Skid Row is not just a band. Actually, it's so much more than that.
To be hungry, and tired, and struggling, and dirty, and shameful, and despised, and treated like a commodity rather than a human being. Today, for those estimated 12,000 homeless people living on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, life feels like this.
With little hope in the government, which seems to oppress rather than enhance, the homeless population of Los Angeles lives from day-to-day. When lucky enough to qualify for General Relief (GR), which is the lowest form of welfare available, one must make the choice: food or shelter? Clothes? No, not this month. The GR only gives its recipients $221/month, a meager sum that barely covers a full month's stay in one of the run-down Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels located in the area. In slum-like conditions, those fortunate enough to get a room in an SRO cohabitate with rats and roaches while wading through raw sewage backup, debris from ceilings that have caved in long ago, and mold expansive enough to breed penicillin. To most, these living conditions alone would cause heartbreat; but, for Los Angeles' homeless, this is not the end of their rope.
The LAPD, sent out to enforce a new gentrification plan to revive and restore Skid Row, pose as potential crack buyers and confront their potential client. After an offer to buy half of a crack rock for $5, and with the compliance of the Skid Row resident, the undercover cop places the homeless suspect under arrest. Taken into the station and booked with a sale charge (a felony) rather than a possession charge (a misdemeanor), the city's plan to get the homeless off the street is working out as desired. And, sadly, it doesn't end there. Jaywalkers, litterers, and cigarrette flickers all over Skid Row are being charged with felonies, all part of Los Angeles County's proposal to restore order to a place full of addiction, mental instability, and helplessness. If you thought Hollywood was the place of broken dreams, you should walk Skid Row.
Who knew so much hurt could exist in just 50 square blocks? I didn't--until today.
-Amanda Rossie