the JTD encampment in philly is the most radical thing i’ve seen come from #georgefloyd protests since the riots. houseless people came together w/ community support & built a place of saftey during a pandemic. as cops move in against CDC guidelines, where’s our national outrage?

DID YOU KNOW: In May 50% of the residents at the largest men’s shelter in #Philly tested positive for covid? Did you know that at JTD we administer tests every Monday, & we’ve only had one positive, who was effectively quarantined, preventing an outbreak??

Did you know our officials are lying and saying that these full shelters are safer alternatives, when realistically these unhoused people will be forced to wonder the streets to meet their basic needs, endangering themselves and others? Or they stay silent? @RepKenyatta

I bet many didn’t; media stays on the side of state/money. Many of our own #Philly citizens who claim themselves upstanding community members look the other way when shown the truth of what happens when people don’t have the support of their community, their city, their country

But in avoiding the ugly truths, many of our neighbors, our officials and the nation at large are missing the beauty: our most vulnerable have come together with community support roused by the #BlackLivesMatter movement & created something many thought they were incapable of

Every day all day food comes from all over #Philly, enough to keep #JTD’s 150 residents fed multiple full meals a day. Daily medical support. Readily available masks, sanitizer, gloves. Multiple handwashing stations. A shower. Laundry. These basics = lifesaving for residents

JTD is an #AutonomousZone, a #NoCopZone, like #CHAZ and #CHOP. But unlike other zones, it’s not just ideological stakes- it’s the lives of 150 unhoused vulnerable people, mostly black, many of them gay & trans, during a pandemic. Early morning July 17th cops intend to destroy it.

If you’re in or around #Philly and you came out to protest for #BlackLivesMatter , we need you to come out to the JTD encampment and not allow cops to destroy the newly built home of 150+ people when the city refuses #HousingForAll. Please tell everyone you know!

This won’t just be for defense of JTD, but a celebration of all that’s been accomplished. Expect music, unhoused speakers, and joy. We need YOU at 22nd and Ben Franklin Parkway by sunrise on Friday to prove that Black Lives Matter can be more than a slogan: it can be a promise.

Please check out this thread about the James-Talib Dean (JTD) encampment for more information on what’s actually happening here, as well as clarification on events miscontrued or lied about by the media https://twitter.com/phlhousing/status/1282002563412328448

I’d like to end this thread by encouraging you all to read the stories of JTD residents here, told in their voices. If we come together as communities and ask our vulnerable what they need and how we can help, we will watch the world blossom. Thanks for listening. Pls tell every1 https://twitter.com/tr__reed/status/1283186596418932738