Occupy Skid Row: Public Enemy’s Historic Concert Exposing LA’s Dirty Secret

Chuck D Occupy Skid RowLos Angeles Community Action Network and Public Enemy came together last year for a historic event called Occupy Operation Skid Row. It was a musical festival featuring legendary hip hop acts like Cypress Hill, Kid Frost, YoYo, Mellow Man Ace along with General Jeff of Rodney O & Joe Cooley.

Jeff for those who don’t know is dubbed the Mayor of Skid Row, because of the work he’s done for years to try and alleviate the harsh conditions of one of the nation’s largest concentrations of homeless and LA’s dirty little secret..As Chuck D pointed out the overwhelming majority are Black and they are shunned and ignored.

Below is a short documentary that brings the event to life.. It also touches upon some of the challenges facing those on skid row as well as how this large homeless population gets used by police to manipulate crime stats. Many are arrested for petty crimes like sleeping on sidewalks, urinating or drinking in public.. Their arrests get entered into crime databases and help highlight favorable results.. This was a tactic former LA Police Chief William Bratton did when he was running the department.. He arrested over 27 thousand people in LA skid row in a 3 year period and gave out 36 thousand citations.. Skid row is home to 15 thousand people.

You can peep the interview we did with Chuck D on the eve of the event...HERE 

You can also peep the concert /documentary as well.. Enjoy and Reflect

http://vimeo.com/57948440

Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. Assaulted by Oakland & Emeryville Police on Eve of Chief Bratton Hearing

Fred Hampton Jr

Fred Hampton Jr

Apparently the State is not happy with the fact that Chairman Fred Hampton Jr of the P.O.C.C./BPPC is building bridges and doing work in Oakland with like-minded community organizations dedicated to improving life conditions for oppressed, repressed and terrorized citizens in the city of Oakland and beyond.

Tonight, at approximately 4pm, The Chairman and three of his comrades were trailed by police into the Target shopping center in Emeryville, just outside of West Oakland. Initially, they were stopped by two Oakland Police vehicles (IN EMERYVILLE). The police flashed their lights and ordered the passengers to both put their hands up and roll down the windows.  As this was occurring, another 10-12 police cars arrived and blocked off the entire parking lot.

The passengers were separated and one of the sisters in the vehicle was pulled from the car, slammed against a police SUV and her arm twisted.  Her arm was so badly injured that an ambulance later took her to a nearby hospital. BEFORE THE COP HAD EVEN OPENED THE CHAIRMAN’S WALLET HE SAID “Are you still at the same address in Chicago?” THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS BEFORE THEY PULLED HIM OVER. THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION OF HARASSMENT IN RESPONSE TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

When asked why they were being pulled over, it was explained to them that a robbery had occurred in which a cell phone was stolen and the phone had been tracked to the Target parking lot. NOT THEIR CAR BUT, THE PARKING LOT. The Chairman pointed out that there were some 300 additional cars in the lot and so why their car but, received no answer.

The police then brought the supposed ‘victim’ of the robbery to the scene and paraded each one of the passengers in the Chairman’s vehicle in front of a bright light for the ‘victim’ to look at. S/he identified no one.

Following this, the police attempted to just walk away as if nothing had happened.  The Chairman and additional passengers requested and received the Sergeants name and are planning to file a formal complaint.

It should not be overlooked that last month, The Chairman sat on a panel examining the MXGM report “Every 36 Hours” that focused on the execution of Black men, women and children by police, security guards and vigilantes every 36 hours in Amerikkka. Additionally, last week, The Chairman joined hundreds of community members in speaking out against the hiring of William Bratton as consultant to the OPD at a City council Public Safety meeting. It should also not be overlooked that a follow up City Council meeting to address the Bratton issue is being held tonite  (Tues Jan 22 2013).

For more info and updates on this please go to http://chairmanfredjr.blogspot.com/2013/01/please-spread-widely-apparently-state.html

Here’s a recent intv we did w/ Chairman Fred about the plight of political prisoner Leonard Peltier,  Gun Control and killings in Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qu8Cl0sfRQ