Black Women's March Planned For Saturday Over Cuomo Bridge

TARRYTOWN, NY — Hundreds of demonstrators in the Hudson Valley plan to march on Saturday across the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, formerly known as the Tappan Zee Bridge, to call attention to issues facing black women and girls.

The Hudson Valley chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement and the community group 100sistas are calling for people to join them in marching in solidarity with black women and girls to fight against what they call "systemic oppression that is stealing our livelihoods and our lives."

The event, called the Black Women's March: Continuing the Legacy of Harriet Tubman," kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of a CVS in Tarrytown, near the east side entrance of the bridge. The store is located on the corner of South Broadway and state Route 119.

The actual march across the bridge is planned around noon that day. The group will then march to Memorial Park in Nyack, the location of Toni Morrison's Bench by the Road, which honors a 19th century abolitionist woman from the village.

But whether the group even crosses the bridge seems to be up in the air.

A verified GoFundMe account has been created to raise money for two reasons: first, to buy motorized wheelchairs to help make the march accessible for everyone. But the second reason seems to imply the group expects a brush with law enforcement. The group also wants to raise money to serve as a "bail fund" for demonstrators who partake in what the poster called civil disobedience.

Organizers told the Journal News the state threatened them with mass arrests.

"Why not just help us get across the bridge?" said Vanessa Green. "I don't want to get arrested. I would take an arrest for the cause."

The account has raised more than $6,400 over a month.

A spokesman for the Thruway Authority said the state proactively reached out to the event organizers "to discuss safety concerns and offer ways to facilitate an alternative that does not involve walking in an active construction zone and roadway. Conversations with the organization are ongoing as we work to reach a mutually agreed upon solution.”

Organizers said they came up with the idea in January while discussing how black women navigate white supremacist groups. Organizers said on a Facebook posting for the event that they believe black women in rural and suburban communities "become invisible" in the dialogue around black lives "while still holding down their families and communities." That's when they decided to organize an event that to celebrate all black women and connect with other black women in other counties.

"By building community we become powerful emotionally, physically, spiritually and politically," the post said.

Among their demands:

• Better services for black LGBTQ gender non-conforming folks
• Silence and complacency regarding the "continued murder and brutalization of trans women, especially black trans women"
• Eradicating poverty
• Improving education, particularly in the East Ramapo School District
• Transform and dismantle the police
• Eliminating cash bail in New York
• Improving mental health services

Those who are unable to participate in the march and identify as black can show their support by having their picture taken for the group's #BeautifulisBlack project, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Nyack Center.

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Photo credit: GoFundMe