Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20170906

Survive Hurricane Harvey. We feel o overwhelmed. Not only y d we go through a physical storm called harvey, but through another storm which. S the rescinding of daca we condemn the president for making the announcement atat suh a badd time. Ke i said, we e are not strangers to fighting. We will continue to fight for ourselves and our community. Amy then n to our own Juan Gonzalez on his new book reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cicities. Juan four years ago, the deblasiof bill represents the comingofage of a new Political Movement. In my book reclaiming gotham, i examine what the movement has accomplished and where it goes from here. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome toto demococracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In a major attack on immigrant communities across the United States, attorney generalal Jeff Sessionsns has announced the trp administration is rescinding daca thats deferred action for childhood arrivals, which gives nearly 800,000 young immigrants permission to live and work in the United States. The department of justice has advised the president and the department of Homeland Security that the department of Homeland Security should begin an orderly, lawful wind down, including the cancellation of the memo that authorized this program. Amy president obama implemented daca in 2012 after nearly a decade of massive grassroots organizing and direct action protests by undocumented youth across the country. President obama called trumps decision to rescind daca cruel. The administration now says it will begin phasing out the protections in six months, meaning that some Daca Recipients will be eligible for deportation as early as march 2018. Between now and then, congress has the opportunity to pass legislation that could protect Daca Recipients, as well as millions of other immigrants currently in the country without legal authorization. Sessions announcement Tuesday Morning sparked immediate protests across the country, with crowds taking to the streets in minneapolis, chicago, los angeles, atlanta, washington d c, new york, and houston where thousands of Daca Recipients and their families are currently helping the city rebuild after devastating Hurricane Harvey. In new york city, 34 people were arrested at a sitin led by undocumented activists outside trump tower. My name is catalina. Millionighting for 11 undocumented immigrants in this country. Is an attackdaca on the entire undocumented community. This fight goes beyond daca. It is for all of the workers in this country, those who work in the fields, and the restaurants, who work cleaning our homes, who have crossed borders. This is a fight for all of us because we all deserve respect. This fight is beyond daca. For allfive undocumented immigrants inin ths country y who provovide the lab. Ththis countryuns onon us. Without t , this countryry falls apar amy y high s school ststudentsn denver also staged a massive walkout in protest of umps decisision to rescind daca. The head of the u. S. Hispanic chamber of commerce, javier palomarez, resigned from Trumps National Diversity Coalition in protest, calling the decision to revoke daca inhumane and economically harmful. In georgia, the Atlanta City Council immediately passed a resolution to support Daca Recipients and to move to limit collaboration between local Atlanta Police and federal immigration agents. Both new york and california threatened to sue the Trump Administration to protect the states dreamers. After headlines, well go to houston to speak with Cesar Espinosa. Caribbean island nations and the state of florida are making emergency prepararations and evacuations as thehe potentially catastrophic categoryfive Hurricane Irma barrels across the atlantic ocean. Early this morning, the hurricane made landfall on the island nation of barbuda, and then the islands st. Martin andd st. Barthelelemy. The storm is one of the most powerful atlantic storms ever recocorded with winds upup t185 mph, Strong Enough to destroy full buildings. Puerto ricico has declared a sta of emergencyndnd actived t the nationalal guard. Ththe puerto ricican g governor ricacardo rossellolo warns the m could devastate the islands infrastructure. Puerto ricos Power Company says parts of the island could be left without power for up to six months. The bahamas are currently undertaking the largest evacuation in the nations history. Florida has also begun to close schools and evacuate residentst. Inin more climaterelated d new, widespreadad fires continue to burn across the pacific northwest. Montana governor Steve Bullock has declared a statewide fire disaster, calling the blazes unprecedented. Washington governor jay inslee has declared a state of emergency. On tuesday, seattle residents awoke to ash falling from the sky as a result of the widespread fires burning across Washington State. Satellite images also showed Washington State nearly entirely covered in smoke from the fires. A new United Nations report says more than n 1100 children n have been killed during the war in yemen, and that the majority of these children were killed by u. S. Backed saudileled airstrikes. The u. N. Also descriribed the ongoing humaninitarian crisis in yemen as an entirely manmade catastrophe. The ongoing war has left more than 7 Million People on the brink of fame. The u. S. Backed Bombing Campaign hahas also devastated yemens health, wawater, and sanitatatin systems, spaparking the worldss worsrst cholera epepidemic, with 600,000 peopople affected. The e United Nations secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres has warned the brutal Burmese Military operation against Rohingya Muslims is at risk of spiraling into an ethnic cleansing campaign, as the widespread violence against the long persecuted Minority Group continues. The u. N. Says more than 120,000 rohingyas have fled into neighboring bangladesh in recent days, with up to 15,000 more expected to flee every single day this week. Advocates say as many as 800 rohingya civilians, including women and children, have been killed in recent days. This is rohingya refugee ansar ali, speaking after fleeing to bangladesh. Usthere was another behind in which my relatives were there. Suddenly, that saying is the military started firing at us. 10 members of our family, including my son and grandson, were drowned in the sea. We somehow managed to escape. Amy more than 300,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Nobel Committee to revoke burmas leader aung san suu kyis peace prize over the violence. Suu kyi claimed recent newews reports s about the military crackdown were misinformation and that the sececurity forces wewere fighting terrorism. United nations were crime investigations a searing Government Forces have usesed chemical weapons more than 25 times during the ongoing war, including during the deadly in april, which killed 86 people. The Syrian Government has long denied using chemical weapons. Meanwhile, in more news from syria, the Syrian Government says its forces have broken the isis siege on parts of the eastern city of dei alzor. And in india, prominent journalist and human rights activist Gauri Lankesh was assassinated on her doorstep in bangalore tuesday. She was an outspoken critic of rightwing hindu nationalism and the caste system. Last year, she was convicted in a Defamation Case brought by lawmakers from the ruling bjp party over her 2008 investigation into the politicians criminal ties. The Editors Guild of india called her murder ominous a brutal assault on the freedom of the press. On tuesday, protesters took to the streets across india to denounce her assassination, including in mumbai, delhi, and outside lankeshs home. Nearly m more protests are pland 20 for today. This is her brother r indrajit lanknkesh. It t is not just t my sistes murder. Itit is a journalist murder, and activistururder. As a brother, i want j justice r mymy sister. Now i have lost my sister. And she was giving everything. Or activism, journalism now we have lost her. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and i am Juan Gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. In a major attack on immigrant communities across the United States, attorney general Jeff Sessions has announced the Trump Administration is rescinding daca thats deferred action for childhood arrivals which gives nearly 800,000 young immigrants permission to live and work in the United States. Advised thate has the department of Homeland Security should begin an orderly, lawful wind down, including the cancellation of the memo that authorized this program. Amy president obama implemented daca in 2012 after nearly a decade of massive grassroots organizing and direct action protests by undocumented youth across the country. Obama called tuesdays announcement cruel. The trump Administration Says it will begin phasing out the protections in six months, meaning some Daca Recipients will be eligible for deportation as early as march 2018. Between now and then, congress could pass legislation that could protect Daca Recipients, as well as millions of other immigrants currently in the country without legal authorization. Sessions announcement Tuesday Morning sparked immediate protests across the country. In new york city, 34 people were arrested during a sitin at trump tower led by undocumented activists. I am here with the new York State Youth Leadership Council as well as on behalf of the undocumented initiative at columbia university. I am a daca recipient. It expires in december. I dont know what will happen to me. I just dont know. This shouldnt have happened. I am here hoping i could start leftl tomorrow and let my comfortably and focus on school. But now when my work permit expires, what is going to happen . Am i going to have to take refuge . And my never going to be a believed campus because that is the only way i will be protected against deportation . Hey have shown no discretion they are snatching you. That horrifies me. I have been here since 1999. I have not left this country since 2001. I have nowhere else to go. I am a daca recipient. I am feeling terrible right now. I have been here for 20 years this january. This is nothing short of heartbreaking. I was able to come out of the shadows, to be who i really wanted to be, who my mom wanted me to be. What my mom sacrificed for. It really breaks my heart. My name is catalina. We are fighting for all 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country. An attack on daca is an attack on the entire undocumented community. Were here to say this fight goes beyond daca. It is for all of the workers in this country, those who work in the fields, in the restaurants, who are cleaning your homes, who have crossed borders. This is a fight for all of us because we all deserve respect. This fight is beyond daca. It is a fight for all undocumented immigrants in this country who provide our labor. This country runs on us. Without as some of this country would fall apart. Juan the head of u. S. Hispanic chamber of commerce javier , palomarez, resigned from Trumps National Diversity Coalition in protest, calling the decision to revoke daca inhumane and economically harmful. Both new york and california threatened to sue the Trump Administration to protect the states dreamers. In houston, daca recipient diana platas, who lost everything during Hurricane Harvey, spoke at a press conference in response to the daca news. We lost our hououse and everything we have the harvey. We lost everything my parents hahave built over the past sesel years. We have lostst, and now, this, too. We will fight. We will Pay Attention because we are not cowards. Were going to fight for our rights. Amy for more, we go to houston, texas, where were joined by Cesar Espinosa, executive director of fiel, a houstonbased nonprofit that helps young, undocumented members of the Latino Community. Cesar, welcome back to democracy now we talked to you by democracy now w video stream from yourr e when you were flooded in last week during Hurricane Harvey. We saw you this weekend. You have been going house to house, particularly going to people in Latino Community afraid to leave their houses, afraid they might be arrested by ice, even as the water rose. You yourself are a daca recipient. Can you respond to President Trumps decision to o rescind da . We definitely condemn the fight he decided to take away a very Important Program t that oy to dreamers, but the entire immigrant community. It is a shame he is chosen this titime in history to do it. We just went througugh one of te worst natural disasters in u. S. History and he decides to make this point now . Why . We have a lot of questions for President Trump and questions that need answers. More importantly, we need to continue to fight, to nonot only protect the dreamer community, but the entire immigrant community who are working every single d day to provide for society, provide for our economy, and just to live lives and free lives here in this country. Trumpin april, president actually assured the dreamers they could rest easy and in the past, he has made other statements that contradict what he has done. Do you have any sense from what you can tell what has happened in terms of his own perspective on dealing with the e dreamers . Getting a lote is of pressure from many sides, but we know he is also getting pressure even from his own party to keep the program and to defend dreamers. One of the things he says that really doesnt even make sense is the fact he says he loves dreamers. When you love somebody, you do everything you can to protect ththem and to defend them. For him to rescind the program, especially during these difficult times, does that make sense. It is a double narrative we see from the Trump Administration that they say one thing anand do anotother. Every time President Trump p haa failure, he goes back to rattle his base to garner more support for himself. We ask he stops playing games, specifically the dreamer community, but also with the immigrant community because we are not a game to be played with. We are human beings that have andt deserve to be here continued to stay with our families. Amy during exchange with reporters on tuesday, President Trump was questioned about his decision on daca. [inaudible] pres. Trump i have a great heart for the folks were talking about, a great love for them. People t think in terms of children, but they are really young adult. For these people. Hopefully, now, congress will be able to help them and do it properly. In speaking to members of congressss, they want to be abae to do something and do it right. Really, we have no choice. We have to be able to do something. I think it is going to work out well. Amy President Trump has such a , yes,love for you c,esar were talking about 800,000 young immigrants in this has usedbut that he his attorney general he did not hold a news conference, his attorney general did, Jeff Sessions, president obama repeatedly, through the campaign truck, expressed the same sentiment on this issue as his top adviser Stephen Miller has as well, Stephen Miller who is trumps top adviser but formally was taught person on sessions staff as senator. That he has decided that by march, people will be eligible for deportation unless congress moves. Tell us your own story. You are a daca recipient. When is your permission of . When do you apply for renewal . And you know any of these things . Yesterday, there were many questions. We did not know how the program was going to be terminated, if it was going to be immediate. Here was widespread panic many people still could not believe it. Media, they were saying we were just sounding the alarm without there being anything to go on. But we knew what was coming from the Trump Administration. In my case, i have submitted my renewal. Fortunately, i will be able continue my renewal since i submitted before yesterday, before october 5. T there arare many folks yesterday wewe got the call of a young man whose work permit expires on march 8. Fofor th person, h he will not e able to renew his daca because he may be totoo close to the deadline in n order for him to ring in. These are the stories that will becoming out. We will see a lot of p people losing their w work permits, losing benefits that they have with their employers. Fors going to be a big mess the community, for the entire nation. The population of undocumented people in the country is significant. Whatever affects us, will affect the rest of the country. In houston, he will have a huge texas, in the state of there is a 6 billion loss projected every year the recension goes forward. Over the course of the years, youll start seeing impacts all over the country when these folks start losing jobs. The health care, take industry, a lot of teaching jobs and social services jobs. Juan the issue that President Trump has raiaised that it isisw in the court of congress, that congress now has to be able to step up to the plate and deal not only with daca, but suggesting with general immigration reform, including his choice topic of building the wall with mexico. That thehis mean dreamers and immigrant rights movements will have to accept the building of a wall in order to get some kind of a regularizationon of their stata . Unfortunately, once again, this is all a political game. He has taken his ability to do something and thrown it to congress. Ifthe end of the day, congress does not come to a solution, he will wash his hands. It is really sad they continue to use the immigrant community, lilike i said, to rattle his ba, to continue to fund the mess that we are criminals and that we should not be here. Yesterday, we took great offense to two things. Number one, trump himself did not make the announcement. Theid not want to face nation or the world because he knew it was wrong. And number twowo, Jeff Sessions used the same nararrative saying we were criminals, that we should not deserve to be here, and americans come first. We are americans and every aspect except for a piece of paper that legitimizes us. Amy the effect this is going to have on houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. I want to go to one of your colleagues alain cisneros, a , fiel Community Organizer describing the outreach to houstons undocumented community after harvey and news that daca will notot be continued. We are doing here today is reaching families affected by Hurricane Harvey because of the announcement for the President Trump to end daca. We are moving to do what we can do. Like all of the time daca people have an impact in ththe communi. Now with harvey, we knew the impact with the commmmunity, making sure people underststand theirr rights, the rights to apply for any kind of help like federal or locally, and make sure peoeople have a way to. Ecovery after harvey communityis fiel organizer. He founded this group. Cesar, talk about what it means, Daca Recipients are now attempting to rebuild, helped their families in houston, many of whom have been flooded out, the possibility of losing your jobs, possibly in the only breadwinner in the family. Can you talk about the effect this will have on houston . How many daca recipient are in houston alone, Something Like 80,000 . 80,00000t 80 dozen dreamers who are recipients of daca. A significant number compared to the national numbers. These young people were looking forward to helping their families rebebuild while maintaining their jobs. It is mamaking it very difficult for thehem to do hurricane recovery after the massive storm we jusust underwent. Theav beegoing out into communities, talalking to a lotf folks. The message we are telelling thm is the following our parents build our lives from nothing when they came to this country, so obviously, they can rebubuild and continue to rebuild from nothing as they are left without nothing. We always remind them that they defined their status, ththeir status this not to find them. It is important for folks to know this so they can be encouraged, continue to fight not only to build, but t to rebuild after this physical storm we went through. Amy how old arere you . 31 years old. Amy how long have you been in this country . For 26 years. My carrots brought me here when i was six years old. Amy thank you for being with us, Cesar Espinosa executive , director of fiel, a houstonbased nonprofit that helps young, undocumented members of the latatino communi. Cesar himself is a daca recipient. When we come back, our own juan justlezs newest book published, reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cities. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with Juan Gonzalez. The city of new york announced tuesday it is deploying funding for Legal Services for Daca Recipients across the city. In a message posted on twitter , the office of mayor bill de blasio said you are not alone. If you face legal problems, well be right there with you. At a news conference, mayor de blasio urged President Trump not to mess with fellow new yorkers. We are here to stand by each and every one of them. 0,000 new yorkers this morning, we are putting they were put in our crosshairs. They are our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, family membmbers. We stand with allll 30,000 dreamers here in new york city and all 800,000 around this country. We are going to stand up to this. New yorkers to not take kindly to anything that affront to fellow new yorkers. We dont take kindly to people being separated out because of who they are. So i have a message for President Trump. Donnt mess with your fellow nw yorkers. Amy meanwhile in boston, mayor marty walsh also slammed President Trump for rescinding daca. Toi can say this honestly the white house, we dont want you here in boston. We dont want any part of you in boston. We are doing perfectly fine without you. I think it is a sad statement the president of the United States and the attorney general of the u. S. Are sending messages out to so many good young peoplele. Many of those young people, the dreamers we are talking about, right now are fighting for this country. Fighting with the uniform on under this flag and proud of that. Amy the fight back against daca mark just the latest example of cities pushing back against the Trump Administrations agenda. From Climate Change to sanctuary cities to Police Accountability to Affordable Housing, cities are increasingly pushing a far more Progressive Agenda than their counterparts in washington. This is a central theme in a new book by my colleague Juan Gonzalez. It is titled reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cities. The book examines how de blasio and other progressive city leaders are leading a nationwide revolt against corporateoriented, neoliberal policies that have dominated urban america for decades. In addition to cohosting democracy now , Juan Gonzalez is author of a number of books including, harvest of empire, news for all the people, and fallout. He was a staff writer at the New York Daily News from 1987 until just last year. He is now a professor of journalism and media studies at rutgers university. It is great to have you here talking about your new book reclaiming gotham. We see the mass protest just yesterday and today around daca, and this is really the major thesis of your book. Who is speaking out now . Who are the progressssive forces in america . Juan i began to notice about four years a ago in 2013 that there was something happening in the cities across the country that was actually a a movement,a Political Movement that was not getting much attention. And that is the rise post the Great Recession, post the occupy wall strtreet movemement that my young and progressive people were running for Political Office and actually winning seats in City Councils and some even in mayoral races across the country. And that they were, in essence, the political effect of a Mass Movement that has been building across the country for decades. And that bill de blasio people say to me, has Juan Gonzalez gone crazy . Is he wanted to praise democratic politicians . I think you have to look beyond individuals and have to look beyond positions, and try to understand the systemic things that are happening. One of the things i realized is the de blasio victory in 2013, because new york city is such an important part of the United States were talking about a city with 70 billion budget back in with 300,000 employees. It is a huge administrative unit of government in america. And the fact a leftleaning progressive de blasio, complete upstart whom no one thought would win, had captured the most important city in the United States and the center of world capture centralism, had captured the apparatus, it was only a reflection of what was going on across the country. Very few journalists and scholars have begun to look at this as a movement. So i started doing more research into other cities to try to understand how this happened, how real was it in terms of substantive change in the future. That is what my book is about. Amy your book begins with Inauguration Day in 2014 here in new york city. I want to go back now to new york mayor bill de blasio speaking at his inoculation in 2014. We will expand the paid sick leave law because no one should be forced to lose a daypay or a weeks pay just because illness strikes. And by this time next year, fully 300,000 additional new yorkers will be protected by that law. We wont wait. We will do it now. We will require the developers to build more Affordable Housing. We will fight to stem the tide of hospital closures. And we will expand humidity Health Centers into neighborhoods in need so that new yorkers see our city not as the exclusive domain of the 1 , but a place where everyday people can afford to live, work, and raise a family. We wont wait. We will do it now. On his Inauguration Day in 2014. He is running again, primary next week. You set the scene with his family well, not coming in a limousine to city hall. Juan they came by subway from brooklyn and emerged from the city halls station, just as everyone was gathered around at the inauguration ceremony. Messageit was a clear being sent that this was, first of all, there was an outer borough mayor. But more importantly, it was from it was part of a movement. I think the reality is that bill de blasio, interestingly, has been both a political operative of the Democratic Party now for many years, but always had close ties to the labor movement, to the grassroots organizations that were fighting around protecting Public Schools and againsnst Charter Schools. It was this movement, really, that helped to propel him into office. The question is, and i think it is a fair question, is that it is a lot easier to criticize government and a lot harder to govern it, especially in a progressive direction in a capitalist society. I dealions raised with more than a halfdozen in pittsburgh, boston, california,hmondnd, jackson, mississippi. All of these mayors in one way or another were trying to opposed to vision the neoliberal policies that have governed American Cities now for about 50 years. And opppposed to the growth machine policies that have reallyly run our cities for huhundred yeaears. They were opposed to those in one way or another, and have sought to change the way American Cities are governed. Amy before we get to the urban growth machine, that image of de family and how important that was in his election and what who his family is . Yes. Bill de blasio has mamaintained widespread supportn the africanamerican and latino not so much in the white community. The africanamerican and Latino Community have remained very loyal to his mayoralty so far. I think it is because of the economic policies, but they also see in de blasio them a merry tune africanamerican woman with biracial children, a living symbol of the diversity of new york city and of a sense of caring about what happens to the poor and to the africanamericans and latinos of the city. His son is credited really with being responsible for his sudden surge with the Famous Commercial in august did john amy i think we have that commercial. It was in august i think of 2013. Amy lets go to it. Little bito take a ababout bill d de blas. He is ththe only democrat with e guts to brbreak from t the b blg years come to only one who will , withtaxes on the rich the boldest plan to build Affordable Housing, and the only one who will end a stop p and frisk era that unfafairly targes people of color. R. He will bebe a mayor r for everw yorker. I say that even if you werent my dad. Amy this young africanamerican man with an afro. You just see him talking about bill de blasio. At the end, his white father walking with them down the street. Juan that is what captivateted mamany new yorkers. Until that moment, i would say the majority of new yorkers did not even know that de blasio had wasracial children and it an interracial marriage. I think that awaken a lot of people saying, hey, i should take another look at this guy. Then of course the policies were critical, the policies that ofectly affected the lives africanamericans and latinos and workingclass new yorkers. Amy lets go to one of those policies that directctly related to his son, the Pivotal Moment in 2014 when eric garner is skilled, put in a fatal Police Chokehold in staten island. The officers had confronted eric garner for allegedly selling loose cigarettes. Protest directed over lack of Police Accountability. Shortly afterward, bill de blasio said he and his wife chirirlane, who is africanamerican, fear for the safety of their teenage son, dante. We have to talk to dante for years about the dangers he may face. Good young man, lawabiding young men, never within to do anything wrong, yet because of the history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we have had to literally train him, as familieses have al over this city for decades, and how to take special care in any encounter he has with Police Officers who are there to protect him. And that painful sense of contradiction that our young people see first, the police are here to protect us and we honor that, and at the same time there is a history we have to overcome because for some many of our young people, there is a fear. For so many of our families come a there is a fear. Amy that is mere de blasio talking about his own son and the police. Heat fromook a lot of all sides of the political spectrum during that time because as you recall, he had already moved further to dismantle the stop and frisk policies of the Bloomberg Administration that were still being battled in the courts. He settled the central park 5 case, jogger c case, with mumultimillion d dollar settlems for those who had been wrongly convicted and jailed for the central park jogger case. Accepting, much more oversight of the outside oversight the city council had passed amidst the Police Department, was opposed to. The result was, he had a near insurrection among the rankandfile police and the Police Unions for several months, especially after two Police Officers were shot and gunman a fewrazed months later. So suddenly, de blasio was confronted with and i think this is one of the problems many of the progressive mayors have had across the country the Police Department is the army of a local government. Againsthe army rebels the leader, it is very difficult for that leader to govern. So i think one of the things that happened with de blasio early on, he chose a controversial figure, bill police, to be compilatio commissioner. He feared the same thing would happen to him that it happened themvid dinkins, the last a credit mayor, which is that the Police Department would rebel and allow crime to soar and make his time in office ungovernable. So he decided to pick bratton, who had loyalty among the rankandfile police. Because believing that would at least prevent the police from rebelling and allow him to implement a social agenda. The some degree it worked, and to some degree it didnt. He rightfully has taken criticism for backing the broken windows policy of bill bratton. Although that now bilill bratton has left commissioner, so has the broken windows policy. Amy were going to take a break and come back to this discussision. Juan gonzalez, yes, cohost on democracy now , but also author of a new book reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cities. When we come back, were going to talk about his thesis around race, class, and the urban growth machine. And de blasios 21 billion revolution. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with Juan Gonzalez. He just wrote a new book just published this week, reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cities. Talk about the central thesis here on race, class, and what you mean by the urban growth machine. Juan the urban growth machine is not a term i coined. It has been around now for decades. Scholars in a famous book urban fortune talked about the urban growth machine. Basically, it is a theory of how cities are managed. That basically, that capital sea. S possible profit from land because in a city, the land is the most important commodity in terms of how you can get profit. So that their the urban growth machine seeks always to see the land of cities, the streets, the parks, the housing for the highest possible exchange value. So we have seen in American Cities now for more than 100 cits, the elites of the ies always seeking maximum from commercial development, through luxury housing, any possible way to increase profit t from the land. Of the residents of the city see the land of that city in a different way. They see it in its use and how it can better their livives. So theres a constant conflicict betweeeen those who have power d wealth and urban america, and those who are the working class and live in these cities over how the land in the cities will be used. In the urban growth machine is always seen that cities grow through Economic Development and through the highest possible use. Working people see that cities grow when a service the people of the city. So i think the urban growth machine as dominated urban policy first in its conservative 19 30s,the 1920s, 1940s when it was over racism dominated land use in the u. S. , then it went into a more liberal face with the urban renewal programs of the 1950s and 1960s, then into a neoliberalism over the last 30 years which privatize as governments, seeks to privatize government, drive down wages, from to push the port out the cities and into the suburbs along the european model. The urban growth machine has had these different stages. ,hat happens in the beginning after the Great Recession and after occupy, is that a whole new host of leaders came to office who seek a different way of governing cities. I think that is the point i try to make in the book. It is not just de blasio in one city or two cities, but a movement that has begun to develop in america and that the cities are the only hope right now for prorogressive governance in america. Because the states, for the most part, are conservative elements inin washington forget aboutt washington for the next two years in terms of being able to get any kind of progressive legislation. Amy can you read from your book . Ton the section where i try show how this movement has spread, i said the turning point for the new progrgressive revolts in urban america came in 2013. ,hat may, shopper lumumba startled the political elite of the south when he won an election to the mayors seat of jackson, mississippi. Thus signaling that a black revolutionary was taking charge right in the heart of dixie. In november come the same day that bill de blasio prevailed in new york, and maverick member of the Pittsburgh City council and persistent critic of the citys democratic establishment, won election as the mayor of many minneapolis. A two term member of the minneapolis who that opposed public subsidies for a Minnesota Vikings statadium emerged from a crowded field of 34 candidates to capture the mayoral. And in boston, martin walsh called together an alliance of organized labor, right liberals to become the first labor official to become elected mayor in bostons history. Out west, a state legislator one election at seattles mayor in part by promising a 15 an hour minimum wage. The same issue championed by a radical Software Engineer named kshama sawant, who became the first socialist elected to the Seattle City Council since 1916. More local victories by new Grassroots Movements over the ras baraka. Rs, then in tempe, arizona, austin, texas, and a halfdozen other cities. Another group of left or into newcomers elevated to office in denver, seattle, philadelphia and other cities. While a durable and time machine challenger nearly pulled off an upset in the race for mayor of chicago, cook county commissioner garcia forced rahm emanuel, a centrist and a crack a centrist democrat, into a Runoff Election before finally succumbing to him. As her victories mounted, the new mayors and counselors started to fashion their own alliances a bigcity politicians committed to attacking income inequality and reached out to likeminded counterparts in other countries. I mentioned london, the mayor of barcelona,mayor of the mayor of san juan. This is an International Movement of cities of which the American Cities have now become a key an important part. This is how i try to lay it out. This is not one politician here and one there. This is a reflection of the Grassroots Movement that has been building in america for years now and is now beginning to capture local power. The question is, when you capture local power, there always problems in governing. As i say in the book, many of the mayors found their key initiaiatives blocked by conservative forces and others, the alliance that to cure the initial victory began to fracture over Police Killings of africanamericans and unresolved policy issues, among them frayed the alliance, how to address, for instance, Charter Schools or how to create more Affordable Housing will also promoting Economic Development, or even the issue of the sharing economy. Some of the progressives behind uber and others while others opposed it. There are things that have begun to fray the alliance and divide the alliance, but you cannot mistake that there is an alliance. There is an urban alliance in america. Amy the New York Daily News published a significant piece of the book and headlined it de blasios 21 billion revolution. Talk about the shift of money, where it comes from, where it is going. Lets remember, de blasio followed three terms of the billionaire mayor michael bloomberg. Juan and before that, too terms of mayor giuliani. I try not to get into personalities or the narratives that are created even by my own colleagues in the press, so you have the narratives of inept de blasio, of the de blasio who is always late, who seems arrogant and aloof. I always try to follow the money. , whatat has happened happened in the first three years of the de Blasio Administration in new york city, was an enormous infusion of the working class and the middle class of new york. Leastally tabulated it at 21 billion. Because of all of the initiatives that he put into motion and the city council the thing you have to understand about new york city, de blasio has the full support of a very leftwing city council and other key officials. So it was the most leftleaning government in the history of new york city, in n my opinion. What do they do . Universal childcare. People dont forget, 70,000 imn now a year are sorry, universal prek. 70,000 children a year now are getting prek education. The average paparent pays about 12,500 to care for their fouryear old child. So de blasio that only extended a full year of education for children, he also saved 70,000 parents a year now the cost of having to pay for child care for their fouryear olds. That alone represented about 1. 4 billion in savings to new yorkers. Amy that is larger than most School Systems in the United States. Juan no one expected he would be up to do it in the first year. He did it within seven months, eight months of being in office. Then there is the labor contracts thatat were negotiate. Before de blasio command office, 300,000 new York City Union workers, employees, had not had contracts for years, had not been able to get raises for years. Some, like teachers, for five years. Within a few months, he started negotiating contracts with all of the various unions of the city which in the first three years, delivered 15 billion in raises and back pay and benefits to the workers of new york city. ,hen there was the rent freezes rent regulations and new york city averaged increases for private landlords. And all of the years before de blasio, 3. 2 per year. Three pointer percent, the landlords were expecting every year on average increased from their rent. Years of thethree de Blasio Administration, there was a 1 , and 0 . One third of her present over. Hree years versus 3 per year that alone is about 2 billion that the landlords of new york city did not get that they were expecting to get and they historically had gotten under previous administrations. I can go on and on. Amy we actually just have a minute, although, we will do a post show to continue this discussion. , howubtitle in your book successful was he and other mayors in beginning to do this in that tale of two cities . They had begun, but they have had failures. De blasio had not solve the Affordable Housing problem. Theres still too much luxury housing being built and too Much Development commercial development being permitteded tt has not completely solve the issue of policecommunity relations, but they definitely have made Great Strides in these areas. And they are reason to hope. I think too often, when we look at the Trump Administration and washington and what is going on in the state capitals, we become discouraged and we have a sense of hopelessness. It is my theory, my viewpoint, that the citities are a basasisr hope. They are not perfect. You have to push these folks, but there is the potential for increasing space for change ands progressive policies in our city today. Amy as you talk about President Trump, when de blasio started, trump was not in office. This unique challenge that these cities have right now and the potential new see for them at this point . We are speaking on the day of his resending daca. Thousands of people took to the streets across the country, and mayors that are are fiercely opposed to trumpet have to deploy their pulleys or do deploy their pleas, i wont say they have to, to deal with protesters. One couple i believe the big cities and america are in a collision horse over sustainable developmenent, Police Accountability. There onon a collision course in the same way southern local the 1950s back in and 1960s were on a collision course of the federal government over civil rights. Back then it was the federal government that was maintaining the more progressive positition. Now it is the local governments maintain the most progressive positions and i believe it is going to get even more the battle is going to get Even Stronger between the cities in the federal government. Amy were going to do part 2 after the show and you can check it out at democracynow. Org. Book reclaiming gotham bill de blasio and the movement to end americas tale of two cities. You are beginning at 21 city tour and maybe more starting here at the new school on thursday night. I hope to see people at 7 00 in new york city. Youre moving on to call for city, california, washington, d. C. , arizona, texas, san francisco. You can check out the tour at demomocracynow. Org. A special shout out to our engineer