Activism

COMMENTARY: Christians on Political Left and Right Must Find Biblical Solutions to Criminal Justice Reform

The first goal of advocacy is always prevention from ever entering the system. This means working with school officials to recognize that Black students are often expelled and/or arrested for offenses that are forgiven when committed by white students. Next, parents, community leaders and the Body of Christ must be prepared to stand in the gap and advocate for Black students.

Published

3 years ago

November 5, 2022

Oakland Post

Bishop Garland Hunt

By Bishop Garland Hunt

With less than a week before the midterms, crime and justice remain hot topics used to gin up voters and get out the party faithful.

But, unfortunately, as political leaders on both sides of the aisle grandstand, real families languish in a criminal justice system that often appears broken from every angle. Ultimately, we shape our views of the justice system based on how the system touches our lives and the lives of those we love.

I view America’s justice system through several lenses. First, as a father of African American men, I am duty-bound to instruct my sons on the real and perceived issues around engaging with law enforcement.

As former chairman of the Georgia Parole Board and commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, I saw firsthand how the criminal justice system left the poor and undereducated, regardless of race, at a significant disadvantage. However, my most solution-driven perspective comes from my role as a pastor and my life as a follower of Christ.

No matter which side of the political aisle you find yourself on, if you are a Christian, you must understand there is a Biblical explanation for the conflicts that permeate the criminal justice system and a Biblical solution.

The mayhem and mistrust stirred up by professional political agitators and the bias in our criminal justice system can both be summed up by Isaiah’s commentary in chapter 59, verse 4, “No one cares about being fair and honest.”

If Christians addressing this conflict cared about fairness and honesty, we would find solutions.

A fair and honest assessment of America’s criminal justice system would require Christians on the right to admit that Black men are disproportionately arrested and charged with crimes.

Further, it would require “law and order” conservatives to accept the reality that “law and order” are historically applied more severely to Black men. For example, consider the sentencing disparities on crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Studies consistently show that white men use illicit drugs at a greater rate than Black men. However, Blacks are criminally charged at a greater rate for lower-level drug offenses.

A fair and honest assessment of America’s criminal justice reform would require Christians on the left to concede that African American community leaders in general, and the Black Church in particular, long ago abandoned their roles as the moral authority equipped and willing to stand in the gap and prevent Black men from being exposed to the poverty-to-prison pipeline.

Far too many African American males encounter the criminal justice system early. Unfortunately, this contact puts their lives on a downward trajectory that they could have avoided if basic advocacy systems were available in the Black community.

Some argue that the system is so broken that there is no preventing young Black men from being snared by its claws. I know they are wrong because I know there is a Biblical solution to the problem.

What we see as an even greater breakdown in the Black community is the missing wrap-around advocacy that would prevent the situation from spiraling into even greater chaos. But what does advocacy look like in real life in real time?

Advocacy can mean fighting for common-sense legislative solutions. For example, The Douglass Leadership Institute believes that measures revoking driver’s licenses for minor offenses are counterproductive, creating greater hardship and reducing economic mobility.

The Church must stand with young unwed mothers as they attempt to raise young Black men. Christian men must stand in the gap for their young brothers by volunteering to be mentors and role models for fatherless young men.

Being such a mentor does not mean offering advice now and then. It means being intentional and consistent in helping young men navigate personal and professional challenges. For example, as an intentional mentor, I have explained to young brothers why they need to obey law enforcement and put their hands in plain sight. I have also advised on everything from the appropriate dress for job interviews to the proper way to treat women.

When the Church fulfills its Biblical role to be present in the lives of young Black men, there will be fewer Black men in prison and a prison record will not mean a life is beyond hope.

Bishop Garland R. Hunt serves as the Senior Pastor of The Father’s House in Norcross, Georgia. He is a Senior Fellow with the Douglass Leadership Institute and leads the organization’s Forward Justice Initiative. Hunt’s executive leadership spans 28 years with the Fellowship of International Churches, Wellington Boone Ministries, and New Generation Campus Ministries. In 2004, he was appointed to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles and served as chairman of the Parole Board in 2006. In 2010, Hunt was commissioner of the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. In 2011, he served as president of Prison Fellowship.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

Published

1 day ago

November 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

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5 days ago

November 3, 2025

Oakland Post

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Past, Present, Possible! Oakland Residents Invited to Reimagine the 980 Freeway

Organizers ask attendees coming to 1233 Preservation Park Way to think of the event as a “time portal”—a walkable journey through the Past (harm and flourishing), Present (community conditions and resilience), and Future (collective visioning).

Published

2 weeks ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Hundreds of residents in West Oakland were forced out by eminent domain before construction began on the 980 freeway in 1968. Courtesy photo.

By Randolph Belle
Special to The Post

Join EVOAK!, a nonprofit addressing the historical harm to West Oakland since construction of the 980 freeway began in 1968, will hold a block party on Oct. 25 at Preservation Park for a day of imagination and community-building from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Organizers ask attendees coming to 1233 Preservation Park Way to think of the event as a “time portal”—a walkable journey through the Past (harm and flourishing), Present (community conditions and resilience), and Future (collective visioning).

Activities include:

Interactive Visioning: Site mapping, 3-D/digital modeling, and design activities to reimagine housing, parks, culture, enterprise, and mobility.
Story & Memory: Oral history circles capturing life before the freeway, the rupture it caused, and visions for repair.
Data & Policy: Exhibits on health, environment, wealth impacts, and policy discussions.
Culture & Reflection: Films, installations, and performances honoring Oakland’s creativity and civic power.

The site of the party – Preservation Park – itself tells part of the story of the impact on the community. Its stately Victorians were uprooted and relocated to the site decades ago to make way for the I-980 freeway, which displaced hundreds of Black families and severed the heart of West Oakland. Now, in that same space, attendees will gather to reckon with past harms, honor the resilience that carried the community forward, and co-create an equitable and inclusive future.

A Legacy of Resistance

In 1979, Paul Cobb, publisher of the Post News Group and then a 36-year-old civil-rights organizer, defiantly planted himself in front of a bulldozer on Brush Street to prevent another historic Victorian home from being flattened for the long-delayed I-980 Freeway. Refusing to move, Cobb was arrested and hauled off in handcuffs—a moment that landed him on the front page of the Oakland Tribune.

Cobb and his family had a long history of fighting for their community, particularly around infrastructure projects in West Oakland. In 1954, his family was part of an NAACP lawsuit challenging the U.S. Post Office’s decision to place its main facility in the neighborhood, which wiped out an entire community of Black residents.

In 1964, they opposed the BART line down Seventh Street—the “Harlem of the West.” Later, Cobb was deeply involved in successfully rerouting the Cypress Freeway out of the neighborhood after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

The 980 Freeway, a 1.6-mile stretch, created an ominous barrier severing West Oakland from Downtown. Opposition stemmed from its very existence and the national practice of plowing freeways through Black communities with little input from residents and no regard for health, economic, or social impacts. By the time Cobb stood before the bulldozer, construction was inevitable, and his fight shifted toward jobs and economic opportunity.

Fast-forward 45 years: Cobb recalled the story at a convening of “Super OGs” organized to gather input from legacy residents on reimagining the corridor. He quickly retrieved his framed Tribune front page, adding a new dimension to the conversation about the dedication required to make change. Themes of harm repair and restoration surfaced again and again, grounded in memories of a thriving, cohesive Black neighborhood before the freeway.

The Lasting Scar

The 980 Freeway was touted as a road to prosperity—funneling economic opportunity into the City Center, igniting downtown commerce, and creating jobs. Instead, it cut a gash through the city, erasing 503 homes, four churches, 22 businesses, and hundreds of dreams. A promised second approach to the Bay Bridge never materialized.

Planning began in the late 1940s, bulldozers arrived in 1968, and after years of delays and opposition, the freeway opened in 1985. By then, Oakland’s economic engines had shifted, leaving behind a 600-foot-wide wound that resulted in fewer jobs, poorer health outcomes, and a divided neighborhood. The harm of displacement and loss of generational wealth was compounded through redlining, disinvestment, drugs, and the police state. Many residents fled to outlying cities, while those who stayed carried forward the spirit of perseverance.

The Big Picture

At stake now is up to 67 acres of new, buildable land in Downtown West Oakland. This time, we must not repeat the institutional wrongs of the past. Instead, we must be as deliberate in building a collective, equitable vision as planners once were in destroying communities.

EVOAK!’s strategy is rooted in four pillars: health, housing, economic development, and cultural preservation. These were the very foundations stripped away, and they are what they aim to reclaim. West Oakland continues to suffer among the worst social determinants of health in the region, much of it linked to the three freeways cutting through the neighborhood.

The harms of urban planning also decimated cultural life, reinforced oppressive public safety policies, underfunded education, and fueled poverty and blight.

Healing the Wound

West Oakland was once the center of Black culture during the Great Migration—the birthplace of the Black Panther Party and home to the “School of Champions,” the mighty Warriors of McClymonds High. Drawing on that legacy, we must channel the community’s proud past into a bold, community-led future that restores connection, sparks innovation, and uplifts every resident.

Two years ago, Caltrans won a federal Reconnecting Communities grant to fund Vision 980, a community-driven study co-led by local partners. Phase 1 launched in Spring 2024 with surveys and outreach; Phase 2, a feasibility study, begins in 2026. Over 4,000 surveys have already been completed. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could transform the corridor into a blank slate—making way for accessible housing, open space, cultural facilities, and economic opportunity for West Oakland and the entire region.

Leading with Community

In parallel, EVOAK! is advancing a community-led process to complement Caltrans’ work. EVOAK! is developing a framework for community power-building, quantifying harm, exploring policy and legislative repair strategies, structuring community governance, and hosting arts activations to spark collective imagination. The goal: a spirit of co-creation and true collaboration.

What EVOAK! Learned So Far

Through surveys, interviews, and gatherings, residents have voiced their priorities: a healthy environment, stable housing, and opportunities to thrive. Elders with decades in the neighborhood shared stories of resilience, community bonds, and visions of what repair should look like.

They heard from folks like Ezra Payton, whose family home was destroyed at Eighth and Brush streets; Ernestine Nettles, still a pillar of civic life and activism; Tom Bowden, a blues man who performed on Seventh Street as a child 70 years ago; Queen Thurston, whose family moved to West Oakland in 1942; Leo Bazille who served on the Oakland City Council from 1983 to 1993; Herman Brown, still organizing in the community today; Greg Bridges, whose family’s home was picked up and moved in the construction process; Martha Carpenter Peterson, who has a vivid memory of better times in West Oakland; Sharon Graves, who experienced both the challenges and the triumphs of the neighborhood; Lionel Wilson, Jr., whose family were anchors of pre-freeway North Oakland; Dorothy Lazard, a resident of 13th Street in the ’60s and font of historical knowledge; Bishop Henry Williams, whose simple request is to “tell the truth,” James Moree, affectionately known as “Jimmy”; the Flippin twins, still anchored in the community; and Maxine Ussery, whose father was a business and land owner before redlining.

EVOAK! will continue to capture these stories and invites the public to share theirs as well.

Beyond the Block Party

The 980 Block Party is just the beginning. Beyond this one-day event, EVOAK! Is building a long-term process to ensure West Oakland’s future is shaped by those who lived its past. To succeed, EVOAK! Is seeking partners across the community—residents, neighborhood associations, faith groups, and organizations—to help connect with legacy residents and host conversations.

980 Block Party Event Details
Saturday, Oct. 25
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Preservation Park, 1233 Preservation Park Way, Oakland, CA 94612
980BlockParty.org
info@evoak.org