Check Your Hate: Senator Squadron, Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock Lead Rally After Hate Graffiti Found At Adam Yauch Park
Hundreds of neighbors and Beastie Boys fans united to “stand up against hate messages” after swastikas and a “Go Trump” message were found sloppily spray-painted at the playground in Adam Yauch Park last Friday.
The park in Brooklyn Heights was dedicated in 2013 to Adam “MCA” Yauch, the beloved, Brooklyn-born co-founder of the Beastie Boys, who passed away in 2012 from cancer.
A post on the Beastie Boys’ Twitter account read “Hate has no place in Brooklyn, NYC, or America,” Saturday morning, inviting supporters to join them at the park Sunday to “denounce hate and intimidation in Brooklyn and Across the Country.”
Yauch, whose mother is Jewish, was a practicing Buddhist and human rights activist who championed peace, equality, and tolerance, and spoke out against racism, sexism, and Islamophobia.
“We find it particularly saddening that this incident occurred in a park named for Adam Yauch, a man who’s not only a great artist, but was also a great activist for peace, justice, and equality,” said Michael Arlen, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, “We know the power of symbols. And we are deeply heartened that the community has come out here today to replace one of the most horrific symbols of hate with symbols of love and peace.”
The hate graffiti was scrubbed away Friday night and replaced by paper hearts and positive chalk messages from children by Saturday morning. According to Council Member Stephen Levin, “This is the second hateful act committed in the name of Donald Trump in this neighborhood in less than a week.”
Organized by New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, the rally featured a number of inspiring statements from faith leaders, elected officials, and Beastie Boy Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz.
Imam Khalid Latif, Director of New York University’s Islamic Center told the crowd, “The Southern Poverty Law Center records 700 incidents of bias, intimidation and hate have occurred since the election.” He added “when anyone of us gets hurt, all of us should feel that pain…Those who perpetuate hate will only be able to do so if we stand by and let them do it.”
Rabbi Serge Lippe, Senior Rabbi of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue addressed President-Elect Trump saying he has the “opportunity to forcefully and unequivocally denounce these behaviors and those who wish to use his name and election as a pretense to stoke the flames of anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hatred.”
Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid of The Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood added, “When you attack one of us, you attack all of us and we will respond.”
Squadron then led the crowd in singing the National Anthem before addressing the vandalism, “…we must not sit quietly in the face of hate and intimidation. We must stand up… If it is a prank then the worst we’ve done is send a strong message and become stronger as a community. If it is serious and we do nothing, we risk our republic itself. That’s why it is so important that our President-Elect denounce this hate…. It does not matter that he claims he has not called for it. It does not matter that he claims he’s not responsible for it. If hate is carried out in his name and he says nothing, it becomes his hate.”
“I wish [Steve] Bannon could be here today to see how he has brought us together,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said amid disgusted groans in response to Bannon’s name. According to Stringer, there has been a “31% increase in hate crimes since the election.”
Another statistic he provided, “We are a city where 170 different languages are spoken from 200 countries. We live together. We work together. We play together. But most importantly, we respect each other and we back up each other.”
Ad-Rock took the microphone to much applause and opened bluntly with, “Spraying swastikas on a children’s playground is a messed up thing to do,” before taking a more serious tone saying, “For many of us, that has special meaning because this park is named after Adam Yauch who was my friend and my band-mate for over 30 years. He was also someone who taught non-violence in his music and in his life….”
He then listed a number of ways individuals can contribute to help make a difference, “If you’re able to protest, protest. If you’re able to give money, give to Black Lives Matter, give to Planned Parenthood, give to the United Way of Flint, Michigan. Give what you can. If you are able to volunteer, volunteer.” He suggested volunteering for the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization that serves low-income people or people of color who are trans-gender, intersex, or gender non-conforming.
He continued, “Do what you can. If you’re a graphic designer or you work in advertising, start designing some new slogans and amazing protest signs. If you’re a musician, write that anthem. If you’re a writer, write. Take what you’re good at and what you truly enjoy and lend your services to the causes you care most about….” And he referenced a Beasties Boys classic adding, “we can’t, we won’t, and we don’t stop!”
“Stand up for each other. Don’t be afraid to step in or enlist the help of others because this is homegrown terrorism for real. I reject Donald Trump’s vision of America. New York City, I’m asking you to do the same.” Horowitz closed with another apt Beastie Boys lyric, “Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten. From the Battery to the top of Manhattan. Asian, Middle-Eastern, and Latin. Black, White, New York let’s make it happen.”
Public Advocate Letitia James’ rallying cry declared, “We will not normalize hate in this country. Hate will not be the new normal…. All across Brooklyn and this city, we choose love.” She suggested “We organize, we mobilize, and we agitate the hell out of this next administration,” in order to “defend the values, and principles, and the constitution that we hold dear.”
James led the crowd in a chant of “Fight back!” and addressed Trump stating, “We’ll work with you when we find common ground. And when we disagree, we are going to stand up and fight back because this is America!”
Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez echoed James’ willingness to work with Trump and added, “but we are not willing to compromise the values that made this a great nation.” Regarding the increase of the number of hate crimes being reported across the nation, Velasquez asked, “When do you hear Donald Trump say, ‘basta,’ enough is enough?”
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams stated, “47% of Brooklynites speak a language other than English at home. That is what is great about this country….” In response to the hate vandalism, he declared, “Don’t be daunted. Don’t be fearful…let the whole country know that more than a tree grows in Brooklyn—some of the baddest people we know grow in Brooklyn!”
Before closing off the event by leading the crowd in a sing-along to Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” Squadron held up photo of the graffiti discovered at the park on Friday noting that it’s now gone and “replaced by love and togetherness… It does not take a lot to stand up against this if we all stand together… When we stand together we defeat hate…bigotry…division.”
As the rally wrapped up, BKLYNER spoke to Kathleen Hanna, musician/lead singer of bands Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin; feminist activist; and artist, and asked what she’d recommend feminists and women do to stand up to the administration of a “pussy-grabbing” president.
She said, “I think my husband [Adam Horowitz] said it really well. Do what you can. As somebody who has a chronic disability [lyme disease] that flares up and then goes away, I can’t always protest, and I think it’s really important to put out the message that, ‘if you can’t protest, that’s okay. You can do something else.’”
She suggested starting a petition online, creating art for an organization you support, or sending letters or email blasts. “So many women get put in the caring role and taking care of everybody that we tend to choose volunteering that burns us out, so I think it’s really important to take care of yourself first, so you can fight another day. Don’t neglect yourself. Look at what you love to do and mix that with the cause that you care about.”
Hanna is currently working on a project putting fan artwork of her on t-shirts, which she’ll sell online, giving all proceeds to the United Way of Flint, Michigan, where she feels “the cameras have moved away” from the people who are still in need.
When asked if she has a message for the vandals who defaced Adam Yauch Park, she replied, “I want to say ‘thanks for the swastikas, man, because you know what? You brought all these people out and this is so healing for us.’”
When Horowitz was asked the same, he paused and then simply stated, “New York’s not going for Trump’s America.”
Here’s what else you can do:
Acting District Attorney Aaron Gonzalez said to call the Hate Crimes Unit’s hotline 718-250-4949 to report any acts of bigotry.
Chair of New York City’s Human Rights Commissioner, Carmelyn Malalis, said to call 311 and ask for Human Rights if you see discrimination or harassment in your communities or go to resource page, www.nyc.gov/nycvalues.