Renters
My family and I immigrated to Boston nearly three decades ago, where we bounced around from public housing developments in Roxbury, Roslindale, South Boston, and Charlestown, where I saw firsthand how Boston’s immigrant and low-income residents were all looking to actualize a slice of the American Dream. Now, Boston’s rental prices are some of the highest in the nation, on par with New York and San Francisco. The median rental price is now around $4000 in Boston. The median for a one-bedroom alone costs $2800, and $3500 for a two-bedroom apartment. The average Boston renter pays 47% of their income to rent-- one can only imagine how this is now for residents like the ones I called neighbors back in the 1990s.
Furthermore, rising prices are displacing Black and Brown communities here in District 7 in high numbers. As a city councilor, I will work to ensure that we bring down the housing price so that working families can afford rent and stay within their community. This starts with increasing the housing supply and expanding inclusionary zoning requirements. Additionally, I will look into remapping Boston’s area median income (AMI) borders to lower the price of affordable housing, ensuring that District 7 isn’t unfairly grouped with wealthier neighboring areas.
I will push for more housing production in our city and collaborate with neighboring towns to create their fair share to make sure residents like me and my neighbors have options to stay in our communities.
Home Ownership
In 2017, the Boston Globe reported that the median wealth of Black families was $8, meaning that the combined value of what Black Bostonians owed in debts was nearly equivalent to what they owned in assets. This must change. As a city councilor, it would be my mission to leverage homeownership to create generational wealth for Black and Brown families.
As City Councilor, I will expand home-buying opportunities for low-income families, allowing them to invest in their living homes and build generational wealth. I will work to improve zoning laws to allow for the construction and renovation of Boston's signature triple-decker and other multi-family options, particularly in areas near public transportation.
I will collaborate with the state to enforce the MBTA Communities Law so more towns and municipalities comply with the state's requirements to produce more housing.
Education
Our city’s schools face several pressing challenges. Mounting closures, truancy, and ineffective transportation continue to pressure the city to maintain equity in school placement. Too many Black and Brown students already lack access to quality afterschool programs, test prep, STEAM funding, AP classes, vocational options, and other resources needed to succeed. Additionally, Boston’s standardized testing system puts too much pressure on our students, leading to undue stress, especially for English language learners. Boston needs to create holistic and equitable evaluation systems.
As a graduate of Boston’s public schools, I have experienced these challenges and inequities first-hand. Our schools need investment. We must expand options for providing students with skill acquisition through vocational electives, tech-learning programs, and test prep. We need to bolster the programs that keep our students happy and healthy by funding the arts, sports teams, mental health resources, and substance abuse resources. It’s our responsibility to ensure that our students have the opportunity to a) gain the skills necessary to compete in today’s job market and b) access the programs they need to lead healthy, fulfilled lives.
We must also invest in the physical infrastructure of our schools. Many buildings are outdated, with aging facilities and old water fountains that fail to meet today’s standards. As many as 96 of Boston’s public schools lack any ventilation system to cycle fresh air into the building. Our students deserve modern, state-of-the-art learning environments and clean and reliable transportation. We can ensure every child can access a healthy, learning-centered school environment by assessing and upgrading our schools and buses.
Pre-K and Childcare
As a father, I have seen how important the early years of a child’s life are to setting them up for success. When my son entered kindergarten after a year at a Head Start program, he was prepared for the curriculum requirements of kindergarten. Unfortunately, soon after my son graduated from the program, it was shut down due to lack of funding, depriving my neighborhood of the hyper-local childcare option that was so valuable to my family. I want to ensure every parent has access to programs that give children the learning opportunities to thrive when they enter formal schooling. Especially for working parents, access to affordable and nearby childcare allows them to hold down a job and support their family.
But, as every parent knows, there aren’t enough options for affordable childcare services. We need to cut the red tape and make it possible for the professionals in our community to start local programs. We can create a more robust system for starting a pre-kindergarten program by connecting state funds and business-oriented nonprofits with aspiring entrepreneurs. It’s our responsibility to ensure that every child in District 7 enters kindergarten with a strong foundation for success.
Small Business
Black and Brown businesses in Boston face a $603 million funding gap. Systemic racism has historically hindered the growth of small businesses in our community. As the cost of rent increases and consumer spending declines, these historic inequities are only exacerbated, resulting in minority-owned companies being driven out of our community.
We need a city council to advocate and legislate to revitalize minority-owned small businesses. In my work with the African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE), I helped supply minority-owned small companies with the needed resources to succeed. We provided training for marketing, tech, accounting, and HR to assist businesses with the technical side of operations. During the pandemic, we secured over 643,000 dollars in federal funding to help keep businesses afloat. We also fought against attempts to drive out immigrant companies by the city of Boston and large developers, often succeeding in leveraging our legal expertise to keep these small businesses in our community.
I understand the ins and outs of supporting small-business ownership, and I would use my expertise to advocate for small-business funding, support, and solutions on the city council.
Enviromental Justice
Growing up in Boston in the 1990s, crime rates, and substance use was up, and I found solace in the community through afterschool programs like the Madison Park Community Center, Tobin Community Center in Roxbury, and the Archdale Community Center in Roslindale drawing and playing basketball.
Boston spends $35 million of its budget on parks across the city. Still, according to the Trust for Public Land, residents living in neighborhoods of color have access to 16% less nearby park space than those living in white neighborhoods. Residents in lower-income neighborhoods have access to 21% less nearby park space than those in higher-income neighborhoods.
As City Councilor, I will work with you to expand park access in our district and advocate for our community's priorities of more parks and trees to mitigate environmental impact, such as heat islands. While Boston has started identifying areas, I want to ensure your voices are heard on where to put our new parks.
That's why I want to upgrade our community centers and public spaces so that our youth and seniors have a place where they can get support. Also, I will push to reduce pollution and incentivize public transit, biking, and walking instead of being dependent on fossil-fuel-emitting ways of getting around.
Furthermore, I want to expand the Free MBTA buses to more areas within our district because we know that expanding opportunities include having free transportation for economically vulnerable people and creating incentives to ride the bus and train. I will advocate for a more equitable distribution of bike-sharing so that more D7 residents have more choices regarding how to move around within Boston.
Social Justice
At twenty-something years old, I lost friends to gun violence and others shortly after to substance use. I know all too well the over-surveilling and policing of Black and Brown neighborhoods, along with the troubles youth like my friends got into.
While the 2018 and 2020 criminal justice reforms have worked and are necessary, more needs to be done. I applaud the efforts of the state to reduce the incarcerated population, where there has been a 50% reduction. However, Blacks and Latinos account for the largest population in jails. Arrest rates are still higher for Black and Brown communities, though they have decreased, and distrust between our community and police is still high.
The community’s safety is essential but does not require over-policing of Black and Brown communities. I will push for more social services in our district, helping families get the necessary resources. Additionally, Boston needs to fund re-entry services and work with our local leaders to provide resources for those returning to the community to reduce recidivism. The city must fund more robust re-entry programs and earmark money for organizations that help this population.