Joining our struggles to build another world: 10 years of horizontal organising in El Barrio, New York “We fight so that: The oceans and mountains will belong to those who live in and take care of them. The rivers and deserts will belong to those who live in and take care of them. The valleys and ravines will belong to those who live in and take care of them. Homes and cities will belong to those who live in and take care of them. No one will own more land than they can cultivate. No one will own more homes than they can live in.” Ten years ago, in East Harlem, New York, an area known as El Barrio, members of fifteen Mexican immigrant families, all of them women, came together to see how they could achieve dignified housing in their community. They were struggling against gentrification and displacement; their landlord was trying to force them out of their homes in order to attract wealthier tenants and transform the neighbourhood they lived in. These were people without previous experience of organising, and they knew that they had much to learn, but they listened to and supported each other and in December 2004 they formed Movement for Justice in El Barrio (Movement). Movement is made up of low-income tenants, the great majority of them immigrants. Many are also indigenous. Forced by poverty to leave their beloved Mexico, they have built a strong community in El Barrio, and are determined not to allow themselves to be displaced again. They understand that their fight is against the neoliberal system represented by the abusive landlords, property speculators, multinational corporations, corrupt politicians and government institutions that seek to displace them from their much-loved community. “We believe those who suffer injustice first-hand must design and lead their own struggles for justice.” https://dorsetchiapassolidarity.wordpress/2015/01/23/8324/
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:29:26 +0000
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