Oakland Protests...

Following Oscar Grant III's memorial service in Hayward, people organized at the Fruitvale BART station to protest Grant's death and also call for answers as many parties express grief, none seem anxious for answers. Even the District Attorney appears to be dumbfounded and at a loss for words, refusing to speak to the press (I think he uses Dellum's PR team). Ironically, the Absent Mayor himself expressed his condolences and asked for all to remain calm and patient.

Well, that didn't last long. Roughly two hours into the protest, the march began up International Avenue towards Lake Merritt, where, met by OPD, splinter groups split off and minor bursts of chaos ensued. A hundred people were arrested, some cars set fire, broken windows and vandalism, all capped off by Dellums tele-porting himself to the sidewalk to lead a group to the steps of City Hall where he was booed and yelled at for ten minutes.

I think protests are a valuable form of expression in our society. I have personally marched in protests. I think a crowd of marchers can yell in anger and cry in solidarity. I think Oscar Grant would want people to march against the absurdity of his death. I think Oscar's death, captured on video, should force us as a community to look at the problems that plague Oakland and march for a better City.

But at what point do the actions of a few ruin the message of the many?

Setting fires? Destroying police cars that your tax dollars paid for? Smashing the windows of black owned businesses? Thanks to the a few selfish attention seekers, the message was lost.

I hope when it begins again, the message will win out. A message of grief and sadness. Condolence and community. Answers and attention. Peace and meaning. I hope that Oakland will pull itself up from it's bootstraps to work on being a better place tomorrow, but it will take all of us working together, the many and the few.

I hope my City will shine bright.

Oh Dellums...

This is Ronald Vernie Dellums, the all alluring Mayor of Oakland... in a rare moment of actually appearing in public and speaking... wait, Gavin and Arnold were also on hand, so it was positive press.

It appears in his haste to chastise HBO's plan to film it's new series "Gentlemen of Leisure" in Oakland... not wanting it to give Oakland a bad name, like "The Wire" did for Baltimore... he forgot that his son, Erik Dellums - an aspiring actor, has appeared in a half dozen episodes of "The Wire." Oops. According to the Chronicle, his own staffers were caught off guard by this revelation.

Next thing you know, I'll have to get a permit to post this blog...

HBO Wires Oakland...

HBO and the Hughes brothers are developing "Gentlemen of Leisure," a noir drama set in Oakland, CA., that explores the prostitution subculture from the point of view of a pimp in the twilight of his career [from IMDB].


I know that I'm very late to The Wire, but I have seen a few episodes, which then made me stop watching until I am able to watch the entire series. Blah, blah, blah. I was, however, immediately drawn into the similarities between the stories that were happening in the fictional Baltimore of The Wire and the stories happening in the real Oakland of... well, that was just it. I wanted Oakland to be spot-lighted in it's own program for the world to see. Well, my wish may be coming true, in one twisted way or another.


So, the Hughes brothers (Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, From Hell) want to film their series in Oakland, but it appears that Dellums, and other members of the City Council, are having a "not here, not in my town" apprehension. Chips Johnson's article for the Chronicle makes Dellums seem even more powerfully delusional than normal, stating the show will not fit into the Absentee Mayor's version of a "model city" (because his vision has worked thus far...?). Hey Chip, when are you going to run for Mayor? Seriously.


Of course Allen Hughes simply rebuffed any temperance on a permit by suggesting filming elswhere and labeling it Oakland. Thanks for the recognition Allen, but please continue fighting. I want the world to see the grit and the glamour of Oakland. I want a show to highlight the hardships of urban life, the pain of death, abuse and exploitation. I want attention drawn to Oakland, both good and bad, and I have enough respect for the Hughes brothers work to think that homage will paid to the city without using urban crime as an overly glamorized nipple that will tempt all of our youth to more depravity. I think this is what the Mayor and the City Council fears, unfortunately, they have been asleep at the wheel for so long, they have missed that his is already happening... under their own watch.


Hey, I've got an idea... let's let the A's slip away, wave goodbye to the Wayan's complex, let our schools rot, let violence continue to bruise our name, hire more cops with non-existent money that we never had to begin with, let our City Administrator make hallucinatory budget claims and pre-raid tip offs, let our Mayor remain elusive and potentially inept... oh, yeah, and while we're at it, let's push out creativity and more income to The City by not issuing a filming permit. Brilliant! [And yes, I used The City to describe Oakland, but I will save that for another post.]


I think Dellums and the City Council could use a little pimp-slap back to reality... we're not in Kansas anymore, bitches.