Oakland youth speak out

Editor's note: On Sept. 28 the Bay Area News and Letters sponsored an open ended discussion on what revolutionary change means with several Black youth in Oakland who are part of Silence the Violence, a project of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Below are excerpts from their comments.

My name is Chuck West of Silence the Violence campaign. We go out on the streets, trying to do something about the violence in Oakland, California. This is the first time for me to speak in front of everybody like this. I got into the campaign when I noticed the violence spiral in Oakland, a lot of my friends getting killed. I saw the power of music to do something about it.

Franceyez: When I was 13 I was hungry. I was on the street early. I wasn't caring too much about what was going on in the world. About three years ago I enrolled myself in high school and came to the Covenant House [a center for homeless youth]. I realized there was something I need to do, I need to make a change. Us here together now have really proved how strong we are as human beings. Once you find out what your purpose is in life you are a human being. You are a being with a place here on earth. That is what a revolution is for me: to understand what we are, who we are, what it is that we need to do.

Queen Deelah: I've been a youth activist in Oakland for about eight years. I got involved with a music community program called Kids First. It provided a space for me when, as a young person, I felt there was so much more that people could be doing. I felt the things I wanted to do for my city were not being done, and what I had to say was being overlooked. Out of that came Silence the Violence campaign. What it does is takes the plan that I have as an individual for Oakland and helps me carry it out. I feel that the revolution is being bold, standing out and being different. Being different can get you killed in this area, it's very risky to stand up and stand out and have a voice. This is what we on this panel represent, we are the bold ones, we are out there on the street every day. People can see: here we are, here is our music, here is our message. That's what a revolution is, being bold, being out there. In comparison to the past movements we are not as visible. The churches are not out there, the revolutionaries are not out there, letting us know this is where you go. We feel ignored. We're being told: no, no, no. Even the things we create we're told are wrong. Where do we go as young people? Without hope, without a place to turn, it's no wonder youth turn to violence. We know where the drugs and the guns come from and who brings them into the community. But who is willing to talk about that? If we do, where is the system to protect us? It takes all kinds of organizations, beyond color bounds, beyond religion. People need to stop cracking down on young people as though we have created this system. The system cracks down on us. They blame hip-hop as though it's the problem. It is not the problem. The root of the problem is the system that created the situation we find ourselves in. It's going to take a human society to un-teach the bad things we have been taught.

Diamond: We didn't create the problem, but we need to come up with the solutions. The revolution is not comfortable. During the Civil Rights Movement, I am sure it was not comfortable to walk across those bridges and face the dogs and the water hoses, but they did what they needed to do. Our time is different. We fight for environmental justice and human rights for all. We have to come together in unity and use our power, even our power to vote. A lot of our youth are being locked up, are steered to drugs. We need to overturn three-strikes laws.

African-American audience member: Are you the height of the fight for equality? Back in the 1960s there was talk of revolution. I feel that is where you are now.

Franceyez: Yes, obviously. The elders in the room can compare this generation to when they were our age. A group called WAR said, "Think. It ain't illegal yet." If you are able to think, to move forward in your mind as you create and make actions happen, you won't be complacent, you will move forward. Since the 1960s, that's four generations, four different decades, four different types of people. Us here, as children of parents that lived through those times, we are here to make that change. We have to. If not, who is going to do it for us?

Diamond: It's about the future. It's not only about this right here, right now, it's about our future. Through a green economy we can create jobs to lift people out of poverty.

D.Nok: For me, Silence the Violence is a light and a door to the world. We pay for wars, we pay for destruction of ourselves. Silence the Violence is more than just about gun violence. There is gun violence, psychological violence, mental violence, abuse violence, there is domestic violence, environmental violence. When I speak on Silence the Violence I speak of all those. I am not anti-anything, except I am anti-government. You can talk about change all you want, but you have to support it, this is the only way that it is going to happen. Like the sister said, it is important to vote, but at the end of the day, what matters is the individual's thought, it goes back to you. If you want to change something, change the community that you're walking in every day. That's what I mean by revolution. I've been studying the revolutions of the past four decades. I am studying history, because you won't know where you're going if you don't know where you're coming from.

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