Sign for Anibal Carrasquillo Jr. at Yong Xin Huang's memorial service in Columbus Park

Title

Sign for Anibal Carrasquillo Jr. at Yong Xin Huang's memorial service in Columbus Park

Description

Anibal Carrasquillo Jr. was 21 years old when he was shot in the back by NYPD officer Marco Calderon on January 22, 1995, under the suspicion of looking into vehicles. [1]
Two months later, on March 25, 16-year-old Yong Xin Huang was shot in the back of the head by NYPD officer Steven Mizrahi after a neighbor reported that the former and his friends were playing with a gun (later found out to be a pellet gun). [2]

The image captures a moment during Huang's memorial service in Columbus Park [3] where a woman (likely Carrasquillo’s mother, Milta Calderon) has a sign around her neck in remembrance of Carrasquillo, displaying the unfortunate connection between the two as victims of police brutality.

The sign around the woman's neck reads "No Justice, No Peace!! for Anibal Carrasquillo Jr." (with a photograph of Carrasquillo below), "Flatbush," and "Shot in the back by P.O Marco Calderone January 22, 1995." Some parts of the sign are obscured due to the reflection of the sun's light in the image.

Beside the woman is Saleem Osman, a coordinator with CAAAV's Lease Drivers Coalition, who was assaulted and arrested by police a year earlier. [4] There are two large signs behind the woman and Osman.

The giant poster on the left is from the Young Korean American Service and Education Center (YKASEC), now the MinKwon Center for Community Action. It reads "Justice for Yong Xin Huang 청년학교 YKASEC." The other poster behind the woman and Osman reads "Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence."

The photograph’s presence within CAAAV’s Digital Archive showcases the organization’s continued legacy in highlighting police brutality as an issue all marginalized people face. Moreover, it focuses on their commitment to solidarity with other marginalized communities, which has been a part of CAAAV since its founding. One of the organization's earliest actions was partnering with the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights (NCPRR), a grassroots organization that supported Latine communities against discrimination and racial violence. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, these two organizations would be allies in confronting Mayor Giuliani’s policing regime and supporting grieving families.[5]
After the memorial, Carrasquillo was a constant figure in marches and demonstrations, with him being on signage at the 1996 Racial Justice march [6] and the takeover of the Brooklyn D.A. office, [7] respectively. His family also represented him at rallies.[8]


[1] "Officer Shot Man in the Back, Medical Examiner Finds". The New York Times. January 24, 1995

[2] The Murder of Yong Xin Huang · Quality of Life: CAAAV’s Activism Against the Giuliani Administration’s Policing · CAAAV Digital Archive

[3] “Voice Fall 1995,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed October 20, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2131.

[4] “Saleem Osman and his lawyer on court day,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed October 23, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2101.

[5] Truong, Vivian. "From State-Sanctioned Removal to the Right to the City: The Policing of Asian Immigrants in Southern Brooklyn, 1987–1995."Journal of Asian American Studies 23, no. 1 (2020), p 69-75

[6] “Parents Against Police Brutality at the 1996 Racial Justice Day March,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed October 23, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2205.

[7] “Takeover of Brooklyn DA Office,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed October 22, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/1998

[8] CAAAV, “April 25 Rally/March From 1 Police Plaza to Chinatown,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed October 22, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2041

Date

July 16, 1995

Contributor

Digitized by: Vivian Truong
Cataloged by: Sabrina Moore

Rights

Copyright is held by CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities.

Format

Photograph

Identifier

Photo533

Files

Photo533.jpg

Citation

“Sign for Anibal Carrasquillo Jr. at Yong Xin Huang's memorial service in Columbus Park,” CAAAV Digital Archive, accessed November 21, 2024, https://archives.caaav.org/items/show/2392.

Output Formats