#63 Gentrification: The perpetual state of David and Goliath.

Episode #63 Maagic Collins Show

Gentrification: The perpetual state of David and Goliath.

Cali Recall Sept 14th, 2021, this Tuesday

Fight for the John Luis Voting Rights Bill

Come on and vote...dude.

“Housing is Key.” Renters and Landlords can close the gap of the back rent caused by the Pandemic.

Downtown Crenshaw Mall Sold to David S.

Gentrification as a whole

For this episode, I’ll be using source material, “Malcolm X, Gentrification and Housing as a Human Right, found on Truthout.org. Written by Jon Bartlet who is the executive dir. Of the Metropolitan Tenants Organization Based out of Chicago.

A passage from Mr. Bartlet’s article is below:

In 1823, the US Supreme Court in Johnson v. McIntosh legitimized the concept of ownership through conquest. In Johnson, the Court held that “savages” (the Court’s term for Native Americans) had no right to sell or control the land because the land was “discovered” by settlers. Only the US government could give Native people the right to sell or transfer the land.

“Ownership through conquest.”

The outside investors then develop the land to fit the needs of the downtown elite. They build new and high-cost apartments and high-rises and demolish and get rid of properties suitable for people of more modest means. Many of the first people to move into a changing neighborhood are described as “pioneers,” the same term used to refer to the initial invaders of North America who imposed the White man’s ways on the Native peoples.

This means families who have often lived in these neighborhoods for decades are forced to relocate. Tenants in particular, because of the lack of secure tenure, face an onslaught of economic pressures to move. Outside investors will often close buildings and evict all the tenants as they develop properties to cater to wealthier non-community members in an effort to get them to move into the community. Tenants are then forced to find and move into an ever-shrinking supply of affordable housing.

At the same time, landlords are increasing the rent as the neighborhood becomes “hot.” In the end, the vast majority of the tenants will be forced out. It is beyond their means to resist these economic forces on their own.

For the full article and list of laws such as the three listed below click the link: Truth.org

• Laws to limit foreclosures: Banks and other agencies ought to be

held accountable for their actions in creating the housing crisis.

• Laws to end lockouts, self-help evictions outside of the legal

system: No tenant or homeowner should lose their home

without due process.

• Mandatory inspections laws: Municipalities and other

government agencies need to be responsible for ensuring that all

residential properties meet certain codes of health and safety.

For the full article: Malcolm X, Gentrification and Housing as a Human Right.  By John Bartlett, Truthout

The perpetual state of David and Goliath.