Oscar Grant Update: Bail for Accused Cop

Yesterday, Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer who shot and killed 22-year-old Oscar Grant, was released on bail.

Hundreds protested outside of the bail hearing while police, in customary OPD fashion, reportedly shot rubber bullets into the crowd.

Also at the bail hearing, Mehserle's attorney shed light onto what will likely be the officer's primary legal defense: that he accidently shot Grant with his pistol, intending instead to use his taser. According to this theory, Grant's death is a tragic accident, not a cold-blooded murder.

Mehserle is reported to have given several contradictory statements after the shooting, including the oft-used "I thought he was going for a gun."

The Chronicle reported yesterday that the investigation into Grant's murder has been plagued by errors, many of which point to an attempted cover-up by the officers involved.

Last week, KTVU aired yet another video that shows a different officer viciously punch Grant in the face moments before Meserhele shot him as he lay face down on a BART platform.



The agency recently announced that it will hire an outside agency to investigate if other officers should be charged.

Organizers have called for a mass demonstration outside of Oakland City Hall tonight, January 31, at 6pm.

Justice for Oscar Grant

Here's a terrible way to start off the New Year --

Oscar Grant III, an unarmed 22-year-old black man, was shot and killed early on New Year's morning by an officer from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police force in Oakland.

The murder occurred just after 2 am at the Fruitvale BART station. Apparently, trains headed toward the East Bay were stopped so officers could respond to a reported fight on one of the trains. A group of young men of color were handcuffed -- without incident -- and berated by police. In the video, Grant is not one of the men handcuffed.

What makes this so shocking is that the entire incident was caught on tape. In the video posted below, Grant is seen cooperating with officers as they tackle him to the ground. While Grant lays on his stomach, an officer sitting on top of him -- for no apparent reason -- pulls out of a gun and shoots him in the back. Grant was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.


(The shooting occurs at 2:34)

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Based on a report that cites an eyewitness account and sources close to the investigation, the officer may have accidently shot Grant, mistaking his firearm for a taser gun.

According to another reported eye witness, Grant was heard pleading for his life shortly before he was shot, saying, "Please don't tase me, please don't shoot me, I have a daughter."

BART police are still investigating, the officer involved has yet to be named publicly and Grant's family is in the beginning stages of filing a multi-million dollar civil suit.

In the mean time, here are five things you can do help:

1. Digg the story so that the national media can pick up on it.



2. Contact BART Director Carole Ward Allen and demand that 1) the officers involved be taken off duty without pay and charged and fully prosecuted; 2) there be an independent investigation of the shooting that includes a review of training and hiring practices; and 3) BART establish an independent residents’ review board for the police Call her at 510-464-6095 or email the BART Directors at BoardofDirectors@bart.gov



3. Call the BART police to complain about the officers’ conduct and demand immediate action: Internal Affairs: Sergeant David Chlebowski 510.464.7029,dchlebo@bart.gov; Chief of Police: Gary Gee 510.464.7022, ggee@bart.gov
   
   Call them toll free at 877.679.7000 and press the last four digits of the phone number you wish to reach.



4. Talk it up on your blogs, networks and talk radio shows (call Michael Baisden 877-6BADBOY or Rev. Al, etc. to get this on the national radar)



5. Stay tuned for other actions, protests, etc., especially if you are in the Bay.

h/t to RaceWire for the action points.
Read more.

Who's Your Daddy?

Who saw Obama's Father's Day speech? See Racialicious for a real re-cap and analysis.

keith boykin....really? come on.

Keith Boykins newest project, The Daily Voice: Black America's Daily News Source" is a popular forum for news online, much like Adriana Huffinton's Huffington Post but specifically for Black America.

I check the daily voice very often, i like a lot of the contributors.

HOWEVER

I am turned off by the recent ad content.

The ad i noticed today was for the United States Armed Forces, it was a "GO ARMY" recruitment ad.

The U.S Army add featured a black soldier and the text "Your Future Looks Strong with the U.S Army. Take your life further." (BELOW)



If you click it, you go to this Link, where you can find out how you can serve in the army yet still finish college! Featuring many promising images of people of color clad in military garb and helmets. Why wouldn't you join? Now you can afford that U.C tuition, why didn't you think of this before???

Reality Check.

The military is the last resort for many youth, regardless of race. More often you will find recruiting centers where people of color live than in white neighborhoods. It seems the U.S Army targets minorities more than any other demographic. the military recruiters were on my campus like clockwork the months before graduation. Recruiting centers are driven out or banned by legislation in white areas and cities, like San Francisco, however they still remain in poor black and brown neighborhoods throughout this country. i see no difference in placing a military recruitment ad targeting people of color on a site that defines itself as "Black America's Daily News Source."

A couple of years ago, i wrote a letter to now ended Clik Magazine * =( i loved it* in response to the magazine having nearly a dozen pages of Anti Retro Viral's and Alcohol Ads, but not a single HIV prevention or even condom ad. However, i can understand for smaller publications, money is tight-specifically those that target queer men of color. However The Daily Voice, has ads from Vaseline, Verizon, Dodge and Mercedes... things aren't looking too shabby.

Would it of been that hard to turn down an ad placement request from the U.S Army? Would they have lost that much money?

What gives Mr. Boykin?

What makes the Daily Voice any differnent? We criticize schools for having coke on their campuses, Lebron James for condoning China and its actions in Dafur (basically doing anything for money i.e. Vogue) Further, we criticize the mainstream news ad nauseam for its content and their sponsors... Am i missing something?

Maybe I'm just guilty of assuming the Daily Voice would be more responsible with its ad content. It would seem appropriate that the Daily Voice's sponsors somewhat reflected their mission and political agenda. I will let the KFC ads pass, and the Vaseline ads -although more and more studies are showing that petro chemicals are bad for us- but that stuff is cheap and makes me skin feel soft.

Yet, i write this post on Blogger, a subsidiary of Google. And Google is basically taking over the world. HOWEVER, the minute this blog started showing ads for something that contradicted my beliefs, id be out, and i know my friends here would as well.

Jay stated that social justice is not always manifested in a career, but its a way of life. I completely agree. I work for an arts organization, I'm not exactly beating down Babylon, but its a positive, i work with people who love their jobs, and we have events from operas to fashion shows. I have friends that work for various corporations, and the way they live their lives and the way they treat people is far more positive than half the people that i have come into contact with at non profits. I worked at an amazing legal advocacy and aid organization, and my boss was more oppressive than any boss id ever had in any retail store or restaurant.

BACK TO THE POINT!

I will not apologize for or retract this statement: Today, being pro military, is being pro-war. The U.S military is not, and never was created to protect democracy, this war is for power and money for the elites. If you endorse or support the military you are endorsing the status quo. I'm not saying the Daily Voice is endorsing the U.S military, but I was hoping that it could be a little more responsible.

The army spends millions of dollars on recruitment, but fails to take care of its returning veterans who come back with a multitude of emotional and mental disorders and physical injury.

Signing up for the the Army today is a guarantee to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan (or into myriad of conflicts around the globe)...Regardless, Uncle Sam knows his demographic, and someone got played, was it us? or the Daily Voice?

If 5-0 Shoots

From the acclaimed filmmaker Byron Hurt comes a touching tribute to Sean Bell, and other victims of police brutality.

And now I'll stop frontin' like I'm a random movie preview voiceover...

Via RaceWire:

A breath of fresh air...

this add is fabulous.

i was walking down Broadway in Washington Heights yesterday and saw this




and saw this one in Elmhurst




for too long, fear has been the mode for hiv prevention, its clearly not enough. is this the new face of hiv prevention organizing?

after Health Organizations in this country have guaranteed to deliver queer communities of color offensive campaigns developed to promote safer sex, this campaign by Gay Men's Health Crisis is a breath of fresh air.

phillys Have you been Hit? and SF's "Don't Be a Bitch, Wear a Condom" (great analysis of SF's campaign by Gay Shame Sf) made me wonder if we would ever have a campaign targeted to young queer/msm (men who have sex with men) of color, that addresses safe sex without being racist, classist, sexist, or perpetuating some fucked up racialized conceptions of gender.

Evidently, that day has come.



Living Out Loud with Darian features the complete campaign.

this campaign, as Darian says, shows "Beautiful images of brothers loving and respecting each others bodies and souls. Now that's not something you see everyday."

I also love this ad because, it combats the idea that being gay is a "condition" that only affects white men, particularly middle and upper class white men. too often we see portrayals of "typical" gay men as white and and often professional. many people today, when thinking about MSM of color, are limited to images ofthe "the down low" and otherwise heterosexual men sneaking away from their wives/girlfriends to have sex with other men.

not only does this ad show queer men of color, its shows two men engaged, affectionate, in a relationship. this ad acknowledges same sex couples, even promotes them. rather than pandering to the serial sexing gay male caricature.


the contention behind this development is a larger problem in organizing that we see across all issues. Too often we have people organizing and working in organizations who aren't from or familiar with the communities they are "fighting" for. In order to have real change, space must be created in these larger organizations for leaders to step up and address the problems particular to the communities they are purportedly serving, rather than having a few researchers and academics or consultants behind the scenes telling us what our communities will respond to.

creating these spaces - not only in the media- for those outside the realm of what is deemed as typical, highlights progress. this exposure and presence might be seen as a minimal achievement to some, but i find it to be very powerful.

Strength & Solidarity in Jena

I hope everybody went and got their black and green on today in solidarity with the Jena 6.

The injustice is appalling, but the nationwide solidarity is monumental.

NOLA organizers have been working tirelessly for months. Mad props to Safe Streets , FFLIC, and all those who've worked, and continue to work, to not only seek justice, but transform its meaning.

Even the New York Times ran a front page piece in its online edition highlighting the mass mobilization today in Jena, Louisiana.

And Pittsburgh rapper/activist Jasiri X recently released an ill track based on the case:


Mumia's got commentary on it.

And the young men and their families, who've stood strong throughout this entire ordeal, continue to offer their thanks

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Background:

Front Page News?

Last week Reverend Lennox Yearwood from the Hip Hop Caucus waited outside the doors of the Petraeus hearing to get in. The policy repeatedly denied him entry while allowing others to enter. Rev. Yearwood began to question the officers about why he was not being allowed into a public hearing. Multiple officers then tackled him to the ground and arrested him. The entire time Rev. Yearwood is not resisting and many people around him are yelling at the police to stop and saying he is a peaceful man. If you do a google search you'll find Democracy Now!, some independent media sources and blogs reporting on the incident. Here is the You Tube video:



On Monday, a University of Florida student attended a speech by John Kerry. The student was given the opportunity to ask a question at the end of the speech. Right before he went up to the podium he gave a camera to his friend to record the question. After a minute of simply talking to Kerry he was asked by a police officer to finish his statement; his time was up. The student then yelled "I'm going to ask my question." and continued to go on and on. Finally, two officers began to escort him out. He then began yelling and resisting. He became so out of control that he was tasered. If you do a google search on this story you will see it in almost every major newspaper and on the front page of many today. Here is the video:




Before you read any further, please watch both of those videos. What do you notice about these two? Any striking differences besides the fact that one is a black man and the other white?

Does it look like the white boy is putting on a show to anyone else? The paper also mentioned that the student "has a history of chronicling his public hijinks". I can't begin to express my anger right now. Not only did a white boy trying to cause trouble make the front page, but a well-respected Reverend who did nothing wrong has his civil liberties violated and it is ignored by all major forms of media. People are talking about the "police brutality" at University of Florida. WTF!!!! I agree that they should not have tasered the U of F student, but who gets coverage is just ridiculous. Jena 6 happened over a year ago and major news sources have only picked up the story in recent months.

This shit is just FUCKED up.