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(International Business Times) Occupy Homes, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, will protest in foreclosed and vacant properties in around 25 U.S. cities, on Tuesday's "Day of Action," promoting what organizers call the "basic human right of housing."
Along with Occupy Wall Street protesters, the movement will bring together affordable housing activists, tenant groups, homeless advocates and other civic groups, who will march on one of the most visible legacies of the economic crisis.
Despite recent modest gains in employment, the national housing markets remains bleak. Home prices have descended steadily downward throughout the year, according to the Case-Shiller Housing Index, while nearly a quarter of U.S. homes have underwater mortgages, according to CoreLogic.
"I think it's a natural evolution," Max Rameau of Take Back the Land, one of the national organizers, told International Business Times.
Rameau has been advocating for community-controlled land since 2006, and his cause received a boost after the Occupy movement coalesced a few months ago. But with many groups being uprooted from public spaces, physically occupying troubled homes brings a continued, tangible presence of the movement, he said.
"You can't organize except face to face," he said. "You can't do that through Twitter."
Throughout the country, local organizations will act in an orchestrated -- but diverse -- effort.
Chicago has thousands of vacant properties, and activists there will target three separate homes on Tuesday to refurbish and move families in.
Read full story at IBtimes.com...
