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By Robbie Powelson Joel died on or around April 20th, 2022 in a gutter in San Rafael. I received the news, like most everyone from our encampment in Sausalito, around noon while about a quarter of our camp attended a court ordered settlement with the City of Sausalito. Joel was 24 years old with a big goofy grin. The last time I saw him, he was catching a pigeon in the center of the city-operated camp in Sausalito. Joel had a child who lived up north. About two months prior he had left his campsite to visit them. While he was away, the City of Sausalito stole his tent and belongings. When he returned, they refused to allow him back in the camp under orders of the City. Executives were not allowing anyone to return as they sought to eradicate the camp by attrition. Joel had been in and out of drug treatment, going between addiction and recovery. He had numerous overdoses at the camp, from which people at the camp would revive him. People looked out for him. When he left, he had no one to look at for him. So on 4/20, when he took too much in celebration of that notorious holiday, there was no one around to catch him as he slipped into the gutter – no one to call the ambulance or administer Narcan. He stopped breathing there, dead at 24, in San Rafael where had moved involuntarily. Joel’s story happens all across the world. Involuntary displacement of people who don’t have housing is a leading contributor to overdose deaths. A recent study at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus showed long-term health effects of involuntary displacement of people experiencing homelessness who inject drugs, using data from 23 U.S. cities. The model suggests encampment sweeps, bans and move-along orders could contribute to 15-25% of deaths among the unsheltered population over 10 years. Other dangers shown in other studies show that former encampment residents experienced a 28% rise in arrests and a 35% increase in the risk of physical assault after an encampment sweep. Everyone wept in the middle of the settlement meeting. “You are fucking killing us,” someone accused the City leaders in attendance. The meeting adjourned early. We were in the settlement meeting for a series of restraining orders our folks at the camp won against the City of Sausalito that had been issued shortly after Joel had been evicted. Those restraining orders stopped the eviction of people from our camp - and poor Joel was just unlucky that we hadn’t figured out how to do these mini-restraining orders sooner. We didn’t have the knowledge back then – but if we had, we would have likely been able to get a restraining order to allow Joel to get back into the camp. Then he wouldn’t have OD’d - someone would have been able to call the ambulance and administer the Narcan. The eviction caused him to be in a more dangerous situation. When he died, no one was around to catch him. Because of that, he died. While the drugs caused his body to shut down, the reason no one was around to revive him was because of a state-created danger.

On December 6 2022, Youths, Adults and elders from Poor Magazine, Wood Street Commons, Street Spirit, Street Sheet, and WRAP delivered Freedom of Information Act Request to CalTrans. They tried in EVERY way they could to try to avoid us, make thing difficult and confusing... but...... They responded. Stay tuned for our Release of Information at Oakland City Hall in June Press Contacts: Miguel Muteado Silencio & Lisa Tiny Gray-Garcia (510) 435-7500 For Immediate Release: The Cost of Sweeping Us vs Housing Us - Houseless, formerly houseless Bay Area residents launch an investigation at CalTrans Unhoused and formerly unhoused residents of Oakland and San Francisco laucnh an investigation into the cost of sweeps and the cost of housing What: WeSearch investigation of Caltrans and other city and state agencies launched by houselessformerly houseless Bay Area youth, adults and elders When: TODAY 10:30am Tuesday, December 6, 2022 Where:CalTrans office 111 Grand Av, Oakland, CA "We lose so much in sweeps, not just our belongings, but our trust, confidence and hope in the people who are supposed to be there to provide us with services," said John Bowman Janosko, resident leader Wood Street Commons, which sufferred with ongoing sweeps and harassment from Caltrans and the City of Oakland. "I had everything taken from me, things i will never be able to replace and CalTrans no matter how many hoops i went through i could never get then back from CalTrans, said Brokin Cloud, Houseless in Oakland for over 15 years who just moved into Homefulness - a rent free housing project created by houseless people at POOR Magazine. "Thousands of dollars are spent on sweeps, from police to DPW, the City and State could save so much if they just provided us with housing, " said La Monte, resident leader of Wood Street Collective I was "swept" multiple times and twice even power-washed with dangerous chemicals, for years when me and my mama were on the street houseless, it never made us stop being houseless, it just made us sick and at risk of death said Tiny (Lisa) Gray-Garcia, formerly homeless, incarcerated, single mother, poet, visionary of Homefulness and co-author of many publications including Criminal of Poverty - Growing Up Homeless in America and more. POOR Magazine, Wood Street Collective and Cob on Wood communities are collaborating with Stolen Belonging, Coalition on Homelessness, WRAP and other poor people-led movements and organizations across the Bay Area in this WeSearch investigation to find out the physical, spiritual and fiscal cost of these violent sweeps on houseless peoples bodies versus the costs of poor, houseless and indigenous people-led solutions like Homefulness and Wood Street Collective. On this day they will be submitting FOIAS to CalTrans created by houseless, formerly houseless youth and elders from POOR Magazine as well as hearing from many more houseless voices on their struggles and resistance to Sweeps WeSearch is a concept and word created by tiny gray-garcia to describe the process of poor and houseless people creating their own forms of research and investigaiton that is not extractive or separate from their experience and the for the sole purpose of making sure our voices are also included in not onky the investigation but the solutions that are derived from the findings. More information on WeSearch can be found in the textbook Poverty Scholarship - Poor People-led Theory , Art , Words and Tears Across Mama Earth - OTHER LINKS- - The Violence of Evicting already evicted residents at Wood Street - - From Wood Street to Where Do We Go? - Homefulness - a homeless peoples solution to homelessness - Story in MOTHER JONES about Homefulness

Bienvenidos VOCES EN RESISTENSIA UNA VES MAS A VOCES EN RECISTENSIA 96,1 FM MI NOMBRE Cuando llegue a estado desunidos me impactó tanto- tanto que yo quería ser blanco. Cuando me decidí a salir a un lugar para saber más sobre las gringas- que les guste el tipo de música que me gusta a mi. Me vestí coqueton con unas botas negras que compré con mi primer pago de mi trabajo y camisa negra de manga larga pantalón de mezclilla medio apretado y una chamarra de piel con cierres. Y empecé a caminar en las calle de poco a poco en la calle donde viví y así comencé a conocer la ciudad. Desde el segundo día que empecé a trabajar con las mujeres rubias y gueras. Cuando por primera vez que entre a un lugar para tratar de socializar con las ilusiones que tenía en ideas de poder encontrar la perfecta gringa para mi pero como a cada guerra que observaba sem caía la baba y me sentí mal por la razón de no hablar la lengua del país. En los lugares que trabaje un poco más cerca empecé a descubrir y reconocer el significado de las diferencias o mejor dicho la discriminación y la convivencia social. Y así empecé a aprender a prender las diferentes posiciones que trabaje en los restaurantes. Y así empecé a incrementar cada año y asi incrementa la rentas y nunca pude tener la gringa ni el dinero para poder tener un lugar para mi solo. Esa es la razón que tuve que vivir en compañía de mis hermanos y con el tiempo todos sabemos que necesitabamos un poco de privacidad. Tuve que encontrar un trabajo más pero eso no fue suficiente como el paso del tiempo, tuve que rentar un lugar más chiquito por el mismo costo- el cual solo lo ocupaba para dormir y guardar lo poca ropa que tenía- lo cual no pude pagar por mucho tiempo después de perder un trabajo. Tuve que ir a dormir en un sillón con unos amigos lo cual era un poco difícil porque era un lugar donde todos los días son sociale y felices. Con el tiempo conosi ala mama de mi hijo lo cual no fue muy diferente por lo que si no pagas nuestras gentes están tan colonizados que solo piensan en el dinero. Así con el tiempo pase hacer un residente de las calles de san francisco por que cuado el tiempo de una persona se acabo y las personas que son duenos de las casas o apartamentos no les importa si alguien vive o muere. Así poco a poco cuando nos tratan de convertir en esclavos. Welcome VOICES IN RESISTANCE ONCE AGAIN TO VOICES IN RESISTANCE 96.1 FM MY NAME When I got to the (dis)United States it struck me so much that I wanted to be white- when I decided to leave to a place to know more about the gringas that like the kind of music that I like. I dressed flirty with black boots that I bought with my first paycheck from my job and black long sleeve shirt, half tight denim trousers, and a leather jacket with zippers. I started walking in the streets bit by bit- in the street where I lived and this is how I began to know the city. From the second day I started working with the blonde women. When for the first time I walked into a place to try to socialize with the illusions I had in ideas of being able to find the perfect gringa for me but like every war I watched, I drooled and I felt bad for her because I could not speak the language of the country. In the places I worked I began to discover and recognize the meaning of differences or rather discrimination and social coexistence. And so I began to learn to do the different positions I worked in restaurants. And so I started to increase my funds every year and like that the rent increases and I could never have the gringa or the money to be able to have a place just for me. That is why I had to live with my brothers and over time we all know we needed some privacy. I had to find another job but that was not enough and as time passed I had to rent a smaller place for the same price- which I only spent time in to sleep and keep the little clothes that I had- which I could not pay for long after losing a job. I had to go to sleep in an armchair with some friends which was a bit difficult because it was a place where every day they are social and happy. Over time I met the mom of my son which was not very different so if you do not pay our people they are so colonized that they only think about money. So as the time passed I became a resident of the streets of San Francisco because when the time for a person is up and people who own the houses or apartments it does not matter to them if someone lives or dies. And so little by little they try to turn us into slaves .

Poverty Scholar Brokin Cloud Malcom X Tortuguita This is the first moral human reasoning that slavery and sex are not in accordance with human society. The control of sex is an assault on humanity itself. It is to be regulated and controlled =assassinationed. The entire world is dealing with sex as a commodity and humans are dying, which = assassination. Too many Humans are involved. The system of hypocrisy in a capitalist autocratic system has proven to be unsafe and lead to negative consequences. The assassination of Malcolm X is still an unsolved real event that deserves closure. Malcolm X’s family has launched lawsuits against the United States; on the New York police department, on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI). Malcolm X’s family needs to find the United State government entities guilty so the family can find closure. The exoneration of the first (person) accused has created a complete unresolve of the assassination. Furthermore, it seems that the US government is trying to play a game with time. It has been 58 years since the assassination. It's not like it was yesterday or a week ago. I’m talking about time and the United States in this year of 2023, the superior court judge Clarence Thomas has offended the people of the United States for his participation in the abortion issue, the January 6 riot, unreported trips, luxury outings, then selling property in the state of Florida 3 years ago and today is using it as a tax write off. The hypocrisy of the United States is self-evident; sex slavery = assassination. In the state of Georgia, like Malcom X, a young peacemaker, Tortuguita, was assassinated early this year and today, April 23rd, is his birthday. The state of New York had the awareness of justice for Tortuguita, who was murdered by the Atlanta swat team of that police department. In perspective of human kind in the year of 2023, Little rats follow The big rats. Assassination is every year of life in this capitalist autocratic world. On this Revolutionary Day, May 1, 2023, the hunt in Texas is for a single gunman. Who is not the question, but where and when. In this 25th century technology, why do I say this? Well, it's because Malcolm X was killed 58 years Ago, Kennedy, 49 years and 7 months ago, Lumumba, 62 years ago, and King, 42 years ago.

Tiburcio Garcia in front of the Beverly Hills Sign (circa. 2023) “What are you guys doing here?” She held her phone slightly away from her face, staring at us through her wrought iron fence, holding back Mochi, her giant white dog. She stared at us uncomprehendingly, seeing my mothers tattered jail suit and Uncle Leroy in his scooter with a drum tied to the back, turning him into a character from Mario Kart. It must have been a sight, and as she took in more and more, her eyes widened, and I chuckled. Her eyes slid over us and on Muteado, wearing his full danza traje, clad in leather and a massive copili bursting with feathers reminiscent of palm fronds. “We’re asking that you consider giving your second or third vacation home to help house people on the street” my mother Tiny Gray-Garcia responded simply, handing her our list of demands: We are demanding the extreme wealth hoarders and land occupiers in this town that led to the displacement and removal of so many poor and houseless people support the building of Homefulness in occupied Tongva with Tongva Nation and Houseless peoples guidance. We invite all residents of this occupied territory to come to the next session of PeopleSkool. We humbly ask that any resident of this wealth hoarding neighborhood who have more than one home redistribute their second or third home to people who have no homes. We are demanding that this colonized city give at least one of the hundreds of abandoned surplus buildings to houseless people. We demand that this city not only Defund the poLice but disband (and like us poor and houseless folks at Homefulness) NEVER Call the poLice. Six years ago, Poor Magazine came to Beverly Hills for a Stolen Land/Hoarded Resources Tour. A year before that, we started these tours, with the intention of bringing the richest people in this country into the conversation of radical redistribution. We realized that the only way to reach these people in any way they would listen is by bringing the message to their doorsteps. Since then, we have been to Marin County, Park Ave., Google Headquarters, Piedmont, Downtown Denver, Leschi Territory (Washington State), and many other places. I looked at this lady, so dumbfounded by the sight of poor people of color in her neighborhood, and wondered how we got this far. I saw her behind her cage that she built to protect herself from the real world, just the same as every house on the block. She silently accepted the flier, and we walked away to the sound of her dog barking furiously. A passerby would see us and wonder why a small group of poor black and brown folks in Beverly Hills were being followed by two police cars, a private security vehicle, and a drone, but that was just another day for us. That very process of scared rich white people calling reinforcements to surround us is how Luis Gongora Pat, Treyvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others were murdered, so while it is a bone-chilling thing to experience, it is no surprise. Every person who’s 30 foot doors we knocked on and manicured lawns we walked through turned us down, a mixture of disgust and fear coloring their features. What we demanded was well within the abilities of every single person we talked to. The main reason for the tours is to show these people who constantly try to ignore us and commit what my mother calls “the violent act of looking away” that we exist, and that we are not afraid to meet them at their level. We are the poor and homeless people that you try to silence by othering us, with our tattered jail suits and danza gear, with our loud drums and even louder voices. We will continue to go right to the heart of wealth hoarding in this country, and present them our demands.

By POOR Magazine Youth PovertSkola reporter Amir Cornish On Wednesday on May 3rd, the encampment on Wood Street was getting demolished by construction bulldozers running over the homes of the community that was built by houseless people to house themselves. I watched this big, yellow, dragon-like bulldozer with its huge mouth blade slowly lifting one of the Wood Street homes that was built out of love for that person. When all POOR Magazine family arrived at Wood Street, we saw that there were multiple cops just standing around and behind them there was a huge gate covering the front entrance of Wood Street, not letting anybody enter. "We proved that we can survive under duress, through all of these conditions and harassment. We are survivors and we are ready to move to the next level," said John Janosko, longtime resident organizer of Wood Street Commons. Wood Street is a wonderful place that John and some other members created for themselves and others to feel safe, also be to a loving community. The City of Oakland never supported them, and they should have. As houseless people, just like us houseless peoples at Homefulness, they know what they need and they created it. "We still communicate even when they scatter us around and put us in different locations, but the love ties that were built here can not be cut by cops, bulldozers. Those things will live on and we will rebuild what we started whenever we can and wherever we go, but that one thing they can’t arrest,’’ said Jazz, another longtime resident organizer. I am Amir Cornish Youth Poverty Skola. I'm from West Oakland. It's hard for a person to have a home. I remember being homeless, worried about the next meal to fill my belly. I remembered moving across different families' homes spending the night at theirs. Being homeless is not easy for youth and elders. My Mom has always found a way to keep me and brothers fed and a roof overhead. Being homeless is not a good feeling, to have to sleep outside for not paying the rent on time, or somebody taking your home without you knowing. Homelessness is a real thing and people have struggled on the street everyday trying to strive on living. Homefulness and POOR Magazine will be standing with Wood Street Commons forever and help them help themselves. Amir Cornish, Sun of Audrey Candy Corn, is a formerly houseless resident of Homefulness, graduate of the liberation school Deecolonize Academy and Youth in media reporter with POOR Magazine

Good morning. Ladies & gentlemen, friends, and members of the press, we have asked you here today to bear witness to the crimes on humanity that are taking place here on Wood St. We also humbly implore you to call upon City Council, Mayor Sheng Thao, and other elected officials, and urge them to stop the unlawful evictions at the Wood Street encampment. Over the past two weeks, our residents & volunteers have fallen victim to the egregious acts of state violence that have occurred under the watch of LaTonda Simmons, Harold Duffy, and Sgt. Patrick Gonzales. The most basic, core rights that we, as Americans - as humans - should be afforded, are being trampled and demolished, much like our homes and belongings have been. Even our pets are not safe. These acts of state violence result in state created danger; they are unlawful, unconstitutional, and we demand that they come to an immediate halt! Furthermore, we ask the city of Oakland to pursue legal action for the crimes that have been committed here. Our property, our freedom & our lives have been jeopardized and this must stop TODAY. *** We'd also like to take this time to thank the volunteers & supporters who've sacrificed so much of themselves fighting for a people who are all-too-often unheard. We are deeply indebted to you all, and your selfless service should be an example of how we all should treat one another. However, it is a sad state of affairs when volunteers are having to cover the nods of displaced residents because the government can't step up and do their job. At this time, I’d like to take a moment to address some misinformation and false claims which have been circulating the internet. These false accusations are the work of some very small-minded individuals who have nothing better to do than to spew venomous lies and libel about individuals whom they could only wish to be in the shadow. One particular individual who has blatantly spread untruths about some of our residents actually ran for city council at one time. To him we ask, “Is this how a one-time candidate for political office acts?” Just to set the record straight, Jaz Calibri was an art student, yes. She abandoned a successful art career and all of her friends and loved ones, she denounced most of her material possessions, and chose to live on the streets to advocate for those without a voice. Seneca Scott would do well to learn a thing or two from Ms. Calibri, as it seems the only voice he hears is his own. Additionally, Jared Defigh was not arrested for false imprisonment. He was arrested, on Apr. 12, 2023, for civil disobedience. Jared chose to put his freedom & his life on the line and lie down in front of a bulldozer. This was a selfless act, and a courageous one, & again, Seneca Scott could learn something here … On a brief sidenote, just a reminder to anyone who thinks that this childish display was amusing in any way - spreading false claims about an individual which paints them in such a negative light, is called libel. It is a crime and is punishable in civil court. Something to consider if you don't want an actual criminal record, Mr. Scott. Because of this, we have no other choice but to hold the parties in question legally responsible. If our peaceful protests, our blood, sweat and tears have not gotten their attention, perhaps lady justice will. Thank you all for your continued support, and as always - "vivá le resistance!" Thank You.

The Murder of Banko Brown By Akil Carrillo/POOR Magazine Youth PovertySola reporter As I researched the story on Banko Brown, many narratives came up. Many perspectives and many opinions. Details of this incident are hard to solidify but from what I understand, Banko Brown was leaving Walgreens when the Walgreen security suspected them of stealing and ended up shooting and killing the 24 year old. Some people say that Banko stole a sandwich, others claim that it was bought. Regardless of the details, I know that, Hunger is a painful thing, it will leave you in a desperate state where one would do anything for a bite of food. Regardless if food was stolen or not, it's not a justification to end someone's life. “He was the type of person to give you his shirt off his back, That's how we knew him” exclaimed Julia Arroyo the Young Women's Freedom Center (YWFC) CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Speaking in front of the Walgreens were the murder happened. She adds: “When I met with Banko he told me he was struggling with housing. He did everything he could, he showed up in lines at 7am only to be turned away” Bringing to light the struggle Banko was dealing with. The struggle of being a poor black trans youth looking for housing in San Francisco. Like Julia said, Banko was actively looking for housing, showing up every morning at dusk to wait in the long lines shelters have, just to be rejected for a bed. The daily struggle of looking for food, heat and safety. Even on top of all this, Banko was an aspiring community organizer. A member of YWFC who was loved and enjoyed by many people, and that love was clear when I went to the gathering at Walgreens. The block was full of people crying, yelling and standing up all for Banko. This story was close to home for a couple reasons. I grew up in San Francisco and in almost every school I went to there was a Walgreens in a two block radius. I would go all the time and many times with friends. I'm mixed race. My mom has European ancestry and my dad is Guatemalan with mayan ancestry. Im white , passing thanks to being born with light skin, and even with that privilege I have been followed by security in the 22 n mission walgreens. The security didn't even try to hide it, he followed me in every aisle I went. In situations like this I can't help but feel invaded, I begin to wonder what makes him think a 13 year old is a threat. “The majority of Security guards, sadly, are Poor people hired to PoLice, harass and kill other poor people” explains Tiny in a reflection of the incident. “There is no space for poor people in San Francisco, There's no space, access or housing being made by politricksters for trans youth of color, for black and brown communities and poor people… so now they are killing us.” she adds. This whole situation could have been avoidable, if only Banko was provided with the resources he needed, if only the security was not armed. Sadly this is nothing new these murders happen all the time, and will keep happening as long as the city refuses to put any funding into grassroots, poor people led solutions and movements and as long as we still hate on eachother and fear each other, as long as we buy into the scarcity model in which they tell us their is no space for housing when in reality there are hundreds of abandoned buildings, homes and lots in just San Francisco. Justice for Banko Brown

By Poverty Scholar Momii Palapaz Marvin Pete Walker, also known as Shaka, was tried in 1979 under violation of constitutional rights. He was shackled and presented to the court in this manner. In addition, the DA at the time dismissed two Black jurors. He was tried and convicted of murder, and sent to San Quentin’s death row, where he lived until January 2023. In 2012, attorneys for Shaka brought up the use of shackles as a violation of his rights. Kamala Harris, then State of California Attorney General, admitted the restraining of Shaka was “a mistake” but that it didn’t interfere with the jury’s verdict of convicting him of murder. In 2020, attorneys presented the lack of justification and illegality for dismissing the two Black jurors. Jeff Rosen, the present DA, overturned his conviction and the sentence Death Row. Nevertheless, Shaka still remained on death row. The flattened wheels of justice are deliberately slow and consistently in a state of stagnation. After 43 years on death row, he is now at the Santa Clara County jail awaiting freedom. Friends of Shaka gather together after hearing on freedom. FREE SHAKA So, where is the incarceration maze of torture leading? How do you retry a conviction that happened over 43 years ago? How do the violations of Shaka’s constitutional rights fit into the conviction? If the previous DA wanted to prove him guilty why did he need to defy the law? The DA Jeff Rosen has offered parole eligibility if Shaka pleads guilty. Shaka has refused. He has chosen to fight the conviction and his new attorney Renee Hessling has been given 4 weeks to look at his case. Pleading guilty and accepting the deal would not guarantee Shaka’s freedom. Parole boards do not readily give immediate releases. Second, pleading guilty to a charge of murder that he didn’t do will not bring freedom from the judicial system. “The dynamics are shifting, but the chain is unbroken,” said Brokin Cloud, fellow poverty scholar, formerly houseless, and now residing at HOMEFULNESS #1. “The unjust and corrupted system is part of AmeriKlan. The system truly failed the colored man. It’s time for the judge to come to terms with retrial or exoneration. He is deserving of the money for 43 years on death row.” “As you can see the AmeriKlan is twisted and turned through all this country’s system. It is unjust and corrupt. It’s good we went on this day, April 20. He served his time under the death penalty which doesn’t give him the right to having any kind of probation or a parole board hearing and they changed his sentence without a trial. He is completely isolated from any opportunities to find a trail or get on track to get out. That is why the chain is unbroken. It’s a perfect opportunity for the judge to step forward. Finally they have no place for him in a system that contains him.” Despite serving time on death row, without prison programs, he has created his own self help programs. Now at Santa Clara County jail, Shaka, along with all the inmates, are not entitled to benefit from rehabilitation programs. Nevertheless, Shaka has gained much respect from inmates and he is a leader amongst his brothers, some who have awaited trial for years.

By Poverty Scholar Momii Palapaz “April is the Fair Housing Act (55th) Anniversary,” Tanisha Gardner of Homes For All Newark, NJ explained. “In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act. This is an addition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. We took this month to bring more awareness (to the neighborhood) and let residents know they do have power.” Tanisha is a longtime housing rights warrior working in her community with Homes For All Newark, New Jersey. According to the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Vector News, out of 323, 284 low income residences, only 98,753 units are affordable. Newark is home to residents whose rent is half of their income. Essex County, which Newark is a part of, has the largest number of homeless in the State. 85.9% of those homeless live in the city of Newark. “There are so many cases (tenant evictions), they had to take it to other counties in the State," said Tanisha. At last count in 2022, there were over 582,000 homeless in the U.S.A. From California to Seattle to New Jersey, Indigenous, poor Black, Brown, Asian and white are preparing for another assault with evictions, escalating rents and no affordable housing. “How do we protect all of us?” Tanisha questioned in an interview with Poor News Network. “There are policies that set abuse in motion, like redlining.” The FHA (Federal Housing Administration) in 1935 dedicated the National Housing Act to insure only white people. Black families were refused government support in ownership. In Newark suburbs, and housing developments all around the USA, selling to African Americans would bring penalties from banks and the FHA. “I always think of (my) ancestors. What did they do to be so powerful? Like Black Wall Street, (we have) to start educating ourselves, buying land.” Tanisha and Homes For All Newark are working with the Rutgers University Law School forming a project to help residents know their rights. “We’re talking about people in the street. Thousands are a paycheck away from being homeless. Get into homefulness. Lift up Camp Resolution in Sacramento,” shared tiny of Poor News Network. Up and down the Ohlone coast to the Saquamish and Duwamish northwest territories of Chief Si’ahl (Seattle), residents of encampments are organizing and creating their own solutions for homelessness. The communities are fed up with anti-poor, racist, hate filled treatment from city governments and corporate developers. 171,548 are homeless in California (LA Times, March 2023). Since 2012, RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) has torn down poor people’s housing under a plan of housing that includes families with higher incomes. According to the Housing and Urban Development Department, RAD was formed “to preserve and improve public housing properties." City of Oakland violently displaced hundreds of residents at the Wood Street encampment, 2023. According to the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, VA (March 2017), what the RAD website doesn’t say is that in “most RAD projects, public housing authorities transfer both management and a large portion of ownership of formerly public housing to private companies, but continue to subsidize the property with direct and indirect federal assistance” For example, Langston Park 2014-management at newly built apartments, now called The Summit at Hopewell, refused families with children and disabled to return to the property. Those that did return were constantly harassed. During the remodeling period, residents were forced to relocate to other virtually uninhabitable apartment units, some with mold and overall poorly maintained. Homes For All, Newark is confronting a slew of laws that hammer away with private and federal stipulations. A combined sewage system that’s 150 years old will increase pressure and instability with proposed new high-rise housing. Besides fighting to stay and live in their homes, Newark residents are experiencing environmental damages and trauma from deadly chemicals in their neighborhood. “The Vietnam War still affects us today. (From) my backyard, across the street is a (Passaic) river of Dioxin and Agent Orange that they are dredging to clean it. There is an incinerator for garbage from other parts of the State and PBSC, a power plant. Can you imagine how that smells?” A superfund for chemical cleanup was established 40 years ago and in 2022 plans were made to clean it up. Turtle island, ancestral land, indigenous territories, First Nations, Lenape, Duwamish, Saquamish, Ohlone, Black, Brown, Asian and poor whites crossing false borders to build, redirect, join in solidarity in land Back, Return Black land movements for poor people led solutions to homelessness

by AudreyCandyCorn aka SistahSaveASoul Things are shifting…and not just for me but for everyone… Life has been very unpredictable, more so than usual… I myself have been maintaining, I haven’t gotten myself caught up in the madness of it all. I’ve somehow managed to stay focused on health, wealth and inner peace. A few months ago, I had a scare out of nowhere. One lump, then two, and a third appeared almost all at once in my right breast. Back on September 17th, 2020, to be exact, and by December 24th, 2020, it was clear. I had to get a check up. Life’s twist. I remember making a statement. I said out with my mouth to someone that I was grateful to be the healthiest out of my circle of sister girls. I wasn’t bragging, I was trying to count my blessings and not focus on my son being dead. Life and its unpredictability. On to the next. And so as of now, the focus is decluttering the house so that the boys and I are able to move into our Homefulness home. This is a great shift. The boys and I are more than ready for an extreme life makeover. I really am feeling the urge to detach from what’s familiar. Everyone has went insane over the coronavirus. We don’t know if we are coming or going…

by AudreyCandyCorn aka SistahSaveASoul Is it better to be obedient than sacrifice? What do you want to be recognized for, obedience or sacrifice? Which is the lesson? Are they equal? Can the two be separated, or are they meant to be a pair? I often wonder -- is it in the eyes of the beholder, which they deem worthy of a higher ranking? And one can’t forget the other participating party. This supply and demand exchange is tricky. Both parties must be in agreement as to what is or is not acceptable, pure-hearted, non-foul, and/or tainted. The sacrifice to the obedience and the obedience to the sacrifice completes the exchange, like a tie to a used suit. Bringing it all together quite nicely as a whole, thus meritable. First things first, one must be put over the other in order to start the cause & effect. Physical manifestation of shifting of energy and motion, which equals tangible gain and loss. I really see the connection, and my goal is to share what I know and learn. I’ve even taken into consideration the contradiction of the two… I figure one is never too young or old in regards to learning sacrifice and obedience… Simply getting the lesson is key.