Ocupação dos Imigrantes Jean-Jacques Dessalin is an occupation organized by MLB (Movimento de Luta nos Bairros, Vilas e Favelas) that aims to fight for decente housing, urban reform and socialism.
The occupation was born on the 13th of June 2020, with around 40 families – most of them composed of international immigrants, mainly from Haiti and Bolivia.
We have occupied a building in Liberdade neighborhood, a historically black neighborhood where black people that were enslaved during the slavery period in Brazil used to go to find a refuge and to have their community spaces. This is, in fact, what gave Praça da Liberdade (Freedom Square) its name.
Recently, though, the governors have tried hard to erase this black history in the region. And it is mostly due to this fact that we have carried out, as a symbolic act, the Ocupação dos Imigrantes, mostly composed of immigrant from Haiti, so that we could occupy this space in the popular imaginary.
Since then, the occupation guarantees that around twenty families leave the subjugation of rent, that these families are not going to the streets, that these families have a quality diet, that they have medical follow-up – considering that the health equipment is brought to Ocupação to do such follow-up – and it guarantees that these families, mostly immigrants, have access to basic rights that the Brazilian state can offer.
Our occupation is still threatened with eviction by the justice, together with the millionaire owner, who also has several buildings in the center and who left that building abandoned for more than 10 years.
So, if you are listening to us and would like to support the construction of the Ocupação, pay us a visit. We are at Praça Carlos Gomes, 109, in the Liberdade neighborhood. Or join our networks that is “Ocupação dos Imigrantes”. Any support at this point is welcome.
