WHO: Concerned Citizens for Tent City, cctcNashville@aol.com, 615-474-8390
WHAT: A Rally To Save Tent City!!
WHERE: The Steps of the Nashville Metro Courthouse
WHEN: This Friday, October 24, From 3:00 PM to 5:00PM
WHY: Providing and improving a place to call home is better than destroying it.

This Friday, October 24th a whole lot of concerned folks will gather to speak out for, protect, and improve a place referred to as Tent City. There, on land that Metro Nashville neither owns nor has any use for, many of our neighbors and fellow Nashvillians have found a place to call home, even if only for a little while. And they are not alone, for many their spouses and pets are there as well. At Tent City, they are able to stay together.

You will hear from folks living at Tent City why this place is so important to them. You will hear from clergy, community leaders and others why they stand together with the folks living at Tent City. Did you know that in 2006 there were over 11,522 homeless right here in Nashville? That over 30% are veterans? And over 1800 of our homeless are school-aged children? And that there are not anywhere near enough temporary shelter beds or housing? So why are we destroying a homeless encampment that has served many until they can move on? Why can't we, instead, work to improve this encampment and see Tent City as a "passing through place" until we can help these, our neighbors, move to something better?

Please join us. You will be asked to participate in a very unique and compelling activity that will let our Mayor and all our city officials know just how important and vital it is to us that all have housing - because no matter the type - we all deserve a place to call home.

So we need you! Join us and bring a key. Yes, bring a key. We will take that key and with your help, we will all make our voice and our point loud and clear.

RAIN or SHINE - (Stand with those who are forced to stand in the rain.)

Labels: Nashville Homeless Power Project, Tent City

Hey all! Michigan Welfare Rights Organization is now publishing daily weblog reports on http://michiganwro.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the RSS feed on the sidebar.

They're looking for ideas and guest writers on issues in Detroit and Michigan such as:

* poverty
* housing
* jobs
* utilities
* education
* youth, families, seniors
* homelessness
* public assistance information
* activist groups
* human interest stories
* ...and more!

Please join in on reporting these concerns along with our solutions. As we learned from the water films, there is a national and international audience interested in learning more about Detroit and Michigan, and how they can help its people.

Contact Sylvia Orduno (mwroinfo@gmail.com) for more info.

Labels: Michigan, MWRO

By Lynette Malles

Tuesday, September 2. Marchers gather at Mears Park in downtown St. Paul. The rally has been permitted months previously to begin at 4pm but we discover that the stage sound system is OFF! PPEHRC lawyer consults with park officials who inform him that sound was not included in the permit and due to "special security concerns" city employees should not come to the park to turn on the sound. Speeches proceed by bullhorn, only reaching the first few rows of listeners until after an hour "somebody" shows up to turn on the power.

About this time three U.S. Justice Department community officers warn Cheri about other protesters at the Capital with their own tear gas (false) who have been breaking windows (which didn't happen). She reminds the officers that if they know about the possibility of violence, THEY should do something about it and assure the safety of PPEHRC marchers.

Meanwhile, a disruption designed to pull media attention AWAY from the rally occurs just off the park. Among those arrested is a reporter from Independent Media.

The march 1,000-strong then gets under way, led by women with children and the disabled in wheelchairs. Passing the Ramsey County courthouse and jail, literally hundreds of regular police, military police and National Guard troops are on guard. Our leaders focus on preventing violence that might flare up from participants, not part of the campaign, who keep trying to bypass the front of the march. PPEHRC marshals, veterans of previous RNC and DNC demonstrations, instruct volunteers to join hands forming a circle of protection around Cheri, the disabled, the babies and their mothers. This creates a buffer and helps keep control, not letting agitators take over. March swells to 2,000.

The mood is tense. Residents from Dorothy Day Center for the homeless do not join as the march ends directly in front of their shelter, right across from the Xcel Energy Center. Apparently they were told by someone that they would "lose their beds" if they came out. Such rumors perpetuate the shroud of shame that envelopes the homeless, leaving them "invisible."

At the side door of the RNC Cheri is supported on the shoulders of another. For a moment she thinks that as a visible target she is going to die. But she addresses the crowd, "Raise your right hand and repeat after me 'I promise' (I promise) 'not to leave here' (not to leave here) 'or do anything stupid' (or do anything stupid). There are little bitty babies here. Please don't follow me. I am going to the steps of the Xcel Center to serve the Republicans with a citizen's arrest for crimes against humanity." As she approaches the fence with police guns aimed at her, for another moment she is sure that she's going to be shot. She wraps the citizen's arrest document in an American flag and slides it under the fence.

PPEHRC marshals give the signal to depart at once. We disburse with only a couple of our group getting sprayed trying to get out of the area. We keep getting blocked at every turn by police as if they want to push us back into the tear gas zone of agitators.

What did I get from this life-altering experience? I could go on about the courage and grace of people I hope to meet again. I learned that protesters in public places should purchase large generators and control the power. FEAR tactics employed by police under dictatorial political rule can be effective-large numbers of peaceful protesters stayed away.

But despite informers, plants, infiltrators and riot police, our experienced and disciplined leadership WON the day for peaceful dissent! To date, 17 new PPEHRC chapters are starting up around the country.

Police riot-gear masks made them invisible. OUR faces were seen, OUR voices heard.

Labels: Lynette Malles, March for Our Lives 2008, Non-Violence

What Can Be Night on October 15th was a celebration not just of the in-progress film What Can Be but of a culture of vision as expressed through music, spoken word, and testimony.

A packed nightclub in Culver City rocked with words, sounds, emotions, and hope. Visions of a world without war, without borders, without poverty and violence.

The house band was the Rock A Mole All-Stars with Ernie Perez (Boxing Gandhis), Carvell Holloway (Ten East), Michael Sulcer (Ray Charles Orchestra), Wayne White (Herbie Hancock, Commodores), Boudreau (Gladys Knight), and Miguel and Marisoul from La Santa Cecilia. They rocked the house with not one but two versions of the What Can Be theme song. Also, the entire La Santa Cecilia band served up some of their cutting edge Mexican music.


DJ Tamra kept things going with a delicious mix of music.



Poets who hit the mic were:
Besskepp, Mike the Poet, Ashlynn, Busstop Prophet, Kat, Thesaurus G, Poet John Paul, Metaphysicz, Porschia Baker, Black Spinach, Matt Sedillo, Amalia Ortiz, and Lee Ballinger

There were special contributions from Shamako Noble of Hip Hop Congress, Drew Amavisca (who’s also the director of What Can Be), Saria Idana, Shakespeare, and Cheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

There were re-interpretations of the work of Bob Marley and Langston Hughes.

What Can Be Productions will soon launch a MySpace page and web site which will feature the visions of musicians, writers, and visual artists from around the world. If you would like to be part of this, contact whatcanbemovie@aol.com.

Many great connections were made on Wednesday night. For example, a local video editor said: “That was really an incredible event. I felt like I was in a room full of celebrities and that the place just pulsated with creativity and life! It was a wonderful experience and very inspiring.”

Eppelsauce Music from South Africa was also in the house and we will be working with them in the future (www.epplesauce.com). This is their mission statement:

“Eppelsauce Music is a dynamic record label specializing in African and World Music. With most African artists now produced outside of Africa, Eppelsauce Music, based in Cape Town, South Africa, proudly offers the richest sounds and artists from across the African continent, made in Africa.

Eppelsauce Music presents the finest from traditional to modern, to everything in-between. The messages in our music are heart-felt, insightful and uplifting…sure to leave you melting like gold to the true wealth of the African continent.

Eppelsauce Music is an innovative social enterprise, dedicated to:

Promoting refugee rights and transforming xenophobia into cross-cultural understanding by producing and presenting refugee musicians from across the African diaspora

Fostering poverty alleviation while supporting the cultural development of artists in rural, marginalized and vulnerable communities

Inspiring global education through collaboration in production and performance between Cape Town, broader Africa and the world.”

*****

Statement by What Can Be Productions / October 15, 2008

We are here tonight to celebrate the making of a film called What Can Be that hasn’t even started shooting yet. What’s up with that?

A couple of years ago Trini Rodriguez, who runs Tia Chucha’s in the Valley along with her husband Luis, coined the phrase “Don’t go by what is, go by what can be.” Somehow those words reached the ears of Mike the Poet, who incorporated them into a poem called “One Global Human Family.”

This poem is a great example of one of the most important developments of the 21st century—the turn toward a culture of vision. We are making the film What Can Be to help connect as many visionary artists as possible. Across LA. Across America. Across the world. We want to get the ball rolling NOW, not wait until the film comes out in the spring.

What’s at stake here?

We’re in the middle of a war and preparing to start new ones. Fifty million of us have no health care. Immigrants are hunted in the streets like animals. We just gave away $700 billion to the banks.

In the middle of all this, the American people are trying to find a way to dream. The majority oppose the war. The majority favor universal health care. The majority want to see immigrants left in peace. Everyone except Congress is against the bailout.

What’s missing is a vision, an overarching dream that can inspire the American people with the knowledge that the world they want is very possible, in fact it is within their reach as soon as they link up with each other.

This is where America’s millions of artists come in. It is up to the artists to give the American people a vision of a world without war, without borders; a world of healthy happy people who love and respect each other.

That’s what we’re here to explore tonight.

Labels: Ernie Perez, Lee Ballinger, Luis Rodriguez, Rock A Mole, Trini Rodriguez, What Can Be

From Nashville Homeless Power Project:

We're pleased to announce that the owners of Shur Brite Car Wash are now talking with elected workers, NHPP, and Mid TN Jobs with Justice, about making a more just work site beyond the minimums of the law. Workers have wanted their respect and dignity uplifted by having a written schedule, a break room, vacation days and other changes that would not be possible without organizing combined with legal work. In last weeks meeting, owners have agreed to co-write an employee handbook with NHPP and Jobs with Justice, consider building a break-room, and address many of the concerns of their workers. The entirety of the 120 workers signed up for the lawsuit plan to meet next Monday, and discuss more specifics. While negotiations are not complete, NHPP is cautiously optimistic that an agreement can be made involving both back wages, and future changes for the workers

Labels: Nashville Homeless Power Project, Shur Brite Campaign

Original article and photo available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/gallery/2008/n081006_clemmie/flash.htm?gid=722

Clemmie Greenlee transformed herself into an advocate the homeless, the addicted, the mentally ill, and ex-cons who want to get on the right track. Along with brother Lonnie, she runs a small organization that talks with children and adults about the pitfalls of HIV, drugs and violence. She is also part of the progressive leadership of Nashville that works with the Center for Community Change

Labels: Clemmie Greenlee, Nashville Homeless Power Project, USA Today

Dear Cheri,

I am one of the women that were in Brussels on September
16th, and had the opportunity to hear you and your PPEHRC fellows. I
was very impressed by the things you said, by your courage and I
sympathize with your fight for economic human rights.

I live in Vicenza, a small city in the north of Italy, were the American
government wants to build the biggest American military base in Europe.
There is already an American military base in our city, and other
smaller bases in the towns around; Vicenza is a city of art, the city
of the famous architect Palladio, and the people of Vicenza are
fighting against this new base, to preserve the territory from the
pollution military bases cause, to preserve the water stratum under the
ground were the base should be built, and to say no to the policy of
preventive war that the USA government is carrying out.

It is a very difficult struggle, because our government made agreement with your
government and doesn't want to step back. We have been asking for a
referendum among Vicenza citizens for 2 and half years, and finally the
new Vicenza administration decided that on October 5th we would have
been able to vote on this matter. But 3 days before the referendum, the
council of state forbade the referendum. It was a very bad news for us,
and in few hours we organized a manifestation and in the same evening
ten thousand citizens were in the streets to protest. And we decided
that, in spite of this prohibition, Vicenza would vote anyway. In three
days time we have organized the referendum, managing all the
organization by ourselves, and, spite the media, the government that
were against us, and all the difficulties to organize such a thing in
only 3 days, it's been a wonderful act of civil disobedience. 24
thousand Vicenza citizens came to vote against the base, and it's been
very moving to see also very old persons walking with difficulty, come
to give their vote for a peaceful city and a peaceful world. People
would come to vote bringing food, wine, and coffee for us that were in
these improvised polling station in the streets. They say we are
anti-American: that's completely false. My neighbors next door are 2
American soldiers. They wouldn't greet me, because on my balcony I have
a flag of our movement Nodalmolin, but when they were in Iraq I was
very worried for them, thinking that they might be killing or be
killed. It is very upsetting to see young people go to war, and to a
war that is absolutely nonsense (if ever a war had a sense). And, as
you said in Brussels, I know that for many of them soldiers, join the
army is the only chance to have economic human rights, but at what a
price!

I wish to keep in touch with you and your movement, your struggle
is our struggle.
I hope my English is not too bad. It would be nice to see you again.

My best wishes to you and your fellows of the PPEHRC
Stefania Tarabella
from No Dal molin movement of Vicenza

Labels: International, International Letters of Support, Italy, No Dal Molin

Marchers for poor tape manifesto on City Hall door
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/oct/04/chattanooga-marchers-poor-tape-manifesto-city-hall/
By: Cliff Hightower

More than 50 people marched down McCallie Avenue to Miller Park on Friday and then peacefully walked to the steps of City Hall to post a manifesto calling on economic rights for poor people.

The Poor People’s March was the first of its kind in Chattanooga as organizers tried to bring attention to homelessness and poverty in the city.

“The ultimate goal is to end poverty,” said Mary Bricker-Jenkins, a Chattanooga resident and member of the Chattanooga and North Georgia Economic Human Rights Campaign. The group organized the march across downtown Chattanooga.


Caption: A group trying to call attention to the rights of poor people marched from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to City Hall, where it taped a manifesto to the doors.


The group, which started just a few months ago at the Community Kitchen, is affiliated with the national Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Ms. Bricker-Jenkins said.

Homeless people, volunteers, teenagers and a small group of Gregorian friars walked along McCallie Avenue at 5 p.m. led by a bagpipe player in a Scottish kilt. The group of marchers held signs, some saying “Homelessness is not a crime” or “We’re all homeless.”

Ali Rudolph, 24, moved here in August with her husband from Oregon, she said. Both are homeless, but he was gone Friday to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Knoxville to join the Tennessee Army National Guard, Mrs. Rudolph said.

She marched in solidarity with others like her, she said.

“It is for a good cause,” Mrs. Rudolph said. “A lot of us out here don’t get treated the way we should.”

The group ate dinner at Miller Park and then proceeded to City Hall, where they taped a copy of the “Poor People’s Manifesto” on the door. Brother Ron Fender, a local Gregorian friar, told marchers he asked City Council members Tuesday to come on the march.

None showed, he said.

“We want them to have a reminder we were here,” he said.

Several marchers shared different reasons for marching. Amanda Wheelock, a 16-year-old Ringgold, Ga., girl, said just a few days ago she met a homeless man on Walnut Street Bridge who used to be a doctor. She said a few minutes later, while he was eating a sandwich, the police shooed him away.

“That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I can’t see why he can’t sit there and eat his sandwich.”

Elizabeth Wray, an 18-year-old Chattanooga resident and member of the human rights group, said her brother died two years ago homeless. Marching for her is “personal, not political,” she said.

She said sometimes people in Chattanooga take for granted what they have. The reward Friday night was everyone blending together, she said.

“It’s really a beautiful thing to see people merge,” Ms. Wray said.
A group trying to call attention to the rights of poor people marched from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to City Hall, where it taped a manifesto to the doors.

Labels: CHANGER, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC

It is available on the St. Paul City Council Website at:
http://stpaul.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=217

Cheri Honkala's presentation is about 1hr 9mins into the video with Glass Bead Collective's Video at the conclusion of Cheri's introduction.

Transcript of Cheri's comments:
[Start]
My name is Cheri Honkala and I am the National Organizer for the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. We organized the March for Our Lives on September 2nd to address the worst form of violence - poverty.

We have had documented peaceful marches for the last twenty years, including the last two Democratic and Republican Conventions.

Efforts to silence the poor began early with surveillance at my home beginning in July, calls from the Federal Justice Department telling me that they feared for my life and the other members of the organization. They told me that the St. Paul Police Department had purchased 300 tasers and had concerns about their inexperience.

Having nowhere to house the poor from around the country, we set up Bushvilles after the Hoovervilles of the 1930’s. Here we were surrounded between 11:00 and 12:00 at night by over 200 police officers with riot gear, sharpshooters, the lights were turned off in the park as they turned on the sprinklers system on our children as they lay asleep at night.

The goal of all police activity was to instill fear in our members and the general public to stop the march from happening all together. On September 2nd, after receiving hundreds of calls and letters saying sorry we wish we could be there with you but we are afraid for our children. We step out first to be met by the CIA at the place where our children were located across the street from Mears Park, after being met by the CIA we were met by the FBI. They told us that we were going to have serious problems first on Grove Street and then in front of the Capitol. I then stated to the representatives of the Federal Justice Department that if they thought there was going to be serious danger then they had a responsibility to protect me and the other marchers.

As I stood next to my six year old son, we tried to begin the March for Our Lives. And on September 2nd, and as you will see in this clip, our first amendment rights were violated. First you’ll see me talking about the “most American thing is the right to protest for rights.” Next, you’ll see our demonstration being taken over by the police department during our speeches, they sent countless numbers of police and reporters to divert attention from to one individual being tased violently by the police. The focus was no longer about poverty, hunger and homelessness in United States of America in was on forty officers on one individual.

You will also see large number of undercover police officers in our march in this video I am about to show you. You will also see us carrying photography of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi, marching with nuns and a priest and children in strollers, and this gentleman in a wheelchair and along with others in wheelchairs, seniors in their 80’s, veterans, people of all colors committed to non-violence and ending poverty in this country.

Lastly, you will see all of us running for our lives. You will see the militarization of the police – gas everywhere, pepper spray, and police opening fire with rubber bullets on peaceful women and children.

On September 2nd, we didn’t have freedom to assemble or freedom of speech.

We are not terrorists, we are Americans.

A humane and free society doesn’t open fire on its people with tear gas and rubber bullets. Fear of serious injury only can not justify suppression of freedom of speech or assembly.

Men feared witches and then burned them

The only thing the poor have is their voice. We will not be silenced.

Here’s the video.
[End]

[London]--Amnesty International is concerned by allegations of excessive use of force and mass arrests by police at demonstrations in St. Paul, Minnesota during the Republican National Convention (RNC) from September 1-4, 2008. The human rights organization is calling on the city and county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations.

The organization’s concerns arise from media reports, video and photographic images which appear to show police officers deploying unnecessary and disproportionate use of non-lethal weapons on non-violent protestors marching through the streets or congregating outside the arena where the Convention was being held.

Amnesty International urges that an inquiry be carried out promptly, that its findings and recommendations be made public in a timely manner. If the force used is found to have been excessive and to have contravened the principles of necessity and proportionality, then those involved should be disciplined, measures put in place and training given to ensure future policing operations conform to international standards.

Police are reported to have fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas canisters and concussion grenades on peaceful demonstrators and journalists. Amnesty International has also received unconfirmed reports that some of those arrested during the demonstrations may have been ill-treated while held at Ramsey county jail.

Amnesty International is also concerned at reports that several journalists who were covering the RNC were arbitrarily arrested while filming and reporting on the demonstrations. They include host of independent news program Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, and two of the program’s producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, who were both allegedly subjected to violence during their arrest. A photographer for the Associated Press (AP) and other journalists were also arrested while covering the demonstrations.

Kouddous described his arrest to media, “…two or three police officers tackled me. They threw me violently against a wall. Then they threw me to the ground. I was kicked in the chest several times. A police officer ground his knee into my back…I was also, the entire time, telling them, ‘I’m media. I’m press….,’ but…that didn’t seem to matter at all.”

Amnesty International recognizes the challenges involved in policing large scale demonstrations and that some protestors may have been involved in acts of violence or obstruction. However, some of the police actions appear to have breached United Nations (U.N.) standards on the use of force by law enforcement officials. These stipulate, among other things, that force should be used only as a last resort, in proportion to the threat posed, and should be designed to minimize damage or injury. Some of the treatment also appears to have contravened U.S. laws and guidelines on the use of force. The U.N. standards also stress that everyone is allowed to participate in lawful and peaceful assemblies, in accordance with the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information, please contact the AIUSA media office at 202-544-0200 x302 or visit our website at www.amnestyusa.org.

Labels: Arrests, March for Our Lives 2008, Police, RNC

In Minneapolis on October 1st at 9:30AM, PPEHRC members Cheri Honkala, Natasha Euler and Deeq Abdi will go to court for demonstrating at the Minneapolis Office Housing And Urban Development (a public building) regarding the housing crisis in America prior to the RNC.

On the afternoon of October 1st at 1:00PM in St. Paul, PPEHRC Members Cheri Honkala and Tim Dowlin will go to court for setting up Bushville, a tent city for poor and homeless people to gather, at Harriet Island Regional Park (a public park) prior to the RNC.

At a time when millions of people are losing their homes to foreclosure and banks are crashing, let's stand by the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign in
order to create another kind of world.

Please call the Mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul today and demand that all
charges be dropped!

Mayor R.T. Rybak
City of Minneapolis
(612) 673-2100

Mayor Chris Coleman
City of St. Paul
(651) 266-8510

Please also send this to as many other people as you can.

Labels: Arrests, Bushville, HUD Sit-in, March for Our Lives 2008, Police, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC

http://chattanoogan.com/articles/article_135939.asp
Posted September 26, 2008

A "March for Our Lives" will be held next Friday beginning at 5 p.m.

The march will begin at UTC's Hunter Hall on McCallie Avenue and proceed to Miller Park where there will be music and local, fresh food served by Food Not Bombs, followed by speakers from across the nation.

The march will then proceed to City Hall, where the Poor People's Manifesto for Economic Human Rights will be posted to the doors.

The march will then conclude with a Tent-Inn, its location to be announced at a later date.

At sunrise on Saturday, Oct. 5, an ecumenical prayer service will conclude the march.
Officials said, "Every day in our community, working families are forced to choose between paying the electric bill or buying groceries, between paying the landlord or filling prescriptions.

"Every night in our community approximately 300 people are sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings, under bridges or in the woods.

"Every day, hundreds of children begin the school-day hungry or cold from sleeping in their cars, or on the couch, or in a church basement.

"Twenty five percent of homeless people are employed. Forty percent of homeless men are veterans.

"We have program shelters that are filled to capacity, not one of them city-run or funded.

"On Oct. 3, we invite you to take a stand as poor people march on Chattanooga.

"Why is this march being held?

"Believing that all humans are equal and that all humans have the right to shelter, health care, water, food and all other economic, social and political rights, the Poor People's March was created in response to the growing inequalities and economic injustices occurring in our city and across our nation.

"All people are invited to the march and the park and to spend the night at the Tent-Inn, especially poor People, homeless people, working people, students, teachers, old people, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, city and county leaders, doctors, lawyers, rabbis, farmers, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, religious people, agnostics, atheists, writers, readers, cowboys, policemen, priests, preachers, sinners, saints, social workers, activists, students, anyone with a heart who cares about the poor. Animals are welcome, as well.

"The goal of the march is to move from service to solidarity, and to make basic economic human rights a reality for all in Chattanooga. The March is being organized by the North Georgia and Chattanooga chapter of the Poor People's Human Rights Campaign."

Labels: CHANGER, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC

During a hearing entitled "The US socio-economic model: the right direction for the EU?", organised by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament this morning, Eva-Britt Svensson (GUE/NGL, Sweden) said the group was working hard to inform people where current EU economic policy is taking us.


"It is very useful for us to learn first hand where this neo-liberal economic wave will lead us and what effects privatisation can have on peoples' lives."

Members of the "Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign" (PPEHRC), a North American organization engaged in the civil rights struggle, participated in the hearing. Addressing them, GUE/NGL President Francis Wurtz expressed his solidarity with their campaign saying that "the socio-economic model that you follow is the one that we seem to be adopting, although we fight against it." He continued by saying that across Europe people were living in increasingly precarious situations due to low wages, increasing privatisation, competition and social dumping. "We are sacrificing our society on the altar of a casino-like economy", he said.

Italian GUE/NGL MEP Umberto Guidoni thanked the PPEHRC for telling the hearing about the situation in the USA, a situation that ignores the lives of millions who suffer, hoping that in doing so they will remain invisible or disappear.

"The Left in Europe needs to put forward another model for society not just sit back and wring its hands and let the US model become the global one. This is not just a battle of and for civilization; it is a battle for health, social welfare, education, homes and jobs. These are integral to life and the market should not dictate how these provisions are provided; the market places no value on such essentials."

Labels: EU Parliament, International

One day after the historic Poor People’s March in St. Paul, we speak to the group’s national organizer, Cheri Honkala. She’s a longtime organizer and director of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia. [includes rush transcript]

AMY GOODMAN: I am joined right now here in St. Paul on Democracy Now! by the national organizer of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Cheri Honkala, longtime organizer and director of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia, now living in Minneapolis here in the Twin Cities.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Cheri.

CHERI HONKALA: I’m very happy and very thankful for shows like yours.

AMY GOODMAN: Your thoughts on the Republican convention and what you feel needs to be the policy, the way to deal with the poor in this country?

CHERI HONKALA: Well, we’ve been trying to organize a poor people’s movement for over a decade now. And we’ve just been fighting to, I think, do the most important thing, which is to make poor people visible.

I think that the majority of the people in this country don’t know the conditions in which people live in, and only if they saw with their own eyes seniors having to share medication, farmers being thrown off their land, homeless people living under bridges—and I think that if they saw those daily images, that the American people are good people, and I think that they would be moved to do something about the situation.

But with the combination of the lack of civil liberties and the ability to march and to speak about what’s happening in this country, as well as the takeover of corporate media in this country, it’s one of the hardest struggles that I’ve been a part of, to show the faces of poverty in this country.



AMY GOODMAN: Your group was also at the Democratic convention in Denver.

CHERI HONKALA: Yes, members of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign were also at the Democratic
National Convention. Things were also difficult for folks there to put a face on what’s happening to the majority of the people in this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about your own story, Cheri Honkala. How did you get involved with this?

CHERI HONKALA: I’m a formerly homeless mother from here, from the Twin Cities, and I have an older son who’s twenty-eight now, but at the time, he was nine years old. And—

AMY GOODMAN: He’s Mark Webber, the actor?

CHERI HONKALA: Mark Webber, the actor now. And the both of us almost froze to death on the streets of Minnesota, because we couldn’t get into the homeless shelters here. And so, I decided one day to move into a government-owned, abandoned HUD property, because they had the heat on in the wintertime. And I made that decision—I had never broken any laws before in my life—because I wanted to stay alive and not die. And it’s been, ever since that time, some twenty-eight years ago, that I’ve been doing this kind of work, because I knew that if I could have died and nobody cared about what was happening to me, that that had to have been happening to thousands of other people across the country.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s the fortieth anniversary of King’s Poor People’s March that he started, and then was assassinated, but continued. What is the relevance of that to today? Were you inspired at all by that?

CHERI HONKALA: Our movement is very much trying to take up the baton where Dr. Martin Luther King left off. We now have the largest multiracial movement of poor people in this country. The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign can be found on—it has over 200 affiliates. We have members like the Immokalee farm workers, to the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, to trailer park residents in Minnesota, to some of the largest Indian reservations, you name it. And we have one message, which is, we’re calling for the elimination of poverty in this country, not the reduction, no more band-aids, not a bigger and better welfare system, but an elimination to the kind of conditions that we’re faced with.

AMY GOODMAN: The message to end poverty in this country, will you talk about the corporate media and how it deals with these issues, or doesn’t?

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah, I mean, I’ve been involved in large demonstrations for like the last twenty years, and I’m very ashamed of my home state. I’ve never seen so many reporters like yourself being detained. A Channel 5 reporter was trying to cover a story of us; he was thrown into an elevator. A couple other folks that we know that were trying to cover some of our events were also detained and then later released on two different occasions. We were inside the Capitol trying to have a peaceful demonstration during regular open hours of the Capitol, and the reporters were literally locked out of the Capitol and unable to come in, even though they showed their credentials. And so, I don’t quite get what is so horrible about covering a story of women and children and the elderly and people of all colors trying to come together to talk about the day-to-day reality of their lives.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, I was astounded when I talked to the St. Paul police chief yesterday, and, you know, with the arrest, how is he instructing the press to—the police to deal with the press, and how are we supposed to operate when we are trying to cover this and the police arrest us. And he said you can embed yourselves with the police department. And you saw Rick Rowley, Big Noise filmmaker in this piece, he’s covering the riot police, and he sees there the Fox News reporter. As they’re pushing him away, she’s in the midst of them. And he yells to her, “Are you embedded with the police?” She comes in and out with the police.

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah. I mean, for us, that’s no surprise, when it comes to Fox News. But we’re just absolutely outraged. And, you know, like my son said, “Mom, when you get up this morning, don’t read any of the papers. You know, don’t even turn on the television,” because regardless of the fact that poor people came together from all walks of life, every color, every age, yesterday, regardless of being terrorized for actually the last month—we had two Bushvilles that were knocked down, encampments. When we came—

AMY GOODMAN: Bushvilles?

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah, we set up encampments, particularly during the Republican National Convention, for some place for people to sleep, because we can’t afford the W or the Hilton. And so, people were staying at the Bushville, and our first Bushville that we set up on Harriet Island, the first night we were surrounded by 200 police officers in riot gear. They turned on the sprinklers on our children while they were sleeping, turned off all the park lights and drove their police vehicles up onto the lawn with their brights on. And myself and a couple of our other leaders were then arrested, and our Bushville was torn down. Later through the week, they brought dogs to our Bushville, while the kids were sleeping, let the dogs bark and scare the kids, and then periodically would just go by and drive up and run their sirens at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning, just to make people afraid.

AMY GOODMAN: Cheri Honkala, can you describe the conditions of the poor, the daily challenges faced?

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah. Actually, later this afternoon, I leave to go to a funeral in Philadelphia, where a woman, a good friend of mine, Esther, struggled her whole life, because she was right on the borderline in terms of not being able to qualify for medical assistance. And I think she spent each and every day trying to figure out how to pay for the many different medications that she had. So her whole life was about how does she get up every morning and figure out how to pull together, you know, that $80, $90, or whatever, for one individual prescription after another. And these were in the last dying days of her life. People shouldn’t have to live like this.

I have a six-year-old son who needs serious eye treatment. I, as well, don’t qualify for medical assistance, and I’m right on the borderline. And he’s supposed to have regular eye checks, because —

AMY GOODMAN: Glaucoma?

CHERI HONKALA: Glaucoma runs in my family, and he’s stopped seeing out of his right eye. So I have no idea how I’m going to cover those costs.

My older son, who has now become a movie star, has spent every waking moment of his life using his power and his financial resources to fund and give us resources. And, you know, as this movement continues to get larger, there’s never enough money, but he’s committed to helping to fund a movement that wants to eliminate poverty and homelessness. He’s not interested in giving money to a charity. He knows, as a formerly homeless boy in this country, that he has a responsibility to do whatever he possibly can to help make this movement grow and give it visibility.

AMY GOODMAN: Cheri Honkala, your website?

CHERI HONKALA: Our website is www.economichumanrights.org. And people can see lots of the footage that they never will see on any television program on that website.

AMY GOODMAN: Cheri Honkala, thanks so much for joining us, of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, and we’ll link to it at democracynow.org.

Labels: Amy Goodman, Cheri Honkala, Democracy NOW, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008

by Kashish Das Shrestha | September 2008 | Courtesy of http://samudaya.org/

Photography by Kashish; Produced by Anup Kaphle

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008, Police

Those of us who were there know that there were hundreds of people - media, cops, organizers, citizen journalists and others - with cameras, video, audio and recording devices galore at the March for Our Lives.

We will keep trying to post what we find. Here a flickr slideshow of pix tagged with
"poorpeopleseconomichumanrightscampaign":

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008, Photos

Marching For Our Lives

By Mike & James (NYC Indymedia)

Here, find a photo essay in two parts from the Poor People's Economic
Human Rights Campaign March on the RNC.

Part 1: Rally, Repression, March Begins.
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/09/99688.html

Part 2: Marching On the XCel Center
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/09/99712.html

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives

More footage and news to come...Here a couple videos that documented the March:


With over 200 people still in jail after Monday's arrests, and with a massive police presence in the street, the Poor People's March prepared to set out and braced for the police response. Footage from Rick Rowley, Elizabeth Press, Fatimah Mojaddidy, Rebecca McNeice and Jordan Hansen of Big Noise Tactical Films.

---

March for our Lives, PPEHRC in St Paul Minnesota during RNC. The march was followed by an enormous amount of police, though it was very peaceful. Footage courtesy of Lennart Kjorling.

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008

Commissioners’ Joint Statement Regarding the National Truth Commission

This Commission was at the Christ Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on Monday, September 1, 2008.

During their consideration of the testimonies heard and received at the hearings, the Commissioners focused on three questions:
1) do the testimonies and documents received during this hearing describe human rights violations?
2) if so, could these human rights violations have been prevented? and

3) if so, who is responsible?

The Commission’s answers to these questions is as follows:

1. Yes, the testimonies and documents received do describe violations of human rights. The basic nature of human rights as recognized worldwide in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is that they are inherent. People are born with them. They do not arise only when a government recognizes them or confers them to people. Therefore, for example, the rights to housing, medical care, employment, freedom from racial discrimination, and an adequate standard of living in all respects (including heat) are human rights of all people everywhere. The testimonies and documents received spoke to inadequacies in the provision and availability of these basic human rights.

2. Yes, these human rights violations could have been prevented. As the most affluent nation on earth, the United States has had unequalled opportunity and financial capacity to honor these human rights. If the country’s leaders at all levels had committed themselves to shape the country’s agenda and societal expectations to honor these rights from the time they were first articulated nearly 40 years ago when the United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these human rights would be honored today rather than being largely ignored and violated for so many people in this country as they are today.

3. Responsibility for these violations: responsibility for the failure to develop an economy that promotes and achieves the human rights to housing, healthcare, education, employment, etcetera. lies in all who have had an opportunity to bring about the changes necessary to achieve that goal. Some of us have had greater opportunity to pursue these goals and therefore bear greater responsibility. The greatest responsibility, therefore, lies with the framers and maintainers of the structure, goals, and operation of the current economy: 1) governments at all levels, since it is the government at all levels that has the greatest capacity to promote those human rights through its administrative agencies and its economic and social policies; 2) both major political parties; and 3) corporate, professional, religious, and civic leadership.

At the same time, to the extent that we as individuals and grass roots organizations have the energy, capacity, and vision to promote these human rights, we also bear responsibility to promote observance of these human rights by, for example, holding those with even greater capacity and responsibility accountable to their responsibility under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the universally recognized Bill of Human Rights*, and the ratified human rights treaties** to promote and achieve those rights.
We urge careful consideration of these findings and observation by all concerned.

Respectfully submitted as the Joint Statement of the Commissioners,

Ajamu Baraka, Executive Director, US Human Rights Network - Atlanta, Gerrgia
Bill Means, American Indian Movement and International Indian Treaty Council - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sister Dorothy Pagosa, Sisters of St. Joseph - Chicago, Illinios
Professor Edward Oyugi, Social Development Network and African Social Forum - Kenya
Rosa Clemente, Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate
Michael Kane, Habitat International Coalition and National Alliance of HUD Tenants - Boston, Massachusetts
Lennart Kjorling, Journalist - Sweden
Rev. Bruce Wright, Refuge of St. Petersburg, Florida
Shamako Noble, Hip Hop Congress - California
Pastor Gary Dreier - Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill - St. Paul, Minnesota
Imam Sheikh Saad Musse Roble - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Michael Crenshaw - Hip Hop Congress - Portland, Oregon
Rev. Nancy Anderson - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mary Brandl - Union Steward of AFSCME Clerical Workers Local #3800 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Peter W. Brown - National Lawyers Guild - Minneapolis, Minnesota


* The Bill of Human Rights consists of the two treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, ratified by the US Congress in 1992) and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, signed by President Carter in 1976 but not yet ratified by the US Congress.)
** The human rights treaties that the United States has ratified are: 1) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, ratified by the US Congress in 1992); 2) Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT, ratified by the US Congress in 1994); and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD ratified by US Congress 1994).

Labels: 2008 National Truth Commission, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives

Yesterday, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign joined the March on the RNC as a part of the Poor People's Contingent. PPEHRC National Organizer Cheri Honkala spoke from the stage.



We marched the entire route and headed back to Bushville to prepare for the National Truth Commission.

Labels: Bushville, March for Our Lives, March on the RNC

Press conference from the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign where they speak out about issues largely ignored by the US government. The Stimulator dispatch from St. Paul about protests, Amy Goodman's arrest, and independent media journalists being held by police. Amy Gojavascript:void(0)
Publish Postodman also speaks about her arrest.

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives

During their consideration of the testimonies heard and received at the hearing, the Commissioners focused on three questions:
1) do the testimonies and documents received during this hearing describe human rights violations?
2) if so, could these human rights violations have been prevented? and

3) if so, who is responsible?

The Commission’s answers to these questions is as follows:

1. Yes, the testimonies and documents received do describe violations of human rights. The basic nature of human rights as recognized worldwide in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is that they are inherent. People are born with them. They do not arise only when a government recognizes them or confers them to people. Therefore, for example, the rights to housing, medical care, employment, freedom from racial discrimination, and an adequate standard of living in all respects (including heat) are human rights of all people everywhere. The testimonies and documents received spoke to inadequacies in the provision and availability of these basic human rights.

2. Yes, these human rights violations could have been prevented. As the most affluent nation on earth, the United States has had unequalled opportunity and financial capacity to honor these human rights. If the country’s leaders at all levels had committed themselves to shape the country’s agenda and societal expectations to honor these rights from the time they were first articulated nearly 40 years ago when the United States signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, these human rights would be honored today rather than being largely ignored and violated for so many people in this country as they are today.

3. Responsibility for these violations: responsibility for the failure to develop an economy that promotes and achieves the human rights to housing, healthcare, education, employment, etcetera. lies in all who have had an opportunity to bring about the changes necessary to achieve that goal. Some of us have had greater opportunity to pursue these goals and therefore bear greater responsibility. The greatest responsibility, therefore, lies with governments at all levels, since it is the government (our elected representatives) that adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it is the government that has the greatest capacity to promote those human rights through its administrative agencies and its economic and social policies.

At the same time, to the extent that we as individuals and grass roots organizations have the energy, capacity, and vision to promote these human rights, we also bear responsibility to promote observance of these human rights by, for example, holding those with even greater capacity and responsibility (government officials) accountable to their responsibility under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the universally recognized Bill of Human Rights*, and the ratified human rights treaties** to promote and achieve those rights.

We urge careful consideration of these findings and observation by all concerned.

Respectfully submitted as the Joint Statement of the Commissioners,

Imam Sheikh Saad Musse Roble
Peter W. Brown - National Lawyers Guild
Michael Crenshaw - Hip Hop Congress
Pastor Nancy Anderson
Mary Brandl - Union Steward of AFSCME Clerical Workers Local #3800


* The Bill of Human Rights consists of the two treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, ratified by the US Congress in 1992) and the International Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, signed by President Carter in 1976 but not yet ratified by the US Congress.)

** The human rights treaties that the United States has ratified are: 1) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, ratified by the US Congress in 1992); 2) Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT, ratified by the US Congress in 1994); and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD ratified by US Congress 1994).

Labels: 2008 National Truth Commission, March for Our Lives

The day started with a service by Sandy Perry and Muliaga Togotogo. Our lunch was a wonderful BBQ Picnic by Ted Dooley of the National Lawyers Guild. Also provided by Mr. Dooley and his colleagues where kids' activities and free shoes.

The Afro-Caribbean band, Quilombolas, and Truth Mayes played for the crowd. Poet Doanta Davis of WIT-KY performed a spoken word piece. The Brass Kings, a live acoustic band, played the folk country styles and were followed up by DJ Mixwell.
Shamako Noble of the Hip Hop Congress performed "Know U" and introduced Minnasota native/ Portland Hip Hop artist Mic Crenshaw and his crew.

The Rude Mechanical Orchestra shared their sounds with the crowd





Tou Saik Lee and his student breakdance troupe showed off their talents for the 150 event attendees.

Labels: DJ Mixwell, Hip Hop Congress, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives, Mic Crenshaw, People's Fest, Quilombolas, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Shamako Noble, The Brass Kings, Truth Mayes

Last night, we reestablished our Bushville tent city in St. Paul (400 Western Ave). The police have monitored our activities with numerous marked and unmarked police cars driving by Bushville including a SWAT van with the guards visible through the open back doors.

Despite attempts to disrupt and intimidate us, we are continue to prepare for our March on Tuesday, Sept 2nd. Delegations from Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and other parts of the country arrived today with more to come.

Labels: Bushville, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008

Owing to the fact that the police cleared our Bushville this morning. We decided to move our Bushville to the home of the State of Minnesota.

Shortly after we arrived, the State Police evicted us from the Rotunda. In the process, police force the media and laywers out of the building preventing them from entering the Capitol.



Here is the video of a police manhandling and injuring Cheri Honkala as she attempts to help the media gain access to the building in order to cover the protest, protect our freedom of expression, and document the actions of the officers on site.

Labels: Cheri Honkala, M4OL Coverage, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, PPEHRC, RNC

Original Article

Organizers of the Republican National Convention will stage a welcome rally for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain next Wednesday, the day he becomes the party's official nominee.

Doors for the rally will open at 11 a.m. at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis.

Convention organizers said tickets will be distributed to delegates Saturday. They did not immediately say whether the event will be open to the general public.
SCHWARZENEGGER SHACKLED BY BUDGET

When the Republican convention opens Monday night, its prime-time lineup could be missing one of its biggest draws: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is vowing to remain in California if legislators fail to reach agreement on a state budget, now two months overdue.

"I am honored to be asked to speak at the convention ...[but] the state of California and the budget is the most important thing," Schwarzenegger said. "So that if I don't have a budget, I cannot speak at the convention."

A budget deal by showtime seems unlikely at this point, potentially costing Schwarzenegger a national platform and John McCain a high-profile supporter who has been popular with the kind of independent voter McCain hopes to attract.

Organizers of the convention still hope Schwarzenegger will show. Because his speech is scheduled for the Labor Day holiday, he could fly in and out on his private jet without missing any state business.

Convention spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin declined to say whether organizers were considering another option: a Schwarzenegger appearance by satellite from Sacramento, as Republican Gov. Pete Wilson did in 1992 during a similar budget stalemate.
GREEN PARTY PICK TO SPEAK IN ST. PAUL

Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential candidate, will be a speaker at a rally at Mears Park in St. Paul at 4 p.m. Tuesday, just before the Poor People's March is to begin.


McKinney and her vice presidential running mate, Rosa Clemente, will also serve as "truth commissioners" at a public meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in St. Paul.

The meeting, at Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill, 105 W. University Av., will include testimony of poor residents from Minnesota and across the country. A similar meeting, not including Mc- Kinney and Clemente, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis, 310 E. 38th St.

Both the march and the meetings on poverty are sponsored by the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign.

The Poor People's March on Tuesday will wind up across the street from the Xcel Energy Center, where the convention will take place. Peter Cooper, press coordinator for the group, said Wednesday that some demonstrators will try to scale barricades and fences and attempt to sit down in front of the doors of the Xcel to engage in civil disobedience.
RON PAUL BRINGING LIBERTARIAN BARR

Onetime GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul's plan to steal some of the limelight from the Republicans' show will bring yet another presidential hopeful to the Twin Cities next week.

Former Georgia U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party's nominee, will appear with Paul at a picnic Monday sponsored by Minnesota for Limited Government. The picnic will be held at 2 p.m. at Langford Park in St. Paul.

The joint appearance by Barr and Paul, a Texas congressman and onetime Libertarian candidate himself, does not amount to an endorsement by Paul, a campaign spokeswoman said.

Paul's forces plan a three-day "Rally for the Republic" that will climax Tuesday with a 10-hour extravaganza at Target Center in Minneapolis. Among the speakers will be former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura.

Labels: M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008

Councilmember calls for investigation in RNC-related arrest




Less than a week before the start of the Republican National Convention, police have made their first convention-related arrest.

Minneapolis Police had their hands full Tuesday with protestors and citizen journalists; a possible sign of what's to come.

Armed with their voices and a video camera, a group fighting for affordable housing held a sit in-at the Minneapolis Housing and Urban Development office.

But when a 5 EYEWITNSES NEWS photographer showed up, a Minneapolis Police officer pushed him back into an elevator.

Shortly after, a demonstrator was arrested.

In a separate incident, police detailed three videographers from the Glass Bead Collective, an organization with a history of documenting police misconduct. They are in the Twin Cities to cover the Republican National Convention.

Videographer Vlad Teichberg said he and two others were stopped early Tuesday morning while walking to where they were staying in northeast Minneapolis.

Teichberg said police violated the group's First Amendment rights by taking items including a video camera, a still camera and a laptop.

"They are confiscating the means for us to do our work," he said.

An incident report classified the incident as Homeland Security issue.

Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon, who spearheaded the drive to protect demonstrators, wants an explanation from the police chief and the city attorney.

He said the police actions appear to violate the spirit of a resolution passed unanimously last month, which prohibits seizing cameras except during an arrest or when it captures evidence of a crime.

"We don't want to hide anything and I don't think we want anything to be hidden," said Gordon.

Minneapolis police spokesman Bill Palmer said the incident happened at 1:40 a.m. and that the group was stopped on suspicion that they were trespassing in a nearby railroad yard.

Authorities are concerned transportation could be a target during the Republican National Convention.

The three videographers said they did not trespass.

Labels: Arrests, M4OL Coverage, March for Our Lives 2008

On Tuesday, August 26 2008, 25 members of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign conducted a sit-in at the offices of Dexter Sydney, Minneapolis Field Director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Members from the Twin Cities and across the US entered the International Building on 920 2nd Street in downtown Minneapolis where the HUD offices are located.

At roughly noon, these poor and homeless families sat down in Sydney's front lobby, insisting that he follow through on his written agreement to attend PPEHRC's Minnesota Truth Commission Sat August 30th at 2PM. In a July 15th letter, Sydney “look[ed] forward to learning more about the concerns ... regarding homelessness, the housing crisis, and the challenges many people face with affordable housing”.
While in the HUD offices PPEHRC members were informed by building security that the public office was in private property and were to be escorted out by Minneapolis Police. A representative of the Department of Homeland Security informed campaign members that they were there to keep HUD workers safe during our nonviolent protest. The Minneapolis Police closed down the hallway outside, even pushing a KSTP reporter into an elevator.


Sit-in Video Part 1 | Part 2

Members of PPEHRC stayed behind in the offices after the final warning of the Minneapolis Police and were arrested. Cheri Honkala, PPEHRC National Organizer, Deeq Abdi of Minneapolis PPEHRC, and Natashia Euler of the Kensington Welfare Union in Philadelphia, PA were arrested and held at the Hennepin County Jail with bail.
They have since been released.

Labels: Arrests, HUD Sit-in, March for Our Lives 2008