in October 2017 after8months of advocating the City administration gave us land in East Oakland on e12 and 23rd. but the administration operated in ill faith. rather than allow us to move forward obstacle after obstacle was laid in our path. people were herded against their will on the land without any notice to us and threatened with arrest if they attempted to leave – including rival gangs and families with generation old beef. Folks did not choose to be on the land and were not interested in going into recovery. we had moments where we were able to build a fragile unity between the encampment of residents that at it’s largest was 100 deep. We spent most of the year on the land dealing with crisis after crisis, keeping people from killing each other and chasing off predators. We built six homes to house 11 people – senior citizens and a woman with a child, advocated for adequate sanitation services the to date have remained unmet, made sure folks on the land had food & water, and provided support as necessary for folks individual needs.
In the end, the land should have never been offered to us as it was CalTrans not City owned. CalTran was unaware that we even were offered the land. Cal Trans intends to edit us this January 2019 to retrofit the overpass that spans the parcel an the administration is in the process of offering us new parcels to manifest our vision correctly and without sabatoge.
Volunteers Juan Perez, center, and Tom Waters, right, work on a ramp entrance for a new temporary home at the Village homeless encampment on Sunday, March 25, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. The city sanctioned encampment is set to shut down in November due to retrofitting of a nearby freeway on-ramp. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Bobby Quinones helps wheel Barbara Verduzco out of the new temporary home she will share with her husband Charlie Griffin, right, at the Village homeless encampment on Sunday, March 25, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. The city sanctioned encampment is set to shut down in November due to retrofitting of a nearby freeway on-ramp. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)Brent Shipp, right, brushes a treatment on wood banisters for a new temporary home at the Village homeless encampment on Sunday, March 25, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. The city sanctioned encampment is set to shut down in November due to retrofitting of a nearby freeway on-ramp. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
They tried to burry us….
From The day we were bulldozed to present day The Village had advocated or the legalities of their actions and vision, the human rights of curbside communities, a decriminalization of homelessness, the need for permanent houses and that existing encampments be upgraded and supported not criminalize, ignored or evicted.
Long time Oakland activist and organizer Brother Ali speaks up in support of The Village at Oakland City Council meetingallies and members of The Village attend city council meeting regularly to avocate for or curbside communitiesFeed The People Member Chi advocates for The Village at City Council meetingThe Village and other community organizations and curbside residents disrupt a developers conference that mayor Libby Schaft speaks at.Libby tells developers that Oakland is the East Bay jewel ready to be sold to highest bidder.The Village and other community organizations and curbside residents disrupt a developers conference that mayor Libby Schaft speaks at.Libby tells developers that Oakland is the East Bay jewel ready to be sold to highest bidder. Community members protest, flier and set up tents to make he connection between money driver market rate development and displacement thetas forcing thousands of Oakland’s families into the streets.homeless advocates share solutions tot he the homeless state of emergency to government officials. there needs to be at least 100 different solutions to solve this problem as thee is not one cookie cutter solution that will meet the needs and experiences of the thousands of Oakland’s curbside residents.sometimes advocacy means showing up to encampment evictions at 8am to support curbside residents moving, standing their ground and refusing to leave, documenting human rights and civil rights abuses, and negotiating with police and city workers. This show of support can last all day into the early evening but showing up makes a world of difference. if you want to be part of the community’s First Response efforts text HOMESNOW to 797979 to recieve our community calls to action.showing up to court case for criminalized curbside residents is another form of advocacydemanding that public lands be used to build permanent emergency housing and temporary emergency housing is part of our work too. unfortunately the government does not have the political will to do so. which is why direct action always gets the goods.passing out provisions to encampments is another form of work we engage inin january2018 we were able to co-host the United Nations Rapaetour on Adequate housing. she was working on a 6 year reaseh of “informal settlements” or homeless folks around the world. she said what she saw here in the Bay Area was more cruel and inhumane than what she saw in some of the poorest countries in the world. On Oct 19 2018 she released her report. she asserted that the existence of encampments where not on human rights abuses on the hands of governments unable or unwilling to provide the basic human right of housing to all their residents while at the same Tim the assertion of those denied housing the right to housing. she said the encampments where testaments of resilience and ingenuity in the most dire of circumstances. she also stated homeless was not a crime, that encampments should be upgraded not evicted, and that residents of encampments needed to be part of every step of the upgrade process. she set out a list of recommendations f government to follow and The Village program design created two years earlier is in line with those recommendations.
The Bulldozing of The Promised Land
Feb 2, 2017
City workers clear a homeless encampment at Grove Shafter Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. The city cleared the camp, which has been there for about a week, citing health and sanitary violations. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
A homeless man sits with his belongings in front of Grove Shafter Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. The city cleared a homeless encampment which has been at the park for about a week, citing health and sanitary violations. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
A homeless man sits along Martin Luther King Jr. Way near Grove Shafter Park in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. The city cleared a homeless encampment which has been at the park for about a week, citing health and sanitary violations. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
village founder needa bee comforts village resident mama nancy who was snatched out of her home and watched it bulldozed.
villahe volunteer rae sits with village resident mama nancy in the aftermath of the bulldozing. mama nancy and all the other 15 residents were displaced back on the streets, where they continue to live today
before shutting down the portapotty service the vilage organized comunity to pay for, the police used the service
community showed up as early as 6am in an attempt to block the eviction and demolition. but 80 violent cops in full riot gear and a bulldozer were n match for the 150 people there.
as community attempts to pack and slavage what they can, police take over the property
community watches as police and public works destroy the village
members of the community put their bodies on the line to defend the village. this brother is standing in defense of the health & wellness tent
what remains of the 24 hour kitchen
bear was not a resident but he is one of the hundreds of unsheltered folks who utilized the services provided at the village
police and public works swarmped the village. here they are standing around after yanking elders out of the homes community built.
how much of your tax dollars are being spent in this picture
community scrambled to collect materilas while the bulldozing happened…they may have tried to stop us but we had no intention of giving up
unfortunately the police and city administration on mayor do nt agree with this statement
a comunity member takes a break with her baby in the midst of the mayhem
community and residents trying to figure out where will the residents go now? sadly they all went back to the streets.
The First Village
Jan 20, 2017 – February 2, 2017
The First Village was located atMarcus Garvey Park in West Oakland. the Direct Action lasted for 13 days. From Jn 20, 2017 to Feb 2, 2017. we housed 16 residents who were chronicly homeless and addict. all 16 were sober during the two weeks we existed. we offered several services that were available free of charge and hundreds of curbside residents and housed residents in need utilize them. word of the village spread across curbside communities throughout Oakland and even Berkeley. Unsheltered folks called it “The Promised Land” because community activists and advocates kept promises to their unsheltered neighbors, unlike city officials
The first Village: The Promised Land at Marcus Garvey Park
J20 – move in night. on january 20, 2017 while the rest of the world braced itself for the inauguration of Donald Trump as the president of the United States, Feed The People & Asians For Black Lives and allies of both organizations came together in the middle of the night to seize mismanaged and neglected public land. Under the camafloge of the hardest rainstrom of the year, 100 comrades and homies moved in three hoes and a hnadfuk of residents. thus began day one of the 13 day direct action.
