Poor News Network TV: Justice for Oscar Grant


For six hours on Thursday, Jan. 8, an apologetic BART board of directors listened to people voice their fury over a BART police officer’s execution of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old father, and authorities’ silence in response. With the usual time limits on testimony discarded, people poured out their hearts in impassioned demands for justice. The last person to testify on this video is Bay View publisher Willie Ratcliff, who exhorted the board to see the big picture of oppression in the Black community – a convergence of police terror and a solid lockout from the economy. Along with justice for Oscar Grant, he said, Blacks are demanding a fair share of BART’s construction work. Less than 1 percent of the $200 million BART has spent on construction in the past three years went to Blacks.