Bishop Robert (Bob) L. Jackson is the Senior Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in Oakland
My 72 year old wife is talking about buying a gun.
That’s how bad things have gotten in Oakland, California.
Eleven-year-old girls are pimped on the street. Houses are invaded. Older women are carjacked in broad daylight.
Unless you lived here yourself, you wouldn’t believe it.
9-1-1 calls go unanswered. When picked up, callers are often on hold for half an hour or more. By then they may already be dead.
There are drag races through the streets, gunfights and innocent children getting caught in the crossfire.
Criminals get away with murder because there are hardly any police to stop them, and our so-called leaders don’t seem to care.
I’m done with it.
My community is begging for help, but no one is listening.
That’s why I and the President of the Oakland NAACP have decided to speak out on behalf of the black, white, Asian, and Hispanic people of Oakland, who deserve to be heard.
But after Cynthia Adams and I demanded from the NAACP that our leaders declare a state of emergency over the crime crisis, the Oakland District Attorney’s office attacked us.
Alameda County DA Pamela Price claimed we were spreading a “false story.”
Well, the devil is a liar.
Bishop Robert (Bob) L. Jackson is the Senior Pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in Oakland.
Houses are invaded. Older women are carjacked in broad daylight. (Above) Surveillance video captured an attempted home invasion that ended with shots fired at a home in East Oakland
Criminals get away with murder because there are hardly any police to stop them, and our so-called leaders don’t seem to care. I’m done with it.
She is the one who denies reality.
I’ve lived in this city almost all my life.
My mother cleaned houses. My father, a veteran of the Navy, was an elevator repairman. He was too proud to take benefits despite his medical discharge, so he worked. My mom kept scrubbing floors.
That was not much for a family of seven children. So I knew poverty and learned early on what it took to survive in the ghetto.
Police chased once me. I carried a gun, joined a biker gang, used drugs and abused alcohol.
Only by the grace of God did I find Jesus and escape that life. And now I am sickened by the fact that so many young men and women are being plunged into that dark, sinful life that almost swallowed me up.
I will be 78 years old in December.
For four decades I have been pastor of the Acts Full Gospel Church in Oakland. And it’s through the church that I’ve worked to keep young people out of prison and, if they’re incarcerated at all, to keep them from returning.
No one can question my devotion to my people.
Like everyone else, I was shocked by the murder of George Floyd. The ferocity of that police officer, kneeling on Floyd’s neck, his hands in his pockets, was plain to see for all to see.
I wanted law enforcement officers to be punished. So I joined the calls of the predominantly white radical activists who flooded our city council meetings to condemn the police.
The more they yelled and screamed, the more the politicians listened to them—whether it was good for the people of Oakland or not.
Only after the activists returned to their wealthy, safe neighborhoods and crime exploded in mine did I see the Defund Movement for what it was: a knee-jerk reaction.
But it was too late. $18 million was stripped from our already cramped police department.
My 72 year old wife is talking about buying a gun. That’s how bad things have gotten in Oakland, California. (Above) Bishop Jackson and his wife Barbara
After Cynthia Adams and I demanded from the NAACP that our leaders declare a state of emergency over the crime crisis, the Oakland District Attorney’s office attacked us. Alameda County DA Pamela Price (above) claimed we were spreading a “false story.”
Since our letter went out, I have not heard from California Governor Gavin Newsom or President Joe Biden. Although, I’m starting to see California Highway Patrol officers driving our streets.
Today we’ve defeated hundreds of agents and hardly anyone wants to wear the badge.
That’s what happens when you demonize officials.
Taxpaying residents are told to barricade their doors as there is no one to protect them when the thugs invade.
Now I have a new name for the ‘Defund’ activists: anti-police anarchists.
Not only have they unleashed chaos in Oakland, they want to disrupt America. Their madness against the police has turned our cities into shooting galleries. It destroys the land we all love.
So why don’t those in power care?
Since our letter went out, I have not heard from California Governor Gavin Newsom or President Joe Biden. Although, I’m starting to see California Highway Patrol officers driving our streets.
It is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.
Americans shouldn’t live in fear in their own neighborhoods, and I won’t stop speaking the truth until security is restored.