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	<title>Watsonville Brown Berets</title>
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	<link>http://brownberets.info</link>
	<description>representing since 1994</description>
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		<title>Audiopharmacy at UCSC Kresge Town Hall 2/18</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/503</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/503#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:13:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=503</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Thursday February 18, 2010
Workshop 7:00 pm
Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine (Reportback)
“There are lots of connections between the indigenous communities in the United States and the Palestinian community: both the corporations and governments that have oppressed them and the strategies of resistance that they’ve used to fight back. Organizers from across the U.S. put together The [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/n277658143145_1775.jpg" alt="n277658143145_1775" title="n277658143145_1775" width="200" height="309" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-504" /></strong><br />
Thursday February 18, 2010</p>
<p>Workshop 7:00 pm<br />
<strong>Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine </strong>(Reportback)</p>
<p>“There are lots of connections between the indigenous communities in the United States and the Palestinian community: both the corporations and governments that have oppressed them and the strategies of resistance that they’ve used to fight back. Organizers from across the U.S. put together The Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine, which connected Native and immigrant youth from the U.S. with youth in Palestine.</p>
<p>Music 8:00 pm<br />
<strong>Machetero</strong></p>
<p>Audiopharmacy is an internationally acclaimed art collective fueling a conscious and positive movement through audio healing worldwide. With their genre-breaking and diverse style, a strong multicultural following is naturally achieved. Live world-wide instrumentation/ turntablism/ electronics/ hip-hop/ Latin/ Middle Eastern/ reggae/ dub/ with conscious and revolutionary lyricism.</p>
<p>Featuring:</p>
<p>Ras K’dee<br />
Ras K’dee is a Native California (Pomo)/African musician who is the co-founder and director of a Native youth media organization called Seventh Native American Generation (SNAG). He leads weekly workshops with Native youth and co-hosts the radio program “Bay Native Circle” on 94.1 FM in Northern California.</p>
<p>See live video here:<br />
www.audiopharmacy.com</p>
<p>Sponsored by:</p>
<p>AMERICAN INDIAN RESOURCE CENTER,<br />
CARE: COMMUNITY AND RESOURCE EMPOWERMENT<br />
(A PROGRAM OF ENGAGING EDUCATION),<br />
&#038; KRESGE COLLEGE MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE.</p>
<p>For more information visit us at:<br />
www2.ucsc.edu/airc<br />
Directions to UCSC<br />
http://maps.ucsc.edu/cmdirections.html<br />
and to the Kresge Town Hall http://maps.ucsc.edu/cdkresge.html</p>
<p>For disability related needs or accommodations, call the AIRC at 831/459-2881</p>
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		<title>Despite lack of Watsonville City support, concert takes place at the Brown Beret&#8217;s Space.</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/499</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/499#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:58:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=499</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Quilombo Arte Presents OTHERGROUND all stars showcase
Bocafloja, Para la Gente (PLG), Guerrilla Queenz, Poetic S, Shannon Michelle, and Machetero at the Watsonville Brown Beret&#8217;s Art Space.
Listen to interviews with the local young artists, artitsts Boca Floja, Sensi &#038; Irye (Guerilla Queenz), Poetic S., and Cris (El Fuser).
For audio click here: Indybay.org

On November 14, 2009 the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/boca-300x225.jpg" alt="boca" title="boca" width="300" height="225" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-500" /><br />
<strong>Quilombo Arte Presents OTHERGROUND all stars showcase</strong><br />
Bocafloja, Para la Gente (PLG), Guerrilla Queenz, Poetic S, Shannon Michelle, and Machetero at the Watsonville Brown Beret&#8217;s Art Space.</p>
<p>Listen to interviews with the local young artists, artitsts Boca Floja, Sensi &#038; Irye (Guerilla Queenz), Poetic S., and Cris (El Fuser).<br />
For audio click here: <a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/11/15/18628696.php">Indybay.org</a><br />
<span id="more-499"></span><br />
On November 14, 2009 the students of the EA Hall MEChA Club held an event in Watsonville California. This event was initially supposed to be held at the city owned Youth Center. City Staff were opposed to a fee waiver for this event due to the &#8220;political nature&#8221; of the bands lined up to perform at this FREE and COMMUNITY BASED event. This has created a tiny stir in the local conservative community of small-minded people who are afraid of anything that promotes Mexican or Xicana/o identity.</p>
<p>Boca Floja, Para La Gente, Poetic Stimulator, Shannon Michelle, the Guerrilla Queenz AND the young MC&#8217;s from EA Hall held their show anyway at the Brown Berets Bike Shack warehouse. It brought together folks of all ages from the community. Parents, students, teachers, and others came out to do graffiti art, listen to music, eat and build solidarity with the MEChISTAS from EA Hall. It was a positive, powerful and peaceful event.</p>
<p><strong>BOCAFLOJA:</strong> (born in Coyoacán, Mexico City in 1978). MC, poet, and panelist with five solo albums released and one book published. Bocafloja is a pioneer of the utilization of hip hop culture as an alternative tool to create awareness and political participation in Mexico and one of the most recognized hip hop icons in Latin America. The artist is both founder and member of the Quilomboarte Collective.</p>
<p><strong>PARA LA GENTE:</strong> is gaining new fans everyday with debut album “People Living Growing.” Led by Cambio’s smooth and playful flows, the quintet recently released a hot video for single &#8220;Synth Love,&#8221; a track that challenges the notion of &#8220;he/she is not your type&#8221; with a banging club beat.<br />
<strong><br />
QUERRILLA QUEENS:</strong> are out to infiltrate hip hop &#038; reggae with Revolutionary But Gangsta lyrics that seek to elevate and motivate the masses by bringing awareness to all types of community issues. From love to politics, roots and culture, these mujeres are overflowing in musical messages which stem from an ever-present resistance &#038; solidarity for all indigenous struggles through-out the world.</p>
<p><strong>POETIC S:</strong> aka Patricia has been a performer since the age of 5. Music and the arts have always been in her family for generations. She has been writing poetry since she was 13 and got her start in music doing open mic&#8217;s at her college. Soon after she was a founding member of her group DobaDoza an all female hip hop Quartet.<br />
<strong><br />
MACHETERO:</strong> AKA Rob is a Santa Cruz local and dedicated member of the Watsonville Brown Berets. His music is highly reflective of his cultural roots of Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Rob currently works with students at a local high school.</p>
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		<title>Hoods Unite, Bang for Freedom!: Immortal Technique, Cesar Cruz, and the Brown Berets.</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/492</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/492#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hoods Unite, Bang for Freedom!: Immortal Technique, Cesar A. Cruz, and the Watsonville Brown Berets at O&#8217;Connell High School in San Francisco&#8217;s Mission District.
To hear audio, click on Indybay.org


On November 5, Adisa Banjoko of the Hip Hop Chess Federation hosted a panel at a local high school in San Francisco that included Immortal Technique, Cesar [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hoods Unite, Bang for Freedom!: Immortal Technique, Cesar A. Cruz, and the Watsonville Brown Berets at O&#8217;Connell High School in San Francisco&#8217;s Mission District.</p>
<p><strong>To hear audio, click on <a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/11/13/18628580.php">Indybay.org</a></strong><br />
<span id="more-492"></span><br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/640_pb050700-300x225.jpg" alt="640_pb050700" title="640_pb050700" width="300" height="225" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-493" /></p>
<p>On November 5, Adisa Banjoko of the Hip Hop Chess Federation hosted a panel at a local high school in San Francisco that included Immortal Technique, Cesar A. Cruz and the Watsonville Brown Berets. The panelist addressed issues on US imperialism, police abuse and murder, black &#038; brown youth repression, indigenous resistance and hood liberation.</p>
<p><strong>IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE:</strong> Felipe Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known as Immortal Technique, is a hip-hop artist and political activist. He is also currently the President and A&#038;R of Viper Records. Originally from Peru. Many of his songs focus on social justice, covering a wide variety of topics such as urban poverty in the US and international economic inequality (especially in Latin America), protest against the imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal (who has voiced several interludes for Immortal Technique’s music), militarism and the military industrial complex in the US, media bias in favor of conservative and corporate interests, and racism (especially in regards to the mistreatment of people of color in the US).</p>
<p><strong>CESAR A. CRUZ:</strong> is an internationally renowned poet, educator and human rights activist. From marching 76 straight miles to hunger striking for 16 days, Mr. Cruz has dedicated his life to fighting injustice. His relentless drive and passion has touched the lives of many, and his writings have received praise from activists and scholars throughout the world. Author Rodolfo Acuna sees &#8220;Cesar as one of the new martyrs of our people.&#8221; Acclaimed author and activist Luis Rodriguez depicts Cesar&#8217;s writings as filled with &#8220;fierce insight and righteous rage.&#8221; But Mr. Cruz shrugs off the accolades with a humble smile and a thought. &#8220;I&#8217;m not important; we&#8217;re but seeds of social change. Our role is a simple one;&#8217;To comfort the disturbed, and to disturb the comfortable.&#8217; Nothing more, and nothing less!</p>
<p>WATSONVILLE BROWN BERETS: Representing the Watsonville Brown Berets was Tomas Alejo.</p>
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		<title>PVUSD paid administrators $12.5 million in salary last year</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/482</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/482#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:52:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=482</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By DONNA JONES
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Posted: 10/25/2009 01:30:35 AM PDT
WATSONVILLE &#8212; For the past two years, as Pajaro Valley school leaders slashed $22 million in annual spending, &#8220;chop from the top&#8221; has been a frequent refrain from teachers and classified workers who have seen their pay stagnate and their ranks thin. But data obtained through a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By DONNA JONES<br />
Santa Cruz Sentinel<br />
Posted: 10/25/2009 01:30:35 AM PDT</p>
<p><strong>WATSONVILLE</strong> &#8212; For the past two years, as Pajaro Valley school leaders slashed $22 million in annual spending, &#8220;chop from the top&#8221; has been a frequent refrain from teachers and classified workers who have seen their pay stagnate and their ranks thin. But data obtained through a Sentinel public records request shows overall administration compensation dropped nearly $1 million in 2008-09 school year to $12.5 million, though the decline followed two years of increases. The Sentinel is posting the 2008-09 salary figures for all Pajaro Valley Unified School District employees on its Web site today. The data includes each employee&#8217;s name, position, base pay and extra pay. Extra pay can include compensation for additional duties such as working in an after-school program, travel reimbursements or stipends for post-graduate studies. It can be significant, equal to or more than base pay. In some cases, all of a part-time worker&#8217;s earnings will fall in the extra pay category.<br />
<span id="more-482"></span><br />
At the Sentinel&#8217;s request, the school district also provided a more detailed look at administration compensation between the 2005-06 and 2008-09 school years. An analysis of the pay records for administrators ranging from after-school program coordinators to district superintendent shows: Between 2005-06 and 2008-09, the average administrator salary went from $69,139 to $74,273, a 6.9 percent increase, equal to the percent increase in teacher salaries during the same time period. However, the average salary of administrators jumped 9.9 percent in the two preceding years before dropping 3.2 percent in 2008-09. Salaries were not cut in 2008. Instead as administrators retired or resigned, their replacements were paid less.</p>
<p>The number of administrators who made more than $100,000 annually grew from 17 in 2005-06 to 31 in 2007-08 before dropping to 22 last year. Comprising just over 6 percent of the district&#8217;s 2,565 employees last year, compensation for 161 administrators accounted for nearly 12 percent of the $105 million annual payroll, a figure that doesn&#8217;t include spending on retirement and health benefits.</p>
<p>The pay of top administrators has received the most scrutiny and criticism during the past two years. Assistant Superintendent Ylda Nogueda&#8217;s salary jumped 23 percent between 2005-06 and last year and Assistant Superintendent Catherine Hatch, who retired in June, saw her salary rise 21 percent during the same period.<br />
Roughly a quarter to a third of the increase came from a shift of dollars spent on health benefits to salary when the two administrators signed new contracts in 2008. If they want health insurance, they must buy it from the district, but the move increases their eventual pensions. Longevity bonuses of $9,721 and hikes in car allowances also contributed to the increase. Superintendent Dorma Baker, then an assistant superintendent, also shifted health benefits to salary and received a longevity bonus of $6,480. Officials say the administrators gave up vacation pay, as well as accumulated vacation time worth tens of thousands of dollars in exchange. Baker said the longevity bonuses were designed to give veteran administrators, eligible to retire, a reason to stay.</p>
<p>But from the perspective of critics, the timing of the new contracts couldn&#8217;t have been worse as the district announced shortly thereafter that millions would have to be cut from the next year&#8217;s budget. &#8220;It was in February, just before they announced the sky was falling and that we were going to have to lay off all these teachers,&#8221; said Francisco Rodriguez, president of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers. The contract renewals locked the district into expensive contracts, he said. Then, a few months later, Baker was promoted to superintendent, and given a base salary of $180,000, $20,000 higher than her predecessor, Mary Anne Mays. &#8220;Dorma&#8217;s big salary was approved by a board not doing their job,&#8221; said Jack Carroll, an adult school teacher and member of the union&#8217;s negotiating team. &#8220;They knew the district had a problem.&#8221;<br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091024__CSSED1127_GALLERY-190x300.jpg" alt="20091024__CSSED112~7_GALLERY" title="20091024__CSSED112~7_GALLERY" width="190" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-483" /><br />
Baker said comparing salaries is complicated. Mays&#8217; health benefits weren&#8217;t part of her salary and she also received a $10,000 yearly contribution to a retirement plan, which Baker does not get, for example.Baker also defended the pay of the assistant superintendents. &#8220;You&#8217;re never going to hear any of them say It&#8217;s not in my job description or that meeting is too late,&#8217;&#8221; she said. &#8220;They are here sometimes to unhealthy hours. It&#8217;s a huge responsibility in this district in terms of oversight. If we weren&#8217;t in such economic straits, obviously this issue wouldn&#8217;t have so much of a focus.&#8221;<br />
<strong><br />
2008-09 PVUSD top Earners</strong></p>
<p>Dorma Baker superintendent $191,104<br />
Ylda Nogueda assistant superintendent $160,397<br />
Catherine Hatch assistant superintendent $156,989<br />
Albert Roman assistant superintendent $154,385<br />
Ricardo Medina deputy superintendent $148,281<br />
Mary Hart associate superintendent $124,905<br />
Cathy Stefanki assistant superintendent $119,981<br />
Nancy Bilicich adult school director $115,655<br />
Francisco Rodriguez high school principal $111,199<br />
Murry Schekman high school principal $111,199<br />
Casey O&#8217;Brien high school principal $111,199<br />
Robert Mayeda human resources director $108,867<br />
Faris Sabbah migrant education director $107,967<br />
Mike Heffner assistant superintendent/new teacher coordinator $107,623*<br />
Artemisa Cortez middle school principal $106,474<br />
Timothy Landeck technology director $104,816<br />
Sylvia Mendez curriculum director $103,891<br />
Barbara Lawrence-Emanuel high school assistant principal/principal $101,838*<br />
Joe Trautwein child welfare director $101,765<br />
Rick Ito middle school principal $101,511<br />
Ian MacGregor middle school principal $101,511<br />
Stella Moreno middle school principal $101,511<br />
* Changed jobs during the year<br />
Salary figures include base pay plus in some cases post-graduate education and longevity stipends, car allowances and extra duty pay.<br />
SOURCE: Pajaro Valley Unified School District<br />
<strong><br />
On the net</strong></p>
<p>For a complete listing of<br />
PVUSD salaries, visit<br />
<a href="http://www.santacruzsentinel.com">www.santacruzsentinel.com</a></p>
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		<title>16th Annual Peace &amp; Unity March</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/478</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/478#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:45:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=478</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Sunday November 1
TIME: 11:00 AM &#8211; 3:00 PM
Starting at the Plaza (Main &#038; Beach St) at 11am
PEACE VIGIL: 11am March 12:00 noon

In the past 15 years more than 80 people have lost their lives in our community due to violence. When will it end? As a community it is vital for us to unite and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Sunday November 1<br />
TIME: 11:00 AM &#8211; 3:00 PM<br />
Starting at the Plaza (Main &#038; Beach St) at 11am<br />
PEACE VIGIL: 11am March 12:00 noon<br />
</strong><br />
In the past 15 years more than 80 people have lost their lives in our community due to violence. When will it end? As a community it is vital for us to unite and send a positive message to all of our homes and neighborhoods. Enough with the violence! We need to demand peace and unity. We can&#8217;t wait for there to be another victim of violence. Stop killing one another!!!</p>
<p>You are invited to join us in our 16th year of fighting for peace and unity! Together we can make a big difference for our future generations!<br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Picture1-229x300.jpg" alt="Picture1" title="Picture1" width="229" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-479" /></p>
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		<title>Death Threats: The Politics of Displacement and Community Self Determination</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/468</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/468#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:28:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=468</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Monday, November 9, 7-10pm
Kresge Town Hall, University of California, Santa Cruz
and
Tuesday November 10th
Cabrillo College Watsonville Campus from 1-3pm room forum 4350
Cabrillo College Aptos Campus from 7-9pm


Simón Sedillo is a community rights defense organizer and film maker. He has spent the last 7 years documenting, producing and teaching community based video documentation in Mexico and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p> <strong>Monday, November 9, 7-10pm<br />
Kresge Town Hall, University of California, Santa Cruz</strong><br />
and<br />
<strong>Tuesday November 10th<br />
Cabrillo College Watsonville Campus from 1-3pm room forum 4350<br />
Cabrillo College Aptos Campus from 7-9pm</strong><br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Simon2-231x300.jpg" alt="Simon2" title="Simon2" width="231" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-469" /></code><br />
<span id="more-468"></span><br />
<strong>Simón Sedillo</strong> is a community rights defense organizer and film maker. He has spent the last 7 years documenting, producing and teaching community based video documentation in Mexico and the US. Through multimedia presentations Sedillo helps show some effects of neoliberalism on indigenous communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color in the US and Mexico. Through collaborative media projects, Sedillo’s work has contributed to a growing network of community based media production whose primary objective is to share, teach, and learn from one another, about community based media production and the collective construction of horizontal networks of community rights defense.</p>
<p><strong>Fall 2009 Tour</strong></p>
<p><strong>Workshop:</strong> <strong>The Politics of Displacement and Community Self Determination</strong></p>
<p>This workshop identifies several specific institutions, which threaten the lives of average everyday people everywhere. From banks and corporations to non-profits and universities, what role do these institutions have in making the poor stay poor, while making the rich get richer? This workshop also shows how the political devaluation of traditional forms of self governance and self determination, has lead to the degradation of entire sectors of society. Finally this workshop shares some indigenous strategies for community based self determination in guiding struggles for urban community liberation.</p>
<p><strong>Short Film: La Familia Raices</strong></p>
<p>Short documentary on the family and Son Jarocho band ¨Los Raices¨ from Oaxaca. The Raices Family play traditional Son Jaracho music in support of the Oaxacan people's social movement. This traditional Afro-indigenous music originates in the state of Veracruz and is also traditionally played in some parts of the state of Oaxaca. This musical tradition is based upon popular education, collective organizing, and long term self determination for its musicians and instrument makers. The Raices family breaks through the difficulties faced by any family, with music, resistance, and determination. </p>
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		<title>Bail Denied for Alex Sanchez at Final Bail Hearing</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/459</link>
		<comments>http://brownberets.info/459#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://brownberets.info/?p=459</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

On October 19th, in a federal court house in Los Angeles, Alex Sanchez was once again denied bail. Sanchez, a nationally recognized activist and peacemaker, is accused of maintaining ties to his former gang and participating in a conspiracy to murder. Bail was denied after Judge Real suppressed testimony from father Greg Boyle, an expert [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/m11-300x225.jpg" alt="m1" title="m1" width="300" height="225" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-461" /></strong><br />
<span id="more-459"></span><br />
On October 19th, in a federal court house in Los Angeles, Alex Sanchez was once again denied bail. Sanchez, a nationally recognized activist and peacemaker, is accused of maintaining ties to his former gang and participating in a conspiracy to murder. Bail was denied after Judge Real suppressed testimony from father Greg Boyle, an expert in Los Angeles gangs.</p>
<p>Father Boyle believes that Alex&#8217;s case is built on weak evidence and that he was targeted due to his political activism, specifically on police harassment and abuse. US Ninth Circuit Judge Manuel Real rejected Alex&#8217;s bail due to assumed risk of flight. Over one-hundred supporters gathered outside the courtroom and demanded Alex&#8217;s release and a fair trial. Included in the crowd of supporters was former State Senator Tom Hayden, author Luis Rodriguez, and Barrios Unidos founder Nane Alejandrez. Other vocal supporters have included UFW founder Dolores Huerta and hip-hop author Jeff Chang.</p>
<p><strong>Please read post on Indybay:</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/22/18626426.php?sms_ss=email">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/22/18626426.php?sms_ss=email</a></p>
<p>Picture Boots Riley of the hip-hop group The Coup and M1 of Dead Prez</p>
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		<title>&#8220;From the Ghetto to Gaza&#8221; M1 (from Dead Prez) Speaking Tour at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos 9/28/09‏</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/451</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:51:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;From the Ghetto to Gaza&#8221; speaking tour is being organized so Mutulu Olugbala aka M1, 1/2 of the revolutionary rap group Dead Prez can share his recent experience in Gaza, Cairo and Europe and compare it with ghetto life in the black communities in the United States.

M1 will be interviewed by the POCC Minitster of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>&#8220;From the Ghetto to Gaza&#8221;</strong> speaking tour is being organized so Mutulu Olugbala aka M1, 1/2 of the revolutionary rap group Dead Prez can share his recent experience in Gaza, Cairo and Europe and compare it with ghetto life in the black communities in the United States.<br />
<span id="more-451"></span><br />
M1 will be interviewed by the POCC Minitster of Information JR of Block Report Radio, Boots of the Coup and the Street Sweepers Social Club, former KPFA broadcaster Nadra Foster, and Marcel Diallo of the Black Dot Artists Collective.</p>
<p><strong>Monday September 28, 2009<br />
Barrios Unidos 7pm<br />
1817 Soquel Avenue<br />
Santa Cruz, CA<br />
Donation $10-?</strong></p>
<p>For more information e-mail blockreport@gmail.com or call 415-671-0789<br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/M1-Gaza1-230x300.jpg" alt="M1 Gaza" title="M1 Gaza" width="230" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-454" /></p>
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		<title>Stop the Repression! Fundraiser for Alex Sanchez with BRWN BFLO, PLG, Poetic S., Machetero and Reprte Ilegal.</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/443</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:56:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[

Documentary: Hijos de la Guerra
On September 25, we will host a movie and music fundraising event in support of Alex Sanchez. In addition, guest speakers from Homies Unidos and Barrios Unidos, will address issues on current gang suppression activities and how the war on gangs is a war on marginalized youth of color.
Come check out [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span id="more-443"></span><br />
<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ALEX22-231x300.jpg" alt="ALEX2" title="ALEX2" width="231" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-456" /></p>
<p><strong>Documentary: Hijos de la Guerra</strong></p>
<p>On September 25, we will host a movie and music fundraising event in support of Alex Sanchez. In addition, guest speakers from Homies Unidos and Barrios Unidos, will address issues on current gang suppression activities and how the war on gangs is a war on marginalized youth of color.</p>
<p>Come check out hip-hop artists Para La Gente, Machetero, Poetic S., Reporte Ilegal and our featured documentary movie, &#8220;Hijos de la Guerra.&#8221; This event will be broadcast live on KPFA &#8220;La Onda Bajita&#8221; and local pirate radio stations. More music will be announced.<br />
<strong><br />
HIJOS DE LA GUERRA</strong> (movie synopsis)</p>
<p>Hijos de la Guerra tells the story of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), an international Hispanic street gang founded by Salvadoran civil war refugees, which the U.S government singles out as the fastest-growing and most violent gang in the<br />
country.</p>
<p>The film explores the individual motivations behind gang membership and the ensuing explosion of fratricidal violence, as well as the complex role of social and government policy in attempting to contain and yet unintentionally encouraging the spread of the gang.</p>
<p>At its inception, the newly formed gang channeled the widespread trauma that a genocidal civil war had wrought on an entire generation of orphaned and militarized kids into fanatical violence. This formed the basis for MS-13&#8217;s explosive growth.</p>
<p>Artist Website&#8217;s<br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/paralagente">http://www.myspace.com/paralagente</a><br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/mentespeligrosas">http://www.myspace.com/mentespeligrosas</a><br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/poeticstimulator">http://www.myspace.com/poeticstimulator</a><br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/reporteilegalmusica">http://www.myspace.com/reporteilegalmusica</a></p>
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		<title>Freedom for Alex Sanchez Now!!</title>
		<link>http://brownberets.info/430</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:15:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tomas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Alex Sanchez&#8217;s Arrest
By Tom Hayden
from The Nation http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090713/hayden

June 29, 2009
As a state legislator Hayden was a leading proponent of gang peace efforts, including Homies Unidos, and testified for asylum in the Alex Sanchez case.
The indictment of Alex Sanchez, a revered gangbanger-turned-peacemaker, raises new doubts about whether the Los Angeles police department has reformed sufficiently to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Alex Sanchez&#8217;s Arrest</strong><br />
By Tom Hayden<br />
from The Nation http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090713/hayden<img src="http://brownberets.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/alex_sanchez.jpg" alt="alex_sanchez" title="alex_sanchez" width="360" height="246" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-431" /><br />
<span id="more-430"></span><br />
June 29, 2009<br />
As a state legislator Hayden was a leading proponent of gang peace efforts, including Homies Unidos, and testified for asylum in the Alex Sanchez case.</p>
<p>The indictment of Alex Sanchez, a revered gangbanger-turned-peacemaker, raises new doubts about whether the Los Angeles police department has reformed sufficiently to be released from a federal court order.</p>
<p>It also brings back strong memories in Los Angeles barrios of the Sleepy Lagoon case during war hysteria in 1942, when the LAPD and media helped railroad three young Mexican men into long murder sentences. The verdicts were later overturned and twelve defendants freed from prison. At the time, the lawyer and future Nation editor Carey McWilliams wrote that the case was a &#8220;ceremonial lynching.&#8221;</p>
<p>In more immediate terms, the Sanchez case repeats the history of a decade ago, when the same charges were hurled by the LAPD and a federal anti-gang task force, that Sanchez&#8217;s community-based violence prevention work was only a &#8220;front&#8221; for ties to Mara Salvatrucha, the feared immigrant street gang that arose after the 1970s Central American wars.</p>
<p>The Rampart scandal, named after a police precinct in the immigrant Pico-Union neighborhood, erupted in the late 1990s when a corrupt police officer, Rafael Pérez, began testifying to widespread police criminality after being caught selling cocaine out of his locker room. The US Justice Department charged a pattern and practice of constitutional violations, including shootings, brutality and planting of evidence. Sanchez was targeted for deportation by the LAPD and INS in January 2000, months after testifying publicly about police harassment of community peace workers. As the scandal mounted, federal prosecutors chose not to prosecute him for illegal entry to the US, where his 2-year old son and family lived, but turned the case over to an INS court. On July 10, 2002, the INS judge granted him political asylum, the first such verdict in history.</p>
<p>Since those days, Sanchez has built Homies Unidos, a transnational gang peace organization from the US to El Salvador. Its hazardous work centers on trying to prevent gang violence and open alternative paths for young people, including art therapy, spiritual exercises, education, rehabilitation, training and job development. Alex became a beloved figure in the community, making endless presentations before wider audiences around the country. His activity spawned enemies in the gang world, and never satisfied the LAPD and federal war-on-gangs units&#8217; desire to retaliate against one who caused them unprecedented embarrassment.</p>
<p>The escalating war against Mara Salvatrucha provided prosecutors the opportunity. The use of federal racketeering and conspiracy laws is the favored prosecution tool in this war, charging large numbers of alleged MS members with operating a large top-down enterprise with a board of directors and finding them guilty of conspiracy instead of trying them on individual counts of drug-dealing or violence. Alex Sanchez is named in the indictment as one of four &#8220;shot-callers&#8221; in the Normandie neighborhood in Pico-Union. He therefore is held accountable for the crimes of anyone who can be connected with the organization. The indictment includes 153 overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy to violate the racketeering laws.</p>
<p>Fifty-six of the overt acts consist of street-corner drug sales to undercover FBI informants. The serious counts include eight murders and one murder plot, five of them occurring between 2001 and 2003. Instead of bringing murder charges in individual cases, where evidence might be difficult to accumulate, the defendants need only to be &#8220;associated&#8221; with the conspiracy to be found guilt.</p>
<p>Alex Sanchez is accused of being heard on wiretapped phone calls on May 6 and 7, 2006, in which several members of MS &#8220;conspired&#8221; to kill Walter Lacinos, whose street name was Cameron. On May 15, an alleged MS member killed Cameron in La Libertad, El Salvador.</p>
<p>To illustrate the nature of the charge, imagine that the following conversation took place: First party: That dude should be shot. Second party: No question.</p>
<p>In an ordinary criminal trial, it would be difficult to connect these words to an actual deed one week later. There would be evidence, for example, that all kinds of people wanted Cameron dead. He was deported to El Salvador after serving at least fifteen years in California state prisons as a high-ranking gang member. He had enemies as well as friends. But in the conspiracy model, it is easier for the prosecution to &#8220;prove&#8221; that the wiretapped voices are people who &#8220;conspired&#8221; in his death.</p>
<p>This example is purely hypothetical. The government has not released the actual content of the tapes, nor a list of its witnesses, nor any of the documents it will be compelled to hand over to the defense at trial.</p>
<p>Alex Sanchez denies the charges.</p>
<p>Most gang researchers and defense attorneys are critical of RICO and state laws like California&#8217;s Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act. Malcolm Klein, considered the dean of gang research at the University of Southern California, thinks the notion of vertically organized cartels with an Al Capone at the top makes no sense.</p>
<p>&#8220;These [federal] agencies know and understand organized crime. They do not know street gangs. They often assume the two are similar, when in fact they are not&#8230;. Calling each kind of group a gang leads to the application of cartel thinking to street gangs&#8221; (Klein,The American Street Gang, Oxford, 1995, p. 167).</p>
<p>Even more dismissive is Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit who works directly with street gang members in Homeboy Industries, the most well-known organization of its kind in the country, from whose June 28 e-mail I quote here:</p>
<p>    This is all heartbreaking, I&#8217;ve sent a letter for the granting of bail&#8230;. A New York Times reporter called me and what they think they have is a &#8220;gang interventionist gone bad&#8221; story. I&#8217;ve told two reporters here&#8217;s your story: law enforcement is unable to interpret what they have.</p>
<p>    There is a gulf between what they have [wiretap evidence, witnesses] and what they think they have. The FBI could multiply their tools and resources and this still would not issue in actual knowledge of how gangs think or operate.</p>
<p>    I spoke to two MS members who I trust and who would tell me the unvarnished truth about Alex. They actually hadn&#8217;t heard the news. I said, &#8220;They claim that Alex is the shot caller for the Normandie clique of MS.&#8221; They laughed and deemed the whole thing ridiculous. They would have told me otherwise if it was true. I didn&#8217;t need affirmation in this but it just underscores my point. Law enforcement will never have access or knowledge of this issue. But they see through a glass darkly and so Alex gets caught up in their ignorance. </p>
<p>    Just yesterday, a homie who works for me, gets stopped by Hollenbeck cops, who tell him, &#8220;I know for a fact that Fr. Greg is affliated with the Mexican Mafia.&#8221; A month ago, a cop tells another homie that the Mexican Mafia holds meetings at Homegirl Cafe (Chief Bratton has his Tues. morning meeting at the Homegirl Cafe every week&#8211;but I don&#8217;t know when the EME has their meetings at my place.) </p>
<p>    They aren&#8217;t just trying to discredit me&#8211;I think they believe this stuff&#8211;because they know very little about gangs, and so have to interpret what they see from a place of real ignorance. Yet every jury and judge in the land think law enforcement (and of course, the FBI,) know what they&#8217;re talking about. But no one who lives in any of the 12 hot-zones in LA think cops know very much about this. Anyway&#8211;it&#8217;s complex. The cops must force the square peg into the round hole. It&#8217;s not a conspiracy to get Alex, it&#8217;s what happens when you only possess half the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle and feel forced to assert that they have all the pieces. </p>
<p>Later I received a follow up e-mail from the priest:</p>
<p>    You know me&#8211;I&#8217;m not much of a conspiracy buff&#8211;it requires so much sophistication. Cops don&#8217;t possess this. All of this is cultural&#8211;a bias and predisposition, a by-product of wholesale demonizing. Which is to say, it&#8217;s worse than a conspiracy.</p>
<p>    Had mass at the Chino YTS last night&#8211;again, illuminating to speak to MS guys. They were very clear about Alex&#8217;s role in the community and how he was, in fact, the opposite of &#8220;shot caller&#8221; for MS. If he is the shot caller, why do all his troops not know it?</p>
<p>All this raises severe questions about whether&#8211;and how&#8211;the LAPD has been reformed, almost a decade after agreeing to terminate its patterns and practices about rampant constitutional violations at Ramparts.</p>
<p>    * Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!<br />
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<p>About Tom Hayden<br />
Tom Hayden is a former California state senator and author of Street Wars (Verso, 2005). more&#8230; </p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>Justice for Alex Sanchez</p>
<p>Posted By Luis J. Rodriguez on June 30, 2009<br />
Alex Sanchez at the March 2009 UCLA forum, &#8220;Global Perspectives on Youth &#038; Violence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Alex Sanchez at the March 2009 UCLA forum, &#8220;Global Perspectives on Youth &#038; Violence.&#8221;</p>
<p>The FBI and federal prosecutors have built up a racketeering case, including murder, against 24 alleged “shot callers,” members and associates of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). For years, the authorities have demonized this gang, which as I’ve written before, is one of our own making. In the 1980s, civil wars that we as a government took part in helped send a fifth of El Salvador’s population, and also from Guatemala and Honduras, as refugees to Los Angeles and other major cities (tens of thousands of people were killed).</p>
<p>In LA, some of the children of these refugees joined existing and older Chicano gangs–like 18th Street–or created their own, such as MS-13. Unfortunately, soon after the 1992 LA Rebellion immigration authorities created a National Gang Task Force targeting “immigrant” gangs for deportation. Tens of thousands of 18th Street and MS-13 members were repatriated to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and parts of Mexico (along with other LA-based gangs). By 1996 immigration law changed to facilitate the deportation of undocumented convicted felons and those in jails for more than a year, resulting in some 700,000 people repatriated–enough to change most cultures.</p>
<p>The growth of MS-13 and 18th Street in Central America is a direct result of these misguided and draconian policies. We not only deported young people often raised in our prisons and juvenile facilities, but exported the LA-based gang culture as well. Many abandoned children and youth in Central America from war and poverty -have now become part of MS-13 or 18th Street. Instead of providing jobs, schooling, material and spiritual resources to this issue, these gangs faced Mano Dura (Firm Hand) policies, imprisonment, death squads, “social cleansing” policies, and more poverty.</p>
<p>Alex Sanchez was a member of MS-13 until he turned his life around and became a leader in urban peace and gang prevention/intervention. Despite facing deportation, and being targeted by officers in the infamous LAPD Ramparts Gang Unit, Alex was given amnesty and allowed to continue his work to help other youth turn their lives around. For the past eleven years Alex helped make Homies Unidos into a viable gang prevention/intervention model–with tattoo removal, counseling, jobs, life skills training, and more. Alex has spoken out against the ongoing imprisonment and throwing away of our young people. And he has spoken out against the demonization and targeting of so-called immigrant gangs such as MS-13.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Alex now faces life sentences in the recent RICO Act indictments against MS-13–he was named and arrested as one of the 24 alleged conspirators.</p>
<p>We in the community, especially those who know Alex’s tireless efforts to help troubled youth in and out of gangs, are appalled at this latest attempt to silence Alex and keep him imprisoned and away from the vital work he started at Homies Unidos. We know him as a genuine leader, decent father, husband, brother, and son. Alex represents the best of our community and we can’t let this injustice stand..</p>
<p>I invite anyone who can to help support Alex Sanchez’ Freedom by joining us tomorrow, June 30, Tuesday, at 1 PM for a silent rally outside the US District Court, 312 North Spring Street in downtown LA. Then at 2 PM, we plan to quietly fill the courtroom with his supporters on the 8th FLoor, Court D, where a bail hearing will be held. No cameras, cell phones, IPods, laptops will be allowed (IDs must be provided).</p>
<p>Please help bring fairness and justice for Alex Sanchez. I’ll try to keep everyone updated on his case and our efforts on his behalf.</p>
<p>c/s</p>
<p>[ UPDATES: On Wed., July 1, 2009, the Los Angeles Time published an article titled: "Nationally Known Anti-Gang Leader Accused in Killing Won't Get Bail."</p>
<p>Also - videos from the June 30 Press Conference following the denial of bail for Alex Sanchez can be viewed at the "We Are Alex Sanchez" channel on YouTube. Tom Hayden spoke at the press conference, saying: "The bad news is our brother Alex is in the pen for some while, the good news is there will be an appeal, and in my expert judgement I have never seen a weaker case brought by the Los Angeles Police Department than this one."</p>
<p>On March 12, 2009, Alex Sanchez addressed a UCLA forum on "Global Perspectives on Youth &#038; Violence." You can view his opening address on YouTube, as well as watch videos from the entire forum. ]</p>
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