Protests continued to complicate the closing of the privately owned Democracy Center in Cambridge on Wednesday as a group of almost 40 rallied in support of an ongoing occupation of the building by its former tenants.
Organizers feared that on day three of the occupation police would “raid” the building and try to remove people by force. The rally was summoned in the morning in calls made through social media.
Police made no attempt to enter the building to remove protesters, but diverted traffic from the area where organizers led chants and marched through the streets next to 45 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square.
“The systematic closing of acceptable spaces … where we can gather without censorship, is going to affect our ability to organize,” said one protester, who did not identify themselves, during a speech to the crowd. Without “at least some semblance of a fight, it’s just going to continue and continue and the city will be stripped of any of these spaces that mean anything to anyone.”
The center has supported nonprofits, activist organizations and other progressive causes since 2001, along with events such as drag shows and clothing drives. It is sponsored fiscally by the Foundation for Civic Leadership, an incubator and funder for progressive voting initiatives. The closing for renovations focused on making room for a program called Democracy House was announced April 6, leading to a series of meetings that did not change the minds of FCL leaders.
Among those protesting the closing was the Democracy Center’s former coordinator. Elizabeth Rucker, who had managed the center’s day-to-day operations since 2016, resigned just moments before joining Wednesday’s demonstration, citing the fear of police forcibly removing protesters from the space.
“Over the past three months, I worked as hard as I could from my position to ask FCL to right its course, to do true community engagement [and] to share power,” Rucker said. “I cannot stand by while people that I love are inside that building and could be harmed.”
Rucker acknowledged the mutually agreed upon need for renovations that will improve accessibility and safety, but said management did not properly take tenant input into account when making the final decision to close the building indefinitely.
“FCL has fallen short of its values and mission statements, and has failed to engage in democracy,” she said. By closing the center and restricting groups’ access to operating space, Rucker said, the foundation has chosen not “to abide by what they’re saying they’re trying to do in the world.”
The building’s entrances appeared blocked by protesters from the inside. One poster, draped from the building’s roof, read “Welcome to the People’s DC,” while another detailed the occupying group’s demands: an end to the closing and evictions, community representation in the FCL’s board and on renovation planning and no repercussions for demonstrators.
The foundation also faces a resident petition to the Cambridge Historical Commission to initiate a landmark study for its 1846 double house and the 1928 clubhouse addition next door. A landmarking study might complicate renovations or at least slow them – but since the foundation announced the Democracy Center closing with no designs or contractors in place for the work, there is nothing to delay. And a landmarking usually protects only the outside of a building.
The landmarking hearing will be at a commission meeting 6 p.m. July 11, watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
In addition, FCL board member Aaron Tanaka resigned Sunday in protest of the leaders’ approach to the closing. “A more measured and inclusive process to achieve this goal was (and still is) possible,” Tanaka wrote in a press release.
Matthew Schreiner, who lives only a mile from the Democracy Center, was present at the Wednesday rally. He described the Democracy Center as a “convenient and cheap and friendly” community resource and lamented the building’s loss on behalf of “any number of organizations that need a cheap space to be able to operate.”
“It makes it harder for the organization to continue,” he said. “There’s some that are close to the edge, and they might fall off.”
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This whole story is an absurdist play
Agreed, cportus! Or maybe an Ayn Rand piece?
Building owner grants free rent for years to nonprofit, but decides it has to end. Instead of thanking the owner for their long time support, the nonprofit demands to “negotiate” as “equals”? ROFL
This is private property, right? The owners followed the correct legal procedure to exit the tenants, yes?
If so, then they’re trespassing. Arrest them. If they love their cause so much they can buy their own building and stay as long as they want.
@PeterG Gasp, imagine the serfs thinking they are equals with the lords of the land! they should know their place.
@RadioFreeMatt, where and with what funds? come on you know this isn’t a serious response.
I mean, if they have no money– and can raise no money, through grants or fund-raising or other means– then maybe they revisit the wisdom of what they’re doing?
Don’t get me wrong; I support democracy. I just support property rights too, and the folks who own that building have a right to fix it if they want.
None of the above commenters have ANY understanding of the FCL, how the Democracy Center Operates, Its History, The Organizations that are involved or the protests.
You need to go back and read some of the previous articles and get a grasp on what is going on, and the situation here in Cambridge where developers are eating up and speculators are buying up real estate.
A Non-profit that is suddenly doing a 180 change of direction and abandoning its founding values is a big thing.
Doing so with a bunch of lies to the tenants they are evicting “We need to renovate… but we have no plans, no contractors and no filing of permits with the City of Cambridge to do such” says volumes.
My guess is that the renovations and the “larger non-profit client” plan is a lie and someone is looking to sell the place that has been getting tax breaks for years via the parent owner organization for decades.
These client organizations that have been using the space don’t have other options for space, not based on money but based on the state of this city, it’s zoning laws, the speculators and contractors etc. Public space in this city that can be used or leased etc. is shrinking or locked up and gatekept by the city who’s interest is not the residents of the city but in the businesses and universities.
Cambridge is having its soul stolen piece by piece.
They have no plans to fix it. They are evicting all tenants now with vague plans to do something eventually.
I’m not surprised you believe private property trumps democracy.
The protection of private property rights as expressed in The Constitution and federal and state laws for the last 200 years, is fundamental to democracy.
The antics of these occupiers are exactly the sort of self-centered, extremist actions that push liberal democrats further to the right, away from anything labeled “progressive.”