Overcoming the Housing Crisis: The Story of the Cooper Square Community Land Trust

In this episode, we look at housing organizer Frances Goldin's 50-year fight to save a 12-block section of lower Manhattan from being destroyed. As their neighborhood faced abandonment, white flight, violence, drugs and "Power Broker" Robert Moses, Goldin and her community of “rabble rousers” stood firm, creating the first urban Community Land Trust (CLT) to combat the low income housing crisis and establishing affordable housing in New York City's Cooper Square neighborhood.

A new documentary “Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square", chronicles this inspiring story. The journey depicted in the film could teach us a lot about today’s fight for affordable housing.

Today, the cost of living has skyrocketed and rent prices are soaring, leading to a rent crisis that affects millions. The housing crisis impacts many Americans, and the NYC housing crisis is especially difficult to address. In this episode, we delve into the issues around housing, the housing market, and the story of housing organizers that made a real difference.

Join us for this episode as we take an in-depth look at the battle for housing rights in Cooper Square and the innovative solutions that emerged. Learn about the challenges and triumphs in the fight for affordable housing and what it all means for the future of housing in America.

This episode is not just a historical account; it's a call to action and a beacon of hope for those affected by the housing crisis. It's a story that resonates with the current state of the housing market and offers insights into how communities can come together to build a movement.

“The housing situation is only getting worse…We need policy solutions to address problems that were created through racist and classist policies to begin with.” - Kelly Anderson

“What [Frances Goldin] creates is a model for others to follow. And that is the notion that public lands should be connected to the idea of the public good, meaning that they can never be sold at a profit in the future by people who live there.” - Johanna Fernández

“[Frances Goldin] wanted to make sure that the movement was integrated from the start. And in doing so, she formed coalitions quickly between Blacks, Browns, Jews, Puerto Ricans . . . She was able to take the movement to City Hall because she had people in numbers.” - Ryan Joseph
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GUESTS:
Kelly Anderson: Producer/Director, “Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square”
Johanna Fernández: Professor, 20th Century US History & the History of Social Movements at Baruch College & the Graduate Center CUNY
Ryan Joseph: Producer/Director, “Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square”

🎧 PODCAST:
Prefer to listen? Hear this week's episode on your favorite podcast platform: https://lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/the-inspiring-battle-for-cooper-square-community-land-trusts-and-the-future-of-affordable-housing

✏️ SHOW NOTES:
Visit our Patreon for more information on this week's episode, including related articles, books and more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/81197960

📺 RELATED EPISODES:
- Community Land Trusts: A Model for Reparations?
https://lauraflanders.org/2019/06/community-land-trusts-a-model-for-reparations/
- Free The Land: Shirley Sherrod and Black Land Struggles in the South: https://youtu.be/8oI4yg2Zg1E
- Housing is a Human Right: https://youtu.be/E78X9d_WRuY

📚 Check out our Book of the Week on BOOKSHOP*:
- “Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA” by Frances Goldin, Debby Smith and Michael Smith: https://bookshop.org/a/22992/9780062305572
(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

00:00 - How the "Rabble Rousers" documentary came to be
04:50 - The history of lower Manhattan & Frances Goldin documentary trailer
09:53 - Movement strategy & creating a multiracial coalition
14:55 - The Cooper Square Community Land Trust
19:34 - Reparations, legislation & the future of affordable housing
23:36 - Laura Flanders' commentary on "lost causes" that aren't
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ACCESSIBILITY
This episode is closed captioned.

Видео Overcoming the Housing Crisis: The Story of the Cooper Square Community Land Trust канала The Laura Flanders Show