Earlier this year, we planned to have a big birthday celebration for long-time activist and organizer Tony Coleman. He had been battling cancer, and folks wanted to take time out and give him his props. Sadly today, Oct 11, 2022, we are burying him…His cancer took a turn for the worse, and he passed. On today’s show, we play speeches and interviews with a brother whose tireless work spanned 3 or 4 eras in Bay Area Movement History…From the early days of his organizing with folks like Van Jones, Lateefah Simon, and so many others to fight police terrorism in San Francisco, most notably the case around the murder of Aaron Williams, to the vibrant fights to push back on Prop 21 the hideous juvenile Crime Bill to the days of him organizing to ban the box (remove box asking if you were a felon on job applications, to the days of him forming One Fam and working to put out an album with local artists to the days of him opening up the Bikes 4 Life shop along with the Revolution Cafe.. Tony was relentless, unapologetic, principled, and full of undying love for his community and family..
Tone is The Godfather of Hip Hop Activism in Oakland. RIP