Guerrilla Gardening... by gimleteye

There is a movement, reported by AP, called "guerrilla gardening" where abandoned lots in cities are being used to feed people. With food prices skyrocketing, this is a way to dull the pain for communities in need: just do it. Send us your photos!

Of course, what gardening does is to connect people to the environment-- and county commissioners like Natacha Seijas don't want people made into environmentalists: that would be bad for campaign contributors/developers.

Think I'm joking? Just take a look at the county website under the information tab: "community activists". You will find "Adopt-A-Tree" and "Adopt-A-Pet", but you won't find any listing of real community activists: not Power U or Miami Workers Center or Sierra Club or Urban Environment League.

I say to the West Grove, Liberty City, Overtown and Gwen Cherry: garden on! Take back the land with rakes and shovels and seeds. Click on read more, for the latest AP report on the phenomenon.

Guerrilla gardeners dig in to beautify Los Angeles
By LAURA E. DAVIS – 15 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than a dozen people, some wearing orange protective gear, pulled rakes and shovels from a dingy shopping cart and started working on a parched patch of land along a busy off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway.
It was a Saturday night and drivers whooshed past on their way to the Sunset Strip club scene.

But the crew was undeterred, and by the wee hours, they had transformed the blight into bloom with green bushes and an array of colorful flowers.

City workers on overtime? Nope, no budget for that. These were "guerrilla gardeners," a global movement of the grass-roots variety where people seek to beautify empty or overgrown public space, usually under the cover of darkness and without the permission of municipal officials.

"What we're fighting is neglect," said guerrilla gardening guru Richard Reynolds of London, founder of the Web site guerillagardening.org.

Getting approval to beautify public property can be cumbersome, so guerrilla gardeners in cities worldwide take matters into their own dirt-caked hands.

"We try not to let bureaucracy stand in the way," said accountant Steven Coker, who maintains an unsanctioned garden across from his house near an exit of the Santa Monica Freeway in West Los Angeles.

After starting his garden about 12 years ago, Coker has tried several times to officially take over its upkeep but to no avail.
Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge said he supports guerrilla gardening as long as people don't present a safety hazard or impede traffic.

"I'm a guerrilla gardener, but I'm mostly just a maintenance guy," LaBonge said. "I pull weeds when I'm out walking. Everyone is welcome to do it. The city needs help."

Scott Bunnell, who has maintained a guerrilla garden on a median in Long Beach for about 10 years, said he wants to demonstrate that low-maintenance gardens are possible in Southern California's arid climate.

"Maybe I can help (show) municipalities, cities and whatnot by using dry, tolerant plants ... that they could make good use of the landscape," he said.

Reynolds said the modern form of guerrilla gardening started in the 1970s in New York, where the movement has reached its ultimate goal — gardens planted without permission are now maintained by the city's parks and recreation department. He said Montreal is close to sprouting some synergy with guerrilla gardeners.

But most cities, including London and Los Angeles, aren't quite there yet, and so the 27-year-old music and drama teacher who organized the Hollywood Freeway offramp project is intent on staying covert and anonymous — even requiring that his crew use aliases such as his own, "Mr. Stamen," or "Phil O'Dendron."

"If authorities come by, there's no leader," he yelled as his fellow gardeners dispersed over the median. "Nobody knows anybody."

As the gardeners weeded and picked up trash — including a green sleeping bag and some underwear — a few police cruisers drove by, but none stopped.

Gardening on public land without a permit is against the Los Angeles city code, said Cora Jackson-Fossett, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works.

Violators can be fined and go to jail, she noted.

"It's just in a city of this size, and in any municipality you have, there's rules and regulations, and we need everyone to follow them," Jackson-Fossett said.

Still, many who guerrilla garden in Los Angeles and elsewhere said they have never faced any serious legal threats. Often times, police or other city workers will stop and ask what the gardeners are doing then move on when they hear the innocent answer, "I'm gardening."

Most guerrilla gardeners don't go to the same lengths as Mr. Stamen to stay anonymous. Some, like Reynolds and Bunnell, have even moved into the sunlight with their work.

Bunnell said he gardens mostly in the early morning hours on his way to work in order to maintain a low profile.
But after getting positive feedback from residents in the area and encouragement from a city official, Bunnell decided to approach the city about a larger garden he has in mind — one that would beautify as well as prevent erosion.

"I've been wanting to do this project for a long time," he said of the mile-long site on a bluff in Long Beach. "I'm hoping that they will just let me do a little area of it just to see how it would work out."

It also seems Bunnell's attempted collaboration with city officials is becoming less of an exception in the guerrilla gardening world.

James Caviola, an attorney who lives in Seal Beach, started guerrilla gardening about 12 years ago with just one tree in front of his house.

"My goal was to beautify the neighborhood," he said.

Caviola said he eventually raised money to help elect tree-friendly council members, and he's now working with the city to put trees on street medians and sidewalk parkways.

He does the work for free with the help of the corporation he created, Trees for Seal Beach.

Caviola said his sanctioned, out-in-the-open gardening no longer qualifies him for guerrilla status — unlike Mr. Stamen, who didn't finish his work on that Saturday night until after 2 a.m.

Mr. Stamen and his guerrilla group have filled about a third of the median with succulents such as grass-like flax, aloe and red, blue, pink and yellow kalanchoes — all donated by members of the group. They plan to finish landscaping the rest of the patch soon.

A sign sticks up from the dirt at the edge of the median closest to Sunset Boulevard.
"Guerrilla Gardening," it reads. "Please water me."

Max Rameau has Written a Book on Umoja Village by Geniusofdespair

Check out Max Rameau's book Take Back The Land (he is on the right in the photo) and watch the 2 great videos. In the second video, taken by the Miami Herald, you can see some mean police officers. Check out our file with 8 posts on Umoja Village. This is from the press release:

"On October 23, 2006, in response to one of the most severe epidemics of gentrification and low income housing in the United States, a small group of activists, members of Take Back The Land, seized control over public land, created the self-governed shantytown of Umoja Village, and started a movement.

Take Back the Land: Land Gentrification and the Umoja Village, the new book by Umoja Village organizer Max Rameau, is part political theory and part narrative, documenting the planning, development, struggles and triumphs endured by Take Back The Land activists and Umoja Village residents, and tackles the larger fundamental issues of land and power distribution in black communities.

In the wake of public housing vacancies, corrupt government officials and flawed federal programs, a community found the courage to fight back, offering a model for fighting against gentrification and for land."

People I admire in the news today. By Geniusofdespair

Marty Margulies – rich guy who REALLY helps the poor - doesn't just talk about it or just serve on a board like some rich people. There is a good article on him today in the Miami Herald by Daniel Chang: sub-titled, Marty Margulies expresses himself in many ways: as a developer, art collector, philanthropist -- and recently as a critic of Miami Art Museum plans. According to the article:

"He paid $2.5 million to build the Overtown Youth Center, an athletic facility and community center for the underprivileged that opened in 2003, and another $1 million to create the Lotus House, an Overtown shelter for homeless women founded by Margulies' girlfriend of three years, Constance Collins. On a smaller scale, he buys uniforms and equipment for the Overtown Community Optimist Club's athletic teams."

Thanks Marty.

Then we have Ginger Williams. The article says Ex-girlfriend says angry Opa-locka ex-official came to her home. This woman has been beaten up a number of times for her role in exposing the corruption in Opa-Locka’s government.

Thanks Ginger.

Last we have Max Rameau. He created Umoja Village to shine a light on the homeless crisis in Miami. When the village of shacks burned down, he proposed to build permanent affordable housing, however, yesterday Miami scuttles deal to give site to Umoja group. Lobbyist Ron Book urged the commission to send the site out to bid and not give it to Max and Carfour Group for development. Max you should look up Marty. He might help.

Thanks Max.

Three people trying to make a difference on their own in our black community because of the void in real leadership. All three are under-appreciated for the difference they have made to make life a little better for others.

Max Rameau and Rich Lobbyist Ron Book Duke It Out

Homeless trust disputes Umoja Village land deal according to today’s Miami Herald. Max’s Rameau’s group had struck a deal with the City of Miami for the land that housed the illegal squatter village (which burned down in April). Max it seems, took matters into his own hands to shine a light on homelessness with the formation of the village some months back to "Take back the Land." However, now very rich Ron Book, the head of another Homeless advocate group, is mad because their toes are being stepped on. Boo Hoo.

Max Rameau couldn’t even get his name spelled correctly in today’s Herald article whereas Book’s name is spelled right. Plus, as you can see, he does not have a glamour shot on-line like Ron Book does. How does Max expect to win? Does he know who he is dealing with: Fast talking, power player, the snippy, acid-tongued Ron? It appears the savvy Max does seem to know:

'I respect Ron Book for his work with the Homeless Trust,'' Rameau said Friday. ``But the Liberty City community and others have given broad support to this idea. I don't know that a big-time millionaire lobbyist can tell us what is best for Liberty City and the black community.''

Touché! (Readers: We have a lot of recent posts, keep scrolling!)

Umoja Village: Miami, no more broken promises~!

Take Back the Land is calling on supporters to attend the city of Miami Commission meeting on Thursday, July 26, 2007, beginning at 3:00pm. Miami City Hall is located at 3500 Pan-American Drive, in Coconut Grove. At the meeting, the Commission will vote on the fate of the Umoja Village Shantytown's land.

After promising to convey the land to the residents and organizers of Umoja, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones is going back on her promise and putting the lot out for bid, a notoriously corrupt process in the city of Miami. We demand that the city keep its word, and convey the land to the Umoja Village.
Following the tragic fire which destroyed the Umoja Village, Miami Commissioner Spence-Jones contacted Umoja Village, met with organizer Max Rameau and resident John Cata, and offered direct conveyance of the land, without a bid process. She also agreed to provide immediate housing for former Umoja residents, and the deal was reported in the Miami Herald and Miami Times.
After intense debate, we called off our planned protests and accepted the offer. We met with potential partners and crafted a proposal, which we submitted to Spence-Jones, as agreed, and tried to confirm the item for the July 26th Commission meeting.
Instead, Spence-Jones unilaterally and without explanation, nixed the deal and put the lot out to bid. Miami's bid process is notoriously rigged and corrupt, as often reported in the media, giving politically connected developers the inside track to use this public land for a gentrification project.
This is the same kind of double dealing which got us into this mess in the first place. Umoja was a tremendous victory for this community, and will not be swept under the rug.
Show your support for Umoja by attending this meeting and demanding elected officials live up to their commitments and convey the land directly to the residents and organizers of the Umoja Village. If officials are able to continue to lie to us and get away with it, we will be forced to resort to more drastic measures to house people ourselves.

PLEASE CONTACT US if you want to attend. RSVP via email, takebacktheland@gmail.com or phone 305-757-3867.

Forward,
Max Rameau
Take Back the Land
a project of the Center for Pan-African Development
www.TakeBacktheLand.net

I read the news today, oh boy... by gimleteye

Could it get much worse than the news today? Mayor Manny Diaz gives a state of the city speech calling for a “green and sustainable future”, the city commission approves three condominiums for multimillionaires built by a billionaire supporting the Catholic Church’s money woes because of sex abuse scandals, the Latin Builders Association hosts a luncheon at the failed Parrot Jungle for HUD Cabrera that is in the process of seizing the County Housing Agency to bail out crashing production homebuilders whose domination of the county commission is based on liar loans to their market base, mortgage fraud and incestuous relations between builders and lenders, at virtually the same time that Umoja Village burns down, giving police the moment to wrestle poor people to the ground. Damn that's a bad day!

The writer James Howard Kunstler said, about Las Vegas, “As a city it’s a futureless catastrophe. As a tourist trap, it’s a meta-joke. As a theosophical matter, it presents proof we are a wicked people who deserve to be punished. In the historical context, it is the place where America’s spirit crawled off to die.”

We wonder if he got the city wrong.

From Miami Workers Center, this afternoon...by gimleteye

Last night UMOJA village burned to the ground: Miami, activists in standoff after shantytown fire. Many residents spent the night on the site to defend it, and this morning the rebuilding process began. Police have now surrounded the site and are not allowing residents to return, and they are stopping UMOJA's clean up and rebuilding process from proceeding. One organizer of UMOJA has been arrested, and police are threatening more arrests. They are determined to clear the site.

UMOJA organizers are asking all people of conscience to go immediately to UMOJA village to witness the proceedings and ensure that the site and residents rights are respected.

UMOJA Village:
Corner of 62nd street & NW 17th Avenue.

My trip to Umoja Village. by geniusofdespair

I went to meet Ronnie Homes, who I wrote about in a January 13th post. He is a resident (squatter) of Umoja Village at the corner of NW 62nd Street and NW 17th Avenue. Remember I quoted Ronnie who said: "For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm a part of something and I'm doing good."

Umoja Village -for people with short-term memory deficit disorder- is public land where Max Romeau and others took it upon themselves to build makeshift housing...to the embarrassment of City and County officials who have fallen down on the job of providing affordable housing. Because of the landmark Pottinger lawsuit, the city of Miami is having trouble removing them from the public land as long as they are participating in life sustaining activity. There are about 40 people living there.


Ronnie Homes is a most pleasant man and he still is convinced he is doing good. He was honored that I remembered him from the article and that I had quoted him. He thanks Jesus for his good luck. He said he has been reunited with his children. He is feeling more healthy, he said he used to wear a brace but he said the hard work is making him feel better (or at least taking his mind off the pain). He took a sweater from me when I asked if anyone needed one. And he thanked me many times.

The Village was smaller than I expected. And, unlike most shelters, they don’t turn away people with severe problems (mental or otherwise). It seems this creates some tension, according to another resident who has trouble coping with some of the residents behavior. This other man just wanted to get out and get to a real shelter. He wanted work. He also said the shower was too cold for him and he found it hard to get clean with the low pressure — the shower is a pot on top a roof. They climb a ladder and they fill the pot with water. They did have a porta-potty as well (my obsession with bathroom facilities rears its ugly head). Speaking of ugly, I gave him a brand new Re-elect Dorrin Rolle T Shirt I had in my trunk. I thought it only fitting that Rolle's name be represented since he has done so much to NOT help the poor. I saw a 3 part garden with plants maturing not far from the porta potty.

Ronnie was busy building a new hut when I arrived. He worries about hurricane season, he would like to make the structures hurricane safe. I think the neighbors are very good sports. This village has to take its toll on them.

Everyone should go out to see the village. The people I talked to were quite friendly. I took a few pictures with permission but not of the people. I think we now have an ingenious use for those campaign posters which are plastered all over town.

Wealth and Poverty in Miami by geniusofdespair

In this photo taken in Miami-Dade County, you can see workers carefully piecing together sod in jigsaw puzzle fashion to provide the super rich with a perfect golf green for their recreation pleasure. I have heard that membership in the club — to play on the two new courses — is in the $150,000 range. I have also heard there is a fee of approximately $1,000 per month. It is Don Soffer’s golf course.

Don Soffer the developer and NAMER of Aventura has (might be "had" – 2 year old bio) homes in the Bahamas, Aspen, Colorado and Las Vegas, along with a 10,000-square-foot condominium at Porto Vita, in Aventura. He flies his own jets. I read on the Fairmont website that Soffer is spending $100,000 to landscape each hole (think that is too low an estimate).

Soffer is also the shopping center maven. Turnberry Associates, is a company with a portfolio worth about $5 billion.

Sometimes it seems the wealth here is displayed in obscene ways. Whether it be the mega yacht, the Mc Mansion or the fees to play on a precisely manicured golf course green.

The wealth of developers, such as Soffer, Ed Easton and Stuart Miller, is not a secret. To punctuate their wealth we have the other extreme. Within miles of the Soffer, Easton and Miller homes we have a squatters village (Umoja Village) where people are living in one room handmade huts. The village would be Miami’s dirty little secret if the squatters weren’t so vocal.

How can the super rich avert their eyes from the dead bird just ahead of them (what I do when I am in denial)? Some people are paying tens of thousands for super bowl tickets while other people are living in cardboard houses. It doesn’t compute in my brain.

I am not saying that these developers or any others should necessarily give money, although that is not a bad idea, but they could use their extensive power in the community (that money seems to buy) to push for positive change. Most of all, Developers should stop using their money to prop up politicians and hire lobbyists that exploit the poor and ruin Florida in their pursuit of even more money.


I like what Gihan Perera of the Miami Workers Center said in a letter to the editor in today's Miami Herald, because it is on target:
"Government policies support the accumulation of wealth for a few while ignoring the abject poverty of many. Divesting from education, housing and good jobs has created a divided city. Poverty abuts wealthy enclaves; this is Third World."