Oscar Grant Plaza

A Hole in #OO’s History

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As part of my research for an independent history of Occupy Oakland, I recently Googled “Occupy Oakland” site:youtube.com/ looking for interviews with campers during the occupation of Oscar Grant Plaza. After sampling hundreds of videos, I’m frankly stumped. What puzzles me most is the similarity between the YouTube archives and mainstream media. Occupiers have of course slammed MSM for focusing on fracas and vandalism to the exclusion of #OO’s positive achievements. Yet a large proportion of YouTube clips devoted to Occupy Oakland show street skirmishes and smashy just like MSM—indeed, … Continued

Where the name Oscar Grant Plaza comes from

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Not alot of people were a part of Occupy Oakland at the very beginning, and some may be wondering why people call the plaza outside of city hall Oscar Grant Plaza, rather than the city given name which is Frank Ogawa Plaza First, a quick background. Frank Ogawa was a victim of the US injustice system and spent many years in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, and was elected to Oakland city Council in 1966, and was the first Japanese American elected to hold a city council seat in … Continued