Update from the camp: the court is still discussing. Verdict anticipated around 4pm now. Witnesses still being heard. There are concerns that there will be a middle of the night raid, but that really depends on what happens with the ruling.

The true number of homeless people in Philadelphia is unknown. According to the Philadelphia Office of Homelessness, the homeless population in Philly is 5,735. However, the metric that the Office of Homelessness uses to calculate that number is flawed at best. It operates a single “Point in Time Count” that “is an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January.” A more sincere figure from the Office of Homelessness would be its number of people served, of whom there were 17,766 in 2019. https://philadelphiaweekly.com/summer-camps/

PHA and City of Philadelphia, I'm sure you're probably reading this because you have figured out by now that we organize on here. Just a reminder, you dont have beds. You have more than twice the amount of properties in emminent domain than you have homeless people. You're bullshiting us! If you evict the homeless, where are they going? The side walk? Another park? How about your front porch? Because we can set up a new camp outside your front porch Mayor Kenney if you tear these camps down without providing a permanent solution to homelessness and reforming PHA.

"Solving the issue of homelessness is difficult, not because there “is no money for it” but rather because land ownership is the foundation for wealth and power in America. If the government gives up a slice of wealth and power to its most impoverished people for nothing in return, it would undermine the entire basis of the economic system we live in. America destroyed its own welfare state to disincentivize its citizens from bottoming out of the economic system.

In a capitalist system some people have to be homeless, the threat of losing it all keeps the working class from quitting their jobs. The fear of a worse life allows for the machine to keep churning, no matter how good or bad your situation is. The options have always been clear: The government can give up some power and capital to benefit its citizens or it can allow its people to sleep in the street. Up until now, Philadelphia and every other city have chosen the latter." - Jason Peter's

The longer you wait Mayor Kenney, the bigger the next camp will be and the more inconvenient the next camp will be for you. You have a decision to make.

"Hey Google, can pigs read?"

get your friends on telegram
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-08-21/telegram-messaging-app-crucial-belarus-protests

Joint statement from It's Going Down and Crimethinc:

https://itsgoingdown.org/on-facebook-banning-anarchist-and-antifascist-pages-the-digital-censorship-to-come/

"Lumping anarchists and anti-fascists together with far-right militias who explicitly support the state and especially the current administration is a strategic move to muddy the issue. This is the same operation that William Barr performed in creating a Department of Justice task force focused on “anti-government extremists” of all stripes. In the case of the Department of Justice, it enables them to point to far-right and militia attacks in order to demand resources with which to crack down on those who are on the front lines of defending communities against such attacks. They are attempting to do the same thing to Black Lives Matter activists, associating them together with neo-Nazis and white nationalists as “racially motivated extremists.”"
...
"Make no mistake, if this goes unchallenged, it will not stop here. The more it becomes normalized for governments to be able to determine which voices social media platforms permit to be heard, the further such censorship will penetrate into every sector of society, and the more it will shape what it is possible to think, what it is possible to imagine."

Man dies while being restrained for 6 minutes on hot tarmac in Arizona because he stole a drink to survive on a hot day. This should anger everyone. The federal government has recommended stopping chases. Chases are the most common situation a non violent and unarmed person would die. If cops didn't chase. If cops didn't have guns. If cops didn't exist, many lives would be here today with their friends and families. A riot is the voice of the unheard. We have been unheard for years. You wonder why we do it? We won't let another life be taken away by police without all of us speaking out for them. Say his name! Ramon Timothy Lopez!

https://news.sky.com/story/man-dies-in-arizona-after-being-restrained-by-police-on-hot-tarmac-for-six-minutes-12053541

This is an excellent 35 minute documentary on a highly successful #RentStrike action in the fast-gentrifying #Parkdale neighborhood of #Toronto in 2017, which has continued to form the basis for more and more active tenants organizing inside of the neighborhood since then.

Plenty of replicatable techniques and strategies in here. Lot of talk and thinking about eviction defense, tenants organizing, and rent strikes right now. Put together a screening and discussion amongst your friends and comrades, and share the link around!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCHAkCxDPjg