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‘Spare the Fare’ protesters demand ‘No $ for police brutality and murder: Disband the BART police’ Thursday, Sept. 8, 4:30 p.m., Powell Street BART station
September 7, 2011
The No Justice No BART campaign will stage a “Spare the Fare” protest in the Powell Street BART station on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 4:30 p.m. The idea is to pack enough demonstrators inside of the station, outside of the fare gates, that BART will open the emergency exits and fare gates to allow passengers entry without paying.
Kenneth Harding police murder aftermath: Victory for Kilo G
September 3, 2011
Kilo G. Perry is an Afrikan man and a man of his word. He is such a trusted man of his word that he has been dubbed “the voice of Bayview Hunters Point” by poor Black and Brown people of San Francisco. Comrade Kilo G is the producer of Cameras Not Guns, a youth educator and peacemaker, and a single father of a 3-year-old baby boy.
BART hates free speech
August 24, 2011
In justification of BART’s shutdown of mobile phone service on Aug. 11, the agency began to disingenuously claim that demonstrations against BART’s police brutality were a threat to passenger safety, even though no one has ever been hurt during a BART protest.
Hunger strike updates: Legislative hearing on Pelican Bay SHU tomorrow in Sacramento
August 22, 2011
The Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity coalition will hold a press conference Tuesday, Aug. 23, 11:00 a.m. at the California Capitol Building in Sacramento where families of prisoners, community members and activists from around California will converge to rally and participate …
SFPD as occupier, corporate media as its accomplice
July 29, 2011
Generally, what happened to Harding happens in colonized spaces to colonized subjects, from Hunters Point to Baghdad. The victims are people of color. Five centuries of colonially-constructed rationales have served the purpose of minimizing the value of racialized subjects.
Paramedic whistleblower alleges Oscar Grant cover-up, system-wide racism
June 23, 2011
Paramedic Sean Gillis, an instructor and supervisor at the Oakland Fire Department, filed suit on Friday against the OFD, alleging that the OFD mistreated Oscar Grant in its response to Grant’s 911 calls on Jan. 1, 2009, destroyed all evidence of the mistreatment, ordered Gillis to stop his investigation and are retaliating against him.
The thrill is gone: a report from the rallies protesting Mehserle’s release
June 13, 2011
The lyrics to B.B. King’s classic “The Thrill is Gone” was the first thing that ran through my head when I showed up at both of the rallies that were held to “protest” the release from jail of Johannes Mehserle on Sunday, June 12. The speakers seemed to be a tad bit angry but not focused enough to do anything significant that would put police murders on the national radar. JUST ADDED: Minister of Information JR leads a full hour of debate on issues swirling around the murder of Oscar Grant by Johannes Mehserle broadcast on KPFA Wednesday morning.
50,000 volts a zap
April 3, 2011
“If, at 50,000 volts a zap, five officers shoot their tasers at the same time, the subject gets a 250,000-volt output – equal to the electrical charge inside the death penalty chamber,” Mesha Monge-Irizarry, a leading advocate for police accountability, explained.
AeroSoul 2: Urban Hieroglyphics
January 28, 2011
In honor of African History Month, the Bay Area Aerosol Heritage Society is proud to present AeroSoul 2011, which will kick off on Feb. 4 at the Joyce Gordon Gallery in Downtown Oakland and be followed by a month-long series of events showcasing some of the most cutting-edge, dynamic Black urban calligraphers in the world. Refa 1 is the event curator.
AC Transit riders fight for their right to ride, 55 years after Montgomery
January 10, 2011
AC Transit routes are back on the cutting table, and once again, it will be the youth, seniors, disabled riders, and low-income families whose opportunities for work and education will feel the impact. AC Transit driver Lorenzo Jacobs said, “When you start cutting service, you’re cutting opportunities. When you cut lines, you’re affecting people’s lives.”
New Year’s Day vigil commemorates Oscar Grant killing
January 7, 2011
Over 100 family members, religious leaders and community supporters held a prayer vigil and speak-out on New Year’s Day in front of the Fruitvale BART station to commemorate the second anniversary of the BART police killing of Oscar Grant, a young Black man.
The Mehserle effect: Vallejo shooting tests era of police accountability
December 24, 2010
In the Bay Area, the veneer of police impunity seems to be thinning even as high-profile cases of police shooting unarmed Black men – in Oakland and nearby Vallejo – continue to occur. Guy Jarreau Jr. was shot and killed by Vallejo police Saturday, Dec. 11. Facing the officer with his hands up, “Guy didn’t have a gun,” said witnesses.
A man in the mirror
November 24, 2010
In the wake of the senseless acts of violence that have taken away the lives of Oscar Grant, Derrick Jones and countless other Black men, I’ve grown to feel numb.
Police brutality decried by angry, grieving families
October 25, 2010
Angry and grieving family members rallied at the Fruitvale BART station to mark the 15th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. One speaker, Norman Curry, spoke of how his mother was shot point blank by an officer who called her by name, “Anita (Gay).”
Oakland criminalized by its own mayor, after slap-on-the-wrist verdict for a killer cop
July 15, 2010
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums had a chance to shine last Thursday, after the verdict was announced in the murder trial of transit cop Johannes Mehserle for the Jan. 1, 2009, killing of 22-year-old unarmed Black man Oscar Grant. But instead of standing with the people, Dellums stood with his police chief, and together they proceeded to criminalize the entire community.
Oakland says Johannes Mehserle is guilty
July 9, 2010
At 14th and Broadway, the community was invited to share what was on their hearts. No one was censored and all views were respected. People surrounded the speakers. No one needed to be alone on a day like today. In African traditional healing, the health of an individual is tied to the well-being of community. Oscar Grant’s relatives and friends called for love and respect for life and each other, as they named the enemy: this corrupt judicial system that allows killers to go free. I noticed another rally in front of City Hall. Just a handful of people were there.
Jury set in historic trial of cop who killed Oscar Grant – no Black jurors
June 9, 2010
Phyllis Jackson thought “it was a chilling day” for Los Angeles. “Jury selection here banishes all Black people like the recent Equal Justice Initiative report found that Southern courts do, while allowing the jury to be stacked with people who have friends, family and businesses involved with law enforcement,” she said. Everybody out for the Mass Protest for Justice for Oscar Grant Monday, June 14, 8 a.m., at the LA courthouse.
Family of Oscar Grant celebrates victory, Mehserle to face murder charge
June 5, 2009
A victory in the campaign for justice for Oscar Grant III was celebrated today after the presiding judge, Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay, concluded the preliminary hearing in the trial of Johannes Mehserle by ruling that the former BART police officer will stand trial for murder. June 18 is the date Mehserle is scheduled to appear back in court and declare his plea of guilt or innocence before the full trial begins.
Live from the Mehserle courtroom: an interview with Uncle Bobby, Oscar Grant’s uncle
June 2, 2009
The female BART officer that was on that platform even stated in her testimony that she supposedly feared for her life, and she just knew that she was going to have to shoot somebody or kill somebody that night. Those were her words in court. The judge said: “Hold up. Wait a minute, who were you going to shoot first?”
Hearing for killer cop Mehserle: Justice for Oscar Grant!
May 26, 2009
On New Year’s morning BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fired his gun at point blank range into Oscar Grant’s back, killing him as he lay face down on the train platform, hands behind him. A preliminary hearing is now underway to determine whether Mehserle will be charged with murder or whether the charges against him will be lowered.
