Our Movement
Right to the City Vote!
Our Political Movement
RTCV is a citywide political collective working to build the political power of Boston's rising electorate around a progressive agenda led by low income, working-class communities of color. It is the only multiracial, multilingual, and multigenerational 501(c)(4) project in Boston and one of the few in Massachusetts. RCTV activists are a powerful force involved in year-round organizing and civic engagement to transform communities of color into high turnout neighborhoods.
Our member leaders and local residents represent neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, East Boston, Chinatown and parts of South Boston.and Charlestown. We also have a network of residents in Chelsea and Revere. In 2018, RTCV knocked more than 28,000 doors—in English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Vietnamese—in support of the candidacies of Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins centering our neighborhood's voice and expanded leadership into communities such as Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain. In 2019, RTCV made 19,673 attempted voter contacts, reaching 9,717 unique voters. One in 7 Boston voters were contacted by RTCV, helping elect Julia Mejia, Ricardo Arroyo, Kenzie Bok, and Liz Breadon to join the most diverse city council in Boston’s history.
​
For the 2020 state primary RTCV participated in a collective candidate interview and questionnaire process and endorsed Damali Vidot for Charlestown/Chelsea State Rep, with our core partner Chinese Progressive Political Action (CPPA) and other progressive allies. As the number of COVID related deaths and cases continued to grow in Chelsea, we knew, Chelsea deserved strong leadership that supports our platform, including important topics like rent control. CPPA had endorsed 5 other candidates, and combined activities with CPPA, we sent over 23,500 texts, leafletted 5400 flyers, and made 2500 phone calls to Chinese and Spanish-speaking voters. For the 2020 general election, we were also able to plug volunteers into in-language voter persuasion and activation in battle group states, while also working to defend our communities in Greater Boston. In 2020, we helped convene over 50 grassroots leaders to discuss our strategy in a potential contested election scenario and are planning more conversations and subsequent necessary steps.
​
​
RTCV’s work shocks the political establishment by building upon years of local base-building and multiracial collaboration on a collective policy agenda, turning this into power at the ballot box. Progressives have often worked against each other to challenge the status quo by dividing their votes when there are more than one progressive candidate in a particular race. Instead, RTCV have been convening a diverse coalition to build unity by working through debates, candidate interviews, and long deliberations for a collective decision and a coordinated strategy, anchored by the organizing and power building of those most impacted.