In a world with ever increasing inequality, people are starting to rise up and demand justice and equality. Everyone has a part to play, and I want to highlight some ways people can and are helping liberate poor people, particularly poor Black and Brown people, from oppression.
Philip Íjgyártó, a communist organizer in Northern Virginia told me that he hopes to organize a tenants union in his apartment complex because when tenants organize together, they win.
An intern with the DC Jobs with Justice, Alexis Jade Ferguson, told me,“[Tenants] tell me about all the crappy unaffordable housing and displacement that happens in DC.” Asked about the current government, Ferguson noted, “Mayor Bowser is not anti-gentrification…[she] is one of those politicians who think that they get to drop the rest of us.”
Alexis Jade Ferguson was able to be on the front lines of a Rent Strike rally that happened in early December in Columbia Heights. A Rent Strike is a way for oppressed tenants to get lazy, greedy landlords to meet their demands and fix problems in the rental community. At the rally, more than 40 tenants banded together, agreeing that until their landlord takes care of the mice, bed bugs, and damaged walls throughout the building, they will not pay rent.
Another way according to local organizers for everyday people to fight gentrification is through direct action, as in, “tear down those horrible “WE BUY HOUSES” signs that blockbusting predators put up around DC,” according to a retweet by @StompSlumlords, which is the social media page for the tenants rights project of the Metro DC DSA. This might be a good option for people who oppose gentrification in their neighborhood but haven’t yet been able to form a union in their own living space yet.
Indeed, this is a form of direct action, and helps slow the process of neighborhood gentrification. They don’t require electoral change, just your own two feet.
But there is also of plenty of stuff people can do at the ballot box to support Black and Brown renters. Because housing policy is dictated by government, some activists see political campaigning as an important way to achieve victory. According to Stephanie Bastek, many of the people on the DC council are in the pockets of developers and real estate moguls. Bastek in our interview mentioned Brandon Todd, the Councilor for Ward 4 by name as an individual complicit in gentrification, deep in the pocket of developers.
This upcoming election, Janeese Lewis Gordon, a Black lawyer, a native to DC, has challenged Todd for the Ward 4 Councilor position. According to Ms. Gordon’s political website, she is running on a platform of tackling the housing affordability crisis, hoping to keep communities together by supporting rent control.
Electing politicians who represent the interests of the communities that they serve could have a massive impact on Black and Brown communities in DC. Participating in Rent Strikes, forming solidarity coalitions with striking renters, or participating in direct action against gentrification can all be positive, creative ways for people to get involved in Black and Brown struggles against slumlords and gentrification.
Housing for All 