OPD Shutdown

December 15, 2014

#Asians4BlackLives and Bay Area Solidarity Action Team Shut Down Oakland Police Department Headquarters in solidarity with black organizers As members from the all-Black groups #BlackLivesMatter, Blackout Collective, and #BlackBrunch to demand an End to Police Aggression Against Black People.

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129366631@N08/

#Asians4BlackLives Statement on OPD Action to End the War on Black People

We stand on the doorstep of the Oakland Police Department today as a group of Asians putting our bodies on the line in response to a national call to shut down institutions that perpetrate the war on Black people. It is unacceptable that every 28 hours a Black person is killed by the police, security or vigilantes.

As Asians, we recognize the ways in which we’ve been used historically to prop up the anti-Black racism that allows this violence to occur.

We are an extremely diverse community. Some of us have been targeted, profiled, and killed by U.S. government institutions. Many of us came to the U.S. as a result of the devastation and displacement caused by the US military and its “partners” in Asia, only to find a country uses police to devastate and displace black communities. However, we also recognize the relative privilege that many of us carry as Asians living in the U.S.

Many of our Asian brothers and sisters around the country have made powerful statements in support of ending the war on Black people and shown up to protests. We hope that Asian communities will join us in reflecting on and continuing to practice an intentional Black-Asian solidarity, as we work toward the vision offered by organizers in Ferguson:

“We are striving for a world where we deal with harm in our communities through healing, love, and kinship. This means an end to state sponsored violence, including the excessive use of force by law enforcement. We are committed to an America that comes to terms with the trauma of its painful history and finds true reconciliation for it. Mass incarceration and the over criminalization of black and brown people must forever end, leaving in its place a culture that embraces our histories and stories. This means an end to racial bias and white supremacy in all its forms.

Our dreams are directly linked with those resisting militarism, war, and state repression around the world. We will achieve this new beloved community hand in hand, step by step, in global solidarity with all people committed to lasting peace and full justice.”

We understand that our liberation depends on the liberation of black people, and echo the demands that have come out of Ferguson.

Day of Press Release

Protestors Shut Down Oakland Police Department Headquarters: Demand an End to Police Aggression Against Black People Black Community Leads Occupation of Police Headquarters to 
Fight for People Who Are “Black & Breathing”

URLs (Photos and Videos Available):
https://baysolidarity.wordpress.com

http://www.asians4blacklives.tumblr.com/

December 15, 2014, Oakland, CA —

At approximately 7:30 am this morning, the Oakland Police Department Headquarters was blockaded by protestors demanding an end to racist violence against the Black community. One person climbed the flagpole directly in front of the Oakland Police Department Headquarters to fly a banner in honor of Black people murdered by police. Minutes later, a group of about 30 Black protesters occupied the space in front of the police department and called for an immediate end to the war on Black people.

As members from the all-Black groups #BlackLivesMatter, Blackout Collective, and #BlackBrunch sang freedom songs for the many Black people killed at the hands of police and for the Black community who is still breathing, an Asian solidarity group called #Asians4BlackLives blockaded the doors to the police station. They were joined by a white solidarity group called Bay Area Solidarity Action Team (BASAT), who also blockaded entrances into the building. A total of four sets of doors were blocked at the police headquarters.

As Wazi Maret David, an Oakland resident and violence prevention educator explained, “It was clear from this action today that everyone is in part of a long-term movement to end violence against Black people.”

Right after the doors were blockaded, white protestors blocked off intersections at 6th and Broadway and 7th and Broadway using lock boxes, causing a major traffic jam along the 880 corridor and into Alameda. A crowd of approximately 250 gathered chanting, “No prisons, no cops, this racist system’s got to stop.”

The banner raised on the flagpole commemorates lives taken by police violence, including Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Renisha McBride, and Alan Blueford. Another set of protestors locked themselves to the base of the flagpole to prevent the banner from being removed.

Black protesters held a banner that read “Black and Breathing,” and #Asians4BlackLives carried a banner reading, “End the War on Black People.” As organizer Christine Cordero explained, “Today we showed real solidarity. We are proud of how allies like #Asians4BlackLives took the lead from and showed up for Black-led groups. This was an important opportunity to call out to Asian communities across the country that we cannot be silent while there’s a war on Black people. When there were wars in South Vietnam, on Muslims, on Asian people, Black people stood up and it is our turn to stand with Black communities who are under attack from racist violence.”

Protestors proudly sustained their action for 4 hours and 28 minutes: 4 hours for the time Michael Brown’s body lay in the street in Ferguson and 28 minutes to represent the fact that every 28 hours in the US a Black person is killed by police, military, security or vigilantes.

By noon, the protest was cleared. 37 arrests were made and most protestors were cited and released quickly. Charges against protestors included obstructing public agencies and resisting police officers. While cutting protestors away from one door, authorities accidentally smashed a window of the police department.

“Silence is violence,” said Felicia Gustin of the white-led Bay Area Solidarity Action Team. “The abusive treatment of people of color by the police is a moral crisis for our country and our city, and we cannot turn a blind eye any longer. It is time for white people to join with Black communities to end the war on Black people.”

Mollie Costello, the aunt of Alan Blueford, a young Black man who was shot by Oakland Police Department said: “This was an inspiring example of successfully holding space in the tradition of the lunch counter sit-ins and the Montgomery Bus Boycotts demonstrating the right of Black people to exist and thrive.”

Protestors from all groups pressed for the national Ferguson Action demands to be immediately implemented locally and nationally (available below and at: http://fergusonaction.com/demands/).