Justice for Genesis/Justicia Para Genesis

My name is Genesis and I'm 15 years old.  Even though I look sad in some of these pictures, I'm not a helpless victim.  I'm fighting back.  On Tuesday night, November 19, I was selling Atol de Elote and plantain chips in front of the corner store by my house.  The police came up to me and started arguing with me to move on because I couldn't be selling food from my culture on the street.  

My mom is a part of a group called Vendedores Unidos, a group of street vendors in DC who support each other and are fighting for licenses to vend.  I was so tired of the police mistreating vendors, chasing my mom down the street, that I decided to say, "No, I'm not moving."  When I did that, the police got mad and started to threaten me that they would take me and split me from my family.   They even got on the phone and told Child and Family Services that my mom had abandoned me and was forcing me to sell on the street.  That was a total lie.  Then the police hurt me.

I'm proud of my mom.  We work in our family business together.  Our friend Enrique, who shot the video of the police hurting me, joined me and we told the police we had already called my mother.  They didn't listen.  They followed us to the ER, still threatening to separate our family, even though my mother was there right away.

We went to the ER because they hurt my knee when they were going to put me in handcuffs because I was trying to my comfort brother, who was crying when they grabbed him really hard.  My brother Angel is 8 years old.  

Since the police terrorized my family, we haven't been vending and don't know if we can pay the rent.  We are also trying to get the bodycam videos soon and hire a lawyer because the police are denying that they did anything wrong.  Many groups are helping us such as, Many Languages One Voice, the Stop Police Terror Project, Sanctuary DMV, Black Lives Matter DC, Jobs with Justice, Mary Center and other groups.   But I would really appreciate it if you could help me and my family fight for justice and take care of our daily needs.

When we were in the ER, my mom told me, "eres mi guerillera" (you are my little warrior).  One thing I really, really hate is racism, so I stand up for people whenever I can, including myself and my family.  Please help us continue our fight for justice.

Gensis, Angel, and Ana (Mami)