‘You can’t lock up an entire movement!’ says Homeless Union leader

Latest

Sacramento encampment
Sacramento encampment.
Photo / Donated

SACRAMENTO, CA — 2020 has taught us many lessons. For years, people have been saying that most of us are one paycheck away, one medical bill away, one life emergency away, one natural disaster or crisis away from homelessness. What Covid-19 has also shown us is that, along with every other mistreatment of our homeless, we continue to be excluded, ignored, and unprotected, with criminalization and police sweeps of our unhoused who are trying to shelter in place.  For years we have asked for infrastructure in our encampments. We have fought for housing. Project Room Key has shown that we could take hotels and house folks, that we could place porta potties in encampments and bring mutual aid to those who need it the most. Our government has the capacity to get everybody off of the streets if they truly wanted to.

Here in Sacramento we are seeing CDC violations and violations of a lawsuit we won to stop police sweeps. Our goal for 2021 is to put a stop to the cruel and unusual punishment of unhoused folks. Our goal is to stop sweeps and fight for housing now, for no more death on the streets. We are a national Union of the Homeless, made up of the unhoused, poor and advocates, and those sick and tired of being sick and tired! You may be able to lock a few of us up, but you can’t lock up an entire movement. When we say ‘whose streets?’ and then respond ‘our streets!’ it is because it is our streets. Built by us, paid for by us, utilized by us. Many of us have died on those streets as well!

The time has come for another civil rights movement.  There are more of us than them. Stand up, fighting back. Organize organize organize! Remember — we only get what we are organized to take!

+ Articles by this author

Crystal Sanchez is with the Sacramento Homeless Union.

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

80 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Are We on the Verge of Another Nuclear War?

Gerry Condon, former president of Veterans for Peace, makes the case that we are now closer to nuclear war than ever, and that the U.S. is primarily responsible.

Labor Law Still Offers Pathway to Resist Abusive, Inhumane Immigration Laws

Local unions are taking leadership by negotiating language into their agreements prohibiting ICE from entering workplaces.

Nebraska Farmers Describe Trump’s Impact

Farmers from Neligh, Nebraska speak on Trump’s policy to round up farmworkers, the effect of the tariffs on farmers, and the resistance.

Gazans Demand ‘Agency, Memory and Hope’

The true number of dead and missing in Gaza may be around 500,000. Another 500,000 face starvation. Palestinians say if there is to be peace, it must begin with respect for their voices, their rights and their humanity.

Trump’s Immigration Theater Ignores Whose Land ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Is

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma joined Florida tribes in protesting "Alligator Alcatraz. The tribe says it insults their ancestral homeland and threatens ecosystem.

More from the People's Tribune