USA: We’re suing Uncle Sam for HOUSING – here are the photos and press coverage!

By: Rosa - July 12th, 2013  Filed under: News

The Federal Government is obligated by law to invest money in the National Housing Trust Fund, which should go inro housing for folks hit hard by the financial crisis – as well as folks hit hard by centuries of institutional racism and oppression!

But that money is MIA.

In fact, over $380 million is missing from the trust fund.

That’s why we’re suing the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

And that’s why we had this press conference yesterday.

All of our photos from the lawsuit-announcement press release are here.

A terrific article in the Wall Street Journal goes deep into the background of the suit. [Read More]

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London,UK : Please come to Grow Heathrow

By: Rosa - July 9th, 2013  Filed under: News

We will give more updates as soon as we can, but the short story is that we urgently need people to come to site to help us plan. We’ve just heard that we lost our appeal in the UK’s second-highest court so the landowner now has a live possession order. We don’t know the landowner’s plans, so we don’t know whether or when he will apply for a warrant from the County Court for bailiffs, and beyond then whether or when he might hire bailiffs.

Grow Heathrow at Court

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Oakland, USA : National Lawyers Guild Wins Settlement for Occupy Oakland Injuries in Campbell vs Oakland

By: Rosa - July 9th, 2013  Filed under: News

Twelve people injured by the Oakland police department during Occupy Oakland demonstrations have settled a federal civil rights lawsuit with the city of Oakland for a total of $1.17 million. The physical injuries came as a result of OPD’s violent response to Occupy Oakland on October 25 and November 2, 2011. Plaintiffs to receive compensation for injuries include David Morse, a long-time member of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay).

The settlement in the Campbell vs. City of Oakland case comes on the heals of another $1 million settlement still pending final approval, Spalding vs. City of Oakland. As a result of both cases, OPD has agreed to allow the federal court to enforce OPD’s compliance with its own crowd control policy and to negotiate with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) before making any changes to the policy. The control policy prohibits police from shooting “less lethal” impact munitions or tossing explosive teargas grenades into crowds, and prohibits mass arrests without warning or opportunity to disperse.

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San Francisco Tenants protest at Rick Holman’s Home as part of ‘Eviction Free Summer’

By: Rosa - July 9th, 2013  Filed under: News

Tenants facing eviction from the historic 17 Reasons building by developer and landlord Rick Holman protested outside of his home in South Park in San Francisco this Tuesday. Since the start of the eviction process, Holman has used a variety of tactics such as illegal lockouts of tenants, harassment from security guards, as well as a web of surveillance systems against those paying rent at the building that he wants gone. During a recent block party against gentrification in the Mission District, Holman also worked closely with the police to ensure that the building would not be “occupied” by protestors, and also issued an ‘unlawful detainer’ to residents inside on the day of the event. How many times have we all had landlords come to our homes, walk around, issue demands, and threaten us? Landlords hold great power over our lives and also take massive amounts of money out of our hands that we make by our labors and put it into their pockets. Thus, it’s great to see people taking the fight to their doorsteps and raising a ruckus in their bourgie neighborhoods. Often, most people are too afraid to stand up to the cops, the landlords, and the developers, but we need only keep in mind that are all united in our experiences and our desire to live freely. Hopefully, this is just the start!

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Manila: Squatters clash with police over gentrification project

By: sisulscz - July 7th, 2013  Filed under: News

Thousands of people living in slums in Manila have fought fierce battles with police, who are trying to evict them from their homes in order to make way for a multi-billion dollar project to turn the area into a new business district.

As police moved in to the 72 acre site, residents erected barricades, and fought back the police using rocks, nail bombs, and bags of faeces. The police repeatedly charged the barricades with batons and teargas, but without success.
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London, UK: Made Possible by Squatting Call-out for Submissions

By: Rosa - July 4th, 2013  Filed under: News

Made Possible by Squatting seeks submissions for an exhibition in September 2013 and an on-line archive that celebrate how squatting has positively affected the lives of individuals & communities in London.

Against the back-drop of the criminalisation of squatting Made Possible by Squatting is looking for work that depicts or embodies a particular chosen experience, movement, space or place in relation to squatting.

The story you choose to tell could be your own, or a history you want to investigate and share.

It could be current or historic – a huge chapter in the life of a community, or a tiny forgotten moment in time, extraordinary or quite ordinary.

The format is completely open – works can be sculptural, photographic, print based, archive materials, workshops, performance, digital, video, audio, temporary or permanent…

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