The group met at Carl Schurz Park on the East River, where the mayor’s house was. As we approached, a large group of white people at the tops of the steps on the promenade were jumping up and down and shouting. I immediately looked around, taking in the scene. It was barely light and these people were yelling within steps of the mayor’s house? We couldn’t do this. Imagine the attention fifty or sixty Black people would garner if we were on the lawn near the mayor’s house, screaming “Fuck yeah.” I imagined a passerby wondering what the “hoodlums” were up to and calling the police. But this
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