Remembering Yusuf Hawkins
March in Bensonhurst honors slain teenager on anniversary of his death
BY ROSE ADAMS
Marchers took to the
streets of Bensonhurst on Sunday,
Aug. 23 to honor Yusuf
Hawkins, a 16-year-old Black
teenager who was fatally shot
after a mob of white youths attacked
him in 1989.
The small protest, which
marched to the site of Hawkins’
murder on Bay Ridge
Parkway and 20th Avenue,
aimed to pay tribute to the
31st anniversary of Hawkins’
death and raise awareness
about racial violence in Bensonhurst,
according to one of
the march’s organizers.
“Obviously, all of the current
tragedies like George
Floyd and Breonna Taylor are
unfortunately well known because
they just happened,”
said Celenia Diaz. “I wanted
to have this protest to remind
people that although now
we’re more aware that racial
violence is common, this has
been happening for a really
long time.”
Hawkins, an East New
York resident, was visiting
Bensonhurst with a group of
friends on Aug. 23, 1989 to buy
a used Pontiac when a group
of Italian-American locals attacked
COURIER L 10 IFE, AUG. 28-SEPT. 3, 2020
him with bats under
the wrong impression that he
was dating a white girl in the
neighborhood. One attacker
shot Hawkins in the chest,
killing him.
The killing sparked a fl ood
of outrage and increased racial
tension throughout the city.
Civil rights leaders took to
the streets of Bensonhurst in
protest, where white hecklers
confronted them, calling them
the n-word and holding up watermelons
to mock them. The
public outcry ultimately aided
the election of the city’s fi rst
Black mayor, David Dinkins,
and helped undermine incumbent
Edward Koch, according
to The New York Times.
Though Hawkins’ murder
spurred widespread unrest,
the killing has largely faded
from public memory in the intervening
years, said Diaz.
“I’ve been living in Bensonhurst
for over 10 years,
and I never heard of this story
ever,” said Diaz, who learned
about his death from the HBO
documentary “Yusuf Hawkins:
Storm Over Brooklyn,”
which was released on Aug.
12. “I’m on Instagram and I
see the trailer for it. Someone
posed it and said, ‘When is
Bensonhurst going to change’
and I said, ‘What?'”
During the Aug. 23 march,
about 25 protesters gathered
in Seth Low Playground to pay
their respects. The producers
of “Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over
Brooklyn,” and Hawkins’ family
did not attend, but they gave
Diaz their support, she said.
From the playground, the
protesters set off down Bay
Ridge Parkway to 20th Avenue,
carrying signs and chanting.
Diaz said that, though the
turnout was small, residents
also came out of their homes
to show their support.
The group also faced some
resistance, said Diaz, who said
that some passersby shouted,
“Free Fama!” in reference to
Hawkins’ convicted killer, Joseph
Fama.
At the site of Hawkins’ killing,
Diaz, rapper Ace Burns,
Borough President staffer Hercules
Reid spoke to the crowd
about Hawkins’ death and
and the racism that lingers
in southern Brooklyn. The
march ended with a prayer
and a moment of silence for
Hawkins.
One attendee said that he
attended to shine a light on
racism in southern Brooklyn.
“I felt like it was very empowering
because we tried to
give remembrance to a person
who was super young,” said
15-year-old Jonathan Rampagoa,
a Queens resident who
has helped organize marches
against anti-Asian racism.
“We tried to bring that awareness
to the community.”
Demonstrators marked the 31st anniversary of Yusuf Hawkins’ death
with an Aug. 23 march in Bensonhurst. @nycfoodblog
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