San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Willie Brown:
The cry of “I can’t breathe” started with somebody on that slave ship in 1619.
What struck me most about the antiracism demonstrations I watched and participated in after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police was that in many cases, it was not black folks leading or making up the majority of the crowds. It was young white people.
Young white people have discovered that for all our cell phones, Zoom meetings and other technological advancements, there is one problem we have not dealt with in this country and that is race.
“I can’t breathe” didn’t start with George Floyd. “I can’t breathe” didn’t start with the choking of Eric Garner by New York police in 2014. “I can’t breathe” started with somebody on that slave ship in 1619, and black folks have been mistreated by
cops ever since.
And these young people are going to deal with it in a way that is dramatically different from the past. They are going to deal with it by demanding that each and every one of us deal with the racism in ourselves.
Meanwhile, the protest at City Hall on Monday under the guidance of Mayor London Breed, local NAACP President Amos Brown, Oscarwinning actor Jamie Foxx and justice activist Felicia Jones showed San Francisco at its best.
More than a thousand people joined in the Colin Kaepernick takeaknee, including police officers in uniform led by Chief Bill Scott.
It was as dramatic as when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Cecil Williams led a civil rights march in our city.
Then and now: As the demonstrations roiled the country, I decided to take a walk along Third Street in the Bayview. Man, has the place changed.
In the course of my life, Third Street has gone from being a major African American commercial area, to a major center for social change, to a major problem area of drugs, unemployment and crime. So I was more than a little surprised at what I found the other morning.
The place has been reborn. I found clean streets and sidewalks, wellkept houses and apartment buildings, and a beautiful social center at the historic Bayview Opera House.
There was no graffiti, no trash on the street, no homeless people and no tension in the air.
I did spot one dealer, but it was an old guy working out of his car. Considering the age of his clientele, I couldn’t decide if he was selling illegal drugs or hot medications.
Slice of life: At the Golden Boy Pizza on
Grant Avenue, Charlie Warren saw a young African American police officer stop for takeout. He left a $100 bill on the counter with instructions to take care of as many orders of those people in line as $100 would cover. Another good act by our police.
Bible study: President Trump’s disastrous Bible photo op the other day reminded me of my Uncle Itsy’s illegal card game. He gave every player a Bible as they came in and had them keep it close by.
If the cops raided the game, they were supposed to ditch the cards and act as if they were having a Bible study.
It happened once and the plan almost worked, except one of the players was holding the Bible upside down.
That guy was my first criminal defense case, and I have to say he did a better job of faking his piety than the president. Black power: Joe Biden did an excellent job calling for unity and leadership in his George Floyd moment.
His next move should be to name as many members of a President Biden Cabinet as possible. In other words, team Biden draft choices, which would demonstrate how careful and efficient he’s going to be as the chief executive. Playlist: My recommendation that Joe Biden pick “Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes for his campaign song has generated a number of other suggestions.
One reader said another Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes song, “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” should be considered as well.
One of my grandkids said to check out the Youngbloods tune “Get Together.”
And one of my friends said he hoped President Trump’s theme song will be “Bye Bye Bye.”
Want to sound off ? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com