Annals of Denial

"Anti-Violence" Program Chief Says Oakland Not a Gang Town

"We don't have Bloods and Crips here. Oakland is not a gang town," said Olis Simmons, executive director of Youth UpRising, a so-called violence prevention program funded with millions of City dollars. (Simmons is quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, 2009.)

That was Simmons' claim in response to a Discovery Channel documentary on gangs in Oakland. As head of Youth UpRising, which takes a good chunk of the Measure Y tax revenues every year for its alleged violence provention activities, Simmons should be a knowledgeable person.

A report by City staff using police and other data told the city council, "The City of Oakland has approximately 25 Hispanic, 15 Asian, 20 African American and 5 motorcycle gangs." Seventeen of the 65 gangs are cited by name, including Fruitvale Gangsters, Twamps, Nuestra Familia, and Oaktown Crips. (Jan. 22, 2008 report to city council)

He's not a red-color gang member. Youth UpRising poverty pimp tells you that your eyes deceive you. (KPIX)

Does Simmons dare to say the City report is all wrong? Will she deny its specific details? Or is Simmons simply unfamiliar with the document, even though she is a major recipient of City funds for violence prevention?

Perhaps Simmons did not engage with the City report because she was too busy inviting gutter rappers to be career counselors at her Youth UpRising operation, too busy hiring out Youth UpRising teenage members to perform in a rap video glorifying sideshows.

The report on gangs goes on to say that a significant number of the murders in Oakland can be "attributed directly to gang related activities."

Margurite lives in a residential area near the Fruitvale district. She commented on an email list:

"We have never been serious about crime in Oakland and we have ready excuses for why we don't exercise a heavier hand. It's pretty disgusting. I thought Chauncey Bailey's assassination would be a wake up call but when the DA treated it as just another dead whatever, that pretty much summed up the attitudes about crime in Oakland. Oh yeah, and the Council approved a budget that disbanded the gang unit–again. ... We have a gang problem in Oakland. I don't care what anybody says. I'm watching it happen in my neighborhood." (Sept. 15, 2009)

Simmons is not alone in denial. The report was prepared for the city council. Did councilmembers read it? If so, why do they approve grants to Simmons' Youth UpRising, including a five-year, $1.5 million stream of money that required absolutely no results, deliverables, or measurement? Wouldn't you like to start a program, call it violence prevention, wallow in ignorance of the facts, and for all that get a grant with no requirements?

Apparently, Simmons and the councilmembers have gotten together in a slightly different kind of gang. They don't shoot guns to protect their drug business, but they plunder at will.

Flyer announces event to help you become aware of gangs that City officials insist do not exist.