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on the day of the eviction
we would tell other men to to leave
leave the building
we knew that the police were rough and
and would beat them up
it was the women
who remained in the apartments
in order to resist
we went out onto the fire escapes and
spoke through bullhorns to the crowd
that gathered below
as soon as the police came to begin the
eviction
we roped off the street
and people gathered
the police put machine guns on the roofs
they pointed them down at the people on
the street
people
fellow workers
we are the wives of unemployed men and
the police are evicting us
today we are being evicted
tomorrow it will be you
the things we take for granted now
these were revolutionary ideas when we
began to demand them in the 30s
we wanted unemployment insurance
we wanted home relief
hot meals for children in schools
and housing for the destitute people
living in the city dumps
in that time who heard of an eight-hour
day
even the idea of a union was in this
time A New Concept in the world
no one expected decent wages
the others with the privilege were born
up there
but we we were on the bottom
to us the idea that we had the right to
strike
that that was something that was it was
hard to imagine
so
what could be done about all this
we began to organize
we formed unemployed councils
they were spontaneous people's
organizations
we would open an office in the middle of
a neighborhood
we organized around our needs
the women were organized to monitor the
prices of food all the time
If an item became too expensive in a
particular store we immediately went on
strike
we picketed with the sign don't
patronize this grocery
they are charging too much for bread
nobody would cross our picket lines
by that time our workers were everywhere
leading demonstrations circulating
petitions
speaking on street corners
so we would go into a building
introduce ourselves
and ask the people to organize
we promised that we would fight the
evictions and help take care of the
people who were thrown out
in those days
you would walk down the street and see
whole families with their children
sitting on the sidewalk
surrounded by furniture
when an entire building was organized
and willing to participate in a strike
we formed negotiating committees for the
tenants we put up large signs in every
window facing the street
and picketed the house
the signs read rent strike don't rent
apartments in this building
the landlord of course would rather die
than give in to the tenant's demands so
the strike began
we knew that one day he would give some
eviction notices
but he could never evict everyone
it cost too much
on the day of the eviction
we would tell other men to to leave
leave the building
we knew that the police were rough and
and would beat them up
it was the women
who remained in the apartments
in order to resist
we went out onto the fire escapes
and spoke through bullhorns to the crowd
that gathered below
uh in the Bronx you could get 200 people
together if you just looked up at the
sky
as soon as the police came to begin the
eviction
we roped off the street
and people gathered
the police put machine guns on the roofs
they pointed them down at the people on
the street
I would address the crowd gathered in
the street below
people
fellow workers
we are the wives of unemployed men and
the police are evicting us
today we are being evicted
tomorrow it will be you
what is happening to us
will happen to you
we have no jobs
we can't afford food
our rents are too high
the Marshall has brought the police to
carry out our furniture are you going to
let it happen
sometimes we poured hot water on the men
that came to evict us
and sometimes they would hit us
then we would run out onto the fire
escape grab the bullhorn and Shout to
the crowd they're hitting us they're big
men and they're hitting us
but we're not going to let them move the
furniture
sometimes we failed
and the furniture was carried into the
street
immediately we would cover it with a
tarp so it wouldn't get spoiled and then
we'd hold a mass meeting on the
furniture
using it as a platform
we were only waiting for the police to
leave as soon as they were gone the
people standing around would pick up the
furniture and carry it right back into
the building
we'd break the lock we'd put back the
furniture install a new lock and the
landlord would have to go through the
whole procedure another time
within two years
we had rent control in the Bronx
hi friends thanks for all the love for
Spidey for the trailer for May
thanks for the May fans
and I'm excited for you to see the film
just a few more months teasy a little
bit more
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