DAY OF VERDICT

On the day of the Mehersle Murder Trial Verdict, some people will come to the Bay Area from around the state — and from around the country — to honor Oscar Grant, III, and stand in solidarity with the all the young people with Oscar on New Years Day, 2009, and all of their families, friends, and community.

Others will choose to hold solidarity events in their hometowns and local areas, in and outside of California.

Events will be listed and linked here as information becomes available.

We cannot vouch for the integrity of all events listed here, since the Mayor and Oakland City Officials, and others have come out of the woodwork after a year and a half of silence on this issue. HOWEVER, any mass meeting, gathering, healing center, or cultural event is an opportunity for individual and community level emotional processing of the murder of Oscar Grant (and traumatization of his friends with him that night). And, ALL of these spaces will provide opportunities for people to come together to speak truth to power, make demands of the Government and the Criminal Justice System at all levels, while networking and organizing for the future in the process.

The Mehserle Murder Trial is history in the making, and wherever and whatever we do, it all matters. The murder of Oscar Grant, III, will be the new Rodney King case in history books, and it will set precedents for criminal cases against involving police in California and beyond for decades to come.

In the days before and after the trial there will be a wide range of activities that people can join — from sincere vigils, cultural events and street demonstrations — to hypocritical, government-sponsored events that will focus more on preventing property damage than responding to the tragic injustice of Oscar’s murder and the repeated failure of the criminal justice system when it comes to police brutality.

Many government officials and law enforcement agencies claim to respect Free Speech, but they are preparing for a full-scale military assault — specifically aimed at young people who may be upset by the verdict in the Mehserle Murder Trial.

Despite whatever intimidation, repression, hypocrisy, and disinformation we will experience in the coming weeks, the People of the State of California will exercise our right to assemble, and build a movement for long-term change in the process.