Chicago, IL – Corporate-backed alderpersons pushed through an unbalanced budget to avoid taxing big businesses on Saturday, December 20, but conceded important measures after sustained pressure from working-class Chicagoans.

The final budget package, championed by conservative council members, promises to sell to private debt collectors nearly $100 million debt from water bills, parking tickets and ambulance fees. It also increases liquor and gambling taxes and sells city spaces for advertising. These measures, which have been assessed as fiscally irresponsible by the city’s budget experts, are the last ditch effort by the group of oppositional alderpersons who have fought to avoid instituting a corporate head tax, in which the largest 3% of corporations would pay less than a thousandth of a percent of their profits based on the number of workers they employ.

“If aldermen really listen to the solutions that the people got, we would be in a better Chicago,” said Jasmine Smith, a co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR).

This wave of reactionary economic policy in Chicago mirrors the sweeping economic cuts to SNAP, health care and public transportation imposed by Donald Trump in his spending plan. Companies like McDonald’s and Google that would have been asked to contribute to the corporate head tax are the same companies that saw record tax breaks from Trump.

“Our federal government is led by a money hungry, immoral, unaccountable exec branch, a bloodthirsty Department of War, and a cowering judicial branch,” said Itohan Osaigbovo, an organizer with the Chicago Black Voter Project who knocked hundreds of doors to talk with Chicagoans on the South and West Sides about the budget. “This is not your typical budget year in Chicago,” she said.

“This alternative budget treats poverty as a business model,” said Rocio Garcia, a leader with the Grassroots Collaborative and the People’s Unity Platform. “You cannot fine your way to financial stability.”

Avoiding the tax on corporations in favor of predatory and irresponsible alternatives will likely lead to a budget crisis halfway through the year, according to leaders of the Public Health and Safety Coalition (PHS).

Countless hours of knocking doors, making calls and pressuring alders created the conditions for Mayor Brandon Johnson to propose a budget that included a tax on large corporations, cuts to CPD vacancies, year-round funding for the youth job programs that have brought Chicago crime to historic lows, funding for the Chicago Department of Public Health, and funding for non-police crisis response and mental health centers, PHS organizers said.

When corporate interests and the alderpersons that represent them came forward with their original alternative proposal on December 15, they sought to slash youth jobs and increase the city garbage tax in order to balance the budget. Working-class and oppressed Chicagoans responded, making thousands of calls and knocking doors in the winter cold to fight back against these regressive measures.

Within days, the alternative budget was amended to remove the garbage tax increase and restore funding to youth jobs. Additionally, the alternative budget still includes cuts to 500 vacant Chicago Police Department positions, funding for public health and non-police crisis response.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #CAARPR #Housing #SNAP #Transportation

At the start of the Spring 2025 semester, FSU Admin secretly axed LGBTQ+ Housing – which provides much needed accommodations to transgender and queer students living on campus without communicating their decision to any students, or even the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IHRC). This comes amid escalating attacks on the rights and autonomy of queer and trans people by the reactionary Trump administration and the ruling Florida Republican Party.

As soon as the student body found out, Tallahassee SDS and other student organizations, including the IHRC and Pride Student Union, condemned FSU Admin for putting queer students in danger by removing this program which was meant to protect them from being forced into potentially unsafe gender-segregated living arrangements that don’t align with their gender. Or being assigned bigoted roommates and being forced to live in an unsafe environment.

Queer people at FSU have the right to safe housing in which they can feel comfortable living openly as themselves, expressing their gender identity and sexuality without fear. Admin may have backed down today, but the callous disregard for queer students which led them to try to destroy LGBTQ+ Housing has not gone away.

This whole episode has made it very clear that FSU cares more about placating Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump than they do about their own students. FSU Admin didn’t restore LGBTQ+ Housing out of the goodness of their hearts– they did it because the student body stood up and fought back!

The LGBTQ+ housing program was established only in Fall of 2021 after a lengthy grassroots campaign led by activists from Gender Odyssey, SDS, and the Pride Student Union – which was itself established through militant student activism in the 60s and 70s.

All of our rights have been won through mass struggle, and queer students’ right to safe housing is no different! This historic victory – one of the first in a long time for Tallahassee’s progressive students– was only possible because of the people’s vigilance and determination, and it shows what we can achieve when we unite and fight the power!

Make no mistake: Queer students are still under attack from the rich and powerful, and we have to defend ourselves! No matter the repression from forces that seek to strip away our rights, we must never be afraid to stand on the right side and openly struggle for our liberation! We must not cower in fear thinking of what can be lost, but rather push forward thinking of what can be won!

The fight doesn’t end here! We have to carry forward the fighting spirit that defeated FSU Admin today, so that we can defeat Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis tomorrow! We must continue to be vigilant, organized, and united to fight for queer liberation! Because as this victory shows: When we dare to struggle, we dare to win!

#TallahasseeFL #FL #StudentMovement #LGBTQ #SDS #Statement #Housing

The increase in the broad CPI from 2.4% in September to 2.6% in October was mainly driven by rising housing costs, which were up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. While the overall increase in the CPI has fallen from 9% in 2022 to 2.6%, the drop in housing inflation has been much smaller, from 8.8% in 2022 to 4.9% last month, which is still more than half the peak.

The cost of housing is actually greater than what the CPI counts, as it doesn’t include the cost of insuring a home, which is rising at an 8.8% annual rate (and much faster in states such as Florida and California due to the increase in costs of natural disasters).

Inflation in housing costs may stop falling or even start to rise again if Trump carries out his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants. 13% of all construction workers are undocumented, one of the highest rates of all industries. If many of them are deported, a shortage of construction workers will drive up the costs of housing.

While Trump was elected largely on people’s dissatisfaction with the economy, in particular higher inflation, Trumps pledges of mass deportations and higher tariffs, or taxes on imports, could actually end up raising prices and increasing inflation.

#SanJoseCA #CA #CapitalismAndEconomy #Inflation #Housing

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, April 21, a march of approximately 300 people from the Twin Cities metro area marched, blocking traffic for Earth Day.

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) and Anti-War Committee (AWC) led the march. It drew attendees from the nearby Little Earth indigenous-preference housing complex, the surrounding East Phillips neighborhood, and Camp Nenookaasi, an encampment of the unhoused which has been forced by the city of Minneapolis to move many times.

The crowd took the street, making its first stop directly in front of Smith Foundry. Speakers from the neighborhood highlighted the impact the metal foundry has on the neighborhood, from increased asthma and heart disease rates in children to the putrid smells that emanate from it.

Evan Mulholland of the CJC stated, “It’s not right that the neighbors and workers are unprotected from pollution while the profit flows directly to the owner, Zynik capital in Canada,” highlighting the OSHA violations Smith had recently been fined for. Mulholland reminded everyone that “green capitalism is not going to fix white supremacy.”

The march then headed to the site that Mayor Jacob Frey wants to develop into a new 3rd Precinct building for the Minneapolis Police Department, despite residents strongly opposing a new site without meaningful police reform. The previous site had been burned during the uprising after the murder of George Floyd. Danielle Korby from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice explained the necessity for community control of the police to prevent developments, which would force neighbors in need of community resources to enter a building filled and staffed with the most violent gang in the city.

Stacey Gurian-Sherman, speaking for Minneapolis for a Better Police Contract, pointed out the deep connections between the Israeli Defense Forces and police techniques in the United States, including Cop City and similar militarized training facilities soon to be erected across the country. The crowd marched on, chanting “IDF, KKK, MPD, they’re all the same!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

At every stop, the Mexica Dancers danced and blessed the area, doing medicine work, expressing their desire for real change for our planet and neighbors, and were received by cheers by fellow marchers.

As the march came to an end, anti-war and workers’ right activists pointed out how monopoly capitalism is the driving forces behind climate change, and thus we cannot stop one without stopping the other.

Tracy Molm of the CJC and Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Twin Cities concluded the event with remarks on the negligence of the Democratic and Republican Parties on climate change and Palestine, rousing the crowd with an invitation to march on the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention later this year.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #EarthDay #ClimateChange #CJC #FRSO #DNC2024 #PeoplesStruggles #Housing #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine

Los Angeles, CA – On March 13, organized tenants from El Apetito-Finessa Colectivo, neighborhood council members, and concerned residents appeared before a hearing at Ramona Hall Community Center in Highland Park. They were supporting an appeal against a major corporate development in Boyle Heights.

Viva Padilla, a small business owner and member of the Colectivo filed the appeal against Tiao Corporation in September 2023. After a grueling five-and-a-half hour meeting and three failed motions that ended at 10 p.m., the East LA Planning Commission passed a motion in favor of the appeal. It is a historic win for the community of Boyle Heights.

Due to this motion, the Tiao development project will not move forward. The appeal cited a list of concerns including the need to test for lead contamination and the harmful impact that gentrification and displacement would have on the community of Boyle Heights. The project proposed a six-story mixed use complex, with 45 market-rate units, five affordable units and a market hall with outside seating on the ground floor, similar to downtown LA’s Grand Central Market. 

During public comment at the hearing, 40 community members – many of them Spanish speakers – testified about their firsthand experiences about evictions, displacement and homelessness.

Broker Aaron Bellisten, Tiao’s Corporation’s representative, gave his rebuttal, stating that this project would bring housing and commercial opportunity to the residents.

Appellant Viva Padilla stated that it would dismantle the rich cultural-historic fabric of the Historic Brooklyn Avenue Neighborhood Corridor, made up of street vendors and artists like the músico nortenos and trios that busk at the corner of Chicago Street and Cesar Chavez Avenue, a tradition in place for over 50 years. 

Three out of five of the planning commissioners were swayed by public testimony and also cited their own concerns about the scale and tone-deafness of the project. Commissioner David Marquez, a Boyle Heights native, said he was hesitant to let the project move forward due to its being out of date: it was applying nearly 30-year-old zoning laws under the 1998 Adelante Eastside Redevelopment Plan. He felt the responsibility to foresee how the project would affect the area five to ten years into the future. 

The Adelante Plan will soon be replaced by the Boyle Heights Community Plan Update, which is currently making its way through the city after 15 years of development. Commissioner Gloria Gutierrez presented her findings on eviction rates, rent affordability across the nation, and placed an emphasis on the lack of alignment with a category under the Adelante Project that states that new developments must “meet the needs of its current residents” and “provide units with a wide array of rent brackets.” Commissioner Lydia Avila-Hernandez tearfully shared her own testimony on her past experience with eviction and wanted to abstain from voting before she decided to vote yes for the appeal. 

The passing of the motion to approve the appeal is a historic win for the community of Boyle Heights as appeals filed against proposed developments are notoriously denied. This is a shining example of how people power and organized tenants can strategize against corporate developments in order to fight against gentrification in their neighborhood.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #BoyleHeights #PeoplesStruggles #Housing #Gentrification #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino

Minneapolis, MN – Organizers with Nenookaasi healing camp hosted a press conference on Friday, February 2 at the camp’s new location, to discuss the ongoing struggle against repeat evictions and the unanswered call for housing solutions.

The city evicted the encampment twice in the span of two days, including an unannounced eviction on Tuesday and another on Thursday. The camp has again relocated, this time to a vacant lot on E 28th Street.

Camp organizer Nicole Mason said on Thursday that the constant cycle of evictions without adequate shelter feels retaliatory and is a misuse of resources spent on evictions and paying police, when it could be used for housing people.

“That amount of money can pay so many months of so many peoples’ rent. Why is it being misspent?” Mason said, referring to the high, taxpayer-funded price tag evictions carry.

As of Thursday, several people from the camp were housed, and few got into a shelter, where there were only five beds available. Organizers and unhoused residents alike are frustrated with the number of vacant buildings and indoor spaces that could be used as temporary housing so people can remain in one place together, making it easier for service providers to locate them. So far, the city has not stepped up to offer this in the interim before a more permanent option is available.

“We asked for at least temporary indoor housing from them. There has to be a solution, there has to be a building or a house with enough space for these guys to stay together and be indoors. We’ve asked for everything possible to keep them together until we can get the healing center,” Mason said.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #IndigenousPeoplea #Housing

Minneapolis, MN – In the early hours of Tuesday, January 30, Nenookaasi Healing Camp was evicted for the second time from an otherwise vacant lot in the city of Minneapolis.

On January 4, the encampment was evicted from its original location, which housed up to 200 people, primarily indigenous. Mayor Jacob Frey, the main perpetrator of the city eviction policy, met with camp organizers following the first eviction and feigned support for our unhoused neighbors. This second eviction shows how little the mayor and other city officials actually care for unhoused Minneapolis residents.

The first eviction on January 4 came after several days’ notice of the impending eviction. But even with notice, many of the camp’s residents were scattered and lost. For the latest eviction, residents and organizers weren’t given any notice, and many fear that those who had previously gotten shelter and support from the camp will be left with no place to go. Lead camp organizer Nicole Mason said, “Eviction is violence and results in overdose, disease spread, assault, and the deaths of our relatives.”

The city of Minneapolis is facing a reckoning as the social safety net has been chipped away at and the cost of living has skyrocketed with housing and rents going through the roof. Minneapolis, like cities across the country, has to answer how it will treat low-income people. Mayor Frey campaigned on ending homelessness, but has shown his intention is to sweep it under the rug using city funds and employees to clear and board up locations where houseless residents come together.

Community organizers vow to continue to fight at city hall to force officials to address the homelessness crisis, and to continuing to support those in need.

A new camp has come together but is again being threatened with eviction.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #Housing #OppressedNationalities #Indigenous

Minneapolis, MN – The city of Minneapolis announced their intent to close down Nenookaasi Ikwe Healing Camp in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Nenookaasi is an encampment of primarily indigenous people and has been a safe space for over three months.

Because of the steadfast support of local indigenous elders and other local volunteers, the camp has been home to up to 200 people. Because it provides a stable base, residents have been able to access government services, 74 people have gotten stable housing, and the camp has had zero overdose deaths.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who campaigned on ending homelessness in Minneapolis, has been playing a deadly game of whack-a-mole, where encampments of the unhoused are violently closed down, with no place for people to go. Despite many pointing out the cruelty of this approach, Frey has continued this policy.

Nenookaasi recently won their fight to get portable toilets to aid in keeping the site sanitary for the residents. One day later, an eviction notice was issued.

Lead camp organizer Nicole Mason said, “Eviction is violence and results in overdose, disease spread, assault, and the deaths of our relatives.”

Organizers called for a rally on Wednesday December 13, where hundreds of people assembled at The Wall of Forgotten Natives , the site of a former encampment that was violently shut down several years ago. Rallygoers chanted “Who’s land? Native land!” and “Land back” as they marched to the Nenookaasi encampment.

Residents of the encampment were visibly touched to see the massive support for the site that has meant so much to them.

At the rally, a 19-year-old resident of Nenookaasi encampment spoke of the safety and security she had, even as one of the youngest amongst older people. Nenookaasi gives her a place where people do not judge her, something she wished others would take note of and follow. Another Nenookaasi resident spoke if being “outside for a year” and “how that became so isolating.” New to Nenookaasi, he spoke of the welcome and warmth he receives there. The comments from these residents show Nenookaasi is not simply a location, it is home with the attributes of safety, security and support.

Community members, joined by organizations like the Climate Justice Committee, are committed to support Nenookaasi Ikwe Healing Camp. The city of Minneapolis has already moved the date of eviction once and may be moving a second time.

Meanwhile organizers and residents continue to demand no evictions until there is stable, safe housing for all residents, and that the city continue to meet with Nenookaasi representatives to coordinate next steps.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #OppressedNationalities #IndigenousPeoples #Housing #Homeless #CJC

San José, CA – In December of 2015 the Pew Research Center released a report on the decline in middle-income Americans, who now make up a minority of the population, down from 60% in the 1970s. Their share of income has fallen even more, from more than 60% in the 1970s to only 43% in 2014, as upper-income households share has risen from 30% to 49% over the same period of time. The Pew report also has other important information on wealth, debt, occupation and education, which were generally not reported in the mainstream corporate media.

But the report, and to an even larger extent, mainstream corporate media articles on the report, used ‘middle-income’ to mean ‘middle class’ when the two are not the same. Middle-income, in the Pew report, was defined as households earning between two-thirds and twice the median income, or $42,000 to $126,000 a year for a household of three. Middle class refers to those who are between the working class (who have to work for others) and capitalists, who make a living from the businesses, land and financial assets that they own. The middle class would include small businesspeople and farmers, managers and supervisors, as well as high-skilled professionals such as doctors, lawyers and four-year college professors.

Most of the households that the Pew report calls middle-income are in reality working class. Only 20% of middle-income households in 2015 were made up of executives, managers, professionals such as engineers, and medical professionals who could be considered middle-class. The other 80% were more working class occupations such as clerical workers, sales workers, service workers, mechanics and others.

The Pew report also documented the growing inequality in wealth, as defined as the difference between household assets and debt. Between 1983 and 2013, the wealth of lower-income households shrank 18%. The wealth of middle-income households stayed about the same, while the wealth of upper-income households doubled. Another way to put this was that in 1983 upper-income households held 30 times the wealth of lower-income households, but by 2013 upper-income households had 70 times the wealth of lower-income households.

Lower and middle-income households also had their debts rising faster than upper income households as they tried to make up for lost income by borrowing more. Debt for upper-income households rose 90% between 1983 and 2013, while middle-income household debt went up 132%. Lower-income households had the largest increase in debt, which rose 183% or almost tripled between 1983 and 2013.

Teachers were the occupation that lost the most, -8.6, meaning that the percentage of teachers who were low income increased 8.6 percentage points more than the growth of high-income teachers. Factory workers (-6.4) and clerical (-6.2) were other occupations that lost the most ground in terms of income. Not surprisingly, executives and managers were among the occupations that gained the most (+20.4) in terms of more high-income and less low-income households.

College education also became more necessary to earn enough to be middle-income. In 1971, only 24% of middle-income households were headed by someone with some college, the vast majority (76%) had no college and 35% didn’t even graduate from high-school. But by 2015, 60% of middle-income households had at least some college, and only 9% had not graduated from high-school. Despite the rising level of education over the last 45 years, the middle-income household sector has shrunk, showing that more schooling is not the key to

reducing income inequality.

Masao Suzuki is a professor of economics at Skyline College. The Pew report is online here.

#SanJoseCA #housing #Capitalism #economics #EconomyMasaoSuzuki #Commentary #Income

Minneapolis, MN – More than 40 members and supporters of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) gathered here, Aug. 10, to celebrate past victories and look ahead to future battles.

Leaders of the WRC told how politicians from both parties, along with poverty pimps, opposed the WRC legislation to double the public assistance grants during the 2013 legislative session. In the end the WRC won the first grant increase since 1986 – $110 per month extra for people not in subsidized housing, starting in 2015.

“This was a wonderful event,” said Angel Buechner of the WRC, “and we’re going to keep putting heat on the politicians to raise the welfare grants now.”

For more info, check out welfarerightsmn.com

#MinneapolisMN #WelfareRightsCommittee #housing

Minneapolis, MN - More than 500 people came together September 25 under the slogan “Stop the Land Grab!” The protest was organized by opponents of the Highway 55 reroute and activists who have been fighting against the demolition of public housing on the North side of Minneapolis.

The rally started at the Glenwood-Lyndale public housing project, which the city is trying to demolish. The Rev. Herron, Zion Baptist Church, led protesters in the chant “The people united will never be defeated!” Herron is one of the Hollman 14, a group of African-American ministers and community activists arrested earlier this fall while blocking the destruction of public housing.

Led by Native American drummers, the rally took to the streets for a 2 mile march to City Hall. There speakers from endorsing groups denounced social and economic injustices. A skit showed the destruction of Minnehaha Park and sacred sites if the reroute of the highway goes through. Protesters hung a banner reading “Stop the Reroute of Hwy 55” from the roof of a nearby parking ramp.

The City Hall rally was led by Leola Seals, past president of the Minneapolis NAACP, and Jim Anderson, Cultural Chair of the Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community.

Said Anderson; “We're all here for a reason, and that's for justice for the people. The people in the communities are not being heard. The politicians and the money people are pushing us around and we're tired of it. We taking back the streets to show them that it's not just a small group of people here, or a small group of people there – it's the people together and we won't take it anymore!” Spike Moss, vice-president of The City, Inc. spoke to the crowd, “MN is a winter state and if we don't fix the problem of getting more affordable homes now, many people, including families, will be in desperate situations soon. So, it's very important to help our families and we have to do more. This is where people should be. We need to understand that America has moved away from 'the concern about the poor people' and turned towards to 'the concern about the rich.' We need to turn that around.”

Peggy Watkins of the Twin Cities Welfare Rights Committee, told demonstrators, “Back in the day Minneapolis would give you good square meals, a decent place to live, great medical care and vouchers for clothing and furniture. This was a good thing. A helping hand until you could get on your feet. We were prosperous. Now Minneapolis wants to tear everything down. Your dreams, your ambitions, your homes.”

In his speech, Steve Walsh, of the Northside Neighbors for Justice told the crowd, “It is bad to be born into a country where you are considered nothing.”

After the rally at City Hall, the march continued 5 miles to the encampment near Minnehaha Park, where protesters have been living to protect land that is sacred to Native Americans. This is where the MN Department of Transportation plans to destroy a part of Minnehaha Park and sacred lands in order to reroute the highway at the cost of about $548 million. People who live in the neighborhood have been fighting road projects for over forty years.

Two Powerful Movements

The September 25 “Unification March” had two powerful movements at its core; the struggle against Highway 55 reroute, and the fight for housing which has been centered in the African-American community.

With a 1% vacancy rate for affordable housing, and homelessness rising, the destruction of public housing at Glenwood-Lyndale has become a focal point in the struggle for housing.

Mayor Sales-Belton was forced to stop the demolition process when a group of Black pastors and community activists were arrested blocking the heavy machinery that was being used to tear down the projects.

The pastors demanded that the projects be rehabbed to house the homeless. In the following months of negotiations and court proceedings, it was impossible to reach an agreement with the city that would save the housing project. At this point the city is saying it will resume the demolition in the near future.

The struggle at Highway 55 has been sharp. Last December, more than 600 police attacked an encampment of protesters. Recently, arrests at the project site are an almost daily occurrence.

Organizers of the Sept 25 march stress the need for more unity in the face of a common enemy.

Organizations that sponsored the rally and march included; Stop the Reroute Coalition, Northside Neighbors for Justice, Mendota Mdewakanton Dakota Community, Welfare Rights Committee, Twin Cities Coalition to Defend Mumia Abu-Jamal, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Anti-War Committee.

#News #IndigenousPeoples #housing #March