So then I had to—for me, this is what helped me—I had to start taking ownership… ‘Okay, but wait, maybe it was that pistol and me shooting at that dude, maybe it was that half a kilo of dope I had in my trunk when the police pulled me over…’

So what we do [is] we address the [level of racism] and let them know “A,” it’s a real problem, and it’s gonna affect you in this way. But let’s not feed a “B” into it so you end up getting caught up with a “C.” So we say a) racism and jobs and differentiating on all that stuff is real—yeah, we ain’t gonna fake that, but b), you don’t wanna add to that a parolee, another number, another this… so we push it there but don’t let them feed off it.

On Oakland Police Department Hiring Consultant Bill Bratton:

Okay, me and Oakland P.D., [HoJo], my guy— we have a gangster relationship; he lets me stay in my lane, and I let him do his thing. I don’t know [Bratton], right? I don’t know his history. I stay on the flatlands and keep my view, oftentimes, out of that atmosphere up there because really, honestly: a) I can’t do nothing about it, b) it ain’t none of my business as long as Jordan told me it’s not gonna affect what we’re doing… [Bratton’s] gonna eat well. I ain’t mad, I try and eat well too— so I ain’t mad at him for eating well, but I’m not gonna confuse what I gotta do with some politics.”

On Stopping the Cycle of Retaliation:

We’ve gotten good at stopping shootings two and three because shooting one has happened. And one of the things in Oakland and many other flatland communities like Oakland [is] there’s a retaliation factor that you can pretty much bank on with the youngsters.

So we are pretty successful, but there are times when a loved one will be like, ‘Kev, I respect what you do, and I always respect, but dude shot my sister. When I see him, I’m gonna do him.’ And so there’s times when the lay has been too fat for us to redirect it, but oftentimes we’re able to get in, and what we find is it’s very important to buy some time as their cooler heads prevail.

Kevin GrantKevin Grant

Former Oakland Gang Member Talks Guns, Race, Retaliation, and Bratton