Interview: Ronnie Goodman

Release date: August 18, 2020

Stolen Belonging: My only picture of my son who is no longer alive. Owner: Ronnie Goodman. Thief: The City of SF - DPW & SFPD. Demands: Stop The Sweeps! Housing and Services Now!

(Left image: Ronnie gestures looking at his only photo of his son, which was stolen by DPW & SFPD in a sweep. Right image: Screen printed Stolen Belonging tag of Ronnie’s most cherished possession taken by the city. Photos by Leslie Dreyer.)

See Ronnie Goodman’s artwork here , and donate to his funeral fundraiser here.

Video Transcript

Ronnie: Ronnie Lamont Goodman. That's my whole correct name. I was born in 1960, and right after I was born my mother brought me here in 1960 and we stayed in Haight-Ashbury. From that point on, I was a flower child with my mother. So, I grew up with nothin' but artists. People like that. So, I just want you to know part of my background.

Stolen Belonging Team: Ronnie, tell us about the belongings that the city has taken from you in the sweeps.

Ronnie: They took my drawing paper, they took my prints, they took my printing paper, they took my supplies, all my art supplies. They took all my linoleum blocks that I've been working on for close to 20 years. They took all my artwork, they took my paintings, they took my drawings. They took stuff that I painted in prison, they took all of the things I painted out of prison. They took everything that you see on our website. Since I don't have that stuff, I gotta go out and be like everybody else, I gotta pan-handle for some money. In order to get somethin' to eat, or in order to get some art materials, because of what the police and D.P.W. are doin'. They're making my life very, very horrendous. They're making it so anti-productive.

Stolen Belonging Team: Did you ever have any items that were of personal significance, any kind of mementos that were taken?

Ronnie: Everything. Okay, I had my son's picture. Who got stabbed and killed on 19th and Mission, he was 19 years old. No, rather on 24th and Mission. His name was Ronnie Goodman. He got stabbed and killed. And, I only had one picture of him, me and him together. Those are gone. I mean, . Give me a minute

Stolen Belonging Team: Yeah.

[pause]

Ronnie: (Showing an art print) This is me right up here. This is my son down here. This is how I was feeling, when he got killed. And, he was always gettin' into my art stuff. This is what I want to show you. I lost this due to police and D.P.W. They took that block. They took a lot of my blocks.

Stolen Belonging Team: Did you try to get it back?

Ronnie: I tried, and they said it was gone. I tried twice. I went down there to try and get those blocks, I need those blocks to make a livin'. I really needed 'em. I went down there, I went down over to Bayshore, where it's at, and they said, "We have no knowledge." I went down there three times. On three different occasions that they took my stuff. Now, they took my stuff this time. It's like, I'm not even going down there. For what?

Stolen Belonging Team: How do you think the City of San Francisco should compensate you for the loss of your possessions?

Ronnie: I don't even know. Give me things that I can recreate those images. Because, I can. I'm an artist. I mean, they're gone, but listen. I'm a bad mother-fucker. I can still do it, and probably do it even better. The best is yet to come, okay? Because, I'm prolific. It's not like woe-is-me type of situation. It's more like, I have no money. I'm broke, and linoleum blocks and materials, and artists' stuff, it costs a lot of money. When you start taking stuff like that, what can an artist do? Give me things to work with, give me things so I can be self-sufficient. 'Cause I don't want nothin' other than that. I don't want no hand-outs, I don't want a bagged lunch, sack-lunch, or anything y'all have to give me, because it would not work for me. You have to give me art supplies in order for me to stay creative. I'm a creative individual. It comes to me like a water fountain. I can't turn it off. I wish I could, it's almost close to a curse. That's because I can not turn it off. And, I do it all day long, 24 hours. I sleep and dream art. That's it, that's all. You know, I been doin' it since I was six, and probably before then.

Stolen Belonging Team: And how do you think the City should be held accountable for takin' all your stuff?

Ronnie: Um, accountability? I put it like this: it's the same accountability I have to be accounted for. If you got politicians who are sharp, let me tell you something. They're sharper than ten mother-fuckers. It's easy to manipulate the public on how, and what they want, and how they do it. But, it's not, it might not be necessarily, morally right. But, it'll be much more financially secure for them. And much more of a comradery of street, I feel like it's a comradery of street gangsters on a high, political level. You might as well call it the mafia. These people, to me, they're on that level of control. They're like a mafia, control situation. That's how I feel. If you're not in their gang, you not doin' what they want to do, you're not in the club, then therefore you have to go. Are you gonna be stripped? Are you gonna be raped? You gonna be fucked over? Or killed, or shot, or fucked over by these people we call, unquote, what y'all paid for. That's it. So, that's it. That's all I got to say. I'm not here to point fingers at anybody, but I really don't know. But, I feel... Got to get another beep. ba, ba, ba, bop. Come on, bup ba ba bum. There you go. We keep this going, we're gonna have some Beethoven in a minute. Bup ba ba ba bum, with their little horns. Anyway, that's a little joke, you know. I was, I'm gonna tell you something. I was sittin' on the alley, I'm gonna keep this quick. I was sittin' on the alley, and I heard this one car go ba ba bum. I said, that would be great for Beethoven. We could do this whole car thing with Beethoven stuff.

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This project is a collaboration between Coalition on Homelessness and Artist/Organizer Leslie Dreyer, working with Couper Orona, TJ Johnston, Meghan Johnson (aka Roadkill), Sophia Thibodeaux, Patricia Alonzo and Charles Davis - some the fiercest homeless advocates in San Francisco. Follow the links for more info about the project and our amazing team!