By Needa Bee
I just got home from working last Wednesday- (i have been living in my vehicle in District 3 for three years in the same spot) – to find out four vehicles that were used as homes/businesses/livelihoods/services to the unhoused were stolen by the city of Oakland.
Our vehicle and three other vehicles people live and work out of were stolen today because they did not have current registration.
Several housed folks on the same block had their vehicles tagged for not having current registration.
Unhoused folks were never tagged. Housed folks were
Unhoused folks were never given notice.. housed folks were
Unhoused folks were never offered adequate shelter.
There is a moritorium still in place for vehicles people live in to not be towed.
The city claims it never tows people’s cars they live in. Couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Since Wednesday I have been in advocacy with members of HAWG, just cities and Nikki Fortunato bas office to get the administration to waive all fees.
We got all fees waived. This is the fourth time I have witnessed the city do this when they have towed peoples homes.
This morning we went to opd at 8am, got all the paperwork we needed.
Village folks went to the tow yard today to get our truck (which houses the village Administrative offices and cardboard and concrete studios). Because the city only waived till yesterday they charged us $189 for today.
But they DESTROYED our truck. They removed the steering wheel and the steering column. All the property in the truck is DESTROYED.
Our perfectly working box truck no longer works. Our art is destroyed. We don’t know the status of the other property yet. All this over an illegal operation that traumatized several unhoused residents. And continues to traumatizes us.
And there’s more!!
Media came to cover what is going on. The tow company locked the gate, but locked one of the journalist inside the yard!!!!
And me, joyous and one of our high school interns were doing feed the people when we got the call from Muki Benkler and Ayat Bryant-Jalal Yahyo Bryant of the FUCKERY.
we had hot BBQ chicken dinners from Lena’s soul food Cafe courtesy community kitchens. They were going to 94th and e 14th, e12 btwn 15th and 42nd, 45th and mlk, 30th and mlk, driver’s plaza, here there. Folks depend on these meals. Now the meals are cold.
We are documenting everything.
Im working with Lia Azul Salaverry from Nikki Fortunato Bas office to get the four folks who lived in abandoned vehicles immediate supportive transitional housing.