[Addendum: A Better Oakland's link round up of the Downtown Oakland "riots" here.]
[Addendum: Read Racialicious, "What is the purpose of a riot" here.]
[Addendum: Yes yes, Oakland is angry, and I am trying not to be angry. Is there any way to somehow rise above it all. But then I read this, and it breaks my heart.
"there are more people of color now. young kids of various backgrounds are smashing cars, and at least one car is burning. Store windows are getting smashed now too. At first i thought black kids were targeting Korean stores, but then an African hair braiding store got smashed. Later, friends would tell me that they saw the immigrant African family in the store, asking why, why, why? Another friend said that an older Asian man-- on crutches no less-- pleaded with rioting youth not to smash his car up. But they did. Right in front of him. And i saw a middle aged Asian woman running, screaming because her bag had been snatched. I shouted for people to leave her alone, but i had no idea where her assailants were."
More here.]
Oakland is angry, and it’s going to be an angry year. Downtown this morning, walking into Chinatown, helicopter blades beat in the sky. From my desk I can still here them through the skylight. This morning, there are so many broken, boarded up storefront windows along 17th Street between Franklin and Webster. Locally owned, family owned business store fronts (my tattoo parlor got smashed in too). Last night from our window, we could see the helicopters circling over 14th Street, my old neighborhood, where protesters went from peaceful assembly to straight up violence over the BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant, who was unarmed, who was face down, who was 22 years old, who is dead.
Oakland is angry at the failure, the inability, the unwillingness of any authorities to act upon this shooting in any kind of timely, responsible manner. News of the shooting officer’s sudden resignation from BART coincided with Grant’s funeral services. There is so much cause for outrage, with no one willing to be accountable for this young man’s life; there is so much cause for calls of “Enough is enough.”
Oakland is angry, and it is a seething body. It is lashing out at its own disenfranchised/marginalized constituents in its rage. Last night, I couldn’t sleep; I was so worried about the elderly Chinese/Vietnamese folks who live in the Hotel Oakland on 14th and Harrison. I worried about their fear, how this compounds the fear they already live with every day, victims of hold ups and assaults at gunpoint. I worried about the Vietnamese ladies’ nail salons, the African American braids salons on 14th and Franklin, working folks with families; I worried about their livelihood. Protesters were vocally dismissive, for loss of capital, loss of livelihood is not a loss of life.
“Nobody feels happy about the guy getting killed, but if they come back to attack me as a black sister I feel very disappointed. I’m struggling here too. And they come and wreck my business.”
Oakland is angry. It is my city, but I cannot condone what’s happened here. It is my city, and I want you to know that it is a beautiful city. I am sad, because I have nothing to offer it, nothing to assuage its anger.
* * *
14th & Broadway Lullaby, Oakland
After Anne Waldman’s “& Sleep, the Lazy Owl of Night”
& sleep, the Cleavage Lady of Night
& sleep will make you whole
& sleep, the B-Boys of the Corner
& sleep will make you bold
& sleep, the Poets in the Skids
& sleep will make you still
& sleep, my City, sleep deep
& sleep will give reprieve
(repeat)
Very sad to hear about this — and surprised I haven’t heard anything about it on any of the national media. Just checked CNN and not a word.
Woah…i just posted this and went back to close CNN and they had updated the homepage and now Oakland is the lead story.
We are lucky when poetas write in times like this.
thinking of your city & you.
the people involved. everyone.
this is wrenching.
The killing saddened and me, and the non-response is outrageous. It highlights the reason people should not engage in criminal behavior in public. If those young men had not acted out against their brothers and the police that night, there would have been no confrontation with the BART cops. But, I am horrified by the violence against the innocent bystanders in Oakland. Why must people destroy others’ property? I feel their anger, but their actions will not further their cause. So much hate scares me.
The second you start acting in a violent and riotous manner your message is lost and no longer matters. I don’t know exactly how the shooting took place, but I do know one thing, I would be scared as hell to be an officer working the hood in Oakland, CA. Black on black crime is truly ridiculous and out of hand, the numbers speak for themselves and are undeniable.
Hey folks, thanks for all your comments. Again I refer to Racialicious for discussions on what is a riot, why do people riot, etc. In terms of Austin’s last statement: don’t assume this is black on black violence. There were lots of folks out there engaged in non-peaceful protest, not just black folks. And the local businesses affected were not all black-owned businesses.
Murder is what happened and the police walked away free. Why who is responsable for all of these officers walking away free? Does the Mayor condone this kind of action out of the local police force? Does the Cheif of police condone this kind of action from his officers? Why are all of the policemen not in jail right now? They have sworn to uphold the law. How can they justify any of these men walking away?
If four men hold up a bank, does the law enforcement just arrest the one with the gun drawn? What makes this murder any different? So if these police officers holdup a bank then it is still the same no questions ask? Maybe what we need to know is, who is in charge of these police officers? It kind of looks like this murder happened because somebody has not been doing their job at keeping the thugs out of uniform.
Thanks for this, fellow blogger of conscience y diwata! and thank you for quoting my words, i am honored.
i am hoping that Oakland sleeps better tonight, and i am praying for more healing and more justice.
Daughter of the Ring of Fire » Blog Archive » Lines of Faith: Why I Write Poems
Barbara, please allow me to clarify. I was not implying that only blacks morphed this peaceful protest into the riot it became, but I do believe B on B crime is one of the roots of the problem. Like I said before, the numbers are off the charts and something must be done. I love how people get so outraged at law enforcement when they kill someone, sometimes disregarding if it was right or not. Maybe California should start using the death penalty more often, obviously what they’re doing right now is achieving nothing.
Don’t get me wrong, if this particular officer behaved in a manner that is unbecoming of law enforcement he should be punished. But honestly, it might sound bad, I give cops who work in such high-crime areas a lot of leeway. I want gang-bangers and criminals to be AFRAID of the the law, but unfortunately they aren’t and feel as though they rule the street (which they do). When you have a community that will call you a snitch for calling out a murderer nothing is ever going to get better.
Can someone please explain who the victim was and how the shooting took place? I’ve yet to find good information, so if you have a link please pass it on. Was he affiliated with any criminal group? Was he a good kid or did he have a rap sheet?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/02/MNB9152I2Q.DTL
Hi Austin thanks for your follow-up comment. The above is one of the earlier SF Chronicle stories on the shooting of Oscar Grant. Details of the shooting were sketchy at first, then all kinds of witnesses with digital video and all came forward. The videos showed he was laying down on his belly on the ground with his hands bound when he was shot in the back. In the meantime, BART (transit) authorities were very very slow to act on this, then the officer who shot Grant resigned. So that’s where all the outrage stemmed from.
In terms of who Grant was – all I know is that he was a local guy, not an angel, but just some young guy, worked as a butcher, had a young daughter.
And Richard, likewise, thank you.
OSCAR GRANT’S KILLER COP ARRESTED IN NEVADA!!
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Thanks for this Richard, though I’m not too sure whether this will change the tone of today’s protests. From where I am sitting in Chinatown, it’s tense. We’re bracing.