Mayor Michael Tubbs on the Importance of Stockton and “Upsetting the Setup”
By: Warnermedia Entertainment
Tags: California, HBO, Social Change, Politics, Documentary

Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs didn’t always want to be in politics. As a child, he didn’t even know if he wanted to stay in the city of Stockton where he was raised.

The new HBO documentary Stockton on My Mind tells the story of Mayor Tubbs. Born to a teenage mother and an incarcerated father, Tubbs felt society destined him for either prison or death. Defying expectations, in 2016, he became one of the youngest mayors of a major American city at age 26, as well as Stockton’s first African American mayor.

Since his rise to Mayor of Stockton, Tubbs has gained national attention for his progressive policies and innovative ideas including his universal basic income program (SEED), Stockton Scholars, and more. Stockton on my Mind follows Tubbs’ efforts to reverse the fortunes of a city known as one of the poorest, most violent and least literate in the nation.

Below Mayor Tubbs discusses the new documentary, his revolutionary ideas for Stockton, and what he hopes everyone learns from Stockton, California.

In Stockton on My Mind you spoke about your passion for Stockton and the love you have for your community. Did you always think you would run for political office?

Growing up, my whole mentality was to love the city and then to get as far away from it as possible. Stockton, growing up, was a site of a lot of pain. My mom was always saying things like, “You have to leave to be successful.” I felt like being here was a dead end.

It wasn’t until my cousin was murdered, and I spent time in college and reflected on all the good things I got from the city that I decided to run for office. Stockton provided me with the mentors, teachers, friends, family and cultural diversity that is at the core of who I am.

But even then, while in college, I thought I would be involved in service and making change, but not in elected office. Definitely not in an elected office in Stockton. I thought I would do policy work for a big national organization or advocacy work. I thought there were many different ways to make change, but I didn’t see myself running for office in Stockton until the murder of my cousin.

You use the phrase “upsetting the setup” often in the documentary. What does this phrase mean to you?

I heard that quote from a friend of mine in high school, her name is Raven Rakia and she had a blog called Upset the Setup. I use that phrase a lot, because I think it illustrates sort of the tensions — and also some of the work we’re trying to do in navigating both structure and agency. The phrase to me illustrates the understanding that our society is structured for the outcomes we see.

Now when folks feel set up because of where they’re born or what race they happen to be or what zip code they’re in, that’s not an excuse. That is a data informed analysis that there are things set up structurally to make it harder for some people and easier for others. I don’t think anyone could actually deny that.

And then the upset part is so important, because it’s also important to realize that we do have agency, that we do have power. The setup or the structures or institutionalized racism, sexism, et cetera, aren’t the final word, that you do have agency to upset that.

And that’s why that phrase is so important to me, because I think as a policymaker, I try to strike the balance between identifying, naming, and working on fixing structural issues, but also emphasizing to my constituents that we still have agency. Both those things can be true.