|
by Tiny and Joseph Bolden
Over 200 poor people, mostly Black, redlined out of property and
>business ownership, shot at, harassed and profiled by cops and private
>security, homeless due to illegal evictions, condo conversions,
>demolitions, redevelopment and wide-spread gentrification, denied jobs,
>drug treatment, and mental health services stood together in San
>Francisco city hall plaza.. the first gathering of an all out class war?
>No. Just a peaceful barbeque.
A barbeque in resistance. In resistance to the implementation of one of
>the most flagrantly racist and classist legislations to come around in
>San Francisco for a long time; Care Not Cash aka Gavin Newsoms mayoral
>platform.
>
Modeled on the Rudy Giuliani/New York program - which effectively makes
>it illegal to be alive without a home and makes you pay for your shelter
>bed- instituting slave labor programs (i.e. workfare) sanctioned by the
>Welfare departments which have you work everyday just to make enough to
>pay for the shelter bed, your food and your "utilities". Care Not Cash
>lays the groundwork for Homelessness in the 21st century; the
>privatized, shelter. Government grants, private money and the sweat of
>the poor mix to create the ultimate cash cow for huge poverty pimps and
>developers; aka the modern day pauper's prison
>
"They are trying to starve poor people and people of color out of San
>Francisco - we got to fight to maintain the Bayview, the Tenderloin, the
>Fillmore, the Mission, the people who built the wealth of this city.
>
Listening to the scholarship of Julie Brown a member of People Organized
>to Win Employment Rights (POWER). I reflected on the almost two years
>and 200 or more protests, actions, committee meetings, hearings and
>finally a lawsuit challenging the legality of Care Not Cash, which
>delayed its implementation for several months. Last week the legal
>challenge was overturned by another court, giving the go ahead for our
>new mayor and the Department of Human Services to go forward with this
>dreaded legislation. Julie continued "We got to take back city Hall from
>this rich kid. The Getty's don't know what people need."
>
"If Newsom was homeless he wouldn't do this to his family," Naomi, also
>from POWER shouted angrily into PNN's mike
>
On this warm day in May, POOR staff stood in a line with all the other
>powerful poor folks waiting for our share of a tasty barbeque outside
>San Francisco City Hall. The event was organized by houseless folks and
>advocates to once again make it known that we are resisting the lies put
>out by Department of human Services, the Mayors office and the
>mainstream media (see SF Chronicle May 4, front page) As we stood there
>we pondered the concerted effort by Willies' boy Newsom to effectively
>get all the poor folks out of San Francisco.
>
"Displacement is a big part of Care not Cash - they are talking about
>outreach teams. Every mayor for the last twenty years has talked about
>outreach teams., why should those displace all the people who have
>followed the rules, worked through the system and are now in line for
>their housing, which is what this will do, just to make this mayors
>outreach team idea look good," LS Wilson from the Coalition on
>Homelessness detailed the specifics of the implementation.
>
And just as LS stated when this reporter attended the Press conference
>put on by the mayor's office that same day at the Greystone Hotel. We
>were told by one of the mayors press folks, " that (Care not Cash) will
>help homeless people because it will make housing available and
>treatment services in outreach teams"
>
In fact, as all of us dealing with the shelter system know, this
>legislation will do nothing to make more housing available, but in fact,
>just move the same meager homeless funds around, and make life more
>miserable for folks like Po poet A. Fay Hicks who reports in her last
>piece of poetryjournalism on poornewsnetwork; Barricades at the Door,
>with million dollar fingerprint imaging machines installed and
>complicated registration processes to catch the criminals of poverty if
>they dare to..?
>
Later in the day some brave warriors for the cause of economic justice
>created a civil disobedience in the mayors office demanding real
>solutions to homelessness rather than fake politician propaganda spins.
>They were arrested and released, vowing to keep up the fight.
>
As the sun bore down on our hungry bodies, a tall African descendent man
>who called himself Kelly, stood behind us in line and summed up our
>collective frustration "The man was born with a silver spoon in his
>mouth, he hates black folks, poor white folks and all folks don't have
>money, he's tryin to push everyone away.. and it jus aint right."
>
| 
