“Hey Hey, Ho Ho, These Racist Cops Have Got to Go”: Oakland, CA, marches in solidarity with Ferguson | AmericaWakieWakie
August 20th, 2014
Tonight, just over a week after the killing of an unarmed black teen at the hands of Ferguson, MO police, Oakland residents took to the streets in solidarity with protesters across the country to demand an end to police brutality against black (and brown) communities. Centered around the failure of Ferguson’s local authorities to arrest killer cop Darren Wilson, the officer responsible for Michael Brown’s death, protesters in Oakland rallied to demand “Justice for Mike Brown.”
SF Gate reported:
The marches started in four separate locations – Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Jack London Square, the main branch of the Oakland Public Library and the African American History Museum – but came together outside of Oakland Police Headquarters around 6 p.m.
Protesters from the different marches were briefly prevented from joining up with each other by a line of police.
Quanah Brightman, executive director of United Native Americans, an Indian protest group was angered by police attempting to block the marchers from uniting.
“They won’t even let us walk on the public street,” he said. “I don’t feel safe. It is what it is, and they hate us. When they put on a badge, they’re allowed to kill us.”
Several protesters and family members had recently returned from Ferguson, where police have been criticized for their heavy-handed tactics, and urged support for their counterparts there.
Oakland certainly is not unfamiliar with police brutality. Like today, it was not long ago that the community was in the streets over the death of Oscar Grant, who was killed by BART police in 2009. Or the nearby deaths of Alex Nieto and Andy Lopez, who both died at the hands of law enforcement officers.
Even more recently, however, over the death of Alan Blueford, who was shot and killed by Oakland police on May 6, 2012. His mother, Jeralynn Blueford, along with Grant’s mother, attended the protest tonight.
As quoted by SF Gate, she rallied the crowd with chants of “They say get back! We say, fight back,” as police formed a line to block merging groups of protesters.
She went on to tell the folks to take the fight to Washington D.C., saying “We’re going to change this crooked system. Obama, if you hear me, Alan Blueford’s life matters. Mike Brown’s life matters.”
(Photo Credit: Top by Scott Strazzante | All remaining by AmericaWakieWakie)
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