Activism

IN MEMORIAM: First Annual Oscar Grant Day Celebrated with Inspirational Speeches, Powerful Performances

“Riding the BART shouldn’t be a death sentence,” said Elaine Brown, former Black Panther Party chairwoman. “Oscar tried to defuse a fight on the train and his good deed became a death sentence. The only person trying to deescalate anything that day was Oscar – and he was killed for it.”

Published

1 year ago

March 6, 2022

Oakland Post

Civil rights attorney Pamela Price stands with Rev. Wanda Johnson, mother of Oscar Grant. Johnson vowed to make this first rally for Oscar Grant an annual event on Oscar’s birthday, February 27, every year.

By Post Staff

On an overcast day with moments of sunlight, family members and supporters of the late Oscar Grant III gathered in front of Oakland City Hall on Saturday, February 26 to celebrate his life and legacy.

Grant was shot at the Fruitvale Station platform on Jan. 1, 2009, by BART officer Johannes Mehserle, while being held down by BART Officer Anthony Pirone.

Grant, who had been on his way home from a New Year’s Eve celebration in San Francisco, was pronounced dead several hours later at Highland Hospital.

After Community outcry, Mehserle was charged with second-degree murder but was only convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He is the only officer ever to be convicted by Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.

O’Malley, who was a common reference of the speakers at the rally, has only charged one police officer in an officer-involved death. Currently, the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez in the City of Alameda and the recent police killing of Cody Chavez after a standoff in Pleasanton on February 18 are still being considered for charges.

Mehserle served less about a year in a private cell in a Los Angeles County prison.

As dozens spoke at the rally, they pointed out that Grant’s death has been the catalyst for many police reforms in Alameda County. Grant’s “Uncle Bobby” Cephus Johnson said that his nephew’s death led to such changes in policing as body cameras and police oversight commissions.

“All roads lead to one justice,” said Johnson. “We have been seeking justice for 13 years and we haven’t gotten there yet.”

Oakland City Councilmember Treva Reid, who represents District 7, sent staff to read the City Council proclamation calling Sunday, the 27 of February – Oscar Grant Day – the same day he would have turned 36 this year.

The rally, sponsored by the Oscar Grant Foundation, had food give-away stations and school supplies in backpacks for children. Dancers and singers brought cheers from the crowd on the Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, which is sometimes referred to as Oscar Grant Plaza.

A bouncy house in the grassy area vibrated with children jumping while speaker after speaker before City Hall called for reform and real justice for Grant’s family. Local religious leaders, community organizers and people seeking elected offices spoke about Grant’s legacy.

Former Black Panther Party Chairwoman Elaine Brown urged the audience to remember that justice has still not been found for Oscar Grant’s family. Brown focused her passionate speech on how the second officer involved in Grant’s death has never been charged.

Elaine Brown, former Black Panther Party chairwoman, gave an impassioned speech at the top of the rally about justice still being denied. She urged the audience to remember that Anthony Pirone was never charged or convicted in Grant’s death.

“Riding the BART shouldn’t be a death sentence,” said Brown. “Oscar tried to defuse a fight on the train and his good deed became a death sentence. The only person trying to deescalate anything that day was Oscar – and he was killed for it.”

The stage was also filled with some of the candidates vying to replace Nancy O’Malley as the next district attorney of Alameda County in the June 7 primary election.

Councilmember Dan Kalb’s chief of staff, Seth Seward, was seen in the audience while current Deputy D.A. Jimmie Wilson and civil rights attorney Pamela Price took the stage to talk about justice reform. O’Malley’s endorsed candidate Assistant D.A. Terry Wiley was not present.

Civil rights attorney Pamela Price led the crowd cheering as she talked about the changes needed in the justice system. Price is also a candidate to replace the current Alameda County district attorney in the June 7 primary election.

Price gave a fiery speech on the needed reforms of the D.A.’s office. Price called out how the D.A.’s office has been toying with the Grant family’s emotions as they seek justice when O’Malley announced an investigation into charging Pirone last year, only to announce months later that no charges would be filed.

Price noted that the original prosecution of the case was “flawed because the D.A.’s heart was not in it,” just as the prosecution of the Oakland ‘Riders’ failed “because the D.A.’s heart was not in it.”

Other speakers included District 6 City Councilmember Loren Taylor who is currently running for Oakland Mayor, rapper and community organizer Mistah F.A.B. and Anti-Police Terror Project Executive Director Cat Brooks.

Rev. Wanda Johnson, Grant’s mother, thanked everyone for coming to this first annual day to celebrate her son’s life and the positive reforms because of this unjust death. She stated that this fight will continue as a “legacy of love, a legacy of hope and a legacy of peace.”

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

Published

2 days ago

May 26, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 - 30, 2023

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Activism

Rise in Abductions of Black Girls in Oakland Alarms Sex-Trafficking Survivors

Nola Brantley of Nola Brantley Speaks states, “America’s wider culture and society has consistently failed to address the abduction and kidnapping of Black girls in Oakland and across the country, and this lack of concern empowers and emboldens predators.”

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley and Sarai Smith-Mazariegos

By Tanya Dennis

Within the last 30 days there have been seven attempted kidnappings or successful abductions of Black girls in Oakland.

Survivors of human trafficking who are now advocates are not surprised.

Nor were they surprised that the police didn’t respond, and parents of victims turned to African American community-based organizations like Adamika Village and Love Never Fails for help.

Advocates say Black and Brown girls disappear daily, usually without a blip on the screen for society and government officials.

Perhaps that will change with a proposed law by state Senator Steven Bradford’s Senate Bill 673 Ebony Alert, that, if passed, will alert people when Black people under the age of 26 go missing.

According to the bill, Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts which means fewer resources are dedicated to finding them.

Brantley, a survivor of human trafficking has been doing the work to support child sex trafficking victims for over 20 years, first as the director for the Scotlan Youth and Family Center’s Parenting and Youth Enrichment Department at Oakland’s DeFremery Park, and as one of the co-founders and executive director of Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY, Inc.)

“It really hit home in 2010,” said Brantley, “before California’s Welfare Institution Code 300 was amended to include children victimized by sex trafficking.”

Before that law was amended, she had to vehemently advocate for Black and Brown girls under the age of 18 to be treated as victims rather than criminalized.

Brantley served hundreds of Black and Brown girls citing these girls were victims so they would be treated as such and offered restorative services. “To get the police to take their disappearances seriously and file a report almost never happened,” she said.

Then Brantley received a call from the Board of Supervisors regarding a “special case.” A councilman was at the meeting, as well as a member of former Alameda County Board Supervisor Scott Haggerty’s Office who had called Brantley to attend.

“The child’s parents and the child were there also. They requested that I give my full attention to this case. The girl was white and there was no question of her victimization,” Brantley said.

Brantley felt conflicted that of all the hundreds of Black and Brown girls she’d served, none had ever received this type of treatment.

Her eyes were opened that day on how “they” move, therefore with the recent escalation of kidnapping attempts of Black girls, Brantley fears that because it’s happening to Black girls the response will not be taken seriously.

Councilwoman Treva Reid

“I thank Councilwoman Treva Reid and Senator Steven Bradford (D) for pushing for the passing of the Ebony Alert Bill across the state so that the disappearance of Black girls will be elevated the same as white girls. We’ve never had a time when Black girls weren’t missing. Before, it didn’t matter if we reported it or if the parents reported the police failed to care.”

Senator Steven Bradford

Sarai S-Mazariegos, co-founder of M.I.S.S.S.E.Y, and founder and executive director of Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment (S.H.A.D.E.) agrees with Brantley.

“What we are experiencing is the effects of COVID-19, poverty and a regressive law that has sentence the most vulnerable to the sex trade,” S-Mazariegos said. “We are seeing the lack of equity in the community, the cause and consequence of gender inequality and a violation of our basic human rights. What we are seeing is sexual exploitation at its finest.”

Both advocates are encouraged by Bradford’s Ebony Alert.

The racism and inequity cited has resulted in the development of an underground support system by Brantley, S-Mazariegos and other community-based organizations who have united to demand change.

Thus far they are receiving support from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and Oakland City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Reid of the second and seventh districts respectively.

For more information, go to http://www.blackandmissinginc.com

Activism

The Case Against SB357: Black, Vulnerable and Trafficked

on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley is the co-founder of MISSSEY. Photo courtesy of Nola Brantley.

PART 8 – Come Back to Humanity

Although California Senate Bill 357 was intended to alleviate arrests of willing sex workers under anti-loitering laws, The Black, Vulnerable and Exploited series has established that passing SB 357 and other similar legislation harms Black communities, one of the most vulnerable and traumatized groups in America.

Over the past several weeks, overwhelming evidence against SB 357 has been presented showing why sex trafficking disproportionately impacts the Black community and how decriminalizing sex buying and exploitation will further harm vulnerable Black communities.

By Tanya Dennis and Vanessa Russell

One year and one day after Blair Williams had killed herself by walking into traffic on a busy freeway, her sister, Brianna Williams, testified before the California Senate Public Safety Committee on the horrors of sex-trafficking.

Soon after, on April 25, the committee approved Senate Bill 14 which would make human trafficking of minors a felony and strikable offense forcing exploiters to serve 80% of their sentence.

Passed with bi-partisan support in the committee, the bill means a lot to people who have been trafficked as it shows that the punishment for trafficking will be equal to the crime.

Currently, exploiters who receive 10 years for trafficking a minor may be able to get out in as little as two years. This practice of letting someone out after selling a child has created apathy among survivors who wonder if anyone understands the pain and torture they endure. The unanimous acceptance of this bill in committee is helping survivors to feel protected and valuable.

Led by Senator Aisha Wahab, the committee, which included senators Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, Steven Bradford, Senator Scott D. Wiener and Oakland’s Nancy Skinner, unanimously passed the bill written by Senator Shannon Grove.

At the hearing, Brianna Williams, a Black 28-year-old woman who was sex-trafficked in Oakland at the age of 13, shared the story of her sister Blair, who was terrorized, raped, and tortured by her exploiter.

Suffering a mental break, Blair walked onto a freeway where she was instantly killed on April 24, 2022.

Williams described Blair as a beautiful young lady, who was an avid reader and creative who loved to play with her niece and nephews and aspired to be an attorney. Blair died at the age of 23. Many senators teared up as they contemplated the torture Blair endured.

At the age of 17, Williams was able to exit with the help of nonprofits and churches who invested in her life, providing workforce development, education, mentoring, and legal help.

To address the harm that is being done to vulnerable people such as Black girls, anti-trafficking organizations are asking leaders and legislators and even proponents of full decriminalization for sex work to ‘come back to humanity’ and reconsider an ‘equity model’ that decriminalizes the exploited but maintains accountability for the buyers and exploiters.

The equity model would also provide funded exit services including mental health, housing, workforce development, and legal services for the exploited. These services would provide an opportunity for the trafficked to start again, an opportunity that 76% of women, men and transgendered people are asking for.

However, making buyers and exploiters accountable does not mean applying blanket life sentences.

Human trafficking cannot be ‘criminalized’ away, supporters of the new bill say, and instead they call for thoughtfulness and empathy regarding the intentions of those involved and ask tough questions.

Many exploiters have been abused and groomed into becoming exploiters in the same way the exploited are.

There are early intervention diversion programs that can help first-time sex buyers and exploiters take ownership for the harm they have caused, process the root of their behavior, and begin to heal and change.

Giving buyers and exploiters a platform to be accountable and make amends improves their lives, the lives of the families they are also harming, and hopefully bring some healing to the harmed.

Nola Brantley, a survivor, co-founder of Motivating, Inspiring Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY), and CEO of Nola Brantley Speaks says, “As service providers, we must unite and support one another because this is very important and hard. We can’t do it alone. We need each other and the community needs us to be in solidarity!”

For more information, go to ResearchGate and Layout 1 (depaul.edu)

To get involved, join Violence Prevention Coalition for a City Wide Peace Summit on June 24^th from 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. at Laney College in Oakland. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-wide-peace-summit-tickets-622795647547

Tanya Dennis serves on the Board of Oakland Frontline Healers (OFH) and series co-author Vanessa Russell of “Love Never Fails Us” and member of OFH.