of the street to flag it down.
They stopped the car, as I respectfully asked for their name and badge
numbers.
Both police officers allowed me to walk closer to them, as I
verbally noted their name and badge numbers.
The officers quickly got
back into their squad car, provided no explanation for the home
invasion, and sped off.
I was left in a state of shock and terror, as
I frantically asked some of my neighbors outside if they knew of why
the police had entered my building- and specifically my apartment-
without justification.
I received no conclusive answers from the
residents outside.
As of 10:30pm EST on Tuesday June 24, 2008,I have not received any
official explanation for the events occurred, neither from the police
precinct nor my building manager or owner, despite numerous calls and
requests for an explanation.
Both the 25th and 23rd NYPD precinct,
which patrol my block, have denied that the officers involved are from
their command.
The questions as to why several armed police officers
mysteriously and violently invaded my home without any clear legal
justification remain unanswered.
One is left only to think that the
occurrences of this morning are not a coincidence of mistaken
identity, but a direct response by the NYPD to an incident of police
brutality I was involved in last week in the South Bronx.
Until we
have a clear understanding of the causes and the people behind this
morning's home invasion, Rebel Diaz will engage in limited
communication outside of our legal representation.
We are not looking
for the next NYPD scare tactic to turn into a tragedy.
For more information regarding the incidents of police brutality
against G1 and Rodstarz of Rebel Diaz last week, and the pending case
them, please visit www.rebeldiaz.com
"My peoples. Thank you so much for the support. We got out yesterday. The court house was packed and hearing that there was a crowd outside the precinct kept our spirits up. Thanks for the emails the texts the calls. We meet with the lawyers today to figure out our next steps. We hope to continue to count on your support. Lets use this momentum to bring light to the continued abuse of immigrants and young black and brown youth. Word."
-RODSTARZ, G1 & LAH TERE of REBEL DIAZ
G1 and Rodstarz arrested and beaten up by the police for standing up for the people...
READ BELOW FOR A ARTICLE BY DAVEY D!
Tomorrow June 19 at 9:00am Pack the Court House located on 161st and Sheridan in the Bronx.
Los Periodistas de la Esquina necesitan nuestro apoyo!!!
The Street Jouralists need our support!!!
PICS AND VIDEO of TODAYS ACTION:
NYC Police Beat Up Rap Group Members
Rebel Diaz
By Davey D
Looks like the NYPD are living up to their reputation of being bonafide 'dipshits'. We are just getting word that NYC Police located in what was once known as Fort Apache-the 41st Precint in the Bronx, have shown that police terrorism is alive and well.
The word is in a unprovoked attack they badly assaulted two members of the Rap group Rebel Diaz.
The story we are hearing is that group Rodstarz and G1 were up in Bronx on Southern Blvd in Hunts Point, when they noticed the police were harassing a street vendor who was selling fruit. The two went over to witness the cops in action and when they saw the police being abusive they attempted to facilitate the dialog between the street vender and the non spanish speaking police officer by translating. Keep in mind that part of the Bronx has a large immigrant community and it is also being gentrified. The police from the 41st Precint have made it a point to commit acts of terror including the shooting and killing of an unarmed iGarifunan mmigrant man last year. http://ankhkara.blogspot.com/2007_05_27_archive.html
The case brought up images of Amadou Diallo another immigrant was gunned down by out of control Bronx cops in the neighboring precint.
According to witnesses, when Rodstarz and G1 asked for badge numbers the police became agitated and turned around and started beating them with bully clubs and kicking them in full view of other vendors and people on the crowded street. The two were dragged off bloody, put into a police car and charged with resisting arrest and assault.
The backdrop to this story is that Rebel Diaz are not your ordinary rappers. They are well known activist who not only speak out against police terrorism, but have been key in helping out folks within this immigrant community. Hence it would not be usual for group members to bear witness and to speak out against the injustices. Rebel Diaz has committed themselves to given voice to the voiceless in that Bronx neighborhood.
Many feel that the assault by these cowardly Bronx police officers in plain view of everyone was a way to send a strong message to folks in the community that the police run things and they best stay in line. By beating the Rebel Diaz members in front of everyone was a way to spark fear and remind people that no one is safe from the police. They wanna let folks know that they can brazenly beat up popular rappers in front everyone even with cell phone cameras rolling and do so with impunity. The whole ordeal is akin to the slave masters from way back sparking fear in the hearts of other slaves by beating the strongest among them in front of everyone for all to see.
Over the past year NY Police have been man handling, arresting and terrorizing politicized Hip Hop artists, activists and news reporters.
For example, last year in Brooklyn well known attorney Michael Tarif Warren who routinely represents people in police abuse cases was badly beaten along with his wife when they stopped to watch and bear witness to NY cops terrorizing a unarmed tennage boy at a gas station.
During the protests immediately following the acquittal of the officers on trial for the Sean Bell shooting, journalists who had been speaking out against the police were harassed and roughed up.
Hopefully folks will read this and understand that what the police are doing will not work.. A police state will not take place on our collective watch..
Black August: Libertad!
Mariel Concepcion, N.Y. for billboard.com
The annual Black August concert, which honors freedom fighters and political prisoners, took over New York’s Nokia Theater on Sunday, August 26th, with a huge hip-hop bill that included Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Common, Mos Def and several others.
Presented by Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the evening was hosted by MXGM's Monifa Bandele and Dead Prez' M1. The sold-out event was dedicated to Assata Shakur, a revolutionary activist and former Black Panther member who, even though evidence revealed she neither carried nor fired a weapon, was sentenced to life in prison in 1973 for the death of a New Jersey state trooper. Shakur, who celebrated her 60th birthday that night, is in exile in Cuba and has a $1 million bounty on her head, along with having been recently being placed on the list of domestic terrorists...
click here for the complete article
On Saturday, July 28th 2007 the South Bronx community celebrated its victory over the NYPD at The Jardin la Roca/The Rock Garden. At about 4:30 pm, the NYPD issued the amplified sound permit to the organizers and the show at The Rock went on! It was a victory for the Hip Hop
community in the South Bronx, it was a victory for youth and for community residents. The NYPD had no choice but to give the sound permit. This is an example of what communtiy organizing can
accomplish. This time, they messed with the wrong peeps. How many folks get constantly harrassed by the police and because they don't know their rights, it goes unnoticed? This was a clear example of the Hip Hop Police and their attempts to further criminalize Hip Hop
youth. Our sruggle this week exposed their sloppiness and lack of interest in the communities they oppress and harrass. Their lame attempts at shutting us down did not hold up! They knew they were wrong and made a last minute attempt to fix their mess.
The people showed up at the garden anyways. With or without sound, the show was
going down! Hip hop was gonna occur, the way it should occur. Free and in the community for all to enjoy! And what better location, than the South Bronx? The birthplace of the culture the NYPD is heavily policing, the site of heavy gentrification, the new location for a planned prison?...
