I have so much to say to this strip. Positive at heart, but....... not fair to say mayor is killing. Previous admin, with a “hands off” policy on the many many encampments that spread throughout the city, saw street deaths go from 138 to 200+ between’20 and ‘21. Correlation is not causation. Fentanyl played a role in recent issue, for instance. Covid? Climate change (heat and cold)? Also, i personally know chronic Homeless that were housed into apartments under current admin. I am not saying things are good or even close. I worked directly in encampments in Seattle and Tacoma 18 months during Covid. It was a humanitarian crisis that the cities did nothing to cure. The chronic addiction and mental health were beyond the pale. And from a neighborhood POV, in my Pioneer Square, small, funky, community oriented businesses, going month to month, lost huge revenue because of fear of homeless who took over Post Alley, the Square, waterfront, SoDo areas. I am advocate for massive govt intervention A-Z on Homeless issue. It’s a crime against our humanity. I do not support sweeps that do not drive the unhoused into wrap around services and housing. I am not coming from a “Fuck the homeless” POV. I love that you took this on but don’t think over-simplifying and blaming mayor for what is a complex, local and National economic-societal shit show is the way to go. I hope you keep at it and look at the nuances.
Thanks for engaging with this! I appreciate your point of view.
We never said the mayor caused this crisis (only that he's making it worse), that encampments are a viable solution (no one wants to live outside), or that sweeps are the *only* cause of deaths among the unhoused. Only that the mayor has radically escalated sweeps, and sweeps kill. That's a point made by advocates we talked to. We included specific examples of exactly how sweeps kill to try to make this clear. If pointing this out seems to be minimizing what businesses are going through, that's unfortunate. My best friend runs a business and has suffered some terrible vandalism and theft. That sucks and I hate it. But more state violence against the most vulnerable will solve exactly nothing. You hit it on the head that it's a crime against humanity.
The mayor's response has the clear savor of genocide. A large contingent of this supposedly progressive city wants the unhoused to simply go away, even if that means death. I'm not saying this of you! But sometimes decent people give others credit for also being decent, because the murderous truth is too monstrous to contemplate. And the level of hatred against the poor and unhoused in Seattle is really almost too much to process. To be clear, the last mayor was also a monster. She also was a huge sweeper, but the current mayor has radically escalated sweeps.
The mayor is actively killing people and getting away with it. Putting it in those terms has not gone over well, I will say that. It's "divisive," "incendiary," and "sensationalistic." Maybe even "unproductive." People who point it out are generally excluded from the polite discourse. That doesn't make it any less true.
I’m cool with what you say. I can’t argue. “Nice” doesn’t always save lives. I will say, only this, tangentially: in my time working in the camps, the “politics” and “purity” of a lot of activists (not all, by any means), was tough to handle. Covering a sweep for Real Change, for example, i was threatened repeatedly for my “exploitation” of the unhoused being swept. i never captured people without permission, but in that case, a advocacy group Claimed to “speak for” the residents and there was no discussion on the matter. It was but one example, among many many others, that i thought detrimental to and dismissive of the larger community fervently Looking to help.
Ok. But the Same issue. I’m suggesting a new strip. City just today tore down oldest shade tree in Steinbrueck aka Native Park. I’m watching it happen in real time. Huge gathering place for local. . Rick Williams was here try to get support for protest. It’s the city whitewash colonial attitude, clean the park up, kill the tree, revive the only shade in the park, keep the Indians and street scum out. It’s fucked. I was under that tree at 106 degrees last year with 40 others. It was refuge. No more refuge here. Gone. Kaput. Now there is a water view.
Thanks for what you do documenting this stuff, and just generally being involved. It's a war zone, doesn't always bring out the best in people, myself included! I'm hoping with the shakeup in city council (three of them not running again, including one of the absolute worst) we might get some traction. When did we declare it an emergency, like 2016??
HI, Thanks for your response. I don't use Instagram and most of my friends (seniors) don't either. How can I copy and paste your posts onto Facebook so more people can read them?
May I post this on my Facebook page? When I copy and paste it, all I get is the blue hyperlink. It would be great if more people could see this post! Thanks.
Thanks Susan--please feel free to share anywhere! Not sure what the Facebook issue is, but I will also put up an Instagram version when I get to it which might be easier to share.
Hello again. In the spirit of your work, here's my post on my interaction with a sweep the day after the Neely killing. Keep yours coming....
https://open.substack.com/pub/mjwhite/p/photography-as-witness-there-are?r=1rk0p5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I have so much to say to this strip. Positive at heart, but....... not fair to say mayor is killing. Previous admin, with a “hands off” policy on the many many encampments that spread throughout the city, saw street deaths go from 138 to 200+ between’20 and ‘21. Correlation is not causation. Fentanyl played a role in recent issue, for instance. Covid? Climate change (heat and cold)? Also, i personally know chronic Homeless that were housed into apartments under current admin. I am not saying things are good or even close. I worked directly in encampments in Seattle and Tacoma 18 months during Covid. It was a humanitarian crisis that the cities did nothing to cure. The chronic addiction and mental health were beyond the pale. And from a neighborhood POV, in my Pioneer Square, small, funky, community oriented businesses, going month to month, lost huge revenue because of fear of homeless who took over Post Alley, the Square, waterfront, SoDo areas. I am advocate for massive govt intervention A-Z on Homeless issue. It’s a crime against our humanity. I do not support sweeps that do not drive the unhoused into wrap around services and housing. I am not coming from a “Fuck the homeless” POV. I love that you took this on but don’t think over-simplifying and blaming mayor for what is a complex, local and National economic-societal shit show is the way to go. I hope you keep at it and look at the nuances.
Thanks for engaging with this! I appreciate your point of view.
We never said the mayor caused this crisis (only that he's making it worse), that encampments are a viable solution (no one wants to live outside), or that sweeps are the *only* cause of deaths among the unhoused. Only that the mayor has radically escalated sweeps, and sweeps kill. That's a point made by advocates we talked to. We included specific examples of exactly how sweeps kill to try to make this clear. If pointing this out seems to be minimizing what businesses are going through, that's unfortunate. My best friend runs a business and has suffered some terrible vandalism and theft. That sucks and I hate it. But more state violence against the most vulnerable will solve exactly nothing. You hit it on the head that it's a crime against humanity.
The mayor's response has the clear savor of genocide. A large contingent of this supposedly progressive city wants the unhoused to simply go away, even if that means death. I'm not saying this of you! But sometimes decent people give others credit for also being decent, because the murderous truth is too monstrous to contemplate. And the level of hatred against the poor and unhoused in Seattle is really almost too much to process. To be clear, the last mayor was also a monster. She also was a huge sweeper, but the current mayor has radically escalated sweeps.
The mayor is actively killing people and getting away with it. Putting it in those terms has not gone over well, I will say that. It's "divisive," "incendiary," and "sensationalistic." Maybe even "unproductive." People who point it out are generally excluded from the polite discourse. That doesn't make it any less true.
I’m cool with what you say. I can’t argue. “Nice” doesn’t always save lives. I will say, only this, tangentially: in my time working in the camps, the “politics” and “purity” of a lot of activists (not all, by any means), was tough to handle. Covering a sweep for Real Change, for example, i was threatened repeatedly for my “exploitation” of the unhoused being swept. i never captured people without permission, but in that case, a advocacy group Claimed to “speak for” the residents and there was no discussion on the matter. It was but one example, among many many others, that i thought detrimental to and dismissive of the larger community fervently Looking to help.
Ok. But the Same issue. I’m suggesting a new strip. City just today tore down oldest shade tree in Steinbrueck aka Native Park. I’m watching it happen in real time. Huge gathering place for local. . Rick Williams was here try to get support for protest. It’s the city whitewash colonial attitude, clean the park up, kill the tree, revive the only shade in the park, keep the Indians and street scum out. It’s fucked. I was under that tree at 106 degrees last year with 40 others. It was refuge. No more refuge here. Gone. Kaput. Now there is a water view.
Thanks for what you do documenting this stuff, and just generally being involved. It's a war zone, doesn't always bring out the best in people, myself included! I'm hoping with the shakeup in city council (three of them not running again, including one of the absolute worst) we might get some traction. When did we declare it an emergency, like 2016??
2015
HI, Thanks for your response. I don't use Instagram and most of my friends (seniors) don't either. How can I copy and paste your posts onto Facebook so more people can read them?
I am confused. I would like to recieve this, but haven't figured out how to get a free subscription.
Hi Carol--try this link to subscribe:
https://penandeye.substack.com/subscribe
May I post this on my Facebook page? When I copy and paste it, all I get is the blue hyperlink. It would be great if more people could see this post! Thanks.
Our Instagram page (which is a bit behind, but we will get to this one soon):
https://www.instagram.com/pen.and.eye/
Thanks Susan--please feel free to share anywhere! Not sure what the Facebook issue is, but I will also put up an Instagram version when I get to it which might be easier to share.