Rally Declares Kensington A 'Hate Free Zone'

KENSINGTON, BROOKLYN — Just hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order threatening to defund "sanctuary cities" that protect undocumented residents, a rally in Kensington declared the immigrant-heavy community to be a "Hate Free Zone."

"It is our duty to fight for our freedom!" a speaker at the rally said, as recorded by a member of activist group Desis Rising Up And Moving (DRUM), which helped organize the gathering. "We must love each other and protect each other!"

At the rally, The Nation spoke to undocumented local Israt Audry, who said she's lived in the United States for 16 years.

“By declaring this community a Hate Free Zone," Audry told the publication, "we are committing to the practice of building a community defense system that will defend our communities from workplace raids, deportations, mass criminalization, violence, and systemic violations of our rights and dignity."

In a video recorded by rally participant James Monohan, Windsor Terrace Councilman Brad Lander said Trump was promoting a "festival of xenophobia."

"If we care about each other, if we love the diversity of this community, if we believe in the words on the Statue of Liberty, stand up together and get ready to fight for those values," Lander said.

"I'm really thankful for all of my neighbors," Bengali community leader Mamnun Haq said to Monohan. "At the end of the day, we are all human beings, and we all stand together."

Top image courtesy of DRUM