Thread by @socialistdogmom

huge turnout this evening for a march against gentrification & eviction at belmont apartments in charlottesville.

this article provides some background on the situation. residents, many of whom are elderly and/or disabled, are facing eviction.

cvilletomorrow.org/articles/commu…

we’ll be kicking off the march here in a minute & there will be speakers at the free speech wall in front of city hall when we get there, probably around 6.

the charlottesville low income housing coalition (CLIHC) is livestreaming the march and rally here!

facebook.com/affordablehous…

there’s been a backlash around town lately about “activists.” some candidates for office are using it like a slur. who do they mean? this crowd of families? the longtime residents who are losing their homes? their neighbors who don’t want to see them displaced?

a marshal just gave me a rough count of over 120 people. that’s 120 people who came out to march from belmont to downtown to protest for tenants’ rights.
we’ve just arrived outside city call. there’s still time to join us for the speakers!

residents & the community groups supporting them say they have identified nonprofit groups prepared to purchase the property from holzwarth, the property owner who is pushing residents out. the nonprofit would maintain the units as affordable rentals for the residents.

i’m encouraged by the presence of @MPayneCville, a candidate for city council (himself an organizer with CLIHC!) and @SallyLHudson, a candidate for state delegate. these are people who are truly prepared to represent this community.

reverend don gathers says he has a message for holzwarth: “god is not happy with you.”
tenants deserve dignity and respect. we can’t put money over humanity.

don recognizes the presence of sally & michael and thanks them for standing shoulder to shoulder with the people they hope to represent in office.

now hearing from brandon with PHAR (the public housing association of residents, which represents 376 public housing units, around 900 residents).
he calls holzwarth’s mass eviction “barbaric” and thanks LAJC & CLIHC for their work to protect the residents of belmont apartments.

“today is not the end of this fight. this is just the beginning of this fight,” brandon says. we can’t afford to lose one single unit of affordable housing in charlottesville.

closing out the rally with a song that comes from the anti apartheid movement, ‘courage, my friend, you do not walk alone.’