Displacement/Gentrification

El Movimiento de trabajadores sin tierra (MST) de Brasil se fundó en 1984 y ahora es uno de los movimientos sociales mas grandes del mundo. Luchan por la reivindicación de la tierra, la reforma agraria y la transformación social. Les presentamos una entrevista con Janaina Strozake, quien nació, creció y se formó en el movimiento.

An Open Letter to Columbia University...

 

Dear Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation,

 

I had the wonderful experience of meeting some of your students this
weekend in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with some professors while
staying at my bed and breakfast.  They were a young and eager group
ready to fulfill whatever you set out for them to do and with full
confidence in your institution.  Every day they went out to measure,
excavate, and research on how to preserve three old buildings you plan
to restore for an art space in the Port of Rio, one of the poorest
neighborhoods in the city.  Well, in one of those homes on the second
floor, guess what… lives a family.

Chanting "Dignity for everyone" and "Right to housing," a few dozen people block the doorway of a house so that the family inside cannot be evicted. The demonstrators, members of a Hungarian housing rights group called The City is for All, question why units of public housing are allowed to sit empty while 1100 families wait for housing, before they are arrested for civil disobedience.

 

In the fight against displacement and gentrification the Harlem Anti-Displacement Task Force held it's 3rd Annual March.

Katrina Pain Index 2009 is a solidarity message from Bill Quigley to Hurricane Katrina survivors in NYC at the Katrina Remembrance Aug. 29, 2009. Bill Quigley is a human rights lawyer on leave from Loyola University to serve as legal directior for the Center for Constitutional Rights. For a pirinted version of the article "Katrina Pain Index 2009" contact Bill Quigley at quigley77@gmail.com. This video was shot by Johnnie Stevens and Dalia Grinan. mayibue2@yahoo.com

As Philadelphia neighborhoods like Brewerytown are transformed by corporate development projects which place profit over people, we must support the communities that have fought for survival. Songhai City Cultural Center and the brave leaders of African American Business and Residents Association (AABRA) are a perfect example.

Months ago, when the school district first announced that it would be closing William Penn HS, almost no one doubted that that would be the case. However, thanks to the quick and effective organizing of the community around William Penn, the school is going to remain open and there is a new plan to turn it into a cutting edge career and technical school.

UPDATE: The remaining Right to the City Eight released. More at the bottom after the jump.

On Tuesday at least 100 people from the Right to the City NY Alliance barged into the main ballroom at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel in Midtown, holding signs that read, Mayor Bloomberg, Talk to All New Yorkers,and chanting, This is what democracy looks like.The best write-up of the protest comes from Feministe

Check out this from Gihan Perera with the Miami Workers Center

When these guys say 'neighborhood activists' who do they really mean? What are the interests of a bank? Wachovia Foundation's Neighborhood Planning Workshop (Jun 24) The Wachovia Regional Foundation is again offering a series of workshops aimed at helping neighborhood activists through the steps of developing a neighborhood plan. Participants will learn how to identify the challenges, opportunities, and synergies that commonly emerge during a neighborhood planning process. Attending the workshop is particularly important if your organization is considering developing a neighborhood plan or applying for Wachovia Regional Foundation' Neighborhood Planning Grant. Workshops will be held in Philadelphia on June 24th and in Trenton on June 26th.<!--[if !vml]-->