Now what would happen if a homeless quilt was made by someone who actually cared about homeless people?
Meet former ad designer Willie Baronet.
Baronet is an artist who talks to homeless people and buys their signs from them for $20 a pop, if they’re willing to sell. He uses the signs in art exhibits to educate the privileged and point them to ways they can help, and to humanize homeless people and tell them they matter.
One sign at a time, Baronet makes a statement to help people with $20 in their hand and a voice that rings across the nation saying “I’m here.”
So not only did they take the small, hand-made signs away from homeless people but instead of just tossing them, they kept them. Not only did they keep them as some kind of homeless trophy, they actually went through the time, energy, and effort (funded by tax dollars) to tape them together, pose for a picture, and post it during the holiday season.
This is why people say that there are no good cops. Because there aren’t.
ID 1: Two cops holding up a patchwork sign made of pieces of cardboard. They are smiling, looking proud. Someone has edited text onto the cardboard that says, “we do not serve or protect you. we are very blatantly a private military carrying out only the will of your capitalist ruling class. fuck you and fuck poor people.”
ID 2: The came picture in an uncropped Facebook screenshot. The text of the Facebook post says, “Wanna wish everybody in 4th precinct a Merry Christmas, especially our captain . Hope you enjoy our homeless quilt! Sincerely, Panhandler patrol.” The state that the Panhandler police force is in, and the officer names, have been redacted from the screenshot. The signs, fully visible in this version of the photo, say things like “will work”, “in need of help”, and “trying to make it, anything helps, god bless you”.
ID 3: Willie Baronet with his homeless quilt. It is similarly made of signs with pleas for help written on them, but covers most of an entire wall.
