“Justice Done Right” is the theme two progressive Black women running to challenge the incumbent Alameda County district attorney and sheriff, according to the Oakland Post.
Pamela Price and JoAnn Walker kicked-off their campaign to run as a ticket for both positions in the 2022 elections. Price is running for district attorney and Walker is seeking the sheriff post.
“In the last year, many Americans have awakened to the bias in policing and sentencing that lead to unnecessary death and harm in our communities,” said Walker to the Post. “However, for many folks who look like us, this is not a new truth, just one that finally has some national light shed on it.
Walker is a 25-year veteran with the San Francisco Police Department, but new to the political arena, said the article.
Price, a civil rights attorney, won a civil rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the one of the few Black women to do so, noted the Post.
We’re running to hold police and prosecutors account-able,” Price told the Post.
She cites the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and the double-standard treatment received by Black Lives Matters protestors as a reason to get into the political race.
“The riots are just one example of the double standard,” said Price. “Here, the current DA’s decision to forgo charges in the Oscar Grant case against former BART Police Officer Anthony Pirone after initially saying she would charge him is another example.
“A person of color would have had the book thrown at them,” she added.
The duo’s joint ticket will unify around issues that many Alameda County residents want addressed, said the article.
- Ending mass incarceration and over-criminalization of Black and Brown youth
- Eradicating racial, gender and socioeconomic bias in policing and sentencing
- Eliminating gun violence
- Protecting immigrant communities
- Restoring public trust and investing in public health and social service
Both women have storied careers and are “advocates for compassionate justice,” said the article. Walker seeks to bring a different perspective to transform law enforcement. She has been a resident of Alameda County for more than 40 years. She has experience in suicide prevention and crisis support. As a police officer she has worked as a Post Master Instructor, Field Training Officer, Terrorism Liaison Officer and Community Relations Unit Liaison, according to the Post.
To transform Alameda County’s criminal justice system and to end its perceived double standards that work against women and minorities, the women are aim-ing for the top spots of influence.
We are running to end the double standards in the policing and prosecution of women and people of color,” said Price. “It’s going to take collaboration and a shared vision for change.”
