Bringing The Fight To Neoliberalism (Pat Korte)

New School Free Press

Bringing The Fight To Neoliberalism:
Gentrification, East Harlem, and the Movement for Justice
By Pat Korte

As transnational capitalism expands its influence to every corner of the world, a new form of globalization is emerging: the globalization of liberation. From the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Chiapas, Mexico, to East Harlem where the Movement for Justice in El Barrio is bringing the fight to capitalist landlords.

The Movement for Justice is an organization of immigrants who work and live in El Barrio, the heart of which is located at 116th St. and Lexington Ave., and are committed to fighting gentrification, a process best described by community organizer Tom Wetzel. "Upscale condos are erected, houses are rehabbed," Wetzel said. "Rents rise as landlords realize they can attract professionals and business people as tenants. An area of 'valuable city real estate' is being cleansed of its working class residents."

The Movement for Justice sees gentrification as intrinsically linked to the capitalist system. They work to make a space that is welcoming to women, immigrants, queer folks, people of color, and people of low-income economic status. This, combined with a focus on community control of business and housing, has resulted in substantial support from both the people of East Harlem and progressives in New York City. In the tradition of groups like the Black Panthers or the Young Lords, the Movement for Justice is rallying the community around the demand for self-determination.

On October 21, the Movement for Justice will hold an "Encuentro for Dignity and Against Gentrification." According to their press release, the organization defines an Encuentro as "a space for people to come together. An Encuentro is a way of sharing developed by the Zapatistas as another form of doing politics: from below and to the left. It is a place where we can all speak, we will all listen, and we can all learn. It is a place where we can share the many different struggles that make us one."

For more information, contact: movementforjusticeinelbarrio@yahoo.com