Displacing An Already Displaced People!

By -
the eviction of Uptown Tent City (2017)


Walking down Wilson, my street I call home
Walking through Uptown, my ‘hood I call home
My home, where change is tearing apart it’s very fabric
My home, sadly displacing an already displaced people

Buildings rising up before my eyes
The streets becoming more silent
Building up and casting out
The streets becoming less diverse

oh...the ongoing curse of gentrification  

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
The marginalized are sacrificed to appease vanity
Deceiving words promote a brighter future
The poor languish in the name of progress 

Oh...the bitter deafening cries of “holier-than-thou”

Exclusive block clubs use their power to exclude
Segregating officials use their criminalizing prowess to further segregate
Predatory developers use their wealth to pounce on their prey
Discriminatory committees use the system to discriminate

Why do tent cities live rent-free in the minds of the wealthy?
Why does a transient hotel full of poor old men terrify those relaxing on couches?
Why does Section 8 housing occupy those who are living in their own luxury? 
Why do they seek to free us from those struggling with mental illness?

oh...the ongoing curse of gentrification 

The "other" has been "deemed unworthy and unsightly"
Justifying "Mass Incarceration" while proclaiming harm reduction
Using the "War on Drugs" as a vicious tool of racial and classist prejudice
Exclusionary tactics reveal how "the punishments do not fit the crimes"

Phones have become a way to bully in the name of safety
Gangs of “positive loiterers” holler “you’re not welcome here”
Using the Web to spew forth fear based "holier-than-thou" propaganda
Whoever thought to weaponize our handheld technological devices?

Oh...it’s done in the name of righteousness 
Oh...it’s done in the name of safety
Oh...it’s done in the name of beautification 
Oh...it’s done in the name of law and order

Oh...the resonating screams of favoritism 
Oh...the deafening screams of displeasure
Oh...the blatant screams of criminalization
Oh...the silent screams of racist policies 

Oh...the ongoing curse of gentrification 
and it continues...
and it continues...
and it continues...

Traumatizing an already traumatized people
Criminalizing the weak for the sake of renewal 
Evicting the poor for the sake of refurbishing 
Displacing an already displaced people 

Jesus weeps...
His children are being displaced 
The poor are being stomped on
He cries “come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest” 

Jesus is angered...
His children are being displaced by power-hungry predators
The poor are being stomped on by money-hungry thugs 
He cries "as you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me"

Jesus loves...
His children who are being displaced
The poor who are being stomped on
He cries “you who are rejected, have the seat of honor at my banquet table”

Jesus redeems...
His children who are displaced are elevated
The poor who are stomped on are heirs of His Kingdom
He cries "the first shall be last and the last first"

 Jesus cries to us...
Be my hands, my feet, my voice, my heart, my love
“Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”
“You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”

Oh...may we be as the One who comforts the brokenhearted
Oh...may we be as the One who accepts those deemed unwelcome 
Oh...may we be as the One who forgives the criminalized
Oh...may we be as the One who Loves those deemed unworthy 

 (the above links are previous writings - giving a little context to what I'm trying to say)
Location: Uptown, Chicago, IL, USA

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