Max Rameau
In October 2007, Max Rameau and the Miami organization he helped to found, Take Back the Land, initiated a bold campaign that sparked a national movement: they began taking over foreclosed and government-owned homes, and moving homeless families into them. They have successfully moved in over 20 families to date, and many have used the opportunity to save up money and get back on their feet.
Max is also coordinating the national Take Back the Land movement through Human Rights Watch, designed to elevate housing to the level of a human right. In May 2010, this will culminate in a month of housing takeovers and housing defenses across the nation.
As important as the actual work of providing housing is the shift in the conversation around community control, race, gender and class that has happened on a national scale since Take Back the Land began these actions.
Max is a Haitian-born Pan-African theorist and organizer. He moved to Miami, Florida in 1991 and began organizing around immigrant rights, especially for Haitian immigrants, criminal justice issues and police brutality.
Max founded the land-based Take Back the Land, in 2006, and in October of that year, the organization seized control of a vacant lot in the Liberty City section of Miami. They built Umoja Village, a full urban shantytown to house part of the massive homeless population in Miami, and to address issues of land, self-determination and power, specifically in the black community.
In 2008, Max authored the book Take Back the Land, recounting the experiences and political theory behind the Umoja Village.
The campaign has gained significant national and international attention, including a role in the new Michael Moore movie, Capitalism: A Love Story. They have also been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Mother Jones Magazine, CNN, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, Fox News and PBS' NOW program, among others.
