Monday, May 29, 2017

Commitment

“I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and who are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace.” 
—Federico GarcĂ­a Lorca

The Time Had Come

"Quietly they pack up their few belongings. Not saying a word to each other or those forcing them to go.
"The 'cleaners' are threatening to take an old persons walker. An old mans cart. A back pack because they are on the sidewalk next to my house and the sidewalk was posted. They threatened me with the cops. I moved my home and he told me to move it again he is going to cause me problems.

"Silently the homeless move down the road. Small groups and single people breaking off going in different directions. No communication. Just a sense of loss. A sense of defeat and anger. Shoulders slumped and heads down. They keep walking trying to just remember why they even bothered to wake this morning. Each one lost in their own thoughts their own devastation. Finally they look up and see how far they have come only to realize that even as far as they have come they will only have a few hours rest if that. They set down their heavy loads and Finally look at one another realizing that not a one of them can keep moving. The time had come for them to make their stand. It was time to stand and fight. No more flight."

-L. Karen Burch, living in an RV on the streets of Portland, watching her friends in tents be forced to move, even though their spaces were clean and on public sidewalks