Escenthio Marigny, Jr., from the Reno Justice Coalition was one of the speakers at a Stop Gentrification noontime rally on the UNR campus on September 13, 2016.
"This is tied to the system we call capitalism. It's the elephant in the room we have to speak about."
"Our economic system created a situation where certain people get shafted while others get more money. We should recognize that .... There are people right now who are homeless because housing prices have gone up at ridiculous rates, higher than they have ever been in the history of this city. That's not right. Do you all think that's right? You better act like it then."
Dozens of students, faculty and activists took part in the rally, with a new UNR gym still in construction as backdrop.
"This system is not equitable for everyone and never has been. We need to explore that. The way to face it now is that we face this housing crisis in Reno head on and we draw attention to the root cause, we draw attention to who gets impacted here. Also, we need to be careful of the narrative being created about the people who are impoverished. "
"We get told this is an individual issue. If you're poor, you don't have health care, you can't find a job, it's your fault. But we know it's not the fault of the individual, it's structural, it's designed."
"If anybody ever tells you that you need to be afraid of the poor, of people who are low income, of people hanging out down by the bus stop, they're bullshitting. You need to be more afraid of people making these policies, more afraid about the backdoor deals happening with local government and national government, and these developers that are going to do more harm for our community than they will good."