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CREATED:20170126T053900Z
DESCRIPTION:Come join us this Friday at 1pm for an edible landscaping party. \n\nBring 
 small containers, soil, herbs and greens to plant so we can line the 
 redwood chip walkways with medicinal herbs and veggies.\n\n--\n\nThe 
 Village in Oakland #feedthepeople\n\nThe people's encampment on public land 
 in Oakland providing those who have been displaced their basic needs and 
 rights: housing, food, healing, and dignity.\n\n--\n\nStory\n\nOn the 
 morning of Saturday, January 21, 2017, a network of Oakland community 
 members took over a neglected public plot of land known as Grove Shafter 
 Park in West Oakland. They intend to move in small homes, a hot shower, a 
 healing clinic, and other services—declaring it a people’s encampment 
 for those who need housing and basic needs and services. The group which 
 includes folks living on Oakland streets, activists from #FeedthePeople and 
 #Asians4BlackLives, and various individuals from the community, said that 
 the move-in demonstrates their ability to provide what the City of Oakland 
 cannot to its most vulnerable residents. \n\nThe group aims to demonstrate 
 through their visionary encampment that housing is a human right. They also 
 hope to demonstrate that, in the face of a city government that fails to 
 meet the needs of its people, it is possible for the community to unite to 
 serve those on the street in a dignified and humane manner. The group 
 challenges the inaction of the City of Oakland, saying that the City has 
 proven not been to be disloyal to its long term families displaced in this 
 city-initiated housing crisis. The group also claims that the City has not 
 implemented sufficient efforts to address homelessness, such as building 
 permanent public housing, starting with for those who have been displaced 
 by the housing crisis, particularly Black and Brown people. \n\nThe group 
 began moving into the public land at MLK and 36th street in the middle of 
 the night and set up the village of services. The center of the village, 
 spokespeople said, will become a community space reserved for daily 
 people’s assemblies, and will provide services to the residents. 
 Volunteers have begun planning for, including a health & healing clinic, 
 hot home cooked meals, a hot shower, raised gardens, a computer lab, adult 
 education center, and a center for distributing donations to Oakland 
 residents in need. The village is open to all who need services provided 
 whether you live at the site or not. And no registration is needed. \n\nThe 
 village is narcotics and alcohol free, and begins with prioritizing housing 
 for Black and Brown folks, families, women, elders, and disabled folks. 
 Eventually the encampment hopes to keep growing to be able to welcome more 
 to be inclusive for anyone homeless residents in Oakland to move in, and to 
 offer the appropriate services to meet their needs. Organizers also hope 
 that their version of what a compassionate community looks like inspires 
 others to reclaim public land in other parts of Oakland, t and The Bay 
 Area, and the country, to build similar havens of safety, service and 
 community.\n\nThe encampment is not meant to be a permanent solution, but 
 addresses the immediate needs and harm reduction of some of the City of 
 Oakland’s more than 3,050 homeless residents. Oakland’s homeless 
 population makes up 49.2% of all of Alameda County’s houseless. Homeless 
 numbers are growing, spokespeople said, as a direct outcome of the city’s 
 housing affordability crisis. The housing market in Oakland has 
 skyrocketed, and a vast majority of landlords no longer accept Section 8 
 vouchers. Many of Oakland’s homeless residents have vouchers for Section 
 8 housing, but cannot find a rental agency that will accept the public 
 housing program. Currently there are only 386 beds available in Oakland 
 shelters.\n\nThe City of Oakland's "Compassionate Communities"effort that 
 claims to be a pilot program has earmarked $190,000 of the City’s general 
 budget funds for addressing homelessness. However, the program only allows 
 trash pickup and porta-potties for a single sanctioned encampment for six 
 months. New residents do not get registered for inclusion in the program 
 and were told to leave when the camp footprint was recently halved by force 
 in preparation for permanent closure of the encampment by March 31. The 
 programs are not scalable, and only a select few benefit. An interim 
 housing provision gives residents hotel vouchers that last no longer than 6 
 months, an unrealistic timeline for finding permanent housing, and the 
 program includes no proposals for long-term subsidized housing. This is not 
 a pilot program to address homelessness. This is an experiment in camp 
 removal and suppression. After being criticized for the false claims of the 
 program, the city responded that their phase two of the program is to 
 create a permanent homeless encampment made up of tiny homes not tall 
 enough for residents to stand up in. \n\n“Housing is a right. Being 
 without a home is not a crime. The politicians that created this crisis are 
 the criminals. Yet folks without shelters have been ignored, harassed, 
 shuffled around, degraded, and criminalized. The responses from city 
 officials, CalTrans, and police has not only been ineffective, but 
 degrading and even criminal,” said #FeedThePeople member Chiedza 
 Kundidzora. “Institutions like CalTrans continually violate homeless 
 communities’ constitutional rights with their protocol towards folks 
 living under freeways. They seize and destroy people’s property without 
 due process, and as a cruel and unusual punishment for circumstances that 
 are treated as criminal.” she said.\n\nThe action responds to several 
 recent incidents, including a January 1 fire at the Wood Street encampment, 
 one of Oakland’s largest encampments. Some residents moving into the 
 encampment were displaced by the fire on New Year’s Day. Others are 
 choosing to relocate to the camp seeking the safety, services and dignity 
 the village offers. 24 hour security, hot showers, sturdy shelters, 
 privacy, and community support are also incentives for 
 residents.\n\nFriday’s action was also inspired by Malcolm X Grassroots 
 Movement’s call to #BeUngovernable and to “build and fight” to resist 
 illegitimate government, most recently manifested by Donald Trump’s 
 inauguration as the 45th President of the United States. The action takes 
 place a day after hundreds of thousands of people across the country took 
 to the streets and declared their cities to be zones free from 
 displacement, mass deportations, registries, attacks on poor people, and 
 corporate giveaways of public goods. Instead they called for protection and 
 expansion of healthcare, housing, food, and free public education for 
 all.\n\n“Today we stand in solidarity with the poor, houseless, and 
 displaced people of Oakland, many of whom are Black and Brown. As 
 #Asians4BlackLives, we realize that gentrification, inaccessible housing, 
 and privatized public land are a part of the ongoing war on Black people, 
 which also includes racist police violence. We support the leadership of 
 the homeless folks moving into this camp, and stand together with them in 
 the fight for dignity and the fight against displacement,” said Ellen 
 Choy of #Asians4BlackLives.\n\nActivists and residents not only hope to 
 unite communities that face displacement, destruction, terror, poverty, and 
 violence to stand together in the fight for housing for all, and promote 
 self-determination in the face of an illegitimate government. \n\nAll those 
 offering support to the community as individuals are welcome to join the 
 daily assemblies at 5:30pm. Representatives of nonprofits, the City, and 
 police are not invited.\n\n\n\nABOUT #FEED THE PEOPLE\n#FeedthePeople, a 
 collective of Oakland residents and activists, including some currently or 
 formerly homeless, has been distributing food and supplies to homeless 
 encampments in the East Bay for over a year. Every Wednesday, volunteers 
 share hot home cooked meals, much needed supplies, hugs and support to 
 people living on the street. They also provide advocacy and support to 
 folks on the streets when they are harassed by police and 
 politicians.\n\nABOUT #ASIANS4BLACKLIVES\n#Asians4BlackLives, a diverse 
 group of people of Asian descent based in the Bay Area, focuses on 
 nonviolent direct action for Black liberation. The group originally came 
 together over two years ago in response to a call from Black Lives Matter 
 Bay Area and the larger Black Lives Matter movement, to show up in 
 solidarity with Black people in their struggle for liberation. The group 
 has been involved in direct actions to support campaigns ranging from 
 #StopUrbanShield to #BlackTransLivesMatter to #NoDAPL and regularly 
 supports calls from Black-led groups for solidarity statements and actions. 
 a4bl.tumblr.com @Asians4BlkLives\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/01/25/18795794.php
SUMMARY:Edible Landscaping Party at The Village in Oakland
LOCATION:Marcus Garvey Park, a public plot of land at 36th Street and Martin Luther 
 King, Jr. Way in West Oakland
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/01/25/18795794.php
DTSTART:20170127T210000Z
DTEND:20170128T000000Z
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