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.
Kicking off a Legal Observing Marathon with a Defund the Police Party at Nathan Phillips Square.
Loaded down with stuff to give away: warm clothing (gently-used and freshly washed); tent and accompanying camping gear that I no longer use now that I am a tree-sleeper; then a dash over to Street Knit to pickup warm knitted gear to bring back.
Making a dash over to Street Knit to pick up more warm gear, because every single one of the items in the big bags of hats, scarves, and sweaters that I brought are all gone.
Mercifully, others have also brought lots.
Please bring used but still warm coats, sleeping bags, or other gear by if you have them.
We need tougher rules on #rentcontrol, particularly in BC and Ontario where affordable housing is merely a pipe dream for so many families. #cdnpoli#housingforall
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A Toronto police officer shot and seriously injured a man despite there being “no risk” of harm or death to any officer or citizen — the conclusion of a newly released internal report that backs the victim’s account that he was fired upon with little warning while alone in a park.
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The report — WHICH ALSO REVEALS MISCONDUCT BY FOUR OTHER OFFICERS involved in the incident — is the first time Toronto police have acknowledged wrongdoing by police in the high-profile shooting, which last fall resulted in Davis being charged with aggravated assault by Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
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One of the items most in demand when distributing winter gear is a pair of mitts.
My aunt found me a way to contribute to the Street Knit supply using a loom from Dollar Tree and bulky yarn.
Today I completed my first mitt while waiting for court results. It's a little wonky looking, but @crockett assures me that it will be fine after a trip through the wash.
It's horrifying how much need there is out there. The reality is that once you reach a certain level of coldness, you need an external source of heat because your body cannot generate it from nothing.
If you are able, please head to St Stephen-in-the-Fields for encampment defence.
This is what the city would rather do than to let unhoused people sleep in safety and peace. Shelter workers were literally sending people to this encampment a month ago.
They will undoubtedly also blame the pending death of the tree on the encampment, too.
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It's endlessly horrifying to me just how deeply so many people need other people to suffer in order to feel good about themselves.
This shitty capitalist system NEEDS there to be unhoused and struggling people BOTH as a warning to those who would reject trading their short healthy years for shit wages, but also as a marker for those so dissociated from what actually makes them happy of their "success" — at least they have a roof over their head.
No, actually, it is NOT the measure of a good person that you can sufficiently follow the rules of a garbage society to earn enough to eat.
You are most definitely NOT a good person when you are totally fine with SOMEONE ELSE living hand to mouth.
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In a horrifying turn of events, the City of Toronto🎪 is referring people who are seeking shelter space to encampments.
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We have 2 confirmations from St Stephen-in-the-Fields and Clarence Square.
You may remember a couple of summers ago, when the City was RAZING encampments and beating the shit out of anyone standing in their way, and then we went to 14 Division to wait for our jailed friends to be released, so they pepper-sprayed us,
... or perhaps you have fond memories of the SEVENTEEN DAYS they imprisoned an Indigenous man in his tiny house (the last remaining one in the City, because THEY DESTROYED THE REST OF THEM) and then when that didn't work, the cops kidnapped him and drove him to Trenton in the middle of the night while we sat outside 52 Division until 4am...
oh wait, no, those are MY "fond memories".
Apparently, it's just bygones now, and the City will just point you to a park, no tent, no sleeping bag, and let people who already have precariously little take care of you.