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A group of sixth graders shared their stories with Youth Radio about getting suspended from school, and whether they thought it was a fair and a meaningful punishment. They Skyped with us from their classroom in Oakland, CA.

Listen to their stories above.

Their teacher Ms. M., who preferred her name not be mentioned, shared some thoughts after listening to her students speak. “I’m just surprised at some of the situations that my students have gotten themselves into... I feel like in my classroom these students are very respectful to me, they’re generally not behavior problems. None of these students have been sent to the office by me this year,” she said.

In general, she senses from students that suspension is not seen as a punishment. It’s the opposite. “That definitely is the feeling among kids - suspension is a time to take off or play around, a break from school... It depends on what is going on at home. If you have a parent that cares a lot about their child getting suspended, then the kid is going to be at home doing chores, and doing their homework. Other kids come back to school and say, ‘I was at Six Flags when I was suspended,’ or ‘I was watching tv,’ or ‘I was playing video games when I was suspended,’” she said.

The following originally aired on KCBS

By: Lanaya Lewis

Why come and damage a city that is not your own?

Looking back on the last few weeks of Occupy protests in Oakland, I’m angry about the damage and violence. For weeks 14th and Broadway was filled with trash, which made downtown look dirty and gloomy.

According to Alameda County Sheriffs, 103 people were arrested during the November 3rd protest and more than half were from outside Oakland.

I believe those people who came to Oakland knew that they could do what they wanted because they wouldn’t have to deal with the mess they made. If the shoe was on the other foot they wouldn’t be too happy.

I think that some of the protestors were trying to prove that they were big and bad, but what they proved to me is they know how to make people’s lives harder.

Everyone has the right to protest and voice their opinion, but it should be respectful of the people around them. Protestors have a point that middle class and poor people aren’t being treated fairly, but I’m glad to see the encampments gone. My city shouldn’t be damaged by people who don’t call Oakland home.

The following originally aired on KCBS

By: Pendarvis Harshaw

The phrase "I don't give an F-Bomb" resonates throughout high school hallways every day, which begs the question: how do you get students to actually give a flying F-bomb?

Earlier this year I worked as an educator in the Oakland schools, in a pilot program designed to prevent young black men from dropping out. My students, all freshmen in high school, were in my class because of discipline issues, low attendance, or academic shortcomings.

Everyday there’d be a moment when one of my students would have a tiny breakthrough and I’d exclaim “hot damn.” It was a constant reminder that we were progressing. 

One day I asked my students to read aloud from Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Student after student read with increasing excitement. They were into it, and pleaded with me to bring in additional chapters. It was as if Ellison was narrating their lives. “I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even be said to possess a mind.”
  Read more...

The following originally aired on KQED-FM and published on Turnstyle News.

In 2009, more than half of the African-American males who started high school in Oakland, California never graduated. Pendarvis Harshaw joined Oakland Unified School District's African American Male Achievement Initiative to reverse that trend.

By: Pendarvis Harshaw

The phrase "I don't give an F-Bomb" resonates throughout high school hallways every day, especially in Oakland public schools. Which begs the question: how do you get students to actually give a flying F-bomb?

The numbers show that young black men drop out of school at higher rates, and are more likely to be incarcerated than other groups. Earlier this year I worked as an educator in the Oakland schools, in a pilot program designed to prevent young black men from dropping out. My students, all freshmen in high school, were in my class because of discipline issues, low attendance, or academic shortcomings. We called our class the Young Lion’s Lair.

To maintain focus, we did pushups. We did wall sits. We did sets of 20 jumping jacks. And everyone had to stop at the same time, or else we’d do it again.

At the start of class- we’d toss around a tennis ball and review the prior day’s lesson. And at the end of class- we’d toss around that same ball and review what we learned that day.

In Oakland, California last night, thousands of residents gathered in front of City Hall to plan for a general strike, in the wake of violent clashes between police and Occupy Oakland protesters earlier in the week. Many were also there for a vigil for Scott Olsen, a former Marine taking part in the protests who was wounded on Tuesday night.

Olsen has become a symbol for protesters, drawing attention to excessive force used by the police department, and sparking criticism of the mayor’s handling of the Occupy movement.

The video of a Olsen being injured Tuesday night spread all over the internet. His bloodied face is  a big part of what's kept the national spotlight on Oakland. He’s a 24-yr-old Iraq veteran. He came to Occupy Oakland Tuesday night to support protesters after his workday at a Bay Area tech firm.

Video from moments earlier show Olsen standing in his Marine camouflage jacket and hat with his arms at his side. He’s standing next to someone in a Navy uniform with a flag that reads Veterans for Peace.org. Police start shooting projectiles into the crowd. Suddenly, Olsen is down. Protesters rush towards him where he is lying on the ground. But they scatter when a tear gas canister explodes on the ground next to Olsen. Eventually, protesters carried Olsen away and drove him to the hospital.

Twenty-year-old protester Clare Chadwick was one of those rescuers. Outside Highland Hospital yesterday, she stood holding Olsen’s wide brimmed camouflage hat. "When he was getting carried away his hat fell off. I ran back and grabbed it. His military hat, I though he would want it back," she said.

One word, phenomenal. That’s just about the only word I can think of that would best describe my first time being at a real live concert this past Tuesday, the best hip-hop concert in Oakland. Read more...

Parents and advocates in one East Oakland, California, neighborhood have stepped up their activism in response to pimps targeting their middle school-aged daughters.

Last year, All Things Considered and Youth Radio collaborated on an investigative series from young people's point of view that revealed what it's like being trafficked and also how police efforts to combat the problem often criminalize young women.

Nhuanh Ly is the program coordinator for Banteay Srei — a group that works with neighborhood girls – to build self-esteem and to teach them how to avoid being recruited by pimps. School district officials say it’s hard to prevent because the pimps just look like regular guys.

And recruitment can happen anywhere, says Ly. “It happens at the bus stops, it happens in front of homes, and it happens in front of schools…Not too long ago, one of the girls who attends our afterschool programs called me and she was really, really distraught. She was like ‘Nhuanh! Nhuanh! I can’t believe this just happened! A pimp just tried to recruit me and he actually picked me up in his car.”

Ly says, as shocking as it seems, the average age that girls get recruited into trafficking in the US is 12 years old. It’s a common misconception that girls are trafficked after being kidnapped. But many times it’s more subtle than that. It can start with a seduction or even a relationship. So Ly encourages families to have frank conversations early about dating and sex. “Yeah, it’s awkward talking to your parents about sex, right? … A common response for parents is to try shut their children away from seeing this. But the reality is that it’s so visible and it’s so prevalent that we

By: Nishat Kurwa, Turnstyle News

In the San Francisco Bay Area, a first-of-its kind program rolling out next month will steer at-risk and low income youth into public health careers, a play to turn neglected neighborhoods into fertile ground for recruiting new emergency responders.

The EMS Corps, established by Alameda County’s Health Services Agency, trains young adults for internships within the department; others complete a first responder training program administered in partnership with the county. And the program has grown to include young people who have been in trouble with the law.

Errnesto Diaz is a sweet, bright 19-year-old spent seven months at Camp Sweeney, a residential facility for youth offenders. He’d been arrested on assault charges. Diaz said given the opportunities that have resulted from the mentorship and training he received, “…if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change anything. I would go to Camp Sweeney, do that time, because it’s worth it.”

The county health department training during his sentence has put him on course to a career as an emergency medical technician. The program’s motto pretty much sums up the transformation – “save lives, don’t destroy lives.”

County health department Director Alex Briscoe led the team that developed the EMS Corps, the program that will create employment opportunities for young men like Diaz. “In marginalized communities your sense of the future gets constrained,” Briscoe said. “Young people need to be shown a world of possibility, and then given a specific and clear path to achieving it.” (Disclosure: Briscoe’s department funds programs at Turnstyle’s parent company, Youth Radio).

On New Year’s Day 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was shot and killed by former transit officer Johannes Mehserle on the platform of Fruitvale BART station in Oakland. Video of the shooting, recorded on cell phone by bystanders, spread virally, sparking protests in Oakland and gaining national attention. After a jury trial in Los Angeles last summer, Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and received the minimum sentence of two years in state prison. Mehserle returned back to court on June 1st and Judge Robert Perry ruled that Mehserle will be released on Monday. He has served 11 months of his two year sentence.

Tracy Bell-borden, community activist of Onyx, an Oakland group that has been organizing ongoing protests related to the case, says Mehserle’s release is the beginning of a new chapter. “We have been waiting for this because the civil lawsuit is just starting.”

The shooting stirred up racial tensions in the city, reigniting Oakland's long history of tension between its police force and the community. Mehersle, a white man, was videotaped from multiple angles, shooting Grant, a black man. The incident was followed by violent protests and looting in downtown Oakland.

Onyx is putting together a peace rally this Sunday at Fruitvale Bart Station at 3pm.

Karina Vargas, who testified on the first day of former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle's preliminary hearing, returned to the scene of the shooting for the first time in this interview.
 

On Wednesday Lake Merritt/ Uptown and Downtown Oakland Community Benefit Districts (CBDs) unveiled the refurbished art deco clock on 17th street and Broadway. The unveiling of the clock is their first phase of their beautification program to enhance the look of downtown Oakland.

The clock was first introduced to Oakland in the 1930’s and was originally located on the corner of 20th and Telegraph. Throughout the years the clock was neglected and had missing arms and was in tattered condition. “For those of us managing Oakland’s Uptown and Downtown Districts, that broken clock, with its missing arms and tattered condition, seemed the perfect metaphor for what was wrong with Downtown Oakland,” said Lake Merritt/Uptown District Association President Deborah Boyer.

The clock now has a new location and the restoration of it is a reminder of the Oakland’s history.