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They are Black women and children — families in Detroit who are crying out for help. With over-taxation, evictions, gentrification and unsafe living conditions — they are at the ends of their ropes with an ever-present threat of housing insecurities. This two-part series tells some of their stories and the people fighting on the frontlines with them. This is the final part two.
Her grandmother came to Detroit in 1919.
Today, Geraldine Smith-Bey is fighting to get back the house her grandmother had in the family but lost due to over-taxation. In 2015 she lost the house to the city for only $1,211, according to the Detroit Eviction Defense.
The house on Fischer Street in the city is one of many examples of how Black women and men are losing their homes in the city.
“This is part of my generational wealth — Black homes matters, Black generational wealth matters,” Smith-Bey said during a press conference near her house held to discuss her plight. “We deserve stable housing. Unfair practices in the city of Detroit have been going on far too long.”
Smith-Bey said that housing insecurity impacts people and their body, mind, spirit and soul. “I experienced all of that … this is a fight that I am not giving up,” she said, adding that she needs a “serious contractor” that will come and do the work and stabilize her home.
“And help me continue to create generational wealth– my sons, I don’t deserve this, and my grandson doesn’t deserve this. When I tell you this has been hard on me, trust me it has,” she said near tears.
Grassroots activist and Detroit resident Beulah Walker has seen it all, too.
She started the non-profit organization Detroit Black Women’s Council because she has seen too many Black women struggling to pay bills and maintain their homes.
Walker said that she faced her own housing insecurity issues, and she was moved out of her apartment complex in the city due to gentrification years ago.
“We were told you have to buy your unit or you have to move,” she said, adding that she was homeless from May 2017 to May 2019 as a consequence.
“I lived with my mom on and off and I slept in my car,” she said. “In the meantime, I’m still going to school [and] on the job training.”
Walker added that she also faced bankruptcy and other financial woes but landed on her feet, and in late 2019 she was able to get an apartment where she now lives.
“I thought I was doing pretty good until we got another letter from the property saying that the rent is going up to $300,” she said of an incident last year. “Here I am again in 2020, back in the same situation.”
Walker said that this time around she knew how to fight back and she was able to speak with city officials about her issue.
“Next thing I know this magically disappeared,” she said of the rent increase. “Whatever they were going to do to us it went away — I believe it had to do with me advocating on behalf of the 284 residents. I was the only one kicking up dust.”
Walker said that she has seen terrible cases where some women were not so fortunate and they struggled facing bills and a myriad of other problems that impacted their health. She said at the end of the day it’s about advocating — even if you are not up on the chopping block with housing issues.
“People don’t understand it could be them,” she said adding that it’s everyone’s problem when someone has housing issues. “I don’t understand how we got here as a society — how did we come to this place where if it’s not me I don’t care?”
“I try to tell people you don’t know your power,” she said.
For more information find the Detroit Black Women’s Council on Facebook.
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