Posted on Thu, 05/01/2008 - 07:09 — by Dare
I understand what the reporter is saying and agree with much of it, but the writing style turns me off. In particular, the phrase, "before you go there," assumes the reader is thinking ill of a murder victim. The context and the phraseology insults the reader's intelligence and character, and sounds flippantly ghetto.
I like reading the Tribune and I know you can do better than this.
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
If you disagree with different styles of writing, it is possible that maybe you should be reading another paper. The reporter hasn't tried to be nice and minimalize this tragedy by offering up rhetoric , sympathy and confusion as to why this happened. Honesty and blatant reality drives the point home in this article. I got it and I'm assuming that you did not. Personally, I find the fact that you even use the word "ghetto" to be insulting.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 131
AND ALL YOU CAN TALK ABOUT IS HOW THE ARTICULE WAS WROTE??????? SCREW THE THE MANNER IT WAS PUT TOGETHER IN, THIS ARTICULE SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD TO BEEN WROTE!!!!!!!! HOW ARE WE GOING TO HELP THIS WOMAN GET OUT OF THIS SPACE????
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
The story of this young woman is extremely heartbreaking and I imagine she, and her family, have the sympathy and empathy of everyone. The article makes a good point about the office of Larry Reid - if he personally (no tax dollars) is willing to help, and now that he is aware help is needed, why not make the call? On the other hand, I would not be so quick to judge the use of the word ghetto here since it was used in the article. It appears to me that the author used that word in a quote in an attempt to underscore the perceived disparity of the public hue and outcry between this woman's death and the shooting of a 10 year old on Piedmont Ave. Perhaps I can respond to the author's concern by noting that those individuals involved in the Piedmont shooting did not go back to there routine, because being robbed, shot at and having the cops chase criminals down is not part of the routine on Piedmont Ave. That would not seem to be the case here where, by the author's own admission, the other victims of this shooting (who I suspect know who the shooter is and just won't say) were posted right back at the same corner laughing and smiling. I want to know why the police are being accused of not caring in the article, but not this crew of criminals standing in front of the victim's house. A quote was included suggesting some insensitivity on the part of the police, but then no evidence was offered to support the statement. The author should be shamed for trying to drive a larger wedge between this woman's community and the police. I can guarantee using the mantra "the cops don't care" is not going to heal that community or solve this crime. What it will do is allow some half-wit with a gun to go "take care" of the matter themselves so we can have another article written about another grieving family in some other place. And finally, yes it does matter the manner in which an article is written and put together if you want to be considered a serious publication. If the author wanted to ghetto-fy their work to appeal to a certain segment of the population, then they should have put this in the op-ed section of the paper.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 131
I understand where you are coming from. But I think attacking the article takes away from the help, that is all I was trying to say. Can you imagine walking in a house where your daughter was stolen away from you with both of your daughters laying in the same bed that child will never be the same she may go crazy. I say lets band together to get her out of there then lets attack the article(I will throw the first punch). These hundred thousandaires can each donate one thousand dollars to a non profit(501 c3) and claim it on their taxes they wont even miss it. But why did it have to come to this? This article should not even had made it this far. They get paid to help, so I guess our tax dollars may as well be going up in smoke they are not helping the community and they are not coming threw in a time if need. What good are they(can someone please tell me)?
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
This is terrible and what makes it worse is this family needs a new place to live and in need of THERAPY!! The Mayor of Oakland should have stepped in immediately to relocate this woman, her daughter and granddaughter. You have all of these people making over 100K a year and you mean to tell me no one could get this woman relocated???? This however does not surprise me that no one has helped this family - why? My mother has been missing for 2 years from Wash DC and no one is working on her case.... All I do is pray and pray. I will remain prayerful for this family and something is going to happen for their good. I believe it and receive it. Sincerely - A True Prayer Warrior
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 2
I am grateful that this reporter had the impetus to challenge readers to think about different Oakland families who are equally devastated by the killings happening in Oakland. I whole heartedly agree with their perspective and have become sickened by the media and community bias that exists for families depending on where you live. In the "ghetto" many families are alienated and left to fend for themselves so when something so horrible happens, response is business as usual. Neither the cops, nor the community, nor the Mayor's office has a clue of how to change that. And we have seen that if this were to happen on Piedmont ave, to a more affluent or whiter family, of course the media coverage and community response is different. Without a doubt - if you argue otherwise you are truly ignorant, and not living in the communities who this affects most. Now the question is, what can be done to organize support for this family? Can we start a fund? Who will help this grandmother with the expenses needed to give the granddaughter what all children deserve? I would love to see info. about how to begin some kind of fund.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
If I ever get the opportunity to meet Christopher Rodriguez I'll be certain to tell him that he doesn't have your sympathy being too white and all. I didn't know being black and hispanic was too white!
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 8
I agree with jif, the reporters at the Oakland Tribune always try to promote problems between the OPD and the neighborhoods. Think about this, the cops in Oakland spend their work lives trying to keep up with the killings here. If they reacted emotionally to each one we would not have a functioning police force. They must maintain some distance to keep functioning. If they didn't care they wouldn't be cops in Oakland, they could go work in Beverly Hills. I never understand why everyone in Oakland hates the OPD so much, they didn't make these problems and most of these cops are nice guys who only stay here because they grew up here and they care about making Oakland a better place. IF the reporter wants to place blame, put it where it should be...on the shooter.
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 28
I commend and appreciate Tammerlin Drummond for her honesty, compassion and high regards for this family and our communities. Her courage to also write " Paper should have broken the rules", April 27th was long over due.Also T.D's cut n dry attitude when focusing on Shaneice's potentials is obviously without exaggeration for publication and/or credentials(as we've observed in a particular 2 wk. 'Special report' on another victim by a more familiar female Oakland staff writer early this year). This article just verified everything several youths stated to me in regards to Shaneice. Many of them know her father. With good reason, the larger portion of our communities don't trust our local media and those who have had dealings w/ them have learned a grave lesson. Without sufficient information the media can be quick to elaborate on the negative, and on rare occasions gain sympathy where sympathy isn't deserved. They've been even quicker to either alter or edit out statements from interviews, giving it a whole new meaning. The reporting then becomes unprofessional & misleading, slanting readers to conclude their beliefs in line w/ the editor's own prejudicial opinions. When this happened, later we rarely got a correction or factual findings from court proceedings.
This family's sudden stream of over whelming problems is becoming a way of life for many in our city and most common amongst families of murdered victims. As others, I'm still struggling to pay for my son's headstone, didn't get a dime from Victim-Witness Assistance nor media coverage after they (Ch. 2) insisted I open a bank account for donations. The bible says not to complain so I don't, it's all we have to hold on to. Because of this & my own exp. I ask some of you, DO NOT OFFER HELP OR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE simply b/c you're presently in an emotional state or want to say something nice. The loss responsible parents feel from the lost of their babies is so painful, especially when it's due to someone else's maddness, and I know the heavens feel it too. When the city morgue came at 4 am to retrieve my son's body off the street & lifted the tarp, 6,7 of us and an officer heard a loud scream in the air followed by distant crying and wailing. Nobody knew where it came other then towards the sky. A dog started howling & I'm sure he was freaking out just as we were.The city morgue employees didn't hear a thing. Someone later told me that some spiritual things/experiences are not meant for everyone to hear or see. But the loss is a feeling unfamiliar to mankind 'until' you yourself have lost a child which you've revolved your world around or put before your own self. It's like a wandering demon again suddenly pics and chooses, rips our whole heart out of our chest then throws it down at our feet. How do we fix it? What does a mother do when no experience in life prepares any woman for a loss which leaves us feeling so powerless & saddened that NOBODY or NOTHING can help? Everything that seemed unreal or irrelevant suddenly becomes so real, leaving everything around us suddenly so unfamiliar, so confusing, so so painful. It hurts so bad, cutting into our soul is the only words we can find to define it b/c no words exist. It doesn't end there. Wave after wave of shock, confusion, anger and dispair intensified a 1000x's hangs like an unwanted black cloud over us, striking at any given moment. Imagine each time she has to look at that room, that bed? I feel this mother's pain being I had to get rid of the phone which reminded me of that most dreaded phone call I recieved, the one every parents fears. Part of being a decent human being is being considerate towards the hardships of others. To be generous but not foolish and wise but not arrogant earns us a place among the righteous. How anyone can make 'false promises' to any mother who has recently lost their child (and in such a shocking unjustly way), or to extend a helping hand yet yank it back...is surely asking God to step away from their own lives while inviting the devil in. Never judge a man's character by the way he presents himself in front of others, but by what he does when he thinks no one is watching. ALL EYEZ IS ON YOU Larry Reid, hopefully you do the right thing.
~~> Happy "21st" Birthday Terrell, Rest in peace, love n light! <~~
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
I am sorry to say that i must agree. the police do not care. more than half of them do not even live in the city that they protect. which is funny because one of the interview questions in an OPD interview i went on was " Why Oakland?" anyway, they do their jobs "patroling" and go home. this is validated by the number of unsolved criminal cases in oakland as well as the rise in her crime. with that being said my heart goes out to the starks/davis family. I also noticed the lack of coverage this incident received verses that of Christopher Rodrigez, and by no means am i saying that one crime was worst than the other. they are both entirely different and they both should have never happend. i read the first article that talked about Ms. Davis. and it included the information about a trust fund set up for her daughter at washington mutual under Shanise Davis. and that was it. However,on easter weekend i attended an event at arroyo park (far from Piedmont) in which christopher rodrigez was presented with funds donated by many from the Community(Majority working class African americans). prior to this event it was announced on KTVU 2, there were trust funds set up fo him too. there were city officals, including Counsil woman Desly Brooks. and lets not forget the bike ride through oakland,starting from west oakland, in his honar. many even got to meet him as he sat in his wheel chair with the cool lights and other bells and whistles. and that was nice, but i guess my point is where is the bike ride in honar of shanise? where is the call for donations stemming from outside of the family? Where are the counsil members? where are these same concerned "community" members? the lack of attention that this is receiving does not just lay with the media, or police. I do not believe it is because she was african american and thus she was less important. and nor do i believe that it is due to the fact that this, and similar incidents, are considered to be commonplace within the east/west/north oakland streets or financialy challenged african american communities as a whole, but because the members of these communities aren't outraged. they are not preaching from their stoops. mothers are not flooding the streets with their tears. you do not have to wait to become a victim to want to do something as most of us do. we are all that we have. get mad. get mad enough to write your congressman or you counsil member. get mad enough to document how many times you have called the police to have riff raff removed from hanging out and doing illegal things infront of your place of residence. documet the response you receive from the call. contact you local paper. don't be afraid to shake things up. do it for all of the shanise's of the world. do it for your communities. do it for yourself. do it because you want and deserve better. and see what response you get then. i will close by saying this. in san francisco and all over the bay really, we are having this problem with apple moths messing up our agriculture. basically they are eating plants that we need to make everything keep going, anyway, the state came up with a solution. that they were going to dump this "non toxic" chemical over the bay area, San Fran and some other places, that would kill only the moths. well the people of that great city weren't having that. they felt that not enough studies had been done. per a news clip i saw a gentlemen made a reference to agent orange, city leaders said that they understood the concerns but that this is something that had to be done for the good of our eco system. so they were going to do it with or with out the communities blessing. well guess what???The community members got mad and although there are community chemical dumpings being done around the bay area....Not in SF they weren't having it. i hope you all see where i am going with this. now for you critics i am no professional writer so read at your own risk. :)
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 43
This is an unfortunate tragedy that occurred to a young beautiful young mother. There are so many other families wishing to relocate to other areas also. The solution maybe that people start protesting to all the organizations that are suppose to help the people who are in need of their assistance. Ms. Davis family is in desperate need of the assistance to relocate her family, to a better location; so that for her young granddaughter can grow up happy and lead a normal life, and so Ms. Davis' mother can began to heal, as well as her 14 year old daughter, who will need years of counseling. This mother has lost her child, and will live each day with the reminder of how she died, why must she be remain in the same home with those horrible constant memories? For those individuals wanting information on what to do for this family. You can establish a trust fund at any local bank in the name of Ms. Davis' mother. to help with moving expenses. "God" Bless Miss S. Davis and Her Family and All Other Families That Are Experiencing The Same Tragedies.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
Many of you have suggested that public moneys be used to relocate this family, but you do not appear to be thinking about the ramifications of such an offer. In years when Oakland has in excess of 100 homicides (which is nearly every year) how would you propose the tax dollars be spent? Offering each family the money to move out and, presumably, up? This is such an unrealistic suggestion that it would be dismissed out of hand. I agree, this family should not be required to continue living where they feel nothing but the presence of death; however, the community needs to look at other ways to make this happen. What if they allowed people who called the crimestop number with useful information to give their reward money to the family for relocation? It would be a start at building a bridge between the community and others within it, and it would bridge the gap between the cops and the community. There are other good (and realistic) ideas out there - so let's here them! And I can not let pazajo's post go without commenting: I can only be thankful that OPD did not hire you. If I was raped and had to rely on a report written by you to get brought before the DA's office for charging, I can guarantee the spelling errors alone would preclude such a charge. Your post sounds like bitter grapes to me.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 131
SO JIF YOU ARE SAYING THAT IT IS RIGHT FOR OUR TAX DOLLARS TO GO TO RENO GUN DEALERS AT THE SUM OF $250 OR SO PER WEAPON??? EVEN THOUGH SOME OF THE GUNS HAD PRICE TAGS ON THEM PRICED AT $35, AND PEOPLE COMING FROM OVER THREE HUNDRED MILES TO GET THE MONEY THEN GO HOME AND SPEND IT(COME ON, GET REAL)??? TO MY KNOWLEDGE THE CITY SPENT $250,000 NOT TO MENTION ALL THE PROGRAMS BEING FUNDED TO CUT CRIME. PUT A CLAUS IN THE AWARD LETTER THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO HELP FAMILIES AS SUCH IN THE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE, THEY ARE NOT SLOWING THE KILLINGS DOWN LET ALONG STOPPING THEM OR EDUCATING NOR PLACING THEM WITH GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT!!! SO WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING??? WHY NOT GIVE OUR CITIZENS WHO HAS BEEN HIT WITH THE WORST OF UNFORTANE $2000. IT WOULD HAVE SERVED THE COMMUNITY BETTER THAN PAYING FIVE TIMES OVER FOR AN OLD PROBALY DONT WORK JESSIE JAMES SPEACIAL. IS THAT RAMIFICATION ENOUGH FOR YOU JIF?????
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
I am a 25 year old mother of 2. I am a victim of gun violence. I am very fortunate to be here today! I would love to be help to this family. I believe GOD has kept me hear for a reason and this may be my reason to help others survive the pain!! My heart and prayers go out to this family. And WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE CONTACT ME SO WE CAN GET THIS FAMILY OUT OF HER APARTMENT! That is what she needs!!!!!!! She needs all the strength now to raise her grandbaby and be strong for both her and her daughter. This is a tough road for her. I cry evertime I think of something HAPPENING to my daughters...the thought of it really happening makes me go crazy. I can just imagine how her and her family is feeling. I was shot in 1996 with a 30 Odd 6 rifle and blew my femoral artery to pieces. I flat lined twice..9 years later the artifical artery they placed in my leg decided to go out and had to be replaced or I could die with a clot, or lose my leg. Like I said I am VERY FORTUNATE to be here and I know GOD has a purpose for me!! Whatever I can do i WANT TO DO IT...I saw my mother in pain everyday..Crap I was in pain still am..Like I said the pain this family is going through right now is a pain noone not even myself can feel until it is them. We as a community need to help! I want to help this family!!! PLEASE CONTACT ME I WOULD LOVE AND BE MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP IN EVER WHICH WAY POSSIBLE!!!!!
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1
The world we live in today.....
I am quite saddened by the inability of some participants of this forum to discern the purpose and focus of this article; those that would choose to comment, therefore providing yet another distraction from the true issues at hand, on the grammatical/creative style of the publisher of this article. I am ashamed of these distractors. Ashamed because those that actively keep up with current events and participate in these types of forums are supposedly representative of the so called intelligent minority within our community. Loss of the ability to focus on what is important; could this be the culprit of the problems that plague the very community in which we speak of? Are we so insensitive to what is going on around us that our attention can be drawn away from what is relevant so easily? Enough said already regarding narrative criticism, a sentiment that I hope is shared by all participants of this forum. To those interested in assisting the Starks/Davis Family, a trust fund for Kamari Garcia, the one year-old daughter of Shaneice Davis, has been set up at Washington Mutual Bank located at 10800 International Blvd. in Oakland (510) 614-6613. The account number is 4214292784.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
ojagaj, your point is well taken, but I think you may have missed the point of the posters' comments. Based upon your post, I gather you possess the requisite amount of intelligence (apparently a dirty word in Oakland) to re-read the comments and see what the objection was. It seemed to me that the objection was the readers, myself included, do not care for the rabble rousing tone of the article. Blame was placed everywhere, but where it ought to have been - with the shooter. I, for one, have reached my limit for Oakland's "when in doubt, blame the police" attitude. I do not suffer from ADHD, so I was able to focus on the point of the article, while viewing it critically for content and meaning. It is, sadly, the anti-intellectual attitude of many in Oakland that allows them to believe, wrongly, that intelligence means detached and heartless. It is this same lack of respect for intelligence, the English language, morality and common decency that allows many of Oakland's citizens to shoot people without giving a second thought to the lives they will destroy. Allow the dumbing down of the media, the schools, the politicians and you end up with Oakland 2008 with 42 homicides and countless other shootings and robberies. It all needs to be fixed, and eschewing critical thought is why it often is not. And Trouble, it was Don Perata who created that fiasco known as a gun buy back, not just the City of Oakland. Oakland was just dumb enough not to think things over (there is that blasted critical thinking thing again) and put a limit on it. Oh well, Oakland is always stepping in it!
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 131
WE NEED TO STAY FOCUSED, AND DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS AT HAND!!! TOGETHER WE CAN ACHIEVE!!!!!!
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
I am really curious if anybody read the article written by Nancy O'Malley from the district attorney's office about this issue. The article written by O'Malley brings into serious question the veracity of anything written by Tammerlin Dummond. If only half of what O'Malley said is true, then I stand 100% behind my suggestion that the problem with Drummond's article was that it was intended to get people worked into a lather for no damn reason! I do not want to believe that Ms. Davis' family was trying to intentionally mislead the public about what had been done for them, but I suspect that O'Malley would not put into writing that which she could not prove - being an attorney with a lot to lose. I, for one, am glad that I took what was said with more than just a grain of salt. I hope people didn't dump too much money into that trust fund thinking that they were making up for what "the man" was unwilling to pay. Will Ms. Drummond apologize to the public for making patently untrue representations about the help provided to the Davis family? If she does not, then I highly recommend that all the readers of this slanted rag dismiss most of what they read as pure fiction!
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 131
JIF IM LOST COULD YOU FILL ME IN?
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 80
When you get to the web page for insideBayArea.com type in O'Malley's name or "column mislead." In either case you will come upon her response, which essentially obliterates the story written by Tammerlin Drummond. I hope you, and many others, read what was said and offer your thoughts on the subject.