Housing Activists Take Over Ellised Building

by Jay Jonah Cash, Beyond Chron (reposted)

Mon, Apr 9, 2007 9:19PM

More than 150 housing rights activists marched through the Mission District on April 7 to demand better protections for renters in San Francisco and reforms to the Ellis Act. The march ended at a vacant building that other activists had occupied in a non-violent protest.

The crowd was festive at the noon rally at the 24th Street BART station plaza. Strumming a guitar, activist Tommi Avicolli-Mecca of the Housing Rights Committee led the crowd in singing a bilingual version of “We Shall Not be Moved” and a song which included the lines “Yuppie Yuppie stole my pad. Yuppie Yuppie bad, bad, bad."

Sister Bernie Galvin of Religious Witness with Homeless People then addressed the crowd. “Hundreds of families and individuals have had to leave our city,” she said. “Elderly men and women, some in their 80’s and 90’s, handicapped people, young families, people who’s immediate future depends on having to stay in their homes. It’s a moral tragedy brought on by money, money, money and more money.”

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