NWK Documenters is excited to interview one of our star documenters, Victor Enok Gavilanes! Victor is a dedicated housing rights activist and longtime Newark resident. In this interview, Victor shares his experiences from his life and organizing work. He emphasizes the importance of civic journalism and programs like NWK Documenters, which are: “...giving the people a voice, the opportunity to say what they have to say about what's happening in the communities that they live in”. 

How long have you been living in Newark?

I was born and raised in Newark. I'm 43 years old. I guess you could say I've been a resident of Essex County because I also spent time in Irvington.

What's your favorite thing about the city?

Diversity: the richness and culture. The History of Newark is just riveting – to know how impactful we've been as a people, a culture, and not just in Jersey but around the world.

I know you’re very active in the Newark community. Can you talk a little bit about the activism you do in Newark?

I was involved in activist work when I was younger, promoting a lot of Black and Brown unity. Over the years, it's kind of evolved into housing justice organizing and, in some ways, environmental justice. 

I work with families throughout Newark to prevent evictions, protect them, and educate them about their rights and how to be a responsible tenant. This also involves working alongside landlords who want to do the best thing for their tenants but are faced with so many struggles, whether it's having a bad tenant or just not having the right resources to help protect their tenants. A lot of good landlords who are from the city don't necessarily want to continue participating in the rent increases. They love the families that they rent to, but unfortunately, because of the lack of funding or resources, they need to do it. You know, taxes are rising — we're going through extreme development here in Newark and that's causing a lot of landlords to either sell their properties off to corporate buyers or raise their rent. It’s unfortunate for a lot of these renters who may have been in the city for generations.

Has housing advocacy made you look at the city differently?

It's made my perspective of both government and community very different, knowing that New Jersey has had a lot of conflicting policies that protect but also leave tenants vulnerable. It’s been a lot of red tape to work through, and a lot of history to build on. But Newark pushed to protect its residents, and New Jersey is probably one of the strongest states when it comes to tenants’ rights.

So, you know, those are good, but the bad is just knowing that so many of our communities are still coming out of oppression, right? We still have communities that are dealing with some light forms of segregation, some of them more on the mental tip than on the physical side. I mean, we still have redlining, right? That’s something that, in our generation and most likely in the next generation, is still gonna be impacting communities. You know, it breaks my heart in some ways, to see how many families have either been displaced or had to move because they just couldn't survive the changes that were happening in the city and our state. 

There are not that many people who spend as much time as you do in the community advocating for others. What do you think that drives you to do that?

The fact that there's not enough advocacy. Even as an organizer who’s involved with different organizations and just trying to be in the community as much as possible, I still find out about things last minute – like on the day of an event, or even towards the end of a program. There are things that residents can benefit from that are on the state level and on the county level – resources and policies that are meant to protect and help residents – but not enough residents know about these things, especially residents who are just moving into the city. Our immigrant population has been growing in this city, and they're just totally not aware of the rights that they have and the laws that are in place to protect them. 

So the drive for me is to be able to offer more awareness, to offer my service to protect the families from experiencing some of the hardships. I think that the thrill of it all is to know that I could take a resident from being homeless to being housed. It's so fulfilling. I mean, I've faced homelessness a few times in my life and I know that it's not easy. To know that you're able to create, or help create, some kind of foundation for those who are living through instability – it's a beautiful thing. 

How did you discover NWK Documenters?

NWK Documenters came up in a housing meeting – somebody mentioned that this program was coming to Newark. At the time, I was already doing some short-form civic journalism out of Newark Voices with the Newark Water Coalition. I had just started a civics class learning about what it is to be a civic journalist through Public Square Amplified, which is a local media source. So when I found out about the Documenters, I was just like, We all need to be a part of this!

How would you explain civic journalism to someone who knows nothing about it?

I always think of civic journalism as “news from the people for the people.” 

It's about being able to amplify the voices of the community. It’s an opportunity to talk about the issues from the perspective of the people, not from the politics, not from the media companies, but directly from us. For example, how we're impacted by the lack of funding, by the lack of resources, or by the changes in policies. That’s one of the things that bothers me when I think about larger media sources: that they often reference certain generalized sources over the voices of real individuals and communities. There are not enough people on the ground. That’s what civic journalism is to me: giving the people the voice, the opportunity to say what they have to say about what's happening in the communities that they live in.

How do you think the NWK Documenters program embodies civic journalism?

What is unique about the NWK Documenters program is the fact that it creates this archive of what happens in meetings, which not every resident may be aware of or able to get. NWK Documenters provides a unique opportunity to document everything that's being said, not our personal view of what's being said, but everything that's being talked about throughout the meeting – from what the administrations or associations are saying, to what the community is saying. NWK Documenters then provides this in a digital archive, so that regular residents throughout the city can tap into it. This goes hand in hand with civic journalism because it allows us as advocates to be there and bring the decisions that are being made in those meetings, to the community.

You now go to public meetings as a NWK Documenter, but you also used to attend as a citizen. Why is it important for community members to go to public meetings?

The more we are not involved in what's happening in our city or the government, the more the government is going to dictate what's needed for us, and the more the government is going to make decisions based on what they feel is needed for us. 

What people in our community understand is that the government works for the people. We're expecting our government to be truthful, and for us to rely on the system, we have to hear these things ourselves. We have to be attentive, know, and be involved in what's happening. If not, they're going to shape it the way they want to. A lot of laws are being passed under the radar, and what do we hear from our communities? People are saying, “Oh, we're not gonna be able to make a change,” or “Oh, no matter how much we're upset, they're not gonna listen to us.” The fact that the majority of folks are thinking like that and not being active in these meetings is the reason why these things are happening. It's in many ways by design. 

By being active and present, you can create the people power that's needed to stop certain decisions, oppose things that are being proposed in the city, and be a part of working with government and civic authorities to help guide how decisions should be made.

Has there been a moment during a public meeting that stands out to you? Maybe it moved you in some way or made you realize something.

I'm gonna take it to Terrell Holmes, which was a public housing site that I worked on. It was the first housing justice work that I jumped into here in the East Ward, the Ironbound, and North Newark. What inspired me was the way that the residents' tenant association from this particular site showed dedication and fearlessness in the face of all opposition. The way they’ve pushed back against the city of Newark. Even though it got closed down and demolished, the Terrel Holmes site caught the ear of people in Washington DC. They were able to invite the U.S. Housing Secretary at the time to Newark, tour through the property of Terrell Holmes, and talk about its future. 

The Terrell Holmes didn't fall apart and disappear. It still is in its struggle to ensure that redevelopment is completed and that 275 units of public housing families can have an opportunity to come live in this new location – which is going to look as luxurious as all these other new developments coming into the city. The tenants’ association of Terrell Holmes was a great example of how people who truly love their communities can fight back, and make something happen.

If someone asked you why they should join the NWK Documenters, what would you tell them?

Get involved in bringing that awareness because if you want to know what's going on, and you want to spread that news to your friends and neighbors, why not be involved? With NWKD, you can document what's happening in these meetings and be a part of the collective of people who are continuously bringing awareness to our communities so that we can give the power back to the people.

This kind of change takes knowledge, but that comes from us being able to gather that knowledge and place it in this digital archive. That's a real change agent right there. I think that's what NWK Documenters gives you – an opportunity to be a change agent.