Harlem protest vs. gun violence
The streets of Harlem were feeling Virginia Beach’s pain — and seething with anger.
Hundreds of anti-gun protesters marched through the historic heart of New York’s black community on Saturday to demand action to end the scourge of gun violence in America’s cities.
“There is a direct connection between Virginia Beach and New York,” said marcher Mike Davis, 49. “It is not just a New York problem. It is a nationwide problem.”
The Peace on the Streets marchers stopped traffic at a busy intersection on 125th St. for a “lie-in” to dramatize the rising toll of gun violence.
“There are too many guns in our own backyards, in our own apartments and backyards,” said community activist Stephan Marshall. “How many people do we have to bury? How many vigils do we have to hold?”
The march was organized by the National Action Network to mark Gun Violence Awareness Month and was planned long before the carnage in Virginia Beach.
Marchers held signs referring to the bloodshed in Virginia and chanted as they trekked for 2 miles from W. 112th St. to a public housing development on W. 151st St. They paused outside the Alibi, a black-owned gay bar on W. 139th St. that had been vandalized overnight, and embraced workers who came outside to cheer.
WNBA Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon told the crowd to “stand up for justice, peace, black, white, and, most importantly, love.”
Anthony Bedford, head of Black Lives Matter Brooklyn, invoked the spirit of Malcolm X to urge an end to the shootings.
“We have to bring back the sense of community,” Bedford said. “It’s time for us to take back our streets, our corners, our politics, and rise to liberation and freedom.”
City and state politicians also responded quickly to the carnage in Virginia, pushing for action to stanch the bloodshed from a seemingly unending string of mass shootings.
“Another day. Another mass shooting,” wrote city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams
Mayor de Blasio was campaigning for president in South Carolina when the news broke. Calling for “gun control now,” he said, “We’re out of patience. It’s within our power to stop the madness.”
Echoing other Democrats, Gov. Cuomo took a none-toosubtle dig at Republicans who often greet mass shootings by offering “thoughts and prayers,” but no action on guns. “Pres Trump: you were elected to lead: do something,” he wrote.