The Moms 4 Housing Victory Shows How Communities Can Fight Back — And Win
Image: Moms 4 Housing via Facebook
The news broke Monday morning four mothers who occupied a vacant West Oakland house scored a huge victory in the ultimate fight between greed and good. The grassroots activist group Moms 4 Housing won an agreement from house-flipping developer Wedgewood Properties, and the house they’ve been occupying for two months will be sold to a nonprofit to help secure housing for the unsheltered population in Oakland. Very fittingly, the announcement came the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“This is what happens when we organize, when people come together to build the beloved community,” said Moms 4 Housing ‘lead mother’ Dominique Walker said at a Monday press conference. “Today we honor Dr. King’s radical legacy by taking Oakland back from banks and corporations.”
Image: Moms 4 Housing via Facebook
The mothers and their children had been occupying the house for about two months, until pre-dawn military-style eviction raid last week, complete with tanks and AR-15s. That move prompted SF Pride to consider banning the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office from the 2020 SF Pride Parade, according to the Chronicle.
“This fool ordered tanks and AR-15s and cops in military gear to come kick out mothers and children into the cold,” said Anti Police-Terror Project co-founder Cat Brooks, according to SFBay’s on the scene coverage at Oakland’s Reclaim MLK Day rally. (“This fool” refers to Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern.)
Image: Moms 4 Housing via Facebook
The Moms 4 Housing technically did not “win the house,” and it’s still unclear if the evicted mothers and their families will move back in. Under the terms of the deal, the low-income advocacy nonprofit Oakland Community Land Trust will buy the house at market rate from home-flipping giant Wedgewood Properties.
“It’s not a done deal,” said Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Oakland/San Francisco director Carroll Fife. “It’s a good sign, but it’s not sold. We’re waiting to make sure that actually does happen.”
You can help make sure that actually does happen by making a donation to Moms 4 Housing.
