Anti Police-Terror Project
For Immediate Release: January 16, 2019
Contact: aptpinfo@gmail.com
January 21: Anti Police-Terror Project to Lead 5th Annual People’s March and Day of Action to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy
(Oakland, CA) – On Monday, January 21, the Anti Police-Terror Project will lead a mass mobilization of people from across the Bay Area to converge at Oscar Grant Plaza for the 5th Annual People’s March and Day of Action to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy.
The community will hold Oscar Grant plaza (14th St and Broadway) from sunrise to sunset for an entire day of events, remembrance, building, and organizing to lift up the People's Platform for a just, equitable, and humane Oakland for all.
The day’s program will include ceremonies, a People’s free breakfast, healing spaces, youth teach-ins, People’s Assemblies on the most pressing needs of our community, and live performances. We will gather for the People’s March at 11am. All activities are family-friendly. (See full schedule below.)
WHAT: People’s March and Day of Action to Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy
WHERE: Oscar Grant Plaza, 14th Street and Broadway, Oakland
WHEN: January 21, 2019, Sunrise - Sunset (March at 11am)
For decades, MLK’s legacy has been whitewashed. Often portrayed as a passive figure, in truth he was a radical leader demanding rational change: an end to capitalism, to war, to empire, to poverty, and to white supremacy. Communities in Oakland and across the country take this opportunity every year to celebrate the true spirit of this revolutionary.
January 2019 has special significance for Oakland: it marks the 10th anniversary of the murder of Oscar Grant. This year’s Day of Action will hold the plaza for 10 Hours in honor of Oscar – and to honor the mothers of those lost to police violence and lift up their resistance and resilience.
It’s also been another 10 years of gentrification, displacement, and a worsening houselessness crisis. Another 10 years of the Bay Area’s elected leaders putting profits over people. Another 10 years of government for and by developers, tech companies, and banks – instead of for and by the People.
“The People have had enough. For seven months, we waged a People’s Campaign for a just and equitable Oakland. Our campaign galvanized tens of thousands of Oaklanders and most importantly, it did not end in November. We continue that Campaign and its demands into the new year,” said Cat Brooks, former Oakland mayoral candidate and co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project.
The People’s Platform includes the following rational demands: justice for all victims of police terror and their families; housing as a human right; immediate shelter for the unhoused; public land for public good; a just economy that meets everyone’s human needs; no new development that does not benefit the community; real community-based safety; investment in prevention instead of criminalization; making all police use of force transparent and accountable; quality education for all our kids; fair pay for our teachers; no school cuts, no closures, and no more charters; real sanctuary in the Bay; ensuring the safety of Black, Brown, queer and Indigenous communities; clean, air, water, and safe food supplies for all; and Indigenous sovereignty and respect for sacred sites.
Schedule of Events (subject to change):
8:00 am - 9:00 am Morning meditation and sound healing - Free Breakfast Program until the March
9:00 am - 10:30 am - youth teach-in and march around the plaza
11:00 am - 1:30 pm - Program & March!
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm - March ends in celebration, music and dance
2:30 pm - 4:30 pm - People’s Assemblies & Lunch:
4:30 pm - 5:00 pm - Last torch is lit, chanting Oscar Grant’s name as well as the names of all of the other victims of police brutality over the last 10 years, gong is hit, we move into sunset ceremony
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm - Sunset ceremony by Lead to Life
More info: http://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/reclaimmlk2019/
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/306880009918687/
#ThePeoplesMarch #ReclaimMLKOak #10Hours4OscarGrant #HousingisaHumanRight
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