Occupy City Hall – 6.25.20
With New York City’s budget deadline on Tuesday, Black Lives Matter protesters have staged a live in at City Hall in lower Manhattan. I went down yesterday for day three of the protest and plan on returning to take more photos and support the protesters this weekend. Occupy City Hall already has a much better vibe from Occupy Wall Street with a more organized, more diverse crowd who seems angrier, but ultimately more hopeful.
I spent a few hours yesterday taking photos, listening to speakers and talking to friends who I ran into down there. It was pretty cool to see so many people I know including fellow photographers Marcus Price and Mel D Cole. Both of them are doing great work but Mel has been traveling the country covering the movement and made news himself a few days ago in Philly when a counter protester attacked him and was charged by progressive DA Larry Krasner. I also ran into my friends and activists Justina and Molly Crabapple. Molly was actually inspired by Occupy Wall Street years ago to start painting protesters and has made a career as an activist and a journalist and her work is just so fucking impressive. She was also in my sold out zine Arts!
The protesters are asking NYC to defund the NYPD by 1 Billion dollars which seems like a lot until you realize that it would only be one 6th of their budget. That money could do so much for the city if used in other places and I truly hope the demands are met, however I have a feeling that even if that somehow happens this protest will not end. You heard over and over again from speakers yesterday that a billion dollars was just the beginning. This country, and particularly NYC, needs a complete reimagining of what the police do and the very positive results for progressives in Tuesday’s primary elections show that New York is ready for change.
On a personal level I would love it if there was some sort of people I could call to get the constant party that is happening in the AirBNB behind my apartment shut down, but I am not going to call someone who might end up murdering the people that I just wish would shut the fuck up at 3am. Maybe I can figure out how to put that on a sign.
Expect more coverage from Occupy City Hall and the Black Lives Matter protests soon, but I promise I have some “sexy” content coming for you guys too. I’ve also been updating my Only Fans every day and I just scanned 80+ polaroids for Girls of DBB. Just saying.
Now click here to see my photos from Occupy City Hall.
Actually, to BLM, only black petty criminals who are murdered by cops matter. Everyone else doesn’t. Have you seen them at any protests for what seems to be a weekly occurence of blacks killing blacks in Chicago? What about that EMT that was murdered in Louisville?
How ’bout asking them to show you the money trail? People are donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to them and the money is unaccounted for. Nowhere on their website does it say that they’re a 503(b) designated charity, so where’s the money?
One last thing: in the last photo, the protester is wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Tupac Shakur. His mom, formerly known as Joanne Chesimard, was convicted of 1st degree murder of a NJ state trooper, but escaped and is currently being given protection by Cuba.
“But what about Chicago” is the clearest sign someone a) isn’t listening at all and b) is fucking racist.
Also Assata Shakur is not Tupac’s mother.