A Publication of the Coalition on Homelessness
It has been one year since Luis Góngora Pat was shot to death by San Francisco police at the Mission District encampment where he stayed.
It will at least another year before his surviving family could seek answers—if not justice—at a federal court.
But on April 7, 2017, the first anniversary of this tragedy, about 100 people marched throughout the city, from the site of the 2016 shooting to City Hall.
What is sanctuary?
In the 21st century, people are fleeing in search of safety, looking for it high and low, enduring countless trials and many don’t make it at all.
Society is no stranger to waves of people, fleeing war, plague and natural disaster.
Today many governments in the West are scrambling to cope with the current crisis in Syria.
The ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East has left tens of thousands seeking asylum.
Past the bustling streets downtown and the hip young neighborhoods surrounding Divisadero, there lies a quiet, oft-overlooked section of San Francisco. The city’s westernmost borders are home to two of its largest districts: Richmond and Sunset. Sandwiching Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District is located directly north of the park, while the Sunset District lies just south.
Both neighborhoods were originally an expanse of rolling sand dunes and wild wasteland. First developed in the late 1800s,
Homeless encampments continue to be displaced by the San Francisco Police Department, the Department of Public Works, private security and others. Encampment residents are told to move along, but have nowhere else to go, with an adult shelter waiting list consistently over 1,000 people long.
One woman living in an encampment has something to say about it. Shyenene “Shy” Brown, whose encampment on San Bruno Avenue was swept in early March,
Derek Williams is a writer and vendor for the Street Sheet. Recently he’s been working on an article about homelessness in the Castro. Many of the homeless community have moved into the Castro and he sought out to find out how this was affecting both the homeless and the residents of the Castro. He was surprised in finding that most residents of the Castro really don’t mind. He described to me how residents seem to care more about how homelessness is affecting the homeless rather than how they are affecting the neighborhood.
Co-founded in 2013 by poets Natasha Huey and Gabriel Cortez, Write Home is a project that facilitates writing workshops and open mics for homeless youth in shelters and service organizations in Berkeley, CA. Through spoken word poetry, youth are able to foster community, express themselves creatively, and develop positive human connections.
Tell me a bit more about Write Home. What is a typical night like holding a writing workshop?
When I think of profound, articulate, phenomenal, and creative women, I think of bell hooks, Maya Angelou, and Audre Lorde. These women paved the way for many black women to take action and critically think about feminism and womanhood in America. Not only did their work inspire people around the United States but it helped to create a new paradigm of thinking about humanity across the globe. I’m honored to share the work and history of these women in honor of Black History Month
Maya Angelou
“When you learn,
In 2015, San Francisco’s Point-in-Time Homeless Count reported 6,686 sheltered and unsheltered homeless adults, as well as 853 unsheltered homeless youth, for a total of 7,539 people constituting San Francisco’s homeless population in 2015. Thirty-nine percent of the homeless population counted is white, which is a small fraction compared to San Francisco’s 53 percent overall white population, while 36 percent of the homeless population counted is Black, which is a disproportionate number compared to San Francisco’s 6 percent Black population.
H-A-R-R-I-E-T .
M-A-L-C-O-L-M.
T-R-A-Y-V-O-N.
Weapons. Handgun. Bullets. Gunshot. Unarmed. Teenage.
Murders. Racists. Defends. Upholds.
Lawyers. Answers.
Nothing.
Objects. Inhuman. Ignores.
Witness. Witless. Account. Useless. Protect.
Falsify. Testify. Justify.
Outrage. Protest. Agitate. Revolts.
Explode.
Failure. Beliefs. Silence.
