This would be a game-changer!
Maya Wiley is working to make history as the first Black woman mayor of New York City, Black Enterprise reports.
Wiley is the daughter of civil rights activists, getting her start working for the NAACP and ACLU. She has a progressive plan to transform NYC, helping those residents that need it most, focusing first on supporting recovery efforts across the board.
“In this moment, when we have both the pandemic that is COVID to recover from but also the pandemics of structural racism, and affordability crisis, and everything else that preceded COVID...it’s time that we have a different kind of leadership. [One] that knows how to be big and bold and transformational in this moment...One of the biggest challenges of this city is not recovering from COVID; it’s recovering for everyone," Wiley told reporters. "Eighty-eight percent of people that have died in this city from COVID are Black, Latino, or Asian. Most of the people are unemployed, if we count the true unemployment numbers, many of these are younger people who have twice the traits of unemployment and in some instances significantly higher unemployment."
She plans to start her revitalization by investing $10 billion into the city’s economy, creating 100,000 new jobs, with nearly a third of them going toward art, construction, and technological industries. The rest will focus on boosting employment in childcare, home healthcare, and manufacturing. Wiley also said she intents to appoint a czar to oversee the plan while allocating funding for infrastructure repairs and tech updates while ensuring equity and economic goals.
Wiley’s plan includes supporting minority and women business owners, small businesses, and allocating $30 million in grant funding. She wants to support the city’s school system and account for the digital divide resulting from the pandemic, which caused a significant loss of learning for many students.
“Fundamentally, we have to recognize that we are not getting enough dollars in the classroom and not supporting enough innovation and in a way that integrates our schools. The first thing I’m going to do is make sure we hire 1,000 new teachers, and we’re going to focus on those teachers looking like our students. We know students get a significant educational benefit when they’re taught by teachers who look like them,” Wiley said.
The Dartmouth and Columbia University graduate also plans to support low-income New Yorkers by changing oppressive NYC housing policies, tackling eviction issues, and investing $251 million into a direct rent relief program. She also plans to champion police reform and address healthcare, revenue, and city budget issues. Her goal is to create a new New York that serves all its citizens, no matter income, status, or race.
“Black women are qualified to lead, and management is something that requires the qualifications that Black women have always had, which is coming together and partnering and leading in partnership to get it done, and that’s who I am, that’s how I’m running, and that’s what I’ll do as mayor,” Wiley said.
Congratulations Maya! We are all cheering you on!
Photo Courtesy of The Riverdale Press