Damayanti Wallace, a queer Black poet, community organizer and Chicago native, recounted police disrupting recent open-mic nights where queer youths of color often found sanctuary.

“I was able to be around these adults who were queer and in queer relationships and it was so loving and so welcoming and so beautiful and, also, so messy,” they said. “I remember [when] cops would come into the open mics and try to stop whatever we were doing or [when] my mentors [had] to go stand at the door so the police wouldn’t come in.”

Wallace is a co-founder of GoodKids MadCity, a non-profit youth organization fighting to end inner-city violence, call for community resources and to abolish police. Through both their work and their experiences as a queer Black person, Wallace has seen the individual struggles of each identity, as well as the unique tension with police born from this intersection.

“Policing is inherently violent to a Black queer person because it’ is the embodiment of all of the things we are running away from or fighting on a day to day basis,” they said. 

To Julian Mohammed, a Black gay man based in Harlem, the tension is unsurprising. With two police officers for parents, Mohammed grew up around law enforcement. This closeness helped illuminate more overarching issues within the force, he explained.

“I know for a fact they do treat minorities different,” he said. “I’ve heard that from their mouths, that if a minority walks up to them they’re gonna be more likely to perceive it as a threat. That’s more common, I guess, in the neighborhoods they’re in.”

The issue, to Mohammed, is that police officers simply do not care about certain communities.

“I’ve seen a lot of cops say ‘f——’ and I don’t know if they’re just saying it because everyone used to say it back then,” he said. “But I feel like if you were hate crimed  or anything, it’s gonna get brushed under the rug.”

Police discrimination may be a driver of poor health outcomes and inequities among Black LGBTQ+ people, according to a 2020 paper published in Social Science & Medicine. The same paper found that four in ten Black LGBTQ+ men claimed they’d faced police violence in the last year. Another study found that Black transgender people are 50 percent more likely than their non-Black counterparts to be arrested following a police stop.

The singularity of these difficulties has left Wallace disillusioned with policing.

“You place black and queer together and it’s almost like you’re placing yourself in your own special kind of hell,” Wallace said.

The post Black queer community often at odds with police appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

George Floyd’s younger brother, Terrence Floyd, stood in front of the sculpture and looked at the damage. On Saturday he spoke at the unveiling.

“This is a spit on my brother’s casket to me,” Terrence Floyd, 43, of Brooklyn said. “They just keep defacing him. Why do people hate him so much?”

When some of the passersby saw the damage, they got right to work cleaning it up.

“A few of us saw that the paint was still wet, so I ran to Blick and got supplies,” said Steve Constantine, 33, of  Austin, Texas. “Then we got a group together to clean it up.”

The now volunteers scrubbed and brushed off the grey paint that was poured on the face of the mahogany wood and bronze painted sculpture.

LaCrown Johnson, 28, of Brooklyn said the vandalism felt like another attack on Floyd, who was murdered by  now ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. He knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. His death sparked protests around the country in which justice was demanded  for Floyd and countless Black people killed by police.

This was not the first time this statue of Floyd was vandalized.  In June  four men threw black paint on the sculpture as it sat on display in Flatbush, Brooklyn.  Another Floyd statue in Newark was also defaced in June.

“This disgusting act can’t change this movement,” Johnson said.

A note from an anonymous person left at George Floyd’s statue in Union Square after a vandal threw grey paint on it.  Photo by Nathan Morris

Police footage show a man mixing paint behind the sculpture then getting on his skateboard and tossing the paint as he skates away.

The NYPD is looking for a suspect who is wanted for criminal mischief after defacing the new George Floyd statue in NYC’s Union Square Park, and they’re offering up to $3,500 for useful information. pic.twitter.com/jTYOMyrrSr

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) October 4, 2021

Adrienne Lotson, 59, of Harlem came to see the sculpture and was not surprised it was vandalized. 

“I came out because I knew it would happen eventually,” she said. 

Jesse Bolden, 28, of Manhattan said trying to destroy celebratory images of Floyd does not help anyone or anything. “They waste time doing this instead of putting their energy into something positive,” he said. “If it doesn’t make you feel some type of way, what kind of human are you?

This is the first outdoor exhibit for Confront Art, an organization that teams up with artists to create art related to social justice. 

Andrew Cohen, 44, a co-founder of the organization, was monitoring the cleanup of the statue.

 “They (police) said they will investigate this as a hate crime, but there’s no way of preventing this from happening again,” he said.

The post George Floyd statue vandalized in Union Square appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

He smiled widely as a J. Cole song played in the background, laughing at some joke as he weighed out half an ounce of weed, a blunt hanging from his lips. However blasé he may seem, counting out dime bags, he is steadfast and serious when he talks about the risks he faces dealing. He dropped his charismatic grin as he talked about his worries about how marijuana legalization will impact his income or legal wellbeing.   

“Back up in California when weed was first legalized in 2016 I saw how quickly the process completely changed the dealing game,” said Short, whose name has been changed to protect his identity. “Immediately small time dealers like me and my friends were cut out so we had to start selling our products for way cheaper in order to compete with dispensaries, which obviously didn’t make us a whole lot of cash.”

While the recent news about New York State’s decision to start penning legislation to legalize and decriminalize cannabis may seem like a victory for users, some individuals, like Short,  believe that the start to this legislation may not be a reason to celebrate just yet. As of today, the legislation is not formalized. Meaning while there are laws in place protecting those who possess smaller amounts of marijuana won’t be arrested, those who deal in large quantities illegally are not protected. And those who currently illicitly deal don’t think they have the means or support to transition to distributing weed legally.

“It seemed like it was so impossible for people who had been dealing illegally to start joining the legal process of distribution,” said Short. “It was clear to me that only people who were already wealthy had the ability to acquire the permits and stuff that would allow them to open up shop and that was just something myself and my homies couldn’t afford to do.”

Current laws, some activists believe, still over-police cannabis users and dealers especially if they are people of color. Currently, Black and white individuals use marijuana at the same rate, but Black individuals are four times more likely to be arrested for a cannabis-related crime.

Once the legislation was announced on March 31, the NYPD was given blanket instructions to stop arresting individuals for marijuana use or possession, however they can still issue arrests for drivers who are under the influence, or individuals with intent to distribute cannabis, but only if they also have large amounts of cash with them.

“At any given time I could have up to seven years prison time in my backpack,” said  Short. “I have been dealing ever since I moved here from California a couple years back, and it is my only source of income at the moment.”

Short works with an underground marijuana distribution service. 

“It’s kind of like Doordash but for weed,” he said . 

The service allows users anywhere in the city to text a number for a daily “menu” of cannabis products – ranging from flower, to edibles to dab cartridges. 

Each day the delivery personale, in this case Short, goes to a main distribution center to pick up a daily supply of product. Then, throughout the day Short and the other delivery personnel will receive text messages with addresses for delivery and will serve customers. 

“Because of the distribution and intent to distribute law, we can’t carry any cash with us. It is a  huge liability,” he said. So the service he works for deals solely with virtual transactions through apps like Venmo or Cashapp. “That has made it a bit trickier because now we can’t hide behind the anonymity of cash, so all our transactions are digitally logged and we could get in trouble for mass distribution of a still unregulated product.”

While decriminalization and legalization of marijuana is a big step in restorative justice – especially if New York State expunges the records of those with petty marijuana related arrest records – there are still obstacles in the way of those who want to get involved legally in the cannabis industry.

Another dealer, Marcus Smith (name changed for anonymity), works on a much smaller scale than Short. He and a few friends of his get their cannabis shipped directly from California. and distribute on a much smaller scale. He said he is really interested in continuing to work with marijuana, but the requirements needed to sell legally are nearly impossible for people like him.

“I’m a Black man in Bedstuy with two prior arrests,” said Smith. “There is no way they are gonna give me a license to sell and even if I can get my records erased, purchasing a legal selling license, getting a storefront, finding distributors is impossible for someone like me who doesn’t have the connections or the money to do that. So it is looking like I’ll just have to keep selling illegally, even though I don’t want to.”

A similar issue occurred in both Colorado and California when both states independently legalized marijuana distribution and consumption. 

“I had been trying to get my marijuana license for so long when weed was legalized in 2016, but it seemed impossible,” said Reese Benton, owner of Posh Green Retail in San Francisco, California. Posh Green Retail is the first Black-female owned and operated cannabis dispensary in the city and just recently had its grand opening on April 20. 

“The licensing process was so convoluted and so expensive and there were so many times I just wanted to give up my dream,” she said. 

But Benton said that all changed in 2018 when California enacted the Cannabis Equity program which gives licensing priority to those who had been affected by drug-related arrests or incarceration. Benton’s father served time for marijuana distribution when she was in high school, so this meant she would be eligible for the equity program. 

“Everything changed for me right then and there,” Benton said. “I was able to get some financial help, people to help me with my licensing process and just a couple of weeks ago I finally opened up shop.” 

While New York state legislators continue to hash out the details of the bill, many remain cautiously optimistic that the state will adapt similar record expunging and equity programs other states have. 

“I just hope that I can continue to break through and do what I know best,” said  Smith. “And I hope that I can do it legally, and I hope that people like me are included in the conversation while this law continues to get written, because my people are the ones who have been hurt the most by the criminalization of this plant.”

The post Obstacles remain for Black and Brown cannabis users despite efforts to legalize appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

This podcast was edited by  Paola Michelle Ortiz, hosted by Sughnen  Yongo-Okochi and reported by Paola Michelle Ortiz, Michelle Diaz and Kaity Assaf.

The post Despite Chauvin’s guilty verdict, activists will not stop fighting for justice appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

 Chauvin was charged with second and third degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was found guilty on all counts  and faces up to 40 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled  in eight weeks.

Minneapolis streets erupted with joy.

Tears of celebration at George Floyd Square as the verdict on Derek Chauvin was read, guilty on all charges. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/IDMdjfbMvD

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) April 20, 2021

Ms. L, a COTA bus driver in Columbus, Ohio, reacts after hearing the guilty charges for Derek Chauvin. Ms. L was listening to the verdict on her phone and pulled the bus over on North High Street when she heard.

Photo Credit: @hanks_t99 pic.twitter.com/0dnArpWnF6

— The Lantern (@TheLantern) April 20, 2021

The verdict comes one day after lawyers on both sides delivered their final closing arguments, which was the zenith of three weeks and over 45 witness testimonies. Thirty-eight  from the prosecution side and seven from the defense. Among the 38 witnesses was the young woman who used her cell phone’s camera to document the now-viral video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, and keeping his knee on his neck even after the paramedics found a pulse-less Floyd laying lifeless on the ground.

History should remember the incredibly 17 year old Darnella Frazier who had the strength and composure to capture the murder of #georgefloyd on video. Without her video there may never have been #justice.

— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) April 20, 2021

Chauvin’s encounter with Floyd ignited a wave of protests across the country that triggered racial discord and conversations regarding defunding the police and enforcing police reform. During the  duration of the trial,  heavy security and barricades were placed outside the courthouse in expectation of civil unrest and protests resulting from the verdict.

The trial of officer #DerekChauvin into the murder of #GeorgeFloyd last year starts on 8th march In #Minneapolis court house heres a video clip of all the barracades they’ve put up hit link https://t.co/GUQKDeHjXU#BLM #DerekChauvinTrial #GUILTY pic.twitter.com/sU0vT9DAco

— #Innzopinion (@Graham1974Shane) March 2, 2021

 During the trial, Chauvin’s lawyer Eric Nelson honed in on three arguments: Floyd died as a result of the drug overdose Fentanyl and heart disease; the crowd that gathered around the scene distracted Chauvin and caused him to lose his composure and that Chauvin was within his rights of using his police academy training to restrain Floyd. But the jury was not swayed.

Derek Chauvin used ‘reasonable force’ with George Floyd: defense lawyer https://t.co/gY618hi5sZ pic.twitter.com/3R1IODLED3

— New York Post (@nypost) April 19, 2021

New York congressman Jamaal Bowman tweeted that the verdict does not solve the racism that plagues policing.

We’ve known Chauvin was guilty since the second we saw him murder George Floyd on film — but we also know of the racism inherent in our carceral and policing systems.

This verdict doesn’t change that racism, or the work ahead needed to transform those systems to serve us.

— Jamaal Bowman (@JamaalBowmanNY) April 20, 2021

While many are satisfied with the verdict, questions still remain of the future of policing.    On April 11,  Daunte Wright, 20, was gunned down by Minneapolis police  in what they called “an accidental discharge”. Wright was stopped because his tags’ registration had expired . He also had an outstanding arrest warrant.

An individual is being held to account. That’s not the same as the whole system being held to account.

This trial is meaningful, but not total. Justice remains malnourished when it comes to police use of force. There’s still work to be done.

But still, grateful for the verdict.

— Erik Reagan ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@ErikReagan) April 20, 2021

The post Derek Chauvin convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Madeleine Greene, a resident of Illinois and an active participant of the protests in Chicago yesterday, said that the verdict represents a broken system that protects the white, wealthy class. 

Protesters gather in Chicago, Illinois to peacefully rally about the verdict on the Breonna Taylor case. September 23, 2020. Photo courtesy of Madeleine Greene

“White officers killed Breonna Taylor, and only one is being charged with a Class D felony that is akin to property damage. The verdict here is a joke, and this is not justice,” said Greene. “…2020 needs to be a watershed moment for our country to reckon with its racist foundation. Slavery did not end in 1865, it was simply morphed into the prison industrial complex.”

Kentucky Attorney General  Daniel Cameron said that the decision was reached by examining the actions of Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective. Myles Cosgrove — the three officers who fired  weapons in the early morning hours of March 13.

The grand jury decided that the officers were  justified in firing into her home because they needed to protect themselves after they faced gunfire from her boyfriend. The only charges were three counts of wanton endangerment against  Hankison for shooting into a  neighbor’s home. He is the only officer who has been removed from the force.

As the public continues to express outrage and demand justice for Breonna Taylor, the justice system’s role has also come under the microscope.

“We will not know justice until we defund the police, and defund the private prison industrial complex,” said Greene. 

Black people are not the only ones protesting at this time of explicit racial unrest. 

“I am protesting because I am a teacher, and I am a white woman,” said Greene. “As a white woman, I was afforded a multitude of opportunities and privileges that got me to where I am today. I am protesting to fight for that equality for my Black and brown students.”

A barrage of tweets permeated cyberspace as the hashtag #BreonnaTaylor went viral.

Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram), a number-one New York Times Bestselling Author, Professor, and Director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, tweeted in support of the cause. He also spoke on the precariousness of being a Black person in America.

To not indict the officers for murder is to claim #BreonnaTaylor killed herself. Racist America constantly kills Black people and then tells Black people we killed ourselves. Racism extends past death. But we’ll never stop declaring that our lives matter, that our deaths matter.

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) September 23, 2020

People expressed anger across the country, and thousands also publicly denounced Kentucky’s Attorney General, Daniel Cameron.

This is who @DanielCameronAG is. They elevated him to speak at the RNC before the “investigation” had concluded. They tossed his name around as a future Supreme Court Justice. And now there is no justice for #breonataylor This man is a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/iToI8R6bJf

— ArcticMother (@arcticmother) September 23, 2020

Cameron held a press conference  to detail the investigation findings, which led to  Hankison’s indictment announcement.

“The decision before my office is not to decide if the loss of Breonna Taylor’s life was a tragedy — the answer to that question is unequivocally, yes,” said Cameron. “…My job as the special prosecutor in this case was to put emotions aside and investigate the facts to determine if criminal violations of state law resulted in the loss of Miss Taylor’s life.” 

Keshia Morris, a resident of Foley, Alabama, said that Cameron’s actions regarding Taylor’s death showed carelessness and a lack of empathy. 

“What happened today was disheartening, and I have no respect for the attorney general,” said Morris. “He wouldn’t even address her death as a murder; instead, he referred to it as a tragedy, as though she was killed in a car accident. No, she was murdered.”

 Many concluded that he was incompetent and unable to carry out the civic and humane duty of honoring Taylor’s untimely death with ample justice after he announced that no murder charges would be brought against the three officers in question.

“Cameron needs to be out of a job. Everyone involved in determining this case needs to be out of a job,” said Morris. “Breonna could have been my sister or my cousin, and I think that today, the bare minimum was done.”

The verdict also sparked a peaceful rally in the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Taylor was a native before moving to Louisville, Kentucky. Hundreds gathered at the Rosa Parks Circle in Downtown Grand Rapids for a peaceful solidarity rally, and the City of Grand Rapid’s official Twitter page sent out a thread of tweets in support of the movement.

Our hearts are with Breonna Taylor’s loved ones and all those who feel her loss. We see you, we hear you and we support you. We feel her loss, too. This is her hometown. She is one of us, and we are grieving with her family and our community. We are in this together.

— City of Grand Rapids (@CityGrandRapids) September 23, 2020

Taylor’s extended family led the protests in downtown Grand Rapids. In an interview with WOODTV, Taylor’s cousin, Tawanna Gordon, referred to Taylor’s death as a “wound that never heals.”

“I am upset. I am over it, and I am going to march today to the police department,” said Gordon to a crowd of protesters.

The post Verdict on Breonna Taylor’s death sparks public outrage amid pre-existing racial tensions appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Vince Vance, 26, a humanities teacher in Manhattan, finds it difficult to be inundated with images and stories of men that look like him dying at the hands of police. 

Vince Vance, 26, identifies as a progressive socialist and sees capitalism as a major barrier to achieving racial justice. Photo credit: Vince Vance.

“There are times where I’ll see something has happened and I will have to scroll past it at first because I am not in the headspace to just completely derail my day,” he said. 

Vance, who identifies as Black, Queer, and as a progressive socialist, sees America’s emphasis on capitalism as the biggest barrier to eliminating racism. 

“Capitalism is the root of a lot of evil,” said Vance. “The policing that happens is protecting the interest of the rich.” 

His activism this year has included protesting with Black Lives Matter, donating money to protect individuals from evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and practicing self-care. 

“Taking care of myself is in itself an act of resistance,” said Vance. 

He hopes that after the next presidential election, America can start putting systems in place that better protect people of color, such as universal healthcare and prison reform. 

Sitting right of Vance on the political spectrum is Jerime Mason, 29, a training and quality specialist in healthcare from Chicago, Illinois.

“I am definitely more conservative than I am progressive at this point,” said Mason. 

For Mason, a devout Christian, it is the politicization of racial issues in the United States that he finds taxing. 

“For me, to actually address racism, it can no longer be politicized,” he said” It is a matter of truth and fact. If we are going to say all people are equal then we have to live that out, and with that I think ‘judging a book by its color’ is the one thing I see present in almost all mainstream media’s framing of the issue — like prejudging and pre-biases.” 

Mason is not convinced that the recent acts of police brutality against Black individuals are explicitly racist. 

With regard to the muder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer, Mason said, “ I am confused at how it is even perceived as racism. You definitely see an obvious abuse of authority, but after watching it several times, there’s nothing about it that tells you he did it only because he was Black.” 

Jerime Mason, 29, a devout Christian, views the politicization of race as the most frustrating element of political tension in America today. Photo by Jhaylen Cherry

He knows that his views are not the norm in the Black community, but that doesn’t hold him back from participating in conversations on race.

“I think it is healthy to listen and to desire truth in the conversation, even if I am wrong, and also to love the other person regardless of what conclusion they come to,” he said. 

Mason has spent a lot of time reading and researching to develop his political and social beliefs. But his real hope for a more just future comes from his Christian faith. 

“I don’t think I have seen or read the words of another man [i.e. Jesus] that has brought me more hope,” he said.  

Evan Traylor, 26, a full-time rabbinical student in Washington, D.C., finds his Jewish faith intertwined with his views on racial justice. 

“From as long as I can remember, what I learned at my Temple is that Judaism is about helping others and making the world a better place,” said Traylor. 

Being Biracial, both Black and white,Traylor has encountered racism within predominantly white Jewish spaces, pushing him to work on issues for Jews of Color. 

“It has been five to six years of exploring and investing around this idea of Jews of Color,” he said.  “How do we support JOCs and how do we eliminate the racism that exists within the Jewish community?” 

This summer, some of Traylor’s activism included speaking at Central Synagogue and teaching a workshop for the Jewish organization, Hillel International.  

He sees the tie between systems of oppression and the power of the wealthiest citizens. 

“Until we are able to refute the ideas that center white wealthy men, racism will continue to be here,” he said. 

 Traylor maintains hope despite the deep-seated inequality in this country and all of the work that must be done to dismantle it.

“It is hard to have ancestors that were enslaved and eventually gained their freedom, and started a family and set off this long chain of events that led to me and not have hope,” he said.

The post Black men, despite political and religious views, feel pain of racism and cling to hope appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

“We were not treated as children…we were both children,” she said. 

Newsome was with her then 14-year-old brother, Hawk Newsome. The pair was on their way home after picking up some groceries at their grandmother’s house when they were targeted by police, who padded down their pockets and searched their grocery bags 

Newsome, 35, of the South Bronx, said that was her first experience with law enforcement and it was traumatic.

The feelings of  fear and trauma have never left her, she said.  As a black woman in America she said she is in constant danger of a police encounter that could go wrong.

“When we get pulled over in our  SUVs it’s like ‘will I make it home?, will they shoot me?’ It’s a protocol that I’ve practiced for years.” said Newsome. “Now when I get in the car and I’m getting pulled over for a cop to give us a ticket, I make sure I’m recording. I’m making sure I’m not moving around and my hands are stationary and this is a protocol.”

Microaggressions are also the norm for her. As a former financial advisor, Newsome received various comments from her white peers complimenting how she is “so well spoken” or “so articulate” as though black women are seen only through the lens of negative stereotypes. 

“Sadly, racism is so ingrained in our society that I don’t think most of them are trying to be insulting at all,” said Newsome. 

Knowing that she had to do something to fight institutionalized racism and other issues that overwhelmed her community. Chivona and her brother decided to organize  Black Lives Matters Greater New York. 

The siblings were raised in a “militant household”  and Hawk Newsome  said  their parents, who met at a civil rights rally, taught them about the importance of standing up for their community.

 He said while growing up not everyone could see the effects of racism first hand or understand how it affected communities of color, but now for younger generations, it’s the norm to be aware about these issues.

“You see things on your cell phone before they even hit the news,” said Newsome. “Those images you see are often revolutionary, they are exposing racism, they are exposing police brutality. Now we can expose individual acts of racism and we can go after the Karens of the world, but in the past we couldn’t do that.” 

Both siblings are now dedicated activists, they have led hundreds of protests over the past five years in favor of racial equality and ending systematic racism. 

Desi Smalls, a 24 year-old from Brooklyn, who has protested in New York City with the group, says the Trayvon Martin case made him understand the dangers he faced as a young black man.

“I remember being in junior high when it happened,” he said. “I will never forget the day that my mom explained to me that whole incident and how George Zimmerman was never held accountable for his actions and ever since then, I’ve been aware of my place in this country.”

For Smalls, living in New York  City has made him  feel safe to voice his opposition to racism. He believes the marchs will lead to change.

“Something will come from all of this. I definitely don’t feel like it’s all in vain,” he said.

Newsome believes that the protests will lead to the transformation the country needs. Recalling one of the chants used during their protests, she said,  “I believe we will win.” 

The post Memories of stop and frisk, racial profiling and microaggressions drive activists to protest appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

The name change was part of an effort to re-focus attention on the protests against police brutality, and the defunding of the Seattle Police Department. Some organizers are worried that the area is turning into a “block party” for curious Seattleites, and losing the momentum of a political movement. The shift also comes after some right-wing media claimed that protestors were intent on seceding from the United States altogether.

The initial confusion surrounding the name change can also be seen as a symptom of disagreement among the protestors themselves. While some organizers are intent on keeping focused on issues of police brutality, there are others who want to expand the mission, and turn the protest zone into an anarchist space offering mutual aid to marginalized groups.

Some protestors would like the Police Precinct at 11th and Pine to be turned into a community center. While police have gone in and out of the East Precinct since the zone’s creation, the building’s future remains unclear.

On June 16th, the Seattle Department of Transportation and the city’s Fire Department swapped CHOP’s plastic orange barricades for concrete ones, opening up traffic on 12th Street, and providing security for protestors concerned about cars attempting to drive through the zone.

The post What’s next for Seattle’s Autonomous Zone? appeared first on Pavement Pieces.