In 2018, BIJ1 got its first seat in the Amsterdam city council in the name of Sylvana Simons, who handed it over to current party leader Jazie Veldhuyzen in November 2020. Jazie is supported by dual municipal councilor vreer verkerke, policy advisor Nilab Ahmadi and communication coordinator Hasret Emine, as well as volunteers Dorien Ballout, Frédérique Olthuis, Floor Boots, and Bernadette Raymakers. Together they form the Amsterdam BIJ1 party.

Behind the scenes, the party is also supported by the board and many active BIJ1 members who are always ready to take to the streets and support each other in our fight for equality.

Radical equality

First of all, what does the word radical mean? Nowadays it is often associated with being fanatical, extreme, or militant. However, the word radical comes from the Latin word radix, which means root.

Radical therefore means to get to the root of problems, and to not settle for superficial or cosmetic improvements. It means wanting to do things thoroughly. To give an example, we are not against food banks, but they do not solve poverty. This requires a more radical solution: a fairer socio-economic system.

People often talk about equality, but what about equity? Because we are not all equal. We are different from each other. Some of those differences, for example, such as gender, where you were born and whether or not you have residence or identity papers, have far-reaching consequences for the chances you have in life. Wherever we feel that opportunities are not fairly distributed, we take action. For example:

• Half of the Dutch women don't make enough money to live independently, but they still take on the lion's share of unpaid labour.
• Violence against women and trans people, especially trans women of colour, is still prevalent.
• Non-white young people, who have a non-western surname, or the 'wrong' zip code, have a lower chance of getting a job.
• People with disabilities are not allowed to participate fully in society, meaning they have to fight for their right to mobility.
• People with a migrant background are dismissed as 'foreigners', even though they are Dutch like everyone else.

This is unacceptable. Wherever we feel that opportunities are not fairly distributed, we take action.

NOTHING ABOUT US, WITHOUT US

It's very important to us that emancipation also means representation. Simply including a few nice intentions in our party program is not enough. We are the people with disabilities, women, LGBTQI+ people, Afro-Dutch, Muslims, former refugees. We want the people who are most affected by political decisions to have their say.

That also means that people who had ancestors in our former colonies should have a seat in parliament so that the government doesn’t remain White-only. It means that there is room for Black art in our culture. It means that we want more BIPOC and people with disabilities to be visible in the media and for them to write more articles for newspapers. It means that people in wheelchairs represent us in the city council. It means that women who wish to wear a headscarf without being discriminated against or even threatened, can do so.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

This pursuit of greater equality cannot be achieved without talking about another form of inequality: between those who have a lot and those who we call 'less fortunate'. It is an unbearable shame that we live in one of the richest countries in the world, and yet 20% of families in Amsterdam live below the poverty threshold. The amount of people living in poverty is growing, even more so since the COVID-19 pandemic. People who have jobs but cannot make a living from them. People who get into debt. People who - proportionally - pay more tax than the people with enormous wealth, with bank accounts overseas. We cannot let this stand.

We are not only talking about differences of gender and colour, but also of class. These differences coincide frequently. Unfortunately, as the Dutch saying goes, it is still the case that those born for a dime rarely get the opportunity to become a quarter.

In everything that we do and what we stand for, we consider:

• Whether the gap between rich and poor will be reduced or increased.
• How we can ensure that everyone has sufficient income to live in dignity.
• That we can measure our civilisation by the fact that our elderly have a dignified old age, and that their lives are still valued.
• That there is sufficient investment in care. That no profit is made on all the necessities of life, such as our health.
• That everyone can have decent housing.
• That every child has an equal right to good education.

In the next four years, we will therefore mainly focus on restoring the balance in Amsterdam:

• In healthcare and the emancipation of the vulnerable in our city.
• The distribution and affordability of housing, working, and living in the city.
• The opportunities to develop talents on the road to economic independence for all those who now too often suffer from increasing inequality.