When Musicians Promote Social Justice

Rockers are not always in it for themselves. Take Tom Morello, a musician who has decided to promote local social justice agencies who are trying to help those struggling on our streets. Morello performed in West Hollywood’s famed Troubadour. All proceeds went to PATH (People Assisting The Homeless.)

He also promoted his cause on E! Entertainment, People Magazine, Blabbermouth.net and LA Times. I was interviewed on KIIS-FM, supporting the idea that musicians can make a difference in our world. Morello, and his entourage, also visited PATH.

Here is the beginning of the LA Times article:

When Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello joined Billy Bragg's "Tell Us the Truth" outing in 2003, the guitarist learned a few things from the British singer-songwriter and activist about leading a multi-artist charity tour: "You have to be bossy," laughs Morello. "Billy would say 'Your set is this length; these are the songs we're going to play.' "

This time, Morello is calling the shots. The Justice Tour, a seven-city, two-week cross-country trek masterminded by the longtime Los Angeles resident, pairs music from a diverse rotating lineup with primarily local, socially progressive organizations.

"In every city, on every stop, for one night we are taking back America," Morello said backstage Tuesday at the Troubadour a few hours before opening night. "The idea is to create a little bit of the world we'd like to see."

(Pic from wiredown.com)

Raining On The Poor

When you are down, you typically don’t want to be kicked in the gut while down. Sometimes it seems that such acts occur among the sick symptoms of our society.

For example, the two older women, also known as the “black widows”, were convicted of murdering two homeless men. They befriended these men, took out life insurance policies on them, then killed them. This is more than just getting kicked in the gut when you’re down, it’s basically putting a gun to the head of a homeless person. A symptom of sickness in our society.

I was at UCLA last night speaking at a student Hunger Banquet. I talked briefly about the foreclosure tragedy going on in our country. The fact that during the month of February in California, 53,000 Californians lost their homes due to foreclosure. I mentioned that these people will typically not become homeless—although some might—but the majority will enter the rental market. And due to the laws of supply and demand, rents will go up because of the demand goes up. Sure enough, an LA Times article this morning validates this fact—LA County rents went up 4%. When it rains (foreclosed house), it pours (higher rents).

Finally, speaking of college students, it looks like the California budget cuts will hit college students as well. UC and Cal State budgets will get a 10% cut. That means less students will access public universities. It’s a temporary budget fix that will reduce the number of people in our State with college education. We all know that a college education helps people leave poverty. Less college educated people means more people in poverty.

It’s raining on the poor.

(Pic from http://images.travelpod.com/)

Is LA’s Skid Row Initiative Working?

The 18-month old LAPD and City of LA initiative to increase police enforcement in downtown Los Angeles’ skid row area is getting looked at again. This initiative brought in 50 additional police officers to clean up the streets.

Statistics show that after a significant decrease in violent crime at the start of the initiative, called “Safer Cities Initiative”, violent crime has now remained flat. However, property crime has increased 60% over the last year. Officials say it is because more affluent renters and owners are moving into the area, providing more temptation for property crime.

At the start of this initiative, the numbers of homeless people dropped significantly. But now statistics show that the number has leveled off. An LA Times article states that business owners are even saying that they see an increase in encampments.

A couple of thoughts:

First, before the Safer Cities Initiative (SCI) started, PATH was asked to lead a coalition of agencies to start a jail diversion program in Central City called “Streets or Services” (SOS). This allowed police officers to give people who were homeless an alternative to jail—services and housing. When SCI brought in 50 police officers into this area, SOS was overwhelmed with people. This small 2 person team that was designed before SCI, now had to meet the needs that should have been a 10 person team.

I give this background, because some thought SOS was part of SCI, and should have more effectively handled the need to help homeless people who were caught up in the SCI police activities. SOS was a small program to help before SCI started. A new SOS proposal is now going out to bid. My feeling is that these funds would be better used toward building permanent affordable housing.

Second, will the LAPD keep the 50 additional officers in skid row? Especially knowing that the rest of the city desperately needs more officers? If not, will skid row just return back to its old “bad” ways?

Only time will tell.

(Pic from latimes.com)

A Few Days In Dallas...

I will be in Dallas, Texas from today through Tuesday. So I won't be able to blog.

PATH Partners is working with the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, the leading homeless agency in Dallas, to set up a large multi-service center. It will be one of the largest in the country with numerous public and private agencies. This unique partnership may very well become a national model.

The goal is to implement a "services to housing" model in Dallas. Similar to what PATH is trying to transform into, here in Los Angeles. We see this as a new paradigm for homeless services, where services become more housing focused. Given the dearth of affordable housing around the country, social services need to transform their roles.

Critics say that social services have a hard time helping people access affordable housing. I would counter by saying that the housing world and public leaders have not built enough affordable housing in the last 20 years, so when people ask for help at service agencies, there is no housing available. Whose fault is that?

(Pic from www.usatourist.com)