Lessons learned in the moment

By Jack Bryson (interviewed by Joyce Mills)

Editor’s note: Jack Bryson is a relative of Oscar Grant who was killed by BART police in Oakland in 2008
OAKLAND, CA — Thinking about lessons I’ve learned over the last eight years and, I ask, “Why do I care and fight so much?” I’ve been labeled an everything you can think of, but basically I’m a young man that knows things aren’t right, and when you know something isn’t right, you stand up against it!
December 31, 2008 was a life-changing experience for me when Oscar (Grant) was murdered at the Fruitvale station by a BART police officer. I was numb. I couldn’t believe it happened to our family. My sons were grieving in a park. Eventually they were joined by hundreds of other people and surrounded by police and helicopters.  People asked me, ‘What are we going to do?” I woke that day to the community’s pain.
I’ve had a lot of friends die or go to prison.  I felt bad, but these were things you just tried to avoid, like being taxed, paying for choices, things you accepted. We would say, “If I go to prison, look out for my family.” When police kill it’s another level. They are supposed to protect and serve, not violate your world.
I went to rallies and marches. I didn’t feel I fit in. I didn’t see my friends there, street folks, like we were from a different world. People used words I had never heard of. I was confused, uncomfortable, but I had to be there, I needed help now.
I said to myself, this is what Frederick Douglas talked about. I was denied a good education, in “special ed” because I wasn’t able to succeed. Can any kid succeed carrying physical and mental abuse, on top of being hungry?  Can a father succeed for that matter, without a job because of skin color or a felony, without a degree. Gentrification. Displacement. People from “ghettos” forced to the suburbs. Suburban people abandoning their communities. Background checks on your affiliations. They consider your community an affiliation!
These things came together in my thinking.  You can’t talk about one thing without talking about all of it. I see Mario Martinez’ family struggling for answers, Sandra Bland’s, Freddie Gray’s, Mike Brown’s, Shawn Bell’s and I know I can help. I wondered, would they do me like they have done to Rev. Pinkney? [Pinkney was imprisoned in Michigan for politically confronting the corporations.] But you stand up, use your voice, and revolutionary ideas just start kicking in. Now I have people who support and believe in me, organizations I honestly consider a shield against anything happening to me.
I made mistakes. I grew. This is about collective understanding and the importance of fighting.  Governments everywhere have their feet on the necks of the poor.  If we get a victory here in Oakland it will help others to stand up.  At one point or another our class will get tired of all this. Others will wake up like I have.  How long can you keep people down?