feminist blogs

The above video really did break my heart. On the one hand, I really do worry that there’s something exploitative about filming and watching this man’s pain. On the other hand, I feel like we need to watch, and turning away is just another way of excusing and reinforcing the system that created this man’s desperate situation, and that of the many men and women like him. Renee has some excellent thoughts on the matter.

And Sharkfu also has some thoughts on those who were living in poverty before this most recent economic crisis.

In related news, I was just reading this article about a plan in New York City to cut access to shelter for homeless men.

That alternative system is composed of eight drop-in centers, which have showers and seats but no beds. From there, homeless men can find one-night beds in churches and synagogues — or, if they can show they’ve been on the street for more than nine months, they can use city-run safe-haven beds. But each night, more than 500 hundred people, on average, end up sleeping in the chairs at the drop-in centers — some by choice and some because there are not enough beds in the faith-based centers.

Saying that it is looking to revamp the system so that homeless men don’t sleep in chairs anymore, the city wants to close the drop in centers at 8 p.m., starting in June 2009. In return, it will add to the number of faith-based and other easy-to-access beds. “What is most important is that at the end of the night, individuals are coming off the street into a bed,” said Heather Janik, the spokeswoman for the Department of Homeless Services.

But advocates for the homeless and some of the men and women who run the faith-based beds argue that the city doesn’t understand its audiences. “The city says it doesn’t like people sleeping on chairs at the drop in centers. We don’t particularly like that, either. But it is a better alternative than sending them back to the street, which is essentially what will happen, of they are told they must go to some kind of city facility,” said Douglas Grace, the director of outreach ministry at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Clearly, this is horrible no matter what way you cut it, and seemingly based far more on aesthetics than on actual desire to help homeless people.  And NYC is apparently being even more thoughtless in preventing 22 churches from housing homeless people, due to enforcement of a silly ordinance.

But as I was reading this article, I just kept noticing the word “men.” Did the writer somehow just forget that women are homeless, too? Or are women actually not allowed in these shelters? Are there other shelters for women that are not being cut? Really, what of homeless women? After all, women do make up a significantly disproportionate number of those living below the poverty line, and homeless women are often rendered invisible in typical depictions of people who are homeless.  I’m very much concerned about the impact that this new plan will have on men, but I’m also concerned about the women who may either be affected as well or didn’t have access to these shelters to begin with, and who seem to be getting erased either way.  Can anyone shed some light?

Image description: a large white cloth banner with the words STOP THE DEMOLITIONS. The image is close cropped but several hands are visible holding the banner.

A statement from the Coalition to Stop Demolitions:

The Coalition to Stop the Demolitions would like to thank all allies and supporters throughout the United States and the world who came and stood with us in New Orleans or took action on the streets your city, or who called, emailed, or faxed the New Orleans City Council, Mayor Ray Nagin, Senator Vitter, the Senate Banking Committee members and other public officials. Your support played a pivotal role in helping us attain the victories we accomplished last week in halting the demolition of three of the four major public housing locations in New Orleans.

However, the fight is far from over and we still need your help. Despite our victories in both State and Federal Courts last Friday, we recognize that it is quite possible that we might lose the City Council vote on Thursday, December 20th by a decision of four to three (or perhaps even five to two). We are fairly certain that at least three of the white City Council members are going vote against us, including Jacquelyn Clarkson, Stacy Head, and Shelley Midura. There is a possibility that Arnie Fielkow, the current Council President, might vote in favor or abstain in order to not lose favor with a sector of the Black electorate whom he will need to fulfill his Mayoral aspirations. As for those who may stand with us, there are likely only two members who are solid. These are James Carter and Cynthia Willard-Lewis. The third Black Council member, Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, is definitely a critical swing vote. We need to put pressure on each and every one of these City Council members between now and the 20th (please stress outreach to Internally Displaced Persons in your area and encourage them to call as a priority).

In addition, the Federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the residents of the St. Bernard was transferred from Washington, D.C. to the US District Court – Eastern District of Louisiana. Based on his past behavior, we do not expect this judge will do anything to stop the demolitions.

What this means is that by Friday, December 21st we may realistically be engaging in our second wave of mass non-violent civil disobedience action. Should this be the case, we are going to need all of our allies and supporters everywhere to be ready yet again to take decisive action to stop these inhumane demolition orders.

Things we foresee as being critical this week:

1. We need to blitz the City Council of New Orleans and demand
1. That they vote NO to the demolitions, and
2. That they hold a public hearing on the demolitions in the evening so that more working class people can participate. Information on how to contact the City Council is provided below.
2. We need as many people who can come to
1. Pack City Council on Thursday, December 20th,
2. Be prepared to engage in non-violent civil disobedience in line with the residents council principles (read below) and the coalitions pledge of resistance statement. To engage in this initiative you must register with the coalition at action@peopleshurricane.org.
3. We would also like to encourage Black and other oppressed nationality organizers to come down and help us with outreach, base building, and coalition building work over the course of the next several weeks.
3. We need to continue pressuring Senator David Vitter with calls, faxes, and emails demanding that he support Senate Bill 1668 and allow the bill to move from the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee to the Senate for a vote.
4. We need to pressure Senator Mary Landrieu to demand that the Federal government via President George W. Bush and the Justice Department suspend the demolitions until the Federal investigation of Alphonso Jackson is complete.
5. We need to seize these next three days to reframe the struggle to stop the demolition based on the demands of the Coalition (see below). We need everyone to
1. Write letters to the editor for your local news outlets,
2. Blitz the major newsprint, TV, and cable media networks and demand that they cover the issue, and
3. To write articles on the issue based on the Coalitions demands and post them to as many listserves, blogs, and websites as you possibly can.

Finally, we need some resources to carry out this work. Some of the things we need resources for include:

1. The “Stop Da Demolitions” Mixtape made by Sess 4 – 5, Nuthinbutfire Records, and the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement for the Coalition the Stop the Demolition. We need $1,400 to produce and print 2,000 CD’s for youth outreach and education.
2. We also need resources to help with transportation, food, and accommodations for both residents and volunteers.
3. We need resources the cover the Coalitions cell phone expense.
4. We need resources to cover printings (flyers and posters).
5. Finally, we need resources materials to produce banners and other mobilization props.

Donations can be made out to the Mississippi Disaster Relief Coalition (MDRC) and mailed to P.O. Box 31762 Jackson, MS 39286. Please indicate on your donation “Coalition to Stop Demolitions”. All donations are tax-deductible.

Our Demands

1. City Council needs to vote NO on demolition. The Council meeting should be moved to an evening time to accommodate people’s schedules and allow a full public hearing on demolition before taking a vote.
2. The mayor needs to meet with the faith leaders who have requested a meeting with him about the housing crisis in the city
3. No Demolitions – reopen the existing units and rebuild dignified housing at former public housing sights.
4. Guaranteed one-to-one replacement for all public housing residents.
5. All available public housing units should be made available for the homeless and those likely to face homelessness from the pending loss of rent vouchers and trailer recalls.
6. The Federal government needs to suspend demolition until the investigation of Alphonso Jackson and the contraction process is completed.
7. Rent Control to provide deeply affordable housing so that all will be able to return to the city.
8. Stop the privatization and gentrification of the City.

Resident Principles

1. All Actions should be non-violent.
2. There should be no weapons or drugs at any actions, and no alcohol or drug or weapon possession at any action.
3. No destruction or defacement of resident property.
4. No coalition meetings without resident knowledge and input.
5. No media without residents or resident knowledge.
6. Focus on defending public housing and affordable housing in the city for all.

City Council Contact Information

* Arnie Fielkow 504.658.1060 afielkow@cityofno.com
* Jacquelyn Clarkson 504.658.1070 jbclarkson@cityofno.com
* Stacy Head 504.658.1020 shead@cityofno.com
* Shelly Midura 504.658.1010 smidura@cityofno.com
* James Carter 504.658.1030 jcarter@cityofno.com
* Cynthia Hedge-Morrell 504.658.1040 chmorrell@cityofno.com
* Cynthia Willard-Lewis 504.658.1050 cwlewis@cityofno.com

In Unity and Struggle,
Kali

From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Have any of you all ever been evicted? Ever lost a home for any reason? Even if it’s an old house in the middle of the city that could probably use a lot of time and money that you don’t have, it’s still home.

I spent a couple of years on my old blog talking and posting pictures of my old house and my old neighborhood in Milwaukee. People didn’t understand why I stayed–people thought that it must be depressing to be so poor and living in such a poor area. Well fuck yeah, there were plenty of depressing times, but it wasn’t the fault of my neighbors or my house.

People who don’t live in communities don’t quite get how communities work. Communities aren’t all about the suburban folks having a cocktail party (or whatever it is y’all suburban folks do), or some tv drama about desperate white women behind picket fences. I learned all I needed to know about how a community succeeds by living, tumbled down and broke, right alongside people who were careful of me, then accepting of me, and then my friends. Community meant that Ashanti could go to the corner store and the couple who ran the store, who had lived in a flat above that store for 30 years, knew her name and her favorite candy. Community meant that when Kat was wild and running the streets, the prostitutes working the avenue would look out for her and make sure she got home safe. Community meant that if Yolanda next door was cooking rice and beans or making sandwiches or a pitcher of koolaid, she shared with my kids. It meant that when my electricity got cut off I knew I could run an extension cord between my house and Eddie’s house so that I could at least have a lamp on and watch television.

Here’s community: one morning Yolanda came running to my house to let me know that the city tow truck was outside getting ready to tow my car for unpaid tickets. I wasn’t dressed yet so I threw her my car keys and she ran out to the street, unlocked the car door, and jumped inside. Cuz see, the tow truck couldn’t tow my car as long as there was somebody in there. And by the time I was dressed and outside Yolanda had argued so strenuously with the tow truck driver that he agreed to leave without my car.

This is poor people looking out for each other. I was often the only one on the block with my phone turned on, so I was the person who made and accepted phone calls for my neighbors. If I heard Mattie and her boyfriend’s argument starting to get out of hand, I could stick my head out the window and let her know I’d call 911 if she needed me to. Often that was enough to get the boyfriend to cool it.

This is a community of poor people who struggle and look out for each other. Lot of times folks don’t understand exactly how that works. You watch the news and you think people in inner cities are too busy shooting guns and smoking crack to actually have friends and family that they love. You think poor means stratified, disconnected, a world of distrust and violence. If you think it’s that simple then you’re wrong.

When my disability got bad enough that for a couple of years I rarely left my house, my neighbors would stop by on their way to the store to see if I needed anything. When I got my scooter and became mobile again, people I hadn’t seen in years cried and kissed me on the cheek and hugged me because they were so pleased for me.

Poor people, y’all. Poor brown and black people living in a city that is famous for violence and racial segregation.

And I have a good friend who grew up in the projects in Chicago, the famous Harold Ickes (the “Ickes) projects, who remembers her childhood with great fondness. Her grandma still lives there to this day. And when the Chicago Housing Authority made plans to demolish the Chicago projects, there was enormous outcry from the residents, even as the wealthy salivated at the prospect of getting their paws on all that prime real estate. I went to protests and community actions trying to keep the projects from being torn down. And what happened to the residents of the projects that were demolished? Gone to the suburbs, cut off from each other, torn apart. Lost to the communities that had sustained them.

Talk about ghettos and slums and the inner city all you want. Let the media lie to you and tell you that poor people and people of color can’t work together, can’t create vibrant life together. Live in ignorance. But I tell you, if all that is true, then why are the scattered, displaced residents of New Orleans so desperate to come home? Why the outcry, the grief, at the loss of the New Orleans public housing?

This is why: because people who are poor need each other. We need each other because we know exactly how it feels to be down to your last $10 and it’s only the middle of the month. We need each other because we speak each other’s language. We need to be around people like us so that we maintain our humanity and our hope.

And poor people have a right to housing. Housing is a human right, like enough food and water and safety from violence. And if the bad men who want to finish the job of destroying New Orleans succeed in tearing it down and rebuilding it in their own image, there is nothing to stop them from doing the same thing in any poor neighborhood in the country.

Housing is a right. I deserve it, and so do you. And so do the people of New Orleans.