Hope in the Face of Opposition

As many of you know, I like to stay current in the fight against social, economical and racial inequality. The fight which sparked what many call "Occupy". Two winters ago I was sent (by my former union, SEIU) to Washington D.C. to join thousands of others for a week of protests and actions on the capital. We did sit-ins at the house of representatives, we marched on K street and we gathered, in solidarity, to make known that not everyone is going to sit by idly and allow the few with much of the money, to dictate the world we live in.

Over the last couple of years, I've been more of an observer in political actions. I like to show up, to be a presence, but I'm not vocal in the groups, rather I use my voice in my own social circles. Granted, the majority of the people in my circles agree with much of my viewpoints, but usually give me this entertained look and do their best to encourage my "silliness". I appreciate the support, of course, but really want to see more be active in this fight against our governments corruption.

Now, don't get me wrong, I fully understand that our "justice" system is actually one of the best systems in the world. I do believe that. However, I don't believe that we should just take that as is. Our government is corrupt in many ways and our police are frightening. When someone sees police lights flash, they aren't happy to know there is a person nearby who is looking out for them, with pure and moral intentions. Rather our stomachs turn and our minds begin to race with thoughts of "damn it, what am I going to have to deal with?" and if you aren't white, your fear is far worse. Yes, racism is alive and well in our country and unfortunately it is often ignored because it makes white people uncomfortable.

The reality is racial inequality exacerbates social and economical inequality. This isn't just my opinion either, this is based on facts from much research done by many who recognize and care about this issue. I highly recommend you read some of the information out there, it's very enlightening.

The point of all of this; yesterday I went to the Oakland courthouse to be a witness at a court hearing for Prince Boson. The following is an excerpt of an article written by a comrade who was present at last years May Day action. You can read the article in it's entirety here.

"Last year on May Day, a boisterous but mostly peaceful demonstration promoted by Occupy Oakland and other groups, was aggressively attacked by an OPD assault force. There really is no other way to describe the events [I wrote about that day here, and that attack in "Part 2"].

"As the march, which had surged around the city center and lake, came back to Oscar Grant Plaza to plug back into the rest of the day’s events at around mid-day, the police suddenly rushed the crowd from behind, causing panic. In the ensuing confusion, the OPD targeted several individuals. As you can see from these photos, they were offensively brutal in the arrests–but in the case of Prince alone, they went the extra step of tazing him. I think that given that he was the only African American arrested that day, its definitely arguable the extra force was racially motivated.

I was in the crowd that day and absolutely no one posed a threat to any police officer. All of the protesters brought to the ground and arrested, were quite literally just standing there, except for one woman, who was rushed from behind and yanked from a bicycle."

Because of this blatant discrimination, I was happy to ride my bike into Oakland and sit for an hour and a half in the courtroom to stand in solidarity with Prince. The DA dropped all but one charge against him (there had been four: PC 243(b) – battery on an officer, PC 644/211 – robbery of an officer, PC 69 – felony obstruction & resisting, PC 148(a) – m obstruction.) The most frightening part of all of this is that "because of the seriousness of the charge: PC 69 – felony obstruction & resisting, the court has to side with the police."  To believe that what the police say is true and not what the defendant and videos prove to be true strikes a dictatorship fear in me. How can we hold corrupt police accountable when it's their lies against the truth of citizens? By showing up and not standing idly by, that's how. Prince's attorney's request for him to be released on his own recognizance or to have his bail reduced was denied. His bail was set at $25,000 and his pretrial court date and pretrial examination were both set. The silver lining was that when Prince's hearing concluded, 30 people stood up and exited the courtroom. In addition to this, due to donations by those who went and others who couldn't be present, but care, we were able to raise enough money for Prince to be released!

It is with great pride that I can share that. It gives hope to seemingly hopeless situations! We stand together and we will not be quiet! Stayed tuned to the case and other political failings.