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Like many people of color in New York City, Raheem Fayson, 35, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, comes into contact with law enforcement too often.

“I get stop-and-frisked on a regular basis,” said Fayson. As “a black man from inner-city Brooklyn, I be guilty by association. I can think of a million ways that racial injustice be impacting my community, but it’s all about what the masses is gonna do about it.”

Fayson joined thousands of others in Brooklyn Plaza, just below the Manhattan Bridge, for yesterday’s March for Racial Justice NYC. It was a demonstration aimed at bringing attention to issues affecting people of color, like gentrification, broken windows policing and immigration.

Many marchers voiced concern with recent tweets from President Donald Trump about NFL protests and his response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico.

One demonstrator in the crowd wore a Colin Kaepernick jersey. Protestors held up signs that read, “Kaepernick for President,” “Black Lives Matter” and “Respect Women of Color.”

Denisha Jingles, 29, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, said the fight for racial justice wasn’t just about her as a black woman. It was for everyone, including black people, women, LGBTQIA folks, Muslims, and “our Jewish brothers and sisters.”

“New York City is a place full of what the world sees as diversity, but people still have their individual struggles,” she said. “Children are being suspended from schools and they’re coming into contact with police officers more often.”

Jingles also raised concern at the thousands of people arrested annually for jumping the subway turnstiles. According to a report from the state of New York, 89 percent of turnstile jumping arrests in 2017 were African American and Latino men.

That’s a problem,” said Jingles. “New York is great for the different amount of people we see, but New York definitely has work to be done.”

Under the banner of “racial justice,” demonstrators drew connections between the struggles faced by people of color locally in New York City and the actions of the federal government, especially those of the last week.

Destiny Arturet, 27, a Puerto Rican woman from Crown Heights, holds a sign that says, “Respect Women of Color” at yesterday’s demonstration for racial injustice. Photo by Claire Tighe

Destiny Arturet, 27, a Puerto Rican woman from Crown Heights, said she was present at the march to support people of color, especially Puerto Ricans, who weren’t receiving the care they needed after Hurricane Maria.

“The way that Trump has reacted to what’s going on in Puerto Rico is heinous,” she said. “People are dying. We have people who are without homes, without water, without food. I don’t feel like our federal government is acting the way that it should. It feels a bit devastating.”

Christopher Jackson, 30, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, thought it was important to respond to the federal actions he felt were “promoting hatred.” For Jackson, racial justice was a long time coming.

“When you don’t treat a wound for a long time, it becomes infected and starts to kill the body,” he said. “I think that’s happening now.

As Kendrick Lamar’s song “We Gon’ Be Alright” started to blare from the speakers, Jerin Arifa of Elmhurst, New York, spoke about her experience as a Muslim woman who was almost run over after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I look around the march here and see people of all races,” she said. “We’re only going to get through this if we’re together and if we really understand that (we are) very, very connected.”

The demonstration ended with a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall. A sister march in Washington D.C. drew thousands of protesters to the Capitol on Saturday.

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Public Housing advocates rallied against President Donald Trump’s plan to cut over $6 billion from the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Budget yesterday.

“Before I moved to NYCHA Queensbridge, I lived in Sunnyside for five years, but I was evicted from my house to a shelter,” said Ok Soon Son, a current resident of one of New York City Housing Authority’s Queensbridge housing developments.

Son came to protest in front of the NYCHA headquarters in Lower Manhattan. Twenty-five years ago, Son was evicted and then threatened by child protective services to either find another home for her two young children, or risk losing them to foster care.

“All human beings should know that housing is not a luxury but our basic human right,” she said. “If there was budget cuts and the government did not give me a house in NYCHA Queensbridge, my family could have been separated. There should be no family being separated from each other because of housing.”

Ok Soon Son (left), an Asian immigrant who spoke at the NYCHA rally on the importance of public housing Thursday afternoon at the NYCHA Head Quarters, downtown Manhattan, alongside her colleague Seonae Byeon, a former tenant organizer at CAAAV, who translated Son’s story to a crowd of protesters. Photo by Keziah Tutu

Under President Trump’s proposed 2018 fiscal year budget, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will cut NYCHA budget by $6.8 billion. These cuts will affect public housing organizations which provide housing to about 400,000 New York City residents.

According to the NYCHA, this will affect the availability of public housing units, increase the cost of rent and affect supplemental housing programs such as Section 8.

District Council 37 AFSCME, the union for NYCHA workers, along with the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, formed a circle at the protest and shouted, “’What do we want? More funding! When do we want it? Now!’”

Julian DeJesus, a member of District Council 37 AFSCME said, the rally isn’t only about getting more funding, but it’s to make sure those funds go to the right places so residents live in better conditions.

“We know that it will be difficult to create a better system in NYCHA and public housing across the country if they don’t have the funds to do so,” he said. “We want people to live comfortably and there is no reason why people should be living in slums.”

DeJesus said that with the community’s involvement, the goal is to get the president and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and other community leaders to see the importance of funding public housing.

“We don’t want them to cut what we already have, which is already lacking,” he said. “We’re on the defensive at this point but if we could get more people out here, more people fighting, more people aware, we would be in a better situation.”

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The inauguration of Donald Trump attracted supporters,protesters and people who just wanted to witness history.

Security lines stretched for a few blocks, dotted with the red hats with the eponymous “Make America Great Again” slogan. Many in the crowd carried Trump flags and wore Trump scarves.

“We are really excited to be here,” said Lisa Wisent, 56, of Hickory, North Carolina.

She said her community is known for furniture and hosiery manufacturing, but NAFTA, has hurt them.

“When NAFTA was signed, my husband lost his job, “she said. “He was in hosiery and everything went to Mexico. We have a lot of family in furniture, and a lot other furniture (manufacturing) left. It went overseas.”

As the crowds walked onto the Washington Monument lawn, which served as one of the giant screen viewing areas, small groups of people began to chant “Trump, Trump, Trump!”

But protestors came to watch the swearing in of the controversial 45th president too.

Celeste Stone, 42, from Detroit, Michigan, came as a private citizen to exercise her right to protest.

“I feel that Trump is only going to further divide our country,” she said. “I don’t feel that the people that are disenfranchised, that have voted for Trump are actually going to get what they want. So, I am out here for everyone.”

Attendees laid out their raincoats and blankets to sit on the lawn. Some looked up at the screen as the names of key government officials were announced.

“I just want to witness the inauguration of a new president,” said Kevin McCallum, 30, from Bethesda, Maryland. “It is not political for me. I am looking for a peaceful transition of power. That’s what’s important to me no matter who won the election. No matter who I voted for, I would want to be out here today to see the new administration. The system is more important to me than any one man or woman who wins office.”

In spite of the rain, the crowd remained quiet and calm as Trump took the oath of office. They remained relatively silent throughout his inaugural speech, but gave a loud cheer when he said:

“The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes — starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”

Sylvia Wilk, 19, from New York City’s Lower East side came with her friends to witness the inauguration. Through tears she expressed safety concerns for her friends and family under a Trump administration. Photo Cora Cervantes

But as President Trump’s speech came to a close Sylvia Wilk, 19, from New York City’s Lower East Side, began to cry.

“I feel devastation and fear,” she said. “Fear for all the people that have lost so much protection and hope. I am thinking of my friends and everyone that is going to grow up seeing that face. It is heartbreaking.”

Attendance was overwhelmingly white, but there were a few people of color in the crowd who were Trump supporters.

Jorge Sosa, 40, from Charlottesville, Virginia arrived early in the morning to show support for the incoming Trump Administration Photo by Cora Cervantes.

“I am a Latino,” said Jorge Sosa, of Charlottesville, Virginia, and a native of Venezuela. I have made a good life for myself here. I consider myself a conservative because I believe in the government getting out of the way of the individual and allowing all people to succeed through their own efforts.”

As the crowd began to disperse students from Salinas Valley Dream Academy in California, who came to the nation’s capital as part of their class trip, made a unity circle and hugged one another.

“Right after the election, being a 100 Latino student group we were devastated, shocked, angry, and scared, but we decided to come,” said Ruben Pizarro, 40, the executive director of the academy. “We think this is the most important inauguration of their lifetime because it is really a call to action. There is a lot of work to be done.”

He looked over at a huddled group of students and said to them, “If you don’t like the way you feel right now, remember how you feel so that when you are tempted not to go to that city council meeting or not to vote you remember that this feeling isn’t worth it. You never want to be in this position again.”

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