Erica Coca

Rendón: Okay, today is March 4th, 2024, and I'm here at El Puente with Erica Coca. Thank you Erica for having this conversation with me. Thank you. Learning a little bit about yourself and your childhood. So tell me where were you born and where your family is from?

Coca: Yeah, so I was born in St. Mary's Hospital, which was in Bedford Stuyvesant, but I've lived in Bushwick my entire life, so I've lived here 37 years. We moved around from neighborhood to neighborhood. I think back then a lot of folks referred to Bushwick as like the light side and the dark side. So if you lived in Bushwick as far back as I have, then you'd understand what people mean and kind of like Myrtle Avenue as the divider. But my family's from the Dominican Republic.

Coca: My parents migrated here in the late seventies, mm-hmm,

and then in the early, mid eighties. My brother was born in 82, and I was born in 86. And yeah, it's, it's been a whirlwind ever since.

Rendón: Yeah. Tell me a bit about that division. Yeah. What was the meaning of being on one side or the other?

Coca: Yeah. So many years ago, people who lived in Bushwick would refer to Bushwick as two sides, the light side and the dark side. So heading, if you look at Myrtle Avenue, Myrtle Avenue was the division. And so the light side was essentially Myrtle Avenue heading towards Flushing. And the dark side was Myrtle Avenue heading towards like Cooper [Street]. And basically it was because of the demographic of the population, mm-hmm. So the dark side was very much black Caribbean families living there.

While the light side was a lot more Latinx, a lot of folks from the Caribbean, Latin America, South America. And so there was a clear, there was, there was a lot of —we lived on the dark side for a while, we moved to the light side— but there was a lot of, in terms of the demographics, the dominance of culture and people and families, that's, that's pretty much how it was divided.

My sense is it might also have a lot to do with redlining, because I've, through my current work and the work that I've done around DOE, we've studied a lot around redlining and racism and things like that. And so I've had an opportunity to, to just kind of dig deeper into that and understand, oh, here's a map. Here is how this community was essentially divided, and understanding the reasons why have really just served as an opportunity for my

understanding and for my own education for others around systemic racism and what that really looks like, not just in America, but literally at home in your neighborhood and where I grew up.

Rendón: Yeah, no, that's interesting because it is also like the, the area where there were like manufacturing [factories], you know, like the West Northwest side, and also where there were still parts of the Italian community, that was kind of also more moving probably towards Ridgewood, no?

Coca: Yes.

Rendón: So it was more like mix between the old and the new, no?

Coca: Yes, very much so. Yeah.

Rendón: And what, what do you remember from, from your childhood, no? Like do you have any memories about, I don't know, like those industries, you know, that we, we cannot see anymore? They're like, having transformed, how was the neighborhood back then?

Coca: I think, I mean, as a child, I made different observations that

I now reflect on it as an adult and have a bit more understanding. I will say that… I mean, I grew up in the nineties, and so it was definitely a time where I wasn't allowed to play outside. Like we lived in a pretty dangerous neighborhood at the time, specifically that part of Bushwick was, "Le deciamos caliente" [slang for dangerous]. It was just hot all the time.

We saw someone get murdered right across the street from our house. Back then, you had no choice but to attend your zone schools in which our zone school at the time was, I think it was called IS 291. I'm not sure if it's still called IS 291 now. But it was definitely a school with metal detectors and gang violence and you had no choice but to go to your zone school. My brother ended up going there, [he] was consistently in fights.

Another zone school was Bushwick High School, in which it was known as one of the worst high schools in the city. And so to live in the neighborhood and like… okay, like I have no choice in terms of my education and selecting the school that I could go to, or even my family having the financial means of putting me in a better school because of those regulations was really hard.

I think something that really just kind of shifted the course of our lives was when, just a couple blocks away from here—I think it's called Public School 377—I'm not sure if they've kind of changed, merged with other schools, but it was like the late eighties and I was about three years old at the time, and my mom, my parents, we had to go to an appointment and so we all hopped in the car and

we went to pick up my brother from school right here on Woodbine [Street]. And my mom got out of the car and I got out of the car with her and sure enough, she was just saying something really quickly to my dad, just kind of bent over standing outside of the car, and we just heard “pop, pop, pop”. And the fact that I can reflect on this now, when at three years old I never expected to remember what I do in realizing that I was witness and potentially a victim to gun violence.

And my mom got shot, my mom was shot, she was shot in the leg. It kind of just went through her knee, went in one side, came out the other, and mind you, I'm three years old and she's holding my hand and I was like, I could have been that child plastered on a newspaper saying "3-year-old killed by gun violence."

But, in a very [protective] fashion, my mom took a bullet and I think that served as a catalyst for the rest of her life and her legacy just around social justice and education reform and just her dedicating her entire life to, to supporting families and helping guide families, whether it was through housing advocacy work, whether it was through supporting, you know, immigration reform, things like that.

Like she was never like a one and done or just focused on one thing. She was just like, "Wherever there's an injustice, wherever people need to advocate and fight for their rights." Like that's what she was about, which makes me excited to talk about her legacy.

Rendón: Yeah, what a story. So yeah, it was a life changing for her, for your whole family, you know, because she got involved

in all these different movements and organizations here. So if you could talk a little bit about that. So how, how did she start… which are the organizations that she joined or built back then?

Coca: Yeah. So I remember talking to someone who was like, you know, when I first met your mom, when she first came to this country, like she would look down at her feet. She wouldn't really make eye contact, you know, she kept conversation down to a minimum. And then, to see him to see her many years later, and it's just like, she is this social justice warrior with like a megaphone in her hand and just saying, "A la lucha!" [Rise up!] You know, what was it that she said all the time? "El pueblo unido jamás será vencido" [The people united will never be defeated]. It was just like, wow. Like, to see that evolution was incredible.

But I remember during my childhood, I spent a lot of time with her. She was working with an old organization back then called ACORN [Association pf Community Organizations for Reform Now], and I believe their focus was housing and housing rights. And so I remember us traveling, I feel like it was down towards Sheepshead Bay, like a really long drive at the time.

As a kid, I remember being in the car for a long period of time. We would spend hours, they would just be planning and strategizing and we would go to protests and we would just, and I'm like: “Okay, this is, this is what my mom does. I love it”. And because everyone was just like, rallied around one another, everyone's supporting this great cause. I remember that we had an opportunity to actually move into affordable housing because of that movement, because of her working with ACORN.

That, then followed by… I think that's when she joined the Fifth Avenue Committee. I think… I believed she started as an intern. I remember these long bus rides as well to Downtown Brooklyn [laughs]. But she would, she started as an intern in the hopes that she would get a full-time job as an organizer.

And she worked really, really hard, you know, supporting tenants and going to court. Back then she started taking English classes because I remember going to classes with her. She then started going for her GED—I was there with her at the school too— so it's like, I feel like I lived the same journey, obviously through my own perspective. But watching her at the Fifth Avenue Committee and just essentially watching her blossom into the organizer that she became was, was fascinating.

And very much, it very much influenced me in terms of the direction that I was heading in my life, in which she, she always raised me with, with very strong morals, very strong work ethics. And so that propelled me to continue some advocacy work, which she had also started, which was around education reform.

She spent a lot of time, I remember, advocating for education reform because of things that were happening with my brother and his school. He was put in a special education program for a long time, and I finally understood the work that she was doing in trying to get my brother support from the DOE, the Department of Education. So I think all of that whole combination of things,

and just like how she started the work with ACORN and Fifth Avenue Committee and the education work that she did eventually led her to BHIP [Bushwick Housing Independence Project], in which with BHIP, what I admire so much about her is how selfless she was. My mom had an ongoing medical condition that required daily medication for the rest of her life. I carry the same, not illness, but just, you know, like a health detriment if you will.

And she decided to leave her job at the Fifth Avenue Committee, which was in Park Slope, to come work with BHIP, knowing that it wasn't gonna be a steady paycheck, knowing that she wasn't going to have health benefits. And she was like, we'll figure it out. We'll leave it, you know, to God and we'll figure it out. And sure enough she did, and it was a constant challenge and struggle.

But she managed each and every time to just get what she needed. And, at the same time, ensuring like she's meeting with tenants, she's, you know, creating the, I think they were like co-ops, cooperatives, like the groups of tenants and getting them together to go to the rent subsidized meetings, you know, to, to protest about the annual rent increases, like no increases, you know, every single year. And it was just, it was fascinating to just watch her work and see her in action.

Rendón: Yeah, that's incredible to hear because ACORN and Fifth Avenue Committee, they are like the schools for many organizers that I know. So it's really great to see that your mother started there. But I know what you mean about having like, that stability, certain stability as an organizer, and then to say like, what about my neighborhood, you know?

My neighborhood needs me. And to come here and to start from scratch, that requires a lot of courage, you know, and commitment.

So if you can, if you can tell us a little bit about that, that period when, when BHIP started, how, how did the organization emerge? Who were the leaders at that moment, when she started working here?

Coca: So I remember, I very much prominently remember Sister Kathy Maire, I believe was her name. She worked closely with her, actually right here, the rectory of St. Barbara's Church. So the offices were right here around the corner. And slowly but surely because my mom, she knew how to make friends, she knew how to network, and she would work with different attorneys from—I forget the name of the organization— I have it written down.

But she had an opportunity to work with the different attorneys that would go to the court —the housing court in Downtown Brooklyn to— to advocate for different tenant cases.

So I remember her working a lot with those folks, as kind of like a team of one or two. And at the same time, just rallying volunteers, constantly rallying volunteers. And she developed this core group of folks. That advocacy work turned into learning experiences for them.

I think it helped bring a lot of people out of their shells. And at the same time, they were advocating for themselves. They were advocating for the injustices that they faced at the hands of a lot of these slumlord landlords, who would, you know, destroy their kitchen and say, “Hey, we're gonna repair it.” And months and months and months on end, you know, no repairs, no nothing.

Until they ultimately realized like, oh, this is a strategy to try to get me out of my apartment, out of my home.

Coca: And so I remember her gathering volunteers saying, “Hey, go flyer” or “Hey, go talk to people. Go to this meeting. Come, come to this place with me. Let's talk about your situation. Let's try to rally other folks,” especially in Bushwick at the time, like we're talking about families of color, we're talking about families who are marginalized and didn't understand their rights and didn't know that they could go to the court and, you know, stand up for themselves or withhold rent until the repairs came through. So, I want to say that, I mean, she grew her network of just people, whether it was lawyers, tenants, other community organizers, to just really develop like this,

this coalition of people who all have the same drive towards the same cause. Eventually… I don't really remember what happened, but she ended up being able to go to the rectory of St. Joseph's church. And so she established her office there, and that's around the time that I think BHIP ended up getting like a stipend or something like that.

And she was like, are you interested in doing this work with me? Like as an intern you'll get, you know, a little chunk of change. And I'm like, yeah, to have an opportunity to work with you and continue seeing her in action, it was exciting to me. So that's, that was like my first little job too, being able to work with her. And when she went to court with the tenants, I would man the office, you know, take the calls, take notes, and yeah.

Rendón: I think that, through like all this time you were small, probably you were at the marches, now, like at this moment, when you start working over there was something else because you really understood kind of like the meaning of all this work. I don't know, like if you remember any moment that you were like, “Oh my gosh, she's my mom.” Like, you know, like that moment. Because sometimes when we are small, we don't realize until we are a little bit older. Like, this is really impactful. I don't know, like if you have any anecdote?

Coca: I do remember…  We would go to those rent increase town halls? Yeah. And I just remember we had brought along some tenants with us and they would go up on the mic and just kind of say, “Hey, my name is this and this is my like this,

living situation, please don't raise my rent.” But she and I were sitting in the audience and we were kind of just both looking at each other and she was like: “it's burning at you, it's eating at you, isn't it?”

And I was like: “Yeah, like I, I want more fire, I want more, I want more anger, right?” To really deliver the message on what people were struggling with. Like imagine living through the coldest winters and you have no heat, no hot water like that, that fires me up. And thankfully, you know, thankfully that that wasn't our situation at that point, but we've definitely experienced that. And I remember having very cold winters as a kid, and it just angered me and she's like: “Erica, go for it”. Like, it was that moment just being there with my mom, having her, like having seen her

do it and see her in action, it just, I was like: “All right, mom, I got this”. And I wrote something, I had a flier, I folded it, I wrote what I wanted to say, and my hands were shaking.

And she was like: “Steady, you got it”. And I was like, and she was like: “all right, go”. And she gave me that, like, it was almost like a movie moment she gave me, I got up and it was almost like I hesitated and she just gave me like a slight bump just on the back. She was like, go for it. She was like: “That's my daughter”. And I got up there and I was trembling, and at one point I'm like, just reading what I had written down. And I just turned and I looked at her [long pause].

My mom, my mom always called me her angel, but I feel like she was everyone's angel. She was the most selfless person that I've ever met.

And it wasn't just here as in, it wasn't just work that she was doing in Bushwick. She was doing work, community work, back home in the Dominican Republic. My grandfather, he's someone who worked really hard to build something for himself.

And when he had the opportunities to, to give back to his community, a very, very poor countryside town, my mom was right there with him. And they helped build a well for the local school where she went to school growing up and to help build a wall to fence in the school so that it would be protected from thieves. So her work went beyond Bushwick, her work was always about the people.

And there were many, many moments that I just sat there and just looked in awe… to know that that was my mom and that I was so proud about how far she had come in life and how… when you are blessed and abundant in, in ways that go beyond financial means that it's always about paying it forward. It's always about giving to others and just living your life in service. And that's what I continue to do. It may not be in housing work, but I think I continue her legacy through the work that I do in education.

Rendón: What do you do? Yeah, tell me a bit about that. Is it here in Bushwick or in other parts of the city?

Coca: No, I work… so I'm an HR director, but it's for a national education

organization that focuses on eradicating the predictability of student outcomes by race, language, and socioeconomic status. So it is about affirming all students, but specifically students of color. And, I do that because of the education advocacy work that my mom started with her son, my brother. And just whenever someone needed a helping hand, they could always rely on coming to my mom and my mom's like, “We're gonna do something about this,” "Le vamos a llegar a la puerta, les vamos a tumbar la puerta" [We’re going to knock on their door, we’re going to bring it down]. And it was just, it was beautiful.

Rendón: Erica, I know that there was like a renaming in honor to your mother, so if you can talk a little bit about that.

Coca: Yeah, so I, I think it was with Jenny Akchin, we had been talking about like, what is the most appropriate way to honor my mother's legacy in the community. And we tossed around some ideas and eventually, I think it was Jenny that came up with a street renaming. We thought it was the most appropriate, and it's a street renamed right where her office was, which is the rectory of St. Joseph's church.

And typically the process is that you have to go to the community board meetings. I think it's Community Board 4, and you're supposed to get, I don't know, it was like 10,000 or 20,000 signatures. You had to be able to speak to that person's life's work.

And, just advocate as to why you believe this person deserves a street renaming as a dedication. And we went through the process. My dad and I put together this album with moments and pictures and talked about her, and her life. And what's interesting is that it took us less than a year. It only took us a couple of months and they were like: “Yeah, no, we all know who Luz Yolanda Coca is. You don't have to collect signatures. I think we're gonna move forward with this renaming”. And I was like: “Oh, [laughs]. I'm like, it's amazing”. Typically, I've heard folks say, you know, it's, it's a longer process. Sometimes it takes years. And hers was approved in a matter of months because of our community, because the same folks on the community board worked with her.

They knew exactly how, this wasn't a job for her. It was literally a life's mission. And so we were able to get it renamed. I think she passed away in December, 2016. By September, 2017, we were already having a celebration and you know, a ton of folks were there. And it was a beautiful way to honor her in the right place, you know, which was right outside the office that she had established for BHIP at St. Joseph's Church.

Rendón: That is beautiful. Yeah. And another strong figure in, in BHIP of course, is Father John Powis. Yeah. So do you have any memories of working with him or your mom working with him here in Bushwick?

Coca: I personally don't have too many memories of him.

I knew him, but not as much as my mom did. And he was just such a great figure in this community. Not just as like the father at St Barbara's church, but also someone who strongly advocated for, for housing rights and the community as well. I know that they had an incredible relationship and she definitely took it hard when he passed because he was such, he was such a powerful voice, and someone who, even through his, when he led masses, when he led his own community groups through the church, he constantly talked about just how the community and the people needed to stand up and have their voices be heard and not just sit silently and let you know, landlords and other people take advantage of them.

And I know that my mom admired him very much like, you know, someone who she also aspired to be like, just a strong figure in our community that people could rally behind and really bring about change. And so it makes me sad that we've lost these pillars in our community. But I think both of their legacies still hold true to this day. And granted, a lot of people, a lot of newcomers in Bushwick may not necessarily know who they are or remember them, but their names resonate in the community. And there are still people to this day that can speak to like: “Yes, they, you know, we were able to do this because of them. We were able to help these families because of them”.

Rendón: And, something that I wanted to ask you is when did you feel things were changing...you know...where they positive or negative?

Coca: Yeah. Bushwick has, has really evolved. And by evolved, I mean it has, it has really become gentrified. On one hand, I think that seeing the evolution of Bushwick and gentrification, it feels like Bushwick has lost a lot of its culture. And it's not to say that the folks that have moved in are cultureless. That's not what I'm trying to say. I admire… I feel like Bushwick has really become an artistic community. And I'm an artist myself, so I admire it wholeheartedly. But to have watched so many families displaced, to see the representation of Latin culture slowly diminish and fade.

And yet it's still, it's still present, it's still very much alive in pockets. But the way it once was, was absolutely beautiful. New York is a melting pot of cultures. Bushwick was a melting pot of Latin cultures. And whenever we had, whenever we had family that came from the Dominican Republic, they would always come to Bushwick. Like we would house them, you know, make sure they had a place to stay until they were on their feet.

And they moved just a short distance away. And so I grew up having so many aunts and uncles in the neighborhood, it was beautiful. You just take a short walk and you're at your Tia's [aunt] house or your Tio's [uncle] house, you get to see your cousins. And it was, it was beautiful. Whereas now a lot of people have had to move away because they can't afford the rent.

A lot of people were displaced because they were lied to or tricked by their landlords, or their landlords offered them money. And they saw this as like, “Oh, here's a financial opportunity. I can find an apartment somewhere else,” not realizing the housing landscape and what it is. They made bad decisions.

And sometimes, you know, you try your best to talk to people and say: “Don't do it. We know, you know, $20,000, $50,000, that's a lot of money. It's not gonna stretch far. Like, you need to stay here, you need to just kind of hunker down and hold on. It's gonna be a bit of a process, but in the end you're gonna be happy that you did it”. And some people stayed and some people left.

Ultimately now, I feel like we've lost a lot of the Latino culture here, or the Latinx culture here and what has sprung up are bars and businesses and I think very much a representation of, you know, a capitalist society. But in a way that's, that's culture too. And I get it, but I've never been happy about how Bushwick has evolved to, to what it is, just because of everything that was lost in the process.

Rendón: Yeah, no. And how do you see the role of the second generation, no? Like you are kind of the second generation. How difficult has it been for you all to stay? Because some families have to leave, but some probably stay, but their children are not able to stay because they can not afford, they cannot find a place to stay. How do you see that and how do you see also like the role of your generation in protecting that culture and housing?

Coca: Yeah, so I think we were fortunate enough to come across an opportunity where we… I think it was like a housing lottery. And my parents very much saved up every penny that they could. We came across an opportunity for a housing lottery to actually buy a house here in Bushwick. And it wasn't until years later that I reflected on this, but understanding the opportunity that we had and kind of the terms around you have to live in this house, I think it was for like the first 10 years. And, and I was like: “Wow, this is an opportunity”. So we ended up moving from the other side of Bushwick over to this side of Bushwick.

It was the best thing my parents could have done because we would not have been able to afford the rent. But ultimately not everybody had that opportunity, right? I do see a lot of folks that are homeowners in this community that I have noticed are Latinx, that are people of color. And I'm like: “You know, these things for them happen at the right time because look now, this neighborhood is gentrified”. The same people that live here would not be able to rent here right? The same homeowners that live here would not be able to rent here. In terms of their kids —like me, for example— I've lived with my parents ever since they bought the house . So even my parents first bought the house when I was starting undergrad, and I said: “I can't afford the dorm. I'm gonna stay at home”.

And I've stayed at home ever since because I can't afford to move out on my own and pay the ridiculous rents. And at the same time, the changes in this neighborhood, and I hate to say this, but gentrification has also supported the housing market here in the sense that these same homeowners who bought their houses when they did, now their houses are valued at over a million dollars. And I'm like, I love that for our people, I do. But at what cost? Like what literal cost? It came at losing so many members of our community, it came at the cost of us losing family, having that community around us. And it came at the cost of like a lot of people like me,

a part of my generation and even future generations that can't afford to live anywhere else. So I've had to live with my parents, and I'm not saying that in a bad way, but you know, it has impacted us so much. And I don't, I don't think that people, people have really reflected on that the way, the way I have.

Rendón: Yeah, no, you're right. There was kind of like this window, you know, there when there were like different programs. So for first homeowners.

Coca: Yes.

Rendón: So, a lot of Latinos got that opportunity, but after that has been almost impossible, and, and you don't find more home ownership opportunities, more like for rent. And the prices are extremely high.

Coca: Exactly.

Rendón: And, so talking about that, those changes, and your experience now with the organizing of, of your mother, you know,

and all that time, do you see that residents from your generation are willing to have that fight?

Coca: I think, I mean, it's always been a struggle. I think even more so now, it's, it's worst of a struggle. I don't think that my generation necessarily advocates in the way that they should. And we have a very powerful voice. We have very powerful tools. Social media is a very powerful tool. I think that...I think that, I know I feel this way sometimes, that there's just so much going on that people are exhausted, that people often,

if it doesn't impact them, they may not necessarily care to do something about it. I do think though, that there are people who are willing to stand up, specifically those that have experienced those injustices, have experienced really cold winters, are seeing their, their elder parents and understanding like the experiences that they had.

I think that inspires people to, to speak up. But I do think ultimately right now, it's an even bigger struggle than before. And I don't think that people necessarily feel successful, especially because gentrification is all around you. It's like: “what am I fighting for? It's like the battle– they already won the battle. So what's the point of me, you know?”, and I think we need to get back to that. Like we absolutely need to get back to just having a voice, fighting, fighting for what's right.

I think people are just honestly exhausted. Like everything happening in the world right now, it's like: “‘let me say something about this. Let me say something about this. Lemme say something”, but this is also, this is home, right? Bushwick is home. So I think if we don't fight for what's needed here in our neighborhood, we're doing an injustice to ourselves.

Rendón: How do you see BHIP? What would you recommend to them and to anyone that would like to organize here in the neighborhood for housing justice and to preserve their culture and their homes?

Coca: Yeah. I think taking the first step is simple. Just acknowledging, acknowledging the issues in the community, acknowledging that it costs us, we work so hard

and it costs us so much to have a roof over our heads, but to also think about not just the experiences that we're currently going through, but the experiences of our family, our, our, you know, our parents.

Like I see my dad now and I'm like: “You would not be able to afford to live here if, if I didn't also live here”. And it's like, what does that then say about, you know, people having their independence and people doing things. I think it's a matter of people acknowledging the issues, right? Which I think for the most part, people understand like: “Yes, this is a problem”.

And doing something as simple as picking up the phone or going to your local community office and saying, “Hey, these are issues that I've realized are in our community. Is there anything that I

can do to help support, to do something about this, about this?” To go to my local legislator and say, “Hey, we need to freeze rent increases.” Like, it just continuously goes up and up and up.

And yet, you have a lot of people living in really dilapidated conditions and it's like, it's 2024 and you still don't have hot water. Like you have to boil water on the stove to take a [shower] —it's mind blowing to me. But it is a matter of people just like being proactive. Contact your local community office and say, “Hey, I, you know, am a really strong advocate of this. Is there anything that you guys do whereas I can support this?”

Whether it's a, a small monetary donation, whether it's allocating a couple of hours of your time to volunteer, whether it's, you know, stopping by and saying: “Hey, can I pick up a couple of flyers for your next, you know, community

meeting so that we can get more people in attendance”. More people means more voices. I think there's so much that we can do, but it's a matter of, it's a matter of unification, right? Coming together and just doing what you can, even the tiniest bit of effort can go a really long way.

Rendón: Yeah, thank you so much Erica. And do you have any, anything else that you would like to share with us about the work of your mother here in the community or beyond?

Coca: I just hope that… I hope that people are inspired by, by her legacy, by the work that she did. Even up until her very last days, she was working. She met with her friend and attorney, Gregory Lewis,

just talking about things that needed to happen, things that people needed to continue doing to advocate for, for our community and our people. And so for someone to be in the state that she was, and still only think about everyone else except herself, like, I keep that in my heart every time I feel exhausted or every time I feel like: “Oh my God, I can't do this anymore, like maybe I'll do something different”. But the fact is that things will not change unless we bring about change. And I just hope that people are inspired by, by her and, and the work that she did and how dedicated and committed she was to BHIP, and to our community.

Rendón: Yeah. Thank you. Well, with this conversation, we will honor your mother. And so thank you

so much for sharing your life and your life with her and your life together as organizers here in Bushwick. Thank you so much, Erica.

**Coca: **Thank you.