Reports from the March on the Mayors

For 70 years, U.S. mayors have been gathering at an annual conference to discuss urban policy. For the first time, there was a major protest staged to issue a different message - one that puts the residents of cities first. The Right to the City Alliance organized a parallel conference and demonstration. I was not able to go but here are some reports that I found about the event: Photos on flickr taken by the Miami Workers Center Miami IMC article From: Link Max Rameau, founder of Take Back The Land, mused, While the mayors’ conference was important because of what it did – allow the mayors and their staff to share ideas, best practices and common experiences – the peoples’ summit was important because it exposed what the mayors’ conference failed to do: Develop a comprehensive agenda with the people the mayors are supposed to represent.’’ Ramaeu continued: While elected officials from cities across the United States caucused in posh ballrooms, arriving in limousines and dining on fine foods, all at the courtesy of the taxpayers, they declined to meet with the real people the conference, and their tenures as mayor, should help the most. For example, as several dozen gathered to lament the impact of the growing foreclosure crisis on their individual cities, the mayor of Louisville, Ky. complained loudly about the grass growing in front of the vacant homes and how the city was forced to cut those lawns….’’ And, Rameau said, As the other mayors sat riveted listening to a story about grass, they refused to hear from those gathered several miles across town – people who are directly impacted by the foreclosure crisis. This past weekend, Manny Diaz was named the president of the mayor's conference, essentially making him the mayor of the mayors. But the poor people of the city of Miami are still waiting for their mayor: someone who will listen to their stories and find solutions to their problems.” A youth Summit - from the website of FIERCE, NYC

 

 

FIERCE youth members held down RTTC's first-ever youth gathering - the RTTC YOUTH SUMMIT today! Over 30 youth leaders from RTTC organizations from across the country came together to build relationships, share strategies from our work, and build understanding about how gentrification impacts youth in cities across the country.

We also participated in The RTTC Peoples' State of the City Summit, which brought together 300 people from across the country to share what's going on in our cities and to provide inspiration for our movement take our cities back!