Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project

Posted by Christine Joy Ferrer on April 13th, 2009

Editor’s Note: Early morning on New Year’s Day, 22-year-old Oscar Grant III was shot and killed in Oakland, California by a Bay Area Rapid Transit agency police officer. Grant was unarmed. The young black man’s arms shackled behind his back. His face—pressed down against the cement. Onlookers video-phoned the horrific spectacle as his life was taken from him.

Over three dozen artists have contributed to the Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project. Our goal was to gather the creative works dedicated to Oscar Grant from artists, musicians, writers, photographers and others. Any form of creative expression was accepted– a video of a dance work, audio, song, poster, photo, etc. Selected portfolio work will be featured in several Bay Area publications (print and online).

People are angry. Thousands have been appalled by the Oscar Grant shooting and have taken a new stand to fight injustice. Many have chosen to creatively express their stance through art. Songs have been written and dedicated to Oscar Grant. Poems, paintings and posters have been created. Graffiti artists have painted murals.

For this project Media Alliance will act as a clearinghouse, collecting and archiving copies of the material and coordinating its presentation by partner publications including: Urban Habitat’s Race, Poverty & the Environment Journal, Media Alliance, https://media-alliance.org, InColor magazine http://In-Color.net, and Street Spirit Newspaper. This work is supported by a grant from the Akonadi Foundation.

This project is co-sponsored by Media Alliance and Race, Poverty and the Environment.

Photography & Art

Contributing photographers and artists:

Graffiti

Contributing Artists and Photographers:
Amend TDK
DESI, Weapons of Mass Expression
DNO, Teach More Culture
Aerosoul
DZYER
David Heyes
Elliot Johnson
James Wacht
Brendan Cox
Eric Arnold
Brooke Anderson
Christine Joy Ferrer