#theantithesis

Everyone was born with the inclination to speak about any matter, whether it be political or not. People form opinions, “yes” or “no”, “good” or “bad”, “positive” or “negative”–but who decides whose voice achieves more representation than others? Granted, I am not saying the press should run pieces dedicated to everyone’s opinions about every topic imaginable, but when it comes to pressing issues such as the displacement of an entire community and an abundance of generations of families, representation should rely heavily on those being directly impacted by being forced out of their beloved neighborhoods. Gentrification is a mammoth sized topic that is often thrown around without proper context, and while it is important to note that I referenced only 13 articles written within four years as opposed to referencing the thousands of articles written on this matter, it is clear to me that one voice carries more influence than the latter.

The New York Times’ Editorial Board ran a story in February 2015 titled, “Can New York Be Affordable Again?”, with a photo of a neighborhood in East New York located in Brooklyn. The piece referenced de Blasio’s State of the City speech where he commented on middle-class families’ ability to live in affordable neighborhoods, and his plans to execute this task by “reclaiming it through affordable housing.” Evidently, de Blasio’s speech was enough to insinuate that he–the mayor, a man with a substantial amount of authority and power over those middle-class families battling with this situation–is capable to serve as a representative speaker on this issue, as opposed to asking residents their opinion about the matter.

Bourdieu argued, “They asserted themselves as parties to the debate, entitled to express an authorized, authoritative opinion, to voice the performative utterance of a legitimate pressure group. The opinion mobilized–as if by a petition–about education closely coincide with the population of users of higher education” (411). Those who have higher education credentials tend to have the most popular opinions, which is to say those with the proper, fundamental resources have the privilege to speak on behalf of an entire population. This is because their voice has more authority and value, even if the subject they are talking about is not primarily influencing them. Mayor de Blasio, a graduate of New York University and Columbia University has the political power to voice his opinions about affordable housing, and his plans to resolve the issue–even if he is not undergoing the present circumstances. Residents of East New York, where 50% of the population is African American and 39% Hispanic, only 8% of residents in this neighborhood hold a college degree–needless to say, not one resident was featured in this editorial piece.

The right to speak should be balanced within any publication. No one voice should overtake another, because not only does this create a disparity between the right to speak, but the absence of another voice also entails certain consequences. Sharing one side of a situation is not only misleading, but also detrimental because an entire community becomes silenced. While it is crucial quote politicians and other authoritative figures who not only have access to the press, but also implement policies that, in turn, change how a neighborhood and its inhabitants thrive, people being readily affected by such events have an equal voice in the situation.

For example, The New York Times wrote an article in April of this year called, “Segregation Is an Obstacle to New York’s Housing Push.” Having referenced the mayor, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Craig Gurian (the executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center), the piece focuses on policymakers and community program directors, but not one resident was featured in this piece. For example, having a resident who lives in housing could have been very beneficial to understanding the severities of the situation, because they can offer firsthand experience as to what it is like living in such conditions.

Within this piece, Gurian said, “’Stay off our turf’–that’s not a winning strategy. There’s not a good kind of segregation.” This would have been a great opportunity to hear from a resident who favors residential segregation due to certain circumstances, perhaps the resident being forced out of their neighborhood in order to make room for a more affluent  crowd. Having a person who disagrees with Gurian’s statement would have provided an interesting counterargument, which not only makes the piece less biased, but the piece becomes more well rounded because of the spectrum of people referenced in the piece.

Ransworth Blair, for instance, would have been a suitable candidate to speak on his situation because his voice is equally as important as de Blasio’s. Blair resided at 930-940 Prospect Place and in January, 2014, he and several tenants took their landlord to court due to “his failure to provide heat and hot water in the winter – a tactic designed to push out low-income tenants.” While I searched through the 13 articles, most were heavy in statistics about affluent people moving into a neighborhood that harbored generations of longtime families, or filled with quotes and comments from local and city officials about how the issue is influencing current residents. In addition, authoritative figures such as de Blasio continued to restate the process behind helping current residents thrive, not crumble–but not once did a resident speak out on landlords pushing them out of their own home. Blair’s voice is equal to de Blasio’s not in terms of political power, but the power to reach a larger audience and influence an audience’s perception of the holistic situation.

Blair’s landlord sued him for missing rent payments, and ultimately the judge ruled in Blair’s favor. But, Blair left the building and settled for an affordable place in the Bronx after the gruesome court process. Despite having left Brooklyn, he returns frequently and noted, “Everything is different now. Even the produce at the corner grocery is fresher.”–Where were residents like Blair when publications speak about neighborhoods rapidly changing, rather than solely interviewing authoritative figures that do not even live in that community? In addition, the notion of a neighborhood receiving better living conditions inherently result from the influx of certain residents moving in. As Blair noted, even the food quality is better now that affluent people have moved in. The media should not only address this phenomena, but also explain the logic behind providing better resources for a specific group of persons instead of denying such quality of living from previous generations. Although I have only researched a select number of papers and looked at three publications within four years, the notion of more readily resources being accessible varied slightly–but the underlying issue practically resulted in contrasting socioeconomic standings, as well as racial differences.

More articles included quotes and statements from officials such as de Blasio than discussing the issue of race and class struggle as two complex factors that influence the rates in which neighborhoods change. The Wall Street Journal and The Daily News, however, did include statements from residents being impacted by the displacement.

Those will be referenced later on. By including quotes from higher authoritative figures with a prestigious educational background (in comparison to the latter group being impacted), those ideas from the educated class will serve as the representative idea for an entire population: “the less its ‘representatives’ are typical of the category as a whole, the principle of the bias is almost always their relationship to the educational system” (412).

From the neighborhoods I looked at, the disparities in educational backgrounds from residents are astonishing: 8% of East New York residents hold a college degree, while 29% hold a High School diploma. In Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, over one-quarter of the residents live below the Federal Poverty Level, 20% of residents completed less than high school and 40% are college graduates and high school graduates with some college. As of 2015 in East Harlem, 26% of residents completed less than high school, 38% are high school graduates with some college, and 36% hold a college degree.

But 31% of these residents live below the Federal Poverty Level; East Harlem is the twelfth-poorest neighborhood in New York City. What this means is that residents from these neighborhoods do not get the chance to speak in the media as often as they should, due to their educational backgrounds and social status.

The findings alongside the commonalities found amongst the articles I browsed indicate that the right to speak relies heavily on one’s access to wealth. People are inclined to believe someone who has educated rather than listen to someone who does not have a firm sense of what they are talking about; such a mentality is true in most cases, but at times, those who typically are not entitled to speak in open platforms such as the media, must have their story told. While the educational background of the few residents interviewed in the publications referenced is unclear, the assumption that people with a lesser education being silenced in the media is popular and evident within various publications.

There are numerous factors involved in any journalistic piece. Empathy, humanization, ethics, urgency, and transparency are just a few of the many qualifications that make journalism what it strives to be. While it is impossible to run every single story in every single neighborhood, it is important to shed light and awareness on small events that leave an imprint on the persons impacted by such events.

For example, my neighborhood is predominantly comprised of Latinos and African-Americans. Certain neighborhoods cater to different audiences, and it is necessary to have facilities that encourage such people to not only be comfortable in their space, but to encourage success and opportunities for them. The East Harlem Café and La Casa Azul were two large staples within my community that allowed residents, both and old new, to come together and preserve, educate, and indulge in Latino culture–all without having to venture miles outside of the neighborhood. The two establishments sat within walking distance between each other.

The café opened sometime around 2011 or 2012, and sat on East 103rd and Lexington Avenue. When you walked through the door, it felt as if you were visiting and old friend–people greeted each other warmly, the food was delicious and affordable, and the workspace was great for writers, poets, teachers, or just students wanting to relax. The windows were bright and vibrant with beautiful artwork, and people could always rent out space for readings or parties. The café hosted events such as open mic night, where authors were encouraged to showcase their work amongst other passionate people. The café was a home for some and not just a coffee shop. Its presence helped to bring the community together: the only café within our barrio that allowed our culture to breathe and shine.

Until it closed down sometime in 2015. When trying to find news sources that covered the closing of the establishment, I hit dead ends.Yelp was the only place to report the closing. The devastating loss of this gem is unclear: were the owners bought out? Did a tragedy cause the owner to shut its doors for good? Questions remained unanswered as publications gloss over this; a small closure in one community is not important enough to make it into the paper–even if it’s just a few sentences explaining the loss. Perhaps this event was not covered because it was not newsworthy enough. But when a community icon is shut down, there should be some sort of coverage. Perhaps if a more popular bakery, such as Magnolia Bakery, where to close down, their customers would be searching for answers and looking for big time publications for answers. This raises the question of does location influence how and what stories get covered? Was this place closed because the rent was too costly for the owners to afford?

Another establishment that meant a lot to East Harlem residents was La Casa Azul, which was ran by Aurora Anaya-Cerda. The bookstore was the only bookstore in East Harlem that sold texts in Spanish and English, offered art classes, and writing/poetry workshops. Few bookstores in the neighborhood have lasted, one being Cemi Underground, which closed its doors in 2009 after being opened for two years. La Casa Azul opened in June 2012 and had hosted “more than 600 events and classroom visits have attracted award-winning authors such as Junot Diaz.” The New York Times published a blog piece in June 2012 when the bookstore first opened, detailing Ms. Anaya-Cerda’s owns this financial struggles with opening the place. She understood that certain audiences gravitate towards specific items and ideas: “You need to know where you are, what kind of people you’re serving, and what books interest them. You cannot carry just what you want to carry.” Dnainfo.com confirmed that La Casa Azul closed its doors on December 19th, 2015 in efforts to “re-design our business model to increase our social impact as a bookstore, community space, and performing arts center.” The exact location and date of the store’s reopening is unclear. And now, a dog hotel, Hotel Bark Ave, sits in its place, but the mural that served as a marker for the bookstore awkwardly remains.

This new establishment caters to a new influx of residents who see this dog hotel as important–but what about existing residents who would prefer Spanish books over sending their pet to a day hotel? Eugene Rodriguez, a playwright and longtime resident of East Harlem explains to The New York Times in 2012 his frustration over the closing of the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center: “Latino Artists have no access to Latino institutions in the neighborhood.” And despite this statement being made in the context of a different establishment being closed in East Harlem during the same year the bookstore opened, his words still hold true. The lack of institutions within East Harlem for Latino artists to perfect and project their craft is nearly obsolete. The absence of resources, in addition to increased rents are two factors that contribute to displacement of people, because they cannot afford to live as comfortably as some residents can.

Tiffany Zorilla, a resident of East Harlem, said that the café represented “escape and comfort.” She also said the bookstore was “educational. Not in the normal way in going to the bookstore to learn something, but I’m learning about the people that have been here for years. Or for some people, learning about the culture they’ve been taught to shed or be ashamed of.” Educational statistics in East Harlem are poor: “The New York City Department of Education reports that less than 27% of East Harlem and Central Harlem eighth graders were able to meet New York State standards in math and English Language Arts in 2010”–this bookstore, which provided bilingual texts and catered to its residents, certainly would have improved those rates, even if it was a marginal improvement. Yet the media did not shed light on this issue as much as it should have.

This ties back into one’s right to speak within publications, and what gets covered because this topic was not heavily publicized in popular papers. No residents of East Harlem were asked how they felt about the two spaces closing because, well, maybe this was not an important subject to be covered. It is impossible to cover every closing of a shop in the city, that is understandable. But when a neighborhood loses a crucial staple to something far less vital to its current residents, why is this not an issue? One cannot cater to everyone, but people should not be deprived of the right to speak on platform, given that they can offer insight about what it is like to be a victim of circumstances beyond their control.

Works Cited

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York Times Apr 15 2016, Late Edition (East Coast) ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

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Times Apr 29 2014, Late Edition (East Coast) ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

• "Affordable Housing Vs. Gentrification." New York Times Nov 28 2015, Late

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• Berger, Joseph. "No Longer Burning, the South Bronx Gentrifies." New York

Times Mar 26 2012, Late Edition (East Coast) ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

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• Navarro, Mireya. "Tenants Worried by Plans to Build Near City Projects." New

York Times Mar 12 2013, Late Edition (East Coast) ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

• Higgins, Michelle. "Where to Next?" New York Times Feb 28 2016, Late Edition

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• Yee, Vivian. "Gentrification in a Brooklyn Neighborhood Forces Residents to

Move On." New York Times Company. Nov 27 2015. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

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Gentrification, Density; De Blasio Aides Step Up Efforts to Sway Council." Wall

Street Journal Dec 05 2015, Eastern edition ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

• Kadet, Anne. "Metro Money: Imagining the Future of East New York." Wall

Street Journal Aug 16 2014, Eastern edition ed. ProQuest. 2 May 2016 .

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• Alcorn, Chauncey. "Harlem Activists Fight Citibike 'gateway to Gentrification'"

NY Daily News. 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 09 May 2016.

• "Community Health Profiles 2015: East Harlem." COMMUNITY HEALTH

PROFILES 2015: EAST HARLEM. 2015. Web. 9 May 2016.

https://www1.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2015chp-mn11.pdf

• "Community Health Profile, Second Edition: East New York and New Lots."

Take Care East New York and New Lots. U.S. Census 2000/NYC Department of

City Planning, 2006. Web. 9 May 2016.

<https://www1.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2006chp-204.pdf>.

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Gov, 2015. Web. 9 May 2016.

<https://www1.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2015chp-bk8.pdf>.

• "Who We Serve." Who We Serve. Boys & Girls Harbor, Inc., 2015. Web. 09 May

2016. <http://www.theharbor.org/our-story/who-we-serve>.

• Solis, Gustavo. "La Casa Azul Bookstore Closing to 'Evolve' Business Model,

Owner Says." DNAinfo New York. 20 Dec. 2015. Web. 09 May 2016.

<https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151218/east-harlem/la-casa-azul-

bookstore-closing-evolve-its-business-model-owner-says>.

• Bernas, F. (2012, June 5). In El Barrio, a New Bookstore Is Counting on Its

Community. Retrieved May 09, 2016, from

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/in-el-barrio-a-new-bookstore-is-

I grew up in a fairly conservative household. My mother and my grandmother would look to see what I was wearing before I left the house to make sure that I was not showing too much of my body. My grandmother would tell me to cover up so that men wouldn’t stare and rub up against me. I grew up believing that it was up to us as women to make sure that we showed our confidence without showing too much. In my mind it was okay for men to be shirtless and be sexual but if a woman did it, she was loose and not a lady. I wasn’t aware of the female-shaming I was doing in my own mind. As I grow and mature into a young woman, I am starting to see the faults of my thinking, and I hope young women who partake in female-shaming and misogynistic behaviors will grow as well.

I used to believe that good feminists were the women who covered up and pushed women to do more than show their bodies. When Kim Kardashian sparked controversy with her nude photos on instagram, the thoughts that first came to mind was, “What kind of attention was she trying to get? She’s so self-obsessed, she’s so loose.” When celebrities like Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Thorne, and Ariel Winter came to Kim’s defense about women empowerment I wondered why, but as I dug deeper into the situation I noticed that it really was about giving women the right to post what they wanted. I started to realize that the world felt a woman’s body was only significant if a man was showing it but if a woman chooses to capture her own beauty, she was deemed as a whore and trashy.

Reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian spoke out about the nude pictures that she had posted on instagram, after being criticized for it. “I don't do drugs, I hardly drink, I've never committed a crime—and yet I'm a bad role model for being proud of my body?" (Nessif, Bruna, E News). Kim went on to say, "I am empowered by my body. I am empowered by my sexuality. I am empowered by feeling comfortable in my skin. I am empowered by showing the world my flaws and not being afraid of what anyone is going to say about me. And I hope that through this platform I have been given, I can encourage the same empowerment for girls and women all over the world."

Amber Rose came to Kim’s defense after women such as Pink, Chloe Moretz, and Bette Midler criticized Kim for her provocative selfies. "If any sexy guy posted a nude picture with a little black strip over his private areas, everybody would be like, 'Damn, he is hot, he's sexy, look at that body. Oh, he's a dad too?'" Rose continued. "It's just a double standard." ( Heller, Corinne E news) With the controversy of Kim’s nude pictures, the conversation of feminism has reached new heights on social media. Social media has taken over our generation with materialistic values and fake realities for years, and for the first time a real issue involving women has sparked conversation all over the country.

I always had a hard time determining who was a feminist and who wasn’t. I never considered myself a feminist until I began college because it was an issue that I never really thought about. I never fully thought about the double-standard between men and women, I just accepted things as they were. As females, we (me included) break other females down who show their body in tight clothing or who wear no clothing out of discomfort and the idea that a real woman doesn’t show her body.

There is no reason why a man should be praised by women for being unclothed while a woman of any shape or size has to keep her body covered for fear of being shamed. While I still believe that Kim among other celebrities use instagram likes and attention from others to build themselves up, it still shouldn’t result in the consistent double-standard that the media constantly allows. I personally view Kim Kardashian as more of a narcissist for how she portrays herself, and I wish she talked about feminism more with the platform that she is given. Unfortunately instagram provides a platform for women to compete with each other on who has the best body and who gets the most attention, when in reality there’s more to being confident than the amount of likes and attention you get.

Women who claim to be feminists put other women down and call them out for being ‘bad feminists’ when in reality there is no right or wrong way to be a feminist. As hard as it is to believe, feminism and instagram could go hand in hand. Although it seems strange to think of instagram as a platform for feminism, as comfortable as men are with posting nude pictures and receiving praise from women, women should feel comfortable as well to praise each other and post images for themselves to build confidence in themselves and others. A prostitute, a porn star, or a supermodel who enjoys posing in the nude is not less of a feminist because her body is what she shows most. Of course I personally think women do have more to offer than their bodies and should also focus on their other gifts separate from their bodies, feminism is giving a woman the right to express herself as she pleases as long as it doesn’t hurt others.

Women like Lena Dunham are changing the way women are depicted on television through her TV show Girls. The show is about women in their twenties who are are open with their sexuality, having (lots of) sex, and many times appearing completely nude. Lena Dunham allows herself and the other actresses of the show to express themselves and doesn’t hold back, breaking the boundaries of what a woman should be even if it is sometimes ‘uncomfortable’ to watch. (Keene, Allison, Hollywood Reporter) In Girls, Dunham appears on the show naked, showing her female audiences that it is okay to love your body, no matter what size you are.

When thinking about how Dunham who is a feminist herself is breaking boundaries for women, I also go back to thinking about women like Amber Rose. Amber Rose who is a former stripper but current entrepreneur has written a book, “How to be a Bad Bitch” to inspire women to break the boundaries of what a woman should be and how to express themselves. Her book discusses sex, sex-appeal, and loving your body. Rose is constantly being called out for being a former stripper and for her provocative selfies but with the movement titled ‘Slut Walk’ she is trying to change how women are treated by pushing to them to be confident and open with their sexuality and bodies. Similar to how I feel about Kim, I still question whether Rose is using feminism to boost her popularity on instagram/twitter as many stars do. It is unfortunate that such an important topic can be used for something as trivial as likes and media attention.    

Although I used to believe that  women like Amber Rose and Kim Kardashian were ‘too provocative’ and ‘too sexual’ I’ve started to accept the different ways women exert confidence. Feminism is not about agreeing with everything a women does, it is about giving them the space to feel beautiful on their own terms. It is important to think critically about why young women have to cover up while men remain unaware that their entitlement to a woman’s body is in fact non-existent. It is also important to step back and realize that the female body is not something that automatically must be covered, it should be a woman’s choice whether or not she want’s to cover it.

Vivian Yee from The New York Times published an article,“Indictment of New York Officer divides Chinese-Americans,” in February 2015 a few months shortly after the incident occurred. In the article, Yee opens up with the ironic beginning of Lunar New Year coinciding with the indictment manslaughter charges brought onto Liang and what it means to the Chinese community. Yee’s article in the Times was one of the first published to explore the angle of how Liang’s case contributes to the pre existing controversy of police brutality, but how this specific case caused a divide amongst a community. In May 2015, several months after Yee’s Time’s article was published, Hansi Lo Wang from NPR published a similar article, “N.Y. Police Shooting Case Divides City’s Asian-Americans." Both of the articles include quotes from residents of the Chinatown communities in Flushing, Queens and Manhattan, New York. Using quotes from community members, what both Yee and Lo Wang emphasize in their articles is the concern amongst individuals that Liang was only charged with manslaughter, and was the only police officer to shoot an unarmed black male to become charged, because he is Asian.

These articles were published in 2015, one year before the verdict from the trial came out but already there had been a community outcry. In February 2016, the jury came to a verdict and decided Peter Liang was guilty of manslaughter. The verdict caused a variety of New York news outlets to cover this topic. Sarah Maslin Nir and David W. Chen from The New York Times published the article “Many Asians Express Dismay and Frustration After Liang Verdict,” after the verdict was released. Since Liang’s indictment, individuals have rallied together in support but once the verdict read guilty, Liang wasn’t the only one left distraught according to the article. Maslin Nir and Chen state in their article that the case has “pulled at a thread long woven through the city’s Asian population, which sees what happened as yet another example of the mistreatment of a marginalized community, ill-equipped to fight back.”

In another article covering the case, Nathan Place and Thomas Tracy for The New York Daily News wrote “Supporters Rally behind Peter Liang, cop convicted in Akai Gurley’s shooting death.”  The article was also written after the verdict in February 2016, and stated “Peter Liang was convicted February 11 of manslaughter and faces 15 years in prison for killing Gurley.” Similarly to the other articles writing about the case, this one also covers the rising protests of Chinese-Americans. According to another Times article written, the Liang case “marks a pivotal moment in the Asian-American community since the Rodney King riots, when dozens of Korean-American businesses were burned to the ground” (Caspian Kang).

Several months after the verdict had been read, the case took another unexpected turn of events. In April 2016 one of the jurors, Michael Vargas, had knowingly lied about his father’s criminal history thus causing the defense to reevaluate the new information to the judge. In Alan Feuer’s article for the Times, “Juror Imperils Conviction of Peter Liang; Ex-Officer, in Brooklyn Killing,” he calls this case one of the biggest police misconduct cases in recent New York history that swept up the national debate on race and law enforcement.

After the misconduct from the juror was announced, the New York Post writes “NYPD cop Peter Liang dodges prison for killing Akai Gurley.” The article states the Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun largely followed the “no-jail recommendation of Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson in sentencing ex-Officer Peter Liang to five years probation and 800 hours of community service for the death of Akai Gurley.” The jury’s finding on manslaughter was also downgraded by Chun to criminally negligent homicide. The article presents both sides of the prosecution and defense having quotes from Liang’s lawyer as well as Gurley’s girlfriend who watched him die in his arms. The article also includes a photograph of the protesters in support of Peter Liang outside the Brooklyn courthouse before his sentencing. Signs written “Peter Scapegoat, Peter Liang deserves justice, and one tragedy two victims,” are amongst the many phrases written from supporters.

As the case continues in trial nearly one year and a half after the incident, the media’s coverage does not stop either. Again in April 2016, the New York Times writes another article, “Ex-New York Officer Gets 5 Years of Probation in Fatal Brooklyn Shooting.” Feuer is the writer for this article again, days after his previous one for the publication regarding the juror. In this article, Feuer writes “The sentence-in one of the most divisive police misconduct cases in recent New York City history- came just moments after the judge took the unusual steps of ruling that the shooting was essentially an accident and reducing the jury’s verdict.” He points out that the case has been usual from the start and the sentence was a decisive move in the politically contentious case, but never fit the narrative of other killings by law-enforcement officers around the country. “It is rare for police officers even to be charged and brought to court in shooting cases; while this one resulted in a guilty verdict at a three-week trial this winter, the sentencing was deeply disappointing to the family of the victim, Akai Gurley,” Feuer said.

Similarly, the New York Daily News wrote “Judge rules ex-NYPD cop Peter Liang does not deserve new trial for killing Akai Gurley,” shortly after the verdict was changed. This article does not mention the rallying of supporters for Liang but rather states “around 200 protesters rallied against the delay of Liang’s sentencing, as well as Thompson’s recommendation he be given probation,” with the rest of the article concluded with quotes from Gurley’s family.

In the wake of Liang’s arrest, several news outlets focused on covering first hand accounts through the lens of public reaction and protest. Thousands of community members, activists and organizers alike gathered in various New York City locations throughout the impending trial and aftermath of Liang's indictment. Community leader Jack Ouyang spearheaded other members of the Chinese-American community in organizing a support group, Coalition of Justice for Liang. On February 19, 2014, the group released a statement, “We believe that Mr. Liang has been sacrificed as a scapegoat in a highly politicized criminal justice system, resulting from recent intensifying police-community relations. By protesting Officer Liang's conviction, the Coalition of Justice for Liang is demanding that NYPD must shoulder its responsibilities.”

The statement was released to several media and news outlets, and allowed journalists to gain traction in covering the movement of community reaction. New York City based magazine, The Villager, published an article five days after the Coalition of Justice for Liang released their statement. Author Ropek focused on the strong numbers in attendance, “An estimated nearly 10,000, mostly Asian-American protesters rallied in Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn, on Sat., Feb. 20, to voice their anger and disbelief at Liang’s conviction. Many of them passed out leaflets urging that the Supreme Court justice who oversaw the case grant a more lenient sentence for Liang.”

 While members of the Asian-American community called for the exoneration of Liang, the press also focused on the juxtaposing voices of those who stood in solidarity with the neighbors and family of Akai Gurley, backed by members of the Black Lives Matter movement. The New York Times spotlighted these voices in an article titled, “Legacy of Officer Peter Liang’s Conviction Is Hard to Define” published February 12th of 2016, “Members of the Black Lives Matter movement saw the verdict as a validation of their fight in other cities in the aftermath of fatal police shootings. Brittany Packnett, a member of the planning team for Campaign Zero, another activist group, said the verdict was to be celebrated, and a product of “the collective efforts of many across the country have made citizens and the criminal justice system well aware that we demand to see justice for the fallen.” The New York Times and several other New York based news outlets continued to follow the Liang case throughout various areas of the city, inciting a nationwide discussion on the intersections of police brutality, racism and urban space.

New York press continued to cover the varying aspects of the highly politicized Liang case, several outlets capitalized on these feelings of tension and high emotion. The Asian Times released several op-eds opposing the indictment of manslaughter, calling for members of the Asian-American community to see Liang as a scapegoat for systemic corruption and police brutality. An op-ed for the Asia Times titled, Peter Liang is unlucky to be an Asian New York cop, Dr. George Koo wrote, “Asians along with Latinos and Blacks are on the same side of the racial divide not on opposite sides. The injustice is white vs. all the colored minorities. Liang is unlucky to become a cause celebre just when the emotional cauldron is at full boil.” On April 19, 2016, Curtis Sliwa, a writer for the New York Post posted an opinion editorial in response to Liang’s final verdict titled, “Peter Liang ruling is a travesty.”  Sliwa wrote, “The district attorney and Judge Danny Chun enabled Liang because he got five years’ probation and 800 hours of community service. The two cops, the police union, the DA and the judge are hopelessly wrong. Liang should have been sentenced to seven years of hard time in a state penitentiary so that this might never happen again.” The shooting of Akai Gurley addressed deeper, more insidious issues minority communities had with New York Police Department. New York publications played a lead role in bringing these viewpoints to light, fostering a citywide discussion among viewership.

Data taken in 2015 indicated that 97% of officers involved in cases of police violence were not charged with a crime. Journalistic coverage of police violence is vital in creating public awareness, especially in urban spaces where certain formulas of crime often go unreported. Media outlets carry immense power in bringing issues to the forefront. The lens of urban study includes viewing urban spaces critically, especially when it comes to crime and crime coverage. Reporting in urban spaces hold great implications in the movement for change, reaching the inhabitants and policies of the city. The Liang trial exposed error in the New York Police Department's systematic treatment of crime, especially in low-income communities. Journalism can play a crucial role in highlighting the catalysts of change within these power structures. The Black Lives Matter movement as well as the Asian American community continued an ongoing fight for minority rights throughout the Liang trial, using the media as a platform for coverage.

The New York Times website has a beat dedicated solely to stories on, “Police Brutality, Misconduct and Shootings.” The section covers national stories as well as those centric to New York City. Article “If Police Stairwell Shooting was Accidental, Circumstances Around It Were Not,” by crime reporter Alan Feuer addressed the politics of police coverage in urban spaces in the wake of the Liang trial, “But if the killing of Mr. Gurley was a kind of crime of chance, what of the conditions that preceded and permitted it? Would a private building on the Upper East Side have had an elevator persistently out of service as was the case at the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York? Would the stairwell lights in such a building have been broken? Would armed officers — one of them with his gun drawn — have been on patrol inside?” Publications like the New York Times and the New York Daily News followed the preceding case over the span of two years, as it affected community members all throughout the various Manhattan boroughs. Coverage followed protest throughout the city, from Chinatown to City Hall, often landing in Brooklyn, the site of the shooting and trial. The Liang case served as a representation of the issues within its surrounding urban space; class, race, politics, lives and law were all up for discussion.

Urban Journalism can work to create strides in city wide change, in the case of Peter Liang, tensions between arising communities meant that reporters were stepping foot into vulnerable situations. Crime coverage in urban spaces can carry the weight of having detrimental effects, such as the case of The Central Park Five, often cited as a miscarriage of justice perpetrated by faulty journalism. Voices from both sides were heard throughout the Liang case, and the city functioned as debating ground in addressing police brutality and crime in urban spaces. The death of Akai Gurley left a community reeling in pain, and the trauma that stems from police brutality is a sentiment echoed throughout the nation.  The voices showcased throughout several urban publications in the Liang case were for the most part immensely intersectional, and imparted the opportunity for journalists to ethically illustrate the retelling of minority stories.

Works Cited:

Alan Feuer. "Juror Imperils Conviction of Peter Liang, Ex-Officer, in Brooklyn Killing." The New York Times (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Alan Feuer. "Ex-New York Officer Gets 5 Years of Probation in Fatal Brooklyn Shooting." The New York Times (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Jay Caspian Kang. "How Should Asian-Americans Feel About the Peter Liang Protests?" The New York Times (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Koo, George. "Peter Liang Is Unlucky to Be an Asian New York Cop." Asia Times. Top Writers China, 15 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.

Chelsea Rose Marcius, and Stephen Rex Brown. "Judge Rules Ex-NYPD Cop Peter Liang Does Not Deserve New Trial for Killing Akai Gurley." The New York Daily News (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Sarah Maslin Nir, and David W. Chen. "Many Asians Express Dismay and Frustration After Liang Verdict." The New York Times (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Emily Saul, Kevin Fasick, and Kate Sheehy. "NYPD Cop Peter Liang Dodges Prison for Killing Akai Gurley." The New York Post (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Mapping Police Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/>.

Nathan Place, and Thomas Tracy. "Supporters Rally behind Peter Liang, Cop Convicted in Akai Gurley’s Shooting Death." The New York Daily News (2016): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Ouyang, Jack. "Chinese Americans in More Than 30 Cities to Rally for Justice for Ex-NYPD Officer Peter Liang." Chinese Americans in More Than 30 Cities to Rally for Justice for Ex-NYPD Officer Peter Liang. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2016.

Ropek, Lucas. "Asian Pols, Protesters Demand Leniency for Liang." The Villager Newspaper. The Villager, 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.

Sliwa, Curtis. "Peter Liang Ruling Is a Travesty: Curtis Sliwa." New York Post. New York Post, 19 Apr. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.

Hansi Lo Wang. "N.Y. Police Shooting Case Divides City's Asian-Americans." NPR (2015): n. pag. Web. 10 May 2016.

Wilson, Michael. "Legacy of Officer Peter Liang’s Conviction Is Hard to Define." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 May 2016.