Jinho “The Piper” Ferreira had a thriving career as a rapper in 2009, when Oscar Grant was killed by a BART police officer. Watching the dysfunctional relationship between the black community and the police in the protests that followed the killing, he decided to get involved. He now works as a sheriff’s deputy in Alameda County. We talk with Ferreira, whose one-man play “Cops and Robbers” explores issues of violence and law enforcement in Oakland.
Cops and Robbers from Charles Berkowitz on Vimeo.