Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Critical Reponce
ONYX's Official Response sent to the "collective" who produced this article: It is difficult and often dangerous from an outside perspective to assume one knows what is actually happening in a moment or at an event. The best course of action in those circumstances, particularly if you have strong feelings about them, is to speak directly with the people involved in that moment or event. No investigation - NO right to speak.
In this case, for at least the part of your article that named my organization, the people you should have spoken to were either myself Cat, My Co-Chair Ghetto Prophet or My Sergeant At Arms, Asantewaa. Perhaps then, we could have prevented the false hoods you spread, and now tension that exists, between our organization and your "collective".
While I found several pieces of your "article" troubling - including your not capitalizing Black, your gross over estimation of the size of the crowd and the missing voices of the young Black youth themselves - my more direct issue is with the following two paragraphs:
"In Oakland, organizers had scheduled a rally and march in response to the national call-out issued by the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee days earlier. However a struggle quickly emerged within a small group of collectives over the question of destination and goal of the demonstration. Following several speeches and some internal debate, the local black nationalist O.N.Y.X. Organizing Committee seized control of march logistics and explained to the crowd that we would march to the OPD station. Upon arrival, they told us, we would continue to rally, then return to Oscar Grant Plaza. As the crowd of one thousand approached the intersection outside of OPD headquarters a large cordon of riot police blocked our path, forcing demonstrators into the middle of the major downtown intersection and effectively blocking all lanes of traffic. However, OPD officers did not block off the I-880N freeway ramp, choosing instead to concentrate all their forces on preventing approach to the headquarters. As O.N.Y.X. spokespersons urged the crowd to stay put and allow the rally to continue as they had planned, a small group of black youth on ‘scraper’ bikes ignored their pleas. These youths broke away from the intersection and charged up the freeway off-ramp.
Some of the O.N.Y.X. organizers motioned with their arms to come back and seemed to disapprove with the decision to take the freeway, but hundreds in the crowd began following up the off-ramp with great excitement. Several cars honked in support of the exuberant crowd. Once on the freeway, a large section of demonstrators formed a human chain across northbound and southbound lanes, effectively bringing traffic to an absolute standstill. After nearly a half-an-hour, OPD and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers began to mount the freeway, and demonstrators scattered in a disorganized manner. When the police did not make arrests, concentrating on clearing the highway, marchers were able to regroup near Chinatown. This gathering weaved back through downtown Oakland, marched around Lake Merritt to Piedmont and eventually grew into a much larger march that would continue late into the evening, and culminated in an assembly before the steps of the Superior Court of Alameda County."
For the record:
a) ONYX did not "seize" the march. In the organizing meeting PRIOR to the demo - the decision was made that ONYX would determine the route. We were fulfilling our assigned duty when we made the call.
b) We were not upset - nor did we "plea" for people to come back when they took the freeway. In fact, we debated with others outside of our organization who wanted us to not only pull people back, but leave them if they didnt come. As there were large numbers of Afrikans on that freeway and as you accurately stated in your article, we are a NATIONALIST organization, it was never an option to leave the freeway or our people behind.
c) When OPD lined up to make their way on to the freeway, it was Myself and GP who ran up the ramp to warn people that the Pigs were on their way and it was ONYX who organized the human chains and grouped people together to help those who wanted to safely exit the freeway - making it more difficult for police to target or assault individuals - several of whom broke down and/or panicked when they saw the blue wall advancing.
We would appreciate an immediate and public correction to your article and in the future - if you have concerns or questions about the behavior of our organization, the principled thing to do would be to discuss it with us. This manner of divisive and inaccurate information sharing does nothing to advance the struggle. Indeed, ONYX has worked hard to develop solid working relationships with people from all kinds of ideological backgrounds - including Anarchists - to better build a movement for the people. We dont always agree - but we always communicate. Things like this simply set all of us back. Perhaps placing the overall goals of the people and the struggle before your self-righteous need to comment would be a good place to start your next piece from.
In struggle,
Cat,
Co-Chair, ONYX Organizing Committee
Ghetto Prophet,
Co-Chair, ONYX Organizing Committee
Black Light,
Minister of Information and Technology, ONYX
In this case, for at least the part of your article that named my organization, the people you should have spoken to were either myself Cat, My Co-Chair Ghetto Prophet or My Sergeant At Arms, Asantewaa. Perhaps then, we could have prevented the false hoods you spread, and now tension that exists, between our organization and your "collective".
While I found several pieces of your "article" troubling - including your not capitalizing Black, your gross over estimation of the size of the crowd and the missing voices of the young Black youth themselves - my more direct issue is with the following two paragraphs:
"In Oakland, organizers had scheduled a rally and march in response to the national call-out issued by the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee days earlier. However a struggle quickly emerged within a small group of collectives over the question of destination and goal of the demonstration. Following several speeches and some internal debate, the local black nationalist O.N.Y.X. Organizing Committee seized control of march logistics and explained to the crowd that we would march to the OPD station. Upon arrival, they told us, we would continue to rally, then return to Oscar Grant Plaza. As the crowd of one thousand approached the intersection outside of OPD headquarters a large cordon of riot police blocked our path, forcing demonstrators into the middle of the major downtown intersection and effectively blocking all lanes of traffic. However, OPD officers did not block off the I-880N freeway ramp, choosing instead to concentrate all their forces on preventing approach to the headquarters. As O.N.Y.X. spokespersons urged the crowd to stay put and allow the rally to continue as they had planned, a small group of black youth on ‘scraper’ bikes ignored their pleas. These youths broke away from the intersection and charged up the freeway off-ramp.
Some of the O.N.Y.X. organizers motioned with their arms to come back and seemed to disapprove with the decision to take the freeway, but hundreds in the crowd began following up the off-ramp with great excitement. Several cars honked in support of the exuberant crowd. Once on the freeway, a large section of demonstrators formed a human chain across northbound and southbound lanes, effectively bringing traffic to an absolute standstill. After nearly a half-an-hour, OPD and California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers began to mount the freeway, and demonstrators scattered in a disorganized manner. When the police did not make arrests, concentrating on clearing the highway, marchers were able to regroup near Chinatown. This gathering weaved back through downtown Oakland, marched around Lake Merritt to Piedmont and eventually grew into a much larger march that would continue late into the evening, and culminated in an assembly before the steps of the Superior Court of Alameda County."
For the record:
a) ONYX did not "seize" the march. In the organizing meeting PRIOR to the demo - the decision was made that ONYX would determine the route. We were fulfilling our assigned duty when we made the call.
b) We were not upset - nor did we "plea" for people to come back when they took the freeway. In fact, we debated with others outside of our organization who wanted us to not only pull people back, but leave them if they didnt come. As there were large numbers of Afrikans on that freeway and as you accurately stated in your article, we are a NATIONALIST organization, it was never an option to leave the freeway or our people behind.
c) When OPD lined up to make their way on to the freeway, it was Myself and GP who ran up the ramp to warn people that the Pigs were on their way and it was ONYX who organized the human chains and grouped people together to help those who wanted to safely exit the freeway - making it more difficult for police to target or assault individuals - several of whom broke down and/or panicked when they saw the blue wall advancing.
We would appreciate an immediate and public correction to your article and in the future - if you have concerns or questions about the behavior of our organization, the principled thing to do would be to discuss it with us. This manner of divisive and inaccurate information sharing does nothing to advance the struggle. Indeed, ONYX has worked hard to develop solid working relationships with people from all kinds of ideological backgrounds - including Anarchists - to better build a movement for the people. We dont always agree - but we always communicate. Things like this simply set all of us back. Perhaps placing the overall goals of the people and the struggle before your self-righteous need to comment would be a good place to start your next piece from.
In struggle,
Cat,
Co-Chair, ONYX Organizing Committee
Ghetto Prophet,
Co-Chair, ONYX Organizing Committee
Black Light,
Minister of Information and Technology, ONYX
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Solidarity With Hunger Strikers.
On Thursday, July 4th, a group of about 100 people marched from Oscar Grant Plaza to the Alameda County Jail as riot police staged inside the Oakland Police Department Headquarters. Marchers were acting in solidarity with hunger strikers in the SHU (Special Housing Units), 'prisons within prisons,' where inmates are kept in solitary confinement. Hunger strikers in the SHU are calling for an end to hostilities between racial groups within prisons all the way down to county jails in order to call attention to inhuman and tortuous treatment of prisoners. This is the latest in a series of hunger strikes that have been started by SHU prisoners that have gone on to include thousands of inmates. Several have already died from previous hunger strikes. Prisoners within the SHU can only leave the isolation units after they inform on others, a policy called, 'debriefing,' even if they have no information to give to prison authorities. According to an article posted on truthout.org:
On July 1, 2011...thousands of other prisoners went on hunger strike to protest such draconian conditions. As reported in Truthout last year, for three weeks, at least 1,035 of the 1,111 inmates locked in the SHU refused food. In the SHU, which comprises half of California's Pelican Bay State Prison, prisoners are locked into their cells for at least 22 hours a day. Over 500 people have been confined in the SHU for over a decade, over 200 for more than 15 years and 78 for over 20 years. The only way that a person can be released from the SHU is to debrief, or provide information incriminating other prisoners. Even those who are eligible for parole have been informed that they will not be granted parole so long as they are in the SHU. "They are told they can debrief or die..." The Pelican Bay hunger strike spread to 13 other state prisons and, at its height, involved at least 6,600 people incarcerated throughout California.
Tonight, marchers played music, passed out informational flyers, wrote graffiti slogans and put up informational stickers, and upon reaching the jail on 7th and Clay streets, shot off fireworks for about 20 minutes. The fireworks lit up the night sky and prisoners responded by throwing up raised fists in the window and turning lights on and off to let those know outside that they could hear them. Someone spray painted in large letters across the front of the building, "Fire to the Prisons!" After the fireworks had been shot off, people returned to the plaza and held the intersection of 14th and Broadway for about 20 minutes before dispersing.
For more information on the hunger strike, go to:
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
On July 1, 2011...thousands of other prisoners went on hunger strike to protest such draconian conditions. As reported in Truthout last year, for three weeks, at least 1,035 of the 1,111 inmates locked in the SHU refused food. In the SHU, which comprises half of California's Pelican Bay State Prison, prisoners are locked into their cells for at least 22 hours a day. Over 500 people have been confined in the SHU for over a decade, over 200 for more than 15 years and 78 for over 20 years. The only way that a person can be released from the SHU is to debrief, or provide information incriminating other prisoners. Even those who are eligible for parole have been informed that they will not be granted parole so long as they are in the SHU. "They are told they can debrief or die..." The Pelican Bay hunger strike spread to 13 other state prisons and, at its height, involved at least 6,600 people incarcerated throughout California.
Tonight, marchers played music, passed out informational flyers, wrote graffiti slogans and put up informational stickers, and upon reaching the jail on 7th and Clay streets, shot off fireworks for about 20 minutes. The fireworks lit up the night sky and prisoners responded by throwing up raised fists in the window and turning lights on and off to let those know outside that they could hear them. Someone spray painted in large letters across the front of the building, "Fire to the Prisons!" After the fireworks had been shot off, people returned to the plaza and held the intersection of 14th and Broadway for about 20 minutes before dispersing.
For more information on the hunger strike, go to:
http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
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