In its continued mission to raise money for the Tatiana Grant Trust Fund, the Black Student Union held a benefit concert. Tatiana is the daughter of Oscar Grant, the 22- year old man who was fatally wounded by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle.

At the concert, students came together to hear the musical styling of a jazz band, the spoken word of Freeflowin' from the Readnex poetry squad and two other students, and get a glimpse of a photo documentary by journalism student, Alex Welsh.

"Hopefully those who come will come out of this event with some knowledge and can inform someone else," said Erin Haywood, a liberal studies major. Haywood, a coordinator for the BSU sees the shooting of Oscar Grant as a call to action against police brutality.

"Young brothers and sisters are dying on the streets," she said, "how are we going to deal with this now that its not hidden and its been recorded?"

The event had about fifty students present, all scattered at round tables in Jack Adams Hall. The lights were house lights and stage lights were low as the jazz band, accompanied by Dee Spencer, professor of Music. Hayes described the atmosphere as "loungey. "

The event raised $558.36.

"I wish more people would have come," said Eric Moore, a 3rd year accounting major. "This was a good idea."

Moore went on to say he came to the event to "show support and get information about other situations like [Grant's]."

"I watched the video several times and I didn't see the point," he said. "Its very unjust."

As Freeflowin' took the stage she created asked those in attendance to abandon their tables and pull their chairs up to the front of the stage.

Freeflowin' recited poetry that she wrote about her father, who is a police officer in New York City. Her poem spoke of her hopes that her father would never take part in police brutality and her conflicting feelings of lover for him and hatred for police officers.

Sitting in the back, at a table set up for Copwatch, was Jack Bryson, whose sons were on the Fruitvale platform with Oscar Grant on New Years Eve.

Since New Year 's Eve, Bryson has been fighting against police brutality. He met a BSU event coordinator at the a town hall meeting at Olivet Institutional Missionary Baptist Church, who asked him to attend this event.

Grant had been a close friend to the Bryson brothers since the eldest was 10 years old.

"Oscar was a damn good dude," Bryson said about Grant with a smile. Bryson said he and Grant often spoke of fatherhood following Tatiana's birth.

Bryson spoke breifely, encouraging students to join him in a march to Hayward City Hall from the Hayward BART station on Grant's birthday, February 27th.