IMPACT

1. MARCHING PROTEST PROTECTION 

StreetRiders created the foundational template for protection, navigation of marching protestors , eventually protecting thousands of marching protestors around New York City, training hundreds of volunteers in the same, some of whom went on to form other marching protest bike marshalling teams .

    2. JUSTICE RIDES

StreetRiders created a weekly riding protest called “Justice Rides”, which grew to become the largest weekly black lives protest in the world in the wake of the George Floyd protests with upwards of 10,000+ riders, peaking at approx 20,000 riders for certain rides. Each Justice Ride had a theme and all riders wore similar colors. The routes were kept secret to avoid sabotage from the police and disruptors. The Justice Rides had very organized and formal support teams ( Protectors, medics, Mechanics, Supply, logistics, Pacesetters, Scouts, and more ) who all worked in conjunction to create impactful rides. Streetriders also availed snacks and refreshments for all riders at break stops. The rides impact included;

• Use of bikes, scooters, blades, boards, to expand the protests to wider areas that foot marchers could not access. This also led to more people joining the protests
• Using the rides to show non -POC how underserved black and brown communities were. The difference in infrastructure, lifestyle, amenities, and even environmental standards were greatly disparate.
• Being themed rides, the Justice Rides served as an educational experience around different topics related to how white supremacy and racism oppressed black people
• JRI – 06/10/20 – Grand Army Plaza (GAP)
• JRII – 06/12/20 – Black Lives matter – GAP
• JRIII – 06/20/20- Times Square – Fight For Black Lives- Dress Code Black
• JRIV – 06/27/20- Barclays – No Justice No Peace- Dress Code White
• JRV – 07/04/20 – Thomas Jefferson Park – Not Yet Free – Dress Code red
• JRVI – 07/11/20- Brooklyn Museum- Fight For Black Lives- Dress Code Black
• JRVII – 07/18/20- The Globe, Flushing meadows Park, Queens- United Nations- Dress Code Blue
• JRVIII – 07/27/20 – UNITE NY – Cadman Plaza – Dress Code Yellow
• JRIX – 08/01/20- Black Lives Matter- Daniel Webster memorial, Central Park- Dress Code Black
• JRX – 08/08/20 – Tweed Courthouse, Lower Manhattan – Built Off Slavery- Dress Code Green  ( largest JR. 20,000 riders)
• JRXI – 08/15/20- African Burial Ground, Lower Manhattan- Black Womens Ride – Dress Code Pink
• JRXII – 08/22/20 – John Paul Jones Park – Get out and Vote – Dress Code Orange
• JRXIII – 09/05/20 – Flatbush & Empire Boulevard – Fight For Our Lives – Dress Code – Brown
• JRXIV – 09/26/20- 59th St & 5th Ave- Say Her Name -Breonna Taylor – Open dress code
• JRXV – 10/03/20 – Bryant Park – No Justice No Peace- Dress Code White
• JRXVI – 10/10/20 – Maria Hernandez park, Bushwick – Resilience- Dress Code Red
• JRXVII – 10/24/20 – Yankee Stadium, Bronx – Black Lives Matter- Dress Code Grey
• JRXVIII – 10/31/20- Union Square, Manhattan – No More Nightmares- Dress Code- Halloween Costume
• JRXIX – 11/07/20- Barclays Center, brooklyn- The People’s Choice ( Trump Ousted )- Dress Code Blue
• JRXX – 03/08/21 – GAP – Justice For George Floyd- Dress Code- All Black
• JRXXI – 03/27/21- Bowne Playground, Flushing Queens – Black & Asian Solidarity Ride- Dress Code Yellow
• JRXXII – 04/17/21 – Barclays Center – No Justice No Peace- Dress Code Red
• JRXXIII- 05/01/21 – McCarren Park, Williamsburg- Stop Killing Our Youth- Dress Code Orange
• JRXXIV- 05/15/21- Queensbridge Park- Liberation Ride . Palestine & Colombia-  Dress Code Flags or white
• JRXXV – 06/05/21- GAP, Brooklyn – 1yr Anniversary Ride – Dress code black
• JRXXVI – 07/03/21- Times Square, Manhattan – Not Yet Free – Dress Code Red

3. POLITICAL LOBBYING AND INITIATIVES

• Streetriders successfully rallied the riding masses to petition City Council and government to divest emergency response calls from NYPD to a specialized unit consisting of healthcare professionals. The petition, which was signed by over 15,000 riders, was handed to the City Council and The Mayor’s office. You can read the petition here  . 
• Streetriders petitioned the NY Attorney General’s office to hold NYPD accountable for violence against Black Lives Matter protestors, providing the office with testimony from several protestors who had been violated by the NYPD. The Attorney General’s office eventually filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for excessive force and abuse against protestors . You can read more about it here.

4. COMMUNITY EFFORTS

StreetRiders engaged in lots of community related efforts, not only during the protests, but continues to do so. Some of the activities included:

• Several Community Cleanups
• Multiple food and clothing drives for low income neighborhoods such as The Bushwick Houses. We also hosted kids holiday gift drives, Thanksgiving Turkey Drives ( an annual drive that we continue to host ).
• Drives giving assistance to organizations that work with the unhoused and vulnerable New Yorkers such as Bronxworks, Bowery Residents Committee, and more.
• Bike Lane cleanups in ‘danger spots’ where multiple cyclists were facing life-threatening conditions, yet with no response from the city

5. VOTER REGISTRATION AND CENSUS REGISTRATION RIDES

• Rallied riders around the city to meet up, split into groups , and embarked on voter & census registration rides, on multiple occassions.
• Partnered with  grassroots organization “Swing Left” to register voters ( to get Trump out of office )

6. SOLIDARITY RIDES

Streetriders has been a firm believer that all oppressed people have relatable struggles, and we have consistently used our reach to help amplify and support groups and communities facing duress. Some examples of solidarity rides we have had are:

• Until freedom “State Of Emergency ” Rally with the families of Breonna Taylor and other victims of Violence. ( Route and protection )
• Music Workers Alliance ( protection )
• Running To Protest ( protection )
• Autism Acceptance walk over Brooklyn Bridge. by Running To Protest ( protection )
• George Floyd Family NY Brooklyn Bridge Protest ( protection )
• Earth Day Ride ( handing out educational and informational material related to environmental racism and amplifying support for local organizations working within that space )
• Palestine Liberation Solidarity Ride
• Colombia peoples solidarity ride
• Stop Asian Hate solidarity ride
• Asian Women Led Protest Ride for Asian Lives
• Many more

7.  BLACK LIVES WEBINARS WITH PROMINENT ACTIVISTS & SCHOLARS FROM THE GREATER MOVEMENT. 

In late 2020 as Covid-19 resurged and we had to pause the rides, we produced several informative webinars about black lives and our struggle, with prominent activists, scholars, and leaders within the greater movement. The webinars covered the following topics:

• Defund vs Abolish : Defining
• White Allyship
• Of Capital Punishment
• GA Senate Runoff
• Black and Brown Solidarity in Social Justice Movements
• Holistic Wellness in The Fight for Black Lives
• The Black LGBTQIA+ Community and the pathway to liberation
• Notes From The Cycling Capital Of The World
• The Music and The Movement

Hosted by StreetRiders team lead Rico Washington, guests included :

• Christopher Bruce : Political Director at The American Civil Liberties Union- Georgia
• Nsé Ufot : CEO of The New Georgia Project
• Kristina Roth: Senior Advocate For Criminal Justice Programs, Amnesty International
• Maurice Chammah: Staff Writer for The Marshall project
• Shawnda Chapman: Director Of The Girls Fund Initiative, The Ms. Foundation
• Joseph E. Flynn, Jr : Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Northern Illinois University
• Carmen Rivera: Adjunct Professor, Criminal Justice Department at Seattle University
• Corey Pegues: Retired NYPD Executive: National Coalition of Justice practitioners ( founding member )
• Rosa Clemente: Organizer, producer, independent Journalist and Scholar-Activist
• Daniel Del Pielago: Organizing Director, Empower DC
• Ari Melenciano: Creative Technologist at Google’s Creative Lab, Teaching and research fellow at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications graduate Program, and founder of Afrotectopia
• Brittany Micek: Founder and Lead organizer of meditating For Black Lives
• Dr. Jonathan Jenkins: Founder ( CEO) Mental Fitness & Psychotherapy, LLC, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
• Vanessa Warri: Community based researcher, Social welfare advocate, MSW/Phd Candidate – UCLA
• Durryle Brooks, Phd : Founder and ceo of Love and Justice Consulting LLC  and a research associate of The John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Marni Halasa: Former City Council candidate, community activist, Small Business owner and former lawyer
• Lucas Snaije : Content and Communications Manager at BYCS ( Amsterdam )
• Gordon Chambers: Grammy Award Winning Songwriter, musician
• Greg Tate ( The Late ) : Award winning Cultural critic, author, journalist.

You can view the webinars on our STREAM page

8.  SAFEWALKS

• Safewalks is a community initiative , created in January 2021 by Streetriders NYC Founder Peter Kerre after attacks on women at The Morgan L Subway Station . ever since, Safewalks has expanded citywide and has provided over 1000 walks to New York City residents who feel unsafe walking alone. Safewalks has a very formal and organized internal team with safewalkers from different boroughs , custom communication protocols and operations. With a very thorough vetting process and lengthy waitlist for volunteering, it has been widely recognized worldwide as a pioneering public safety initiative for future communities, and continues to provide a presence for New Yorkers daily. You can learn more about safewalks at http://www.safewalx.com