REcesssion fair 2.1

Mark (and I) rappin with wome folks on Food Justice and the Green Collar Economy

It’s been a while.  I know.  But here’s why: I’ve been working as hard as I can to get a great man elected to New York City Council.  What makes him great, you ask?  Well, for starters, let’s take a look at Mark Winston Griffith’s Green Jobs policy proposal (which I did a lot of work on).

I’m pretty excited by this, and am looking forward to getting real progressive representation into office in Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant.  It’s been a minute.

Problem
As a community, and as a city, we find ourselves at an economic crossroads.
The national unemployment rate hovers near 10%.  While precise statistics don’t currently exist for Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant residents, unemployment rates in Central Brooklyn are routinely 6% to 8% higher than the national average, while Blacks and Latinos are hit hardest by the recession. If history repeats itself, Central Brooklyn will also be left behind in the recovery efforts.
However, as President Obama has said repeatedly, the financial crisis, and the recession that grew out of it, provide us with a unique opportunity to fundamentally alter the way our economy functions.  Out of the rubble of what many have called the “grey” economy, a greener way of doing business is being built – one that can grow to meet the twin challenges of fighting global warming, and rebuilding the infrastructure of an ever growing and aging city like New York.

The inevitable changes in how we produce energy and travel around New York City will create new, well-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced.  If we make the right preparations today, we can position the residents of Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant to compete for these jobs of the future, while addressing systemic inequality by gaining a foothold in the new economic system.
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