The housing and affordability crisis is getting worse, and more people around the country are facing the grim reality of homelessness and the criminalization that accompanies it. Rather than treating housing as a human right and committing to large-scale construction of accessible housing, states like California are responding with police raids of homeless encampments and imprisonment for unhoused people, effectively perpetuating the criminalization of homelessness. On this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa discusses non-carceral solutions to the housing crisis with Zachary Murray and Estuardo Mazariegos of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).

Transcript: California's Criminalization of Homelessness

Mansa Musa:

Welcome to this edition of Rattling The Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. Joining me today are two men that are very active in advocating, educating, and enlightening people about the state of people that are homeless, among other things. Here today to talk about the state of California are two extraordinary gentlemen.

Introduce y’allselves to Rattling The Bars. Zach?

Zachary Murray:

Yeah, I’m Zach Murray. I’m a statewide campaign coordinator with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment based in Los Angeles.

Mansa Musa:

Estuardo?

Estuardo Mazariegos:

Yeah, good morning. My name is Estuardo Mazariegos. I’m co-director of Los Angeles ACCE.

Mansa Musa:

And what do ACCE stand for?

Estuardo Mazariegos:

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.

Mansa Musa:

OK, thank you.

OK, let’s unpack this. A recent article came out, I neglected to identify the source, but a recent article came out in a newspaper in California that was highlighting the situation in California with the criminalization of homelessness. And the tagline on it was, if California doesn’t back affordable housing, then you get what you pay for.

All right, so now what is the state of housing in California as it relates to low-income people or people that can’t afford housing? I know California got a serious homeless population, but what is the state as y’all identified in California, state of homelessness in California?

Read the full article about the criminalization of homelessness by Mansa Musa at The Real News Network.