Hip Hop Group Native Guns Re-Unite & Release Brand New song About Oscar Grant

Hip-Hop Revolutionaries Brings it Again!
Bambu & Kiwi Reunite as Native Guns Showing Solidarity for Oscar Grant

On my last blog essay, I expressed my thoughts on the trial of Officer Mehserle for the Execution of Oscar Grant. I also wrote the need for solidarity amongst all of our communities. Well, as though it was almost an answer to what I was looking for – Hip-Hop MC’s, Bambu & Kiwi along with DJ Phatrick have reunited as their original duo group Native Guns to release their latest song, “Handcuffs”.

I remember when Native Guns broke up, I literally cried. I cried not only because they were dear friends of mine who I cared about tremendously but also I cried because of what they represented to many of us. Native Guns was not just an important voice of the Hip-Hop community but specifically the Filipino-American community. Native Guns are Filipino-American’s who are Hip-Hop MC’s amongst many others (so many to mention), who speak conscious political rhymes and voice the historical and present injustices against Filipino people. Native Guns, as many Hip-Hop MC’s, are community organizers and often make connections of our struggles to the struggles of other communities. It’s been four years since Native Guns released a song/album but here they are bringing it again, with that same connectedness and using their wise organizing skills by utilizing Hip-Hop to inspire the masses. The lyrics are witty, intelligently woven together and the beat got that ill hip-hop funky baseline and drumbeat (produced by Six Fingers). Together, they are showing that the solidarity lies amongst all of us.

Click HERE to download new Native Guns Son on Oscar Grant

The song couldn’t have come at a better time, at a time when it seems like folks are looking for something of inspiration to uplift and give hope. It’s coming at a time when many around us are trying to find ways to express our feelings but need to see positive ways of expressing those feelings. It’s also coming at the perfect time to show the media that we’re not just angry activists, but we’re activists that have a long history in this movement and we have a right to be angry.

Kiwi opens it up bringing his lyrical skills and dope flow, expressing the very views of not just activists but thousands of people who are tired of what is going on in their communities:

“fire on the streets/i can feel the smoke and the heat
the whole city on lock/got no where to eat
A shot heard around town/so the people won’t sleep
another brother taken down/by the fuckin police
We’re sick of just yelling/No Justice! No Peace!”

My last essay, also spoke about all issues being connected to what’s happening in Arizona to other issues around the world. Native Guns also make the same connections with Bambu’s line, “To the pig from Oakland/to a life getting stolen/from a pig in Gaza/To the pig who killed Ayana” and “It’s Arizona to Watts/Philippines to Iraq” and Kiwi’s lines “same bullets, same tank, used on the West Bank.”

Just when you think the verses were truth with fire, the hook itself spoke the truth and inspires me to want to walk with the masses the day the verdict goes down:

(Handcuffs) we are not afraid we are mad
(Native Guns) Take it to the streets just like that
(Handcuffs) Its bigger than the block we on
(Native Guns) All power to the masses homes
(Handcuffs) bottom to the top school up
(Native Guns) linkin all for that money/getting cut up
(Handcuffs) Meet me at the Fruitvale BART
(Native Guns) Shake the system/Rip the setup apart
(Handcuffs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP3W4LnX92g&feature=player_embedded


Bambu, also sharply makes a strong point with lines like “the issues are bigger than one murderous cop”, which brings it to the point that the issues are big, that we are dealing with a large entity, a system that is connected to other systems which Kiwi illustrates, “less money for city college or healthcare/more people unemployed no welfare/the same people on all the streets trying to get theirs/politicians, corporations like (handcuffs) hell yeah/”

The song is fire, speaks truth to power and I am proud to know that my brothers Native Guns came together for such an important song. Thank you, thank you, thank you and bless you.

Download the song here: http://24kmilky.com/7203/native-guns-handcuffs
(i’m also posting it on my wall so you can hear it before downloading if you wish) But please Post it everywhere And Let this be a call-to-action for all of our communities to come together. Express yourselves with a song, a beat, a dance and organize with our communities, come out when the verdict goes down, express yourself!

All I know is, we got to be together…

Peace, love, and unity
Kuttin Kandi

p.s. to read my last essay on Oscar Grant go here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/kuttin-kandi/no-independence-day-in-unity-struggle-till-we-are-all-free-for-oscar-grant/409911133373

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Oscar Grant Trial: Oakland Protestor Looks Back & Speaks out (Why I Engaged the Police)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIVKWc8pdj0

Last year during the Jan 7th 2009 protest, (Oscar Grant funeral/ Oscar Grant Rebellion) many saw a young man with a black hoodie and locks engaging the police about their thoughts and feelings around the murder of Oscar Grant.. The man was seen on tape asking a series of questions about how the cops felt, their thoughts on officer Mehserle whose name was not known to the public and how they would feel if it was one of their kids on the Fruitvale BART station platform that night…The brother would not let up as he spent a good 30-40 minutes going up and down the police line asking each and every officer similar questions… He reminded them that he was a citizen, born and raised in Oakland and wanted to know if he should feel safe riding BART… It was pretty compelling as images of this brother engaging the police were seen all over the world..

I never caught dude’s name being that shortly after filming this, the police were given orders to clear the intersection of 14th and Broadway..The guy in the black hoodie and dreads was probably one of the first to be arrested and roughed up that night. According to him, the police wasted no time making a direct b-line to him..

We finally caught up with 23-year-old Jonathan Levy who was the protestor shown in the film..  Looking back to the events 18 months ago on the eve of the Oscar Grant verdict, Levy explained that he didn’t know too much about the particulars surrounding Grant until the day of the protests and his funeral. He said he felt compelled to go downtown and voice his concern and when he saw the line of police, he decided to approach them.

He explained that like most young men in Oakland his interactions with the police have not been positive. Oscar Grant’s murder struck a nerve. In engaging the police, Levy noted that he made it a point to stay within the lines of the law. In fact on several occasions he asked if his questions were illegal or if he was doing anything wrong. He never got a response.

Levy noted that his questions connected with a couple of the officers. He felt that all of them should’ve been out there protesting with the people and speaking out about the wrong doings of former BART officer Johannes Mehserle. Some of the other officer, were chomping at the bit as his questions got under their skin. As was mentioned earlier Jonathan was arrested, roughed up. His brother was beaten. He was charged with of failure to disperse and unlawful assembly. Charges were dropped the next day.

Levy explained that he had no regrets as to what he did. He was ready and willing to accept the consequences and in fact felt it would’ve been hypocritical to have runaway after asking those questions. He wanted to make a larger point about the importance of seeing justice for Oscar Grant and his family.  He also noted that he fully expects to be out there with the community on 14th and Broadway  6pm.. the night of the verdict.. He also said its important for folks not to riot out of respect for what the Grant family asked for.. ‘We still gotta live here’ , he noted..

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What can I Do… (Remember this is Bigger than Oscar Grant) by Chela Simone

What can I do?
By Chela Simone

original article:
http://www.facebook.com/mrdaveyd#!/note.php?note_id=446666950852&id=547107938&ref=mf
As I watched and re-watched the footage of Oscar Grant being shot in the back on the BART platform By Officer Johannes Mehserle on Jan 1 2009. It shook me to my core, knowing that my 14-year-old cousin exits that same station everyday. Knowing that In my beautiful city of Oakland, another cop murdered yet another unarmed man. Knowing that they still “hunt” us.

Oakland California my birthplace, I spent most of my life in and out of the corridors of the Bay Area. Here in Oakland being young and black is like a golden ticket for the police harassment “rite of passage”, and depending on how you respond to this initiation will determine when you catch your first case. I felt betrayed by a system that allows this to happen and continue to happen. I felt sad for both families realizing that Mehserles’ first son was born within days of executing Oscar, I felt sorry for Oscars’ child that will never have the luxury of a fathers guidance; for the families that were, are, and will continue to be affected by Americas’ constant disregard for life. All color aside we are a species of being on a planet that is bleeding into our oceans. With that said.

What can I do?
The horrors of police terrorism are no “over active paranoia’ for the young and black in Oakland. It is real life. The Oakland Riders, were a local police gang, this is not some myth on the Internet or a story I overheard drinking expensive cocktails at some fancy bar… no, I met one of the Riders personally. A day that would change my ideas of the “Officers of these Laws’ forever.

My 16th summer, my best friends and I sat on the stoop talking about “teenage stuff”. Officer Vasquez

Officer Vasquez’s mugshot.

pulled up in front of the building in his patrol car and demanded we ” go the fuck inside”. We were both shocked and confused, the area was infamous for drug activity, but it was the middle of the afternoon and we lived in the house we sat in front of. We ignored his warning, laughing at him defiantly. He scowled at us and before he drove away he said, “I’ll get you bitches”.

At 16 I had no idea the lengths this officer would go to make us pay for not following his command. One week later my best friend walked into the corner store. Officer Vasquez followed her in and with out provocation he grabbed her arm, slammed her into the display case, cleared a counter with her face, slammed her on to the ground and arrested her for possession of crack cocaine. She to this day has never touched a crack rock, let alone sold one. The young man accompanying her to the store tried to intervene and was also arrested for possession of crack cocaine and resisting arrest. Since they were 18 they where sent to adult processing. Both of them were college students and relatively mild mannered kids with no priors or otherwise. Lucky for them, they were released and all charges were dropped. But not after spending the weekend in jail. Welcome to Oakland.

I was the one with the big mouth, I thought I knew it all, I could quote laws and championed myself savvy when it came to knowing my rights. That would be until the day Vasquez pulled up next to me while I walked home from school alone. I panicked when he told me to “get in the fucking car”. Should I run? from a cop that had just beat and arrested two of my friends for sitting on the porch?

After Vasquez explained to me that he could, “fuck me, kill me and leave me in a dumpster, and no one would ever know”. His message became very clear to me. He was the boss. I never called the police, I never told my mother, I told a few friends in passing but it was only swallowed by the hum of all the other stories. Besides who would believe us anyway? We were just young black kids from Oakland.

Fast forward to 2004. Watching the evening news and I see his face, on my TV. My hands began to sweat I feel the same panic that I had felt years before. I rush to the phone to call my best friend. She cannot remember his face but she can remember his name. The once tyrannical Rider, Officer Vasquez was now a fugitive. “Breaking News” to those that do not frequent the inner city boundaries. But to me and at least 119 of the individual victims of The Riders, who were falsely arrested, had drugs planted on them, were subjected to excessive force, or went to jail/prison for as many as 5 years, knew this was real, Oscar knew this too. No surprise that The Rider Trial ended with jurors acquitting the officers of eight charges and deadlocked on the remaining 27. Even less surprising the officers wanted their jobs back, “the same shift and everything,”

I watched the execution again, you can hear the 22-year-old father, Oscar Grant scream, “you shot me and I didn’t do anything”. I watch it again. Oscar reaches up from the platform for an officer to help him and they cuff him. He is shot and they cuff him. I want Mehserle to be some evil monster that hated black people, but I can’t be sure of that… I am sure he is a 28-year-old man who made a horrible mistake; being caught on film behaving abusively and recklessly. I can only guess that in his mind, he was doing his job. The organization he works for, has no problem executing the weak, the poor and the under represented, whatever color you happen to be at the time. To Mehserle cuffing a man that had been shot in the back was nothing more than procedure, however inhumane it may seem to a civilian.

What can I do?
I watched again, I felt helpless. Felt like I needed to do something, or break something, instead I called fellow musician Azeem and asked him to record a song with me. We made “Shut em Down” a spin off of Lupe Fiasco’s “Dumb it Down’. I hosted a few benefits, one for political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal’s birthday and book release party were Angela Davis and Lynne Stewart spoke on the injustice system.

(left to right) Kulwa, Adimu, Jack Bryson, Angela Davis, Minister of Information JR, Chela Simone, Ambassador Franco, Nakiya and Mistah F.A.B

That is where I met Jack Bryson the father of Jackie Bryson, the young man on the platform with Oscar the night he was killed. He wanted Oakland’s support to get Mehserle charged. His sincere concern with bringing the shooter to trial reminded me that I could easily be Jack and I wanted to help.

Later that night a group of us lamented over memories of more cop stories. The time when they beat up Chris so bad they had to call his mom, “cause he might not make it”. When they shot unarmed Jody Mack Woodfox, a 27-year-old African American man, after a traffic stop in 2008. Not only was Woodfox unarmed, but a preliminary autopsy revealed that he was shot “numerous times” in his back from approximately 25 feet away, The “shooter” Officer Hector Jimenez, killed Jody Woodfox in July after having killed Andrew Moppin by shooting him in the back eight times on New Year’s Eve. Casper Banjo shot by OPD with a high-powered rifle through the heart in the parking lot of the police station in 2008. In 2006 a twenty-six year old African American man standing on a street corner in his neighborhood talking with friends. Two Oakland police officers approached the group of men and began to harass them and search them without probable cause. He was knocked over a fence by one of the officers and is now permanently paralyzed.

Gary King Jr. by shot in the back by OPD in 2007

Twenty year-old Gary King Jr. by shot in the back in 2007. Seventeen year-old Ameir Rollins paralyzed in 2006. Nineteen year-old Joshua Russell, murdered in 2002 all by Sergeant Pat Gonzalez who happens to be, the fifth officer shot and wounded in the events of March 21st, 2009 which left

Lovelle Mixon

Lovelle Mixon and four Oakland police officers dead. I found no peace in these discoveries, I only found myself angry, sad and uncomfortable with the situation I was witnessing.

I need to do something, what can I do?
I followed the Grant/Mehserle case in the news, in blogs, on youtube, by word of mouth. It took 12 days to call for charges on Officer Mehserle, who fled the state and was found in Nevada. Ron Dellums waited 7 days to make a statement to the City of Oakland. I was disappointed that someone that takes the stance that he is “for the people”, did nothing for the people, until he was faced with angry citizens. We needed someone to at the very least say that there would not be another young person murdered by the same organization created to “protect and serve”. Instead we were faced with BART saying that there was no “official” tape, Dellums silence and all this anger. The Oakland riots were a valid reaction. I hate to see my city destroyed, but I understand the sentiment, a legitimate response to an extreme situation. The people are not “just crazy’, Police “hunt’ us. That is a reason to demonstrate, to defy these oppressions. Everyone deals with anger and grief differently, opportunists take advantage of the moment to do what they do best.. I called my sister in New York, she had never heard of Oscar Grant. I was disappointed again.

After hearing they where moving the trial to Los Angles just like everyone else, I thought “that is where the cops that beat up Rodney King got off”. I hoped that it wouldn’t happen again. I let Oscar, fade from my memory, I found other “ills of men” to occupy my disgust like the Eleven Oakland Police Department officers, including two sergeants that were terminated for their involvement in the falsification of search warrant affidavits, drug tests and numerous criminal cases that were called into question due to the improper search warrants and untruthful statements. All of which happen to be going on at the exact time we watched the outcry in the streets of Oakland in honor of Oscar Grant, in honor of every one that knows the subtle trickle of oppression in our everyday lives. The illness of racism that hasn’t been erased from the human consciousness, call it “Muscle Memory”, if you will, all too apparent in the mixed reaction of the community to Lovell Mixion. Then BP drilled a hole in the earth. (To be continued)

What Can I Do?
Three weeks ago I got a call from a journalist from Oakland that alerted me to available seats in the court, and with no prompting and no money I found my self driving down the 5 with very mixed emotions about what I would find when I got there. I had just written my first piece for sfbayview and I was looking for a story with teeth. This story would prove to be a huge bite, one that would take a chunk out of my heart.

I needed to see it first hand. I wanted to know that they really tried this case. It wasn’t about Oscar alone. It was the one of the biggest cases in the last decade. A cop was on trial for murder. After all of the men wronged they were finally going to try one for murder. I wasn’t sure I was even angry about Oscar any more. I wasn’t sure Meserle shot him on purpose despite my need to find a place to lay blame. What a heavy load for the “lone gunman”. At that point I was not thinking about facts or video, it was about justice for all of them. I was no longer “objective”.

I made it into the courtroom after a day of being denied access during 4 separate breaks, the day Dominice lied so poorly on the stand that one of the jurors shook his head in disbelief, I watched Perone arrogantly throw Mehserle “under a bus.” I saw Jackie testify to being handcuffed for over 5 hours, in a holding cell where Pirone came to kick up his feet and smirk at him. I heard the court read transcripts with an antagonistically ignorant ebonic overtone, in an attempt to eclipse the relevancy of Bryson’s testimony. I watched Mehserle cry, I watched Oscars’ mother cry, I heard Mehserle say he didn’t mean to shoot him. I watched Mehserle get caught in a few lies. I watch the court remove 5 young black males from the public seats for various “reasons” some substantiated some not. I watch the seats refill with defense attorneys externs.

They played the tape in the court room so many times, I didn’t hear the “pop”.
I began to notice so many things I never saw before.
Like Oscar was on the phone and he took a picture.
Pirone knee Oscar in the face, 250 pounds on his neck.
Mehserle never called for an ambulance. Why not? There is a human dying.
Mehserles’ reaction after he shot him. He looks shocked.

I look to the jury, no black faces.

Can they even fathom how important this is to so many people that are so misinformed about the details of this case, but these same people know it happens all the time…

How common the abuse? How uncommon it is for it to be an officer as a defendant in a murder trial?

My observation is Mehserle’s act alone was not motivated by racism, Pirone is a bully, Domenici isn’t very good at lying and the orchestration of the “powers that be” is fine tuned and vicious.

I believe that some police are desensitized to the strategic warfare going on in specific communities. And those that aren’t desensitized and can see what it is, just go along with it because that’s the job a paycheck and that is what they are “supposed” to do.

I believe that, officers are subconsciously trained to be aggressive toward a “suspected criminal”. Just so happens, the suspects are mostly brown/black people. The All Point Bulletins (APB) that go out to all officers, everyday describe just about every Black or Hispanic Male that lives here between the ages of 16 -35, 5-7feet, 100-250 lbs walking or driving. I don’t think it is some grand conspiracy amongst the police force alone, it’s an age old doctrine that has never changed. It is just subtler and better protected by its founders. I don’t even think some of these cops recognize the scale of this experiment. They just follow orders, which protects them when they don’t follow laws.

Mehserle contended in the preliminary trial that Mehserle pulled his gun and shot Oscar because Oscar was resisting and “thought he was going for a gun”.

From what witnesses observed, Oscar was not resisting. Pirone was being an over zealous cop, and was using excessive force. Mehserle wasn’t thinking, just reacting, pulled a gun and shot him.

I do believe it was “muscle memory”, the four steps he went thru to remove his gun from his holster were all involuntary. He was drilled to remove that gun over and over. If he hesitates for one moment he could be dead. He may have even meant to reach for his taser but his training was to pull his gun and fire. And he did.

Lets say for a moment Mehserle actually did pull out that taser and tase him, after he was subdued. It was still excessive force, and during this entire act the idea never crossed his mind. He knew that he could tase Oscar and even if it was wrong and on tape and he wasn’t in fear of going to jail for it, or even being harshly punished for that matter. In his mind, at that moment, it was not wrong to watch Pirone unjustly beat him, he could then tase him, and take him to jail, all based on a description of a suspect in a fight. Which is still of course not confirmed to be Oscar Grant.

It is demonstrated over and over again, once you are a suspect, police can intimidate you, terrorize you, be aggressive and violent if they want to, they can beat you, tase you and then arrest you for resisting this terror. The only problem with this arrest is, he didn’t kill him with his hands, a nightstick or his taser, he shot him with his gun and you have to explain that.

Now before the, “I was just going to tase him. I didn’t know it was a gun”, defense. Mehserle said in preliminary trials that Grant was resisting. Now after reviewing tapes, even Mehserle said Oscar “appears to be complying”. Mehserle also said he” thought Grant was going for a gun”, so Mehserle was going to “tase” Grant?

Why would you tase a man with his finger on a “trigger”? Couldn’t his hands constrict and discharge a bullet?

If a cop sees a suspect going for a gun…. Wouldn’t the officer pull his weapon? Aren’t officers trained to match a weapon with deadly force?

Terry Foreman, the officer Mehserle asked for the morning of the shooting when he was taken to BART police headquarters at Lake Merritt testified, Mehserle “would say, out of nowhere, ‘I thought he had a gun,’ and start crying.”

So which is it?
I am confused.
Either:
He was resisting and you were going to tase him and accidently shot him
– or –
He was reaching for a gun and you pulled your weapon and shot him.
These two scenarios are vastly different.
Can’t be both.

And I am mad about that. I am angry about all the smoke and mirrors, the deception, the maze of words, and expert opinions that amount to nothing more than another lie.

Mehserle shot him on tape and it took days, a riot and three investigations to bring him up on changes.
He switched his story up and got a whole team of cops and experts to lie for him. And they aren’t even good lies.

Is that racist? NO, the acts themselves are not. Race played an obvious part when he was detained by Pirone.
It is not a “black persons” myth. Police harass black and brown people. Just take a look at the jails.
But no his actions where not motivated by race, instead by conditioning, which is even more deadly, from every angle. Until people of all color acknowledge that even with a Black President the race relations in this country are deplorable, then we are far from abandoning this ignorance . Just watch that cop punch that young woman in the face in Seattle to see how civil these servants are.

Is this justice? NOT even close. We know he shot him. It’s on TAPE, a lot of tapes. a lot of angles. Why?? Because people saw something unjust going on BEFORE he got shot. Excessive Force.

These young men were celebrating one more year of life, and found themselves being initiated into black manhood in Oakland. Sitting against the wall with their hands up watching a ritual that has been carried out for so many generations. It was the same old same, ruff up a couple a cats cite em” out and send em’ home. Write a few up and send em’ off to jail. All in a good nights work, but that night some thing went wrong.

The Expert witness Greg Meyers said Johannes Mehserle did not show excessive use of force, it could be considered coincidental that he said the same thing when he testified for the officers that beat Rodney King, or it could be the estimated 30k he commands for his performance.

On June 30th The Judge took Murder 1 off the table. The jury in People, Vs. Mehserle will chose from 2nd Degree Murder, Voluntary Manslaughter or Involuntary Manslaughter.
It’s not the worst thing that could happen. We all dread the worst.
Closing statements on Friday July 2, 2010, and then we wait.

What can we do?
In the dawn of a verdict every one is operating on the presumption that Oakland is going to “burn down”. That people will lose there lives and go to jail. Well, as illustrated above that is already happening. Some will, some will choose different methods, others like Oscar will have no choice.

The Oakland police have demonstrated their intimidation tactics in court on the street and now LIVE on the evening news. A plan is in place to call for “Mutual Aid”, which will bring hundreds of officers from Northern California to Oakland. Twenty-one thousand National Guard will be on standby, all backed by Mr. “for the people” Ron Dellums, himself. Dellums said “we will not tolerate destruction or violence”, if he would have added “unless it is towards civilians” to that statement, it would be a more honest assessment of what they are foreshadowing. Just more of the same.

Yes we need to stand together, and be objective in our approach. Burn it down –or- meet them on their playground, cry, hide, all are honest reactions. We are all wired differently, a painter can paint it, a writer can write it, a singer can sing it, Just DO something.
Not every one is readied for the battleground. Just Do something
To assume we just want to act a fool is another form of “profiling” , but we can talk about that later.

I say, do whatever you feel is right.

This story changed me in ways I cannot put into words, I have gone from a voyeur to a woman who speaks and acts. I wrote, I drove, I sang, I showed up, I came back to tell the story. Not just for Oscar, but for something I never thought would move me so deeply, Us. Its bigger than one man in one city. I just caution you to think before you move and walk into a war zone thinking it’s a good time to break a window and grab some free sneakers. You are aware they have shot many unarmed men, some handcuffed, some innocent, some face down, some in the back. They will not hesitate to shoot some one they can “prove” a potential threat, and they are giving “fair” warning.

There have been many different organizations asking for peace. I will be the first to clap when we reach that place.

In between 2004-2008 there were 45 officer involved shootings in Oakland, as of May 2009, 62 in review, of which, 80% of the victims were African American 40% had no weapons. Over 2,000 people were murdered by police in the U.S. since 1990 and this is the FIRST one brought up on charges. When exactly is a good time to be angry about that?

Do something.

written by Chela Simone

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Ner City: My thoughts about yesterday’s town hall meeting for Oscar Grant

My thoughts about yesterday’s town hall meeting for Oscar Grant

by Ner City

original story: http://bit.ly/9di80X

First of all I would like to thank Josh Healey for giving me the 411 about this meeting. Josh excuse my language but you’re a real a** mutha fucka for real.

Yesterday’s town hall meeting was very interesting. It was sad that it wasn’t really a “Town Hall Meeting” but more like a “Street Hall Meeting”. What I mean by that was I wish there were more people there. No Oakland Raider, Athletic, Golden State Warrior rep, no KMEL rep, KTVU, NBC, CBS, ABC (Shout out to Greg Bridges from KPFA for being there) but besides him and maybe a few people from grassroots movements everyone else seemed M.I.A. The church was maybe half full. Maybe a lot of people were like me out of the loop and found out about this meeting at the last minute or not knowing at all. *shrugs*

Things that I learned:
There are tiers to Manslaughter, Involuntary Manslaughter & 2nd Degree murder. Meaning that a person convicted of involuntary manslaughter can still get a lot of years if a gun was involved. Same for Manslaughter & 2nd degree murder. So if Mehserle gets a guilty verdict for whatever he can still have 10-21 years added mandatory. .

There were some disturbing things that I learned also. As reported on my status update Mehserle was kicked out of the same high school where he was voted “Most huggable” for slapping a Latina woman. This evidence was not allowed in court for some strange reason.

The Judge’s final instructions to the jury were that if they felt that Mehserle was going for his taser they must find him not guilty.

Things that moved me:
Oscar Grant’s mother being there. It’s one thing to see the woman on TV and try to feel her pain, but it’s a totally different thing to see her in person. She’s a very strong woman and probably wishes she didn’t get so much attention. A mother losing her son has to be the biggest pain ever felt. 9 months carrying the child, all those years raising them and now you have to spend the rest of your life trying to cope without them. Damn.

My feelings about the Town Hall Meeting:

I have mixed feelings. For two hours only 4-5 people spoke. Two Muslim ministers, this guy named “Tony”, Oscar Grant’s uncle, Donald Lacy and the pastor of the church that we were at to wrap things up. Though all of them said things to move the crowd (though some of them started preaching, ranting & going on a tangent a little too long) to me there wasn’t any “So this is what we’re going to do now.” Moments

I wanted to know what are we as a people in this room going to do to spread the message about the different tiers of involuntary manslaughter, manslaughter & murder to the people that don’t know because the news isn’t doing that.

How do you feel if Mehserle gets involuntary manslaughter but gets 14 years? Will you say that it’s “Injustice”? If so will you riot? And speaking of “rioting” I highly doubt one person in that church would throw a brick, kick out a window, jump on a car or start beating white people which is being said by so many people if the verdict doesn’t go their way. My point is that we need to talk to the people that will or might want to do that. Hell, we were on 27th & San Pablo (Just a few blocks where my Grand Father lived in some of the most hood spots) and I bet you a few of these young kids would love to “tear some shit up for injustice and rage”. We need to touch them.

So Monday I’m going to do my part and walk the streets of both East & West Oakland to talk to some of these young men and just to see where their head’s at. People are quick to say that the riots could happen downtown but what about the rest of “The town”? What about the Fruitvale area where Oscar was murdered? What about East Oakland where if you remember our people went wild twice, once over the Raiders winning the AFC championship & another time just because there was suppose to be a Tupac & Dogg Pound concert at the Eastmont Pavilion <—– I’m showing my age. What about Oakland’s west side? Those are questions that need to be asked and addressed don’t you think?

These were the things that Josh and I were talking about as I was dropping him off from the meeting. It was strange how our conversation just stopped when we pulled up & seen two Oakland’s police cars near Josh’s “favorite taco truck”, that just shows you there’s still tension in the air, my question that I asked Josh that I wished I could’ve asked the people in that room, or the mayor or the police chief (Both who weren’t there) this…

My Question- Everybody’s worried about what Oakland is going to do if they don’t get the verdict they want and how are they going to react, but how will Bart Police, Oakland Police, SFPD, Richmond PD, LAPD and every PD in the state of California and outside of it..how will they react (to us) if they do not get the verdict they want? Will they feel that justice was not served and lash out at us in their own special way?

Just something to thing about.

BTW I hate that picture of Oscar Grant wearing all black with the beany. To me it helps play into people’s ignorance and fear of a dangerous black man painting a picture of him being a thug and the media, defense attorney and police on the scene can hype that bs so I found a better one to post.

I will leave this note with a remix to the battle cry that was created from this horrible crime against a young man’s life “I am Oscar Grant, who doesn’t want his Son to be the next Oscar Grant”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu-NSij9wDk

Is Oakland Police Itching to use its LRAD Weapon..Is That Why We Keep hearing About Riots?

Dear Oakland leaders,

The Oakland Police Department has recently acquired a new crowd control device, known as an “LRAD” or Long Range Acoustic Device. An Alameda County procurement report, linked below, as well as the following KPIX news report, confirm this fact.http://cbs5.com/video/?id=66965@kpix.dayport.com.

The LRAD is a very dangerous device that can cause permanent hearing loss. The Canadian Civil Liberties Union recently obtained an injunction against LRAD deployment in Toronto, Canada, after police threatened its use during the recent G-20 summit. See attached petition for some of the details.

The CCLU stated in paragraph 1 of its petition:

“Long Range Acoustic Devices are largely untested, “sub-lethal” devices capable of causing extreme pain and permanent hearing loss. Due to their weapon-like qualities, they are commonly referred to as “sonic cannons.” Originally developed for use on the high seas, and subsequently used in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, sonic cannons recently have been deployed in urban settings to disperse crowds and force compliance through pain and comfort.”

The CCLU provided numerous affidavits from medical professionals in obtaining an injunction against LRAD use, including an audiologist who confirmed that exposure to the intense noise generated by an LRAD can “cause damage to the cochlea of the inner ear which may not show up until years later. Disruption to the delicate mechanics of the inner ear can sometimes improve within a few hours or days, but most often there is not a complete recovery and there is permanent hearing loss.” See attached “Factum of the Moving Parties,” at par. 32.

OPD should not use such a dangerous and little-understood device on Oakland civilians. This device appears unfit for any use at all, much less against local residents exercising their First Amendment rights of expression and association.

All City Council members and members of the Mayor’s Office must demand that OPD discard any plans to utilize the LRAD.

Michael Siegel, Esq.
Siegel & Yee
(510) 839-1200 x207
michaeljwsiegel@gmail.com

LRAD Procurement link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/33832988
Canadian Civil Liberties Union petition, re: LRAD injunction:http://www.scribd.com/doc/33833004

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Press Conference on what to do when Oscar Grant Verdict Comes down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm61icS01_Q

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Coundown to the Oscar Grant Vedict/ Why Are Police beating Our Kids?

Click HERE to listen to Breakdown FM podcast

Click HERE: http://bit.ly/9IlXCm

Breaking News Update Wed June 30 2010:

Judge has taken 1st degree murder off the table. Jury will choose from 2nd degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter… Closing arguments will start tomorrow…Mehserle’s lawyer wanted jury to choose either murder 1 or acquital. Many speculated getting murder1 would be difficult.

As the historic Oscar Grant trial comes to a close in Los Angeles we wanted to share a crucial update as to what is going on in the trial. For those who are unaware, for the first time in the history of the state of California, a police officer (Johannes Mehserle) was brought to trail and charged with murder after shooting and killing someone while on duty.

An unarmed, completely subdued Grant was shot in the back as he lay face down on New Year’s morning ’09 in front of hundreds of people on a BART subway station in Oakland. Mehserle claims he thought he reached for his taser instead of his gun. It’s a story the community wasn’t and has never brought especially when it was revealed that Mehserle was heard shouting “I thought he had a gun’.

If he had a gun, then why reach for your taser?

The community became even more enraged when it was discovered that moments before Grant was killed, Mehserle’s  partner Tony Pirone who was recently fired had called Grant a ‘bitch ass nigger’ before he was shot.

The community was even more enraged when it was discovered that Mehserle just six weeks earlier in an unprovoked attacked had severely beaten a 41-year-old Black man named Kenneth Carrethers after he was overheard complaining about how inefficient the police were at stopping crime…

We caught up with Minister of Information-JR who is the associate editor of the SF Bayview and heads up the Block Report Radio. He’s been down in LA covering the trial even after he and several other Black men under 40 were kicked out of court for a variety of un-related reasons. In our podcast JR explains why this has been going on in what many are saying is a highly biased court.

Expert witness Greg Meyers said there was no excessive use of force during the Rodney King trail. Of course he is defending Johannes Mehserle

In this interview JR talks about some of the ‘expert’ witness that have come forward in defense of Mehserle including a former LA police captain Greg Meyer who claimed that Grant when shot was resisting arrest. It’s an outlandish conclusion considering Grant was shown completely restrained with the larger Mehserle sitting on his back. however one should not be surprised, considering it was Meyer who sat on the witness stand during the Rodney King trail and claimed there was no excessive use of force.  I guess the estimated 30 thousand dollars paid to Meyer didn’t hurt when giving his testimony.

We also spoke to JR about the media blackout on the case especially in the LA area and offer up some reasons why this is happening.

In the latest update another expert witness is claiming that Mehserle was so stressed out that he became temporarily blind which is why he shot Grant. What’s taking place at this trial is unbelievable.

Today June 30th the judge will be meeting with lawyers to discuss what the options are for jurors. Mehserle’s high-priced lawyer Michael Rain is pushing for an all or nothing ruling. In short either convict him of murder or acquit him. The prosecutor wants the jury to have options so Mehserle doesn’t walk.

Sadly the judge on the trial Robert Perry has history of siding with the police as was evidence during the infamous Rampart Scandal in LA when he let the cops off the hook.

Also as we speak Oakland police have been planting seeds of fear in the community by warning people of impending riots. Last night KRON 4 reported that as much as 21 thousand national guards are on alert and ready to move in on Oakland. All off vacationing officers have been called back into the city with police as far away as Oregon ready to join in.

Why Are Police Beating Our Kids-What Should We be Doing?

In pt 2 of our podcast we sat down with community activist and former Seattle mayoral candidate Wyking Allah and  Paradise Gray of X-Clan and One Hood out in Pittsburgh to talk about the recent rash of police brutality incidents where children as young as 7 have been the victims.

Wyking does an excellent job putting things in historical context and offering solid solution for communities to follow. He noted that much of what he suggested were key tenets on his platform for mayor.

Paradise Gray updates us on two key cases in Pittsburgh. One involves the beatings that took place last fall when officers stormed the University of Pittsburgh campaus looking for anarchists. Unsuspecting students were tear-gased, beaten and arrested. There was major investigation with the police being found in the wrong.. The other incident involves honor student Jordan Miles who was beaten and had his dread locks ripped out his head by a rogue group of martial art expert police dubbed the ‘Jump Out Boys‘.

Gray also speaks about the incident of Pamela Lawton who had a police officer stick his gun in the face of her crying 7 year old after she was pulled over for a traffic violation.

Like Wyking, Paradise lays out a number of solutions for us and our communities to follow.

Click HERE to listen to Breakdown FM Podcast

Click Here: http://bit.ly/d27VNG

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An Open letter to President Obama about Oscar Grant

 
  
I sent this to the White house. Although it may never reach him, I sent it anyway.

“The price of having hope is sometimes disappointment, but the price of having no hope is always failure…” ~ Immortal Technique

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to ask that you bring national attention to the Oscar Grant trial in Los Angeles, CA. While I know you have other priorities, this too should grab your attention, if at least not your compassion.

Injustice is once again being administered through the justice system. A life was unjustly lost & publicly recorded. Please take notice.

Many have lost hope in big government because it proves over & over that it fails to protect those who are not the wealthy and privileged with resource and access. The common man helped you win your presidency, so please don’t forget about the common man now.

Sincerely,

Sara Hill

 
——————————————————
 
 
I think this was an important letter to write..Thanks for doing this Sara… We just did a radio show today where Wyking an activist and freedom fighter out of Seattle reminded us that we should be hitting at all angles-inside, outside and everyway in between.. Sure we can rally the troops out on the streets and we should, but the President can make stuff happen with the stroke of a pen.. one that was paid for by our tax dollars..
-Davey D-

Oscar Grant Trial Kicks Off-Killer Cop Had History of Violence, Community Speaks Out About Judge’s Bias Toward Police..

Today the Oscar Grant trial kicks off in Los Angeles with a whole lot of drama surrounding the proceedings. The most glaring is police officers rallying to invoke the Policeman’s Bill of Rights which essentially allow officers on trial to not have their history brought up while the accused or in this case victims will have their entire history along with the history of friends and family brought up and dragged through the mud.

The judge overseeing this trial is Robert Perry who came under fire for allowing corrupt cops to walk during the infamous Rampart Scandal. He’s been doing everything in his power to tilt the trial in the direction of killer cop Johannes Mershele. Among one of his more egregious rulings is to put a gag order on the famed Police Brutality lawyer John Burris. If thats not enough, Mershele’s lawyer Michael Rain‘s is pushing to have Black people excluded from the jury… Yes you read that right, they are attempting to get Black people excluded from the jury. In the interview I did with Rachel last night, she didn’t mention this but called me this morning as I’m penning this to give me the update.. We will be following up on this big time.

Also the defense gets to have an expert ‘film’ witness who is claiming the videos we all saw where Grant got shot by Mershele also shows Grant trying to punch the cop. Yes, they are claiming Grant tried to hit the cop while on the ground being restrained. Here’s the latest on the ruling to allow expert video witness http://bit.ly/cGmZU1

Click HERE to listen to Rachel's comments on Oscar Grant Trial updates

Below is an audio clip with Oakland organizer Rachel Jackson explaining in detail some of the things that will be taking place during the trial…

http://bit.ly/arc40Q

Rachel also gave us a break down of Mershelee’s history. Apparently he was known to run around and brandish his taser at inappropriate times and sadly just weeks before he killed Oscar Grant he had beat down 41-year-old Kenneth Carrethers who is an engineer who was overheard complaining about the how ineffective BART police were when it came to preventing crimes.

According to reports Mershelee overheard the comments and confronted Carrethers. The end result was Carrethers being severely beaten, hog-tied and driven to 3 different hospitals as the out of control Mershelee attempted to find a place that would cover up his brutality.

Carrethers was charged with resisting arrest but those charges were dropped not too long after Grant was killed. Here’s Rachel Jackson explaining the details behind this case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcxtjrjD7II

On the eve of the Oscar Grant trial which will be held in Los Angeles, Minister Keith Muhammad explains to an Oakland crowd the Policeman’s Bill of Rights and how it will impact the upcoming trial against former BART cop Johannes Mehserle…

He also talks about the steps organizers took to make history by bringing a police officer to trial for shooting a citizen. It’s the first time this has ever happened in California. He pointed out there have been more than 8000 citizens killed by police in the past 20 years and not one conviction for wrongful death..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7OJVPnZIY

Also on the  of the Oscar Grant Trial we heard this sista from BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) who’s name is Yvette Falarca. Here she lays down all the obstacles organizers overcame to get to this point in history where a killer cop (Johannes Mehserle) has been brought to trial. This is a first in California history..

She also talks about the evidence that will NOT be allowed in the upcoming trial which includes Mershelees past brutality incidents..

We are also reminded that that it is up to us to make sure that everyone involved is aware that injustice will not be accepted in the city of Oakland…All the stops are being pulled out to set up this trial to fail. It ranges from gag orders placed on certain organizers and spokespeople like Attorney John Burris on down to additional provisions from the policeman’s Bill of Rights being enforced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PElcxjQpTw

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