Launching Hate Free Zone in Kensington, Brooklyn

On Wednesday, January 25 as Trump announced his plans for Muslim Bans, Border Walls, and Attacks on Sanctuary Cities, over 600 people gathered for a press conference and march to launch a community defense and “Hate-Free Zone” in Kensington, Brooklyn. The Hate Free Zone is a part of a national movement to build a line of defense against the Trump administration’s policies of xenophobia, racism, and bigotry. Communities collectively refused to normalize and cede ground to the Trump administration’s latest orders, which set the national stage for normalization and proliferation of even more Islamophobic and anti-immigrant policies. Following the press conference, we marched from Avenue C Plaza to Church Ave and back, with banners displaying images of ants holding up hearts to represent the enormous collective power of small creatures acting in large and organized numbers. We cried chants in English, Bangla, and Spanish and that uplifted community power in the face of hatred, and a commitment to fight for and with each other: “Here To Stay, Here to Fight!” and “No Ban, No Wall, Our Cities Stand Tall!” We engaged passerbys in the march staying on the sidewalk and and handing out flyers which explained the intention behind the march and ways for community members to get involved, including joining community organizations fighting for peoples’ rights and putting up “Hate-Free Zone” stickers in local businesses.

DRUM board member Syeda Parvin Akter, a survivor of the last time the “Muslim Registry”, the NSEERS – National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, was in effect, refused to watch history repeat itself on her family and communities, “”My family escaped the last registration and we saw the consequences on those who did register. We will will not stand by and watch again.” DRUM member Israt Audry spoke of the normalizing nature of such policies: ” The intent of the Trump administration to use Executive Action to ban immigrants, or to build a wall…are all a part of normalizing the blatant Islamophobia and anti-immigrant policies and practices they are committed to pursuing. We cannot allow this to go unnoticed, unaccounted for, because policies such as these is the gateway to attacking the rights and lives of all marginalized communities.”

For photos from the Hate Free Zone in Brooklyn, see our facebook album.