People Project protest ends
(May 3, 2007) Two Sunday mornings ago, my mother returned from walking to church in town. “There’s a Hooverville down the street,” she told me.
My mom is just old enough to remember the shanty towns that popped up in urban areas during the Great Depression, where homeless families lived in makeshift shelters made from packing crates and cardboard.
But this homeless encampment was something different: no packing crates; and cardboard signs, not roofs. Large tarps were attached to a chin-up bar in the green area adjacent to the D Street Neighborhood Center, technically a city park. The tarps covered a kitchen area and a central shelter for sleeping. A half dozen camper’s tents had been erected that first rainy night. Sleeping bags were drying on the fence separating the park from the freeway.
A table with leaflets set up on the corner was surrounded by cardboard signs: “Human Rights Direct Action,” said one. Another demanded, “Support a Free People-Run Campground.”
The camp residents were eager for dialogue: about the plight of Vietnam vets on the streets, about how the police had removed the portable toilet that People Project had paid for on Saturday.
Kim “Verbena” Starr stood at an information table. Starr’s a direct action veteran: She spent time in the Humboldt County Jail for her part in forest protests. She also served on Arcata’s Homeless Services Task Force, where she advocated for establishment of a free campground. The leader of the People Project said this protest was about the city’s no camping ordinance, something she and other “houseless” folks see as sleep deprivation and akin to torture. I gave her my number and asked her to call when the police showed up.
The call came just after 6 a.m. last Wednesday morning. “It’s going down. They’re here,” said a male voice. “Come when you can.”
The protest camp had grown to a dozen or more tents since Sunday. Captain Tom Chapman, of the Arcata Police, was telling the campers to either take their things and go, or face arrest. A core contingent had formed a circle in the center of the camp on a tarp, linking arms. Police officers were still arriving - dozens of them.
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ONE Comments
Comment / By Toby Nixon / March 23, 2009, 3:56 p.m.
Keep Fighting!
From the Public Comments about Public Toilets to the People Project!
Stand Up, FIGHT, Fight, Fight!