EVENT | Push: Screening and Panel

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On Tuesday, March 8, KI hosted a screening of filmmaker Fredrik Gertten’s documentary, Push on the housing crisis and the role of private equity in creating and worsening this crisis.

The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the effects of a worldwide housing crisis. Millions of families are behind on rent, while others pay an increasing share of income on housing. Evictions have grown and rents are driven higher by the presence of private equity in housing markets. In context of this current moment of crisis, following the screening, a panel commented on the state of rental housing.

The panel featured, Desiree Fields, professor of geography and global metropolitan studies, University of California, Berkeley, Leone Jose Bicchieri, executive director, Working Family Solidarity, Chicago, Sofia Lopez, Deputy Campaign Director for Housing at the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), and was moderated by James Benton, director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative’s Race and Economic Empowerment Project.

This screening and discussion were a part of the Kalmanovitz Initiative’s New Social Compact project , which brings together academics, labor, faith groups, and activists to build a stronger social compact for the post-pandemic working class. The New Social Compact project will host a gathering June 2-3 on the surge of worker activism during the Covid-19 pandemic.

View a recording of the panel below.