Nickelsville is Here
Video by Laura Onstot
After three months of planning this morning was it. The Nickelodeons were up at 3:30 a.m. grabbing coffee and packing supplies. At 4:00 a.m. sealed envelopes were opened to reveal the site for their shantytown— which had, except for those on the site selection committee, been a closely guarded secret. The planners were anxious as they boarded vans for transport.
These homeless men and women may not have envisioned Nickelsville being built from hot-pink tents but it seemed to suit them just fine— and it fell in line with what has become more about the protest than the practical. "They want us to hide behind the shrubs, but we're not going to," Leo Rhodes, a resident of Tent City 4, said as the tents were unloaded.
Before dawn this morning nearly 50 people pitched the tents (donated from the Girl Scouts) in a field off West Marginal Way. They're angry with the mayor for kicking them out of the city's greenbelts and for being stingy with shelter space. The land is believed to be owned both by the City of Seattle and Washington Department's of Transportation. It's a couple-acre parcel of tall grass with a decent tree screen from the street to allow for some cover (even for the pink). Though it's likely only a matter of hours, not days, before the cops arrive. In the early days of planning, organizers had hoped for more permanent structures, that Nickelsville would have a settled feel making it harder for the mayor to tear down. That didn't happen, but the energy behind this effort and the organization in the wee hours this morning was still impressive.
Dozens of pink tents amidst the warehouses in South Seattle will be quite a sight, come daylight.
3 comment(s)
Rozz says:
It felt really good to be here with all the folks setting this encampment up. I am not homeless, but I was. I saw how easy it was to just lose connection with people who daily could just go back to their warm houses with their refrigerators full of food, go to their jobs and complain about their work; how tired they are.
The first thing that changed for me was the daily sense of time. It just isn't the same when people have let you down past the social net and down to where it is ok to steal from me, or beat me up, or stab me.
So, I was vigilant for 24/7. And you know what happened? I started to hallucinate from lack of sleep, lack of enough food.
And, the lack of a shower, well, that just dropped down a few notches in priorities, especially when there wasn't a place to do it.
And if people haven't seen the film, Conversations with God, they should. That famous author that so many people have benefited from his books, was homeless. He was lucky.
So, when I can, I like to help these folks and say "Hi" to them when they seem open to conversation. They are people, and so like human nature, we like to pretend that it could never happen to us. Yes, like the friends of Job in the bible, "He must have done something wrong"
So Up with PINK!
Posted On: Monday, Sep. 22 2008 @ 9:08PM
Micah P. says:
I myself am relieved the homeless are taking a stand. It's a gross lack of empathy and compassion from people that we call our leaders. Mayor Nickels, I live in Belltown and I see the homeless 1)huddled next the dumbster when taking out my garbage 2) defecating like animals in ally's 3) taking bird baths in public restrooms 4) just being an overall eye sore to the city and the gerneral public. My general opinion of these as some would call bums or vagrants has been very negative. So when not the public but the very ones we complain about come up with an idea that would drastically improve the 4 prior complaints I listed. Why not?!!. Do you Mr. Mayor know how hard it is to be a regular person in society with no stability? Foster kids cant compete in school becuase they are constantly moving from home to home. There is really no way to invest in the future if your bouncing from job to job. And what about the ability to establish credit or any type of paper trail for financial reasons? The point is, to be the mayor of Seattle you should be smart enough to understand that STABILITY is a mandatory prereqisite for success. This is the first step to solving one of the city's biggest and most depressing problems. EVERYONE NEEDS SOMEWHERE TO SLEEP AND IT'S CLEAR THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ROOM IN THE SHELTERS. DO SOMETHING!!!!!! IF NOT TENT CITY WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?!!! DO.....YOUR.....JOB!!!!!!
Micah P.
Micah P.
Posted On: Tuesday, Sep. 23 2008 @ 12:55PM
Cassie says:
Who owns the "field off West Marginal Way"? Is it private property?
Posted On: Wednesday, Sep. 24 2008 @ 6:31PM