Jillian Pim is currently on day 5 of a Hunger Strike in protest of the anti-homeless laws in Fort Lauderdale. The City of Fort Lauderdale [has] introduced a series of new ordinances that effectively bans sleeping or having property in public spaces, panhandling, and sharing food. These rules will create even greater levels of suffering for the 500+ homeless people in Broward County who will not have any safe places to be, no way to eke out a living, and no food aid. The bottom line is shelters are overcrowded and often not safe and food programs are not accessible to all or in places people can easily get to. By taking food to where homeless people are to share it Food Not Bombs has a long history of helping to meet the needs of those least likely to be looked out for in our society. I remember times sharing food in Tampa where people said that was only the second time they ate that week. By putting these draconian laws in place Fort Lauderdale is essentially telling hundreds of people to leave or die, showing a complete lack of compassion for the most vulnerable among us. Jillian is making a brave decision to stand in solidarity with those who are suffering, to put her own health and safety at risk, doing whatever she can to bring an end to Fort Lauderdales persecution of homeless people and those who would help them. I am fiercely proud of her, her courage and conviction should stand as a lesson to us all of the depth of the human spirit and the boundless nature of true compassion. Contact information can be found here (homelesshatelaws.blogspot/2014/11/hunger-strike-solidarity-more.html) for those responsible for these reprehensible and inhumane laws, I impore you to take a moment from your day to write, tweet, or call them and show them that the nation is watching and we will not be silent. Please share these stories as well, national attention is the only way they will listen and back down. #resisthomelesshatelaws #homelesshatelaws #fortlauderdale #foodnotbombs
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 00:36:15 +0000