New York is the city that never sleeps, never shuts up, never backs down. But a recent “national security” directive from President Donald Trump is a warning shot aimed straight at the people and places that keep this city alive.
On paper, National Security Presidential Memo (NSPM)-7, issued in late September, says it’s about stopping “domestic terrorism and organized political violence.” In reality? It opens the door for the government to treat our communities like criminals for doing what New Yorkers do best: Organizing, protecting, and speaking out.
This memo gives federal agencies power to investigate nonprofits, activists, even block associations. And because the language is broad, words like “political violence” and “domestic terrorism” are undefined. Almost any form of resistance could fall under it.
This isn’t hypothetical. This is how the language of NSPM-7 works. It’s vague enough to stretch, powerful enough to punish.
This directive doesn’t separate violent extremists from everyday people demanding change. It gives the government the power to:
As the ACLU has warned, this is a law written so broadly that it can be bent to target whoever those in power don’t like. And let’s be real: historically, that’s been us.
We’ve seen this script before.
In short, NSPM-7 is just the remix: Same oppression, new packaging.
More than 3,000 nonprofit groups from coast to coast have sounded the alarm about NSPM-7, calling it “part of a wholesale offensive against organizations and individuals that advocate for ideas or serve communities that the president finds objectionable.”
Why should New Yorkers care? Because this is not an abstract policy. This is our daily lives.
NSPM-7 is not the end of the story. It’s the start of a test – a test of how we fight back: How will we respond? Let’s:
From subway cyphers to City Hall rallies, New Yorkers have never been shy. We’ve always turned noise into power. NSPM-7 is designed to scare us into silence. But history says the more they try to bury our voices, the louder we become.
So, here’s the call: if you care about bodegas, block parties, mosques, stoops, and schools, you need to care about NSPM-7. Because once the government decides our culture is a “threat,” the fight won’t be in Washington, it’ll be on your block.
Urban Matters will keep pulling the receipts. But remember: Democracy in NYC has never been handed down from above. It’s been fought for, block by block, borough by borough, voice by voice. Don’t let them silence the city that never shuts up.
Larnez Kinsey is a crisis management specialist with the New York State Department of Corrections, a community advocate, and co-founder of BlackGate Consulting Group. She serves as economic development chair for the Yonkers Branch NAACP and chief operating officer of LaunchPad NYC.
Photo by: Paul Lurrie
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