“Do you know where the bus station is?” RoofLessRadioSOMA reporter Sr. Ascunsion laughed nervously, throwing back his wavy black and silver hair as he uncrumpled a small piece of paper he held in his hand. “And do you know where this town is?”
Asuncion, a houseless elder pushing a small granny cart filled with a few carefully folded clothes and one sleeping bag, was one of the recipients of Mayor London Breed’s bizarre, elder abusive “bus ticket to anywhere” program instituted after Gov. Gavin Newsom called all houseless people dangerous and demanded we all be “cleared” off the sidewalks like a used paper cup.
Asuncion, who had just been swept from a little corner by California Highway Patrol officers, had no idea where he was going, no money or resources or family in the town he was going to, and not sure exactly why he even had a bus ticket.
Sweeping, Clearing, Cleaning, Disappearing our bodies like we are trash
Since the Grants Pass versus Johnson Ruling which was actively supported and promoted by Breed and Newsom, all gloves are off for both of these desperate-for-votes officials, who have been waging an active war on our houseless bodies since they came into office.
“As your mayor I promise to clean up the homeless problem,” Newsom told potential San Francisco voters in the 1990s when he swooped into the mayoral office literally on the backs of houseless people.
Me and most of us houseless/poor people at POOR Magazine at the time were knowing that an even more violent war than the one we were already struggling with was on the horizon.
Breed on the other hand (or the same hand) has promised from her Day One in the Mayor’s Office to “get tough” with houseless people, spending thousands of dollars on cops and the Department of Public Works to move us from one side of the streets to the other, from under bridges to in doorways.
As well, she has encouraged, contracted, enabled and paid for the private police force of Urban Alchemy whose sole job seems to be policing houseless bodies all across San Francisco and many other cities in California.
Both have pandered to all the worst elements in San Francisco, welcoming in tech companies with endless payouts and right offs, encouraging luxury condo developers and showing great and consistent love for the police, meanwhile crushing, clearing, cleaning, and disappearing so many poor people from San Francisco, it’s almost painful to mention. In the meantime, Breed has been re-alocating, repurposing and discouraging endless sources of money that was supposed to go to support poor people’s housing, and refusing to meet with Homefulness leaders about a Homefulness Healing Housing project in San Francisco .
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Thousands of dollars wasted on policing our homelessness, but never housing us.
“There is no crime happening right here, no crime at all except having no place to sleep, all this mayor is doing is causing a problem for a vote,” RoofLessRadioTL reporter Eugene shouted out to all the 55 armed agents of the state who were lined up behind the DPW workers on Leavenworth in the Tenderloin to oversee and police the “clearing” and cleaning ordered by Newsom and promoted by Breed.
“The money spent on all these armed police agencies could have gone to solutions like Homefulness, but rather these poltricksters would rather arrest, harass and kill us than ever listen to us about our own solutions,” I screamed to the endless line of squad cars.
Every day since Newsom’s slanderous order of abuse, Breed has added her own venom by trolling the streets of San Francisco with multiple police agencies. Most of the vicious sweeps include at least one (if not 15) CHP officers, SF cops, and DPW workers.
Sweeps and never solutions From LA to Sacramento
“Homelessness is NOT comfortable.” Another warrior elder RoofLessRadioTL reporter was responding to London Breed’s comment that the city is going to make it as “uncomfortable” as possible for homeless people in San Francisco.
She was huddled up against the wall at Ellis Street with a recycling can and a few belongings her and other sweeps victims were able to hold onto before they were violently removed from the Tenderloin streets and sidewalks they were sleeping on.
This fierce sister went on to explain that the shelter system was often more uncomfortable than living on the street, explaining the disrespect and abuse she felt at the hands of 20-something social workers telling her where to go, how to be.
“In LA, from the first day of Newsom’s order, the cops took our communities tents and belongings and began to arrest people,” RoofLESSradioLA reporter Carla and member of Aetna Street Solidarity reported. “We have lost so many of our folks from the lies of Mayor Karen Bass’ InsideSafe Program, she is no better than any of these mayors and is causing our folks to die.”
“They are up here in the 110-degree heat, doing sweeps and arresting people,” said Crystal Rose Sanchez from Sacramento Homeless Union and Camp Resolution.
“Where would I go?” RoofLessRadioSOMA reporter Demetrus K. responded to the bus ticket to anywhere program. “I’m from San Francisco, I’m not going anywhere.”
Demetrus went on to explain that he has been asked to move multiple times but never was offered housing and how the money and resources of San Francisco continue to go for the rich. “They keep building all this housing for rich people, but hardly any for the poor, look at all these empty buildings,” he said pointing his hands to all the nearby towering empty office buildings. “Why can’t we build a Homefulness here?”
“I’m out here trying to make an honest living, but they fucking Black people over in this town,” RoofLessRadioTL reporter John X concluded shaking his head. “I had my humble little food giveaway going on, we weren’t bothering anyone, we were helping fellow houseless folks, I have an LLC and a sellers permit, all my paperwork in order, and these people from the city swooped down on us along with all the other folks they were messing with and seized all my tools, and haven’t even given me a way to get it back.”
“They said you can only take what you can carry with two hands, I asked them well can you hold it until I get some housing and they said no we can’t keep anything,” RoofLessRadioTL reporter Mark reported. “I don’t know who they are giving this housing to, but I’m disabled and houseless and it’s not us, all they give us is these useless navigation centers which don’t help anyone.”
“I lost my walker in this sweep, and they told me I couldn’t stay where I was, the problem is I have nowhere else to go and without people I trust around me, I have been raped and attacked,” RoofLessRadio reporter Alison whispered to me as she huddled in her wheelchair near the curb on Ellis Street after being swept.
Homelessness Kills and We have Solutions
“Caltrans, the biggest landlord in California has so much vacant land,” said John Janosko, resident leader of Wood Street Commons, a solution of healing and support and housing for houseless Oakland residents before the city and the state violently swept it and pushed everyone onto the streets.
“There is vacant land right here, owned by Caltrans that we could be living on but instead they just keep moving us onto the streets, putting us in danger.”
“Camp Resolution is one of the cleanest, most organized spaces for homeless Sacramento residents, but the City of Sacramanto just keeps trying to shut us down,” said Sanchez, leader and povertyskola from the Sacramento Homeless Union who fought with the City of Sacramento to create a space for houseless residents of Sacramento.
Homelessness Kills, Homefulness Heals
“Homefulness is a real time example of number 4 of the ten-point plan of the Black Panther Party, that demanded safe, clean, habitable housing. Homefulness is our solution to our problems,” said Aunti Frances Moore, Black Panther and Poverty skola iwho s a co-founder of Homefulness and founder of the Self-Help Hunger Program in North Oakland
Homefulness currently has 21 houseless, homeful residents of a beautiful model of poor and houseless peoples self-determination, which was built with permission, spiritual and elder guidance from the Ohlone/Lisjan Nation, who are first peoples of this land and is dedicated to providing rent-free, forever housing for poor, disabled, houseless elders, youth and families currently struggling with homelessness and its related trauma. This innovative project which works to spiritually and legally unsell Mama Earth is financially made possible by conscious folks with different forms of race and class privilege who radically redistribute to poor peoples self-determination.
“I’m going to go to this town, even though I’m afraid and don’t know it, because I don’t know where else to go and San Francisco is kicking me out,” Sr. Asuncion laughed nervously again and added, “Do you know where the bus station is?”
Sweeps Don’t House Us, Homelessness Kills us is a RoofLessRadio WeSearch Project. RoofLessRadio and WeSearch is a poor people-led research project of POOR Magazine dedicated to listening, learning, hearing, and reclaiming the endless counting and shuffling of data, counts, surveys, reports created about us poor and houseless peoples without us poor and houseless peoples.
Leajay Harper, Momii Palapaz, Frankie Carter, Alex DeLeon, Jay Paulino contributed to this story.
RoofLessRadio WeSearchers and poverty skolaz from POOR Magazine and Wood Street Commons and other organizations will be releasing our WeSearch findings and our solutions at a press conference on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 1pm which will also be a welcoming in ceremony and community celebration for the first two homes at Homefulness#2 at 7600 MacArthur in Deep East Huchiun (Oakland)
