Wednesday morning, a crowd of reporters descended on a now-infamous stretch of International Boulevard that includes a dilapidated Little Caesars pizzeria, a beauty salon, an appliance shop and a corner convenience store.
This is where 3-year-old Carlitos Nava was killed Aug. 8 by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting that police say was caused by gangs. As reporters have inflitrated the neighborhood, the drug dealers have temporarily vacated their corners, and the boy's death has taken on new life -- as a political issue.
On Wednesday, a group that waged a battle against former City Attorney John Russo over Oakland's gang injunctions held a press conference at the site of the shooting, now a memorial crowding the iron bars in front of the pizzeria. They said they were there in response to council members Ignacio De La Fuente and Larry Reid's demands for injunctions and curfews in the wake of the shooting.
Members of Nava's extended family were the newest additions to the group that included activists from Critical Resistance and Eastside Arts Alliance.
“I believe we need to try to reach out to the community in a better way,” said Jose Nava, one of Carlos' many first cousins, before a crowded cluster of television cameras. “A lot of people are afraid of cops. We need to work on that first before we can pursue other things.”
The toddler's death has become increasingly politicized. Police and city leaders have used the shooting as a platform to push policies, including gang injunctions and curfews, which the council rejected earlier this year. The shooting has inspired community action, including a car wash for the Nava family that raised close to $20,000. Even the Nava family has embraced the vision of Carlitos as a symbol of change. “My son gave up his life to stop the violence,” Carlos Nava said Tuesday at his son's funeral. News outlets have reported the developments, en masse.
Now some of the local business owners have decided to enter the fray, using the focus on their usually neglected neighborhood to help effect change.
On Wednesday afternoon, seven business owners met with Oakland Housing Authority police at a neutral location in Alameda to discuss solutions to the violent crime problem. Mondo Khalid, the owner of the All-Mart on 64th and International Boulevard, said police have pledged to post signs against loitering outside all of the area businesses. If anyone violates the signs, he said police have promised to make arrests.
The group has also pledged to organize long-term projects to help improve the neighborhood. They'll begin with another car wash fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. this weekend, continue with a neighborhood block party on Aug. 25, and host a community meeting following the party at Oakland Housing Authority headquarters in Lockwood Gardens. Khalid said the business owners are also working on starting a basketball league for neighborhood youth.
“We're going to grab several of the neighborhood elders, the OGs and grandmas, and we're going to sit down — business owners, parents, mothers, grandmothers -- we're just going to have it all out,” he said. “Do I think it will stop the shootings? No. But I think we can bring people together in the community who can help figure things out, who can come up with alternatives.”
Khalid, who has ingratiated himself with the community since he arrived in the neighborhood three years ago, had decided to stay out of the spotlight following the shooting. He turned down many reporters' requests for interviews, and declined to provide his full name. But after the meeting, he said, he realized he needed to embrace the media attention. He began making calls.
“We need you guys to push our agenda, to get something done,” Khalid said. “We got quite a bit of momentum right now. What needs to happen is that the community needs to get up and do something.”
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