Sacramento CA. Today on September 10, 2022 a protest was held at the intersection of Land Park and Broadway.
An original protest was initiated by the Vice President of the Land Park Neighborhood Association, Kristina Rogers. The Sacramento Homeless Union was forwarded the secret email that was going around the community. The Homeless Union and multiple other organizations organized a counter-protest, to be held at the same time,
In their email, their protest was to demand that our city focus on crime, public safety, and support law enforcement. Later in the email it does state that the protest was not about homelessness but about crime. However, they had linked to current news videos linking homelessness and crime, making it very clear it was about homelessness.
Also in these news articles, Deputy District Attorney for the County of Sacramento voiced her opinion about the homeless community. They showed up to the protest with zero diversity, which is important to address because these areas have been redlined for years.
We felt that this was a direct attack since those experiencing homelessness in the Land Park community are primarily black and brown. We had multiple different orgs and unhoused, and many who work in mental health, outreach and de-escalation, who are representative of our BIPOC [Black, indigenous and people of color] and unhoused communities.
Upon request, I Crystal Sanchez was summoned to the other side as I was on the megaphone hollering statistics and the lack of accountability, talking about what homelessness really is and that crime has not increased per the Sacramento PD and City of Sacramento websites, but in fact has decreased.
Then a gentleman yelled for me to come over. At first, he was very hostile, and then let me know that his sister was murdered by somebody who was experiencing homelessness. We talked for quite a while and were able to shake hands and gain understanding. I also spoke at length with another community member, a woman, and was also able to come to a little bit of common ground.
What two different protests brought together is that whether we AGREE ON HOW TO HANDLE THE SITUATION. WE ARE NOT BEING HEARD BY THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO! IT IS BECOMING A FAILED STATE WITH LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY.
At the end of the day, we are all a community, housed or unhoused, and the City of Sacramento is failing both. One thing we know is that not all voices are at the table. Our hopes are that the Land Park community members that did speak with us keep their word and keep the door open to those conversations. The wrong narrative is being portrayed here, and it is creating chaos and MOB mentality. This isn’t about me against you, the businesses against the residents, the residents against the unhoused, this is about a state-created crisis and systemic racism. It is perpetuating modern-day segregation in our communities, between those who have and have not. It is creating struggle, hatred, frustration and anger and chaos.
A final reflection on this: We aren’t that far apart in what we are asking for. We are closer to creating solutions than you know. The focus of accountability, however, needs to be held on those who are making policies, misallocating funds, and funneling into the homeless industrial complex that is not providing real-time services for people. Homelessness is impacting all of us. It’s time to shift the narrative and be solution-based, with solutions that work for all involved.
Crystal Sanchez is with the Sacramento Homeless Union.
