It Could Happen Here - Squatting with Andrew

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

Andrew joins us to chat about the history of squatting and its place in creating a more equitable world.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowbride. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons?

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or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hey, I'm Gianna Pertenti. And I'm Jumae Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. If you're early in your career, you probably have a lot of money questions. So we're talking to finance expert Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF, to break it down. Looking at the numbers is one of the most honest reflections of what your

financial picture actually is. The numbers won't lie to you. Listen to this week's episode of Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everyone, and welcome to It Could Happen Here. I'm Andrew of the YouTube channel Andrewism. And today I want to talk about the squatting movement. Actually, before I do that, I'm joined today by my co-hosts. Your co-hosts, Andrew, are Garrison Davis and James Stout, and I am your producer, Sophie, and I am here. Andrew, please continue.

Thank you, Sophie. I want to talk about the squatting movement, and particularly how people have overcome the inanities of privatizing land and restricting people's access to it so they could carve a life for themselves in this troubling world. Now, I think a lot of people are at least passingly familiar with the squatting movements the political squatting movements where be it anarchist autonomist or socialist in nature that have taken place in italy the u.s and most famously Denmark, where they had, you know, Freetown Christiania set up. But outside of the global north and much of the rest of the world, squatting is just a fact of life.

It doesn't typically, though sometimes it does, have radical political ambitions. So today I'm not going to be spending time discussing the squatting movement in Europe or North America, but instead discussing the millions of people in the world who lack access to land where they can find secure shelter and have turned to what has been deemed informal occupation or squatting to find residence. More specifically, I'll be discussing the Caribbean. But first, I need to get into some statistics. It's always that kind of word, right? In 1950, only 86 cities around the world had populations of 1 million people or more.

And in 2016, there were just over 600 cities that met this threshold. Over half of the world's population now lives in urban areas. And nearly a billion, if not a billion, are estimated to be living in informal settlements, mostly in the urban and peri-urban areas of less developed countries. I don't know if any of you have read Planet of the Slums by Mike Davis. I think I have. But he discusses this phenomenon, this explosion in urbanization, and the fact that, unfortunately, these cities aren't exactly urban edens

they are deeply impoverished filled with makeshift and often unsafe whether it be you know poisonous or just poorly constructed or disease-ridden dwellings. Areas such as Beirut's Quarantina, Mexico City's Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro's Favelas, and Cairo's City of the Dead, where up to one million people live in homes made out of actual tombs. Now, Davis addresses the issue's root cause, that being post-colonial neoliberal policies driven by free market capitalist principles. You see, as cities modernized in the wake of the colonial era, a lot of the same zoning boundaries enforced by imperial powers across racial and socioeconomic lines were continued. So-called decolonization did not really take place. And the imperial rule didn't lead to a magical increase in equality egalitarianism. It's just that post-colonial rulers took up the mantle where colonial rulers left. And of course, this switch, this changing of hands of power, was kept up by the International Monetary Fund,

which stepped in on behalf of these elites and pushed the poorest citizens, basically, into thickly concentrated slums by making it easier for the ruling class to ignore these issues and prioritize the affluent. The debt restructuring policies in the 1980s also led to a lot of governments cutting down on their public health and education investment expenditure so that they could repay the loans that they had been forced to take out. David spends a lot of time talking about Asia

and some time talking about the increasing hardship in African cities. But the situation of squatting is often overlooked in the Caribbean. And so I'd like to draw some attention to that. I think that anyone who has lived in the Caribbean or has family in the Caribbean would be somewhat familiar with the idea of family land which is this idea that you know you have these plots that the family essentially owns collectively

maybe somebody living there or it may just be land that is being passed along for anyone who needs it. A lot of this land was acquired by purchase, and a lot of it was acquired by squatting. In Trinidad, in Jamaica, in Puerto Rico, in Martinique, in Barbados, Squatting was how a lot of recently emancipated people gained some foothold to live. Now they could not stay on the plantation system. Now the early squatting movement was largely wiped out by the growing plantation system. But eventually a new squatting movement would arise due to escaped slaves and maroons and post indentured individuals who would resettle on those regions that were previously wiped out

by the plantation system. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures.

I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community

of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast,

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hey, fam. I'm Simone Boyce.

I'm Danielle Robay. And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that is guaranteed to light up your day. Every weekday, we bring you conversations with the culture makers who inspire us. Like our episode with actor, former Beverly Hills 90210 star and host of the podcast, I Choose Me, Jenny Garth. There have been so many times when I've been really lost. I say that because I'm on the other side of it. And the only way to get to the other side of you have to dig in sometimes and look within to learn from it because that's what all these obstacles are for I guess ultimately what other choices you have listen to the bright side from hello sunshine on the iHeartRadio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I discovered this really excellent research paper done by Professor Jean Besson.

But Jamaica is really quite an interesting example because Jamaica is one of the few Caribbean countries that had a successful, sustained Maroon movement that lasted into the 21st century. And so what happened, as is the case for a lot of these colonies, you have this uh certain model of land ownership called crown land um basically all the land of the crown deemed themselves to own by virtue of colonizing these places crown land would often be you know parceled out when they want to attract new colonists to the different colonies and so enslaved people in Jamaica created these squatter settlements on crown land basically recaptured that land and created villages and communities in as maroons in that context of colonial violence. And of course, these governments would demolish the squatter settlements and try to evict land capture.

But in Jamaica, the maroons succeeded, particularly the Leeward maroons. They were two different groups, the Wynwood maroons and the Leeward maroons succeeded particularly the leeward maroons as they were two different groups the maroons and leeward maroons and that's a whole different history today akampong village is the only surviving village for the jamaican leeward maroons and is also the oldest persistent maroon society in African America. After the enslaved Africans and Creoles escaped the plantations and squatted crown land, they waged successful guerrilla warfare against the British colonists in the First Maroon War under the leadership of Colonel Cujo. And that land would be the basis of two leeward maroon villages, that being Cujo's town in St. James and Acompong's town in St. Elizabeth. Acompong being named after Cujo's brother-in-arms, Captain Acompong.

would be renamed Trelawney Town after the treaty between the British governor would grant the Maroons their freedom and 1,500 acres of legal freehold land. Acompong Town, on the other hand, did not really get any legal recognition until a land grant was given to them to some 2,559 acres, around 1758. A couple decades later, between 1795 and 1796,

the Second Maroon War would be fought between the Trelawney Town Maroons and the British colonists. Because, of course, the British did what they would do and whipped two of the Maroons for the theft of pigs in Montego Bay. Of course, this is just the inciting incident, as these things tend to be, for the deeper discontent regarding access to the land. And after this second maroon war, the Trelawney maroons ended up being deported to Nova Scotia. so for those a bit familiar with you know canadian history the maroons were moved to and resettled in canada as a result of this and the journey town maroons land being confiscated

akampong town became the sole surviving village and today it remains common treaty town it is owned in common by the some i believe it's like just over 3 000 adults all of which by the way claim descent from colonel kujo and they sort of have a mixed settlement producing for household use, rearing livestock, utilizing the forest for medicines and timber, cultivating food forests and provisioned grounds. And even after members of the community would migrate, they would still have that connection to their commons and often return to either live or visit.

Choloni Town, on the other hand, after being recaptured by the Crown, it was eventually purchased and transformed into family lands by the descendants of slaves, planters, and maroons. And of course, squatting played a part in that development. Most recently in Latin America and the Caribbean, there's been a move by governments switching from a policy of trying to eradicate squatters and instead trying to give them title to their lands, either granting them or usually selling it to them

in an effort to alleviate poverty so they could use their house as collateral for business loans and that kind of thing. And that's basically what happened for Acompong Town and for Trelawney Town, where the captured land was surveyed and subdivided and put for sale, and so the squatters were able to purchase the land

and the government was able to impose taxation on the people who lived on that land. Welcome, I'm Danny Threl. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows presented by iHeart and Sonorum. An anthology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know it.

Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners,

for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hey, fam. I'm Simone Boyce. I'm Danielle Robay.

And we're the hosts of The Bright Side, the daily podcast from Hello Sunshine that is guaranteed to light up your day. Every weekday, we bring you conversations with the culture makers who inspire us. Like our episode with actor, former Beverly Hills 90210 star and host of the podcast, I Choose Me, Jenny Garth. There have been so many times when I've been really lost. I say that because I'm on the other side of it. And the only way to get to the other side of something is to go through it, not around it. Allow your body to feel the pain. your body to feel the pain. And then you have to dig in sometimes and look within to learn from it, because that's what all these obstacles are for, I guess. Ultimately, what other choice do you have?

Listen to The Bright Side from Hello Sunshine on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. but there are political slash religious movements that have used squatting to gain a foothold for example the revival zion movement an offshoot of drastafarian movements if i'm i honestly couldn't find much information about them but they're an afro-jamaican religion slash cult and so they managed to capture a lot of the land near chilauni town and would often settle their homes right behind the city council's no squatting signs eventually you know you have about 30 households who have basically recaptured their land from Babylon, as Rastafarians would describe the state. By 1995, their community, which they called Zion, became a very vibrant squatter settlement of some 70 house yards on about 30 acres of captured land.

Eventually, the land was surveyed and subdivided, of course, trying to tax and control the people that were there. But the situation led to a lot of people still, you know, not being able to afford land and still, of course, having to squat on the land that they lived on for so long. The difficulty with squatted land is that it's a very tenuous, very fragile state of being. The future is often uncertain and clear it's it's more secure i would say than being like homeless but you're still very much subject to state violence um and even when so-called legal avenues are opened up for you to get the land you know through purchase the fact that you had to squat on the land in the first

place should be some indication that you probably can't afford to buy land. But squatting enables people, at least in the interim, to potentially develop some funds and stuff until they are able to secure a future for their families. I think a lot of the liberal solutions to the issue of squatting and poverty is to replace these sorts of systems and put in instead proper private property rights and giving these people private property so that they could achieve sustainable development goals

and all the other buzzwords that these programs tend to use. I think the future of these kinds of projects, however, should be more along the lines of commons i think that the fact that they were able to secure that land without the government's approval should be an indication that the government should not need to approve for people to live on the itopian home. I spoke in a previous episode about Barbuda and their commons, and I really don't see why. I do see why, but I really believe the solution to these issues lies in reclaiming the commons,

lies in rejecting these colonial and post-colonial governments, which base themselves on exclusion and illegality and bring about participatory local management of the land by the people for the people. And that's about it. Thanks, Andrew. It was really fascinating. Any final thoughts, Gare, James? My final thought is that we have a live show.

Oh, wonderful. Yeah, just a thing I was thinking about as we talked about squatting. This one, you will be excluded unless you can pray the cost of entry or work out how to not be excluded i guess but it's on the 26th of october i nearly forgot what month it was uh and you can buy tickets on the internet yeah so we're doing this live stream october 26 6 p.m it is a live virtual

event and you can get tickets at moment.co slash ICHH. We'll link that in the episode description. It'll be a fun, spooky themed live show. Woohoo! It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com slash sources.

Thanks for listening. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow of Rife. Join me, Danny Trails, and step into the flames of rife. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into tech's elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. Hey, I'm Gian get your podcasts from. Vivian too, AKA your rich BFF to break it down. Looking at the numbers is one of the most honest reflections of what your financial picture actually is. The numbers won't lie to you. Listen to this week's episode of let's talk offline on the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.