by Jacquie Taliaferro
San Francisco – The next time you are watching TV or are on your computer and see a lot of ads for banks and financial companies – Wells Fargo, Bank of America, CitiBank, Charles Schwab, E-Trade etc. – think about the fact that they are spending millions of dollars with corporate media.
On the front lines of covering the attempted land grab by “predatory lenders” and now “predatory buyers” out for a quick buck while flipping homes, I see little action being taken to help the homeowners flipped out of their homes. The added insult to injury of this foreclosure crisis is that families put out of their homes have little choice in affordable housing, especially in San Francisco.
Action is being taken to give some relief to those seeking some place safe to recreate “Home Sweet Home.” Amid The America’s Cup, Fleet Weekend, music festivals and more, over 100 dedicated workers, volunteers and concerned citizens gathered at the Crocker Amazon Senior Apartments on “Affordable Housing Day” in San Francisco.
Although media advisories went out to all corporate media, there were none present. More and more, little by little, “freedom of the press” seems to mean corporate media is free to turn a blind eye to what is happening in local communities. The advocates for Prop C are not forestalled. Prop C reads:
“Shall the City amend its Charter to: create a Housing Trust Fund that supports affordable housing for low-income and moderate-income households; and change the affordable housing requirements imposed on some private residential developments?”
Action is being taken to give some relief to those seeking some place safe to recreate “Home Sweet Home.”
Here’s a link to the League of Women’s Voters that gives both sides of the coin on Prop C: http://www.smartvoter.org/2012/11/06/ca/sf/prop/C/.
Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor John Avalos were on hand for the community action and news conference. Organizations represented at the event included AACE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), Occupy Bernal, Council on Community Housing Organizations, PODER (People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights), ECS (Episcopal Community Services), TNDC (Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation), HRC (Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco), AND (Asian Neighborhood Design), ALRP, BHNC (Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center), Hospitality House, Dolores Street Community Services, and Senior and Disability Action.
Community leaders Espanola Jackson, Chris Jackson, Ed Donaldson, Vivian Richardson and Buck Bagot were among those present and advocating for community issues.
Ed Donaldson, although no longer with SFHDC (San Francisco Housing and Development Corp.), is still working for the rights of people being foreclosed. “Prop C is about building needed affordable housing. But let’s keep our eye on the fact that we can’t just sit on our hands as people’s homes are being auctioned off on the City Hall steps,” said Donaldson. “We’re working on putting together private financing to buy homes at auction and lease them back to the homeowners until they get their financial footing again,” he added.
More and more, little by little, “freedom of the press” seems to mean corporate media is free to turn a blind eye to what is happening in local communities. The advocates for Prop C are not forestalled.
As you look at the financial ads left and right, consider what would happen if financial institutions used their billions of dollars and their foundations to rework mortgages to give homeowners another chance at the American dream.
Jacquie Taliaferro, filmmaker and director of LaHitz Media, can be reached at lahitznews@yahoo.com or (415) 821-1111. Jackie Wright, Wright Enterprises, www.wrightnow.biz, contributed to this story. Read her related story, “Reverend Jesse Jackson Makes Predatory Buyers Prey.”
