Los Angeles Indymedia : Activist News

Los Angeles, CA - Activists from Alliance of California for Community Empowerment, homeowners and Occupy Fights Foreclosures gathered on the intersection of 7th Street and Figueroa Street for a Day of Action Against Wells Fargo bank, at 10:30am in Downtown Los Angeles on February 27. The plan for the Day of Action was to shut down four Wells Fargo bank branches around Los Angeles. This Day of Action was organized by ACCE and supported by Occupy Fights Foreclosures activists. Carlos Marroquin, a core member of Occupy Fights Foreclosures said: "We organized this day of action against Wells Fargo bank because Wells Fargo refuses to work with the families. Wells Fargo continues to mislead homeowners while many other banks are already working with the families."

Full story and photos: A Day of Action Against Wells Fargo Bank by Natasha Petrosova

Los Angeles, CA- Occupy Fights Foreclosures activists and homeowners gathered in front of Bank of America branch on North Vermont Street at 12:00pm on Wendesday, February 20. The activists and homeowners held their signs and marched in a circle chanting "B.O.A how many homes did you steal today…. Bank of America, Bad for America." The demonstration lasted for about two hours.

Josephina Perez, a recent victim of fraudulent foreclosure, came to participate with her 3-year-old grandson, Jesus and her husband, Jose Perez. Mrs. Perez said that she was trying to modify her loan with Bank of America, but Bank of America repeatedly claimed that they never received her paperwork. Eventually, BOA foreclosed on her house, and Mrs. Perez and her family, including two small children, Jesus, 3 and Nalanie, 5 were forced to live on the streets.

Sherry Hernandez, another victim of a bank's fraudulent practices (in her case the bank is Countriwide), also came to participate. She is still fighting to keep her home.

Full story and pictures: Occupy Fights Foreclosures Protests in front of Bank of America on Wednesday, February 20 by Natasha Petrosova

Demonstrations have occurred in 46 cities around the world. The message to the International Olympic Committee: don't award the 2020 Olympics to Japan. The cruel dolphin drives in Taiji serve Japan's meat industry and provide slave entertainment to marine parks worldwide.

The Japanese people are not the target. This problem was kept secret from them for a long time (the Oscar-winning documentary the Cove got very little exposure in Japan)--but now, many of them are protesting, too.

Yesterday in Los Angeles, a protest and awareness-building campaign was held outside the Japanese Consulate on Grand Avenue in downtown. Fancy flyers were distributed, petitions circulated (four pages of them got signed), and there was plenty of chanting.

Article and photos: Drawing Attention to Dolphin Slaughter, Japan, and the 2020 Olympics | Dolphin Slaughter, Japan, and the 2020 Olympics (part 2) by Ross Plesset

On Sunday, a crowd of around one thousand progressive environmental demonstrators met at Paseo de la Plaza on Olvera Street and marched to Los Angeles's city hall. The protest was in solid opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline whose fate will be decided by Barack Obama in the near future. The keystone XL is an extension pipeline that will go from the Athabasca oil sands in Canada to the Texan Gulf of Mexico. It's purpose is to provide oil to the Southwestern United States from the oil sands and bringing the U.S. a greater level of "oil Independence."

The environmental impacts are somewhat myriad yet each and every one of those scenarios could prove to be extreme in its destruction of aquifers and wetlands, along with animal, plant and human populations. The Ogallala Aquifer, which lies beneath the great plains of the U.S. and supplies 30 percent of U.S. irrigation water, would be devastated if a pipeline broke and contaminated the shallow water supply with benzine. Benzine is a component of the dilute bitumen, which is flowing through the pipeline. The Keystone XL will carry 830,000 barrels per day.

During the rally portion of Sunday's event, a show of hands revealed that a large majority of participants got there via public transportation, bicycling/walking, or electric/hybrid vehicles.

Grandmother Gloria Arellanes of the Tongva people gave an opening prayer; Ed Begley, Jr. hosted; and there were a lot of good speakers and entertainers.

Article & photos: Shut It Down, Mr. President part 1 | Shut It Down, Mr. President part 2 by Robert Stuart Lowden

More coverage: L.A. Participates in Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline (part 1) | L.A. Participates in Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline (part 2) by Ross Plesset

Indymedia on Air: discussion on KPFK (available for 90 days)

LOS ANGELES, January 24, 2013--One more person might end up on Skid Row, adding to the 85,000 homeless in Los Angeles, because of an eviction yesterday. At noon, sheriff's deputies drove into the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood of South Central and changed the locks on the door of 72-year-old Cathelene Hughes' home of nine years.

. . . Mrs. Hughes is another victim of bank fraud. Her income was inflated on her loan application, and her mortgage nearly doubled after just two years. She explained, “I was denied a modification ten times because my loan was adjusting. I had no idea it was an adjustable. A guy from Countrywide called and told me that it was adjusting a couple weeks before they did it. Then he explained the situation to me.” Mrs. Hughes has paid thousands of dollars to people promising to negotiate modifications. . . .

Full story: An Eviction in South Central by Ramona