An Open Call from Take Back the Land

An Open Call from Take Back the Land

We Must Occupy the 1% to Liberate the 99%

Existing economic policies protect the profits of bailed-out banks, big corporations and ultra-wealthy individuals above all else. The resulting system is uninterested in and unable to meet basic human needs. Consequently, there is -- simultaneously -- millions of homeless people and millions more people-less homes, all while the sick cycle of displacement continues on, today, forcibly dislodging homeowners and renters alike from their homes & communities. Wall Street is exploiting us and “our” government is enforcing it. So where do we turn? We turn to us.

Call to Action

In this context, we call for a 2012 Spring Offensive, to take back our land and deliver oureconomy from the greed of the 1%. Across the country, our communities will come together to engage in locally-driven Positive Action campaigns designed to transform property relationships: to free it from the Bank and Real Estate Giants that use them for speculation and profit, to bring democracy home, and to stimulate neighborhood-based dialogues around community-based alternatives that ensure the equitable & sustainable use of available resources and the dignity & stability of people before profits.

February "Rent Party" Fundraiser for Freedom

Come to the "Rent Party" Fundraiser for Freedom

Hot Food! Cold Drinks! Good Times!

What: Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Fundraiser

When: Friday, February 24th 7pm - 12am

Where: Sankofa Fightback Center for Human Rights, 1401 E 75th St (75th and S Dorchester)

Beginning in 2009, the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign has been part of the international struggle to enforce to Human Right to Housing. Inspired by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and the Poor People's Alliance in post-apartheid South Africa, the campaign has sought to mobilize poor and working class families across the city to fight back against mass displacement as well as for decent and adequate housing.

Since standing with public housing residents to block evictions, the campaign has expanded its focus to include private market rental and foreclosed properties. More recently, the campaign has received national attention for moving home-less peoples into people-less homes as part of the national Take Back the Land network.

With no government funding, the campaign has successfully mobilized neighbors to halt evictions, win new mortgages, and keep families in heir homes. Join us as we celebrate families who have taken a stand for the human right to housing and raise funds to help move our human rights work forward.

The campaign will be taking donations for food and drinks as well as campaign materials. All funds raised will go towards the fight for the Human Right to Housing!

For more information, call 312-287-7228

Media: Ex-Marine Reoccupies His Own Foreclosed Home in Fight Against Freddie Mac, JPMorgan Chase

Democracy Now! January 31, 2012 

As Freddie Mac comes under scrutiny for betting billions on investments that profit if homeowners they issued loans to are locked into high-interest mortgages, we speak with Arturo de los Santos, a U.S. Marine veteran who was evicted last year in Riverside, California, after Freddie Mac and JPMorgan Chase foreclosed on his house last June. "We were trying to get the bank’s attention to review our case again. We couldn’t believe that after they had evicted us, they modified our loan," de los Santos says. "I called, and I told them, 'I thought we were doing the loan modification.' And they go, 'Well, we have a loan modification department and a foreclosure department, and the foreclosure department decided to sell the house.' So they sold the house." De los Santos and his family reoccupied their home in December with help from the Occupy movement, but face eviction again this week.

Media: Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign part of national effort to Occupy Our Homes

If you're about to lose your home … … maybe it's time to just occupy it

February 02, 2012 | By Ralph Nader and Theresa Amato | Chicago Tribune

The offspring of the Occupy Wall Street movement are forging solidarity ties with neighborhood groups fighting for justice. Most prominent among these collaborations are with the Occupy Homes initiatives coming out of existing neighborhood activities.

Quickly spreading in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, Boston and New Orleans, the Occupy people are joining with community groups that believe many homeowners in foreclosure, or about to be taken over, have a strong, equitable and often legal case to physically stay in or occupy empty homes in order to stave off eviction or keep people in their houses.