What's happening to our cities?
All across the U.S., working class neighborhoods and Black, Latino and Asian people are being displaced from our cities at a scale not seen since the abuses of urban renewal in the 1960s. Sky-rocketing rents, mass evictions, low-wage jobs have eroded vibrant historic communities that are being replaced with luxury condominiums, shopping centers, and tourist attractions.
At the same time, from Oakland to Miami to Boston there are
hundreds of tenants, families, and workers who are forming
organizations and waging campaigns to defend our neighborhoods
and our livelihood.
We all have the right to remain and return to our cities, to take back our streets and neighborhoods, and to ensure that they exist to serve people rather than capital. We all have a right to the city.
What is the Right to the City Alliance?
Right to the City (RTTC) is a newly formed alliance of base building organizations from cities across the country as well as researchers, academics, lawyers, and other allies. We came together in January of 2007 to build a united response to gentrification and the drastic changes imposed on our cities. We stand together under the notion of a Right to the City for all.
Right to the City offers a framework for resistance and a
vision for a city that meets the needs of working class people.
It connects our fights against gentrification and displacement
to other local and international struggles for human rights,
land, and democracy.
We are coming together under a common framework to increase the strength of our community organizations and our collective power. Our goal is to build a national urban movement for housing, education, health, racial justice and democracy.
Goals of Right to the City Alliance
We are building our power through:
- Strengthening Local Capacity
Urban land struggles are being fought at a local level. We will strengthen our local grassroots campaigns ability to win concrete demands that make the Right to the City a reality by providing technical support, policy development, and campaign research. - Building Regional and Cross-Regional Collaboration
Across the country, our cities are being targeted by the same policies, developers and financial institutions. Through organizational dialog and exchanges, we can learn from and support each other’s struggles, tactics, and victories. - Advancing a National Platform
The policies affecting our local conditions are being generated at a national level. The Right to the City provides a vehicle to shift the national debate from land as a commodity to land and community as a right. - Supporting Community Reclamation in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
The devastating negligence of the US government response to Hurricane Katrina created the worst displacement of urban working class Black, Latino, and Asian communities in recent memory. We understand that the defense of the Black Belt South is an essential battleground for an urban movement to develop in the US. We are committed to pulling our collective resources in solidarity with grassroots struggles in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Principles of Unity for the Right to the City Alliance
We believe the right to the city is the right for all people to produce the living conditions that meet their needs. This includes:
- Land for People vs. Land for Speculation
The right to land and housing that is free from market speculation and that serves the interests of community building, sustainable economies, and cultural and political space.
- Land Ownership
The right to permanent public ownership of urban territories for public use. - Economic Justice
The right of working class communities of color, women, queer and transgender people to an economy that serves their interests. - Indigenous Justice
The right of First Nation indigenous people to their ancestral lands that have historical or spiritual significance, regardless of state borders and urban or rural settings - Environmental Justice
The right to sustainable and healthy neighborhoods & workplaces, healing, quality health care, and reparations for the legacy of toxic abuses such as brown fields, cancer clusters, and superfund sites. - Freedom from Police & State Harassment
The right to safe neighborhoods and protection from police, INS/ICE, and vigilante repression which has historically targeted communities of color, women, queer and transgender people.
- Immigrant Justice
The right of equal access to housing, employment, and public services regardless of race, ethnicity, and immigration status and without the threat of deportation by landlords, ICE, or employers. - Services and Community Institutions
The right of working class communities of color to transportation, infrastructure and services that reflect and support their cultural and social integrity. - Democracy and Participation
The right of community control and decision making over the planning and governance of the cities where we live and work, with full transparency and accountability, including the right to public information without interrogation. - Reparations
The right of working class communities of color to economic reciprocity and restoration from all local, national and transnational institutions that have exploited and/or displaced the local economy. - Internationalism
The right to support and build solidarity between cities across national boundaries, without state intervention. - Rural Justice
The right of rural people to economically healthy and stable communities that are protected from environmental degradation and economic pressures that force migration to urban area.
Right To The City Alliance Members
Base-Building Groups |
Resource Groups/Individuals |
Boston, MA DC Metro Los Angeles, CA Miami, FL New Orleans, LA New York, NY Oakland, CA Providence, RI San Francisco, CA |
Advancement Project Center for Social Inclusion DataCenter Florida Legal Services (Miami) Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Pratt Center for Community Urban Justice Center (N.Y.) Youth Media Council Grace Chang Harmony Goldberg Jackie Leavitt Manuel Pastor René Francisco Poitevin Tony Samara Nik Theodore Dick Walker |
Support RTTC
RTTC relies in large part on the voluntary support of our members and allies across the country. Together, our members and allies make enormous contributions of time, creativity, and labor. To match that voluntary commitment, and to help us build our capacity and advance our regional and national agendas, RTTC is requesting the financial support of foundations, donor networks, and individual donors.
RTTC has created a Funder's Guide to the Right to the City Alliance as a way to educate donors about the Right to the City and possible ways to support the Alliance.
Among the key ways to support the Alliance are to click on the DonateNow button. Inside the Guide, donors can also link directly to the donation pages of our more than three dozen member organizations - or find out who to contact to support a particular RTTC region.
We anticipate updating and improving this Guide on a regular basis, so please check back periodically to see how we are growing and building.
Click here for the Funder's Guide to the Right to the City Alliance PDF.
For more information
about
Right to the City
contact:
Valerie Taing, National Organizer
vtaing@righttothecity.org
Right to the City Alliance c/o CAAAV
191 East 3rd St. #1A
NY, NY 10009
212.473.3032
CALL TO ACTION
Commemorating the Third Anniversary of Katrina: August 29, 2008
Background
Though Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago, its impact, and more importantly, the impact of our government's neglect of the human rights of people in the Gulf Coast are still felt acutely today.
Hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents, primarily low-income families and people of color, were displaced by the Hurricane and have still not been able to come back home. For those who are in New Orleans, conditions are becoming even more difficult, with dramatic increases in the cost of living, reduction in availability of basic public services (from education to health care and transportation), denial of basic workers' rights, and extreme criminalization of communities of color. Is it a coincidence that 5,000 units of public housing in New Orleans are being demolished at the same time as the construction of 5,000 new prison beds? We say no - it is part of a larger system of racism and disaster capitalism, wiping out entire communities so that corporations can make more profit.
We understand that New Orleans is the front lines in the struggle against displacement and gentrification in the United States, and in the struggle for our Right to the City. Many of the tactics first used against the people of New Orleans are being or will be exported to cities across the country.
Our Demands: REINVEST in Strong Communities & Community Control (Real Democracy)
End/ Divest from- Criminalization, Arrests & Incarceration of public housing residents, homeless residents, day laborers, youth of color, etc.
- School to prison pipeline
- Divert money from policing and incarceration to Housing, Mental Health, other health services, community-controlled programs and spaces, etc.
- Education! Retrain school cops to be counselors/Hire more teachers/Buy more books
- BRING OUR PEOPLE HOME!!! Infrastructure and resources for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina to guarantee the Right to Return to their homes in the Gulf Coast.
Join us for the National Day of Action
On August 29th, actions and events will be taking place in New Orleans, Miami, Providence, New York City, DC Metro, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Oakland to commemorate the Third Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Check out the calendar below for more information on the events happening in these 8 cities.
For more information or to connect with other Right to the City orgs in your area, contact:
Valerie Taing, National Organizer, Right to the City Alliance: vtaing@righttothecity.org or call 212.473.3032, or visit www.rightothecity.org.