From the San Jose Homeless Frontlines:
Editor’s note: This was written in response to a sweep at Columbus Park in San Jose.
Read Poem Written in response to the Event. Where the Sidewalk Ends
SAN JOSE, CA — I found myself going home walking through downtown thinking of the people undergoing countless horrors at the hands of our local city government led by the Mayor. I found myself angered and crying as I walked these streets, for the people who are only trying to survive another day another night. Of those on the frontlines fighting to protect their community from unnecessary cruelty. From millions of dollars poured into the city each year earmarked for encampment abatement. How the little sense of stability people had managed after being neglected, oppressed, and exploited by the government and their capitalist interests is being ripped away from them. How painful it must be to continuously lose everything again and again until you very much lose your mind and tragically take your own life, which has already happened to two people so far at Columbus Park who have died by suicide because the sweeps and destructions of their RVs with nowhere to go, with no real solution, with their pleas and demands of the community are being ignored by Mr. Mass Incarceration Mayor of San Jose. Mr. Mayor who makes a mockery of our democracy by falling in line with Trump regime policies.
I cry because there are real solutions both short and long term that do not involve such cruelty! The sweeps continue even though a man was found dead in an RV yesterday and the residents asked for you to stop for a moment so that they can mourn.
And I know that JESUS DIDN’T DIE ON THE CROSS SO YOU COULD ENACT POLICIES THAT HARM AND KILL HIS BELOVED CHILDREN.
THE PEOPLE OF COLUMBUS PARK ARE CHILDREN OF GOD, JUST LIKE EVERY ONE OF US!
SWEEPS ARE NOT THE SOLUTION! SO MUCH SO THAT IN THE 2020-2025 PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS THE WORDS: SWEEPS OR ABATEMENTS ARE NOT MENTIONED ONCE IN THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT.
Sweeps are an extreme waste of money time and resources. And tragically exacerbates the problem by disconnecting people from outreach workers, resources, support. You wanted people to come indoors and 68% of those at Columbus Park accepted shelter, like the vast majority of unhoused people want a safe place to stay. All people experience hesitancy about engaging in any type of activity and people should be respected and shown true compassion and understanding. Some people need more time, more support, have more problems and needs that cannot be yet met by our city or county. And yet, you sweep them away!! Why should they ever trust you to help them when all you do is cause them pain.
YOU SAY WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS COMPASSIONATE, WE BOTH KNOW YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THIS IS A LIE.
IF YOU CONTINUE TO ENACT BRUTALITY ON THIS COMMUNITY, MAY GOD PROVIDE YOU WITH THE SAME COMPASSION DURING YOUR MOST DIFFICULT TIMES IN LIFE AND ON YOUR JUDGEMENT DAY.
You can still stop, choose a different path.
Instead, you should provide an alternative sanctioned encampment for those not ready for shelter, provide safe parking for RVs, even just a temporary place until the official ones have more room. Ask each individual what it is that they need and provide them it, develop a relationship over time built on trust. The saying goes: “No one cares about how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
And Maya Angelou states: “People don’t remember what you said, what you did, but how you made them feel.” How are you making the unhoused residents of Columbus Park feel? Would you want to feel like that if you encountered a situation where you were not ready, uncertain, or simply afraid to move on?
Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano is an artist/creative and member of Afro UPRIS, Urban Sanctuary, and Unhoused Response Group in San Jose, California.
