6
QUEENS WEEKLY, JUNE 14, 2020
Flushing community leaders and supporters
stand in solidarity with George Floyd protests
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Flushing community
leaders and representatives
of Black, Latinx, and Asian
American-led organizations
are standing in solidarity
with protests sparked by the
death of George Floyd in
Minneapolis.
Floyd, 46, died in Minneapolis
on May 25 after after
Derek Chauvin, a white policeman,
knelt on his neck
for nearly nine minutes, reigniting
the issue of police
brutality against African
Americans and Black people
in the United States.
On June 5, the group
stood on the steps of the
Flushing Queens Public
Library, at 41-17 Main St.,
condemning the murder of
Floyd, police brutality, and
calling for unity based on
human rights, justice and
accountability.
The leaders highlighted
the names of recent victims
who were killed in policeinvolved
incidents such as:
Tony McDade in Florida,
Finan Berhe in Maryland,
Breonna Taylor in Kentucky,
Ahmaud Arbery in
Georgia, and Manuel Ellis
in Tacoma, WA.
“These names only
scratch the surface of a seemingly
endless list of violence
on Black lives. Exacerbated
by the current pandemic,
Black communities have
already been experiencing
COVID-19 related deaths
at three times the average
rate, further evidencing the
distinct circumstances and
structural inequities along
racial lines,” the leaders
said in their statement.
In Flushing, a largely immigrant
community with
the highest concentration
of Asian Americans in the
city, the racialization of the
virus has led to a spike in
anti-Asian hate crimes and
decimated minority and immigrant
owned small businesses.
Every week, long
lines to La Jornada’s food
pantry have become longer
amid permanently shuttered
mom-and-pop stores
and restaurants.
As Flushing residents
and small business owners
continue to care for and
support each other, the leaders
said they “cannot allow
the crisis brought on by
the pandemic to lose sight
of Floyd’s life, the layers of
circumstances surrounding
his death, and the persistent
systems of violence
and structural oppression”
against black and African
people spanning 400 years
of European colonization of
the Americas.
“We are committed
to honoring the wishes
of George Floyd’s family
and amplifying their
vision of justice,” the
leaders said.
The leaders are also appealing
to Asian American
communities to reexamine
their role when participating
in the policing of other
communities of color and
how to hold themselves
accountable.
This includes former Police
Officer Peter Liang, who
fired a gun that killed Akai
Gurley in Brooklyn in 2014,
according to the leaders, and
most recently, former Police
Officer Thu Thao’s role in
the death of Floyd.
“For too long, Asian
Americans have been
propped up as foils to undermine
the struggles of
Black liberation — from the
coining of the term ‘model
minority’ in 1966 to undermine
the Civil Rights Movement,
and more recently
with conservative Asian
Americans being used as a
tool in an effort to dismantle
affirmative action,” the
leaders said.
According to the group,
structural racism and the
assault on BIPOC communities
is not isolated and
takes many forms within
the criminal justice system,
housing, healthcare
system, education and the
school to prison pipeline,
militarization of police on
a global and local level,
and the harassment and
devaluation of Black life.
“Asian American communities
have greatly benefited
from Black freedom
struggles and our shared
struggles against oppression
and the fate of our communities
are inextricably linked:
in our struggles for social
justice, none can reach the
finish line unless we finish
together,” the leaders said.
The community leaders
and its supporters say participation
in anti-Blackness
requires action.
They’re calling on Mayor
Bill de Blasio to defund the
NYPD and shift towards allocating
$1 billion to human
services and passage of the
#SaferNYAct bills.
One of the bills include
the repeal of New York
State’s policy secrecy law,
Section 50-a, which shields
police misconduct and
abuse records from the
public. Other bills include
the Police Statistics and
Transparency (STAT) Act,
a Special Prosecution Legislation
to strengthen and
codify Executive Order 147,
the Marijuana Taxation
and Regulation Act, and the
reduction of unnecessary
arrests for non-criminal
offenses.
Flushing community leaders and representatives of Black, Latinx, and Asian American-led organizations
stood on the steps of Flushing Queens Public Library condemning the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Photo courtesy of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce
ASTORIA TIMES ■ BAYSIDE TIMES
FLUSHING TIMES ■ FOREST HILLS LEDGER
FRESH MEADOWS TIMES
JACKSON HEIGHTS TIMES ■ JAMAICA TIMES
LAURELTON TIMES ■ LITTLE NECK LEDGER
QUEENS VILLAGE TIMES ■ RIDGEWOOD LEDGER
WHITESTONE TIMES
38-15 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, New York 11361
Advertising: (718) 260-4537
Classifieds: (718) 260-4590
Editorial: (718) 260-4539
www.QNS.com
PROUD MEMBER OF NEW YORK PRESS ASSOCIATION
BRIAN RICE
Publisher
ZACH GEWELB
Editor
RALPH D’ONOFRIO
V.P. of Advertising
ADVERTISING
Senior Account Executive:
Kathy Wenk
Account Executives:
David Strauss
Sherri Rossi
CIRCULATION
Roberto Palacios
CLASSIFIED
Classified Director:
Celeste Alamin
Classified Sales
Manager:
Eugena Pechenaya
EDITORIAL STAFF
Reporters: Bill Parry, Carlotta
Mohamed, Jenna Bagcal,
Jacob Kaye, Angelica Acevedo
Photographers: Nat Valentine,
Ellis Kaplan, Robert Cole
Copy Editors: Katrina Medoff
ART & PRODUCTION
Art Director: Leah Mitch
Designer: Connie Sulsenti
Layout: Zach Gewelb
/www.QNS.com
/www.QNS.com
