Front entrance to Oakland Technical High School. Oakland Unified School District reopened on Monday without an agreement with the union OEA on how to safely reopen schools.
On this show:
0:08 – Oakland Unified School District reopened, virtually, on Monday — but without a union agreement. So what does this mean for teachers and academic instruction? We’re joined by Chaz Garcia, an OUSD teacher and 2nd Vice President of the Oakland Education Association, and Roseann Torres, who represents District 5 on the Oakland Unified School Board.
0:35 – Attorneys for the family of Sean Monterrosa have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Vallejo Police Department and the officer who killed the 22-year-old man. They’re calling the fatal police shooting “flat out murder.” KPFA’s Chris Lee (@chrislee_xyz) reports.
0:40 – John Burris is a civil rights attorney representing the family of Sean Monterrosa, shot and killed by Vallejo Police on June 2. He says this case, in which the police union has destroyed evidence to avoid repercussions, is just one example of the Vallejo Police acting “out of control.”
0:54 – In the final installment of our series “Taken From Us,” we remember Oscar Grant. In 2009, a BART police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Grant at Fruitvale BART Station, prompting mass protests in Oakland. KPFA’s Chris Lee (@chrislee_xyz) spoke to Wanda Johnson, Oscar’s mother, for the latest story in our series “Taken From Us” about the lives of those killed by police violence. This story was edited by Lucy Kang (@ThisIsLucyKang).
1:08 – Last week, a massive explosion caused by the detonation of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate decimated about a quarter of Lebanon’s capital city, Beirut, killing more than 200 people and destroying three hospitals, the city’s port, and the homes of an estimated 200,000 people.We’re joined by Rania Masri (@rania_masri), a Lebanese-American academic, activist, human rights advocate and professor of environmental science, currently in Beirut. She calls for political responsibility and asks, “What kind of a political system is it that allows for this level of incompetence?”
1:20 – Four million Californians may be at risk of COVID evictions by September, and homelessness is expected to increase by 20% in just one month. Melvin Willis, an organizer for ACCE in Contra Costa County and member of Richmond City Council, joins us for a conversation about these looming evictions and ACCE organizing for AB 1436, which would strengthen eviction protections while creating a way for landlords to still get paid.
1:41 – Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s husband, David Lacey, is facing charges for pulling a gun on Black Lives Matter protester Melina Abdullah (@DocMellyMel) and saying “I will shoot you.” Melina joins us to discuss the incident. She is the chair of Pan-African Studies at Cal State-LA and the co-founder of the LA chapter of Black Lives Matter.
1:50 – Wealthy Democratic donor Ed Buck is facing four new felony charges. For more, we’re joined by Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne), a strategist and political commentator based in Los Angeles. She’s a lead organizer in the movement for justice for Timothy Dean and Gemmel Moore, two Black gay men found dead at the home of Ed Buck.