Protesters bring caskets outside Barclay Center to highlight gun violence

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As Jay-Z was celebrating the opening of the Barclay Center, an arena that many believe will bring about jobs into its community, protesters were expressing a concern that is still plaguing its community : gun violence.

Protest against gun violence

S.A.V.E., a New York City based grass roots coalition, organized a rally outside the brand new Barclay Center on its opening night, and brought caskets out to highlight the gun violence.

“We brought caskets to Jay-Z’s opening show at the Barclays Center to highlight the fact that there have been 306 deaths this year and over 1,200 shootings in the urban areas of New York City,” said Andre T. Mitchell, founder and executive director of Man Up! Inc. and national chairman of the S.A.V.E. (Support Anti-Violence Efforts) America Initiative. “We have asked Jay-Z to work with us as an Ambassador of Peace with S.A.V.E. We are trying to save the inner city.”

The why

Mitchell explained, “This was a rally to remind the city that there is not two Brooklyns. There is one Brooklyn. Yet, just blocks away from this spanking-new arena—built with public money—there are neighborhoods being terrorized by ongoing gun violence.

We do not oppose enterprise and entrepreneurship, but we want all of Brooklyn and the city to be afforded the opportunity to build a life, live in peace and participate in economic prosperity.

The city cannot keep ignoring what is going on in the urban areas.”

Source : Amsterdamn News