Tenderloin Webcams and the Growing Threat of Surveillance Culture in San Francisco

Recently, there has been a buzz in San Francisco about the guy who set up his two video cameras to film a span of Tenderloin street downstairs from his apartment. Complete with microphone to record the audio of "street sounds", Adam Jackson created a website, adamsblock.com, which aired the 24 hour live streams of Taylor St. captured from these cameras, as well as message boards where people could discuss what they saw.

Due to the controversy and harassment that Jackson faced as a result, he has since stepped away from this little project, but a fire has been set under Big Brother's ass.

You can read about it here.

So, this white guy moves into the Tenderloin - a neighborhood historically notorious for its seedy reputation and high population of homeless - and decides that he will use his video camera and computer to create a website with the intention of making "his" neighborhood quieter and safer. He, and all the other self-appointed "guardians of the streets", use the footage to narc on other people in the neighborhood with a self-righteous vengeance.













This strategy of neighborhood watch is dangerously divisive (not to mention rude and invasive), especially in a volatile neighborhood such as the Tenderloin, where poverty and crime are magnified due to a more visible presence of poor people on the streets. The fact that the police are in support of Adam Jackson and his idea should be of great concern to anyone who is against the invasive techniques of surveillance culture.

The conditions of the Tenderloin itself are a striking testimony to the oppressive, ineffective ways that many urban cities deals with issues rooted in poverty, such as homelessness, substance use, and sex work. Similar to the situation I observed in Skid Row when I lived in downtown Los Angeles, the Tenderloin is where San Francisco's
'undesirables' are given just a little bit more wiggle room to get away with certain crimes of survival. It is the city's way of keeping above-ground poverty in a more centralized location, so that the rest of the city (the nicer neighborhoods) will be less burdened with its eye-sore. It is a consequence of criminalizing and perpetuating poverty, and only addressing the needs of the poor through band-aid, quick-fix legislations while funding for vital social services continue to get hacked.

The arguments in support of these neighborhood cameras are the same arguments that our government uses to justify this war on terror. And even if this surveillance system is initially in the hands of independent citizens, you can bet that the city, state, even federal government, will unfailingly stick its dirty paws into it when they decide the time is right.

According to the article in the SF Gate, "Jackson said at least three other sites have sprung up independently, and there has been interest in linking all of them together through ourblock.com. It is possible that neighborhoods all over the city will have 24-hour cameras. That was Jackson's idea all along."

With the continued demonization of homeless people, "thugs" (which, to white people, often translates to: black or brown person wearing baggy pants and a hoodie. and if there's more than one of them walking together at night, you can bet this white person is about to shit themselves), sex workers, people who buy/sell/use substances, etc., the privilege of using and accessing surveillance cameras in the Tenderloin will only increase the race and class divide. The possibility of 24 hour cameras in neighborhoods all over the city hits too close to Orwellian to bode well.

Since Jackson stepped back and adamsblock.com was taken down, this url now takes you to what may soon be ourblock.tv. Their goal is to serve as the hub for a global network of neighborhood watch webcams, stating, "We are running this in an effort to make a difference in the world." I will leave you with a disturbing excerpt from its message boards:

11:45 jen__luv: I am sorry to hear about everthing you went through.People are pathetic.
3:42 towahead: keep in going and the losers off the streets
3:45 towahead: why did you wimp out dudet
3:46 towahead: too many losers of color on there

Scary.

Tools for White Guys Working for Social Change (and other people socialized in a society based on domination)

Here is one more reading where Chris Crass outlines some practical strategies for minimizing everyday patterns of domination. And while these exercises are especially important for white guys, these are useful practices we all can utilize in our daily lives towards undermining hierarchies of domination which create and perpetuate cycles of oppression!

And yes, I've been both busy and lazy lately, hence the cutnpaste posts of late. This is the last one of these for now though, so expect less lists, and more rambling ranting coming soon!

Enjoy!
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1. Practice noticing who's in the room at meetings - how many men, how many women, how many white people, how many people of color, is it majority heterosexual, are there out queers, what are people's class backgrounds. Don't assume to know people, but also work at being more aware.

2a. Count how many times you speak and keep track of how long you speak.
2b. Count how many times other people speak and keep track of how long they speak.

3. Be conscious of how often you are actively listening to what other people are saying as opposed to just waiting your turn and/or thinking about what you'll say next.

4. Practice going to meetings focused on listening and learning; go to some meetings and do not speak at all.

5a. Count how many times you put ideas out to the group.
5b. Count how many times you support other people's ideas for the group.

6. Practice supporting people by asking them to expand on ideas and get more in-depth, before you decide to support the idea or not.

7a. Think about whose work and contribution to the group gets recognized.
7b. Practice recognizing more people for the work they do and try to do it more often.

8. Practice asking more people what they think about meetings, ideas, actions, strategy and vision. White guys tend to talk amongst themselves and develop strong bonds that manifest in organizing. This creates an internal organizing culture that is alienating for most people. Developing respect and solidarity across race, class, gender and sexuality is complex and difficult, but absolutely critical - and liberating.

9. Be aware of how often you ask people to do something as opposed to asking other people "what needs to be done".

10. Think about and struggle with the saying, "you will be needed in the movement when you realize that you are not needed in the movement".

11. Struggle with and work with the model of group leadership that says that the responsibility of leaders is to help develop more leaders, and think about what this means to you.

12. Remember that social change is a process, and that our individual transformation and individual liberation is intimately interconnected with social transformation and social liberation. Life is profoundly complex and there are many contradictions. Remember that the path we travel is guided by love, dignity and respect - even when it is bumpy and difficult to navigate.

13. This list is not limited to white guys, nor is it intended to reduce all white guys into one category. This list is intended to disrupt patterns of domination which hurt our movement and hurt each other. White guys have a lot of work to do, but it is the kind of work that makes life worth living.

14. Day-to-day patterns of domination are the glue that maintain systems of domination. The struggle against capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism and the state, is also the struggle towards collective liberation.

15. No one is free until all of us are free.

Thanks and love to my comrades in the Bay Area gender privileged men's group of the Ruckus Society and the men's group (biological and transgendered men) of the Challenging White Supremacy Collective.

25 Ways to Tokenize or Alienate a Non-White Person Around You

(or, 25 Examples of the Racism We Witness on a Regular Basis)
by basil, billie, qwo-li, jenn and colin from Colours of Resistance

1. Walk up to that black girl you barely know in the co-op and say, "What do you think of the new (insert hip-hop artist here) album?"

2. Ask one of the only Arabs in your community to write the article for your newspaper on the situation in Palestine.
a) Then, after they write it, take their research, re-write the article and sign your name to it.

3. In a big group of many activists, say, "How can we bring more people of color into our struggle?"

4. In a big group of many activists, say, "Black people don't have the time to care about trees.”

5. Go up to the Makah woman at the Unlearning Racism workshop and say, "I saw a program about Crazy Horse on PBS, he did a lot for your people."

6. Act like the only people of non-white ancestry in your community are the ones visible to you.
a) Assume that light skinned people around you are white without ever knowing their ancestry.

7. Talk about race as if the only groups are black and white.
a) Talk about race as if the only groups are black, white and hispanic.
b) Talk about race as if the only groups are black, white, hispanic and asian.
c) Talk about race as if the only groups are black, white, hispanic, asian and native american.

8. Picture a violent, irrational Arab every time the word "terrorist" is mentioned. Ignore the Arabs who do not fit into this stereotype.

9. Look to a non-white person in the room every time racism is brought up.
a) Make sure they have the last and most defining word on the subject.
b) Sympathetically and silently agree with everything they say.
c) Thank them profusely.

10. Fearfully avoid assertive non-white people in your community.

11. Ask a native person, "Do you make your own jewelry?"

12. Use the identity of white anti-racist as a shield against accusations of racism.

13. Ask an Arab you don't know what they think about the war in Iraq.

14. After a non-white person in your predominantly white workplace points out racism, ask "What are some of the positives of working here?"

15. Get a [racist] white person to facilitate a panel on racism featuring non-white queer people for a predominately white audience.

16. Pit light-skinned non-white people against each other based on how they identify racially and what you think is most correct.

17. Say "I noticed a lot of Black, Filipino, and Korean people who own grocery stores sell a lot of liquor."

18. When a multiracial native person tells you their heritages, say "What a magical mix."

19. Tell a racially mixed black person, "You don't act black."

20. When you find out that someone is Mizrachi, say:
a) "You're an Arab Jew? That's fucked up."
b) "What are you talking about? I've never heard of Sephardi/Mizrachi jews. What makes you think you're a person of color?"
c) "Jews are from Europe."
d) "There are no Palestinian Jews."
e) all of the above.

21. At the last minute, get two non-white people to facilitate a workshop on racism at your skill share and make sure none of the white folks from your organization attend the workshop. Profoundly, deeply thank the facilitators.

22. If a non-white person wants to organize a workshop at your conference specific to their ethnic community, before you "let" them, ask them "How many do you need?"

23. Organize a conference with an all white organizing committee.
a) When non-white people organize at the conference and want to speak for themselves, accuse them of "hijicking" the event.
b) Tell them you will publish their written statement on your website, and wait two years to do so.

24. If you see a black man speak about racism, say, "He was so angry - but very articulate."

25. If you're white and confronted on your racism, cry.

Have you witnessed any racism lately? If so, please feel free to add your story to this list!

Workshopping for Anti-Oppression-framed Activism

This past weekend, I put together and co-facilitated an Anti-Oppression workshop as part of the intensive training course for Points of Distribution.

Points of Distribution is a direct action outreach collective based in Oakland that provides safer injection supplies, and HIV rapid testing and results to street-based injection drug users (IDUs) in both the East and West Bay.

I was recently asked to join this collective, and as a prerequisite to going on outreach shifts, we must first go through an eight week training course which covers topics such as Drugs 101, History of Drugs & the War on Drugs, STIs, HIV, Hep. A, B, C, Anti-Oppression, Civil Liberties, Homelessness & Homeless Health, Sex Work, Mental Health & Suicide, DOPE Project Training, Soft Tissue Infections, etc.

The training is *intense*, but informative and useful for getting people from different backgrounds, politics, and privileges, closer to the same page. Because of the positive feedback we received about the Anti-Oppression workshop, and the amazing conversations that were inspired from the group, I've decided to put up some of the reading materials here on the blog throughout the next few days.

The following posts are some food for thought, in hopes that the issues brought up will lubricate those anti-oppression gears in yer mind towards a society based in collective consensus rather than domination and hierarchy.

Stay tuned, and enjoy!

Anti-Oppression Work Is Ongoing, Even If We Are In San Fran-fucking-cisco

Lately, I've been extra-sensitive and frustrated about the fact that so many radical activist circles that I work with are predominantly white - and I've been noticing quite a bit of cultural insensitivity within these spaces. As a person of color, a queerdo-genderqueer-tranny-faggot, sex worker anarcho-feminist, my identities are constantly being pulled in multiple directions in search of safe, supportive community. It is both a motivation for creation and energetically draining.

For example, to be in a sex-worker-positive space means to be in a predominantly white privileged environment. Same with most anarchist scenes, with the addition of a whopping side of patriarchy and sexism. But to be in a place where I can relate with others over the social etiquettes and struggles as a queer person of color? It means that I often have to keep sex work on the down low. Anarchism is a less common frame of reference. And sometimes, I'm not even out as queer, let alone as genderqueer. I feel perpetually caught in the middle, floating, searching, but always leaving some vital part of me neglected in the end.

I've been ranting about it to friends more than usual, and my ranting about these privileged-yet-unaware activist spaces is probably starting to make me sound like I think all white people are racist - because, well, yes, I'm going to come right out and say it - White people who have grown up in our current society are socialized to be inherently racist. Period. Of course I know that there are good people doing good work, and who happen to be white. Some of my close friends come to mind. And there are some People of Color that are the worst about sensitivity and non-judgement. And I have no illusions that POC folks can't also be racist just because they are POC. But lately, I have been getting hit on all sides with general cultural insensitivity, and its fucking frustrating.

I have come to the conclusion that it is because ironically, we are in San Francisco - the land of forward politics, green culture, and radical activists! And thats just the thing - everyone is a 'lefty' activist here. Its 'cool' to be a lefty activist here. And though there is nothing wrong with that, it seems to me that at some point, the dogma surrounding anti-oppression has become more common buzz word and less critical self-reflection. Just because a person is an activist doesn't mean that they automatically get anti-oppression cred. It's not like when someone 'turns activist', they suddenly have an epiphany about what privilege means, and they become not sexist or racist etc. forever.

It seems like 'SF activist' has developed into an identity all in itself which dangerously assumes that this means said activist must already be aware of privilege, class, race, and gender issues. This assumption leads to laziness, and all of a sudden, I am finding myself in spaces where people (but especially white people) aren't self-reflecting on these issues, and how it may affect the people and social environments around them.

It is important, not only to acknowledge one's privilege, but also to ask oneself, How does this privilege frame my experience, and how do my actions affect the people and places around me?

And what are you going to do with your answers?

Anti-oppression work is an ongoing lifetime process, both within ourselves, and the world at large. These types of conversations need to happen regularly - its like activist mental maintenance to keep that anti-oppression lense clean! People have gotten comfortable in our radical sf activist bubble, and take for granted the language that has been developed to talk about __(insert political buzz word here)__, but let's see people consistently putting action to their words, please!

hah yeah. maybe my head would explode.
i drank too much coffee and i'm gonna go off.
i can feel it.
yes. i am a fucking asshole and i have high expectations towards people who call themselves activists.
no. i don't give a fuck. we are all accountable.
goddamit.
im pissed off and impatient.
my cynicism bleeds from repetitive lacerations of an optimistic heart.
picking and choosing battles, i know how to compromise in the face of this reality,
but it doesn't mean i will.

Thank you for the reminders that there is still hope. Ultimately, I am thankful for the freedom of expressions that San Francisco allows. Sometimes, I do get lost. Sometimes, it just feels good to vent to an understanding, listening friend.

Then we pick it back up, and do it again.