Black Lives Matter marches past The People’s Republik
Today (August 9) is Michael Brown Remembrance Day nationally, and this afternoon I marched with a big crowd of people of all colors from Harvard Square to Central Square along Mass Ave, which the police had closed off for the Black Lives Matter Cambridge protest. It was moving and inspiring to see young people leading the way, but I imagine some older marchers must felt a maddening sense of deja vu to have chanted the same demands half a century ago during the Civil Rights Movement.
I’m still reading and learning from Debby Irving’s memoir Waking Up White. In it, she describes ways white people can show solidarity with people of color (quieter and more subtle than marching in protests). For instance Debby notes that it’s a white privilege marker to be able to confidently appear in public dressed however we please without fear of judgment or arrest — or worse. I think back to the 2009 incident when Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was mistaken for a burglar when he was locked out of his own home. Gates was dressed casually, not sloppily, but as a white woman I think nothing of walking my dog before daylight dressed as if I don’t care what anyone thinks, but if I ever locked myself out I can be pretty certain no one would call the police.
My summer campaign schedule has me “on the doors” for several hours each day (that’s campaign slang for canvassing), and I’m learning a lot by going door-to-door on streets I haven’t had occasion to visit on foot. Studying the voter rolls, I find a few neighborhoods where there are still quite a few multi-generational families living at the same address, typicaly in a multi-family house that has escaped condo conversion. This is increasingly rare, given the economics of the housing market, and the trend contributes to the feeling that our neighborhoods are losing their continuity and sense of close community.
On Saturday afternoon I spoke with a Cambridge fireman who lives across the street from his childhood home, which his parents still occupy. He told me he is one of only 44 firemen who live in Cambridge. No question, the cost of living in Cambridge can be prohibitive for most lower ranking staff. But our fire chief doesn’t live here and he earns $205K. Neither does the city manager ($330K), the school superintendent ($267K), the police commissioner ($218K), the head of DPW ($164K), the head of inspectional services ($137K), or the head of traffic & parking ($133K). In fact the majority of the city’s highest paid staff are not Cambridge residents. These employees are doing excellent and demanding work on our behalf, but they they do not live in neighborhoods impacted by their decisions. This puts more responsibility on Council and the School Committee, as our elected officials, to ensure that the city’s policies reflect both the will and enhance the quality of life of average residents.
Tree cut short on Mt Auburn St
Trees were a topic of much angst this week on the Fresh Pond Residents Alliance listserv, which I manage. The discussion began with the news that a 27” London plane tree on Huron Avenue would have to be removed because it sits in the path of a major water main repair. Losing a healthy tree of that size, part of a line planted many decades ago, is heartbreaking; few of us will live to see its replacement grow to anywhere near the same girth. Trees are an emotional hot button and a top priority for residents — the winning proposal in last year’s Participatory Budgeting process was to plant 100 street trees. While certainly a worthy initiative, that number would not quite replace the 130-150 street trees that the city projects will be lost annually to storm damage.
The city has just published a tree report that will be discussed at a public hearing on September 16th at 2 pm. The report states that there are 758 empty tree wells, a little more than half of which will be replanted over the next 5 years. Of those 758 empty wells, 347 contain stumps that need to be removed before replanting. About 185 locations will be replanted in the Concord-Huron sewer reconstruction area, most but not all, by 2016. Still, we are not planting enough (or enough big) trees citywide to make up for the losses of our mature tree stock, and as Cambridge becomes more dense and the climate warms the lack of substantial shade trees is, and will be, acutely felt. The health and environmental benefits of trees are well documented, and yet, shockingly, homeowners may opt out of having street trees planted in front of their property, even though a street tree canopy increases property values. This policy must be changed. Ironically the movie shown at this weeks family night hosted by DPW was — wait for it — The Lorax. “Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
More details on the city’s tree plan. And here’s a map of street trees.
This tree on Upland Rd was not hearty enough to survive
A tree throne on Stearns St
“I’m a tree” stickers show where new trees will be planted
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