Response to Georgia Eviction

Link to the article that appeared on my Facebook wall this morning: http://www.alternet.org/story/155292/dozens_of_police_evict_georgia_family_at_gunpoint_at_3am

Initial reactions: I am a very mood/emotion-driven person. It is part of why I started this blog, to get things off my chest that bother me, frustrate me, or otherwise have been on my mind. I felt a multitude of varying reactions.

Disgust-  I find the sheer degree of overreaction absurd. The simple thought that there may be Occupy people there drove them into such a panic they had to have that many people show up? Honestly? I could understand if the family had been violent, loud, outspoken in their refusal to leave. But this is a home with an 85 year old woman and a child in it. It's not as likely they're going to pull out guns and start shooting.

That they came in at 3 am at all to evict this family also disgusts me. I don't know specific details, perhaps they'd been told they had to be out by a certain date but it does not sound like it at all. In fact, it sounds like they were utterly surprised by it.

To come up to anyone, though, at this hour of the night and expect them to pack up and get out is unnecessary, cruel, absurd, and disgusting. Not only did they terrify the family, they also destroyed possessions and it sounds like they had absolutely no respect for the family.  This reminds me a bit of the police's response to the Occupy movement in general. Guess what, though?

You are still a person, regardless of your political views. Whether or not this family was part of Occupy, regardless of whether or not they support gay rights or whatever, that still gives the police NO right to treat them like this.

That's a problem that is getting disturbingly repetitive in our society today. It's coming up on the news more and more, things that are done to people unfairly. Cruelly. The people who were casually sprayed in the face when peacefully, calmly, even politely protesting in Oakland, I believe it was?

People being beaten, arrested for the most minor of made-up offenses. I understand that those in power are afraid of change, afraid of people discovering their own power, afraid of people getting angry and saying enough is enough. However, it is beyond my comprehension that people are okay with things like this occurring.  Yes, she was late on payments. Yes, life is not fair.

That doesn't mean it's okay that life isn't fair. That doesn't mean that it is okay that these things are happening. That doesn't mean that it's okay to just ignore it and pretend things will get better, to blame the people for what happens to them.

How is it that we come to this, yet we learn as children "Do unto others what you would have them do unto you"?  It is painfully simple. Beautifully so.  How would you feel, were this to happen to your family? Without warning, especially?

There are 24 empty houses for each homeless person. Look it up. Was this really necessary?


Aside from the fact that Occupy is not a violent movement, how many other things do you see wrong with this?  With this and so many other things happening daily in the news?

Why are more people not speaking out against these injustices?


I mean, the fact that they responded so extremely to what sounds like an anonymous tip is appalling. What, your instinctive response is to go on the attack with all kinds of weapons and force someone to leave their house, even though when you arrive there is ONE person camping in a tent outside??

Yes, they were lied to. That makes it worse, because they could have just knocked to see if anyone was home, instead of freaking out and forcibly evicting them for no real reason. 




Fear is a terrible thing. It's very sad when we see the police, who are supposed to be there to protect us, and are afraid of them instead.

The fact that he purposely chose to do so at night when there would be no cameras makes a very clear point that he knew it was wrong. They had to know, going in there, that something was amiss. And. They. Did. Not. Care.

If you too are disgusted by this, share this on your facebook. Share this with your friends. Share the article, share the knowledge.

Lack of Empathy in today's world

When one is making a point through activism, there are many people affected. I can understand frustration regarding being late to work. I can understand frustration that these people daring to make a point about something that really matters to them messes up your precious schedule. What I do not understand, however, is this cold mentality people have toward others when it comes to anyone but themselves.  What am I talking about?

Homelessness.  When you see someone on the street corner with a sign, no hope in their eyes, dirty, depressed and unkempt is your first thought "Ugh, oh God, not another one?"  or "Don't look, they'll ask for money"?  The attitude I get from people on this subject is a general attitude of disgust and refusal to acknowledge the problem, instead pointing at the person and claiming that they are the problem.  "Get a job, you filthy bum!"

I've been homeless. I was legally homeless for a good portion of my childhood.  I was shifted back and forth between my parents in custody battles and when my dad was in jail for a stupid mistake. I remember staying on his girlfriend's couch when I was young. I remember staying with my step grandmother for two weeks while my mom was in Ireland because my dad was in jail for something (I think drunk driving, idk, I was young).  I remember being 10 or 11 and having my mother pack my crap into a garbage bag and send me to my father's house on the bus because "she couldn't deal with me anymore".  My parents did their best, and I love them both.  But, I never felt like I had a home. I felt alone, lost, adrift, confused, and upset in general.  Kids picked on me because when I lived with my father I smelled like smoke, so I didn't even feel comfortable in school. I lived in a motel, so all kinds of rumors abounded about me being a drug addict or some nonsense.  Kids suck, I don't blame them.

My driving ambition by the time I was close to graduation was just to get out, get away, get as far away as I could. When I finally graduated (which was by the skin of my teeth, a long story.. I'm not stupid, I was very lazy, angry, and had a lot of misplaced frustration.) I moved in with my aunt and uncle in california.  I stayed there for almost a year, then moved to Portland, and fell in love.  I was a dreamer. Didn't really see much wrong with it. I met a few homeless while I was there, one was a vet, one was drunk at the streetcar stop. I had some good conversations with them, because they were interesting, and I was curious.

Long story short, I moved south to Wilsonville and got a job. I was at a very bad place mentally, and working for Boost Mobile didn't really help. I also had bad choices of friends, again due to my naivete.  So, due to my stress levels and lack of ability/knowledge of how to deal with it, I had something happen and quit my job (I saw white at work and felt stabbing pains in my abdomen. I asked to be able to go home early to go to the doctor and they told me to get back to work and ignored me.  I was crying on the phone, and a customer asked me how I was. That still makes me sick..) due to a poor decision on my part. I just couldn't take it anymore.

Because I lost my job and US Bank screwed me over, I was going to become homeless, so I moved across the country in with a "friend" of mine who ended up being crazy. That led to another move, which also failed and brought me back to NY. I managed to get two jobs, and "saved" a couple of friends. I was in a bit of a better place psychologically, but took too much on at once, and barely made it working them for a year.  I lost everything again and moved here.

Portland, Oregon.  There are a lot of homeless people here, which is a whole different world than where I grew up. My first night a drug addict showed me where to sleep- I didn't know he was an addict til I woke up at 1 am to him shooting up with assorted pill bottles and needles scattered over his lap. I pretended I was still asleep, heart pounding, and left at 5 am due to nightmares.   My second night I was raped, due to a poor choice on my part (I didn't realize how strong Four Loko's are. Dear god, never again.) I was lucky in that he wasn't violent with me and brought me back to a max station and pointed out which way was downtown. That's an odd story, too.

BUT the next day I met Jason.  I complimented his outfit, he complimented my pinstripe fedora.  I never thought I'd meet him again. A girl brought me to the youth shelter that night and I saw him again, and we have been inseperable friends ever since.

I was lucky, in that I am 23(almost 24!). I was 22 at the time and was able to stay at the youth shelter and get youth services. I've also seen the other side of that coin, when they decided they couldn't help me anymore.  There are a lot more homeless than you see on the street. The homeless go to internet cafe's, Powells, the Library, all kinds of stuff.  There aren't enough shelters. The family shelters are all closed except for one now, I think.

I've slept outside on concrete, multiple times. I've slept in a storefront, I've slept under a bridge.  I'm not a high school dropout. I graduated with a C average, but I got a Regents diploma.  I type 90 wpm. I've read more books than most people my age, and several older. I am by no means stupid.  I'm not lazy. I never sat with a sign asking for money, though we did once make one that was interactive (Sharpies, and asked passersby if they wanted to add art or something to it.)

So, tell me.. Why is it so easy to blame the homeless for their problems??  Making a mistake happens. We are human. It's how we grow. But how does it work that making a mistake makes you a failure, and it's your fault that you can't get up on your own?? There are not enough services. It's not right, and it's not fair.  "But nothing's fair, so that's okay", right?

There's something wrong, here.  When we are so unempathetic we just don't care about children being forced to walk around in the cold because there aren't enough day programs open in December for all the families.

There is something wrong when people say "Oh, they should have done x" when peaceful protesters are beaten by the police.

The Right to Free Speech is not what speech you WANT them to say. It is not YOUR opinion alone that is allowed to be said. People doing nothing wrong do not deserve to get dragged off their bicycles, punched in the face, kicked, hit, etc because their march is unpermitted.  That is free speech.  Martin Luther King didn't ask for permission to make his points. Asking permission to be allowed to make a point MEANS YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THE POINT.


Don't blame the victims for their victimization. I am not talking about protesters who hit cops first, or spit at them, etc. I am talking about people just like you.