Under The Sun

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By Dan Grech

Max Rameau stands outside one of the empty houses he has commandeered. /J Pat Carter (The Associated Press)

Take Back the Land is a group that fights to feed and house people in Miami’s historically black communities.  In October 2006, the group took over a vacant lot in Liberty City and created a thriving shantytown called Umoja Village.  The shantytown burned down six months later.

Marie Nadine Pierre and her daughter, Nennon, sit on a mattress in a foreclosed home that they now occupy. /J Pat Carter (The Associated Press)

The group’s latest project is to place homeless families into vacant foreclosed houses.  Max Rameau, cofounder of Take Back the Land, calls them “home liberations.”  They’ve done eight so far.  Dan Grech joined Max on a recent move in.

Marie Nadine Pierre, 39, holds her baby, Nennon, in a foreclosed house where they are living in Miami. /J Pat Carter (The Associated Press)

RELATED LINKS:

New York Times: With advocates’ help, squatters call foreclosures home

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeless advocates “liberate” foreclosed homes

(Update) HuffPost Miami: Occupy Our Homes: Take Back the Land Has Lessons for Home “Liberators”