Nov. 11, 2016 By Hannah Wulkan
For all those looking to take action against hate following the election on Tuesday, Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer is hosting two events to facilitate community action and support.
Van Bramer is holding a Community Speak Out next Wednesday as a way for community members to learn how to get involved and support their minority neighbors, and is hosting a Day of Action the following Saturday, with various service projects around the community.
“I have already heard from too many who are afraid, legitimately afraid, of what will be. But while I understand that there is much to be concerned about, I don’t want to focus on fear. Instead I ask all of us to dig deep at this difficult moment and feel hope and be in touch with our undying thirst for freedom,” Van Bramer said in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.
“We should take some time to feel this pain because it’s real. But we must quickly turn this around and organize and fight,” his statement continued.
Next Wednesday, the Community Speak Out will run from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sunnyside Community Services, where Van Bramer has invited dozens of organizations that support women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants, Muslims, and other minority groups to speak.
One of the biggest requests Van Bramer has been hearing since the election is how his constituents can get involved to support their neighbors and community, said a representative from his office. The Speak Out will facilitate conversations of fears surrounding the election results, and connect those who want to help with various organizations they can work with.
Van Bramer is also hosting a Day of Action the following Saturday Nov. 19, which will give people a chance to put their concerns in to action. It will consist of several volunteer opportunities throughout the community, though the exact details are not yet finalized.
“The same nightmare scenarios run through my brain that have run through so many of yours. But I also know that we are a good and strong lot. Women, African Americans, Latinos, all immigrants -including the undocumented, my LGBT brothers and sisters, people of all faiths including muslims, and the differently abled have come as far as we have because we know how to fight,” Van Bramer said in the Facebook statement.
“Yes, we lost a very important election. And too many of our fellow Americans see the world so very differently than us. But we will not be defeated as a people. We will rise. And we will do it together,” he added.
Both events are free and nonpartisan, and those looking to get involved can RSVP to Elana Ehrenberg at (718) 383-9566 ext. 5 or eehrenberg@council.nyc.gov.
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17 Comments
Jimmy Van Bramer is obviously a card carrying member of the Progressive Socialist Left. Creating chaos, division and tearing down Western societies and western values are what they do best.
I also see he has support from the Muslim Students Association and other Muslim Brotherhood terrorist front groups. Knowing how Islam treats gay people, his hypocrisy is astounding.
JVB is a disgrace.
This whole Progressive Socialist Leftist movement is a disgrace. Collectivist group think is very dangerous to our western society.
I love the way he just assumes that everyone in LIC voted for Clinton. This groupthink mentality is seriously (and dangerously) out of control.
Jimbo, I voted Trump also.NY is a Dumbocratic state and City. We are in the minority here. Trump won because Working Class Americans wanted Change and their country back as Britain did with Brexit. I am a Democrat but switched when they got in bed with Illegals.
i am a trump voter and would love to attend but and scared for my safety (being serious). Once you admit you voted for trump you are ostracized and shunned. 🙁
Democrats: The party of intolerance.
Maybe we can commission a Million-dollar piece of artwork to convey the feelings & concerns of those concerned/potentially affected?
OR, maybe, people will start keeping track of elected officials and their record/effectiveness/positions and get rid of all those guzzling from the political teat and giving way to the few instead of the many.
We got Trump because the wrong people are in power. It’s time to take notice and really clean house wherever possible.
Sorry to jump on this topic with an unrelated concern but EVERYONE needs to wake up and look at the big picture—not just the NIMBY folks who raise their heads when the situation suits/effects them.
I chuckled a bit after reading this. SNL had some great skits last night about all this fear.
Are You Suffering From Trump Acceptance Resistance Disorder (TARD)?
When a political party is demolished, the principle responsibility belongs to one entity: the party that got crushed.
“Van Bramer fuels the Democratic propaganda machine thinly veiling it as an attempt to bring people together” is a more appropriate headline for this. How about the local government focuses on improving our neighborhood, rather than driving a larger wedge between political parties? This makes me sick.
Trumpophobia.
Anger towards Trump and those that voted for him are completely misdirected. It’s the entire political system that we should blame. Get money out of politics and vote for people that are looking out for us and not big donors. It starts at the local level.
I wonder if white males are allowed to be in the basket of “targets of hate”.
Only you, Frank.
You are an idiot…mic drop
You don’t get to mic drop just cause you feel like it, have a point and win the argument first.
Perhaps the true idiot is the one who does not know how to do a mic drop…mic drop.