People from across the Finger Lakes region of New York came to Geneva, New York on the snowy afternoon of Jan 30 to demand housing justice, safe and secure housing, and an end to racism and disrespect of Black women from the Geneva Housing Authority.
People showed up in response to recent news reports that a GHA employee had victimized three women by discriminating against them—to the point of having their Section 8 housing threatened. Since the initial reports, more women have come forward and an internal and external investigation of the GHA has been undertaken. Together with the Geneva Women’s Assembly and the People’s Peaceful Protest, the Geneva Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a rally to connect the demand for safe and secure housing with the demand to cancel rents and mortgages in a movement for housing justice.
The diverse crowd attending the rally heard from one of the women on the receiving end of racist abuse from the GHA, Melinda Robinson. Robinson said, “Since 2017, nothing has been done at all. Nothing. There are so many more women like me who are afraid they’re going to lose their Section 8 voucher, lose their housing. You got Elaine Reeves [the GHA employee named in the complaint] calling people’s landlords, giving them personal information, telling them not to rent to some people – it’s real.”
Geneva City Councilor and PSL member Laura Salamendra explained, “The very agency entrusted to help her, to keep her in safe housing, was determined to have her homeless and criminalized.”
During the open mic part of the event, a man who gave his name as Terrence pointed out the diversity of the crowd, saying, “If real change is going to happen, it’s going to look like this. It’s going to require everybody, from every race and every sex, to bring about the change we’re all looking for.”
Iesiah Harris asked how landlords can even sleep at night, letting apartments get moldy, children getting sick, and only demanding the rent. “We have to be the voices” for the people who can’t come out, she said, adding, “The system’s got to change.”
Harris concluded, “This is a serious matter and Geneva’s big slumlords have to understand right now that we’re not giving up, and that we’re going to continue to fight harder and harder until our voices are heard, until we are done.”
Together the crowd sang in solidarity, “Which side are you on, my people, which side are you on?” and answered, “We’re on the tenants’ side!” Housing justice requires safe and secure housing, cancellation of rents and mortgages, and an end to racist intimidation and shaming of people in public housing. The movement in central New York is actively bringing these struggles together, getting stronger every day.
