NOTE:The Mehserle trial hits close to home. Literally, the alleged crime took place near a BART station in Oakland which many RYSE members and staff use to get around every day. Figuratively, it represents an awareness of crime and violence which partially birthed the ideas of the RYSE Center and LifePortal in general. We believe that social awareness and discussion are the keys to stopping the kind of violence which led to the trial. The image to the right comes courtesy of colorlines.com, while the note is written by the RYSE Center's co-executive director Kanwarpal Dhaliwal. We encourage you, the LifePortal user, to stay informed of the trial and react to the verdict in a way that will hopefully lead to an end of this kind of violence.

7/2/10 From: Kanwarpal Dhaliwal, RYSE Center Co-Executive Dirctor (Richmond) -

We have been in conversation with some of you regarding the potential impact of the Mehserle verdict both at RYSE and within the community at large. We met as a staff yesterday and discussed our plans to be prepared with information and support that will be responsive to the varying possible reactions and responses of the young people we serve. Our approach to a response plan is to both support and enable young people to express and explore their reactions and feelings, to help direct and connect these reactions to healthy and productive channels of engagement, and avoid putting themselves and/or their peers in potential situations of harm or burden.

In the next day, staff will be creating and gathering educational materials and information including Know Your Rights information, connections to organized mobilizations that are taking place in Oakland and other places in the bay, and information about the case itself. We will be creating a current events/current issues section in the front space as a way to raise awareness and foster discussion on the issues that surround this case. We will also be building an altar to remember those we love and lost to violence and invite members to contribute.

Staff are working with a few key partners to be prepared to set up and facilitate supportive spaces for young people after the verdict to express and explore their emotions and reactions, and to consider how to channel their emotions into healthy action. In the event that protests take place, we are committed to directing youth who choose such channel of engagement to connect with organized and coordinated mobilizations, which we will help them connect to.

We will stay in touch as needed and also invite and ask that if folks know of or are creating other plans, to let us know so we can ensure effective coordination.

The following links provide information and perspectives from local news sources, community based agencies and organizing efforts that we thought might be useful:

Violence is not Justice - PSA from Youth Uprising:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5sNMaJkVvc

Justice or Just Us Beyond the Hype of the Mehserle Trial:
http://www.ellabakercenter.org/blog/2010/07/justice-or-just-us-beyond-the-hype-of-the-mehserle-trial

Updates, information, and editorials:
http://www.oaklandseen.com