Amsterdam: ADM sleeps on the Dam square

Yes people it is true. Dark days have fallen upon the city of Amsterdam and with it came a wave of oppression. ADM R.I.P. Tonight several ADMers and other groups will take there homelessness to the Dam square for a good old fashioned street sleeping action. Join us and lets keep the cold streets heated with our passion for freedom.
19 January 2019, 18:00, Dam square Amsterdam with live music, speakers, talks, hot food, drinks, games. On the program: Bucket Boyz, The Ex (half acoustic), queer choir, Rhythms of Resistance, Please bring tents, sleeping bags, warm cloths, snacks, instruments, candles, anything else to enjoy a night under the Amsterdam winter sky.

We represent a special kind of homelessness. It is not that they only evict us from our homes, they are trying to evict our dreams. Our dreams which we create and live in free places.

Us, the subculture emerging from unlighted basements, water less fields, ruined factories and deserted offices and slowly but surely rising new solutions, trends, movements. Influencing culture, art, intellectuals and commons without discriminating, always questioning, always caring.

That is what creates home, dreams and love, where someone understands you, not a house. A house that is simple wall of bricks, an empty shell. They can evict us from these houses and houses we will walk away from, but the home is in our hearts and stays there forever.

Don’t try to force us in the places you find suitable. Help us survive in places we find suitable. Being forced into mediocracy is being forced to give up your world, your believes,
your dignity. A house is not home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body

If you do not give us what belong to us in peace, we will take it by force.

This is our city! This is our city!

We grow up here.
We study here.
We are born here.
We fall in love here.
We work here.
We play here.
We make culture here.
But we are not allowed to live here.
Living in Amsterdam has become a privilege.

Social houses are being sold on the free market, rents are un-affordable, free spaces are evicted and homeless shelters are closed. Still Amsterdam is full of empty office space, Anti-squats and Hotels. Because we have no were else to go tonight we sleep here.

The Amsterdam once known for its progressive, tolerant and unique character is suffering from a dangerously contagious disease. Some people call it ‘selling out’ others say gentrification. How ever you name it the main symptom is that wealth of the view is more important then the well being of the inhabitants. In short the decision makers choose profit of people.

Recently Amsterdam has thrown away one of it’s sub-cultural treasures. The ADM was a squatted community in the Westport harbor. It housed more then 120 people for 21 years. This place famous for it’s innovating festivals, self sustainability, permaculture projects, Do It Yourself attitude and wild life was brutally evicted on the 7th of January. This is another example of how the city council clearly chooses to keep it’s business connection happy while shitting on the spirit that makes Amsterdam special.
We grow up here.
We study here.
We are born here.
We fall in love here.
We work here.
We play here.
We make culture here.
But we are not allowed to live here.
Living in Amsterdam has become a privilege.

Social houses are being sold on the free market, rents are un-affordable, free spaces are evicted and homeless shelters are closed. Still Amsterdam is full of empty office space, Anti-squats and Hotels. Because we have no were else to go tonight we sleep here.

The Amsterdam once known for its progressive, tolerant and unique character is suffering from a dangerously contagious disease. Some people call it ‘selling out’ others say gentrification. How ever you name it the main symptom is that wealth of the view is more important then the well being of the inhabitants. In short the decision makers choose profit of people.

Recently Amsterdam has thrown away one of it’s sub-cultural treasures. The ADM was a squatted community in the Westport harbor. It housed more then 120 people for 21 years. This place famous for it’s innovating festivals, self sustainability, permaculture projects, Do It Yourself attitude and wild life was brutally evicted on the 7th of January. This is another example of how the city council clearly chooses to keep it’s business connection happy while shitting on the spirit that makes Amsterdam special.

We are part of this demonstration because it’s important for us that people in this city can live wherever and however they want without being prevented from the capitalist, patriarchal and racist structures we live in.

We find ourselves responsible to fight discriminating structures and the hierarchic power-relations – also the ones in our own minds.

The reason why we want to live in a free space is our wish for independence from hierarchies that we tend to find in houses. Houses belong to owners, they conform to standards and obey rules on which we can’t exert influence. We want to build our own infrastructure in order to understand how they work so that we can finally shape our lives in a self-determined way.

For us squatting is an emancipatory act which enables us to shape vacant rooms and areas according to our own needs. We show our solidarity with all groups and individuals who likewise empower themselves, adapt and fill new rooms.

It is often not enough to just acknowledge the existing power of patriarchal structures. Moreover, we need to consciously resist them by giving space to people who wouldn’t necessarily get it within the heteronormative daily life.

ADM
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
https://squ.at/r/5g4
https://adm.amsterdam/


Some squats in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL/type/squat
Groups (social centre, collective, squat) in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL
Events in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/NL


https://adm.amsterdam/article/adm-sleeps-dam-square