R-26 Correspondence – Leanna Noble
From: Leanna Noble <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2023 11:21 AM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Comment in Support of Proclamation on October 7th Ageism Awareness Day
-EXTERNAL-
Dear Mayor and City Council,
The North Pine Neighborhood Alliance (NPNA) strongly supports the Proclamation on October 7th Ageism Awareness Day and thanks you all for your votes to adopt this statement and designation.
The NPNA neighborhood is proud of our ethnic, income, language, immigration status and age diversity as well as our majority renter residents. Our diversity as well as our significant majority renter status means that we are aware as individual neighbors and as a neighborhood on a daily basis of the many historic and current policies and practices public and private that systematically and deliberately disenfranchise many of us, including ageism.
Our neighborhood is home to no less than four senior HUD properties -- Park Pacific, Providence Gardens, Senior Arts Colony and Beacon -- with Plymouth West just beyond our neighborhood boundaries. The thousands of residents of these properties are some of the fortunate Long Beach elders who have figured out how to apply for and receive rent subsidies. When you visit these apartment buildings you hear English, Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, Russian and other languages. You hear stories of demonstrating for civil rights, worker and union rights, renters rights, immigrant rights, etc.
These buildings are full of impressive life experiences, skills, education and wisdom.
While it is true elders often move and think at a slower pace than younger Long Beach residents, it is a crime and City self-inflicted violence to have City policies and practices as well as to allow private policies and practices that exclude elders from our shared decision-making, policies, spaces and activities. Ageism is one of the poison divide-and-conquer concepts like white supremacy and misogyny used over and over again to deny us all of our rights. Equity and inclusion must guide all that we do to end the systemic ageism that cripples our City.
NPNA looks forward to the adoption of this Proclamation for Ageism Awareness. We look forward to future special City-sponsored events on this date highlighting what we can and will do as City residents and elected leaders to end ageism in Long Beach.
Leanna Noble
NPNA Secretary
115 West 4th Street, Unit 401
Long Beach, CA 90802