The Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Project was created to galvanize and empower the religious community in the United States to work against capital punishment. Coordinated by the American Friends Service Committee's criminal justice program, the Project provides people of faith with the tools and resources they need to become effective advocates for abolition.
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-Rev. Bernice King
Martin Luther King and the Death Penalty Movement
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The use of capital punishment is an example of how we as a nation continue to try to solve social justice issues with use of violence. The religious community has a responsibility to raise the issue of the immorality of the death penalty.
The death penalty is a microcosm of the problems we have with violence in general.
I Dream a World
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rejected the violence of the death penalty as have many of his family members. As a way to build on his legacy, the Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Project will launch the I Dream A World campaign on the January 2002 holiday.
Faith-based Communities
Many religious leaders such as Rev. Bernice King, Rev. James Lawson, Sister Helen Prejean, Arun Gandhi, Rabbi David Sapperstein and Rabbi Beerman called for an end to the death penalty. With voices such as these, ROADP will produce public service announcements to be aired starting with the January 2002 King holiday.
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- Sending cards to government officials calling for an end ot capital punishment is another way to be involved.
- We ask people to reach out to correspond and/or visit those on death row.
- We must also remember to provide support to victims of violence.
Youth and Students
- As a part of the I Dream A World campaign, elementary children will be encouraged to submit drawings.
- Junior and senior high school youth will be encouraged to write essays focusing on how Dr. King would be involved in addressing the issue of the death penalty if he were alive today.
- In addition, the essays and drawings will be compiled in booklets that can be delivered to legislators and other key officials to demonstrate the concerns and wishes of youth.
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- Drawings and essays will be displayed in churches and other public settings.
- We will create a space for people to write collaborative online letters that envision the world people would like to create.
Please also sign the I Dream a World Petition to End the Death Penalty!
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