On January 1st, 2012, hundreds of people marched from Oscar Grant Plaza (a.k.a. Frank Ogawa Plaza) at 14th & Broadway in Oakland to the Fruitvale BART station for a rally to commemorate Oscar Grant and many more people killed by the police. Three years ago on January 1st, 2009, Oscar Grant, an unarmed black worker, was executed by Johannes Mehserle, a white BART police officer. In the wake of that killing, a major political movement was launched in Oakland and across the country.
While the case is over and Johannes Mehserle is back on the streets, the Oakland community has not forgotten the father who was murdered three years ago. The memorial march was held in honor of Oscar as well as other victims of police brutality and murder.
“The murder of Oscar Grant awakened Bay Area residents already reeling from police brutality and state repression in their communities,” said Anita Wills of the Oscar Grant Committee. “Oscar and all the young people that were attacked and terrorized by the BART police that night, in addition to the many victims of police brutality in the greater Bay Area, have become ingrained in our collective memory.”
For more information, and video of Oscar Grant’s family speaking at the rally, see Oscar Grant: Gone But Not Forgotten.
—
Crossposted at Indybay.org.
Twenty-year-old Raheim Brown was killed by Oakland Unified School District Police at Skyline High School on January 22nd, 2011. 
Jabari Shaw is a hip-hop artist and participant of Occupy Oakland. 
Three weeks before he shot Oscar Grant, Johannes Mehserle viciously beat up Kenneth Carruthers. 
Denika Chatman is the mother of Kenneth Harding, Jr. Nineteen year-old Kenneth Harding, Jr. was approached by San Francisco police officers doing fare inspections on the Muni platform at Third and Palou on Saturday, July 16th, 2011. Within a half block of running from police through a plaza, he was shot down on Oakdale Street and left to bleed to death as police offered no medical assistance. 
Danny Garcia is the brother of Mark Garcia, who was brutally murdered by the San Francisco police on April 6, 1996. 
Sharena Curley is the sister of Antioine Thomas, who was brutality framed-up by police in Solano County, and currently caged-up at Soledad prison with a 65-year sentence! 
Wanda Johnson is Oscar Grant’s mother. 
Oscar Grant’s daughter, Tatiana Grant said, “I just want to thank you everybody for coming.” 
Jack Bryson is the father of two sons who were with Oscar Grant the night he was murdered on the Fruitvale BART platform on New Year’s 2009. 
Cephus “Uncle Bobby” Johnson is Oscar Grant’s uncle. 
Soul is a participant in Occupy Oakland, the Oscar Grant movement, and Berkeley Liberation Radio. 
Khalid is a participant in Occupy Oakland.
