Life Over Rent: Our Needs Come Before Our Landlord’s Profits

LIFE OVER RENT: A start of the month rally — Our needs come before our landlord’s profits.

What we want:

1. Cancel Rent: Demanding rent during the pandemic is cruel and threatens to intensify our homelessness crisis, particularly for Black and brown working class communities.

2. Landlords Must Negotiate: Thousands of tenants have organized collectively to demand rent relief — landlords must negotiate with these tenant councils or face consequences.

3. Services Not Sheriffs: Governments must prohibit evictions and expand unemployment and food stamps for the working-class people hit hardest by our joint economic and health crises.

Any economic crisis is an opportunity for change. The 2008 recession showed this well: the rich became richer while the working class faced higher rents and precarious jobs. We saw this in Oakland, as landlords gobbled up foreclosed homes and then doubled the rents.

In 2020, we face down an even larger recession. Who will come first during this pandemic and economic crisis? Who will benefit, and who will be thrown aside? We must not be thrown aside again.

** Please be sure to wear a mask at all times, and stand at least six feet apart. Let's keep each other safe! **