[sudo-discuss] my experiences with "crime" in oakland [part 1 of ?]

Tue Nov 19 11:18:35 PST 2013

Based on what I know about thuggish ruggish degenerate bullies.

Yes. Robbing people is obviously fun. Have you ever known the type of
people that do it? I was bad in HS. The guys I dated were vandals and
bullies. They loved fighting. The people they loved fighting most were boys
their age.

When you get robbed, it's a person robbing you, usually a teenager or young
20s. A PERSON .... A PERSON with flesh and blood, with favorite foods, with
friends, with appetites, maybe a girlfriend, with a favorite song, with
rational thoughts, with irrational thoughts, with emotions, controlled and
uncontrolled. You have known people who have committed crimes probably, you
have committed crimes, probably. It's not a very mysterious person on the
other side. I don't really understand the reluctance to chat about thuggish
teens. It makes them seem more mysterious than they are. Like they are
spirits, they 'must not be named.' Perhaps it's because you are boys? As a
girl I have had the opportunity to visit these kid's houses (in
Philadelphia, but they're all of a type. The computer nerds here are like
the comp sci majors I knew at home. The anarchists are also homogeneous,
nationally. I don't expect the offspring of welfare moms to be so
different. Because they are also in a sense regular people.) I meet their
moms, I listened to their stories and motivations. Their values are as
internally consistant as those of any other subculture I've encountered.

So far this thread has generated a few "oh goodness" responses. Can anyone
articulate, at all, what something like "this thread!" Actually means? My
best guess is that readers are freaking out every time they think they've
read "black" or a synonym for black.

Will it help if I write black a few times? So, dear reader, you can read it
and get used to how freaky it makes you feel?

Black
bllaaaaaaaack
BLACK
Black black black black black black

Black people exist. There are black people. Blaaaaaccckkk pppeeeooopple.
Black people. Think about black people. Acknowledge black people.

Ok, now I'm going to write "mugger."
Did that register as a synonym of black for you? Maybe it did, maybe it
didn't. That's not the part I'm going to judge you on.
Did you notice it registering as a synonym for black? Did that fact upset
you? Ok. That is a fine cascade of internal events. What does that make you
do next? Not rhetorical.

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013, Hol Gaskill wrote:

> > I also think it gets less fun to rob men as they get older.
>
> based on what?  robbing young people is fun?  this thread...
>
>
> Nov 18, 2013 11:21:48 PM, sonja.trauss at gmail.com <javascript:;> wrote:
> What are you talking about ?
> >
> >On Monday, November 18, 2013, Liz Henry  wrote:
> >
> >I like to share fun anecdotes about how I was just hanging out on the
> >
>
> Internet on a public mailing list then met some pretty racist white
> >
> people who have done plenty of crimes in their lives, but no one goes
> >
> around assuming stuff about them and treating them like they're
> >
> criminals. It's super uplifting!
> >
>
> >
> - lizzard
> >
>
> >
> On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 7:50 PM, David Barthwell
> >
> david at vergegraphics.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > To all the people sharing fun stories and uplifting anecdotes about
> >
> > encountering black people in Oakland:  Let's not forget that there are
> >
> > actually some on this list.  In fact, I'm one of them!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 7:36 PM, rhodey rhodey at anhonesteffort.org<javascript:;>>
> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >
> >> Oh yes, it is worth noting that I'm a white male in his early 20s.
> >
> >>
> >
> >> --
> >
> >> -- rhodey ˙ ͜ʟ˙
> >
> >>
> >
> >> On 11/18/2013 07:12 PM, Sonja Trauss wrote:
> >
> >> > this reminds me of a comment I overheard on the bus when I lived in st
> >
> >> > louis:
> >
> >> > "I'm getting that government money man, fuck street money, it ain't
> even
> >
> >> > worth it."
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> > ps are you a boy or a girl?
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> > On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:55 PM, rhodey rhodey at anhonesteffort.org<javascript:;>
> >
> >> > rhodey at anhonesteffort.org <javascript:;>>> wrote:
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     Receiving and contemplating the perspectives of others is one of
> my
> >
> >> >     favorite ways to burn metaphorical CPU cycles. The level of
> respect
> >
> >> > I
> >
> >> >     show for differing perspectives is something I hope to never be
> >
> >> >     content with, that is to say I believe it's an endless process and
> >
> >> > I'm
> >
> >> >     still working on it. I have a tendency to keep my head stuck in
> >
> >> >     projects and have realized is that I've been holding out on
> sharing
> >
> >> >     many of my most valued perspectives, more specifically my
> >
> >> > experiences.
> >
> >> >     It is my hope that through sharing experiences we can better
> >
> >> >     understand how to conduct ourselves within Sudo Room and how we
> Sudo
> >
> >> >     Room can better conduct ourselves within our local community.
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     I arrived in the "bay area" May 1st by way of some airport in New
> >
> >> >     England, in search of hackers, activists and uncomfortable
> >
> >> >     experiences. After subletting an apartment in the mission for all
> of
> >
> >> > a
> >
> >> >     month I moved to West Oakland. Since arriving in Oakland I've been
> >
> >> >     robbed three times, to me each experience has been indescribably
> >
> >> >     educational in its own way. However, my first crime related
> >
> >> > experience
> >
> >> >     in Oakland was not a crime at all.
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     There is a corner store within ~6 minutes walking distance from my
> >
> >> >     apartment by West Oakland BART called Happy Times. To me it is
> >
> >> > usually
> >
> >> >     a liquor store, but this day I felt like working through the night
> >
> >> > so
> >
> >> >     I bought 2 large redbull energy drinks. Walking home holding the
> >
> >> >     redbull as best I could in one hand I passed two African-American
> >
> >> >     youths, one female, one male and both no older than 17. We passed
> >
> >> > each
> >
> >> >     other and at this time I was about 20" from home then from behind
> me
> >
> >> > I
> >
> >> >     heard "hey man, can I get a redbull?".
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     I turned around to face the two of them with a bit of a guilty
> smile
> >
> >> >     on my face, after all who the fuck really needs 32oz of redbull?
> >
> >> >     Caffeine, other energy drinks, productivity and I all get along
> >
> >> >     swimmingly, all the better if I can help someone else get things
> >
> >> > done.
> >
> >> >     "Sure" I said, followed by "make good use of it" in an attempt to
> >
> >> > make
> >
> >> >     the situation more casual. I walked up and handed him the redbull,
> >
> >> > his
> >
> >> >     face lit up, he went nuts.
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     **and I quote** "Oh man! Asking is so much better than stealing!"
> >
> >> >
> >
> >> >     The smile stayed on his face as he continued celebrating,
> exclaiming
> Liz Henry
> >
> lizhenry at gmail.com <javascript:;>
> >
>
> >
> "Electric ladies will you sleep or will you preach?" -- Janelle Monae
> >
>
> >
> "Without models, it's hard to work; without a context, difficult to
> >
> evaluate; without peers, nearly impossible to speak." -- Joanna Russ
> >
> _______________________________________________
> >
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> >
> sudo-discuss at lists.sudoroom.org <javascript:;>
> >
> http://lists.sudoroom.org/listinfo/sudo-discuss
> >
>
>
> >
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