Friday, February 2, 2007

Glitz and Glam Granny Cheer Squad



Displaced women from Scott Homes and their families in matching, uniforms, and pom-poms cheered for homes and justice at a press event at the NFL YET Center, in Liberty City, yesterday. The press event was meant to celebrate the expansion of the YET Center. But the Grannies say that expansion could be better used if they and the rest of the 850 families displaced from the immediate area of Scott Homes could return to the community they were displaced from.

The Triple G Cheer Squad cheered while politicians, press and participants entered the YET Center. According to an inside observer the press asked many questions about what was going on outside. While the squad cheered, a flatbed truck manned by Bring Da Funk DJ Crew stopped traffic on 22nd Ave blasting hip-hop. Emcee Guru hyped the crowd and kept the message clear. “The Glitz and Glam Cheer Squad cheering for Scotts. That’s right folks drop it low for 850 homes. We aint going nowhere without justice for Scotts” he told the crowd of amazed reporters and onlookers.
The Triple G Cheer Squad also attracted a lot of police attention with at least 10 police officers monitoring the crew of youth and grannies as they shook their pom-poms and cheered for justice.After the press event, the YET Center along with the Miami Dolphins held a youth football clinic. Again the Glitz and Glam Granny Cheer Squad was there, cheering as the youth ran out onto the field. Triple G Cheer squad also took the opportunity to approach Commissioner Dorrin Rolle and the NFL officials. After a brief conversation Rolle agreed to meet with Low-Income Families Fighting Together about the struggle at Scotts.
The NFL YET center is in the middle of the wasteland that was once Scott Homes. Across from the NFL YET Center, the last standing Scott building is being used by community members as a base for their fight to reclaim the land and community. They have a 24-hour presence at the site where they built a Name Wall collecting information on their displaced neighbors, painted a mural of Dr. MLK Jr., built a community garden and hold weekly BBQ’s.

“We set up at the last Scott Home because it is historic. That Scott Home needs to be the roots from which this community will grow again,” said Yvonne Stratford, of the GGG Cheer Squad and LIFFT. “These buildings were here for over 50 years, you had generations of families all living together. And then you go and kick them all out. We want 850 homes built back here. We want our community back.”

According to an Orlando Sentinel article published last week the NFL YET Center serves a mere 300 kids a day, down from 800 a day when Scott Homes was still standing.

After leaving the NFL YET Center the Glitz and Glam Granny Cheer Squad rolled through Liberty City on the flat bed truck. They stopped in Liberty Square Projects (The Pork and Beans) as well as Umoja Village (shantytown) where they cheered against gentrification, for Scott Homes and for justice. At both stops excited fans received them.

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