Take Back the Land - Madison

Take Back the Land on the Travis Smiley Show

tblmadison — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:38:53 +0000

Take Back the Land was featured on the Travis Smiley show on PBS. Take a look at the video!

Media from the anti-poverty tour’s Madison Stop

tblmadison — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:34:03 +0000

Travis Smiley and Cornel West visited Madison as part of their coast to coast anti-poverty tour. Take a look at their comments and what the media had to say.

The Press Release

The Capitol Times Article

From the Madison Times

From Dr. West’s facebook page. “I’ve been so deeply moved by the rich humanity & dignity of my red indigenous brothers/sisters, my Hmong people, my “Take by the Land” people, & the Odyssey Project students all in Wisconsin. We had a magnificent & heart-wrenching 18hr day on the 1st day of The Poverty Tour. Let’s take heart that in the midst of suffering there is hope if we care & work together.”

Dr. Cornel West  On the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, with the courageous people of the “Take Back the Land” movement. These brothers and sisters have something to say… Check it out

The Poverty Tour – Madison, Wisconsin – “Take Back the Land” | The Poverty Tour  www.povertytour.smileyandwest. com     Sunday at 11:40am · Like · · Share

Video of event on Hammersley Road

Housing is a Human Right Meeting

tblmadison — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 04:52:27 +0000

Smiley and West Anti-Poverty Tour

tblmadison — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:41:51 +0000

http://www.smileyandwest.com/

On August 6th Tavis Smiley and Cornell West will be coming to Madison to feature Take Back the Land Madison on their Anti-Poverty Tour.

Smiley & West

www.smileyandwest.com

Thought-Provoking, Intelligent and Stimulating Conversations! Two of America’s most influential and provocative public figures, broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West, co-host the national public radio program

Take Back the Land Madison Featured on NBC15

tblmadison — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:08:12 +0000

Click to watch the Video

Solidarity with Chicago

tblmadison — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:37:06 +0000

Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign which is part of the Take Back the Land Movement liberated a home on June 17th, 2011. Take Back the Land-Madison members went down to join them for the action. Click Here for more photos.

Click here for the full press release from the action

Media from June 9th Protest

tblmadison — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:24:34 +0000

Housing, Community, Farm, and Labor groups protest Gov. Walker and Rep. Paul Ryan speaking at “New Partnerships: Government and Realty” conference at UW Madison. The conference was sponsored by the WI Realtors Association and WI Bankers association among others. Many of those attending were big supporters of Walker and are part of the land grab, foreclosure crisis, and attack on affordable housing.

Media coverage from the event.

Rebecca Kemble, Progressive, June 10th http://www.progressive.org/kemble061011.html

Jessica Opoien, Center for Media and Democracy, June 9thhttp://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/06/10803/affordable-housing-under-attack-wisconsinites-fight-back

Elizabeth DiNovella, Progressive, June 9th: http://www.progressive.org/ld060911.html

In Our Backyard, WORT, June 9th (About 1/4 way through):http://archive.wort-fm.org/mp3/wort_110609_183001iobythu.mp3

The Real News: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6936

Karen Rivedal, Wisconsin State Journal, http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/article_5e498d6a-92cd-11e0-8bcf-001cc4c03286.html

Join Housing Rights Advocates, Farmers, Labor & Community TOMORROW! Protest Walker/Ryan Speeches to Realtor & Bank Association Supporters

tblmadison — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:13:07 +0000

Tomorrow Scott Walker and Paul Ryan will be speaking at a conference backed by The Realtor and Bank Association titled: New Partnerships: Government & Real Estate. JoinHousing Rights Advocates, Farmers, Labor & Community to oppose record foreclosures and the corporate land grab going on now at the state and federal levels. Demand a budget that protects public land, farmers, homeless, the environment andprevents foreclosures by providing housing for those in need. Instead of bailouts and tax giveaways for the banks that created this crisis, make them pay their fair share!

Day: 10:00am Thursday, June 9, 2011

Location: Fluno Center, 601 University Ave, Madison, WI

What to bring: Creative signs (as always) and noise makers!

Progressive Dane and the Affordable Housing Action Alliance strongly support Take Back the Land’s campaign to promote housing as a human right and match homeless people to people-less homes.

tblmadison — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:01:17 +0000

TBtLPressRelease2011may

M&I Bank Empire Strikes Back

tblmadison — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:59:12 +0000

The M&I Bank Empire Strikes Back

Take Back the Land-Madison condemns bank for pushing protester and evicting

a homeless woman while M&I pursues more taxpayer bailout money

Madison, WI- Take Back the Land- Madison and other community organizations are condemning the controversial M&I Bank for two separate attacks against protesters. The groups are conducting a press conference in front of an M&I owned foreclosed duplex at 6304 Hammersley Road, Madison, WI on Thursday, May 12, 2011 beginning at 4:00pm.

On Wednesday, May 11, M&I Bank faced a “reverse Robin Hood” protest at their Capital Square branch. In response, employees briefly shut down the branch. As the action wound down, security re-opened one door and one of the protesters, UW student Karen Scott, attempted to enter as well. Instead of simply blocking her entry, an M&I employee shoved Scott before slamming the door shut again. “I told him again that I just wanted to make a deposit,” Scott recounted in an email. “He said something including ‘f*** you’ and then put his hands on my breasts and pushed me back a couple of feet.” The news was reported in the Cap Times (http://host.madison.com/news/local/grassroots/article_4cd61af4-7c88-11e0-88ac-001cc4c03286.html) and the shove was uploaded to youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peyvHq1zoiY).

On Thursday, May 12, Take Back the Land- Madison planned a press conference to publicly unveil a newly “liberated” M&I owned foreclosed duplex. Over the past two weeks, a 19 homeless woman cleaned up the property and turned the vacant half of the duplex into a home. Upon hearing of the planned action, M&I Bank entered the home, changed the locks, installed an alarm system and hired a security firm to guard the unit 24 hours a day.

The same property was recently in the news when Robert McGee, the tenant renting the other side of the duplex, announced his intention to remain in his home in spite of the foreclosure. “It makes no sense to me to leave this property vacant again,” McGee said. “It felt good to have someone clean up the property, and bring some life to it for the past two weeks rather than let it sit and be another vacant eyesore in the community.”

As part of it’s mission to “elevate housing to the level of a human right,” Take Back the Land- Madison is demanding that the young woman is allowed to return to the home, that Robert McGee is allowed to renew his lease, and that the property be turned over to the Madison Area Community Land Trust in order to maintain the affordable housing.

M&I Bank still owes $1.7 billion in TARP bailout money while promising executives close to $70 million in golden parachutes as the institution transfers ownership to the Bank of Montreal. M&I Bank earned the ire of labor unions across the state for their financial support of Gov. Scott Walker, support seemingly only made possible by the tax dollars of workers and union members. While M&I evicted the homeless young woman, they recently requested even more taxpayer bailout money for themselves.

“In the spirit of the civil rights movement, we are deliberately and openly challenging immoral laws,” says Monica Adams of Take Back the Land- Madison. “M&I is taking public money and using it to create homelessness. If what we are doing is illegal and what M&I Bank is doing is legal, then that says more about the laws than it does about us.”

Take Back the Land- Madison is part of the national Take Back the Land- Movement of organizations dedicated to elevating housing to the level of a human right and securing community control over land.

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