Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
Michelle WuRead
We can build wealth in all our communities, value public education, plan for our neighborhoods, invest in housing we can afford and transportation that serves everyone, truly fund public health for safety and healing, and deliver on a city Green New Deal for clean air and water, healthy homes, and the brightest future for our children.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of investing in communities and public services for a sustainable future.
Michelle Wu highlights the necessity of community investment and sustainable practices to nurture a prosperous future. By advocating for affordable housing, robust public education, and environmental cleanliness, she envisions a society where every community thrives, emphasizing the interconnection of health, safety, and ecological responsibility for the well-being of future generations.
In practice
In a speech on urban development, one might use this quote to inspire collective action.
Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
When I first ran for City Council in 2013, I was told over and over again that I would likely lose, and for reasons beyond my control: I was too young, not born in Boston, Asian American, female.
During natural disasters or emergencies, the most resilient communities - places that suffer the fewest casualties and rebuild more quickly - are not the wealthiest neighborhoods or ones that have spent the most on physical infrastructure, but rather the communities with the strongest social infrastructure.
Free public transportation is the single biggest step we could take toward economic mobility, racial equity, and climate justice.
I think if we're going to be serious as a city, as a country, about addressing climate change, addressing inequality and racial disparities, we have to start taking action at the scale that matches the urgency of the problems.
Growing up, I never ever thought that I would or could or should be involved in politics. I didn't see anyone who looked like me in spaces of power.
I had to change. I had to change was the thought that drove me in those months of planning. Not into a different person, but back to the person I used to be—strong and responsible, clear-eyed and driven, ethical and good. And the PCT would make me that way. There, I’d walk and think about my entire life. I’d find my strength again, far from everything that had made my life ridiculous.
Change is the one unavoidable, irresistible, ongoing reality of the universe. To us, that makes it the most powerful reality, and just another word for God. Earthseed: The Books of the Living Lauren Oya Olamina
Part of being a revolutionary is creating a vision that is more humane. That is more fun, too. That is more loving. It's really working to create something beautiful.
When Superstorm Sandy churned up fourteen-foot walls of water that slammed New York's coastal communities in October 2012, they also washed away any false notions we had that we care sufficiently for poor people.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it' is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms.
It's time to move on to the next step in the psychedelic revolution. We've reached a certain point, but we're not moving any more.
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