I am a target in this system. And while I’m a celebrated cellist and Shasta Scout journalist, I don't think being shiny and well-liked will save me from forced institutionalization.
Alissa Johnson is an accomplished cellist and recurring columnist. She's also homeless. In this article she discusses what she sees as a central dysfunction in how local leaders are responding to homelessness: decision-making processes that leave out the voices of those with lived experience.
In this essay, Johnson reflects on the additional burdens the local justice system has inflicted on her already challenging circumstances. It’s only her strong support net, she argues, that keeps the system from unfairly labeling her as a criminal, driving her further into society’s margins.
Hailed by local musicians as a “genius,” Alissa Johnson is an accomplished cellist and an activist for the human rights of autistic people. She is also homeless. In this piece she argues that her dual experiences as an autistic, and being without shelter, have repeatedly exposed her to interwoven stigma. Supportive systems are needed, she says, not to “fix” people but to partner with them as unique human beings with vibrant dreams.
