UN-Habitat, The UN’s human settlements program, states that the number of people living in slum conditions is now estimated at 863 million, which was only a couple hundred million less in the 1990’s.
The Shack Dwellers Movement or Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) is a political group dedicated to the betterment of the urban poor’s living. They strive to organize “a society where everyone counts and where capital and the state are subordinate to society”
AbM was started 2005, in Durban, South Africa, and spawned from a road-blockade meant to protest the selling of land promised to shack dwellers.
Since then, the movement is still going strong with thousands of active members and supporters. But, it doesn’t change the fact that their communities are sometimes riddled with brutality, harassment, and arrests from police and other locals parties.
Marcus Garvey believed in black nationalism which encouraged black people to be separate from European society to maintain their identity. He has Inspired many people to excel and fend for themselves without “the white man’s help”. Which is quite similar to AbM’s ideology regarding the government.
Some of the criticisms the group has been that they don't listen to the authority of the city and that they are violent. AbM’s responded saying, "We have never called for violence. Violence is harm to human beings. Blockading a road is not violence."
Abahlali baseMjondolo to this day continues to fight against unethical evictions and other issues that oppress shack settlements. It understands the post-apartheid struggles, & I think Shack dwellers’ Union empowers the impoverished to take back their country from the oppressors. It’s one critical example of a society that will show the rest of the world how to run one better.
References:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Jamaica-hailed-for-role-in-anti-apartheid-fight_15633822
http://africasacountry.com/2013/03/marcus-garveys-africa/
http://www.lancerlibrary.org/heroes-of-the-apartheid-in-south-africa.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalism
to this day continues to fight against unethical evictions and other issues that oppress shack settlements.
https://www.cordaid.org/en/news/un-habitat-number-slum-dwellers-grows-863-million/