Victory for La Peña center
By Rebecca Hannah Finkel
Bronx, N.Y.
A New York Supreme Court judge on March 15 ordered the
reopening of Vamos a La Peña of the Bronx and dismissed
all charges against the community center.
The Bronx courtroom was filled with supporters of La
Peña--including African Americans, Puerto Ricans,
Mexicans, the group Daughters of Rebellion, and International
Action Center delegates--who had earlier picketed outside.
The police had alleged that La Peña was operating in
an unsafe manner and participating in illegal activity. This is
only the latest development in a 15-year struggle with the
police department. La Peña has struggled to remain open
so it could offer the South Bronx immigrant community a space
for activities ranging from progressive political meetings to
craft workshops and literacy classes.
History of police raids
For 15 years, the police have attacked La Peña,
carrying out 34 raids and issuing 30 tickets, three of them
since 9/11 as police repression has increased all over the
city. Carlos Moreno, the lawyer representing La Peña,
stated that, "Common sense would say that if the police
continue to issue tickets and the judge continues to dismiss
them time and time again, due to absolute lack of evidence, the
motive behind these tickets is only harassment."
In order to conjure up false pretexts for raids, the police
have accused La Peña of operating as a nightclub because
dancing was taking place. La Peña not only offers space
to this community not available anywhere else, but it offers
programs such as Food for the Homeless and helps people
fighting against police brutality and for human rights.
This ruling does not mean that the battle to keep La
Peña's doors open is over. The judge ordered Moreno to
provide proof of an existing law that says organizations such
as La Peña are allowed to operate as they have been. "It
is only a matter of time before another raid occurs," says
Moreno. "The police harass La Peña due solely to the
political work La Peña participates in, including
fighting against police brutality."
Because La Peña was shut down on March 1, an
International Women's Day event was postponed to March 24 at 2
p.m.
Reprinted from the March 28, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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