Justice for Oscar Grant: Post-Verdict Organizing

Counter Protesters at a Pro-Mehserle Rally in Walnut Creek on July 19th (via Oakland Local)

Rodstarz of Rebel Diaz said that he wished New Yorkers had come out in support of Sean Bell the way Oakland residents organized and demonstrated in support of Oscar Grant. Indeed, I heard many talking heads on the radio speak about how Oakland sees itself as a vanguard city in terms of social justice movements, as evidenced by its history.

What would a more serious movement around police-community relations look like, using Grant's murder and Mehserle's acquittal as a catalyst?

Josh Healey, a writer, educator, and community organizer in Oakland, has a great blog post about that here. He writes that there was no post-verdict riot the media had hoped for, as many activists have made clear, but that there was also no real, long term organization of a powerful grassroots response. One the question of what to do next, he writes, "There were two demands that came up over and over again [at a meeting to debrief the verdict], things that I think most of the Bay Area could get behind: 1) A maximum sentence for Mehserle. And/or a federal investigation. And 2) Disarm the BART police."

And Kali Akuno, of Malcom X Grassroots Movement and US Human Rights Network, also has this letter on building the Justice for Oscar Grant movement. He talks about how a federal investigation would make it a national organizing opportunity.

Jakada Imani, Executive Director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which is based in Oakland, sums it up:

“While this verdict affirms that police should be held accountable when they commit violence against people, it’s difficult to define what true justice would look like. We must focus on continuing to transform the system that recruited, trained and armed Mehserle and thousands just like him. Furthermore we must continue to address the fact that young men of color, like Oscar Grant, are socially and politically criminalized every day. Our cities must shift the way resources are spent so that we invest in love and help instead of in fear and harm.”

EDIT: Eric, a recent high school graduate and organizer, also made a call for two things as a caller on the radio: 1) Oakland police only from Oakland, and 2) institutionalization of community representatives and police representative working together.