The New Orleans Police used tasers and tear gas to repress protesters who were trying to enter a City Council meeting where a plan was approved to demolish thousands of low-income homes in that city affected by Hurricane Katrina.

By a 7-0 vote, City Council voted unanimously for a plan which will demolish the four largest public housing developments in New Orleans, completely getting rid of the low-income housing there. The ruling by the City Council was that the damage to them from Hurricane Katrina was simply too much to allow people to move back in.

Demonstrators charged that the demolition is racist because those who would mostly be affected are African Americans. Hundreds of protesters showed up right outside of the City Council meeting as they booed members of the council and screamed at them.

In the desperation the group outside began shaking the large metal gates locking them out. The gate was easily broken open. Police moved in with pepper spray and batons, quickly beating back anyone near the entrance. Chants of “housing is a human right,” and “justice!” filled the air along with the putrid smell of the chemical weapons used by the NOPD. The gate was re-secured with handcuffs this time. Again the protesters chanted and demanded entrance. Some called into question the legitimacy of a “public” meeting in which the public was excluded.

As they pushed against the gates it suddenly became clear that something was happening inside the chambers. Dozens of police quickly sprinted into the building with their hands on their weapons. Outside this sparked concern among those gathered who began to slam against the gate once more. An ambulance arrived in the compound and a stretcher was taken into the building. Police would not communicate with those outside as to what was happening in the chambers. Protesters in the building began calling their allies and reporting that the police were forcefully clearing the room. It is confirmed by housing advocate Jay Arena that he, Malcolm Suber, Sess 4-5, and Endesha Jukali were arrested along with others. It is reported but not yet confirmed that Sess was tazered.

Outside the protesters again managed to break through the gates and pulled one side of it away from the officers. The police moved in and attempted to pull the gate back. Then came the pepper spray and tazers, this time much more forceful. At least two women were struck with tazers. On of them was simultaneously hit with spray and tazer and then smashed between the pavement and metal gate. She was rushed away from the scene by friends who treated her nearby until an ambulance could be found. Here medical condition is unknown at this time. Another woman, Bork, the same activists who yesterday chained herself to a building at BW Cooper was tazered and taken away in an ambulance. The police fanned chemical weapons out over the entire crowd hitting dozens in the face and eyes.

For more information visit Oread Daily on the latest development taking place in New Orleans.

In more housing news, across the country, hundreds of thousands of homeowners are facing foreclosure. Many of them are Latino - foreclosures in the community are estimated to reach $24.8 billion this year, according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. The social costs of this collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease.

A total of 2,335,566 properties across the country are/were in foreclosure proceedings, according to RealtyTrac. Texas, California and Florida, which have large Latino populations, are among the top five states for foreclosures.

In California, tent cities are starting to pop up.

The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis.

Kenya West was correct when he said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people!” However, he might as well add Brown people to that list.

We have become deaf and blind to the truth. Now is time to wake up. Go outside, bang those pots, make it know, we no longer will take it any more. Demand accountability. Create debate even if it make us uncomfortable. Now is the time to resist the economic, political, and legal systems that keep stepping on the backs of the poor and the oppressed!

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