This week there was a deliberate act of vandalism/intimidation against one of my community members. Word on the street trickled back to us that it was a reprisal for summoning the police (which we do for the safety and security of our guests.) A few weeks ago Joann said about Chinatown, "You gotta remember where you're at, you're not in Sunday School." For sure. Violence is an aspect of life here-- from the prison culture mindset and threats, to little scuffles, to beatings, and deaths. There's a sense from some guests that inside is our alcove of safe space, but the street is a jungle. We closed the dayroom for a day and held community meetings with our volunteer corps and then the general public. One person said, "The cut wasn't to the tires, the cut was to
our body." Another said, "We need to build bridges with the dealers so we can respect each others boundaries. We need to be good neighbors." People make a lot of assumptions about people that are experiencing homelessness. My community is full of wise, beautiful, ordinary people. Chinatown was created, it was planned to hold the undesirable away from downtown and the marginalized are pushed there... another volunteer whose been around 20yrs said, "First they built a wall and we broke it down, then they built a fence, they corral us in." Dorothy Day said, "Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system."
And the truth is, the dealers often are respectful to us. There's a spectrum: users (who may sell just to support their addiction), 'thugs' (who are more like gangs), and dealers (who operate with a business mentality). The police here are also really trying to work with the situation in new and creative ways and partner with us. There's a lot of philosophical head-butting. I am inclined to resist increased surveillance and trust that - slowly -- even years down the road -- that community can create accountability, that the street does indeed belong to the people who live there, not to those who exercise violence to control. Their presence won't decrease unless the demand decreases, which is a arduous symptom to fight against.
A co-worker said, "If a person gets off drugs but re-adjust to the "American way of life" are they any more free?"
