According to the San Francisco Chronicle, after listening to seven days of testimony, Judge Don Clay concluded on June 4 that Mehserle hadn’t gotten his stun gun and his service pistol mixed up when he shot Grant. “There’s no doubt in my mind,” Clay said at the close of the former officer’s preliminary hearing in Oakland, “that Mr. Mehserle intended to shoot Oscar Grant with a gun and not a Taser.”

Whether or not Mehserle will ultimately be found guilty of Grant’s murder of course, remains to be seen. Rarely has any law enforcement officer been found guilty for the murder or human and civil rights violation of the people of color they brutalized, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I said earlier that most of us breathed a sigh of relief. That’s because of the fear that Mehserle’s “reason” for shooting Grant – that he had actually been reaching for his Taser stun gun instead of his firearm – would be believed and that would be the end of it. The reason for this fear has nothing to do with paranoia, but with the complicity of mainstream media.

Before Mehserle had even secured a lawyer and turned himself into the police to be questioned, it was the media that parroted the line that Mehserle had been attempting to reach for his Taser and grabbed his gun instead.

It is important that seeds of support be planted in the minds of the general public. This is how the media functions as a most crucial cog in the wheels of oppression. The work of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, credited with being an early investigative journalist in the area of lynching, bears witness to this fact. Much of Wells-Barnett’s work reprinted newspaper accounts that not only reported on the lynchings of Black men accused of raping white women, but many of the papers actually called for the lynchings to take place.

Most recently in Inglewood, CA, the police department killed again with the shooting of Marcus Smith. Smith and others had been at a party the night of May 17 when fighting started. Police were called to break it up and upon their arrival, they state that Smith pointed a gun at them. Witnesses to the shooting state that not only was Smith unarmed, but that he was shot in the back. One account has Inglewood police officers planting a gun near Smith’s still-warm body.

Inglewood police officials maintain that Smith was armed and attempted to fire on police officers. Additionally, both a department spokesman and the Chief of police, a Black woman, stated to the media that Smith was “a known gang member,” and “had a criminal record which included a felony narcotic offense.” When I first read this the thought that came to mind was, “At what point did the police know he was a gang member – before they shot him 18 times in the back or immediately thereafter?”

The purpose of an official statement from an authoritative body that a person “was a known gang member,” or, “had a criminal record” is to automatically trigger in the public’s mind that the shooting was, more than likely, justified. After all, a gang member/criminal, more than likely, would be carrying a gun and prepared to use it.

On Bill O’Reilly’s January 9, 2009 show, during his ‘Talking Points” memo, ostensibly decrying the violence in Oakland that erupted after a march to protest Grant’s murder, O’Reilly described Grant as laying on the ground “reportedly incapacitated.” I wonder about O’Reilly’s choice of the word ‘incapacitated.’ Technically speaking he did use the word correctly, meaning “to deprive of ability, qualification, or strength; make incapable or unfit; disable.” But in common, everyday usage, it brings to mind someone who can’t do anything because they are too drunk or too high.

If he had only used the word “compliant” or “cooperating” to describe Oscar Grant, than perhaps I wouldn’t think he was, in some way, trying to say that Grant was responsible for his own murder. The media not only report facts and information, they create public opinion; they not only reflect reality but they also shape and create it. The media is a most powerful institution in this country. But, as Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-defense once stated, “the spirit of the people is greater than the man’s technology.”

The job of critically analyzing the media and all that comes from it is not the job of specialists in far off places. It is all of our jobs.
We must all be up to this task.
Our lives depend on it.
And that’s not a worn-out cliché.

Thandisizwe Chimurenga is a community activist and journalist. She can be heard most Thursdays on “Some of Us Are Brave: A Black Women’s Radio Program” on KPFK – Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles. She is also the Director of the Ida B. Wells Institute, a leadership development and media training program for Black women and girls. Her social commentary blog is exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.

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You are a three-time Grammy award winning artist. No one can dispute that you are one of the leading rappers in the industry. You have the first amendment right to record music of your own choosing. But I feel that the recent release of your song attacking Jesse Jackson and Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain only hurts Senator Obama. Obama, who you have stated is a friend of yours and offered your support to. But with friends like you, Obama doesn’t need enemies.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright , Father Michael Pflegler, Jesse Jackson and now you have all made public statements during this historic election that were an unnecessary distraction and harmed Obama, forcing him to respond. If you were really his friend you would realize that maybe you should just shut up! This is a close race and there are many Americans who are undecided and looking for an excuse not to vote for a Black man. How could you go and have the audacity to call Hillary Clinton an “irrelevant bitch?”

I can envision the McCain and Republican attack ads now. Pictures of you and Obama. Exploiting your comments and letting white America know that Obama has the support of rappers like you who call white women bitches. Our organization has a long track record and history of condemning not just you but all gangster rappers who disparage women, and glorify violence. We are not ever backing down from our position.

Ludacris, we’re calling for you to apologize to those that you disparaged in your song. With a special emphasis in regards to Sen. Clinton. Sen. Clinton is a former first lady, wife, mother and woman. I’m sure when you see Michelle Obama you don’t envision her in that manner and would never call her that. No woman deserves to be called that term.

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly has previously taken you to task, denouncing your controversial lyrics. His public pressure cost you a significant sponsorship with the Pepsi Corporation. Oprah Winfrey took you to task for the misogynist role you have in rap when you appeared on her show a couple of years ago. And now Obama has personally denounced you. I doubt very seriously whether you will be on his guest list for the inauguration. When are you going to realize that yes, you’re rich, but not respected. You have become your own worst enemy?

I support Obama with all my heart and want him to win. If you truly feel the same way, then maybe you should humble yourself and apologize. If not, can you and any other Obama “friends” out there just shut up until after the election? Because if Obama has any more friends like you, he doesn’t need enemies.

Najee Ali is Executive Director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E, a national civil rights organization that advocates for the human rights of oppressed people regardless of race, gender or religion. He was selected by Wave Newspapers and Our Weekly Newspaper as one of the 25 most influential black leaders in Los Angeles. More information is available at: www.islamichope.org.

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