I INVITED AOC TO VISIT BUFFALO

PUSH in Washington, DC to support two housing bills sponsored by Reps AOC and IIhan Ormar

In Washington, DC with my PUSH members and mentors, John Washington and Sage Green, we had a great opportunity to meet with representatives from Queens, Hon. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC), and Hon. IIhan Omar from Minnesota.  I found them both to be warm and personable humble young professional women!

We were invited and asked to be part of a panel discussion to introduce PUSH BUFFALO and the work we do in Buffalo, NY, and to talk, specifically, about our housing struggles and the people we service!

We shared our expertise and experience around  housing and gentrification issues. We elaborated on our struggle and work on building tenant power, and our work in preparing legislation with the cooperation of the “People’s Action” organization, and other affiliated organizations, to get the necessary support for passage of the “Homes Guarantee/Housing is a Human Right Bill” to be introduced under the Green New Deal by Presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Passage of this legislation means a lot to Buffalo, NY, and to me personally. We must help to give a frontline perspective of what housing policies are needed or essential to our region in Buffalo and New York State.  We must work hard and be visible to ensure passage and implementation of the Bill. We are not playing around with politicians; we want support and to see action now! We will be returning to Washington, DC to continue our work and support. We worked in captivating the legislators. I threw down in my irreverent style and mannerisms, and spoke of what housing plagues have infected Buffalo’s housing market, green and housing  gentrification, inflated tax assessments, and my personal experience and perspective, almost becoming the new face of homelessness if PUSH had not helped me with mortgage refinancing. The struggle continues for me and others – as this is an ongoing problem, big developers attacking low-income families, including single parents and the elderly.

AOC to visit Buffalo: At the request of PRCCJ, and as the Chairperson of their Community Relations Committee, and as a PUSH Buffalo member, we took the opportunity to invite Rep. AOC, along with her colleagues (Rep. Omar and Sen. Sanders), to come to Buffalo and meet with the Buffalo community. AOC said “yes, she would like that very much, and would look into it.”   Upon her interest, I told myself when I get back to Buffalo, I will have to work with the Buffalo Latino community and other groups, to organize a planning committee, and work on actually bringing AOC to visit us. We would definitely love to have her visit the “city of good neighbors.” I believe her visit to Buffalo would be an awesome experience. Help us make it possible!