Far outside the glamour of Paris lights, the French suburbs, called the “banlieues,” are struggling to get noticed. These racially divided areas are most often  referred to in terms of fighting crime and increasing law enforcement.  According to the New York Times, France has Europe's largest Muslim population and many are living in the suburbs. "The banlieues have long been considered potential incubators for religious extremism," according to the Times article.  The United States is taking action to reach out to these communities.

The banlieues are well-known for the violent youth riots that happened in 2005 and 2006.  In November, 2005, two French youths were killed by police. Over 2,900 youth rioters, consisting of mostly second generation immigrants living in housing projects, were arrested for burning schools, cars, and daycare centers, according to the Social Science Research Council.  Nicolas Sarkozy called a state of emergency and eventually the rioting ended after three weeks.  

In January of 2006, another violent youth riot broke out in the banlieues, this time consisting of mostly white youth, because of a proposed youth employment law that would lower wages and change workers’ rights. The SSRC referred to these events as evidence of a “growing crisis of social exclusion and racism affecting the French suburbs.”  

Since then, the banlieues have been stuck with the stigma of violence and racial tension.  Recently, there have been efforts by the United States as well as the French government to change the atmosphere. According to the New York Times, the United States Embassy in Paris is reaching out to local organizations, students, and politicians in an effort to change the culture of the banlieues as well as bolster the image of the United States in Muslim communities around the world after the events of September 11.

The United States began a visiting leadership program for French teenagers to come to the United States, and brought celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson over to speak to French students.  

Youth Radio has created an online magazine (scroll down and click on the cover to flip through) documenting the 19 months following the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the hands of former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle.

In the following days, we'll be filling the magazine's final pages with our reporting on Mehserle's sentencing -- and with reflections gathered from the blank pages posted in downtown Oakland. Or you can add your comments, below.

Click here for more multimedia stories about the Oscar Grant case.

According to KTVU news on Thursday, an estimated amount of 150 protesters that were arrested for protesting and rioting on i-880 and i-980 after the 4:30 protest in downtown Oakland because of the budget cuts. Some agreed to go to s.f and others just wanted to go onto the interstate freeway and do their protest. Lucky no one was killed said Thomason .but one did jump off the freeway just to avoid arrest. Another person leaped off the freeway onto a tree but then missed one of the police officers said he wasn’t moving some reporters said that the arrests began on the freeway then went down to the freeway entrances. The commuters were furious, because they were not able to get where they were going to. Some others continued with their protest until one protestor was tackled onto the ground.
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Youth Radio received further correspondence from Bani in Iran, who is still participating in protests and riots after election.

June 18, 2009: Bani and about a million other people (as Bani estimated) peacefully demonstrated near Tehran University, where most dressed in black attire to mourn the loss of countless lives over the past week.

Bani wrote in her messages that one of the worst aspects of this entire ordeal is the psychological torture that she and others must endure.

...starting yesterday morning, our house received phone calls every 15 minutes from an unknown number.  The caller ID showed a number with many zeros at the end, which from our experience means that the secret service or police are trying to get in touch.  We did not answer, and luckily I had taken all my videotapes and other things to another house, but there is a still a feeling of insecurity. ...But this is precisely what we are worried about, that the psychological games of the regime and the disappearances and arrests will begin again, at an even harsher intensity.

She reported that the cost of being journalists and activists is very high right now, with hundreds of arrests and attacks each day, and destruction of any tapes or evidence. Bani and many others have even considered fleeing the country, before it becomes near to impossible to escape. In the meantime, they continue with their protests and marches.

Related:
Iran Youth Speak: from Scoop 44

Iran: The Story So Far

For this 8 Part mini-documentary, video producer Nate Hadden cut together footage of the protest at Fruitvale BART in Oakland, CA, along with interviews with the protesters on Jan. 7, 2009.

Oscar Grant Protest Part 1