Past Issues :: 2007 March 16 :: Cover Story
Young & Restless
Street youths organize to defend their rights against a proposed city ordinance
It's Tuesday, March 13, the day before the rally, and an engaged
group of six young men from the streets are learning their rights
when it comes to free speech and civil disobedience.
“So we can say, ‘fuck the police?’ asks Toney, testing the waters — amid a few giggles — on how far free speech floats these days. The attorney from the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center affirms that the language is OK, but she lays the groundwork for the other perils that lie in wait. When to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em kind of information; what your rights are when questioned by police, and understanding the fuzzy lines that border physical resistance and reasonable suspicion.
All the youths are homeless and have had their share of experiences with police. Pierced, punk and partially shaved, they are the vision of street youths that seems to surface whenever the subjective issue of “street disorders” comes up for discussion. They're not professing to be angels, some readily admit to having police records. But in their day-to-day lives, living on the streets, they feel they are being targeted for harassment by police and security officers because of their appearance and homeless situation. They've been given the message that they are not welcome in downtown Portland, and fueling their animosity toward the authorities. So when it comes time to rally in Waterfront Park and shout down the city's proposed sit-lie ordinance, they want to make sure they do it right, “to get the public, the people to know we can speak for ourselves,” says Chad Daun, 21. “We can speak for ourselves and we should.”
“I think the police think this is going to be a violent protest,” says
Toney, also 21. “And we don't want it to be violent and we
don't intend it to be violent.”
“I don't want to get arrested and I don't want to see people get arrested,” says Jonny, 20, one of the lead organizers for the event.
It's agreed. Nobody around the table wants to get arrested.
“We're not planning on it,” Toney says. “But if it happens...”
* * * *
The sit-lie ordinance earned its nickname because it would prohibit sitting or lying on sidewalks in downtown Portland and around Lloyd Center. This latest incarnation was drafted following the recommendations of the Street Access for Everyone workgroup, dubbed SAFE. If passed by City Council — and it has been approved and revoked once already - it will prohibit people from sitting or lying on the designated walkways, even on chairs, stools and blankets, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
“Basically, that singles out the homeless,” says Toney. The homeless, and the “punk-rocker anarchos,” as Toney describes the group. But they reject any suggestion of being a gang.
“They should be doing more about the gangs than the homeless,” says Cody. “Gangs are pointless. We're a group of friends.”
“We're homeless and youths and we want to stand up for our rights and speak out against the police and the government,” says Toney. “We're not going to be like the rest of society and sit around and let them violate our civil rights.”
So at the start of March, handmade posters from the group began appearing in windows, newspaper boxes and in homeless facilities around town. They're angry about the sit-lie proposal, but in discussions they frame it in the larger picture, the war on Iraq over oil, the Patriot Act and the erosion of civil rights.
“It makes me feel angry and it makes me feel violated,” says Toney. “I don't have a job. I'm a former marine. I served 19 months and 17 days before I was discharged. I went to Iraq. After I was discharged from the military I had nothing. I lost my GI bill. I just took to the streets.
“Then I came out here and saw the way that normal human beings are being treated, especially the homeless. Regardless of why they are on the streets, they're looked down upon.”
Cody says the police single them out just for hanging around. And they see the look in the eyes of those passing by that if the police are scrutinizing them, they must be bad people.
“We've sat down and hardly said anything, done anything, for a couple of hours, and cops just stand and watch us, two feet away from us. They stare you down, hours at a time. It makes me feel horrible. I don't have a criminal record, I don't have a criminal background, but they still harass me.
“It's our God-given right to do what we want to do, as long as I'm not physically imposing on another business or human being, why shouldn't I be allowed to do that?” says Cody. “It's supposed to be the land of the free.”
* * * *
It’s now Wednesday, the day of the rally at Waterfront Park, and Jonny, Cody, Toney and Chad join a group of about 50 people, some housed, some homeless, gathered at the end of Yamhill Street. There’s music, food from Food Not Bombs, sunshine and peace. The crew from Voodoo Donuts drives up and drops off a bucket of bizarre confections. A few police on horseback passed by early on, but no police or security guards monitored or attended the event.
Jonny was very pleased, working the crowd and talking in small groups about the ordinance and how it would affect street youths. His only regret was that there aren’t more elder homeless involved, but he’s happy with the group he’s got. When the time came, he had to do his speech without the bullhorn he had hoping to have in hand, so he stood on a large concrete block and addressed the crowd:
“I think we should stand up for the positive effort that we all know needs to take place by showing those who would otherwise not be concerned with homeless rights that it is in fact in the best interest of all the people of Portland that we support and help those who must sleep on the streets.
“Homelessness is not a disease and is not an issue of financial interest, it is something that some must live and live through every day. We must use our right to free speech and our self-evident right to live as best we can to convince and convey to city of Portland officials that homelessness is a problem that will not simply be solved simply by sweeping the dirt under the carpet.
“So I encourage all those who know the strife that the homeless face every day to stay strong in the cause and do not forget who and what we are.”
* * * *
At 4:30, the group moved over to City Hall, quietly sat down on the front stoop, and held their signs. Jonny’s request for an audience with commissioners or the mayor wasn’t granted, but shortly before 5 p.m., Jared Spencer, public safety policy assistant for Mayor Tom Potter, came outside. He talked about the proposed sit-lie ordinance, the SAFE committee’s work, and emphasized the involvement of homeless advocates in the recommendations that included the prohibition on sitting and lying on downtown sidewalks during the day.
The group asked questions: Will the benches be downtown? Where are the youths supposed to go? What about us? Does the Portland Business Alliance own the sidewalks or does the public? Is the law intended to simply move the homeless from downtown?
No, Spencer said, the law was not targeting the homeless, but he conceded it would definitely affect them. No, the PBA doesn’t own the sidewalks, the city does. And no, the SAFE committee recommendations didn’t address a facility specifically for homeless youths.
“The day center is not something for us,” Cody said.
In the end, Jonny again requested a meeting with a city commissioner or the mayor to talk about the impact the ordinance could have on the youths on the street. He wrote down the number for p:ear, the youth program where he and his friends visit regularly. If the city is serious about its concerns about the homeless, it would have something set up in two to three weeks, he said.
Jonny handed the information to Spencer and left with one of his cards.
And then, with a few more interviews with the local press, it was all over. No police. No shouting. No problems.
Jonny said after the meeting that he didn’t feel like Spencer was all that interested in the issue, and if a meeting doesn’t come together with city officials, “I’m going to be out here again.”
