
It has been one year since Oscar Grant was brutally murdered by BART policeman Johannes Mehserle. The power of the people of Oakland and the Bay Area has ensured that he is standing trial for murder and not getting away unscathed as is the normal practice in police killings and brutality of our community members.

KCBS calls it “Another Viral BART Police Confrontation,” referring to the now world famous video of a BART officer shooting passenger Oscar Grant in the back as he lay face down on a BART platform at 2 a.m. New Year’s Day. The new video, shot Saturday night, shows another BART officer assaulting a passenger almost as viciously. STORY UPDATED TUESDAY, NOV. 24.
POOR Press will be releasing its new books and introducing their authors at a benefit – “Talk-Story Circle on Land, Migration, Occupation and Resistance” – at Galleria de la Raza, 2857 24th St. at Bryant in San Francisco, this Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. Enjoy good food, DJ, performance and scholarship for $5-$15 or whatever you can spare.

October 22nd, National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, is much more than just a traditional, methodical way to combat police terrorism. We are demanding no more injustice to be served to us by a just-us system. No batons swung at us. No tear gas or water hoses sprayed on us. No dogs turned on us. No guns fired at us. Just like the ‘60s era, our struggle continues in the 21st century. Our once-silenced voices and visible stances are the exchange of fire that guns us down each day.

The murder of a 22-year-old unarmed Black man, Oscar Grant, by a transit cop in Oakland during the early hours of New Year’s Day sparked national indignation. Onlookers captured the shooting on cell phones, and their video footage was transmitted to millions via the Internet and TV.

On New Year’s morning BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fired his gun at point blank range into Oscar Grant’s back, killing him as he lay face down on the train platform, hands behind him. A preliminary hearing is now underway to determine whether Mehserle will be charged with murder or whether the charges against him will be lowered.

Submit your creative expression – poem, photo, artwork, music, graffiti etc. – to the Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project. Details follow the poems. Deadline is March 21

We’re leading off the relaunch of SFBayView.com with an array of news and views about the foment at KPFA since police brutalized Nadra Foster, a 12-year unpaid programmer and Black single mom, inside the station after they were called by management and about KPFA’s retaliation against Minister of Information and Bay View Associate Editor JR Valrey for covering it.
This video was taken by KPFA programmer Weyland Southon of Hard Knock Radio on Aug. 20, 2008, as Nadra Foster was being brutalized by Berkeley police who had been called by station and network management. Staff, listeners struggle for justice inside KPFA lists the 12 SF Bay View stories on this issue. Go to www.blockreportradio.com [...]

It is a sad commentary when the management of KPFA Radio, a nonprofit dedicated to social justice in my hometown of Berkeley, Calif., calls the police on a staff member who volunteers her time, donating talent and skill to bring the mission of that organization to bear.

As I read the post about what happened to Nadra Foster, I broke out in a cold sweat and my heart started to beat faster and faster. I experienced painful flashbacks and felt that burn of tears welling up in my eyes. I knew this would happen again.

I was outraged to hear that my “daughter,” Nadra Foster, was attacked, brutalized, hogtied, arrested and charged with trespassing, resisting arrest, assaults on police, and other charges, with bail set at $81,500!

One of the officers has his knee on her groin. Another one is pressing her arms against her chest and his full body weight is top of her. Nadra and the officers are rolling and struggling on the ground. Nadra is still screaming for help.

I was honored to be able to interview political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal and soak up some of his knowledge. In this interview we will discuss issues involving the foster care system, gang injunctions and the incarceration of young people.