homes
GRITtv: Jan. 19, 2011
"We need to shine a light on the big banks and all their different tentacles," says Sarah Ludwig of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, noting that all too many of the programs put in place to encourage banks to help homeowners fight foreclosure are voluntary, rendering them toothless. Instead, she calls for citizens to be aware of the banks' practices and to think about where we put our money. Sarah joins us to bring us up to date on the ongoing crisis in foreclosures in the U.S.--one million in 2010--and to discuss the different solutions, as well as WikiLeaks' promised disclosure of documents from a major bank. In the last weeks of the Bush administration, Israel started bombing Gaza. The attacks and invasion that followed were termed Operation Cast Lead, and they ended on January 18, 2009. The United Nations investigation into the assault culminated in the Goldstone Report, which accused both sides of war crimes. The controversy over the report made more news than its contents, unfortunately, but a new book out from Nation Books republishes the report along with discussions from many different voices. Lizzy Ratner was one of the editors of that book, and Laila El-Haddad a contributor to it, and they join Laura for a discussion of the invasion, the continuing controversy, and what ordinary people can do to help change the situation in Gaza. Finally, with a new Republican Congress falling all over itself to hand corporations whatever they want, it was only a matter of time before some politician turned up in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, breathlessly describing the “dazzling” and “path-breaking” nature of the free market, and vowing to get rid of regulations that have placed “unreasonable” burdens on businesses. We just didn't think it would be Barack Obama. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Sarah Ludwig: Foreclosure Fraud Continues
"We need to shine a light on the big banks and all their different tentacles," says Sarah Ludwig of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, noting that all too many of the programs put in place to encourage banks to help homeowners fight foreclosure are voluntary, rendering them toothless. Instead, she calls for citizens to be aware of the banks' practices and to think about where we put our money. Sarah joins us to bring us up to date on the ongoing crisis in foreclosures in the U.S.--one million in 2010--and to discuss the different solutions, as well as WikiLeaks' promised disclosure of documents from a major bank. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: S'bu Zikode: Organizing South Africa's Shack Dwellers
"The power of the poor starts when we as the poor recognise our own humanity," wrote S'bu Zikode, President of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African Shackdwellers’ Movement. Years after the end of apartheid, poor South Africans still struggle under a system that has yet to fulfill the promises it made to the people: redistribution of land has stopped, and the attention of the world subsided as the World Cup ended. Abahlali baseMjondolo is one of the movements fighting for change, organizing the poor, and Zikode is currently on a solidarity tour of the U.S. He joined Laura in studio for a special conversation about organizing in South Africa and around the world, about housing as a human right, and what is wrong when homes stand empty while people sleep in the street.
GRITtv: Nov. 19, 2010
"The power of the poor starts when we as the poor recognise our own humanity," wrote S'bu Zikode, President of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the South African Shackdwellers’ Movement. Years after the end of apartheid, poor South Africans still struggle under a system that has yet to fulfill the promises it made to the people: redistribution of land has stopped, and the attention of the world subsided as the World Cup ended. Abahlali baseMjondolo is one of the movements fighting for change, organizing the poor, and Zikode is currently on a solidarity tour of the U.S. He joined Laura in studio for a special conversation, and much more.
GRITtv: Kai Wright & Tony Romano: Public Housing, Private Pain
30,000 people showed up outside of Atlanta in search of Section 8 housing vouchers last week; 62 vouchers were available. To qualify for the vouchers, a family's income is not to exceed 50 percent of the area's median income. That median income for the surrounding area? Just over $31,000 a year.The recession, it hardly needs restating, is far from over. The unemployed and working poor are still struggling to survive, and the weight of the housing bubble's collapse has left more people than ever desperate for housing even as new construction sits vacant, with no one able to buy. Kai Wright, Nation contributor and editor of ColorLines, and Tony Romano of the Right to the City alliance in Atlanta join Esther Armah to discuss.
GRITtv: August 16, 2010
"Who needs gay bashing when you have the Ground Zero mosque?" Richard Kim, senior editor at The Nation, asks guest host Esther Armah. In a week when gay and lesbian couples may see obstacles to their right to marry in California fall away, he notes, right-wing media are strangely silent on the issue. Even Glenn Beck is suddenly sounding a libertarian note. Instead, it's all about the "Ground Zero mosque," even as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown decide not to pursue their case to uphold Prop 8. The Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court will rule on the case soon, but it seems that the fearmongering over the issue has shifted dramatically.
GRITtv: ColorLines: Foreclosures, Families, and Racism
Over a year ago, our friends at the Applied Research Center and ColorLines investigated the impact of the recession on communities of color. Their report, "Race and Recession: How Inequity Rigged the Economy and how to Change the Rules" looked at the long-term racial inequalities that left people of color disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of the economic crisis. Now, a year later, Seth Freed Wessler revisits one of the women profiled in the original reporting to talk about how her home foreclosure continues to affect her.
GRITtv: Foreclosures and Financial Reform: Obama at Cooper Union
President Obama came to New York to deliver a speech at Cooper Union this week, critiquing the financial crisis and making the case for the financial regulation bill heading for a Senate vote. He made the case for both free markets and for regulations on those markets, and called for Americans to come together to support financial regulation. GRITtv headed to Cooper Union as well, and spoke to Sarah Ludwig of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Program about Obama's speech and whether government intervention is the solution, and Kai Wright of ColorLines and The Nation about the ongoing problem with foreclosures and whether Obama's solutions will help anyone keep their home.
GRITtv: Rodney Leon: Mourning and Moving Forward in Haiti
Nearly a month ago, Haitian-American architect Rodney Leon was part of our panel discussion on a possible future for Haiti. The devastation from January's earthquake is beginning to be cleared, but the country still faces nearly unimaginable challenges in rebuilding. Rodney Leon joined Laura again in studio to tell us what's happened since the quake, which plans are moving forward, and what it will take to rebuild the country better and safer than before.
GRITtv: Public Housing and the American Dream
To rethink public housing, one must rethink the idea of public. That's according to Reinhold Martin, Columbia professor of Architecture and author of "The Organizational Complex: Architecture, Media, and Corporate Space." Martin joined us in the studio for a fascinating discussion of public housing, urban and rural living, and the fact that many "public" provisions that do not carry a stigma.
