Occupy NOLA and Survivors Village disrupt sale of blighted homes
Channel: Bridge The Gulf Project
Date: 2011-12-07

Dec 6th, 2011 - Recently evicted Occupy NOLA protestors joined forces with Survivors Village, a community group of former St. Bernard public housing residents and their allies, to successfully disrupt a Sheriff's sale of foreclosed properties. 

Delaying the sale for more than two hours, the protestors chanted: "This auction is illegal and immoral...The sale of blighted property is the city's attempt to remove poor homeowners... Blight has become an excuse to gentrify.... You are stealing homes! STOP NOW!"

Protestors specifically identified two properties and successfully urged buyers not to purchase them -- one is a long-time community center and the other was the home of a man in attendance at the auction, who had entirely fixed up his home but could not afford the city's fees.

Hours earlier, Occupy NOLA had been evicted from its encampment across from City Hall, by order of the Mayor.

The protest was carried out in solidarity with a call from Occupy Wall Street, who declared December 6th a day of action on the foreclosure crisis.

[Text adapted from a press release from Survivors Village. Video edited by Ada McMahon.]