OCCUPY supports homeowners, sometimes singing

Every few days Portland Occupier sends a message.  It is always a reading challenge with its absence of paragraphing in the email form.   Here in a more readable way is "Saving the Home of Angelah Hill," [photo by Paul] about an employed, registered nurse who has run an adult care home in Portland, Oregon for over 10 years.

In 2008, her income dropped "through no fault of her own," and her home has been in and out of foreclosure since then according to this report.  While I struggled to put the pieces together, it was not hard to appreciate the post's description of racist practices by banks.  In this case it was Wells Fargo.

What I expected to read was not there:  what Occupy Portland plans to do to support Ms. Hill.  In other cities, the Occupy groups have been pro-active. Detroit, the 18th worst city for foreclosures in the U.S. (down from its #1 spot in 2008) has more than 70,000 unoccupied homes.  This week, according to Think Progress, with efforts from Moratorium Now, Occupy Detroit and Homes Before Banks, a family won back their home;  the bank accepted the family's revised offer to buy back their home.

 On the Rachel Maddow Show tonight an earlier effort in October 2011, was featured about a group known as  Oranizing for Occupation brought along women and men, black and white, to sing "Listen Auctioneer" in a Brooklyn foreclosure court.  Some were arrested.  Only one of four foreclosures took place that day.

 

Again last week, in a detailed post from the Village Voice via Occupy Las Vegas, (please do not ask me to explain) more song by many more advocacy organizations (and their supporters sang in a Brooklyn, New York  courthouse-- "driving the police crazy." Among the recently organized supporters Housing is a Human Right and  Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE).

Many thanks to the blog, The Faculty Lounge, for the words to "Listen Auctioneer."  Let's learn them, Portland:

Mrs. Auctioneer, all the people here

we're asking you to hold off the sales right now.

We're going to survive but we don't know how.

A complete rendition below, music with words, from Organizing for Occupation, New York City residents from the "activist, academic, religious, homeless, arts, and progressive legal communities who have come together to respond to the housing crisis."