SEE ALSO:

8 Black Divas Who Died Too Soon

Why Blaming Bobby Brown Isn’t Fair

Reuters has more:

The officer shot Tony Jones, 24, in the back as he fled from a police car at about 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, according to Jones’ attorney, Waukeen McCoy.

“He made a mistake running, but that didn’t give them the right to shoot him in the back,” McCoy said. Jones is the son of Oscar Grant’s aunt, he added.

Oakland police have said that officers shot at Jones when he ran from them carrying a firearm after leaving a car they believed was involved in a robbery.

Many outraged citizens wanted Mehserle to be imprisoned for murder over Oscar Grant’s death. But a jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter, sparking mass protests in Oakland and neighboring Bay Area cities.

Read More At Reuters

SEE ALSO:

Olympic Medalist Tries To Prevent Black Kids From Drowning

Merck CEO Breaks Ground In Business World

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said he “remains in disbelief” that the department has failed to adopt the reforms.

Henderson’s frustration with the pace of improvements was evident throughout a scathing five-page ruling issued Tuesday.

“This department finds itself woefully behind its peers around the state and nation,” he wrote.

In his ruling, Henderson increased the oversight authority of a court-appointed monitor. Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan must now consult with the monitor before making important department decisions such as promoting and disciplining officers and changing policing policy and tactics.

Henderson ordered court hearings if city officials disagreed with the monitor’s recommendations.

Quan and Jordan said a federal takeover wouldn’t be necessary because Oakland’s new leadership has made compliance with the settlement a priority.

“We believe that the expertise of the monitor, coupled with the new leadership in the Police Department and the city administrator’s (office) and my commitment to further incorporate the requirements of the negotiated settlement agreement into OPD’s culture, will move Oakland into compliance as quickly as possible,” Quan said in a prepared statement.

The mayor, police chief, city manager and city attorney have all been in their posts for less than two years.

“The Oakland Police Department belongs to the community,” Jordan said. “The path forward will be guided by an actionable plan.”

Henderson said he will consider proceedings to appoint a federal receiver to run the department if the monitor submits a report this summer showing little improvement.

The judge appointed a monitor in 2003 to ensure the city complied with terms of a $10.5 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by victims of a notorious group of police officers known as “The Riders.”

The group was accused of beating and framing suspects in the West Oakland area for years. One officer was acquitted at trial and criminal charges against two former officers were dismissed after two trials ended in hung juries. A fourth former officer remains a fugitive who disappeared after charged were filed in 2000.

The current monitor, Robert Warshaw, was appointed in 2010 and oversees the settlement with a staff of seven people.

The settlement included 51 specific reforms the department agreed to make within five years. Henderson noted Tuesday that he’s extended the compliance deadline by years to little effect.

“Defendants have achieved full compliance with just over half of those tasks and, worse yet, have fallen in and out of compliance on some tasks, thus indicating a lack of sustainability,” Henderson wrote. “The outstanding tasks are not minor formalities; instead, they are significant areas that go to the heart of any police department, including how internal affairs investigations are completed, how officers are supervised, and the use and reporting of force.”

The judge was responding to a monitor’s report submitted earlier this month that included “serious concerns” about the department’s handling of the so-called Occupy Oakland protests. The monitor told the judge that officers’ actions during the Occupy protests put even the small improvements made by the department in jeopardy.

“We were, in some instances, satisfied with the performance of the department; yet in others, we were thoroughly dismayed by what we observed,” Warshaw wrote. “I cannot overstate our concern that although progress on compliance has been slow, even those advancements may have been put in doubt in the face of these events.”

The monitor said the department’s response to the Occupy protests will help determine whether police are making progress.

The mayor and police chief announced in December they were hiring an independent investigator to evaluate claims police used excessive force and improper tactics responding to the protests, which included several uses of tear gas, rubber bullets and “flash-bang” grenades on protesters.

One protester was hospitalized after being hit in the head with a flash grenade. At least one officer was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant for failing to report a subordinate blacking out his name tag.

Warshaw promised the judge a more in-depth analysis of the Occupy protests when he submits his next report sometime in July. Henderson said the results of that report may prompt him to take the extremely rare step of placing the department in a federal receivership, stripping Oakland of control of its police.

Henderson took the same extraordinary step with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s medical health care system. A receiver was appointed in 2006 to run the prison department’s health care system after Henderson said CDCR failed to comply with a settlement agreement to provide adequate care to inmates. The court-appointed receiver, J. Clark Kelso, remains in charge of the health care system.

The mayor conceded Oakland police were moving too slowly to reform the department. But Quan said she and the new leaders will move Oakland into compliance as quickly as possible.

However, as the court has explained time and time again, words and promises are not enough, Henderson said.

“Indeed, each time a previous new mayor or city administrator or chief of police has come on board, the court was reassured that the individual was strongly committed to reforming the Oakland Police Department, and that a change in administration and leadership was all that was necessary to push the city into full compliance,” the judge wrote.

SEE ALSO:
Home Births Up 29 Percent

iPad Can Hurt Your Neck

RELATED: How To Talk With Your Kids About Dr. King’s Death

Of course, you can attend a local parade today.

However, there are also concerts, special movie screenings, prayer services and many other volunteer efforts to join so you can add an educational, service and even spiritual element to however you’re planning to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.

If you’re looking for ways to make today more than just a day off work, we’ve compiled a list of some of what’s happening in 13 major markets.

1. ATLANTA

If you’re in the Peachtree city, you can attend the King Holiday March and Rally. The march is held on Auburn Avenue from Peachtree Street to Jackson Street while the rally is held on Auburn Avenue in the King National Park Area. The areas of concern are education, technology, medical, investment, transportation, housing environmental justice, job creation, conflict resolution, interfaith, cultural exchange, peace, justice and voter registration. 1:15 p.m. Jan. 16. Sweet Auburn District, Auburn Ave N.E., Atlanta. 404-614-3233. In addition, poet Nikki Giovanni will speak and do a free book signing at 2 p.m., as part of Kennesaw State University’s annual MLK Day event at the Bailey Performance Center, 1000 Chastain Road N.W, Kennesaw. 770-423-6650. Visit the official King Week at Emory website for a full list of the school’s King Week activities.

2. BIRMINGHAM

In the Birmingham area, locals can attend the Wreath Laying Ceremony at Dr. King’s Statue at Kelly Ingram Park at 10 a.m. There’s a Martin Luther King Day Parade in Montevallo that starts at 11 a.m. at Montevallo City Hall and will end at Shiloh Baptist Church. Homeless and senior citizens can visit Boutwell Auditorium for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Love Feast at 2:30 p.m. Plus, folks in the area can participate in Hands on Birmingham’s 12th annual MLK Day of Service.Over 35 projects take place around the city from clean-ups, socializing with the elderly, and more. Various locations and times. And there’s free admission all day from 9 to 5 p.m. at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute located at 520 16th Street North.

3. BOSTON

Since King was a former Boston University student, the school will hold its annual remembrance ceremony commemorating his birthday. The event, titled “Manifest Our Destiny,” routinely draws more than 1,000 people from the area. This year’s ceremony will explore “how one person’s passion can transform the world” and will include a lineup of speakers and a jazz performance from BU students. The celebration, which will be broadcast live using BU’s channel on UStream, is open to the public, and will take place at 1 p.m. on Jan. 16 in the George Sherman Union Metcalf Ballroom.

4. CHICAGO

If you’re in the Windy City, Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet is offering an African dance class in commemoration of the holiday and the Bronzeville Children’s Museum in Chicago will have a program featuring crafts. Plus, Chicagoans can get up to speed on the “Rev. Martin Luther King’s pacifist principles” by taking a free daylong course (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) taught by certified Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies members. For more information, visit evanstonhistorycenter.org. Evanston History Center, Charles Gates Dawes House, 225 Greenwood St (847-475-3410).

5. DETROIT

Over in Detroit, there’s the 2012 Detroit MLK Day  Rally and March: Jobs, Peace & Justice. The event is a tribute to the women of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) that starts at noon at Central United Methodist Church. A march through downtown Detroit follows, with a celebration culminating in the church’s second floor at 23 E. Adams and Woodward. The University of Michigan-Detroit Center (3663 Woodward Ave., Suite 150) is hosting “It’s Going On in the Hood,” a panel discussion from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m focusing on efforts to aid Detroit’s neighborhoods. For more information, visit detroitcenter.umich.edu or call the Detroit Center at (313) 593-3584.

6. HOUSTON

The 18th Annual MLK Grande Parade starts in Mid-Town at San Jacinto St and Elgin Street. For more information about the parade and pre event activities visit www.mlkgrandeparade.org. After the parade, enjoy a day of service with the Harlem Globetrotters at Root Memorial Square Park (1400 Clay Street, Houston. ) from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

7. LOS ANGELES

Instead of watching the Lakers or Clippers on TV, locals can attend this year’s Kingdom Day Parade. The parade’s theme is ”The Dream Continues to Live and Grow.” Plus, City Year Los Angeles also sponsors a day of service at Los Angeles Academy Middle School where Angelenos can build benches and paint murals. Find more volunteer opportunities at MLKDay.gov.

8. MIAMI

South Florida Urban Ministries celebrates and honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of community service. SFLUM staff and a team of AmeriCorps members and other volunteers spend the day beautifying Florida City through several painting and tree planting projects. Additionally, volunteers will help beautify and revitalize four homes in Florida City. Also includes open and closing ceremonies and lunch; 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Branches Florida City, 145 SW Fifth Ave., Florida City. Free. 305-442-8306.

9. NEW ORLEANS

In the Big Easy, locals can attend the 25th annual program of the Martin Luther King Jr. Task Force Inc. of Jefferson Parish which includes a 6:45 p.m. banquet at The Four Columns, 3711 West Bank Expressway, Harvey. The theme is “Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On … Not a Day Off!” Tickets are $40 per person, and organizers suggest you call soon to reserve seats. Call Clara T. Byes at 504.376.2130 or 504.368.5332.

10. NEW YORK

New Yorkers have lots of options too. Locals can visit “Picture the Dream,” a free exhibit that showcases collages that echo the message of Martin Luther King, Jr., created by children living in Brooklyn public housing. BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Ave., btwn Ashland Pl. and St. Felix St., Brooklyn. For more info, 718-636-4111. Film buffs can watch a screening of Nothing But a Man, which is playing at the Museum of the Moving Image at 3 p.m. It’s free with $12 museum admission. The film honors the push for civil rights by Martin Luther King, Jr., as it focuses on a 1960s African American railroad worker and his family’s struggle against racism. 36-01 35 Ave., at 37th St., Astoria. For more info, 718-777-6888. And Harlemites can take the Civil Rights Multimedia Walking Tour sponsored by the Harlem Heritage & Cultural Center, 1 p.m. For $25, you can watch a video presentation of Dr. King, visit the hub of Manhattan’s African American community and explore sights related to Martin Luther King, Jr. and other important civil rights figures. 104 Malcolm X Blvd., btwn 115th and 116th sts.

11. OAKLAND

The Allen Temple Leadership Institute with Mayor Jean Quan and City Council President Larry Reid lead the “Green Clean Up Day,” a service event which will target 20 blocks in East Oakland for cleaning, graffiti removal and trash pick up. More than 200 volunteers are expected to participate in the cleanup, which is set to take place between 8:30 a.m. and noon, primarily along International Boulevard between 81st and 98th avenues.

12. SAN FRANCISCO

It’s all about service in San Francisco too. Volunteers plan to meet at the African American Art and Culture Complex today to clean up the Bernal Heights neighborhood. The Department of Public Works is providing transportation, and volunteers will be weeding, landscaping, and cleaning up the area. Volunteers also plan to build two picnic tables, construct and install four bulletin boards, improve the landscaping of a school garden and paint  school railings and lunch tables at John O’Connell High School on San Francisco’s Folsom Street.

13. WASHINGTON, DC

In the nation’s capitol, the must-see event is a performance by Grammy Award winner Bobby McFerrin and the Let Freedom Ring Choir who’ll sing “Let Freedom Ring,” a musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. Plus, Clarence Jones, former King attorney and speechwriter will receive the 10th annual John Thompson Legacy of a Dream Award at the Kennedy Center, Concert Hall, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are free to the 6 p.m. ceremony and are distributed, two per person, to those in line in the Hall of Nations starting a 5 p.m. Monday. 202-467-4600.

SEE ALSO:

13 Best Globes Moments

NYPD Officer Moonlights As Pimp?

He was the third young child killed in Oakland since August, the 110th homicide of 2011, and the 199th juvenile shooting victim of more than 2,000 people who were victims of gun violence in an especially bloody year in an increasingly violent city.

His killer has not been found. There have been no arrests. In that, the shooting of the boy known in the neighborhood as Gabrielito is typical. According to preliminary data provided to The Bay Citizen by the Oakland Police Department, of the 1,500 reported incidents of gun violence in the city last year, arrests were made in just 117 of the cases — less than 8 percent. In 2010, the police made arrests in close to 13 percent of the 1,280 shootings. There were 1,045 shootings in 2009, according to the police department.

The violence in Oakland is staggering to anyone you can ask. The cure for the murders in unclear. What seems to be clear though, is that it is easy to get a gun in “the city of dope.”

According to the Oakland police, handguns were used in 82 murders, assault rifles in nine, and rifles and shotguns in seven. There are no gun stores in Oakland, but street outreach workers said it is easy to buy an illegal gun on the street for $75 to $400. Still, the police are confiscating only about 700 firearms per year, little more than half of what they did in 2007.

“To secure a gun in Oakland is like looking for some candy,” said Anthony Del Toro of California Youth Outreach, a gang prevention and intervention program.

More an more you hear talk of how certain behavior in kids looks like post traumatic stress disorder. In Oakland its been referred to as Turf War Syndrome, as a result of the gang conflicts. Is it right to wonder how so many concerned citizens of Oakland could shut down a port, but were unable to cure any of the violence in the city? Did those Occupy Oakland activists not care, or were they unaware? What do you think should be done to stop the violence? Put your thoughts below.

Read the full story in New York Times.

SEE ALSO:

College Kids Boo Santorum

Is Porn At The End Of Its Rope

Demonstrators were to gather to march on the Port of Oakland, which Occupy protesters successfully shut down in November. Marchers also descended on the sprawling port complex spanning Los Angeles and Long Beach as the work day begins.

Occupy groups also planned blockades in Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia, and in Portland, Ore.

The protests being billed as action against “Wall Street on the waterfront” are perhaps the Occupy movement’s most dramatic gesture since police raids sent most remaining camps scattering last month. Demonstrators began forming those camps around the country about two months ago to protest what they call corporate greed and economic inequality.

Kari Koch, organizer with Shut Down the Ports Working Group of Occupy Portland, said by shutting down the port, Wall Street will be unable to create profit.

“We will not stand for corporate profits at the expense of working people, we will not stand for attacks on workers, and we will not allow our schools to be closed, social services slashed, and families to be impoverished by your greed!” Koch said Monday in statement.

Organizers hope to draw thousands to stand in solidarity with longshoremen and port truckers they say are being exploited.

“Taking on and blocking the 1 percent at the port is also taking on the global issue of exploitation by capitalism,” said Occupy Oakland blockade organizer Barucha Peller.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents many thousands of longshoremen up and down the West Coast, has distanced itself from the shutdown effort. The union’s president suggested in a letter to members that protesters were attempting to co-opt the union’s cause to advance their own agenda.

Protesters have cited a longstanding dispute between longshoremen at the Port of Longview in Washington and grain exporter EGT as a key reason for the blockades. Shutdown supporters say they’re not asking longshoremen to organize a work stoppage in violation of their contract but simply asking them to exercise their free speech rights and stay off the job, in keeping with the union’s historic tradition of activism.

If protesters muster large enough numbers to block port entrances, arbitrators could declare unsafe working conditions, which would allow port workers to stay home.

Organized labor appears divided over the port shutdown effort. In Oakland, which saw strong union support for the Nov. 2 general strike that culminated in the closing of the port, the city’s teachers union is backing Monday’s action, while the county’s construction workers have come out against the shutdown, saying the port has provided jobs to many unemployed workers and apprentices.

The Port of Oakland has appealed to city residents not to join the blockade, which they say could hurt the port’s standing among customers and cost local jobs.

“The port is going to do all that it can to keep operations going. Our businesses need to hear that. Our workers need to know that,” said Port of Oakland spokesman Isaac Kos-Read.

Officials at West Coast ports say they have been coordinating with law enforcement agencies as they prepare for possible disruptions. Protesters say police violence against blockades in any city will trigger an extension of blockades in other cities as a show of resolve.

SEE ALSO:

Second Child Shot By Mom In Texas Welfare Office Dies

Wife Regains Husband’s Love After Severe Amnesia

Hiram Lawrence, who would have turned 2 on Dec. 28, was pronounced dead at 3:05 p.m., the Rev. Roosevelt Taylor said.

SEE ALSO: Second Child Shot By Mom In Texas Welfare Office Dies

The boy’s family had held out hope that he would show some brain activity, but doctors at Children’s Hospital Oakland concluded after multiple tests that he was brain dead from the injuries he suffered in the shooting last month.

Outside the hospital, the boy’s mother, Brittany Houston called for an end to the city’s violence.

“The shootings need to end. I shouldn’t have to lose my baby to a gunshot,” Houston said Friday while surrounded by Hiram’s father, family and clergy members.

Houston showed off a tiny ink footprint of her son on her right forearm as a tribute.

“This is how I’m going to have to remember my baby because somebody wanted to start shooting,” Houston said. “I’ve got to be strong for my baby. He fought for 11 days.”

The family’s attorney, Ivan Golde, said they decided not to oppose the doctors in ending life support after bringing in a private pediatrician who agreed with the findings. Dozens of relatives and family friends flooded the hospital Friday to say their goodbyes and support Hiram’s parents as doctors conducted one final test, which was consistent with the others.

Hiram was being held by his father, also named Hiram Lawrence, when gunfire erupted as about 20 people gathered outside a west Oakland liquor store Nov. 28, police said. Six other people were wounded, including Hiram’s father, who was shot in the hand.

“He doesn’t deserve this,” the father said in his last public comments Wednesday. “I was running around with the wrong people. It’s not my fault. It’s not my son’s fault.”

Police detained at least five possible suspects on unrelated charges but no arrests have been made.

Investigators have said the shooting occurred after one group of people fired on another group, and the second group fired back. A surveillance camera at State Market Liquors captured parts of the shooting, including three people wearing hooded sweatshirts firing from around the corner from the store.

Witnesses initially said Oakland rapper Kafani was the one making a video when the shooting occurred. But Kafani has said that while his promotional van was in the vicinity, he was not there.

Police said shortly after the shooting that investigators didn’t think Kafani had any significance in the case.

SEE ALSO:

Virginia Tech Slain Cop Was Father To Five

DSK Maid Acts Out Assault On Tape

RELATED: Second Child Shot By Mom In Texas Welfare Office Dies

Baby Hiram Lawrence was one of seven victims wounded a week ago when gunmen opened fire on a group of people watching the filming of a rap video in West Oakland.

Family members were gathering at the hospital Thursday afternoon to say their final goodbyes to the baby.  The family has cleared the hospital to comment on the case.  A statement is expected soon.

Read more at kron4.com.

SEE ALSO:

Virginia Tech Slain Cop Was Father To Five

DSK Maid Acts Out Assault On Tape

The gunfire broke out Monday evening in a liquor store parking lot after a crowd had gathered, police said. The victims were transported to local hospitals by others at the scene before officers arrived to find dozens of bullet casings.

The 1-year-old’s father, who also was shot, drove his son to the hospital, where surgeons were trying to relieve swelling on his brain, relatives told KTVU-TV.

SEE ALSO: Syracuse Coach’s Boneheaded Defense Of Alleged Pedophile

“We are aware of a 1-year-old boy who was shot — possibly in the head — in critical condition right now,” Oakland Police Lt. Robert Chan told the station. The hospital declined to release any details about the victim.

The shootings just after 6 p.m. happened near Interstate 880 in the city’s West Oakland neighborhood, Oakland police spokeswoman Ofc. Johnna Watson said.

The other victims’ conditions were unclear, though police said their injuries did not appear life-threatening.

Investigators were seeking multiple shooters, but further details on suspects or a motive were not immediately available.

Television footage showed a van belonging to an Oakland rapper that was riddled with bullet holes and had apparently taken some of the victims to the hospital.

The rapper, who goes by the name Kafani, posted to Twitter on Monday that he had not been shot but to pray for his little cousin. He said news reports that he had been shooting a music video when the shooting took place were incorrect.

According to reports, Kenneth Carrethers, 43, is seeking damages against Mehserle and four other BART officers for a brutal beating he suffered just seven weeks before Mehserle would go on to shoot Grant.

In court filings, attorneys for Carrethers said Mehserle grabbed their client from behind and took him to the ground with a leg sweep. The officers then punched and kicked Carrethers before fastening his arms and legs together and carrying him off “by the strap of the hog tie,” wrote attorney Christopher Dolan.

Read more at Colorlines.

See also: Al Sharpton’s New MSNBC Commercial Features Pie

See also: Alex Haley House Museum

Police forced some 200 protestors from a vacant lot in west Oakland Tuesday evening after the owner of the lot denied allowing demonstrators to take over the property.

The lot, which is said to be in foreclosure, will reportedly revert to Wells Fargo if the owner doesn’t cover her loan by mid-December.

“We thought the owner wanted us here, but I think maybe she didn’t know what she was getting into and changed her mind,” noted one protester.

Read more at Newser.

Protesters appeared to put up little resistance and officers could be seen calmly leading some demonstrators away in plastic handcuffs. Warnings from authorities had been similar to those issued before officers used tear gas and bean bag projectiles to clear the encampment on Oct. 25.

See Also: Black Travel: Visit Martha’s Vineyard

See Also: Very Long Night For Oprah Winfrey

Officers made 32 arrests during Monday’s raid, Police Chief Howard Jordan said, adding that there were no reports of injury to officers or protesters.

After officers blocked off the streets surrounding Frank Ogawa Plaza, some demonstrators gathered near the barricades and vowed to return. By 9 a.m., most of the demonstrators had left the area.

“Where we go from there is up to timing and chance,” said Shon Kae, who’s on Occupy Oakland’s media committee. “We just do what seems right at the time, and we’ll roll with the punches.

“There is no secret plan. We all have to just keep on with the struggle,” he said.

The action came a day after police drove hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators from weeks-old encampments in Portland, arresting more than 50 people.

Oakland officials stepped up calls for an end to their city’s encampment after a man was shot and killed Thursday near the plaza. Police issued a fourth cease and desist order Sunday night telling demonstrators they couldn’t camp there.

Mayor Jean Quan had allowed protesters to reclaim the disbanded site after facing criticism following the Oct. 25 raid. The camp grew substantially afterward, although city officials said on Sunday the number of tents has dropped by about 30 to 150 since Nov. 8.

“We came to this point because Occupy Oakland, I think, began to take a different path than the original movement. It was no longer about the pieces of the financial system or foreclosures or the unemployed,” Quan said.

“The encampment became a place where we had repeated violence and last week a murder,” she said. “We had to bring the camp to an end before more people got hurt.”

Protesters would be allowed to return to the plaza after the tents were cleared out, but they wouldn’t be allowed to spend the night, officials said.

“We’ve been consistent that they can use it as a free speech location,” Quan said. “They can gather tonight, but no camping is allowed.”

On Sunday, friends confirmed that an Iraq War veteran who was injured in the Oct. 25 raid, Scott Olsen, has been released from the hospital. Olsen, who suffered a skull fracture, became a rallying point for protesters nationwide.

Dottie Guy of Iraq Veterans Against the War said Sunday Olsen was released last week. He can now read and write, but still has trouble talking, she added.

Officials across the country have been urging an end to similar gatherings in the wake of three deaths in different cities, including two deaths by gunfire.

Demands for Oakland protesters to pack up increased after a man was shot and killed Thursday near the encampment site.

Protesters had said that there was no connection between the shooting and the camp. But police Sunday night identified the slain man as 25-year-old Kayode Ola Foster of Oakland, saying his family confirmed he had been staying at the plaza.

Police officer Johnna Watson said witnesses have told police that one of two suspects in the shooting had also been a frequent resident at the plaza. The suspects’ names haven’t been released.

Investigators suspect that the shooting resulted from a fight between two groups of men.

In the hours after the midnight Saturday eviction deadline in Portland, the anti-Wall Street protesters and their supporters had flooded the park area. At one point, the crowd swelled to thousands. As dawn arrived, riot police had retreated and most of the crowds had gone home, but protesters who have been at the two parks since Oct. 6 were still there, prompting one organizer to declare the night a victory for the movement.

“We stood up to state power,” Jim Oliver told The Associated Press.

It didn’t last. Police moved in later. An officer on a loudspeaker warned that anyone who resisted risked arrest and “may also be subject to chemical agents and impact weapons.” Demonstrators chanted “we are a peaceful protest.”

“We were talking about what we were going to do and then they just started hitting people. Seems like a waste of resources to me,” protester Mike Swain, 27, told the AP.

One man was taken away on a stretcher; he was alert and talking to paramedics, and raised a peace sign to fellow protesters, who responded with cheers.

City officials erected temporary chain-link fences with barbed wire at the top around three adjacent downtown parks, choking off access for demonstrators as parks officials cleaned up.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams Sunday defended his order to clear the park, saying it is his job to enforce the law and keep the peace. “This is not a game,” Adams said.

Officials said that one officer suffered minor injuries. Police had prepared for a possible clash, warning that dozens of anarchists may be planning a confrontation with authorities.

In other cities over the weekend:

— In Salt Lake City, police arrested 19 people Saturday when protesters refused to leave a park a day after a man as found dead inside his tent at the encampment.

— In Albany, N.Y., police arrested 24 Occupy Albany protesters after they defied an 11 p.m. curfew in a state-owned park.

— In Denver, authorities arrested four people as they forced protesters to leave a downtown encampment.

— In San Francisco, police said two demonstrators attacked two police officers in separate incidents during a march, leaving them with minor injuries. The assailants couldn’t be located.

See also: Delois Blakely: ‘Sister Act’ Lawsuit Alleges Disney, Sony Stole Her Story

See also: More than Common…Extraordinary!

Footage of the incident that occurred just  before 7 p.m., at the intersection of 11th and Broadway in Oakland, shows a Mercedes Benz pull within a few feet of Lance Laverdure and Margaret So. Moments later the car inches closer, before speeding forward hitting Laverdure and So.

Johnna Watson, a public information officer with the Oakland Police Department, said the case has been handed over to the department’s major cases squad and that all leads are being followed. She said while it was unclear whether investigators have talked with the driver, whose name has not been released by police, they are investigating the case as a felony assault.

Read more at the Huffington Post.

The Oakland killing is further straining relations between local officials and anti-Wall Street protesters. A preliminary investigation into the gunfire Thursday that left a man dead suggests it resulted from a fight between two groups of men at or near the camp on a plaza in front of Oakland’s city hall, police Chief Howard Jordan said.

See also: Rick Perry Jeopardizes Campaign With ‘The Stumble’

See also: Weekend Getaway Guide: Washington, D.C.

Investigators do not yet know if the men in the fight were associated with Occupy Oakland, but they are looking into reports that some protest participants tried to break up the altercation, Jordan said.

With opinions about the ongoing demonstration and its effect on the city becoming more divided in recent days, supporters and opponents immediately reacted to the homicide the city’s 101st this year.

Camp organizers said the attack was unrelated to their activities, while city and business leaders cited the death as proof that the camp itself either bred crime or drained law enforcement resources.

Mayor Jean Quan, who has been criticized by residents on both sides for issuing mixed signals about the local government’s willingness to tolerate the camp, issued a statement Thursday calling for the camp to shut down.

“Tonight’s incident underscores the reason why the encampment must end. The risks are too great,” Quan said. “We need to return (police) resources to addressing violence throughout the city. It’s time for the encampment to end. Camping is a tactic, not a solution.”

For their part, protest leaders said the shooting involved outsiders and was only connected to their ongoing protest of US financial institutions to the extent that poverty breeds violence.

In an unrelated incident in Vermont, police said preliminary investigations show a 35-year-old military veteran fatally shot himself in the head Thursday at an Occupy Wall Street encampment. The name of the man is being withheld because not all of his family has been notified.

He shot himself inside a tent in City Hall Park. Mike Noble, a spokesman for the Fletcher Allen Health Care hospital in Burlington, confirmed that the man had died. Noble said he could provide no other details.

Deputy Chief Andi Higbee told reporters the shooting raised questions about whether the protest would be allowed to continue.

“Our responsibility is to keep the public safe. When there is a discharge of a firearm in a public place like this it’s good cause to be concerned, greatly concerned,” Higbee said.

A day after some protesters clashed with riot police, set fires and shattered windows in Oakland, Calif., demonstrators across the country condemned the violence and wondered whether it was a turn that would destroy their cause.

See Also: Kurt Cobain Accepts Award From The Dead?

See Also: Black Travel: Visit Los Angeles,

“They don’t speak for the majority of people who were here yesterday,” said Hadas Alterman, a college student who was gathering trash at a tent camp near Oakland City Hall. “That was an hour of action, and we were out here for 12 hours and it was peaceful.”

The protest outside the port, which reopened Thursday, represented an escalation in tactics as demonstrators targeted a major symbol of the nation’s commerce with peaceful rallies and sit-ins.

The violence that followed, however, raised questions about whether a movement with no organizational structure and no high-profile leaders can do anything to stop those they called troublemakers.

So far, few cities have reached the level of Oakland, a unique place with a long history of tensions between residents and police.

Bob Norkus at the Occupy Boston camp said the riots didn’t represent the broader movement and likely wouldn’t have a lasting effect on it, either. The movement is still evolving and mistakes are inevitable, he said.

It “has to be nonviolent, or else it will just end. We won’t get the support,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t agitate people. But you can’t also be breaking windows and burning.”

Police in riot gear arrested more than 80 protesters in downtown Oakland, where bands of masked protesters took over a vacant building, erected roadblocks and threw chunks of concrete and firebombs. Five people and several officers were injured.

Chris Hedges, who demonstrating at Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in New York, said the clashes in Oakland are a reminder to protesters that they should only respond peacefully to police actions.

“It’s awful. But police want people to break windows and set cars on fire, because it’s the kind of thing they know how to master — with force,” he said before being led quietly away in handcuffs.

Raymon Curtis, who was protesting in Portland, Ore., said he doesn’t believe the police in his city are seeking violence.

“I looked in their eyes and at first I thought it was a hard look,” Curtis said. “Then, I realized it was the same look I had when I went to prison for the first time. They’re terrified.”

Some protesters said violence can bring attention to the cause.

“This thing has to escalate so people see the violence and who is protecting the interests of the corporations,” said Denver protester Dwayne Hudson, standing next to a grill with logs burning over charcoal to stay warm after a snowstorm.

The far-flung movement challenging the world’s economic systems and distribution of wealth has gained momentum in recent weeks, with Oakland becoming a rallying point after an Iraq War veteran was injured in clashes with police last week.

Organizers called for a general strike on Wednesday, and supporters in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and elsewhere held smaller-scale demonstrations, some in solidarity with their Oakland counterparts.

Protesters in Oakland and in other cities viewed the day’s events and the port shutdown as a significant victory.

Police, who had little to no presence during the protest during the day, said about 7,000 people participated in largely peaceful demonstrations. There were a few incidents of vandalism at local banks and businesses.

An accounting of the financial toll from the damage and the port shutdown was not immediately available.

A protest organizer in Chicago, Joshua Kaunert, said the shutdown was an “amazing” event for the movement, but didn’t want to speculate on what effect the violence would have. He said the lack of a formal leadership structure — and the emphasis on what he called a “true, direct democracy” — makes it difficult to weed out potential troublemakers.

“As a movement, it is definitely hard to keep that kind of element away, but that’s a double-edged sword,” Kaunert said. “If you want true, direct democracy, you’re going to have issues, regardless.”

The movement’s tent camps in public parks have drawn all types of people, including the homeless, families and anarchists.

At the Oakland encampment, Hale Nicholson, who described himself and others as pacifists, said he participated in Wednesday’s demonstration and march to the port and then went to sleep at the camp around 9:30 p.m. Around 1 a.m., he said, he was awakened by the sound of flash-bang grenades.

A group of protesters broke into the former Travelers Aid building in order to, as some shouting protesters put it, “reclaim the building for the people.” They voiced anger over budget cuts that forced the closure of a homeless aid program.

They blocked off a street with wood, metal Dumpsters and other large trash bins, sparking bonfires that leapt as high as 15 feet in the air. Several businesses were heavily vandalized. Dozens of protesters wielding shields were surrounded and arrested.

Police said they used tear gas and beanbags to disperse the crowd.

Protesters and police faced off in an uneasy standoff until the wee hours of the morning.

It is the kind of posture that Oakland is familiar with, with clashes erupting during the 1960s-era protests over the Vietnam War and the draft, among other issues. More recently, in 2009 and 2010, the city was the scene of violent demonstrations over the killing of an unarmed black man by a white transit officer. Downtown businesses were looted, windows smashed and fires set.

Then, as now, police blamed the violence on a small group of anarchists, many from outside the city.

Shari Rivers, the manager of a Tully’s Coffee located on the city hall plaza, was busy cleaning up Thursday morning after protesters broke windows, stole some property and knocked over the cash register overnight.

“I cried. It’s very disheartening. I am part of the 99 percent and have supported this movement,” she said, adding that she blamed the city for letting the protest get out of hand. She added, “This shouldn’t happen in a U.S. city.”

See also: Michael Moore Visits Occupy Oakland

Interim Chief Howard Jordan’s comments came Friday as Occupy Wall Street protesters maintained demonstration sites in some California cities and left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore rallied a gathering in Oakland.

Jordan defended the officers involved in the effort to drive protesters from a dayslong encampment, saying they used what they believed to be the least amount of force possible to protect themselves.

“I want to ensure you that all allegations of misconduct and excessive uses of force are being thoroughly investigated,” Jordan said.

The plight of Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen, 24 – who remained hospitalized in fair condition with a fractured skull – has become a rallying cry at Occupy protests around the world.

Fellow veterans say police fired an object that struck him in the head, but authorities say object has yet to be definitively established, as well as the person responsible for the injury.

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, who on Thursday publicly apologized for Tuesday’s incident, said Friday that she did so because people got hurt.

Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore addressed about 1,000 anti-Wall Street protesters in front of Oakland’s City Hall, saying the Occupy movement has changed the national discussion.

“When was the last time in the last few weeks you heard them talking about the debt ceiling?” said Moore, the director of the documentary films “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and “Bowling for Columbine.”

Meanwhile, a protest encampment at a plaza near the City Hall grew to about 50 tents, with organizers saying up to a thousand people were in the area late Friday night with very few police in sight.

The Oakland protesters announced a general strike on Nov. 2 where they will be urging banks and corporations to close for the day.

Farther south, police in San Diego descended early Friday on the encampment that housed demonstrators at the Civic Center Plaza and Children’s Park for three weeks.

San Diego protester Chuck Stemke, a 32-year-old mechanical designer, said he awoke to a loud noise and looked out of his tent to see hundreds of police marching toward him in the darkness.

“It was very intimidating,” he said. “There was a huge show of force.”

Authorities arrested 51 people who faced charges including illegal lodging, illegal drug use, unlawful assembly and other charges. Twenty-four people were arrested on charges of blocking officers from performing their duties, police said.

San Diego police Chief William Lansdowne said negotiations with demonstrators had broken down and officers received no cooperation.

In the Central Valley, officials planned to evict a group of about 30 demonstrators from next to a Fresno County courthouse. The group agreed to officials’ request not to pitch tents at the site during their 20-day stay, and the county had so far been lenient with the encampment, said protest spokesman Ruben Verdugo.

But officials on Friday gave notice that the protesters’ permit would expire midnight Monday, and that demonstrators faced jail time and $500 fines if they remained.

Maria Torres stopped by the encampment to lend moral support. The 86-year-old said she worked with Cesar Chavez as an organizer of the farmworkers’ movement in the 1960s.

“I’m too old now to do much, but I want to be a part of it,” she said in Spanish.

Peaceful protests continued in San Francisco, where a handful of police officers patrolled the area across from the historic Ferry Building as 200 to 300 demonstrators gathered.

Mayor Ed Lee wants to avoid the type of police confrontations that happened in Oakland and has been meeting with members of the San Francisco camp to address concerns about public health and safety, said mayoral spokeswoman Christine Falvey.

“We can’t have the camp for too many more days because it’s not healthy,” Falvey said.

Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a fracture skull Tuesday as he marched with other protesters toward City Hall, said Dottie Guy, of the Iraq Veterans Against the War. The demonstrators had been making an attempt to re-establish a presence in the area of a disbanded protesters’ camp when they were met by police officers in riot gear.

Shocking! Police Use Tear Gas On “Occupy Oakland” Protesters

Occupy ATL! Atlanta Police Arrest Wall Street Protesters

Several small skirmishes broke out and officers cleared the area by firing tear gas.

It’s not known exactly what type of object struck Olsen, Guy said. It’s also uncertain whether Olsen, currently a systems network administrator in Daly City, will need surgery, she added.

“It’s still too early to tell,” Guy said. “We’re hoping for the best.”

Curt Olsen, a spokesman for Highland Hospital in Oakland, confirmed that the veteran was in critical condition but could not release any more information.

The clash Tuesday came as officials complained about what they described as deteriorating safety, sanitation and health issues at the dismantled camp.

Olsen, who was discharged last year, participated in the protest because he felt corporations and banks have too much influence on the government, Guy said.

A vigil for him is scheduled to be held Wednesday evening near the Oakland City Hall, she said. Multiple attempts to reach Oakland police Wednesday by The Associated Press were unsuccessful, but the department was scheduled to take part in a news conference at 4:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Oakland demonstrators vowed on Wednesday to return to their protest site just hours after police — who were met as they moved in by pelted rocks, bottles and utensils — cleared hundreds of people from the streets with tear gas and bean bag rounds.

A Twitter feed used by Oakland’s Occupy Wall Street movement called on protesters to return to downtown at 6 p.m. for another round, and some demonstrators vowed to return as soon as possible.

Max Alper, 31, a union organizer from Berkeley, gathered with a handful of other protesters Wednesday at the scene of Tuesday night’s clash.

“As soon as these barricades are moved, hundreds of people are going to come back. These actions by police were wrong, but they’re just going to strengthen the movement,” Alper said.

Alper was arrested Tuesday morning when he went to witness the police raid on the Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall, he said. He said his arm was injured when baton-swinging police descended on him and other protesters.

Police estimated that there were roughly 1,000 demonstrators at the first clash following the march.

City officials say that two officers were injured. At least five protesters were arrested and several others injured in the evening clashes.

Police in riot gear stood watch only a few yards away from a group of stalwart demonstrators in the aftermath of skirmishes in front of City Hall that resulted in five volleys of tear gas from police, in blasts that seemed to intensify with each round, over a roughly three-hour stretch of evening scuffles.

RELATED: Black Travel: Cubana Cafe: A Tropical Delight In Park Slope

Black Iraq War Veteran Confronts NYPD About Brutality At Occupy Wall St.

Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread Around The World

The conflict began much earlier in the day when police dismantled an encampment of Occupy Wall Street protesters that had dominated a plaza across the street from the government building for more than two weeks.

Police fired tear gas and beanbag rounds, clearing out the makeshift city in less than an hour.

Hours after nightfall Tuesday evening, protesters had gathered at a downtown library and began marching toward City Hall in an attempt to re-establish a presence in the area of the disbanded camp.

They were met by police officers in riot gear. Several small skirmishes broke out and officers cleared the area by firing tear gas.

The scene repeated itself several times just a few blocks away in front of the plaza, where police set up behind metal barricades, preventing protesters from gaining access to the site.

Tensions would build as protesters edged ever closer to the police line and reach a breaking point with a demonstrator hurling a bottle or rock, prompting police to respond with another round of gas.

The chemical haze hung in the air for hours, new blasts clouding the air before the previous fog could dissipate.

The number of protesters diminished with each round of tear gas. Police estimated that there were roughly 1,000 demonstrators at the first clash following the march. About 200 remained after the final conflict around 11:15 PDT, mostly young adults, some riding bicycles, protecting themselves from the noxious fumes with bandanas and scarves wrapped around their faces.

Police have denied reports that they used flash bang canisters to help break up the crowds, saying the loud noises came from large firecrackers thrown at police by protesters.

Helicopters scanned the area late Tuesday and scores of officers wearing helmets and carrying clubs patrolled the streets. Fire crews put out small blazes in trash containers.

Protesters moved about uneasily even as one used a bull horn to express his resolve.

“This movement is more than just the people versus the police,” Mario Fernandez said. “It’s about the people trying to have their rights to basic services.”

He added, “This crowd isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan told reporters at a late night news conference that authorities had no other choice, saying the protesters were throwing rocks and bottles at officers.

“We had to deploy gas to stop the crowd,” he said, according to a KCBS report.

City officials say that two officers were injured. At least five protesters were arrested and several others injured in the evening clashes.

In the morning raid authorities removed about 170 demonstrators who had been staying in the area overnight after repeatedly being warned that such a camp was illegal and they faced arrest by remaining. City officials said 97 people were arrested.

Protesters promised to reconvene Wednesday morning. Police, meanwhile, remained in riot gear standing watch.

The Oakland site was among numerous camps that have sprung up around the country as protesters rally against what they see as corporate greed and a wide range of other economic issues. The protests have attracted a wide range of people, including college students looking for work and the homeless.

In Oakland, tensions between the city and protesters have been escalating since last week as officials complained about what they described as deteriorating safety, sanitation and health issues at the site of the dismantled camp.

District authorities say the plan will help maximize resources in a district that is spread thin. Proponents also claim the plan, which would close five schools and consolidate eight others, would help save millions of dollars.

Read more at the Huffington Post.

Start Gallery

RELATED:

Young & Gifted! Black Teen From Oakland Sings Chinese Opera

Berkeley, California Schools Number One In Black Student Success

Oakland Post Editor Chauncey Bailey was the first American journalist killed on U.S. soil for reporting a story in nearly two decades.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that Chauncey’s life would end because of a story,” his ex-wife, Robin Hardin-Bailey, told the packed courtroom.

Looking at defendant Yusuf Bey IV, she said he and Bailey actually were similar in their attempts to uplift the community.

“I forgive you because the Chauncey Bailey I knew, the Chauncey Bailey who came here to right the wrongs, to tell the stories of people who had no voice, I believe that he would forgive you, too,” she said.

Despite his conviction in June, Bey, the former head of Your Black Muslim Bakery, continued to assert his innocence in a statement read by his attorney Gene Peretti.

“I want the people to know it has never been about truth and justice, it has been about perception and politics,” the statement said. “I do apologize to my family and the families of the victims for not making wiser decisions in allowing this to have occurred on my watch.

“I will not rest until I find out those who are truly responsible for setting this operation up,” the statement added.

Bey, 25, was given three life terms in prison without the possibility of parole in the 2007 murders of Bailey, Michael Wills and Odell Roberson in separate attacks.

Bailey, 57, was gunned down in broad daylight in downtown Oakland while walking to the newspaper.

Co-defendant Antoine Mackey, also 25, a bakery supervisor, was sentenced to two life terms in prison for the murders of Bailey and Wills.

“I think this is justice at its ultimate,” prosecutor Melissa Krum said of the sentencing. “There could not have been a more maximum sentence unless we had sought the death penalty.”

Founded some 40 years ago by Bey’s father, the bakery, which promoted self-empowerment, became an institution in Oakland’s black community while running a security service, school and other businesses. In recent years, the organization was tainted by links to criminal activity.

Prosecutors argued that Bey felt he was above the law and was so desperate to protect the legacy of his family’s bakery that he ordered the killing of Bailey.

Krum said she had expected Bey to deny the crimes at the sentencing.

“It’s disappointing to hear a defendant say something like that when you know that it is completely untrue,” the prosecutor said.

Mackey chose not to speak in the packed Alameda County courtroom that had a heavy presence of armed deputies.

Mackey’s lawyer, Gary Sirbu, said his client also maintains his innocence and opted not to speak out of respect for the victims’ families in the courtroom.

“He’s certainly sympathetic to what he heard, like any other person in the courtroom would’ve been, but that is different from an admission of guilt,” Sirbu said.

Both defense lawyers said their clients will appeal their convictions.

Prosecutors say Wills, 36, was killed randomly after Bey had a conversation with Mackey about the Zebra murders, a string of racially motivated black-on-white killings in San Francisco in the 1970s. Bey and Mackey are black. Wills was white.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon said during the sentencing that Wills’ murder was a hate crime.

With both defendants watching, Wills’ mother, Robin Haugen, tearfully said their family is still struggling with his death.

“We keep asking why, why Michael, why would someone order him murdered just because of his race,” Haugen said. “This was a man who saw everyone as equal.”

Roberson, 31, was killed by bakery handyman Devaughndre Broussard in retaliation for the murder of Bey’s brother by Roberson’s nephew, according to trial testimony.

Broussard, 23, the prosecution’s star witness, testified during the trial that lasted more than two months that Bey ordered him and Mackey to kill all three men in exchange for a line of credit.

Broussard, who inexplicably laughed several times while testifying for more than a week, said he killed Bailey on Aug. 2, 2007, on a busy city street with three shotgun blasts, including a final shot to the face to ensure his victim was dead.

Broussard said Mackey was his getaway driver.

Despite defense lawyers questioning Broussard’s credibility, he was sentenced earlier this month to 25 years in prison as part of a plea deal in exchange for his testimony.

During sentencing, Judge Reardon told Bey the next time he might be in a leadership position, he should rely on inspiration instead of using fear and threats.

Before Bailey’s death, Cuban-American Manuel de Dios Unanue, an outspoken journalist, was shot in the head in a New York City restaurant in 1992.

Police believe drug traffickers and businessmen plotted to murder him in retaliation for hard-hitting stories he had written about their operations, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

RELATED:

“Klan Buster” Stetson Kennedy Dies At 94 In Florida

Powell’s wife and 3-year-old step daughter were also struck, but both survived the incident. No arrest have been made thus far, police said.

“It’s sad. It’s so sad when you have someone that is trying to make a difference and do the right thing,” Powell’s aunt said this morning.

Read more at SFGate.com

RELATED:

Sniper Ambushes Oakland Police At Traffic Stop

Controversial Anti-Abortion Billboards Staying Up In Oakland

The black teenager from Oakland has captivated audiences in the U.S. and China with his ability to sing pitch-perfect Mandarin and perform the ancient Chinese art form.

“As soon as he opens his mouth and sings in Chinese, the Chinese are very surprised and then feel very proud of him,” said his music teacher Sherlyn Chew. “When he puts on the costume, and all the acting, you can see that he’s pretty good.”

VIDEO:

Tyler, 15, is a standout student in Chew’s Oakland-based Purple Silk Music Education program, which teaches children and youth – mostly from low-income immigrant families – how to sing and play traditional Chinese music. The program’s Great Wall Youth Orchestra & Chorus has performed around the country.

Tyler has learned to sing several well-known pieces of Chinese opera, a centuries-old form of musical theater known for its elaborate costumes, clanging gongs and cymbals, wide-ranging vocals and highly stylized movements.

At the World Children’s Festival in Washington in June, Tyler, dressed in a black robe emblazoned with golden dragons, got a standing ovation when he performed as Justice Bao, a famous Song Dynasty judge who fought government corruption, from the Chinese classic “Bao Qing Tian.”

“The music is very beautiful, and it’s very passionate. You can hear it when it’s being played,” said Tyler, a theater student at the Oakland School for the Arts. “It’s made me want to know more about the world outside of America or California or Oakland.”

David Lei, chairman of the Chinese Performing Arts Foundation in San Francisco, has seen Tyler perform several times and arranged to have him sing at the opening of a Chinese opera exhibit several years ago.

“It’s very authentic because he hits the tones just right, so you understand everything,” Lei said. “People just don’t expect an Afro-American kid to be doing it. It’s the initial shock. There’s a sense of novelty.”

Tyler, who comes from a music-loving family, began learning how to sing in Chinese a decade ago when he was a kindergartner in Chew’s music class at Oakland’s Lincoln Elementary School, where about 90 percent of students are Asian.

Chew quickly recognized Tyler’s talent and recruited him to join her Purple Silk music program, where students learn to sing Chinese songs and play traditional instruments such as a two-string violin called an erhu, a four-stringed lute known as a pipa and a bamboo flute called a dizi.

“I really took a liking to him and thought he had quite a large range,” said Chew, who started the music program at Oakland’s Laney College in 1995. “He hears pitch very well, and his pronunciation of Chinese characters is very accurate.”

Tyler’s mother, Vanessa Ladson, said her son’s education at a predominantly Asian elementary school and participation in the Chinese music program have made him more open-minded.

“He’s grown a lot,” she said. “He’s learning a different culture, and the Asian children are learning his culture, so it’s a plus-plus for everybody.”

Tyler said friends and classmates sometimes poke fun at him, wondering where a black kid from Oakland learned how to sing Chinese opera.

“Sometimes they don’t understand it,” Tyler said. “It’s just joking about the fact that as dark as I am, I’m singing Chinese. What’s up with that? If I go to China, I’m going to stick out like a sore thumb. It’s just those types of jokes. All in good fun.”

Since his first solo at age 6, Tyler has performed at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theater, on television shows such as “Good Morning America” and at the U.S. State Department, where he sang for then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi.

Tyler became a sensation in China several years ago after Chinese Central Television broadcast his performance at a Lunar New Year show in San Jose.

Tyler, who has learned to speak some basic Chinese, was scheduled to make his debut performance in China in July, but he and his mother ran into trouble getting visas in time, Chew said.

In recent years, Tyler has begun studying theater and acting more seriously, but he plans to keep performing traditional Chinese music, which has opened up a world of opportunities to him.

“I’ve been sticking to this to see where else it will take me,” he said.

RELATED:

15-Year-Old Whiz Kid Graduates From Baltimore University

Anti-abortion organization, Issues4Life, created the campaign to bring awareness to what they describe as an abortion aided genocide of Black children. Abortion rights groups say the ads are simplifying a complex issue and dividing people.

“It is reprehensible, and disrespectful to the African-American community,” said Lupe Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Alameda County branch of Planned Parenthood. “They’re trying to single out one part of the overall health care of that community, and using a wedge issue to divide people.”

Read more at BostonHerald.com

RELATED:

Controversial Anti-Abortion Billboards Staying Up In Oakland

Racial Anti-Abortion Billboard Pulled Down Amid Outrage

The settlement between Bay Area Rapid Transit and Wanda Johnson resolves a $50 million wrongful death and civil rights suit filed in federal court by Oscar Grant’s family.

The shooting was recorded by bystanders and within hours videos of the incident were posted online showing Johannes Mehserle firing a bullet into the back of Grant as he lay face down after being pulled off a train, supposedly for fighting.

The videos were subsequently used as evidence during Mehserle’s murder trial, further stoking the racial tensions brought on by the shooting. Mehserle tearfully testified that he meant to use his stun gun instead of his .40-caliber pistol.

But the shooting continued to spark debate and protests that on occasion turned violent. Last fall, more than 150 people were arrested in Oakland hours after Mehserle’s sentencing. The most recent protest was a peaceful march to downtown Oakland a day ahead of Mehserle’s June 13 release. Only one arrest was made at that rally.

Dale Allen, an attorney for BART, said the settlement was reached after both sides met multiple times.

“It’s a stage where we start to bring closure to a tragedy – a tragedy for everyone, the Grant family, the Mehserle family,” said Allen said. “A tragedy that was an accident, a mistake based on a jury verdict. This settlement will hopefully help everyone move on.”

This is the second settlement that BART has reached with the Grant family. The agency agreed to pay $1.5 million to the mother of Grant’s 6-year-old daughter last year.

Last month, a federal judge dismissed charges Grant’s family raised against BART.

A civil rights suit filed by Grant’s friends is still in litigation, said John Burris, Grant’s family lawyer.

Burris said Tuesday that while the settlements do not mean an admission of guilt, paying out $2.8 million proves “that something was wrong.”

“We have said that we thought that verdict was a miscarriage of justice and the involuntary manslaughter was not a true representation of Mr. Mehserle’s conduct,” Burris said. “He got away with it.”
“No amount of money could replace Oscar. Not one dollar or $100 million,” said Johnson during a news conference in Oakland. “My heart feels broken for the loss of my son…

“It didn’t have to be this way.”

Former BART officer Johannes Mehserle, 29, was convicted last year of involuntary manslaughter for fatally shooting Grant on an Oakland train station platform on New Year’s Day in 2009.

Mehserle was released this month after serving one year in Los Angeles jail after his high-profile trial was moved to Southern California.

Grant’s uncle, Cephus “Bobby” Johnson, said Tuesday that his family, as well as a foundation in Grant’s name, will continue to monitor that BART’s proposed police reforms – including increased officer and firearm training – actually take shape.

“What’s sad for us as a family is we’ve spoken from day one that we want accountability and an apology,” Johnson said. “There’s many more battles on this front and we’re going to fight it.”

RELATED STORIES

Ex-Cop In Oscar Grant Shooting Death To Be Released

The Oscar Grant Verdict: “Where Do We Go From Here?” [Podcast]

After learning of Mehserle’s release in the LA Times, Cephus Johnson, Grant’s uncle, went to the courthouse to testify under the “Victims Bill of Rights,” but was stunned to find that Mehserle had already been released.

Outlined in the “Victims Bill of Rights,” victims are allowed the opportunity to face the accused before being released. Johnson, 53, says that officers “snuck” Mehserle out of the courtroom, preventing the family the chance to protest his release.

Read More At TheRoot.com

RELATED:

Oscar Grant Killing: Protests For Johannes Mehserle’s Release

Oakland’s approach is unique in a time where the growing sex trade has prompted federal law enforcement authorities and several states to toughen their laws and policing strategies.

Once viewed as criminals, these exploited youth are now being treated as victims of abuse with the hopes that intervention and counseling will have positive impact.

Read more at the NY Times.

RELATED:

Financial Crisis Hits Global Sex Trade.

Somalian Sex Trafficking Scandal Stuns Minnesota.

The majority of Oakland’s libraries are in danger of having their doors shut, as Mayor Jean Quan tackles with budget proposals to handle the city’s $58 million deficit.

One of them is the African American Museum And Library, which is home to rare books, papers and memorabilia documenting black life in the Bay Area since California was still part of Mexico.

InsideBayArea.com reports:

AAMLO is unique among Oakland’s 18 branches because it has a dual role of archive and museum. Consequently, it has a different mission and quieter profile than the others.

It is also a research library that serves scholars, researchers, journalists from around the world, as well as local individuals trying to trace their family tree. In addition, it hosts events such as a talk Wednesday by Isabel Wilkerson, author of the novel “The Warmth of Other Sons” about the migration of African-Americans from the South to cities like Oakland during World War II.

Supporters will find out whether the libraries will survive this round of cuts as they have repeatedly in the past on June 21, when the budget is due for adoption.

RELATED: Top 9 Black Stand-Up Comedians

Assistant City Attorney Barbara Parker tells the San Francisco Chronicle that the Oakland City Council voted 5-3 in a closed session on Tuesday to pay the amount to Lorenzo Hall as well as his attorneys’ fees.

A federal jury awarded Hall $175,000 after a weeklong trial in San Francisco, last year.

Hall spent nearly two years behind bars before his case was dropped for illegally possessing a weapon after his arrest in 2006 while attending a wake for his aunt in east Oakland.

Police said they acted on an informant’s tip and found a gun in his waistband.

Hall’s attorneys say the gun belonged to another man who hid it in a nearby car.

Hall is also known as Zoe The Roasta, a bay area rapper.

TRENTON — St. Louis overtook Camden, N.J., as the nation’s most dangerous city in 2009, according to a national study released Sunday.

The study by CQ Press found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. That helped St. Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year’s list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004.

Detroit, Flint, Mich., and Oakland, Calif., rounded out the top five. For the second straight year, the safest city with more than 75,000 residents was Colonie, N.Y.

The annual rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI. Some criminologists question the findings, saying the methodology is unfair.

Greg Scarbro, unit chief of the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, said the FBI also discourages using the data for these types of rankings.

Kara Bowlin, spokeswoman for St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, said the city actually has been getting safer over the last few years. She said crime in St. Louis has gone down each year since 2007, and so far in 2010, St. Louis crime is down 7 percent.

Erica Van Ross, spokeswoman for the St. Louis Police Department, called the rankings irresponsible.

“Crime is based on a variety of factors. It’s based on geography, it’s based on poverty, it’s based on the economy,” Van Ross said.

“That is not to say that urban cities don’t have challenges, because we do,” Van Ross said. “But it’s that it’s irresponsible to use the data in this way.”

Here Are America’s Most Dangerous Cities

1. St. Louis, MO
2. Camden, NJ
3. Detroit, MI
4. Flint, MI
5. Oakland, CA
6. Richmond, CA
7. Cleveland, OH
8. Compton, CA
9. Gary, IN
10. Birmingham, AL
11. Baltimore, MD
12. Memphis, TN
13. New Orleans, LA
14. Jackson, MS
15. Little Rock, AR
16. Baton Rouge, LA
17. Buffalo, NY
18. New Haven, CT
19. Hartford, CT
20. Dayton, OH
21. Kansas City, MO
22. Washington, DC
23. Newark, NJ
24. Cincinnati, OH
25. Atlanta, GA

RELATED STORIES

What Are America’s Most Dangerous Cities?

Baltimore’s Crime Drops As War On Drugs Becomes War On Violence

A video has been posted on YouTube of two groups of women throwing chairs, bottles, and tables at an East Oakland Denny’s Restaurant. Apparently the brawl was between a group of girls from “P-Town” and a group of girls from “The Town,” presumably Oakland.

RELATED STORIES

Texas Pee-Wee Football Coach’s Brawl Caught On Tape

US Open Fight In Stands Interrupts Match

Share this post on Facebook! CLICK HERE:

Kanye West surprises Delta passengers with an impromptu performance [from TheUrbanDaily.com]

Michael Jackson and Akon “Hold My Hand” Audio [from TheUrbanDaily.com]

Kim Kardashian & The Dream’s courtside date [from HelloBeautiful.com]

Did Kanye choke Amber Rose when he caught her cheating? [from HelloBeautiful.com]

Teola Sanders has supported Mayor Ronald V. Dellums of Oakland for over 40 years.

That includes Mr. Dellums’s 13 victorious Congressional campaigns and the race four years ago, when a coalition of Oakland residents, including Ms. Sanders, a prominent black activist, persuaded him to give up a lucrative Washington lobbying practice to run for mayor.

But Ms. Sanders said her support had run its course.

“He should not ever run again,” she said. “Oakland needs a stronger mayor. He doesn’t do his job.”

Click here to read more

Click here to see gallery of Top Ten Black Politicians

Start Gallery

RELATED:

Black Republican Politician Defends The Tea Party and Calls NAACP

Black Politicians Still Struggle After Obama’s Election