never forget.

another slow day at work here, so i have some time to reflect on what i experienced in downtown oakland last thursday. i have to start by saying that even though my choosing to attend the protest was somewhat risky and wreckless (just because of the heavy police presence and the mere fact that the consequences of arrest would have been irreversible), i was glad to have been there. at least for the gathering part of it. what came after, was kind of silly, bit pointless, and essentially disrespectful to the grant family.

as most of you have probably learned, the night ended in looting and vandalism throughout downtown oakland, mostly targeted towards large businesses unlike the last riot. which, frankly, i think is an okay thing, since most of these multi-million dollar businesses are what is driving this unjust system. as i always say, if you are going to steal, steal from the rich!! i guess what disappoints me is the fact that these incidences became the focus of the media coverage, and NOT about challenging racism, police brutality, and injustice of the legal system. it took people's attention away from the soul of the protest and focused on which stores were looted, how many were arrested, and on the spray painted message of "tonight oakland is our playground", which, by the way, i find extremely disappointing in oh on so many different levels. especially because i witnessed that there were folks there trying very hard to keep the focus on solidarity and peaceful uprising, and because many of us were there in unity to share the grief and give respect to the death of oscar grant and what family is forced to endure, the atmosphere of the protest progressively morphing into a flash-mob "party" was unsettling.

there seems to be a lot of discussions about "who" instigated "what" kind of disruptive activities, though i don't know if that's even a necessary conversation. true, i was standing right by the first sets of windows that got smashed, and it was done by a couple of non-poc anarchists. but i definitely saw a lot of poc who participated in the looting and vandalism throughout the night. i also heard through the grapevines that there were older asian ladies looting with shopping carts. but again, i don't know if it's even worth the effort to analyze all of the property damage that ensued and who were responsible. the point is, it looks like the very heart of this protest is yet again boycotted by careless actions, causing solidarity to crumble and coalitions to disengage.

i also owe an apology to my organizer friends who specifically wanted me to stay put and hold the fort at the safety house. because i did sneak behind their back only to be found among the mass of craziness as the police were closing in. so i'm sorry. but i just had to be there. my heart told me so.

the sentencing is scheduled to occur on august 6th. it's a friday. some of us are guessing that the protest that will take place may cause a larger riot. whether or not the intent of the activism, the reason why we are all engaged in unity in the first place, will be lost depends on how we act, and how we continue to act. so let's keep the focus on injustice. let's not get burned out by the distractions of irrational anarchism. let's not make this into a one-hit-wonder activism. let's keep it on the legacy of oscar so that his death will not go in vain.