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Response to the article, here: http://www.povertyinsights.org/2011/01/31/could-homeless-americans-create-an-uprising/
I don't want a movement based on rage. It would get us nowhere, we'd turn against each other and the larger community would break out their disability epithets like "crazy, loonie, whack jobs" to discredit us, stigmatize us, demonize us and further marginalize us.
What we need is a movement based on hope, empowerment and dignity, with non-violent, civil disobedience, just like Dr. King and Gandhi used. And it wouldn't be hard to organize, either.
On a set day, in a few cities, a few economically exploited people meet in front of City Hall, put up a "tent city," hold up some signs and distribute some leaflets about conditions in their SPECIFIC towns, "Joy Junction discriminates against LGBTQI people. They force their religious views on all residents and they exploit us for cheap labor in their contracting business." "The food at the mission kitchen is not prepared under sanitary, health department conditions. Some of the ingredients are contaminated by bacteria and people are getting very sick." "The police destroyed a homeless camp by the river last month. They vandalized all of our possessions. We were forced to leave, in the dead of winter, without even our sleeping bags or coats." That sort of thing.
In addition, a VERY under-utilized resource in this country is the Unitarian Universalist Association. They have Social Justice Committees at almost every fellowship. They are non-denominational and honor all faiths, as well as agnosticism and atheism, so they won't shove a spiritual tract down anybody's throat. They have a long track record in social justice, civil rights, poverty, environmental and peace activism. They tend to be upper middle class, so, know they can be out of touch and more theoretical than practical, but they have non profit, tax exempt status, meeting space, health department approved kitchens and connections in the community. If economically exploited people infiltrated their fellowships, volunteered and contributed, I know they would be interested in activism.
I will not distinguish between those who are currently homeless and all the rest of us who are under constant threat of homelessness or living in substandard conditions. We can all work together.
What's keeping us from organizing is self esteem. We have social workers, doctors and cops all telling us we're not good enough, stupid, lazy, etc. We have our fellows who often prove untrustworthy and dangerous. And we are completely overwhelmed by ALL it takes just to stay alive from day to day.
If we began organizing small "flash mob" actions, in cities and towns across the USA on the same day, got the media to notice that we're organized enough to do that and began recruiting among our own at food stamps offices, medical clinics, soup kitchens, etc., we could, within a year, continue Dr. King's work with the Poor People's Movement, so tragically cut short by his murder.
It wouldn't take much. But it HAS to be based on hope, love, non-violence, self-respect and dignity.
We have a lot to be angry about. We can channel it into something positive, or we can just look like a bunch of snarling freaks.
I suggest letting women organize it.
I ABSOLUTELY think it should be lead by women. We are the primary caretakers of children, the disabled and the elderly. We take far more personal responsibility for family and near community than do most men. We, and those for whom we care, are far more damaged by economic exploitation than are men, who are more mobile and can just walk away. We have not been allowed, ever, to speak our truth or direct actions in proactive, rather than maintenance, ways. Our voices have been silenced in Eurocentric culture for thousands of years, our contributions minimized and the penalties for speaking our truth have been excessively brutal. When women organize, the motive is to accomplish a task, clean up a mess and nurture others. When men organize, they use words like "revolution (wanting to be on top, rather than on the bottom, in an endless wheel)," "anger" and other self righteous justifications to act out abusively.
Response to the article, here: http://www.povertyinsights.org/2011/01/31/could-homeless-americans-create-an-uprising/
I don't want a movement based on rage. It would get us nowhere, we'd turn against each other and the larger community would break out their disability epithets like "crazy, loonie, whack jobs" to discredit us, stigmatize us, demonize us and further marginalize us.
What we need is a movement based on hope, empowerment and dignity, with non-violent, civil disobedience, just like Dr. King and Gandhi used. And it wouldn't be hard to organize, either.
On a set day, in a few cities, a few economically exploited people meet in front of City Hall, put up a "tent city," hold up some signs and distribute some leaflets about conditions in their SPECIFIC towns, "Joy Junction discriminates against LGBTQI people. They force their religious views on all residents and they exploit us for cheap labor in their contracting business." "The food at the mission kitchen is not prepared under sanitary, health department conditions. Some of the ingredients are contaminated by bacteria and people are getting very sick." "The police destroyed a homeless camp by the river last month. They vandalized all of our possessions. We were forced to leave, in the dead of winter, without even our sleeping bags or coats." That sort of thing.
In addition, a VERY under-utilized resource in this country is the Unitarian Universalist Association. They have Social Justice Committees at almost every fellowship. They are non-denominational and honor all faiths, as well as agnosticism and atheism, so they won't shove a spiritual tract down anybody's throat. They have a long track record in social justice, civil rights, poverty, environmental and peace activism. They tend to be upper middle class, so, know they can be out of touch and more theoretical than practical, but they have non profit, tax exempt status, meeting space, health department approved kitchens and connections in the community. If economically exploited people infiltrated their fellowships, volunteered and contributed, I know they would be interested in activism.
I will not distinguish between those who are currently homeless and all the rest of us who are under constant threat of homelessness or living in substandard conditions. We can all work together.
What's keeping us from organizing is self esteem. We have social workers, doctors and cops all telling us we're not good enough, stupid, lazy, etc. We have our fellows who often prove untrustworthy and dangerous. And we are completely overwhelmed by ALL it takes just to stay alive from day to day.
If we began organizing small "flash mob" actions, in cities and towns across the USA on the same day, got the media to notice that we're organized enough to do that and began recruiting among our own at food stamps offices, medical clinics, soup kitchens, etc., we could, within a year, continue Dr. King's work with the Poor People's Movement, so tragically cut short by his murder.
It wouldn't take much. But it HAS to be based on hope, love, non-violence, self-respect and dignity.
We have a lot to be angry about. We can channel it into something positive, or we can just look like a bunch of snarling freaks.
I suggest letting women organize it.
I ABSOLUTELY think it should be lead by women. We are the primary caretakers of children, the disabled and the elderly. We take far more personal responsibility for family and near community than do most men. We, and those for whom we care, are far more damaged by economic exploitation than are men, who are more mobile and can just walk away. We have not been allowed, ever, to speak our truth or direct actions in proactive, rather than maintenance, ways. Our voices have been silenced in Eurocentric culture for thousands of years, our contributions minimized and the penalties for speaking our truth have been excessively brutal. When women organize, the motive is to accomplish a task, clean up a mess and nurture others. When men organize, they use words like "revolution (wanting to be on top, rather than on the bottom, in an endless wheel)," "anger" and other self righteous justifications to act out abusively.
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