Lied to by the City of Oakland and Swept 7 Times

Houseless, Black, Disabled ComeUnity Refuses to Be Swept Again to Nowhere 

For Immediate release: contact tiny 510-435-7500, Satya: 408- 425-2627 or Jaz 413-522-3116

What: Speak-Out and Protest to Resist More Violent Sweeps to Nowhere

When: 8:30am Monday, July 28th  at 8:30am

Where: corner of Sycamore and Northgate, West Oakland

Houseless, Oakland residents who have been living on Sycamore and Martin Luther King Bl  have been violently displaced 7 times since last September and the city is scheduled to evict them again next week. They are fed up, have nowhere to go and putting out a clear message to the city - stay away from Black elders and STOP THE SWEEPS!

The demands are for the City of Oakland to:

1. Offer all residents of this community long-term housing

2. Stop sweeping and displacing the people who live here

“These violent sweeps of elder, Black ,Disabled lifelong Oakland residents by the City of Oakland are shameful. Literally thousands of dollars are spent removing, displacing and poLicing us. To nowhere. We houseless peoples have solutions, why is this still happening?” said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseless co-founder of POOR Magazine and Homefulness. 

Residents at Sycamore were displaced from 23rd/MLK last September when the city of Oakland was awarded a $7.2 million grant to give them interim housing with private rooms before offering them permanent housing by Sept 2025. When the city unexpectedly moved to sweep the community, it did so without providing residents with any of the accommodations outlined in its grant proposal. Since that time, residents have been subjected to 6 additional city-led sweeps - indiscriminately destroying tents, sentimental possessions, legal documents, essential medicines and medical equipment, etc., and towing vehicles - driving residents from one block to the next, in a strategy of attrition, undoubtedly aimed at pushing them out of the neighborhood they - and for many, their parents and grandparents - grew up in.

Most of the residents are Black elders with chronic health conditions. Studies have shown that sweeps lead to higher rates of death and sweeping this community without offering residents any of the accommodations provided in its grant proposal, it effectively set out to eliminate 80% of all Black residents from the project. This is according to the city's own data.

Residents will be available to speak on Monday at the protest