Oakland, CA: Last Thursday, July 8, former BART transit officer Johannes Mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 1, 2009 death of Oscar Grant, an unarmed young African American man.
As feared, that night saw rioting, looting, and destruction in the streets of downtown Oakland. And that's where the local media trained their cameras.
What they didn't report on was the crowd of nearly 1,000 people who gathered near City Hall to voice their dissatisfaction with the verdict peacefully and constructively. They didn't report on Oscar Grant's grandfather, who urged the crowd to honor his grandson's memory by refraining from violence. They didn't show the faces and voices of Oakland's young people, who love this city and want to make it better.
We did. Not In Our Town's camera crew was out on the streets that evening, talking to city residents committed to ending prejudice, bigotry and hate-based violence.
This is what you DIDN'T see on the evening news -- and should have.