EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story contained audio in the host introduction regarding recent shootings that did not conform to our stations policy.
"Whatever my status is in the world, we all are equal at the grave."A pastor and funeral assistant in Oakland talk about a year's worth of work.
Before the pandemic, homicides across California and in the Bay Area were going down. But that’s changed. In Oakland in 2021, there were more than 130 killings, and between 113-130 killings this past year, according to statistics released by the Oakland Police Department.
KALW's Ricky Rodas takes a look behind these numbers with a pastor and a funeral assistant two individuals who work intimately with death on a weekly basis. He shows us what a year’s worth of work has been like and how they cope with the loss all around them.
KALW engineers; editing by Lisa Morehouse; fact checking by Priscilla Ankrah. Music by Cast of Characters. Additional thanks to Todd Walker and Sylvester Rutledge.
