Just as the old saying goes: 'A closed mouth never gets fed.' "We had to open our mouths, we had to say something,” said Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland chapter of NAACP, in a recent interview to defend a letter she had addressed to "all elected leaders" in her city.
The letter criticized progressive policies, such as defunding the police, drew criticism from circles traditionally allied with the organization that "builds black political power to end structural racism," but won the support of the organization's statewide president, Rick Callender:
The NAACP California Hawaii State Conference stands by and doubles down on NAACP Oakland Branch's request for a call for a state of emergency in the city of Oakland. Our community members are in danger and elected officials are turning their heads away.
The note
The letter signed by Adams and Bishop Bob Jackson from the Acts Full Gospel Church begins by stating "Oakland residents are sick and tired of our intolerable public safety crisis that overwhelmingly impacts minority communities.”
In the letter sent late last week, just days before the NAACP state conference, Adams called for a state of emergency to be declared and asked for "massive resources" to be provided to address the crime wave sweeping Oakland:
Women are targeted by young mobs and viciously beaten and robbed in downtown and uptown neighborhoods. Asians are assaulted in Chinatown. Street vendors are robbed in Fruitvale. News crews have their cameras stolen while they report on crime. PG&E workers are robbed and now require private security when they are out working. Everyone is in danger.
Adams discusses the reasons for the increase in crime. She mentions several initiatives promoted by the NAACP and the left in general:
Failed leadership, including the movement to defund the police, our District Attorney's unwillingness to charge and prosecute people who murder and commit life threatening serious crimes, and the proliferation of anti-police rhetoric have created a heyday for Oakland criminals. If there are no consequences for committing crime in Oakland, crime will continue to soar.
Adams and Jackson also argued that alternative pathways to crime must be created for young people and that industrial and logistical jobs should be created, because "progressive policies and failed leadership have chased away or delayed significant blue collar job development."
Everyone please share please share county pic.twitter.com/91BpT13YsH
— Cynthia Adams209 (@cynthiaadams57) July 28, 2023
Soros Prosecutor
Pamela Price is the Alameda County prosecutor who the NAACP Oakland accused of lacking the will "to charge and prosecute." According to the site Influence Watch, Price received financial support from George Soros during her campaign for office through the California Justice & Public Safety PAC.
Price's platform included measures such as no longer incarcerating or charging people under the age of 18, holding police officers accountable for their illegal behavior, and establishing progressive metrics to evaluate the work of prosecutors beyond conviction rates.
While in office, Price was criticized for allegedly being targeted as a speaker at a public event repudiating the "anti-Price media," specifically ABC1. Journalist Dan Noyes shared a flyer from the event:
ALCO DA Pam Price still refuses my request for an interview, and she and her staff have never disputed a single fact in my reports — because they are absolutely accurate. So what does she do? Call a rally for her supporters to come out against ABC7. Wonder who will attend. pic.twitter.com/nAwuUI3fmw
— Dan Noyes (@dannoyes) April 17, 2023
Less than a year into her term as prosecutor, Price is already facing a recall campaign.
