On Sunday night, I got a call from one
of my fellow organizers at Occupy
Our Homes DC, who had just gotten out of a meeting with Dawn Butler, a local DC
resident. US Marshalls would be showing up at her house early the
next morning, and they planned to evict her. Some of our organizers
had gathered information on the case, consulted legal counsel and met
with the tenant in person. We made the determination that Occupy Our
Homes DC should act immediately to prevent the eviction.
If carried out, this eviction would not
simply be unfair - it would be illegal. In the District of Columbia,
tenants
have the right of first refusal when their landlords are foreclosed
upon. That is to say, tenants have the legal right to buy the
foreclosed property if they so desire. Yet, despite the fact that the
law makes provision for Dawn to buy the home that she had lived in for
years, JP
Morgan Chase determined that it would be be more profitable to
evict her and sell her residence to someone else. As so often seems
to be the case in these situations, the pursuit of maximal profit
trumped everything - even the rule of law.
Though we had less than twenty four
hours' notice, we decided that Occupy Our Homes DC could play an
important role in helping to turn the tide in this case. We sent out
the word: If you can make it, be at Dawn Butler's house at 9:00 on
Monday morning. It could make the difference between her being able
to stay in her home, or being thrown out on the street.
I knew I had to be present for the
eviction defense, regardless of the day or the hour - but I was
skeptical that we would be able to turn out enough people on twelve
hours' notice to effectively make a stand when the US Marshalls
arrived. I was astonished the when I showed up the next morning to
find a dozen folks already assembled. By nine 'o clock, there were
perhaps thirty or forty of us present, with huge signs, two sound
systems, and a readiness to stand in the way if the Marshalls
insisted on throwing Dawn out of her house.
A little before nine, the movers showed
up. It was a vanload of mostly African American men, whose job it was
to haul out the belongings of those who were being evicted. I talked
with some of these guys, and they told me that they often evict
multiple houses a day. Some of them seemed sympathetic to Dawn and
the unfair treatment she was receiving, though others avoided eye contact.
What a lousy job, I thought. It must be terribly demoralizing to
spend your days throwing people out of their homes! Many of them
probably had few options and were doing what they felt they had to do
to get by. At the same time, I wondered where personal responsibility
came in. As a result of this experience, would any of them conclude
that they could not longer participate in these evictions?
Fortunately, we were not forced to directly challenge either the US Marshalls or the movers. At
around ten 'o clock, we got word that Dawn had secured a stay of eviction from
the judge, allowing her to remain in her home until the next court
hearing, later this month. This was a huge victory, allowing her to
mount her legal case - which is a strong one - and hopefully be able
to purchase her home.
Dawn told us later that the people at
court knew that Occupy Our Homes DC was mounting resistance to the
eviction, and that she got much better treatment by the court than
she ever had before. Before, the court treated her as just another
number; but now the courts and JP Morgan Chase know that Dawn has
growing community support behind her. If they want to kick Dawn out
of her house, they will face a serious public relations battle - one
that will expose their immoral and illegal actions.
This rampant illegality is what really
astonishes me. For better or worse, I expected big banks to be
involved in unethical business practices. That seems par for the
course in our economic system, which values maximum profit over all
other considerations. But I never imagined how brazenly the biggest
banks are engaging in outright illegal activity, nor how the court system goes right along with it! Occupy Our Homes DC
will continue to work with residents of the DC metro area to expose
these systematic unjust and illegal practices.
There are thousands of families being
left destitute by predatory lenders, and we know that we can only
help a few. Yet, we hope that those we are able to
partner with will be transformed by the experience. Our goal is to
empower grassroots leadership to arise in the community and challenge
the grip of the big banks. We are learning that we do not have to
accept the unjust status quo. We are discovering that we have the
power to resist the abuses of the big banks and the corrupt court
system. We are beginning to empower our local communities and
economies, putting our money where our hearts are.
The work of Occupy Our Homes DC is
important, but it is nothing compared to the power that will be
unleashed if we unlock the leadership potential of ordinary
Americans. We are looking for ways to empower our local communities,
working to find shared solutions to the challenges we face. One
thing is clear: We can no longer rely on big banks, big business or
big government to solve our dilemmas.
1 comment:
I'm impressed by the brave work East Coast Occupy is doing. It seems like all West Coast Occupy wants to do is put up graffiti
:(
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