A Shortage Of Heroes

Disclaimer: I don't live there, I don't work there, I don't hang out there, and I haven't been there in years. I don't participate in the day-to-day goings-on there, and I can't say that I have any close friends who live there.

But geez Oakland - W.T.F.?

Granted I only "know" what I've read in newspapers and seen on news reports but damn people. Here's my version of boiling down what I "know":

On New Years Day, early in the morning, an individual started a fight on a local public transit system unit. Other individuals on that unit were concerned enough about this person's behavior that they called the police. The individual in question was more than likely intoxicated - as is not unusual on the first day of a new year. In any event, the police responded to the calls made.

The individual was found and things spun out of control - quickly. Horribly. Movements were made that, in hindsight, shouldn't have been made. Things were yelled that shouldn't have been yelled. Tempers all around flared and no one listened to what anyone was saying. Fight or flight took hold and in the midst of things, mistakes - huge, ugly mistakes - were made. Somebody died because of actions that had occurred.

Public opinion cried out for immediate justice - but justice is rarely immediate. Within hours, marches were staged and protests were arranged. Memorials for this individual were almost immediate - and that's a good thing. That's the right thing. A life was taken, no matter how or why, and those that needed to be held accountable - ultimately - ARE being tried in a court of law.

Three months goes by.

Another individual - desperate and feeling hopeless ... lost ... trapped ... makes a simple mistake and is stopped by a well-intentioned police officer who has no idea, at first, of the history of the person he has stopped. Things spin out of control - quickly. Horribly. Movements were made that, in hindsight, shouldn't have been made.

And hours later, after the hopeless, lost, trapped person bolted and ran, and after the SWAT team was brought in, three officers lay dead and a forth is kept on life support so that, in his final hours, his family can allow doctors to transplant his organs to other people in need ... a final act of giving back.

In the light of day today, more tributes have occurred but Oakland ... you've spoken already. In the hours as the news came in, four lonely votive candles were placed in honor of your fallen heroes. No huge mounds of flowers. No stuffed animals. No photos. No protests. No memorials. It is as though Oakland has given up on itself. Their leaders have been a joke in other towns for years. Their streets have been ignored and turned over to the bold and careless who use it to troll for new victims. Their neighbors are in fear and don't have enough locks or weapons to provide comfort. Their children have no respect for others ... or for themselves. They are a proud community but they've precious little to be proud of. They've lost your way.

This could be any town in any state, really. And before ya' say "not mine", consider that EVERY community has "that area" where the desperate and forgotten have time to seethe over their pasts and decide on their futures. For every town where the "haves" live, there is a place for the "have nots".

For today - all eyes are on Oakland. What the community decides to do - how this community reacts - especially this week - will probably shape this town for years.

As I see it, Oakland has a shortage of heroes. They need to start the process of rescuing and of being respectful of themselves. They will either pull together as a people, or they will pull themselves apart. They have proven they are tough as individuals. I hope they can see the benefits of working together - as a community - towards a brighter and safer future.