More than 150 demonstrators crowded Oakland’s City Center Friday afternoon demanding a halt to racial and ethnic cleansing from the Bay Area to the Gulf Coast.
Activists chanted "Housing is a Human Right! NOT just for the rich and white!!" to the music of the Brass Liberation Orchestra. Demonstrators drew attention to the acute housing crisis in New Orleans, Louisiana. This week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) attempted to demolish 5,000 habitable public housing units in the city, once home to thousands of Katrina Survivors who are fighting for their right to return home.
In response to this crisis, New Orlean’s Coalition to Stop the Demolition called for national support. The Katrina Solidarity Network (KSN), along with many other Bay Area social justice activists, urged demonstrators, "If you have the means, go to New Orleans!" HUD’s attacks have been effectively blocked by the Coalition’s physical presence, standing in between the Survivor’s homes and the bulldozers.
Speakers included CC Campbell-Rock from Survivors for Survivors and representatives from Just Cause Oakland. Other organizations in attendance were Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, POWER, Critical Resistance, POOR magazine, BOSS, SOUL, Veterans for Peace, Freedom Road, Catalyst Project, Berkeley Copwatch, and many others.
Demonstrators are sending a message to developers, bulldozing corporations and Congress: We know that in order to stop the destruction of our local communities, we must Stop The Bulldozers in New Orleans!
To join the fight for Public Housing in New Orleans please contact action@peopleshurricane.org
To get plugged into the New Orleans solidarity movement in the Bay Area please email Katrinasolidarity@gmail.com
