Hunters Point: The people have spoken

Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai hit the ground running, breaking down the truth of the proposed Black removal plan. “I don’t have to stand here, as a doctor with an M.D. and a Ph.D., and tell you that all this is happening because we are Black. We are not going to sit back and take this – because we are Black.” Onlookers gathered as her message pounded its way through Civic Center Plaza.

The crowd of 200 supporters applauded as 84-year-old Edith Smith took them back down memory lane to 1959, when she and five other Black mothers worked hard to “walk them red hills and make this land livable.” She wants her property to go to her children and grandchildren.

“Redevelopment wanted this land in 1960. We had our meetings, and we built those buildings (the newer housing in Hunters Point) and we made it what it is. We didn’t ask them for nothin’, just a chance to show them that we could do it. Now they’re back here with this plan. I will not be moved,” she said. “I am 84 years old. I am not going anywhere.”

Environmental activist Marie Harrison, who will be running for District 10 supervisor this year, is a former Fillmore resident. Her family moved to Bayview Hunters Point after Redevelopment bulldozed homes and business owned by Black people. “I was one of those cast aside in the Western Addition’s ‘urban renewal,’” she explained, a warning to those who believe the City’s promises.

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