Ten years after the shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland, AFSC staff in St. Louis watched the film Fruitvale Station with a group of 16 youth and discussed the connections to their own experiences in St. Louis. Issues such as racial profiling, the struggle to survive after incarceration, and continued police brutality all came up during the conversation held over two days.
In addition, young people were led through a process to name some of the feelings that came up for them during the film. Many felt sadness and anger not only for what happened to Oscar, but also “the fact that [the officer who shot him] was only given a two-year sentence” and only served 11 months. This led to the issue of how we hold systems and institutions accountable.
In the end young people were invited to be a part of AFSC St. Louis’ campaign to enact policy that would allow students in St. Louis schools to hold School Safety Officer’s accountable.