By Magaly Muñoz

Advocates in San Francisco held a rally Thursday afternoon in front of City Hall to issue a symbolic citation to Mayor London Breed, urging an immediate end to the sweeps of homeless encampments in the city.

“What do we want? Housing! When do we want it? Now!,” the group chanted.

The group of allies and advocates originally intended to start their rally off on Jessie Street, where a sweep of an encampment was going to take place around noon. But, the group had to change their plans because the city allegedly heard about the rally and chose to sweep the area earlier in the day.

The streets adjacent to Jessie St., such as Mission and Market St, are lined with multiple encampments and unhoused individuals. Many stand in groups or walk along the streets by themselves.

One member of the group, Leah, said she lived in District 6 and what politicians claim is an “open drug market” area. She criticized the extra funding that has gone to the San Francisco Police Department to “solve homelessness” but no positive results have been shown.

“If giving the police more money actually solved the housing crisis, the homelessness crisis…then it would’ve gotten better, but it has actually just been getting worse and worse as more services for poor people have been cut,” Leah said.

Other speakers said the problem with sweeping and citing people for living on the streets is that the homeless problem is being exacerbated, and it’s ultimately not helping those who are struggling.

In order to help alleviate the problem, advocates have called for expansions to permanent supportive housing, resources and services, housing vouchers, and rent relief for struggling residents.

According to the 2024 Point in Time Count, 8,323 people were experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. A seven percent increase since 2022 where there were 7,754 sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals.

In her mission to get people off the streets, Mayor Breed has directed city crews to clear encampments more frequently than before. This decision comes after the landmark case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, was overturned by the U.S Supreme Court and cities were given the authority to ban people from camping or sleeping on the streets.

The mayor also instructed city workers to offer transportation tickets to people before offering shelter with the intent that those who are not originally from San Francisco can return to family or friends elsewhere and services can then be used for long-time residents.

A former homeless resident, Yolanda, in attendance at the rally said it was difficult to get off of living on the streets because of the barriers to housing and services.

Yolanda told the Post that she had grown up in the city with her family, but once her father passed away, there was no one to maintain the bills so they had to relocate to Oakland for a few years. She said her family stayed there for a few years before returning to San Francisco.

As she got older, she found herself living on the streets or in temporary shelter. But these shelters would only allow people to stay for a few months at a time and were very restrictive in what people could do, such as leave when they wanted or have guests with them.

After some time, Yolanda and her boyfriend were selected for housing through a housing allocation program, where she still currently lives now. She said they were one of the lucky ones, but others do not get to experience this same fortune.

She shared that at one point in her journey to find a housing placement, there was a 2,000 person waitlist, making it nearly impossible and disheartening for those looking for a roof to put over their heads.

Yolanda said it was unfair to criminalize people for not being able to afford housing, considering the extremely high costs of living in the area.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

By Magaly Muñoz

For over 25 years, an Oakland leadership organization has worked to foster multiracial relationships amongst students, where historically, there has been division.

Youth Together was created by Raquel Jimenez, a Latino history teacher at Castlemont High School, who noticed tension between Black and Latino students. Through a coalition of other Oakland-based organizations, Youth Together was established to provide resources to students and give them skills to build community with other racial groups.

Student members of Youth Together told the Post that the reason they joined the organization was to build skills around social justice and connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t have met.

One student, Oli, said the group helped her to grow confidence in speaking with new people and to learn more about the history of racial issues in Oakland, which she wishes teachers did more of to include in their curriculum.

Lena, another student who attends Skyline High School with Oli, said the groups at school are typically divided by race because “students fall into stereotypes”. She explained that kids would put her in a “stereotypical Asian” persona but once they got to know her, they started treating her differently.

Berlin, a student Youth Together member, shared that he transferred to three different schools because of racial tensions with other students. He said other groups attempted to start problems with him because he didn’t come from the same background as them.

Lena said people would be more open to being friends with other races if they were taught about them more frequently in school.

“It’s really important to understand different ethnicities and their backgrounds and struggles that they’ve went through,” Lena said.

Asian, Latino and Black students make up the biggest racial groups in Oakland Unified School District. Latino students in particular make up over half of the student population with almost 24,000 kids in the 2022-23 school year.

The Youth Together students shared that over the years more white students have started attending their schools and the diversity is no longer what it used to be. They also said the teachers do not reflect the student body diversity.

Oli said although there are student fights at Skyline, she doesn’t feel that they are racially motivated. But she claims that most of the racial tensions actually come from teachers who express negative rhetoric to students during their lessons, especially in history classes.

Through these conversations about race and social justice, the students are better prepared to speak to their peers at an annual event called Unity Day.

Unity Day was hosted at Skyline and Oakland High School at the very beginning of the school year. Kids participated in activities and group discussions about diversity and the ongoing disparities in their education.

The Youth Together team said they looked forward to having these talks with students and to connecting them with others.

Lead organizer Seanna said she wants Unity Day to bring folks together and undo the years of division that Oakland schools have experienced. Her two high school aged brothers, who are also members of Youth Together, have told her that tensions run higher now than they did when she was in high school several years ago.

Seanna wants the cycle of tension and detachment among different racial groups to end, both in school and in the city. She said people felt more united and like a community when she was growing up, but that doesn’t feel like the case anymore.

If Unity Day is what the school and larger community need in order to get along, she hopes the idea continues and expands until things start to come together again.

“It just takes one person to want to keep fighting, to inspire other people to keep fighting, and that’s the domino effect I would love to see. Maybe that change that we all crave for will come,” Seanna said.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Special to The Post

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced that Agusto Matias has been charged with multiple felonies as the alleged driver in a deadly hit- and-run incident, killing a teenage girl and injuring her mother.

Matias, 37, is charged with felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, D.U.I/alcohol causing injury, driving with a 0.8% blood alcohol causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident [death/permanent serious injury], and misdemeanor hit-and-run driving and unlicensed driver.

According to the complaint, the incident happened on or about August 19. It is alleged that Matias was fleeing the scene of a bumper-to-bumper collision on Havenscourt near International Boulevard when he allegedly struck and killed one victim and injured a second victim.

Both victims were in the crosswalk when the collision occurred.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my office has filed charges against an individual accused of extremely reckless driving that resulted in the tragic loss of a young life,” said District Attorney Pamela Price.

“I want to extend my condolences to the family. No parent should ever have to bury their child under such avoidable circumstances. Our thoughts are with them during this incredibly difficult time.

“This incident is a stark reminder of the dangers of impaired and reckless driving,” Price said. “It is a preventable crime that destroys lives, devastates families, and places all of our lives in danger unnecessarily. This type of unconscionable behavior will not be tolerated on our city streets.”

Trending

OP-ED: Bidenomics Builds on Efforts to Invest in Struggling Communities

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office (DAO) is one of California’s largest prosecutors’ offices and is led by Alameda County’s first Black woman District Attorney Pamela Y. Price. Price brings her vision to this office to fairly administer justice in the pursuit of thriving, healthy, and safe communities for every person who steps foot in Alameda County, no matter their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, income, or zip code.

 Price has been recognized as one of the most progressive prosecutors through her forward-thinking, innovative strategies to interrupt cycles of violence and crime and bring change to a criminal justice system rooted in systemic racism. Follow Madam DA on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and @AlamedaCountyda on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post