National

#BlackBrunchNYC Protests Disrupt ‘White’ N.Y. Breakfast Spots

Published

11 years ago

January 5, 2015

Reporter II

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Justin Moyer and Nick Kirkpatrick, THE WASHINGTON POST

(The Washington Post)—Since an unarmed black teenager was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, demonstrators have flooded America’s streets to bring the nation’s attention to what they say is an epidemic of police brutality.

Over the weekend in New York City and Oakland, Calif., they tried a different tactic. Tweeting the hashtag #BlackBrunchNYC, protesters targeted what they called “white spaces” — brunch spots.

More than 30 demonstrators staged events at restaurants such as Lallisse, Maialino and Pershing Square, Yahoo reported. The protesters, most dressed in black, read the names of African Americans killed by police punctuated with chants of “ashe,” a word from the Yoruba language of West Africa comparable to “amen.” Timed by participants, the ritual takes four-and-a-half minutes — since Michael Brown’s body was left on the street for four-and-a-half hours in Ferguson.

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