SACRAMENTO, CA — As we stand side by side… together on this winter solstice night. We mourn the unhoused who have died on our streets. This memorial is a reminder of the cruel reality that there are those of us who find ourselves unhoused, living on the streets, and without any of the comfort and support so many of us take for granted.
We honor our brothers and sisters’ memories by standing together on this night and committing ourselves to taking action to help those who are suffering at the hands of political misconduct and mistreatment. We recognize the injustice that has been done to those who are unhoused, and we promise to do everything we can to ensure that they are given the same opportunities, respect, dignity, and power to be the voices at the forefront of this fight. We make this commitment not just because they are human beings, but because we share this thing called humanity, being humans collectively, and we should treat each other with the same kindness and respect.
This commitment is not only about providing resources, but also about changing hearts, minds, and the narrative. We need to recognize that those who are unhoused are part of our families and communities and that they deserve the same love and support that we give to our own loved ones.
We should also strive to understand the root causes of homelessness and work to abolish policies and systems that continue to perpetuate criminalization, harm, lack of basic resources, and the death we see on the streets. To do this, we must start by ending systemic racism and other forms of oppression that disproportionately affect those who are unhoused. We must create meaningful dialogue and put impacted voices at the policy tables to come up with solutions that focus on providing resources and creating access to housing, healthcare, and other basic needs. We must also work to end laws that criminalize homelessness and that make it harder to find housing, keeping them on the streets to die.
One person living on the streets in the fourth-largest economy in the world is unacceptable. One person dying on our streets is a sin, immoral, and an injustice. We are all tired, as this fight has had us on a hamster wheel of devastation and loss for years. Let us not allow these neighbors’ deaths to be in vain or just be a counted memory.
My hope for the next year is that we have all come together in action to kick in the doors of injustice in the name of those we have lost to these streets! Together we end homelessness, and together we end death on the streets. I’m gonna say “Too much cold too much heat!”… You’re gonna say “No more death on our streets!”
Crystal Sanchez is with the Sacramento Homeless Union.
