Thought Provoking Documentary of Umoja Village Before the Fire (Video)

This video showing what life was like at Umoja Village before the fire really made me think.

Sadly, the Miami shantytown was completely destroyed on April 26th, 2007. The fire was supposedly started by an unattended candle. (see: pictures)

“Umoja Village, the Liberty City political protest turned social experiment, burned to the ground early Thursday morning, leaving 44 homeless squatters displaced from the shanty town they have called home since October.”

SotP reports several arrests were made during the day as activists and residents tried to keep the City of Miami from reclaiming the property.

After visiting the scene, I was optimistic the City would change their anti-Umoja position, but now I’m unsure.

From Miami Herald:

“Emotions were raw Thursday as the city first announced residents must vacate, then softened its stance, then arrested organizers who started erecting a tent.

[...]

Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez visited the encampment at 7 a.m. and talked to residents. At a City Commission meeting Thursday morning, Hernandez declared there was ‘’ left of Umoja Village and said he is against rebuilding the encampment.

Obviously, I would like to discourage that,’’ Hernandez said. “I think it’s an unsafe condition and we were lucky today that nobody got hurt”

The City has decided to allow the residents to stay until City Manager Hernandez decides what to do. There was no timetable offered to the residents when the City Manager would make a decision.

Conspiracy theroies are surfacing.

Some might say, this is starting to read like a Carl Hiaasen novel.

Nice to see local user generated content getting more political.

Continue watching Part 2 and Part 3 of the Umoja documentary.

Related Links: • Fire Destroys Umoja Village (Pictures) • House of Lies • Miami, activists in standoff after shantytown fire Related Categories: Miami: Local News, Gus Moore heads up Miami Beach 411 as site administrator. You can reach him at 1-305-754-2206. See more articles by Gus. See more articles by Gus Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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"Thought Provoking Documentary of Umoja Village Before the Fire (Video)"

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