As the economic crisis deepens across the country, millions of people are losing their jobs, compounding the housing crisis caused by banks and landlords dispossessing millions of families from their homes over the last couple of years. However, people have not simply been victims, but have been organizing for a socially just resolution to the jobs and housing crisis.
The College of Staten Island will host “New Orleans to New York: Race, Class, Gender, and the Struggle for Affordable Housing,” a panel discussion featuring residents of affordable housing and activists from Staten Island and New Orleans on Tuesday, November 18 in the Center for the Arts-Recital Hall (1P-120) from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.
Panelists will discuss their efforts to defend public and affordable housing in the midst of privatization efforts in post-Katrina New Orleans, and galloping gentrification in New York over the last decade. They will also discuss how solutions to the housing crisis can provide the basis for a popular resolution to the growing and deepening national and global economic downturn.
Speakers will include Mike Howells, PhD, writer and community activist with C3/Hands Off Iberville, New Orleans; Sharon Jasper, New Orleans public housing resident; Angela Jaster, C3/Hands Off Iberville, New Orleans; Amy Chan, tenant organizer, Staten Island, Tenants and Neighbors; and Sharon Valentin, Castleton Park Tenants Association (Staten Island).
The event is sponsored by CSI’s Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Department; the Women’s Studies program; the American Studies program; the Center for the Study of Staten Island; the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG); the Peace Club; and the Pluralism and Diversity program.
For more information contact Jay Arena in the Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Department at 718.982.3779 or 504.520.9521 or arena@mail.csi.cuny.edu.
