My mother told me that even though she misses me, she’s glad I’m away.  I moved to Los Angeles from Oakland seven months ago, and ever since I left, my home city has been experiencing one tragedy after the next. 

Politicians including California's governer joined Oakland residents and crowds of police in uniform at a public funeral today for the four Oakland officers slain last weekend.

An overflow crowd was directed to the Oakland Coliseum, where the event was broadcast on a massive screen. The line to get into the Coliseum stretched past the end of the parking lot.  

Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger was joined by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

Boxer said in a speech that the officers who died defined courage and bravery.

Residents marched through East Oakland Wednesday paying tribute to Lovelle Mixon, who shot and killed four Oakland police officers over the weekend. The International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement organized the event to bring attention to what they describe as police brutality.

The atmosphere at Oakland's City Hall Wednesday was quiet in the lobby where dozens have paid their respects to the four police officers killed over the weekend. Even though there weren't a lot of people signing the condolence books that afternoon, there were some visitors who felt the killing of the four police officers will help bring people back to their senses.

A firefighter who had been dispatched to the shooting scene said it's heart warming seeing how Oakland residents have come together to pay respect, and respect is just the beginning to a brighter day.
Read more...

I’ve lived on the 7400 block of Holly Street in East Oakland since November. I went in knowing that on the outskirts of my block were drugs and the bi-products of those drugs. Fiends, dealers, and riff raff.

My quiet street is just four long blocks away from where the police officers were shot this weekend.

I’m not surprised that it happened, but the crime was so gruesome -- shooting officers right in the face -- that it gives me a jolt. In theory, these types of things have been happening in the neighborhood for a long time.
Read more...

The relationship between Oakland, California residents and the Oakland Police Department has been difficult for decades. On one side, there are arguments about a history of corruption and police brutality, and on the other, a contention that Oakland, a city with high rates of violent crime and murder, requires a firm hand from police.