sol·i·dar·i·ty
/ˌsäləˈderədē/ noun. unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.
Justice Now for
Robert Brooks and
Jordan Neely
The People’s Church stands in solidarity, grief, and outrage at the December 9, 2024 murder of Robert Brooks at the hands of officers at the Marcy “Correctional” Facility in Oneida County. We deplore the fact that, once again, yet another Black Life did not really matter. We are here to demand an end to state-sponsored violence, especially against Black people. We call for the termination, arrest, indictment, prosecution, and incarceration of the correctional officers for his murder. Justice now for Robert Brooks!
We also stand in solidarity with the family of Jordan Neely, who was murdered on May 1, 2023 by Daniel Penny on a New York City subway. Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in December, 2024, despite having held Neely in a chokehold for six minutes, including nearly a minute after Neely had gone limp. Justice now for Jordan Neely!
Let’s create a world in which Black Lives really do matter, to everyone. Justice now for Robert Brooks and Jordan Neely!
Support H.O.L.L.A.’s Call for Afrikan Centered Analysis and Praxis
The Green Haven Think Tank
built a practice from inside prison that connected to Black communities outside of the prison, which established that “there were no prison problems, only community problems.” Out of this practice came a participatory research praxis, Afrikan Centered analysis, and youth/community development process of resurrection called “The Non Traditional Approach Criminal and Social Justice” (NTA). The Green Haven Think Tank’s NTA findings are famously known as the seven-neighborhood study, and answered the following questions, they asked themselves: (1) how is it that Blacks and Latinos represent less than 28% of the general population of New York State while comprising 85% of the total state prison population? (2) how is it that over 75% of the state prison population is from New York City? (3) how do we account for this disproportionate representation? (4) how did this happen? (5) What are the future implications?
— from H.O.L.L.A.’s paper on Restorative Justice.
The People's Church affirms Afrikan centered analysis and praxis and urges the Prison and Non-Profit Industrial Complexes and the community at large to use Non Traditional Approaches to promote genuine healing and resurrection in the Black/Afrikan community.