I’m normally not a public demonstration kind of person. Although I grew up in a home that supported justice, compassion, and inclusion, I am not one of those people who will drop everything to publicly march for the latest cause celebre.
But last night, I joined thousands of others in a march for the rights of a community that saw the California Supreme Court enshrine discrimination into the state constitution.
This blog post, however, is not about yesterday’s ruling.
While I was marching last night, I could feel the anger, the sadness, the confusion, and the determination among the sign-holding walkers. This was a community that appears to have the resolve to make just a societal wrong.
And it dawned on me. There is another societal wrong occurring on the streets of our communities. Homelessness.
Where is the outrage, the sadness, and resolve for people who have no homes? Why are the compassionate, justice-loving people in our community so quiet?
Sure, we publish op-ed pieces and columns about homelessness. We have forums and conferences on the issue. We even put on a walk for the homeless. But ink on paper, gatherings of people who are already housed, and a walk that raises a few hundred thousand dollars is obviously not enough.
There should be marches. Demonstrations that express our society’s anger, sadness, confusion, and determination over the rights for housing, livable wages, and proper health care. Protest rallies that tell society enough is enough. Start spending the billions of dollars needed to guarantee people are housed, our streets are clean, and communities are flourishing.
Providing public feeding programs and setting up temporary shelters are just not going to cut it. These haven’t worked for the last three decades.
And building enough housing, providing enough livable jobs, and offering healthcare for all will not happen. Unless the will of the people say they want it. Justice typically is accomplished when people demonstrate their will.
I’m confident that history is on the side of last night’s marchers. Whether next year or within the next decade, their public resolve will prevail.
Sadly, however, I’m not so confident about the rights for people who are not housed. I don’t see the determination or resolve.
I don’t see the marches.
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