As the jury in the trial of Johannes Mehserle began deliberating , the fate of the ex-BART officer accused of murder of Oscar Grant on Friday July 2, leaders in Oakland held a press conference to head off violence in the wake of a possible acquittal.

by Bobby Jackson

"This is a terrible tragedy, and we suffer, But what we most want is that something like this will never happen again," is what  Zhi Rui Wang, the widow of slain 59-year old  Tiansheng Yu said at the vigil held at the site of his beating.

Last week on YO!Radio -- we hit the streets of Oakland to talk folks about the decrease in crime on the streets. PLUS: We introduce a new segment to YO!Radio -- HOODLines, with Young D and Sean Shavers discussing the current state of pimping and prostitution in Oakland. Malcolm Marshall is a senior producer, Donny Lumpkins, Sean Shavers and Young D are content producers at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia.

by Jean Melasaine

I remember when the Census form came to my house 10 years ago. I was 14. My mother and father, both immigrants from Samoa and living in our low-income American neighborhood, were focused more on shopping for bottled water, flashlights and survival kits. The Y2K scare was more popular in my house than any survey could ever be. That is what the Census was to them: just another survey to be thrown out.