Sunsetting Freedom to Thrive Oak Park
To our Oak Park comrades and community members,
Today, we’re announcing the sunset of Freedom to Thrive Oak Park. What started as small community conversations about policing turned into a group of organizers (all unpaid) who researched, submitted FOIA requests, wrote, and produced reports that awakened this community’s conscience to the current state of policing in Oak Park. In return for our unpaid labor, every single member of our group endured vitriol and hate from this community, but also received encouragement and gratitude for making plain that which far too many Black and brown people in our community know - that Oak Park police racially profile Black and brown people in our community, that being Black is a reason for suspicion in Oak Park, that carceral surveillance disproportionately harms and amplifies already existing racial profiling by police in Oak Park, and that our Village government doesn’t care about any of this.
Remember back in 2020, in the midst of protests against police violence that arose out of the horrific video of George Floyd’s murder, when every member of our Village Board with the exception of then Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla, kneeled along with police? That performative gesture, the board’s criminalization and racist attacks of ROYAL youth organizers, along with the reformist steps that the board has taken to placate those demanding change, are what has led us to the present - an Oak Park that spends more on its police than it ever has, with possibly the most pro-police board in Village history.
Freedom to Thrive Oak Park was created with a vision for a future where the police and prison industrial complex would be abolished in Oak Park. We envisioned an Oak Park where we wouldn’t have police harassing unhoused people, young Black and brown youth, or Black drivers. The vision that the Freedom to Thrive Oak Park organizers kept in mind whenever we did our work was simple - to create an Oak Park where everyone has the freedom to thrive - regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. As we sunset this current container of our organizing, know that all our organizers are still organizing so that we may one day see this vision come to life.
As organizers, we understand that some may feel that Freedom to Thrive Oak Park’s work should continue, and that is still needed. While we understand that feeling, it is critical to remember that composting old containers of organizing is critical and essential to maintaining the strength of our movements. Holding on to structures for the sake of comfort (like policing), only ends up causing more harm than good. However, it is important to us for archival purposes, that we ensure open access to Freedom to Thrive Oak Park’s work and research. As such, all of Freedom to Thrive Oak Park’s online materials (the website and Facebook page), will stay online.
Finally, for those wondering, “What will happen in the next Village election?” That answer already exists now. The current Village Board is filled with trustees who continue to fund the police - every single board member voted yes on funding a new police station and voted in favor of the past several Village budgets. Liberation won’t come from our Village government. It starts with us, taking small steps to change the world around us. We hope that you continue to take those steps so that we can one day achieve the abolitionist vision of an Oak Park where everyone has the freedom to thrive.
- Freedom to Thrive Oak Park Organizers
