Over a thousand came to Dewey Square in Boston tonight, for hours of organizing discussion and then for rallying and marching through downtown. An incredible energy in the air. Many many radical-minded and radically curious people in attendance. Mostly under thirty or so.
Unlike any demo I’ve been to in Boston, maybe ever. Certainly in recent history.
People are invested in the participatory process, open to experimentation, and exhibiting a precious, collective, creative spirit of resistance and solidarity. Hundreds of brothers and sisters remained camped out overnight. (I could not stay this night, but will return tomorrow).
Plans are for marches and outreach actions to happen every afternoon and evening all week long. This action seems sure to build. You can feel momentum and excitement in the air–and the free food table is stocked with delicious looking offerings. (Not even tonight’s dampen it.)
There are any number of important political, strategic, organization, and tactical issues to dig into here. About which, more soon.
In the meantime, to give you a sense:
Notable and popular chants included:
“We Are Many, They Are Few. When We All Stand Up, What Can They Do?” (Perhaps eventually we can do the entire verse of the Shelley “Mask of Anarchy” it takes from!)
The Call for the 15th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
October 22, 2010: UNITE TO FIGHT!
Hundreds of people from around the country marched in Detroit to express their pain and outrage at the police shooting of seven-year old Aiyana Jones, killed during a police raid while she was sleeping in her home. Hundreds more will march on the Department of Justice in Washington DC on September 25th for the Redeem Aiyana’s Dream March, coordinated on the same day with the Mothers Taking a Stand Against Police Brutality and Gun Violence rally taking place in Oakland, CA for Aiyana Jones and Oscar Grant.
Thousands of people nationally were horrified watching the Youtube videos of Oscar Grant lying face down on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) platform, getting shot in the back on January 1, 2009 by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. In July, people demonstrated in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and other cities across the nation when Mehserle received a slap-on-the-wrist conviction of involuntary manslaughter.
Actions for Oscar Grant are being organized all around the country to take place on October 23rd. Days of protests in Los Angeles against the killing of Manuel Jamines, a Guatemalan day laborer, were met with aggressive police repression — rubber bullets, riot gear, and turning two of the protesters over to ICE (immigration) custody.
Kasama received this from a European reader as part of the outrage over the Oscar Grant verdict.
By Whatever
When the police murder us — we should not allow ourselves to be focused so much on the question of individual or juridical guilt of that specific killer cop. This legal system deals with the narrow culpability of mere individuals, but our politics deals with the broader culpability of whole systems.
The police are here to “protect and serve“. But who do they protect? Certainly not the kids in the ghettos, the illegal immigrants or the working poor. They are here to protect the ruling class and to serve their cause. And the pigs perform their job well.
It’s not a mistake but an inner logic that other parts of the same capitalist bourgeois system (like the court) do protect the ones who protect and serve this system. Not because they are evil people, but because they follow the laws and the logic of this system.
It does not really matter whether the officer who shot Oscar Grant did it on purpose or “by accident,“ there’s an inner logic to it.
So there’s no reason to be angry? Hell, yes there is!
Let me start with a personal story far from the urban ghettos:
I once lived in the “black belt” of West Virginia — from Gary Holler to Welch to Bluefield — where there were a string of coal camps containing interspersed black communities. And in a small coal camp on the Elkhorn river (population under 1,000) i was talking to the town cop in an afterhours semilegal speakeasy joint.
And he said to me (simply): “My job is keeping the jigs in line.”
(Our international readers may not know: “Jigs” is short for jigaboos — one of the many ugly terms for Black people invented by racists.)
And that cop was just that conscious of what his job was.
And, it was not like there was no actual crime in this little town that might preoccupy a cop. And it was not like the real crime in town was somehow concentrated among the Black folks.
There was a copper stealing ring of white coalminers who delivered their goods to the local junk guy. There was lots of breaking and entering. There was tons of wife beating and other domestic abuse. There were illegal strikes all the time. There was arson going on for insurance purposes (where desperate people burned their cars or homes). And there was the usual madness of working class life, like people shooting each other’s dogs over disputes. etc. And most of this (obviously) involved white people (if only because they were the majority of the town).
But for this cop (and for countless cops like him across the U.S.) his main job was “keeping the jigs in line.”
And (because i was white) he thought it was natural, and understandable, and obvious enough that he just said it — unapologetic and without any shame. It was his job. He knew it. The mayor who hired him said it. And it was widely understood — including(certainly the black youth knew his main job was terrorizing them.
And that is a huge part of what policing in the U.S. is about — and has always been about. In cities, in rural areas, in small towns, on military bases, on college campuses, along highways, in prisons, everywhere in this place called America.
This piece originally appeared on the Fire Collective site.
by Eric Ribellarsi
The verdict for Oscar Grant’s murder, a 23 year old Black father who was murdered by the police for the crime of sitting down on the floor of the subway, has just been announced.
Oscar Grant’s murderer, who instructed another cop to “step back” pulled his gun and shot Oscar Grant in a cold calculated murder, as five different people video taped it, even catching on video another cop calling Oscar Grant a “bitch ass nigger.”
The verdict, however? Involuntary manslaughter, with a likely sentence of 2-4 years.
How the fuck does handcuffing someone, telling your pig friends to step back, and then shooting them in the back equate to “involuntary manslaughter?” This is outrageous.
Already, we are being told to be grateful that he was convicted of anything at all.
What kind of terms are those, and what kind of a framework is that, where we have to accept the racist police will permanently be able to terrorize and murder people with the highest possible verdict “involuntary manslaughter” with two years in prison. This kind of argument covers for a violent system that is determined to carry-out systemic violence against people of color. It covers for a system that argues that if its racist lynch mob police are subjected to the rule of law, “their hands will be tied.”
Rowland send this to Kasama (and has also posted it on his own Speed of Dreams blog).
by Rowland Keshena
From Rodney King to the Starlight Tours, the agents of this pig system have beaten, maimed and murdered our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers , our aunts and uncles, our cousins, our elder and children, and our friends with near impunity.
We saw this yet again yesterday with the announcement of the verdict in the case of the Oakland BART cop that killed Oscar Grant. Involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter was what the jury, with not a single African person on it handed down for the BART cop who shot Oscar.
Involuntary manslaughter? What the fuck is that?
So first, a little legal lesson. Reaching back into my days spent in legal studies and criminology classes, I recall that to be found guilty of murder one has to be found to have malice or malice aforethought - the knowledge that one’s actions are likely to result in death.
Voluntary manslaughter occurs either when the defendant kills with malice aforethought, but there are mitigating circumstances which reduce culpability, or when the defendant kills “only” with an intent to cause serious bodily harm.
Involuntary manslaughter, what the BART cop was convicted of, is distinguished from voluntary manslaughter by the absence of intention.
The absence of intention?
I see, so the BART cop who had Oscar face down in the ground, handcuffed, and a loaded gun to his back pulled the trigger accidently, without malice intent. Sure, just like the Saskatoon pigs that took intoxicated Indians outside of the city limits during the peak of winter, in the middle of the night, with little warm clothing and no shoes on didn’t mean to kill them. I see.
We were all braced for this. We all knew how it works. We all knew the jury had no black people and had been moved out of Oakland. We all knew they let murdering cops off with the least punishment possible. We have all seen it before.
And yet, it hurts and burns.
It degrades the people, it insults and disrespects, when these killers are protected. What does this say to tens of millions of Black and Latino youth? What does it say about their value and their future?
“Who are you going to believe? Your own lying eyes or a policeman’s testimony?”
We all saw the video, we saw this cop put a gun to the back of Oscar Grant, as he lay helpless on the ground. And we saw (over and over) in horror as he pulled the trigger and Oscar died.
Now the trial in Los Angeles has ended and the process acknowledged that Oscar Grant was killed. But it announced that this was not murder, was not intentional, was not a racist killing. It was “involuntary manslaughter” — the cop (according to this verdict) killed Oscar Grant, but did not mean it.
First he was shot on the ground of a Bay Area Rapid Transit station. Now he has been murdered again — as the legal system systematically worked to let the killer off. Countless thousands saw the video — they can’t deny what happened. They can just declare that the killer didn’t mean it.
Here is the reporting that Kasama has shared… since January 2009 when Oscar was shot in cold blood.
The following detailed assessment of the trial over Oscar Grant’s murder first appeared on Bring the Ruckus.
by George Ciccariello-Maher,
OAKLAND–As the trial of former transit cop Johannes Mehserle for the murder of Oscar Grant rushes at breakneck speed toward its conclusion, spurred by the insistence of Judge Robert Perry and political imperative, ominous clouds of injustice begin to crowd the political horizon in anticipation of a verdict, which could come as soon as this week. But while it is this injustice that we should most fear, too many are focusing their fear and the fear of others on the possibility of a repeat of last year’s street rebellions should Mehserle be acquitted or convicted of a lesser charge.
What this view neglects is one basic fact, indeed the most basic fact regarding the Oakland rebellions: that it was only as a result of those rebellions of January 2009 and the fear that they might be repeated that Mehserle was even arrested and put on trial in the first place. Those rebellions were, in fact, the basic precondition for this limited form of “justice” to even be possible. Possible, yes, but far from guaranteed. And yet those who opposed the rebellions from the very beginning, denouncing them with delusions of “outside agitators” as irrational and desperate outbursts–in short, as “riots”–are busily trotting out the same discredited lines as always.
Different Trials, Different Verdicts
Of course, the relative brevity of the Mehserle trial should not fool us. While The People v. Johannes Mehserle has only been underway for a few short days, two other trials have been proceeding informally for 18 months now: The People v. The State and The State v. Oscar Grant.
The first Oakland rebellion -- right after Oscar Grant's murder, January 2009
New York Times reports on police preparations:
“In recent weeks, the Oakland police organized mock-riot exercises involving more than 450 officers from 20 law enforcement agencies, including the California Highway Patrol and the Napa and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Departments. Those agencies will be on standby after the verdict, Oakland officials say.”
From the Urban Peace Movement statement:
“We need to begin ‘innoculating’ our bases and the community at-large so that when the verdict comes down, people are prepared for it, and so that the ‘outside agitators’ who were active during the initial Oscar Grant protests are not able to incite the crowd so easily. To be clear, our main concern is the safety and well-being of Oakland’s young people. We do not want to see them get taken to jail or hurt as a result of violent or destructive behavior brought on or encouraged by ‘extreme-fringe’ groups coming into Oakland from the outside.”
From Mike Ely:
“This view needs to be taken on. This is a view of cowardice and counterinsurgency. It is a view of non-struggle and defeat. It is the slavishness of the condescending social worker. In fact “our main concern” needs to be justice and liberation — and it is a road that will require self-sacrifice and suffering. There is in fact no “safety and well-being” to be achieved by refusing to struggle — by opposing confrontation with our oppressors when their deeds are clear and the people are ready to fight.
“And some forces have an answer for any situation: They denounce “small groups” who carry out violent acts — saying they are isolated from the community and scare the people. But then (with no sense of irony or shame) these same people then fight hard to prevent the people themselves from joining in a mass and justified rebellion.
“This shows they just don’t want resistance. They don’t like it. They see no value in it. They see no future or justice in it.”
What are the talking points with which revolutionaries answer this?
How is this countered without tailing the spontaneous forms that rebellion sometimes take?
(Thanks to Jose the Red Fox)
OAKLAND — A telephone tip line will be activated today for anyone wanting to provide authorities with information concerning potential problems that might occur in the city after the verdict is announced in the murder trial of Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer charged with killing Oscar Grant III.
City officials on Friday also issued a community bulletin offering steps to help keep the city safe and how to get the most up-to-date information when the verdict is reached in Los Angeles.
Even though a verdict is not expected until late next week at the earliest, police and city officials have been holding meetings, and police conducting crowd-control and arrest-training exercises to prepare for any contingencies, including riots and acts of vandalism, such as those that plagued the city after Grant was fatally shot Jan. 1, 2009, at the Fruitvale BART station.
Oakland police, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol and BART police will be the main law enforcement agencies dealing with crowds and potential illegal activity. They will be able to request mutual aid if necessary from police agencies throughout the Bay Area.
The trial of the BART cop who killed Oscar Grant, a young Black brother, on New Year’s Eve this year, has been moved outside of the heavily Black city of Oakland.
Jose urged posting this piece and said: “Simi Valley justice all over again.” (A reference to the way the police trial in the Rodney King case was moved from LA to the police suburb of Simi Valley to guarantee an acquittal, and then the 1992 LA Rebellion in fury over that acquittal.)
Mehserle trial to be moved in BART shooting
Henry K. Lee, Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writers
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A judge has agreed to move the trial for Johannes Mehserl… John Burris, an attorney who is representing Oscar Grant’…
(10-16) 18:27 PDT OAKLAND — Extensive media coverage, inflammatory comments by public officials and the specter of possible unrest combine to make Alameda County an unsuitable place to try the former BART police officer accused of murdering an unarmed rider, a judge declared Friday.
Kasama posted Advance the Struggle‘s original pamphlet “Justice for Oscar Grant: A Lost Opportunity?” It is their summation of the response to the Oakland’s police murder of Oscar Grant, both among the youth of that community and among organized Left forces. And on that basis, ATS raises some larger critiques of political line and practice, and puts forward their own sense of how to build a revolutionary movement that can connect with the people.
Here is a response to that pamphlet by members of the Oakland chapter of Bring the Ruckus (BR-OAK). BTR is a national organization of revolutionaries organized to fight white supremacy and build dual power.
“The response further develops the analysis of the pamphlet and poses further questions and challenges. We appreciate the response and look forward to discussing and debating the important questions of revolutionary praxis found within.”
As always, a posting by Kasama does not mean support for the analysis contained. However (obviously) we think this exchange is important to share and join. And we expect to post any further substantive responses published.
“This is a cellphone video, taken from a subway train, of a Bay Area Rapid Transit policeman shooting an unarmed 22 Black man and father of a 4 year old daughter, on New Year’s Eve. Grant was laying face down on the ground and was being handcuffed without any resistance as he was shot. This has triggered outrage in Oakland’s Black community and beyond.”
People watching from the train itself were outraged by police brutality. they turn on their phone cameras and you can hear them shouting that the cops should stop mistreating the arrested people.
Suddenly, you hear the gunshot!
Now (see the article below) BART spokesman Linton Johnson dares complain about this video going viral saying, “It does a disservice to the integrity of the investigation because people form opinions, and then they can’t give independent recollections of what they actually saw because they are tainted by the videos,” Johnson said. “It’s unfair to (Grant’s) family, it’s unfair to the police officer, and it’s unfair to the public. But that’s the world in which we live, and you have to adjust.”
Think about it: the authorities now “have to adjust” to the fact that their murders can get caught on film and circulated in ways they don’t control.
To answer the BART spokesman with the obvious quetions:
What “integrity of the investigation” are you talking about?
When has there ever been integrity in investigations into police murder?
why shouldn’t people form opinion about police murder?
And what is unfair about the people circulating evidence in ways that can’t be suppressed?
by Radical Eyes
Plans are for marches and outreach actions to happen every afternoon and evening all week long. This action seems sure to build. You can feel momentum and excitement in the air–and the free food table is stocked with delicious looking offerings. (Not even tonight’s dampen it.)
