Abolish Rent Book Launch: Organizing for a World Without Landlords

Join two co-founders of the LA Tenants Union, Tracy Rosenthal and Leonardo Vilchis, in celebrating the launch of their book, Abolish Rent. With organizers from Crown Heights Tenant Union and Brooklyn Eviction Defense, they'll discuss the resurgent tenant movement and how we can fight back, stay put, and take control of our homes.

Rent drives millions into debt, despair, and onto the streets. The social cost of rent is too damn high. For anyone fed up with the permanent housing crisis, complicit politicians, and real estate greed, Abolish Rent dissects our housing system from the perspective of those it immiserates. Through unsparing analysis and striking stories of resistance, it shows us how tenants can, through organizing and collective action, harness our power and win the housing we deserve.

Khadija Haynes is an organizer with Brooklyn Eviction Defense and Right to Counsel, and she is the founder of Black Women for Theory and Praxis.

Ben Mabie is an editor and organizer based in Brooklyn. A member of the Crown Heights Tenant Union, he works for the NewsGuild of New York, IFPTE Local 98 and Dan Denvir’s podcast the Dig; he also co-hosts Fragile Juggernaut, a Haymarket podcast on the meaning of the CIO.

Tracy Rosenthal is a cofounder of the L.A. Tenants Union, a frequent contributor to the New Republic, and the author, with Leonardo Vilchis, of Abolish Rent, forthcoming from Haymarket. They are now on rent strike in New York City.

Leonardo Vilchis has been organizing tenants in Boyle Heights for more than thirty years. Trained in liberation theology, he co-founded Union de Vecinos in 1996 and the L.A. Tenants Union in 2015.

Host or Publisher The People's Forum