Peace Pole Dedication at Brookdale Park

by Rev. Sally Juarez

On Saturday, August 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Brookdale Park, 2535 High Street, neighbors and friends are invited to gather for the launch of the Community of Spirit Project with the planting of a peace pole. The event includes a ceremony to commemorate the victims of violent crime in the area around Brookdale and the rededication of the park to peaceful use and as a drug-free zone. Neighborhood groups, in partnership with Oakland Department of Parks and Recreation, have been meeting since January 2007 to plan the event to which Mayor Ron Dellums and Councilmember Jean Quan have been invited.

In addition to live entertainment, complimentary food, and spoken word, there will be booths by various youth-oriented organizations and representatives of the Faith Community. The rededication of Brookdale Park is the first of 22 rededications that will take place at every park in Oakland during the next year.

The neighborhood organizers of the Brookdale event are sending the message that they are reclaiming the neighborhood and want to work together to offer more support and services to at-risk youth and their families. Phase two of the Community of Spirit program, called "Project Mosaic," will offer training in nonviolence and conflict resolution to the leaders in the faith community. There will also be workshops in anger management, learning styles, parenting classes, job training, pastoral counseling, and increased programs in the arts for youth. Organizers say that their plan is consistent with Mayor Dellums' goal of making Oakland a model city. The strategy is to work neighborhood by neighborhood.

The rededication ceremony itself will be held between noon and 1 p.m. It includes a names litany and a silent procession to inscribe a circle of protection around the park before the planting of the peace pole. Relatives and friends of street violence who would like to honor their fallen loved one by participating in the ceremony and those who want more information should contact the Rev. Sally Juarez at High Street Presbyterian Church, 533-2366.