A statement by Poverty Is Not A Crime organizer Beatriz Bianco (BB Sunshine)
Hey Y'all,
Many of you heard about/attended the rally I spearheaded that took place on Friday, March 13th. The objective of the protest was to raise awareness aboutthe BusinessImprovement District, which passed both its votes in City Council 8 to 1, thesecond deciding vote taking place on March 19th, over spring break, and to showcase the joyful beauty of the diverse street folk of Northampton. We gaveout free food, we played music, we sang, we danced, and as we began to march,some of us took the streets. Three police officers followed us, yelling at us and threatening us for peacefully protesting. One activist, Arturo, wasarrested inches from me, while he gave no provocation and no resistance, three officers violently tackled him to the ground, repeatedly shoving his face intothe asphalt. Our cry of, "Food shelter freedom, No new station, No more cops!"*became, "Who do you serve? Who do you protect?"
We continued down Main Street, pausing on the corner and crossing to the raised sidewalk under the bridge. The raised sidewalk is only accessible in one spot,and so my friend and fellow protestor David, who was pushing my wheelchair andI continued to march in the street as close to the side as possible (completelyout of traffic). The police parked their cars in the middle of road under thebridge, and tried to corner us against the wall, all the while yelling at us toget into the sidewalk and ignoring me when I addressed them. The officers wrenched David off of the back of my wheelchair, arresting him as coldly as ifthey were separating him from a shopping cart.
And even after this arrest we kept fighting, marching up Pleasant Street and dancing and chanting, "Poverty is not a crime, Stop the BID!" in front of HotelNorthampton and A-Z Science and Learning, both businesses on the BID SteeringCommittee. By the time we marched back to City Hall, fifteen cops had surrounded us. They had called for reinforcement from Easthampton as well as the state police. The cops called in multiple vans for mass arrest, and were heard saying "park it where they can't see it, it's crowd control."These kinds of violations of human rights are indicative of a systemic sickness and cannot be tolerated in our community.
*A component of the BID allots17.5-19 million dollars plus millions of dollars in interest payments to creating another police station downtown. More cops? More arrests? As asolution to poverty and homelessness? I don't think so. They want to make the city cleaner, more profitable, more beautiful? We are not garbage. We want that money invested in accessible food, job training, low-income housing, a community center, the arts!On April 2nd, the next City Council meeting, we are mobilizing once again.However this will be a silent protest. Come dressed in all costumery and regalia, face paint, body paint, bring flowers, signs stating your opposition. Carry your hearts and souls with fervor and pride.
WE NEED NUMBERS. PLEASESHOW. THURSDAY, APRIL 2ND, 6 PM CITY HALL, NOHO.
In Solidarity, BB Sunshine
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