New America Media - Sports

SF Giants Pitcher Calls for Immigration Reform on YouTube

2013-06-05T19:30:00Z

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo has recorded a YouTube video for the Dream Is Now campaign, calling for immigration reform and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children. The 30-year-old U.S. citizen from Salinas, Calif., the son of Mexican immigrants, wore a T-shirt proclaiming “I just look illegal” during the Giants’ World Series parade last fall.

Watch the video

Vivek Ranadive Becomes First Indian-American NBA ‘King’

2013-06-02T08:05:00Z

SACRAMENTO, CA – “It’s going to be exciting,” he told the USA Today after securing an agreement to buy 65 percent of the Kings from the Maloof family for a National Basketball Association (NBA) league-record valuation of $535 million.

“We’re going to build a global brand with the Kings. We’re going to give the fans the product that they deserve,” the minority owner of Golden State Warriors said on achieving his longtime goal.

The development came just a day after NBA owners officially rejected a bid by the Maloofs, who have owned the team since 1998, to relocate the Kings from Sacramento, to Seattle.

“It’s a little bittersweet, obviously because I’m a huge Warriors fan and I have a lot of friends here,” Ranadive told USA Today. “I’m very, very excited to start the new (challenge).”

Ranadive, who left India as a 17-year-old to attend MIT and later founded his $4 billion company in Silicon Valley, Tibco, has the sort of competitiveness and deep pockets that could lead one of the league’s most poorly run franchises back to respectability, the USA Today said.

NBA Commissioner David Stern has made a concerted effort of late to grow the game in Ranadive’s native India, where “basketball is but a blip on their sporting radar,” the newspaper said.

“I’m going to do what I do in my business, which is surround myself with people that are way smarter than me,” Ranadive said. “But I am a huge fan. I’m going to be there at all the games, be there to support the team in every way.”

“It’s one step at a time,” Ranadive said. “I’m one of these guys who doesn’t like to get ahead of the game.

“We still have a lot of work to do. I’ve learned a lot, but there’s a lot more to learn. And it’s going to be a process. It’s not going to be an overnight miracle there, so it’s going to take some work,” he was quoted as saying.

“I’m going to do what I do in my business, which is surround myself with people that are way smarter than me,” he said. “But I am a huge fan. I’m going to be there at all the games, be there to support the team in every way.”

This won’t be the run-of-the-mill commute, though. When the Ranadive deal goes through, he plans on jetting from Silicon Valley to all of the team’s home games in Sacramento. It’s a routine that would rival that of Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant, who flies in a helicopter from Newport Beach to downtown Los Angeles for home games.

Time is of the essence when it comes to shaping the team, of course, what with the draft coming on June 27 and free agency soon thereafter (July 1). His group’s deal is expected to receive rubberstamp approval from the owners, at which time Ranadive can get to work making the key decisions that will shape his new franchise.

As Ranadive acknowledged, he’ll be taking the imitation-as-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery approach when it comes to using his Warriors contacts and institutional knowledge to his benefit.

“(Warriors owner) Joe (Lacob) has been a tremendous coach and tremendous teacher,” Ranadive said. “I’ve learned a lot from him, learned a lot from the Warriors playbook and have tried to replicate that playbook.”

“It’s one step at a time,” Ranadive said. “I’m one of these guys who doesn’t like to get ahead of the game. Obviously it’s a relief (to have the deal done with the Maloofs), but I had an opportunity to chat with the Maloofs when we were in Dallas, and they seemed like good guys and I had no reason to believe that we wouldn’t reach an agreement.

“We still have a lot of work to do. I’ve learned a lot, but there’s a lot more to learn. And it’s going to be a process. It’s not going to be an overnight miracle there, so it’s going to take some work.”

Jason Collins Proves 'Outing' Isn't Needed

2013-05-02T07:05:00Z

Jason Collins received kudos from the president, first lady, a former president and many others for having the courage to break one of America's last great barriers. He became the first openly gay active player in one of America's major professional sports. Collins has handled the situation with pure class, and refreshingly, the sports world has, for the most part, responded in kind.

In addition to the doors Collins has potentially opened for other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender athletes with his announcement, the grace he has displayed has hopefully closed the door on one cultural pastime: outing.

After this year's Super Bowl, the first in which there were players vocally expressing support for LGBT Americans, speculation began that perhaps an NFL player, or two or three, might soon be ready to publicly acknowledge being gay. This then led to further speculation regarding who those players might be. Recently, certain outlets began openly naming one player in particular, whom I will not be naming in this piece. The reason? Because I don't understand the purpose of outing and never have.

Let me clarify. I certainly didn't shed any tears when conservative Sen. Larry Craig was caught in a compromising position in a men's bathroom and was subsequently accused by a number of men of having been caught in similarly compromised positions before. I shed no tears because Craig had a record of actively opposing LGBT rights, including anti-discrimination measures, as an elected official. Therefore, his apparent hypocrisy made his sex life very relevant. But I have never understood how it is relevant beyond that limited set of circumstances.

Yet in the past several years, outing has become almost accepted practice. In 2008 the appropriately titled LGBT publication Out placed images of Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster on the cover of its "Power 50" issue. Neither had publicly intimated that he or was gay at that point. To be clear, neither had ever denied being gay, either. Apparently some people had a problem with that. But here's a question: Why?

When I interviewed CNN anchor Don Lemon years ago, the day he publicly acknowledged being gay, I asked him to help me understand, as a straight American, what I view as a blatant double standard between the respect and privacy heterosexuals are allowed, versus what gay Americans are granted today.

For instance, public figures who are perceived as being straight are given the leeway to say things like, "I'd prefer not to discuss my private life." The reaction is usually, "Good for him [or her] for preserving some semblance of normalcy in the age of Twitter and staged paparazzi shots." But if there is even the slightest speculation that a celebrity might not be straight, then "I'd prefer not to discuss my private life" is interpreted by some members of the media and LGBT community as "He's obviously ashamed of who he is and has a duty to the entire community to be out and proud!"

Again, my question is, why?

I have had a number of conversations with gay friends -- some of whom are public figures -- on this very topic, with all of them having varying perspectives. But during our interview, Lemon gave one of the most thoughtful answers I have heard on the topic, which I will do my best to paraphrase here. He essentially compared being closeted today to a black person's passing for white 50 years ago. You may not be actively lying, but you are being complicit by not vocally speaking the truth and thereby being a default beneficiary of a discriminatory system.

I see his point. But speaking as a black American (which Lemon is as well), I can't say that I entirely agree. Had I been alive during the civil rights movement and someone said to me, "You know, it turns out I know President Johnson's cousin. The president is actually part black," my instinct probably would not have been to out him on the cover of Jet magazine but, rather, to let him live his life -- trying to help me get my rights as the civil rights pioneer he was -- and then, when he was ready to come out as a black American on his own terms, to support him doing that. (As a historical side note, it is widely rumored that President Warren G. Harding was part black. Opponents tried "outing" this secret, which Harding pointedly never denied but merely laughed off.)

Now, if the same person had told me decades ago that Strom Thurmond had a black daughter and had proof, I wouldn't have been able to print that news on the cover of Jet quickly enough. This revelation, which was confirmed within the last decade, proved that Thurmond, one of the most outspoken racists of the last century, was a hypocrite. Because he was a government official who affected civil rights legislation, the public definitely had a right to know. Just as the public had a right to know that the late Rep. Henry Hyde, who was prosecuting President Clinton for the Lewinsky scandal, was also having an affair, just like the president he was condemning.

But when there is no hypocrisy involved, outing is really nothing more than bullying. Which is ironic, because some of the same individuals, outlets and institutions promoting outing likely decry the bullying of gay students in schools.

Everyone has a right to find and declare his own identity in his own way, in his own time and on his own terms. Jason Collins found the right moment for him to tell the world his truth. Because of him, the journey will hopefully be a little easier for the next gay athlete who comes out.

But perhaps an even more important part of his legacy will be that Collins proves that the most effective role models are those who have embraced being one, not those forced into the role by others who feel it is owed to them. Here's hoping that his courageous move will not only inspire others to show equal courage but also inspire the public at large to display more compassion and kindness toward those who are not quite ready to follow Collins' lead yet but who may be one day.

Keli Goff is The Root's political correspondent.

Jason Collins, NBA Player, Came Out as Gay

2013-04-29T21:52:27Z

Jason Collins, NBA player, came out as gay in an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated, becoming the first professional male basketball player to do so. “Jason Collins’ courage should be commended,” Andre Banks Executive Director and Co-founder of All Out said. “Our members clearly agree. Hundreds of people signed a note thanking Jason Collins for breaking his silence within minutes of his announcement.”

“We hope more professional athletes come out.” Andre Banks noted. “Not only will they have an active fan base ready to support their careers, but their position as a positive role model will save lives and reduce bullying. Collins may not realize this yet, but he is a hero.”

Meanwhile,The Rev. Al Sharpton released the following statement:

The announcement made by NBA center Jason Collins today about being a gay male marks the first time a professional athlete has openly confirmed his sexuality. This is a breakthrough moment in sports and another step towards tolerance and fairness in the African-American community.

I salute the courage and candor of Mr. Collins and think he has made a great contribution to this country and I call on others in the civil rights community and the African-American leadership of all fields to embrace this development. We can’t be custodians of intolerance and freedom fighters at the same time. In order to fight for anyone’s civil rights and self expression we must fight for everyone’s civil rights. God Bless Jason Collins for helping to show us the way.

Spike Lee, among other celebrities, took to twitter to congratulate him. "Orange And Blue Skies Salutes Jason Collins. Thank You For Your Courage,A Slam Dunk Against HOMOPHOBIA.And Dat's Da "FREEDOM"Truth,Ruth." Lee Wrote.

Kung Fu Fighter Makes Way for Female Martial Artists in Seattle

2013-04-20T08:10:00Z

Growing up, Gin Yang didn’t expect she would be teaching martial arts as her everyday profession, nor did she ever imagine spending years and hours of training in order to hone the different styles and techniques in the art of kung fu. But childhood memories of watching kung fu movies with her brother left a lasting imprint on her life. So when Yang moved to Seattle after college, she placed her joy of watching kung fu to actual learning and practice.

“I remember my brother and I would just sit and watch kung fu movies. He was interested in kung fu, and that made me interested as well. But my mom always said ‘no’ to me learning. She always felt that’s what boys do,” reflects Yang.

After 10 years, Yang is now an avid kung fu practitioner and instructor at Seven Star Women’s Kung Fu — a nonprofit martial arts school dedicated to creating a nurturing environment for women to learn practical self-defense skills, build strength, thereby improving the health, safety, confidence and well-being of women in the Seattle area.

In 2003, Yang decided to try a beginner’s cycle class at Seven Star with a friend.

“When I started, I thought this would be fun a good exercise. But as I progressed, I became more serious and then I started teaching,” says Yang. “However, my underlying theme is also about getting a good workout and having fun.”

Yang’s love for martial arts grew deeper to a point where mastering her skills became an integral part of her life. Throughout Yang’s 10-year involvement with martial arts, teaching and transforming women has been her core focus and inspiration.

“I teach at an all-women’s school and I enjoy it,” says Yang. “In a school with only women, there’s less to worry about being self-conscious. I definitely feel empowered teaching at an all women’s school.”

In 2008, Yang started teaching at the school. As she progressed and got more involved with Seven Stars, instilling confidence for other women became an important component of her teaching philosophy.

“I became a more confident person,” says Yang. “I want to be able to instill confidence for other people. I want to help someone be transformed.”

As Yang meets more women through teaching, she has the opportunity to hear stories about how martial arts has helped them achieve overall confidence and self-defense skills to protect themselves in moments of danger.

“One woman at our school was attacked at an empty parking lot, but she scared them off,” says Yang. “She was confident and didn’t end up getting hurt.”

Those are the stories that continue to drive Yang to continue teaching and improving as a martial artist.

“I’m at a point where I want to get better. I want to learn how to teach,” says Yang. “Teaching is very hard, but it’s been an exciting learning experience for me in more ways than one.”

Along her journey of teaching other women, Yang also had the opportunity and privilege to meet other women with the same passion for martial arts. Yang recalls attending a Pacific Association of Women Martial Artists (PAWMA) event, where women from all over the world attend a weekend-long seminar once a year to teach, learn and train in different types of martial arts.

“It was so inspiring to see, meet and learn from so many accomplished and talented women,” says Yang. “The teachers are always some of the highest-ranking of their styles.”

During last year’s PAWMA seminar, Yang met Sensei Keiko Fukuda, a Japanese-American martial artist who was the highest-ranked female judoka in history and also holds the 10th dan from USA Judo.

“She is the first, and so far, the only woman to ever reach the 10th dan in Judo. Before her, women were only allowed to reach 5th dan,” says Yang. “She was 99 when she taught the class and has since passed. I feel honored to have had the opportunity to be inspired by her — a true trailblazer.”

In July 2012, Yang received her black belt, the highest-ranking belt at her school. Today, Yang is still practicing her art in various forms and working with a male trainer in Portland, Ore. After all she’s accomplished, Yang continues to envision the future of her teaching and training.

“In five years, I want to continue teaching,” says Yang. “I’ve been doing it for 10 years now, but I am going to continue.”

If anything, Yang was discouraged to do kung fu while growing up. Yang recalls the difficulty of telling her mother when she decided to pursue martial arts. Now, Yang is breaking stereotypes and building a platform for women to learn practical self-defense skills while building strength and confidence through martial arts.

Have Black Americans Left Baseball?

2013-04-19T17:00:00Z

(The Root) -- While the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 has become a certified success, attracting a diverse audience on its way to becoming No. 1 at the box office during its opening weekend, black Americans are still facing barriers to the baseball field.

The opening of 42 occurred several days before the annual celebration of Jackie Robinson Day -- April 15, the day Robinson officially broke the color barrier -- when every baseball player, manager, coach and umpire in Major League Baseball sports his number, 42. But in recent decades, the number of African-American players has decreased with each passing year.

According to reports, the representation of African-American players in professional baseball is at its lowest point since Robinson and others first began integrating the game, at just around 8 percent. That marks a significant decline from the 1970s, when some estimates placed the representation of black players at around 27 percent. Baseball historian Rob Ruck says the percentage of African-American players was probably closer to 19 percent in the 1970s, while the 27 percent number likely includes Afro-Caribbean and Afro-Latino players.

The decline of African-American participation in baseball is a stark contrast to the days of the Negro Leagues, which nurtured Robinson, when baseball was seen as more than a mere sport but was also a community pastime. The reason for the sport's decline in black American communities is complex and multilayered.

Cost Is a Factor

Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who is African American, currently serves as executive vice president and senior adviser of the San Diego Padres. He chalked up the decline in African-American participation in the sport to "the three C's," which, he told The Root, stand for continuity, cost and competition. Continuity, he explained, means the importance of consistent exposure to the sport throughout a player's school years, something that is less likely to happen today because of the second C, which is cost.

Baseball "didn't cost me much as I grew up," he said. "There were no travel teams/club teams, tournaments you have to pay for now." He then explained the third C, competition. "When I grew up, baseball was No. 1 in America. Now it has the competition of the other sports -- NBA, NFL, golf, you name it."

Ruck, author of Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game, echoed Winfield's sentiments regarding the financial barriers to the sport that now exist for many poor kids, a socioeconomic reality disproportionately represented in communities of color. Little League and club expenses as well as travel can run between $3,000 and $5,000 annually, expenses that by default make economic and racial diversity less likely among participants.

Charles Clark is the only African-American manager of a Little League team in North Tampa, Fla. In an interview with The Root, he discussed his firsthand experience with the costs. "A typical quality baseball bat for a child is $300." Clark has three sons, all of whom participate in the sport, meaning he spends a minimum of close to $1,000 on bats alone, which pales in comparison to the other potential costs.

Clark explained that while there is Little League, in which nonprofit teams are sponsored by local businesses, and all kids have an opportunity to play, travel ball has become big business. Travel ball teams are where Little League's best and brightest compete. The fees to participate in such a team can cost between $500 and $1,200, not including uniforms and other miscellaneous expenses.

Though Little League exists as a lower-cost option for those who can't afford the expense of travel ball, Clark explained that for kids hoping to go pro, "they would need the exposure of being in travel ball." That's where scouts, coaches and professional baseball players and others connected to the MLB discover future stars. The class divide in baseball, however, extends far beyond childhood.

According to Ruck, "Very few black kids go to college to play baseball. Last decade it was, like, under 5 percent of all NCAA baseball players on scholarship were black, versus 10 to 15 times higher in basketball and football. The reason is twofold. If you play college football or basketball, you get a full scholarship. If you play college baseball, you might be one of 25 to 35 kids who are splitting 11.7 scholarships, so you don't get a full scholarship. You might get a quarter scholarship or half scholarship. If you can't afford the rest of that, you're not going to play baseball but a sport that can give you a full ride."

Fathers Play a Significant Role

Clark's involvement in the sport at the Little League level highlights another reason cited by Ruck for the decline in baseball in the African-American community: fathers. Ruck explained that baseball is a sport defined in part by the bond between fathers and sons. Boys learn to play catch at an early age, usually with a father. (This is such a defining cultural image that it is currently being parodied in a popular car commercial.)

Ruck explained, "When we start to see the collapse of the two-headed household -- which I think hits black families because of class reasons more than white families -- you no longer have boys who grow up in homes with fathers who teach them the love and the lore of the game." Clark agreed that baseball is a sport in which the role of fathers is particularly important.

"Cultural cachet" is also cited as a reason for the sport's decline in popularity, with certain sports carrying a level of prestige on various continents and within communities. For instance, soccer is a much more popular sport in Brazil, making it more likely that a young Brazilian will grow up wanting to be a professional soccer player, just as a young Canadian is more likely to grow up wanting to be a professional hockey player.

"Everybody wants to be like Mike," Ruck said, referring to Michael Jordan, the African-American basketball icon who influenced an entire generation of aspiring black athletes.

Integration Crippled Negro Leagues

But perhaps the biggest reason baseball has declined in the African-American community is the most ironic reason of all: Jackie Robinson. Once the MLB was integrated, the Negro Leagues collapsed. While white executives who opposed integration worried that black players would scare white fans away, instead white fans stayed, and black fans came in droves.

"Jackie Robinson allowed the Brooklyn Dodgers to set attendance records," said Ruck. "The Pittsburgh Courier, the black newspaper, said, 'Jackie's nimble. Jackie's quick. Jackie makes the turnstiles click,' " a testament to Robinson's popularity with fans.

"Major League Baseball ends up profiting immensely in terms of fans, in terms of great players," Ruck continued. "But they don't bring in black teams -- they could have brought in the Newark Eagles or the Homestead Grays or the Kansas City Monarchs [Negro League teams]. They don't bring in black ownership. They don't bring in black managers or front-office people, and for the next 40 years, the front office and managerial ranks and ownership ranks are almost exclusively white."

Ruck went on to explain that by not incorporating Negro League teams into the minor-league operations, where the MLB continued to groom, nurture and recruit its future stars for years, major-league integration essentially gutted the Negro Leagues, leaving them with no audience. Worse, it left black players who were not superstars like Robinson with no infrastructure like the sandlot community clubs, which operated as the minor-league equivalent to the Negro Leagues; those clubs disappeared, too.

That left aspiring black ballplayers with few options for training and being discovered, particularly since, as demonstrated in the film 42, the minor leagues were concentrated in the South. This made pursuing a career there not a particularly attractive proposition for African-American men, especially those who did not have a high-profile sponsor and protector like Robinson did in Dodger General Manager Branch Rickey.

Ruck did say, though, that ultimately there might be more important issues to focus on than the lack of diversity on baseball diamonds. "I don't think this is a big problem for black America not to have as many baseball players as it once had. I think African Americans in this country are well-represented in athletics. I think I'd like to see more ownership, more front office. I'd like to see positions of power off the field increase the ranks of African Americans. But I think if anything, one could argue that there's too much of a focus on sports in black America, to the detriment of education and vocation."

Keli Goff is The Root's political correspondent.

The Boston Marathon: An Indian American Runner Remembers…

2013-04-16T21:30:00Z

Devesh Khatu ran the Boston Marathon twice – once in 2009 and once in 2010.

This year he was not running it. But ever since the bombs went off at America’s oldest and most iconic marathon, his phone and Facebook wall have been flooded with anxious messages.

Khatu once set himself a goal of 12 marathons in 12 months. His marathons have taken him all over the world – London, Berlin, New York, Mumbai. But Boston, he says, is special.

“You have to qualify to be able to run in it,” says Khatu who lives in San Francisco. “Running it is considered an accomplishment. It’s like, say, getting into Harvard Business School. Even non-runners know about it.”

That’s what makes the attack on the marathon so heart-rending. That’s what Taslima Nasreen does not get when she sneers on Twitter “Hey Americans! Don’t cry like 9/11, #BostonMarathon is not like 9/11. Come live in South Asia, bombs are like everyday fireworks.”

There’s no point getting into a race-to-the-bottom competition of death tolls. The fact that many more were killed in Iraq on the same day as the bombs went off in Boston (and indeed on the day before and probably the day after) does not mitigate the tragedy of what happened in Boston any more than the daily gun violence in America’s inner cities diminishes the horror of the Newtown elementary school shooting. This is not the time to discuss blowback, what America deserves or does not deserve or speculate about who might have done it. “People shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts,” Obama rightly said. “But, make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this.”

Leave aside the iconic nature of the Boston Marathon, that it happens on a state holiday known as Patriots Day marking the battles of Lexington and Concord and is thus imbued with a sense of American-ness despite the runners who come from all over the world. There is just something “particularly devastating” about an attack on a marathon writes Nicholas Thompson in the New Yorker.

It’s an epic event in which men and women appear almost superhuman. The winning men run for hours at a pace even normal fit people can only hold in a sprint. But it’s also so ordinary. It’s not held in a stadium or on a track. It’s held in the same streets everyone drives on and walks down. An attack on a marathon is, in some ways, more devastating than an attack on a stadium; you’re hitting something special but also something very quotidian.

That’s why the choice of a marathon as a bomber’s target is so baffling. It’s not a symbol of a country’s pomp, military might or financial wealth. It’s always been about the endurance of the human spirit. And it’s been open to all in a way few sports are.

Khatu says he started running marathons in 2005 because he was very unathletic during school and college in India. His focus had always been on excelling in academia. But marathons seemed like a challenge he could take on. So many different kinds of people, many who had shown no aptitude for other sports, run the marathon.

“Few things compare to the sense of accomplishment that you feel after running the 26.2 miles to finish a marathon,” he says.

That’s pretty much what Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon said about it as well.

“If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon,” she said.

Dave Zirin tells her story in a moving blog for The Nation about the Boston marathon. He mourns that now “(l)ike a scar across someone’s face, the bombing will now be a part of the Boston Marathon.”

But he writes that while you cannot ignore the scar, you have to remember it’s “only a part.” Kathrine Switzer is also a part of that same story, disfigured as it might be now. In 1967 she snuck into the marathon by registered under the gender-neutral name of KV Switzer. But five miles into the race, an irate marathon director jumped off a truck and tried to force her to “get the hell out of (his) race.” The men running with her fought him off.

That story is moving because it shows that race does not belong to anyone. It was not the marathon director’s property and it’s not the bombers’ who tried to put their deadly stamp on it.

Zirin writes the bombing now “marks us” like a scar. “But like a scar, we may need to wear it proudly.”

Khatu has changed his profile picture on Facebook to his runner’s tag from the 2009 Boston marathon – runner number 8130. “I vow to requalify and run Boston again,” he says. Otherwise as Switzer implies you might as well lose faith in human nature.

Kenyan Marathon Celebration Thrown into Disarray After Boston Blasts

2013-04-16T05:38:32Z

BOSTON - The increasingly popular Boston marathon celebrations by the Kenyan community in the Boston region were abruptly thrown into disarray today. Sudden heavy blasts reverberated at the finish line moments after Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo won the first position in the women's race. Micah Kogo of Kenya clocked in second in the men's race after Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa turned tables on the Kenyan elite male champions by crossing the finish line first.

The scary blasts that resulted in 3 fatalities and over 140 injuries disrupted transportation plans for at least 14 Kenyans and their children who got stuck in Boston after most of the subway train system was shut down. Two Ajabu Media reporters spotted a Kenyan dad and son stranded near Boston commons as they walked towards Hay Market. The father's cellphone had run out of charge and the reporters' cellphones were used to locate a family member who picked the duo after an hour of anxious waiting. The reporters could not use the subway train system because it had been closed as a security precaution.

The now re-united family generously offered the reporters a ride out of town. However, soon afterwards the car stopped at a nearby street corner when it encountered 10 stranded Kenyans with frightened children in tow. The Ajabu reporters gave up their seats for the stranded Kenyans and bravely watched the tightly packed SUV zoom the families to safety in the suburbs. Frantic telephone calls were then made to a Kenyan who resides in downtown Boston to come and rescue the weary reporters.

No Kenyan elite runner was hurt. The bomb blasts took place more than one hour after the top runners had crossed the finish line. However, local Kenyan diaspora runner, Titus Mutinda of Lowell, Massachusetts, narrowly escaped the blast as he crossed the line barely 20 minutes before the explosions. As news of the bomb blasts spread in the mainstream and social media, many Kenyans from out of state and the motherland called their kin to enquire about their safety. Kenyans are known to swarm the finish line in big numbers to cheer their athletes and take pictures.

Kenya fans in New England expected this year's Boston Marathon to be another repeat of last year’s triple-double (in both male and female categories). They woke up early with great enthusiasm and expectant energy and headed to Copley Square in downtown Boston to join a sea of humanity that snakes its way all along the route and ends up at the finish right in front of the giant screen that televises the event live. This strategic position at the finish line is treasured by both Kenyans and their Ethiopian counterparts.

About an hour before the blasts, Kenyan fans lined up along the route had sustained a long duration of loud cheering and ululations as the marathoners raced from Hopkinton town, past Newton's Heartbreak Hill, and down Boylston street into Boston's finish line. The first expected victorious moment came when Rita Jeptoo crossed the finish line at Copley Square to win the women’s 2013 title. Moments later Micah Kogo scooped the second position in the men’s category. Kenyan and Ethiopian fans cheered loudly as each of their national anthems played out on loudspeakers as the champions were presented with their hard earned crowns. Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, bestowed the honors on the winners.

As usual, when all the top Kenyan runners had crossed the finish line within fifteen minutes of the winner's time, the Kenyan fans retreated to their favorite restaurant VLora just a couple of blocks from the finish line. This is the place they go for lunch and refreshments as they wait for the official awards ceremony that usually takes place at 5pm at the Fairmont Copley Hotel, a short distance walk from Vlora. Many Ethiopian fans had also long cleared the finish line area. It was while the fans were enjoying their meal at VLora that the television aired the explosion and the ensuing chaos that erupted at the finish line.

 Before the sumptuous meals had settled, police officers burst into the underground restaurant and ordered all to vacate with immediate effect. As the Kenyans took to their heels, Ajabu Africa reporters caught the journalist’s bug and jumped courageously onto the street scene to cover the developments. Only to find more than they had bargained for - a total lockdown. In a scary but organized operation, sirens rang in the air as both security and paramedics arrived in hordes. At this juncture everyone was ordered to clear the finish line and move away as far as possible. However, before all could clear the site, there came another deafening blast. It was the third blast.

 A security officer shouted loudly to onlookers and media personalities taking pictures, “It’s for real, you got to run for your lives. Leave this scene now!” The officer did not need to stress any word as everyone took to their heels away from the scene. Within no time the entire down town Boston became police town with countless regular and undercover police cars hunting for the perpetrators of the vile act. They raced back and forth with their sirens and emergency lights on. Dozens of ambulances crisscrossed many Boston streets as they rushed the injured to different hospitals within the city.

 It was during this commotion that Ajabu Africa reporters spotted the Kenyan father and son stranded at Boston Commons. “This is unbelievable. We have been stuck here since 3pm when I called my sister to come pick us up. Then my cell phone lost charge as soon as I told her I am waiting here. She does not know specifically where we are positioned,” said Patrick Kariuki of Randolph as he waited patiently with his 6 year old son.  

“Let us use your cell phone to call my sister again right away”, he requested Ajabu Africa reporters. According to Kariuki’s sister, Judith Mwangi, it took her three hours to drive from Randolph to Boston, and almost two more hours to drop off each of the families at their homes in Quincy and Brockton.

 “It was so hectic. Many of the roads in Boston were closed. The GPS was directing me all over as I figured out how to get around. There was police everywhere, but I thank God I was able to finally re-connect with my family and other stranded friends,” she told Ajabu Media.

She thanked Ajabu Media reporters for helping her stranded brother reconnect with her.

Up to this moment, it is not clear whether there was a Kenyan or Ethiopian fan who got injured in the blasts. Ajabu Media is also not aware of any Kenyan stranded in Boston.

AjabuAfrica.com is a news website based in Boston serving the African diaspora, an ethnic media partner of the University of Massachusetts Boston's Center on Media and Society; and also of NAM.

Donaire and Rigondeaux Lock Stares Ahead of Fight

2013-04-12T19:59:31Z

For close to two minutes, Nonito Donaire Jr. and Guillermo Rigondeaux stared one another down, unwilling to concede one iota of trepidation ahead of their WBO/WBA junior featherweight title unification fight this Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) at Radio City Music Hall in New York. What is usually a perfunctory photo opportunity turned into a test of manhood between Donaire (32-1, 20 knockouts) and Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KOs) at Wednesday's (Thursday, PHL time) press conference, raising the stakes to suggest that looking away would be tantamount to a mental lapse in what is expected to be a high stakes game of speed chess.

Finally, the two broke away to speak with the press, but it left "The Filipino Flash" Donaire with a good feeling about what most expect to be his most difficult trial to date.

Read the rest at GMA News Online

Los Mayas Traen Pasión por Béisbol a EE.UU.

2013-03-28T21:40:36Z

[Audio entrevistas con jugadores yucatecos aparecen abajo.]

SAN FRANCISCO -- En México, los mayas son un pueblo aparte. La mitad de un milenio desde que los conquistadores españoles desembarcaron en Mesoamérica, el número de mayas está en los millones y siguen siendo racialmente, lingüísticamente y culturalmente diferentes de sus compatriotas mestizos. Mientras que la mayoría de mexicanos están llenos de orgullo nacional, los mayas son yucatecos primero (la mayor concentración del pueblo se encuentra en el estado mexicano de Yucatán) y mexicanos segundo. La mayoría de los mexicanos sólo hablan español, mientras que la mayoría de los mayas pueden hablar ambas lenguas, español y maya. Y si el fútbol es prácticamente religión en la mayoría de México, por los mayas yucatecos, el béisbol es la vida.

El béisbol es tan popular entre los mayas yucatecos (casi todos los mayas de Yucatán son o jugadores o aficionados) y el amor por el deporte tan único en el país, que el béisbol se ha convertido en una auto-identificador, un motivo de orgullo y una parte integral de lo que que significa ser maya -- tan importante como poc-chuc (carne de cerdo a la parrilla tradicional), jarana yucateca (baile tradicional) y huipiles (ropa tradicional).

"El béisbol es un elemento importante de la cultura maya", dice Alberto Pérez, director de la asociación MAYAB, una organización no lucrativo en el Área de la Bahía que trabaja para la comunidad maya yucateca. Es una cultura que se está poniendo cada vez más visible en los Estados Unidos, donde cientos de miles de mayas viven hoy. Béisbol, dice Pérez, ofrece una manera para que los inmigrantes mayas en los EE.UU. pueden vivir un poco como antes, mostrar el orgullo cultural, y establecer su lugar único en la diáspora latina. "Es casi como un movimiento clandestino," dice Pérez. Actualmente, un número creciente pero no contada de los equipos de béisbol yucateco se encuentran dispersos por todo el estado de California -- incluso hay ligas compuestos casi completamente por yucatecos.

El deporte llegó a Yucatán de Cuba, de sólo 128 millas de distancia. "Mérida (el capital de Yucatán) tuvo mayor intercambio cultural y político con Cuba que con la Ciudad de México", explica Pérez. "Así es como tenemos este amor especial de béisbol." Hoy en día, los mayas yucatecos talvez aman el deporte aun más que los cubanos que se los dieron. "Dicen que un domingo en Oxkutzcab, Yucatan sin el béisbol no es un domingo" dice Alberto Gómez, un yucateco de 42 años de edad, quien antes jugó allí profesionalmente. Oxkutzcab es un municipio de Yucatán.

En México, los equipos de béisbol yucatecos sirven como embajadores de su pueblito. Un pueblo rural indígena con más parlantes de maya que el español probablemente no tiene una tarjeta de turismo como muchas otras ciudades mexicanas, pero hay una buena probabilidad de que tendrá un equipo de béisbol para actuar como refuerzo no oficial de la comunidad.

En el estado de Yucatán, Gómez podría ganar hasta 100 dólares americanos por partido. Pero para la mayoría de los yucatecos, la motivación para jugar es impulsada puramente por el amor del juego. Campos de béisbol en Yucatán son como plazas -- sitios para reuniones sociales para toda la comunidad. "Mucha gente allá en Yucatán va cada domingo a estar en el campo, viendo sus amigos y compartiendo la (experiencia)", dice Gómez. Agarrando a toda la familia, un poco de carne y cerveza, y de salir a la cancha de pelota local es un domingo típico. "Es como un día de campo para los gringos", dice Gomez.

Hay equipos grandes -- los Leones de Yucatán juegan en el escalón más alto del béisbol profesional mexicano y tienen un estadio de 13.600 asientos -- pero eso es la excepción. Los partidos de béisbol yucatecos generalmente son muy íntimos, dice Gaspar Chi, un inmigrante yucateco al Área de la Bahía que fundó un equipo de béisbol allí. Muchos aficionados que ven los partidos en Yucatán han sido familiares y vecinos por generaciones.

Como resultado, las lealtades del equipo son profundas. Cuando los equipos de los municipios de Cenotillo y Homun juegan contra sí mismos, los locales apoyan a sus jugadores y siguen la acción tan ávidamente como un fanático del fútbol americano de la NFL. Yucatecos todavía hablan de un juego notable jugado en Mérida en 1960, cuando un equipo de la municipalidad pequeña de Kopte y un equipo del pueblito de 1.900 personas de Suma de Hidalgo tomaron un juego de pelota al inning 18. Con sólo un fuera necesaria para una victoria en la final del 18, el pitcher Kopte tiró un tiro errante pickoff, permitiendo que dos corredores de gol y dando la victoria Hidalgo, "en un abrir y cerrar de ojos."

Sin embargo, mientras que otros países que juegan béisbol en la región -- en particular la República Dominicana, campeones del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol de 2013 -- fabrican los principales estrellas del MLB como los coches de una línea de montaje, yucatecos son menos inclinados a considerar el deporte como una forma de escapar de la pobreza.

Aunque algunos jugadores yucatecos ganan hasta $ 3.000 por semana jugando en ligas profesionales mexicanas, para la mayoría que primero jugaron béisbol como niños entre las palmeras del campo deportivo de Oxkutzcab, juegan solo porque les gusta el deporte. Es un amor que se transmite de padres, cada generación da a la siguiente sus habilidades y técnicas.

"Es algo muy bonito para mí", dice Rafael Tep (quien todos llaman "Carmito") quien ha sido el anotador oficial para un equipo de San Francisco durante 15 años. "Me gusta como es. Porque aun atrás por cinco carreras, lo puedes remontar." Para muchos inmigrantes mayas en los EE.UU., el béisbol también ofrece un alivio de la tensión de un largo día de trabajo. Freddy Cetina, una jugador local de béisbol yucateco, dice que juega a la pelota para "desestresarme y divertirme, y convivir con mis compañeros, mi pueblo".

Sin embargo, el béisbol yucateco es notoriamente duro y físico. Encubado a la segunda base para romper una doble matanza? Empujar al suelo un corredor tratando de tocar en casa? Es sólo otro domingo en un campo de béisbol yucateco. "Béisbol yucateco es muy agresivo. Tanto verbal como físicamente", dice Chi. "Tienen que ser disciplinado. Tienen que ser capaces de atacar la pelota".

Una liga en San Francisco con seis equipos mayas, se describe como siendo "guiado por miembros de la comunidad que sienten una fuerte afición y compromiso por el deporte favorito de los Mayas contemporáneos de Yucatan: el béisbol."

Durante 12 años, Chi ha sido el manager del equipo "Club Yucatán", que juega en otra, principalmente no-maya, liga competitiva donde se utilizan bates de madera y donde hay lanzamientos que llegan a 113 kilómetros por hora. El equipo es un reparto coral, algunos tan joven como el 20, otros mucho más mayores, pero todos están unidos por un profundo amor a bax'abola (bash-ah-ah-bohl), como el béisbol se llama en maya.

Ellos pueden usar su cultura compartida en su beneficio en el campo: ordenando a lanzamientos y otros movimientos en Maaya t'aan, la lengua nativa. "A veces les dicen: 'corren!' o 'roba base!" En maya, sin darles señales para que no escucha el otro lado", dice Gómez. "Los gringos que nos juegan, no saben ni que (está pasando)."

Chi está orgulloso de su posición como mentor, y ve el béisbol como una manera de unir a la comunidad local yucateca y a transmitir conocimientos valiosos a sus miembros. Hace un esfuerzo para hablar con sus jugadores jóvenes en maya, por ejemplo, "para enseñarles a valorarses como mayas."

Chi desempeña el papel de un mánager de béisbol profesional, predicando la unidad y alabando a su equipo con clichés deportivos familiares. En un reciente domingo en San Francisco, jugando contra otro equipo Yucateco, de San Rafael, y Club Yucatán anotó 11 carreras, pero aún así terminó en un empate después de que su lanzador falló. El equipo y sus partidarios aplaudieron con entusiasmo de todos modos, encantados con el resultado porque estaban anteriormente procurados sobre la ofensiva del equipo.

La esposa de un jugador llevó en una holla humeante llena de tamales para el equipo encima de la cabeza, como mujeres mayas han hecho desde tiempos inmemoriales -- un toque de la identidad maya escondida entre el entorno estadounidense.

Del mismo modo, los equipos de béisbol yucatecos son faros de la singularidad y el valor que aportan los inmigrantes mayas a la nación, para aquellos que quieren ver. "A veces la gente nos valora menos porque somos yucatecos", dice Alberto Gómez. "Lo que tratamos de hacer nosotros en juega béisbol, demostrarles que no importa de donde vengas, si sabes dar pelea."

Escuchar a entrevistas en español con jugadores yucatecos de béisbol en el area de la bahia, abajo.

Interview with Club Yucatán Manager Gaspar Chi by Jonah Harris NAM

Interview with former professional baseball player Alberto Gómez by Jonah Harris NAM

Interview with Scorer Rafael "Carmito" Tep by Jonah Harris NAM

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Maya Bring Baseball Passions to U.S.

2013-03-28T11:00:00Z

Una traducción de este artículo está disponible aquí. Audio entrevistas en español aparecen abajo.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was reported in collaboration with PRI's The World. To listen to an accompanying radio segment produced by The World's immigration editor Monica Campbell, click here.

SAN FRANCISCO -- As a new major league baseball season begins this week, another group of players is taking their love of "America's favorite pastime" to fields across the U.S.: indigenous Yucatec Maya immigrants.

In Mexico, the Mayas are a people apart. Half a millennium since Spanish conquistadors set foot in Mesoamerica, their numbers stand in the millions and they remain racially, linguistically and culturally distinct from their non-indigenous countrymen. While most Mexicans are bursting with national pride, Mayas are Yucatecos first (the greatest concentration of Maya are in the Mexican state of Yucatán) and Mexicans second. Most Mexicans speak only Spanish, while most Mayas can speak both Spanish and Maya. And while soccer is practically akin to religion across much of Mexico, for Yucatec Mayas, baseball is life.

Baseball is so popular among Yucatec Mayas (almost all Mayas in Yucatán are either players or fans) and their love of the sport so unique in their country, that it has become a self-identifier, a point of pride and an integral part of what it means to be Maya -- right up there with poc-chuc (traditional grilled pork), jarana yucateca (traditional dance) and colorful huipiles (traditional clothing).

"Baseball is an important element of Mayan culture," says Alberto Perez, director of Asociación MAYAB, a Bay Area Yucatec Maya organization. It’s a culture that is becoming increasingly visible in the United States, where hundreds of thousands of Mayas now live. Baseball, says Perez, provides a way for Maya immigrants in the U.S. to stay connected with community, display cultural pride and establish their unique place within the Latino Diaspora. “It is almost like an underground movement.” Today, a growing but untold number of Yucateco baseball teams are scattered across the state of California - there are even whole leagues here whose rosters are mostly made up of Yucatecos.

San Francisco-based Club Yucatan’s bench. At the game, players on the same team wear the various uniforms of their other teams in both Mexico and the United States. / Photo: Jonah Harris

The sport came to Yucatan from baseball-mad Cuba, a mere 128 miles away. "Mérida (the capital of Yucatán) had more cultural and political exchange with Cuba than with Mexico City," explains Perez. “That's how we got this special love of baseball." Today, Yucatec Mayas, or Yucatecos, may love baseball even more than the Cubans who introduced them to the sport. "They say a Sunday in Oxkutzcab without baseball is not a Sunday," says Alberto Gómez, a 42-year old Yucateco who once played there professionally. Oxkutzcab is a municipality in Yucatan.

In Mexico, Yucateco baseball teams often serve as ambassadors of their pueblito, or small town. A rural indigenous village with more speakers of Maya than Spanish isn’t likely to have a tourism board like many other Mexican cities do, but there’s a good chance it will have a baseball team to act as the community’s unofficial booster.

Ball fields in Yucatán are like town squares - community social gatherings often revolve around the game. "Many people in Yucatán go every Sunday to the field to be with friends and share the experience," says Gómez. Grabbing the entire family, getting some grilled meat and beer, and heading off to the local ball field is a typical weekend day. “It’s just like an American picnic,” he says.

Miguel Nic knocks in the winning run for the baseball team of the small town of Mani, Yucatán / Photo: Oxkutzcab.com

There are big teams -- the Yucatán Leones play in the highest rung of Mexican professional baseball and have a 13,600-seat stadium - but those are the exception. Attending a Yucateco baseball game is usually an intimate affair, says Gaspar Chi, a Yucateco immigrant to the Bay Area who founded a baseball team here. Many fans who attend games in Yucatán are family members and neighbors that have lived together for generations.

As a result, team loyalties run deep. When teams from the municipalities of Cenotillo and Homún play each other, locals support their players and follow the action as avidly as an American football fan would the NFL. Yucatecos still discuss a remarkable game played in Mérida in 1960, when a team from the tiny municipality of Kopté and a team from the 1,900-person village of Suma de Hidalgo took a tie ballgame into the 18th inning. With only one out needed for a win in the bottom of the 18th, Kopté’s pitcher threw an errant pickoff throw, allowing two runners to score and giving Hidalgo the win, "in a blink of an eye.”

Yet while other baseball playing countries in the region - most notably the Dominican Republic, current champions of the World Baseball Classic -- churn out Major League Baseball stars like cars from an assembly line, and young boys dream of becoming rich playing in the U.S., Yucatecos are less inclined to view the sport as a way to escape poverty.

Although some players earn as much as $3,000 per week playing in Mexican professional leagues, most who first play ball as children in Oxkutzcab's palm-lined sandlots do so solely because they love the sport. It’s a love that is passed down; every generation endows the next with their skills and techniques.

“It is very beautiful to me,” says Rafael ‘Carmito’ Tep, who has served as the official scorer for a local San Francisco-based team for 15 years. "Even if you are down by five runs late, you can still come back and go ahead." For many Maya immigrants in the U.S., baseball also offers relief from the stress of a long workday. Freddy Cetina, a Bay Aea Yucatec baseball player, says he plays ball to "relax and have fun, to be together with my teammates, my people."

Nevertheless, Yucatec baseball is notoriously rough and physical. Barreling into the second baseman to break up a double play? Knocking down a runner trying to touch home? It is just another Sunday on a Yucatec baseball diamond. "Yucatec baseball is very aggressive. Both verbally and physically," says Chi. "They need to be disciplined. They need to be able to attack the ball."

One San Francisco-based league fields six Maya teams and describes itself as being “led by members of the community that feel a strong affinity and commitment for the favorite sport of the contemporary Mayas of Yucatán: baseball.”

Chi has for 12 years been the Manager of Club Yucatán, which plays in another, primarily non-Maya, competitive league where wooden bats are used and pitches reach 70 miles per hour. The team is an ensemble cast, some as young as 20, others much older, but they are all joined by a profound love of bax'abola (bash-ah-bohl-ah), as baseball is called in Maya.

They can use their shared culture to their advantage on the field: calling pitches and other moves in Maaya t'aan, their native-tongue. “Sometimes we will say, ‘run’ or ‘steal the base!’ in Maya, instead of using signals so the other team doesn't hear." says Gómez. "White people who play us, they have no idea what is going on.”

Chi is proud of being a mentor, and sees baseball as a way to unite the local Yucatec community and pass on valuable skills to its members. He makes an effort to speak to his young players in Maya, for example, "to teach them to value themselves as Mayas.”

Chi plays the role of any baseball manager, preaching unity and praising his team with familiar sports clichés. At a recent Sunday-morning game in San Francisco against another Yucateco team, Club Yucatán scored 11 runs but still finished in a tie after their pitcher faltered. The bench and their supporters cheered anyway, thrilled with the result because the club’s hitting had previously been of concern.

As a player's wife brought in a steaming tub of tamales for the team, she balanced the heavy container atop her head, as Mayan woman have done since time immemorial -- a touch of Maya identity hidden among the American surroundings.

Similarly, Yucatec baseball teams are beacons of the uniqueness and worth that Maya immigrants bring to the nation, for those that care to look. "Sometimes people value us less because we are Yucatecos." Says Alberto Gómez, "What we are trying to do when we play baseball is to show them that it doesn't matter where your are from, as long as you have fight in you, if you know how to give 100 percent, like Yucatecos do."

Listen to Spanish-language audio interviews with Yucatec Maya ball players in the San Francisco Bay Area, below. To read the transcripts in english, click on the accompanying text link.

Interview with Club Yucatán Manager Gaspar Chi by Jonah Harris NAM

Interview with former professional baseball player Alberto Gómez by Jonah Harris NAM

Interview with Scorer Rafael "Carmito" Tep by Jonah Harris NAM

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Bikram Yoga Founder in Hot Seat Over Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

2013-03-23T20:46:02Z

Bikram Choudhury, founder of Bikram Yoga and creator of the famed “Hot Yoga” program popular with A-list Hollywood celebrities, is being sued by a former student who claims the 67-year-old yoga instructor repeatedly made sexual advances to her, and denied her employment when she spurned him.

According to the complaint, obtained by India-West from the plaintiff’s attorney, Sarah Baughn – who was 20 when she first began taking Bikram Yoga classes – alleged that Choudhury, over a period of four years, had made repeated sexual advances, publicly humiliated her in front of other students, and denied her employment when she spurned his advances.

“In filing this lawsuit, Sarah felt strongly that she did not want this to happen to other women,” Baughn’s attorney, Mary Shea Bagehols, told India-West. Bagehols characterized Bikram Yoga as a “fear-based organization.” Read more here.

Surfers Sue for Access to Billionaire’s Beach

2013-03-21T16:43:47Z

Billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was the target of a lawsuit filed March 12 by a national organization that aims to gain access to Martin’s Beach, near Half Moon Bay in Northern California.

The suit does not name Khosla as the owner of the property that abuts the historically-significant beach — which was open for many decades to surfers, smelt fishermen and picnicking families — but instead names Martin’s Beach, LLC.

NBC News reported that Khosla was named as the owner of the property in a separate lawsuit.

Mike Wallace, a spokesman for the Surfrider Foundation, told India-West the national organization has been working on this issue for three years and learned whilst researching the case that Khosla was the owner of the 89-acre property above the crescent-shaped beach. Several local newspapers have also reported that Khosla – an Indian American clean-tech energy entrepreneur and co-founder of Sun Microsystems – is the owner of the property.

“There’s a huge cross-section of people who want to access the beach. It is a hidden jewel,” said Wallace.

Mark Massara, one of the attorneys representing the Foundation, told India-West he has surfed at Martin’s Beach for decades. “It’s one of the best sandy beaches in the area, very scenic and the surfing is great.”

“It is not acceptable, not legal. You can’t just buy huge properties and eviscerate previous agreements,” he said.

“It would be easy to resolve this issue by developing a parking lot on the south end of the beach, and owners and the public would never have to see each other.”

“Vinod wouldn’t even have to pay for the parking lot,” said Massara, noting that there is a state fund to support beach access.

Khosla did not return calls to messages left by this reporter with his assistant at Khosla Ventures, nor did he return an e-mail by press deadline. His attorney, Joan Gallo, also did not return several calls.

At issue is not the beach itself – which is protected by the California Coastal Act – but the land above it, specifically a small asphalt road that provides the only access to the beach. In 2009, shortly after the sale of the property, a gate was built on the road at the entrance to the beach, and signs were put up, warning against trespassing. A sign on Highway 1 directing people to Martin’s Beach was painted over. Security guards patrol the area and citations are issued to those who violate the “No Trespassing” sign by jumping over the gate.

The California Coastal Act of 1976 mandates that all beaches are public. “There are no private beaches in California,” asserted Linda Locklin, a spokeswoman for the Coastal Access Program of the California Coastal Commission, adding that the California public owns all beaches to their “mean high tideline” level, the area at which waves crash the shoreline.

The Coastal Act requires maximum public beach access whenever possible, she explained to India-West, noting that any restriction of beach access requires a permit from the commission. Neither Khosla nor Martin’s Beach LLC have applied for such a permit, said Locklin.

“In this case, you cannot get to the beach without walking on (Khosla’s) land. We have told him he has changed the ‘intensity of use’ and must apply for a permit,” she said.

The Coastal Commission and San Mateo County have each issued citations against Khosla, which have racked up to about $20 million in fines, estimated Massara, adding that a court order was issued in 2009 to take down obstructions to the beach.

Massara has worked on several high-profile cases related to beach access, including a lawsuit against Dreamworks co-founder David Geffen, who sought to limit access to his Malibu Beach house.

Martin’s Beach was sold to the holding company in 2008 by Rich Deeney, whose family had owned the property for more than 150 years. Deeney sold the picturesque property for $40 million, reported the Surfplus newsletter, with the stipulation that cabin dwellers who have leased the land be allowed to remain until 2021. Wallace of the Surfrider Foundation told India-West he could not speculate whether the cabins would be torn down in 2021 to make room for large-scale development.

Wallace said he wrote a letter to Khosla in 2010, citing the legendary venture capitalist’s interest in green and clean technology and stating “we should be playing for the same team.”

“It is particularly galling that in his personal life, he is not approaching it the same way,” he charged.

Khosla has made public his distaste for environmentalists, stating that they are a bane to the growth of clean technology. “They get in the way with silly stuff like asking people to walk more, drive less. That is an increment of 1 to 2 percent change. We need 1,000 percent change if billions of people in China and India are to enjoy a Western, energy-rich lifestyle,” he said in a 2011 interview with The Economist.

FL University Stadium Named After Private Prison Company

2013-03-07T18:30:00Z

I was shocked by a disturbing headline on the front page of the New York Times sports section last week: "A company That Runs Prisons Will Have Its Name on a Stadium." The article revealed that the stadium in question was not the home of a professional football team, but of the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Owls who play in the University's new $70 million dollar, 29,000-seat stadium located on its Boca Raton campus.

The GEO Group Stadium naming rights were secured with a $6 million donation to FAU paid through the charitable arm of the nation's second largest operator of for-profit prisons. The power of America's prison industrial complex has now formed an unholy alliance with the big money game of college sports. And if that weren't bad enough, the GEO Group has a well-documented and extensive record of abuse and neglect in the facilities it runs.

A recent Sun-Sentinel newspaper article describes how two young adult illegal immigrants surreptitiously exposed conditions inside the GEO Group-run Broward Transitional Center (BTC), where hundreds of illegal immigrants who have committed no crimes or only minor non-violent ones, are held sometimes for months in terrible conditions. According to the article, "Once inside, they said they found people unjustly arrested and subjected to lengthy and unnecessary confinement, and reported incidents of substandard or callous medical care, including a woman taken for ovarian surgery and returned the same day, still bleeding, to her cell, and a man who urinated blood for days but wasn't taken to see a doctor." In response to this investigation, 26 members of Congress, including South Florida Democrats, Ted Deutch, Frederica Wilson and Alcee Hastings, wrote a letter to the director of the U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement demanding a full review of conditions at BTC.

Last year, a federal judge, in response to a joint ACLU/Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit, called the GEO Group's Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Mississippi, "a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhumane acts and conditions...a picture of such horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world." The judge ordered mass transfers out of the prison and prohibited further solitary confinement of youth. Soon after the judge's ruling, the State of Mississippi ended its contract with GEO.

I am not the only one outraged by the attempt of a clearly tainted private prison company to clean up its name by associating with a college football team. Both the National Immigration Youth Alliance and the ACLU have called on FAU to reconsider its decision to associate itself with GEO group and FAU students have started derisively calling the new stadium "Owlcatraz." In its statement, ACLU added, "Prison profiteers like GEO depend for their profits on the continued large-scale incarceration of young men and women - many of whom are people of color. Nationwide, 58% of the people in prison are African American or Latino. So the FAU Owls football team (most of whom are African American themselves) will be sponsored by a company whose core business depends on the continued over-incarceration of young people who look much like themselves."

Dennis Rodman in N. Korea for Some Basketball Diplomacy

2013-02-28T21:16:21Z

Dennis Rodman, a member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame and former member of the world champion Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons, is engaging in basketball diplomacy with North Korea, similar to ping pong diplomacy in the 1970s that led to improved relations between the United States and China.

Rodman and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters and a camera crew are in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, to shoot footage for a television show that will air on HBO in early April.

"It's true. I'm in North Korea. Looking forward to sitting down with Kim Jung-un. I love the people of North Korea," Rodman tweeted on Tuesday. On Thursday, Rodman got his wish. He sat next to Kim Jung-un during a basketball game between teams from the U.S. and North Korea.

Rodman later told Kim Jung-un before a crowd of thousands, "You have a friend for life," according to news reports.

Kim Jong-un, who took power in North Korea in December 2011, following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, is a fan of the NBA, particularly the Chicago Bulls. Gawker, an online website, posted a photo of Kim Jong-un wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey with Rodman's number, 91.

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