An Open Letter to BART. And a Message.

Categories: Front Page, Open Mic

Dear BART,

How do you think we all got an equal seat on the bus or at the lunch counter?   It was after 381 days of the highly coordinated & therefore effectively sustained Montgomery Bus Boycotts and after 6 months of brave & tireless Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-ins.

Many people were inconvenienced by the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, do you think Rosa Parks should have paid restitution for that?

Woolworth’s claimed black people were costing them too much money in lost revenue and ruining their business, should the Greensboro 4 have paid restitution for refusing to leave the “whites only” lunch counter?

Dear BART, the time has come to ask yourselves ‘which side are you on’??

You do not have to remain a part of the problem, you have the power to choose to be a part of the solution to end the war on black people; that is why we, The Black Friday 14 shut down BART on Nov 28th, Black Friday, the busiest shopping day in the nation–inconvenience & lost revenue was the result of our actions, however, inconvenience & lost revenue are not the goal/prize, they were the vehicle for our message

You must keep your eyes on the prize, which is not charging us with restitution, the prize is ending the war on black people.  

As we were being arrested, we were chanting “TELL THE TRUTH & STOP THE LIES, OSCAR GRANT DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE!”.  Oscar Grant was murder by BART police who were then essentially sanctioned by the state as Johannes Mehserle got an 11mo slap on the wrist sentence.

Oscar Grant was murder by BART police who were then essentially sanctioned by the state as Johannes Mehserle got an 11mo slap on the wrist sentence. We, the #BlackFriday14 are not criminals, we were protesting murdering criminals belonging to the largest, most heavily weaponized & funded, & therefore most dangerous gang in the nation, the police.  

BART’s hands are dirtied with Oscar Grant’s blood and you did not cleanse your hands of Oscar’s blood by “allowing us to hold vigils” at Grant Station on the anniversaries of Johannes Mehserle murdering him, you did not allow us to assemble there, that is not some favor you did us, it is our constitutionally granted right

We did not bring this war on black people, we are here to end it, by any means necessary, including a highly coordinated & effectively sustained protest of BART if you continue to be a part of the problem and not the solution.  

Sincerely, 

Mollie Costello of The Black Friday 14

#NotOneMoreDime  #BlackLivesMatter #BlackPowerMatters #EndPoliceTerror #SupportTheBlackFriday14

 

On January 1st, 2015 more than 400 people gathered at the Fruitvale BART to remember Oscar Grant. Among those were the families of other victims of police terror, including the Blueford family.  Here are Jeralynn and Adam Blueford speaking, with a message for BART.

Jeralynn: “…They act like what were are doing out here in the streets is going away. But we’re not going away… We’re coming out with the ‘Alan’ bill, and any police officer who turns off their camera while on duty will be prosecuted… and run out of town… it’s just genocide on our youth…

They’re mad because we’ve taken over the BART Station? We’re tired. We’re going to take over some more BART stations… because if we don’t, they’re just going to close their doors  and act like this is just another… demonstration. But it’s not. It’s a revolution…”

 

#BlackFriday14

Almost 8000 people have signed the petition demanding that BART withdraw its demands for restitution and drop the charges. Be one of them.

57794

Comments are closed.