Occupy movement fails to connect with blacks

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/13/11 | Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer

[SmithL]

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School is just a few blocks from the former Occupy Oakland encampment in Frank Ogawa Plaza and not far from the starting point for Monday's Occupy demonstration at the Port of Oakland.

But to King parents like Charlene Adams, the Occupy movement couldn't be farther away from her West Oakland neighborhood. And the reasons behind that distance help explain a disconnect between the larger Occupy Wall Street movement and the African American community.

Adams and other King parents who stop by the school on Fridays for doughnuts and coffee sympathize with the core premise of the Occupy movement - that the American dream is slipping away because of the nation's wealth inequality - but they don't plan to join it. That crisis point, which drove Occupiers to the streets this fall, has been a part of the West Oakland residents' lives as long as they can remember.

Few Bay Area neighborhoods feel the impact of that inequality more those who live in this predominantly African American neighborhood in the shadow of the downtown skyscrapers.

"Why don't people come out here and Occupy about the violence in our neighborhood?" said Adams, a 44-year-old project manager at a substance-abuse clinic. Every Saturday, she and other members of her church stand on street corners and hold signs asking people to "Stop the Violence."

[matt04]

Do you have a link for the mug shots?

[Cyber Liberty]

Pssst! Index fingers go over the “F” and “J” keys....

[Renderofveils]

Do you have a link for the mug shots?

They can be found here.

[Darren McCarty]

Most of these anarchists are spoiled brat white trust fund babies who can't handle adversity.

Of course they aren't going to connect with blacks, especially in inner cities. Most of them are thinking "What the foxtrot are they complaining about?"

[ridesthemiles]

Alot of the protestors with their North Face clothing & tents & their I-phones & Apple laptops are not Black.

I would think that of all the trust fund babies in the USA, there is a VERY small percentage which are black.

[ridesthemiles]

“Every Saturday, she and other members of her church stand on street corners and hold signs asking people to “Stop the Violence.””””

The core belief in any neighborhood in gang-ridden Oakland is that YOU NEVER TELL the COPS ANYTHING.....Perps can stand right in the front of the crowd & no one will finger them.

This mentality has been in place for over 4 generations.

Only a vast earthquake, fire & massive number of deaths of those who subscribe to ‘No Snitching’ will ever change a thing. Church atendance is only a sidebar.

[ridesthemiles]

“Every Saturday, she and other members of her church stand on street corners and hold signs asking people to “Stop the Violence.””””

The core belief in any neighborhood in gang-ridden Oakland is that YOU NEVER TELL the COPS ANYTHING.....Perps can stand right in the front of the crowd & no one will finger them.

This mentality has been in place for over 4 generations.

Only a vast earthquake, fire & massive number of deaths of those who subscribe to ‘No Snitching’ will ever change a thing. Church attendance is only a sidebar.

[NFHale]

“...As matter of fact, someone named Njelela Kwamilele is most certainly a recent immigrant...”

Not necessarily...some in that segment of society changes their names just to “sound” more african...some are just plain made-up as well...”Laquisha”...”Lashonette”, “Malik”, etc. Don’t know the reason for that, other not to sound “like whitey”, I guess.

There was a blogger out on the Internet some years ago, Kim du Toit. He actually is “African American” (if you want to do the hyphen thing) - he emigrated here from South Africa, and I believe he lives in Texas. He’s a white guy, but he’s “African American”.

Personally, I think the hyphen thing is just a way of dividing people.

[matt04]

Thanks.

[hinckley buzzard]

The core belief in any neighborhood in gang-ridden Oakland is that YOU NEVER TELL the COPS ANYTHING

This is a core belief in most Black neighborhoods everywhere, and explains why crime is epidemic and out of control in most Black neighborhoods...

[yup2394871293]

The tea party has a farmer’s tan. OWS is made up of people who get up after the sun goes down.

[yup2394871293]

Civil rights was actually relevant in the 60’s.

[eak3]

those that do tell are found a few days later either stabbed or riddled with bullet holes.

[zeestephen]

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“Occupy movement fails to connect with blacks”

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Why live in a tent when you already qualify for Section 8, AFDC, and Medicaid?

[wardaddy]

I’ve seen plenty of Africoids at Occupy stunts...students and bums and union guys

the black students all look cool and wussy..like a Hilfiger ad

and Russel Simmons...isn’t he like 80% cracker?

sure looks it

100% commie social engineer lefty

down here his fellow “blacks” would call him “red”

[wardaddy]

in a limited fashion..what u say

most of that stuff Beck and Hannity crow about the GOP having a hand in is what has led to where we are now.

the adoration of socialist Cong sympathizer Martin King

veneration of freedom riders who were actually mostly New Left kids who in many cases were the vanguard of the student uprisings

the birth of identity politics and preference on the back of the civil rights act

and the blowback from the VRA

and the plethora of damage from the entitlements which came immediately on the heels

the only relevance that civil rights had was to enforce existing laws and the constitution..the rest was a fools bargain

we created a monster that in the long run will destroy us...segregation and discrimination though morally indefensible were not the destructive force the redress has proven to be

the very communities we purported to help and slapped our own backs for doing so are in far worse shape now than then particularly family wise and crime rates

and by extension so are we all....any barometer shows it

the only thing better about now is medical care and more entertainment choices..lol

sucks...I've watched it all happen....we all sit around here and crow but we're just a finger the dike..the worm has turned so far we can only slow down an eventual collapse

all that will actually turn the ship around is something so catastrophic to make us recognize that our love of the unreality that we find more comfortable than facing harsh empirical realities about peoples, religions, gender...or lack of...is a pure indulgence born of a time laden with too much information, guilt and convenience.

we get back to a fight for survival one day and things like homosexual marriage, race preference and Spike Lee movies, women's gripes and the demonization of Christendom will ebb

[Kenton]

"Why don't people come out here and Occupy about the violence in our neighborhood?" said Adams, a 44-year-old project manager at a substance-abuse clinic.

Just guessing, but might it have anything to do with not wanting to get tagged with the word "racist" for criticizing the residents who make the neighborhood so violent?

Really, the violence in black neighborhoods is a bigger problem than this gang of hippies can fix with another campout, it can only be fixed from within. And with 97% of black people voting for the Party of Perpetual Dependency, I don't expect to ever see it in my lifetime.