People Power Put to Work Resisting Big Banks and Corporate Buyers
In 2016, Christiana Powell received an unwelcome surprise. The mortgage payments on her home in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago skyrocketed overnight from $800 to $3,500 a month.
Due to the death of her mother, who previously held the mortgage, and the conversion of the loan, Powell was now on the hook for much more than she bargained for. Unwilling to concede to the sudden more than 400% increase in monthly costs caused by a banking procedure Powell considers fraudulent, she withheld her payments and contested the charges. Foreclosure proceedings soon followed.
But Powell has never stopped fighting to keep the home she shares with her sister, her great nephew, and his family. Community members have rallied around her to defend her right to housing in both conventional and unconventional ways.
The Proper Channels Have Failed
If the sudden quadrupling of monthly mortgage payments sounds familiar to you, it may be because that’s exactly what happened to thousands of families around the country during the 2008 global financial crisis. But Powell wasn’t the victim of an adjustable-rate mortgage. She has alleged in court that her home loan was converted from an affordable FHA loan to a much more expensive conventional loan without her knowledge or consent.
Powell has taken the matter up with local courts, which proved unsuccessful, and filed a federal lawsuit against US Bank, her mortgage provider. A ruling came down from the federal judge last year that cited a lack of jurisdiction—a verdict which Powell is currently in the process of appealing. No longer able to afford attorney fees after years of legal proceedings, Powell is now representing herself against one of the biggest banks in the nation.
Home Sold Out From Under Her
Despite the ongoing legal proceedings, US Bank went through with a sale of Powell’s home in February of 2022. It was bought by the real estate developer GA Roslyn. Powell mentions several times that employees of GA Roslyn have tried to forcefully remove her from the home where she and her family members are still living.
The 63-year-old is the third generation to live in this home, which has been in her family since the 1950s. When her grandfather, William O’Neil Williams, purchased the home, they were only the second Black family to move into the neighborhood. He had to go to great lengths to secure the sale—even having his attorney, who was white, make the initial purchase from the previous owners and then quickly transfer the deed over to him.
Decades after her grandfather had to misdirect his unwilling neighbors to get into the neighborhood and use various means to stay there safely, Powell is unabashedly claiming her space in the face of what many local community members see as a transparent land grab that benefits no one more than the bank and the real estate developers who have been circling this neighborhood like vultures, just waiting to smell blood.
She Won’t Go
Powell, her family, community members, and local organizations will not give up this home without a fight. What they are fighting for is a human right. Powell has shown remarkable fortitude in refusing to leave her housing willingly, fighting this foreclosure in every way she can, and avoiding forcible eviction for going on eight years now. Her community has rallied around her to offer support in the fight for housing as a human right.
Rallies have been held at the home, local news organizations have covered the story, people have shown up to constantly occupy the home and camp out on the lawn. Signs appear out front calling for a stop to the displacement of Black families. All who gather here are sending a clear message: we won’t go.
In one such event, Powell spoke to those assembled, saying, “This neighborhood has been labeled gentrified, and when you look up that word, basically, what does it mean? ‘If you ain’t got enough money, we’re gonna take what you got by any means necessary.’ The system is in place and it’s running very smooth, the way those who put it in place intended for it to run.”
It’s hard to see it any other way, especially for Woodlawn residents who have been witnessing the increased displacement of Black families and poor families from the area. Many point to the announcement of plans to build the Obama Presidential Center nearby as the impetus for increased developer interest and rising rents that have been pushing longtime residents out ever since. Developers are everywhere, just waiting for their chance to swoop in or, in some cases, engineering their chance by force. GA Roslyn alone already owns several properties in the neighborhood.
Years of Resistance
Christiana Powell, her family members, and the community organizations and individuals who rallied around her managed to maintain her housing in the face of foreclosure and eviction for years.
On August 16, less than 24 hours after her federal appeal was dismissed, everyone occupying Powell’s home was forcibly removed by police who knocked down the home’s door with a battering ram at 7:30 am. Supporters who were there describe representatives from GA Roslyn also being present at the eviction, removing furniture from the home, and getting physical with protestors.
As belongings were removed from the home and stacked in the yard, Powell’s community continued to rally around her, loading them into a moving truck. Powell says she has friends and family to take her in while she regroups to continue her fight. Her next steps may include taking her case to the Supreme Court or compelling GA Roslyn to sell the property back to her. Whatever path she chooses, she vows that she will return home.
But for now, the house that once held cookouts and block parties for the whole neighborhood stands empty, just another investment property in a corporate portfolio.
It may be tempting to think of this situation as a failure, but what I see is years of successful resistance, mutual aid, and community support to avoid homelessness. A statement made to the Chicago Tribune by Aneta Jakubczyk, a member of GA Roslyn, really drives this point home. Jakubczyk writes, “For 27 months, my company has legally owned this property,” Jakubczyk wrote. “Since purchase of this property, I have been forced to pay mortgage, prior owners utility bills & property taxes while Mrs. Powell is enjoying living there rent free…”
If you’re going to be in the business of buying people’s homes, you’d better be careful which homes you buy. Not all of us are going to go quietly. Resistance like this makes for less profit for corporations like these, which, as we know, is really the only thing they respond to. It may be the best defense we have.
