Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 08:55:55 -0800 From: Marta Russell <ap888 at lafn.org>
Similar going-ons in L.A. -- Marta
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 21:09:17 -0500 Message-Id: <199911220209.VAA16308 at lists.tao.ca> From: Dan <dipasquo at ISI.EDU> Subject: [LA-AMN] L.A. Food Not Bombs Harassed Sender: worker-la-amn at lists.tao.ca Precedence: bulk To: la-amn at lists.tao.ca X-Sender: Dan <dipasquo at isi.edu>
The city is trying to push Food Not Bombs out of Pershing Square (where we have been serving our community meals for the past 2 years) because of the "Downtown on Ice" festival currently in the park.
In response, at our serving today, we took the most visible spot in the entire park - the steps to the stage - to do our serving. Below is the text of the flyer we distributed.
-Dan
We're Not Going Anywhere!! Food Not Bombs/Comida No Bombas PO Box 88732 Los Angeles, CA 90009
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Food Not Bombs: Dramatizing Poverty
Food Not Bombs is an international grassroots movement with the goal of ending poverty. The Los Angeles Chapter has been serving free community meals in Pershing Square for the past two years to raise consciousness and to serve the immediate needs of our community. To protest harassment by the park rangers, we will be serving without their permission at the front of the park.
Los Angeles has long had a policy of "out of sight, out of mind" towards its homeless population. Besides the obvious civil rights violations inherent in this policy and the fight for public space, this policy ultimately serves to make good people ignorant to the extent of poverty in Los Angeles, therefore making it difficult to agitate for structural systemic changes that could mean lasting improvements for the city's poorest. For this reason, Food Not Bombs places itself in direct opposition to this policy by serving free hot meals in an extremely visible public location. Call (323)982-0783 for more information.
Downtown on Ice and Harassment by the City
This past Friday (11/19) the park manager tried to push us out of our normal serving spot, and ultimately out of Pershing Square. Not surprisingly, this coincided with the ice-skating rink and families in the park. We were also threatened by a ranger, that unless we moved, the manager would try to find some law we were breaking, and have the police remove us. This was not our first confrontation.
Last year, prior to the opening of the skating rink, we were told by park rangers that serving food in the park was illegal, and that we must stop or we would be arrested. They suggested we move our servings into Skid Row, demonstrating that the problem was not that we were giving away food, but that we were doing it in a visible location. The city eventually backed down when we showed we would not be intimidated. We took the position that the only way they could get us out of the park was via mass arrests.
At these meals, however, we noticed that far fewer people came to eat than in previous months. Several homeless people told us that when the skating rink came, so did private security guards with the task of pushing the homeless out of the park.
In response to this repeated harassment, Food Not Bombs has moved its servings to the most visible location in the park.
What You Can Do:
Call Pershing Square: (213) 847-4970
Call Councilwoman Rita Walters: (213) 485-3351
Tell them to Stop Harassing Food Not Bombs in Pershing Square!
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