Year of the Rabbit Hundreds of thousands gather to celebrate the Lunar New Year at Chinatown parade: Page 8 – 9 Ezra Ekman / The Guardsman
C I T Y C O L L E G E O F S A N F R A N C I S C O ’ S N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 3 5
Volume 151, Issue 3
TheGuardsman.com
February 23, 2011
Oakland holds hearing on police violence OPD, but SFPD and police departments all across California.” Davis’ son, Raheim Brown of The People’s Hearing on Rac- Alameda, was shot to death on ism and Police Violence, a two-day Jan. 22 by Oakland Unified School event for the families and friends District police officers. He was 20 of those killed by police officers years old. to tell their stories to a panel of Organizers brought in the jurists, was held Feb. 19 and 20 jurists, who were mainly attorat Edna Brewer Middle School in neys, so a record of their testimoOakland. nies about police violence could be The testimonies, which high- created and shared with the United lighted mistrust and anger toward Nations and other international law enforcement, in part stemmed judicial bodies. from Oscar Grant’s 2009 killing Jurists by BART police. People giving testimony noted what they saw as Civil rights attorney John BurBay Area police officers’ system- ris, who is representing Oscar atic targeting of non-white youth, Grant’s family in a $50 million particularly black men. wrongful death suit against BART, “This is not just about my son,” served as a jurist at the hearing. said Lori Davis, whose son was He said the official response to recently killed by police. “This is unjustified police shootings is as about everyone whose children are predictable as it is despicable. Police Violence: Page 4 getting murdered, not just by the By Greg Zeman The guardsman
Ramsey El-Qare / The Guardsman
Grant family friend Jack Bryson recounts details on Feb. 19 from Oscar Grant’s shooting during the Hearing on Racism and Police Violence at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland.
Freedom through Facebook
“I like to see how many people are in the group or attending the event. If a Facebook event had like two people for a political demo, then I might take pause.” Miles Bainbridge, a computer science major at City College who volunteered for progressive candidate Rafael Mandelman’s campaign for San Francisco Supervisor last year, said that early on, the Mandelman campaign brought in
lized to its full potential yet. toires to spread their messages. “It will be great when we in the Laura Wells, an Oakland resident, U.S. start to use social networking became aware of social media last Political activists and organiz- tools properly,” he said. year while running as a gubernatoers are discovering social media Politicians at varying levels rial candidate for the Green Party. platforms like Facebook and have also included these net“A Facebook page for an event Twitter have potential far beyond working tools in their reper- gives it some validity,” she said. recording the minutia of a person’s life in 140 characters or less. Kenya Lewis of KUSF recognized the major role that Facebook !"#$%&'()*+,%-'#%()$*)#%".-*/*0-%1'(%")()2+(30$2%.4#"-#5%-'#%6".#7((8%9":#% played in the radio station’s Feb. 1 -'"-%'#$9#5%09"48%-'#%94(-#0-0, Recent events '"0%7#.(+#%"%)"-*()"$%'#4(; protest at San Francisco City Hall. )*+,"#$%$!"#$%&'!8$59%4,,-)!4$!),4!9+!$77&6&*5! “Facebook is the primary tool :,0)&4,!7$-!$++$)&4&$%!5,*(,-!;$#*',(!25<*-*(,& Wael Ghonim we’ve used to get organized,” 789+!QUVSK!&%!231+4 )./0!=-,*4,)!>*6,0$$?!+*3,!(,(&6*4,(!4$!*! Lewis said. “In a one-month 1$9%3!231+4&*%!:#$),!0,*4&%3!(,*4#!01!+$5&6,! :;.<*=>8+ period between January and Feb6*9),)!*!%*4&$%*5!$94-*3, <*6#,5$-F)!(,3-,,K! ruary we have over 1.3 million 6$'+94,-!,%3&%,,-&%3K! )*+,"%12"#$%%!@%4&A3$8,-%',%4!+-$4,)4)!*%%$9%6,(! =*-&$!W%&8,-)&41K!DSSX.! page views and more than 7,200 $%!>*6,0$$?!7$-!B*%C!DE!*4!=*&-$F)!G*#-&-!HI9*-, ;<@K!@',-&6*%!W%&8,-)&41! friends on the Save KUSF page. )*+,"#1!J93,!6-$:()!&%!)4-,,4)!6*55!7$-!6#*%3,K! &%!=*&-$K!DSSY Facebook has been our primary 6$%4&%9,!7$-!(*1)K!)+-,*(!4$!$4#,-!6&4&,)!&%!231+4 '*9449!J,5(!'*%*3,',%4! avenue to raise money for FCC )*+,"#-!!"#$%&'!(&)*++,*-).!#,!&)!),&/,(!01!231+4&*%! +$)&4&$%)!*4!4:$!5,*(&%3! lawyers and just let people know +$5&6,!4#,!%&3#4!0,7$-,!4#,!5*-3,)4!+-$4,)4!!4$!(*4, @-*0&6A5*%39*3,!:,0)&4,)! 0,7$-,!T$&%&%3!"$$35,!&%! what’s what.” 345,"%!"$$35,!*)?)!7$-!4#,!+905&6F)! DSSV!*)!'*-?,4&%3! Frank Lara of the Act Now to #,5+!&%!7&%(&%3!"#$%&' '*%*3,-!7$-!;&((5,!2*)4! End War and Stop Racism Coali*%(!Z$-4#!@7-&6*.!-,5$6*4,)! 345,"-!L,5,*),(!01!+$5&6,.!3&8,)!,'$4&$%*5!GM! tion attended recent pro-Egyptian4$![90*&!&%!DSQS &%4,-8&,:!*0$94!#&)!$-(,*5!4#*4!6*+4&8*4,)!4#,!%*4&$%! democracy rallies in San Francisco. 3*?>/0!;*--&,(!4$!*%! 345,"6!@((-,)),)!#93,!6#,,-&%3!6-$:(!*4!G*#-&-! @',-&6*%!#,!',4!$%5&%,.! “Facebook is becoming an orgaHI9*-,.!)*1)!NO,!:$%F4!3&8,!9+P!! 4#,1!#*8,!4:$!6#&5(-,% nizing tool for our critical work ;$-,!4#*%!QRSKSSS!+,$+5,!#*8,!T$&%,(!*!>*6,0$$?!+*3,! now that the youth are becoming %$'&%*4&%3!"#$%&'!*)!4#,!)+$?,)'*%!$7!4#,!9+-&)&%3 H$9-6,\!@5!B*/,,-*K!@]K!L,94,-)K!O*55!H4C! B$9-%*5K!Z,:!^$-?!G&',)K!>*6,0$$? more involved,” Lara said. "-*+#&6\!B9(1!G-,&05,K!_,,!J954,%3 !"#$%%"&'( But Lara doesn’t think online Shashank Bengali and Hannah Allam / McClatchy Washington Bureau / MCT social networking has been utiBy Tony LeTigre The guardsman
The face of Egypt’s protests
a social media consultant to help them strategize. “We had several thousand people on our Facebook page and used it to organize volunteers as well as to let supporters know where events were going to take place,” Bainbridge said. “In the past it was word of mouth, calling people one at a time. Social media platforms are a way more efficient way of organizing, since you can send one message and reach everyone at once.” Mandelman’s consultant, Eric Harr, an award-winning CBS anchor and founder and CEO of Resonate Social Media, is one of many canny entrepreneurs who have adapted their skills to jump through the window of opportunity afforded by technological advances. “People have been waiting for this for thousands of years,” Harr said. “First the church controlled the message, then the printing press controlled it, now the people control their own message, for the first time, in an unprecedented way.” Still, not everyone has embraced social media, and the generation gap is often evident. Steve Kessler, a Berkeley resident and Berkeley Labor Commission member who is in his early 60s, Social activism: Page 4