On December 18, 2014, hundreds of public defenders around the Bay Area held “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” rallies in support of racial justice and in solidarity with protesters in Ferguson and around the nation.

San Francisco’s rally, organized by the Public Defender’s Racial Justice Committee and held on the front steps of the Hall of Justice, drew more than 200 public defenders and allies.

Speakers included Jeff Adachi, Public Defender of the City and County of San Francisco; Chris Hite, co-chair of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Racial Justice Committee; Cephus Johnson, uncle of Oscar Grant; and Yolanda Jackson, incoming executive director of The Bar Association of San Francisco and the Justice & Diversity Center.

In her remarks, Jackson outlined the problem in San Francisco, where “blacks make up approximately 6% of the population, but make up 53% of those in custody and jail” and called on her fellow Bay Area lawyers “to be part of the change that society so desperately needs right now.”

Click here to read Jackson’s remarks in full.