52nd Freedom SleepOut to Celebrate a Year of Protest at Santa Cruz City Hall

1st Anniversary Freedom Sleeper Celebration and Look Back

Date Tuesday July 05
Time 4:00 PM – 4:00 AM
Location Details
City Hall Grounds and Sidewalk at 809 Center St. Event to last through the night until 9 AM or thereabouts (the 4 a.m. cutoff time above is incorrect).
Event Type Protest
Organizer/Author Keith McHenry (posted by Norse)
Email keith [at] foodnotbombs.net
Phone 575-770–3377
Veterans, newcomers, sympathizers, and supporters are called to come together to look back on a year’s weekly protests at City Hall demanding the end of the Santa Cruz City Sleeping Ban and related laws.Slated for the celebration are a gathering, a march, a speak-out, a memorial, and (if possible) an outdoor video. Plus the ever popular sidewalk slumber party where homeless folks get one night a week of cement pillow sleeping with some housed folks there ready to confront vigilantes, security thugs, and over-eager cops.

Food Not Bombs and Gumbojumbo Joe Schultz will be providing food, coffee, and who knows what else. Bring blankets, sleeping bags, signs, high spirits, and friends !

RV dwellers celebrating the delay of the midnight to 5 PM city-wide parking ban in the wake of an appeal are also invited. As are vendors, performers, and other brave activists fighting the latest attack on public space on Pacific Avenue. New city policies criminalize handicraft art, severely limit First Amendment space, and beef up harassment by assigning “stay away order”-happy Parks and Rec rangers to do patrols downtown.

A review of Freedom SleepOut’s ##50 and 51 (this will be #52) can be found at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/07/02/18788486.php (“Summer for the Freedom Sleepers”).

TO LEAVE COMMENTS AND ADDITIONAL INFO GO TO https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/07/04/18788562.php


Comments

by Robert Norse   Monday Jul 4th, 2016 5:57 PM


Events are likely to start closer to 6 PM on the 5th.

There will be the classic Food Not Bombs DIY street shower available for those seeking relief from the summer heat. Also a DIY commode, since the city refuses to open any 24-hour bathrooms city-wide and is keeping the City Council Courtyard bathrooms locked shut.

Entertainment will be decided by those present, chosen from a variety of options–classic comedy (I heard Blazing Saddles and Life of Brian mentioned) as well as Freedom Sleeper documentaries.

A proposed parade and march through town will depend on numbers, weather, and mood of the multitude.

Folks may be called to vote on a List of Demands to Authorities and Goals for the Freedom Sleepers and allied groups.

Come and celebrate! Bring nighttime apparel plus blankets, bags, and teddy bears!