SUBALTERN HISTORIES
Looking to the small voices, we retell the history of homelessness in Berkeley, CA through images.
Early in the morning,
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People's Park,
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Photo taken in 2019.
People lining up for a meal,
Local church volunteers sharing,
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Nights on the Street.
"Forty-one years ago, I joined many others in creating People’s Park. Then I joined in to demonstrate and even skirmish to get it back again. Then rebuild it. Through the years and decades since then, I’ve continued to use and enjoy this park. It’s yours, too."
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-SlumJack, Berkeley nomad
April 23, 2015
"Reaganville" encampment in Berkeley, California (1982)
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The encampment was aptly named after President Ronald Reagan who came into office in 1981 and halved the budget for public housing, thus displacing many homeless individuals and spurring the homeless crisis that continues to impact Berkeley today.
Recognizing the growing homeless population, the city opened Rainbow Village in 1985, a half-acre plot near the Marina, in which homeless people who lived in their vehicles could pay $30 to camp out. The city provided basic services for the residents including a sink and running water. Unfortunately, Rainbow Village was shut down only 13 months after its opening due to a murder.
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Photo of Caesar Chavez park today which is where Rainbow Village was located in 1985.
Hugging a National Guardsman,
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People's Park protests of 1969.
Sleeping in People's Park,
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Photo taken in 2017.
Construction workers,
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Clearing and cleaning People's Park.
“I like to go to sleep when I feel like it, not when I am supposed to.”
-Thomas Barnett, Gilman underpass native
June 2016
Two op-ed pieces published on Berkeleyside address the 2015 vote by the Berkeley City Council to tackle the impact of homelessness.
As can be seen in video footage of homeless encampments in Berkeley, homelessness is very much still a problem.
Homelessness in Berkeley by the Numbers (2017)
• The number who experience homelessness in a year: 2,000
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• The number who are African American: 65%
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• Percentage of African Americans in Berkeley overall: Less than 10%
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• Number of homeless people who reported a disability in 2006: 40%
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• The number who reported one in 2018: 68%
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• Average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment: $2,581
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• Average monthly income for an unhoused person: $628
In Berkeley, famously known as one of the country's most liberal and homeless-friendly communities, the City Council recently voted to implement new regulations including: limits on sitting down and lying on sidewalks; a ceiling on how many dogs a person can have along a commercial strip; and designations for what homeless people are allowed to sit on.
“What I want to do is show the city that the homeless can be responsible for themselves and act appropriately.”
-Mike Zint, Liberty City (tent encampment)
November 2015
In 1994, the Berkeley City Council passed Measure O which banned lying on sidewalks.
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The ACLU filed a law suit to repeal this measure and the measure was repealed independently when a new City Council was elected.
On November 27, 2007, the City Council passed a measure proposed by Mayor Tom Bates. This measure was called "Public Commons for Everyone Initiative" and it prohibited lying down on the sidewalk. It additionally made it illegal to smoke in public areas. However, the measure increased parking fees by 25 cents per hour to raise funds to provide supportive services to the Berkeley homeless population. It created a "centralized homeless intake system."
In January 2012, the Downtown Berkeley Association hired 10 "Downtown Ambassadors" to interact with homeless individuals and to keep the general area clean.
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On June 12, 2012 the City Council voted to ban sitting on sidewalks
from 7 AM to 10 PM. While business groups were in support of this measure, there were numerous groups who rallied against it as it disadvantage the homeless. This measure failed but it created a divide on the issue of homelessness.
In August 2014, City Councilman Jesse Arreguín launched the Berkeley Task Force on Homelessness to explore homelessness in Berkeley and develop solutions to address the issue with compassion. The task force is rooted in community participation, open dialogues, and diversity of thought.
However, conflict erupts in 2015 when a video of a "Downtown Ambassador" beating a homeless man is released on the internet. People rally in protest of this act of violence and the general mistreatment of Berkeley's homeless population. The "Downtown Ambassador" is fired, but the issue of homelessness persists.
In 2016, the City Council listens to a report from the Homeless Task Force which suggests new methods to tackle homeless in Berkeley.
With the CalTrans fencing of the Gilman Underpass, we still see the conflict surrounding homelessness in Berkeley today.
In 1982, the Reagan Administration cut national spending on housing and welfare by reducing the budget of the Department of Health and Human Services, creating a crisis of homelessness in more vulnerable areas. The lack of fiscal support for the homeless at the federal level made taking care of the homeless a responsibility delegated to individual cities.