From my daily Newsletter  – Think Things Through

I swear, someone wrote a musical based on not paying rent in the 90’s, didn’t they?

There is a growing movement in several states that has been brewing on social media. A hashtag #CancelRent has sprouted and there have been online video rallies, and a few in-person protests.

To date, an estimated 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last six weeks. There have been millions more Americans who have tried, yet have been unable to file claims. State unemployment offices are overwhelmed and have been slow to pay benefits. Most of these people don’t have money to pay rent. Millions more still haven’t received their stimulus checks; a payment where in a city like New York, $1,200 barely covers a typical $3,000 one bedroom apartment monthly rent.

This dire situation has led to one of the largest coordinated rent strikes in U.S. history. On May 1, tens of thousands of frustrated, angry, fed up citizens are expected to join together and not pay their rent this month, or for as long as the shelter in place order is in effect. Some tenants who are participating, even though they still have the ability to pay; acting in solidarity with their fellow building occupants. Seeing that “we’re all in this together,” doesn’t that make sense?

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Clayton Craddock is an independent thinker, father of two beautiful children in New York City. He has written about fatherhood, societal change and parenting over many years and is currently finishing a memoir. Clayton is also the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University’s School of Business and is a 25 year veteran of the fast paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in a number of hit broadway and off-broadway musicals including “Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. In addition, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.