#12DaysToShowUp Day 4: Resist State Terror!

#12DaysToShowUp, Donation this December to SURJ's 12 Days to Show Up Campaign

​The rapid displacement of Black, Brown, and poor community members has subtly altered the role of police in the Bay Area. Until the 1960s, many Bay Area cities had “Sundown” laws, which allowed police to arrest any person of color after dusk. While these laws are no longer on the books, the Oakland-based Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) notes that related tactics are still in place. In the current era, police continue to selectively patrol upscale and “up and coming” neighborhoods, and over-patrol poor neighborhoods. In this way, Bay Area police violently reinforce the status quo of white supremacy in our communities. The recent Oakland Police pay raise without public input and the stalling of California’s Police Use of Deadly Force (AB 931) bill are further evidence that police unions hold undue sway in the democratic process, often sidelining the voices and needs of communities of color to make way for increased police power and influence.

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APTP is a Black-led, multiracial, and multigenerational organization dedicated to ending state-sanctioned murder and violence perpetrated by police against Black, Brown, and poor people. APTP uses a variety of tactics to combat police terror. They work with impacted families to provide financial, legal, and mental health support. They conduct investigations of police violence independent of police department influence by surveying witnesses and collecting video evidence. They push to reduce the local budgets of police forces and reinvest in community-led alternatives. And throughout their efforts, they continue to remind folks that officers continue to murder Black, Brown, and poor people with impunity. This year, APTP:

• resisted local acts of police terror, including defending houseless encampments, demanding an end to late night releases at Santa Rita Jail, and challenging OPD pay raises in their new contract with Oakland;
• launched a Santa Rita Jail Support effort to welcome and provide essential goods and care to people newly released from Santa Rita;
• provided family support and healing spaces for those impacted by police killings in the Bay Area;
• cosponsored statewide bills like AB 931, which aimed to hold officers accountable for use of force, and SB 1421, which allows for police officer records to become public;
• hosted trainings for community members to become first responders to state terror, from resisting ICE raids via giving witness testimonies to supporting the families of victims of police violence.

SURJ Bay Area is committed to the elimination of state-sponsored terror and follows the leadership of APTP toward resisting state terror and developing alternatives of community safety for all. We mobilize white folks to join APTP in exercising people power, from vigils to court support and advocacy in council meetings to annual direct actions like reclaiming MLK’s radical legacy. We also support APTP’s critical community work with resources from financial support to logistical work.
And as part of our #12DaysToShowUp campaign we invite you to:

• mark your calendar to join The Peoples March — 5th Annual Reclaim King’s Radical Legacy on Monday, January 21, starting 1pm at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland;
• talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about What to do instead of calling the police;
• follow APTP on Facebook (or watch out for announcements in our weekly newsletter) to join community safety trainings or attend APTP’s general meetings;
• join our #12DaysToShowUp campaign and make a gift towards our goal of raising $30,000 for racial justice.

​Make a Tax-Deductible Donation Here
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75% of all the funds raised during the #12DaysToShowUp will go to local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color led organizations like APTP. The remaining 25% will be sent to under-resourced rural SURJ chapters mobilizing white people throughout the U.S to support racial justice causes such as ending police terror.