Tick Tock Sheptock

on April 29 th (my late father's 83 rd birthday) Street Sense did a screening of three short films it made about DC homelessness. There will be a second screening on August 26 th (my living mother's 78 th birthday). I was in the third film giving my critical view of DC Government's ostensible efforts to end homelessness in the nation's capital. I mentioned the failed 10-year plan as well as the reluctance of mayors Fenty and Gray to assist able-bodied homeless people at acquiring living-wage jobs – the latter point having also been reiterated by others in the film. During the Q & A that followed, I gave a slightly wordy lead-in before asking my question. I told people that I like to ask the hard, challenging questions and that I have a little bit of a mean streak. Some indiscernible mumbles followed. I'm guessing some people disagreed with my use of the phrase “a little bit”. If so, they have a point. I referenced a DC preacher who quoted Frederic...

We have a crafty, if not altogether dishonest, mayor who (like his predecessor) preys on the public's ignorance of the homeless issue and other issues. He and much of his administration are using the “mooching homeless family” narrative time and time again. That is to say that they are claiming that the heads of homeless families are accessing homeless services during hypothermia season so that they can receive free hotel rooms, food, transportation etc.Even though the advocates often have and use opportunities for rebuttal, much of the general public is liable to buy into the government's narrative and the mayor has the bully mic. Let's not forget that, at the end of the day, it is the administration that determines how DC's funds are spent. During the February 11, 2012 One City Summit, Vince Gray talked about DC being one of the most literate cities in the U.S. Just a couple of weeks prior and a few days apart there had been two articles about DC literacy. One sai...

REPOSTED from August 27th, 2009 in lieu of my recent trip to Florida for my mom's 75th birthday..... TREAT: My mother's sermon on her 75th birthday Millions of people around the world have heard about my advocacy efforts for the homeless community of Washington, DC. I've been quoted or written about in the New York Times, Washington Times and Washington Post. I've been on WPFW Radio, NPR (National Public Radio) and CNN. I've even been on a Russian TV station that broadcasts to 100 million people.Few are they who know anything substantial about me as an individual. So, here it is. I was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. At the age of 8 months old, my skull was fractured by my biological mother. I then spent 5 years in a foster home, before being taken in and eventually adopted by Rudy and Joanne Sheptock. With the focus of this post being a recent reunion with my adoptive mother, I won't delve into the details of my childhood or what it was like growing u...

We had the Arab Spring in early 2011 followed by the Occupy Movement last fall. The latter is planning a resurgence which will begin on March 30th and has been dubbed the "American Spring". The winds of change are blowing and it is clear that people all over the world are becoming "socially conscious" -- knowing that something is gravely wrong with their respective societies as well as the world economy as a whole and wanting to do something about it. But, as the movements grows, it is important to learn from the mistakes of the past. I would dare say that the movement's biggest mistake is its failure to develop the elements and components of the new system which we are fighting to create within the existing system which we are fighting to dispose of -- not its insufficient level of social theory. In order for a revolution to occur and be successful, these are two of the things that MUST happen: 1 -- The existing socio-economic system must have run its cour...

MY APOLOGIES if you already received this blog post, as I WAS fixing a technical problem. I'VE FOUND A WAY AROUND THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM THAT WOULDN'T ALLOW ME TO SEPARATE MY POST INTO PARAGRAPHS. I THINK WE'RE BACK TO NORMAL FUNCTIONING NOW... .. Last year I received a call from Pam Fessler of NPR (National Public Radio). She'd interviewed me twice in the past. But this time she wasn't asking for an interview. she just wanted to ask me a question. It would turn out to be the toughest question to date that I've ever had to answer as a homeless advocate. She said, "Eric, I used to be the White House correspondent for NPR. Now I cover poverty. And it seems that, ever since I started covering poverty, everybody wants to hug me. Why is that?" I was completely dumbfounded by the question, but have never been in the habit of denying a person an answer to a question -- especially a question about homelessness. If I don't know the answer, I try to poi...

It's been quite some time since my last blog post, as I've been pounding the pavement in my capacity as an organizer for Stop the Machine-Create a New World (www.october2011.org). I've also been spending a considerable amount of time at the other tent city located in McPherson Square on K street NW. The movement has come to Washington, DC and it's picking up steam. And the movement has no shortage of reasons for which to be outraged and rise up. Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, recently stated that the government should stop bailing people out and helping them to maintain their housing. He literally said, in no uncertain terms, that" we need more foreclosures; because, government intervention is bad for the housing market". He evidently fails to realize that housing is made for people, not people for housing. He has lost his humanity and seeks only to do what is good for the market, irrespective of people's basic human needs. ...

On Saturday, September 10, President Obama and his daughters paid a visit to DC Central Kitchen located in the basement of the Federal City Shelter which is right on the edge of Capitol Hill. The kitchen feeds 5,000 of the many impoverished, socio-economically disadvantaged people in our nation's capital every day. And it was a grand event indeed. While many were excited about the fact that our commander-in-chief would take time out of his busy schedule to visit those who are overlooked all too often in our society, others were a bit more analytical of the situation and less apt to praise him. The excitement began on the night of September 9th when the Secret Service came out to survey the building, making sure that it was safe, planning their route and choosing places to post their officers and snipers. The next morning, as the homeless left the building which sleeps up to 1,350 homeless people (one-fifth of DC's homeless population) in 3 separate shelters and also houses t...

When will the national movement implement "stronger tactics" that effectively usher in the "revolutionary change" that we are working toward? Well, Gerald Celente of Trends Research Institute (a think tank on worldwide socio-economic trends) has predicted that this country will see food riots, tax rebellions and revolution by 2012. And his long track record for accuracy has some people worried. But you don't need to be a well-paid academic to see that societal conditions are ripe for revolution. The news is chock full of reports of increasing unemployment, a worsening housing market and struggling families. The U.S. economy is so bad that Obama himself recently told people in a small town in Iowa that he doesn't believe that Washington knows best (and it doesn't). People have begun to polarize around Tea Party/Congressional demands on the one hand and the demand for the state to fund human need on the other, with there having been a strong u...

In case you didn't already know, politics are about power. Politicians are always looking forward to the next election unless serving their last allowable term. (Lame ducks seem to be those most likely to follow their conscience[?], as they can't run again anyway.) politicians are most likely to address the concerns of those who help them to remain in power. They kowtow first and foremost to those who contribute the most to their campaigns -- corporations. Next in line are wealthy individuals. Eventually and at long last, there are the voters. If you don't fit into any of these categories, your discontentment becomes an issue of "mind over matter". As you voice your opinions, the politicians don't mind; because, you don't matter. (Being a taxpayer doesn't impress them all that much; because, the government will MAKE you do that anyway.) Then there is the issue of "political will". Once a politician has taken the oath of office, they be...

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY Come Join The SHARC Attack At Wilson Building On Monday, June 13th!!!!! Help ensure that much-needed Human Services funding is restored to the DC budget. The group of mostly homeless homeless advocates who've been meeting at the CCNV (Community for Creative Non-Violence) Shelter every week since April 26th, 2011 (SHARC) will make a final push on Monday, June 13th to ensure that funds which Mayor Vincent Gray sought to take away from Human Services is restored by the DC Council. We will impress upon the DC Council the need to go beyond simply funding shelters and to ensure the continual creation of AFFORDABLE HOUSING across the city as well as LIVING WAGE and other policies that will empower the poor community and enable them to become self-sufficient. WE WILL NO LONGER SIMPLY ORGANIZE FOR SHORT-TERM GOALS LIKE SAVING SHELTERS AND RESTORING FUNDING FOR SERVICES THAT MAINTAIN HOMELESSNESS. WE WILL DEMAND THE CONTINUAL CREATION OF AFFORDABLE ...

It's been more than 40 years since Martin Luther King, Jr. began his "POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN" which he never got to see through to its fruition, due to his assassination. It's been more than 20 years since the homeless marched to Washington, DC en masse. This might begin to explain why the powers that be seem to have forgotten about the poor, homeless and dispossessed. In some instances it seems more like they have waged an all-out "war on the poor". Let's face it: politicians often speak of helping the middle class, while neglecting those living in abject poverty. When they do acknowledge our existence, it is only to say that they are going to stop funding some much-needed social service. It's high time that we came out in large numbers and had a real show of force. Coincidentally, as I sat down to write this blog post earlier today, I went to my Facebook fan page entitled "Homeless Homeless Advocate Eric Jonathan Sheptock" and ...

On April 14th, 2011, the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations (COHHO) held its monthly meeting. We discussed the devastating impact that Mayor Vincent Gray's proposed budget cuts to Human Services for FY 2012 will have on DC's poor and homeless community. (There were about 30 people in the room of which about 5 were homeless or formerly homeless.) A formerly homeless man asked, "Who's going to tell the many poor and homeless people in DC about the cuts that are going to affect them?" In response to his question, several people said that they would remain after the meeting to plan an outreach strategy. I secured a meeting room in the basement of the CCNV (Community for Creative Non-Violence) Shelter and we scheduled a meeting for April 26th.(There were about 30 people in the room of which about 25 were homeless or formerly homeless.) That Tuesday we decided to meet every Monday thereafter. At the May 2nd meeting we had about 50 people present. The...