Alan DeWayne Blueford Murdered by Oakland Police Department
At or about midnight, May 6, 2012, Alan and 2 friends were standing on the corner of 90 th and Birch Street waiting for “some girls in a white chevy,” Alan described to his father, Alan Blueford, during a phone call. After the phone call, police officers approached Alan and his friends, with guns drawn. The police officers had been called to respond to another incident, but decided to stop Alan and his friends when they saw them because they “believed the young men had a concealed weapon.”
Alan ran down Birch Street, away from the police officers.
Approximately two blocks down Birch Street on the 9200 Block the officer chasing Alan murdered him by shooting him 3 times. The officer also shot himself.
Although, Alan had his brown wallet with his ID, Oakland Police Department never called to tell his parents he was shot and killed.
Alan’s two friends were detained for over 6 hours. After their release, one of the young men had the traumatic task of calling Alan’s parents and telling them Alan was shot and killed by an Oakland Police Officer.
Initial reports put out by OPD, stated that “a suspect” (Alan) and a police officer exchanged gun fire and the officer was shot in the stomach by the suspect and the suspect was shot by the officer. Both were said to have been rushed to Highland Hospital where Alan died and the police officer was expected to recover. OPD also included in their reports witness statements who said they saw Alan shooting. OPD reported that they retrieved Alan’s firearm at the scene.
Later OPD changed their story to state that the officer was shot in the leg and an investigation was in process to determine whether the officer was wounded by “friendly fire.”
Only one of the officers chased Alan.
What we now know is that Alan Blueford never shot the police officer, at the police officer, or anyone else. OPD changed their story yet again, admitting and confirming that THE OFFICER SHOT HIMSELF.
We also know that Alan was never rushed to Highland Hospital. Only the police officer. Alan’s body lied in the streets for approximately 4 hours.
Alan was shot multiple times by the police officer.
The family has reason to believe that Alan never had a firearm.
The family has reason to believe that Alan never caused the officer to be threatened. Alan’s body can be described as a shorter stature (approximately 5 ft 6 ½ inches) and thin built (140 lbs).•
When Alan’s family learned of the claimed circumstances surrounding Alan’s death, we all knew that the facts were not true! Additionally, because they never called to confirm his death, we were sadly left with hope that the unnamed “suspect” was not Alan. He was joy to many people. We are suffering from a great loss.
Now OPD claims that the “victim” (no longer suspect) was a convicted felon on probation. His family will simply respond by saying felony probation does not describe Alan’s character. To describe Alan, you have to share that he 1] was a Christian; 2] worked with the disabled children at Skyline, one of whom described “Al” as his “bestfriend”; 3] began his mornings at Skyline High School by praying with his Godmother and Supervisor; 4] passed out candy at his
grandmother’s every Halloween; and 5] was well known by his family and friends as a respectful young man. But even more important is the fact that when the police officers decided not to respond to the call, but rather to bother Alan and his friends, all they knew is that they were 3 African-American young men. That’s why Alan was murdered.Alan’s family is seeking justice for his death. We are determined to have this “incident” thoroughly investigated and all wrongful parties prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We ask that all of you support us by calling the City Councilman for District 7, Larry Reid, at 510-238-7007.
out of respect for the deceased and his family, and the fact that on stolen land this will never stop, these are my only sentiments to be attached to this post…
Only in America.
this is nauseating.
(via asiaticblack)
Debut mixtape from Yt Flinstone released today. cover art by meeee
Dope lyricism, production from BBNG, Dilla, Madlib and more
check out the bro for free
lnr
http://lnrlfe.bandcamp.com/album/placebo-effect-audio-manga-1
What is Pan-Africanism?
Initially an anti-slavery and anti-colonial movement amongst black people of Africa and the Diaspora in the late nineteenth century, the aims of Pan-Africanism have evolved through the ensuing decades.
Pan-Africanism has covered calls for African unity (both as a continent and as a people), nationalism, independence, political and economic cooperation, and historical and cultural awareness (especially for Afrocentric versus Eurocentric interpretations).
History of Pan-Africanism
Some claim that Pan-Africanism goes back to the writings of ex-slaves such as Olaudah Equiano and Ottobah Cugoano. Pan-Africanism here related to the ending of the slave trade, and the need to rebut the ‘scientific’ claims of African inferiority.
For Pan-Africanists, such as Edward Wilmot Blyden, part of the call for African unity was to return the Diaspora to Africa, whereas others, such as Frederick Douglass, called for rights in their adopted countries.
Blyden and James Africanus Beale Horton, working in Africa, are seen as the true fathers of Pan-Africanism — writing about the potential for African nationalism and self-government amidst growing European colonialism. They, in turn, inspired a new generation of Pan-Africanists at the turn of the twentieth century — JE Casely Hayford, and Martin Robinson Delany (who coined the phrase ‘Africa for Africans’ later picked up by Marcus Garvey).
African Association and Pan-African Congresses
Pan-Africanism gained legitimacy with the founding of the African Association in London in 1897, and the first Pan-African conference held, again in London, in 1900. Henry Sylvester Williams, the power behind the African Association, and his colleagues were interested in uniting the whole of the African Diaspora, and gaining political rights for those of African decent. Others were more concerned with the struggle against colonialism and Imperial rule in Africa and the Caribbean — Dusé Mohamed Ali, for example, believed that change could only come through economic development. Marcus Garvey combined the two paths, calling for political and economic gains as well as a return to Africa (either physically or though a return to an Africanized ideology).
Between the world wars, Pan-Africanism was influenced by communism and trade unionism, especially through the writings of George Padmore, Isaac Wallace-Johnson, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Paul Robeson, CLR James, WEB Du Bois, and Walter Rodney. Significantly, Pan-Africanism had expanded out beyond the continent into Europe, the Caribbean and Americas. WEB Du Bois organized a series of Pan-African Congresses in London, Paris, and New York in the first half of the twentieth century. International awareness of Africa was also heightened by the Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935.
Also between the two world wars, Africa’s two main colonial powers, France and Britain, attracted a younger group of Pan-Africanists: Aimé Césaire, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Cheikh Anta Diop, and Ladipo Solanke. As student activists they gave rise to Africanist philosophies such as Négritude.
International Pan-Africanism had probably reached its zenith by the end of World War II when WEB Du Bois held the fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester (in 1945).
African Independence
After the second World War, Pan-Africanist interests once more returned to the African continent, with a particular focus on African unity and liberation. A number of leading Pan-Africanists, particularly George Padmore and WEB Du Bois, emphasized their commitment to Africa by emigrating (in both cases to Ghana) and becoming African citizens. Across the continent, a new group of Pan-Africanists arose amongst the nationalists — Kwame Nkrumah, Sékou Ahmed Touré, Ahmed Ben Bella, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Amilcar Cabral, and Patrice Lumumba.
In 1963, the Organization African Unity was formed to advance cooperation and solidarity between newly independent African countries and fight against colonialism. In an attempt to revamp the organization, and move away from it being seen as an alliance of African dictators, it was re-imagined in July 2002 as the African Union.
Modern Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism today is seen much more as a cultural and social philosophy than the politically driven movement of the past. People, such as Molefi Kete Asante, hold to the importance of ancient Egyptian and Nubian cultures being part of a (black) African heritage, and seek a re-evaluation of Africa’s place, and the Diaspora, in the world.
In my personal opinion Pan African Ideology today should encompass a international consciousness of everyone associated with Africa to tackle social issues. Most importantly it should focus on TACKLING the social defamation of people of color. Reversing all the negativity that has been portrayed about blackness.I AM MY BROTHERS KEEPER.
References
A History of Modern Africa by Richard J Reid, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
Pan-African History: Political figures from Africa and the Diaspora since 1787 by Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood, Routledge, 2003.
The Routledge Companion to Decolonization by Dietmar Rothermund, Routledge, 2006.
General History of Africa: VIII Africa Since 1935 edited by Ali A Mazrui, James Currey, 1999.
(via fyeahblackhistory)
(via jimmydrama)
I think this is the best pic ive ever seen in my life thus far.
African American doctors attempting to save the life of a Klu Klux Klan member:
This photo left me speechless, this is what respect is.
Such a powerful photo. It just goes to show that through the eyes of charity, humility, and selflessness, we realize that anyone’s life is worth saving.
I never thought this post would get so many notes. I just admire the meaning that is attached with this powerful picture.
One of the best posts i have encountered on Tumblr.
Goosebumps.
This photo says so much.
(via mycreativesoul)
(via paidaze)