Hundreds protest for the removal of
Columbus statue on Astoria Boulevard
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
More than a hundred people
marched toward Astoria
Boulevard on June 17 to denounce
the Christopher Columbus
statue as a “symbol of
genocide” and demand for it to
be removed.
The protest, organized by
Queens-based group Justice
for George Queens, began at
Astoria Park’s War Memorial.
The organizers hoped to
show solidarity with Black
and Indigenous people who’ve
struggled with colonialism
for centuries, as well as to
bring attention to Black trans
lives lost to hate and police
brutality.
Trasonia Abbott, one of the
protest’s leaders, began with a
meditation followed by a land
acknowledgement in support
of Black lives in Lenapehoking
(the traditional homeland
of the Lenape people, which includes
New York City) written
by writer and photographer
Joe Whittle.
“Most of the Lenapeyok
and the main political and cultural
body of the tribe ended
up in Oklahoma after repeated
forced removals and relocations
spanning over 50 years
of exodus and leading halfway
across the continent,” the
statement read. “It is this storied,
shared history of oppression
and solidarity, and our
love for all of our fellow Indigenous
peoples from across the
globe, that drives us to stand
up for our Black relatives today
who face the same ongoing
colonial violence that we do as
Indigenous ‘Americans.'”
Later in the demonstration,
two artists who identify
as Muisca, Indigenous people
of Colombia, read a poem in
Spanish about the intersection
of statues that celebrate
colonialism and the systemic
racism that persists within
the United States’ systems.
Manuela Agudelo, an organizer
with Justice for George
Queens, told QNS they wanted
to bring closer to home the
renewed conversations happening
across the nation and
world to remove statues of
historical figures who contributed
to the oppression and violence
of Black and Indigenous
people.
“We saw that around the
world and other nations that
there were a lot of people denouncing
these bigoted statues,
and we felt strongly that
this affected our community
in Queens,” Agudelo said.
“Queens is one of the most diverse
places in the world — we
should be respecting people
who built this country.”
During the first half of the
protest, another organizer focused
on Black trans lives by
reading the names of individuals
lost between 2015 and 2020,
as a violinist played a somber
melody. It took well over four
minutes for all the names to be
read.
The organizer also spoke
about LGBTQ pioneer, Masha
P. Johnson, a Black trans
woman known as one of the
most important figures in the
Stonewall Riots in Manhattan,
which served as a catalyst for
the gay rights movement in the
nation and is now recognized
TIMESLEDGER |2 QNS.COM | JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2020
as Pride month in June.
“So when you’re putting on
your rainbow colored T-shirts,
dancing to your favorite songs
at a gay bar and throwing on
your body glitter for a Pride
parade, know that none of that
would be possible without a
Black trans woman placing her
life on the line,” the organizer
said, as the crowd cheered.
“When Black trans women are
being killed at alarming rates
and beaten in the streets, we
must protect and value them
because that’s exactly what
they did and continue to do for
the entire LGBTQ+ community
all over the world.”
Another organizer spoke
about how the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 afforded so many other
rights for immigrants and
minority communities, due
to that “very tight bill” that
gave Black people “some semblance
of rights.” The organizer
implored others to vote
and “bother” their representatives
in the local, city and state
Legislature.
The organizer also acknowledged
Senator Michael
Gianaris for attending the
demonstration.
The protest — a well-organized
event with volunteers
handing out water bottles,
masks and snacks — then transitioned
into a march toward
Astoria Boulevard. More than
a hundred people marched
down Shore Boulevard then
Hoyt Avenue, chanting “When
Native interchanged with
Black and trans lives are
under attack, what do we do?
Stand up, fight back!”
Police maintained distance
from the demonstrators
throughout the march and protest,
blocking off traffic as they
marched down the highway
and onto Astoria Boulevard by
the N and W train where the
statue of Christopher Columbus
is placed.
While there, several organizers
and community
members spoke about Columbus’
legacy in the Indigenous
community.
“For many years a lot of
people here in America an
throughout the world thought
this man was a cool guy, but
now with further education
and … marches like these,
we know the real truth,” said
Sanakori Taíno Sagrado, who
identified as being of Taíno
descent of Boriken, the Taíno
(Indigenous) name for Puerto
Rico.
Sagrado then asked where
the markers and new monument
honoring Indigenous
people are, noting Mayor Bill
de Blasio’s “broken” promise
to add those throughout the
city in response to calls to remove
Columbus monuments
back in 2018.
Others talked about the
larger movement to defund
and ultimately abolish the police,
address systemic racism
and unlearn the ideals that
prevent actual change from
taking place.
“It shouldn’t be disheartening
because the signs to
all this was in front of us the
whole time,” said Joseph Martinez,
a Queens-based member
of Warriors in the Garden, a
collective of activists dedicated
to nonviolent protest, as he
pointed to the Columbus statue.
“The system has not failed
us. You know why? Because
the system was never designed
for us in the first place.”
After a few more speakers,
the demonstrators sand and
danced along to Bill Withers’
uplifting anthem, “Lean On
Me.”
Before ending the demonstration
at about 8:30 p.m., the
organizers called attention to a
petition for the removal of the
Columbus statue, addressed
to de Blasio and Gov. Andrew
Cuomo.
When asked about the calls
to remove Columbus statues
last week, Cuomo and de Blasio
defended the statues as
representative of the Italian-
American legacy.
This is not the first call to
remove the Columbus statue
at Astoria Boulevard. In 2017,
DNA Info reported of a instance
in which the statue
was tagged with the words
“Don’t Honor Genocide. Take
It Down.”
Photo by Dean Moses
TIMESLEDGER is published weekly by Queens CNG LLC, 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY.11361, (718) 229-0300. The entire contents of this publication are copyright 2020. All rights reserved. The newspaper will not be
liable for errors appearing in any advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Periodicals postage paid at Flushing, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the TimesLedger C/O News Queens
CNG LLC. 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, N.Y. 11361.
/QNS.COM
