The Progressive Magazine
It’s easy to see the scars living unhoused has left on Hilliard McAlpin. Walking with me through the streets of Denver, Colorado, he’s quiet and moves like he’s trying to ward off a future attack. He will laugh at jokes, but quickly masks his smile. When we first meet, the forty-nine-year-old seems like he’s in a battle against the world.
Then we arrive at the spot where McAlpin used to live. Civic Center Park in downtown Denver sits between Denver’s City and County Building and the Colorado State Capitol. The pair of neoclassical structures loom over the park, projecting the ideals of order, reason, and democracy. But in 2021, Denver officials cleared about 100 unhoused people from the park ahead of annual holiday events. In effect, the city signaled that people like McAlpin were no longer welcome downtown.
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