October 9: solidarity rally with Abahlali baseMjondolo at South African consulate [press release]

October 9, 2009

Contact: Tej Nagaraja, tej@picturethehomeless.org  

NYC Community Organizations Rally in Solidarity with South African Shack Dwellers 

Social Justice Activists Protest at Consulate, Stand with Durban’s Embattled Poor

MANHATTAN—On Friday afternoon, members of NYC grassroots organizations Picture the Homeless, Poverty Initiative, and Domestic Workers United rallied outside the South African consulate on East 38^th Street, protesting the current attacks and repression against Durban’s poor, and expressing solidarity with Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), South Africa’s Shack Dwellers Movement.

Domestic workers, and poor and homeless New Yorkers from these NYC organizations met with representatives from the Shack Dwellers in August—at the poverty scholars program leadership school in West Virginia, and at their visits to the DWU, PI, and PTH offices. At the rally, members of these organizations spoke about the personal connection they felt with their friends from South Africa, while emphasizing that even if they had not met them, they would still share a common cause and speak out in solidarity with people facing poverty and racism elsewhere, as they do here.

Abahlali baseMjondolo, part of a national Poor People’s Alliance, is driven by its poor members themselves, fighting for housing and land for all without harassment. Since September 26, they have faced a violent assault that has resulted in several deaths, destruction of homes, and unjust arrests. At the NYC rally on Friday, speakers called for an end to the violence—which reports indicate were initiated by a combination of non-official actors, the police, and politicians. Some speakers called for freedom for political prisoners, and the right of Shack Dwellers to safely return to the shared home of thousands, the Kennedy Road settlement—and their right to stay politically active without threat of repression. As the World Cup approaches in 2010, South Africa’s powers that be are expected to escalate displacement and repression, demanding greater vigilance from social justice voices around the world, rally organizers said.

Picture the Homeless member-leader Jean Rice, who spent time and bonded with the Shack Dwellers in West Virginia and at PTH in the Bronx: “Like the Shack Dwellers in Durban, Picture the Homeless is an organization led by its poor and homeless members, fighting against racism and police harassment and for land and housing for all. Our sisters and brothers in Durban are engaged in the same cause as we are in Harlem—what they are facing and fighting for is not just their struggle—it’s ours too. We must mobilize and organize in unity, across borders!”

John Wessel of the Poverty Initiative: "We, the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary, are deeply concerned about recent reports of violent attacks against Abahlali baseMjondolo at the Kennedy Road settlement in Durban. We call upon all member organizations of our network, as well as all who cherish democracy and justice, to act in solidarity with these embattled brothers and sisters with a show of support and offering of prayers."

Pat Francois, member-leader of Domestic Workers United: "As domestic workers, we unite in solidarity with the South African Shack Dwellers in asserting their right to live with dignity. The violence and repression that we face as working-class people is unjust and a gross violation of our human rights.”