For Feisty Feminists

Land of the Lost Souls is part autobiography, part explanation of homelessness and attempt to humanize homeless folks, and part entertaining bullshit session. Cadillac Man is the street name of a former working-class family man who found himself homeless in New York for many years. After introducing us to his world in a chapter titled ‘Merry Fucking Christmas,’ Cadillac Man goes back to the beginning and gives us his story - how he lost a job, made some mistakes, and ended up on the streets. In this part of the book, he is unflinchingly honest about his mistakes and does little to rationalize away the way he hurt his wife and daughter.

Cadillac Man shows us the world of the streets, or at least his portion of it. He doesn’t like to stay in shelters, so he grabs a few hours of sleep outside here and there; he doesn’t panhandle, but will accept money or clothing from strangers who offer it; he picks up cans and bottles all day to redeem for the deposits. He portrays himself as a fiercely loyal friend, checking in on friends he is worried about, and chasing off those who would take advantage of their weakness from illness or drinking too much.

Land of the Lost Souls is written in his own profane and witty style, and the editors wisely chose to keep his voice intact, even when the writing isn’t formal or technically brilliant. His story - and the dozens of other people’s stories intertwined into it - illuminates a fact that many of us would like to ignore: that homeless people are human beings, with backgrounds, personalities, motivations, and fears as varied as the rest of humanity.

In my continuing quest to take the ‘law’ out of law school, I signed up for an independent study. This independent study is completely policy-based: it focuses on Seattle’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. Those of you who know me in real life know how passionately I feel about homelessness and housing, and that I believe homeless people are both actively and passively discriminated against. Also, housing is not just what you get for being a good middle-class worker bee - it’s a human right.

This plan is, from what I can tell, a complete crock. I think it’s mostly for people who want ‘Member, King County Committee to End Homelessness’ on their resume - you know, so they can look all concerned about social justice and shit.

The 2006 Progress Report highlights some of my misgivings. The contents of the report mostly fall into two categories: 1. reassurances that the committee is doing important stuff and achieving many goals! But that’s pretty much all they can say about it, they can’t give you specifics. 2. Touching Stories about someone who used to be homeless.

It’s hard to explain exactly why the Touching Stories about people who used to be homeless stick in my craw. I think it’s great that Sheila, or Joe, or whoever, has housing now. It’s just that when you tell 10 of those stories, you are not showing that you have ended homelessness or changed anything systemic. In fact, I would argue that you are actually doing a disservice to homeless people who are still homeless - after all, if Jana could get housing, why can’t Eddie? It reeks of the pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, god helps those who help themselves mentality. Also, many of the stories feature subjects who are part of a group - such as veterans, chronic alcoholics, domestic violence victims, or teenagers - who are eligible for special assistance that is not available to everyone. (’Everyone’ meaning those who aren’t part of the nobly suffering ‘good’ homeless crowd that has a societally approved excuse for homelessness, and don’t think they aren’t getting the shit end of the stick as well.)

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