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BOSTON
Eviction blockaders fight back
By
Gerry Scoppettuolo
Published Oct 2, 2008 9:10 PM
Foreclosure fighters took on Deutsche Bank Sept 25 in Boston, in the latest
eviction blockade organized by the City Life Tenant Organizing Program and its
supporters. Four protesters were arrested, including this writer, while trying
to prevent the Boston police and a constable from evicting the Esquival family
in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood. While eviction blockaders were
detained by the police here once before, this was the first time activists were
arrested, booked and arraigned by the District Attorney.
WW photos: Stevan Kirschbaum
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The family proudly maintained its dignified stance while supporters stood
around them on the street. Three television stations and the Boston Globe
recorded the obscene actions of the police, the banks and Mayor Thomas Menino,
who allowed the police to occupy the Esquivals’ property before the
arrival of the constable—a first in 10 eviction blockades this year. At
the time, the Esquivals were still the legal tenants and the family was in
Boston Housing Court seeking a restraining order against the eviction. This
escalation of tactics by the city of Boston signals a hardening of bourgeois
opposition in the face of City Life’s mostly successful strategy of using
militant eviction blockades to force banks to negotiate foreclosures.
As the government’s Wall Street bailout neared passage, it became clear
that soon the new owners of the Esquivals’ mortgage would likely be the
federal government, as it restores credit to wealthy banks like Deutsche Bank
while families like the Esquivals get thrown out. Stockholders in these
bailed-out banks stand to see the value of their holdings increase. Recent
reports about the government bailout disclose that there will be no real help
for foreclosed homeowners, just letters from the Federal Reserve to banks
“encouraging” them to loosen their lending terms (Wall Street
Journal, Sept. 29).
Three days after the eviction, Boston’s International Action Center and
the Women’s Fightback Network pushed ahead with its State of Emergency
Petition Campaign, demanding that Gov. Deval Patrick issue an emergency order
halting further evictions and foreclosures and rolling back and freezing food
and fuel prices. Activists handed out flyers and gathered signatures on the
campaign at a “Food and Fuel Summit” sponsored by the mayor at
Madison Park High School, in the oppressed community of Roxbury. Those coming
for assistance against skyrocketing food and fuel prices eagerly signed the
petition, agreeing the government should bail out the people rather than the
banks. The action was coordinated with actions in many cities
For more information on the WFN and IAC Economic State of Emergency Campaign,
go to www.iacboston.org, or contact [email protected] or
[email protected].
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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