As the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic puts Houstonians at risk of losing their homes, the Houston Tenants Union protested in front of one of Harris County’s 16 eviction courts.
About 50 protesters spread out along the sidewalks outside of the Precinct 5, Place 1 courthouse in Gulfton. They held signs like “HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT,” “STOP EVICTIONS NOW” and “TENANT POWER.” They whooped at every car that honked its approval. In the parking lot behind them, a constable’s deputy watched in his car.
“We’re here to cause a disturbance in the court,” said grassroots organizer Antonella Henao, 21, who darted along the protest lines handing out chant cards. “Our number one goal is to stop all the evictions.”
The eviction crisis looms nationwide as people with jobs and hours slashed by the pandemic burn through their savings to pay rent — if they had savings to begin with. The federal eviction moratorium expired, as did a moratorium imposed by the Texas Supreme Court. While some Texas cities has implemented an eviction grace period, Houston’s Mayor Turner will not put one on the City Council agenda.
Judge Russ Ridgway, whose court served as the protest site, has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Just before the docket was set to begin, protesters began a call-and-response chant through their face masks. (“As loud as you can,” instructed Henao. “Make sure they can hear us. Make sure their eardrums hurt by the end of the day.”)
“HEY HEY.”
“HO HO.”
“JUDGE RIDGWAY HAS GOT TO GO.”
Henao said the group picked Ridgway’s court because it had one of the day’s busiest eviction dockets.
“Mayor Turner and the City of Houston have failed its tenants,” she said. “There’s no reason why during a pandemic over which we have no control, people should be worried about losing their livelihoods.”
The group swelled to around 100 by 8:30 a.m. and moved from the sidewalk to circling the parking lot outside of the courthouse entrance, chanting: “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!” “F—YOUR RENT F— YOUR LEASE!”
The protestors stood in a line in front of the courthouse entrance, still chanting. A protester named Austin who declined to give their last name shouted into a megaphone: “Judge Ridgway is up for election. We want him to know that he’s accountable to us as voters.”
The crowd took up the chants again.
“What we need is a judge to hold landlords accountable. It’s as simple as choosing not to hold eviction cases,” said Austin, pacing the line. “And WHY is this what we want? It’s because housing rights are?”
“HUMAN RIGHTS,” the line roared back.
24-year-old Maya Nicole came out to the protest after she saw it advertised on Instagram. The pandemic has turned her into an activist: She’s attended protests against the police budget and the city reopening, and the marches for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
“I just have the desire to feel like I have the power to do something about this huge injustice,” she said. “I mean, it’s just been like thing after thing after thing on top of another that keep piling up and it’s really burying people.”
Felix Kapoor, 32, is an organizer with advocacy group West Street Recovery and a native Houstonian. He came out to (short term) stop the day’s evictions and (long term) urge the city to put more resources towards helping landlords and tenants through the pandemic.
“I think it’s funny that they’re telling people to stay at home, but they’re also not providing enough resources,” he said. “So they’re essentially telling people to move out and onto the streets.”
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August 21, 2020 at 09:02PM
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'Housing is a human right:' 50+ protesters gather outside Harris County eviction court - Houston Chronicle
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