Oscar Grant Murdered on New Years Day by Oakland BART Police!

Around 2 a.m. on New Year's Day, 22 year old Oscar Grant was shot and killed by BART police in the Fruitvale, Oakland BART station. Grant was on the floor with his hands up, and witnesses have stated that he was not resisting when the officer fired the single shot that killed him.

A home video taken by another passenger caught the scene on tape, and is being circulated to TV stations and on the internet. Below is some information about the shooting I received from a MySpace bulletin, and a clip of the video aired on ABC7 (this was one of the clearest edits of the video made from the raw footage that I've found so far).

The police need to be held accountable for this murder and injustice! There is no excuse for shooting an unarmed person laying on the ground - a finger on the trigger is not an accident! This is bullshit.



Karina Vargas told CBS 5 that she was making the tape available so the public would know what transpired shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday at BART's Fruitvale station when Oscar Grant was shot.

The video, that Vargas said she shot on a brand new camera she received for Christmas, would seem to support previous witnesses accounts that Grant was laying on his stomach with his hands behind him on the train platform when a single shot was fired by a BART officer.

According to Vargas, Grant was not resisting when the gunshot was fired. Vargas said she was standing only about 5 feet away from the shooting scene. She also said she resisted an officer's attempt to confiscate her camera.

Vargas, who said she was on her way home from a New Year's celebration along the Embarcadero in San Francisco when she witnessed the shooting, contended that Grant's "rights were definitely violated" by police.

BART officials have said Grant was unarmed and implied the shooting was an accident, saying the officer's gun discharged while he and four other officers responded to reports that two groups of young men were fighting on a train that had come from San Francisco and was en route to the Dublin/Pleasanton station.

Grant's family in Hayward has formally hired attorney John Burris to look into the circumstances surrounding his death.

The Oakland attorney, who has filed numerous lawsuits against police departments on behalf of family members of people who have been shot and killed by officers, scheduled a Sunday morning news conference to discuss developments in the case.

"It's an outrageous set of facts. My sense is clear that this was an unjustifiable shooting," Burris said based on witness statements, but prior to the videotape being made public. "There were no movements and he was not trying to overrun the police officer. A gun cannot discharge accidentally, you have to have your finger on the trigger.

"When conduct like this occurs, there is a price to pay," he added. "Police have to be held accountable when they engage in this kind of unlawful conduct.

BART officials have not released the name of the officer who shot Grant. They said the officer has worked for BART for nearly two years and was placed on administrative leave following the shooting.

The Alameda County District Attorney's office is handling the official investigation into the shooting. The D.A.'s office has not commented on the case.

Fuck Globally, Think Locally

This excerpt from Ara Manoogian's groundbreaking investigation on the Armenian sex trade to Dubai has a 20-second introduction to the city of Dubai itself pulled from Discovery Channel's "Really Big Things." Ara's documentary originally aired on Hetq.am.

Work what you got, girl. This video is straight up.

"Of the six women in the group, two were tricked to come to Dubai, the other four came voluntarily."

Another example of how trafficking sometimes results in a beneficial economic exchange between city, [client/tourist], and worker. Now if only there was a way to successfully address safety and health issues to keep people from bad situations. But in examining different cities around the world, it becomes clear that the circumstances around sex trafficking and human trafficking differ uniquely depending on the socio-economic status of the city and its place within the global market. Each context needs to be deeply examined before any productive strategic plan can be implemented to address the deeper issues that create unsafe working environments that harm its workers. And a response to coerced trafficking in one city may not work for another city with another set of circumstances.

(And no, the heading of this post is not meant to be a Gogol Bordello reference, but the idea fits just the same.)

Trafficking is a Labor Issue

Human trafficking in Thailand - 14 Apr 2008

Trafficking is a labor issue, an immigration issue, as well as a sex work issue. In all these cases, it is always a migration of an individual away from an impoverished situation in search of a chance to work and more opportunity.

Here, the Thai government has acknowledged their awareness of trafficking, yet little is done to address the horrific conditions and abusive exploitations of trafficked individuals. It is in their favor to pass the buck, because ultimately, their very economy actually thrives off of the cheap labor that trafficking brings.

And along the same lines, sex tourism is a big industry that brings in substantial profit for many big cities around the world. As long as governments maintain the *illusion* that they are morally upstanding - such as criminalizing prostitution or saying "We don't like it, but we need evidence" - the legislations that keep people hungry also keeps them vulnerable and open to the exploits of the rich and powerful.

Why would they want to change a thing?





Human Trafficking in Cambodia
Everywoman - Human Trafficking - 21 Sep 07 - Part 1

Dr. Bridget Anderson brings up a good point. She doesn't like the emphasis on the UN definition of "human trafficking", where its about moving, using force, coersion, or abuse for the purposes of exploitation. But we need to ask ourselves some really important questions:

What does exploitation mean?
What does force and coersion mean?
Why does movement matter?

A great informative video touching on the complicated issues of sex trafficking, making connections with the videos above regarding global human trafficking, and the steep prices people will pay in search of a better life.

Please Don't Shoot the President (Yet)

Obama won, and I felt like I should have been more excited than I could actually muster. The whole thing felt so anti-climatic. We all stood in the gallery staring at the election count projected on the wall, getting more and more tipsy on the wine, making small talk about political art. And watching the clock.

At the strike of midnight, the count was in for the west coast. The screen flashed subtle - California, Oregon, Washington turned blue.

BAM.

And it was over. Obama surpassed the needed 270 electoral votes to win, and it was over.

People had been chatting and mingling, too spaced out or engrossed to realize the gravity of what had just silently flickered on the wall.

Oh, Obama won, I announced, a little more deadpan than I intended.

What? What happened?! What?! I watched as the room slowly spun crescendo into a confused flurry as people began to realize that the elections were over.

Yeah, its over. Obama just won. He got California, Oregon, and Washington for 270 electoral votes, so he's president now, I sigh, detached from why I felt so detached at this momentous occassion.

Screaming ensues.

Oh my God, Obama won! We have a black president! Obama won! Fuck yeah!

My friends hug me, hug each other, and scream some more while I stand, forcing a smile, mumbling yeah and its awesome. Everyone was so excited, I didn't want to rain on their parade.

In my head, I couldn't turn off my cynicism. At this point, democrats and republicans might as well be the same party to me. Ultimately, they will all look out for number one, upholding the wealth within an unequal capitalist economy, and it's all about the bottom line, baby. At least Republicans are honest about their intentions and discriminations, even if it is totally effed up.

So will Obama be any different?..

In my head, I couldn't turn off the shock. And as excited as I am that a person of color is finally sitting in that oval office, we have learned, through examples such as our darling Condaleeza, that just because your skin is brown does not necessarily mean you will advocate for other brown skinned people once you hold power that has historically been equated with whiteness, colonization, and slavery. Though it is definitely a good strategic angle to market yourself to the public vote..

I am keeping my skepticism about Obama's claims at bay with the faith that things will get better. I want to see action backing up his words. His acceptance speech was inspiring and made me feel better about the future, but I still left the party early that night.

The Obama family are the new Kennedys in the White House, and I wonder, what change will we see?

Street Survivor - 2006/DV/21 mins

Director : Lin Jing Jie, Music : Lim Giong
2006/ DV / 21mins, Taiwan

Street Survivor is the portrait of a Taiwanese street worker and the cop who arrests her.

Happiness

This is a song that my friend D emailed to me. D is a sex worker ally, advocate, friend, client, and long-time volunteer with the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS) in Taipei, Taiwan.

"This song was written for a close friend of COSWAS that chose to end her life jumping off a cliff into the sea. She was the first sex worker that wasn't afraid of exposing herself to the media during and after the struggle for re-legalization of sex work ten years ago.

i don't know if you could understand the lyrics. they're in Taiwanese

I translated the lyrics of "happiness" to english. the lyrics in chinese is more poetic, I sort of ruined it, but better than nothing. Hope you like it."

Happiness

If you ask me what is happiness, what should i tell you?
If I was born in a wealthy family, happiness would be much more easier to achieve

If you ask me what is life, what I should tell you?
I come from a poor family. tell me where could i find happiness.

Ah.... I'm a long blossoming wild flower in the fields
Happiness is like a candle in the wind
We have to cherish and protect it with our hands

Ah.... We are long blossoming wild flowers in the fields
Life is like the lights in the dark which leads us forward

Even though we are discriminated walking down this path
We feed our families like anyone else, It is not shameful at all
Red lights, cross roads, and narrow alleys, we walk silently and alone
I-Yo, in order to provide our family with food shelter and clothes
That's my life

Taking the Pledge

Taking the Pledge is a 13-minute film featuring sex workers from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Mali, Thailand and more! They describe the problems created by the 'anti-prostitution pledge' required to receive USAID and PEPFAR funds.

In English, Khmer, Thai, French, Portuguese and Bengali, with English subtitles. Watch in full-screen mode to read the subtitles.

Produced by the Network of Sex Work Projects.

Erin Siegal shot the interviews and edited the film.



Thanks to W for sharing it!

Vote for Obama Because McCain Sucks More

This is how I follow the campaign. Get crunk, booty!