#009: Gibson's

Editor's Note: Due to technical issues with WOBC's radio transmitter, the recording of this show has significantly decreased audio quality. We have done as much as possible to repair the damage, and we apologize for the issues. On November 9, 2016, an Oberlin student walked into Gibson's Bakery, an Oberlin institution over a century old. While accounts differ, eventually, the student and store owner Allyn Gibson ended up across the street in a fight, along with two other students. The students—all of them Black—were arrested and charged by the police; Gibson, who is white, didn't get charged. Protests erupted. Students massed outside the store chanting "no justice, no peace!" and encouraging a total boycott of the store that many students still follow today. Pro-Gibson's counter protesters, many of them from motorcycle gangs, came to town to support the store and, often, intimidate students. Oberlin made national news headlines in The New York Times and other publications. Eventually, the students plead guilty to a set of reduced misdemeanor charges and accepted fines, and everything seemed to be in the past. But almost a year after the initial incident, the Gibson family sued the College and one of its dean's, Meredith Raimondo. How did we get here? We'll talk to Luke Fortney and Jake Berstein, editors-in-chief of The Grape, to hear about their investigation into the story.