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Miranda Leitsinger / msnbc.com
Yates McKee, 32, brought a housewarming gift on the march.
Several hundred housing activists and “Occupy” protesters are marching toward the home in Brooklyn that they intend to seize on behalf of the homeless Glasgow family.
Police are escorting them toward their destination, and have so far taken no action to stop them.
Despite a steady drizzle falling on the marchers, the mood is festive. People are carrying balloons and playing drums. One fellow is blasting away on a vuvuzela horn. They are chanting things like “back to the neighborhood” and “block by block.” And many marchers are carrying wrapped “housewarming gifts,” such as chairs, stools and plants.
They have stopped at other foreclosed homes in the area before heading toward the home they have targeted for the Glasgows.
At one, Yates McKee, a 32-year-old art historian carrying a potted palm tree, said he joined the march “to stand with communities that are resisting the foreclosures and evictions. That's really in a way the 'ground zero' of the financial crisis.”
“The plant is a metaphor for sustaining life,” he said. “That’s really what housing is about. It's something that ... helps to sustain the lives of families and that is a right that is being fundamentally violated.”
Click here to read previous posts on this story.
Click here to read complete coverage of Tuesday's day of action on foreclosure and housing.
Leave a Comment:
I support the occupy movement to a degree ... but really, where is my free house and handout? Sure, the government isn't doing enough to create new jobs. Sure, the banks were negligent in preditory lending. At the same time ... how many people took inflated loans and lived it up, then found they were underwater and couldn't make the payments -- all the while I lived within my means.
Regardless of who is at fault, or past history ... if you want a home then get a job and buy it like everyone else. The foreclosed homes can be purchased at closer to their real value rather than the inflated values they used to have. That makes it fair (except for those who can still afford to pay their mortgages).
Occupy has become synonymous with freeloader.
Then according to you there are 14 million freeloaders and only about 150,000 jobs nation wide including fast-food, holiday workers and farm hands. So what about the other 13,850,000 people that there are no jobs for? Or is it that you can't even do math?
Tons of fast food jobs around here are open. But wait, even those jobs are too lowly for the homeless. They get more taking their government handout.
Only 150,000 jobs in this country? Really? Perhaps it is you who can't even do math or at least google the statistics at the Dept of Labor website!
150,000 jobs in America? What are you smoking?
To Ruken and jwilson1234: If you work in a "fast food job" - and you will be offered only part-time hours so the employer doesn't have to pay benefits of any kind, which means that you have to fit together the scheduling requirements of 2 employers, both of whom have the same needs - you earn barely enough to eat and clothe yourself, let alone enough to rent an apartment and pay utilities, etc. If you work in the fields, the work is seasonal and requires moving from place to place, which means you need money for transportation. You may have missed something in 11th grade when your teacher attempted to teach about the "Great Depression" in U.S. History. Where do you get your "facts"? Please attempt compassion.
Right... Soviet Union, 1917 October.
They too, took by force.
Oneworld, don't even start that crap...all I questioned was Ourdocs statement that there are "only about 150,000 jobs nation wide including fast-food, holiday workers and farm hands."
Arrest them for conspiracy to commit a crime (tresspass) unless Obama/ Holder promotes OWS and class warfare "behind the scenes"
Right on!
the occupy WS is one thing, but to squat in a house and take it over is another. What I don't understand and what the story neglected to state was why the father, a 27yr old isn't working. For about 10 yrs this family has been living in shelters. What's wrong with that picture. Someone please tell me!
What do they think that these people are doing. They are bringing families with children into homes that they know will be evicted from. What are these children going to think when the police come and remove these families. Who is going to be blamed when the media shows these children crying because they are evicted. I understand their frustrations but all they are doing is bringing harm not the police and not the banks. By not giving a damn about the harm they are doing they are proving that they are a group not to be listened to. They are not against conservative agendas they are against any form of government.
"Obamabots gone wild" who will get the video rights?
The cops better arrest the lot once they set a single foot on that property. It isn't theirs, and no amount of crying justifies theft.
"At one, Yates McKee, an art historian carrying a potted palm tree, said he joined the march “to stand with the community that’s resisting foreclosures and evictions.”
Well Mr. Yates, what exactly is this family supposed to do with that palm tree in the house you plan to help them illegally occupy? You know, the house that they never had a mortgage on in the first place? I'm sure your little potted plant will really help them get out of a 10 year rut.
A rut they made worse when they decided to punch out 2 kids while living at a homeless shelter since they were 17.
There is no way you can make me believe that for TEN years, neither one of them could find a job.
Absolutely no way- unless there are multiple convictions etc- also where the hell did they get money to have a cell phone- in the photo- and go to McDonald's- kid drinkin OJ from a McyD's- ??? These things don't get paid for by the shelter. If they have been in the shelter for 10 years, WHY did they think it was a good idea to have two kids??
To get a raise in their govt assistance.
They have no rhyme or reason to what they are protesting and now they are breaking and entering and masking it by "oh we're going to occupy this house for these poor people"....And it isn't even a house these people lost....It's insane how this has gone from "Lets protest the one percent" to "Lets take over parks and property and erect tents and invade foreclosed homes"...They've lost what their platform was about...They wanted to try and make a difference like some of the tea party did and all they have done is make themselves look like the freeloaders that they are.....
Good for them! This happened during the Great Depression, and went a long way toward winning rights for working people. Social Security, Unemployment insurance, jobs programs (WPC & CCC) It is about time someone stood up to the predatory bankers. The Democrats and Republicans certainly aren't going to. They are in bed with the 1%.
Next time you go on vacation, watch out. I'm going to occupy your house.
Predatory lenders...blah, blah, blah! I guess the banks FORCED people to sign contracts for homes that they couldn't afford....how about putting some blame on the people who tried to buy the Mercedes on a Yugo budget????
I am embarrassed for these two "parents" and worried for the kids. There is no reason, two able bodied people should be living in shelters for ten years. Their kids are probably not getting a myriad of things at this crucial time in their lives to ensure they become productive and self-sufficient members of society. A complete embarrassment. The Chris Rock bit is applicable right about now...
What I find astounding is that the couple is homeless & living in shelters for a decade, but they have 2 kids younger than 10? Really???
So, who is going to pay the bills for these people? The OWS people going to take up a collection every month when the electric bill is due? Or are they going to "occupy" the electric company? Who is going to feed and cloth those two kids when neither parent has a job? This is a slap in the face to every American that has worked to pay for their home and lost it anyway. This makes me ill.
they don't think that far down the road.
In answer to one comment/question - and probably many similar reactions... These people were probably selected because they made themselves known by seeking help, something that a lot of us U.S.ers fail to do because we have been so well-schooled in the "your own bootstraps" ideology. In response to your (albeit muted) outrage that they have 2 (looks to me like only 1, actually) children under 10 and have been living in homeless shelters "for a decade," I posit this scenario: they have likely been in and out of shelters as the vagaries of the economy have dictated for all people whose families have lived on the margins of society for generations - and are we going to determine who is to have children now? Where are you living? Have you ever had no alternative but to check into a homeless shelter? As a retired teacher who has encountered a number of homeless children who felt ashamed to label themselves as such, II am happy for these people.
a lot of equivocation there.
How are these children going to react when their parents are forcefully removed by the police. How are they going feel when their parents financial problems are going to be shown on national television? What do you think that these children are going to say?
Read the other parts of the article. They have two children ages 9 and 5. And as a current teacher/campus administrator on his 26th year I've also seen a number of homeless children made so by the stupidity of their parents (getting drunk and burning down the house, having several kids with different last names and being kicked out of the house by the current boyfriend, etc.). If your financial situation is so unstable that you have been in and out of shelters than maybe you should exercise some RESPONSIBILITY and hold off on having children you can't afford. I believe in the "bootstraps ideology" but also know that some people do need help from time to time and it is up to society (public and private) to provide that temporary help. However, why should I help those who don't help themselves? Show me that you understand your situation and are taking active steps to improve it and then you get whatever help it is within my power to provide. I've given classroom aides and office clerks time during the work day to do homework for their college classes or to conduct required classroom observations. And how happy are you going to be for those people when, as david1159 says, the police come and remove them from the house? What about the kids having to be a part of that? That's really going to have a good effect on the kids, isn't it?
It all comes down to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Too many people don't practice it and want those of us that do to support them.
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY is not something liberals believe in. Liberals believe in making excuses and blaming others for all their problems in life, it's never their fault. Take a look at ONE WORLD and the comment they left, making excuses for people they don't know. Not even making babies while living in a homeless shelter is wrong in their eyes, what a bunch of idiots.
In answer to one comment/question - and probably many similar reactions... These people were probably selected because they made themselves known by seeking help, something that a lot of us U.S.ers fail to do because we have been so well-schooled in the "your own bootstraps" ideology. In response to your (albeit muted) outrage that they have 2 (looks to me like only 1, actually) children under 10 and have been living in homeless shelters "for a decade," I posit this scenario: they have likely been in and out of shelters as the vagaries of the economy have dictated for all people whose families have lived on the margins of society for generations - and are we going to determine who is to have children now? Where are you living? Have you ever had no alternative but to check into a homeless shelter? As a retired teacher who has encountered a number of homeless children who felt ashamed to label themselves as such, II am happy for these people.
In answer to one comment/question - and probably many similar reactions... These people were probably selected because they made themselves known by seeking help, something that a lot of us U.S.ers fail to do because we have been so well-schooled in the "your own bootstraps" ideology. In response to your (albeit muted) outrage that they have 2 (looks to me like only 1, actually) children under 10 and have been living in homeless shelters "for a decade," I posit this scenario: they have likely been in and out of shelters as the vagaries of the economy have dictated for all people whose families have lived on the margins of society for generations - and are we going to determine who is to have children now? Where are you living? Have you ever had no alternative but to check into a homeless shelter? As a retired teacher who has encountered a number of homeless children who felt ashamed to label themselves as such, II am happy for these people.
Personally I am very happy that you are a "retired" teacher
I'm sorry you were ever a teacher at all. What a shame it is that you had any influence on children in the first place.
glad u are happy- one world- you pay their bills. i am beyond sick of paying the taxes i pay so that people can have whatever they want and then say but i am poor, i can break the law- i am poor, you can't take my kids from me....blah blah blah. you are poor, start doing the right thing and maybe taxpayers won't feel so ripped off.
The house is private property and was occupied illegally, it should be vacated or the family charged rent- The occupiers who entered the house should be arrested, jailed and fined- No where in the articles does it say that either parent has a job- not even a minimum wage one. But I do see Mom has the latest cell phone- Who is paying for that?
"One World", all you are doing my friend is making excuses. Come on TEN YEARS ?!!!! I was taught that when a MAN marries a woman, HE is supposed to have a proper place to bring HIS bride and thus HIS children. That is part of MANHOOD and responsibility (remember that word). I was ALSO TAUGHT (ie, home teaching) that BEFORE you bring children into the world that a PROPER home is ESSENTIAL for the atmosphere for those children. None of those BASIC tenets (common sense) seemed to be followed by these two. A house is NOT something you get by "occupying". What are they teaching their children, that if you want something out of life, "just occupy it"? What about hard work, sacrificing , etc? Hey kids, want a college degree, well go out and "occupy the university" until they give you a degree !!
Ah, responsibility, that good o'l word that no longer fits in the good o'l US of A.
All for men being men, and would be happy to stay home for one that could keep me in the manner I plan to become accustomed to ( haha). But other than that I agree!!
The state acquires "wealth" from its citizens to (among other things) protect citizens from the acquisition of their "wealth" by other citizens. The former is taxation, the latter is theft. When the state fails to protect one group of citizens, those with "wealth", from those without, the legitimacy of the state is dubious. The ownership of private property, in the "pursuit of happiness", the respect for the ideals of others and tolerance for their "pursuit of happiness", is essential to the "consent of the governed". The illegitamacy of the state is further exemplified by its willingness to foment war among its economic classes. Condoning and faciltating the avarice and predatory desires of some while simultaneously allowing the "robin hood/ feel good" taking of private property, is symptomatic of the manipulation of our attention away from the failures of the state to maintain an environment with a future. Whether through the "law" of taxation or refusal to enforce the laws of private property (selective enforcement as a tactical decision) the state lumbers and jerks along in response to events either unaware or disingenous. In either event, we suffer losses greater than happiness.
I know state seizures are unconstitutional and I know private seizures are theft and therefore criminal- this is insane!!
A COMMUNITY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER PROFITS TOGETHER
I support the occupy movement
We welcome you to come and hear the Preaching of
REVEREND PAUL EARTHQUAKE MOORE
On
“A SAVED COMMUNITY”
Sunday December 11, 2011
11:00AM Morning Service
At the First Genesis Baptist Church
6001 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19142 2153852696
A COMMUNITY THAT PRAYS TOGETHER PROFITS TOGETHER
I support the occupy movement
We welcome you to come and hear the Preaching of
REVEREND PAUL EARTHQUAKE MOORE
On
“A SAVED COMMUNITY”
Sunday December 11, 2011
11:00AM Morning Service
At the First Genesis Baptist Church
6001 Kingsessing Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19142 2153852696