[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/]
[oaklandtribunal@gmail.com]
About -
In the first two years since Oscar Grant was killed, Oakland and Bay Area police continued their reign of violence against our communities. A Hearing on Racism and Police Violence was an event organized to amplify the voices of our communities to speak out on these issues.
The event was organized by grassroots organizers and community members, giving space for invited guests and the public to share testimony about the culture of criminalization and targeting that is endemic to city government.
It was a call for accountability for the murders of Oscar Grant, Derrick Jones, Raheim Brown, and others who were killed by police officers as well as other criminalization and infringements committed by the state.
Attendees heard from witnesses and victims, their friends and family members, activists, experts, and others.
Purpose -
Why this Tribunal? Why now?
This initiative grew from the outrage that has built over decades, that was particularly manifested throughout two years–from the videotaped murder of Oscar Grant Jr, the police attacks, arrests, and beatings of many protesters on many occasions, the belated and half-hearted prosecution of the murderous and brutal police, and the minimal sentencing of Mehserle, the rehiring of BART Officer MarySol Domenici (who perjured her testimony under oath to protect fellow abusive cops) and the role of the lying and fabricating repressive media.
Because of the struggle for Justice for Oscar Grant, the many aspects of racist state repression have become prominent and public, and the opportunity now exists to put the system on trial—not only for the murder of Oscar Grant Jr. but for all the police murders, the racial profiling, the state repression, the criminalization of migrants, of tracking youth out of school and into the military and prison, of the systematic attacks on the refugees from imperialist wars, of the ICE raids and thousands deported, of the gang injunctions, and the repression of resistance.
All these issues have been with us for a long time, but the economic and political crisis of the imperialist system in recent years has intensified these attacks on a world wide scale, with ever-expanding wars and suppression of people’s struggles and solidarity movements. The government’s terror has been brought down on the people and especially on oppressed and displaced and “profiled” communities. This is a huge challenge to the people, but it also creates the basis for more unified resistance. Once exposed, the system is thrown on the defensive. Our experiences and issues have rarely been so prominent, and we can now detail them with testimony and link them. Giving our voices to the experiences we have, both individual and shared experiences, we can truly indict the system and document the people’s case throughout our communities, across the country, and around the world.
The victims and witnesses of police violence and state repression don’t have to be isolated with this knowledge. When it is shared, we will gain a significant edge in the struggle for justice. But all must play a part and bring this knowledge forward. The struggles waged over the past years have created a platform. The People’s Hearing put the case against racist police violence and state repression to test.
The People’s Hearing also presented many ways to fight forward on every front, with more unity at each step.
Please support the event and the spirit of it by sharing the videos and transcription, that you can find on our main page.
Links:
* International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) – Office of the UN Commission of Human Rights [http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cerd.htm]
* Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – From the Durban Review Conference in April, 2009 [http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/ddpa.shtml]
Local:
* Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/30/18667847.php]
* New Years Movement for Justice – for Oscar Grant, all New Years victims, and all victims of police abuse [http://newyearsmovement.org/]
* All of Us or None – a national organizing initiative of prisoners, former prisoners and felons, to combat the many forms of discrimination that are faced as the result of felony convictions [http://www.allofusornone.org/]
* Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) – LSPC advocates for the human rights and empowerment of incarcerated parents, children, family members and people at risk for incarceration. [http://www.prisonerswithchildren.org/]
* Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) [http://www.araborganizing.org/]
* Eastside Arts Alliance [http://www.eastsideartsalliance.com/]
* Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) – a grassroots organization of Latina immigrant women with a dual mission of personal transformation and community power [http://www.mujeresunidas.net/]
* Coalition for a Safe San Francisco – a grassroots alliance dedicated to protecting the civil rights and civil liberties challenged by overbroad national security policies [http://safesf.wordpress.com/]
* International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) – Working for the Rights and Recognition of Indigenous Peoples [http://www.treatycouncil.org/]
* Free the SF 8 [http://www.freethesf8.org/]
* Oakland 100 Support Committee – support for all those arrested while protesting the murder of Oscar Grant [http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/]
* The Oscar Grant Foundation/I Am Oscar Grant [http://iamoscargrant.org/]
National:
* US Human Rights Network [http://www.ushrnetwork.org/]
* Malcolm X Grassroots Movement [http://mxgm.org/]
* Critical Resistance – a national grassrooots organization committed to endinig society’s use of prisons and policing as an answer to social problems (based in Oakland) [http://www.criticalresistance.org/]
* Injustice Everywhere – The National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project [http://www.injusticeeverywhere.com/]
* National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights – a project of the USRHN CERD Task Force [http://www.narjhr.org/]
2011-02-19/20 "People's Hearing on Racism & Police Violence"
Saturday, Sunday 9:00am-5:00pm
Edna Brewer Middle School [3748 13th Ave, Oakland 94610 (Gym Entrance)]
Free food both days
The People's Hearing
Confirmed jurists include John Burris, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, David Gespass, Ajamu Baraka, Bill Ong Hing, Alberto Saldamando and others.
Saturday, February 19th: Keynote by Rachel Jackson -
* Session 1 (9:00am) Racial Profiling: Testimony from Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Huaxtec, Youth Together, All of Us or None, Community Youth Center and Arab Resource & Organizing Committee
* Session 2 (1:30pm) Police Killings: Testimony from family members of Oscar Grant, Gary King, Andrew Moppin, Derrick Jones and Raheim Brown.
Sunday, February 20th: Keynote by Sanyika Bryant -
* Session 3 (9:00am) COINTELPRO to Patriot Act: Testimony from San Francisco 8, Freedom Archives, Stop FBI Repression, New Year’s Movement, Haiti Action Committee, Laney Black Student Union and Onyx
* Session 4 (1:30pm) Organized Resistance: Testimony from New Year’s Movement, Mujures Unidas, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Coalition to Stop the Gang Injunctions, SF Legal Immigrant Legal Education Network/AROC
For more information on the People's Hearing on Racism and Police Brutality
visit [www.peopleshearing.wordpress.com]
The People's Hearing is co-sponsored by:
- Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
- EastSide Arts Alliance
- New Year's Movement
- National Lawyers Guild
- Arab Resource and Organizing Center
- Coalition for Justice for Oscar Grant
- Collision Course Video Productions
- Hard Knock Radio
- Onyx
- African People's Socialist Party
- International Indian Treaty Council,
- National Conference of Black Lawyers
- the National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights
- the US Human Rights Network
--
DROP THE CHARGES ON THE SF 8
Dismiss the case against Cisco Torres!!
Sign the Open Letter at [www.freethesf8.org
2011-01-12 "Tribunal on Violence Perpetrated by the State Comes to Oakland"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/tribunal-comes-to-oakland/]:
The People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence website is now up and running!
In the two years since Oscar Grant was killed, Oakland and Bay Area police have continued their reign of violence against our communities. The Hearing on Racism and Police Violence will finally be a chance for our communities to speak out on these issues.
Please explore this website and click the flyer to the right to get to the Facebook event page. This site will be regularly updated, so please check back in to find out the latest information about the People’s Hearing on Racism and State Violence.
Thanks for visiting!
2011-02-15 "Less than a week away + Updates!"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/less-than-a-week-away-updates/]:
The People’s Hearing on Racism & Police Violence is less than a week away!
If you can do any outreach, either online or in person, please email us at oaklandtribunal@gmail.com, and we can send you high resolution flyer images to print (or lower res ones to post online, w/ a press release).
A few updates:
-Breakfast & lunch will be provided for free and low cost on both days (w/ at least a few options).
-English-Spanish translation will be provided for all public testimony (Teneremos traduccion de Ingles a Espanol para todo el evento!)
-A crew of mental health workers have volunteered their time, and will be available throughout both days–important, given potential triggers that may come up with this subject matter.
-Childcare will be available throughout both days!
2011-02-18 "The People’s Hearing is Tomorrow!"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/the-peoples-hearing-is-tomorrow/]:
We’re counting down for the event, and making sure that everything comes together smoothly. It should be a great weekend, and here’s some things to know:
* All testimony will be recorded on video and transcribed into a formal report, which will be used to put pressure both locally and internationally on mechanisms of police violence and racism
Also, this is important to note: outside video and audio recording as well as photos are not going to be allowed for the safety of people’s testimony (which also means making people feel safe in the context of telling their stories). After the people’s hearing is over, the single authorized archive (audio and video) of the event will be vetted and edited for any existing or potential legal problems, and then released for wide availability as quickly as possible. Multiple documentations would prevent this process, so we are not permitting other recordings at the event.
2011-02-19 "Detailed Program for Saturday, Feb 19th (Today!)
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/detailed-program-for-saturday-feb-19th-today/]:
Today will kick off the People’s Hearing on Racism & Police Violence. Below, you’ll find today’s full program. You can also find tomorrow’s program in the ‘Schedule’ section of this website.
Fully Program – Saturday, February 19
9:00 Sign in
9:30 Welcome & Introduction – Maisha Quint, EastSide Arts Alliance
9:40 Keynote address from Rachel Jackson (New Year’s Movement)
9:50 Poems by Suheir Hammad & Al B Back
10:00 Session 1: Testimony on Racial Profiling
Sitting Jurists:
12:30 Question & answer period
1:00 Break for lunch
1:45 Poem by Donte Clark
2:00 Session 2: Testimony on Police Killings
Sitting Jurists:
* Ajamau Baraka, Executive Director, US Human Rights Network
4:00 Questions & answer period
5:00 Summation and Closing for Day 1
"Detailed Program for Feb 20th-Sunday"[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/02/19/detailed-program-for-feb-20th-sunday/]:
The tribunal will be coming to a close on Sunday. Today’s sessions are focused on COINTELPRO and Beyond and testimony on organized resistance, and it’ll be kicked off with another great keynote!
and don’t forget: free food, free childcare, free & confidential counseling, and holding the police accountable. AND share YOUR testimony!
A PEOPLE’S HEARING ON RACISM AND POLICE VIOLENCE
9:00 Sign in
9:30 Welcome & Introduction – Jesse Strauss (Oakland 100 Support Committee)
9:40 Keynote address from Sanyika Bryant (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
9:50 Video clip, “COINTELPRO 101” & Audioclip “Cointelpro: Then & Now”
10:00 Session 3: Testimony on COINTELPRO and Beyond
Sitting Jurists:
12:30 Question & answer period
1:00 Break for lunch
1:45 Poem by Paid Poets
2:00 Session 4: Testimony on Organized Resistance
* Mama Ayanna (Malcolm X Grassroots Movement)
Sitting Jurists:
4:00 Questions & answer period
5:00 Summation & Closing statement from Sanyika Bryant
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/video/]
All public testimony from A People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence is now available! The videos, divided by the event’s four sessions, are embedded below. To directly access the video URLs either click the video title or go to the bottom of this post for the separate links.
Video by Collision Course Video, proj-ectPRO:JECT, Jay Finneburgh, and Alan Bretz
Part 1: Testimony on Racial Profiling [http://vimeo.com/20231561]
Part 2: Testimony on Police Killings [http://vimeo.com/20324555]
Part 3: Testimony on COINTELPRO and Beyond [http://vimeo.com/20283088]
Part 4: Testimony on Organized Resistance [http://vimeo.com/20249301]
2011-02-25 "Oakland holds hearing on police violence"
by Greg Zeman from "The Guardsman" of San Francisco State University [http://theguardsman.com/oakland-holds-hearing-on-police-violence/]:
Grant family friend Jack Bryson recounts details on Feb. 19 from Oscar Grant's shooting during the Hearing on Racism and Police Violence at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland. PHOTO BY RAMSEY EL-QARE / THE GUARDSMAN
The People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence, a two-day event for the families and friends of those killed by police officers to tell their stories to a panel of jurists, was held Feb. 19 and 20 at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland.
The testimonies, which highlighted mistrust and anger toward law enforcement, in part stemmed from Oscar Grant’s 2009 killing by BART police. People giving testimony noted what they saw as Bay Area police officers’ systematic targeting of non-white youth, particularly black men.
“This is not just about my son,” said Lori Davis, whose son was recently killed by police. “This is about everyone whose children are getting murdered, not just by the OPD, but SFPD and police departments all across California.”
Davis’ son, Raheim Brown of Alameda, was shot to death on Jan. 22 by Oakland Unified School District police officers. He was 20 years old.
Organizers brought in the jurists, who were mainly attorneys, so a record of their testimonies about police violence could be created and shared with the United Nations and other international judicial bodies.
Jurists -
Civil rights attorney John Burris, who is representing Oscar Grant’s family in a $50 million wrongful death suit against BART, served as a jurist at the hearing. He said the official response to unjustified police shootings is as predictable as it is despicable.
“Whenever there’s a police shooting, there’s two things you’re going to hear — the excuse for the shooting and the demonization of the victim,” he said, adding that official responses to police killings are invariably lies.
A recurring theme of the hearing, and core assertion of the movement, is that the killings in question are not isolated incidents but expressions of a violent, racist police culture that values the supposed benefits of racial profiling over the negative, sometimes lethal, impact on the communities being profiled.
Civil rights attorney and jurist Dan Siegel said legislators and police oversight committees’ inaction in response to repeated killings amounts to an endorsement of those killings.
“My belief is that these police officers are doing what they’re supposed to do,” he said. “That’s why they get immunity.”
Testimony -
Cathy King, the mother of Gary King Jr., 20, who was beaten, repeatedly shot with a stun gun then fatally shot by Oakland officers in 2007, said that her son was not a suspect in any crime and that his initial stop by the Oakland Police Department was racially motivated.
“They don’t like black people as a whole, which is why they live in the lily-white suburbs, but they come to Oakland to police the black community,” she said. “Speaking as one 53-year-old white lady, I will never trust the police ever again. I will never call them for any reason again. I hate them and hold them responsible for my son’s death.”
King, like all of the surviving family who testified, said that she was deeply unsatisfied by what she sees as a half-hearted response of the justice system to killings by police.
“The man who murdered my son continues to work for the police department,” she said.
Movement
The hearing was also an attempt to unify the movement’s various concerns, including the implementation of “gang injunctions,” with the public outrage over the string of killings leading up to, and following, Grant’s death.
“Gang injunction is a nice word for ethnic cleansing — it’s a euphemism,” said Manuel LaFontaine, an organizer with All of Us or None, a group that advocates for ex-convict rights. “Inside the prison system, there is no transparency, no accountability.”
Liz Derias of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement said she believes the judicial system and law enforcement agencies are a “legacy of black enslavement” geared toward the repression of minority communities and the perpetuation of white supremacy.
“It’s our fear that more young people will fall at the hands of the police,” Derias said. “I truly believe in community and people being organized where they can police their own neighborhood.”
The event was sponsored by a coalition of community advocacy groups, including the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
2011-02-25 "Report Back from the People’s Hearing"
from the "Ella Baker Center for Human Rights" [http://www.ellabakercenter.org/blog/2011/02/report-back-from-the-people’s-hearing-on-racism-and-police-violence/]:
I had the privilege of attending the open-to-the-public People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence this weekend in Oakland. From 9 to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday, at least 100 people at any one time sat in the gym of Edna Brewer Middle School listening to people speak about their experiences with police brutality. The amount of truth-telling and synergy in the space was off the charts!
Often, individual stories of police violence are isolated, but at this event, everyone’s testimonies overlapped to create one powerful collective narrative. Family members of Derrick Jones, Raheim Brown, and Gary King testified, as well as a close family friend of Oscar Grant. A veteran of the Black Panthers spoke about being incarcerated as a political prisoner and tortured. Young organizers at the forefront of the Oscar Grant movement spoke about how Cointelpro tactics are alive and well today, documenting their own stories of repeated police harassment.
Another testifier emphasized that the police are becoming increasingly embedded in people’s daily lives: the local police, probation, and parole systems in black communities, ICE in Latino communities, and the FBI in Arab and Muslim communities. “When men are dealing with this level of violence in their daily lives, it comes into the home, which results in domestic violence. But it’s not domestic violence; it’s state violence.” Another organizer spoke about her first experience with police violence as an 8 year-old girl, and how political organizing saved her life.
Meanwhile, free childcare, free food, and free mental health services were available to anyone and everyone.
Four sessions were held in total: Racial Profiling, Police Killings, Cointelpro and Beyond, and Organized Resistance. For each, about 7 people gave testimony, 7 jurists (lawyers) shared the stage with them and asked questions. The public had a chance to ask questions as well.
Meanwhile audience members were encouraged to go to a breakout room and share their own experiences with police brutality. The jurists’ legal summaries of the event, combined with video documentation of the testimony, will create a body of evidence of systemic police repression in Oakland. This will be presented to international bodies documenting human rights abuses and the executive branch of the federal government, demanding that it “adhere to its obligations under the CERD Treaty and create a National Plan of Action to Eliminate Racism and Racial Discrimination.”
History was made last weekend in Oakland, but history is never over. For more info, go to the website: [peopleshearing.wordpress.com]
2011-02-21 "Oakland Tribunal addresses officer-involved shootings, racial profiling"
by Samantha Bryson from "Oakland North" [http://oaklandnorth.net/2011/02/21/oakland-tribunal-addresses-officer-involved-shootings-racial-profiling/]:
The auditorium was not much warmer than the wet, 42-degree air outside, but the 200 people inside of it, bundled in coats and scarves, didn’t seem to notice. They sat listening with rapt attention when Cathy King picked up the microphone as part of the Oakland Tribunal: A People’s Hearing on Racism and Violence, a two-day summit full of testimonies from Bay Area residents and activists who spoke about the state of human rights in the city of Oakland.
The goal of the event was to gather testimony from twenty-five witnesses on topics including officer-involved shootings and racial profiling. An audience of roughly 200 and a jury of seven listened to testimony and were given the opportunity to ask questions of the witnesses. The jury, which was made up of civil rights attorneys, professors and activists, will compile information presented over the weekend in hopes of submitting their findings to the United Nations.
Cathy King rarely accepts invitations to speak publicly about her son Gary, shot by the police in 2007, and spoke more softly than the rest of her peers onstage. She was flanked by Lori Davis and Kristopher Brown, the mother and brother of Raheim Brown, who was shot in January by an Oakland schools security officer after he allegedly attacked another officer with a screwdriver; Sonya Wahnee, mother of Andrew Moppin who was shot by an OPD officer New Year’s Eve 2007, Frank and Nellie Jones, parents of Derrick Jones, who was shot last November by Oakland police officers responding to a domestic dispute call; and Jack Bryson, family friend of the late Oscar Grant, who was shot by former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle on New Year’s Day, 2009.
Brown, Jones, Moppin, King, Grant—for anyone living in Oakland at least four years, the surnames of these young men carry with them a bizarre kind of weight, one might even call it celebrity. Cathy King’s eyes were cast down at her statement as she began reading. Her son Gary was with friends in North Oakland when a police officer approached him for questioning, she said. According to her, King reached for his waistband during an argument with the officer, and the officer opened fire.
“September 20, 2007 is the day I changed the way I view the police department,” Cathy King said. “I believed they were brave soldiers on the street, here to protect us. That day I saw what my kids had been telling me all along, that they stop you on the streets, harass you. This was not the police I knew. If my husband wasn’t black, if my children weren’t of color, this wouldn’t not have happened.” King concluded her speech quickly and pointedly. “I hate them and blame them for destroying my family,” she said.
So far there have been three officer-involved shootings in Oakland this year: the deaths of Brown, Matthew Cicelski, who was shot by police after allegedly forcing entry into a home while carrying a fake assault weapon, and Martin Flenaugh, a 19-year-old who allegedly confronted officers with multiple weapons after being involved in a car chase. Many speakers at the tribunal called these shootings a systematic expression of racism and violence from government agencies, particularly the Oakland Police Department.
This weekend’s tribunal was modeled after similar tribunals that took place in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and more recently in Philadelphia to address incidences of police violence. Although the forum did not exactly resemble a mock trial, the speakers were referred to as “witnesses,” their speeches as “testimony” and their questioners as “jury members” in order to convey the weight of their accusations.
The findings of the tribunal do not carry any official consequence. Miriam Zouzounis, a member of the organizing committee, said that while the group hopes to submit their reports to the United Nations, the event was largely for the benefit of the community.
“It’s a space for healing that we’re trying to create, to build community power around these events,” she said. “I think it’s great that we’re able to be grassroots about this, and allow people from the community to be the ones featured in this event. No one is speaking for them, that’s why it’s called ‘A People’s Hearing.’”
Dan Siegel, who has been a civil rights attorney in Oakland for forty years, served as a juror at the event. His wife is on the organizing committee for the tribunal, and his son is one of the attorneys representing many of the defendants named in the proposed Fruitvale gang injunction.
Though he was not on the organizing committee, he says much of the tribunal was organized in his office. “Some people came up with the idea that it would be good to take testimony about issues that should reported to the UN as far as the US’s compliance with the [United National Treaty on Human Rights],” said Siegel. “It’s a very exciting time to be involved locally and internationally in the struggle to improve human rights. I am hoping that by holding this tribunal in Oakland we’ll contribute to that effort.”
The auditorium was filled with activists for many causes, anxious to discuss freedom for Palestine, the environment, immigration reform and the gang injunction. Tables lined the back of the room with representatives from sponsoring organizations, among them the National Lawyers Guild and KPFA Radio. Signs posted at each entrance to the building expressly prohibited attendance by government employees, law-enforcement agencies, or anyone gathering information for the government and asserted that anyone’s invitation to the event could be revoked at any time, for any reason.
Among the witnesses who offered testimony throughout the tribunal were representatives of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, an organization for the promotion of human rights in the African-American community, the Laney Black Student Union, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, an empowerment organization within Arab communities, and the Community Youth Center, a San Francisco-based organization that supports high-need Asian youths. Most of the speakers shared personal stories of profiling and abuse by the police or government policy based on race, citizenship status or prior incarceration. They presented examples of systematic governmental abuses of power, and spoke passionately about the need for reform.
The most passionate speakers, however, were the families and friends of those shot and killed by Oakland law enforcement officers. Jack Bryson, whose son was with Oscar Grant on the BART platform when he was killed, narrated a video clip of Grant’s death showing Johannes Mehserle shooting Grant while he lay on the ground, restrained.
Lori Davis held up photos of her son, Raheim Brown, both before and after his death, the latter illustrating the entry and exit wounds of bullets through his temple, chest and arm. “Make sure you turn the kids’ heads,” she said first to the audience.
The testimonies were emotional, with each member of the panel agreeing with Nellie Jones who called the death of their sons “cold-blooded murder.”
Anger about the shootings, both from the witnesses and the jury, was also directed at what the panel called a “culture of immunity” in which officers involved in shootings rarely, if ever, face consequences for their actions. “I’ve been doing this for forty years, and I never saw a case when the cop was found to be wrong. With Rodney King they had to admit it, because it was right there on tape, but even then they still fought it,” said juror and civil rights attorney Dennis Cunningham.
While the tribunal specifically sought to address concerns regarding police brutality and racism in the city of Oakland, Ajamau Baraka, executive director of the US Human Rights Network and a member of the jury, said that Oakland residents are not alone in their concerns. “Unfortunately, my friends, what we’ve heard today is not very unique. We hear these stories in every major city in this country,” he said. “These police officers are doing what they have been trained to do. Their role in this kind of society is not to protect and serve the people, but the elite. It’s one of social control.”
Oakland resident Shannon Alsup was present for both days of the tribual and said she was grateful she was able to attend and learn more about the experiences of those in her community. “Being a white person who recognizes a certain level of privilege, to hear those stories first hand was really hard for me,” she said.
2011-03-07 "Relatos Zapatistas Interview on People's Hearing on Racial Profiling and Police Violence"
by Relatos Zapatistas [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/03/07/18674066.php]:
We interview Mike Flynn the President of the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Chapter about the recent People's Hearing on Racial Profiling and Police Violence that happened this month on Feb 19th and 20th. Mike was one of many organizers who made this space possible. Mike speaks about the history of the organizing efforts and specifically what made this critical space possible, the structure of the people's hearing, why such a strategy is necessary a midst a low intensity warfare happening in communities of color here in oakland, and the success of this specific space. Listen now:
For more information and video of what took place at the hearing please check out [http://www.peopleshearing.wordpress.com]
[http://www.radiozapatista.com]
2011-07-28 "Charge the SFPD with Murder of Kenneth Harding and Serial Murders in the Black Community!"
from "People’s Tribunal on Racism and Police Violence" [http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/charge-the-sfpd-with-murder-of-kenneth-harding-and-serial-murders-in-the-black-community/]: Charge the SFPD with Murder of Kenneth Harding and Serial Murders in the Black Community!
Unite to Create an Independent Investigation to Indict the Murderers!
Justice for Kenneth Harding! Stop the Cover-up!
Stop Pushing Black People out of San Francisco! NO to “Ethnic Cleansing”!
On Saturday, July 16, 2011, the SFPD killed Kenneth Harding, a 19 year-old Black man, in the Bayview area of San Francisco. Kenneth had just stepped off of a Muni-Metro train and onto the platform, where police were checking people for proof of fare payment.
Called “checkpoints,” these are common ways of criminalizing poor people, especially in neighborhoods undergoing gentrification and resettlement. Checkpoints have multiple purposes. They are used to harass and trap people, violating the human right to freedom of movement. They also help to facilitate the displacement of communities of color and families who come from the Bayview area and have lived there for generations. Checkpoints allow the police to monitor community members’ movements, putting people of color in great fear and ultimately forcing them to relocate from their homes and neighborhoods to ensure their own safety. This paves the way for the area to be redeveloped by major corporations and resettled by whites. In effect, checkpoints are a necessary tool of apartheid and genocide, historically used both in the United States and throughout the world.
The case of Kenneth Harding is a perfect example. When the police approached Kenneth, he ran for his life and they fired at him repeatedly. He died at the hands of the police and another life was lost in their ongoing campaign of genocide against the Black Nation. This terror campaign is happening not only locally and not only to African Americans, but it is happening statewide and nationally, to people of color and poor people overall.
As usual, the police and their corporate media mouthpieces immediately started a campaign to demonize Kenneth and bombard the public with accounts of Kenneth’s criminal record, to make it look like the police actually saved the community from a ruthless predator. Kenneth Harding was the victim here, and his criminal record is irrelevant to, and can in no way justify the crimes the police committed against him.
[Note: To this day the only information about his past comes from a criminal justice system that, given the history of misinformation and false information dished out by “official sources,” we cannot trust. But IF Kenneth had victimized people, we would respond with restorative justice: to care for people he hurt; help him make amends for harm done and prevent such harm in the future; and to repair damage done to the community by his actions. In this way, Kenneth Harding coul have been held accountable by people who actually care about him and value his life. But instead, he was killed by the SFPD.]
At the time of the encounter, the police knew nothing about Kenneth—only that he was a young Black man, and they would find a way to make his death his own fault. They claimed Kenneth had a gun, but dozens of witnesses on the scene say that he didn’t. The police said they couldn’t find a gun. Then they said someone picked it up. Then they said the gun was recovered elsewhere, and it was a .45. Then, they said no .45 was involved. Then they said Kenneth was killed with a .380. Now police have the audacity to claim that Kenneth shot and killed himself. Witnesses have been clear, however, that police shot and killed Kenneth as he fled.
The people in Bayview are well aware that the community is under attack and that the system will do everything in its power to protect police terrorists. Bayview residents made that clear when they shouted down S.F. Police Chief Suhr and forced him to leave a community meeting held days after the shooting (that the police organized to tranquilize and paralyze police critics). There is a long history of police attacks on the Bayview, Hunter’s Point, Double Rock and throughout San Francisco. And in addition to the unending police abuse, in recent years foreclosures, gentrification, and failed educational systems have driven half of the Black population out of San Francisco.
Since the police and the system have no credibility, the people need an INDEPENDENT investigation and public hearings. The people need to know what happened that day. The identities and track records of the police who killed Kenneth must be made public, so the police can be held accountable for their actions. We also need public hearings, including testimony from witnesses and the community, and the findings should be gathered and publicized before a world audience. And as this process unfolds, the right of the community to protest and defend against these continued injustices must be upheld and kept sacred.
In addition to holding police accountable for misconduct, the community needs to build formal and informal institutions that can organize our own defense and build the democratic authority of the people and our movements. We need to organize ourselves so that we have alternatives to calling the police and alternatives to using the current, fatally flawed criminal justice system.
The People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence was held earlier this year in Oakland, with the intention of increasing government accountability and organizing alternatives to the government institutions. The Hearing used direct personal testimony about the growing number of police killings and related issues of state violence against targeted communities, racial profiling, and government attacks on people’s political activism. This began an ongoing process that can be applied to the murder of Kenneth Harding by the SFPD. For more information, visit [http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com].
SFPD Ruthlessly Shoots and Kills Unarmed 19yr old Man over $2 Bus Fare: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTenlJY7ab8]
2011-08-06 "Stop Police Murders and Media Coverups!"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2011/08/06/stop-police-murders-and-media-coverups/]:
A Statement by Sanyika Bryant of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement about the SFPD, the murder of Kenneth Harding Jr, and the media coverup.
The press conference was held at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday, July 28, 2011.
The video was produced by Collision Course Video Productions.
[http://vimeo.com/27137583]
2012-08-26 "Every 36 Hours: Advancing the Organizing Drive for a Peoples’ National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/every-36-hours-advancing-the-organizing-drive-for-a-peoples-national-plan-of-action-for-racial-justice-and-self-determination/]:
National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination -
Since the release of our Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of 120 Black People on July 9th, the Police have only continued their steady pace of executions and their standard pattern of passing them off as “justifiable homicides” and “unexplained incidents”.
The cold blooded execution of Chavis Carter in Jonesboro, Arkansas is the most graphic case in point. On Sunday, July 29th, Jonesboro Police claimed that 21-year old Carter shot himself in the head, after being searched twice, while handcuffed in the back of a squad car. To date, despite national media coverage and sustained pressure from local forces, the case is proceeding in standard fashion. The two officers responsible for Carters execution, Keith Bagget and Ron Marsh, are on paid leave until internal investigations by the Jonesboro PD and the FBI are complete.
And Chavis Carter was not alone. Javon Neal, 16, was executed by Tampa, Florida police on Sunday, July 22nd. James Harper, 31, by the Dallas police on Wednesday, July 25th. Julius Richard Larrance, 19, by Police in Clearwater, Florida on Thursday, July 26th. Darius Kennedy, 51, in NYC, NY on Saturday, August 11th. And, Christopher Middleton, 26, in Maywood, IL on Sunday, August 12th. These killings only reaffirm the findings in our report that Every 36 Hours a Black person is killed by the police in the United States.
Clearly, just publicizing these extrajudicial killings of Black people is not enough. More must be done to protect Black life and secure justice for our people.
Anaheim shows a way -
In response to the Anaheim, California Police Departments extrajudicial killings of two Latino men, Manuel Angel Diaz, 25 and Joel Acevedo, 21 on July 21st and 22nd respectively, the Latino community in Anaheim engaged in a sustained direct action mobilization against the police department and Anaheim city officials for well over two weeks. Latino residents and their allies used a range of tactics including marches, rallies, sit in’s, a picket of Disneyland and occupations of intersections and police and city offices to ensure that business could not proceed as usual to guarantee that their issues were addressed. In addition to the intolerable police killing of at least five Latinos in the past year, the mobilizations drew attention to the vast inequality between white and Latino communities of Anaheim and the colonial status of Latinos who comprise 54% of the population and have virtually no representation in City government.
In many respects, the Anaheim mobilization mirrored the dynamic community response in Oakland, CA in 2009 and 2010 following the cold-blooded execution of Oscar Grant. Of the major mobilizations against police terrorism and extrajudicial killings over the past 10 years, the Anaheim-Oakland models of sustained community pressure are the ones we, in the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, think merit the most attention by the social justice movements contained in the United States. The Anaheim-Oakland models provide a direct means to addressing extrajudicial killing, police terrorism, and other forms of containment aimed at oppressed peoples and communities that community members can directly control and dictate. The strength of the model is that it is not dependent on legal proceedings or on elected politicians, but upon the commitment and initiative of the people themselves.
Completing the Model -
Despite its strengths, the Anaheim-Oakland models have their weaknesses. Their main weakness is that mass mobilizations, while they can and often do prompt social change, in and of themselves don’t provide direction or structure to the change. That only comes from mass organization that is able to impose its will on the state and the ruling classes to adhere to the program and demands of the movement.
One element of structural change that the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement has been advocating for to address police terrorism and other forms of containment (including mass incarceration) is a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination. As a central component of the No More Trayvon Martins campaign we have been agitating for this demand to be met by the Federal government. The agitation has mainly served the purpose of educating a broader audience and serving notice to the Federal Government. But, we are clear, that if this plan is to mean anything and to have any real impact, it is something that has to be developed and implemented by oppressed peoples themselves.
To develop and advance a more comprehensive model of resistance to police terrorism and containment, we are proposing a model that draws on the strengths of the Anaheim-Oakland models and combines them with the following:
The formation of Black Self-Defense Networks to defend our people and combat police terrorism. These Networks should seek to build Copwatch programs, engage in mass rights based education trainings for the community, serve as first responders to acts of Police Terrorism, and help coordinate mass resistance to these acts via mass mobilizations and direct action. These Networks should also be encouraged to engage in offensive campaigns, such as referendums to institute Police Control Boards.
The formation of People’s Self-Defense Networks to defend the lives and interests of all oppressed peoples’ and exploited classes against various forms of state terrorism. These People’s Self-Defense Networks would work as multi-national alliances to engage in a broad manner all of the tasks mentioned above to defend oppressed peoples and targeted communities, such as LGBTQ2GNC communities, against institutionalized racism, white supremacy, institutionalized sexism, patriarchy and state repression be it racial profiling, gender profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, or mass deportations.
The launching of campaigns for local referendums to institute Police Control mechanisms – i.e. community based structures that have the power to hire, fire, subpoena, and discipline the police.
Forming People’s Assemblies, on local, city-wide, and regional levels to engage in program and demand development initiatives that will structure the development of a Peoples’ National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination and the broad implementation of people’s programs for self-defense and mutual aid.
People to People Unity Building -
Black or New Afrikan people are not the only targets of this escalation of Extrajudicial Killing by the Police and other forces of the government. Indigenous peoples, Latinos, Arabs, Southeast Asians, Muslims, and immigrants, are also being targeted. In fact, given the current climate of xenophobia and racial hostility directed towards Latinos, we suspect that the numbers of those stolen from Xicano/Mexicano and Central American communities will equal, if not exceed those of Blacks.
When you consider the overall manner in which racial profiling has intensified since September 11, 2001, and how it has been supported by the phenomenal growth of the national security industry and the ever increasing means of surveillance, it becomes clear that the extrajudicial killings of Blacks, Latinos, and others are about as accidental as the more the 2 million Black people incarcerated or under some form of direct state control throughout the United States. Extrajudicial killing and mass incarceration are two sides of the same coin. Together they are just one dimension of the overall strategy of containment rooted in the systemic and institutional practices of white supremacy and colonialism that give form to the national oppression of Black, Xicano, and Indigenous people.
The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, is calling for a broad alliance of Blacks, Indigenous peoples, Latinos, Arabs, Asians, and progressive whites that will challenge the various forms of state repression, including extrajudicial killing, racial profiling , mass incarceration, mass deportation, economic exploitation and various forms of displacement. It is our hope that this peoples’ alliance will form the core of the People’s Self Defense Networks and the broad People to People coalitions that will build the People’s Assemblies and develop the National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination.
Organize, Organize, Organize -
To launch this process, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, working with allies in the Black Left Unity Network and the National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights, is calling for a series of dialogue calls to initiate a national process of organizing, networking, and coalition building to create the aforementioned Networks and start the process of developing a Peoples’ National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination.
* We will be hosting our first Black/Afrikan People’s Dialogue on Thursday, August 30th.
* We will be hosting our first All Peoples’ Dialogue on Thursday, September 20th.
To join these calls please contact Kamau Franklin at kamauf@mxgm.org. For more information about the campaign visit [http://www.mxgm.org]. To sign the petition for demanding a National Plan of Action [http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/webform/trayvon-martin-petition].
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/self-respect-community-self-defense-a-peoples-forum/]:
Where: Humanist Hall [390 27th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612-3104 near Broadway]
When: Saturday, September 22, 2012
Schedule overview:
12 pm:Registration
1 pm: People’s Self-Defense, a history–Racial Profiling, Trayvon Martin, The Rising Tide Of Police Killings–Confronting Stop And Frisk in NY
3 pm: The Bay Area and Racial Profiling: The Experience, The Resistance
6 pm: Launching The People’s Self-Defense Organizing Campaign
As you may have heard or seen, The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement has researched and released a report entitled “Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of 120 Black People” that shows that every 36 hours a Black man, woman or child is murdered by the police, private security guards, prison guards or vigilantes in the US.
One element of structural change that the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement has been advocating for to address police terrorism and other forms of containment (including mass incarceration) is a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination. As a central component of the No More Trayvon Martins campaign we have been agitating for this demand to be met by the Federal government. The agitation has mainly served the purpose of educating a broader audience and serving notice to the Federal Government. But, we are clear, that if this plan is to mean anything and to have any real impact, it is something that has to be developed and implemented by oppressed peoples themselves.
To develop and advance a more comprehensive model of resistance to police terrorism and containment, we are calling for the following:
1. The formation of Black Self-Defense Networks to defend our people and combat police terrorism. These Networks should seek to build Copwatch programs, engage in mass rights based education trainings for the community, serve as first responders to acts of Police Terrorism, and help coordinate mass resistance to these acts via mass mobilizations and direct action. These Networks should also be encouraged to engage in offensive campaigns, such as referendums to institute Police Control Boards.
2. The formation of People’s Self-Defense Networks to defend the lives and interests of all oppressed peoples’ and exploited classes against various forms of state terrorism. These People’s Self-Defense Networks would work as multi-national alliances to engage in a broad manner all of the tasks mentioned above to defend oppressed peoples and targeted communities, such as LGBTQ2GNC communities, against institutionalized racism, white supremacy, institutionalized sexism, patriarchy and state repression be it racial profiling, gender profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, or mass deportations.
3. The launching of campaigns for local referendums to institute Police Control mechanisms – i.e. community based structures that have the power to hire, fire, subpoena, and discipline the police.
4. Forming People’s Assemblies, on local, city-wide, and regional levels to engage in program and demand development initiatives that will structure the development of a Peoples’ National Plan of Action for Racial Justice and Self-Determination and the broad implementation of people’s programs for self-defense and mutual aid.
Come through and find out ways to plug into this work.
Free The Land!
Contact: [415 651 4642] [oaklandtribunal@gmail.com] [sanyika@mxgm.org]
2012-09-23 "People’s forum on community self-respect, self-defense in midst of racial profiling"
by Jeannine Etter from "Oakland Local" [http://oaklandlocal.com/posts/2012/09/people’s-forum-community-self-respect-self-defense-midst-racial-profiling-saturday-sep]:
On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement will be co-sponsoring a community event entitled “Self-Respect and Community Self-Defense in a Land of Endless Racial Profiling - A People’s Forum” at the Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. in Oakland [http://humanisthall.net/wp/].
The day - which runs from noon to 8 p.m. - will consist of community discussions and presentations on the history of People’s Self-Defense, Racial Profiling, Trayvon Martin, The Rising Tide Of Police Killings, Confronting Stop And Frisk in NY and The Bay Area and Racial Profiling: The Experience, The Resistance, Launching The People’s Self-Defense Organizing Campaign.
MXGM [http://mxgm.org/] has researched and released a report entitled “Report on the Extrajudicial Killing of 120 Black People” that shows that every 36 hours a Black man, woman or child is murdered by the police, private security guards, prison guards or vigilantes in the U.S. In response to this epidemic, MXGM has stepped up to address police terrorism and other forms of containment (including mass incarceration).
The formation of Black Self-Defense Networks is intended to defend black people and combat police terrorism; build Copwatch programs; engage in mass rights based education trainings for the community; serve as first responders to acts of Police Terrorism; and help coordinate mass resistance to these acts via mass mobilizations and direct action and referendums to institute Police Control Boards (community based structures that have the power to hire, fire, subpoena, and discipline the police).
According to the organization [http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/self-respect-community-self-defense-a-peoples-forum/]: “These People’s Self-Defense Networks would work as multi-national alliances to engage in a broad manner all of the tasks mentioned above to defend oppressed peoples and targeted communities, such as LGBTQ2GNC communities, against institutionalized racism, white supremacy, institutionalized sexism, patriarchy and state repression be it racial profiling, gender profiling, stop and frisk, mass incarceration, or mass deportations.”
In April 2012, MXGM launched the “No more Trayvon Martins” Campaign. As a central component of the No More Trayvon Martins campaign, MXGM has been pushing for this demand to be met by the federal government, but asserts that, “We are clear, that if this plan is to mean anything and to have any real impact, it is something that has to be developed and implemented by oppressed peoples themselves.”
For more information on the event, Contact Sanyika Bryant at [oaklandtribunal@gmail.com] or [sanyika@mxgm.org].
---
2011-09-22 comment by todd fischer:
It's interesting to actually read the report, because it presents many questions about the methodology. 12.5% (15 of the 120) involved incidents where the suspect shot at and wounded and/or killed a police officer or bystander. While the report says "Most of the executed were unarmed", it goes on to concede that 18% were "likely armed", 36% "were alleged by the police to have weapons", and but 46% were confirmed by all to have no weapons. Those percentages don't confirm the articles own contention. The report says a "significant proportion "were suffering from mental illness or were intoxicated at the time of the incident”, but doesn't go on to state what a significant portion is. The most troubling statement to me was "Regardless of how these encounters begin, whether they involve activity that violates the laws of the state or the laws of basic human decency, no one should be sentenced to death without a trial." Really? So a police officer, when confronted with an armed suspect (like in 18% to 54% of the reports examples) is at fault every time a suspect is killed. Really? Is there no individual responsibility?
There are real and pressing problems with race and violence in this country that result in a disproportionate number of African Americans being killed. Living in Oakland, one sees it every day. But to resolve these real and pressing problems, we need real analysis of the problem, not biased interpretation presented as fact.
2013-01-22 "Full Transcription of A People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence"
[http://peopleshearing.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/full-transcription/]:
A People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence was an event organized at a grassroots level by community members and political organizers, offering space for the public to share testimony about the racism and violence of law enforcement. It was a chance to hear from witnesses and victims, their friends and family members, activists, organizers, and others. Giving a platform to individual and shared experiences of repression, we worked – and continue to do so – to indict the imperialist, white supremacist and capitalist power structures, and to document the people’s case throughout our communities.
We, as organizers, are not lost on the fact that this transcription is being published on the two year anniversary of the police murder of Raheim Brown. We were lucky to have members of Raheim’s family as guests, sharing the story of their trauma even before they buried their son and brother. Two years later, responsibility has not been taken for Raheim Brown’s death. There has been no financial settlement, no criminal charges, and police officers (including the officer who fired the deadly shots) continue to patrol Oakland elementary, middle and high schools. In that time, police officers in Oakland have continued to kill, taking the lives of numerous Black and Brown young.
We’re publishing this because the survivors and witnesses of police violence and state repression do not have to be isolated. When experiences are shared, we can gain a significant edge in the struggle for justice. A People’s Hearing on Racism and Police Violence, which took place on February 19th and 20th of 2011, was a move toward the offensive, linking many sides of the repressive state in order to strengthen our movements against it.
Download the transcript at [http://www.scribd.com/doc/121774748/01-2013-Peoples-Hearing-Transcription]
Raheim Brown: Rise and Rest In Power
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