Max Rameau – Overtown History

Partial Transcript: Max introduces himself and gives a brief background of his career. He is with Take Back the Land. Max has been politically active for the past 10 years focusing on social justice issues.

Keywords: Haitian migrants; gentrification; voting rights.; Take Back the Land

Subjects: Introduction of Max Rameau.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about the building boom and how it is affecting Overtown. He calls it a gentrification boom. Capitalists come in and buy property and sell it for a higher price. He explains how it has impacted the residents of Overtown. The people who have lived there for many years are being forced out. The question is who gets the land and how they can maximize the profit off of that land.

Keywords: capitalists; gentrification boom; Building boom

Subjects: What gentrification is doing to Overtown.

Partial Transcript: Max feels the gentrification crisis is over. All the cheap property has been purchased. It is no longer possible to buy low and sell high. The impact of gentrification is still being felt.

Keywords: buy low sell high

Subjects: The gentrification crisis is over

Partial Transcript: Max explains what the end of gentrification means to the area. There is now an opportunity for community leaders to go in and get low-income housing built. Now that property values are falling there is the opportunity to take the low-value properties and create low-income housing. Wealthy people are no longer moving in so now is the time to build low-income housing.

Keywords: low income housing; opportunity

Subjects: What opportunities are available now that gentrification is over?

Partial Transcript: Max explains what the term Affordable Housing means, legally. There is a divide between the legal term affordable housing and the common sense term. The legal definition of Affordable Housing is housing that is sold at 80% of the medium housing cost in that market. This does not mean the homes are affordable just that the government is fulfilling its responsibility to build affordable homes. The need is for low-income housing. The affordable housing projects will not benefit the people who need it the most.

Keywords: 80% of the medium price; Affordable housing

Subjects: Affordable housing vs. low income housing.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about how society tends to devalue areas of significant historical value. Overtown has an incredibly rich history. It housed a large black community. They developed their own stores, their own culture, and their own nightlife. On the other hand, Overtown was built on racism. Overtown was the only place the white society in Miami said they could live. There is a resistance to remembering places like Overtown because the very existence of Overtown is tinged with racism. An incredible community was created by being forced into an area such as Overtown. The history is lost because people do not want to acknowledge the racism in the United States.

Keywords: black community; racism; significant historical value

Subjects: Why is the history of places like Overtown forgotten?

Partial Transcript: Max talks about the efforts to take back Overtown and other African American communities in Miami. There is a great deal of resistance in Overtown to the gentrification of the area. There are many individuals and organization standing against gentrification. Max mentions Power U and the great job they have done. There are small groups of people organizing and doing everything to save the neighborhoods they grew up in. The community takes great pride in the history and culture of Overtown and they are willing to fight.

Keywords: African American communities; Power U; Take back Overtown

Subjects: People standing up to take back the neighborhoods they grew up in.

Partial Transcript: Max discusses the fact that Miami, Dade County, has been the worst-case example of the gentrification crisis. The county government exasperated the problem in Dade County. The housing crisis was severe. Max mentions the series published by the Miami Herald in 2006 called The House of Lies which exposed how Miami, was using the Dade County housing money. They were stealing the money and giving it to politically connected developers. Max tells the story of the man who received 14 million dollars to build low-income housing, he built 1 house. It was a house for himself.

Keywords: Miami Herald; The House of Lies; Miami, Dade County

Subjects: The corruption in the Miami, Dade County housing commission.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about how some organizations wanted the government to go back and fix the problems. There was another group who had lost faith in the government and felt they needed to solve the problems on their own. In October of 2006 Take Back the Land took control of a vacant lot and started by erecting shanties, they created a shanty town that housed 50 at one time and over 150 people altogether. The shanty town stood for over 6 months.

Keywords: Take Back the Land; shanty town; October 2006

Subjects: Take back the Land in 2006 in Miami, Dade County.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about the government's reaction to the October 2006 takeover of the vacant lot. The police showed up ready to arrest them but they were protected by the Pottinger Agreement. Max explains what the Pottinger Settlement is and how it worked to protect them. The Pottinger Settlement protects the homeless. They also had a great deal of public support. There were numerous attempts to get them off the land.

Keywords: settlement; Pottinger Agreemen

Subjects: Action taken by the government when Take Back the Land took over a vacant lot.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about the fall of the Umoja Village on October 26, 2007, and where the movement went from there. There was a mysterious fire that leveled the village. There were people ready to defend the land but a fence was put up and the people kicked off the land. Since the fire Take Back the Land has been identifying vacant locations and vacant foreclosed homes and moving people into them. Max feels this movement to take over vacant lots and vacant homes will continue until there is enough housing or government policies change.

Keywords: foreclosed homes; Umoja village

Subjects: The fall of Umoja Village and what has happened since.

Partial Transcript: Max discusses the similarities between the housing situation during the Depression and the current housing crisis. Max feels that when the government provides social services and safety nets people do not have to take as much action. As the conditions get worse people will take action. When the social conditions are bad, people have to take extreme action just to survive. During the Depression, people had to take all kinds of drastic action just to survive. Max feels we are approaching similar conditions to the depression.

Keywords: social services; The Depression

Subjects: Max compares the housing conditions during the depression with conditions today.

Partial Transcript: Max talks about how they model the work they do after the MST, Landless Workers Movement,(Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra; MST) in Brazil and several organizations in South Africa. As the conditions in the United States mimic conditions in third-world countries Take Back the Land will increase efforts to take over more land and house more people. Max feels that the Free Trade agreements the U.S. has been making are contributing to poor conditions in the U.S. and in countries where we make the agreements.

Keywords: Brazil; Free Trade agreements; MST; South Africa; Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra

Subjects: How can Take back to land effect a change in the U.S?

Partial Transcript: Max shares his wishes for the future of Overtown. He feels people need to take action for themselves. There is no such thing as a magic wand to fix anything. People need to make the best out of a bad situation by taking control. The real problem now is the lack of control over the land. Communities need to organize themselves into a strong group to build a strong community.

Keywords: take control

Subjects: What Max sees as the future of places like Overtown.