‘The time is so ripe!’: an interview with homeless movement activist Savina Martin

Latest

 
Editor’s note: Savina Martin is a long-time activist for the poor, with such groups as the National Union of the Homeless and others. She currently lives in Boston, MA.
People’s Tribune: It is very good talking to you and catching up! What activities are you are involved in now?
Savina Martin: I am broadly involved in the poverty movement as well as the homeless movement. A couple of years ago, around Easter, a group of homeless men and women were let out of a shelter with no notice. Some were in recovery and working on getting stabilized. Four or five days later they showed up at a Homeless Solidarity Group meeting, about 15 guys, saying they wanted to start a Union of the Homeless. Also, we just had a Poor People’s Campaign event in Boston with Reverend Barber, a thousand people attended.
PT: What is the situation with homelessness there?
SM: There’s opioid use going on, and there’s no housing. The conditions have really deteriorated, sanitary-wise, but the workers are so stressed they can’t provide even the basics like hygiene supplies. Funding has dried up, local and federal. People fill out an application for housing, but the housing list has a 20-year wait. This country can no longer provide the things that people need. People living in the shelters are working, but only making enough for their basic survival. You’re in a cycle of poverty. If you don’t have the survival skills on the streets you just die. You lose your children and families deteriorate. They are broken and the children go to foster care. The poverty, it’s just a mess.
I’ve also been dealing with homeless women who are veterans. I’m a veteran myself. I worked in a veteran’s tent in California, 150 veterans, and I worked for the VA here in Boston.
PT: What do you see as the next step for the homeless movement? What can be done tactically by the homeless themselves to put this on the national agenda?
SM: What we are doing is inviting homeless groups and organizations to ‘get on the mile train’: join together, join the Poor People’s Campaign, have educationals. Education is the key. I believe in civil disobedience, taking over abandoned property. People who have nothing are so inundated and just trying to survive, and winter is coming. We get burned out. I tell people, come on, let’s talk together, use the media we have in our hands. Through education, people become empowered. We need to stick together. Try to make it to a meeting. We’ll pick you up. We need another National Union of the Homeless, share its history. We have to understand what we’re up against. People are looking for something, and the time is so key and ripe.

PT Logo collage
+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

‘I Am a Political Prisoner’ Says Jailed Immigrant Rights Activist

In this interview with Democracy Now, Journalist Maria Hinojosa describes her recent interview in an ICE detention center in Colorado with jailed immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra.

War No More – Veterans Reflect on the Meaning of Memorial Day

Veterans for Peace say wars will not end, – and nuclear war will not be averted – unless there is a sea-change in the thinking of the U.S. people and our political leaders.

Harvard University Stands Up to Illegal Federal Government Actions

Read letter by Harvard President Alan M. Garner, about the University's stance on the Federal government's illegal actions to force Harvard to give up the school's academic independence and academic freedom.

Trump’s Big Cruel, Deadly Policy Bill is a Healthcare Heist

Outrage is rising against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that would give massive tax breaks to the rich while slashing Medicaid, nutrition, and clean energy. Some say 14 million people could lose health coverage.

Is FREE Electricity in our Future?

Electricity should be a right, free to all.  Yet, for-profit energy companies set prices to maximize profits to shareholders, even when users can’t afford the prices and suffer shutoffs.

More from the People's Tribune