Early last week, two women were accosted on Liberty Ave by a man yelling anti-gay slurs. He held a gun to one of their heads. This was near the same spot of another anti-gay attack last year.
The following day there was an impromptu community gathering to talk about this and some other related incidents.
150 people showed up. The police began hassling people to leave the Liberty Avenue sidewalk, erroneously stating that people without a permit have to be continuously moving.
One officer in particular shoved a person who was a couple steps off the curb and told a parent pushing a baby stroller that they could get Child Protective Services to take their kid away.
The gathering eventually had to move to Friendship Park, where a man talked about how less than 2 weeks ago he was beaten for being gay, so badly that the doctors had to put a steel plate in his mouth.
Organizers announced that the crowd would be walking around the area. These anti-gay assaults are an attempt to silence people and make them invisible, and so it is important to refuse and break that silence.
After 2 blocks the police arrested 5 people, some for simply asking why other people were being arrested. The police were angry and showed a lot of contempt.
One of the individuals specifically targeted for arrest is a member of East End Mutual Aid. Besides helping with events such as the Share Faire, he is an integral part of operating our hotline service that provides a lot of help to people locally with things such as providing rides to medical appointments and helping folks with snow shoveling in the winter.
Then, on Saturday, a number of police showed up at the Share Faire, claiming there had been an anonymous complaint that people were gathering in the park. They mildly pressured us to shut it down, we declined, and they eventually left, stating they would investigate the permit issue more.
In the past our group has came under heavy pressure from the city to cancel the Share Faires, including threats that the police would violently shut the park down and bizarrely referencing the G-20 disturbances.
After many back and forths citing the legal reasons we do not need a permit, and stating that our group additionally does not desire a permit as it runs counter to the political message of the event promoting community self-organization, city officials finally got to the crux of the issue: If a permit were necessary, we would be unlikely to get one as they want us to “hold the event in a more suitable location.”
They oddly believe a centrally located green space, that should so obviously be a place where residents gather and dialogue and problem solve, isn’t considered suitable.
What became clear is that for the people representing these institutions a more suitable location meant either very far removed from where people actually live or it meant hidden inside somewhere it couldn’t be seen.
It seems the only unquestioned, encouraged, use of visible common space is for making money.
One theme that connects these Bloomfield incidents — the assault on Liberty Avenue, the way police dealt with the gathering the next day, and the ongoing pressure to shutdown the Share Faires — is this question of space. What is space for? Who is space for? And answering this question really speaks to what our collective aspirations for our neighborhoods are.
The times sports teams have won major games, people stream into the streets to celebrate. The police not only allow this to occur, but actually facilitate it by closing off the street to traffic, even along Liberty. When large crowds are getting to or leaving large sporting and entertainment events, they often walk in the street simply because it’s convenient. When some Steelers were drinking at a Southside bar many people went to stand outside and the police closed part of the street to traffic and the sidewalk was completely blocked by fans.
Many times, even here in Bloomfield and Garfield, the police allow CDC officials and politicians’ entourages to block the sidewalks or streets for a photo opportunity or impromptu press event. Often, local art events or fundraisers along Penn Ave. result in a complete obstruction of the sidewalk.
This is not to call for repression against those events. It simply illustrates that it’s difficult to look at the varied responses and not reach the conclusion that the police, and the city government as a whole, treat some events very differently than others. And what appears to matter most is who you are, what you look like, how much money you make or are making for others, and who you know.
It’s important we not get distracted by debates we’re hearing over whether it’s ever wrong to mildly inconvenience others, whether two women are smart to hold hands in public, whether an arrestee was a foot off the curb or completely on the sidewalk, or whether the city and police have given permission for a specific event.
Because if this is all we ever talk about, we’re going to lose sight of figuring out how to shape the spaces around us so that they meet collective needs and serve all the parts of our communities.
If ever it was reasonable and necessary to visibly gather on the sidewalk or the street, it is to make a statement that it’s not okay to put a gun to some passerby’s head because you don’t like the fact gay and queer people exist. And a community park should be used by the community to gather and relax and share resources. And the sidewalk is a place to be able to be yourself, and through holding hands, express your caring towards those you love.
This is not a question of law, it is a question of justice and it is ultimately a question of what our sidewalks, squares, and streets exist for. EEMA hopes we’re not the only ones who see important uses beyond simply facilitating the making and spending of money.
We’re not going to address the daunting questions of our age if we aren’t active at a very local level, and we can’t succeed without people being able to express themselves. We need common points of interaction and shared participation to be able to build bridges between different subgroups and different generations, because there are many forces trying to pit people against each other.
The big picture takeaway for EEMA is: How can we fight to defend and expand the ability of everyone to utilize these spaces? How do we take this understanding of the incredible positive freedom to act and utilize space that is enjoyed and protected for a very select few in society and work to expand and defend that freedom for everyone?
