General Strike for Oakland

There are many reasons why the City of Oakland, particularly the Black community, should direct their political, economic, and social energy towards a general strike. The Black community in Oakland has no political voice. There seems to be a blind-eye turned to the suffering and obstacles created by institutionalized racism, and how they materialize in the everyday lives of Blacks in Oakland.

The Black leaders we do have, do not speak for the community. These leaders are more like buffers against the power that we could unleash anytime we chose to. How could these leaders be the voice of the Black community, when they continue to stay silent on issues such as massive education cuts, unemployment for 40% of black teens in Oakland, 17.5% unemployment for Black males in Oakland, gang injunctions, countless police murders, homelessness, mass incarceration, housing foreclosures, and urban removal? These are issues that should be addressed by the Black leaders in Oakland, on behalf of the Black community.

Due to these leaders silence and lack of courage it is critical for the black worker and the black unemployed to unite and form a strong political union to combat these attacks on our community's well being. We have been divided for far too long. A house divided, cannot survive. Once such a union is formed, a foundation will be set to build a General Strike upon.

Even though it is important for each Ethnic Community, such as the Black Community, to organize itself, a General Strike has to be multicultural. A General Strike has to be organized around all of Oakland's needs, rather than just one group who is being affected by this systems failure to govern and serve the people. Economic conditions are worse then they have been in a very long time and every community has been affected, therefore every community should participate in the way that serves them best.
 The demands of a General Strike should crystallize and solidify what we are fighting for. Our demands should call for nothing less then restitution for the crimes committed by a corrupt ruling class who surrenders all of our tax dollars over to a private bank, named the Federal Reserve, and gets nothing in return for it but a $14trillion debt. We should demand jobs that allow each person to have a decent standard of living, immediate reinvestment into our schools, housing and healthcare for all Oakland residents, and an immediate end to Police Terrorism. These are demands that unite everyone of us. These are demands that are worth fighting for.

A General Strike is by far the best solution to get our so called representatives and corporations, who are comfortably in bed together, to listen. A General Strike is the only language the Federal Government, the State of California, or the City of Oakland will understand. A language that hits their pockets and lets them know we want change. A General Strike will give the average citizen a voice, and an even table to negotiate for vital resources that are not being provided. A General Strike in Oakland has to consist of public service workers who have overwhelming support from the community. This overwhelming community support would be a very important part of organizing for a General Strike, because these workers would be sacrificing a lot by going on strike.   B.A.R.T. workers, A.C. Transit workers, and P.G.&E workers, EBMUD workers, Garbage Men, and Taxicab drivers are some of the public workers we would need. It is imperative that we convince these workers that our community's survival is not a separate issue for each individual, but an intertwined issue, that depends on our communities solidarity. Once the working class begin to shed their individual concern, begin to see through the destructive lies told through the media by our politicians, turn to their unemployed brethren and take up the righteous cause of liberation from the social, economic, and political ills caused by those we slave for, then and only then will we see our real enemies and win the war against those who exploit and oppress us.