Freedom Ride for Housing in Los Angeles: Make Some Noise!

Latest

LOS ANGELES — In January, the Services Not Sweeps Coalition and other groups held a car caravan of 200 vehicles to gentrifying developments in Los Angeles County and to three large encampments in MacArthur Park, Echo Park Lake and Hollywood. The caravan of painted and postered cars demanding housing as a human right was well-received throughout the city. Below are words from some of the testimonies from the morning rally.

participant in the freedom ride
A participant in the freedom ride for housing in Los Angeles where people are dying daily due to a lack of housing and the pandemic.

Craig Roberts: “The reason I got involved in the Freedom Ride for housing is that evictions and criminalization are spreading all across the city. There are four people a day dying because of the conditions of the homeless as well as the pandemic. Because City Hall is controlled by the developers, L.A. is the most corrupt city in the whole country. Tents have spread over the entire city.  In Los Angeles County we have over 60,000 people sleeping on the street and over 40,000 in the city.”

Pancake: “I’m a community organizer of LA CAN, it is about house keys not handcuffs, decriminalize. We see the problem as the lack of housing in the city. We have the largest community of unhoused people in this nation. We are hearing the mayor saying there’s a state of emergency, but where is the money?  You see the military industrial complex, the privatization, the building of more prisons. You need to reach the spirit of the people, they’ve been disenfranchised.  If you can just reach one, it’s worth it.”

General Dogon: “We’re freedom riding for housing. We’re freedom riding to end the dirty divide in the city of Los Angeles. When you look around the city you can see the public infrastructure for healthcare is cracked. When you look at the amount of money being put into enforcement and sweeps and when you look at the money allocated for services it looks like a little midget next to the Empire State building. We’re going to defund the police and add that money to services and housing.  All power to the people!  Are you all ready to ride for housing, are you ready to ride down on the mayor, down on the chief? Then make some noise!”

Groups active in this coalition can be contacted at: 
servicesnotsweeps.com
cangress.org
mlkcoalitionforjobsjusticeandpeace.org

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Voices From the No Kings Day Protests!

Millions of people – estimates range from 11 million to 12 million – took to the streets in protests across the U.S. on June 14 in a direct response to President Donald Trump’s regime, unifying under the message that also named the day’s protest movement: No Kings.

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Hurts the Working Class

"Big Beautiful Bill" robs from the poor to give to the rich. A major frontal attack on all segments of the working class, the bill must be stopped.

Los Angeles: Standing Up to the Threat of Dictatorship

The federal government's war on Los Angeles is a war on the American people. The ultimate aim of the attack on immigrants is to impose a dictatorship on us all.

Beloved Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested Witnessing ICE Raid

Highly regarded labor leader was injured and then arrested while witnessing a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Next Hours Critical for the Movement to End the Gaza Genocide

Within days, the Gaza Flotilla Sailboat with supplies for the people of Gaza with 12 onboard will reach the “Danger Zone.” How will the world respond?

More from the People's Tribune