Bed-Stuy Fresh And Local Closed For Strike Against Trump

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Bed-Stuy Fresh and Local grocery store is closed all day Friday to participate in a national strike, Strike 4 Democracy, against the "racist, xenophobic, isolationist policies" of President Donald Trump's administration. The organic and local foods market anticipates losing from $1,200-$1,500 from the strike, store co-owner Dylan Ricards told Patch. Friday is one of their most profitable days.

So why strike? "We're a business that's largely made up of not only people of color, but women of color," said Ricards. "There's just a lot of very obvious reasons to boycott the current administration."

The Strike 4 Democracy, a national action involving at least 100 strikes across the country, describes itself as a "national day of action to push back against assaults on Democratic Principles." That includes what the organizers describe as pushing back against an "authoritarian assault on our fundamental, constitutional rights, the very principles that have truly made America great." They are protesting for an end to ICE raids, travel bans, Trump's mobilization on the border wall, attacks on the rights of workers, women, people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and the environment.

Bed-Stuy Fresh and Local is asking people in the community not to work if you can wing it, and not to shop, to show solidarity with the national strike.

Strike 4 Democracy comes just one day after the national #DayWithoutImmigrants protest in which thousands of businesses that are owned by immigrants or employ immigrants closed for the day to take a stand against President Donald Trump's stance on immigrants. Many students who are immigrants also did not show up for school.

Ricards said he and his wife, the other co-owner of the business, talked with their employees before they decided to strike, to make sure that everyone was on the same page. "It's their livelihood too, and there's a lot to consider when you're shutting down a business, like how people need to pay rent and, you know, live in New York City," Ricards said.

Everyone agreed that a political statement in this current climate was more important than a day's worth of sales. It was, as Ricards said, a "non-issue" for everyone.

"It moves beyond money and comes to principles and values and to be able to look at yourself in the mirror in the next day."

Photo via Bed-Stuy Fresh and Local.