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Why I Won’t Watch True Blood Tonight: Violence Against Women

July 26, 2010 By

This is an important article written by Pema Levy on a number of levels…First, it shows that violence against women is not limited to Hip Hop..It’s interesting to note as this article points out, how the mainstream seems to to have no problem accepting and promoting this sort of violence in True Blood as art and thus should be applauded and even rewarded. The fact that violence against women has been stereotyped to just a handful of communities, what gets overlooked is how easy it is for us to overlook it when it shows up in our own backyards. We come up with b=nice excuses and even flowery names like ‘Hate Sex’ to describe atrocious actions like rape.

So many folks are busy smashing on the local rap artist and not checking the local actor and film maker who may actually have more of an influence in sparking a culture of violence..Hopefully upon reading article this folks will expand their horizons and conclude that violence whether in the form of entertainment or in real life is foul..

-Davey D-

Why I Won’t Watch True Blood Tonight: Violence Against Women

by Pema Levy

There’s a difference between “pushing the envelope” and an excuse for exhibiting gratuitous violence against women. In the last few weeks, HBO’s True Blood crossed that line.

True Blood has always had its fair share of violence, but lately that violence has become increasingly sexual. Then two weeks ago, an episode crossed the line by portraying a violent rape scene — although they refuse to call it by that name. The most recent episode continued this trend with almost every scene containing some sort of violence against women, whether it was punching a female vampire into a wall, Tara being kidnapped (with implied rape), and a woman being undressed and branded by a crowd of men in a bar.

A lot of people write this stuff off as True Blood challenging sexual mores or being edgy. Slate‘s Jason Zinomanapplauds the writers and suggests their rape scene deserves an Emmy: “The sick genius of Episode 3 … is that it finds other creatively perverse ways to mingle sex and violence.” Zinoman finds intriguing what should be disturbing: that the women being raped and assaulted do not condemn this behavior. Zinoman calls it “hate sex” (rape by another name) that the female character enjoys; as he twists her head around her shoulders with blood coming out of her mouth, she repeats “I love you.”

It’s not violence per se that is unacceptable, but rather the context in which it is portrayed: showing violence against women without simultaneously condemning that violence. The writers believe that they can justify this by using a theme: vampires are inherently violent, like blood, like violent sex. In doing so, True Blood buys into the same myths about violence and rape that do real harm to women today:…..

continue reading at http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/why_i_wont_watch_true_blood_tonight_violence_against_women

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Democracy Now: Panel Discussion on the Importance of Social Media in Building Community & Resistance

July 26, 2010 By

Click HERE to Listen & Watch Panel

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/23/using_social_media_to_build_communityand

Transcript to Democracy Now Panel Discussion

Veronica Arreola

AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from Las Vegas, Netroots Nation, a convention where thousands of people have gathered, and “social media” is the watchword of the day. This is Chicago-based blogger Veronica Arreola. Her blog is vivalafeminista.com.

VERONICA ARREOLA: I got involved in blogging, late 2000, after the election. There was a lot of discussions online and LISTSERVs, and I really felt like I needed a place of my own to get my views out, opinions out, talk about what was going on in terms of the election and the election results and how long it had dragged out. So I’ve been doing that since late 2000, got onto Facebook pretty early, because I work at a university, and that’s where the students are, and that’s where I need to talk to them and get them to events, and then jumped on Twitter after some friends said I needed to get on. And I’ve really used—I’ve really found it very helpful in terms of activism, in terms of community work.

AMY GOODMAN: How?

VERONICA ARREOLA: Just spreading messages, talking about events. I’m on the board of the Chicago Abortion Fund. And this past spring there was a national bowl-a-thon, and I did a lot of my fundraising through social media, through Facebook, Twitter, just asking people to please—

AMY GOODMAN: And how effective was it?

VERONICA ARREOLA: I think it was really highly effective. I think I raised more money through Facebook and Twitter than I would have just sending emails or calling people and talking to people one-on-one, because I was able to dip into a larger pool.

AMY GOODMAN: What’s your blog called?

VERONICA ARREOLA: My blog is “”http://www.vivalafeminista.com”>Viva la Feminista.”

AMY GOODMAN: And what has been your project this summer?

VERONICA ARREOLA: This summer, I’m asking Latinas to post about being Latina and their thoughts about feminism—good, bad, long, short, academic, or just personal stories. I’m getting mostly personal stories. And I call it “Summer of Feminista.”

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Veronica Arreola of vivalafeminista.com. She was speaking to me at the Netroots Nation convention.

Well, for more on the use of social media in building community, I’m joined here in Las Vegas by Aimee Allison. She’s a Bay Area radio host, producer of the daily KPFA Morning Show, and she’s also founded this innovated local media project called OaklandSeen, as in S-E-E-N, seen and heard.

Also here with us, Davey D is a hip-hop journalist and activist. He runs the popular website “Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner” at daveyd.com, co-host also on KPFA of HardKnock Radio.

And we’re joined by the Cheryl Contee. She is the founder of “Jack and Jill Politics.” Well, she’s actually Cheryl to us here, but she’s Jill Tubman at “Jack and Jill Politics.”

I want to welcome you all to Democracy Now!, to be with you all in Las Vegas. Aimee, talk about social media, what it means to you. I mean, you’re a longtime radio broadcaster; interesting also, you’re a veteran. But why go from radio to social media?

Aimee Allison

AIMEE ALLISON: Here’s what we’re facing in 2010: radio being an old media that accesses—it’s low-tech, and lots of people can access it, but, as we saw earlier this week, one of thirteen human beings are on Facebook. That means that social media is becoming more and more the way that people access their news and connect with other people. So, through OaklandSeen.com, it was an effort to fill the local reporting gap that we found in Oakland to engage more people and to facilitate people reporting their own news and to talk to each other about issues that they’re facing the most. And what we found when we combined old technology, radio, with new technology, social networks and blogs, we have a level of engagement that supports the development of local communities, constituencies and democracy at home. It’s fantastic.

AMY GOODMAN: Cheryl Contee, you’ve been doing “Jack and Jill Politics” for how long?

CHERYL CONTEE: For three years.

AMY GOODMAN: What does “social media” mean?

CHERYL CONTEE: Social media, to me, means the opportunity to reach people in a way never before possible. When we founded “Jack and Jill Politics,” it was not long after the last—the original Netroots Nation YearlyKos. And at the time, we were talking about isn’t it a shame that more blacks aren’t blogging. Today we have a vibrant community at Jack and Jill Politics. We’ve changed the racial narrative in this country many times. And now African Americans, in many ways, are at parity. When you factor in mobile internet access, there is no digital divide, according to a Pew internet study last year. And Business Insider, just this year, says that 25 percent of those on Twitter are African American, which is twice their population percentage.

AMY GOODMAN: Davey D, talk about what you’re doing, also longtime radio broadcaster on commercial radio, then at Pacific Radio, but you also have been doing this social media thing for a long time.

DAVEY D: Well, I’ve been on the net since 1991, so I’ve been around for a minute. But at the crux of it is, it’s just about communication. And you’re looking at a variety of communities that have often been exed out of the opportunity to talk to themselves without a media middleman or to talk to their communities without having their messages distorted. So, this is a continuum. You know, when I first started, the reason why people went on the internet was for that very reason. And over the years, you’ve seen different variations of technology come along that have made it a little bit more efficient. So social media right now, in the form of Facebook or Twitter, which, you know, many of us are on, just really allows us to get around this increasing consolidation and regulation of speech between different communities. So, that’s been the attraction.

And what’s interesting is that old media doesn’t seem to get it. You know, they seem to want to have more of a situation where they talk at you, for the purposes of marketing, increasingly more for the purposes of just blanketing us with a particular political or social message, and to marginalize the voices of dissent, various angles that people have on a particular issue, and to challenge a narrative that oftentimes only serves the purposes of a particular corporation.

AMY GOODMAN: Davey D, you’ve been tweeting a lot about Oscar Grant. Tell us quicly that story and how social media has been used in his killing.

DAVEY D: Well, I think the main thing is that before the word could get out—well, let me just back up. The police had a narrative, from day one. They went and looked at his background and put that out there, and it was quickly countered by those of us who were on the internet, to say, well, let me show you the cop’s background, and let me show you what other people saw that night.

AMY GOODMAN: And this, again, is about the young man who was killed.

DAVEY D: Right, that was killed. Going up to the verdict—

AMY GOODMAN:On the subway platform.

DAVEY D: Yeah. Going up to the verdict—

AMY GOODMAN: By a police officer.

Davey D

DAVEY D: Yeah. Going up to the verdict, there was a narrative that they painted around the country, which people started to build off of, and it mainly centered around “Why don’t black people just learn how to behave?” when it was the multi-ethnic crowd that was out there, you know, protesting, speaking truth to power, and some of them rebelling, you know? And so, when you looked at the national pictures, you saw black folks. But people like me were filming, and we saw a variety of people. So, when you put it up against mainstream media versus what many of us were able to say, then you saw that there was a falsehood in what mainstream was doing, and you saw that falsehood connected with political, economic and social agendas that have nothing to do with the variety of communities that were outraged about a cop being—who got away with murder, as far as we’re concerned.

AMY GOODMAN: Aimee Allison?

AIMEE ALLISON: The protest in Oakland after Johannes Mehserle, the former BART officer, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, which many people thought was a very easy verdict after what we saw—social media spread the word and let everyone see the video, so we all saw it. And then, the verdict was surprising to many people. If you compare, though, the way that the protests were covered two weeks ago and the way they were covered a year ago, it was night and day. Social media came and changed the whole conversation about what Oaklanders think. It was a lot more diverse and nuanced and powerful. We were able to capture and share the message out beyond, not only to Oakland, but to the world, of how Oaklanders had come together in nonviolence. We were able to tell a story about how the local peace movement had taken the lead in working with the city.

But all of this happened in the context locally of a very important urban issue, which is that Oakland is struggling, as many cities are, with revenue and with dealing with deficits. And we had just had the fight with the police officers’ union and a sense of how the city was going to avoid cutting more libraries and schools, and so the whole coverage of the protest happened in a political environment where social media was able to say, “Look, we want to hold police accountable for their activities out in the street. We want to have a broader conversation about crime and public safety. And we’re not going to accept the narrative a year ago that there was just a bunch of rioting and we need more cops.” That was directly as a result of citizens themselves and bloggers, as well as other folks, telling the story and talking to each other about the impact of not only the violence that happened against Oscar Grant in the first place, but the policing and the aftermath.

AMY GOODMAN: Davey D?

DAVEY D: One thing that I think is important is that there’s a context to even revolting. And what social media allowed us to do was explain what happened the first time there were riots in the street, which was seven days of the mayor not speaking, seven days of the district attorney not speaking, seven days of people going up and asking, “what’s going on?” and then people saying, “OK, we’ll let you know what’s going on,” and having a revolt and having a political and social context to that. Even what happened after the verdict, there was a way to explain that narrative, which was counter to what the mainstream was saying.

The other thing that’s important is that mainstream has become increasingly more embedded. What they didn’t tell you in the recent verdict was the fact that many of the mainstream journalists were standing right next to the police. They were embedded with them, so they had the best angles. And I’ve never seen that before. I know that it goes on overseas in war, but to come here and say, “Hey, wait a second. You’re ABC, CBS. You’re right there next to the cops!” So what does that mean at the end of the day when the story is told? I couldn’t cover the way that I would normally, even with a press pass, because they said, “We made new press passes, and you have to have a special one, and you have to be standing next to the police.” That’s very different, and that’s very dangerous, because it’s in the context of news being censored and controlled and manipulated by corporations all over the country. And that was just a prime example of that taking place in Oakland, in this case, with the police. But corporations and police are the same thing, if you look at what BP is doing, censoring media. So I don’t see it as being very different. It’s just controlling the narrative.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, it’s interesting you raise this, because when we were arrested in St. Paul—my colleagues Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar and I arrested by the St. Paul police covering the Republican National Convention—we weren’t alone among journalists.

DAVEY D: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: There were more than forty journalists arrested. When I went the next morning, after I was released, to the police chief’s news conference and asked him what does he expect journalists to do and what has he instructed his police to do if they’re arresting journalists, he said we could embed, embed with a mobile field force, using that model of reporters embedding in the frontlines of troops as a way to cover American cities. Cheryl Contee, did you want to weigh in here?

Cheryl Conte

Cheryl Conte

CHERYL CONTEE: Right. And so, in this changing environment in the media, social media provides an unfiltered voice. No longer do we have an intermediary to tell us the story, as we did before, where journalists represented the community’s voice, now the community has their own voice. And during the Oscar Grant protests and rallies, you know, you got pictures live from the scene. And on our blog, we actually listed some of the Twitter reports, just to show this is what’s actually happening on the ground, just to provide a balance with the mainstream media.

AMY GOODMAN: It reminds me of the Battle of Seattle ten years ago when you had CNN saying that—repeating the police line that they weren’t using rubber bullets, but we were picking them up by the handfuls. And it was Indymedia and indymedia.com that really exploded on the scene then, when these pictures were being showed and you had more people hitting indymedia.com than cnn.com. Aimee?

AIMEE ALLISON: And see, I think that’s an excellent point, because through the Johannes Mehserle protests, OaklandSeen Facebook and Twitter followers grew more than 40 percent. And people started to acknowledge, “Hey, you know what? For the information on the ground and the real unfiltered stuff that’s happening, I’ve got to go to a source like OaklandSeen, because if I turn on the news, I’m really going to get the same stories, and it’s not really reflective of what I think about my own city or the—you know, kind of the details I’m looking for.” So people are starting to turn in a city like Oakland to alternative news sources, and I think that that’s fabulous, particularly in a place locally where our papers have consolidated and local coverage has suffered so much.

AMY GOODMAN:Davey D?

DAVEY D: I think one of the other important things is that when you look at a situation like the Oscar Grant scenario, none of us are really organizers. I’m not an organizer. But there was dozens of organizers there whose voices never get heard. They don’t show up on the evening news. They’re not often quoted. And there’s a context to which they speak. And so, one of the things that social media allowed us to do was really get the full narrative from their perspective, whether it was Uncle Bobby who’s Oscar’s uncle,  and why he condemned some of the coverage that was going on, or why he talked about what the police were doing. We got to hear his full thing. We got to hear why he rejected Mehserle’s apology, without just the thirty-second sound bite that was played around the nation. We got to present and let people hear  the full four-minute speech that he gave. And that becomes important.

We got to let you know what the organizers think, what were they doing and how did they all come together. That story was just as important as the trial and the verdict itself. And those stories got out to the rest of the country in a way that inspired folks, let people know that there’s a richer context to what was taking place in Oakland. And lastly, it put a spotlight on the media, because it showed how lazy they were, when all these stories were being unearthed, and you’re going, “Well, wait a second. You’re the mainstream media with millions of dollars in the budget. How come we just got this very two-dimensional narrative?”

AMY GOODMAN: Cheryl Contee, as we wrap up, tomorrow you’re going to be hosting Nancy Pelosi. She’ll be addressing the Netroots Nation convention. You’re Jill Tubman at “Jack and Jill Politics.” Why Jill Tubman?

CHERYL CONTEE: Originally, many of the black political bloggers wrote under pseudonyms, because the history of the United States shows that outspoken African Americans are often targets, one way or another. And so, I was frankly afraid to write under my full voice until I really understood the consequences of what that would be. And it allowed me to write more freely.

I came out of the closet, if you will, of the blog closet, about two years ago, and it was fantastic to really receive a lot of applause. So I’m really looking forward to sitting down with Speaker Pelosi and representing the community. It’s an interactive session, so we’ve been taking comments from the internet. People are voting with their feet. People really want to know about the Youth Promise Act, for example. They want to know about Social Security, the economy, jobs. And so, I’m really looking forward to having a chance to reflect that.

AMY GOODMAN: If people want to participate, where do they go? How do they tap in?

CHERYL CONTEE: Oh, right. So if people—you can still ask questions to me. You can use the hash tag nn10pelosi on Twitter. You can go to the Netroots Nation Facebook. Or you can go to “”http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com”>Jack and Jill Politics,” and you’ll see there’s a blog post stuck to the top right now, and leave a comment.

AMY GOODMAN: And where do people go to find OaklandSeen, Aimee Allison?

AIMEE ALLISON: OaklandSeen, S-E-E-N.com. And we have a Facebook group and a Twitter group. So we not only report and encourage people to blog and contribute media, but we’re talking to each other, which is amazing.

AMY GOODMAN: Davey D?

DAVEY D: You can reach me at daveyd.com or mrdaveyd, D-A-V-E-Y-D, on Twitter.

AMY GOODMAN: Thanks very much for being with us here at the Netroots Nation, Davey D, Cheryl Contee aka Jill Tubman, and Aimee Allison.

Click the link below to watch and listen to panel discussion

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/7/23/using_social_media_to_build_communitya

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Another Cali Police Killing 15 year old Boy shot 15 Times..Family Threatened

July 26, 2010 By

15 Year old James Rivera

On the morning of July 22 at around 11:30 16 year old James Rivera was assassinated in premeditated murder, according to his family and witnesses.

According to James Rivera’s mother police came to her house late at night/early morning before the murder and terrorized the family. Police held guns at 2 even younger children and told them they were going to kill him.

Later, according to friends, he was pulled over then released and then chased. As he crashed into a fence and made a u turn , police rammed the back of the blue van which caused the van to go out of control. The van went onto a lawn of a corner house on Salters Dr and Bancroft Way, finally crashed straight into the garage wall where the van seemed to be lodged into.

Officers exited their vehicles and asked James to exit the van twice but 2 seconds later they began to shoot. Over 30 rounds have been estimated to be found. They executed those rounds with 9mm handguns and fully automatic M-16 assault riffles.

Witnesses say that the ambulance arrived with out their sirens and left without them, as if there was no urgency. The people believe that he was dead at the scene. They saw officers pull him out and slap his face and then do nothing.

Reporters are saying that police stated the pursuit began at 10:30 after finding the van that had been part of a carjacking with a shotgun. It has not been said if this was the van, and the police do not mention any previous encounters with James Rivera.
The media has yet to report the truth, i know we heard the people speak the truth and that’s not what they are printing.

People came out in rage of what they had just witnessed. “NO JUSTICE NO PEACE” the people chanted until the officials Chaplin later came to them and asked them to be quiet.

in the Stockton Record Stockton Police Spokesperson Pete Smith agreed that the crowd was “upset and very vocal about their concerns” but was also recorded threatening the community “Let officers complete their investigation and not unduly create any other situations that would need any kind of police investigation”

continue reading http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/24/18654635.php?show_comments=1#18654644

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Netroots Panel: Tweeting the Revolution.. How Hip Hop Changed Twitter

July 26, 2010 By

This session explored the various manner in which hip hop generation journalists, writers, poets, performing artists, community organizers, filmmakers and television personalities have utilized Twitter’s 140 characters and educated, informed, infuriated and organized thousands of persons in an online medium, with real-world application, thereby bringing 360 degrees of knowledge full circle, son!

Panelist include:

“Dr. Goddess,” (Kimberly C. Ellis, Ph.D) She’s a scholar of American & Africana Studies and Executive Director of the Historic Hill Institute. A Creative Community Organizer, a poet, playwright and performing artist….

Elon James White, Editor in Chief of ThisWeekinBlackness.com , is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and is the host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America.

Davey D is a nationally recognized journalist, adjunct professor, Hip Hop historian, syndicated talk show host, radio programmer, producer, deejay, media and community activist.

for more info peep…. http://www.netrootsnation.org/node/1447

Click HERE to watch Netroots Panel on Hip Hop and Tweeting...

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8438963

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Mooncricket: When Two Worlds Collide-The Mehserle Rally Raw & Uncut-Race Does Matter…

July 25, 2010 By

Oakland Film Maker Mooncricket

Big shout out to film maker Mooncricket who captured not only the rally that took place for killer cop Johannes Mehserle in Walnut Creek but also caught the ignorance and huge disconnect that many have when it comes to dealing with issues of race and police brutality..

In the clip below you hear the confrontations but more importantly you hear how deeply embedded racial perceptions are. pay close attention to the woman who wants to lecture one brother about genocide in Rwanda and then tells him about OJ Simpson.. It was a constant theme repeated over and over again which suggested that revenge from the OJ trial was sitting on everyone’s mind.

In this video listen to the other woman who attempts to tell us why people get pulled over and profiled and finds it hard to believe the police are doing anything wrong…This same woman is later caught on film yelling that mexicans should go back to Mexico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE2N1B_K2sg&feature=related

This is an intense confrontation and highlights what’s far too often typical when dealing with issues of police brutality which is a variation of blaming the victim. ‘How come you aren’t here protesting when ‘Blacks are killing Blacks‘ is usually the retort one hears from both whites and blacks when police brutality issues come up. It’s a misplaced argument on a number of levels. First, many organizers are involved in programs, vigils, marches, churches etc about violence in their communities. For example, today Saturday June 24th there was a big Silence the Violence Rally in San Francisco that deals with urban crime. There are dozens of organization in Oakland that were started and still around to help foster conflict resolution and provide alternatives. They range from Youth Uprising to Love Life Foundation, Nation of Islam, Omega Boys Club to Urban Peace Movement etc..Such outlets under different names exist in every city around the country.

The second question that usually pops up is ‘Well if you have so many organizations why is there still crime in the hood?’ The question is a disingenuous one. My experience shows that most who ask those questions have not been involved in many of the community efforts to help push back on crime, yet they’re expecting miracles. The fall back answer that many like to give is that they push back on crime by supporting the police. But even the police are looking for both volunteers and funds for their own programs like PAL and DARE… Those same people asking all these hard questions aren’t involved in those outlets.

Lastly one can look at the huge array of tough 3 strike type laws, harsher sentencing guidelines, zero tolerance directives, higher budgets, new training and weaponry  given to the police over the past 15-20 years and yet crime still persists. Should we not change some things about their approach?

A racist Mehserle supporter screams that people should go back to Mexico.. Wow so this is how they think in Walnut Creek?

With that being said, protesting Black on Black crime is not a criteria for addressing police misconduct. One has nothing to do with the other. The thug on the corner committing crimes is not a public servant. The police are. The thug on the block has not been granted a badge, a license to carry a gun, received months of training and given the trust and duty to protect and serve the citizens of various communities. The police have been given that which means they are directly accountable to the community. The thug has not made that contract with the community and so its bit unreasonable to expect folks to openly confront a criminal the way they would the police to seek redress.

One could easily ask that question to citizens in Walnut Creek or neighboring Concord if they are outside with signs protesting in front of meth houses which exist out there? Are they in front of the homes of people who commit domestic violence or any other number of crimes? …Most aren’t yet they wish to ask all these questions. There’s an old saying don’t ask of others what you aren’t doing yourself?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFtjO91dW9g&feature=related

In the scenes below you see some more intense arguments and some of the blatant racism that folks in the crowd are will to shout out at those who support Oscar Grant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgsWpQijbsk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWdvhXifyM8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzmiTiEwdyc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4C8J4mVj7E&feature=related

Below we see the Peaceful ending to rally in Walnut Creek ..As marchers leave and head toward the BART station they come top find the gates have been shut closed on the Grant protesters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2NqeNqI8yA&feature=related

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Media Matters: Sherrod: I’m a Victim of Breitbart, Fox ‘Racism’

July 21, 2010 By

Sherrod: I’m a Victim of Breitbart, Fox ‘Racism’

by Joe Strupp

Original story: http://mediamatters.org/strupp/201007210037

Shirley Sherrod, the former Agriculture Department Georgia Director of Rural Development, says she is a victim. A victim of poor reporting and, as she contends, clear bias and racist coverage from both Andrew Breitbart and Fox News.

“When you look at their reporting, this is just another way of seeing that they are (racist),” Sherrod told me about Fox in a lengthy interview Tuesday night. “But I have seen that before now. I saw their reporting as biased during the Bush Administration and the Clinton Administration.”

Sherrod was forced to resign on Monday after a portion of a taped speech she gave last March was posted at Breitbart’s Biggovernment.com.

In the edited tape, she spoke about how she had not initially helped a white farmer as much as she could have in 1986 when he was going to lose his farm. In the posting, Breitbart made it appear as though the story had occurred during her time as a federal official and not 24 years ago when she worked for a non-profit organization.

Breitbart also did not include the entire context of the speech, in which she later explained that she learned from the situation and ended up helping the farmer, Roger Spooner and his wife. Both Spooners spoke out several times Tuesday to support Sherrod and voice that they would have lost their farm if not for her help.

Breitbart has since posted the full version of the tape, but his original posting also remains.

“It was a time when I realized that they did some of the same things to white farmers that they did to black farmers,” Sherrod said about the speech. “I thought that all white farmers got the best treatment, but I found out in this case that was not so.”

Explaining the speech further, Sherrod said, “I am trying to say to the people there that it is time for us to move forward. We do not want to forget the past and be in a position that racism is there and we don’t see it. We want to move together. Our area of the state cannot grow and thrive until we learn to get along.”

But after Breitbart posted the video clip, Sherrod said the lack of context and explanation sparked anger against her. She said she found out about the clip when someone e-mailed a link to her and asked about it.

“I couldn’t believe it. I found this out when someone sent me (a link to) the tape, people who follow him, who put it out there,” Sherrod said about Breitbart. “I got crank calls right away. Someone sent me an e-mail and link and said ‘shame on you’ and other stuff. I was sitting in a meeting and I was really upset.

“I texted back that they were so wrong and that they need to know the message and they got it wrong.”

Sherrod said Cheryl Cook, USDA deputy undersecretary, called her Monday and said she had to be on administrative leave.”

She adds: “People were calling and writing the Department of Agriculture in Athens, Ga., and Washington to tell them about it. That I needed to be fired. That a racist like me had no business working for the department. That is the way they intimidate people and it worked.”

By the end of the day Monday, she was forced to resign.

Sherrod, 62, said her first reaction was shock that, after a career working for civil rights and as the daughter of a father murdered by racists, she would be seen in such a terrible light.

“To have people say that I was such a racist was unbelievable,” she said of the fallout from the video and Fox coverage. “My whole life, if you look into what I have done, my father was murdered in 1965. If you look at all of us, we all hurt with that and we got involved into the movement and channeled our effort into good, instead of hating.

“I am getting hate calls and e-mails at this point. I got one call last night at my house at 12:30 a.m. that said ‘you lost your job, good for you’ and ‘bitch’ There are people out there who will believe that I am a racist person, even though the story is getting out there.”

She said her husband, Charles, and her two children, who also live nearby in Athens, Ga., were surprised, but have been toughened by years of seeing her work in the civil rights movement: “They had to grow up in the movement so they have had to deal with stuff like this through the years. We did not always take the easy road. They have some thick skin as a result.”

But the clear damage to Sherrod comes from Breitbart, who posted the tape without context, and Fox, which ran with the story and did not seek to confirm it.

“The news media should tell it like it is and not the way they want it to be,” she said.

Sherrod said Breitbart never contacted her before posting the video clip to ask about it.

“I never heard that name until a few minutes ago,” she said Tuesday night about Breitbart. “He never contacted me. I think they intended it to be what it ended up being, a racist thing that could unite even more the racist people out there who follow them.”

She also said Fox News never checked the facts with her before posting a story and the video clip.

“Not before they reported it,” she said of Fox’s negligence. “They have called me today and initially I had said yes (to an interview), but I thought about it and I did not think they intended to be fair in their reporting. They are going to say what they want to say regardless of what I say.”

She said Fox showed no professionalism in continuing to bother her for an interview, but failing to correct their coverage.

“I think they should but they won’t. They intended exactly what they did. They were looking for the result they got yesterday,” she said of Fox. “I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person.”

Still, Fox continued to push for an interview with her, Sherrod said.

“It was unbelievable. I am refusing to be on there. They have been calling me and calling me. I have refused to do an interview because they are biased,” she explained. “I don’t think Fox News does it fairly. It is worse so now. I have sat and listened to the way they cover the news even before this administration and I saw what was going on.”

Sherrod said this situation has worsened her view of racism in media coverage.

“I think it is race. You think we have come a long way in terms of race relations in this country, but we keep going backwards,” she said. “We have become more racist. This was their doing, Breitbart put that together misrepresenting what I was saying and Fox carried it.”

Sherrod said she has gotten no future job offers and believes this will scar her reputation forever, even if all the facts come out.

“There will be people who always think of this,” she said. “I can see in the future whatever I do, this story will be recounted, no matter what. This will be brought up. People will constantly be trying to point out negative things.”

Have other job offers come up? “No, no one. People are afraid of me now, I guess, with all of this. That is the other fallout from this. Anyone would be afraid of me, maybe I am a troublemaker, a racist.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he is reviewing the matter, hinting that Sherrod could possibly get her job back.

Asked if she would return if asked, she said: “I think I would have to go back for a short time, even if I did not stay for a long haul. I would need to prove a point, that I can be bigger than them. I was doing a lot of good things. People had access to that office that never did before. I had reached out to the poorest counties.”

Despite that, she plans to carry on.

“I will go back to doing what I was doing before, working with people, trying to build,” she said. “There are a lot of projects in Georgia I have been involved in creating. I will get busy with that again.”

Sherrod said she is considering legal action, perhaps against Breitbart, Fox or the federal government:

“I don’t know enough to know. I wish I did. I would love to sue. I am going to talk about it. I have been getting calls from all over the country. I don’t want to leave one stone unturned.”

Sherrod said she has been helped by many media outlets, such as CNN and others that have allowed her to explain the truth, enough so that the NAACP retracted a statement Tuesday that had denounced her.

She said that has convinced her to trust some media outlets, noting she had plans to be on Good Morning America and NPR Wednesday.

“The only one I refused to do is Fox,” she said, adding the fair coverage by others “makes me think highly of some of the media, but not any better about Fox. It is a bad taste in my mouth dealing with them. It would help some if they apologized and say they were wrong, but I don’t see that happening.”

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Rage Against the Machine & Other Artist Step Up to Boycott Arizona…Benefit Concert Called Sound Strike to Suppoirt the Fight Against SB1070

July 21, 2010 By

SOUNDSTRIKE ARTISTS RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC

VALLEY BAND HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE REGARDING BENEFIT CONCERT TO SUPPORT

ORGANIZATIONS FIGHTING ARIZONA ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW SB 1070.

Rage Against the Machine

LOS ANGELES, CA July 21: Rage Against the Machine will play their first concert in Los Angeles in 10

years at the Hollywood Palladium Friday with all proceeds going to benefit Arizona organizations fighting

SB 1070. Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band will also perform.

Benefit concert performers will be joined by long time civil and immigrant rights activists Tom Seanz,

President of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Dolores Huerta, Co-

Founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW), Arizona grass roots leader Sal Reza of Puente, and other

community leaders. This will be the Soundstrike’s first official press conference.

The SoundStrike artist boycott of Arizona has gained international attention and support. Hundreds of

artists have committed to exercise their conscious and their collective power to both reverse the punitive,

discriminatory and misguided Arizona law as well as to help lead a more productive national debate on

diversity and unity.

Soundstrike participant and Rage vocalist Zack de la Rocha said, “SB 1070 if enacted would legalize racial

profiling in Arizona. This law runs counter to music’s essential purpose, which is to unite people and not

divide them. We want to thank the artists of conscious that have joined the Soundstrike throughout the

world who use their role as artists to stand for civil and human rights.”

About The SoundStrike:

The mission of The Sound Strike is a call for Artist’s to Boycott Arizona due to the passage the Sb1070

law. For more information please visit our website www.thesoundstrike.net.

ARTISTS THAT HAVE JOINED THE SOUND STRIKE (PARTIAL LIST).

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE • NINE INCH NAILS • KANYE WEST • CALLE 13  • CHRIS ROCK • MAROON 5 •

GOGOL BORDELLO • MY MORNING JACKET • BEN HARPER • RY COODER • PITBULL • STEVE EARLE • BILLY

BRAGG • MIA • SWEET HONEY AND THE ROCK • ANTI-FLAG • THROWING MUSES • STATE RADIO • AZTLAN

UNDERGROUND • DJ SPOOKY…AND HAVE JOINED • CYPRESS HILL • JUANES • CONOR OBERST • LOS

TIGRES DEL NORTE • CAFE TACVBA • MICHAEL MOORE • JOE SATRIANI • SERJ TANKIAN • RISE AGAINST •

OZOMATLI • SABERTOOTH TIGER • MASSIVE ATTACK • ONE DAY AS A LION • STREET SWEEPER SOCIAL

CLUB • SPANK ROCK • SONIC YOUTH • TENACIOUS D • THE COUP

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Why Do We Let Fox & Other Right Wing Outlets Snooker us? Everybody Owes Shirley Sherrod an Apology?

July 20, 2010 By

Shirley Sherrod

Below is the NAACP’s original Statement Regarding Shirley Sherrod head of the Department of Agriculture’s rural development office in Georgia, after being ‘snookered’ into thinking she was a racist based upon a video shown by Fox and other right-wing outlets..Proceeding it is the full video of Ms Sherrod’s remarks.. Her speech was about reconciliation and overcoming racial hatred.. Whats even sadder is up til now President Obama is sticking to their guns..All parties involved need to do right by Ms Sherrod starting with some major apologies.

Next everyone involved need to take firm steps to stop validating bloggers Conservative attack dog Andrew Breitbart, Fox News and other outlets who say they are news, but are really invested in spreading propaganda and finding ways to take down or aggressively support those who are out to take down their political enemies. In the case of Breibert, that was his full intention, to embarrass and discredit the NAACP-Mission Accomplished. Up til today the story was the NAACP smashes of the Tea Party and their racism  and how the oldest Civil Rights organization was making moves to become more relevant in the lives of today’s generation. All that was gone in an instant with this ‘snookering’ that took place. There are lots of lessons to be learned here.

First, we have got to stop depending upon media outlets that don’t have our best interest at heart to fully deliver our message. This is especially true of places like Fox News. There have been too many good people who have had their reputations soiled because of Fox and their unrelenting attacks. It ranges from Ludacris to Reverend Jeremiah Wright to Van Jones and Yoshi Sergent to Acorn to now Shirley Sherrod. All the while this is happening, Negro after Negro goes onto one of these shows to do verbal battle with hosts who’ve set things up so you will never ever get the last word.

Second we have got to stop letting them dictate what we will and won’t talk about. This is not limited to Fox.. The other day I saw NAACP head Ben Jealous on TV disavowing the New Black Panther Party.. Why? Whatever they said or done could’ve been disavowed on your own terms years ago. Instead they become a hot button campaign for right wing zealots and suddenly the NAACP and every other Black pundit is on TV  apologozing, distancing themselves and acting like they need to be ashamed.  Not a good look. It reminds me of the old Farrakhan litmus test, where every Black person on TV had to state he did not like the Minister in order to appear creditable.

Shame on us for validating them with our presence. Shame on us for using them as the basis to go after someone who had not only the best of intentions but was setting a good example for all of us to follow. Sherrod’s speech was about reconciliation.

The NAACP would do good by investing time and energy into establishing a series of well heeled local media outlets that speak unapologetically to our issues and forget having to explain and apologizee on outlets that little or no interest in giving us equal footing.

-Davey D-

*** Important Update July 21 2010** According to CNN the Agriculture department is now ‘Considering’ Sherrod’s resignation.. Here’s what they said…

(CNN) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said early Wednesday that he will review the case of a former Agriculture Department official who resigned after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer.

“I am, of course, willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner,” Vilsack said in a statement.

Shirley Sherrod — an African-American — resigned Monday under pressure after the video clip first appeared on a conservative website and later on Fox News. In the video, she seemed to tell an audience she did not do her utmost to help a white farmer avoid foreclosure. However, Sherrod later said the clip only shows part of her comments, and that she tells the story of her experience — from nearly a quarter century ago when she was not a federal employee — to illustrate the importance of moving beyond race. continue reading here http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/21/agriculture.employee.usda/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9NcCa_KjXk&feature=player_embedded

NAACP’s Original Statement Condemning Sherrod

According to NAACP head Ben Jealous, he has since called, spoken with and apologized to Sherrod for the remarks below….

NAACP Head Ben Jealous credit: Jeffrey Macmill

NAACP Head Ben Jealous credit: Jeffrey Macmill

We concur with US Agriculture Secretary Vilsack in accepting the resignation of Shirley Sherrod for her remarks at a local NAACP Freedom Fund banquet.

Racism is about the abuse of power. Sherrod had it in her position at USDA. According to her remarks, she mistreated a white farmer in need of assistance because of his race.

We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers.

Her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicament of working people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.

The reaction from many in the audience is disturbing. We will be looking into the behavior of NAACP representatives at this local event and take any appropriate action.

We thank those who brought this to our national office’s attention, as there are hundreds of local fundraising dinners each year.

Sherrod’s behavior is even more intolerable in light of the US Department of Agriculture’s well documented history of denying opportunities to African American, Latino, Asian American, and Native American farmers, as well as female farmers of all races. Currently, justice for many of these farmers is being held up by Congress. We would hope all who share our outrage at Sherrod’s statements would join us in pushing for these cases to be remedied.

The NAACP will continue to advance the ideals of America and fight for freedom, justice and fairness for all Americans.

N.A.A.C.P. Retracts Bias Accusation

By SARAH WHEATON

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/us/21sherrod.html

The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People apologized Tuesday to a black civil servant whose ouster the civil rights organization had originally cheered.

Last week, the N.A.A.C.P. garnered headlines when it accused parts of the Tea Party movement of being racist. Then, over the weekend, a video emerged of Shirley Sherrod, the head of the Department of Agriculture’s rural development office in Georgia, speaking at an N.A.A.C.P. event in Douglas, Ga., in March. In a two-and-a-half-minute clip, Ms. Sherrod seemed to explain that she discriminated against a white farmer 24 years ago.

Ms. Sherrod said she was pressed to resign after the video whipped around the Web. But she said the clip was misleading. According to Ms. Sherrod and people who have seen the full video, she went on to say in her speech that she had learned from working with the farmer that all people must overcome their prejudices.

After seeing the full video, the N.A.A.C.P. said Tuesday that it had been “snookered” into believing Ms. Sherrod had acted with bias.

“We are in a moment where there is heightened sensitivity and concern, including within the N.A.A.C.P., about discrimination against white people,” said Benjamin T. Jealous, the group’s president. He said the N.A.A.C.P. wanted “to be clear that there’s a single yardstick by which civil rights are judged.”

In the video, which received much airtime on the Fox News Channel on Monday, Ms. Sherrod recalled working for a nonprofit organization in Georgia.

“I was struggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land,” Ms. Sherrod said in the video. “So I didn’t give him the full force of what I could do. I did enough.”

The video was spotlighted by Andrew Breitbart, a conservative blogger known for promoting videos that emerged last year and ultimately brought down Acorn, the community organizing group. By Monday evening, Ms. Sherrod was out of her job. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack cited the agency’s “zero-tolerance” policy on discrimination in explaining her ouster.

Ms. Sherrod took to the airwaves, especially those of CNN, on Tuesday. She told the network that the N.A.A.C.P. was “the reason why this happened.”

“They got into a fight with the Tea Party, and all of this came out as a result of that,” she said.

Mr. Breitbart reached a similar conclusion, though from a different perspective. “They’re trying to make this about me and Shirley Sherrod. This is about the N.A.A.C.P.,” he said by phone. He said that the civil rights group had “spent an inordinate amount of airtime trying to brand the Tea Party as racist” while tolerating racism itself.

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Sights, Sounds & Insights From Yesterday’s Pro-Johannes Mehserle Rally

July 20, 2010 By

So yesterday we had the big show down in Walnut Creek, California.. where supporters of killer cop Johannes Mehserle decided to throw a rally to show support. This is in spite of his involuntary manslaughter conviction, his violent past and the fact that fellow law enforcement officers found his former employer BART was negligent in how they trained officers and how they handled events the night Oscar Grant was killed by Mehserle. Check out the following reports for better understanding..NOBLE (National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives) and the Meyer Nave Investigation.

The fact that you did have law enforcement officers out there supporting Mehserle in spite of his negligence shows you just how strong the ‘Stop Snitching’ Rule is within the ranks of law enforcement. There’s an old saying, don’t ask people to do what you aren’t willing to do yourself and the fact that every single police union in the state of California came out to back Mehserle including raising funds for his defense and we did not see any ‘good’ officers speak out against his horrific actions speaks volumes.

It was also interesting when Mehserle’s father Todd showed up.. His reputation leaves a lot to be desired. Here’s some insight into this character http://sfist.com/2009/01/12/todd_mehserles_angry_internet_histo.php His sordid past represents some of what took place yesterday in which racial epithets were hurled at Oscar Grant supporters. Bay Area film maker Moon Cricket will be posting all that later this week. It will no doubt be an eye opener for Bay Area folks showing us just how deep seated racism is here in the liberal Bay Area.

Below are some of the sights and sounds from yesterday’s rally..Here’s an excerpt from my boy Black Hour Reporter  Reginald James

A rally staged in support of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle in Walnut Creek Monday afternoon drew hundreds of protesters, dozens of journalists and photographers and plenty of police.

But instead of the 100 Mehserle supporters, gathered in the parking lot between the Contra Costa Superior Court building and the Buttercup restaurant, being greeting by a stage, podium or speakers, they were met by counter-protesters demanding Justice for Oscar Grant. Mehserle was convicted July 8 of involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 shooting of Grant at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland.

Pro-Mehserle and law enforcement protesters held signs like, “Free Mehserle,” “If U Don’t Like Police Officers, Next Time You Need Help, Call a MethHead.”

Shortly after 2 p.m. (when the rally was to begin) the number of counter-protesters began to swell. Demonstrators held signs that read, “Jail Killer Cops” and “Justice for Oscar Grant.” The street was filled with protesters standing in the street along Ygnacio Valley Road, until police in riot gear forced protesters back onto the sidewalk. Businesses on the street had been closed since shortly after 1 p.m..

For much of the rally, demonstrators yelled back and forth as each other and accusations of racism abounded, but there were also strong dialogues between people on all sides.

continue reading his coverage here: http://theblackhour.blogspot.com/2010/07/mehserle-rally-in-walnut-creek-causes.html

This link below will take you to one of the most insightful exchanges all day.. I wish they posted this on Youtube so more people could see and hear it..

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1473851879717&ref=mf

Click HERE to see this video from Pro- Mehserle

Below is an intense interview conducted by fellow Oakland journalist Pendarvis Harshaw and one of the few Black Pro-Mehserle supporters Kevin Thomas. Not sure if Thomas is a cop, but many members of his family are and to that degree to hear his over-the-top generalizations about the people who live in Oakland is disturbing especially if his law enforcement family hold the same views.  What’s even more troubling is his assessment of politicians who stand against the police. Pay close attention to what he says about City Council member Rebecca Kaplan in particular take a listen to the swipe he takes at Kaplan’s sexual orientation. Kaplan’s running for mayor of Oakland and has now has a formidable enemy in the form of law enforcement if Kevin Thomas rep’s the line of thinking many officers may have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYiIncW0DPU&feature=player_embedded

Here’s another scene where demonstrators get on ground re-acting what took place the night Grant was shot. They are laying face down on the ground asking not to be shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56x8EYo8wug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRw9JgaJdI4

One of the more humorous moments came when local activist comedian W. Kamau Bell alerted us to the other Black Mehserle supporter.. His picture was posted on line and folks went to work with their tongue and cheek remarks including this Top Ten list from Oakland resident Harold Lowe

10) He wasn’t really black; he looked like a white dude in blackface
9) He thought Mehserle was malt liquor or an exotic drink like Hypnotiq
8) He wants him out of jail so he can beat his ass
7) He is running for Mayor of Walnut Creek
6) Someone is holding his baby’s momma hostage
5) Republicans will cut off his unemployment unless he does this
4) His brother is breaking in all their cars while they read the sign
3) Mehserle is his bitch and he wants him back
2) He’s a sellout…or a Republican…sorry, I am being redundant
1) It’s the best way to meet white women

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Official Press Release for the Rally for the Killer Cop Johannes Mehserle in Walnut Creek

July 19, 2010 By

Wanted to make sure Folks got a better understanding of the ‘spin game’ these folks are attempting play with todays rally for Killer Cop Johannes Mehserle. It’s being couched as a support rally for Law EnforcemenT.. I think Krsita Kreatin who pens the column Revolutionize Yo Block sums it up best

I do not find there to be even an inkling of a way to draw parallels between supporting a cop who killed a young man while laying face down and shooting him in the back and supporting loved ones of police officers killed in the line of duty. It is a crock that people have come together under some guise that a pro-Mehserle rally is honoring fallen cops and their families. I personally had a family friend whose father was shot in the line of duty (thankfully surviving) and this rally disrespects his service, his commitment, his sacrifice and his integrity as an honest police officer. This rally is a disservice to those honest, hard working, quality police officers who practice restraint and live and breathe to protect and serve their communities. What a shame. What a sham.

R.I.P. OSCAR GRANT

Lastly I will remind folks of two other things.. 1-Expect this rally to get tons of coverage because Walnut Creek is a key place where Neilson Boxes which determine television ratings is located.. It was a smart move by the organizers of this rally to hold it there. Its a spot I been suggesting to activists for years…

Second point there will be a press conference today in oakland with organizers around the Oscar Grant Movement.. During the big Next Steps Meeting this past Thursday in West oakland, folks voted not to go out to Walnut Creek for a variety of reasons. There may be some white allies to this movement who roll up…

___________________________________________

Kristin ******** July 17 at 11:38am
To all guests of In Support of Johannes Mehserle and L.E.O. Rally
Rally Coordinators July 16 at 7:35pm To the Public:

To the Public:

All good cops should not support a rally for this man

We have received many requests for an interview from various news groups and reporters regarding the upcoming rally scheduled for Monday. It has been impossible to answer all requests due to the sheer volume, however we are releasing this press announcement in regards to Monday’s events.

Contrary to what has been portrayed in the media, this rally is NOT about dividing communities, inciting a race war or a political debate. The Walnut Creek location was chosen primarily out of convenience to allow for a central location accessible to many from different communities all over the Bay area. Many reporters throughout our community, but especially the Contra Costa Times and Claycord.com, decided to leak this event to the community before speaking with any event planners, thus creating an angry stir with some individuals and groups. As a result of their negligent reporting and failure to properly convey the meaning for the rally early on, hundreds of angry and hateful comments have been reported by various people and the true meaning of this event has not been conveyed properly. For this reason, no interviews will take place that will allow anyone to misconstrue what was said and the entire press release will be available for all to see.

This rally is NOT about inciting violence, destruction, intolerance, hatred, racism, riots, or to upset the Grant family and their supporters. Rather, this is an opportunity for those in our communities to come together in peace to grieve and voice their support for a former Law Enforcement Officer, Johannes Mehserle and his family and friends. There is great support for Mr. Mehserle as well as for all other Law Enforcement Officers and we recognized that an avenue needed to happen to allow these individuals to express their feelings and offer others support and encouragement.

We do NOT believe that Mr. Mehserle intentionally took the life of Mr. Grant. We believe this was a tragic mistake that occurred while on active duty and one that could have been easily preventable if BART Police demanded its officers wear their tasers on the opposite side as their gun and be made to draw that taser with their weak hand. During the course of Mr. Mehserle’s trial, evidence and witness statements provided insight that truly showed the action was not intentional. No one believes that Mr. Grant deserved to be killed nor is anyone happy that this happened. Oscar Grants family and friends have lost someone that they loved. Johannes Mehserle’s family, friends and fellow law enforcement officials have also lost someone they loved, respected and admired, but healing and forgiveness is only going to take place in our community if we make way for dialogue and truly come to understand the pain on both sides.

Throughout the last 18 months, Mr. Mehserle and his family and friends have been the victims of politics and persecuted in the public eye. While we recognize that some individuals are angry and hurt at what occurred on January 1, 2009, no one in our community has taken the time to get to know the person Johannes is. He is not the cruel and racist person he has been portrayed to be. We believe as a group that if people would truly open their eyes, get to know him and his family as well as other officers, lay the race issue aside, and open way to dialogue, that healing in our community can take place and change can happen that can benefit both sides.

Furthermore, this rally is also to support all Law Enforcement Officers and to show our thanks and appreciation to them for the work they do in our communities. Our Officers have a very stressful and difficult job, but everyday they work around the clock trying to make our communities better and safer for everyone to the best of their abilities. Law Enforcement Officers are rarely thanked or appreciated for all they do for us. To thank our officers for protecting our communities is not as some people have stated, “a racist move” – police come in all shapes, sizes and colors…. This is to truly thank them for all they do for us and nothing more.

We hope that those of you that attend the rally on Monday will show respect for both sides and for the City of Walnut Creek and the officers on duty. We ask that you resist name calling and intimidation, remain peaceful and truly allow a dialogue to take place that will promote healing for everyone. Let us know who Oscar Grant was. Ask who Johannes Mehserle is and get to know him through the people who know him. Talk with officers and get to know how they feel about their jobs, their communities, what they go through on a daily basis, how our officers can better serve you and vice versa. This rally is about opening doors of communication and setting aside our differences to promote tolerance and peace within our communities.

For those of you with ulterior motives in mind to cause harm to anyone, incite riots, violence, or destruction, we ask that you do not bring that mentality to this rally. Rather, we ask you to be respectful of those who want to be heard, regardless of whether their opinions and feelings align with yours or not.

We thank everyone for their support and look forward to Monday’s event.

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