The Screen

There's fierce advocacy for animal equality, but silence when it comes to the countless police shootings involving Black men and women in this country.

  Black Americans have endured their fair share of unjust treatment at the hands of the police and laws put in place to protect the country’s citizens. We’ve also found ourselves being victimized a second time during the trials and receiving no justice. Considering that it’s still fresh in our minds, a prime example is […]

Movies

What is “Fruitvale Station” about? The film “Fruitvale Station” tells the story of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old San Francisco Bay Area resident killed in 2009 by a transit officer at the Fruitvale Station stop on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). The film debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand […]

I guess it’s fitting that on the day I saw “Fruitvale Station,” the dramatic retelling of the murder of 22-year-old Oscar Grant, it was pouring rain from the sky. God must have known I was going to need something to mask my tears. Watching “Fruitvale Station” was a first for me. It was the first […]

For anyone who thinks having a Black President means we live in a post-racial society, cases like Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant are tragic reminders of the perils of being a young Black men in America.  “Fruitvale Station” the directing debut of filmmaker Ryan Coogler, follows the last day of Oscar Grant, who was shot […]

First time director Ryan Coogler has become the hottest name in Hollywood since his film “Fruitvale” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year. The 26-year-old Oakland native has crafted a touching portrait of Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old father who was killed by BART police officers in 2009. “Fruitvale” has been picked up for major […]

Four years ago BART police officers in Oakland, California made nationwide news when they killed an unarmed African-American man named Oscar Grant.  The 22-year-old was thrown face down onto the ground in the early hours of New Years Day before officer Johannes Mehserle drew his gun and fired a shot directly into Grant’s back. Cellphone videos […]