06 Oct March to Free the Land
For the last 40 years, community residents in the Figueroa corridor have experienced the never-ending cycle of broken promises, including commitments that never materialized from the 1992 Uprising. As the people have sought much-needed relief from these conditions, we have been left out of critical social and economic investments that have displaced our Black and Brown communities for decades.
Malcolm X once stated, “Revolutions are fought to get control of land, to remove the absentee landlord, and gain control of the land and institutions that flow from the land.” These motel owners have strategically come into a community already suffering from dire conditions and actively participated in its residents’ exploitation, violence, abuse, and entrapment into cycles of generational poverty.
It is time for change! On October 7th, the people of South Los Angeles will reset the debate around negligent landowners and nuisance properties that contribute to violence, abuse, and entrapment. Black and Brown residents have been ignored for too long, and these conditions would not be tolerated in other (whiter) communities like Beverly Hills. We will march to FREE The Land in a call to action to liberate 12 motels along the Figueroa Corridor between Gage and Century.
Community Coalition has worked tirelessly in grassroots campaigns, including thousands of residents leading us in nuisance abatement work. We have confronted and held accountable over 150 non-compliant landowners and repurposed nuisance sites into places that have provided social services, affordable housing, and businesses that allow our community to thrive. We developed innovative approaches to counter what plagues our neighborhoods to build power and change public policy. And in the process, we have learned that crime decreases dramatically when lawless businesses are closed.
Our collective vision is to BUILD A COMMUNITY WE DESERVE by “Reclaiming, Reimagining, and Revitalizing” the Figueroa Corridor. We know that the people closest to the issues have the solutions, and the people are demanding community-based solutions that create a vibrant community with safe and permanent housing, access to healthy food, safe places, and green spaces to play. We can remove nuisance motels along the corridor and transform them into affordable housing stock that houses families and individuals experiencing chronic homelessness.
The People ask that area property owners share this vision of positive transformation–or transfer their property to the people. We call for the city and its departments to adhere to and hold landowners accountable to the land use and planning processes to encourage economic and housing development for Black and Brown people and finally bring a just allocation of public resources to the Figueroa Corridor.
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