An Interview with Meghan “Roadkill” Johnson, conducted by the Stolen Belonging team

https://www.stolenbelonging.org  

Photo of Roadkill by Leslie Dreyer

Meghan “Roadkill” Johnson is a shelter client advocate who was homeless for 10 years, on and off the streets of San Francisco and throughout California. Her cherished and vital belongings were taken by employees of the City’s Department of Public works and the police department during the sweeps.

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by Quinn Hailey

Sunday night, family dinner as usual. It was all fun stories, chatting, and TV –until normal programming was interrupted for some breaking news. Something was definitely happening. 

“Reporting live from California, we interrupt normal programming to bring you some terrible news,” the reporter began. “There has been an outbreak of an unknown infectious disease that’s killing people in a matter of hours. The dead bodies have also been waking up within a few minutes with bloodshot eyes and an urge for blood.

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by Terry Johnson

CONTENT WARNING: VIOLENCE AGAINST GAY MEN, BODY HORROR

Here is evil, the pure poison of the soul, the darkness we are all afraid lurks within ourselves. We are  afraid of it, and of what we are capable of doing if we lose control. Afraid, but also tempted, because  there is freedom in doing exactly what we want. Freedom for a time and a price. 

The fear,

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by Christina Munene

I love traveling, that’s a fact! On this day, our school planned an international trip to Paris. I was excited as this would be my first trip on a plane. My classmates and I even formed research groups on places to visit while on the trip. We devised a list of some incredible places, and shared it with the teacher responsible for the trip planning. Later that evening, I went home after school and shared the exciting news with my family.

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By Andy Howard

First installment:

Will was entranced in his thoughts, mesmerized by the rattling, clanging, window vibrating noises coming from the metal behemoth that was the backbone of the local public transportation system, servicing the 49-square mile area of the iconic City of San Francisco.

It had been a long day. He awoke at 5 a.m., met with the group of homeless individuals that resided within a block or two of his own lean-to,

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by Ian James

Band members chatted as they tuned their instruments, local artists sold hand printed posters and zines, and people continued to flow into Medicine for Nightmares, the bookstore hosting Denhi Donis’ birthday fundraiser. 

Donis, better known as the Flower Lady, is fighting her second Ellis Act eviction in two years. She came to San Francisco 25 years ago from Chicago, fleeing domestic violence. She quickly became a fixture in the Mission community,

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By: Johanna Elattar 

The morning sun is shining through the windows of my mother’s small Brooklyn apartment. It feels like it’ll be a scorching August day, and I’ve been up for hours. I live in upstate New York, but I love coming back to Brooklyn to visit my mother, and to spend a few days in the city. The landline she refuses to get rid of rings and I quickly answer it. I recognize the voice on the other end right away: It’s Bettina,

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By Detroit Richards

San Francisco, once famous for the Summer of Love, beautiful views from the hills, and stunning architecture, is now known for having a large amount of human excrement on the streets, unchecked open drug use, and fearsome rates of overdose deaths and criminal activity. Fingers are unfairly pointed at the homeless population, who are scapegoated as the cause of all of society’s problems, and as a result the animosity towards those who are unhoused in the city continues to escalate.

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by Ben Judd

As pandemic relief efforts come to a close in this city, the future of solutions to homelessness is uncertain. Frustratingly,  it has taken emergency responses to life-or-death illness to effectively address the problem. 

The recent Point-in-Time (PIT) survey findings show that unhoused people have been relying on safe-sleeping locations that opened during the pandemic. As these sites close, people will be forced to once again search for a safe place to rest.

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