Conversation on housing and community building in the city - Squats, Social Centers and Autonomous Spaces.

 4/9/11 at Elmer Holmes Bobst Library/ Tamiment Libarry

Squatting is a key activist tactic to address the needs for housing and space for political action. Together with occupation, this kind of organized trespass is becoming increasingly important in our repertoire of direct action tactics today. What is the present-day experience of squatting as a political act? In other countries, occupied social centers organize political activity in the cities. Is U.S. squatting hopelessly disorganized and decentralized? What have been the challenges of opening new spaces? What have been the challenges and rewards of passing on knowledge from one generation to the next?

--Alan Moore: Co-founder of both ABC NoRio and Colab. *Live from Paris @ La Generale. --Howard Brandstein: Homesteading organizer and Director of Sixth St. Community Center. ---Frank Morales: Episcopal priest, squatter and housing organizer. --Marta Rosario: A long time resident at Umbrella House Squat artist, and child advocate. --Ryan Acuff: Housing organizer and member of Take Back the Land. Moderators: --Amy Starecheski: Oral historian, doctoral student in Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center, she is doing a dissertation research with former squatters in New York City. and former squatter. --Sebastian Gutierrez: Teacher in the CUNY's Hunter College Film & Media program and documents testimonial video events in NYC squats with Spanish-speaking squatters.

UK Social Centres Network
connecting autonomous spaces

Squatting Europe is a research network focusing on the squatters’ movement. Our aim is to produce reliable and fine-grained knowledge about this movement not only as an end in itself, but also as a public resource, especially for squatters and activists.

http://www.socialcentresnetwork.org.uk/

LOVE REVOLUTION: NEWS & LINKS

LOVE REVOLUTION: NEWS & LINKS: "For the complete article click here -> guardian.co.uk"

An intimate look into alternative housing in New York City's Lower East Side by virtue of four Colombian Squatters.

“... love revolution that is the squatter movement in New York. It’s a united movement, strong and confrontational, but one who wins. It’s loving, the love revolution also wins.” 
Ricardo Leon Pena Villa

Loisaida Housing Resistance is a series of three short video portraits that reveal various faces of an underground community in New York City’s Lower East Side neighborhood. Each short focuses on a different person who lives as a squatter.

The squatter movement is a social group of people who intend to occupy empty, neglected property in order to improve their housing conditions, as well as blow life back into abandoned buildings and neglected neighborhoods.

With these documentaries I attempt to open a window to each of my subjects’ lives, but I also want to show how their lives go beyond them: My aim is for the audience to understand not only their personal motivations, dreams and nightmares, social needs and political statements, but also to unveil an alternative for housing in New York City.

Ricardo Leon Peña Villa, Mario Bustamante, Geanme Marin and her daughter Paula have battled for more than a decade in favor of legalization and regularization of the squatter community. They fight for recognition of their right for affordable housing and believe evictions and the overall government take on squatting are a violation of fundamental human rights.

Now on IMDb Master of None / Todero

Master of None / Todero * Now @IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538838/
Video Portrait of Mario Bustamante. Not your typical immigrant ...

New York City Squatter