Yesterday I sent out some links that showed the make up of the crowd and what was happening as things unfolded in the aftermath of the Oscar Grant verdict . Sadly my camera is broken so I couldn’t flip things around so while I pulled my footage I sent links to other sites . What prompted me sending out the links was reading some comments about how ‘WE’ meaning Black folks ‘tear up our hood’…
I think the people who said it were well-intentioned, but sadly they parroting an age-old stereotype … First the ‘hoods’ where we live in Oakland..are all in tact. No buildings were burnt down, windows broken or anything like that.. West, East, The Dubs, Northpole, 800s, 900s, Fruitvale etc.. are all in tact.. If we wanna uplift the stereotype.. then lemme make it plain..the check cashing spots, Churches Chicken and all the liquor stores are alive and well in the hood. It was important to note that so people would stop assuming the entire hood was acting up
The second point was noting the diversity of people. The day of the verdict there was no majority of anyone group of people hanging downtown expressing outrage. It was multi-generational, multi-ethnic.. It was everyone. It was important to note this because while Grant being a Black man shot by a white officer was an all too familiar narrative, the response and outrage from day one came from all sectors.
In Oakland our Latino brothers and sisters experience police terrorism both from OPD and increased ICE Raids.. In the Dubs and Chinatown, many Southeast Asians are dealing both with ICE and police oppression. Many young folks including whites dealing with the massive student strikes have gotten to known the police state and how brutal it can be.. Still many people out here have parents or they themselves have come from lands where oppression was so dire that having a politic around police terrorism was unavoidable. Hence when Oscar Grant was shot and killed in front of a diverse crowd on the BART train that night, many immediately saw themselves as a possible victim and not Grant being another thuggish Black man which is how the mainstream media attempted to spin it early on…
-Davey D-
Shout out to Oakland film maker Oriana Bolden who captured not just the vibrancy of Oakland, but also how the police were the night of the verdict.. What she caught is breath taking.. Check out her page where she has other protests captured…http://vimeo.com/projectproject
Here’s what she wrote to the footage below..
Community response to U.S. systemic racism as evidenced by the murder of Oscar Grant, then reinforced by the Mehserle verdict.
This is the first round of going through my footage. I will try to update with clearer shots of police activities and some of the activities that happened after police began arresting peaceful citizens.
The response to the verdict http://vimeo.com/13217165
Whether it was our hoods or their hoods, I still stand by my opinion that destroying companies no matter WHERE they are does not change the verdict. A peaceful protest will get the attention. Looting and destroying companies that had nothing to do with the police shooting Oscar Grant is counterproductive.
Not everyone who shows up at a protest is working in the interest of the protest.. As the family notes thats not what they asked for..TYhey didn’t orghanize a protest.. the thousand who came did so and stayed in peace.. What would you suggest folks do.. fight the looters? Shoot them? They were told ‘peacefully’ to stop’.
second pt …’Peaceful protest did not work.. I posted the videos when folks went peacefully and were rebuffed.. and ignored.. by the DA.. take alook at the series of video that look back at the beginning..
It always helps to have more than one version of events when there are extreme views. Without Oriana Bolden’s video and Davey D’s Blog of the assembly we, outside of Oakland, are left with mainstream media’s version of this event. Thank you.
Black people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. When people tried the peaceful protest, they were ignored and when that happens, a riot will occur, that’s because the people are angry. Enough of this police terrorism! I totally agree with you Davey D.
I agree that some of the response from folks is immature and there are certainly jerks and folks with bad agendas, but I think it deserves to be said that its doubtful if there hadn’t been an outcry after the shooting which included (among other visible forms of opposition) the mini uprising of sorts in the streets (which included property destruction) we wouldn’t have a trial or verdict to speak of today. The wheels of the judicial system only began moving to arrest Meherserle after people took it to the streets… and this is pretty much always the case in the few instances when cops are actually brought up on charges.
I don’t think those are the always the most effective routes and certainly not my most favorite, but in short I think people are right to rebel against oppression (Oscar Grant representing the most egregious of police actions that happen every day) and an oppressive system and those trying to quiet those rebellions are consciously or unconsciously delaying justice and legitimizing an unjust system.
Cops May No Longer Respond to Crime in Oakland, California
Kurt Nimmo
Prisonplanet.com
July 13, 2010
Forget about police assistance in Oakland, California.
Cops May No Longer Respond to Crime in Oakland, California. “Oakland’s police chief is making some dire claims about what his force will and will not respond to if layoffs go as planned,” reports NBC Bay Area. “Chief Anthony Batts listed exactly 44 situations that his officers will no longer respond to and they include grand theft, burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism. He says if you live and Oakland and one of the above happens to you, you need to let police know on-line.”
In other words, if you live in the Bay area, you need to have a gun and plenty of ammunition. Because the cops just said they will no longer respond if criminals kick down your door. The bad guys no longer have anything to worry about.
Not that Oakland’s government wants you to protect yourself. In February, Oakland’s city council unanimously approved a measure requiring a thumbprint for all ammunition purchases. It also voted to enforce strict permit requirements for the sale of firearms and ammunition.
In California, you’re on your own. Not that cops ever had an interest in protecting the citizenry. Cops are increasingly nothing but organized and uniformed shakedown gangs. Generating revenue for cash-starved municipalities is Job One for many police departments. Cops are instructed to write tickets. Protecting the community comes is a distant second.
As society crumbles under the weight of the engineered economic depression, more and more police departments will follow Oakland’s example.
Best be locked and loaded if you don’t want to be a victim.
link:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/suffer-these-crimes-in-oakland-dont-call-the-cops.html