Gigi Jackson, a 63-year-old Black Angeleno, lived outside for years. After experiencing homelessness and the loss of her son, Gigi sought a better life. With rehabilitative assistance, mental health services, and support from a homeless service provider, she secured a new home. Reflecting on her new life,
“I got my own place and I cook my own dinner. There’s nothing like having your own,” Ms. Jackson says.
Stories like Gigi’s reflect progress in L.A. as the recent Los Angeles Homeless Count shows fewer people living on the street and more people moving into housing. However, Governor Newsom’s recent executive order for state agencies to dismantle encampments, coupled with the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass decision, could potentially set us back to criminalizing homelessness rather than addressing the crisis with humane and effective solutions. This is particularly troubling for Black people experiencing homelessness, who are disproportionately impacted by both the criminal justice system and the homelessness crisis.
In L.A., Black people represent roughly 7% of the city but account for nearly 30% of its homeless population. Statewide, Black Californians, who make up 7% of the population, represent more than a quarter of the state’s homeless population.
To turn the corner on this data, we need to uplift the stories of our unhoused neighbors. We need to do a better job telling the success stories of the thousands of people who are housed each year, particularly the often-under-told stories of people of color. To fight the urge to criminalize our unhoused neighbors, we must center their humanity and lived experiences. And in a city renowned for storytelling,
Black narratives are too often ignored. A report by the Center for Media and Social Impact found that the media often overlooks that Black people are often forced into homelessness due to systemic failures, like redlining, gentrification, and lack of affordable housing, not because of their individual misfortunes.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “riots are the language of the unheard.” Similarly, homelessness is a result of our decision to stop listening. Ignoring the voices of marginalized Angelenos and the structural barriers they face perpetuates a cycle of oppression, trapping many into manufactured poverty. The current homeless meta-narrative, distorted by dehumanizing tropes, often leads to an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality rather than calling us to lift up our unhoused neighbors in the spirit of our collective humanity.
We must move away from narratives that place sole responsibility on individuals and instead educate on the systemic hindrances to economic participation. Government officials, philanthropists, and institutions are beginning to empower community voices to address homelessness. Los Angeles lMayor Karen Bass has called on philanthropy and civic leaders to commit resources, including investments in storytelling for unhoused people.
Key reports like “Black People Experience Homelessness,” “CA Reparations Task Force Executive Summary – Housing Section,” and “The Black Experience Action Team: The Path to Justice Runs through Equity,,” provide opportunities to empower community voices and uplift Black people experiencing homelessness.
Including space for storytelling and lived-experts in policy-making and program development is essential for addressing disparities. Black-led organizations such as the Los Angeles Community Action Network, HOPICS, and the Empowerment Congress have long amplified the voices of unhoused Black people, leading successful initiatives focused on Black residents.
As we approach the 2028 Olympics and tell our story again on the world stage, let’s reclaim the homelessness narrative too. For communities of color, homelessness is not a choice; it’s a symptom of societal failure to address root causes of inequities. Thousands of stories like Gigi’s can drive policy and fuel practice if we listen. Let’s use the city’s momentum to solve our housing crisis and finally get these stories right.
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Dr. Ryan J. Smith is the president and CEO of the St. Joseph Center and serves as an Affordable Housing Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles. Dana Henry is the director of Black Justice and Healing for the Weingart Foundation.
