The Daily Bulletin Archive

Jason Knight, associate professor of political science, public administration, and planning, and Russell Weaver, director of research for the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab, prepared and led a session at the fifth annual Anti-Displacement Summit, hosted by Our City Buffalo, on Saturday, December 9. The annual event was co-sponsored by other social justice–focused community organizations, including PUSH Buffalo, the Coalition for Economic Justice, and the Partnership for the Public Good. The session, which was framed as "How to Take the Power Back," focused on a community-rights framework of governance and the role of the city charter in laying the groundwork for (anti-) democratic decision-making. Further, the summit laid out the ways in which a citizen-led ballot initiative could reform the charter and embed community rights and shared decision-making in Buffalo in a way that gives citizens actual power to decide what happens in their community. The focus was on action rather than admiring the problem. Dr. Knight continues his commitment to the actual practice of social justice by engaging directly with community stakeholders and supporting their efforts, through technical assistance and research, to push for socially just systems change.