Tomorrow: Equality For Flatbush Holds March Against Gentrification, Racism & Police Violence

This Saturday, August 13, Flatbush activists will march through the community to protest gentrification, tenant abuse, and police violence in Flatbush and East Flatbush, in what organizer Imani Henry calls the first march of its kind.

The rally and speak out, organized by Equality for Flatbush (E4F) with over 50 endorsing groups and merchants, starts at 12pm at 441 Flatbush Avenue, near the intersection of Empire Boulevard. At 1:30pm, the group will begin marching through the community.

Equality for Flatbush operates with the idea that everyone deserves respect, be it around quality of life issues, housing concerns, or relations with the police, Imani Henry, founder of E4F, told DPC in a previous interview.

“We must come together in a show of force to demonstrate that we — as low-income, working and middle class people — are determined to stop displacement, racial profiling and police violence in our neighborhoods,” writes Henry.

Even though all of the permit requests were filed weeks ago, according to Equality for Flatbush, the group was asked to change the rally date late as August 8. The rally, however, will go on.Equality for Flatbush writes:

Rents are skyrocketing in Flatbush and East Flatbush. Landlords are no longer making repairs, turning off gas for months at a time or using other illegal tactics to force low to middle-income people out of our homes. According the New York Post, foreclosures in Brooklyn went up by 400% in 2015.

Since 2012, studies have also shown that rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods experienced an increase of excessive police practices like stop and frisk. And increasing racial profiling, deportations, house raids, checkpoints, traffic stops, dollar van seizures and Broken Window summons in Brooklyn. It is also why East Flatbush and Flatbush has seen an increase in police murders since 2012 and why we are still demanding justice for the families of Kimani “Kiki” Gray, Shantel Davis and Kyam Livingston. We are marching because we don’t want to see any more Flatbush and East Flatbush residents murdered.

Learn more about Saturday’s planned rally and march here.