Occupy Our Homes

Throughout the past few weeks cities throughout the country have removed Occupy protesters from their encampments.  What are they going to do now?

Occupy has responded to these ejections by changing its focus from public spaces toward private property: foreclosed homes.  Recently, CNN.com published an op-ed by Sonia K Katyal and Eduardo M. Penalver.  Read it here.  They recently co-authored a book called Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership.  In their article on CNN.com they argue that Occupy’s change in tactics – from occupying parks and streets to occupying foreclosed homes – might very well work to their advantage. 

One reason that this might be a successful endeavor is because it could remedy the movement’s most cited shortcoming: a lack of political agenda. Moreover, it can help connect current members of the movement to working-class Americans.  If the Occupy movement is going to be successful (it’s already changed the framework of political discussion) then it will need to have closer ties to unions and working class Americans.  Aligning their causes with foreclosed homes can help the Occupy movement to do just that. 

Possessing physical spaces has had success throughout American history.  Katyal and Penalyer argue that “a straight line runs from the 1930s sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan, to the 1960 lunch-counter sit-ins to the occupation of Alcatraz by Native American activists in 1969 to Occupy Wall Street”.  They argue that the sit-down strikes arguably laid the groundwork for the enforcement of federal labor laws; the lunch counter sit-ins led to the enactment of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and the Alcatraz occupation paved the way for a milestone reversal in Federal Indian policy, leading President Nixon to support tribal self-determination.  For the sake of my country and world, I hope that the Occupy movement has these sorts of success.  We’re in desperate need of them.

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The Takeaway: In the end, occupying foreclosed homes might strengthen the Occupy movement by presenting a tangible political demand and forging closer ties to working-class Americans. 

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba…and then Lost It to the Revolution

T.J. English’s book is a fascinating one.  It chronicles the “Havana Mob” and how they controlled most aspects of Cuba, prior to the Revolution.  In the post-World War II years Cuba received nearly $1 trillion dollars in American investment.  That’s truly incredible for a country roughly the size of Tennessee.  Unfortunately, all of this financial capital didn’t go towards ameliorating Cuba’s problems including hunger, illiteracy, subhuman housing, high infant mortality, and vast rural poverty.  Instead it was used to fill the pockets of corrupt politicians and American investors.  These two groups were commonly referred to as the “Havana Mob”. 

The book is filled with interesting anecdotes about celebrities and politicians.  One that caught my eye was a story about John F. Kennedy, then Democratic Senator from Massachusetts.   He was quickly gaining national attention for his political achievements as Senator and his Pulitzer Prize winning book Profiles in Courage. He travelled to Cuba many times, but it was his first trip that made into the pages of Havana Nocturne.  Notorious mobster Santo Trafficante knew that Kennedy had an appetite for women and decided to set him up with several prostitutes.  As it turned out, the orgy would take place in a suite at Trafficante’s Hotel Comodoro.  The mobster installed a two-way mirror that allowed Trafficante and his friends to watch Kennedy’s escapades with the prostitutes.  Trafficante later said that he regretted not filming the orgy so that he could use it for blackmail.  Yikes…

The Takeaway:  Havana Nocturne is busting at the seams with these sorts of stories.  I recommend it for everyone who’s interested in history.  It’s a fun and relatively easy read.   Enjoy!