June 1, 2020
Sacramento ACT is deeply grieved by the murder of George Floyd, and so many other black men and women at the hands of the police. We see the pain and anguish of the black community, a community that still bears the weight of the killings of black men by police locally such as Stephon Clark, Mikel McIntyre, and Joseph Mann and the failure of our officials to hold law enforcement accountable.
We are committed to accountability as an organization. We are dedicated to accountability in our city and county to end police brutality and violence in our communities of color, and especially in the black community.
At this moment, we call on our non-black brothers and sisters to not only hear the pain of the black community, but to do both the internal work and to join in the external work that is needed to bring about healing and justice in our communities.
ACT co-hosted a Prayer Rally with National Action Network on Saturday at the Genesis Community Church. At that rally, Pastor Efrem Smith, co-lead pastor of Bayside Midtown Church and ACT Board Member gave the following reflection.
I’m here as someone who was born and raised in South Minneapolis. And where George Floyd was killed, that’s where I grew up. I had to watch the block where I was raised become ground to take another black life. On 38th and Chicago, I rode my Big Wheel, I rode my skateboard, I learned to ride a bicycle. I read comic books with my friends, Otis and Oscar and Tony and Kevin. I saw girls like Sabrina and Tasha learning dances and double-dutching and preparing to be cheerleaders at our neighborhood high school…
Right in that neighborhood there are churches, there are elementary schools, gas stations, high schools, Boys and Girls Clubs. There is enough in that neighborhood for it to be a thriving and flourishing place for people of all races and all backgrounds.
But a week ago, that sacred ground that raised me took the life of a man who looks just like me. And we need to be sick and tired of it so that we say No More! No More! Not my city, not my block, not my neighborhood, not my community, not my kids, not my nephews. No More!
My heart is broken as I watch the city where I was born, burn. But we must get to the core of WHY it is burning…. It’s burning because it took way too long for the District Attorney to come forward with the courage, not just to charge one officer, but to charge every officer that was there … [and] stood by and did nothing
It’s not enough to say I’m grieved and I’m heartbroken. It’s not enough to say I’m praying with you and I’m praying for you. It’s when ALL of us TOGETHER decide to use our gifts, our voice, our talents, our time, our treasure, our resources to solve this.
It’s not enough to unleash compassion. There must be repentance. There must be responsibility and there must be restorative justice.
Because what is going to happen if the right actions are not taken in love, non-violently in this country, is that the genocide will be replaced with gentrification. And so the very people who are hurting right now, they will be displaced. Businesses will come that they don’t own. The dollar will be turned over…
For too long, under-resourced communities have not just had to fear for their lives from police officers, but we’ve had to fear of dying from high cholesterol and diabetes because we can’t even buy healthy food in our own neighborhoods… We need a radical, revolutionary turn in what it means for this nation to be committed to the communities that black and brown people are isolated and segregated to…
I pray now as one from Minneapolis and as one who is deeply grieved that we can be the change.”
ACT is committed to resisting ongoing police violence and to building a public safety system here in Sacramento that we can all trust. We will be calling on city and county officials and law enforcement officials to take the zero tolerance pledge #FireAllRacistCops while we use the H.E.A.T. (Hiring, Equipment, Accountability, and Training) model to transform our public safety system. We are committed to building a just and equitable community for all.