Today I send my condolences to Oscar Grant’s family and loved ones. It was only on the strength of modern day technology and fearless citizens that this incident was even recorded and made News. We all witnessed and blatantly saw a cop murder this young man in cold blood.
We now know his name and story. But at 4pm on Friday I stopped my sessions in the recording studio, nervously waiting and wondering if I should be praying. There were so many elements and contemplation of my prayers. Should I be praying for Justice in a system that seems to let me/us down all the time? Praying that the media doesn’t just tape the few kids that start rioting if Mehserle gets off? Praying that the police who stood near 14th & Broadway wouldn’t actually use the tear gas I saw them holding when I drove by, or even worse more guns? Perhaps I was praying that people would finally be fueled enough to really want to start a movement, and community leaders would be there to keep it organized. I keep thinking to myself what is the final straw? Not Bush, not 911, not Katrina, not racist immigration laws, not Mumia Abu Jamal on death row, not trillions being spent on wars and jails but the schools get nothing but budget cuts.
We receive little sprinkles of hope here and there to keep us pacified enough to not really want to get involved and change sh*t. We are all people and we should be treated as such. So why is racism still so real? Why did Michael Vick get more time for dog fighting than a police officer gets for murdering an innocent black man?
I wonder whether the country knows that not one single Oakland Police officer has been charged with murder since 1983. Even amidst the fact that there’s a freshly painted mural on 54th Street of another young black man who was shot and killed in the back by a police officer, not too long ago. I wonder whether people know the statistics in Oakland for police brutality. According to a 2007 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2003 through 2005 at least 2,000 people died during their arrests by state and local law enforcement officers, and there are probably more unreported. The number of arrest-related deaths increased 13 percent from 620 in 2003 to 700 in 2005, that number keeps rising. The Bureau of Justice Statistics report also shows that those who are killed by police are for the most part young Black and Latino men. And almost half of those killed—by the cops’ own admission—were not committing violent offenses.
The cops usually end up trumping up minor charges after the fact like “Littering,” “Obstruction of Justice” or their favorite “Resisting Arrest” which is used when no other actual crime took place. Over the past 7 years Oakland has paid an average of 2.5 million yearly to settle suits against the police, and experts say these Civil Rights lawsuits are the most effective check on the city.
The involuntary manslaughter verdict was disappointing, but not surprising after hearing the case had moved to a Southern California court where the “jury of peers” didn’t include any African Americans. I have to say that this case was even moved out of Oakland, is a testament to how strong citizens of Oakland and specifically youth made their presence known.
The verdict was confusing enough to not quite know how to proceed or react, but it echoed a sense of general hopelessness and disempowerment. It was more proof that cops aren’t treated like people or even tried as people in a court of law. They are given an exorbitant amount of power and permission to commit murder, just because they are people who happen to apply for a dangerous job. I think rioting is not helpful for communities- but standing in and outside courtrooms hearing, and supporting underrepresented citizens like people did, is courageous! And because people did get involved, there was actually some accountability for the killing.
Why is racism, ignorance, and general inhumanity acceptable in this job? Why should we have to fear officers even when we’re minding our own business just because we live in inner cities? The truth is we shouldn’t. Cops need major training before they should even be allowed to hold a gun. The cities must make them accountable for their actions. Really the whole “Cop Culture” needs to shift. I felt a glimpse of that shift once, when I was marching among millions of people in DC, waiting to find my place on The National Mall for Obama’s inauguration. It was only there that day, where I didn’t feel an ‘us and them’ vibe with the police- for the first time I felt like the cops were in place to help and ‘serve’, and I looked at my brother and said, “this is crazy right?…all these people out here and the police are calm”…we were all just people that day…so I know it can exist…unfortunately Oakland feels far from that.
I’ve been feeling proud of Oakland lately, we’ re on the come up and small businesses are doing their thing downtown, we’re getting more good live music venues, and I hope we can keep building this city. I hope organizations like Youth Uprising, Silence the Violence, Watchdog and others keep doing the work to change the system locally at least, because we can’t just stand aside and wait for the world to change.
-Goapale| Goapele.com
