Street Spirit Volume 16, No. 04 April 2010 $1.00 A publication of the American Friends Service Committee JUSTICE NEWS & HOMELESS BLUES IN THE B AY A REA Reclaiming Public Spaces, Resisting Sit/Lie Laws by Carol Harvey n Saturday, March 27, the flowering pink and cerulean- blue spring weather was absolutely glorious. To mark Othe passage into spring, Andy Blue and Nate Miller organized “Sidewalks Are For People,” a celebration of First Amendment rights of assembly in every San Francisco neighborhood. They urged citizens to help their neigh- bors reclaim public space on sunny San Francisco sidewalks. “In a few weeks, this may be something you’re not going to be able to do legally,” Blue cautioned. The citywide protests were organized in response to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to ban the acts of sitting or lying on public sidewalks anywhere in the city between the hours of 7:00 a.m, to 11:00 p.m. A friend bounced us in his big blue van from hill to hill. I videoed the bustling activity at four of 46 pre-arranged sites around the city where small groups of activists spoke out for the rights of poor and homeless people to be on city streets without fear of police repression. First site, 18th & Castro. Event orga- This homeless man is committing a crime under Mayor Newsom’s proposed sit/lie ordinance. The sit/lie law Robert L. Terrell nizers promised, “NO SIT/LIE Banner would ban homeless people from sitting or lying anywhere in San Francisco from early morning to late at night. photo Making, diagonal corner from Walgreens! NO SIT/LIE banner to hang outside your They combined forces with the Chamber home window or where ever! Friendly of Commerce, Committee on Jobs, Police queers here will provide paint, brushes, Chief George Gascón, and Mayor Newsom, sheets/banners and light snacks!” who, while walking with his infant daugh- Second site, 16th & Capp outside POOR ter through the Haight, allegedly spotted Magazine’s building, 12-2 p.m. Bring someone smoking crack. crayons, paint, markers to “Art Back the The sit/lie ordinance would enforce Land.” This event welcomed children, “public safety” by outlawing lying and elders, animals, and all beings known to sit sitting on city sidewalks with a series of or lie down at least once in their lives. escalating penalties: first a citation, next a Third site, 21st and Florida, Pirate Cat $400 to $500 fine and community service, Radio, broadcasting 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and finally, 30 days in jail. from the sidewalk in front of the cafe. Homeless advocates point out that Fourth site, wrap-up event at Castro blocking sidewalks, harassing passers-by, and Market. and harming others are acts already cov- ered by existing laws. The sit/lie measure GENESIS OF SIT/LIE PROPOSAL has become an exercise in overkill, yet Mayor Newsom rode into power eight another layer of redundant repression. Jewnbug, Poor Magazine poet, paints a banner in red, blue and yellow Carol Harvey years ago by stirring up a wave of anti- The sit/lie law would give police broad on a day of resistance to Newsom’s plan to criminalize homeless people. photo homeless repression. In March 2002, discretionary powers to use their “common Newsom first learned how to attack the sense” to differentiate between innocent and lie outside — biological necessities has been enacted,” he said, “it has basically poorest of the poor for political gain when people and criminals, and remove them without criminal intent. Sit/Lie laws from legalized discrimination against the most he championed twin anti-homeless mea- from public spaces. In an Orwellian maneu- 7:00 a.m, to 11:00 p.m. would harm already heavily marginalized members of sures — Care Not Cash, which drastically ver that Jennifer Friedenbach, director of homeless women who will be chased off our society,” like gay people, and black cut off General Assistance benefits to the the Coalition on Homelessness, calls “pre- by police simply because they attempt to people trying to integrate. poor and homeless, and a mean-spirited crime,” police could arrest at will those they sleep safely in the daylight. The proposed ordinance could also tar- anti-panhandling initiative. merely suspect of illegal acts. VIOLATION OF FIRST AMENDMENT get other marginalized groups, including disabled or elderly people who might Eight years later, Newsom is once At a hearing on March 10, San The sit/lie ordinance would render all need to sit and rest. again attempting to further his quest for Francisco Youth Commissioner San Franciscans potential criminals for Even though Mayor Newsom says the higher office by backing an aggressive De’Anthony Jones said that enabling police the passive, nonviolent act of sitting or sit/lie ordinance doesn’t target homeless new crackdown on homeless people, the to use their “discretion” in this way among lying on sidewalks. During the protest people, it was proposed directly in sit/lie proposal, which would make it a a community’s low-income and homeless events on March 27, San Franciscans response to complaints about homeless crime for homeless people to sit down or citizens makes him “cringe inside.” expressed through music, art, and speech people, and will be enforced solely rest or relax on a city sidewalk. The proposed sit/lie ordinance would their awareness of their constitutionally against people living on the street. A group of Haight-Ashbury residents, violate the First Amendment rights of free guaranteed right to assemble. It is nothing short of Orwellian double- characterizing themselves as grass-roots expression and assembly, and the 14th Many newspapers that covered the speak to deny that the sit/lie law is aimed activists, began complaining about Haight Amendment right to equal protection. The protest quoted citizens insisting that sit/lie at homeless people when it was carefully Street “thugs.” Abetted by the bitter constitutional rights of homeless people laws would undermine San Francisco’s and deliberately designed to give police attacks on homeless people by San would be disproportionately impacted. values and tradition of compassion. the power to criminalize homeless people. Francisco Chronicle columnist C.W. Our legal system is structured so one On March 15, “Lonnie” of the Homeless Even without an “oppressive” sit/lie Nevius, they alleged that “gutter punks” cannot accidentally commit a crime. A Youth Alliance, addressed a hearing on the law, Kyle, a homeless street youth, said were terrorizing business owners who disorganized shelter allocation system sit/lie law held by the Youth feared retaliation. forces unhoused San Franciscans to sit Commissioners. “Every time a law like this See Reclaiming the Public Spaces page 8 2 S TREET S PIRIT April 2010 Berkeley Officials Act to Terminate Public Housing once they are privatized. “I, for one, would encourage Based on a BHA timeline schedule to more organization among dispose of Berkeley’s public housing, it’s expected that the BHA will execute a dis- Berkeley’s tenant popula- position and development agreement tion to strongly oppose these (DDA) between BHA and one or more selected affordable housing developers, draconian measures.” sometime in July 2010. — Eleanor Walden, former Commissioner According to the timeline, the DDA is of Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board expected to take place directly after all the public housing residents are displaced by Lynda Carson from their longtime public housing. n April 2009, the Berkeley Housing Officials hope that the 90 Day Notices Authority (BHA) hired a consulting expected to be served in April will have firm, EJP/Praxis, to develop a strate- the desired effect and frighten the elderly, gic plan to assess options for what to poor and disabled residents out of their Ido with the BHA’s public housing units. longtime housing, on behalf of those The possibilities under study included the interested in grabbing Berkeley’s public option to dispose of the BHA’s 75 public housing units from the poor. housing units through the Housing and In May 2007, Berkeley Mayor Tom Urban Development (HUD) disposition Bates appointed ICF International (ICFI) process; the option to continue with its Vice President Carole Norris to a four-year public housing program; or to seek other term as the chairperson of the BHA Board options to meet the goals of the BHA. of Commissioners. She remains as BHA These proposals were outlined in a July Art by Christa Occhiogrosso chairperson today, despite the fact that she 3, 2009, report titled, “Berkeley Housing is still a vice president and consultant with Authority LIPH/RHCP Strategic Plan,” ICFI, providing consultations and services prepared by EJP Consulting Group LLC, “The objectives of the BHA are to run poor black people to city governments interested in disposing for the BHA. out of Berkeley under the thinly veiled guise of urban of their public housing programs. Out of these options, the Berkeley ICFI offers consultations on how to Housing Authority chose to strike a death- renewal. This is nothing short of ethnic and economic conduct urban renewal projects in Bay blow against public housing in Berkeley. cleansing.” — Berkeley public housing tenant Keith Carlisle Area low-income communities, displacing The BHA has chosen to dispose of its thousands of the poor from their homes public housing units, and dislocate the units, and the families have been there for The nearly $1,000,000 in inflated fig- and communities in the process. Norris public housing residents, who are over- a very long time, according to BHA staff, ures being used in the public relations cam- directed the BHA through the whole whelmingly poor and African-American. who noted that no one has moved in paign by BHA officials, reveals what the process leading up to the plan to dump In an effort to kill its public housing pro- recent memory, except for three families public housing residents are up against by Berkeley’s poor residents from their pub- gram, and sell the properties to nonprofit who moved due to evictions. In addition, those willing to do whatever it takes to grab lic housing, in order to sell the properties developers, the BHA filed a Disposition except for three rental units needing reno- Berkeley’s public housing (75 three- and to a nonprofit housing developer. Plan (inventory removal plan) with HUD vation, Berkeley’s 75 public housing units four-bedroom townhouses) from the poor. A long trail of existing documentation around Dec. 31, 2009. HUD is expected to are fully occupied, according to the report. These townhouses are free of debt, reveals that Bates may have appointed approve the disposition plan by early April. It is expected that the residents will thanks to a special Title 1 Grant provided ICF International Vice President Carole Based upon information provided by the start receiving 90 Day Notices to move by HUD, and used to build the housing Norris to a four-year term as the Chair BHA to the consultants, nearly 72.9 percent sometime in April, directly after HUD back in the 1980s, along with help from Commissioner of the Berkeley Housing of its public housing tenants earn less than gives approval to dispose of Berkeley’s additional funding from the City of Authority, for the purpose of annihilating $30,000 annually. Additionally, 86.5 per- public housing units. Berkeley, and elsewhere. Berkeley homes Berkeley’s public housing program. cent of the BHA’s public housing residents In response to the plight of Berkeley’s are very expensive, and the 75 townhous- Lynda Carson may be reached at ten- identify themselves as Black/African- public housing tenants, Eleanor Walden es are worth a fortune on the open market, [email protected] American; 11.2 percent identify themselves said, “It’s reprehensible that in Berkeley, a as white, and 2.2% as Asian. city in the forefront of social justice move- The BHA only makes around $607 per ments, that the citizens would not rise up BHA Fails to Tell Tenants Their Rights month from federal subsidies, including against the dishonesty of the greed of the Tenants have the right not to be evicted when residential rent collected from the tenants for a three- developers and their influence on the BHA. housing is sold — and this law also applies to the BHA to four-bedroom public housing unit. I for one, would encourage more organiza- In recent weeks, the BHA’s consultants tion among Berkeley’s tenant population to by Lynda Carson However, when doing so, the BHA have been carrying out discussions and strongly oppose these draconian measures.” failed to inform public housing residents interviews with local nonprofit develop- Walden is the former Commissioner of When the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) recently served notice that it is illegal for landlords to evict their ers, property managers and funders to test Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board. residents when selling occupied residen- the feasibility of BHA plans to rid itself of Public housing tenant Keith Carlisle of its plan to sell Berkeley’s public hous- ing units, it failed to inform public hous- tial buildings in Berkeley, and that this its public housing units, and to see who said that anyone, dead or living, “clearly law also applies to the BHA. would be interested in buying and manag- can see the objectives of the BHA, which ing residents that they are protected by Berkeley’s good cause rent laws. These Records reveal that two informational ing Berkeley’s public housing units. are to run poor black people out of meetings were held by the BHA on Nov. These discussions included Ryan Chao, Berkeley under the thinly veiled guise of rent laws state that it is not a good cause to evict, when a landlord (including the 3, 2009, at the South Berkeley Senior director of Satellite Housing; Dan Sawislak, urban renewal. This is nothing short of Center, where public housing residents director of Resources for Community ethnic and economic cleansing.” BHA) wants to sell an occupied residen- tial rental property in Berkeley. were informed about the BHA’s plan to Development; Susan Friedland and Angela The BHA operates at a loss of sell all its 75 public housing units, and Cavanaugh of Affordable Housing $106,000 annually as of July 2009, and it In addition, the BHA did not inform public housing residents that they have displace the residents from their longtime Associates; Jack Gardner, President and needs around $3.6 million in hard-cost homes as a direct result. CEO of the John Stewart Company; improvements for it 75 public housing the right to refuse to sign anything that materially changes the terms of their In the minutes from those public Margaret Schrand, VP and Manager of units, according to a report on BHA’s meetings, it was recorded that public Wells Fargo Bank, Community Lending strategic plan prepared by EJP Consulting existing contracts, such as giving up their rights as public housing tenants. housing tenants said that they believe Division; and Christine Daniel, Berkeley Group, LLC on July 2009. they are being kicked out of their public Deputy City Manager. By comparison, a BHA public relations In late December 2009, the Berkeley Housing Authority filed a disposition housing by the efforts to gentrify According to the consultant’s report, pamphlet, sent to Berkeley’s public hous- Berkeley, that they were victims of the serious concerns were expressed by those ing residents and the public in November plan with HUD to announce that the BHA intends to terminate its public previous council, that their rights are interviewed who are worried about the 2009, stated, “The BHA’s 75 scattered- being violated, and that they do not trust ability for a new owner or property man- site units are old and have extensive repair housing program, and sell its occupied public housing units to a developer. the Berkeley Housing Authority. ager to successfully carry out lease needs, which will require over $4.5 mil- Tenant activists are now questioning enforcement in the Berkeley setting. lion in direct ‘hard costs’ alone to address. To fulfill a federal disposition require- ment, BHA officials had sent a notice and why the legal aid organizations that are Those interviewed said they believed that The BHA is losing over $150,000 a year supposed to defend the rights of low- Berkeley’s public housing residents are to operate its public housing. The money information packet on Oct. 27, 2009, to public housing residents, including a income tenants have not yet acted to alert highly politicized and organized. that the BHA receives from HUD contin- public housing residents that it is illegal Those responding to the consultants ues to be reduced each year.” brochure entitled “Berkeley Housing Authority Preservation Plan — Questions for landlords to evict in Berkeley when also mentioned the potential political and There is a difference of nearly one mil- trying to sell their residential buildings, financial risks to their organizations if lion dollars between what it states in the and Answers.” By doing so, the BHA legally informed public housing residents even when the landlord is the BHA. they were to take on such a high-profile high-priced consultants report — which Tenants should also be informed by and challenging redevelopment scheme. was based on information provided to of the plan to sell public housing units to a developer. The BHA also mentioned that these legal organizations that they do not Berkeley’s public housing tenants are them by the BHA — in comparison to the have to sign anything if they do not want now facing displacement and eviction as a Berkeley Housing Authority’s public rela- all public housing residents would be dis- placed from their homes, as a direct result to, regarding the BHA’s plan to sell all of direct result of the consultants’ findings. tions campaign to terminate Berkeley’s Berkeley’s public housing units. There is very little turnover of the housing public housing program. of the plan to sell public housing. April 2010 S TREET S PIRIT 3 Tobacco Industry: “Give me your homeless, your poor...”

Berkeley’s proposal for A Paper Sack smoking restrictions in by Joan Clair There’s a large paper sack multi-unit housing is the on a bus stop bench; tobacco industry’s dream. it’s crumpled and broken, and looks like the end. There's a form in the sack, by Carol Denney not clearly seen, hen I first saw Berkeley’s draft a shadow in a dream, proposal for smoking restric- a shadow in the way tions in multi-unit housing, I of a nice, clean day; W a human form in a huge paper cup, couldn’t believe the loopholes. The proposal exempts condos and ten- crumpled, discarded, given up. ant-in-common properties. What will lift him up? It offers opt-out options for those who What will lift us up wish to continue smoking in their units. to a point beyond dream, It refuses to identify secondhand to a point beyond discard, smoke, which kills more than 50,000 non- to a point beyond clean, smokers a year, as a nuisance, and sug- beyond uniform sunniness gests smoking sections, which most peo- enforced by "the haves?" ple know are a joke if the goal is clean air. The tobacco industry targets homeless and mentally dis- Does the sun wear a badge? It is a tobacco industry’s dream. abled people the same way it targets other marginalized What kind of life has this person had? I wondered where the weaknesses in the proposal had come from, and was told groups by donating free cigarettes to shelters and psychi- that the 10 percent smoking sections were atric clinics and encouraging the clinics and transitional necessary to address social justice needs. How Not to Think of Well, I like social justice! I read housing groups to oppose smoking restrictions. These through several years of committee meet- by Sue Ellen Pector ing minutes and saw that the proposal’s A minority of 450 estimated formerly Tobacco Smoke (ETS), as “an airborne weaknesses were based on several myths: homeless, mentally disabled smokers are toxic substance that may cause and/or What, America, do you think of 1. A concern that there would be a rash being academically used to set up smok- contribute to death or serious illness.” The ones you hide in dark corners, of evictions in the wake of smoking ing sections in nearly seven times more decision to list secondhand smoke as a tucked aside for the duration; restrictions, even though no evidence of housing than is needed to specifically Toxic Air Contaminant was based on a the none-too-pretty, not for flaunting, this exists. house them, assuming for argument’s sake comprehensive report on the health effects too blatantly hungry, angry, lost, for 2. A concern that formerly homeless that they truly could not step outside, of exposure to ETS. bragging? people would be barred from transitional thereby saddling the town with smoking Other cities have taken this step, and it Faced with ones you’ve locked away, housing because they smoked, even sections which are being abandoned is simply cowardly for the City of lost in shame, though smokefree housing only means nationwide as a pointless joke. Berkeley to stop short at the word “nui- how not to think of these? smokers step outside to smoke, something Berkeley deserves to lose its leadership sance,” calling secondhand smoke a Distract, dissemble, all smokers in California do anyway in role in public health policy if it thinks one “health hazard” (as the current staff pro- delete? workplaces, restaurants, etc. can put a smoking section in a room, a posal does as of this writing), leaving the 3. A concern that formerly homeless theater, or multi-unit housing, and still legal burden on low-income tenants with smokers with mental disabilities will be call it “smokefree.” Ninety percent minimal resources, who would be forced LET IT BE somehow less able to step outside to smokefree is a contradiction in terms. to try to sue each other. by Claire J. Baker smoke, so that “smoking” units need to be It’s tragic to lay a foundation for young The written comments of the Rent set aside for them, even though there is no children to continue to be exposed daily to Stabilization Board’s lawyers, in particu- In the changing skies evidence of this — on the contrary, studies deadly second and thirdhand smoke lar, document the embarrassing lack of of circumstance show that people with mental disabilities because of Berkeley’s misguided mythol- information among Berkeley staff regard- let us be like are as capable of adjusting to smoking ogy about “social justice” — a myth ing the science of exposure, legal issues flocks of birds restrictions as anybody else. hatched by the tobacco industry. related to secondhand and thirdhand guiding each other It’s true that homeless people have a The tobacco industry once created a smoke, and especially the current science by touching wings. high rate of smoking, but it is no accident. special brand of cigarettes targeting regarding smoking among homeless and The tobacco industry targets homeless and homeless and mentally disabled people. mentally ill populations. mentally disabled people the same way it Perhaps it’s time to launch a special The tobacco industry doesn’t have to targets other marginalized groups by Berkeley brand called “Irony.” specifically bribe legislators at a commis- New Mailing Address donating free cigarettes to shelters and About 44 percent of the tobacco indus- sion, committee, or city council level to Street Spirit psychiatric clinics and encouraging the try’s profits come from first addicting, continue its lucrative and deadly mission. AFSC clinics and transitional housing groups to then selling to mentally disabled people. It can count on having a bedrock of disin- 65 Ninth Street, oppose smoking restrictions. Researchers and practitioners such as Dr. formation and false rhetoric it has careful- San Francisco, CA 94103 It targets the services providers as well, Davida Coady of Options Recovery in ly ladled into our thinking about disen- many of whom are formerly homeless, in Berkeley and Dr. Norval Hickman of franchised groups, about race, and about the hope that they will help the tobacco UCSF are working to put an end to the health to sideline science-based policy. industry position itself in the public eye as mythology about underserved and under- Our brothers, our sisters, our husbands, Street Spirit compassionate, generous and kind. studied homeless and mentally ill popula- wives, children and friends, especially in Street Spirit is published by American The difference is that when the tobacco tions and smoking. their times of crisis, are its prime targets. Friends Service Committee. The ven- industry targets the gay community, or the Secondhand smoke needs to be officially Berkeley’s Community Health dor program is run by BOSS (Building African-American community, people recognized as a nuisance so that low- Commission has stepped forward to rec- Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency). jump up and down and object. Targeting income tenants can rely on their existing ommend strengthening the current propos- Editor, Layout: Terry Messman homeless and mentally disabled people in leases to request abatement from their land- al so that 100 percent of the people cur- this way gets little such reaction. On the lords. This is not much to ask, considering rently living in multi-unit housing are pro- Contributors: David Bacon, Claire J. contrary, tobacco industry rhetoric and that the California Air Resources Board tected from deadly secondhand smoke. Baker, Jack Bragen, Buford Buntin, mythology is prevalent in the discussions (ARB) designated secondhand smoke as a Encourage the Berkeley City Council Lynda Carson, Joan Clair, Carol of this embarrassing proposal, which side- Toxic Air Contaminant. to adopt the Health Commission’s recom- Denney, Lydia Gans, Carol Harvey, steps the opportunity to protect countless The ARB now officially identifies sec- mendations, so that the next generation Judy Jones, March for California’s lungs and lives. ondhand smoke, or Environmental can breathe healthy, smokefree air. Future, Christa Occhiogrosso, Sue Ellen Pector, Maria Salgado, Robert L. Terrell All works copyrighted by the authors. Donate or Subscribe to Street Spirit! The views expressed in Street Spirit arti- Street Spirit is published by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Homeless vendors receive 50 papers a day, earn cles are those of the individual authors income and find a job providing a positive alternative to panhandling, and educate the community about social justice issues. Please alone, not necessarily those of the AFSC. donate or subscribe to Street Spirit ! Help us remain an independent voice for justice! Street Spirit welcomes submissions of ❒ I enclose $25 for one year's subscription. articles, poems, photos and art, but can- not guarantee they will be published. ❒ I enclose a donation of ❒ $100 ❒ $50 ❒ $ 25 April 2010 Contact: Terry Messman Send Donations to: Name: ______Street Spirit AFSC Address: ______65 Ninth Street, 65 Ninth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 San Francisco, CA 94103 City: ______State:______Zip: ______E-mail: [email protected] 4 S TREET S PIRIT April 2010 A March for Schools, Justice—and California’s Future On the long road to Sacramento, marchers encounter the desolation of poverty by David Bacon TULARE, CA — As the March for California’s Future heads up the San Joaquin Valley towards Sacramento, par- ticipants are coming up hard against the reality of the economic crisis in rural California. The march began in Bakersfield, the day after widespread protests swept through the state’s schools and universities on March 4. It is a protest against the impact of state budget cuts on education and social services, and marchers are finding that Valley communities are among those that feel their effects most strongly. “Watsonville has a 27 percent unem- ployment rate,” says Jenn Laskin, a teacher at Renaissance Continuation High School there. “It’s the strawberry capital of the world, and strawberries are a luxu- ry. In a recession, people stop buying them, so workers no longer have a job in the fields. I have many students who have both parents out of work, who grow food in our school garden for their families.” But in the Central Valley, she thinks, things seem worse. “The towns we’ve been passing through feel a lot more deso- late,” Laskin explains. Those include the small farmworker communities of Shafter, This painting is the official graphic of the March for California’s Future. See their website: http://www.fight4cafuture.com McFarland, Delano, Pixley and Tulare. “I see a lot of fields with nothing plant- of public education is the motivator keep- immigrants, with as much right to the get a job, and achieving our goals, they ed at all. I was in a Mexican restaurant in ing Laskin, and the march’s other California dream as anybody. He gives tell you, ‘You’re not going to make it.’” Pixley and there was not a Mexican in Watsonville participant, Emmanuelle credibility to this march.” What Ballesteros sees as he walks sight. The problems I see in Watsonville Ballesteros, walking from one town to the In Delano, the marchers saw the four makes him angry. “But I’m turning it into might even be sharper here. I see more next. As the youngest marcher at 21, prisons that have replaced farm labor as something positive. This march might need here, and I’m guessing probably Ballesteros says he’s doing it especially the community’s major source of employ- make a little bit of change here.” fewer services.” for the youth and students of his commu- ment. Seeing watchtowers and walls Laskin says education cuts have She’s not far off. The official unem- nity. topped by razor wire brought the contra- reduced the number of school nurses in ployment rate in December in Kern “In Watsonville, they’re overcrowding dictions home for Ballesteros. Watsonville to seven, for 19,000 students, County was 16 percent. Since Bakersfield, classes,” he charges. “Fewer classes, with “Delano and Watsonville are puro and eliminated school psychologists and a major urban area, has a lower rate, more students, discourage youth because Latino,” he explains. “The families are counselors, music and art. “Sports have towns like Shafter and McFarland have they need the help. Now there’s none.” poor, doing farm labor. Now they’re become pay to play,” she says, “which even more jobless. Crossing into Kings Ballesteros suffered from that himself. building more prisons in California than means that students who are talented and and Tulare Counties, unemployment “He was pushed out of the system,” schools, and there are more Blacks and don’t have the money lose the opportuni- jumps to over 17 percent in each. Laskin charges. “I feel like Manny is the Mexicans inside those prisons. For young See March for California’s Future page 7 The march’s call to restore the promise reason we’re marching. He is a child of people like me, instead of being able to Put Poverty In The Past My Wheelchair Can’t Hold Me 2010 Berkeley Poverty & Homelessness Symposium Back, But Budget Cuts Can Hosted by The Suitcase Clinic and Cal Habitat for Humanity by Maria Salgado, as told to David to go back to school. Bacon I started taking English as a Second When: Sunday, April 11, from 4-8 p.m. Language classes at the Bakersfield he March for California’s Future Adult School. To get to school, I rode began in Bakersfield, where hun- Where: Pauley Ballroom, University of California-Berkeley two buses. I had to take morning and dreds of teachers and education T evening classes to get the 200 credits activists rallied to condemn the impact of What: Speakers and Round-Table Discussions over dinner required for a diploma. The outcome: a budget cuts and fee increases on stu- about the issues of health, representation, education, and 4.00 GPA. On June 6, 2003, I received dents. As the march winds its way up the housing that affect our homeless community! my high school diploma with honors, and San Joaquin Valley, Maria Salgado, an was one of three guest speakers. immigrant student in Bakersfield, told Cost: Free! Then I volunteered as a math tutor to her story to David Bacon of the way fee help other students. At the same time, I increases are denying her the education also took classes for a receptionist certifi- This symposium she’s struggled for years to get. on poverty and cate, so that I could begin to support Maria Salgado: I was born in myself. At first, it was very difficult homelessness will Oaxaca, Mexico, in a family of 11. To being a full-time student, but I always offer keynote survive, all of us had to help grow corn tried to be positive and committed. I have speakers, an art and beans, and take care of goats and physical disabilities and am confined to a gallery and food! cows. There was not enough money to wheelchair, but I will not let it be an continue with our education, so all nine obstacle to achieving a higher education. children only finished the sixth grade. Then, in August 2003, I started Keynote speakers: We just learned to read and write. Those attending Bakersfield College. I managed Kriss Worthington, economic hardships meant that I could to borrow or buy used books to keep up Berkeley City not continue my education there. with assignments. It took five years, but I Council; Elisabeth In 1998, when I was seventeen, I took all the classes needed for an Wilson, MD, UCSF came to this country with my younger Associate of Arts degree in mathematics Family Medicine; sister, looking for a better future. I began and business administration. The math by working in a Mexican restaurant, but Osha Neumann, department even made me a Department after two months, I had a car accident on Award Recipient, and recognized me for attorney, East Bay our way home from a picnic that left me outstanding student achievement in Community Law Ctr. paraplegic. With no education or other mathematics. It is challenging to reach a Suitcase Clinic volunteers wash the Lydia Gans work skills, I stayed home for a year, photo high GPA, but with dedication and perse- feet of poor women, a beautiful image reflecting on what to do with my life. I of service to others. did not speak any English, so I decided See My Wheelchair Can’t Hold Me page 7 April 2010 S TREET S PIRIT 5 She Served the Silenced Ones Forgotten by Society Because so many of the poor on this earth What I found was a very are women, it appears to me, that the key humble women who had to empowering them is for us to unite — reaching out across the globe, making cer- chosen to live as the poorest tain that no woman nor child ever goes of the poor in order that without food, shelter, and proper medical care, which is the first step in being able they would understand she to become economically secure. not only loved them, but she Mother Teresa often said that it is the took on their burdens. job of each and every one of us to be holy; and that holiness can only be claimed when we share the heartbeats, by Judy Jones thoughts, wishes and needs of every “When a saint calls, surrender!” woman on this earth. worked around the world with She said that we must live our lives Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India. always with the thought: “My Mothers, And I painted a portrait of her to My Sisters, I hear your cries, I see your share with all — one of the greatest needs. You and I together will reach the Isouls to have graced earth. top of the mountain, of this I am certain.” Women and children were those most Thank, you Blessed Mother Teresa, for often seeking food and shelter at Mother teaching me that without the walk, our Teresa’s houses. There was a huge eco- talk is meaningless. nomic divide and the silent voices of those hidden from most eyes and ears, Swollen Aching Feet would knock on the doors of the Missionaries of Charity, after being evict- by Judy Jones ed from their homes, going through last night i had a dream domestic violence issues, and from lack which today came true of medical care. not one person As I held one homeless woman after died homeless another, dying of AIDS in my arms in our on cold concrete streets nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., I knew that I would use my gifts for the rest of my everyone had a pillow life, shedding light on the plight of women on which to lay and children around the world who had not their precious heads been given food, shelter, clothing and med- there were angels ical aid — those who have been denied the dressed in white basic right of all human beings: to live and A painting of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, by Judy Jones. oh so tenderly die with dignity. washing their Mother Teresa never asked questions. women and children hope, love and a safe tor’s arm, saying, “I want to talk with swollen aching feet Instead, she lovingly offered open hearts, home, if for only one night, and to die you.” Her doctor turned around as Mother and beings of supernatural light arms and doors. The open door meant that with dignity. continued to speak: “I want you to start an were at their sides the women would have one night of free- There was no religion involved as I ambulance service for the poorest of the nourishing their bodies dom from the violence that takes the life traveled with Mother around the world. poor in this city. They have none.” minds and spirit-souls of the most vulnerable amongst us, home- Instead, what I found was simply a very The doctor, a female, said, “I will do for they had finally less woman and children. humble women who had chosen to live as anything you wish, Mother.” found a home Women are raped and murdered every the poorest of the poor in order that they I was not surprised that Mother Teresa second around the world and, more often would understand she not only loved would spend her last breath getting help suddenly my soul then not, buried nameless. Because they them, but she took on their burdens. for the poor. What surprised me was that took flight were born female, in many parts of the The last time I was with Mother Teresa, in all her travels around the world, she straight into heaven’s doors globe, this means they are second-class she was on her knees praying on a hard- would know that in this small city, there it did soar citizens and have no rights. wood floor in her chapel, which connected was no ambulance service for the poor. and i could see clearly Yes, we are evolving, but much too to a soup kitchen and medicine dispensary She seemed to know at every second the that the homeless person slowly. Some countries murder female for the poor. She had just been released needs of the less fortunate. living and dying babies, as they are thought of as a burden from the hospital the day before from heart I watched as a tiny, elderly woman put on earth’s coldest concrete streets to society. Mother Teresa tried for years surgery. She was in her eighties. her talk into her walk, using her last was my father mother to open homes in these countries, often to After mass had ended, Mother leaped moment on this earth to continue to serve sister and brother no avail. Her only desire was to offer up from the floor and grabbed her doc- those that society chooses to forget. and me

THE SIDEWALK (after a Robert L. Terrell photo in the Street Spirit) by Claire J. Baker A black-white-gray closeup of a basket lady shot at a telling angle — dirty sidewalk tilted way up, concrete crashing toward where a woman sits on a towel, leaning against a window frame with blackened pane — her past? Plastic water, bag-like purse beside her. Shoved in basket the word HELP over a crucifix — propped cardboard message ending in GOD BLESS half-hiding her foot — tennis shoes clean, sport clothes good quality. Another housewife beaten, booted, given a Begging Basket? And (pardon) where in God's name is God? Meanwhile, the sidewalk is falling. And she (whoever she is) sadly is in the way.

Left, photo of homeless woman sitting on San Francisco sidewalk by Robert Terrell 6 S TREET S PIRIT April 2010 Between Two Worlds Art by Christa Occhiogrosso The security guard will stand watch. A chill races down my spine as the coordinator instructs us to prevent any- one from receiving too much food. I try to devise ways to sneak extra rations to people. by Sue Ellen Pector Weavers. Every night, I turned on Pete “Hello Pastor, I want to volunteer to Seeger’s record with the story-song help at the free meals for hungry people.” “Abiyoyo,” and Pete lulled me to sleep. I So began my telephone conversation studied Marxism in college and learned with the pastor. I ventured a question about class inequality — in theory. about a recent experience, but first he lis- My family and I assumed I’d be a pro- tened to me tell the story... fessional or run my own business. First I The six-month stretch in 2001 would tried and failed repeatedly as an entrepre- be the first time I didn’t have enough neur, and then failed repeatedly (with a money for both groceries and rent. So I few notable exceptions) as an employee. paid the rent and went to the local food I recall another occasion, waiting in a pantries for bags of groceries, typically courtyard of a different church for a meal comprised of spoiled produce, sugared in a crowd of one hundred people. The and salt-laden canned foods and cookies. leader eventually brought us inside and I also ate free meals served at local said a prayer, expecting our participation. Finally, they served a mediocre meal, but not before he churches and synagogues for people in Surprising my every secular molecule, need. It’s no coincidence that my food and evidently channeling my eight-year- wound around to saying his long prayer with the unmis- allergies began at that time. old, summer-camp self, I silently takable implication that we were at fault for our hunger. I remember one evening at a church, I launched into, “Ha motzi lechem min ha’aretz. We walked down a few flights of stairs with She addresses me in a syrupy tone, Before inviting people in to eat, the 50 other hungry people into a long, nar- give thanks to God for bread. Our voices join in happy chorus as our prayer is “You have a place to live now!” coordinator checks that everything is ready. row room with a low ceiling and inade- “I always had a place to live. I was The security guard will stand watch. A chill quate ventilation. There were neatly humbly said. Baruch atah Adonai elo- heynu melech ha’ olam ha motzi lechem hungry but not homeless.” races down my spine as the coordinator arranged tables with bench seating. Another woman speaks to me with an instructs us to prevent anyone from receiv- Hungry and frustrated, I waited, inhaling min ha’ aretz. Amen” Next, I found myself mumbling this edge to her voice, “So, you wanted to give ing too much food. I try to devise ways to the aroma of food from afar. In this crowd back and that’s why you’re here?” sneak extra rations to people. there were varying levels of anger, resig- prayer-song at a barely audible volume. My courage waned, I dared not peek to see if “No, I don’t think of it that way. I Centering myself, I focus on the Jewish nation and grief. think that for this country to have a congregants I am volunteering with. I bring There was a core group that had been any emotions registered on nearby faces. Sitting in my living room now, talking hunger problem is obscene and I want to to mind our common immigrant ancestors, eating here for a long time. I came to this do something about it.” impoverished, hungry, Eastern European as a stranger, in many senses. Raised on the telephone with the pastor, I am astonished that he listens to me. Genuine A woman rushes into the room Jews. I wonder if any of us can understand upper middle class, it was alarming to be announcing, “I need a volunteer with a our ancestors’ fear and hunger. in such need; for a vegetarian, this food listening is rare. People wait, catch on to the cadence of my speech, then cut me off. strong back to move heavy furniture to Just before she lets the poor people in was a far cry from my norm; as a Jew, I block off the bathrooms.” to eat, the coordinator leads the volunteers was uncomfortable in churches; as a white Now that I’ve told the pastor my story, I venture my question: “Do you know “Why must bathrooms be barricaded?” in brief prayer: Baruch atah Adonai elo- person, I stood out in stark contrast “So we’ll only have to disinfect one henu melech ha’olam ha motzi lechem amongst people of color. which church says that reproachful prayer?” bathroom later.” min ha’aretz. Amen. That night my lover held me close, lis- I take a deep breath and hold my I inhale slowly, sending my breath tened and reminded me that I deserved “I don’t know,” he replies. His tone is pensive. tongue. Nervously, I make a plan to get deep into my belly. I lick a tear from my food — no two ways about it. through this. As each person comes to me lip and exhale. As the fifty of us awaited food, the “It is not right to pray to a captive audi- in the food serving line, I’ll try to make Thanks to my Aunt, Maxine May, J.R. leader spoke at mind-numbing length about ence. It is enough that a meal is served.” This afternoon, I’m volunteering at the genuine contact. I’ll look into her eyes, and E.D.P. who listened to me read this upcoming events at his church. Eventually, greet her and bid her enjoy her food. memoir and encouraged me to publish it. they served a mediocre meal, but not before same synagogue where I ate meals not so he wound around to saying his long prayer long ago. Five women bustle about the with the unmistakable implication that we small kitchen, preparing chicken, beans, EVERY MONDAY First of the Month rice, tortillas and salad, as well as ready- were at fault for our hunger. by Claire J. Baker by Buford Buntin ing fancy, donated desserts. The aroma is Perhaps a bit of background about me Bless the woman who In not that long is useful here. My parents each grew up enchanting. I introduce myself. I am greeted and rapidly given the task of calls herself "Angel" of a line somewhere on the spectrum between poor and plays the harp we wait patiently, standing and working class. As the children of rolling plastic utensils into paper napkins, to do alone in the large, empty dining at an East Bay med clinic on urine-filled cement poor, Eastern European, Jewish immi- as the yellow-jacketed room. I think about the hungry folks wait- Clients entering or leaving grants, my parents were leftists. security guard ing that interminably long time in the believe they have gone to I am the youngest of three children. with the expensively large yard while we prepare their meal. heaven, that conditions/ When I was born, my parents were just braided hair holds As the only non-congregant volunteer- diseases are naggings starting their own small business. It on to meal tickets remained a small (union) shop, successful ing, I am the odd girl out. I do my task as of the past instructed. I look around this room that to give to us. There enough that my family shifted from middle They buy coffee at I’d once eaten in ravenously. Little has are faint screams to upper middle class during my childhood. Bear Claw cafe, sit near changed about the room. I feel myself in the background. I grew up listening to the music of the harpist; coffee steam pulled into the scene in my memory. "My social worker told me Malvina Reynolds, Woody Guthrie, Paul circles their heads like halos, Back then, as I hiked up the steep hill she can't increase Robeson, Ronnie Gilbert and The like auras with attitudes. to the synagogue, my arthritic back and my monthly allotment. neck objected painfully. Then, as I await- I can barely walk," Journeyed Through Me ed a meal in the huge courtyard, the hun- a man with a dark blue gry crowd felt enormous and intimidating THIS TIME baseball cap says. by Sue Ellen Pector to me. Too well dressed to fit in unno- by Claire J. Baker “Where will you sleep tonight?” A ticed, I’d felt guilty, shy, humiliated. Brave, brazen in an attic room stranger at the free meal for hungry Reading a book or writing to my aunt of loneliness, she reaches ‘Street Remote’ folks asked, he, sitting in his car, I, for comfort, during the tedious wait, set far out, runs her hands along by Claire J. Baker standing beside it, in line, awaiting the me apart; but I hadn’t the right stories to its walls, finds them warm, bathroom at this synagogue, prior to our swap or the inner calm to engage any- spongy, unthreatening. Her feet Wish we could mercifully free meal. one’s attention. sink into a plush carpet. point a "street remote" My answer journeyed through me, We finally ate, sitting on the grass or Windows curtained in yellow at all the homeless — press “Yes, you can ask that, no, I won’t on folding chairs. I watched two people silk let in golden light. for them the escape button, answer.” squirrel away some food and feed it to beam them to a haven Later as I stood in still another line their doggie, who sat contentedly among She believes this room anchors in calm suburban heaven for a second serving, a different man lis- us, melting my heart. one of many heavenly homes, near the evening star. tened to me talking with people. When Volunteering at the synagogue now, I that she can invite people for tea The rest of the journey the volunteers spooned food onto our feel lost. Two women join me, from their and they will come carrying would depend upon plates in the long assembly line, he gave tasks in another room. One hears me say crumpets, kindness, smiles. how fast, how far — me his chicken. My bewilderment fled, that I’ve come to volunteer now after hav- Yes, she whispers to herself, who else they can become, chased by gratitude and wonder. ing come here for meals some time ago. she is in heaven now. and who they really are. April 2010 S TREET S PIRIT 7 Games of the Privileged by Jack Bragen Thomas soon found himself within the building, in a narrow, dimly lit hallway. he cold of the sidewalk on which Yet, it was heated within the building, Thomas sat penetrated deep and making him glad. Thomas followed the Tstung the skin on his butt through other man through the hallway, seemingly the thin, threadbare cloth he wore that for a long time; the corridor seemed to could barely pass for a pair of pants. stretch without end. Thomas clutched at the torn and tattered Finally, they reached a brightly lit sup- fabric of his shirt, trying to wrap it more ply room, reminding Thomas that he was around himself, hoping to get some relief in a skyscraper in downtown San from the icy cold wind. He got closer to the Francisco, and not in some magical Harry stark, barren wall that he hoped would shel- Potter world. The man who stood before ter him, looked up, and saw that he was in Thomas abruptly shed the brown robe to the back of a very tall skyscraper. reveal a business suit, and wearing it, a He reached into his pouch and extracted man of well-groomed, executive-like a near-empty flask of rum. Thomas drank appearance. the last drops of it for the momentary com- In bafflement, Thomas demanded, fort it would give, while knowing it would “Why did I just follow you?” Art by Christa Occhiogrosso actually reduce his body temperature. “I fooled you with the robe. You would A doorway opened in the wall of the never have followed me looking like Surveillance cameras showed images of a homeless man in skyscraper, at ground level, not far from this.” The businessman paused. “I was an endless maze of corridors, a desperate man who feared him. He hadn’t noticed a door prior to hoping to offer you employment.” his life would end without ever finding his way back. The this. It must have blended in very well “Doing what? Cleaning the shit off with the flat, almost featureless surface of your toilet?” Thomas prepared to turn executives laughed at the plight of their fellow man. the concrete wall. back. A bony hand on his shoulder made A brown-robed figure emerged from the him hesitate. disappeared from Thomas’s sight. Where man named Thomas, wailing and tearful, open door and steel-blue, wrinkle-rimmed “It’s a better job than that,” replied the he had gone, Thomas couldn’t know. running through these dimly lit and end- eyes that seemed to glow stared at Thomas businessman. “We need people for our * * * less hallways. from within the robe’s hood. A thin hand surveys.” A room was filled with jovial execu- A pretty-looking young barmaid stretched out, and a pale, bony finger made “You can point me to the way out tives whose eyes were laughingly glued to poured more drinks for the partying exec- a motion for him to come closer. now,” said Thomas, who felt he was a giant monitor that showed images from utives, men who laughed endlessly at the Thomas wearily lumbered to his feet, retaining a modicum of dignity. It was the surveillance cameras, images of a plight of their fellow human. and took a step toward the hooded, robed more important to him than eating. homeless man in an endless maze of corri- “Are we going to let him die there?” man. The man stepped quickly back “It’s that way. And good luck to you.” dors, a desperate man who feared his life the girl asked. toward the building’s doorway while indi- The businessman chuckled softly. “Or, is would end without ever finding his way The executives laughed even louder. cating Thomas should follow. it that way?” And then the suited figure back. The surveillance cameras showed a

Marching for California’s Future My Wheelchair Can’t Hold Me Back

from page 4 Even though urban Democrats have from page 4 CSUB, so I’m not going to school this had a majority for years in the State winter. Tuition has become extremely high, and I can’t afford it. Each quarter I ty.” Next year, K-2 classes will have 28 Senate and the Assembly, a solid verance I earned a 3.39. must pay at least $1,700 tuition as a full- students. “One child in kindergarten told Republican block can prevent a vote to After graduating, I got to share my time student. Books are also expensive me, ‘we can’t even fit on the rug any- adopt a budget until legislators agree to passion for math by helping others to and transportation is an issue too. more.’” slash spending. Cuts in spending produce become successful at it also. In the sum- My parents still live in Oaxaca, and I The legal limit of 20 students for K-3 pink slips for teachers, and fewer social mer of 2008, I volunteered as a math live with my older brother. My dad has grade classes was modified in the legisla- services. Small San Joaquin Valley tutor at the Mathematics, Engineering, always been a farmer in our hometown in ture’s recent budget deals. “In our dis- towns are among those electing politi- Science, Achievement program at Oaxaca, Mexico, and because of him my trict, it’s cheaper to raise the class size cians who demand budget cuts and Bakersfield College. I believe it is very brother learned to love farm work. He and pay the penalty than to keep class oppose tax increases, which also require important to do community service started working in California as a field sizes small,” she laments. “And com- a two-thirds majority. because giving is an excellent opportuni- worker. Now he’s a foreman, and works bined with the emphasis on test scores, it Dozens of workers who care for aged ty to understand other people’s needs. really hard to support us. His wife works all affects children’s ability to learn. We and sick family members in the towns This is why I have volunteered in the in a factory, where she makes minimum have second grade students who don’t along the route are walking too. One of Saint Joseph Church youth group since wage. They have been like my parents even know how to use scissors, because them, Doug Moore, heads United 2000 and as a catechist since 2004. I give here in Bakersfield, and I have lived with they’ve been taught to the test. They can Domestic Workers Local 3930. “The at least six hours a week to both activities. them since I came here. bubble in letters and numbers, but they budget cuts on the table in Sacramento I also became a volunteer for the Unidad But they have five children, so it’s can’t cut a circle in a piece of paper.” could even lead to the elimination of Popular Benito Juarez Organization. I am hard to pay for school supplies and In the San Joaquin Valley, Laskin sees home care itself,” he says. “Statewide now its secretary. Our mission is to edu- tuition. Two of his sons already graduat- the same crisis. “We’ve talked with there are 127,000 nursing home beds, but cate and protect Oaxacan indigenous peo- ed from CSUB, and two of his daughters many teachers who have received pink only 20,000 available. So where are peo- ple in California. We also organize events are still attending school. My brother slips,” she says. “I spoke with one ple going to go? And what will happen to to preserve our indigenous culture. makes enough money to give us all a teacher who worked three jobs to put the jobs of those who care for them?” On February a year ago, I was admit- home and food. He’s worked very hard herself through school. She’s in her sec- Nevertheless, “many people are not ted to Cal State University in to help all of us with our education. But ond year, which means that on the first making the connection that legislators Bakersfield. I’ve been living in now he can’t pay for our tuition. day of next year she’d have tenure and elected here in the Valley are among those California for more than a decade, but I A group of friends from Bakersfield couldn’t be laid off. So she’s being laid using the two-thirds requirement to slash still don’t qualify for any type of finan- College and CSUB are trying to raise off this year. Her family’s lived in services,” Laskin charges. “It’s a long con- cial aid. This has been true for my whole money to pay for it. Before Christmas we McFarland for five generations, and her versation. This whole system was put into academic career, but once again, I have had our first fundraiser, a tamale sale. To father has been a custodian for the dis- place so that the average person can’t to overcome this obstacle. all of us, it’s very important to continue trict there for 23 years. Without a job, understand what’s going on.” Graduating from CSUB is one of the our education, and we’re trying to plan there won’t be anything to keep her in The march creates opportunities to last steps to achieve my goal — to our next event. the community where she grew up. The talk with people — part of an education become a math professor at an adult As an immigrant, I have to pay higher closest place to look for work is process she believes is needed. Town school. With a bachelor’s degree in tuition, and I get no financial aid. So we Bakersfield, where they just issued 200 hall meetings are planned in three larger mathematics, I will be the first in my are also working to get Congress to pass pink slips, and many highly qualified towns on the route. As they go, marchers family to achieve a higher education. immigration reform, to make sure all teachers are fighting for the same job.” are registering voters, getting petitions As a math teacher, I plan to encourage people are treated equally. If Congress The march’s goals include rebuilding signed, and collecting people’s ideas on others to improve their academic skills, passes a real immigration reform, we can a government and economy that works little yellow ‘I Have a Dream for and become professionals to improve the help the economy grow and share our for all Californians, and enacting a fair California’ cards. quality of life for their families. I’m proud academic skills. Each one of us wants to tax system to fund it. After marchers had “We’ll be delivering thousands of of my achievements, and my contributions provide service to our community, and to been walking for a week, they spent a them to Sacramento when we arrive on to my community. I’m glad I went back to keep growing as an individual. day in front of Loews Hardware, the 99¢ the steps of the capitol,” Laskin predicts. school to bring my dreams closer to reali- If the budget cuts stop and tuition Store and Wal-Mart in Tulare. There That’s set to happen April 21. “I think it ty. But now they seem in danger because costs go down, and if we can get immi- they asked people to sign petitions to was right to choose the Central Valley of the pressure of education cuts and the gration reform and equal treatment, we qualify a ballot initiative that would for this march.” lack of immigration reform. will make a contribution that will make remove the requirement that two-thirds For more articles and images, see I still haven’t been able to raise the our whole community proud. of the legislature approve any budget. http://dbacon.igc.org funds to pay for tuition and books at 8 S TREET S PIRIT April 2010

Reclaiming the Public Spaces, Resisting the Sit/Lie Laws from page 1 that he can’t sit more than an hour without a cop saying, “Move along.” Francie, a homeless young woman, observes, “We’re not blocking the sidewalk.” HARD TIMES FOR STREET YOUTH Many homeless youth and street trav- elers come to escape abusive families, as Homeless Youth Alliance therapist Justin Costello testified before the S.F. Youth Commission. Costello took issue with comparisons of “living, breathing” home- less youths to “trash cans and cars” obstructing sidewalks that people and Francie, a homeless artist on the Haight, said police constantly tell her and other young people to “move on” Carol Harvey business owners in the Haight don’t like. even though she is not blocking sidewalks. Street youth are a major target of Mayor Newsom’s sit/lie ban. photo If the youth were wearing designer jeans, the cops would not be called, he said. nalizing homelessness.” nized, directed, and controlled by “the merely pushes people to the edges. People Costello said that many homeless and The “Homes Not Handcuffs” report sur- Portland Business Alliance, the Portland like Tiny, who have personally experienced runaway youth are victims of sexual, physi- veyed 235 U.S. cities to compile a list of Development Commission and community poverty, know well that the wealthy few, cal, and verbal abuse, unsafe in broken conduct prohibited by cities cracking down stakeholders.” Portland’s plan mentions dining in fine restaurants at the top of the homes. They have nowhere to go, he said. on homeless people. Eighty of the cities only the single Glisan Street shelter. classist food chain, casually emphasize In addition, a great number of home- surveyed “prohibit sitting/lying in certain In the words of this business-dominated money, competition and capitalism in an less youth in San Francisco are not “street public places.” Cities with laws that crimi- group, “Portland’s thriving urban culture agenda that is destroying a financially sta- travelers” like the cruelly stereotyped nalize homelessness include Albuquerque, and economic success depends in part upon ble middle class, transmogrifying them into Haight “crust punks,” but lesbian, gay and Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, sidewalks that serve the needs of all our the impoverished and unhoused, then mar- bisexual homeless youth who have suf- Charleston, Cheyenne, Columbus, Corpus community’s members.” ginalizing and criminalizing their poverty. fered terrible ostracism in their families Christi, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Fort When the major businesses and the pro- Power brokers and police realize this and locales. Despite a 1970s sit/lie law Worth, Houston, Jacksonville, Key West, business politicians talk about joining diminishing middle class now grows first targeting hippies, then gay men, until Las Vegas, Little Rock, Miami, Milwaukee, together to safeguard “sidewalks that serve restive. They plan ahead, preparing sup- being repealed in 1974, they have tradi- Minneapolis, Montgomery, New Orleans, the needs of all our community’s mem- pressive sit/lie ordinances that shrink pub- tionally sought asylum in San Francisco’s Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, bers,” it is a sure bet that “all of our com- lic space. Such is the picture of an incipi- gay-friendly Castro District. Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. munity’s members” will be interpreted to ent fascist state. At our first protest site, at 18th & Castro, Thirteen California cities prohibit sitting mean business owners and affluent shop- FEARS OF A POLICE STATE opposite Walgreens and outside Harvey’s and lying: Berkeley, El Cajon, Fresno, Los pers. It is an equally safe bet that “commu- In a San Francisco Chronicle article on gay bar, friendly women, Kendra, Carly, Angeles, Modesto, Oakland, Sacramento, nity members” who are poor or ragged in March 28, “Protests in S.F. against sit/lie and Ashley, provided paint, brushes, sheets, San Bruno, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Santa appearance will be poorly served or out- law,” John Cote reported, “People drew banners and oranges to queer youth who Cruz, Ukiah and Union City. right banished by the new laws. with chalk on the sidewalks, did yoga and happened by. Kneeling people busily paint- Such quality-of-life laws sweep people PRIVATIZATION OF THE COMMONS grumbled that [the sit/lie law proposal] ed punchy sound-bites on NO SIT/LIE ban- off the street like broken glass, in order to Business interests institute sit/lie ordi- suggests San Francisco was slipping ners: “Criminalizing Queer Youth Is Not privatize the public space and make it nances to commercialize and privatize toward a police state.” Ominous nation- The Answer!” “The Same People Who “safe,” thereby destroying the reality that public space. This trend began around wide signs suggest they may be correct. Support Sit/Lie Cut Our Social Services.” public sidewalks are a place of communi- 1999 with the “broken windows” theory In light of the economic downturn, One woman described the restaurant ty where people come together to share promulgated by former New York Mayor forecasts of Depression, and a flagging owner’s verbal and physical assault. He experiences. Andy Blue insists we won’t Rudy Giuliani and the Manhattan Project. national economy in which homeowners tore up posters and threatened to hose make this a safer, more enjoyable city by This conservative social theory made the suffer eviction or are forced to abandon down signs. A customer threw her food running people off our streets, leaving ugly, dirty, marginalized homeless analo- underwater mortgages, a simmering rage back at him, saying that she supported the them lonely, empty spaces. gous to broken glass which must be swept is building toward banks that are “too big group which refused to relinquish the Fear generates the sit/lie laws enacted by off the sidewalk to sanitize cities and ren- to fail” and health insurance company public space and be silenced. a growing number of cities. The economic der them “clean” for business. CEOs who earn $10,000 a day. Our second protest site was from noon downturn justifies them. Because business Mayor Newsom, it seems, still panders Could Newsom and Police Chief to 2 p.m., at 16th and Capp, an event owners must work harder to make money, to San Francisco’s desire to be a “Little Gascón’s recent proposals coupling tazers called “Art Back the Land,” held outside they argue that sidewalks must be made Manhattan,” a point long argued by Bay with sit/lie laws replicate other U.S. POOR Magazine’s Mission District build- “safer” for commerce. However, if Haight Guardian editor Tim Redmond. cities’ “best practices” in pre-planning for ing. Lisa Gray-Garcia (aka Tiny) Street’s lively street culture is eradicated by The United States has become a corpo- crowd control on a massive scale intended explained that her group represented poor repressive laws, tourists won’t come and ratocracy whose first value is money, and to anticipate and forestall the threat of people, poor people of color, and migrant businesses will die. business reigns supreme. The “Greed is mass protests and citizen uprisings? folks — all targets for sit/lie laws. Capitalism also denies the proliferation Good, Business is Everything” mentality In San Francisco and nationwide last She described Poor Magazine’s her- of homelessness nationwide. Neither suf- that consumed the Reagan era in the week, huge numbers demonstrated for story of theft of land, resources, and hous- ficient affordable housing nor shelters 1980s was codified on Feb. 4, 2010, the immigration rights, and against war and ing from the poor. “They steal our shit exist to house middle-class Americans one-year anniversary of Barack Obama’s sit/lie laws. Are police and corporate groups first,” she said, “throw us a crumb, like joining the masses of newly evicted poor. inauguration, by a conservative activist preparing for the eventuality that, at some GA or SSI,” then take it all back. Lest you More and more people will become crimi- Supreme Court. point, these protests could bleed together? think the sit/lie law is not a racist and nals sitting or lying on city sidewalks. In the recent decision (see Mark Most militarily powerful countries of classist attack on the marginalized, she COMPETITION OVER COMPASSION Green’s report in the Huffington Post), the “First World” which purport to be said, “look at yuppies sitting at a concert The “Greed is good” mantra of the Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, “democracies,” are actually governments in Golden Gate Park and notice if a cop is Reagan years was used to justify law-and- and Thomas “explicitly overruled two controlled by business and corporations. giving them a citation for sitting on the order crackdowns on homeless people for prior decisions ( Austin v. Michigan That is the definition of fascism. Fascist cement or grass or any public space.” “Quality of Life” crimes. Greed without Chamber of Commerce and McConnell v. countries seek optimum means to control As the Brass Liberation Orchestra’s social responsibility became the gateway FEC) — and invalidated the laws of 22 their populaces. tuba, saxophone, and cymbals oompahed drug to a national corporatocracy. states — to permit corporate and labor In his essay on March 23, “Of Bad past, Jewnbug, a Poor Magazine poet, During this era of unfettered corporate spending on electioneering ads in cam- Road and Trainwrecks,” Timothy Harris, knelt painting a banner in red, blue and capitalism, values morphed from societal paigns.... The five conservative justices director of Real Change, wrote, “Oh, they yellow Spanish “palabras.” sharing, cooperation, and compassion into built their decision on two cornerstones: all say, that’s not what this is. Bullshit. CRIMINALIZING HOMELESSNESS greed, competition, business, and money. In that money is speech and that corpora- It’s what happens. It’s been done. There “Homes Not Handcuffs: The the U.S. struggle between competition vs. tions are people.” are predictable results.” Criminalization of Homelessness in U.S. compassion, competition wins every time. The year 1979 saw the point at which, To which Paul Boden, director of the Cities,” a July 2009 report by the National For example, the whole of Portland, following the Carter recession, the Reagan Western Regional Advocacy Project, Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty Oregon’s “Sidewalk Resolution” containing administration began defunding afford- wrote in reply, “What’s so incredibly sad and the National Coalition for the the sit/lie ordinance that Mayor Sam Adams able housing, thus triggering the first in all of these... policing programs is that Homeless, stated that, “City ordinances fre- presented to Portlanders on October 12, major surges in homelessness. the crash we’re hearing (is) the sound of quently serve as a prominent tool for crimi- 2009, is a business-oriented proposal orga- Classism on a mass scale no longer seeing people as less than human.”