The Oscar Grant Verdict is In: = Justice = Injustice?

Image Source: www.foxnews.com via The Associated Press

During the summer, I blogged about the Oscar Grant trial via my post entitled, "Street Reals."

The verdict for Johannes Mehserle, the transit officer who killed Grant on New Year's Day 2009 (in Oakland, California), was this past Friday, November 5th. Mr. Mehserle was sentenced to 2 years in prison, credited with time already served. His release appears to be set for Summer 2011.

From processing this case/situation, to experiencing the new Tyler Perry movie, "For Colored Girls," please bare with me - I'm a bit wiped out to offer commentary on the verdict. However, I feel I would be remiss if I did not follow up on the "Street Reals" post.

So being the librarian I am, I would like to point you to 2 resources that provide a good context for what is going on in Oakland, California, and therefore, in America, right now, concerning poor people, the police, the courts, justice, and what it all means to be a certain "type" of American (I'll leave that up to you to interpret). All of these elements are mixed together into an explosive ball called "The Oscar Grant Case," and for those of us who are educators and information professionals of American ilk (and beyond) - this situation deserves our attention and contemplation.

Story from Oakland (CA)-area news source:

Mehserle sentence: Oakland rally over Oscar Grant shooting death ends with 152 arrests

Story from DaveyD's blog (if you don't know who DaveyD is - find out):

Where are all the Oscar Grant protests when we're shooting each other in the hood?

Oscar Grant Orgs Condemn OPD: Homeland Security, CIA, FBI & DOJ Descended on Oakland