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Why we are here...#FreedomNow [ defunding of the oakland police department, of the san francisco police department, of the chicago police department, of EVERY police department! because the police departments in oakland, in san francisco, and across the country take up way too much of the budget when we know what keeps us safe is SCHOOLS (folx cheering), housing (folx cheering), jobs for our youth, jobs for the people that are coming out of the cages that these cops put them in! we know what keeps us safe is not more people walking around with guns and tasers and batons and fear in their hearts for us who choose to exist, who are just trying to live our lives. we know that what keeps us safe is our families, we know what keeps us safe is the people that are out here on this street with us right now, we know what keeps us safe is COMMUNITY, not cops! we know that what keeps us safe is HOMES, not handcuffs. we know that what keeps us safe is investment in our communities and divestment from the things that seek to destroy our communities! for far, far, far too long we have been saying that our lives matter and people elsewhere have been saying that “blue lives matter.” (folx boo) we are not here to talk about people who choose to take on jobs that decimate Black and Brown and poor communities all across the country. what we are here to talk about is WHAT WE WANT INSTEAD! and what we want instead is for our people to be able to walk down the street safely. we want our children to be able to play at playgrounds (cop sirens go off) without get murdered! what we want is our people with mental health needs to actually get those needs addressed! we don’t want our people to be criminalized to get basic services! what we want is for BLACK PEOPLE TO STAY IN OAKLAND! (folx cheer) and we can’t do that when the cops are chasing around and criminalizing us and pushing us out! when cops are a tool of gentrification, they have to go! when cops are a tool of state violence, they have to go! when cops are the reason my niece is afraid to walk down the street, when cops are the reason why we don’t have counselors and nurses in our schools but they have people walking around with guns, they have to go! when undocumented people feel like they can’t show up in community spaces, that they can’t voice their dissent, that they can’t demand basic human rights, because of fear of these people with these badges, and these uniforms, and these guns, and these tasers, and these batons, and these body cameras that may or may not be working conveniently for them, then THEY HAVE TO GO! SO TELL EM WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY WANT! (crowd chants together): JUSTICE! TELL EM WHAT YOU NEED, WHAT YOU REALLY NEED! (crowd chants together): JUSTICE! HOW WE GONNA GET IT! (crowd chants together): PEOPLE POWER HOW WE GONNA GET IT! (crowd chants together): PEOPLE POWER FREEDOM NOW! (crowd chants together): FREEDOM NOW! FREEDOM NOW! (crowd chants together): FREEDOM NOW! FREEDOM NOW! (crowd chants together): FREEDOM NOW! DIVEST FROM THE POLICE! (crowd chants together): DIVEST FROM THE POLICE! BLACK LIVES MATTER! (crowd chants together): BLACK LIVES MATTER! BLACK LIVES MATTER! (crowd chants together): BLACK LIVES MATTER! BLACK LIVES MATTER! (crowd chants together): BLACK LIVES MATTER! we are also not just here to say “divest from police.” because we know, y’all are wondering, “what are we gonna do? if we don’t have police? where are they gonna go? who else is going to start them off with $70,000 a year and paid vacations when they murder our people in the streets?” there are plenty of job openings, and plenty of industries, and maybe we can name off a few for them today, just get their brains going, just to get them started. unseen person: teachers! teachers! you could quit your job and become a teacher. what else do we have here? unseen person: nursing! you could quit your job and become a nurse or a healthcare worker! nurses are needed all day and everyday. they are overworked and need to get paid more, just like our teachers do. i see a lot of garbage on this street. you could be picking that up right now! that’s a job not a lot of people value, but they really should. if we wanna keep our communities beautiful and safe, you could be doing that instead. you could be planting trees. you could be building affordable housing instead of pushing people out of their housing. you could be growing food for our young people in the oakland unified school district. what else could they be doing, y’all? unseen person: stay-at-home dads! you could be a stay-home-parent. that work is undervalued and underpaid as well. maybe you should be pushing for that! ]
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Kamau on the mic raising up why we need #FreedomNow
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#Justice4MarioWoods share
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