The Brecht Forum 451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune Streets)
A, C, E or L to 14th Street & 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left
1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th Street & 7th Ave, get off at south end of station, walk west on 12th Street to 8th Ave. left to Bethune, turn right, walk west to the River, turn left.
PATH Train to Christopher Street north on Greenwich St to Bank Street, left to the river.
#11 or #20 Bus to Abingdon Square, west on Bethune
#14A or #14D Bus to 8th Ave, walk down 8th Ave. and west on Bethune
#8 Bus to 10th & West Streets
On Friday, April 25, 2008 the Audre Lorde Project stood with community members in outrage at the acquittal of three police officers who murdered Sean Bell, and injured Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman. We marched because no verdict can convince us that our very existence warrants violence at the hands of anyone, including representatives of the state. We invite you to join ALP and many others on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 7pm at the Brecht Forum 451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune Streets) for Remembering Sean Bell – LGBTSTGNC POC communities fight back!
On Friday, April 25, 2008 the Audre Lorde Project stood with community members in outrage at the acquittal of three police officers who murdered Sean Bell, and injured Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman. We marched alongside families who have also been impacted by police violence, and acknowledged widespread community grief. We also acknowledge that this is not new to our communities and is just one example in an escalating pattern of the complete lack of accountability that the police state has to us.
We marched in resistance, not only to the ongoing crimes committed by the NYPD, but to the clear disregard for human life exemplified by the verdict and the subsequent support for it, such as this description by Andrea Peyser in the New York Post: "...a trial that pitted three men who tried to protect innocent lives against every stripper, crackhead and thug in the borough of Queens" (April 26, 2008).
We marched in part because we know that list includes LGBTSTGNC communities, service workers and sex workers, people of color, immigrants and prisoners. We marched because no verdict can convince us that our very existence warrants violence at the hands of anyone, including representatives of the state. We marched because there is not one of us who is less precious, no matter what label is attributed to us in the ever expanding war on our communities. We remember Victoria Arellano, a Trans immigrant who died in detention after being denied her HIV medicine. We recall our mobilization in support of Christina Sforza, another Trans woman, who was assaulted by a McDonalds employee and then arrested by the NYPD, just for using a bathroom.
We know that anger is not sufficient to create communities rooted in justice, self determination, and respect for all life. We call on every member of the community to publicly voice outrage and refusal to accept police violence, to watch out for one another in every encounter with the police, to support CopWatch efforts being coordinated by Peoples Justice, and to support creative alternatives to policing and community violence, such as the one being modeled by ALP's Safe Outside the System.