Demonstration photo courtesy of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.

The Morrison Hotel in Los Angeles, immortalized on the cover of a 1970 Doors album, has returned to the headlines as the target of a high profile anti-slumlord campaign led by Strategic Actions for a Just Economy. Morrison Hotel tenants put up with years of living amidst rats, roaches, chipping lead paint and raw sewage leaks, only to be served with eviction notices meant to empty the building so that it could be sold. When tenants spoke with SAJE organizers, Morrison management retaliated by shutting off electricity and even locking people out of their homes. Tenants and SAJE fought back. It took 50 demonstrators and intervention by the police and city housing officials for tenants to win back access to the building. Since then, the City Attorney has filed a criminal complaint, the City’s Housing Department has taken over rent collection, and the tenants have filed their own lawsuit. (more…)