Right To The City

The recent economic crisis has unmasked the vast racial and economic inequality in the U.S., once hidden under the veil of the "middle class". While many are just beginning to feel the impact of this crisis, urban America - poor and low-income families, women, immigrants, communities of color and other city dwellers -have felt it for decades. Urban Congress 2010 will serve as an opportunity for those living and working in grassroots communities to reflect on the state of urban America since the start of the recession; to reevaluate the notion of the ‘right to the city’ in light of the current political climate; to get inspired by local efforts to combat gentrification and displacement; and to learn about Right To The City’s national campaign for housing, jobs, and sustainable communities.

Right To The City members San Francisco New Majority, Virginia New Majority, Florida New Majority will present an emerging approach to voter mobilization, building the united front through civic engagement, and leadership development within the context of elections. They will also discuss the cycle of broad electoral work and more narrow consciousness development, campaign building, and impediments to democracy. Lastly the will discuss voter mobilizations strategies targeting new and traditionally marginalized demographics including African Americans, and immigrants.

Right to the City-NYC is the local chapter of the national Right to the City alliance. This workshop will explore the Alliance’s Condo Conversion Campaign, which is aiming to convert vacant luxury condominiums in NYC into low-income housing. This workshop will also explore the participatory action research the Alliance has engaged in to support our campaign work. In August, 2009, RTTC-NYC released the Right to the City-NYC Policy Platform, which includes 33 policy demands most important to our low-income membership and serves as the guiding document for the work of the Alliance. From the policy demands listed in our platform, RTTC-NYC’s membership prioritized campaign work on the Condo Conversion Campaign. To inform the Alliance’s Condo Conversion Campaign, RTTC-NYC engaged in a participatory action research project in which over 150 members of the Alliance canvassed their neighborhoods to locate and document information about vacant condominiums. In May, 2010, this information was compiled and released in the report, Homes without People, People without Homes. The report will share lessons learned and strategies used in the work of RTTC-NYC.

Right To The City members San Francisco New Majority, Virginia New Majority, Florida New Majority will present an emerging approach to voter mobilization, building the united front through civic engagement, and leadership development within the context of elections. They will also discuss the cycle of broad electoral work and more narrow consciousness development, campaign building, and impediments to democracy. Lastly the will discuss voter mobilizations strategies targeting new and traditionally marginalized demographics including African Americans, and immigrants.

The recent economic crisis has unmasked the vast racial and economic inequality in the U.S., once hidden under the veil of the "middle class". While many are just beginning to feel the impact of this crisis, urban America - poor and low-income families, women, immigrants, communities of color and other city dwellers -have felt it for decades. Urban Congress 2010 will serve as an opportunity for those living and working in grassroots communities to reflect on the state of urban America since the start of the recession; to reevaluate the notion of the ‘right to the city’ in light of the current political climate; to get inspired by local efforts to combat gentrification and displacement; and to learn about Right To The City’s national campaign for housing, jobs, and sustainable communities.

Right to the City-NYC is the local chapter of the national Right to the City alliance. This workshop will explore the Alliance’s Condo Conversion Campaign, which is aiming to convert vacant luxury condominiums in NYC into low-income housing. This workshop will also explore the participatory action research the Alliance has engaged in to support our campaign work. In August, 2009, RTTC-NYC released the Right to the City-NYC Policy Platform, which includes 33 policy demands most important to our low-income membership and serves as the guiding document for the work of the Alliance. From the policy demands listed in our platform, RTTC-NYC’s membership prioritized campaign work on the Condo Conversion Campaign. To inform the Alliance’s Condo Conversion Campaign, RTTC-NYC engaged in a participatory action research project in which over 150 members of the Alliance canvassed their neighborhoods to locate and document information about vacant condominiums. In May, 2010, this information was compiled and released in the report, Homes without People, People without Homes. The report will share lessons learned and strategies used in the work of RTTC-NYC.