The massive clash between the Michael Vick supporters and those who believe he should never be able to don another NFL jersey never happened. Yes, Vick was on hand to show football fans – particularly those in his new town, Philadelphia – his stuff on the field after nearly two years in a federal prison. But, for all the million-dollar hullabaloo over the 29-year-old quarterback’s return, the big night fizzled like an Alka-seltzer in the rain. As The Philadelphia Daily News’ David Gambarcorta put it, it was “about two rings short of a three-ring circus.” Yes, local NAACP President Whyatt Mondesire showed up with pro-Vick troops, but his battalion was about a third shy of his promised 30 troops. He had hoped that an ocean of supporters would show up at Lincoln Financial Field to send a strong signal about Vick’s right to earn a living in his profession of choice, since he had already paid his debt to society. “A lot of people say he shouldn’t be given a second chance,” Mondesire said, blasting what he called racist anti-Vick radio programs. “We’re tired of a one-sided dialogue.” As for the expected horde of animal-rights advocates, it was more like a mini gathering of sorts. The Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals decided to stay home from the game, opting instead to use the occasion to raise money for dogs who are victims of cruelty or dogfighting. Meanwhile, Vick made a relatively quiet debut on the field, ending the night with 4-4 passing for about 19 yards. His new squad squeezed out a last-minute 33-32victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Thousands of heated Nigerians hit the streets of the capital Wednesday in protest of a government they say is doing a horrible job. The rising gas prices, slow election reform and low minimum wages (currently at around $38 a month) were among the issues being protested against. While there was plenty of security forces on the protest route, more and more joined the march as the crowd moved down the street. “Commercial drivers and motorcycle taxi operators are leaving their work and joining the protest,” said a BBC correspondent. More protests, by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), are planned Friday, but the government pleaded with the group to go back to negotiations instead, fearing the protests could “cause chaos,” reports the BBC. In addition to the country’s oil-rich Niger Delta region later this week, protestors plans to hit several other places across the country. “We are determined to carry these protests to all nooks and crannies of the country. We are not afraid of the government,” NLC President Abdulwaheed Omar told the news service.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), no stranger to passive resistance, was arrested Monday as part of a protest against the Sudanese government’s humanitarian policies in that nation’s Darfur region. Arrested along with Lewis during a rally staged by the Save Darfur Coalition were Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.). They were taken into custody after crossing a police line and refusing to leave the area in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington. Read the rest.

Gays Set to Protest Preacher at MLK Event
Some gay residents of Atlanta, angry over the choice of the Rev. Rick Warren to speak at the Martin Luther King, Commemorative Service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, say they will show up in force Monday to protest. Read more here.
King Papers Are Now Available
Scholars and researchers now have access to a treasure trove of civil rights history – thousands of writings and documents of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which have been cataloged and digitized. The papers, which include many of King’s speeches and personal writings accumulated over more than two decades beginning in 1946, are now available at the Robert W. Woodruff Library at the Atlanta University Center. In all, there are about 7,000 pieces of handwritten items, including an early draft of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech and nearly 100 sermons, some of which never have been published, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Playing a large role in raising the $32 million for the purchase were Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former Mayor Andrew Young and civil rights lion. “The religious documents are the ones that have not been available to scholars,” said King scholar Clayborne Carson, the founding director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Carson, who has spent 20 years trying to make King materials available for future generations, said, “This is a major step forward,” he said. “At the end of this process, it will be a lot easier for researchers to do their work.”

Prison protest ends in Ivory Coast. Police in the Ivory Coast have shut down a huge protest in the nation’s main prison, according to prison authorities. The ruckus began when prisoners in two blocks decided to revolt, prompting officials to call police. About 100 police officers fired guns into the air in an effort to break up the crowds of inmates, some of whom were throwing rocks at security guards. The prisoners protesting were some of the facility’s most dangerous inmates, according to the prison’s director. Police restored calm in the area around the prison after several hours. Six prisoners were injured as a result. The reason for the protest is in dispute. Officials say it was because the inmates were angry about a change in visiting hours implemented to prevent escapes. But rights groups say they were protesting overcrowding and poor conditions, reports the BBC. “You know that this place is overpopulated. The prison is around three or four times the maximum capacity, so the conditions for the prison guards and the prisoners themselves are quite difficult,” Drissa Traore, who heads the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights, told the news service. And, according to the BBC, 2,000 out of the 5,200 inmates in the prison have not been tried for the crimes for which they are incarcerated. Some have waited 10 years to be tried.

Somalia’s president axes prime minister. Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf says he fired the country’s prime minister because he didn’t do his job, reports CNN. But the former prime minister, Hassan Hussein, says he has no right to fire him without the approval of Parliament. Hussein, who has just been on the job for 13 months, has reportedly butted heads with Yusuf over a proposed reconciliation agreement with the Islamic opposition. According to the nation’s constitution, the president would need the Parliament’s no-confidence vote to get rid of Hussein. Fighting in the nation between Islamic militias and government forces (with the support of Ethiopian troops) has forced more than 1 million Somalis from their homes. The waters aren’t safe either, with international ships continuously being hijacked by Somali pirates. Since Ethiopian forces pushed Islamist forces out of the nation’s capital, Mogadishu, in 2006, the country has been operating under a U.N.-sponsored transitional government.

South African singer “Mama Africa” dies.Miriam Makeba, the South African singer nicknamed “Mama Africa,” suffered a heart attack after performing and died Sunday in Italy. She was 76. Makeba was known for using her music to fight against apartheid in her native land which resulted in her being exiled from the nation for over 30 years. She performed for only a half an hour at Sunday night’s benefit concert in Castel Volturno, reports the AFP. “She had been the last one to go on stage, after the performances of other singers,” said a photographer who covered the event. “There were calls for an encore and at that moment someone asked if there was a doctor in the house. Miriam Makeba fainted and was lying on the floor.” After her anti-apartheid lyrics caused her citizenship to be revoked in 1960, South African authorities refused to let her back into the nation, even for her mother’s funeral. The country also banned her music, but that didn’t slow her popularity worldwide. She won a Grammy Award in 1965 for her album with Harry Belafonte, “An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba.” Her biggest hit was “Pata Pata” in 1967, but she made the uninformed decision to sign away all royalties on the song. “Though my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realizing,” she said in her biography. Her only daughter, Bongi Makeba, died in 1985. After living in the United States, Guinea and Europe, she returned to South Africa in the 1990s when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the apartheid system crumbled. South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma released a statement about Makeba’s death. “One of the greatest songstresses of our time Miriam Makeba has ceased to sing,” it he said. She “died performing what she did best – an ability to, communicate a positive message through the art of singing.” “Though my music I became this voice and image of Africa, and the people, without even realizing.”

You can call it a sign of the times. But it’s more accurate to call it a series of signs that reflect our times. Several recording stars are teaming up to express their thoughts on the world’s political scene. They have posed for photos featuring protest signs that they made up themselves, The Associated Press reports. Among those involved is Public Enemy. You can probably guess what their sign reads: “Fight the Power.” Others involved include Modest Mouse, R.E.M., Death Cab for Cutie and Rage Against The Machine. The signs will be auctioned off starting next Tuesday. Proceeds from the online sales will go to benefit War Child International, a nonprofit organization that helps kids in areas of conflict around the globe, AP reports.  See the auction signs here.

You(th) Vote: A group of about 10 activists, calling themselves “Blacks Against Obama,” were escorted out of a rally for Sen. Barack Obama in Coral Gables, Fla., after  interrupting Obama’s speech for about 2 minutes.  They were waving signs that said that Obama supports gay marriage, abortion and that he has been endorsed by the KKK! Click for more.

He’s preparing to defend his Sean Bell acquittal protest

The Rev. Al Sharpton will take his public nuisance and disturbing the peace case to court Oct. 6, a Manhattan judge ruled Thursday. Sharpton, who was arrested in early May – along with scores of protestors who froze up major New York City thoroughfares as a statement against the acquittal of three police officers in the shooting death of Sean Bell – had an opportunity recently to admit guilt and avoid a trial and jail time. But the civil rights leader, who heads the Harlem-based National Action Network, wanted a public airing for a case that focuses attention back on what he and others say is the egregiously unfair freeing of the NYPD cops who shot down the 23-year-old Bell outside a Queens nightclub on the eve of his wedding day, Nov. 25, 2006. The officers shot the unarmed groom and his two friends in a haze of 50 bullets. Bell’s friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, survived but were seriously wounded. On Wednesday, Sharpton said there is nothing unlawful about a peaceful protest. “Every time they bring me back, it further exposes the disparity of justice in this city,” he said.

Thousands of Mexicans hit the streets to protest crime. Mexicans, sick and tired of the huge wave of murders and kidnappings in t heir country, took to the streets Saturday demanding the government do something about the violence, which they say is out of control. More than 50,000 people (according to government estimates) wearing white and carrying candles and pictures of kidnapped loved ones, marched through the streets of Mexico City . Thousands also took part in protests around the nation as well. During his time in office, President Felipe Calderon has put crime fighting first but, other than the arrest of several prominent drug dealers, not much has improved, reports CNN.  Big drug cartels have been fighting one another for trafficking routes. Just in the state of Chihuahua , there have been more than 800 murders this year – which is twice as much as last year during this time. Last week a dozen headless bodies were found near Cancun . One family of protesters had not heard from their 24-year-old daughter, Monica Alejandrina Ramirez, since she was kidnapped in 2004. “The most frustrating thing has been the indolence of many of the authorities, their insensitivity. I have often asked myself, why? Why me? Why my daughter?” said Ramirez’s father. In many towns, the police forces are struggling, some complaining that they have to share guns. And many officers have resigned after witnessing a fellow officer murdered in front of their homes.