More destruction, more businesses to support

Earlier this week, I felt very concerned about the Oscar Grant protest that was to take place last night. Though I knew the organizers meant well and would attempt to keep the peace, a smaller faction of protesters was distributing this flyer, featuring an image of a brick breaking through a window.

I got so worried that I emailed the flyer to Council Members Nadel and Kaplan, as well as the Mayor’s office. I would have emailed it directly to the Oakland Police Department, but, of course, there’ s no email address to be found on their website.

I received responses from all three offices almost immediately. Nancy Nadel promised to forward it to OPD. Rebecca Kaplan forwarded me a message from the protest organizers that explained how they were training hundreds of volunteers to provide security for the protest. The Mayor’s office responded, promising that they were working closely with OPD and the protest organizers to ensure that there would not be a repeat of the destruction that happened last week.

So I started to think – maybe it’s going to be different. Maybe OPD learned from their mistakes and would be able to stop destruction before it started or at least before it became widespread. I left my office at 6pm and saw police everywhere, and not just randomly walking around. They clearly were in a pre-planned formation, blocking off certain streets.

I walked over to Radio and felt pretty safe, though I did keep watching the clock, still having some apprehension that when the planned protest ended at 7:00, chaos would follow. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. A small fringe group refused to leave the 14th and Broadway intersection and moved into City Center, where they smashed many windows with all sorts of objects.

I heard about this happening and sat tight at Radio until it had calmed down enough that I felt safe to walk to the bus stop. I actually didn’t realize how bad it had been until I turned on the news when I got home and saw the widespread destruction.

With some help, today I updated the list of businesses that were vandalized on January 7th, adding the businesses that were hit last night. It’s a bit overwhelming to see just how extensive the list is and how geographically widespread the businesses are.

I hope you will join the effort to support these businesses. You can visit them anytime, or you can join the group on Yelp that is organizing an outing tomorrow (Friday night). Also, Oakland merchants are joining together this Saturday, the 17th, to support businesses on 17th Street. The street will be closed to car traffic and it sounds like it will be a fun afternoon.

Support downtown Oakland businesses that were vandalized

Thanks to everyone who helped compile the list of Oakland businesses that were vandalized last Wednesday, January 7th. I hope you will join me in supporting these businesses in the coming weeks. Many of these businesses still had boards over there windows on Friday, but they’re open so don’t let that deter you.

The list is compiled below as well as mapped out on Google Maps. Please let me know if there are any businesses missing, and I’ll add them to the list.

UPDATE: I’ve now updated the list and map with businesses that were hit on January 14th.

Independent Stores

• Beauty Center – 501 14th Street #125 (City Center)
• Change Hair Studio – 374 17th Street
• City Bloom – 500 12th Street (City Center)
• Creative African Braids – 339 14th Street
• Fashion & Art Revival – 371 17th Street
• Greg’s Barbershop – 306 14th Street
• Hair by Margret – 373 17th Street
• Le Magic Cleaners – 1706 Franklin Street
• Mimi’s Beauty Supply – 350 17th Street
• Mimi’s Custom Design – 366 17th Street
• News City Plus – 417 14th Street
• Patrick & Co – 1820 Franklin St
• Pedicure Shop – 389 15th Street
• Psychic Reader – 376 17th Street
• Psychic Reality – 1630 Webster Street
• Satisfied Nails – 389 15th Street
• Shoe Repair – 312 17th Street
• Showcase Wigs – 372 17th Street
• Temple Tattoo – 384 17th Street
• Top Notch Hair Designs – 389 17th Street
• Unique Braids – 386 17th Street
• Yoon’s Pharmacy – 337 14th Street

Restaurants

• Bagel St. Café – 501 14th Street (City Center)
• Colonial Donuts – 1636 Franklin Street
• Espresso Café – 409 14th Street
• Flora – 1900 Telegraph Ave
• Henry’s Gallery Cafe – 1700 Franklin Street
• IB Hoagies – 1601 San Pablo Ave
• Ichi Japon – 382 17th Street
• *Maly Donut & Burger – 144 14th Street (Maly Donut & Burger did not sustain physical damage but two of the employees were beat up.)
• *Pho 84 – 354 17th Street (Pho 84 did not sustain physical damage because its employees formed a human chain in front of the restaurant and protected it through the night.)
• Pure Natural Café – 376 17th Street
• Take it Easy Thai – 351 17th Street

Entertainment Venues

• The Fox Theater – 1807 Telegraph Avenue
• The Uptown Nightclub – 1928 Telegraph Avenue

Professional Offices

• Accident Case Experts – 1701 Harrison Street
• Center For Elders Independence – 510 17th Street
• Disability Access Advocacy Law Office – 310 17th Street
• Haley Law Offices – 1633 San Pablo
• Turner Construction Offices – 1912 Telegraph Ave
• Komorous Towey Architects – 315 14th Street

Chain Stores

• Club One – 1200 Clay Street (City Center)
• GNC – 501 14th St #27 (City Center)
• Jamba Juice – 500 12th Street (City Center)
• McDonald’s – 1330 Jackson Street
• Quizno’s – 1200 Clay St #150 (City Center)
• Radio Shack – 501 14th St (City Center)
• Sears – 1955 Broadway
• Wells Fargo – 1221 Broadway (City Center)

Help me support Oakland business that were vandalized

UPDATE: The compiled list can be found here.

As we all know by now, many small businesses were attacked on Wednesday night in the midst of the protest that turned violent on the streets of downtown Oakland. Walking through downtown yesterday morning made be both sad and angry. There was glass everywhere, burnt debris in the street, garbage cans still tipped over, and store owners surveying the damage.

But now it’s time to come together as a community to try to make things right again. We need to support these locally owned businesses that have already been struggling through this difficult economy and now have to deal with this additional economic and emotional hurdle.

So here’s my plan. I want to create a list of all the businesses that were vandalized and then publicize this list widely to encourage Oaklanders to shop at these stores and eat at these restaurants. But I can’t do this myself – I need your help.

In the comments section below please list any businesses that you know were hit on Wednesday night. If you can, provide an address or street location. On Monday, I’ll post the full list in a separate post and will ask you to help out once again by patronizing these businesses.

We cannot reverse the killing of Oscar Grant. We cannot reverse the real damage and the emotional scars wrought by Wednesday night’s attacks. What we can do is come together to support our community. Thank you for any help you can provide with this project.