Curiouser and Curiouser: The Wonders and Sites of Downtown

I've now worked in downtown Oakland for over 6 years. I like it because it's just a convenient bike ride from home. Beyond that, I think everyone can agree that Oakland definitely has its own unique character. From the beautiful early 1900s architecture to the rallies and festivities in the plazas to the lounges and hipster bars - this is my downtown Oakland.

Regardless of the city's charm, the riots that erupted outside of my office building and throughout the area this past week as a protest to the murder of Oscar Grant by a BART police officer didn't surprise me too much. After all, this was the third time in those 6 years that the area surrounding my building had been cordoned off by OPD. (I used to work at Broadway and 12th - One time was in 2004 when a woman committed suicide by jumping off of the Oakland Tribune building; the other time involved a perhaps crazy man running around in the streets with a gun.)

I must say that Wednesday's riot was the most intense and threatening. The evening started off mildly - I watched as dozens of cop cars and 100s of riot cops filled the major intersection (Broadway and 14th) that my window overlooked. The night wore on and the cops dissipated. I figured the action had drawn to a close. In fact, the violence nearest to me was just about to erupt.

As helicopters swarmed overhead, I stuck my head out of a window to watch a group of people run on top of cars and smash in windows of businesses and vehicles. My 80-year-old coworker and blind coworker escaped the scene literally a minute before violence broke out. Another coworker wasn't as lucky with his timing and found his car windows shattered. Tear gas was thrown by the riot cops and my older hippie coworkers who decided to venture out into the action commented on the taste bringing them back to the protest days of yore.

It was all so surreal. I was reminded of the video footage that I was shown while attending San Francisco State of cops with drawn guns raiding school buildings while classes were underway during the student and teacher strikes of the late 1960s. I watched those videos in the very building were the action had taken place. My territory had been under siege.

Okay, so I had made it through this latest eruption of violence in downtown unscathed. And unlike many I know, I have yet to be a victim of random violence or mugged. I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. I'll just continue to play it safe.