NYCHA’s NAACP Prayer Walk for Juneteenth
The NYCHA branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) commemorated June 19 — Juneteenth — with a prayer walk for justice held simultaneously in the Bronx at Claremont Rehab; in Harlem at Frederick Samuel Apartments; and in Brooklyn at Brevoort and Tompkins Houses.
Juneteenth is a holiday that marks the end of slavery in the United States, when, in 1865, some of the last enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas were freed, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
This year, the NYCHA NAACP branch also remembered George Floyd, who was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, by holding a moment of silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time a police officer kneeled on his neck.
“We wanted to celebrate Juneteenth and also pay homage to Gregory Floyd,” said Lynn Spivey, President of the NYCHA NAACP branch and an Administrative Staff Analyst in NYCHA’s Heating Management Services Department. “We were looking to connect the dots and execute an action plan and unify the community.”
The action plan included helping residents register to vote and complete the 2020 Census. Volunteers had flyers with QR codes that people could scan from their smartphones to be easily taken to the websites to register to vote or fill out the census.
“We know that public housing is a sleeping giant: We are the most impacted by anything that comes to the city, whether it be COVID, registering to vote, filling out the census,” Ms. Spivey said. “We wanted to show people that public housing can come together in unity. We wanted to make sure we pray for our community and let community voices be heard.”
The NAACP organized the event with help from the resident association presidents of each development: Marie Forbes, Claremont Rehab; Diana Blackwell, Fred Samuels; Shirley Williams, Brevoort; and Gloria Johnson, Tompkins. In addition, Ms. Spivey would like to thank the following people and organizations for their instrumental role in the event: New Creation Christian Church and Bishop Wesley Knight; Kenesha Traynham-Cooper of 4 Future Generations (and a Tompkins Houses resident); Dr. Cynthia Oriyomi Ashley of Total Faith Network; Akeema Bryan of Akeema Sweet Homes; Kah-lil C. Cross of Silver Shadow Service One Corp.; Video Music Box; Share for Life; and the National Action Network.
Juneteenth has long been about freedom and hope, and this year’s celebration was also about community empowerment. “The big picture,” Ms. Spivey said, “is being able to inspire people in public housing to understand their power, the power to vote, the power to effectively change their community.”
To learn more about NYCHA’s NAACP branch, email nychabranch@gmail.com.
