January 20, 2009
Presented in part by Alameda County Board of Supervisor’s Keith
Carson, District 5 Supervisor.

“This is a call to action,” says Supervisor Carson, “We are blessed to
have scores of hard working service organizations here in Alameda
County.  We want to ensure our communities have opportunities to be
engaged in community service and know that they have a place to go for
help during these difficult economic times.”

“Happy New Year’s Eve, I love you, and may God Bless Your Family.”

That was the text that Cephus Johnson said he sent to his nephew, 22-year-old Oscar Grant III, at 12:49 a.m. on Thursday.  But Grant never responded, and a little more than an hour later he was shot in the back and killed on the Fruitvale BART station platform by a BART police officer, according to cell-phone videos and eye-witness accounts of the incident.

Attorney John Burris and witness Mario Pangelina talk with the press about the January 1 shooting at the Fruitvale BART station.

BART officials said there is no video footage of the incident available from BART surveillance cameras.  However, numerous witnesses and at least three video accounts of the incident taken from cell phones reveal that Grant was unarmed and lying face down on the platform at the time he was shot.

“The video tapes speak volumes,” said John Burris, the Oakland-based civil rights lawyer representing Grant’s family, at a recent press conference.  BART officials have declined to comment.

Both the BART Police and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office are in the process of conducting investigations into the shooting.  In addition, Grant’s family announced today that they will file a $25 million dollar lawsuit claim with BART on Monday, and a civil rights lawsuit to follow.

“It is without a doubt the most unconscionable shooting I have seen, ever,” said Burris.  “In that Mr. Grant at the time he was shot and killed was in fact laying on his stomach with his back to two officers, with one officer kneeling down at his neck area and the other officer straddling over him and standing in a bent position with Mr. Grant’s back to him.  He did not have a weapon, he was not kicking, and he had been turned over.”

Burris believes that the facts involved in the shooting warrant consideration of criminal charges for murder against the officer, and plans to make this request of the Alameda County District Attorney this week.

Sidewalk memorial for Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale station.

A statement released Sunday morning from BART Police Chief Gary Gee does not give any further details about the case that weren’t already released, and asks that the public “be patient, refrain from jumping to conclusions, and allow the investigators do their job.”  BART officials said that the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave.

Also according to the press release, five BART police officers pulled Grant and three others onto the platform in response to a report that two groups of riders were involved in a fight on a train coming from San Francisco and bound for Dublin-Pleasanton after leaving the West Oakland station around 2 a.m.  The train stopped for a longer time than usual at the Fruitvale station so that officers could pull offenders off the train and break up the fight.

But witnesses on the train sitting at the Fruitvale station at the time of the shooting said that Grant and others were pulled from the train without reason and treated with unnecessary force.

Sophina Mesa, the mother of Grant’s four-year-old daughter, was with Grant for New Year’s Eve and was present at the shooting, but was not a witness.  Mesa’s brother, 23-year-old Mario Pangelino, also did not witness the shooting but heard the gunshot because he was 15-feet away from Grant when the incident occurred.

At a recent press conference, Pangelino described the events on the platform prior to the incident.  His descriptions are corroborated by multiple videos accounts.

Pangelino was one of hundreds of partygoers who packed into a crowded late-night BART train on New Year’s Eve to return to his Hayward home after celebrating in San Francisco with his family.  He was riding two cars behind Grant when the train stopped at Fruitvale.  When he saw his sister walk by on the Fruitvale platform, Pangelino stepped out of the car to see why she had disembarked.

When he looked to his left, he saw Grant talking to police officers at a nearby wall on the platform.  Pangelino said he saw an officer grab Grant by the neck, and when Grant resisted, another officer approached him with a stun gun or “Taser.”

“I could see the red dots on his face and that’s when he slid down [the wall] and said ‘please please don’t shoot me, don’t tase me.  Please.  I have a daughter,’” said Pangelino, who added that more than one officer had their Tasers out and at-the-ready.

Pangelino said that Grant had his hands in the air when he sat down next to three other young men sitting at the wall, two of whom had been handcuffed by the cops earlier.  “That’s when one of them grabbed his wrists and pulled him off the wall,” said Pangelino.

As Burris recounted in the press conference, a recently released video account shot from a cell phone reveals the following events: an officer moved Grant from the wall to the ground so that he was lying face down, while another officer stood over, straddling him.  The officer straddling him, a two-year veteran of the force whose name has not been released, then reached for his holster and shot Grant once in the back.  So far BART officials have only said that the officer’s gun “discharged” once.

Witnesses say that directly after the shooting, the officer said: “Oh my God.”

“I didn’t even know he was shot,” said Pangelino.

He said that he thought it was a rubber bullet gun at first, and riders in the train-car near him assumed it was the sound of a taser being triggered.  Pangelino said he tried to hold the BART train door open, but a female cop made everyone get back on the train and it left before he could hold the train at the station.

Witnesses said that officers put handcuffs on Grant after the shooting occurred, and then removed them as the ambulance arrived.  He died soon after at Highland hospital.

“The intention of the officer is not significant.  It’s what he did that counts,” said Burris at the press conference.  “And what he did at the time was step back, pull his gun out of his holster, point it at the back, and fired it.”

BART police have the same training as city police officers, and have the same authority for arrest.   In 2001, 42-year-old Edward Seward was shot in the chest and killed by a BART police officer at the Hayward station, and roughly ten years prior to that in 1992, an unarmed 19-year old named Jerrold Hall was shot in the back and killed by BART police at the same station.  In both cases, the BART police involved in the shootings were eventually cleared of wrongdoing.

Over thirty of Grant’s friends and family members attended the press conference, and many have said that they will spend the next week holding vigil that the memorial that the BART officials have allowed them to erect outside of the Fruitvale station.

Grant was raised with his sister in Hayward by his mother, Wanda Johnson, who had just celebrated her birthday on December 31 when she received the news that her son had been shot.  He worked as a butcher at Hayward’s Farmer Joe’s store.  Family members say that Grant was a big sports fan, and Cephus Johnson, Grant’s uncle, said that they had plans to attend all of the Raiders games together before the shooting occurred.

The Indian community gathered in large numbers at the Milpitas Indian Community Center on Thursday, December 4, to remember the victims of the militant attacks in Mumbai.

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Like any superhero, mystery surrounds the true identity of the Vagina Lady. She makes appearances at Bay Area events wearing a cape and a plush, pink vagina costume nearly as tall as she is. Even among the unusual characters San Francisco is known for, she stands out in a crowd.

The prize-winning and attention-getting attire of the Vagina Lady.

In her other life, Julie Vanadis, 30, is a writer and editor. Her co-workers don’t know about the character she plays, so she uses an alternate last name in interviews.  She prefers to keep her personal life and role as the Vagina Lady separate.

“I put on the costume, and it’s like I’m famous,” she said. People run up to talk to her and take pictures. For those who require an explanation, she tells them, “This is my feminist sex-positive art project.”

As the Vagina Lady, Vanadis wants to convey “an empowering feminist message.” She said, “Vaginas have been a commodity,” and wants to “put ownership back in the hands of women.” She aims to “claim back some of the shame.”

“The actual word ‘vagina’ – which has caused me no end of grief – comes from ‘sheath’ meaning a place to put the penis.” She dismissed the word’s origin, saying there’s so much “more to it than that.” On her Web site (vaginalady.com), she lists other words used to describe “the lady bits” and links to a more comprehensive list.

Sitting at Apollo Coffee on Divisadero, Vanadis worked on a rhinestone-studded laptop. Unlike the unremarkable alter-ego of most superheroes, Vanadis’ appearance was anything but bland. Her clothing was bright pink and black, accented with black and white-patterned accessories. A pink rhinestone lip piercing brought it all together.

The Vagina Lady was born six years ago, Vanadis said. Since then, she has made appearances at events like Gay Pride, Bay to Breakers and Love Fest. She’s appeared at performances of the Vagina Monologues, participated in the AIDS Walk and wooed the crowd at the Exotic Erotic Ball, whereshe has twice taken home the Best Costume award.

Her character came about unintentionally. When her sister graduated from a midwifery program, Vanadis made her a pillow shaped like a vulva. Then she made more – with crescent shapes for the inner and outer labia and a round shape as the clitoris.

The costume says it all.

On Halloween in 2002, she took the theme a step further and made herself a simple vagina costume in two shades of pink. That night her character was born. She didn’t choose the name, she said. People gave it to her.

Since then, Vanadis has recreated and improved upon the original costume many times over. In front, it has greater dimension and detail as well as hidden interior compartments to stow keys and a wallet.  In the most recent version, pink faux fur makes up the outer portion, and shimmery pink fabric forms the center. Her head, covered by a pink hood, takes the place of the clitoris. There is a pocket behind the vaginal opening, where Vanadis said she sometimes puts Hershey Kisses. Should anyone miss the reference, the back of the costume reads “Vagina Lady” in curly red letters.

In high school, Vanadis said, “I found second wave feminism like it was my religion.” The movement, started in the ‘60s, asserted that women have equal abilities and deserve equal rights as men. Then came third wave feminism – “God bless it” – in the ‘90s. It incorporated sex-positivity and a broadened the possibilities of femininity within feminism.

A Flickr search for the Vagina Lady yields photos posted by friends and fans, but comments do not always convey the same appreciation. Some express shock while others – mostly men – make sexual comments.

Vanadis has experienced this at events, where “boundaries are not always as clear, and men behave inappropriately.” In response, she said she responded with a “fulfilling” slap in the face. “It brings me such joy.”

Vanadis keeps her sexual orientation to herself.

The Vagina Lady's new costume is in progress. This will be hidden beneath the skirt.

“I know people make all sorts of assumptions about me as that character,” she said. “I want to speak to everyone – vaginas are both straight and gay.”
She was at work on another costume, one that will include an element of surprise. The “girly, girly” dress will have a full skirt concealing multiple layers. Lifting it will reveal the figure of a naked woman, painted and constructed with fabric. Her “flasher” costume wasn’t finished yet, but the big-breasted body was taking shape.

As a child, she said, Vanadis was into dolls. “Now I’m my own Barbie doll.”

Robert Wesner, 39, sat hunched over his sewing machine, his waist-long hair pulled back in a half ponytail, while a topless woman laced up a leather corset behind him. Wesner, owner of Leather Mystics, began stitching together his sixth leather choker of the night. Laughing, he said that he never would have believed this is where his life would end up: “It’s not like you grow up thinking, ‘Geez, I think I’ll be a bondage leather specialist.”

Wesner’s 20-by-20 foot booth had a front-row view of the erotic dancing on the Burlesque Stage and was one of more than 100 vendors featured at Perry Mann’s Exotic Erotic Expo and Ball.

From October 23rd to the 24th, the flamboyant sights and sounds of the event filled the air of San Francisco’s Treasure Island. Exhibits ranged from erotic art, music and burlesque performances to body painting, adult toys, novelties and exotic fashion. For Wesner, the celebration of fetish and fantasy meant non-stop business.

It was in the conservative town of Medford, Ore., almost 20-years-ago, where Wesner began his journey towards his present occupation. When a friend from high school opened up a leather repair shop, Wesner, in need of employment, agreed to help out.

One day, a man came into the shop asking if they could make him a belt for carrying a sword. A few weeks later, the man returned asking for ten more and said he was selling them at Renaissance Fairs, events they did not have in their part of Oregon.

“Next thing I know, my friend’s calling, asking if I want to go to California to work at an event because he didn’t want to go by himself,” said Wesner, “I said sure. Why not? Long and the short of it is, the next seven years I work with him and we increase the size of our pavilion at Renaissance Fairs up and down the west coast.”

As they made the Renaissance Fair circuit, Wesner said people would approach their booth asking if they ever made any adult products, such as shackles and collars. While he thought it was a good idea, “The other guy was very tight laced. He said those people are all a bunch of freaks and we don’t want to deal with them.”

The requests did not stop. Wesner said that he finally wore down his partner, who agreed to let him produce some items on his own and display them in a small corner of their booth. Shortly after, the two had a falling out and Wesner started his own shop and immediately began producing adult novelties. Now into his sixth year on his own, Wesner said he is “getting a big response from the bondage and fetish communities.”

His work as a leather craftsman has allowed him to network with people in alternative lifestyle communities such as bondage and sadomasochism (BDSM). Wesner added that this networking is vital to his business because people in those communities do not usually want to broadcast their fetishes but will confide in him because they need certain items. “The funniest part is that you start talking to these people and they’re doctors and lawyers, they’re professionals,” said Wesner, “It’s not like they’re freaks, they just have different tastes. They’re some of the nicest, most well balanced people you’ll meet.”

Due to the specialized nature of his products, Wesner spends much of his time traveling up and down the west coast to different events in order to find venues for his products. In the three weeks leading up to the Exotic Erotic Ball, he drove from Oregon to San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair then directly to a four-day motorcycle rally in Las Vegas, then the Las Vegas Renaissance Festival then back up to Oregon.

Wesner said it was a frustrating few weeks because he made virtually no money at the bike rally and, as a result of new management at the Renaissance Festival, his sales plunged 50 percent from what they had been in the past.

Wesner said his decision to drive to San Francisco is what made the trip worthwhile. “I made more in seven hours in Folsom Street than I normally do in your average Renaissance Fair,” he said.

Despite three weeks of non-stop travel, Wesner said his success at the Folsom Street Fair motivated him to pack up his RV and trailer one day before the Expo opened and drive non-stop from Oregon back to San Francisco and shell out a “pretty penny” for his booth.

“I’m just barely treading water. If next spring is anything like this year I’ll be bankrupt by summer,” he said. With his overall sales down 50 percent this year, Wesner said his success at the Expo might be enough to keep him afloat.

AIn an attempt to stabilize his business, Wesner said he is broadening his scope and seeking out more biker and fetish type events. While he enjoys doing costuming products for events such as Renaissance Fairs, he said “that’s play money.” During this economic crisis, Wesner said people consider costume-type products to be a luxury.

This is not the case for fetish products, he said, adding that people in the lifestyle do not see fetish as a luxury. They see it as a requirement. Wesner said another important factor to consider is that many of the people involved in the BDSM lifestyle are professionals in the middle and upper classes who still have money to buy such products.

While Wesner has fashioned products for other venues such as Shakespeare festivals, independent movie companies and even Disneyland, he said developing a niche within these industries is a slow process since most work comes through word of mouth and networking takes time. “You meet people by happenstance and start making those connections. Trying to be a costume designer is almost the same as trying to be an actor in Hollywood,” he said.

For now, Wesner said he is just trying to do what he can to stay in business and weather the economic crisis. This means targeting the markets that sell and according to him, right now that is the fetish market.

As he snipped the last thread on the collar he was sewing, Wesner looked up and said, “Sex sells. No matter how bad the economy gets, people still have sex, and more of it.”

The ceremony commemorating the 140th anniversary of the Hayward Fault earthquake emphasized the urgency of learning from the magnitude 6.8 trembler in order to minimize devastation from future quakes. Calling for greater disaster preparedness, the ceremony blended history and science about the quake to jolt the public and officials into action.

The U.S. Geological Society calls the Hayward Fault a “tectonic time bomb” that is overdue for a major earthquake. Geologists estimate a 31 percent likelihood that the fault –which stretches from San Pablo Bay to south of Fremont near Milpitas–will produce a magnitude 6.7 or greater quake in the next 30 years. The 140th anniversary is particularly ominous, commemoration speakers said, because the fault’s earthquakes happen on average every 140 years.

Descendants of survivors of the 1868 Hayward Fault earthquake listen to Dolors Ferenz, Mission San Jose administrator, describe how the church crumbled in the quake.

At 7:55 AM on Tuesday, Mission San Jose’s ringing bells marked the moment in 1868 when the earth shook for forty seconds, leaving more than thirty people dead and significant property damage. Nearly every building in Hayward was wrecked or destroyed, according to the USGS.

“We commemorate a tremendous earth shaking moment,” said Andrew Galvan, curator at San Francisco’s Mission Dolores and a descendant of Native American survivors of the earthquake. “So we look forward: how do we prepare to avoid the type of disaster that occurred in 1868, basically the type of disaster that effects the lives of all peoples?”

Dolores Ferenz, Mission San Jose administrator, said records show the church’s roof caved in and adobe walls crumbled. Only a baptismal font and two statues survived the earthquake.

Suzette Kimball, associate director of the USGS, said the Hayward Fault is particularly prone to producing a damaging quake because of its historic seismic patterns and location in the heart of the Bay Area.

The region’s population density means the potential damage of a large earthquake is larger than the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report from last December. As the most urbanized fault in the U.S., more than 2.4 million people live and 1.5 million people work within striking distance of the fault.

“I don’t think people understand the Hayward fault because all the publicity goes to Loma Prieta and San Andreas,” said John Brennan, whose great-granduncle survived the 1868 quake. “They’re still building buildings on the fault line. What’s the deal with that? Why do they allow developers to build on a fault line?”

Geologist Betsy Mathieson, a commissioner on the State’s Seismic Safety Commission, stressed that building codes do not make structures “earthquake proof.” She said the code is intended to prevent buildings from collapsing and killing people, but that the building may still be rendered unusable after a quake.

Only structures like dams and nuclear power plants are designed to be truly “earthquake proof,” Mathieson said.

Representing State Senator Ellen Corbett, Jason Overman said the Senator recently introduced a bill that requires more stringent seismic standards for homes. He said the Senator will soon hold hearings to investigate why $200 million of Proposition 1D funding, earmarked to upgrade the seismic safety of schools, has not yet been spent.

While the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake is often called “The Big One,” Mathieson said the public has “no idea how strong the ground will shake” when an earthquake similar to the 1868 or 1906 quakes strikes. In particular, Mathieson said, the length of shaking will shock many. The 1906 San Francisco quake lasted for over a minute, while the 1989 Loma Prieta quake was just 15 second long, she said.

Fremont mayor Bob Wasserman, who was police chief during the 1989 quake, said the potential scope of damage means residents must be self-sufficient in disaster.

“You are not going to get a lot of help in those first couple of days,” said Wasserman.

He pointed to the fire department’s Community Emergency Response Team program, which trains community members to respond to disasters when services such as 911 are inundated with the most pressing needs.

Harold Brooks, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross’s Bay Area Chapter, said even a basic level of preparedness can help. He recommended that families make an disaster plan, prepare a kit of supplies, and stay informed.

The ceremony at Mission San Jose kicked off a series of events, organized by the USGS and the 1868 Hayward Earthquake Alliance. On Tuesday, 275,000 students and employees participated in an area-wide earthquake drill. Richard McCarthy, executive director the Seismic Safety Commission, said this drill, and a similar one involving 4 million people Southern California this Nov., will provide test cases for implementing a state-wide earthquake drill next year.

From Wednesday to Friday more than 200 scientists are convening at California State University East Bay to share recent earthquake research, with a free public forum on earthquake hazards and earthquake preparedness this Thursday at 7 PM in the New University Union building.

Towards the end of Tuesday’s ceremony, the Red Cross’ Brooks reflected on his recent response to Hurricane Ike, when advanced warning allowed him to travel to Louisiana and prepare before the hurricane touched ground.

“What a luxury to have the opportunity to get our ducks in a row,” he said. “Our time to get our ducks in a row is right now.

The demonstrators yelled slurs like “faggot,” according to several people who said they were harassed. Some said they were pushed, poked, and hit with signs by aggressive demonstrators.

“They said, ‘You’re a sick fag,’” said Oakland resident Anthony Lecours, 46, who held a sign opposing Proposition 8. Lecours said he was poked repeatedly and that one demonstrator told him he had AIDS.

“They were telling me I wish I had a penis,” said Julie Harris, another resident of Oakland who was holding a sign opposing Proposition 8 across the street from the main demonstration. “[They said] that I was angry a man left me, stuff like that.”

Harris also said a demonstrator pushed and elbowed her.

On Friday, police department spokesman Jeff Thomason said one demonstrator was cited for battery.

The demonstration drew between 30 and 40 people to the intersection of Lakeshore Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard, as the sun set Thursday. Over several hours, between three and six Oakland police officers monitored the scene. Drivers passing by honked and pointed toward the side they supported.

Asked about the allegations of harassment, Officer Chris Keden said that several people had complained to him about the slurs, but that he personally had not heard anyone use them.

Proposition 8 supporter Benjamin Finau, 27, was holding a sign and yelling to passing cars.

“Gay and lesbian marriage, and just being gay, too, that’s not good,” he said. “I see it as a spiritual battle between good and evil, and we’re on the good side.”

His view appears to conflict with the stated position of the sponsors of Proposition 8, who say on their Web site that the measure is not an attack on gay couples or homosexuality but rather a reaffirmation of heterosexual marriage.

The measure’s sponsors have repeated this stance in television advertisements and media interviews. In recent days, however, witnesses have reported numerous instances of abusive language and physical intimidation at Yes-on-8 demonstrations throughout Oakland.

The Protect Marriage campaign, which is sponsoring Proposition 8, declined to comment for this story.

Finau said he and many of the other demonstrators are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Protect Marriage campaign estimates that 40 percent of its donations have come from members of the LDS church; Californians Against Hate, a group opposing Proposition 8, puts the amount at 80 percent.

A spokesman for the Oakland Temple, a local LDS branch, said the church does not take political positions.

“Individuals can do what their conscience dictates,” he said. “I’d be disappointed that church members were using anything but good language.”