When I called, they gave me the whole “this stuff doesn’t really matter” treatment. I asked them how, in a world in which the Berkeley City Council had just restricted sidewalk use for the poor, this was in any way possible — except in the most cynical of kleptocracies.

Compassion means empathy and imagining the perspective of others. The idea that “we are all one” may be dismissed as straight out of the 1960s. But that idea stays with me and continues to influence me. This consciousness of love and compassion is one of the pillars of most religions.

The DBA launched a new poster destruction policy, despite being warned it was unconstitutional by the City Attorney. Tearing down fliers is a textbook example of a free speech violation. No one has the right to make content-based distinctions about what is allowed to be posted or said in legal, public places.

Jesus lived in poverty. Yet, his name has outlived the names of millions of wealthy people who were buried long ago and forgotten. The Buddha left his mansion and his kingdom to live in poverty, because he needed the answer as to why suffering exists.

By and by, I calm down. I meditate. I pray. It is a beautiful day. The sun is setting. I weave my way toward the spot where I sleep, where nobody knows where to find me. I look to the stars, and say my prayers to the God who believes in Me.

All we really wanted out there on the street, any of us, was to be treated with human respect and dignity, and treated as equals, not as inferiors. We wanted to be listened to, we wanted our voices heard. But people wouldn’t listen to us. They sure talked to us though.

Imagine the hurt and pain I felt when my own brother refused to let me stay in a spare room at his house after I had become homeless. Multiply that pain by 15, when, one by one, my closest friends and family told me I could not stay with them.

SNCC members in the Bay Area are capable of telling their stories of personal sacrifice and nonviolent organizing — undeniably one of the greatest American stories ever told. Their insights into nonviolence can be shared with those who wonder what might be more powerful than makeshift shields from Home Depot.

The hatred and violent racism of white supremacist groups is written plainly for everyone to see. It is inexcusable that Trump has been unwilling to take a stand against right-wing extremists. And it is heartening to see widespread repudiation of everything the KKK and neo-Nazis stand for.

One way to fight back against the hate being spread around by the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists is by exposing the supporters of hate and violence in the United States. Carson’s stories have led to boycotts and closures of restaurants owned by Duke supporters.

Before the first medications were developed, lobotomies were used on the most difficult cases, and electroshock was often used as well. Even with modern treatments and knowledge in the field of psychiatry, senseless cruelty continues to be perpetrated upon persons who suffer from mental health problems.

In areas of cities with a large homeless population, employees not only put “Out of Order” signs on their restroom doors, they remove the chairs and tables, forcing customers to stand to drink their coffee, hoping to deter the poor from coming in to bathe and sleep.