A Bus Full of Activists!

A bus full of activists!! The success of our organizing ;) for the 2nd Year Anniversary Vigil for Kenny Lazo, April 10th, 2010.

The last few months the Justice for Kenny Coalition has been busy building with the ANSWER Coalition and the October 22nd Coalition to bring attention to Kenny Lazo's case and to link police brutality to immigrant rights. We have had some very successful events. On April 3rd, we had our very first event at theBrecht Forum where we featured several key speakers including: Jennifer Gonzalez (partner of the late Kenny Lazo), Juanita Young (mother of the late Malcolm Ferguson), William Bell (father of the late Sean Bell), Nicholas Heyward (father of the late Nicholas Heyward, Jr.), Allene Person (mother of the late Timor Person), Kathie Cheng of Oct 22 Coalition, Monica Ruiz of ANSWER Coalition, Pierre Yurovski of Amnesty International, and Frances Villar 2009PSL Mayoral Candidate for NYC. We showed, Police Terror: The Police Murder of Kenny Lazo, a documentary short by ANSWER's Eddie Pages, Forced Trajectory: Images from the After Effects of the Police Murder of Kenny Lazo, a photographic essay by me, and we also featuredANSWER's Kenneth Chan Cruz' artwork. After the film, slideshow, and speakers, MC Majesty hosted the spoken word / hip hop portion of the event, featuring Spirit Child, Peggy Robles Alvarado, Raul K Rios, and Fifth Column's BadSportt. The night ended with us fundraising over $500, enough for us to rent a bus to go from the city to Bay Shore, Long Island for Kenny's 2nd year anniversary vigil held right outside the Suffolk County 3rd Precinct where he was left to die on April 12, 2008. Our event was covered by NY1, who stayed for nearly 70% of the event, and played repeatedly on NY1 headlines all Easter Sunday. :)

William Bell, father of the late Sean Bell, sits, listening to the speaker. Kerbie Joseph of theANSWER Coalition and PSL sits in front of him.

Brian Benitez, Kenny Lazo's cousin, speaks out in public for the first time about Kenny's murder.

Hip hop artist, Majesty, performs.

Jennifer Gonzalez, Kenny Lazo's partner, speaks about her experience after Kenny's abrupt death, April 12th, 2008.

The following week, we used our funds to rent a school bus and took 20-some activists with us from the city to Bay Shore, where we demanded justice for Kenny Lazo in front of the 3rd Precinct of the Suffolk County Police Department. The purpose of this was to connect NYC with Bay Shore so that the people of Bay Shore could literally witness our solidarity. There, we met with several of Kenny's friends and family members, including Kenny's mother, Patricia Gonzalez, and Kenny's father, Elfonzo Lazo who both traveled from out of state for the event. The event was held from 1PM-5PM, but the energy of the crowd was so powerful that we decided to stay until 6PM. As traffic passed, we received several car beeps in support of our cause. Several activists and artists spoke on the mic, condemning the obvious corruption of the Suffolk County police, and also police brutality on a national and international level. Speakers included: UK MC LowKey, MC Majesty, MC Eva Egypt, PSL's Frances Villar, March Forward!'s Edward Pages, ANSWER's Vanessa Frida, Kenny's partner, Jennifer Gonzalez, Rebel Diaz Art Collective's Marcel Cartier, Kenny's parents Patricia Gonzalez & Elfonzo Lazo, myself, and others. This event marked the 2nd year anniversary of Kenny's death.

Both events were later mentioned in PSL's Liberation newspaper which is distributed nationwide. Click here to read the article.

Kenny's father, Elfonso speaks on the mic, Patricia Gonzalez, Kenny's mother on the right.

MC Majesty on the mic, who enthusiastically hosted the April 3rd event.

MC Eva Egypt on the mic condemning the SCPD.

UK MC LowKey spittin' rhymes about police brutality.

May Day Rally! Come Join JKC!

Stop Police Brutality! End Racial Profiling!

End ICE and Police Raids!

An Injury to One is an Injury to All

This May 1st, "An injury to one is an injury to all" should be our battle cry. The rising ICE raids and deportations are actions that are cut from the same racist cloths as the recurrent brutal attacks on innocent victims by the police.

To protect and serve is the police’s upheld motto. But for communities of color this translates into harassment and terror.

In Bay Shore, this racist police violence turned deadly. On April 12th, 2008, Kenny Lazo, son of immigrant parents, was stopped and apprehended by the Suffolk County police. Under 3rd precinct custody, Lazo was severely beaten with flashlights and as an autopsy later revealed, was ultimately strangled to death by the same blunt object while he was handcuffed. The DA failed to indict the five police officers involved in Lazo's death. They shamelessly continue to patrol the streets of this immigrant community today.

Kenny Lazo was just one of a long chain of victims of police brutality since immigrant worker Amadou Diallo was killed by NYPD in 1999. At least 183 more people have been killed by the NYPD since then. And for undocumented workers this threat cannot be any greater. Immigrants live in the shadows as they are faced with xenophobia and then threatened by deportation if they speak out. As a result, many racist attacks go unreported. The disregard by local and state enforcement sends a clear message to the population at large.

Marcelo Lucero became a target of this criminalization of immigrants. On November 9^th, 2008, a group of teenage boys set out to find Latinos to beat, what they called ‘beaner jumping’. Lucero was stabbed in the chest by Jeffrey Conroy and left to die. This racist murder was one of a long list of attacks on immigrants in Suffolk County in recent years. Local authorities are being blamed for instigating a racist and anti-immigrant climate.

Racist killer cops don't just target immigrants. The murder of Sean Bell, along with so many other others in the African American community, show that racial profiling and racism do not stop to ask for a passport.

This May 1st we must come together to declare that the struggles faced by immigrants and racist murders at the hands of cops are not isolated and unrelated incidents.

We demand equal rights for all immigrant workers and an end the police terror in all our communities! Stand with all victims of police brutality!

JUSTICE FOR KENNY LAZO!

An Injury to One is an Injury to All!

We will be meeting at the corner of Leonard St. and Centre St. at 10:45AM-11:00AM tomorrow morning. We will be at Foley Square from noon-1PM, and hit Union Square afterwards. Don't miss a stellar performance by Rebel Diaz from 2PM-4PM at Union Square. SEE YOU ON THE STREETS!!!!!