Broadway & 14th St
Oakland, CA 94612
USA
We recognize that crucifixion is not a thing of the past–that God’s children all over the world are still being brutalized and killed because they draw attention to an unjust status quo, sometimes by their actions and often simply because of who they are. From Oakland to Ferguson to Honduras, the crucifixion continues. (And Christianity has been complicit in much of it.)
The cross is not first and foremost a religious symbol; it is a symbol of state-sponsored and state-sanctioned terror.
In the New Jim Crow America, the Body of Christ is Black. In the past year alone, seven Black people have been killed by police in Oakland, and scores of Black families have been forced to leave the city through skyrocketing rents and rapid influx of wealth and whiteness. Join us for a powerful Good Friday public liturgy and action to call on our local officials to end the crucifixion of Black life in our city.
We will gather Friday, March 25, at noon in front of Oakland City Hall.
Our demands are as follows:
1) Lay down your weapons! Take immediate steps to demilitarize the Oakland Police Department.
2) Adopt the proposal from the Coalition on Police Accountability for an elected community police review board to hold the OPD accountable to the people.
3) Work with Alameda County to find ways to decouple the District Attorney from OPD so that officers will be held legally accountabie for their actions.
4) Immediately cut OPD funding and reallocate those funds to affordable housing and health care for low income people.
We humbly welcome all people, regardless of faith tradition, to stand in solidarity at this event.
Hashtags for the event:
#TheCrucifixionContinues
#RememberingIsRevolutionary
#TheBodyofChristIsBlack