Snap Judgment Presents: A Tiny Plot – "The Fence" (Chapter 3)

Podcast: Snap Judgment
Host: Shayna Shealy
Date: August 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In Chapter 3 of A Tiny Plot, titled "The Fence," Shayna Shealy continues following the Union Point group as they prepare to move from the Travel Inn Motel into a new, city-sanctioned tiny home encampment at East 12th—an experiment in homeless community self-governance in Oakland, California. But the move is fraught with emotional stakes and controversy, especially due to racial tensions and systemic inequities exposed by a simple chain-link fence that divides Union Point’s self-governed site from the neighboring, city-run Lakeview Village. Decisions about belonging, trauma, and justice hang in the balance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Momma Dee’s Decisive Choice

• Union Point’s move hinges on whether Momma Dee, whose son was murdered across from the new site, can bring herself and the group to accept the land. The group refuses to go forward without her.
• Momma Dee reflects on her grief and decision-making:
  • “It says Shining Paradise. ... Max is my nephew. He was murdered two years prior to Kendrick's. ... Miguel is from Union Point. He was murdered across the street.” (03:49)
  • She ultimately feels a push—possibly spiritual—from her son Kendrick, telling her:
    “You have to go there. You can't fight it. Just go. ... I know my son wanted [this project] to succeed too.” (05:02–06:18)
• Memorable Moment: Momma Dee steps out of her motel room and leads the group toward their new home at East 12th (06:18).

2. Building a Co-Governed Community

• With Momma Dee’s okay, Union Point begins to physically build their new site:
  • Construction, logistics, and collective labor ensue (07:07–07:31).
  • They assemble shower stalls, prepare for plumbing, and paint sheds.
• Adam, a resident, tells the group:
  “You guys have the privilege and the responsibility to build your own space out how you want it.” (07:31)

3. Pallet Shelters: Quick Solutions, Limited Voice

• The city provides tiny “Pallet” shelters—prefab, rapid-erect shelters for crisis housing, skipping many usual building codes due to Oakland’s formal “shelter crisis” (08:22–09:37).
• Architect Naran Kadri Begovic explains it typically takes years to build permanent housing, but Pallet shelters are up in months:
  • “I've seen homes like pallet shelters go up in three months and he [Kadri] considers them an important part of the solution to the housing crisis.” (10:28)
• The group gets limited say over their actual homes, evoking feelings of both gratitude and powerlessness.

4. A Divided Land: The Fence & Racial Controversy

• The East 12th parcel is split. Union Point enjoys co-governance; adjacent Lakeview Village does not. Lakeview receives more shelters but lacks self-determination (12:50–13:00).
• Racial tension emerges: Union Point is majority white, Lakeview is majority Black and Asian (21:12).
• Homeless activists Nino Parker and Ms. Asada accuse the city of segregation through the fence:
  • Nino Parker (to Shayna):
    “This issue is the issue of segregation. Bottom line, it's basically illegal in America to have 99% white on one side and a mixed crowd on the other.” (21:12)
  • Nino protests daily, using a bullhorn, signs, and, eventually, threats of noise complaints and escalation (32:01).
  • Debate centers on who should have priority access, who decides the rules, and whether co-governance is just or perpetuating inequity.

5. Residents’ Perspectives: Agency and Frustration

• Union Point and Lakeview Village residents each feel misrepresented and manipulated by city decisions.
• Tim, a Union Point resident:
  • “The argument with them is that they're homeless people here in this community [Lakeview] should have been here instead of us. ... We didn’t ask to be put in this location. ... We had no say so where we're going.” (32:41)
• The Union Point group works hard because it feels like their only shot at stability:
  • “This is all you got? This is your one opportunity?” - Shayna
    “One opportunity the city ... has given us. And if we make this ... work, then they're gonna expand it. ... I want to see this actually work for the city.” (33:39–34:11)

6. Rebuffed Outreach: Walls and Barriers

• Shayna struggles to speak with Lakeview Village residents—site management denies her entry, further underscoring separation and tension (34:22).
• Nita B, a housing activist, defends the diversity and intentions of the Union Point group:
  • “Union Point community is a very diverse group of people. ... What's being said is total misinformation. ... First point in negotiation was housing all the black mothers and their children.” (34:50–35:22)

7. Climax: The Fence as Battleground

• Confrontations escalate, culminating in Nino Parker appearing with a neck brace, claiming he was assaulted by Adam (36:14).
• Nino’s protest persists:
  “I just hate that fence. ... The general public will help us solve this situation because ... it's going to be so damn loud here 24/7. You will not be able to be here.” (32:01)
• The fence remains a potent symbol of the unresolved racial and systemic issues embedded in homelessness policy.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Momma Dee, on her decision:
  “I had to come up with fighting myself. Deanna, you can do this. ... I felt like it was coming from Kendrick or something. ... 'Just, Mom, I'm just scared for you.'” (05:02–06:18)

• Adam, on co-governance:
  “You guys have the privilege and the responsibility to build your own space out how you want it.” (07:31)

• Nino Parker, on the fence:
  “There's not really a lot to discuss about this issue. This issue is the issue of segregation.” (21:12)
  “Take down the goddamn fence. We're not going to have no separation going on on this side of Oakland.” (27:49, 29:14)

• Tim, Union Point resident, on being pawns:
  “We had no say so where we're going.” (32:41)
  “This is your one opportunity.” (33:48)

• Nita B, housing activist:
  “Union Point community is a very diverse group of people. ... They organized to make sure [all the black mothers and their children] got housing immediately.” (34:50–35:22)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|---------| | 03:35–06:18 | Momma Dee’s grief and ultimate decision to lead the group to East 12th | | 07:07–08:22 | Community mobilizes, construction, and co-governance discussions | | 08:22–10:32 | Pallet shelter explanation and housing policy critique | | 12:50–13:04 | Introduction of Lakeview Village and the fence’s symbolic power | | 16:32–19:41 | First clash with Nino Parker, accusations of segregation | | 21:12–23:21 | Nino Parker’s perspective on race and resource allocation | | 27:49–29:40 | Nino’s bullhorn protest and public confrontation at the fence | | 32:01–34:11 | Tim’s reflection on being pawns and the limited agency residents feel | | 34:50–35:22 | Nita B defends Union Point's diversity and negotiation history | | 36:08–36:43 | Nino reports alleged assault and continues his protest |

Summary: Themes and Takeaways

This episode vividly illustrates the intersection of trauma, hope, and systemic injustice that shapes the lives of unsheltered people. The physical fence at East 12th is both a literal and metaphorical boundary—between opportunity and exclusion, governance and paternalism, white and black, “deserving” and “undeserving.” While Union Point’s residents strive for agency, they’re caught in a web of city decisions, racialized policies, and historical inequities that make every gain feel fraught.

Chapter 3 leaves listeners with no easy resolution—just a container (a fence) for the ambitions, grief, and contested visions of justice that mark Oakland’s ongoing housing crisis.