1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: Al Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to you can happen here exchange today. 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:12,879 Speaker 2: And I'm joined by Luca and Sailor. They're both from Breadlock, 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 2: which is a mutual aid group in San Diego. How 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 2: are you doing today? 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 3: We're doing great, great. 7 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: How are you wonderful? 8 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm thriving. I've just received my seventy fifth COVID 9 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 2: booster I think, I think, so having a little miserable day, 10 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 2: but that's okay, not going to get novel coronavirus, which 11 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 2: is always nice. So can you guys start out by 12 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 2: maybe explaining, well, what Breadblock does, how long it's done it, 13 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 2: and why it does it. 14 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, So we are a mutual aid group. We mostly 15 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 4: provide hot food. That's like the core of our services. 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 4: We feed about one hundred people like like eighty to 17 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 4: one hundred people depending on the day weekly in East 18 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 4: Village in San Diego. We also clothing and harm reduction 19 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 4: supplies and other things like tampons and plan b when 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 4: we can get our hands on it, and we try 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 4: to be we are there like at the same time 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 4: every day. I will not say the exact location, but 23 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 4: if you are interested in getting involved, you can always 24 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 4: reach out and that's like what we're doing right now, 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 4: and that happens weekly and sale am I missing anything? 26 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,199 Speaker 5: Yeah, So this form of what we're doing with bread 27 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 5: block in a more organized way has We've only been 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,559 Speaker 5: doing it a few months. However, Initially we started doing 29 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 5: it in twenty twenty one when I started getting into 30 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 5: harm reduction stuff and I was working at a strange 31 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 5: exchange and realized a lot of people would be asking 32 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 5: for food and we weren't getting that out there, and 33 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 5: so that's why the initial idea came about. And then 34 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 5: we just had enough people who were willing to do 35 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 5: it in a weekly so that's how we chose that 36 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 5: location and got started doing that. There's just a lot 37 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 5: of people down there on those nights, so. 38 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 4: It's time to happen at the same time that a 39 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,640 Speaker 4: harm reduction services happen the Needle Exchange, So it's at 40 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 4: a time when a lot of people are down there 41 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 4: and the amount of time are like collective doing this 42 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 4: specific thing as exist is. I believe since end of 43 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 4: March early April is how long we've been like consistently 44 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 4: providing services every week. 45 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great, that's a long time. So especially through 46 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 2: like summer can be a difficult time if you don't 47 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 2: have a house in San Diego, Like it gets increasingly, 48 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: it gets very hot, and particularly the streets themselves get hot, 49 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 2: and that becomes dangerous for people. 50 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:43,399 Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. 51 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 2: So I want to start with like, at some point, right, 52 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 2: say that you were doing a syringe exchange and you 53 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 2: are like, these people need to be fed. They are hungry, 54 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 2: and now we're here and you're feeding them every week, right, 55 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 2: But you had to do a whole lot of things 56 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 2: in between here and there. And like, I know this 57 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 2: because listeners email me all the time. So many people 58 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 2: want to do that too, and it might not exist 59 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 2: where they are. They might not know. So, like, can 60 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: you explain how you went about like seeing a need 61 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 2: and then organizing to meet that need? 62 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 5: Yeah, so I guess what came before that was we 63 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 5: had already built relationships with each other around our leftist 64 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 5: ideals and art and protesting and different stuff. 65 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 3: So we already knew a lot. 66 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 5: Of people who who were interested in mutual aid and 67 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,839 Speaker 5: that capacity. Yeah, but I will say things like Instagram 68 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 5: have helped just meet more people who are looking to 69 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 5: get involved in mutual aid. 70 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. 71 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 4: Yeah, Like Saylah said, we had like had spent some 72 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 4: time building community with each other and getting a core 73 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 4: group of people that trust each other, that had gone 74 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 4: to protests together, that were maybe in like affinity groups 75 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 4: already with each other, and then there was just sort 76 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 4: of like enough of us that were in community with 77 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 4: each other at the time that when Sala was like, 78 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 4: the encampment ban is like really making things so much 79 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 4: worse for people in communities and we really need to 80 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 4: do something, we were like, all just like it just 81 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 4: happened because we were all sitting in a room together 82 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 4: one night after a like social event, and Sala was like, 83 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 4: we need to talk about this, and we were like, okay, yeah, 84 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 4: we like need to do this, and we had enough 85 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 4: people where we could pull together a first distro and 86 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 4: then a second and then gradually adding like more organizations 87 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,679 Speaker 4: so that we could continue doing it sustainably over time. 88 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's like I want to be opinion the 89 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 2: camping ban, because the camping ban is making things worse 90 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 2: for people who are already having a hard time just 91 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 2: surviving here, and it fucking sucks and it's tog glorious fault. 92 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 2: You shouldn't bothe Yeah, let's talk about though, Like I 93 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 2: want to get into nuts and bolts, right, feeing one 94 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 2: hundred people? Right, you need to and ass pad, you 95 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 2: need loads of food, you need a place where you 96 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 2: can cook. How did you identify all those things and 97 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 2: how did you get to a place where you could 98 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 2: regularly have those things? 99 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 5: So in twenty twenty one, when I had initially started 100 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 5: this with kind of a different group of people, but 101 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 5: there were definitely over us, we just did it and 102 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 5: like used my mom's kitchen and found some big pops 103 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 5: and just made it happen. And I feel like, if 104 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 5: you have the will to make it happen, you're going 105 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 5: to figure it out. And you know, maybe in the 106 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 5: beginning it was a lot more chaotic, which you know, 107 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 5: we are anarchists, so we're okay. 108 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 3: With the chaos. 109 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 5: But it just after doing it a week after week, 110 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 5: it just became more streamlined. And you know, we just 111 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 5: buy a lot of essential bulk food and we have 112 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 5: a few giant pops. 113 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, we like to make soup a lot. 114 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. 115 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 4: Currently our kitchen is like like our cooking equipment includes 116 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 4: two large pots and a rice cooker that someone recently 117 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 4: donated to us. And then we needed a fridge, so 118 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 4: we got a free fridge off offer up and cleaned 119 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 4: it up and put some cool stickers on it and 120 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 4: then plugged it into a garage. Currently, the kitchen that 121 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 4: we use is like a couple of us just like 122 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 4: live together, and so we use our kitchen and we 123 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 4: have access to our garage and we just stored the 124 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 4: supplies in the garage. We stored the fridge in the garage, 125 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 4: and we make it work through donations we get on Instagram. 126 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 4: So we knew some comrades that work with the community fridges. 127 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 4: There's like some community fridges in San Diego, and so 128 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 4: they already had a relationship with a grocery store and 129 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 4: so we were able to hop in on that and 130 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 4: we get some donations from that. We get some donations 131 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 4: from What's sale the group. 132 00:06:58,400 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: Oh Orchporchlight. 133 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 5: Yeah, and there's so much food waste that I feel 134 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 5: like if we were to find the right people, we 135 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 5: could be fully self supporting on just things that would 136 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 5: be thrown away alone. 137 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. 138 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 5: Yeah, we just have to meet the right people in 139 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 5: order to do that. But we're getting there. Yeah, And 140 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 5: I do want to say the kitchen is a small 141 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 5: slash regular sized kitchen, so you don't have to have 142 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 5: some big, crazy warehouse typed kitchen to make this happen. 143 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you're feeding people right likeuman you're doing 144 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 2: it like in the afternoon or evening. Have you found 145 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 2: there are things that you said you like soup, but 146 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 2: I know, like we fed a lot of people at 147 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 2: the border last winter, right, and we found out that 148 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 2: like certain things work, certain things didn't work, and we 149 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 2: always tried to keep it vegan because of people's religious 150 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 2: needs preferences. Right, is there anything like that that you 151 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 2: found that works or doesn't work. 152 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 5: We have done a lot of chili with our squad, 153 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 5: and I know that Luca has done a lot of curry. 154 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 5: So there are certain things and they can both be 155 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 5: easily made vegan. Initially, a lot of people when we 156 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 5: would have vegan stuff would ask for me alternatives, to 157 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 5: which I understand people, you know, they don't always have 158 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 5: access to protein, So we tried out both options when 159 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 5: we can. 160 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 2: Nice. 161 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 4: Yeah, it varies what we have because our group kind 162 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 4: of functions with for like autonomous squads, like well semi 163 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 4: autonomous that take turns doing the distress so that you're 164 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 4: only really responsible for it once a month, which helps 165 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 4: reduce burnout. 166 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, how does that work? Explain how you came 167 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,079 Speaker 2: up with that and how it's organized. 168 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 4: Yeah, So this was kind of like something we've been 169 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 4: talking about for a while. Some of us are like 170 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 4: more into the theory than others, but we're just kind 171 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 4: of talking about, like, oh, well, like how do we 172 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,719 Speaker 4: get more people involved, because I think what happens oftentimes 173 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 4: with these mutual aid groups is there's like a lot 174 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 4: of people sitting in a group chat and there's like 175 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 4: a small core of people who do end up doing 176 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 4: the majority of the labor, and that often results in 177 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 4: burnout for those people and building a resentment between like 178 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 4: the people who are doing a lot and the other 179 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 4: people because I think also like sometimes people feel left 180 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 4: out and they don't feel like they can get involved, 181 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 4: and then they feel like the people who are doing 182 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 4: the core of the labor are like in charge and 183 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 4: they have to defer to them, which creates a lot 184 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 4: of problems, which I'm not saying like we don't have 185 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 4: any of those problems, Like we're still trying to work 186 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 4: out the kinks, but the squads sort of like dynamic 187 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 4: makes it so that groups of about like five to 188 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 4: ten because a distro you need about like six people 189 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 4: to make it happen, so about five to ten people 190 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,319 Speaker 4: take turns, so you just rotate, so you know when 191 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,079 Speaker 4: your day is. It's once a month that you are 192 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 4: responsible for the distro and you are responsible for choosing 193 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 4: the food that you're cooking, making sure it gets cooked, 194 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 4: organizing with your other comrades, getting the donations, all of 195 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 4: that stuff. But you can always ask the larger group 196 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 4: for help or extra hands if you need it. Yeah, 197 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 4: But it sort of shares that like responsibility because I 198 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 4: think the most stressful part oftentimes is like, oh, the 199 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 4: distro happening tonight is on me and I and if 200 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 4: I don't do it, it's not going to happen. Yeah, 201 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 4: And so it sort of spreads like that sort of labor. 202 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 4: But we have members who like show up to every 203 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 4: single distro because they want to, and that's totally fine, 204 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 4: even if they're in like whatever designated squad they're in, right. 205 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 5: Yeah, or some people who shall like once every few 206 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 5: months because they have other stuff going on, you know. 207 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 3: So it's very open and you don't have to be 208 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 3: in a squad. 209 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 5: You could just to join whenever you have the time, 210 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 5: with whoever week it is. So it's pretty loose, yeah, 211 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 5: I would sell, but it does give a good sense 212 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 5: of structure. 213 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, that helps a lot. I remember one day last year, 214 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 2: that's winter, and I was out building shelters with an 215 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 2: Uzbek guy and a few Kurdish guys, and we built 216 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 2: these shelters and we built three of them. And afterwards, 217 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 2: so sitting down with some of my friends who are 218 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 2: also there as volunteers, and they're all anarchists too, we 219 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 2: each trust each other what we did. And then one 220 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 2: of them said, so what do we all learn? What 221 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 2: did you learn when you did that today? 222 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 3: Right? 223 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 2: I think that's a really valuable question that we should 224 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 2: be asking ourselves in our organizing spaces. So like from 225 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,599 Speaker 2: your first distrow to now, I want to ask what 226 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 2: did you learn? 227 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 5: I would say, we've really learned how to trust each other. 228 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 5: We're working on, you know, how to get consensus models, 229 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 5: how to split the labor between different people, how to 230 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,200 Speaker 5: work with different people, and also, yeah, like I said 231 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 5: in the beginning, how to really how to trust each other, 232 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 5: which you know, we all want to see the revolution 233 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,560 Speaker 5: happen at some point and so I feel like one 234 00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 5: of the most important and valuable things we can be 235 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 5: doing is building relationships and communities with each other where 236 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 5: we can actually rely on each other. And so having 237 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 5: a mutual task really helps with that. 238 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 2: Yeah. 239 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think for me, like we've like tried 240 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 4: to do stuff in the past, like the and I 241 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 4: think the issue we've always run into was that, like 242 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 4: sometimes there's like a tendency to want too much structure 243 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 4: right away and be like, oh, if we don't have 244 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,079 Speaker 4: everything planned down, we don't know how everything's going to work, 245 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,080 Speaker 4: then we can't do it, and we need to figure 246 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 4: everything out beforehand. And we learned a lot like doing it, 247 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 4: and even like we didn't have everything figured out, like 248 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 4: we're still working on like our consensus structure. We're still 249 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 4: working on like how we're going to make like big 250 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 4: decisions as a group and like when the squads can 251 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 4: make their own decisions and when the group can make 252 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 4: their own decisions, and like we don't have everything figured out, 253 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,719 Speaker 4: like it's very like loose, but we didn't need that, 254 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 4: and we're we've been able to do a distro for 255 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 4: like months and we don't have everything figured out. We 256 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 4: have something we had enough to get us started, and 257 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 4: we're like working on like slowly adding things as we 258 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 4: need to, without like overburdening ourselves because I think sometimes 259 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 4: like lots of layers and lots of company exodies can 260 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 4: really make it difficult to organize and adapt to what's 261 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 4: happening on the ground. 262 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 2: Definitely, I think, yeah, we can overcomplicate it and like 263 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:13,440 Speaker 2: be too anxious. Talking of anxious, I'm anxious. So we 264 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,559 Speaker 2: have yet to pivot to advertisements. So let's do that 265 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 2: and then we'll come back and we're back. Okay. So 266 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 2: you spoke about like a lot about the logistics of cooking, 267 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,679 Speaker 2: which is great, but I know from experience of feeding 268 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 2: hungry people can be a challenge, right, and it's none 269 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 2: one's fault, especially when people are hungry, Like we're not 270 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 2: our ourselves. It's a whole advertising campaign built around that. 271 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 2: So how do you organize your distroage such should everybody 272 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 2: feels that they're being taken care of, Everybody feels safe 273 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 2: and knows that they're going to get enough to eat. 274 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, that also goes back to something more we. 275 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 5: Learned is we try to have enough people at the 276 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 5: distro so we can have different people doing different things, 277 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 5: and sometimes that means one person is just walking around 278 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 5: talking to people, de escalating a situation if needs be. 279 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,079 Speaker 5: And then we also figured out that at the end 280 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 5: when we run out of food in order, but people 281 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 5: who have been waiting in line don't get mad, which 282 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 5: it's understandable, you know, they've been waiting in line and 283 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 5: there's no more food than they're hungry. 284 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 3: Yeah. 285 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 5: Of course, we try to have like different snacks and 286 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 5: like muffins or granola bars and water just to hand 287 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 5: out at the end for those people who still need something. 288 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 5: And so sometimes we have music and we all just 289 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 5: try to bring a good energy and so far nothing 290 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 5: that we haven't been able to handle. 291 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 3: How to happen. 292 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense, I know. We we found 293 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 2: the music was really helpful and we were disributing food 294 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 2: when really big groups at the border like play some 295 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 2: music or have a friend who plays music plays some music, 296 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 2: and then we'd always ask folks from the group who 297 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,239 Speaker 2: we were feeding to volunteer to help us in that. Oh, 298 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 2: it helped us so become language barriers and stuff. 299 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 5: That's happened a couple of times as well, where people 300 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 5: have just stepped up and wanted to help, which has 301 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 5: been great. 302 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's nice and it gives us all. Like part 303 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 2: of what we're doing with mutual Aid isn't just meeting 304 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 2: material needs. It's also like the difference between solidarity and charity, right, 305 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 2: Like we're there because we care about you as people, 306 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 2: not just as like hunger mouths that we can take 307 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 2: off a spreadsheet like and working together is an integral 308 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 2: part of that. It's what distinguishes us from charity model. 309 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 5: And thankfully most of the time we have enough people 310 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 5: that if somebody needs to step aside and have a 311 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 5: one on one conversation with somebody because that's what they 312 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 5: need in that moment, and we can do that. 313 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, having floaters is really important. 314 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 4: Like we always have like two people at least two 315 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 4: people serving food, and then we have like a snack table, 316 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 4: water table usually, and then we have a section for 317 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 4: harm reduction that usually gets served on like another table, 318 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 4: and then we have like a section for clothes depending 319 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 4: on what we have, and people sort of like go 320 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 4: down the assembly line kind of like going down grabbing 321 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 4: their different things, and we give people like plastic bags 322 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 4: that we get from grocery stores so they can get 323 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 4: their things, but we also have like floaters usually so 324 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 4: that like if someone's like having like a medical issue, 325 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 4: or someone's like upset or whatever is going on, someone 326 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 4: can like step aside and spend some time with them. 327 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 4: Like the other day, we had a woman who was 328 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 4: not feeling well because of the heat, and she had 329 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 4: been out and she needed to sit down, so we 330 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 4: like grabbed one of our chairs and we sat her 331 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 4: down and got her some water and just like talked 332 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,680 Speaker 4: to her. And we had a couple people who could 333 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 4: step aside and do that, and then everyone else just 334 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 4: could keep like feeding people without it kind of stopping things. 335 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 4: But she still got what she needed. 336 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 5: And during that heat waves at one of the distros, 337 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 5: I remember you ran across and thought somebody gating because 338 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 5: they really were needed electrolyte. So we're lucky that we 339 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,520 Speaker 5: have enough people that we get to be able. 340 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 2: To do stuff like that when we need to, right 341 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:09,439 Speaker 2: and I imagine that regularity is really important, Like people 342 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 2: know that you will be there and that they can 343 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 2: come and you will feed them. Like that builds trust, 344 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 2: right like, and everyone I think benefits from mittal structure 345 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 2: and being unhealthed. It can be really fucking hard to 346 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:21,880 Speaker 2: find structure. 347 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 5: Yes, exactly, and it's very hard to get like home 348 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:28,200 Speaker 5: cooked food. 349 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is something I've encountered living in my cart, 350 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,919 Speaker 2: Like it's hard to get healthy food. The food you 351 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 2: buy is shit. It's more expensive and it's less good 352 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 2: for you. And like these things compound over time to 353 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,119 Speaker 2: have health and psychological consequences. 354 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, everything we cook we eat as well. 355 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:49,919 Speaker 5: And you know, if we're cooking or we're helping out 356 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,400 Speaker 5: with sister, of course it's that's. 357 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 3: A mutual and mutual aid. We can also eat it. 358 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely something else we learned at the 359 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 2: border was like, especially if we're looking something that's maybe 360 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 2: not a cultural cuisine because we're meeting people from all 361 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:06,399 Speaker 2: over the world. A lot of times, it's like, like 362 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 2: you were saying, chili and courage, it's like hot wet food, right, 363 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,159 Speaker 2: Like you know that big semi liquid pan of chili 364 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 2: or whatever that we would cook and spaghetti and like 365 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:18,360 Speaker 2: folks being like what's that, We're like, oh, do I'm 366 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 2: going to eat some? Do you want some? 367 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: Yeah? 368 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 2: And like I honestly had some of the happiest moments 369 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,200 Speaker 2: of last year, just like I remember one day. I've 370 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 2: been building yurts all day with an osbat guy, and 371 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 2: then we sat down and had our beans and just 372 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,639 Speaker 2: like talked about our lives and it was really sweet. 373 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 3: Yeah. 374 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 2: I think that that is a moment of solidarity that 375 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 2: you don't get when you're you know, I've seen NGOs 376 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:44,720 Speaker 2: and the US military tossing MRIs or refugees, and I 377 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 2: think the same thing. 378 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. 379 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 4: Yeah, No, there shouldn't be like a line between like 380 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 4: you and the people that you're providing mutual aid to. 381 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 4: I mean, like it should You should never give someone 382 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 4: food that you're not willing to eat yourself. And like 383 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,879 Speaker 4: if someone's hungry while we're cooking, like they can totally 384 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 4: eat the food that we're making too. 385 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: It's not like cordoned off. 386 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 2: Yeah. 387 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 4: Like, of course, we like, you know, we wear our 388 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,959 Speaker 4: ppe and we like you know, aren't getting our hands 389 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,399 Speaker 4: or whatever. But I mean because a lot of the 390 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 4: people who are like who do provide mutual aid and 391 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,360 Speaker 4: work in mutual aid groups like, are also people who 392 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 4: may face houselessness or have trouble paying for groceries or something. 393 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, for sure, Yeah, there's no separation you know 394 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:33,920 Speaker 5: between us and them at the end. 395 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 3: Of the day. 396 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's super important. So I want to 397 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 2: talk about the camping ban. Maybe let's take another rab break. 398 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:42,160 Speaker 2: We'll talk about the camping them when we come back. 399 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,760 Speaker 2: We are back. We are now discussing the topic which 400 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 2: I love to talk about, which is evil things that 401 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:02,400 Speaker 2: Todd Gloria has done. Today. It could be the whole 402 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 2: podcast every day of the week for years, but we're 403 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 2: going to talk about this camping ban. For folks who 404 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,840 Speaker 2: didn't listen to a camping ban episode, can you give 405 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 2: me like a sixty second synopsis on the camping ban 406 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 2: and then we can dive into what it's done. 407 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. 408 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 5: So basically, earlier this year, the Supreme Court overturned of 409 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 5: basically an ordinance that you don't have the ability to 410 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,439 Speaker 5: cite or arrest somebody if there's not shelter available. But 411 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 5: they overturn that, so now they can, and Gavin Newsom 412 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 5: issue the Sleeping Order that the agencies have to clear 413 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 5: encampment and ordered that cities and counties do the same. 414 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 5: So now there's fourteen plus the cities in California that 415 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 5: do have a camping ban in place. So that's criminalizing 416 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 5: living outside yea. 417 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 2: The existence of unhoused people is now a crime. Yeah, 418 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 2: so what have you seen post enforcement? 419 00:20:59,000 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 3: Yeah? 420 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 5: So I so like work in the field of harm reduction, 421 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 5: So you know, I do this in my free time 422 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 5: because I want to do it, but I also do 423 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 5: it for work, which there's definitely sometimes I feel weird about, 424 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 5: like working for an organization and wish that I didn't 425 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:13,919 Speaker 5: have to. 426 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,640 Speaker 3: But it's just one of those things. And I've seen. 427 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 5: It's really hard and really sad because when people are 428 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 5: in encampment, a lot of times they build a sort 429 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 5: of community and family and they learn how to take 430 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,280 Speaker 5: care of each other, and constantly being split up is 431 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 5: destroying these communities. And then they just have to travel 432 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 5: further and further away so that they're disconnected from not 433 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 5: only their community but also resources that they do have, 434 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 5: and so it's just really hard, and sometimes we lose 435 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 5: connections with people. 436 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 3: We don't know where they went, you know, or they 437 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 3: end up in jail or it's been really. 438 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 5: Horrible, and we're just talking about how it just seems 439 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,800 Speaker 5: like people don't really care and it's crazy that this 440 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 5: is happening in our communities and people aren't talking about 441 00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 5: it and aren't outraged by it. 442 00:21:59,240 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 2: Yeah. 443 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 4: Yeah, these bands also have like a really nasty ripple 444 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 4: effect because when these people got pushed out of San Diego, 445 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 4: then they go to other cities that don't have an 446 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 4: encampment band, like Cheu La Vista National City, and now 447 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 4: Cheu La Vista National City and other cities are advancing 448 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 4: their own camping bands and citing an influx from San Diego. Right, 449 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 4: so it's like creating this really awful, like just progressive 450 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,520 Speaker 4: expansion of these bands. 451 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 3: Yeah. 452 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 5: And one more thing I'll add is that some people 453 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 5: are like, oh, well, that's just going to you know, 454 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 5: be good, because these people are going to get into shelters, 455 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 5: find alternative ways of getting help. But that's not what's 456 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 5: happening because we have not had any more shelters. It's 457 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 5: really hard to get into a shelter actually, And you know, 458 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 5: since Newsom has been governor, we've had apparently so many 459 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 5: billions of dollars twenty four billions spent tackling. 460 00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:58,959 Speaker 3: Homelessness, and it's like, what is there to shell for it? 461 00:22:59,680 --> 00:22:59,880 Speaker 2: Right? 462 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 5: People still don't have a place to go, and even 463 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 5: if they do get into a shelter, a lot of 464 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 5: times there's so many rules and regulations that if somebody 465 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 5: has a high level of mental health needs and they're 466 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 5: not going to be able to stay there and there's 467 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 5: just no solutions. 468 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's giving the appearance of doing something to make 469 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 2: homeowners right, people who they think matter happy. It's really bleak. Yeah, 470 00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 2: let's discuss a little bit then, like this camping band, 471 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,119 Speaker 2: as you say, it's forced people to other cities, Like 472 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 2: what do you think it does to the unhoused community? 473 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,560 Speaker 2: Like you talked a little bit about breaking up encampments, 474 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 2: Like where do people end up right when their encampments 475 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 2: get broken up in the community, and like where do 476 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 2: they end up? And how can people because this is 477 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 2: this is nationwide, right, Yeah, Gavin Newson is being a 478 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 2: particularly odious turd about it, but like other people other 479 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 2: states are doing it too. It's something of ni San Diego, 480 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 2: for instance, people ending up in a riverbed. So can 481 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 2: you talk about like the risks there and then like, yeah, 482 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 2: the needs that it creates and how we can meet them. 483 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 3: So you're right, some of them are ending up in 484 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:08,680 Speaker 3: river beds. 485 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 5: There's also like what they refer to as an island 486 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 5: kind of close to Old Town where a lot of 487 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 5: people have been going, but you know, you have to 488 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 5: get a rash to go there, and it's not easy 489 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 5: to get there. 490 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,800 Speaker 3: They don't have a lot of resources there. There's a 491 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 3: lot of. 492 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,640 Speaker 5: Crime that happens, and it's not the best scenario. And 493 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 5: other than that, they're making these safe sleeping sites which 494 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 5: are not actually safe, and they're kind of like concentration 495 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 5: camps and they're from people I've talked to actually live 496 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 5: in them. 497 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 3: They're not good places to be yet at all. 498 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,440 Speaker 5: And it's just kind of like pushing the problem out 499 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 5: of you without actually doing anything or providing anything meaningful 500 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 5: to people. 501 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,199 Speaker 2: Yeah, which is the goal. I think it is to 502 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 2: make poverty invisible. 503 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:56,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, exactly. 504 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 4: And the other thing that happens is like I live 505 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 4: in an area where there are a lot of encampments 506 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 4: and there probably would be permanent encampments if it weren't 507 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 4: for the band, And personally I would prefer that, because 508 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 4: like what happens is these people get like moved like there, 509 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 4: their encampment will like crop up, It'll be there for 510 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 4: like maybe a week, and then like it'll disappear, and 511 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 4: like I'll wake up one morning and they're gone, and 512 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 4: all of their stuff often gets thrown away. They lose 513 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 4: access to their things if they're not there to take it. 514 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 4: They basically can take only what they can carry on 515 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 4: their backs if they're lucky. If they happen to be 516 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 4: there when their stuff is being thrown away, they're sighted, 517 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 4: they could be arrested. And then usually I see sometimes 518 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,719 Speaker 4: the same people come back, but they just had to 519 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 4: like go find somewhere else. So they're basically being forced 520 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 4: to be like migratory rather than like staying in one place, 521 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 4: which means that it also makes like the people who 522 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 4: live in neighborhoods like because I can't form relationships with 523 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 4: these people as much as I could before. Like I 524 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 4: can't know my neighbors as much because my neighbors are 525 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 4: constantly getting moved around, So like I'll like former relationship 526 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 4: with someone and I'll be like, you know, like I'll 527 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 4: be like their beer guy, and I like, you know, 528 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,800 Speaker 4: like there's people that I'll know that I'll like go 529 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 4: buy a beer for, go get water for if I 530 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 4: see them and I know their name and that. But 531 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 4: then when with the encamp ban, they might just disappear 532 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,400 Speaker 4: one day and I don't know if they got arrested. 533 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,879 Speaker 4: I don't know if they've just been displaced, and that's 534 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 4: like not great for me, not great for them, not 535 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:33,040 Speaker 4: great for literally anyone around, because it's like people are 536 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,399 Speaker 4: safer if they're able to have like a stable place 537 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,719 Speaker 4: to be, Like everyone is safer. 538 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 3: Yeah. 539 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, if as stated goal is getting people off the streets, 540 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 2: like chasing them around the streets, isn't doing that? They 541 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,200 Speaker 2: can get hot for people to find stability. 542 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 5: Yeah, And you know, I've talked to people also about 543 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 5: the reason sometimes I don't like the term homeless is 544 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,439 Speaker 5: because they're like, yes, we may not have a house, 545 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 5: but we make our homes, we make a community, we 546 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 5: make a home, and losing that sense of security, any 547 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 5: little bit of security they have, constantly having to move, 548 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 5: not ever feeling comfortable or safe. 549 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 2: You know, that's traumatizing, taking a bad situation and making 550 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,199 Speaker 2: it worse, just what the state likes to do. I 551 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 2: wonder like, before we finish up, a lot of people, 552 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,200 Speaker 2: like I said, want to start a mutual aid thing, 553 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 2: do you have any advice for them? Things that you 554 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 2: would do if you were starting over, things that you 555 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 2: felt like you did well, if you wanted to start 556 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,880 Speaker 2: bread buck now how would you go about it? 557 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 5: Start a group chat, maybe make an Instagram where you 558 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 5: can post about it and find people who are also 559 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 5: interested in that. 560 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 3: Go to a local event. 561 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 4: What else Luca having like a place where people can 562 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 4: like congregate with each other, like having a regular like 563 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,680 Speaker 4: community event to meet people and get to know each 564 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,719 Speaker 4: other and trust each other. I really wish that we 565 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 4: had started like sooner, because I think we had the 566 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 4: capacity to start sooner, like way beforehand. And I think 567 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,160 Speaker 4: it was like the incamment ban and like Salah being 568 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 4: like we need to do this, like happening it Like 569 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 4: it just takes like one person being excited enough about 570 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 4: something and then like their comrades being like, yeah, no, 571 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,159 Speaker 4: you're right, like we do need to do something. And 572 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 4: I think people are really afraid to be that person 573 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 4: to like push for something, to try to like wake 574 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 4: other people up or like convince other people that you 575 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 4: have to capacity to because I think the state can 576 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,719 Speaker 4: be really disempowering and they make you think that you 577 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 4: need like a budget and you need like all of 578 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 4: these things to like be able to provide people like 579 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 4: aid or or like like mutually to provide people anything. 580 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 4: And like we did it with like literally just like 581 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 4: a couple of our members just like gave some money 582 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 4: that we had and that we had, like you know, 583 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 4: like we had like a couple hundred dollars that we 584 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 4: got from people, and then that was enough to start 585 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 4: and like you could literally start with like fifty bucks 586 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 4: and figure it out. 587 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 3: Yeah. 588 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 5: Yeah, we did not come from a place of any 589 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 5: of us having a lot of money, so we've basically 590 00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 5: just had to figure it out. And anybody can figure 591 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 5: it out, you know. I feel like our culture is 592 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 5: so individualized, but we do have the capacity to come 593 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 5: together and yeah, just take somebody being like all right, 594 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,920 Speaker 5: let's do this, and you'll meet enough people who are 595 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 5: also interested in that, because people do want community at 596 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 5: the end of the day, and people do want. 597 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 3: To help people. 598 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. Is there anything else you guys want to mention 599 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 2: before we go? 600 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 5: Yeah, the only last thing I wanted to mention is 601 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 5: that we do have a lot of future goals of 602 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 5: expanding and doing more street medicine as well and expanding 603 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 5: to different areas. 604 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 3: We're also having mobile teams where we. 605 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 5: Can go out and leach people who aren't in one 606 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 5: location or who maybe have certain disabilities and can't walk 607 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 5: and get there. So we have a lot of ideas 608 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 5: for that, and that just takes meeting more people who 609 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 5: are into this and getting more funds and yes. 610 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,239 Speaker 3: Yeah, so hopefully that's something we can do. 611 00:29:57,080 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 4: And I just wanted to briefly mention one of our 612 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 4: men first did some really great research on the way 613 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 4: the Hillcrest Business Association is using the Encampment band to 614 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 4: further harm and using they're actually using like private security 615 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 4: to push people out so people can enjoy their night 616 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,600 Speaker 4: life without having to deal with an objectionable minority that 617 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 4: wants to live however. 618 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: It pleases. 619 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:27,239 Speaker 4: For fuck's sake, the quote from mister Ben Nicholas, oh 620 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 4: god of the Hillcrist Business Association. So they have a 621 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 4: initiative called Hillcrest Clean and Safe Program where they displace 622 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 4: people from Hillcrest for the benefit of the businesses. 623 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: And they have like if you go on. 624 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 4: A Voice of San Die you can hear some like 625 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 4: just the way they talk about these people is really 626 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 4: insane and really dehumanizing, and it kind of notes how 627 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 4: business is, how like capitalism in the state are working 628 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 4: together hand in hand to displace our community members. So 629 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 4: the business associations and the businesses themselves are being empowered 630 00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 4: by these encampment bands to further repetuate violence on people jeces. 631 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 5: Yet, Yeah, and on that topic, the way that people 632 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 5: actually are dressing it here is making it so much worse. 633 00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 5: Like San Diego has a hot team which is part 634 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 5: of the police department. 635 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 3: It's called the Homeless Outreach Team. 636 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 5: And they're supposedly supposed to help get people into shelters 637 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 5: and stuff like that. But anybody I've talked to who 638 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 5: have tried to reach out for them and ask, you know, okay, 639 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 5: if you're going to move me, like I need to 640 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 5: get into a shelter. One of them who I was 641 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 5: talking to about this was in his seventies and very 642 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 5: medically vulnerable, and instead of helping them find somewhere to go, 643 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 5: they just put his car which he was sleeping in 644 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 5: because it was unregistered, and so they're not actually helping 645 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:48,440 Speaker 5: at all. 646 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:49,760 Speaker 2: It's just a cop. 647 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 5: And that's why, you know, just us regular people have 648 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 5: to do something because the state's not going to. 649 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's a great thing. That's the fucking 650 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,959 Speaker 2: doc about I hip GRASPAS is association for people who 651 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 2: aren't familiar with San Diego San Diego is like lgbt 652 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 2: q A. A neighborhood is called Hillcrest. One in three of 653 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 2: our trandth youth are run housed and like I guess 654 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 2: they don't manage to the Hillcrest Business Association. Not surprising 655 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 2: but just fucked up. Where can people if they want 656 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,640 Speaker 2: to support you, they want to follow you, if they 657 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 2: want to come out and do food distro, where can 658 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 2: they find you on the internet? 659 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,320 Speaker 4: Yeah, they can find us on Instagram. Our instagram is 660 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 4: bread Block Underscore Distro if you want to provide like 661 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 4: direct funds. Bread Underscore Block is our Venmo. 662 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 3: Block with a CE not o k b l o 663 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 3: c oh. 664 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,479 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah b l oc like block. 665 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 3: Yeah. We are anarchists, so yeah. 666 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 4: And I also wanted to mention a couple of comrades 667 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 4: of ours are facing housessness themselves and there's a mutual 668 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,520 Speaker 4: aid post on our Instagram and you can also find 669 00:32:55,560 --> 00:33:00,840 Speaker 4: them at ruster dot music that's our u s t 670 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 4: Er music or their Venmo is also in a post 671 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 4: on our page. They could really use some help because 672 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 4: they are really big individuals who like show up all 673 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 4: the time and help us cook and our a big 674 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 4: part of our group and you know also could use 675 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:17,920 Speaker 4: some mutual aid, yeah. 676 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,040 Speaker 2: People to help them. Thank you so much for your time, guys. 677 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 2: Thank you for doing all that important work, and thank 678 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:26,040 Speaker 2: you for sharing it with us. If people have questions, 679 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,280 Speaker 2: they can reach out to you, right, Yes. 680 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 3: Yes, of course. Thank you so much for having us. 681 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you so much. It's much appreciated. 682 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 2: It can happen here is a production of cool Zone Media. 683 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 684 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 2: Coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 685 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 686 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,840 Speaker 1: You can now find sources for it could Happen here, 687 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: listed directly in episode descriptions. 688 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.