WeSearch Report from Poverty Skola/WeSearchers from the Occupied Ohlone/Lisjan Village of Yelamu (San Francisco) Presents: Tent and Belonging Theft in San Francisco under Mayor London Breed
WeSearch def: Poor and indigenous peoples-led research. Launched by POOR Magazine poverty skolaz)
SF WeSearch Release Summary
Since the inauguration of Mayor London Breed unhoused residents of San Francisco have struggled with a series of tent and belonging seizures and police and DPW harassment. The overall attacks on poor and unhoused people is a continuation of previous mayoral administrations’ ongoing attacks on unhoused San Francisco residents. What was evident from this WeSearch study is the attacks now include the specific seizure of peoples tents, which adds yet another inhumane and violent aspect to the attack on our lives for the sole act of not having access to housing in a city which has some of the most violent forms of displacement, removal and evictions of poor and working class families.
WeSearch Process
Beginning BlackAugust 10th RoofLESS radio WeSearchers -a team of Unhoused, Working Class, Very low and no-income Black, Brown Poor and 1st Nations youth and adult poverty skolaz, all who have been working and sitting and and sleeping and living in and out of housing in San Francisco conducted interviews and conversations with their communities and families of fellow poverty skolaz and then quantified the data to the following results.
Who are the WeSearchers (demographics):
Data Creators/Collectors/WeSearchers/Poverty Skolaz: 62 San Francisco residents sitting, standing , convening, sleeping in San Francisco while houseless
65% were of African Descent or Mixed African Descent
35% were Raza /Indigenous or other
30% were 65-75
70% were 30-45
70% were men
27% were women
25% trans & non-gender-conforming
70% were houseless after displacement from long-time homes and neighborhoods
80% are living with untreated psychological disabilities
70% are living with physical disabilities
WeSearch Findings of Poverty Skolaz SF residents:
-111 Tents were seized form unhoused residents from Sept 7th-Oct 5th
-$16,230 dollars in belongings and medicine were seized and disposed of by DPW and/or SF police.
- Tent, belonging and medicine seizures resulted in severe illness and emergency room visitsof unhoused residents of San Francisco
Demand/Ask based on WeSearch findings:
-Cease and desist in the taking of our enclosures and belongings
-Cease and desist in the ongoing criminalization of our unhoused bodies
-Us Unhoused people of San Francisco are asking for liberated Ohlone/Lisjan land so we can build our own self-determined projects like Homefulness
The WeSearch Project a project of POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE- a poor and indigenous people-led, very grassroots, art-based movement. RoofLESS radio is a PNN-KEXU 96.1fm radio program for unhoused peoples to create their own radio and video documentation and investigations in their own voices about their own experiences. Please credit POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE WeSearch Project /PNN-KEXU RoofLESS radio when re-printing. for more information email poormag@gmail.com or go to www.poormagazine.org