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From: Max Rameau <afrimax@gmail.com><br>
Date: Oct 24, 2006 7:09 AM<br>
Subject: Take Back the Land Update<br>
To: afrimax@gmail.com<br><br>
Greetings:<br><br>
We did it!<br><br>
Yesterday, a group of organizations and individuals, led by the Center
for Pan-African Development, successfully took over land in Liberty
City.<br><br>
Fed up with broken government promises and stolen money, activists and
residents took over the vacant publicly owned land on 62nd St. and NW
17th Ave. in the Liberty City section of Miami. Miami police tried to
evict us, but, having done our research in advance, we had lawyers and
the law on our side.<br><br>
We fed over 50 people and housed about 20. Today and through the week, we
will continue to build our city. Our objective is not just to make a
statement, it is to directly provide housing to poor Black people, to do
for our community what the government and market are unwilling and
uncapable of doing.<br><br>
Please show your support by coming to our shanty town any evening you
can. We are also in need of donations: wood, building material, blankets,
tarps, tents, food, money and your time. We must show that the concept of
direct people control over land is an idea with support.<br><br>
Also, review two media pieces from yesterday at:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/15833004.htm" eudora="autourl">
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/15833004.htm<br>
</a>
<a href="http://cbs4.com/video/?id=24699@wfor.dayport.com" eudora="autourl">
http://cbs4.com/video/?id=24699@wfor.dayport.com<br><br>
</a>forward,<br><br>
Max Rameau<br>
Center for Pan-African Development<br><br>
**********************************************<br><br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Posted on
Tue, Oct. 24, 2006<x-tab> </x-tab><br><br>
<br>
Housing activists set up camp in Liberty City<br>
Protesters angry at a lack of affordable housing set up a tent camp on
cityowned land in Liberty City.<br>
BY DANI MCCLAIN<br>
dmcclain@MiamiHerald.com<br><br>
A group of activists pitched camp in the heart of Liberty City on Monday
to protest what they called the failure of the city and Miami-Dade County
to build affordable housing.<br><br>
Carrying tents, tarps and banners that read, ''Take back the Land!,'' the
group said it was building a shantytown on a vacant, city-owned lot to
house hundreds of the neighborhood's homeless.<br><br>
''The government is an active part of the problem,'' said Max Rameau,
spokesman for the Center for Pan-African Development, an activist
organization. ``The city and the county have no interest in housing poor
black people, so we will do it ourselves.''<br><br>
About 40 people gathered at the corner of Northwest 62nd Street and 17th
Avenue. As they pitched tents and served soup on the trash-strewn lot,
passersby stopped to look.<br><br>
Among them was 20-year-old Roderick Mitchell, a former resident of the
Scott/Carver Homes. Mitchell said he and his sister have lived with
relatives since their section of the huge housing complex closed in
2004.<br><br>
Mitchell said he planned to join the group camping out Monday
night.<br><br>
''This statement can help,'' Mitchell said, gesturing at the activity
around him.<br><br>
But Rameau, one of the key organizers, said his intention is not simply
to make a statement. The group, including members of Hope for the
Homeless and Hopeless and the Fort Lauderdale chapter of Food Not Bombs,
intends to provide shelter and food indefinitely, Rameau said.<br><br>
The group did not notify the city of its intention to take over the
lot.<br><br>
Several city police cruisers -- including one carrying Neighborhood
Enhancement Team administrator Von Carol Kinchens -- drove up about 30
minutes after the activists converged on the lot.<br><br>
The officers warned the protesters they could face arrest but then
left.<br><br>
''As long as there's no criminal activity, we're just letting them vent
out,'' said William Moreno, a department spokesman.<br><br>
Rameau said the group is protected by a landmark legal case, Pottinger v.
City of Miami, a class-action suit filed by the ACLU and settled in
1998.<br><br>
The settlement prohibited Miami police from arresting homeless people
engaged in ''life-sustaining conduct'' -- such as sleeping or eating --
on public property when there is no shelter space available.<br><br>
The people who set up camp on the lot should remain in the clear legally
as long as they don't obstruct traffic or damage property, said Ray
Taseff, an attorney affiliated with the Miami ACLU.<br><br>
''I really can't see how the city can argue around it,'' Taseff said of
the Pottinger settlement. ``The police did the right thing
today.''<br><br>
<br><br>
© 2006 MiamiHerald.com and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.<br>
<a href="http://www.miami.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.miami.com</a>
<br><br>
***********************************************<br>
Forwarded by the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network<br>
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