Black Lives Matter Activists Chain Themselves To Cambridge City Hall In Housing Protest

August 31, 2016 4:00 PM

Black Lives Matter protesters chained themselves to the doors of Cambridge City Hall to protest rising housing prices. (Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio 1030)

CAMBRIDGE (CBS) — Four Black Lives Matter protesters chained themselves to the front doors of Cambridge City Hall Wednesday morning to protest the lack of affordable housing in the city.

As chants of “What do we want? Public housing! When do we want it? Now!” rang out, firefighters removed the four protesters from the doors.

The protesters were part of a larger rally in protest of what they say are skyrocketing housing prices in Cambridge.

“People are disappearing from the city of Cambridge,” said Stephanie, one of the protest organizers. “Our neighborhood is completely deprived of people of color, of low-income people. We had to take an extreme step, and this is how we are going to get them to listen.”

Right now, level of affordable housing in the city is around 12 percent.

“We want them to pledge 25 percent affordable housing,” Stephanie said. “We need more affordable housing in Cambridge. Gentrification has kicked out poor, low-income, immigrant, black people. We are demanding that we get to stay.”