well, the BAN

march finally happened--and an amazing and painful march it was. We met at Ocean and Parkside (the southern base of Prospect Park) and immediately the speeches began. At least three were from loved ones who had lost their children, siblings etc to police gun violence or police negligence. Much attention was given to the fact that in this neighborhood--a neighborhood few white people wanted to live in ten years ago, back, but is now the newest place for the young people looking for not too expensive housing---police are harassing people of color, just for listening to music on the street. The activists feel that since this neighborhood is the newest outposts of gentrification, the cops are being told to harass the longer time, mostly Caribbean residents. Much anger and sadness, The march continued and this theme was played out at all the stops.
  A great moment occurred when the group of about 60 stopped at the Brooklyn Museum. Could we all get in? First the guards said no, but the leader of the march insisted that the lobby of the museum was free space, and we all walked in with out anti-gentrification signs. We all took bathroom breaks. I have never experienced anything like it. While there, I explained to a couple who were sympathetic, the meaning of the march, and the aggressiveness of the housing market, aided and abetted by the Mayor. A total shame. But the taking over of the museum's lobby was a meaningful moment.
  I marched with the group to the Wycoff Projects, another stopping point, where several people spoke. At that point I was dehydrated and starving. As the march took off towards Sunset Park, and more specifically, Industry City, I remained, then pulled myself up, and walked towards Threes Brewing, an upscale coffee and food place near the projects (but very different from them). There, I had an ice coffee and used their bathroom, and got some real interest in the march and the group from a patron and a host there. After that, a slice of pizza at the nearby Pizza place (Union Street) and finally a bus ride from 5th and Union to 41st and fifth: the park, where the final speeches would take place.
  I rejoined the march right before the climb up the steps to Sunset Park. The speeches given there were heartfelt and also scary. Industry City is trying to rezone and get more space for a hotel and more retail, but the jobs they claim they will offer are low paying jobs. IC looms like a juggernaut attacking the neighborhood. Then a Chinese woman in her twenties, who had been raised in the Chinese section of Sunset Park, spoke of a whole block being turned into a hotel and retail. She feared that she would not be able to remain in her home, as this development would spur aggressive displacement. It was sad.
 I left feeling a sense of sadness but also horror. So many different areas that need protection are not being given it, while this Mayor seems oblivious, indifferent, or downright hostile to the needs of the people living in the neighborhoods under siege. I don't understand it, does not the man have a heart?  At some point we must fight for a City Council that is free of development money---that, I fear is the only chance the relatively middle and lower class people have to exist in the city. What will it be like in ten years?
The dam is bursting. Something must be done.
 A nice conversation with one of the marchers, Mackenzie, who started talking to me at the end of the march. We went to the afterparty at a bar named Xtasy, and continued talking. Then yesterday, on my travels through Brooklyn, I had some other conversations with people who seemed concerned. This must go on.
Tomorrow, one period so far---this evening may go to a forum about the world of JACK, the new theater in Clinton Hill, that I attend regularly. Will report tomorrow or soon.