An older woman who does activism and is also a squatter in Harvard Sq claimed that On The Rise told her she was white and comes from money so shes white and privileged!
This woman has been very active in OCCUPY Boston so she's living off the grid and has been poor for years and is articulate and intelligent.
Which means shes poor, white and has a brain in Boston/Cambridge which means shes going to be targeted, shunned, kept down, ignored, passively denied services. Blacks and compliant white trash will be favored instead of her.
She actually got barred for being a racist. Can anyone actually be barred from a women's homeless drop in when she lives outside not in a shelter for her comments or personal beliefs? Also she claims this was the result of a fight where staff wasnt paying attention and she had to use self defense. THEY DIDN'T BAR HER FOR FIGHTING BUT FOR BEING A RACIST.
I have personally experienced blacks making comments about whites and it gets ignored and the PC Yuppie white staff even react to such comments with slight amusement.
This is the place where the staff constantly talks about their vacations, dinners at expensive restaurants and paychecks IN FRONT OF CLIENTS AND GUESTS WHO ARE HOMELESS, POOR OR MENTALLY ILL. Either urban camper homeless or staying at the Catholic Charities shithole known as St Patrick's in Somervile. Which is also a nightmare.
OTR is basically a day shelter for the shelter rats who stay nightly at St Patrick's. As well as a support system for newly housed women. Great but they dont deal well with urban camping homeless especially anyone whos spirited, independent and is even slightly political.
Their commitment to that demographic is to put women who are outside on priority for the laundry list.
OTR has a history of going way to far in correcting or censoring free speech of guests, preventing free association or discussion of ideas by dominating or defining/leading conversational content.
It can be a very controlled environment with alot of seemingly purposeful insensitivity to homeless people's feelings or situations.
Once again, we need a place for US. Harvard urban camping houseless people are a unique sort of crowd. Yes they tend to drink some or the younger males fight. But the place is being invaded by junkies, ghetto trash who only want to sell drugs (which I have to say the cops do keep that bs at a minumum) and squatters who dont seem to care about preserving a sense of community or their environment, nor a friendly relationship with their host city.
This has been the case for a year or two. I think its very suspect that when local kids do try to rouse the junky population the cops come down on everyone else with drug busts for bs like marijuana. Oh but you can't arrest someone who is plainly nodding out?? I dont discriminate against herion users as I was once one myself. Alot of the squatters hold that old standard stigma against drug shooters when in fact crack and meth smokers are much more damgerous to the health of those around them.
However, when needles are being left in playgrounds for kids to step on I know from experience youve either got sabotage going on or youve got some really stupid junkies present who need to go. Even junkies themselves know there are people in the H addict community u simply stay away from becuz they are either stupid, careless, greedy or very sleazy all of which will get you killed. And dying is the heroin addict's number one occupational hazard.
Its a daily risk. And anyone too stoned or careless to hide their works or dispose of them properly is an idiot and should be shunned. (U bend the tip and put the cap back on and wrap it in something or throw it in a garbage can, a big one or a dumpster. Duh.) Again people arent being schooled or the community self policed.
The system has taken over people's lives in this area and the old set up has fallen. Instead of taking care of your own you rat on each other to gain favor from authorities who used to work with us and mediate but now tend more to act as the YUPpies guard dogs and clean up crews. YUPpies as they are today are not just defined as Young Urban Professionals. The term represents much more. These people define an intregal part of the NWO. They believe only in the system. If they understand or accept subcultures at all its after some form of sterilization or a version thats been co opted. Something pretentious or for posers.
Basically Ward and June Cleaver are a young hip couple who live in gentrified city areas and they are Liberal in the sense of its ok to be gay or a minority...as long as you are of their social class. They are totally oblivious to classism and people like those at OTR demand that class and economic struggles include race and gender. Which of course gives them the ability to escape their own part in said class war.
They are just as uptight, ignorant and cowardice as June and Ward and just as bigoted-the things and people they want to keep out of their communities however have changed. And they are very good at hiding their very uncharitable bigoted views against the homeless in places like Cambridge.
Dont ask me to explain anything further about them becuz I never understood them beyond what I just stated and I never will.
I more sympathize with the elite kids. YUPpies just seem petty and upper middle to me. They loathe subcultures unless they are somehow in some way socially acceptable.
They are unbelievable self righteous snobs. They will dismiss someone standing right in front of them (especially at OTR) who might be a great artist or responsible for a novel that twenty years from now people like them will embrace-from that safe distance of course and as posers.
Their greatest flaw is that they love artists and subcultures historically but they cannot abide by such chaos and chaotic personalities in their presence in the here and now. They arent even capable of recognizing such potential, yet they appear to embrace such things. And if they do accept such people or a scene guaranteed behind it somewhere is something that makes it or they safe or socially acceptable like connections to legit money or connections.
And their stranglehold on vibrant city areas guarantees the oppression of underclass peoples as well as the preventing of any truly creative scene or people.
The YUPpie and its culture supports the status quo in a way that makes it appear they are not doing so or that they arent the old model of what used to be described as'straight' or straight laced people.
To be quite honest Ive found more understandng of the human condition from people from the 40s and 50s eras where certain things were NOT overtly accepted yet Ive discovered they were tolerated.
YUPpies are ignorant of any other system other than what gets defined as acceptable for most modern gentrified city areas in the US presently.
The problem is that they are so organized, great in number and hold sway with authorities that they dont leave on inch of room for anyone else. Which makes them righteous, correct and functional by default becuz theres no one left to argue with them or counter them.
The YUPpie culture has taken over American urban environments becuz it is totalitarian in nature. Its militant. And it will not admit this at any cost.
Look at many of us out here with very good ideas about alternatives to shelters, drop ins etc even how to redefine homelessness.
We get ignored and dismissed at the stage of just talking about such innovations or changes.
OTR is ok again if u r stupid, signed up for housing and willing to take your daily dose of Liberal PC pabulum in return for services and support. Its just as bad as having to listen to a sermon to get fed. Actually worse becuz if u reject religion its optional and u r not viewed as a person who borders on social terrorism thats a threat to decent civilized society if u dont believe what u r being told about a belief system.
But like religious people or moreso the cult minded, the PC Liberals reject any and all information about reality that goes against their belief system.
And its not just in this area. In every major American city the same corporations or systems run the homeless industry. Some places tolerate independent mimded people who urban camp and some have zero tolerance for such a presence.
It leaves little option for those who need the vitality of urban areas but,
