To the editor: I feel this is without doubt one of the most vital opinion items that the L.A. Occasions has revealed since I’ve been studying it (“My neighborhood, Skid Row, is just not precisely what you assume it’s,” Might 13). At a time when Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing Californians to think about the unhoused or severely impoverished as folks unworthy to sleep and reside in public areas, we want voices like visitor contributor Amelia Rayno’s reminding us that these are actual folks and communities being affected by vindictive insurance policies.
The struggling and risks of residing in Skid Row are to not be ignored. Nonetheless, neither can they be magically mounted by treating folks as undesirable criminals. I feel David Graeber and David Wengrow said it greatest of their e-book, “The Daybreak of The whole lot.” To paraphrase, “safety” doesn’t have a singular definition. There’s the safety of figuring out one has a statistically small likelihood of being shot. After which there’s the safety of figuring out that there are individuals who will care deeply if you’re.
Matthew Neel, Sherman Oaks
