NYC: Artists Flash Mob Grips Grand Central Station
December 9, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
December 9—At the end of rush hour in NYC's Grand Central Station, over 100 people converged suddenly. They formed a circle, within which a Black man powerfully recited Eric Garner's words, as he was being set upon by the pigs on Staten Island, and as he was firmly standing up to them before he was put in a chokehold and killed: "Stop harassing me…this ends here…I can't breathe."
A Black woman evoked the same scene through dance. Drummers tapped out a beat, as the crowd whispered rhythmically and then roared, "We can't breathe!" And then 50 people fell to the ground in a die-in. This scene played out four or five times, and became the focal point of attention in the vast crowded space of Grand Central, with many dozens of commuters crowding around or standing on balconies to watch.
This flash mob action is part of the December 8-14 Week of Outrage to Police Murder called by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network for across the U.S., and a project of the artist group that came off of the December 7 planning meeting in NYC. The whole thing was fueled by powerful sense that these racist police murders have to stop—and people feel a deep responsibility to act. (Go to stopmassincarceration.net for more on the Week of Outrage.)
After two hours of the flash mob action at Grand Central, the protesters regrouped and marched out into the streets of Manhattan, still chanting, "We can't breathe!"
Volunteers Needed... for revcom.us and Revolution
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.