Rider Rallies for RTA to Assist Poor People
Commentary By V the Volunteer
The R.T.A. said changes would be made in October and allowed us to speak at meetings. Then a newspaper article in the Plain Dealer said they put the changes on hold. I read one month, others read put on hold for one year. They seemingly lied to us. They posted on their advertising spots above our seats in a longer white ad with block print saying changes were already being made by August 24th. So they upped the date on us and seemingly lied and are showing no concern over our pleading and protest not to change the schedules.
It looks like we, the people of the Greater Cleveland area, will have to do more than a verbal protest. We will have to act on our own behalf to start getting the word out, a boycott or sit down (sit on buses and not pay-which if the bus drivers call R.T.A. police it will be a $250.00 fine per person). Tell everyone to begin a poor man’s march, tell the churches in the whole greater Cleveland area to discuss it with their people/congregation, etc. As to those who ride the bus, who can carpool people within their church, etc. We need to discuss time of exact boycott weeks. This is a plea to be diligent and firm at following through with serious city wide protest and boycott. More consideration and cooperation on the matter is deeply needed or else we are going to lose all those buses and have fares increased and it’s going to offend a lot of us that depend on the buses for our lives and our jobs etc. Please, the churches say church and state, but if the churches refuse to help, then this economical cleansing is and will be on their hands and hearts for not getting involved.
It’s bad enough from city to city across the U.S. since 2000. They are making it against the law to be homeless and while at the same time massively condemning buildings and making many people homeless without city grants or deposit monies put in place to stop the domino effect of forcing people out into the streets and not caring about it. Individual people can be heavily fined and threatened to be arrested if they help the homeless in certain areas.
The homeless have asked for many years to give us more buildings and let us learn the same trades. Learn as we go programs like Habitat for Humanity, are only lending to rehab houses to save them and give the poor a chance to own these houses. When Habitat for Humanity built a house on the West Side there were five to ten youth group programs doing just that. I don’t remember the names of each organization but they were similar to Youth Build Organizations that were included in building the house.
So I am pleading to the church that many of the churches quit having blinders on and quit acting like the three monkeys displaying the I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything, and I don’t speak anything. I am sorry for the harshness of my words but I don’t know what it is going to take to get the churches to care about their cities and towns and their own people and quit being a castle with a moat around it and get concerned on major ills of the city and play fast and get involved and start speaking up and doing some action. Please care. They did it down south with organized bus boycotts and we can do it here if we put effort into it and prepare it do it right. In Jesus Christ name, Father, GOD, Jesus Heal us and Heal Our Cities. Please do your part to help each one of these issues. John 13:34. That we love one another in a Godly fashion as much as possible. Please start pulling together as one body of Christ as a whole and take on each issue and stop avoiding it any longer and involve ourselves.
Copyright Homeless Grapevine Issue #86 in November 2008 Cleveland Ohio.