Yesterday morning, Black Lives Matter Cambridge protesters chained themselves together at Cambridge City Hall to call for more affordable housing in the city.

Black Lives Matter Cambridge taped a broadside to the building’s front doors demanding the city create an “inclusionary housing program,” including “at least 25 percent of of the units affordable” in new developments; give MIT a permit to build housing to free up units their students now use off campus; develop affordable housing on parking lots and other open city land; and “establish a rent to own program.”

They were joined by a few dozen protesters on the lawn of the building. Late in the morning, Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern and City Councilor Jan Devereux met with the group on the porch of City Hall.

Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons (center) and Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern (right of her) speak with Black Lives Matter Cambridge protesters at Cambridge City Hall, Aug. 31, 2016. (Greg Cook)
Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons (center) and Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern (right of her) speak with Black Lives Matter Cambridge protesters at Cambridge City Hall, Aug. 31, 2016. (Greg Cook)

“We’re really trying to work together,” Simmons told the group. Black Lives Matter Cambridge asked her to commit to making 20 percent of units in new developments affordable. She declined, saying the workings of government were unpredictable, but said she’d try to work toward more affordable housing, “I’m pledging to the process.”

McGovern said the City Council was working on new affordable housing regulations: “We want something passed to 20 percent [affordable housing] by the end of the calendar year.”

The protests continued after the politicians moved on.

Black Lives Matter Cambridge reported yesterday evening that four protesters “spent over 6 hours locked down at Cambridge City Hall to demand affordable housing in Cambridge. Four people were arrested and will be released from the 6th St. jail. … We are here to envision a different reality. We envision a world where all of our people are housed in homes fit for human beings. We envision a world where housing is stable and reliable.”

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