Miami Dispatch J19: March on the Mayors Conference - The People 's Summit : Miami IMC

* View the photos of “The People's State of the City Summit” at http://www.flickr.com/photos/82285926@N00/sets/72157605713747124/

Miami - June 19, 2008 - The drums pounded deep echoing off the brick walls of Miami Dade College's downtown campus. Startled police offers standing guard at the corner craned their necks to see what the commotion was. Dancers in feathered headdress and neon-bright outfits blew whistles calling forward towering drummers, hands furiously pounding out a beat that could move the dead. Security opened the doors to the first floor conference hall and the Bahamian Junkanoo band danced into the crowd, 300 strong.

And that is how it started: the Right to the City People's Summit, the kick off event for the March on the Mayors mobilization. Preempting the U.S. Conference of Mayors (starting today in Miami and going through the weekend) by a day Right to the City mobilized over 150 people nationally and 150 locally to build a progressive national urban agenda.

During the opening panel discussion of the People's State of the City Summit, Rob Robinson from Picture the Homeless in NYC, captured the theme of the night, "At the United States Social Forum we started thinking about how to build a national movement that could unite us and build our power. That movement is getting stronger by the day."

There were brief reports from the panelists: Rob Robinson -Picture the Homeless (NYC), Robbie Clark - Just Cause Oakland (Oakland), John Liss - Tenants and Workers United (DC Area), Ursula Price - Safe Street / Strong Communities (NOLA), Jaron Brown - POWER (San Francisco) and La'Kedra Robertson - Katrina Information Network (NOLA).

The conversation meandered from the fight in the Gulf coast against Katrina Profiteers to the questions of supporting Barack Obama as a way of defeating reactionary sectors of the Right. "There are many ideas here in the room. There are many fights represented: from the right to return for Katrina displaces to the fight to preserve public safe space for queer youth in New York City," said Sushma Sheth of the Miami Workers Center, "But we are all building a united movement for the Right to the City with racial justice, economic justice, and self-determination at it's core."

Next were comments from the gathered delegates. Many spoke abut the need for more housing for low-income people. Some spoke about he inspiration they have to fight. "I've learned to fight for my rights and to be treated like a human being," said John a youth member of SAJE from L.A. Kate Hutchinson from Miami said, "Disabled people need to know how to organize and win. I want to be a voice for those who have died without getting any help."

Facilitators then passed out blank sheets of paper and asked people to write down their declarations for the Right to the City. These declarations were collected and will be conglomerated into a draft of an urban platform.

"I am humbled to be here with so many people who are fighting together. We need to take this energy back home with us and keep on building this movement," said Robertson.

And then the drums sounded, again, raising everyone to their feet, moving everyone, each with their own style, but each dancing to the same beat, to the same drummer.

For more information about the Right to the City go here: http://www.righttothecity.org