Don’t Let Oakland’s Children Be Sacrifices For Jerry Brown's Political Career (A Plea)

June 6, 2005

Don’t Let Oakland’s Children Be Sacrifices For Jerry
Brown’s Political Career
A Letter (No, A Plea) To The Oakland Community

For years, the Oakland residents, officals and police have been trying to get a grip on the weekend craze known as the SideShows.

This notorious event has been around for years because our youth have had nothing to do on the weekend nights except run the streets. Some of us grown ups know this, because we used to be youth ourselves. Now, as their elders, we have not taken the initiative to make sure that there is a roller rink (like in Hayward) or a youth pool hall (like in Freemont) or all ages night club (like in Los Angeles) or any kind of safe and secure late night 21 and under hangout spot (like in most cities in this country) for them to call their own and be kids. But what we are so quick to do is criticize them, talk down to them, label them problems, irresponsible, failures, hopeless and criminal. We have not taken the time to understand how they are growing up and trying to make their mark in a world that has little faith in them, offers them very few resources and feeds them entertainment promoting illegal behavior, fast life, disrespect and self-hate. They have taken the issue of what to do with their recreational time into their own hands, and instead of supervising and guiding their efforts, instead of trying to bridge the lack of communication and understanding between us and them, we throw our hands up in the air, shake our heads and say that more police and harsher treatment will end the SideShows and the reckless behavior.

And Jerry Brown is taking full advantage of the fact that we given up on our youth to build his political career. This ordinance to make SideShow spectating a criminal act is an outrageous attempt to build up his reputation to be tough on crime and pave his way towards becoming the next Attorney General.

Let’s look at what good ‘ol jerry has done for – I mean done to - Oakland for the sake of his desire to move up the political ladder. After spending years on the hippie political trail of the 1960’s and 70’s Moonbeam Brown (as he called himself back in the day) left the political spotlight and resurfaced in the late 90s to run for Oakland’s Mayor (keep in mind he moved to Oakland to run for the position – he was not from nor had he lived in Oakland before running). Even then his stance was to be tough on crime and clean up Oakland. And that he did – he increased the police force…and the homicides went up. He followed New York’s Mayor Guiliani and Frisco’s Mayor Brown and did a massive white wash on Oakland. Hundreds of poor and working class families of color were washed out the city through the re-development (gentrification) plans to make way for well to do whites and people of color who are sick of the boring suburbs and moved to The Town to get some culture in their lives.

This SideShow ordinance is just a strategy to build his campaign for Attorney General. It merely reinforces the belief that he is tough on crime and can rid the city of undesirables – poor, working class and immigrant Black and Brown children.

Many Oakland residents may buy into the idea – but let’s look at the bigger picture. Since 1999, reports have shown that crime in general is on a decline. Across the nation report after report has shown us that more police, more prisons and more prisoners have not prevented violence; in fact it has increased it. These same reports show that what has curbed violence and helped youth (anyone under the age of 25) transition into being functioning adults, are educational and recreational programs and activities.

So let’s say that Brown gets his way and his ill intentioned ordinance passes. He moves out of Oakland and moves on to his new office and bigger paycheck, and leave us with a sudden boom in a youth and adult incarceration. He will have effectively created a mess that he won’t have to deal with. But the prison and juvenile justice system sure will love all the extra money we’ll be making them.

Yes the SideShows are not safe and healthy recreation for our community, but is creating our children into criminals the answer? What if all the money it would take to pay cops overtime to chase kids at the SideShows through people’s backyards was put towards building and staffing weekend recreational activities and facilities?

When asked, many youth who attend the SideShows say that if there was something else to do, they wouldn’t be at the SideShows. Some are feeling the idea of bringing in a private company to create a secure and contained Car Show (an idea that some City Counsel members have offered). Others are feeling the idea of having regular weekly and monthly dance parties and concerts and other cultural events to go to (a project that youth at Raparations Records Community Hip Hop Center are taking on).

This letter is a plea to Oakland City Council to fight this ordinance and implement real solutions that will not only address SideShows, but the larger issues of violence, recreation and guidance.

This letter is a plea to Oakland residents that regardless if this ordinance passes, we need to be involved in the creating of activities for our young people to keep them off the streets and out of harms way – whether that harm be a speeding car or a policeman three times the size of your 13 year old daughter. If the ordinance does not pass, we still need to deal with the larger issues the SideShows bring up. If the ordinance does pass, supporting our youth to create fun and safe places for themselves becomes that much more urgent.

In reality, we don’t need to wait for the city, or a power hungry politician, or unaccountable police force to deal with this issue. We don’t even have to wait for a youth organization to help us. We can do this ourselves. We can have block parties, BBQs in the park, more talent shows at a church and schools, or dances at the under used recreational centers. It doesn’t have to be a huge effort, but if each one of us in our own neighborhood holds it down, and makes sure our kids have something to do we can keep them off the streets and not wait for the police to take them off the streets.

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The next Measure Y Coalition will be from 5-7PM on
Wednesday, June 22nd at Raporations Records at 387 17th Street, Suite 200, between Franklin and Webster Street (near the 19th St BART). Meetings will now be monthly, the 4th Wednesday every month.