Sugarland! Stand up

 "Stand Up"

All the lonely people cryin'
It could change if we just get started
Life the darkness, light a fire
For the silent and the broken hearted

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up you girls and boys?

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up and use your voice?

There's a comfort
There's healing
High above the pain and sorrow
Change is coming
Can you feel it?
Calling us into a new tomorrow

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up you girls and boys?

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up and use your voice?

When the walls fall all around you
When your hope has turned to dust
Let the sound of love surround you
Beat like a heart in each of us

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up you girls and boys?

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up and use your voice?

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up you girls and boys?

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up

Won't you stand up
Stand Up
Stand Up
Won't you stand up and use your voice?

Press conference and rally denouncing trumped up charges against Occupy Homes activist Nick Espinosa

Posted on August 1, 2012

Comrades,

As defendants from the Cruz house actions move through the “justice” system, it’s imperative that we keep pressure on the city. We’re all busy and working ourselves to the bone, but if you can, take a moment to defend each other and our movements from state repression. Let’s fight these charges so we can all keep doing the work that means so much to us. There’s a few things you can do:

ATTEND A RALLY TOMORROW:

• When: Wednesday, August 1, 12:30
• Where: in front of the Hennepin County Gov’t Center
• Who: supporters from the Occupy movement and the community at large
• What: Nick Espinosa pretrial hearing on trumped up charges Hennepin County Government Center

Nick Espinosa has been charged with third degree riot, along with several other Occupy Homes activists. The charge is baseless. Espinosa is only guilty of trying to be his brothers’ keeper by struggling to keep banks from foreclosing on the homes of fellow human beings – many who actually have the ability to pay.
However this charge and the others are simply trumped up charges in an attempt by authorities to stifle and shut down the anti-foreclosure work of Occupy Homes. In fact, the charges are an attempt to stifle all free speech and freedom of expression.
The city of Minneapolis, while saying it is sympathetic to the work of Occupy Homes in its efforts to keep homeowners in their homes, has nevertheless employed thousands of police man hours to intervene in what is an essentially a dispute between the homeowner in this case the Cruz family and Freddie Mac who owns the property.
This young man and others should be commended for doing what the government refuses to do, which is to stand up to the bullying of the big banks, which have used all kinds of trickery and chicanery to steal homes out from under hard working people.

CALL THE MAYOR AND CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE.

Continue the call in campaign and demand that:

-All charges against community members defending the Cruz family home be dropped.
-All police, including Chief Dolan, who used violence against peaceful protesters be formally disciplined.
-No more public resources be used to help banks evict our neighbors!
Please call the following people with the above demands:
Mayor R.T. Rybak (612) 673-2100
City Attorney Susan L. Segal (612) 673-3272
Deputy City Attorney Mary Ellen Heng (612) 673-2270
Thank you,
The Cruz Defenders Support Committee

Rhode Island lawmakers pass 'homeless bill of rights'

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Rhode Island lawmakers pass 'homeless bill of rights'
Rebecca DiLeonardo at 10:09 AM ET

[JURIST] The Rhode Island Senate on Wednesday passed a bill [S-2052 text, PDF; materials] that is designed to affirm the rights of homeless individuals and prevent discrimination. The "Homeless Bill of Rights" was passed to ensure that "no person should suffer unnecessarily or be subject to unfair discrimination based on his or her homeless status." Among the rights ensured by the bill are the right to move freely in public spaces and on public transportation, the right to obtain identification and register to vote, and the right to be free from harassment by law enforcement. It also forbids employment discrimination based on homeless status and grants a "reasonable expectation of privacy in ...personal property to the same extent as personal property in a permanent residence." Supporters of the bill say it is the first law of its kind [Providence Journal report] in the US. The bill will now pass to Governor Lincoln Chafee [official website] for final approval. 

 

States have struggled to define the rights and responsibilities of the homeless. In April the US Department of Justice [official website] found that ordinances criminalizing homelessness may violate human rights [JURIST report] as well as the Fourth and Eighth Amendments [text]. The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled in 2008 that current state laws regarding sex offenders are unconstitutional as applied to homeless people [JURIST report]. The state court determined that the law, which did not permit listing "homeless" as an acceptable address, "[did] not give homeless sexual offenders without a residence address fair notice of how they can comply with the statute's registration requirement." In 2008, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that his administration had reached a settlement [press release' JURIST report] in a long-standing lawsuit over homeless families' right to use shelters throughout the city. The main lawsuit, McCain v. Koch [decision], was initially filed in 1983 by the Legal Aid Society [official website]. As that lawsuit progressed through the court system other complaints were filed, prompting the city to declare a right to shelter [Coalition for the Homeless report, PDF] which was enforced through the court system. The new agreement allowed the City to resume complete control in setting its policy for dealing with its estimated 9,000 homeless families.