Hate crimes across New York City rose by 366 percent during the week ending May 30, compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD data. In the Bronx, year-to-date hate crimes have risen by 200 percent, compared to 2020. Attacks against the Asian American community, fueled by ignorance regarding the spread of the coronavirus have been widely reported by various news outlets, while Norwood News has previously reported on hate crimes carried out against the LGBTQ+ community and the Jewish community in recent months.

 

In an effort to address this, a Stop the Hate rally was held in Fordham Manor on Sunday, June 6. The event was organized by the Dowe Twins & Friends. According to their website, www.dowetwins.com, Princeton and Brazil Dowe, 11-year-old twins from the Bronx, started their entrepreneurial journey in 2016 when they were just 7 years old.

 

Their website describes their determination to make changes within their community by spreading positive messages regarding health and education, despite facing certain learning challenges for which they are still seeking a diagnosis. To date, the duo have launched their own Water2Kids brand of water, have published a number of kid-friendly books, and encourage supplemental learning through the use of trivia activity workbooks and flashcard game packages. According to their website, the twins also set an example to other kids by working hard at school.

 

About 50 people showed up for the Stop the Hate rally which began at Big Pun Plaza, at Fordham Road and Grand Concourse and finished at Poe Park. Among the attendees was former NYPD detective, Sammy Ravelo, who is among the five candidates running for the position of Bronx borough president, along with District 14 City Councilman Fernando Cabrera,  Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernández, District 16 City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson, and State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda.

 

Speaking at the event, Ravelo said he was honored to see young people calling, with their votes, for an end to violence. “Remember, we were put here on this earth to be the footprint, and the footprint that we do not want to leave is the footprint of violence,” he said. “We don’t want to be the generation that leaves a worse generation for our kids. You know, as a father of two Bronxites, it concerns me, the trajectory in which this city is going.”

 

Ravelo said that addressing hatred in the community was an ongoing task. “It can’t end here,” he said. “From here, we continue. We’ve got to let every one of our community [know], whether it’s the Bangladeshi, whether it’s the Dominican community, Puerto Rican community, the African community, the Haitian community, we are a big soup of people here in the Bronx, and we’ve got to learn how to live together and get along.”

 

Ravelo thanked the event co-sponsors which, among others, included the Black Spades, a reformed gang from the ’70s, which now operates as both a security company and a non-profit program mentoring young people about crime, gun and gang violence. The group is the subject of a recent documentary, The Black Spades.

 

Another attendee at the rally was Dion Powell, county committeeman of the 79th Assembly District and founder of the New York Free Thinking Democrats Facebook group, who, most recently, ran for election under the Conservative Party ticket for New York State Assembly to represent District 79. Powell lost in the general election on Nov. 3, 2020 to Assemblywoman Chantel Jackson.

 

Speaking to Norwood News after the rally, Powell confirmed his personal endorsement of Ravelo for Bronx borough president, saying, “He’s the only one that’s not a career politician. Other people that are running – they will say that the Bronx is poor forever yet they’ve been in office fo years.” He added, “The Bronx is the bluest county in America, yet the poorest county in America. I see through that, so they can say they support us forever but you’ve been in leadership for a long time.”

 

Powell said he backs Ravelo because he is an independent candidate, a veteran, and a retired law enforcement officer. “He also was involved in the September 11th attacks and the first response, so he has a body of work that sets him apart as being from the community, and engaged in the community, especially in these tough times of ‘defund the police’ and now, more than ever, we need people like Sammy in a leadership role because crime is going up, and people are now seeing the effects of the change in the laws,” he said.

 

“He’s the one that knows how to communicate on law enforcement, public safety and the community, plus business owners and the Dominican community is up and coming. One in three Bronxites are Dominican, so yeah, he’s an all-around person running for office,” Powell said, adding that with ranked choice voting, he believed a win is possible. Ravelo was born in the Dominican Republic.

 

Meanwhile, the New York Free Thinking Democrats recently ranked their candidates in the District 15 City Council race as follows: 1. Bernadette Ferrara, 2. Ischia Bravo, 3. John Sanchez, 4. Troy Blackwell and 5. Oswald Feliz (incumbent).

 

Back at the rally, ending his address, Ravelo reverted its main theme. “We got to stop the hate,” he said. “We love our Jewish brothers and sisters up in Riverdale. We love our Asian brothers and sisters, so a perfect motto – Stop the Hate! Spread positivity.”