For the past two years, residents of the heavily immigrant neighborhood of Sunset Park in Brooklyn have refused to pay rent on their apartments in three buildings where the same landlord has refused to ensure safe living conditions. This summer, members of Occupy Sunset Park got word of the rent strike when they saw banners that residents hung on the outside of their buildings. They contacted the residents and have since tried to assist them as they resolve many of the concerns themselves. There is now talk of the tenants taking ownership of their buildings by forming a tenants’ association or an affordable housing corporation. Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow! is joined by Sara Lopez, a longtime resident and organizer in Sunset Park, Brooklyn; Dennis Flores, an organizer with Occupy Sunset Park; and Laura Gottesdiener, a freelance journalist who has been covering the Occupy Our Homes movement and author of the forthcoming book, "A Dream Foreclosed: The Great Eviction and the Fight to Live in America."

Full transcript follows below the fold.

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Via: We Are The 99 Percent:

I’m on an internship for school. I’m not getting paid for it. I’m in a strange city. I don’t know anyone here. I have applied at almost every fast-food restaurant, retail store, gas station, and whatever else I can think of, but have heard nothing back. My bank account is almost completely empty. I’m writing this on the laptop I can’t sell because I need it for school, and while I write, I eat the last of my groceries. My car is almost out of gas. I don’t even have enough money to pay rent on the first of the month. I don’t have a lot of personal possessions that I can sell, and the ones that I can, I probably won’t get much for. I don’t have health insurance, and I dread getting sick or having an accident that leaves me in the hospital. If I give up now and go home, I won’t graduate. I’m already several thousand dollars in student loan debt, I hope to at least have something to show for it. But how long can I last at my internship when I have to choose between putting gas in my car and doing laundry? My life is a ticking time-bomb, and the last few seconds are counting down before my eyes.

I am the 99 percent. And I am out of ideas.

[Warning: Language may not be suitable for work.]

Dear Eminem,

Help! The "Occupy" movement needs more protest songs! Seriously, they're doing disco! Oops, wrong browser...

Actually this video is rather cute and clever, but beware the "P" word. What's the "P" word, you ask? See the link here for the actual song title and complete lyrics.

But, if you suffer from flashbacks of disco balls, sequins, polyester suits, and nose-bleed inducing platform shoes (That are back in style, gee thanks, Lady Gaga!)...just consider yourself warned.

Here's the opening:

I first was pepper sprayed
Just standing on the side
But it took me being blinded
to open up up my eyes
Cause I'd read the daily news,
and not responded actively
and I realized then and there
this revolution needed me

So here I am,
camped in a tent
Which is really so convenient
cause I can't afford my rent
But they came with shields and mace
In the night while it was dark
A NYPD army
Sent to clear Zuccotti Park

We'll protest on, with catchy phases
We're going global
From London to Uc Davis
If you think that your batons are going to get us to go home
GO on and hit me, I'll just upload it from my phone.