By Michael V. Cusenza
The five boroughs—especially Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan—this week were turned upside down yet again.
No, the culprit this time was not a resurgent coronavirus, but the death of George Floyd at the hands—knee, more specifically—of Minneapolis police officers.
Yes, images of looting and violence dominated the news—but so did incredible tableaus of police officers in cities all over the world—including in The World’s Borough—dropping their batons and riot gear, taking a knee to pray with the demonstrators and later walked with those same new brothers and sisters in amazing masterpieces of solidarity.
Still, there is more work to do on this and many other fronts.
“These injustices simply cannot continue. This is not the world I want my children – any child – to grow up in. The charges brought forth against the former officer who murdered George Floyd is a start – but we must do better. During this pandemic, I have seen firsthand the strength of a community – health care workers, law enforcement officers, grocery workers, and countless others – when everyone comes together in the face of enormous horror and challenges. We must work together to blaze a new, inclusive, and compassionate path forward,” said U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who visited a George Floyd memorial Sunday afternoon with her family in MacDonald Park in Forest Hills. “As the mother of two Asian American boys, I have spoken often with them about the hate and intolerance that they may encounter because of the coronavirus. But those concerns don’t compare to what mothers of African American boys go through. Whenever their boys leave home, they often wonder if they’ll ever see them alive again.
“We must acknowledge that our system is broken, and that we have to fix it. Enough is enough.”
Photos Courtesy of NYPD and Rep. Grace Meng
