The Real Face of Oakland, CA | Not in Our Town

The Real Face of Oakland, CA

Submitted by suefish on July 12, 2010 - 3:21pm


Oakland, CA: Last Thursday, July 8, former BART transit officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 1, 2009 death of Oscar Grant, an unarmed young African American man.

As feared, that night saw rioting, looting, and destruction in the streets of downtown Oakland. And that's where the local media trained their cameras.

What they didn't report on was the crowd of nearly 1,000 people who gathered near City Hall to voice their dissatisfaction with the verdict peacefully and constructively. They didn't report on Oscar Grant's grandfather, who urged the crowd to honor his grandson's memory by refraining from violence. They didn't show the faces and voices of Oakland's young people, who love this city and want to make it better.

We did. Not In Our Town's camera crew was out on the streets that evening, talking to city residents committed to ending prejudice, bigotry and hate-based violence.

This is what you DIDN'T see on the evening news -- and should have.

In: 
California
law enforcement
community response
racial justice
racial tension
oakland
Oscar Grant
CA
Johannes Mehserle

Comments

Submitted by Barbara Williams (not verified) on July 13, 2010 - 8:44am

 THe young people are always inspiring to me!  What a great video -- it's too bad that the news media always goes after the negative.  Thanks for sending this out -- I've passed it on to everyone I know.

Submitted by katie murdock (not verified) on July 17, 2010 - 6:14am

Bad news is always the more compelling - we all must work on it being the opposite.  The thinking people must ask one other person to adopt the peace and to ask that one other to pass it on to one other.  That can be done. Education is the primary answer. Keep up your good work.

Submitted by reeree love (not verified) on October 10, 2012 - 1:52pm

To me this case was defistating to read.  I was listening to Boys 2 men a song for momma at  the time. All i could do is cry. So sad this innocent young man. I'm 12 in the 7th grade and I can't believe it myself. I'm going to do my project on this. I cannot read this and listen to the song at the same time with out crying. people these days need to get it together  and titen up. im tired of losing people i love. im tired of watching the news every moning hearing  somebody dead, shot , beat to death, this and that etc. if i was president the world wouldnt be the same. so comeon obama help us out #team innocent unarmed black kids also#team Obama!@!! 

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