Occupy Fights Foreclosure (OFF), a subgroup of Occupy LA continues to fight against illegal foreclosures that are currently widespread in the state of California. OFF started the year 2013 by marching and chanting at the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena. The group of activists and victims of illegal foreclosures met at Singer park on January 1st at 6am Tuesday morning to prepare for the parade. They adjusted a 15-foot-high float with "Giant Mr. Monopoly Man" on a wagon and marched the 5 mile route following the Parade. Carlos Marroquin said that the reason for marching at the Rose Parade is not only to protest illegal foreclosure practices of the major banks but also to create public awareness and spread the word about banks' fraudulent actions.

Full story and photos: Rose Parade Completed by Occupy Fights Foreclosure Float by Natasha Petrosova

In Canada, a budget bill (C-45) supported by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other conservative lawmakers, would unilaterally alter treaties with First Nations people, drastically affect lands and waterways on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, and reduce jobs for all Canadians. This alarming development has caused unrest across the country. Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat is in her 18th day of a hunger strike (as of Friday December 28), which she says will last until she can speak with Prime Minister Harper and Canada's Governor General (who represents the English Crown) about the aforementioned treaty violations. She is prepared to die if her demands are not met.

Meanwhile, Indigenous teach-ins and demonstrations--including flash mobs in shopping malls and blocking of highways--have been occurring throughout the nation. Solidarity events and awareness-building have been occurring in the U.S. and in countries further to the south. Australian Aborigines have also expressed solidarity.

In Los Angeles, a weekly rally has been underway outside the Canadian consulate at 550 South Hope Street in downtown. On December 28, approximately 50 people turned out in the middle of a weekday. Natives from several areas were present (or represented), including the Owens Valley, Morongo, and Yangna (Los Angeles). A common sentiment expressed by speakers was, "if we won't do it, who will?"

Full story and photos: Idle No More -- Los Angeles by Ross Plesset

VAN NUYS December 27, 2012--The Hernandez family, who became local heroes in their determination to keep their Van Nuys home from foreclosure, were evicted by the Los Angeles sheriffs and police at 4:30 this morning.

In what is fast becoming a symbol of the fight against fraudulent foreclosures, the Hernandez family built a barricade across the front of the property announcing "Government By, Of and For the People." They decorated their roof in Christmas lights proclaiming "Evict Banks" with members of Occupy San Fernando Valley, Occupy the Hood, and the Los Angeles Anti-Eviction Campaign. For 123 days, they staved off the Bank of New York-Mellon with the support of grassroots groups across Los Angeles. What is the nation's second-longest occupation ended this morning when the family and their friends were awakened by the sound of the slamming doors of dozens of law enforcement vehicles surrounding the 1400 block of Leadwell Street in Van Nuys.

Javier Hernandez purchased the property for his mother seven years ago. At the recommendation of the bank, he stopped making payments in order to receive a loan modification but was met with repeated rejections. His story is typical of those people, predominantly Black and Brown, who were sold subprime mortgages at the height of the housing boom. Like so many others, Javier's father was deported, Javier lost his job, and the value of the house plummeted. Javier has since found employment, so, just days before the bank ordered the eviction, he came to a settlement with the mortgage trustees and was waiting for court approval. He elaborated, "We presented sufficient income to make the payments, and yet they still came in and evicted us right before New Year's Eve." . . .

Full story and photos: Hernandez Family Foreclosure Sparks Anti-Eviction Outrage by Leslie Radford

Soledad Corona is a single mother who was illegally evicted from her home by Bank of America on December 21st. She was relaxing in her home when she heard some strange noise at 9 o'clock in the morning. She looked outside the window and saw the sheriffs breaking her locks and entering her house. There were also 7 police cars outside. Corona had paper work from her lender, Bank of America, that promised her a loan modification. She tried to show them the paper work, but they did not want to look at it.

Corona said that she got very concerned about her 20 year old daughter, Victoria, who had a final in school that day. Corona said that she was treated as a criminal by the sheriff department and that they forced her out of the house at the gun point. She added, "I am a single mother and I am homeless for the Holidays."

Members of the Occupy Fights Foreclosure group as well as friends, neighbors and activists gathered in Soledad Corona's foreclosed house. . . .

Full article and photos: Occupy Fights Foreclosure Group Re-Occupies the Foreclosed House by Natasha Petrosova

Family and community members demonstrated near Manuel Diaz’s memorial last Sunday as they continue to build momentum in their fight for justice for Manuel and all victims of the recent Anaheim shootings. Diaz was shot and killed by Anaheim police on July 21st this year. On the day of the incident, Diaz had been shot on the back of the leg following a pursuit, where he was brought to his knees, and then shot again in the head, execution style. Manuel Diaz was not armed. Videos circulated the internet that day showed Diaz on the floor just moments after being shot. People could be heard shouting at officers, asking why they had shot him and stating that Diaz was still alive. The video also shows officers more concerned with moving people away form the scene, than getting immediate medical attention for Diaz who passed away at a hospital a few hours later.

Full article: A Coalition of Mothers, Family and Community Members Fed Up With the Injustices by Anaheim by Oceloyotl X via The Rebel Press

Previous IndyMedia Coverage here

On December 6 a year ago, the groups of activists around the country participated in a day of action for housing justice launching the Occupy Our Homes movement. Since a year ago, activists, homeless advocates, students, homeowners and other occupy groups have come together to fight against illegal foreclosures and evictions.

Today, the Los Angeles based group, Occupy Fights Foreclosure, celebrates a year anniversary and protests together with activists, homeowners and members of other occupy groups inside Wells Fargo branch on 1600 Vine Street in Hollywood. The protesters demand justice, stop of illegal foreclosures, reduction of the principal of underwater mortgages and full compliance with the national Attorney General settlement. After an hour, Walls Fargo bank officials shut down the branch and forced the protesters to leave the building.

Story and photos: Occupy Fights Foreclosure protests at Wells Fargo Bank in Hollywood by Natasha Petrosova

On Friday, November 23, Occupy Long Beach protested in front of the Walmart store located in Downtown Long Beach in support of Walmart employees. The protesters demanded higher wages, health care benefits, and better hours for Walmart employees. None of the Walmart employees joined the strike, and a couple workers reported that they were threatened to be fired on the spot if they joined the strike or engaged in a conversation with any members of the Occupy group.

The demonstration was peaceful until the police saw nineteen year old Honor O'Kane drawing on the cement. O'Kane was taken aside while the members of Occupy group were trying to persuade the police that drawing on the ground with chalk was not illegal and cannot be confused with a graffiti created by spray paint. As a result, Vivian Price, a professor of labor studies at CSUDH was arrested on a charge resisting arrest and obstruction of justice. Price was handcuffed and taken to the Long Beach Police Department.

Report and photos: Occupy Long Beach Strikes at Walmart on Black Friday, November 23, 2012 by Natasha Petrosova

In her first solo exhibit, photographer (and contributor to LA IndyMedia) Isabel Avila explores the dual identities of Native American and Mexican American cultures, emphasizing people active in their communities. Avila's photographs, taken over the last few years, are complimented by video discussions with the photo subjects and other people, including Gloria Arellanes, one of the early Brown Berets and member of the Tongva community. (Excerpts of these talks are included in the article below.) The free exhibit is currently at the Vincent Price Museum through December 8. It will then then relocate to Rancho Cucamonga's Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art and run from January 22 to March 16, 2013. (Location details within the article.)

"Through video dialogue and portraiture, the museum goers are not just given facts to go away with but are also left to make their own connections with this subject matter in their own lives," Avila explained.

Article: Isabel Avila's "Parallel Worlds" at the Vincent Price Art Museum by Ross Plesset, photos by Isabel Avila

GARDEN GROVE - Niko Black, a Native woman (Apache) with terminal cancer, has been evicted from her Garden Grove home by Wells Fargo, with co-operation of the Orange County Sheriff's Department and complicity of the local police. This, despite Niko posting a Federal Court Order forbidding such action on her front door and filing it with local police agencies.

On the morning of October 10, Niko Black was in bed when her front door was kicked open by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Black, who has terminal cancer, crawled to her wheelchair as four-to-six deputies entered and proceeded to hold a gun to her face. She was then taken outside sans any of her medication. When she called the Garden Grove Police, they did nothing. Since all of her medication and other means of treatment were in her home, Black got sick very quickly and had to be taken to the hospital.

From the newswire: Wells Fargo Evicts Terminally-Ill Woman Despite Federal Court Order by Rick Panna, photos and video by Naui Huitzilopochtli | | Coverage on American Indian Airwaves (online for 90 days)

Video: Demonstration at Wells Fargo (11-3-12) by Naui Huitzilopochtli

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

ONTARIO, California - Members of the immigrant community in Ontario protested the lack of police compliance with a state law designed to reduce the number of cars impounded at checkpoints, where drivers are detained without any probable cause. About 60 people marched through the city, and then presented their demands to the city council.

In October 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed bill AB 353 (Cedillo and Allen), changing the way police impound vehicles at checkpoints in the state. In the last few years, checkpoints, and the sheer quantity of vehicles impounded at them and held for 30 days, have spurred intense organizing campaigns throughout the state, where immigrants led the way in exposing the unjust impounds and their impacts on families and the economy.

Under the new law, which took effect in January 2012 and only applies to checkpoints, motorists whose only violation of the law is driving while unlicensed (VC 12500) are permitted until the end of the checkpoint to call a licensed driver to retrieve the car and thus avoid impound. When the vehicle is driven by someone other than the registered owner, authorities are required to make a "reasonable effort" to locate the owner of the vehicle. Furthermore, those vehicles impounded at checkpoints are now held for one, rather than 30 days.

However, proper implementation of the law has been spotty. In cities with organized efforts, such as Pomona, where checkpoint start times were moved to 9:00 PM due to community pressure, and Riverside, where organized faith groups secured the pledge of the police department to not hold checkpoints in front of houses of worship, authorities have been eager to show their compliance with the new law. But in cities where communities have been slower to respond to their oppression, or where divisions have prevented such a response, police have been much more reluctant to relinquish the revenue that impounds at checkpoints generate.

Full story: Immigrant Community Stand Up Against Checkpoints by Rockero, photos by Melissa Ayala

Monday, October 15, 2012

POMONA - The community organization United Voices of Pomona continued its protest against the approved waste transfer station, and added to its demands the mayor's resignation.

The Los Angeles district attorney filed charges filed against one of Mayor Rothman's donors, alleging that Alfredo Solis, the owner of Western Recycling, had laundered $15,000 in contributions to Rothman's 2008 mayoral campaign through acquaintances. This latest scandal propelled the United Voices to demand Rothman's resignation, declaring, "we don't want trash money running our city."

Full story: United Voices of Pomona Demands Mayor's Resignation by Rockero, photos by Tony Hoang

In the spirit of furthering understanding and communication within and between our many communities LA IndyMedia brings Film-Night back with the film "Precious Knowledge." Sunday October 14, 7pm at Gateway Portal in West LA. One of the filmmakers will be present for a discussion.

"Precious Knowledge" is an important documentary that exposes the blatant racism that the State Superintendent of Education in Arizona recently displayed in cutting out the successful ethnic-studies program at Tucson High School.

The film follows the lives of four students and several teachers as they fight to save their classes and the program that became an educational lifeline for them.

The disenfranchised high school seniors became academic warriors and community leaders in the face of losing a successful program that has become a national model of success. In a climate where the national average of Mexican-American drop-outs is 45 percent, 100 percent of the students enrolled in the Tucson High ethnic studies classes graduated from high school and 85 percent of them went on to college.

The filmmakers spent an entire year in the classroom filming this innovative social-justice curriculum, documenting the transformative impact on students who become engaged, informed, and active in their communities.

This story is important to all of us; as Americans and as Angelinos. In our city Ron Gochez, a high school social studies teacher and important activist, currently running for city council, was recently fired for teaching ethnic-studies courses in his South LA classroom.

Come join LA IndyMedia, in conjunction with the Gateway-Portal in West LA for our screening of the film followed by a discussion.

Calendar announcement | | Trailer

Thursday, September 6, 2012

LOS ANGELES - While other immigrant rights organizations were getting bogged down in DACA paperwork1--many of them charging for the service--the DREAMers, never content to rest on their laurels despite their enormous accomplishment, realized the necessity of advancing the movement. Over ten years of organizing has made them masters of political strategy, timing being their forte. And last Thursday was no exception.

While the nation's attention was on the farcical Democratic National Convention, with the party of the donkey pandering to Latinx voters by taking credit for the deferred action policy for DREAM-eligible youth, the deportations continue. One of the main ways the undocumented are deported is out of county jails, where they are held when accused of minor offenses, and deported even prior to having been convicted. And while Joe Arpaio may be today's answer to Bull Connor and a perpetual thorn in the side of justice movements for his outspoken racism, Los Angeles County's Sheriff Lee Baca has deported many more people than Maricopa's, (about half of the 80,000 deported from California this year) and has done so much more quietly.

Full story: DREAMers confront Sheriff Baca on Deportations, 6 arrested by Rockero

RELATED: Letter to Governor Jerry Brown from immigrant youth led groups across California by repost

Throughout the US and Canada, chapters of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation held simultaneous runs to raise funds for the needs of political prisoners and prisoners of war, as well as to continue to chip away at the system that massively incarcerates impoverished people and colonized people worldwide. Runs were also held at four prisons.

In Los Angeles, the event drew about thirty runners to MacArthur Park. There they joined members of Revolutionary Autonomous Communities who were present for the weekly food program, danzantes from Danza Cuauhtémoc, in attendance to bless the run, and supporters from the radical community throughout Southern California.

The over $1000 raised was split between ABC to replenish the warchest and RAC to support its ongoing mutual aid and organizing efforts.

Full story: Running Down the Walls 2012 by Rockero, photos by Lane Farnham