Demonstrators in Oakland celebrated this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a massive car caravan to demand justice in the fight against police brutality.
Hundreds of cars lined the streets in a caravan that started at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, with signs that read ‘Refund, Restore and Reimagine.’
Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, told KCBS Radio that Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, and so do they, which is to transform how we define and implement public safety.
“We’re in a conversation in Oakland about reimagining public safety,” she said. “We’re talking about taking money from the Oakland Police Department and putting it into the things that actually keep us safe.”
2020 was a year of civil unrest mixed with a deadly pandemic that Brooks said, unfortunately, is not going away soon for people of color.
“Black people, in particular, we live with multiple pandemics,” she explained. “There’s coronavirus, there’s police brutality, there’s homelessness, there’s not access to healthcare, so we’re out here demanding an end to all of the above.”
With President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris taking office Wednesday, Brooks said it will not change their work to try and reinvest in housing, jobs, mental health services and other programs.
“I’m very clear that both of those parties have been guilty of upholding white supremacy and Black people haven’t flourished whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican in office,” she said. “So either way, I got work to do here on the ground."
