A protester speaks at a rally for Oscar Grant. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Thomas Hawk.
ast week The New York Times published a piece called “Oakland, the Last Refuge of Radical America” that pretty much had everyone in Oakland, including some of the folks they interviewed, scratching their heads and mouthing a collective WTF? Reporter Jonathan Mahler seemed more interested in crafting a fictional piece to rival famed writer Jack London, whom he referenced, rather than telling the truth and putting the subject matter he highlighted in its proper context. His article basically paints Oakland as a seedy, dangerous, impoverished Wild West where anarchy abounds, crime is rampant and where folks (mostly white) are flocking to exercise and keep ‘radical’ politics alive. Keep in mind this is all coming from the same New York Times that earlier this year declared “Oakland as the 5th Best place in the World to Visit,” where they penned glowing reviews citing all the new restaurants, cultural activities, abundant nightlife etc.
I don’t know how much longer Occupy Oakland will survive. But I do know this: its disappearance wouldn’t end radical politics in Oakland. That’s because there’s something The New York Times forgot to mention. Oakland has a large community of astute, determined, political activists who pre-date Occupy. And I’m not just talking about people who were active in the 1960s. This is a city where folks are simply not content to sit back and wait for a messianic leader to come along and make things happen.
‘Radical politics’ — in Mahler’s world — are those who like to throw rocks at windows, fight the police for the notoriety and recapture the hey days of the Black Panthers and rowdy rebellious spirit of the Hells Angels who have a chapter here. That in no way describes what people are all about here in Oakland. It diminishes the true grind that organizers put in day-in and day-out to improve their community and better this city. Those who take direct action in the face of oppression do so because they have little or no choice. It’s not something to be romanticized, it’s not a game, even if this writer came across a few individuals who thought it was.
So let’s put a couple of things on the table that The New York Times and Mahler omitted, starting with the Movement to win Justice for Oscar Grant. For those who don’t know, Grant was a unarmed 22-year-old man who was shot point-blank by a BART police officer on New Year’s morning 2009, while he lay face down, restrained on the Fruitvale station platform in Oakland. His killer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced in November 2010 to two years in prison. To not mention the intense, well-heeled organizing efforts that took place for more than two years around Grant and how it was a direct precursor to the Occupy Movement in Oakland that enabled it to flourish is akin to someone doing a piece on police brutality incidents in New York City and not mentioning Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo.
Simply put, the Occupy Movement found a home in Oakland, not because it was this mythical ‘last place on earth for radicalism‘. It flourished because it was preceded by an intense, well-heeled movement for social justice that addressed many of the overarching issues that eventually were raised by the Occupy Movement. Occupy had a nice way of framing things, 99% vs 1%. But economic disparities, the prison industrial system, school spending relative to money spent on prisons and the dominance of corporations and their influence on legislation and politicians were all issues that were unavoidable and vigorously tackled as folks struggled to get justice for Grant.
To be completely honest many of those aforementioned issues were being addressed by various organizations even before Grant. If we did a complete history of the Oakland and Bay Area social movements you could write a book as some already like SF State Professor Andreanna Clay, The Hip-Hop Generation Fights Back: Youth, Activism and Post-Civil Rights Politics where an in-depth run down of
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Well written article. Just two points, one big one and one small semantic one. You left out one of the longest standing and most consistent political action groups in Oakland, the Longshoreman’s Union, tne ILWU, which has been active since 1937. Also I don’t think well-heeled means what you think it does. Sorry to be so picky about an important story.
What Davey said. Especially the way Oakland people work together. Occupy Oakland is full of the people who fought for justice with Longshoremens Local 10 who backed the December Occupy port shutdown who were people from all parts and incomes and colors of Oakland who . . . always have and always will.
speak that truth!!!!!!!!!!!
Wonderful piece that i will be sharing. You are an excellent writer with much heart and insight. Thanks!
And I should have said Davey, Vicente, and many others, including cooperative urban farmers, those involved in environmental protection and restoration, and peace and social justice activists.
The New York Times article was defeatist, portraying Oaklanders as die-hards who just can’t accept that Capitalism is the be-all and end-all of human existence. Of course, the reason Oaklanders can’t accept that is simply because it isn’t true. Once again, The New York Times prints “all the ‘news’ that can be used to misrepresent.” Fortunately The New York Times’ hit-piece won’t have the demoralizing effect they intended, because “radicals” in Oakland already know they’re full of crap.
Thanks for a nice article, Davey D. Your passion and clarity are moving us all ahead. I noticed in a discussion on KPFA’s morning show this week that the percentage of Oakland cops who don’t live in Oakland currently stands at 91% (not 75%). Apparently, few are willing to live in the militarized garrison-state that they are well paid (lowest entry salary being 70k with some officers over 200k) to create and dominate.
As usual, Davey D hits the nail right on its head – and hard! Excellent article. I always appreciate Davey’s intelligence, insight, experience, involvement, and not least, his positive attitude.
Exact: “It [the New York Times] diminishes the true grind that organizers put in day-in and day-out to improve their community and better this city.”
I put in a few hours on the grind today getting some info together for a newspaper, so as to request their endorsement for Vicente Cruz II for Oakland School Board, District #3 (West Oakland). Here’s Davey D.’s KPFA Radio Morning Mix conversation with Vicente on the morning that the Oakland Police raided the sit-in that had been going on for weeks to stop the closure of Oakland’s Lakeview Elementary School: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/07/03/18716888.php.
And here’s Vicente speaking about why he’s running for the Oakland Unified School Board in District 3, at the Oakland Progressive Alliance on February 24: http://youtu.be/TrNB3zDfncA
Just a few examples of the true grind that organizers like Davey, Vicente, and I put in day in day out that don’t make headlines.