PHOTO/MICHELLE DIONE SNIDER
‘Housing is a human right, and today, I’m using that right’ says homeless mom
OAKLAND, CA — On November 23, hundreds of Oaklanders joined together in a March for Housing Now: Our City, Not Scarcity. The event highlighted two homeless mothers who moved themselves and their children into a vacant house just days before, demanding the current owner, Wedgewood Investments, sell the home to their organization, “Moms 4 Housing,” or give it to the community.
These women are the new face of America. Both became homeless while working full time. Sameerah is currently also going to nursing school. “I’m doing this so the generations that come after me don’t never have to fight for the right to live,” said Dominique Walker. “If I have to risk everything to stay in my city, then that’s what I’ll do. We are not going to change anything if we don’t speak out and show up.”
The city reports there are 4,071 homeless residents in Oakland, an increase of almost 50% from two years ago, and 4,366 vacant parcels. At any one time, there are up to a hundred “tent camps” within Oakland. “You can’t even ride through Oakland without seeing the effect,” Sameerah noted. “You literally get sick to your stomach seeing the conditions, the squalor, the way that it is. The predicament of it.”
Both women are long-time Oakland residents. Sameerah is a second-generation resident. Dominique’s family migrated from the rural south in the 1950s. The Moms and others have been holding local government accountable to meet housing needs in Oakland. “We tried working through the system to find affordable housing. We both hold down multiple jobs and take care of our families. But this system doesn’t work for people; it only works for banks and corporations,” Dominique noted. “We have learned that we can govern as well as any of them,” noted Carroll Fife, speaking for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). ACCE has vowed to force the Oakland City Council to take responsibility for the housing crisis in Oakland in the coming election.
Their actions are beginning to polarize around the question of property rights in America. A recent blog posted, “This is someone else’s personal property, not public. These moms are trespassing! They have no right!” Not so, another retorted, they, like Jesus, fight for the greater good and on the right side of history.
The reality is that the takeover home is not personal property. It is corporate property. It is owned by Wedgewood, a Redondo Beach-based real estate investment company, one of the country’s biggest “fix & flip” companies that has profited significantly from the housing crisis. Supporters have been calling the company to ask them to donate the property to the Moms. On December 3, they received an eviction notice from Wedgewood Inc. As we go to press, supporters are gathering to support the Moms in their next steps forward.
“We have lost our humanity,” wrote Dominique, “There are children sleeping on the streets—we should be outraged! I am. I will continue fighting for the unhoused until we all have shelter!”
