Riots, Ruckus, and Radicals
Reflections on the Oakland Riots From Someone Who Was There
Commentary and Photos By Chip Lyas // Video by Angel Luna

 

I am upset.   I am upset because Oscar Grant is dead.   I am upset because it is 2009 and the police are still shooting black kids in the back.   I am upset because even in the light of this tragedy, people still just don't get it.  

I attended a rally in memory of Oscar Grant yesterday at the Fruitvale BART station in Oakland.   Early New year's morning, Grant, a 22 year old black man from Hayward, was shot in the back by Johannes Mehserle, a BART police officer, while laying face down after being pulled off of a BART train in Oakland where a group of BART officers were responding to an alleged fight that supposedly took place on a train.   Grant can be seen in video footage of the shooting complying with the demands of the officers who were surrounding him and a group of men that they had detained and made to sit on the ground in handcuffs.   You can then see officers wrestling Grant to the ground, one officer with a knee in Grant's back.   After a few seconds you can clearly see Mehserle pull out and discharge his department issued firearm.   The bullet passed through Grant's stomach, ricocheted off of the ground, and re-entered his body, puncturing his lung.   He would die in the hospital a few hours later.   It is important to note that absolutely no footage has been seen of the alleged occurrence that prompted the police to report to the scene, it is also alleged that Grant was not involved in that disturbance.

Rally Starts Off With Peaceful Remembrance
With such a gloomy occurrence to have prompted the gathering, the opening rally in the late afternoon of January 7 th that was held in honor of Oscar was an amazing event.   With what had to be a good 1,000 people in attendance, the vibe was positive and you could feel a powerful energy in the air.   I am generally very on-edge in these sorts of situations, but this event gave me a feeling that maybe as a community, we can pull together and force the magistrate to change their behavior.   It was really nice to see so many people together speaking out against the injustice that many of us are subject to every day.   There were quite a few speakers from different associations and affiliations, including Oscar's own sister.   Even members of the independent music scene were in attendance.   I personally saw Zumbi of Zion I and Casual of Hieroglyphics.   People from all walks of life stood together and literally shut down the Fruitvale BART station.   Signs with very clear messages about the sort of evil the system has bestowed upon us were raised high.   Different artistic renderings of a smiling Oscar Grant could be seen everywhere you looked.   I can not emphasize enough the lengths that the organizers went to to remind everyone exactly why we were there.   We were there because one of our brothers was senselessly murdered by a police officer.   We were there because this is not the first time this has happened.   We were there because while on New Year's Day, when the rest of the world had their eyes glued to the conflict on the Gaza strip, a Bay Area family and community was mourning the passing of a young man who had everything in the world ahead of him and a four year old daughter to help through a life that she will now have to live without her father to guide her.   Also important to note is that there was little to no police presence the entire day.

It was also made very clear that we were there in peaceful remembrance with a desire to seek change through solidarity.   Early on it was announced that Mehserle had resigned, and understandably, this would not be enough for those who were in the crowd to hear the announcement. As a precursor of what was to come, later on in the evening, after much of   the violence ha already begun, the mayor's office even sent out a representative to speak to the crowd and offer a sincere apology for what took place.   This was met with boos and a young brother who got on the mic and took it upon himself to declare that as a group we did not accept the apology.   People in the crowd began to criticize the mayor and would not accept the fact that the mayor himself was at City Hall speaking to the press and others about the situation and the fact that it was definitely not supported by him.   It seems that people have no real concept of how the judicial system works and are alien to the concept of due process.   Not to say that police officers generally ever have to pay for their crimes, but no one can be investigated, tried and convicted in a week.   I myself was offended by this, as intolerance is intolerance, no matter how you slice it. This was the first sign of dissension that I witnessed yesterday and began to feel as though some sort of disruption would occur before the day was over.   Sad but true, as I've learned in my short 30 years of living, things are often too good to be true.

Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski are Wielding Molotov Cocktails
Throughout the day I had noticed a lot of people who reminded me of images I'd seen of protesters in Greece during their last eruption of violence that took place in the later part of 2008.   While I could empathize with the folks in Greece, I immediately saw these people as artificial.   I'm sure you know the types.   Usually Caucasian, American Apparel "fatigue", a look in their eye like they absolutely need some cause to be part of, attache fixed gear bike, trying to embody some Banksy stencil they've never seen in real life.   I think people are calling them "Anarchists".   A couple years ago these were the same kids that were into all the trendy publications and being reflections of some phantom counterculture, the types of which are generally manifested out of a desire to find some sort of identity...like that awful new punk-pop they're trying to pass off as good music.   To me its pretty ironic, considering most of them look like they're probably doing OK financially and applying a label to yourself and donning a particular aesthetic is conformity, like it or not.   I try to keep from passing judgement on people I don't know, but...it all seems a little silly.   These kids were making me nervous all day.   I mentioned to friends throughout the day that if anything went wrong, these kids would be the reason.

Around 6:00 p.m. or so, we took to the street and began marching in the direction of downtown Oakland.   At some point during the march, a girl from the contingency I mentioned got into a verbal spat with the young man who was vocally unwilling to accept the mayor's apology about what he should be doing with his bullhorn.   I watched this go on for a good block and a half.   The utter sense of entitlement and lack of focus was startling.

I won't get into the details, as its all too easy to view the images on your favorite viral video site or quasi-socialist 'political action' website, but things ended terribly.   I can't say I would be happier if the melee was ignited by angry black people, but there was something quite disturbing about watching masked white kids (yes...I'm generalizing) setting out to be destructive during a peaceful demonstration for a young black man that had been murdered by the police.   I watched the now infamous garbage dumpster that was eventually set ablaze get pushed down the street.   I saw the frustration as they couldn't light the fire as quickly as they would have liked.   I was thinking to myself that Buggin' Out from "Do the Right Thing" must have opened a school for the aggressively ignorant.   Oscar Grant was their Radio Raheem, and the flaming dumpster was Mookie's garbage can.   I saw the two officers (one of which was a black female), who stood by their car and allowed us to demonstrate with no interference, watch as their car was destroyed by a group of minority youth as the catalyst dumpster sat burning.   It unfolded like a really bad episode of Saved by the Bell, or your choice of any fictionalized account of how average white (again...generalizing) kids deal with "real" life.   Now that Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski are wielding molotov cocktails, I feel less safe than I already did.

For once in my life I was more scared of a white kid than I was of an overambitious thug trying to ruin my good time or a police officer trying to arrest or kill me.   Now, I am not oblivious to the handful of rambunctious youngsters dancing on the hoods of cars or mobbing into liquor stores, but when told that was not what we were out to do, said youngsters would return to the fold and damage was minimal.   What unfolded as the first extreme act of violence was initiated by the aforementioned masked marauders and their trusty dumpster.   This then opened the door for people of all races to start throwing bottles and mindlessly attacking a police car.   Standing in the middle of this, I myself was within inches of being hit by a flying bottle and eventually I was forced out of the mix when the police responded by firing tear gas into the crowd.   This was not necessary.   If there is one lesson I have learned in life, it is that violence only brings on more violence.   We had a plan of going to shut down the Lake Merit BART station, and continuing on to do whatever we were going to do at police headquarters.   We never got the chance to get the real point across.   All most people who were not there will remember is the "anarchists", their riot, and the destruction of people's property left in their wake.

I am a firm believer in hope.   Not the pepsi-colored Obama screen-print kind...real genuine hope.   This is the kind of hope that allows a person to walk into a situation knowing that they are the underdog, and see the rewards of practical strategy and positive determination.   I am talking about the hope one builds when they see someone like Ramon Vasquez, who had been wrongfully accused of murder in San Jose and unsuccessfully fitted for the gang-enhancement jacket, released from custody after spending 5 months in jail.   This is the hope one builds when they see someone like Ramon reunited with his family after months of applying pressure to the District Attorney's office, public defender's office, and police department.   This is the hope one builds when they watch the police presence in their downtown area decrease due to direct pressure being put on the mayor and the chief of police.   This is the hope one builds when you watch a ballot measure like last election season's proposition 6, aimed at locking up people of color and trying youth as adults in crimes that are whimsically declared gang related, be utterly obliterated by the same people it sought to target.   I was personally involved in each of these situations and can say with steadfast earnestness that not one bottle was thrown, not one fire was started, not one window was broken.   Sure...there was the occasional "fuck the police" or crowding of a DA in their own office, but there were zero arrests made due to any of the hard work and sacrifice that was invested.   Funny thing is, we are now at the table with the same people we stood in protest of.   We now have a recognized voice in a city where discrimination and gentrification has been the modus operandi for decades.

We are all human and every human deserves the right to be treated with dignity.   As hard as it may be to stomach at times, the beauty of dignity is that it works both ways.   I am no fan of the establishment, and I would like to make that very clear.   I am also an opponent of blindly blaming people for things without first considering what that individual's personal circumstances may be.   Fuck Johannes Mehserle, the BART police officer who murdered Oscar Grant.   I hope they fry the bastard, but my apologies go out to all the officers out there that really want to make our communities safe and are unjustly persecuted for doing a job that most other people are probably just plain scared to do.   On numerous occasions I have seen these pseudo-rebellious types sit and be real quiet when faced with danger and they are not protected by an angry mob.     You know these guys.   They're the ones that fight to have you removed from a house party because you called their women's pants wearing homeboy a poser.   The ones who commit petty crimes with multi-ethnic accomplices and get the least penalty because mommy and daddy hired a private attorney.

On the same token, I am repulsed by what the empirical infrastructure of our planet has done to the people with the least means of defending themselves.   As a member of the underclass I have made it a personal battle to combat unfairness in every aspect of my personal life.   Whether it be addressing color-lines in today's underground rap game, or quitting a well-paying corporate job with no notice because of their treatment of temp workers.   I'm doing my part.   This is not a podium for me to pat myself on the back, but as a facts broker and truth advocate it is only right that I apply my own experiences to my concern.   It's easy to tell people what they ought to do, and point fingers.   The hard part is doing the behind-the-scenes work that is really what will dismantle this machine.  

Pardon me for speaking on behalf of people I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that the city of Oakland is not proud of what transpired last night.   I am however positive that there are a bunch of people who were not able to go to work today.   There are small business owners that were faced with the issue of having to deal with their businesses being vandalized.   I have learned that a number of these small businesses are black owned.   There were children who did not get to go to school, because the family had no car with which to take them.   I wouldn't be surprised if some undocumented immigrant is breaking down because, unlike many of us, he cannot have his insurance company cover the damages to his vehicle because he himself can't even get a driver's license, let alone riot insurance.   Now, I'm sure that there are some people who were victimized by this lunacy who would say, "I have insurance.   I understand the kids are angry."   This has to be an isolated few.   The bigger picture is that the city of Oakland is no better off as a result of this.   Oscar Grant has not been resurrected. The Oakland police aren't going to donate their tank to the Salvation Army.   Johannes Mehserle is still a free man, and may not ever have to face criminal consequences for his actions.   But the movement moves on.

Oscar Grant's daughter will never have her father back.   Oscar's family will never get to see him become a grandfather.   I sincerely hope that anyone involved in the stupidity that jumped off last night has already donated an amount of money to his family, that would be equal to the amount of damage that they caused the city of Oakland.   Let's also remember that Oscar was killed by a BART police officer, not an Oakland police officer.   In fact, its the Oakland police department that will be investigating the situation.   With all of the evidence available, and the amount of coverage and community pressure the situation is getting, I will personally fight the next asshole officer I encounter if Johannes Mehserle is not brought to justice.   However, I am not surprised that the "riot" is getting more coverage than the positive event that took place during the day.

Take Off the Masks and Put Down the Bottles
Message to the "anarchists" who were in Oakland that night: Take off the masks.   Put down the bottles.   I'd be willing to bet that in some bizarre twist of sense, these same cats think voting is somehow a ridiculous concept.   I've had enough.   This is my firebomb and its headed for your cozy bedroom or wherever you concoct your project mayhem fantasies.   I will not digress from a position of disgust for anyone who feels that violence is the only answer.   My friends, family, and I were all put in a very dangerous situation and could have lost our lives because of your arrogance and lack of concern for others.   I commend the folks who saw through the cowardice that was displayed.   I commend the folks who attempted to deter people from making unwise decisions.   I commend the police department for helping block roadways and clearing a path for us...no matter which way the confused splinter cells were guiding themselves.   Amidst the taunting and threatening, I myself observed police being extremely patient.   We made the first wrong move.

When I say we, I mean all of us who were in attendance.   The news outlets and the people who have been fascinated by the images of the events in their cozy viewing spaces only hear "protestors."   They do not know how to identify any of us singly, or what groups any of us are affiliated with.

I wonder if anyone has considered the fact that the police actually allowed this to go on for some time, before they did what was one of very few options they had and released the tear gas.   What the fuck did anybody think was going to happen?   The cops were going to take an angry mob and turn their backs and pretend it wasn't happening?   This is not a third world country.   We are not in a mandated police state.   In places with real conflict, children are being blown up.   I am in no way trying to minimize the situation, but let's get serious.   Every day men and women both white and of color are killing each other at an alarming rate.   The bastardization of gangster rap and the birth of tabloid television is systematically corrupting our youth.   We just spent the last 8 years with a president that was trying to throw us to the dogs.   And what do we do?   We give them another reason to treat us like savages.   Thanks.

Be well and I wish you all safety and peace in your lives.