Trenton, NJ – In March, the Coalition to Save Our Homes asked New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa for a meeting. Many of our members have been harmed by predatory lending. We want Chiesa to hear their complaints. His office can do many things to help them. He said no.

On April 11 we went to Trenton to protest his refusal and demand that our requests be met. We hear of “liberty and justice for all.” It would be good to have it. But there is no equal protection of the laws when predatory lenders get bailouts and the people they harmed can’t even get a hearing. We won’t accept that.

We started the protest with a rally in front of the New Jersey Statehouse, where the governor’s office is located. There were 45 participants. It was a big crowd because it did big things. We gave center stage to the voices of people who have been harmed by predatory lending.

They spoke for all of the millions of borrowers who were swindled. They paid far more than their houses were worth. Some have been foreclosed. Some have lost their jobs. Payment records have been lost, ownership records have been lost. Many mortgages are underwater. Many have lost jobs and income because the banks drove the economy into depression.

Home prices have reached a nationwide average of more than twice true market value. It was price fixing. Lenders lied to prospective borrowers about things in the fine print. They roped buyers into mortgages they knew would fail. They selectively abused African-American and Latino home buyers with higher fees than those paid by economically comparable white buyers, and extended them more subprime loans.

All of these things are illegal. Nothing effective has been done for the millions and millions of people who were harmed.

We want the attorney general to do something about it. We want predatory lenders to be prosecuted for price fixing. They must be compelled to lower mortgage principals to reflect the true market value of the properties. There are many other things for which they could be prosecuted.

People came from all over New Jersey. They represented many organizations. Other concerns of people’s economic justice were addressed. One speaker talked about the impact of cuts in public services on low-income women and children. Another spoke about Irvington, which lost its hospital a couple of years ago and is now planned to get a medical waste disposal plant that the community does not want.

Then we marched through the streets with stops at branch offices of Wells Fargo and Bank of America. The Solidarity Singers gave us a song at each stop. Speakers got on the bullhorn to tell passersby what the banks had done to them. Too many people are passive at their mistreatment by the banks! Passersby showed their support. Drivers honked their horns. Then we marched to the Hughes Justice Complex, where the attorney general’s office is located. We chanted, “A.G. Chiesa, do your job!”

The attorney general’s office had been notified in writing that we were coming to give him a letter. The statement was read aloud to the assembly at the Justice Complex. At no time was there any obstruction of normal activity.

We were met by an officer of the State Police. He was courteous but he told us we could not enter the building, which is public. He said he would take our letter to the attorney general and deliver it, but we had to disperse. He said we could not be present as a group because we did not have a permit to be there!

We said we wanted to enter the building and turn our letter in to the reception desk of the attorney general’s office. A delegation of three went in. A second State Police officer told us at the sign-in desk that we would not be allowed to go to the office. Our attorney was with us. He told the officer that he had many times been to the attorney general’s office to do the same thing. All we wanted to do was deliver a letter to reception. The officer said we could not go to the office. We had to turn in our documents through him. We gave him the letter and a petition with well over a thousand signatures, but said it was a violation of free speech.

We went back outside. The day’s protest was over. The Solidarity Singers fell in, and started singing. People were singing along, hanging out, waiting for the bus. We had accomplished great things. Everybody was happy.

Then the police told us again we could not be there because, “You don’t have a permit.”

“To wait for the bus?!”

“You can’t hold signs.”

“But that’s silly.”

“If you don’t put away the signs and disperse I will have to call for more officers.”

We collected the signs. The problem was clear: the powerful officials who hold so much responsibility are afraid of us because we want to be protected by law from the banks. The bus arrived after a few minutes and we went home.

It had been a good day’s work. We want the attorney general to prosecute predatory lenders. We want equal protection of the laws. We want reinstatement of the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. We will keep it up.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ejw7jA3ZCEE

#TrentonNJ #Foreclosures #WellsFargo #HousingStruggles #AfricanLiberation #BankOfAmerica

Tallahassee, FL – More than 200 students from Florida State University (FSU) marched on the streets here, March 26, to demand justice for Trayvon Martin. The marched started off at the FSU Integration Statue with organizer of the march, Michael Sampson, reflecting on “why we are marching for justice.”

“Any of us can be Trayvon Martin,” said Sampson. “We are here to stand up against a criminal justice system rooted in racism and demand justice for not just Trayvon Martin but all the other victims of institutional racism in this country.” An activist with Uhuru at FSU, Kristen Bonner also spoke out against racism.

The students then marched, yelling chants such as, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” The students marched through downtown Tallahassee to in front of the Old Capitol of Florida where they yelled and chanted for Justice for Trayvon.

At the Old Capitol, students from FSU were joined by FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University) and Tallahassee Community College students.

FAMU activist Ciara Taylor told the crowd, “We are issuing a call to action to the youth and students of Florida, the United States and the world. We must make our mark in the pages of history. We must return to the days of old when youth and students came together, built organizations and directly challenged the power structures that have oppressed our communities. Our future depends on it. Our time is now, as it was for the youth that fought for Civil Rights just a few short decades ago. How many of our Black and brown youth have to die? The torch is ours. The time is now.”

#TallahasseeFL #AfricanAmerican #AfricanLiberation #CivilRights #FloridaStateUniversity #TrayvonMartin

Salt Lake City, UT – More than 1000 people marched through the streets of downtown here, March 31, with Trayvon Martin posters and peace signs waving. Marchers raised their fists in the air and shouted, “Justice for Trayvon, justice for everyone!”

Salt Lake City residents, led by organizers from the University of Utah Black Student Union, United for Social Justice, Occupy Salt Lake City and Revolutionary Students Union, marched to show support for the movement now building around Trayvon Martin, an African American teenager fatally shot by vigilante George Zimmerman while walking back to his father’s house in a gated community. Protesters called for the arrest of Zimmerman.

“We are doing a march for Trayvon Martin. May he rest in peace,” said protester Jay Bone Tha Young Savioso. “We feel that it’s not right. We’re all here together standing up for what’s right.” Savioso carried an iced tea and a bag of Skittles, items that Martin carried with him when he was shot. He also had his daughter, a toddler, with him.

More than calls for the arrest of Zimmerman, the march demanded action against racist police and government. “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” was chanted time and time again along the route. The shooting of Trayvon Martin outrages many activists. The strong stance of Martin’s family brought national attention and many hope to build a movement to stop similar murders, along with racist police brutality and misconduct in general.

“It is a case where the racism of the system seems very clear,” said Revolutionary Student Union organizer Kerem Cantekin. “I don’t mean just Zimmerman. I think it was not only Zimmerman who took Trayvon as the prime suspect, but the police, the investigation.”

Many African American protesters were concerned about the fact they are looked upon as suspect by default. Rally speaker Brent Jackson said that he had personally been stopped by Salt Lake City police simply for being Black and wearing certain clothes. He asked the crowd to “wake up.”

“A lot of Black people are scared now because any one of us can be next,” said a 17-year-old protester named Carl.

Annette Bankhead, a member of the Black Student Union, worried about her godchildren and how they would be treated. “I felt it was important to organize the march, because I am a godmother of a young boy, and I do not want him to have to walk down the street wearing a hoodie and be profiled.”

Organizer Victor Puertas said that he helped put together the march because, “I am tired of racism, of how this racist country treats people of color and then how they excuse this treatment.” He said that people in Utah feel the pain of police brutality every day, “even when it doesn’t make the news.”

Puertas specifically cited Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) officer Shane Conrad. It was recently ruled that he used “unjustified” force in the non-fatal shooting of Denzel Davis last year. There are other officers infamous in the community for targeting the homeless and people of color for arrest and harassment. Protesters also denounced the SLCPD gang unit for brutality and racial profiling, chanting, “Shame on SLCPD gang unit!”

Puertas also spoke about the murder of Iraqi immigrant Shaima Alawadi as an important example of the racist oppression in the United States. Alawadi was murdered in her California home after being harassed and called a terrorist a week earlier. She was given no protection by the local police department. Relatives sent her body home to be buried in Iraq.

Both Bankheab and Puertas also said that it was important to show that Utahns are against racism and to show solidarity with those fighting against it. “I did not want Utah not participating when the nation was coming together for justice,” Puertas said.

Utah is one of over 20 states that has a so-called “stand your ground” law, which allows for much wider latitude in using deadly force than simple self defense. The law has existed in some form in Utah since 1994.

Deb Henry from Occupy Salt Lake City spoke about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), citing them as partly responsible for introducing “stand your ground” legislation in Utah and called for protests against them. ALEC will meet in Salt Lake City in July.

“This law has got to go and we all have to be together on this,” said immigrant rights activist Archie Archuleta.

#SaltLakeCityUT #AfricanAmerican #AfricanLiberation #RevolutionaryStudentsUnion #TrayvonMartin #OccupySaltLakeCity

Orange, NJ – Over 30 people turned out, March 30, to protest the scheduled eviction of Susie Johnson, 77, from the home in which she has lived for 30 years. Their strong stand drew media coverage to the case. The eviction was not carried out today because the protest exposed injustice. A postponement until May 15 is in effect.

The protest was called by the Coalition to Save Our Homes.

The postponement is a people’s victory, but the struggle continues. The banks and the courts think they can ignore the rights of an elderly low-income African-American woman.

Mrs. Johnson is represented by her daughter, Cynthia Johnson. Foreclosure was filed by Wells Fargo but the documents carry the names of several banks. JP Morgan Chase also wants an account number on the case. At this point it is not even clear what bank the Johnson family must deal with. The banks must be forced to clean their act up.

The case has a long, messy history of abuses but the people’s forces don’t need a lot of details to act. We know banks have abused tens of millions of borrowers and gotten bailed out for trillions of dollars when their crazy, crooked schemes failed. We know it doesn’t matter what the banks do, prosecutors will look the other way. We have had it. This is a question of human rights. Our line is, “Don’t evict grandma, don’t evict Susie Johnson,” and that’s it.

The explosion in foreclosure cases started seven years ago but at no official level has anything effective been done for victims. The latest “settlement” with state Attorneys General and five big banks is typical. The banks are trying to buy immunity from prosecution for their violations in exchange for expenses they would bear anyway being counted as a “settlement.”

It’s like they’re looking for a way to pay ten bucks to avoid a business loss of twelve bucks. It’s not justice. It’s a fake. It’s official collusion. The people are the losers. We won’t stand for it.

There are millions of Susie Johnsons who have had their human and economic rights violated by fraud and crimes by the banks. Her case shows the only way to get economic justice, or any other kind of justice for the 99%, is through the power of the people.

People showed up at the March 30 protest for many reasons and from many organizations. There were victims of predatory lending who see the injustice to themselves in terms of a broad social issue. Women’s equality, human and civil rights organizations, organized labor, the Occupy movement, veteran activists and those newly come to struggle – all were represented.

Lawrence Hamm of the People’s Organization for Progress called for a moratorium by the sheriff’s office on foreclosure evictions, as in Cook County, Illinois. He blamed the foreclosure epidemic exclusively on the banks and their predatory lending practices. Maretta Short of NOW-NJ told about the devastating impact on low-income women and children of trillions of dollars in human services budget cuts. Another person said college students now bear over a trillion dollars of educational debt. A student told of facing 179 months of payments for her education.

Harry Perryman from nearby Irvington told how Irvington General Hospital was closed a few years ago. Now there is a plan to build a medical waste disposal plant there. “They close our hospital but give us the trash,” he said. There is strong community opposition to the proposed plant.

Another speaker pointed out that all of these abuses stem from the same cause. Investment capital in the United States amounts to many, many trillions of dollars. There is so much capital that its ravenous appetite for profit swallows up the money for every human need.

When the deputies from the sheriff’s office appeared they did not insist on proceeding with the eviction. Instead they called their supervisor for instructions. He came and asked Cynthia Johnson procedural questions about the courts. The outcome was the postponement of any action until May 15.

The protesters cheered at the victory. Even the deputies seemed relieved. A Legal Services attorney who came to the protest agreed to help organize Susie Johnson’s case and assist with her defense. In the past she has not been able to afford to hire an attorney.

The day showed the power of the people is a real force, not just a nice slogan. We must remain vigilant. There is no justice without people’s struggle.

#OrangeNJ #PoorPeoplesMovements #Foreclosures #HousingStruggles #AfricanLiberation #CoalitionToSaveOurHomes #JPMorganChase

While we do not know what motivated those who shot President Kabila, we do know who will rejoice at his death – the multinational corporations who want to loot the resources of Congo; Washington D.C. politicians who cursed his courage and commitment; the CIA; and a handful of African rulers who have sold their souls to those who want to re-colonized Africa.

President Kabila was a thoughtful and complex man, whose contributions cannot be erased or obscured. Laurent Kabila led the fight that ended the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko – a mass murderer who looted the country's resources while faithfully serving Wall Street. He refused to bow down to those who wanted to carve up Congo.

In the period ahead, we hope that the democratic popular movement in Congo wins still greater victories. We are opposed to all who support and apologize for aggression against the Democratic Republic of Congo. We are confident that new heroes will step forward to continue the work of Laurent Kabila.

#Editorial #Congo #Remembrances #LaurentKabila #AfricanLiberation