state senate districts —
the 17th District, which is
made up primarily of Borough
Park, and the 20th
District, which stretches
in the shape of a backhoe
through Brownsville and
Crown Heights, and includes
narrow strips of
Park Slope and Sunset
Park. This puts that community
at a disadvantage,
advocates say.
“The Asian-American
community does not have
a strong community of interest
between these two
neighborhoods, largely
because of language barriers,
and with language
barriers comes lack of
culturally sensitive social
service programs,”
said Elizabeth OuYang,
coordinator of the APA
Voice Redistricting Task
Force, who says that, in
order to ensure adequate
representation for Brooklyn’s
Asian-American
community, it makes the
most sense to carve out a
district that links Sunset
Park with Bensonhurst,
Bath Beach, and Gravesend,
all of which have
substantial Asian-American
populations, with
the potential to create the
borough’s fi rst majority
Asian senate district.
A similar problem
persists in Bay Ridge,
where the large and
growing Arab-American
community fi nds itself
concentrated where
three assembly districts
— the 46th, 49th and 64th
— converge. “This results
in our community
being unable to elect candidates
who share their
experience and who will
prioritize their needs,”
testifi ed Arab American
Association of New York
organizer Yafa Dias.
With the boundaries
set to stay in place for
the next 10 years, advocates
say it’s essential
that the new lines refl
ect the ever-changing
communities.
“In this whole process
we want all marginalized
groups to be able
to have access and equal
representation,” OuYang
said. “That’s what makes
democracy a democracy,
full participation — and
you can’t have full participation
COURIER L 26 IFE, AUGUST 6-12, 2021
if your communities
are divided.”
DISTRICTS
Bed-Stuy cyclist emarks on 8kmile
ride to get kids on bikes
BY BEN VERDE
Bedford-Stuyvesant cyclist
John Shackelford will be pedal
pushing through 8,000 miles
of roadway, bringing the joy of
biking to underprivileged kids
around the country with his organization
Smiles 4 Miles.
“I’m a prime example of what
a bike can do to you when you’re
raised in a lower income environment,”
Shackelford told Brooklyn
Paper. “If I can do it, then most
people can do it.”
Shackelford plans to embark
on the journey in August, when he
will cycle to 10 different states and
host bike giveaways for local youth,
with the fi rst leg of the tour taking
the cyclists to Baltimore and his
hometown of Washington D.C.
While Shackelford fi rst planned
to do the entire 8,000 mile trip in
one run, with bike giveaways in
the middle, he now plans on breaking
up the trip into multiple stints,
with a goal of hitting two cities per
month. To fund the bike giveaways,
Smiles 4 Miles is fundraising with
a goal of $20,000.
The idea for the massive tour
and giveaways were cooked up by
“I’m a prime example of what a bike can do to you
when you’re raised in a lower income environment.
If I can do it, then most people can do it.
Shackleford after going on a 20 day
bike tour last year, which took riders
along the 1100 mile long route
of the Underground Railroad for
20 days.
While on the ride, the participants
participated in bike giveaways
in D.C. and Georgia, giving
away nearly 80 new bikes and
helmets. The gratitude expressed
by the kids receiving the bikes
inspired Shackelford to pursue
more giveaway opportunities.
“Seeing kids smile for the
fi rst time, who have never really
owned a bike,” he said. “Something
so generous like that was
so contagious that I felt we should
continue to do this.”
The cyclist spent the next year
planning the route of the Smiles 4
Miles tour, and searching for used
bicycles to incorporate into the
giveaways.
Adding to the severity of the
mission is the heavy strain on the
nation’s supply of new bicycles
brought on by a surge of popularity
in cycling during the pandemic
and a disruption to the supply
chain that ships in bike parts
from overseas. Even someone who
can afford a brand new bicycle
may fi nd themselves waiting for
months before one becomes available.
Shackelford has set out to recycle
as many bicycles as possible in
his quest, in an effort to both help
kids and reduce waste.
“If we could somehow fi nd a
way to recycle these bikes that are
on the street or in the basement or
in the garage, and reuse it for the
next generation, we’re actually
doing the environment justice,
and we’re doing the next generation
justice,” he said.
Continued from page 6