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Educational Alliance Launches 'We the People' Initiative to Condemn Hate

By Allegra Hobbs | January 24, 2017 12:29pm
 The Educational Alliance is inviting community members to sign the Declaration of Independence mural.
The Educational Alliance is inviting community members to sign the Declaration of Independence mural.
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The Educational Alliance

LOWER EAST SIDE — A neighborhood organization that offers educational resources and youth programs has launched an initiative to combat hate crimes and support community members it says are afraid of what Donald Trump's presidency will mean for their families.

The Educational Alliance kicked off its "We the People" initiative Monday by inviting locals to sign a mural in the lobby of its Manny Cantor Center at 197 E. Broadway featuring lines from the Declaration of Independence that affirm "all men are created equal" in five languages — English, Spanish, Chinese, Hebrew and Arabic. 

But the wall of John Hancocks marks just the beginning of a series of workshops and projects aimed at spreading a message of diversity and inclusion, said Alliance president and chief executive Alan van Capelle. He said he was moved to launch the initiative in response to a post-election spike in citywide hate crimes and an outpouring of fear from community members.

"Post-November 8, there has been a large amount of anxiety we're seeing from people who walk into our building and who are attending our programs about what the future looks like, and we thought it was an appropriate time to re-commit ourselves to the value of being good neighbors and having each other's back," van Capelle explained.

"So we thought, some of the most powerful phrases around are 'We the people' and those opening lines of the line of the Declaration. We thought this is a perfect thing for our community, which is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York — to walk through our door and have a chance to see that section of the Declaration in five different languages and fix their name on it."

 

Come to @mannycantornyc and sign out mural in solidarity with fellow New Yorkers! #wethepeople #everyoneiswelcomeea

A photo posted by Educational Alliance (@edalliance) on

The Alliance this week will start rolling out a series of forums and workshops aimed at empowering immigrants and allies, beginning with a "Know Your Rights" forum Wednesday hosted in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Immigration Affairs, van Capelle said. 

An anti-violence and de-escalation workshop is also in the works, aimed at teaching community members how to act if someone is being discriminated against.

The center is planning to expand a partnership program this week in which local businesses are given stickers reading "Everyone is welcome here" in multiple languages to mark them as "safe spaces."

"The idea is, hopefully this will spread, and if you are a victim of hate speech or hate crime, if you are looking for a safe place to go in our neighborhood, if you see this sticker that means you can go into this shop, and they will help you call the police and they will make sure you are safe," van Capelle said.

So far, roughly 10 Lower East Side businesses have placed the signs on their doors, he noted, hoping more will follow suit.

Van Capelle said the Alliance felt it had a responsibility to Lower East Siders, as expressions of fear and anxiety from neighbors after Election Day had been "enormous."

"We had families who were worried about being separated from people that they lived with in their homes because of the immigration rhetoric they heard during the campaign and they fear will come true now," he said. "We had people who had come through our doors they had been the victims of Islamaphobia."

The Alliance hopes that all facets of the campaign will send a message that the neighborhood remains committed to providing a safe haven for all people.

"That's not the Lower East Side, that's not our East Village, and it's never going to be."

An Alliance staff member and member of the Lower East Side community for 60 years said she was thrilled to sign her name to the "We the People" installation Monday, and hopes the local effort makes waves outside the neighborhood.

"At least we can do it, not as a country, but we can do it as a community," Daisy Paez said. "You start as a community. That's where you start — community by community."