New York celebrates International Women's Day
Brooklyn, NY – The New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) hosted an International Women’s Day rally outside of the Barclay Center on Sunday, March 19.
The Barclay Center is not only well-known as a venue for basketball games and concerts, but it’s a gathering spot in Brooklyn for anti-police protests. Throughout 2020, thousands upon thousands gathered at the awning of the famous venue to demand justice for George Floyd.
On this afternoon, NYCAP gathered as hundreds walked into a basketball game to demand justice for the women harmed by the NYPD, defend women’s rights, and fight for reproductive justice.
Anevay Zappata was the first speaker from NYCAP who gave an overview of the state of women’s rights in the U.S., “There are people in this country who are attempting to undo all the work that has been done to progress the rights for the people. Work that organizers, activists and innocent civilians died for. And these people who are attempting to strip our right to humanity, they have names. Why don’t we call them out and see what they’re up to?”
And they continued by bringing up some national events, “Speaking of DeSantis, four students were arrested for standing up against DeSantis’ attempt at destroying diversity programs at state colleges. All of which were women and non-binary folks. They were brutally charged at, held to the floor and arrested for peacefully protesting at their college.”
While organizers were speaking and rallying, other protesters passed out flyers about women’s rights and community control of the police to all passersby.
The rally ended with Briony Smith, the emcee of the rally, “So the New York Community Action Project will continue to fight for justice for the women victims of police violence. We will continue to demand an end to the attacks on our bodies and our rights. And we will continue to fight for community control, because we know that we can and that we will win!”