‘These tent communities provide safety and support!’

Latest

Anita ‘Needa Bee’ De Asis (center) speaks at a press conference at Oakland City Hall last year on the U.N. Special Raporteur’s report on housing and homelessness.
PHOTO/SARAH MENEFEE

 
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, in a special report on the growing number of people made homeless in California and across the country, and the organized resistance springing up everywhere, focused on one independent tent community in East Oakland that is under attack and threat of removal by the city. She interviewing several of its residents. Below are parts of two of the questions answered by well-known organizer Anita ‘Needa Bee’ De Asis:
Amy Goodman: Do these encampments provide community? Do they provide safety?
Anita ‘Needa Bee’ De Asis: Absolutely. They provide community. They provide support. Homeless folks are some of the most resilient people, most resourceful people, most creative people you’ll ever meet. And the little stability and support and security that people have been able to build for themselves when there is nothing is amazing. And so when the city comes in and knocks these encampments down, they’re literally knocking people who are on like one leg up, down on both knees. I think what’s also interesting is with Trump just coming to California and making his big grandstanding about herding everyone and put them in government-run camps… but if you look at what they’re signing into law here, or actually doing, it’s the same exact thing that Trump is threatening to do!
Amy: Right now when it comes to San Francisco and Oakland, what do you think would be the most important thing to happen?
Anita: I think on an immediate level, releasing public lands where people can park their cars, or people can build homes—like safe homes, like those—to kind of weather this crisis and weather this storm, until, like I said, the permanent housing is actually built, which isn’t going to happen immediately.
This is a disaster. And if it was a fire, if it was an earthquake, the response would be so quick. But this is an economic disaster. This is a cultural disaster. This is a housing disaster. But they’re not treating it like all the other natural disasters, and they need to.

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