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Join us Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-3 p.m., and Wednesday, Sept. 27, 3-5 p.m., at the Linda Brooks Burton Library, 5075 Third St., at Revere, San Francisco, to honor the life of the many Black men and women whose lives were taken too soon and to learn more about the 1966 Hunters Point Uprising. We must, as Arthur Schomburg challenges Black Americans, “dig up our past in order to remake our future.”

Our attention has been turned this week to Holman Prison in Alabama where rolling uprisings inside have led to prisoners taking control of certain areas of the prison. Prisoners have since released a set of demands including increased educational programs for prisoners, monetary damages for physical and mental abuse, and revoking the State’s 446 laws that – similar to Three Strikes laws – harden sentences for subsequent convictions.

In response to the four days of fiery rebellion, the U.K. is proposing punitive measures that only add to the pre-existing problems – the closed doors to economic flourishing and decent education – in poor communities that fueled the social unrest in the first place.

For days, the world witnessed the flames of discontent and disenchantment engulfing the urban streets of England in the aftermath of the shooting death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan by the Metropolitan Police Service on Aug. 4.

The uprising in Egypt has been widely attributed to the youth primarily because of their Jan. 25 Internet initiative to rally against police brutality using their “We are all Khaled Said” Facebook page that commemorates a young man beaten to death by police.

The Egyptian revolution was successful because it had no leaders, only coordinators of bottom-up energy. This new form of leadership among Egypt’s – and ultimately the world’s – young people suggests there will be many more such surprises in the future, both at home and abroad.

Two years ago, Brian Edwards-Tiekert reported to the Pacifica National Board that staff layoffs were imperative at WBAI in NYC and KPFK in LA even though those laid off would push back. Today at KPFA, Brian is the one being laid off and pushing back.