We speak with Oakland city councilwoman Carroll Fife and long time activist Dr. Connie Wu about the recent uptick in crimes and attacks on the elderly in Chinatown. We talk about the divisive tactics used by Oakland Mayor Libby Shaaf to pit Black and Asian communities against one another as she erroneously and disingenuously attributes the crimes to the policies advocated by Fife and other progressive members of the city council to Defund the Police.
This critical conversation corrects the record, first by explaining what Defund the Police means and then details the reasons we see crime and how the increases are not limited to Chinatown or even Oakland. Long before there was a call to ‘Defund Police,’ there were nagging problems that many attributed to the lack of resources and economic stimulus in numerous communities. During this period, police fully funded to the tune of 44% of the city’s budget, and 32 million dollars in overtime were grossly ineffective in dealing with crime. Fife and Wun lay out all the ways the police have been negligent in serving the city of Oakland including, costing the city tens of millions in lawsuits for brutality.
Councilwoman Fife and Dr Wun also talk about the long history in Oakland where Black and Asian communities have worked and struggled together around important social justice issues. In recent years both communities have been in solidarity with each other around police terrorism and cuts to education. This recent surge of violence has led to folks redoubling their efforts in both communities to show support and help craft solutions..
Later on, in the show, we speak with San Francisco’s 8th Poet Laureate, Tongo Eisen-Martin. We talk about whether or not he intends to tone down his radical politics now that he represents the city. We also speak to him about how he plans to use his platform to bring attention to more poets and vital systemic issues that have long plagued the city. Lastly we talk to Tongo about whether the current political landscape informs his poems. He performs a brilliant piece for our audience.
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