Last month the Hey (5th grade) Shule class, supporters from the public, and City Life/Vida Urbana activists organized and carried out a protest at the Massachusetts State House for housing justice – specifically in favor of rent control. They also performed a skit, sang, chanted, and learned from City Life/Vida Urbana.

Here is a perspective from Shule 5th grader, Max:

My name is Max. My pronouns are He/Him. I am from Roxbury. I am in the Hey class at the Boston Workers Circle Shule. In Shule we have been talking about housing rights and rent control. Uncontrolled rent can be really bad for people all over Massachusetts because landlords can raise rent drastically, and evict people from their homes if they can’t pay. Rent has been rising, and more people are getting kicked out of their homes, which is even worse now that housing prices are so high. We feel it’s important to be here because even though we might not be the ones getting kicked out of our homes, other people in our community are, and we have solidarity with our community. Gentrification is happening all over Boston, and that makes things way worse. I care about the housing problem because of the same reason. I am not getting evicted, but other people in Boston are, so I stand in solidarity with them. Our goal with this protest is to raise awareness about the housing issue, and to try to make some changes.