Month: April 2017

BREAKING: NYC Takes to the streets to demand #NoCuts to HUD. Arrests Made.

CarsonWatch

Today, hundreds of residents took to the streets of New York City to denounce the Trump-Carson budget and its staggering cuts to HUD.

Following last week’s actions by the Miami Workers’ Center and its allies, who confronted Secretary Carson on his “listening tour” in Miami, this massive action in New York brought a spotlight on the breadth of opposition.

The action was organized by Community Voices Heard, and its many partners in the No Cuts Coalition, and drew the support of NYC Council Members Brad Lander, Ritchie Torres, and Ben Kallos in solidarity.

CarsonWatch is pleased to provide a roundup of photos and live commentary from this powerful action:

During a civil disobedience action, arrests were made, included the Executive Director of Community Voices Heard, one of the organizers of today’s action. We’ll keep you posted on Twitter as this story develops.

Powerful posters and messaging:

Cuts to HUD will NOT make America Great Again! #NoCutsCoalition #NotInOurHouse pic.twitter.com/XhdoL4GSqT

 

Young people made their voices heard:

Confronting Secretary Carson Directly

CarsonWatch

We know that you are no stranger to HUD Secretary Ben Carson’s antics as he embarks on his “listening tour” around the country. CarsonWatch kept you in the know as he has fumbled his way through Detroit and Dallas. Unfortunately, it seems as though his most recent visit to Miami shaped up to be business as usual.

Secretary Ben Carson’s time in Miami last week was far less about listening to the community, and instead more about cultivating highly curated photo opps where he could meet friendly allies. When the Secretary chooses to run a “listening tour” in this fashion, countless community members and residents are consistently left out, being refused an opportunity to voice their concerns over the Secretary’s extreme policy positions and the cruel Trump-Carson proposal to slash $6 billion from HUD next year alone.

While the media was busy covering Carson getting stuck in an elevator, CarsonWatch decided to take action…

CarsonWatch supported our allies – Miami Workers Center and Right to the City, as they confronted Secretary Carson on Wednesday when he attempted to take credit for a project with which he had nothing to do – a project that is now actually imperiled as a result of his proposed budget cuts.

On Thursday our allies hosted an event outside a forum featuring Secretary Carson and then confronted him directly inside, challenging his disingenuous attempts to convince the audience that somehow six billion fewer dollars for affordable housing and community development is a good thing for Miami and communities around the country.

The Trump-Carson budget cuts will have tangible, immediate effects on millions of our neighbors around the country: by kicking people out on the street, depriving communities like Miami of seed money to attract additional investment, and even risking children’s health by slashing funds used to keep our homes clean and free of air toxins like mold.

We cannot and will not stand for such inhumane action, especially as Secretary Carson tries to cloak it with photo opps and vague promises of keeping programs “that are going very well.”

We aren’t falling for it.

Check out our Facebook and Twitter feeds for more of the action, and be sure to use the hashtag #ListenToUs to tell Ben Carson how you will be affected by these budget cuts.