Stop the Eviction of Jennifer Britt!
Jennifer Britt, a widowed single mother of two, loves Detroit and her home. Her family – which includes her two children, mother, and an older disabled uncle – could be evicted from their home as early as this week. Although Jennifer is currently in negotiations with a community organization that could purchase her home from the bank and re-sell it back to her on favorable terms, Fannie Mae, the government-backed entity that received billion of dollars in bailout funds from tax payers and now owns Jennifer Britt’s mortgage, refuses to halt the eviction and give Jennifer a chance to work things out.
Stop the Decimation of Our Neighborhoods!
Jennifer lives in Rosedale Park, a beautiful neighborhood considered by many in Detroit as a point of pride for the city. The only thing gained from evicting Jennifer and her family is the decimation of another neighborhood in Detroit; what is now a house full of life and love would end up vacant and a potential drug house if the eviction of Jennifer and her family is carried through.
No Foreclosures or Evictions of Our Family, Friends, and Neighbors!
We need every person, young, and old and in between to come out, stand with Jennifer and surround her house to defend it against eviction.
Use the Power of Our Numbers to Defend Our Homes!
If there are a large number of people surrounding Jennifer’s house the dumpster driver and bailiffs will not even pull up. If we start off with a smaller group of people then we must prevent the dumpster from being set down, and move any items taken from the house right back in. We need to be more determined to keep Jennifer, her family and their belongings in their home than the bailiff and his crew are to move them out. The dumpster driver and eviction crew know what they are doing is wrong. If we give them an excuse not to do it, they will welcome it.
Tried and True Strategy
Last year, a coalition of organizations, including BAMN, Occupy Detroit, People Before Banks, Moratorium Now!, successfully defended the Garrett family, who live on the northwest side of Detroit, from eviction. We succeeded because we organized the Garrett’s neighbors to help physically stop the bank from parking a dumpster near the home, so the Garrett’s belongings could not be removed from their house. We stationed organizers at the house around the clock for three days straight, working in conjunction with neighbors, until the bank was forced to negotiate a fair deal that meant the Garrett’s could keep their home. We plan on doing the same for Jennifer, and in the future, for other people in Detroit facing eviction, students facing school closure, workers facing layoffs and benefit cuts.
If We Mobilize Our Communities, We Have the Power to Determine the Destiny of Our City!
In Detroit we have witnessed the systematic destruction of our city through home foreclosures and evictions, school and library closings, layoffs and cuts in city services. We have seen people forced out of the city by the droves through these measures. Daily we read the papers and see the television news to learn of a new attack on Detroit, always under the guise of “saving”Detroit.
Build the New Civil Rights Movement!
By building a movement against evictions we challenge the plan of the rich and powerful to impose the new Jim Crow and caste us in permanent, second-class status. If we mobilize our communities, we have the power to determine the destiny of our city. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and other great leaders of the last civil rights movement did not have the support of any of the mainstream politicians, banks, and corporations. What they did have was masses of people prepared to act, and the determination to organize and win.
Save Dr. King’s Vision for Detroit!
Dr. King understood that our strength is in our numbers. If we can get the people of Detroit to understand the power of our numbers again and to take direct action, we can build a new civil rights movement in our city that, like the civil rights movement of Dr. King, can defeat the rich and the powerful and the politicians who get in our way.
The fight to stop the eviction of Jennifer Britt can play an important role in building this new civil rights movement to save our city.
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