Bay Area Groups Call for 96 Hours of Action to “Reclaim King’s Legacy”

“Jobs and Economy” march on Monday from Fruitvale BART to Oakland Coliseum

Hundreds of people from more than two-dozen groups associated with the Anti-Police Terror Project (APTP) will join thousands around the country in 96 hours of action over the Martin Luther King Weekend, Jan. 16-19.

In response to a call from Ferguson Action, organizers seek to reclaim Dr. King’s legacy and radical stance against poverty and all forms of violence.

The weekend’s events will culminate in a Jobs and Economy March for the People on Monday, Jan. 19, beginning at 11 a.m. at the Fruitvale BART Station, Oscar Grant Plaza, and ending at the Oakland Coliseum, where a massive Coliseum City development project is planned.

The project, which has yet to be approved, is proposed to include development of up to three sports stadiums, market-rate condominiums, hotels and an entertainment complex in the heart of East Oakland.

As planned, it would wipe out the city’s only business park.

The concerns of many Oakland residents, specifically people of color, are that they could be displaced or otherwise negatively impacted.

The protesters are questioning why the city would support a project unless it provides jobs, housing and community development for Oakland residents.

“We march to demand an end to economic violence, police violence, educational violence and psychological violence that is perpetrated without consequence in our communities ” according to a statement by the APTP.

The group is also demanding that the Coliseum City project include: 1) Decision-making by residents of East Oakland on the plans for Coliseum City and surrounding areas;

2) A hiring policy ensuring that jobs go to Blacks and Latinos in proportion to the percentages of these groups living in East Oakland and including jobs for the disenfranchised who are on probation and parole; 3) No displacement of local small businesses and expanded opportunities for minority businesses; and 4) All housing developed with city funds should be affordable to Oakland families at the median income.

“We have seen the Black population of urban communities shrink all over the country,” the call for the protest said. “In Oakland the African-American population has shrunk from 49 percent to 27 percent. We want to stop the policies that have led to this shrinkage and turn it around so that African-Americans are able to live and thrive in this city.”

The APTP is a coalition of over 20 groups, including the Onyx Organizing Committee, Workers World, the Alan Blueford Center for Justice, Healthy Hoodz, Young Oakland, Asians for Black Lives, Black Out Collective, Black Brunch, and CRC

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