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[rustling]
[creaking]
[vehicles passing by]
[beep]
‐ I just woke up.
I'm hella tired.
I'm about to go bummy as fuck today, 'cause I don't give a fuck.
I'm a fucking senior.
[car engine revving]
RADIO HOST 1: Welcome to a new week.
And happy back‐to‐school to lots of kids.
RADIO HOST 2: Yeah.
RADIO HOST 1: I just feel like it gets earlier and earlier
every year that school starts.
RADIO HOST 2: Ah.
RADIO HOST 1: A wave of teacher strikes began last year in Oakland, California.
[radio chatter continues]
BOY: Okay.
[in Spanish]
♪ serene music playing ♪
RADIO HOST 3: [on radio] The Oakland Unified School District spends
over six million dollars on its police and security force.
And this in the Bay area,
where the high cost of housing plagues the region.
‐ You wanna be in my vlog?
♪
[laughter]
♪
[students chattering]
♪
‐ We out here.
ALL: What's up, everybody?
‐ We are the All‐City Council Governing Board.
‐ So we got a message.
I know it ain't no Hot Boy, Hot Girl Summer no more,
but we looking out for scholar boys and scholar girls
who are hella educated that are ready to represent us
from every high school
and are ready to show what they're about.
‐ Because after what happened last year
with, you know, the strikes and school closures,
and, you know, we need y'all out there leading.
GIRL: 'Cause period, people!
‐ 'Cause period, people!
PRINCIPAL ABDEL: Thank you. Have a great first day as well.
Good morning, man.
Hey, man, how you feeling?
[indiscernible chatter]
Good to see you, sir.
[students chattering]
‐ Like, it ain't no playing games.
[students chattering]
MAN: Good morning. GIRL: Good morning.
MAN: How are you? Good. GIRL: Good, how about you?
Let's go, gentlemen, the bell has rung.
PRINCIPAL ABDEL: [over loudspeaker] Good morning, Oakland High.
Welcome to the first day of school.
I hope you have a wonderful, positive, and productive day.
Thank you.
GIRL: [over loudspeaker] Thank you, Wildcats.
And remember, success is going from failure to failure
without losing enthusiasm.
‐ Ooh! Senior season.
‐ 'Cause period.
‐ I wouldn't drop out.
[students chattering]
♪
[indiscernible chatter]
BOY: Oh!
Big man! Oh!
♪
[leaf blower buzzing]
[students chattering]
TEACHER: No, right?
So this line is gonna be slightly different from this line
and is slightly different from that line.
If you were to draw this lines to, uh, two consecutive points.
[students chattering]
GIRL 1: Bruh, I didn't even tell you what James is trying to have me do.
GIRL 2: I have a feeling I know.
Was I correct?
GIRL 1: Yeah.
[both shouting]
‐ At this time, if I could have your voices off
and your eyes and ears up to the screen here for a moment.
So this will be a partner activity.
You will take that form of oppression
and on the back side...
[students chattering] TEACHER: you're going to identify‐‐
‐ I think it's racism or probably colorism.
TEACHER: Once again, if I could please have your voices off.
I just want to make sure we're all hearing what's happening here.
‐ So it's my expectation that I won't see your phone out in my class.
The end of the marking period is a week from Friday.
So it behooves you to be super engaged today, right,
because tomorrow is looming.
[bombs exploding]
NARRATOR: [on screen] Officials in the new cabinet
didn't like or trust Hitler,
but they liked democracy even less.
And they saw the leftist parties as a bigger threat.
They reached out to the Nazis to help build a majority in parliament.
[students chattering]
BOY: When I say A, you say CC.
A. STUDENTS: CC.
BOY: A. STUDENTS: CC.
BOY: Thank you all for coming out to ACC's high school meeting,
make some noise.
[students cheering]
GIRL: Please find a space.
There are some empty seats right here, over there.
Yes.
Uh, I would like to pass the mic to Denilson and Mica
about the budget cuts.
‐ My name is Denilson Garibo.
Uh, my pronouns are "him" and "he,"
and I am one of the two student directors.
I represent all‐city council
and 36,000 students in our district.
So we'll have some cuts that are going to be made
which it will probably impact our newcomer students
which makes us wonder what is being prioritized
because it's just a cycle that keeps on going.
‐ Good morning, I'm Mica Smith‐Dahl, and I'm the other student director.
So just with going a little bit more depth into that, you know,
the people that are representing us on our school board,
they're making decisions for us and without our say
so when we're the ones in the schools facing all the challenges.
Um, this really affected us deeply
with them not really wanting to save programs
that we wanted saved,
as we saw last year.
Personally speaking, I have a learning disability
that I didn't get diagnosed until I was a junior in high school.
Maybe with more types of supports for students like me,
that wouldn't have happened.
Um, but, you know, sometimes things aren't priorities
to people that don't go through things.
[students snapping fingers]
GIRL: And not to mention, like, all my friends that I know
are people of color who speak different languages.
So why are we cutting from classes that, like, we know‐‐
like I know people need? ‐ Right.
‐ Especially if, like, this nation is like
you have to speak English in order to do this and do that.
So, like, why are you taking away the funding
for them to, like, function at all
like, in this, like, world?
[students snapping fingers]
‐ I pers‐personally, I kind of feel like they should cut the police.
Um, I don't really feel like they do anything to serve
or protect us like they're supposed to.
And we kind of know how they treat our Black and brown students.
And they keep coming back and asking for more money.
That's something simple they could do to cut and get more money,
um, which is something we don't even want.
GIRL: Wow.
[students applauding]
‐ That was bad. [laughter]
‐ GIRL 1: That came from the heart though. ‐ GIRL 2: That was from the heart.
GIRL 1: That came from the heart. We saw it.
[students chattering]
GIRL: Is that couscous?
‐ Couscous. ‐ Couscous.
‐ Is that couscous?
Is that couscous?
[students chattering]
‐ Yeah, I got my schedule switched, it's your turn.
[students chattering]
‐ Uno!
[students chattering]
GIRL: It's pink. ‐ It was.
BOY: ...on a beautiful day, we're here today
to honor the Latino heritage month.
My name is Edgar, I'm the president of the Latinos Dios.
And that's Saechao, the vice presi‐‐ She's doing it with me.
GIRL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
EDGAR: Alright, this is great, guys, come on.
GIRL: Woo!
[singing in Spanish]
♪
[Edgar rapping]
♪ Tones and words coming out of people's voices ♪
♪ As words dance in their vocal chords ♪
[rapping]
♪ But the only words that come out were foreign ♪
♪ "But what's the problem with this," people ask ♪
♪ I'll tell you what the problem is ♪
♪ The problem is that the boots are‐‐ ♪
♪ I'll tell you what the problem is, the roots are being cut ♪
♪ And branches are being grown too short ♪
♪ The leaves are falling off trees as many stories go untold ♪
♪ We forget‐‐ ♪
♪ We begin to forget where we came from ♪
Aw, shoot.
Um... we begin‐‐
My feet hurt already with these boots on.
♪ mariachi music playing ♪
♪
EDGAR: I need to rehearse my poem.
Mic check. Hello? Hello? Yo, dawg, can you hear me?
You guys hear me back there?
BOY: Yeah. ‐ Yeah?
♪ Education will be the key for me to up‐‐ ♪
Sorry.
♪ Education will be the key for me to reshape these pieces ♪
♪ To reshape my future and to uprise the seas ♪
♪ To see the highest tides ♪
♪ We'll turn on the people that never believed in me ♪
♪ That my beautiful, brown body wouldn't be laying on the ground ♪
♪ A beautiful complexion this system has failed to build ♪
I forgot the rest, hold on.
♪ But I refuse to give up on myself ♪
♪ I will be not another page of the book ♪
♪ But I'll create a new chapter ♪
[students chattering]
GIRL: Bye, y'all.
[cars honking]
MAN: It is up to us to demand that in this year,
they do not close our school.
[crowd cheering]
REPORTER: Outside the room where school board meetings are typically held,
a group of parents, teachers, students, and even board members came together.
They say it is the only school district in Alameda County
that has its own police force,
and that money should be spent elsewhere.
MAN: But unfortunately, it's just indicative
of one of the many failures of this school board.
From cutting money from our schools to forcing our teachers on strike.
WOMAN: Yes! ‐ To closing our schools.
[crowd applauding]
MAN: I remember growing up in Oakland.
There was no OUSD PD then‐‐
REPORTER: A number of topics are up for discussion
tonight here, Frank and Julie, but perhaps the most talked about
is the massive amount of money the district says it needs to cut.
Now, cuts are not very popular with many people here.
In fact, during several school board meetings late last year,
there were a number of demonstrations which interrupted the meeting.
PRESIDENT JODY LONDON: Okay, so we're going to be now on item N,
superintendent's report.
Superintendent Johnson‐Trammell.
JOHNSON‐TRAMMELL: I have taken on the role of Superintendent of Oakland
during a very challenging time.
We continue to explore ways to engage
in constructive community dialog around these issues.
We welcome your thoughts and ideas.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT LONDON: Thank you, Superintendent.
Student Directors, are you ready now?
‐ Uh, good evening, everyone.
So we as student directors just wanna say
that we stand for the community,
and we love the energy that we're getting right now.
I love this movement. I‐‐ [crowd applauding]
I just... I just love the representation y'all giving Oakland
and what Oakland is all about, 'cause we have the power.
[crowd applauding]
PRESIDENT LONDON: Thank you, Student Directors.
‐ My name is Tehama Lopez, and I am a resident of Oakland.
I have four children in OUSD‐‐
PRESIDENT LONDON: Excuse me, but right now is not the time
in the agenda for public comments.
So if you could, if you could step down‐‐
‐ Long enough you all been talking.
It is time for you to listen to the community.
Period.
LOPEZ: We are coming from different areas‐‐
PRESIDENT LONDON: After we adopt the consent report‐‐
‐ As a part of Black Organizing Projects,
as a parent, and as a resident of this city,
I'm asking you to remove the police
from the Oakland Unified School District‐‐
GIRL: No school closures! STUDENTS: Oakland is not for sale!
‐ No school closures!
STUDENTS: Oakland is not for sale!
GIRL: No school closures!
STUDENTS: Oakland is not for sale!
[chanting continues] WOMAN: Let him talk!
MAN: Let the student talk!
‐ No school closures!
PROTESTERS: Oakland is not for sale!
‐ We're just trying to repeat the cycle that happened last week?
Like, I don't understand‐‐
‐ Then you need to talk to the board. They're the ones doing this.
‐ You don't‐‐ I don't give a fuck!
‐ A Nazi.
‐ You fucking Nazi ass motherfucker. Chill the fuck out.
I fought for this country‐‐ ‐ You don't know me.
WOMAN: Don't have to know‐‐ MAN: Fucking Nazi ass bitch!
[shouting continues]
PRESIDENT LONDON: We are going to, in another meeting,
we will either resume the meeting or recess to upstairs.
We would much prefer
to stay here and conduct the meeting.
We would much prefer to stay here and conduct the meeting‐‐
[voices fade out]
DWAYNE: That was interesting. ‐ It was really interesting.
A lot, a lot going on.
DWAYNE: A lot going on.
GIRL 1: I was confused throughout the whole thing.
I was telling everybody. GIRL 2: Right. That was crazy.
‐ Me, Natalie, and Anna‐‐
BOTH: We were screaming.
‐ We were telling them‐‐ MICA: What y'all saying?
‐ We were like, listen to them.
And I was so ready to go up to that lady
and tell her to announce that
to listen to y'all because that's out of pocket.
'Cause y'all stand by their sides,
but they're over here acting like they don't stand on y'all sides too.
‐ I feel like it just shows, like, the disconnect we have with the adults,
like us not being heard.
They're‐‐ them giving the backs to, like, students directors
and, like, the whole board?
It was just like, we was trying to talk.
We was trying to make a statement,
but nobody was trying to hear us.
‐ Right. GIRL: Mm‐hmm.
DENILSON: We did not see no youth in there.
DWAYNE: That too!
I didn't even trip off that‐‐
DENILSON: We saw some youth, but there were like‐‐
DWAYNE: They weren't involved. DENILSON: Right.
‐ They were paying attention.
I think us being in the positions that we're in,
we should reach out to those students
and invite them to our space
and inform them on what's going on.
They probably don't even know what's going on.
DENILSON: Mm‐hmm.
GIRL: Can y'all teach it to me?
Do it again.
♪ dance music playing ♪
BOY: Hey.
GIRL: Devine.
Hey.
‐ Aah!
TEACHER: So, wait, I'll tell you something Antonio's already done.
He already took over Prospero's position of Duke.
What do you say?
‐ I said that it's difficult being someone else.
Cause it's not me. And it's not comfortable enough.
TEACHER: Definitely not comfortable for everybody.
Itzel, what do you think?
‐ Okay. I said, I feel cool,
'cause when I'm playing another role,
it's like me switching up or code switching kind of.
TEACHER: I'm glad you‐‐ ITZEL: In my opinion.
TEACHER: Say just a little bit about what you mean by code switch.
‐ Like... kind of switching
from being yourself to being somebody else
and changing, like, the way you're talking
or the way you're saying certain stuff.
TEACHER: Well, I'll say cool back to you then.
[laughing] TEACHER: 'Cause I'm glad
that's how you feel about it.
'Cause that's part of what we are doing.
I mean, I heard, "No, no politics, please," right, in here,
but we'll have to feel that out.
Like, our politics‐‐ ITZEL: No, I feel that, who said that?
‐ Uh, I‐‐ Thank you for raising your hand.
I‐‐ See, between the two Itzels.
ITZEL: Politics is‐‐ Oh my god.
TEACHER: You agree about how bad it is.
‐ So we're politics free in here, right?
TEACHER: Not entirely, but we don't have to specifically talk about now.
But questions about who's in charge
and who has power and who doesn't, that's already come up.
Right? So for example, remember we said, who wants what? Right?
ITZEL: Mm‐hmm. [phone vibrating]
TEACHER: Who wants to be free?
ITZEL: What do you mean, what's my problem?
‘Cause I just fucked up my mood, bro.
Yeah, 'cause you just canceled on me.
Hello?
Okay, like, this is the second time you do this shit.
Don't, don't call me no more.
Don't call me no more. Just leave me alone.
[indistinct chatter]
[students chattering]
[students laughing]
DENILSON: And Mr. Allan, would have been like, "Wait a minute."
GIRL: Not every day! I'm just kidding.
Alright, I can't be right here.
But it is, you know, dry out there.
BOY: Wait, what were you saying about the board meeting?
DENILSON: Yesterday, we had a board meeting, right?
Now, it's this movement going on
that's like "Oakland Is Not For Sale," have you heard of them?
‐ Yeah.
‐ They're like, you know, advocating to stop the merge,
to stop the closures and all of that.
But it's just like the majority
are, like, white middle class people.
The last board meeting we had is they just, like, completely shut it down.
And me and Mica, we was just sitting there,
like, listening to them and, like,
I wanted to say it, like, what I needed to say
but, like, a knot was in my, in my throat.
And it's like, if I say something,
like, I'm gonna‐‐ I'm gonna say it all.
But it's like, we need to stay calm.
Because, like, what we say right now is gonna be representing
every 36,000 students.
And, like, there's been many moments where that had happened,
but it's always with the board, you know. ‐ Right.
‐ Speaking to the board and speaking to the community is different
because we don't want to be against the community.
‐ Right.
You still want to go in politics?
‐ Hell yeah. That's my passion, you know.
‐ You know, like, the Black Panthers was founded in Oakland.
And a lot of the things that they fought for
were something simple, to just access to education.
And now you have had a front seat
to the turmoil that's been going on for years.
I feel like it was good for that to happen to you.
Well, I feel like there's a different fire that has been lit.
But now you gotta go back to the drawing board
and figure out how can you really get that message across,
and I'm positive and sure
that you will do everything you can to figure that out.
‐ Yeah.
‐ Stay strong.
It's, it's, it's a hell of a fight.
[laughing]
BOY: What'd I take? The SATs?
BOY 2: Yes. ‐ You're taking it or you already‐‐
BOY: No, I already took it.
‐ For real? BOY: I'm not taking no more.
It's dumb. Oh yeah. ‐ Fuck that shit.
[laughing]
It's done with.
I do, I did. What is this?
Did we see that? Six hundred out of what?
60.
[laughing]
EDGAR: Dude, you just put your name on it. [laughs]
BOY: I don't care.
400 is the minimum?
EDGAR: Mm‐hmm. Yeah.
‐ So if I got, like, 200, it wouldn't even count.
EDGAR: Four hundred is, I put my name on my thing.
‐ What do you mean?
‐ You put your name on your application.
I mean, that's it. ‐ And that's it.
EDGAR: Yeah. ‐ I did that bad?
D.
[laughing]
Are you serious?
What was your score? ‐ I got a 980.
It's bad.
BOY: I mean, it's better than what I did.
‐ What'd you get at first?
‐ I was... You got like a 830, right?
Or 820, what did you get? ‐ No.
‐ I got like a 870.
‐ Oh no. No, you didn't.
DENILSON: You're good then.
‐ You wanna see? How am I good?
DENILSON: Because, like, the average of Ohio is like 900 I think.
So... ‐ I lowered that average.
DENILSON: [laughs] Same.
‐ Wait, what was it, what was it then?
‐ Huh? ‐ What was it?
900, just plain 900?
‐ No, it's 900 something though.
‐ I went up 10 points, so that's‐‐
DENILSON: I mean, but your GPA makes up for it.
‐ What's your GPA? ‐ What's your GPA?
I got a 4.1 when I added everything in.
DENILSON: You're good.
I feel like if I had a 4.0, then I'll be good with the SAT.
But I'm, I don't even know.
‐ Are you sure you're 3.8?
‐ I think.
MAN: I'm putting all the information right in front of you
so you can make a logical decision on your future.
Hey, imagine though, if I really do this‐‐
if this entrepreneurship really, like, sparked something,
I just start my own business while in college,
and then I just start making hella money. I'm dropping out.
[laughing]
I pray to God that happens.
[students chattering]
DWAYNE: When I say A, you say CC.
A. STUDENTS: CC
‐ A. STUDENTS: CC.
‐ Hello, everyone. My name is Dwayne Davis.
I am vice president of ACC.
Um, ACC is important to me
because I love advocating for the youth in Oakland.
Go, Oakland. Everybody from Oakland out here.
[students snapping fingers]
And I believe that it's super important.
[students snapping] ‐ Yeah.
‐ I would love for you guys to come to a board meeting.
'Cause I don't be seeing y'all faces.
I don't be seeing young people. So...
DENILSON: We really want y'all to be there
because it will shift the energy in the room, and‐‐
You feel me? Like, me and Mica can't be
all of us versus them.
[students snapping fingers]
So we need y'all's support.
We need y'all to be there and to be repping
for the youth in East and West Oakland.
Like, we need that.
BOY: Um, I had a question.
So how are we making sure that we get the voices of, you know, students
that aren't in leadership classes or, like, don't really talk
about, like, political issues, like, publicly.
Are we making sure that their voices are also represented?
BOY: All things are interconnected.
If you look at it, like, all problems that you see
in, like, California, even America in general,
it's all like, you know, the investigation board
where you got all the lines connected and stuff.
And what you got, but you got to realize you got to find out
where does that, where does all the lines lead to?
And sometimes you got to take into consideration outside factors.
So, for the kids who are having trouble with school,
maybe it's, you know, the fact that, you know,
they may not have a home to go to.
Maybe they don't have a, they don't‐‐
Sometimes they don't have food on the table when they get home.
So to truly make a change in school,
you got to change the environment around it as well.
Because if I have that foundation, you know,
that I know I'm safe,
then I'm able to focus more on my education first
because survival always comes first.
[students snapping fingers]
[students chattering]
MAN: Here it is, hop 33.
If you don't get on this one, it's gonna rain on your head.
It's too cold to be outside.
BOY: People just trying to get through, like, Nicky. If you say so.
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
[aircraft droning]
[distant siren wailing]
♪
[children shouting, laughing]
♪
[indiscernible chatter]
RADIO HOST: Oh yes!
Big day, mornings checking in on your Thursday, October 24th.
Good morning, everybody.
And it's gonna be a beautiful day to sit outside
and maybe eat some tacos.
[singing in Spanish]
♪ song continues on car stereo ♪
ITZEL: I'm gonna do it this way, this way.
This way.
Hey, guys, we're back with another vlog.
It's rally day.
[crowd cheering]
EMCEE: Welcome to homecoming rally 2019.
Let me hear you guys make some noise!
[crowd shouting]
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
ITZEL: Hold on, y'all gotta do something for the vlog.
Seniors!
ALL: Seniors!
Seniors!
[chanting continues]
‐ Hey!
DENILSON: Hola! Hola! Hola! Where's the class of 2022?
[students shouting]
Class of 2021, where you at?
[students shouting]
Last but not least, let's hear it for the class
of 2020! [students shouting]
Come on, seniors!
[seniors applauding and cheering]
Ready? Y'all ready?
Three, two, one.
ALL: ♪ O‐A, O‐A‐K ♪
♪ O‐A‐K‐L‐A‐N‐D ♪
♪ Oakland, O, O‐High ♪
♪ Wildcats, you, you know ♪
[song continues]
[students cheering]
FOOTBALL PLAYER: Go on three! One, two, three!
TEAM: [indiscernible shouting]
‐ Set, go!
BOY: Let's get in.
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
[students chattering]
♪
MAN: Good morning.
How are you doing?
Good morning. What's up, brother?
‐ Over here, hon.
Thirty past‐‐ Uh, till nine.
GIRL: What time is it? MAN: Alright.
WOMAN: Ocho, cincuenta, cuatro.
MAN: Alright, so let's get started, alright?
Uh, good morning, gentlemen. BOY: Good morning.
‐ What a turnt up Tuesday this is.
I like how you guys are talking about, like, internet, right?
Social media, things like that. Right?
It brings exactly where we are in our lesson.
Okay. The social media piece.
And so we looked at some of this last week.
Okay.
Young man right here. Right?
Had the police called on him for selling hotdogs,
trying to get some school clothes.
Right. Similar to what we call her, Barbecue Becky?
That was her name. BOY: Yeah.
TEACHER: They called the police on the people having a cookout by the lake.
Y'all know about this young lady.
BOY 1: Yeah. GIRL: Didn't she live here?
BOY 1: She went here. TEACHER: She went here, it's Nia Wilson.
This young lady got killed on the BART, got stabbed.
Okay. So it says the murder of Nia Wilson.
May she rest in her power and peace.
She was denied here.
It's unspeakable and must not be met with silence.
She is not a hashtag.
She was a Black woman, and she was murdered
in cold blood by a white man.
It's all, it's kind of dehumanizing the person itself.
Like you said, she's not a hashtag.
This is somebody that went to this school.
They walked these same hallways as you do,
used some of the same lockers, same classrooms.
This shit is real.
TEACHER: Oh. So this one? KAIA: Yes.
TEACHER: So, basically, that Trump still uses
the same scare tactics.
That immigration leads to crime.
KAIA: Okay.
Are you putting that up for the whole world to see?
Like, for real?
GIRL 2: CeCe, do it. Yep, do it.
CECE: Do what? ‐ [groans] My God!
GIRL 2: It's a video of Kaia hugging Destiny.
That one video where she look hecka friendly.
BOY: Alright. ‐ It's okay. I have her freaking password.
I'm deleting it.
REPORTER: Now to the new developments in that troubling takedown
of a female student in South Carolina.
[desk clattering]
GIRL: I know. [crying] I can't‐‐
♪
[students shouting]
♪
‐ Okay, everyone needs to sign in.
So go ahead and just put... just put, just put your name,
and I will fill out the rest, okay?
GIRL: What are we signing for?
OFFICER: [on mic] Welcome, Oakland High School.
Appreciate you guys coming in today.
We are a part of the Youth Outreach Unit of the Oakland Police Department.
We have come up with this program which is our open house program.
This is legitimately one of your only opportunities
to be with police officers who have all day long
to answer every single question you want.
‐ Who has questions?
Okay.
‐ In this field, do you think it's necessary to make assumptions
about anybody you come in contact with?
OFFICER: To make assumptions.
Uh, good question.
We'll hear and we'll see things in the news and media
that talk about how, well, the officer walked up
and grabbed onto this person
and took him to jail based on a very simple fact, okay.
He took him to jail because he was wearing a black hoodie,
and someone got robbed on the street in a black hoodie.
The narrative that you guys are receiving on social media, in the movies,
in the books, says that we are looking forward every day
to blasting somebody and smokin' up somebody.
And that's just not the case.
Most of us will go our entire careers
and never have to fire our weapons at another human being.
That's the facts.
It's not what you guys have heard
or what our perceptions are.
Out of one million police officers in the United States,
is it realistic to believe
that all one million are going to have strong ethical
and moral values and always do the right thing?
Right? I still have that expectation,
but I'm oftentimes disappointed by police officers' actions
across the nation,
but never more so
than when it happens here in Oakland, California.
‐ There are a lot of students who have PTSD
when it comes to police officers,
because they have had traumatic experience.
There are police officers always, like, um, patrolling
around communities that they live in.
They see people that look like them get arrested.
Family members get arrested, like, unjustfully.
They see them at their public transportation routes.
They see them everywhere.
And then, like, school is supposed to be a safe place.
And then you see them there as well.
It's like being around them all the time. It's, like, overwhelming.
Then it stops them from wanting to go to school.
And then when they don't go to school, then they're labeled
as bad kids and stuff like that.
Gang members and, like, low‐lives.
But it's like when you've been, like, treated so poorly
by the people meant to protect you because of the color of your skin
or, like, the money you have in your pocket,
it's like you don't want to be around that no more.
You just give up.
[students chattering]
JOHNSON‐TRAMMELL: So our outcomes today, um, is really to share with you
where we are in terms of our best thinking
around our budget prioritization and budget reduction,
which will eventually become a proposal
for the board, um, to think through.
And then eventually, they'll have to make final decisions.
DWAYNE: There have been over a thousand students who have stated
that student leadership, teacher quality,
college and career support, and mental health, nutrition,
and wellness are some of their priorities
in terms of needs in OUSD.
‐ I've seen so many of my peers drop out,
um, and they'll be smarter than me, more capable than me,
but they just don't have the right support systems.
So I feel like, as youth, this is what we really need.
DENILSON: Um, I just want to mention, like, I saw school police
on the slides and just wondering,
like, how can we redirect those funds?
I just feel like, you know,
we as students, we don't really feel safe with police,
like seeing school police on our campuses,
like it could be very triggering.
So a lot of students of color‐‐
JOHNSON‐TRAMELL: Once we have a more fully baked proposal,
perhaps there can be another opportunity to come back
and share that with you all.
I want to be clear that it's not all going away,
but it‐‐ I know I can promise you
it's not gonna look exactly like it looks in this year.
TEACHER: Hey, y'all, as you're finishing up
or need help reviewing your applications
before you submit them or your PIQ questions,
just write your name down and then one of the advisors,
as we're finishing up with other people,
will call you up just so we could make sure
that you guys all get help before you leave.
Okay. And I'll leave the marker right here.
GIRL: So how much more do you need to do?
‐ Two more. GIRL: Two more.
‐ 'Cause it's like you gotta do four PIQs,
so I got two done.
So I chose, um,
"Describe an example of your leadership experience."
So I'm going to talk about, like, me being the OUSD, being student director.
My impact in the, in like, in the community
and, like, high school running for class president.
And then I'm going to talk about
maybe just, like, learning English,
how I came here and stuff like that.
[students chattering]
BOY: Which is not easy.
I mean, e‐easy, it's, like, easy to talk about,
but, like, when you're trying to, like,
really explain to somebody, like,
your life is kinda, like‐‐
Nah, I can't. It's kinda hard to think about it.
BOY: I said just like this, bro. I started‐‐ I said,
said they be shooting at night.
Said there be shots. Said, uh, it'd be, be needles and shit.
Said we broke as hell.
I'd surely said that.
I should've talked about that gentrification shit, bro.
‐ What can I say? I say in the last year, I've been moving house,
like, three hou‐‐ three moves in the last year
'cause of, wh‐what would I say?
[clicking tongue]
The un... the unstable house market of Oakland.
Something like, something like that.
BOY: Talk about how gentrification rising and shit,
and you gotta move everywhere. ‐ Yeah, that's crazy.
Talk about how you see white people in, like, in their 60s now.
That shit crazy?
‐ There's like a house one million dollars, bro?
‐ The house, the house by your house?
‐ Mm‐hmm. ‐ That shit crazy.
‐ Out of pocket.
Oh, and I live way farther from the school now,
You know, so I got to get up hella earlier.
‐ I should have talked about that.
How the schools that's, that's closer to you is like "trash."
Like, or‐‐ Like, they just don't care.
WOMAN: Okay. Now you're done.
GIRL 2: I just want you‐‐ BOY: Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
‐ So once I press this button‐‐
BOY: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
‐ Yeah, you start your submission.
‐ Okay.
BOY: Go ahead. Hit the button. Hit the button.
GIRL: Drum roll.
Drum roll.
[students banging on desk]
[upbeat music]
♪
[students cheering, applauding]
♪
[screaming, cheering]
GIRL: There we go.
[students chattering] ♪ hip‐hop music playing ♪
‐ Hey, y'all want some?
[indiscernible conversations]
‐ Look at the hills.
Hills are hella nice.
Say, imagine a, imagine a party up there?
‐ Living our best life.
[both laugh]
‐ Living our best life.
‐ Nah, for real.
EDGAR: Ah! You doing good?
‐ Where you was at? ‐ I just came back.
I was at a poetry slam. ‐ A poetry slam?
‐ Yeah, at Walnut Creek.
‐ I had to pull, I had to pull through.
I had to pull through. ‐ Yeah.
Right now, we finna‐‐ everybody nice.
‐ Everybody nice right now?
‐ Yeah, everybody nice.
DENILSON: Let's go, we gotta get it together now.
‐ Hey. Everybody. Everybody!
Everybody, hold on, I got a speech. Hold on.
Stop playing with me. Somebody better turn this motherfucker off.
Stop playing with me.
So everybody who outside, everybody who outside,
come back in, come back in.
Come on, we about to put up the bottles.
Stop playing‐‐
[students rapping]
♪ hip‐hop music playing ♪
♪
ITZEL: Good morning, guys.
Today is Christmas. Say hi to the vlog.
‐ Hello?
ITZEL: Come and say hi.
ALL: Tres, dos, uno!
[cheering]
‐ Happy New Years. I'm about to eat some grapes.
BOY: Make your 12 wishes, my god!
[indiscernible conversation]
ITZEL: Happy New Years.
[people cheering]
WOMAN: Happy New Years!
‐ Happy motherfucking New Years. Yes!
Say Happy New Years to the vlog.
‐ Hey! It's 2020.
Fuck.
‐ That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
‐ 2020, baby. Damn! What is this beauty filter?
‐ [laughing] I know. ‐ Sheesh.
‐ We graduating.
‐ We graduating‐‐ 2020. ‐ But are we really?
[students chattering]
WOMAN: [over loudspeaker] Hey, Wildcats! Adventure Club is going
on a beautiful and exciting hike in Black Diamond Mines this Sunday.
And, of course, you're invited.
See Mr. Murray for deets and permission slip.
BOY: [over loudspeaker] Thank you, Wildcats.
This has been the reading of your daily bulletin
for Tuesday, January 7th, 2020.
And remember, failure is the opportunity to begin again
more intelligently.
Have a great day.
[speaking Spanish]
‐ Can't you just ask what's your favorite basketball player in Spanish?
‐ I don't know.
[in Spanish]
GIRL: No... como.
‐ [in Spanish]
GIRL: No. [in Spanish]
[laughs]
[in Spanish]
KAIA: [repeats in Spanish]
What does that mean? ‐ Basketball!
‐ No... Okay.
[in Spanish]
Okay... callete!
No. Stop it, Telara.
[laughter]
‐ I don't know why you're laughing. You can't graduate with a 1.6.
Go to the Future Center for a tutor.
If you really need one, go.
BOY: Nah.
[indiscernible conversation]
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
[students chattering]
GIRL: First article passed, if Trump is impeached.
GIRL 2: Look, this is my favorites, right now.
‐ "Breaking news. Trump impeached for abuse of power."
‐ Oh my god, Mica, did you see that‐‐
the cookies to make‐‐ how to make Yoda, baby Yoda‐‐
‐ I don't understand why this took so long?
GIRL: Are we sure about it, you guys?
ALL: Yes. ‐ It's, it's positive.
GIRL: But in both the Senate and‐‐
‐ Yes! Yes! Look. Look. Denilson.
‐ You don't look like that, girl.
Okay, look, it's live right now.
DENILSON: Has he posted anything on Twitter?
‐ Yes. He said I did nothing wrong.
[gasps]
‐ Look.
‐ Boy, you did everything wrong.
[indiscernible conversations]
‐ Hi, I'm Libby Schaaf.
My pronouns are "she, her, hers."
I am the mayor of the city of Oakland, my hometown.
So thank you for being here and thank you for gifting
all of us with this circle.
‐ Hi. David Silver, Director of Education for the mayor.
Used to be a teacher, uh, and a principal in Oakland.
And I'm actually super confident
that we can actually work together on some stuff.
Um, so, could someone just summarize, like,
what are the things that you want the most?
DENILSON: Um, for me, it would be to defend
and protect the sitting budget priorities
of the Oakland Unified School District.
So, I represent the 36,000 students
sitting at the Board of Education.
‐ In terms of funding, the school board makes the decision,
the mayor doesn't, but she may have influence.
So, like, I think being in communication with us
and also updating us with your conversations
with board members, that, that's helpful,
and we can keep going on that.
SCHAAF: Um, I wanted just to, like, add to that.
I‐I want you all to see yourselves as I see you,
like the most incredible, powerful, brilliant, amazing,
talented human beings on the planet.
And I want my city to not be deprived
of your talent.
And so, I just encourage you
to, like, know your power and claim it.
PROTESTERS: [chanting] Cops out, books in.
WOMAN: [on microphone] What? PROTESTERS: Cops out, books in.
WOMAN: What? PROTESTERS: Cops out, books in.
Cops out, books in.
REPORTER: The Oakland Unified School District Board
will consider a resolution that calls for dismantling
the district's dedicated police department.
REPORTER: And would you feel like the children wouldn't be
as safe without any‐‐ without the police?
‐ They're not safe with the police in the schools.
REPORTER: Why not? ‐ They're threatened
with the police walking around with a gun...
PRESIDENT LONDON: [on microphone] Good evening.
If you wish to offer public comment,
this is the time to come forward.
[crowd applauding]
‐ Hello, I'm Hema.
And I just want to say, like, in support
that we should cut police from our schools
and redirect that money into programs
that are gonna support young people.
That's $2.5 million right there.
If you want to cut something, cut that.
WOMAN 1: That's right. WOMAN 2: Yeah!
[crowd cheering, applauding]
BOY: [on mic] I have been part of OUSD since first grade.
At the age of 12, I was already seeing people being arrested
and confronted by school police.
The message that was being sent was that Oakland Unified School District
cared more about keeping us in check
than protecting us.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
PRESIDENT LONDON: Director Torres.
So, your motion has two parts.
‐ Two parts, that's correct. Attachment A:
Reduce half of the sworn officers to the department.
Attachment B:
That we get that safety plan
for the final elimination
no later than September 2020.
‐ Does the maker accept the motion?
DIRECTOR YEE: Uh, I do not consider this a friendly amendment.
‐ When I talk about my responsibility as a board member,
I don't have the luxury of saying,
in terms of safety for students,
that I'm gonna take a chance,
and I'm gonna move without a plan.
DIRECTOR HODGE: There is also a reality around what our police officers do.
And so, we have, we have stayed in the narrative
of, you know, that, that, that they are all bad.
PRESIDENT LONDON: Student Directors, did you want to offer comment?
[indiscernible conversation]
DENILSON: We represent the 36,000 students of OUSD,
and we are sitting here representing student voice
saying this is the time.
The time to stand up is now,
the time to make history, stand with us Black and brown students is now,
the time to give our marginalized students access to higher education
is not tomorrow.
it's today.
[crowd applauding, cheering]
PRESIDENT LONDON: Let's call the question. Thank you, General Counsel.
MAN: Uh, Student Director, uh, Smith‐Dahl?
‐ Yes.
MAN: Student Director Garibo?
‐ Yes.
MAN: Director Yee?
‐ No.
MAN: Director Torres?
TORRES: Yes. MAN: Director Hinton Hodge.
‐ No.
MAN: Vice‐President Gonzales?
‐ Yes.
MAN: And President London?
‐ No.
PRESIDENT LONDON: That motion was not adopted.
[crowd murmuring]
Student Directors.
Thank you.
Director Garibo.
‐ This is sad.
This is real sad.
Y'all got us out here, me and Mica,
to let y'all know what we as students need,
and for y'all to just do us like that?
To just say no?
My family... is undocumented.
Me being targeted by the police,
getting even close to police,
me getting in‐in handcuffs,
means that I'm putting their life in this country at risk.
Means that they could get, they could get tracked down.
I understand this from... you, President London,
you know,
as a white woman,
but from y'all three?
For y'all to do this?
DIRECTOR HODGE: I wanna be really clear, I disagree.
Um, I don't believe in the abolition of police officers
for a number of reasons,
because my, my uncle was
the first African American, um, police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina.
So, I got a bias.
‐ I appreciate him being a good cop, but he's not in our campus.
PRESIDENT LONDON: Thank you, thank you, Student Directors.
We appreciate‐‐ [audience applauding]
PRESIDENT LONDON: Colleagues, um‐‐
[engine starts]
DWAYNE: Us as people, we know how to get around things.
We know how to strive through, you know, all of the hurdles, and‐‐
I mean, it‐it's unfortunate, but it just comes with,
you know, fighting for what we want, what we need.
Um, events like this,
we're gonna get what we want.
‐ You know, don't, don't stay too, too stuck on,
you know, this situation, this night.
But how can we learn and heal from this?
How can we implement this to make us stronger,
to, like, execute the fuck out of the shit we're doing now?
You know?
I'm so proud of y'all, for real.
DENILSON: I feel like this changes everything.
This... the marathon continues.
We're not about to stop right here.
Yeah. This ain't over. This ain't over.
GIRL: This is only the battle, you know.
I'm hella proud of y'all.
You're hella inspiring.
ALL: Group hug!
‐ It's cold!
GIRL: Y'all about to squeeze in my car right now.
DWAYNE: All right, what's the move? 'Cause I'm hungry.
[laughter]
♪ You can feel it in the air ♪
PHOTOGRAPHER: Hey. How's your senior year going?
‐ It's tiring. PHOTOGRAPHER: Tiring?
‐ Yeah. Just, yeah.
♪ "Look At Us" by Goapele Featuring Rexx Life Raj Playing ♪
‐ You excited to graduate? ‐ Yeah.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Lean forward a tiny bit.
There we go. Eyes right here at the camera.
Nice big smile.
Perfect.
♪ So stand up now ♪
♪ This is for the voiceless, silenced ♪
[indiscernible chatter]
‐ How 'bout that.
♪ We're more than colors, faces, numbers ♪
♪ So much more ♪
[indiscernible chatter]
♪
♪ Trust ♪
PHOTOGRAPHER: There you go, right there. Get your chin down a little bit.
♪ Rising when you thought we'd fall ♪
♪ Watch us as we win it all ♪
♪ Blazing just like a fire ♪
♪ Hey ♪
♪ Look at us ♪
♪
♪ Breaking down every wall ♪
♪ Nothing's gonna stop us now ♪
♪ Hey ♪
♪ Look at them shine like shootings stars ♪
♪ Travel at the speed of sound ♪
♪ They try to keep us down ♪
♪ But they can't keep us down ♪
MAN: The idea of getting more young people actively engaged.
DENILSON: Mm‐hmm. ‐ That is super helpful.
‐ Okay, thank you so much. MICA: Thank you so much.
DENILSON: We appreciate you.
♪ Wish they could see us now ♪
♪
DENILSON: More support is needed‐‐
[students applauding]
♪
♪ Colors invisible till light shines through ♪
♪ There ain't no power like the power of you ♪
♪ Just look at us ♪
♪ Rising when you thought we'd fall ♪
♪ Watch us as we win it all ♪
♪ Watch us as we win ♪
♪ Blazing just like a fire ♪
♪ Hey ♪
♪ Look at us ♪
♪
♪ Breaking down every wall ♪
♪ Nothing gonna stop us now ♪
♪ Hey, look at us ♪
[laughing]
EDGAR: Do we need our stuff? Our paper?
‐ You‐you'll need it later, but you don't need it right now.
Every scene we're gonna do today, except for like one or two,
we've actually done quite a bit of work on.
So I want you to bring what you've done.
Like, bring all the things that you've learned and practiced,
but also, it's really about, like, positioning
and going through it and seeing how things connect.
‐ I don't even know the song.
TEACHER: You guys gotta start coming onto the stage.
‐ Sunny, you're late.
GIRL: Chillax, you know you love me.
♪ Me and my cousin runnin' ♪
♪ Just another dime‐a‐dozen mom‐pop stop‐and‐shop ♪
♪ And, oh my god, it's gotten too darn hot ♪
♪ Like my man Cole Porter said ♪
♪ People come around ♪
♪ Cold waters and a lottery ticket ♪
♪ Just a part of their routine ♪
♪ Everybody's got a job ♪
♪ Everybody's got a dream ♪
♪ They gossip as I sip my coffee and smirk ♪
♪ The first stop as people hop to work ♪
‐ Try and jump in if you can catch up.
♪ upbeat music playing ♪
‐ I forgot what's next.
♪
TEACHER: Yes!
‐ Look, touch me.
‐ [chuckling] You're so warm, are you okay?
‐ Yeah. I literally feel, like, weak.
Like‐‐
MICA: Stop, you guys are making me feel that way.
That's why I had to go get coffee, because I feel hella like‐‐
You know? ‐ Like, my cheeks,
my cheeks are hot.
DWAYNE: Yeah, I'm hot too.
‐ It was on the news.
DENILSON: It is not in Alameda. It is not in the Bay.
‐ Yes, it‐‐ DWAYNE: Yes, it is.
It's, it's here in the Bay, for sure.
I'm very worried.
As a matter of fact, I left school early yesterday
'cause people kept coughing.
GIRL: 'Cause the coronavirus really only affects, like, people
with weak immune system, newborns, and elders.
DWAYNE: That's not true.
‐ Yes! DWAYNE: That's not true.
‐ Like‐‐ DENILSON: Who said that?
DWAYNE: Yeah, who said that?
They need to be fired. ‐ E‐everyone.
BOY: The flu starts in, like, a few days.
The coronavirus has to go 14 days before you can see it.
DWAYNE: Exactly. And that's why I think‐‐ ‐ So if you get sick...
MICA: So, then what's your point? ‐ ...you don't have coronavirus.
MICA: I gonna be thinking I'm regularly sick and then it's just gonna‐‐
‐ Look, Mica, if you get sick now,
you don't have the coronavirus.
DWAYNE: How do you know?
‐ In two weeks, if you get sick,
then you could have coronavirus.
But there's no way for us to have it now.
DWAYNE: [laughing] The bat virus.
That's what you call it, the bat virus?
DENILSON: The bat‐‐ ‐ Also, I mean, it's vaccinated.
Like, if you just get your flu vaccine, you're fine.
DWAYNE: There is‐‐ Oh, yeah. So‐‐
MICA: Wait, really? ‐ So, if we have, uh, the flu, um‐‐
BOY: If you have your vaccines, you're fine.
‐ We're good? BOY: Yeah.
‐ So, we're immune to it?
‐ We're not immune, but we're treated to‐‐ for it.
[Mica laughing]
DWAYNE: Okay.
‐ Mica, shut up. ‐ Okay, Gucci Mane.
[laughter]
♪ Oh shit, you got coronavirus ♪
♪ We ain't finna do shit with this coronavirus ♪
♪ I ain't finna take a trip with this coronavirus ♪
REPORTER: [on phone] It really must be out there all over the place
that we don't even know.
‐ They are limited by the capacity that the state lab has,
and what they're having to do is ration tests.
They can only now get tests to the people
who are the most sick.
MAN: [on phone] Oakland, California, Grand Princess has docked
where they have the individuals
that have the coronavirus inside.
They say 19 are staff.
GIRL: I think school should get canceled.
‐ Yeah, but school only shuts down if a person is infected with it.
GIRL: I'm infected with it.
‐ Why, 'cause you're Asian? [snickers]
‐ Yeah. Are you being racist towards‐‐
Is this yellow‐on‐yellow violence right now?
‐ Yeah.
GIRL: They don't even know if it's airborne or not.
And they don't even know how long the, um, virus can stay on surface.
‐ It's okay, my mom freaked out, and then she went to Costco
and then you should see our house right now.
There's hella food.
GIRL: 'Cause it's like a zombie apocalypse or something.
‐ Seriously. No, she bought so many cases of water bottles,
and then she bought hella ramen and, like, perishable foods.
[spray hissing]
[shrieking]
[students laughing]
‐ Honestly, you need to get a better mask,
because this is, this ain't working.
You know that, right?
GIRL: Dude, that's your mask.
[laughs] I don't know about the ones‐‐
‐ No, those ones don't work either. GIRL: Oh.
‐ It needs to have like an actual filter on it.
‐ I have a‐‐ The one I have‐‐
TEACHER: Alright. Did everybody get approval?
PRINCIPAL ABDEL: [over loudspeakers] Good morning, Oakland High.
This is Mr. Abdel.
Please excuse this interruption for the following announcement.
We just got off the phone with the superintendent,
and she has closed schools effective at six o'clock this evening,
uh, for the next three weeks until April 5th.
Uh, If you have any additional questions,
don't ask them, 'cause we don't have the answers.
No, I'm just kidding.
Um, hold off on your, on your questions,
and as soon as we get more information, we'll share it.
Thank you.
‐ If you do not have access to a phone or...
BOY: Internet. ‐ ...internet, then let us know,
but I know a lot of you are very tech savvy,
and the majority of you have phones,
and you FaceTime and do stuff,
so I know you're gonna figure some, some way to get in touch with us.
GIRL 1: I want to start. Don't come in front of me.
GIRL 2: Alright. I'm in the, I'm in the front.
GIRL 1: Scoot over! GIRL 2: Oh! Ah! Okay.
♪ hip‐hip music playing on phone ♪
♪ It's corona time ♪
♪ Doing 160, the bitch staring at me ♪
BOY: So since my mom can't buy tissue and paper towels,
I'm going to have to buy one of them.
GIRL: So, yeah, be safe.
[laughing] You know, wipe everything down.
Wear gloves when you go outside.
‐ Okay. So, we just got to Walmart, and‐‐
but, um, let me show y'all the fit.
There we go.
‐ We just don't want to go out and get food and be hugging on everybody,
and, you know, licking all the doorknobs and stuff.
BOY: Facts.
‐ Yeah, 2020's the biggest L.
Um, throw the whole year away.
Um, let's restart this year.
‐ Um, let's... Actually, we should just burn it.
‐ Just burn it?
‐ 'Cause there's some murder hornets coming our way.
‐ Alright, y'all. Look, we at the park, bruh,
and they got the courts nailed together.
So we can't even play basketball.
BOY: So what are we gonna do then?
Yeah. [smacks lips]
Yeah, this is hell‐‐ hecka screwed in.
BOY: For real? EDGAR: Yeah, it's like‐‐
It's really strong needles.
♪
[indistinct announcement over PA system]
[inaudible]
ITZEL: Okay, so today we doing a Q and A.
The first question we got is
"What are y'all thoughts on COVID‐19?"
Alright.
Um, it's low‐key hard
just 'cause the type of person I am.
I'm like a person who doesn't like being stuck inside
or being stuck in one place.
It's like... at this moment,
I really don't know what's gonna happen.
There's no way you could cope. You just go along with it.
[Itzel's brother chattering]
‐ Thank you.
[tapping]
[food sizzling]
MAN: Your food's ready.
♪
[revving]
♪
[water running]
♪
‐ Yeah.
♪
‐ What's up.
‐ Hi.
‐ Okay, y'all, so we're going to start
with a quick check in.
Mica, can you hear me?
DENILSON: Happy birthday, sis.
‐ Thank you, guys.
DENILSON: Quarantine doing you good, sis.
Looking better than ever!
[laughter]
I'm really proud of us.
Like, we've been working hard nonstop in, like‐‐
It says a lot that we're still doing this, even through these times.
So, you know,
just keep on moving.
‐ Thank you.
‐ Is this meeting adjourned? I think it is.
[laughing]
[helicopter whirring]
[baby babbling]
MOTHER: What, baby?
REPORTER: [on phone] Travis McMichael and his father, Greg,
a former police officer,
are charged with murdering 25‐year‐old Ahmaud Arbery,
seen here being killed in the street
on February 23rd in Brunswick, Georgia.
[gunshot]
REPORTER: [on phone] The peaceful protest erupting into violence
on the same day the world heard
this frantic 911 call from Taylor's boyfriend.
BREONNA TAYLOR'S BOYFRIEND: I don't even know what's happening.
Somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend.
REPORTER: Police say the officers knocked and identified themselves.
Taylor's family says they did neither.
MAN: Please don't come close to me.
Please, please call the cops.
Please call the cops.
‐ I'm gonna tell them there's an African‐American man
threatening my life.
MAN: Please tell them whatever you like.
♪
GEORGE FLOYD: [groans] OFFICER CHAUVIN: What do you want?
FLOYD: I can't breathe.
Please, I need a medic.
I can't breathe, sir.
OFFICER CHAUVIN: Well, get up and get in the car, man.
♪
[engine revving]
♪
[engine roaring]
♪
BRIDGETT FLOYD: ...activity happening across this nation,
and so, we are in a state of emergency.
[protesters chanting]
‐ No justice, no peace!
‐ George Floyd! [clapping]
George Floyd! [clapping]
[shouting]
[horn blaring]
WOMAN 1: Black lives matter!
WOMAN 2: Black lives matter!
WOMAN 1: Black lives matter!
[shouting]
MAN: Hey, what y'all doing this for?
He's going to 7‐Eleven. Share the lot.
[shouting]
WOMAN: I'm recording. I'm recording live.
These motherfuckers in here looting.
♪
SCHAAF: People came out in Oakland
to express their understandable anger
about the death of George Floyd,
but that rage crossed an unacceptable line.
We join people in the grief,
in the anger,
in the quest for a more just society.
There are other ways to demonstrate your anger
and your activism right now.
‐ Hey, when's the meeting?
‐ Today. At five.
‐ Oh, at five?
‐ So, let's see.
‐ MAN: Madam President, you may begin.
PRESIDENT LONDON: Good evening, this is the Oakland Unified School District
Board of Education
returning from closed session.
We're going to move now to Item I:
Special orders of the day
for our Student Directors.
‐ Um, yes. So firstly, I would like to start off
by, um, having a moment of silence‐‐
um, a minute of silence for George Floyd.
So, I'm going to start the timer.
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
MICA: Um, okay.
Just remembering them, and, um, saying their name is so important.
Um‐‐
DENILSON: For those who don't know,
George Floyd was a 46‐year‐old Black man from Houston
who was brutally killed by Minneapolis police.
He was an innocent Black man
and is a prime example of the constant criminalization
of Black people in this country.
This just goes to show
we do not need police in our schools.
Let's dismantle the system
and eliminate the school to prison pipeline
by securing a bright future for Black and brown youth.
And always remember:
Ain't no power like the power of the youth,
‘cause the power of the youth
don't stop.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT LONDON: Thank you, Director Garibo.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
WOMAN: My heart is so warm right now to see everybody out here.
Guys, you guys realize, we are literally staring
at the face of motherfucking history.
Our kids‐‐ [crowd cheering, applauding]
Our kids are literally going to open up the book
and see their parents fighting for the very rights
that they have.
This is so dope.
So big earned kudos to everybody out here.
Big kudos.
I know George Floyd said that he couldn't breathe,
but as a community, we haven't been able to breathe
for, for hundreds of years.
[cheering, applause continues]
Let me make this clear:
Do not let your violence and your opinions
and your anger go unheard.
We need to make demands.
We need to show up, show up and vote,
drive people to the polls,
get Donald fuckin' Trump out of the White House
[crowd cheering, applauding]
I love you, I'm here for you. Let's show out today, Oakland.
DENILSON: Let me see, let me see! DWAYNE: You wanna see it? Okay.
It's like‐‐
[clicks tongue]
This is a‐alumni from Oakland schools.
They did such a good job with, like, the outreach.
Thousands and thousands and thousands of people.
It's, it's crazy.
It's crazy.
‐ Well, [sighs]
with everything going on and with, you know,
ICE being called in for the protest,
it puts all of our undocumented community at risk.
I myself, I hella wanna be there to support the movement,
but it's just like my status is at risk,
but you know‐‐
‐ No problem. ‐ But be safe though.
Be safe. Let me know what's up.
Let me know. Keep me updated.
‐ I will. I'll definitely let you know.
Okay, see ya.
DENILSON'S BROTHER : Yes!
‐ Make sure to register to vote. Tell all your friends.
‐ [laughing] Period.
[sighs sharply]
So the, the graduation.
WOMAN: Uh‐huh, uh‐huh.
‐ Did I tell you that it got moved to, um, virtual?
So, instead of postponing it till December, now it's like‐‐
WOMAN: They're only doing it virtual? ‐ They're only doing it virtual.
WOMAN: That's, that's kind of lame.
DENILSON: I don't even know,
but I was about to pop out for prom though.
I was really about to wear my gold, like, suit.
It was going to be a black with a gold, like, suit.
I'm‐‐ Let me show you.
It was, like, going to be gold designs, yo.
[sighs]
Look, it was gonna be something like this. Like‐‐
WOMAN: Oh, that is cute.
You could've done a whole Instagram live.
[Denilson chuckles]
WOMAN: You know, coronavirus hit different when you wanted to go do things.
[chuckles]
We could throw you a dance party in the backyard,
but you just dance by yourself.
[cell phone chimes]
GIRL: [on phone] Yeah. [crowd cheering]
WOMAN: What is it gonna take
for this school district to realize
the murders that we are witnessing
of our people in the streets
by these rogue‐ass police
are the same police
that are in the school district?
DENILSON'S BROTHER: All day, I don't stop.
WOMAN: They still texting you? ‐ Yeah.
Everybody's texting. This is crazy.
[cell phone chiming]
WOMAN: I see you didn't text back, though.
‐ Well, I wanna do it, but at the same time,
like, I would feel like I'm putting my family at jeopardy,
my status, so I don't know.
[horn honking]
♪ hip‐hop music playing ♪
DWAYNE: We good?
[helicopter whirring]
[Dwayne sighs] ‐ What?
GIRL: We're not moving yet.
DWAYNE: But, like, we need to leave by seven o'clock,
and it's already 6:45,
and I'm very nervous. GIRL: It's okay,
Dwayne, look at me.
Just calm down.
It's okay.
BOY: The people is out here because of you.
DWAYNE: Okay. [crowd applauding, cheering]
Um, my name is Dwayne Davis.
I am a 17‐year‐old
right out of Oakland Unified School District.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
‐ Um, thank y'all so much for being here.
It means so much to us, thank you.
[crowd applauding, cheering]
GIRL: For sure, that's for sure.
Um, I'm Jessica Ramos. I'm 17, too.
Well, um, we spread our words, we spread our message
by standing together.
That's how they hear us, alright?
[crowd cheering, applauding]
We're gonna be memorializing, um, everybody's name,
everybody's life that has been lost
at Mayor Libby Schaaf's house.
[crowd applauding]
Also, you know, there's hella budget cuts in OUSD,
and we gotta also remember that, you know, our education is the most important thing.
Uh‐‐ [crowd applauding]
Today, it's changing.
[crowd applauding]
‐ Let's get started.
GIRL: I'm hella proud of y'all for real.
Y'all organized this shit.
MAN: We on our way to Libby's House.
[crowd cheering]
‐ We're on our way to Libby's house.
PROTESTERS: We're on our way to Libby's house.
MAN: Defund the police. PROTESTERS: Defund the police.
MAN: We on our way to Libby's house.
PROTESTERS: We on our way to Libby's house.
MAN: We on our way to Libby's house.
PROTESTERS: We on our way to Libby's house.
WOMAN: What do we do? PROTESTERS: Stand up, fight back.
WOMAN: When Black lives are under attack, what do we do?
PROTESTERS: Stand up, fight back.
WOMAN: Look, you can't keep hiding, the people are united.
You can't keep hiding. PROTESTERS: The people are united.
WOMAN: You can't keep hiding. PROTESTERS: The people are united.
♪
DWAYNE: We're here.
GIRL: Where she at? Where she at?
MAN : 'Cause this is what we came for,
to hear Libby, so where is Libby?
Can we stop? Where is Libby?
I'm confused.
Her drapes are nice, but where is she?
DWAYNE: Off of her stairs, please.
MAN: This is peaceful at the end of the day.
And this is a new one saying, "I want to breathe."
PROTESTERS: I want to breathe.
MAN: Say it again. PROTESTERS: I want to breathe.
MAN: I want to breathe. PROTESTERS: I want to breathe.
MAN: And know this, and know this.
WOMAN: Look how beautiful that is.
DWAYNE: Oh my God, this is amazing.
This is so beautiful.
WOMAN: [on mic] On the 24th, in the school board meeting,
the school board members will be voting
on whether or not to eliminate school police.
So we're just telling y'all, y'all need to show up
in the Zoom school board meeting.
Fill up public comment,
tell them why this is important,
go on BOP's social media,
we have the school board's phone numbers up,
call them, blow up their phones.
‐ Keep the same energy.
[cheering]
I've said this so many times,
we need to secure the success of our Black youth.
WOMAN 1 : Hello, all Black youth!
WOMAN 2: All of them. All of them.
‐ Let's stop pushing our Black youth to the side.
WOMAN: Stop pushing 'em out.
‐ Let's stop pushing them out.
‐ MAN: Come on, sir, and talk. Come on.
‐ Black lives. PROTESTERS: Matter.
‐ Black futures. PROTESTERS: Matter.
‐ Black graduates! PROTESTERS: Matter!
‐ Black children! PROTESTERS: Matter!
‐ Black lives! PROTESTERS: Matter!
‐ Black futures! PROTESTERS: Matter!
‐ Black children! PROTESTERS: Matter!
Thank you. [crowd cheering, applauding]
WOMAN: Let's take a little moment of silence.
Take a minute of silence.
Thank you.
[crowd cheering, applauding]
DENILSON: This is so beautiful.
WOMAN: This is like... your first term on school board
and some real shit goes down.
‐ Well, so remember when they voted no? Right.
‐ I mean, you in your position, you've gone above and beyond.
You're all out at the community events,
you're, you're here, you know?
You're like, what are we gonna do?
Let's strategize, but we already won.
‐ Alright, so if we can find our seats, everyone.
Please, please, please.
WOMAN: We're live whenever you're ready.
PRESIDENT LONDON: [on computer] Good evening.
This is the board of education
of the Oakland Unified School District
returning from closed session.
We have one item here today.
George Floyd Resolution to eliminate the Oakland school's police department.
MAN: On the motion, uh, as stated, uh, with the modifications.
Director Hinton Hodge?
‐ Yes.
MAN: Director Yee? DIRECTOR YEE: Yes.
MAN: Director Torres?
‐ That's a big yes.
MAN: Director Harris? DIRECTOR HARRIS: Yes.
MAN: Vice President Gonzales? VICE PRESIDENT GONZALES: Yes.
MAN: President London? PRESIDENT LONDON: Yes.
MAN: Student Director Garibo?
‐ I just wanna emphasize that
the student director's vote always reflects
the voting of the community,
and this is what the community wants.
MAN: Yes or no, sir. ‐ This is a yes.
[crowd cheering]
PRESIDENT LONDON: The, the, the motion was adopted
with the amendments
[clears throat] around implicit bias,
that with which we just saw.
DENILSON: This is history in the making, y'all.
We need to start listening to the community.
It shouldn't have took‐en this long
to eliminate school police
when the community was literally begging y'all
to eliminate school police.
DWAYNE: We did it.
[girl squeals]
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
[people chattering, laughing]
♪
[Edgar speaking Spanish]
‐ What you carry in your head, no one can take that away.
A saying that my father always used to say.
I grew up in a place with limitations
from a family that wasn't fortunate to go to school.
Come some circumstances that deprived us from gaining knowledge.
Childhoods were erased.
A plant grows into a tree.
It begins in the roots
and begins to expand its branches and grows leaves.
Just like humans grow from children to adults.
We begin to fit in.
The only ones who fit in are the only ones who survive.
"Survival of the fittest," like Darwin said.
"But what's the problem with this," people ask.
I'll tell you what the problem is:
Roots are being cut
and branches are being grown too short.
The leaves are falling off trees as many stories go untold.
We begin to forget where we came from.
Las palabras‐‐ That's what our ancestors used to say.
Traditions aren't being thrown and aren't being shown.
And if you didn't know, you must let this be known,
before we lose our real throne.
You see, mom and dad emphasized education so much
because they have experienced not the American dream,
but the American nightmare.
A dream that still haunts us to this day,
a dream that repeats itself over and over.
I close my eyes and it's still there.
I ask myself, "Why is education so important?"
But I realized, I am the living answer.
I am the answer to this question.
Because education once showed that I have the knowledge
to maneuver around this unknown puzzle
filled with unjustices that‐‐ pieces that won't fit all the time.
Because they are never fitted for me and my family.
But education will be the key for me to reshape these pieces,
to reshape my future and to uprise the seas,
to see the highest tides.
We'll tone down the people that never believed in me
because I promised my mother that I wouldn't be another statistic.
That my beautiful brown body wouldn't be laying on the ground,
a beautiful complexion this system has failed to build,
but I will not be another page of the book.
I'll create a new chapter.
A chapter where I get to rise higher than ever before,
a chapter of a young man sharing his story up on stage
without forgetting his real roots.
His real home.
Because what you carry in your head, no one can take that away.
[speaks Spanish]
[cheering and applauding]
[speaking Spanish]
WOMAN: [on computer] Thank you and congratulations.
And by the power vested in me,
on behalf of the Oakland Unified School District,
I now declare you
official 2020 Oakland High School graduates.
Congratulations!
‐ Period! [cheering, applauding]
‐ I would be remiss if I didn't pause for a moment
just to shine a bit of light
on what's happening in the world right now.
We can't sit back and do nothing
and ignore the blatant racism
and injustices that are happening in our world.
And this is on your watch.
This is not on my watch.
I'm an old man.
This is on your watch, young people, Class of 2020,
and I look forward to seeing you on the protest lines.
Peace and love. Stay strong, everybody.
I love you.
♪ serene music playing ♪
♪
[indiscernible shouting]
♪
BOY: One, two, three. [protesters shouting]
♪
[horn honking]
[cheering, applauding]
♪
♪ Look for God when you try to defy the odds ♪
♪ Need to look up to the sky and let go of all the pride ♪
♪ The game changing we're trying to make arrangements ♪
♪ And let go of the anger put that food into our brain instead ♪
‐ We as a community must ensure
that our young people are no longer criminalized.
♪ We from that same toaster ♪
♪ Emotions rolling, just know I've been on that same coaster ♪
♪ That fame heavy weight to carry up to Heaven's gates ♪
♪ Know that heat rise the devil gotta levitate ♪
♪ We elevate, son, no hesitation ♪
♪ We was born to lose but we gonna get it done ♪
♪ I see sounds in my mind ♪
♪ I hear colors as I go ♪
♪ We all walk side by side ♪
♪ Even if we're all on a different road ♪
♪ I know ♪
♪ 'Cause this is something bigger than us ♪
[engine revving]
[indiscernible chatter]
♪ This is something bigger than us ♪
♪ Even if we're on a different road ♪
♪ I know ♪
‐ I got you, Shine! I got you, Shine!
♪ I see the anger driven by color and the recession ♪
♪ Sad to see the reality of our regression ♪
♪ Cops killing, drug selling in the state of a depression ♪
♪ When I get pulled over, should I be afraid? ♪
♪ 'Cause lately the badge get in the way ♪
♪ If my attitude were bad 'cause of the day ♪
♪ Would it threaten them enough where I maybe could catch a stray? ♪
♪ But it's a two‐way street, you probably hate to hear ♪
♪ It kinda seem like they striking 'cause it be out of fear ♪
♪ Aggressive kids getting bullets and then they be out of here ♪
♪ We mourning lately, gon' be some time before we out of tears ♪
♪ No need to separate, remember that these time's cooler ♪
♪ We ain't dealing with segregation for all the schoolers ♪
♪ Throwing dirt on the work of Malcolm and Martin Luther ♪
♪ We stand together, let's make it different than what we're used to ♪
♪ I see sounds in my mind ♪
♪ I hear colors as I go ♪
♪ We all walk side by side ♪
♪ Even if we're all on a different road ♪
♪ I know ♪
♪ 'Cause this is something bigger than us ♪
♪ This is something bigger than us ♪
♪ Even if we're on a different road ♪
♪ I know ♪
♪ This is something bigger than us ♪
♪ God created us equal so let's embrace it ♪
♪ In life you run into evil you gotta face it ♪
♪ Let's win the race instead of everybody thinking racist ♪
♪ Bad habits we inflated look what we created ♪
♪ We need change, better attitudes ♪
♪ To open up lanes better avenues ♪
♪ Need to rise up but we headed latitude ♪
♪ Let's try to think about the kids bred after you ♪
♪ Every day I wake up and see the breaking news ♪
♪ About the hate crimes media gonna make you choose ♪
♪ Which side you gonna support so they get rates and views ♪
♪ Now people shooting up reporters 'cause they hate the crews ♪
♪ We the people gotta love one another ♪
♪ Let it be known with nothing under cover ♪
♪ Let's take control of the future ♪
♪ Instead of letting it hover everybody to the table ♪
♪ Make sure you're bringing something ♪
♪ I see sounds in my mind ♪
♪ I hear colors as I go ♪
♪ We all walk side by side ♪
♪ Even if we're all on the different road ♪
♪ I know ♪
♪ This is something bigger than me ♪
♪ This is something bigger than us ♪