Work for the People or Step Aside!
Citywide Youth Coalition Organizational Statement regarding the 2021 New Haven Mayoral Debates. Written by Dave John Cruz-Bustamante on October 31, 2021
On Tuesday, October 19 2021, the young people of Citywide Youth Coalition attended the mayoral debates between Mayor Elicker and Mr. Carlson at Cooperative Arts High School in downtown New Haven. As expected, we were disappointed with the mediocre and stubborn slate of candidates running, disappointed at yet another event where we people are forced to pick the fox or the wolf. As the debates went on, we noticed that Elicker’s performance at being a radical progressive and Carlson’s vague statements and attempts at humor were reaching a point where they didn’t even pretend to make sense or care about the issues of the city.
Questions about crime and public safety were brought up and both candidates answered with a flat, 2-D analysis about it, that lacks vision and transformational justice. Questions about the candidates’ lack of public support in neighborhoods like Fair Haven, Newhallville, and the Hill were brushed off. Questions about the environment were brought up and met with a series of contradictions and lack of policy planning from both candidates. The boiling point was when the topic of civility was brought up and candidates had to say one nice thing about each other, as if all were fine and dandy in our city.
We were flabbergasted and angry at their apparent apathy towards the actual betterment of our neighborhoods through policies of rebuilding and care. Our neighborhoods are not treated with civility, nor can we afford it. So, we stood up, and publicly asked the candidates why they are sitting around talking about the economic effects of the airport when our people can barely afford food and rent. We demanded that they answer to the people with more concrete and specific answers regarding the climate crisis. Carlson gave answers that made no sense and that did not encompass the revolutionary spirit that so many people, students, and groups advocate for in New Haven. Elicker answered with more contradictions and vague answers, and he also answered with lies.
In a smaller group in the lobby of the high school, we confronted Elicker’s accusations of the Citywide Youth Coalition not wanting to work with him, despite us, time after time, demonstrating and protesting with a clear set of demands made by and made for the people. Multiple times in our conversation, Elicker ignored black and female leadership within our organization, like the work done in the protests during The Uprising last summer by Jamila Washington, Efrencheli Ducos, and Mellody Massaquoi, despite them being present in the conversation. Furthermore, he continued to lie about our availability and willingness to speak with him, even though he has the personal phone number of our Director of Organizing.
All-in-all, we want to send a clear message to both Carlson and Elicker and all politicians that hope to continue their political career in New Haven, Connecticut: the people see right through your vague statements and performances. We are at a point in history where we demand, and will achieve, justice and liberation for all people. The old world is dying, that we do not fear. For we are building a new world that puts care before punishment, transformation before apathy, joy before sorrows, and lives before money. Listen with an open mind and heart, and implement the demands of the people that have been centuries overdue . . .
or step aside.
Sincerely, the young people at Citywide Youth Coalition
Dave John Cruz-Bustamante, Political Education Fellow and Operations Apprentice
Jaeana Bethea, Organizing Fellow
Mellody Massaquoi, Organizing Fellow
Jamila Washington, Part-Time Organizer
Efrencheli Ducos, Part-Time Political Educator
