Criminal Justice
We Refuse to Preach Resurrection While Our People Are Being Buried Alive in the System.
The American criminal justice system was not broken and then applied to Black people. For too many of our people, it has functioned exactly as designed — to control, to contain, and to extract. And the church cannot be quiet about it.
“You cannot tell someone that God loves them while the system destroys
them and call that ministry. That’s malpractice.”
We Are Not Throwing Our People Away
When one of our young men disappears into the prison system, the church does not get to look away. When a mother buries her child who was killed by the very officers who were supposed to protect him, the church does not get to stay silent. When families are ripped apart by mandatory minimums and cash bail systems that punish poverty, the church does not get to preach about peace without pursuing justice.
The African American Pastors Coalition is in the streets, in the courtrooms, in the legislative chambers, and in the prison visiting rooms — because that is where our people are, and that is where Jesus would be. We advocate for systemic reform and we show up for individuals. We fight the policy and we hold the hand. We do both, because our people need both.
Program Highlights
Our Criminal Justice Work
• Advocacy for police accountability and independent community oversight
• Re-entry support, mentorship, and wrap-around services for returning citizens
• Policy reform campaigns targeting unjust sentencing and cash bail
• Know-your-rights training for youth, families, and congregation members
• Coalitions dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline
•Pastoral care and community support for families of the incarcerated