To the editor: I feel this is likely 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 not exactly what you think it is,” Could 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 stay 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 fastened by treating folks as undesirable criminals. I feel David Graeber and David Wengrow said it greatest of their e book, “The Daybreak of Every thing.” To paraphrase, “safety” doesn’t have a singular definition. There’s the safety of realizing one has a statistically small probability of being shot. After which there’s the safety of realizing that there are individuals who will care deeply in case you are.
Matthew Neel, Sherman Oaks
