The power of numbers…#Oakland #OscarGrant

I am 27 years old, I’ve lived in Oakland all my life. I grew up in Oakland, and it’s safe for me to say that I have experienced Oakland. I have had my share in mass gatherings, I’ve had my share of interactions with the Oakland Police. It is safe for me to say that I am no fan of the feeling I get when I come in contact with the Oakland Police.

With that said, after doing a lot of reading, shifting through news coverage, searching through twitter data, viewing live twitpics and videos from mobile phones in the Downtown Oakland area…the power of numbers continues to intrigue me.

It all was based on a random thought or premise that the number of people who gathered in Oakland, really weren’t gathering to make a point. They were gathering for a personal experience.

How many people would have actually been in Downtown Oakland if the following were removed?

- People who wanted to simply take a twitpic (The digital age rubber-neckers)
- The people who weren’t willing to be arrested
- The people who were involved with a media/news outlet
- The modern day Bloggers

I have a feeling, that if you removed these people from the area Downtown Oakland, the scene would have been a lot more desert, baron, and controllable. The crowd would have obviously been smaller, and law enforcement would have been able to easily spot those who proved to be a real violent and rioting threat.

It makes me sad that in a city such as Oakland, with such a historically powerful voice in modern America’s civil liberties and injustice is so easily flawed by people who truly aren’t down for “The ‘Cause”. People seem to flock to downtown as if there was a mass parade and fan fare celebrating some great holiday.

My theory is, if you removed those who I listed, who really would be left?

I’ve been that person, digitally rubber-necking, trying to capture my experience in photos and tweets. But realistically…when you’re doing that, you simply make the numbers of people gathering rise and the situation look worse than it may really be.

I’d go out on a limb and say the MAJORITY, of people who were in Downtown Oakland fall somewhere on the list above (which of course can be amended and more worthless categories of people added).

When you take away those numbers of people, who’s really left? What type of standoff would that have been?

Honestly, downtown Oakland was crowded with a bunch of social on-lookers, waiting to see what other people would do, willing to take no action themselves. Not very many people willing to do anything drastic, or violent, or assume any form of leadership role to help guide the mis-guided in a positive or negative direction, Neutralist you might say.

My honest opinion….most people were simply in the way, and trying to enjoy the chaos so they could have a story to tell. Rather that story be for profit, for blogging, or for personal reasons…story chasers never seem to write their own chapters or novels, their life remains a opt-ed article, viewed, heard but providing no long-term affect.

and to the Neutralist, I say with passion…

YOU WERE IN THE WAY, and you raised the numbers of people standing around, making a situation seem a lot worse than what it truly should have been.

Simply to take a twitpic? …metaphorically …and realistically speaking…I hope the number of views you get are well worth it…because that’s what it’s all about in the long run…the numbers…no? Number of photo or article views? Television ratings? Papers sold?

You aren’t willing to make change, you aren’t willing to stick your neck out on the frontline for social injustice. You simply want to document it or what happens…to help improve or sustain your numbers….

Get out the way.