VIDA Rallies in Support of Community Empowerment

By Mary Alice Miller
Vanguard Independent Democratic Association hosted a public town hall in front of their Tompkins Avenue office to push back against the DSA and “it’s view of our community as their enemies.” VIDA requested community support “in pushing back against the recent set of microaggressions against the Black community in Bedford-Stuyvesant, brought about by the Democratic Socialist Alliance (DSA).

On Wednesday April 17, 2024, DSA Candidate for State Assembly Eon Huntley hosted a meeting produced by the DSA at his campaign offices, located at 320 Tompkins Avenue. The title of the meeting was Know Our Enemies and the caption stated, “a series to know more about the community, the neighborhood and the people”. This event was posted on his campaign Instagram page in the Instagram Stories.

VIDA considers this an attack on Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman who is being challenged by Huntley, her supporters, and the historical Black community in Bed Stuy.

According to a statement from VIDA, “It is becoming clear that, as Eon’s flier stated, they see us as their enemies”, adding, “It is imperative that we serve as the Vanguard of this community, and push back against ideals or movements that look to separate us or pit us against one another. Because there is NO enemy in this community other than the source of the spread of separation and discontent.”

DSA is known for targeting “safe” Democrat-held districts all across the country. And once its members are elected to office, they seem to follow the DSA platform instead of the voices of their constituents.

DSA targeted and unseated Assemblyman Walter Mosley, who was recently appointed to NYS Secretary of State. And they targeted seats held by Tremaine Wright, Roxanne Persaud, and Laurie Cumbo. “They have a bad habit of targeting Black women.” said Henry Butler, president of VIDA.

Marlon Rice, founder of Good People NYC said, “Eon, you are a dishonest soldier for a machine that uses people like you to take the leadership from our community.”

“When new neighbors use the term enemy it bothers me because they are opposed to our way of life. Ain’t no enemies in this community except for those who are using their platform to spread discontent,” said Barry Cooper, founder, The BRO Experience. “We cannot be two Bed Stuys. We cannot be a community within a community. The assembly seat that we are protecting is our seat. You cannot bring an individual who is not part of this assembly district, who does not understand the political landscape of this district in this district and then call us enemies.”

Honorable Annette Robinson gave a historical context to the issue.
“We cannot allow people to come and impose themselves on our community. This is our community that we worked for, built up, provided resources for from the time we began the Empowerment Movement,” said Robinson.

“It is important to say these are our streets and we must protect them. I have been in Bedford Stuyvesant all my life. When we call on you to do voter registration, or knock on some doors, don’t feel it is robbery of your time and energy because we are trying to protect our turf. People protect their turf all over the world. We are going to be out here protecting our people and the resources they need and deserve. It’s us and them if they want to declare enemies. Do what you have to do to make sure we remain strong.”

Dr. Esmeralda Simmons made it plain: “This is about power. Forty years ago all of central Brooklyn was a plantation. DSA is a plantation. The ruler of DSA is out of state. They don’t vote what you want, they vote what their leader tells them to. The invisible hand tells them what to vote for, what to put out there, what to put into bills… They can’t even decide who they are going to align with. Their control is outside of our community.

That’s called colonialism. We fought like hell to determine our own way, to determine our own elected officials. Some were great, some were not so great. But they were ours. We do not need overseers. We do not need to go back fifty years. We need a record turnout at the election. Everybody needs to be registered. We will show them what 2024 looks like in Bed Stuy.”

“I have a record of protecting tenants in this community. I have a record of protecting homeowners in this community. You don’t have to take my word for it. You can go right to the NYS Assembly website and look at every piece of legislation I have introduced and passed,” said Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman.

“When you look up the record of every DSA member in the Assembly, you will see that every budget we have passed they voted against it. This is not about gentrification. This is about stripping Black wealth out of Black communities. I am not the enemy. What I am is the real Bed Stuy. We are welcoming to anybody who wants to come here and live here and be a part of the fabric of this community. But what we are not going to do is allow you to lie, steal, and cheat our legacy away.”

“A house that is divided against itself will not stand,” warned Rev. Robert Waterman. “When Bed Stuy was Do or Die nobody wanted to come in. Now it is Bed Stuy Stay Alive and everybody wants to live in Bed Stuy. Now they want to push you out.”

Waterman added, “Politics and elections are everything. Everything you do is about voting. How can you consider it affordable housing when they build 100 units and you only get ten? We have to do more than talk. This is about strategically putting people in place.

If the enemy can get Black people against Black people they just come in and whisper in your ear and you say it is ok. It is the back biting that keeps us down. If Malcolm was here he would call it the House Negro and the Field Negro.

In order to break Black communities it is all about making sure to put the right Black person in, without a voice who doesn’t speak for the people.”