February 7, 2001
Dear DFL Delegate:
As an active DFL delegate
for eight years and a former precinct chair, I have also been faced with
important decisions about who to support at the convention. I ask myself, how do I know I'm supporting
the candidate who will stick by working people once she's down at city
hall? How do I know these aren't just
campaign promises?
I look at their record. I look for something that shows this person
has stood up for her principles under pressure and gone to the mat to fight for
something she believes in.
I've rallied with fellow
union members to protest privatization of city services and organized the
community to walk the picket line with striking HERE 17 hotel workers. I've marched down to city hall with my
neighbors to demand more streetlights in Phillips. I've testified before city council about the need to follow
through on the commitments made in the affordable housing resolution passed
last year. I've knocked on doors and
turned out voters to give a wake-up call to unaccountable politicians.
This isn't a campaign
promise. This is my life. This is who I am. I'm a progressive, African-American union and community activist,
and I'd like to be your next city councilperson.
One of the main principles
I've learned from my work as a labor and community activist is that if you're
not working effectively to win victories for your constituency, you won't be
able to continue to organize your community.
Your organization won't survive.
That's why I believe in
activism that produces results. I
chaired the neighborhood association, People of Phillips, at the beginning of
the Neighborhood Revitalization Program and succeeded in bringing millions of
dollars to the neighborhood for housing and community-based services. I chaired the Housing Resource Clearinghouse
of Phillips, an organization that enabled community residents to become
homeowners and helped renters secure decent and affordable housing. I also served on the Minneapolis Arts Commission,
which brought the Gateways project to Minneapolis’ neighborhoods. I am currently board chair of Minnesota
ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) which has led
the fight for affordable home ownership, living wages, and safe communities.
The best solutions to the
challenges we face are those that address the underlying causes of
injustice. Rather than building soup
kitchens, I'll be making sure our businesses create living wage jobs so that
working people can support themselves and their families.
I'll be making sure our
developers, especially those who come looking for city subsidies, are required
to build affordable housing. I'll be
working to curb landlords who refuse to maintain their properties while charging
excessive rents.
I'll work to get our police
to walk a beat and to see themselves as part of the community. And I'll fight for more pedestrian-level
streetlights in our neighborhoods so that our families can feel safe on their
own streets.
These are progressive ideas
that are a continuation of the work I've done with labor and community
organizations. I ask for your support,
so that together we can make these ideas a reality. Please take a look at the enclosed materials to learn more about
the campaign.
I look forward to talking
with you about your ideas for the ward and for Minneapolis. Give me a call at (612) 872-1149 if you have
any questions about my campaign or would like to volunteer.
See you soon!
Sincerely,
Shada Buyobe-Hammond
Paid for by Neighbors for Shada, Sunday Alabi, Treasurer, 1201 East 22nd Street, Minneapolis, 55404