Last Wednesday, over 50 activists, organisers, and community members gathered online for ROTA’s Brick by Brick webinars – a powerful day of truth-telling, strategy-building, and solidarity. Centring our foundational principle – “nothing about us, without us” – these sessions exposed the brutal reality of the racialised housing crisis while charting a path toward liberation by and for those most impacted.
“Housing is a Human Right – Stop Treating Our Lives as Assets”
From dawn to dusk, one message rang clear: housing cannot be a commodity. As community organiser Paris Williams testified, “Landlords scrutinised my passport like I was a criminal, not a tenant. Meanwhile, my white counterparts breezed into safe homes. That’s racial capitalism in action.” Her story echoed Slido poll findings, where 83% of attendees named racial bias in lettings practices as the top barrier to secure housing.
Participants dissected how colonial legacies – from land enclosures to gentrification – weaponise housing to exclude Black and Global Majority communities. “The system isn’t broken; it’s designed to displace us,” noted one attendee. Through Slido, grassroots solutions emerged:
- “Overhaul ‘affordable’ housing criteria – link rents to local wages, not market rates.”
- “Defund corporate landlords; redirect capital to Black-led community land trusts.”
- “Mandate race equity training for housing officers – no more gaslighting tenants.”
Intersectionality in Action: No Single Story
The crisis isn’t monolithic. Slido insights revealed how race intersects with gender, disability, and migration status to compound harm. Black and Global Majority women face uniquely gendered violence within this system – from disproportionate homelessness rates to systemic dismissal when reporting unsafe housing. “As a single mum, I’m labelled ‘high risk’ by landlords, but where’s the risk assessment for their neglect?” asked one participant. A disabled attendee shared: “I’m trapped in mouldy housing – the Council says I’m ‘too high-need’ for their scarce accessible homes.” Another highlighted the Hostile Environment’s ripple effects: “No recourse to public funds means my family sleeps in shifts.”
As Audre Lorde reminds us: “Without community, there is no liberation.” That’s why our work demands intersectional coalitions. The evening session spotlighted tenant unions resisting evictions, queer collectives reclaiming space, and migrant mutual aid networks crowdfunding deposits.
Join the Movement: #NoMoreExcuses
Wednesday’s energy was just the beginning. We’re building a movement to dismantle racial housing injustice brick by brick – and we need you.
- Watch back the webinars – share them widely.
- Stay updated: [SIGN-UP TO OUR. MAILING LIST] for campaign alerts, including the launch of our Community Advisory Group – thank you to the 20+ applicants who’ve already expressed interest!
- Spread the word: Use #NoMoreExcuses to amplify demands for housing justice.
WATCH THE WEBINARS
Recentering Race in Housing Justice: Brick by Brick 10am webinar – 12 February 2025
Recentering Race in Housing Justice: Brick by Brick 6pm webinar – 12 February 2025
ROTA’s Advisory Group – co-designed with lived-experience experts – will steer our 5-year programme, ensuring every policy demand, every protest, and every victory is rooted in community power.
Solidarity in Action
To the landlords profiting from despair: we see you. To the politicians dismissing our pain: we’re organised. And to our community: this is your call. Housing justice is racial justice – and together, there will be liberation.
Solidarity salute,
The ROTA Team
“They buried seeds in concrete, but we are the wildflowers that cracked through.” ✊🏾 #NoMoreExcuses