Mikkey Halsted is not local, he is from Chicago, but his words in the above video can easily be applied to Oakland. In every major American city I have spent time in, the owners and operators of liquor stores in the Black community are generally not Black themselves. The relationship between a store and its patrons should be co-dependent, but too often in the hood corner store scenario the relationship between the two parties is abusive and exploitative.
Oakland's predominantly Yemeni liquor store owners don't sell fruits and vegetables to local residents, they sell hard liquor, Swishers, t-shirts and Jordans. There is no community investment or service on the part of the store owners. They will say they are just selling what sells, but this is precisely the problem. An occupying group will only consider what they will profit from, not what the community needs. I won't knock their pursuit of profit, but the community needs to demand more or set up their own stores.
Oakland's predominantly Yemeni liquor store owners don't sell fruits and vegetables to local residents, they sell hard liquor, Swishers, t-shirts and Jordans. There is no community investment or service on the part of the store owners. They will say they are just selling what sells, but this is precisely the problem. An occupying group will only consider what they will profit from, not what the community needs. I won't knock their pursuit of profit, but the community needs to demand more or set up their own stores.
While, I won't condone most of the actions of Oakland's Black Muslims, I was glad they raided those West Oakland liquor stores in 2005 and destroyed the alcohol inside. The Muslim store owners, who aren't supposed to drink alcohol themselves, sell it to the Black community- and often times to minors. Their willingness to exploit the local community's health and wellness for their own personal gain should be punished, by boycott, legal action or more militant measures.
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