On Saturday October 8 from 8pm-Midnight, come out and suport Champaign's own, Edward "G-Da-Man" Hicks, in his first film release debut! "The Dying Breed" is a story that deals with youth violence in the African American community, where kids killing kids is an everyday thing until someone has to make a stand. Charged up by some of the hottest Hip-Hop tracks by some of the tightest MC's of the Midwest, along with non-stop Martial Arts action, this film delivers a must see for all.

The Third Annual Film Festival features local film and video by local artists. Come out to catch this year's festival to catch films like Revolting by Mike Boedicker, This is My Journey by Kate Brickman, Imperial Tourism by David Gracon, and Once Upon a Time in 1972 by Chris Lukeman. Friday night is documentary and will feature a film and discussion hosted by Aaron Ammons on the topic of felony convictions. All events are free to the public, thanks to the help of a grant from the Urbana Public Arts Commission.

On Wednesday, August 3, two Urbana police officers approached "homeless" Bill Walton in the back foyer of the Urbana City Building, and asked Mr. Walton if he would come with them, pursuant to a court order issued July 22 that Walton be "medically" evaluated. Officers were ordered to drive Walton to the Danville Veteran's Hospital rather than Carle Clinic where Walton has been seen before. Walton complied without incident. On August 6, The News-Gazette's Jim Dey reported that Walton was visited by his Guardian Ad Litem, attorney Andrew Bequette, and Bequette was quoted by Dey that Bill "....doesn't want the public to know his business." (Which is the right of those being placed under permanent guardianship.) Therefore, the proceedings would be closed to the public. Ironically, the media, i.e. the almighty News-Gazette, would be allowed into the courtroom to carefully broadcast Bill's "business" county-wide.

Many were at the Labor Day Parade in Urbana, Illinois, including Germaine Light who dressed up as Mother Jones and marched with the local chapter of Jobs With Justice.

The Public i commemorates ten years of publication by interviewing some of those who have worked on the newspaper along the way.

You can pick up copies of the August issue locally or read it online at our new web site here.
 

Darrin Drda

Darrin Drda is a former Champaign-Urbana resident who now lives in San Rafael, California with his wife, Annabelle. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Four Global Truths: Awakening to the Peril and Promise of Our Times (www.thefourglobaltruths.com).

City council chambers were full at a combined meeting of the Urbana Human Relations Commission (HRC) and Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB) on Wednesday, July 13, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. to address racial profiling numbers collected by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The meeting was the result of a chorus of voices asking for a public conversation about racial profiling in Urbana.

Recent traffic stop information for 2010 was just compiled and released. This is information collected by officers, including racial information, during routine traffic stops and turned over to IDOT. The “racial disparity index,” or ratio, for Urbana police rose from 1.56 in 2009 to 1.7 in 2010, the highest in the twin cities. In contrast, the number in Champaign was 1.48; Champaign County Sheriff’s Office was 1.29; UIPD was 1.5. If no disparity was found to exist, the number would be 1.0.

Since July 1^st 2011, hundreds of prisoners in California’s Pelican Bay State Prison Security Housing Unit (SHU), joined by thousands more in over a third of California’s state prisons and in other prisons across the country, have been on an indefinite hunger strike demanding an end to the horrendous conditions they face languishing for years (some for decades) in isolation and sensory deprivation - conditions that violate international standards against torture. These courageous brothers have joined together to demand an end to the widespread, systematic policies of torture and human rights abuses that affect prisoners not just in Pelican Bay or California but are integral to the functioning of the world’s largest system of mass incarceration.