Members of the group Moms 4 Housing, Tolani King, left, Misty Cross, center, and Sharena Thomas, right, interrupt a press conference announcing revisions to Senate Bill 50 the ?More HOMES Act? on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020 in Oakland, California. | MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Rent strikes, home occupations, and how the pandemic underscores the need to fight for housing justice. For Martha Escudero, a 42-year-old caregiver living in Los Angeles, the debates around housing today come down to a simple question of fairness. Her father, an immigrant from Mexico, only has an elementary-school education and works as a janitor, and was still able to buy a home for his family when his children were growing up. Born and raised in the U.S., Escudero has a college degree, speaks English, has a job in the medical field, and can?t even afford to rent a house in the Boyle Heights neighborhood for herself and her daughters, Victoria, 10, and Meztli, 8. ?Things aren?t right, and we need to do things to make it right,? she says.
That?s one of the reasons why Escudero took action and joined the Reclaimers, a group of homeless and housing-insecure moms and housing activists in Los Angeles. Earlier this month, they took over homes owned by Caltrans, the state transportation authority, arguing they shouldn?t be left vacant during a pandemic when people need places to live. The homes, located in the El Sereno neighborhood near Pasadena, were purchased decades ago to make way for an ext...