Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 231 February-March 2013
Readers of FRFI will have been following the struggle of the Counihan Sanchez family in Brent, London, to get the council to provide adequate housing, not just for themselves, but for all families in need in the borough. Teenager SARAH COUNIHAN SANCHEZ writes here about her experience of her family’s fight to get Brent Council to face up to its responsibilities and provide proper housing for her family.
We all hear about cuts being enforced, but do we all know what they actually mean? Not everyone is aware of what is ahead, but everyone has the right to know how they are going to be affected if they have not been already. We must stand up and stand together and fight; we can’t be scared as it’s our homes we are fighting for. My personal experience of housing problems has opened my eyes to what people are facing and the sad thing is that there is still more to come.
Homelessness is not something you would expect to happen to you. Being evicted from your home is a very difficult thing and it is happening to more and more people. The cuts are affecting so many people and this is not right; these are some of the reasons our campaign started. Last year was a hard year and no one should go through losing their home the way so many families have. The campaign is now a big family and the positive thing about having these hard experiences is meeting people that share your views and that will fight with you for what is right and what we all deserve.
The Counihan Sanchez Family Housing Campaign (CSHC) has tried to make efforts with the councillors of Brent, asking them to sign a pledge against evictions in the area; this has been asked by different members of the campaign to different members of the council, with all of them refusing to do so. My mum Isabel Counihan Sanchez asked Muhammed Butt (leader of Brent Council) at a Labour Representation Committee meeting earlier this month to sign this pledge after he spoke about how he didn’t like the cuts, but he refused.
Our local authorities are meant to help us and fight for the people in the borough, but this doesn’t seem to be happening. I said to Mary Arnold (Kilburn councillor and Brent lead member for children and families) why can’t Brent be the first borough to stand up and say NO to these cuts. Why do the vulnerable people have to suffer and pay? People are being moved out of their homes, their communities, and away from their families.
After a Brent Fightback meeting earlier in January Jim from our campaign asked Brent councillor Claudia Hector to sign the pledge against evictions and cuts. She refused to do so, made untrue statements about the Counihan family and accused us of bullying her. We need councillors that are willing to shout with us, not against us!
The impression given by councillors when you talk to them is that they don’t like the cuts but they can’t do anything about it. They won’t take a stand, but they need to; we all do. People are being pushed out of their areas; the working class are being forced out of London. Bus companies are paying new drivers a lower wage than longstanding drivers receive for doing the same job! Who will drive our buses and trains? Where will children go to school? Who will work in shops, clean our streets and do all of the other jobs that need to be done?
We need to fight for our rights and show that we do not like how we are being treated and that we deserve more! Our councils have the power to fight for the people in their borough, and that’s what councils should be doing! The way councils treat people, sending eviction letters to people without helping them with where to go and sending people to houses to ensure people have moved, is just not right. People are receiving eviction letters for unpaid rent, but with rent being so high, jobs being hard to get, and benefits being cut, what do they expect? We do not deserve this, and as these people are elected and are doing this job to fight for people in the borough, we should be fought for!
No to evictions, no to cuts!
In 2013, we will be continuing to fight, and we hope everyone will continue to fight with us, we can achieve something if we believe it! 2013 needs to be a year of raising awareness, standing together and showing that we don’t agree with what is taking place.
CSHC intends to do this and to try and help people who are having housing difficulties and anyone opposed to the cuts. Everyone is able to join this campaign and join the fight. If we all come together, our voices will be louder.
Our next public meeting is on Thursday 31 January 7-9pm. Salvation Army,
55 Chichester Road, Kilburn London NW6 5QW.
To get involved in campaign events call Jimmy Mac on 07958 157 392. The campaign is on Facebook at Counihan Battlebus and Counihan Sanchez Housing Campaign.
