Myrtle Ave Businesses Declare ‘Hate Has No Business Here’
Just in time for the Fourth of July, businesses along Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill are displaying messages on their storefronts declaring, “Hate Has No Business Here” to protest racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny.
Created by Amanda Neville, the owner of Tipsy, a wine shop in Clinton Hill, the campaign was inspired by acts of hate in her neighborhood. “One of the business owners in our community was targeted with hateful comments via social media immediately after the election,” Neville explains. “Many of us along Myrtle Avenue were trying to speak out against divisiveness and hate. I thought it would be powerful to come together with one message, one visual to signal that we stand together, for each other.”
The campaign logo features an American flag with one big heart in place of the 50 small, white stars. The design illustrates that “love, kindness, and acceptance are patriotic.”
The “Hate Has No Business Here” campaign launched on Myrtle Avenue and will roll out at 20 additional business improvement districts in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens.
Campaign supporters can display flyers, posters, or postcards in their places of business, with versions translated into nine different languages—Arabic, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, and Urdu.
The campaign’s simple message aims to inspire conversations to “combat” hateful “narratives,” “especially as they impact our city’s small business community.”
The “Hate Has No Business Here” campaign was designed pro bono by Three Furies in the Lower East Side and Starting Now in Jackson Heights.
For anyone who’d like to join the movement, go to www.hatehasnobusinesshere.com for free downloads of digital logos and flyers. The website also provides a full list of participating BIDs.
