BROOKLYN, NY, October 21 — “Justice for Kyam Livingston — killed in a Brooklyn cell” echoed down the cold, darkening, windswept street outside 120 Schermerhorn St. here today. This is the courthouse that holds the local Central Booking, backing on to the Brooklyn House of Detention. The gathering of more than 120 chanting people was multi-racial, young and old, men and women. Although the street was dark and cold, the fire of the words burned against the walls of Central Booking.
A number of cops stood in front of the courthouse’s wide door as the chants continued. Several speakers talked about Kyam Livingston who had called out for medical attention for over seven hours from her cell. She received none and died there on a bench with only the other detainees to help and comfort her. That’s what gave her mother’s words such strength.
Holding up the urn with Kyam’s ashes, between anguished sobs, she told the story of how her daughter’s cries for help were spurned by the jailers. Kyam’s son also spoke about his growing understanding of the system that could callously do this to his mother. One young man emceed the gathering while two people kept the chants going between speeches.
The first hearing of the case against the City occurred in federal court earlier in the day. The City outrageously refuses to hand over the surveillance tapes of events in the cell the night Kyam died, or the names of the cops on duty at the jailhouse. Instead they questioned the family about Kyam as a person, as though she was the offending party. The arrogance and callousness of the system becomes more apparent every day.
This is where Kyam’s son learned a lot more about how the working class is officially oppressed. According to the official rules, Kyam should have been given medical attention when she was first in distress. Instead, all she and her cellmates received from the cops was the notice to “shut the f*** up or we’ll lose your paperwork.”
Kyam’s mother could not contain her sorrow. She walked up the steps between the cops and right into the courthouse where everyone could see her from the street. She tightly held the urn with her daughter’s ashes. She then walked out between the security people, went to the microphone and spoke of taking her daughter out of the jail. “Now you’re free,” her mother said. There were few dry eyes among the gathered supporters.
A teacher who works with the Justice for Shantel Davis Committee spoke, linking the system responsible for both deaths. Later another speaker told the group that the “elephant in the room is racism,” and that racism must be fought constantly. He led the chant, “Racism means, fight back!” which everyone took up. Another speaker challenged the security guards standing on the steps to think about what had happened, and about how people are treated inside that building. Other chants and speakers demanded release of the tapes, the cops’ names and for a thorough investigation of conditions inside the jail.
The Justice for Kyam Livingston Committee will continue to be active and hold demonstrations on the 21st of every month, the monthly anniversary of her death. The committee’s growth and those involved are a good sign of people refusing to accept the pat answers that capitalism gives us for the tragedies it causes. The sale of CHALLENGE during this demonstration was another good sign. The struggle may be long, but the goal is our future.