MEDIA ROOTS — Among the lot of what is being starved under Obama’s junk economics austerity, schools are being underfunded and then attacked for struggling to perform academically.  Economic hitmen then move in to push the privatizations and the underlying attacks on labour, particularly since teachers are among the last segments of the workforce that are still organized.

MR

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The War Against the OEA and Oakland Public Education 

A report by retired OEA leader Jack Gerson

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Photo by flickr user Abdulrahman.stock

MEDIA ROOTS — You’ve likely heard of Scott Olsen, the Iraq War veteran shot in the head by a police tear gas canister at point blank range during the nationwide crackdown on the Occupy Movement.  The tragic event transformed him into an international symbol of police brutality, and it continues to be an important story signifying state repression. 

Yet, you probably haven’t heard of Kenneth Harding.  His story wasn’t featured on Democracy Now! and was scarcely covered in the progressive press.  However, the story of Kenneth Harding is as tragic and damning as that of Scott Olsen, Oscar Grant, Rodney King, or any number of people who have experienced the raw fist and boot of the US police state.

Kenneth Harding is another U.S. citizen dishonoured by his nation who was gunned down in cold blood by S.F. police this past summer.  S.F. police then blocked anyone from offering the gasping and dying Harding first aid as he bled to death before a crowd of hundreds left in aghast. 

Harding’s mother spoke with “The Morning Mix with JR” on KPFA last week to talk about an event she was organising to raise awareness around the murder of her son and push for an investigation to bring the killer cops to justice.  (See transcript below.) 

In another related story of unwarranted police killing, another man was recently brutally gunned down in Monterey Park, CA outside of a restaurant by one of a swarm of cops apprehending the man who had broken some windows with a metal bar.  Instead of collectively overpowering the man with their bare hands or waiting for back-up, one murderous cop lunges forward and shoots him, point blank, almost ten times, completely unprovoked, leaving Steven Rodriguez dead. 

In story after story, cops seems to be malfunctioning, losing their cool with their weapons, degenerating into wanton murder.  Unwarranted police aggression and their use of deadly force over the decades, poorly covered by corporate media, has conditioned many in the U.S. to seemingly accept and condone such lawlessness from police forces.

As the corporate media parroted police disinformation surrounding the Kenneth Harding story, the San Francisco Bayview National Black Newspaper documented the events from a grassroots perspective:

“When police stopped a teenager stepping off the T-train yesterday [16 Jul 2011] to show his transfer as proof he’d paid his fare – $2 at most – he ran from them. They shot him as many as 10 times in the back and neck, according to witnesses. For many long minutes, as a crowd watched in horror, the boy, who had fallen to the sidewalk a block away, lay in a quickly growing pool of blood writhing in pain and trying to lift himself up as the cops trained their guns on him and threatened bystanders.”

One M.D.s Letter to the SF Examiner Editor wrote: 

“I take exception to reports describing Kenneth Harding lying dead on the Bayview sidewalk. I have reviewed at least five videos which document him laying face down in a pool of blood and arching his neck in an attempt to breathe.

San Francisco police officers are trained in CPR, emergency airway management and first aid. A simple and humane maneuver might have been to simply roll him over on his back and apply a compression dressing to the wound in his neck.”

—Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, M.D. San Francisco

Kenneth Harding “laying face down in a pool of blood and arching his neck in an attempt to breathe.”

Attorney for Harding’s family, Adante Pointer, discussed the glaring contradictions between “police department’s shifting stories” about the murder of Kenneth Harding by police and the accounts of hundreds of witnesses, many of which tried to administer first aid or get help, but were kept at bay by silent, cocked-and-loaded, cops brandishing firepower.  No one wanted to be next in some of the most dramatic minutes of U.S. history since Oscar Grant was gunned down in cold blood by BART police. 

As expected, the murderer cop in that case, Johannes Mehserle, was not administered a punishment commensurate with the crime of murder.  Instead, he was given a slap on the wrist and a mere one year jail sentence.  In the case of Kenneth Harding’s murder, we haven’t even seen the names of the guilty cops.  But Kenneth Harding’s mother continues to seek justice with the help of the SF Bayview community and independent, grassroots media to illuminate the struggle for justice around police terorrism.

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THE MORNING MIX WITH JR — “You are listening to The Morning Mix.  Good morning ladies and gentleman.  I am your host, The Minister of Information, JR.  Today, we will be talking about the unjustified murder of unarmed young Black man, Kenneth Harding in San Francisco and the upcoming protest to shut down 3^rd Street in San Francisco this Sunday [22 Jan 2012].

“We’ll talk about the plight of the Black Farmers in California as well as the Black International Film Festival and the upcoming Carter G. Woodson Bowl, a.k.a. Black Jeopardy.  All of this after the news.”

JR (c. 7:05):  “We are back.  I am your host, the Minister of Information JR, for The Morning Mix.  Today, we will talk about the Carter G. Woodson Black History Bowl, a.k.a. Black Jeopardy.  We will talk about the Oakland International Film Festival.  We will also talk about the plight of the Black farmers in California.

“But, first, we need to address these unjustified police murders of unarmed people in the Black community all over the United States.

“Our next guest is the mother of Kenneth Harding, 19-year old unarmed Black man who was shot in mid-July [2011] over a $2 dollar bus transfer by the San Francisco Police Department.  We have his mother live in the studio today.  Her name is Denika Chatman.

“How are you Miss Denika?”

Denika Chatman (c. 7:58):  “I’m good.  Thank you for asking.”

JR (c. 8:00):  “Can you tell the people a little bit about your son, Kenneth Harding?  Who was Kenneth Harding before he was murdered by the San Francisco Police Department in such an atrocious way?”  

Denika Chatman (c. 8:12):  “My son was very filled with life.  He was the life of the party.  He could go anywhere and fit in.  He loved life.  And he was a college student, set to start college last fall.  He was an entertainer.  He was out here [in the S.F. Bay Area] trying to get his music out.  And he was very family oriented.  He loved his mother.  He loved his brother.  He loved his sister.  And he loved the Lord.”

JR (c. 8:45):  “Can you tell the people a little bit about what happened in the middle of July [2011].”

Denika Chatman (c. 8:51):  “Yes.  My son, Kenny, he was on a T-train in San Francisco, Muni Transit.  And the police, pretty much, racially profiled him, approached him, asked him to supply proof of purchase of transfer for being on the train.  And when he didn’t supply it, they removed him from the train where at that time he, just, had sat for a moment and then he took off running.  And while he was running, he was running with his hands up. 

“And they still shot him down and allowed him to lay in the streets for over 28 minutes while he bled out and died.  They wouldn’t allow the paramedics through to try to help him. 

“And, basically, I feel like he was ambushed because they came at him from two different directions over a $2 transit fare.

JR (c. 9:47):  “I just want to put it out there that this is on YouTube.  They can put Kenneth Harding into YouTube and this will come up.”

Denika Chatman (c. 9:56):  “That is correct.  There was over 150 people out there that day.  So, everybody pulled out their phones and started recording.  And that’s why there are so many videos of my son’s death on there.

“And I’ve never seen it.  I don’t want to see it.  But I do get the sympathy calls and support from everyone else who has seen them.”

JR (c. 10:19):  “What’s been going on since in the community of Hunter’s Point where this occurred?  What’s been going on since with people, such as Fly Benzo and Kilo and different people who support you?”

Denika Chatman (c. 10:33):  “That’s where the majority of my support comes from.  As far as Fly, him and his brother Pladee have been assaulted, hospitalised, incarcerated for speaking openly about what they witnessed on that day and for still speaking out in regards to it, which I don’t understand because there’s also a YouTube of what happened to Fly Benzo.  And I don’t understand why the courts won’t just use that as evidence and see what actually occurred on that day and that the police provoked all of this and just drop the charges. 

“And that’s why I endorse his campaign.  Free Fly Benzo.  His brother Pladee, he was assaulted as well. 

“Kilo Perry, the police have harassed him on several occasions; he has been incarcerated for speaking out for the murder of my son, for what he saw the police do.”     

JR (c. 11:29):  “Isn’t the San Francisco Police Department pushing charges that could result in Fly Benzo, otherwise known as Debray Carpenter, where he could be facing years in prison?”

Denika Chatman (c. 11:43):  “That is correct.  And I carry a lot of the guilt behind that because the battle he’s fighting is because he stood up for what he felt wasn’t right, the injustice done to my son.  And because of that he is looking at a lot of prison time.  And that’s why I’m fighting so hard for him on his side in solidarity because something has to be done.  And he shouldn’t have to go through this behind speaking out against injustice.

JR (c. 12:20):  “Can you talk a little bit about what you guys have going on January 22^nd?”

Denika Chatman (c. 12:24):  “Yeah.  On January 22^nd, we are having a peaceful protest march and rally starting at 3^rd Street and Oakdale, my son’s murder spot.  That is San Francisco. 

“And we are marching over to Candlestick Stadium to surround it.  It’s the NFC Playoff Championship Game and we know that the 49ers are gonna make it there.  So, we’re just trying to bring awareness to the game-goers that, ‘We don’t have no problem with you enjoying your game. We’re not even trying to disrupt the game. We just want to bring awareness that right outside of this stadium, the police are killing our children.’

JR (c. 13:08):  “Right.  Can you also talk a little bit about this concert that you have comin’ up?”

Denika Chatman (c. 13:13):  “Yes.  I can touch on it.  We’re having a big benefit concert for my son on February 10^th.  And I’ll just list a couple of the artists who will be there:  The Jacka, J-Diggs, Mac Mall, Turf Talk, Beeda Weeda.”

JR (c. 13:33):  “And this is at 330 Ritch in San Francisco.”

Denika Chatman (c. 13:36):  “Yes.  Everything is still being collaborated, put together, so we’re just waiting on finalisation right now.  But everything is approved to go.”

JR (c. 13:49):  “How has the police been responding to you and your family since this murder occurred?”

Denika Chatman (c. 13:54):  “Well, I went down to the Office of Citizen Complaints in San Francisco to turn in my complaint.  At that time, I had only been in my new home for not even ten days.  And at that time they were the only ones who had my address, my physical address, because I had to put it on the paperwork.  And within three to five days my home address was listed under Google with step-by-step directions on how to get to my home. 

“And I haven’t had any interactions with the police.  However, they still haven’t been forthcoming with any of the evidence, or the videotapes, or anything to prove that they did a righteous kill.”

JR (c. 14:40):  “If people would like to help you and your supporters and would like to help fight police terrorism in aiding the people who are supporting Kenneth Harding, where can they do that and how can they do that?”

Denika Chatman (c. 14:55):  “Well, we just established the Kenneth Harding, Jr. Foundation.  If you would like to support, you can come to our meetings, you can also follow me on Facebook at Justice 4 Kenneth Harding Jr.  And you can actually see everything that we’ve done up until this point as well as find out all the upcoming events and also posted on the page, anything that’s needed or anything that has to do with the Foundation we post it up there, so that if people want to participate or become part of his Committee.  They are welcome to do so.”

JR (c. 15:40):  “Well, Denika, I just want to salute you for standing on the front line when you’ve faced such an atrocity to your own family, the atrocious murder of your own son by somebody who was a so-called public servant.

“Do we know the name of the police officer that killed your son?”

Denika Chatman (c. 15:59):  “There were actually four of them.  And all their names are listed on the Justice 4 Kenneth Harding, Jr. site as well.”

JR (c. 16:06):  “Well, thank you for standing on that front line.  We appreciate your strength and your commitment and dedication.  And you know the Block Report is behind you.”

Denika Chatman (c. 16:16):  “Bless you, JR.  I also want to thank you for being a part of my son’s Board, being part of our Foundation. 

“And one thing that a lot of people don’t know, they can go get the new issue of the Bayview Newspaper, read my story.  It’s called ‘Picking Up the Pieces.’  And on there, I’m actually giving shouts out to you for coming to Seattle to see about me and my family after all of this occurred, for you for being on the front line with me in supporting me throughout all of this, to all my front-runners who are still standing on the front line, who didn’t allow the police to get to them and silence them.  Kilo Perry, Fly Benzo, Pladee Clayton, all o’ ya’ll.  I just wanna thank my true soldiers.”

JR (c. 17:05):  “Well, right on.  Salute.  Thank you for coming in.”

Denika Chatman (c. 17:08):  “Thank you for having me.”

***

Writing, transcript by Felipe Messina for Media Roots

Photo by ElvertBarnes

MEDIA ROOTS — For those born with melanin or a mind critical of the establishment, throughout the education system and beyond, ethnic studies have offered crucial perspectives from which to contextualise ethnic tensions within the U.S. and its caucasian dominant monoculture. 

Yet, Arizona continues to build its legacy of intolerance against immigrants and people of colour.  In 2010, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer caused a national uproar when she signed SB 1070, the nation’s most stringent immigration bill to date, which requires citizens to always carry proof of documentation and grants the detention of any suspected illegal immigrants.  Additionally, State Superintendent Tom Horne opposed academic freedom in invoking the HB 2281 ban of ethnic studies that same year, bemoaning the Tucson Unified School District’s progressive material. 

More recently, his successor, State Superintendent John Huppenthal, “who campaigned in 2010 on the promise to ‘stop la raza,'” has taken up the torch against ethnic studies in Arizona.  Last week, the Tucson school district voted to “suspend the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies.”  Along with the course being suspended, all the affiliated books are now officially “banned” from the school system.

Similarly, Texas has engaged in thought policing books in schools and prisons in recent years.  As we assess the state of the nation, neoliberal and neoconservative factions within Government further tighten the grip on society’s flow of information and academic freedom, stifling the evolutionary progress of its citizenry. 

MR

***UPDATE

According to The San Fernando Sun, the school district is denying the allegations. “Nothing we ever sent (to the district) said they ever had to ban books,” said Arizona Department of Education spokesman Andrew LeFevre. “The superintendent (Huppenthal) is a huge believer against censorship.”

However, last week students said the books were seized from their classrooms and out of their hands, including a book of photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany, and they were unable to sleep since it happened…

Some teachers were told to turn in the books that have not been banned. Based on the reading list of the MAS courses, that comes to over 80 books removed or confiscated from every classroom.

Sean Arce, former head of the now dismantled Mexican American Studies program, thought the district’s statement was a distinction without a difference saying, “The district administrators went in and boxed up those books and are housing it in a depository. So to me, it’s definitely a ban.” 

© 2012 San Fernando Sun

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DEMOCRACY NOW! — In news from Arizona, Tucson school district officials have released an initial list of books to be banned from the school system following last week’s vote to suspend the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. The banned books include Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years, edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson; Shakespeare’s play The Tempest; Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire; Occupied America: A History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuña; and Chicano!: The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement by F. Arturo Rosales.  Salon.com reported teachers have also been informed to stay away from any books where “race, ethnicity and oppression are central themes.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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SALON — As part of the state-mandated termination of its ethnic studies  program, the Tucson Unified School District released an initial list of books to be banned from its schools today.  According to district spokeperson Cara Rene, the books “will be cleared from all classrooms, boxed up and sent to the Textbook Depository for storage.”

Facing a multimillion-dollar penalty in state funds, the governing board of Tucson’s largest school district officially ended the 13-year-old program on Tuesday in an attempt to come into compliance with the controversial state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies.

The list of removed books includes the 20-year-old textbook “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years,” which features an essay by Tucson author Leslie Silko.  Recipient of a Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant, Silko has been an outspoken supporter of the ethnic studies program.

Other banned books include “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by famed Brazilian educator Paolo Freire and “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuña, two books often singled out by Arizona state superintendent of public instruction John Huppenthal, who campaigned in 2010 on the promise to “stop la raza.”  Huppenthal, who once lectured state educators that he based his own school principles for children on corporate management schemes of the Fortune 500, compared Mexican-American studies to Hitler Jugend indoctrination last fall.

An independent audit of Tucson’s ethnic studies program commissioned by Huppenthal last summer actually praised “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos,” a 40-year-old textbook now in its seventh edition.  According to the audit: “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos is an unbiased, factual textbook designed to accommodate the growing number of Mexican-American or Chicano History Courses. The auditing team refuted a number of allegations about the book, saying, ‘quotes have been taken out of context.’”

Read more about Who’s afraid of ‘The Tempest’?.

© 2012 Salon Media Group, Inc.

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Photo by Flickr user Shutterhacks