Peoples' Movement Assembly
United States Social Forum 2007

Right To The City Alliance Resolution DRAFT

Pushing Back on Neo-Liberalism, Gentrification & Displacement in the U.S. Through A National Urban Movement

Where as Right to the City (RTTC), a newly-formed national alliance is calling for a response to the gentrification and displacement around the country affecting poor and working class communities of color from New Orleans, to New York, to Chicago to Los Angeles.

Where as working class communities across the United States have in the last 5 years experienced displacement at a scale not since the period of urban renewal in the 1960's.

Where as Black displacement from urban areas around the country is at a historic high.

Where as we believe that this assault on communities of color cannot be attributed to a single policy or program, but is rather the expression of comprehensive neo~liberal economic policies in urban areas nationally.

Where as we believe that while communities of color have risen up in powerful, creative, and effective ways to resist this neo-liberal agenda in their neighborhoods and cities. We also see that response as being local, dispersed and reactive.

Where as we believe that it will be through building a national urban movement for housing, education, health, racial justice, and democracy that we will successfully push back on the impact of gentrification and displacement on our communities and cities.

Where as we believe that this national movement should serve as a means to build common vision, principles, and theory of change. Be a means to develop the most effective community-based, place-based organizing for community-driven development. Serve as a national response to neoliberalism and have at the center of our vision and movement an urban race analysis.

Where as we believe that our national movement should be guided and unified by a common set of basic principles.

Where as we stand for the fundamental belief that all residents of the city have the right to living conditions that meet their needs and that those needs should include the following,

~ 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

~ The Right to permanent public ownership of urban territories for public use

~ The Right of working class communities of color, women, queer and transgender people to an economy that serves their interests

~ The Right of First Nation indigenous people to their ancestral land that have historical or spiritual significance, regardless of state borders and urban or rural settings

~ The Right to sustainable and healthy neighborhoods and workplaces; healing, quality health care, and reparation fro the legacy of toxic abuses such as brown fields, cancer clusters and superfund sites

~ 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

~ The right of working class communities of color to economic reciprocity and restoration from all local, national and transnational institutions that have exploited and/displaced the local economy

~ The right to support and build solidarity between cities across national boundaries without state intervention

~ 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 areas

Let it be resolved that the Peoples' Movement Assembly adopt the Right To The City Resolution "Pushing Back on Neo-Liberalism, Gentrification & Displacement in the U.S. Through A National Urban Movement”