Happy Birthday Oscar Grant
Posted by Jack Stephens on February 28, 2009
xMabaitx blogs about race, racial identity, skin color, and Oscar Grant:
I have determined that my former desire to ”fit into” a certain racial or ethnic distinction has very little bearing on my own sense of personal self-worth. The greater issue rather is how the white man’s ideas of race and ethnicity consequently force unwanted social meanings upon my body.
The Blog and the Bullet 
Philip Black said
Friday was Oscar Grant III’s birthday. The family celebrated with a march in downtown Hayward where Grant was from. The city should have done something special for the family, declared Friday, February 27 as “Oscar Grant Day”. Instead, they attempted to intimidate the marchers lining the streets with club wielding police. The city missed a real opportunity to heal some wounds, to connect with a rightfully understandably angry and mistrusting youth. What they accomplished was to create a larger divide between the police and the youth.
Yes, there was no violence that day. But at what cost. In the police’s attempt to overt any potential problems, they closed the downtown to everyone. Hayward police, simular to what Johannes Mehserle did, assume that a young black man was violent, and take preemptive action.
Below are some photos from the event. Hayward has a new downtown that needs these young people. They should have embraced them, used the opportunity to showcase it’s movie theater, and restaurants. Opportunity missed.
Some photos from the event below.
http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/cct/2009/flash/grant_bday/index.html