Hidden from view

Have you ever walked a path each day and seen the homeless? Of course you have, because 1 out of every 237 people in Tucson are homeless and this number is rising. Could this be you or one you love?

I believe so because its happened to me and many people I have known. Some came quietly, not letting others know they were in financial trouble, others were more emotionally unstable. Still they ended up where no one wants to be. Yes some might argue they like the lifestyle or they choose not to be in a shelter. But once you experienced it, you gain courage and knowledge. At the same time we our taught to focus on our selves and not others.

William Kunsler once said" And that is the terrible myth of organized society, that everything that’s done through the established system is legal – and that word has a powerful psychological impact. It makes people believe that there is an order to life, and an order to a system, and that a person that goes through this order and is convicted, has gotten all that is due him. And therefore society can turn its conscience off, and look to other things and other times."

But a few months ago I spent two weeks in jail for protesting on the sidewalk charged with sitting on the sidewalk. My cell mate had just signed a plea bargain for Manslaughter. While you might say the act was heiness, that is not something I would ague, this young man 19 years of age, was easy going, a lover and wise man. But in a second of fury, he had done the unimaginable, that will cost him 14 years of his life and cause him to live in poverty or go back behind prison. To place a homeless activist in jail over protesting , then placing him with a murderer , while being prosecuted over a misdemeanor is unbelievable. Worse for safeties sake, was the jail was so understaffed that one officer over saw 4 housing units. He or she, could be gone for up to 2 hours or more. If you had a family member there with health problems, the jail staff would not know for 2 hours. That means a heart attack, stroke or major injury would go unattended for hours. A simply " I'm sorry would be offered for the jail" Most in the community would say well that's what happens when you decide to break the law. Yet the person might be a political prisoner of the government for drawing attention to an issue its not helping with. It could be a mentally ill person, who never knew that was in his or her DNA. It could be a innocent person falsely accused. Either way, it is an unsafe environment. You are in a place where you have no control, you have limited communication with the outside world. Yet we take a blind eye, because what is legal is justified and we need to worry about other priorities. But where is the homeless person you used to always see? Did he move on or is he locked up because he couldn't find a safe place to sleep, bathe, or use the restroom? Shall we be a society that says its ok to lock someone up for free speak or doing a basic human behavior in public, when no other choice was given? We all have been guilty of seeking a dark corner at some point. Whether its parting downtown, on a long road trip, or we got a surprise case of the runs.

Yet while in Video Court , they had a blind elderly man locked up for interfering with traffic. He was not allowed any stick or assistance with walking. The guards scolded him for not staying in line and veering off. They scolded inmates for assisting him. Day after day he had to remind the guards. Yet in court the judge asked him if he could see him on camera. He told the judge no, The judge asked again. He said no because I'm blind. The judge asked him to speak into the mic because he couldn't see it. He reached around, only to be scolded by the guard. The judge told he since he probably doesn't want to stay in jail, he is willing to offer him 35 hours of community service to plead guilty to the charge. He told the judge that he was trying to cross the road to get to Savvy. A non profit that helps the visually impaired. That people started honking at him, He moved only to get honked at more. Nobody got out to communicate with him. The officers arrested him immediately. He did not mean to get in anyone's way. The judge apologized and said he should take the deal, there is no other recourse. The man had no legal council. Under the law, if you are charged with a misdemeanor and the prosecution isn't asking for jail time you cannot be given a public defender. In jail, it can take a week to put your booking number into the phone system. To get around that you need to ask the guard for the universal number to use. You can't do that under lock down in a unsupervised setting. To think that this man had been arrested by one police agency, booked and process by the sheriffs department and convicted by the courts without consideration to his handicapped or a chance to meet with a lawyer is not justice. Its a money racket. Something we need to give priority to. I would not wish my jail experience on anyone.

But what am I to say about a state that criminalized gender orientation, colored skin, and poverty? Should I agree to live in the shadows, with my fellow refugees? Because I am persecuted by my government, just as they left your old home for what they thought was a better one here? Should I be the silent to such tyranny and social injustice? Or should I like Jesus, Gandhi and Buddha, Abbie Hoffman, speak up and show a better way? We are called to bear a light on the shadows of society of we are going to make it better. We can only know what is in the black market by welcoming the hidden jewels in it, while casting down the bad parts. As a motto goes " house keys not handcuffs". Offer acceptance to people not behaviors. Offer a economy that helps as many as possible. To make people matter we must speak up and act or become the statistic that we are reading. Be afraid not of asking for help, do not be shy to help. Be the missing piece of the puzzle. Teach what you know to another, and see how your life changes.