Today it is snowing, and I'm inside. In fact, as I dictate this, I'm sitting in a hot bath with epsom salts soothing my aches and pains.
The night before last I was sleeping (well, sitting actually, as I did/could not sleep) outside, my choice, as part of a protest about houselessness in the City of Toronto.
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It's not the first time I have "slept rough" with unhoused people, but it has been because I have been requested to fulfill a role as a Legal Observer from the Movement Defence Committee, in case of interactions with police.
As a Black woman, when I have privilege in certain contexts, it is extremely apparent to me. And no, it's not ❝Black privilege❞ as certain #wypipo like to complain about when white privilege is commented on.
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First of all, and it annoys me to have to cover this ground repeatedly, the PRIVILEGE in question is "privilege" vis-à-vis rights, not "privilege" as in wealth.
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1️⃣ The first privilege, and this will probably confuse those of you who insist upon hearing privilege as in wealth, is that I have dedicated camping gear (and it is camping gear, as opposed to what I'm relying upon to save my God damn life every night) designed for winter camping, AND I've had the luxury to learn how to use it properly in non-emergency situations.
Even then, not being able to use a wood stove or start a fire, made things deeply unpleasant. It reached -13°C at one point, and the cold coming up from the cement was brutal, even through the reflectix. I gave one roll of reflectix to someone who was sleeping directly on the ground.
It was windy, and even with my hammock sock over top of my entire setup, I could feel convection happening. The fact that I EVEN KNOW the difference between convective cooling (the wind pulling the warmed air away from your immediate space) versus conductive cooling (the cement sucking the heat from your body) and how to compensate for it, is part of that privilege.
Hmmm I'm going to make this into a thread instead of a one post novel.
The City regularly takes everything unhoused individuals can amass and throws it in the garbage.
The same City put MASSIVE cement blocks on the base of a tree, to stop unhoused people from "harming" the tree. See attached video.
I, on the other hand, can say the words "Movement Defence Committee, Law Union of Ontario" and immediately stop shit in its tracks. I'm not even a lawyer, and I have absolutely stopped even playing respectability politics lately. And these are still magic words that I very rarely use. I didn't use them when that asshole threw paint on me, because I WANT to navigate the system that I've been talking shit about as just a regular Black person. Oh my god am I right.
Some cops, not all cops, mind, make a beeline for the orange hat. It happened during that protest, when I was also wearing my big, lumpy-ass, kangaroo pouch hoodie that I love so much even though I know it makes me look like shit when I stuff that pouch full of everything I need and want. The lead cop who came when the City complained about the tents and the party, came right up to me and I had to tell him that we're a third party and I don't control the protest. And I know it was the orange hat because when Streets to Homes(🙄) got there a couple of hours later, they assumed I was homeless. It was cold as fucking ass and I was wearing camping gear.
Which is probably privilege #3
3️⃣ I have winter camping CLOTHING.
When I was getting ready to head down there, I put on, undergarments, fleece leggings, a Merino wool t-shirt, pants, a fleece mid layer, my favourite green kangaroo pouch hoodie, and a goat. Hmm. Screw it, I'm going to leave that voice-text error and see who's actually still reading.
I joked recently about buying multiples of the same clothing item and showed a picture of my collection of fleece midlayer shirts. I don't like being cold. I also like camping in the winter. Therefore, I am prepared.
And it's not even about having a lot of money, because I only buy things on sale. But I have time to do the research, and I have time to wait for something to go on sale and get the right item for the job.
I have hammock camping gear for the same reason. I could use my underquilt on the chair. Which wasn't 100% but it now makes me want to make a dedicated chair under quilt. Which is spoiled as fuck even if it only ends up costing me 20 bucks to make.
I also could give away my tent at that action because I plan on never sleeping on the ground again unless there is some sort of horrible thing happening and there are no trees left and I cannot jury rig a way to hang my hammock.
Also, I grew up up north. I forage, I grow things, I can teach you how to get potable water out of a grapevine. If there's one person you want to be with when the shit hits the fan, it's not the giant, bearded, Marine-looking white guy teaching you Bushcraft tricks. It's me.
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Bottom line:
It's only camping if you have a home to return to when you're done.
Also, while they may THINK they've locked the bathrooms, if you, like me, avoid touching bathroom door handles like the plague and use the accessibility button because it is much less often touched, that door may well still open.
And I don't know why people have to be such assholes about letting people use the bathroom after midnight. Me and my tiny bottle of Lysol are undoubtedly rendering your piss hole cleaner than it was when I walked in.
I also learned that even though I bought boots a half size larger so I could wear big wooly socks in them, I cannot walk around wearing my camping sleep socks because they will cause me enough pain to render me almost immobile within four blocks.
(Also, I understand that I'm very lucky to have sleeping socks, but it is a bog standard backpacking practice.)
Among the things I absolutely did not learn this time is just how awful people are to unhoused people.
I've spent my whole life marveling at the level of eccentricity that people are totally fine with me exhibiting because I'm a "genius"¹. I could walk around the office without my shoes on, I could sing nonsense songs at my desk, no one cared that my top filing drawer was full of bras that I kept taking off at 5:00 because I hate them, people were just like, "Oh, okay."
I've written in the past but the idea of giving yourself a "genius licence" — meaning the leeway to go against social norms.
But more than that, I think people need to extend that same leeway to others.
I don't know, it's a half formed thought.
I just don't understand why people can't be more, "Oh, okay," with a wider group of people.
Meh, I'm going to go back to bed because I'm coordinating for multiple actions in the next couple of days. Though mercifully not another marathon like Tuesday and Wednesday.
Anyway, be good to each other. And remember there are so many little things that you can do to make someone's life a tiny bit easier and a little bit brighter. And when we're talking about people who have been displaced from their shelter, that bar is so low, how can you not?
A pair of mitts, a hat, a 20 hour body warmer, hell, a little tube of lotion. Dry skin is fragile as fuck especially in the cold. It's so easy to give something that will make their lives just a little bit better. Lip balm!
As a society we really need to discuss some of the upside down shit more often. Why do we applaud and reward people whose sole mission seems to be to make the world just a little bit uglier?
Gah.
¹ I mean, as long as I didn't actually say the words "I'm a genius" because people really like to figure that out for themselves for some bizarre-ass reason 🤷🏾♀️ and somehow you're not actually supposed to notice that you're smart.
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