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¿Qué pasó con la libertad de expresión y el estilo de cada una de las culturas? Detrás de todos los años yo he escuchado que los Estados Unidos es uno de los países que conozco como el que tiene más libertad de expresión. Pero también es el en que muy fácilmente pierdes tus culturas y valores y el país te envuelve en sus redes. Pero qué pasa si quieres regresar a tus tradiciones o vestirse cómodamente y te desconocen o no te tratan igual, no sabiendo que eres la misma persona? Yo soy una de las personas que ya no me puedo poner algo cómodo, ni algo viejito lo cual tenía guardado por algún valor sentimental porque hoy día en ciertos lugares ya te miran como vagabundo. Hay gente muy importante en nuestras comunidades y han sido criticados y mal vistos como a mi muchísimas veces igualmente a mis compañeros. Esas son solo unas cosas que los estados unidos te hace cambiar. Pero lo más triste de todo que estas tradiciones, costuras, estilos de vestir, es que en poco a poco los estados unidos desunidos nos ha quitado nuestras tierras y todo lo ya mencionado. Si seguimos así nos quitará el alma. Nuestra madre tierra es la única que no discrimina y la única que nos da lo para comer y sobrevivir. What happened to freedom of expression and the styles of cultures? Over the years, I've heard that the United States is one of the countries that is known for having the most freedom of expression. But it is also where you very easily lose your culture and values as it envelops you in its traps. And then what happens if you want to return to your traditions or to dress comfortably and they don’t treat you the same, not recognizing that you are the same person? I am one of the people who can no longer wear something comfortable or something old which I had saved for some sentimental value because nowadays in certain places they look at you like a vagabond. There are very important people in our communities that have been criticized and looked down on many times, like me and my colleagues. Those are just a few things that america makes you change, but even sadder than taking away these traditions, styles of dress, and needlework, is that on top of everything already mentioned, little by little the dis-united states has taken away our lands. If we continue in this way, our soul will be taken away. Our mother earth is the only one who does not discriminate and the only one who gives us what we need to eat and survive.

(Image of Reclaiming Our Homes warriors mamas and daughters) We reclaim abandoned homes so our babies can be safe, we reclaim abandoned land so our elders can be safe, we reclaim abandoned streets so all of us humans can be safe from the violence of sweeps, and clean-ups, isolation, hunger and homelessness..From  Sacramento to El Serreno, we poor people bring love and care and solutions and hope to Mama Earth and our houseless, disabled, mamas and grandmommas, daughters and suns through self-determined solutions like Camp Resolution, Nicklesville, Homefulness, Juanita Street, Wood Street Commons, Aetna Street, Reclaiming Our Homes and Moms4Housing.  But no matter how beautiful, successful or simple our solutions are the  “powers” that be, the poltrickers, speculators,  and the poverty pimps who steal and profit off of mama earth smash and destroy and evict our solutions with guns and paper and courts and laws and armed agents of the state. "LA Housing authority (HACLA) is supposed to be housing us,instead they evicting us back into the streets"  said Martha Escudero, one of the Houseless mama leaders of Reclaiming Our Homes -a group of 13 houseless, housing insecure, low/no-income mamas, daughters and elders  who were struggling to survive on the streets of LA with their children and, inspired by Moms4Housing in Huchiun, decided to reclaim, take back, liberate and move into several abandoned homes owned and hoarded by Caltrans in their rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of El Serreno. (From Left: Dennis M from Camp Resolution and Brokin Cloud from Homefulness - photo by Momii Palapaz ) Camp Resolution “Camp Resolution is not about being homeless, it’s about community,” said Dennis, resident leader of Camp Resolution to POOR Magazine report Momii Palapaz at an action by Camp Resolution leaders held last week to resist a threat of eviction by the City of Sacramento. Camp Resolution is a beautiful community of houseless elders and youth who had struggled with violent sweeps and eviction and gentrification and seizure of all of their belongings throughout their lives of homelessness in so-called Sacramento (Occupied Nisenan/Maidu Territory)  Sacramento settler government granted Camp Resolution us of abandoned parking lot way out in the cuts of Sacramento to create their community, promising the residents they could stay there until the city was able to get them habitable safe longterm housing  Now several months and several stabilized humans later, the City of Sacramento is reneging on their offer. “I’ve been homeless for 13 years, I’ve been swept, had everything taken from me, but I am Camp Resolution,” said by one of the powerFULL povertyskola residents at Camp Resolution facing homelessness again while  attorneys for the Sacramento Homeless Union filed suit and served the City of Sacramento for Breach of Contract, Specific Performance and violation of the covenant for Good Faith and Fair Dealing. “Camp Resolution is amazing, the City should be studying it and trying to figure out how to support it not destroy it,”   said one of the advocates at the press conference in front of City Hall With the City still refusing to rescind the Notice of Lease Termination and the clock ticking towards June 1, 2024 - the date announced by the City to close the Camp - the next step for the Union will be filing an emergency motion for a Temporary Restraining Order. Eviction is Elder and Child Abuse "Homelessness almost killed me and my daughters, we were so depressed and even suicidal," continued Martha. My mind shuddered at the memories of me and mama going thru the same eviction and then homelessness violence in LA, Oakland, Frisco and Berkeley throughout my childhood.  and how we almost didn't make it . The  loss of a home for everyone is violence but for mamas and children, it truly is unbearable. For elders It often means death. In 2014 POOR Magazine was able to prove through extensive Wesearch ( poor people-led research) that eviction in fact is violence, and even more specifically, it’s a violation of the penal code 368 elder abuse. And sadly, in the cases of the elder weSearchers who contributed to the report, it led to their increased illness or in many cases, death. Elaine Turner, Ron Likkers, Iris Canada, are just some of the elders we lost to the violent act of eviction. Elders like many of the residents of Camp Resolution and Reclaiming Our Homes. Additionally, we include child abuse because in our WeSearch process, every mother or father with children documented how evictions and subsequent housing insecurity or homelessness caused them and their children extreme duress, sometimes leading to suicidailty like Martha spoke about. In me and mama’s case, depression and terror were our constant reality. Whenever we were able to find a stable home and build back some semblance of normalcy and mental health,our lives were devastated again by eviction due to multiple factors, having to do with poverty, mostly what I call the “Lie of Rent” and our  inability to pay it consistently. Affordable to WHO? “I don’t know how they (HACLA)  are calculating affordable,because I can’t afford any of the places, they refer us to,” Martha brought up the other lie perpetrated by politricksters and non-profiteer housing devil-opers, the lie of “affordability” Depending on where you live in the State, the concept of “affordable” varies insanely. Usually determined by the gentrified “market rate” of where the building or home is located, which nowadays in LA, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley is INSANEly unaffordable, but there are thousands of dollars in tax breaks the devil-opers receive by shaving off a percentage of the already too high rent so they get to call it “below market rate” Survival is our Networks “ We need to stay in in our community, our survival is based on the services and networks we rely on here,” Martha went on to explain her indigenous, disabled child is enrolled in a healing alternative school that is not something she can just find anywhere. and the violent impact of removal and gentriFUKation,  for poor families, especially disabled children and elders.  if you are lucky enough to get a section 8 certificate from Housing Authority (which has years long wait-lists) so many scamlords of apartments in the neighborhoods we have lived in for decades, refuse to even take the certificate so we are pushed into homelessness in our own neighborhoods  or into communties we don’t know that have none of our support networks. Our networks  are literally  a lifeline. This is rarely if ever considered by the gentrifiers casually paying double or triple the amount of rent that a place is even worth Gerry Ambrose, just one of the many longtime elder members of POOR Magazine, who I say was killed by gentriFUKAtion had lived in her San Francisco home for 40 years, had  3 children and six grandchildren and in 2001 was gentrified out of San Francisco into a trailer in Sacramento. Sacramento city never gave her or her family any support to survive and Gerry was never able to stabilize, her disabled sun, never able to receive services and her other adult suns, never able to get living wage employment,  tragically all of the stress, isolation and depression literally killed her. Habitat for What?? Finally, there is the insanity of huge housing non-profits like Habitat for Humanity, who as far as i’m concerned is complict with the CalTrans eviction as one of the housing devil-opers “offerring” money to Caltrans to “Buy” the homes these mamas and elders are living in,  so they can allegedly “house” other houseless and poor people. This is one of the urgent hypoKRAZIES that we teach on at PeopleSKool, and what happens so often, the lie of evicting people to house people. So many of these huge so-called affordable housing projects lead to eviction of communities so they can be built. Conversely, us poor folks who visioned Homefulness work intentionally to degentriFUk neighborhoods when we try to build the poor and houseless peoples-led Homefulness project.  Like Reclaiming Our Homes, we only decided on the site of the 1st Homefulness based on the fact that no-one was living on those small parts of Mama Earth, and in the case of Homefulness2 needed much healing rematratation work to even clean the land and make it liveable. “We are working with a land trust who offered to buy the homes, but CalTrans refused,” Martha concluded. Caltrans, the largest entity in the state who routinely sweeps houseless humans like we are trash, has no interest in actually housing anyone who needs the homes, instead they are just perpetrating more violence of removal on these mamas and elders. What the poltricksters and the non-profiteers can’t ever seem to comprehend is Camp Resolution, Aetna Street, Wood Street Commons, Juanita street, Nicklesville, the Reclaimers and Homefulness created is the intangible of love, stability, community support and community care. These communities of rent-free-forever housing and/or camping aren’t the same as a “cabin” or an SRO or an apartment. They aren’t another “campaign” or “project” these are life-lines built for us/by us/ informed by what we at POOR Magazine call Poverty Scholarship, poor peoples knowledge we have gained through experience of struggle, and the basic notion of love itself,  this is how humans hold each other into life. This is the love we need to not just survive, but thrive. If you are in the occupied Tovaangar area, (LA) Please support these mamas right to housing and pack the Stanley Mosk courthouse dept 93 at 111 North Hill street, LA, starting this week. If you are anywhere else follow them on IG @reclaimingourhomes . Watch the video on Poor NewsNetwork here If you are in Northern California please support Camp Resolution’s efforts to stay safe and in their campground  by following Sacramanto Homeless Union on X, Fb or IG To support the mamafesting of Homefulness 2, 3, 4, & 5 (so-called Oakland, Frisco, LA and Seattle)  consider registering for the next seminar of PeopleSkool (on zoom in BlackAugust) by going to www.poormagazine.org/education

REINAS del bienestar Escribir es Sanar/Escribir es Luchar con Recuperando Nuestras hogares en EastSide Cafe Sandra Saucedo Don’t stare into the abyss for too long, it will stare back at you. This happened on a random weekday in the early morning hours, as I started my shift at the General Hospital. This time I was walking extra slow as I was 9 months pregnant with my 3rd child. As I was walking into one of the elevators to reach the 15th floor where the operating room where I could see the graffiti on the elevator walls filled with words. I started reading and reciting everything I saw.  There was nothing different about my day at all in fact it was the monotony of the concrete jungle as some people call it. Many thoughts were going through my head, then suddenly I heard the elevator stop and everything got dark and strange voices started talking to me in the ear. Since then, everything changed. No mires fijamente en el abismo por demasiado tiempo, te mirará fijamente. Esto sucedió en un día de semana aleatorio en las primeras horas de la mañana, cuando comencé mi turno en el Hospital General. Esta vez caminaba muy lento ya que tenía 9 meses de embarazo con mi tercer hijo. Mientras entraba en uno de los ascensores para llegar al piso 15 donde estaba el quirófano donde pude ver los graffiti en las paredes del ascensor llenos de palabras. Comencé a leer y recitar todo lo que vi. No había nada diferente en mi día en absoluto, de hecho era la monotonía de la selva de hormigón como algunas personas lo llaman. Muchos pensamientos pasaban por mi cabeza, entonces de repente oí que el ascensor se detenía y todo se oscureció y voces extrañas comenzaron a hablarme en el oído. Desde entonces, todo cambió. Michelle Pate After a lifetime of abuse, sexual, physical, verbal and emotional, I began to self medicate and escape with heroin. Addiction needs money. The need leads to crime. And crime led to a life sentence and prison for 25 years. This is still current and chronic. I am a damaged and traumatized person with mental health concerns. Facing homelessness. I fear becoming overwhelmed and relapsing. I will be just another tragic statistic of mental illness, addiction and homelessness. Después de toda una vida de abuso, sexual, físico, verbal y emocional, comencé a automedicarme y escapar con heroína. La adicción necesita dinero. La necesidad conduce al crimen. Y el crimen condujo a una sentencia de cadena perpetua y a una prisión de 25 años. Esto sigue siendo actual y crónico. Soy una persona dañada y traumatizada con problemas de salud mental. La falta de vivienda. Me temo ser abrumado y recaer. Seré solo otra estadística trágica de enfermedad mental, adicción y falta de vivienda. Maria Benitez They say that the things you have and the place you live in are the definition of who you are.  That has never been the case for me. I lost my home due to a fire, then falsely accused by our landlord. At moments like these all my family and I were hoping for was support. Support that we deserved; 19 years of rent. I’m sure that had some value. Right? I ask myself where are we going, what’s going to happen? Will life always be this way? Will there ever be that feeling of tranquility I am so faithfully seeking for? These things shouldn’t be of my worries. Yet, they are; my mom’s cries and her constant worries. Although she tries so hard to mask. They too are mine because that, that’s family. I’ll never ask for more because what I have is what I feel I deserve. But, we seek equality, because equality is equality. Dicen que las cosas que tienes y el lugar en el que vives son la definición de quién eres. Ese nunca ha sido el caso para mí. Perdí mi casa debido a un incendio, luego falsamente acusado por nuestro propietario. En momentos como estos, toda mi familia y yo esperábamos que fuera apoyo. Apoyo que merecíamos; 19 años de alquiler. Estoy seguro de que eso tenía algún valor. ¿Verdad? Me pregunto a dónde vamos, ¿qué va a pasar? ¿La vida siempre será así? ¿Alguna vez habrá esa sensación de tranquilidad que estoy buscando tan fielmente? Estas cosas no deberían ser de mis preocupaciones. Sin embargo, lo son; los gritos de mi madre y sus preocupaciones constantes. Aunque ella intenta tan duro enmascarar. Ellos también son míos porque eso, eso es familia. Nunca pediré más porque lo que tengo es lo que siento que merezco. Pero buscamos la igualdad, porque la igualdad es igualdad. Yulu CRISIS I was in middle school, 13 years ago-dad lost his job, my mom was depressed having her mom in a nursing home after home after home - dad full of stressed parents who fought every day.  He hated my mom - she told me he threatened to kill her. And so my mom told me to never trust him.  School wasn’t fun anymore, my friends called me annoying (ostracized me from the group) but I really just wanted to be loved and share joy I didn’t have at home. My dad would beat me with a belt for talking back-for feeling angry at home life. I begged my mom to leave him and take my brother & I elsewhere but she was talked down so much by my dad, she started to believe she was nothing, worthless, a burden in the world, idiota, imbecile - I was in middle school, I couldn't make rent money.  I felt so hopeless and alone.  My mom, despite distrusting my dad, wuld tell him when I was troublesome so he could physically discipline me.  This was when suicide became a pathway for my life.  Living next to a freeway, my fantasy grew strong.  I stood by the gate between the freeway & apartment, whenever the yelling and hitting was too bad to hear my heart beat. My mom’s reason for staying was so we wouldn’t be homeless And so I learned how to numb myself to violence to get by Until it broke me. CRISIS Yo estaba en la escuela intermedia, hace 13 años, papá perdió su trabajo, mi mamá estaba deprimida teniendo a su mamá en un hogar de ancianos después de casa tras casa - papá lleno de padres estresados que luchaban todos los días. Odiaba a mi madre - ella me dijo que él amenazó con matarla. Así que mi mamá me dijo que nunca confiara en él. La escuela ya no era divertida, mis amigos me llamaron molesta (me condenaron al ostracismo del grupo) pero realmente solo quería ser amada y compartir la alegría que no tenía en casa. Mi padre me golpeaba con un cinturón por hablar de nuevo por sentirse enojado con la vida en casa. Le rogué a mi madre que lo dejara y llevara a mi hermano y a mí a otro lugar, pero mi padre la había hablado tanto, empezó a creer que no era nada, sin valor, una carga en el mundo, idiota, imbécil - yo estaba en la escuela intermedia, no podía ganar dinero de alquiler. Me sentí tan desesperanzada y sola. Mi mamá, a pesar de desconfiar de mi papá, le diría cuando yo era problemático para que pudiera disciplinarme físicamente. Fue entonces cuando el suicidio se convirtió en un camino para mi vida. Viviendo junto a una autopista, mi fantasía se hizo fuerte. Me quedé junto a la puerta entre la autopista y el apartamento, cada vez que los gritos y golpes eran demasiado malos para oír mi corazón latiendo. La razón de mi madre para quedarse era para que no fuéramos sin hogar Y así aprendí a adormecerme a Violence para pasar por Hasta que me rompió. Elitania Ryuez Garcia Mi triste “historia” y sí, mi historia la he llamado así porque dejó una línea de música, oscura en mi y difícil de terminar o cerrar, dicho de una forma desde mi punto de vista, algo propio y personal, del lugar en donde viví con mi familia humana y animal. Sí animal porque en ese pequeño espacio vivíamos mis hijos, mi esposo y mis animales, donde por (19) años estuvimos en un lugar seguro. El día 19 de Julio del 2022, a la 1:30 a.m. mi hijo mayor de 19 años nos despertó con un grito alarmante desesperación pidiéndonos a mi y mi esposo que nos despertamos pues en nuestro departamento estábamos incendiándose. Actuamos como pudimos sacamos sola lo indispensable, algunas cosas y algunos de nuestros animales pues uno de ellos que es perro “Bombón” se había quedado encerrado dentro del departamento. Eso como familia, nos ponía, tristes, al igual que cosas la realidad del incendio de mi apartamento cambiaba un 100% el rumbo de nuestras vidas. No éramos ricos pero teníamos más como familia para celebrar la quinceañera de nuestra hija. Y el incendio cambiaba todo.  Pues su vestido era el primero que se había quemado.  Pero no solo era eso, sino que también nos quedaban sin un lugar en donde vivir al tiempo transcurrido de unas cuantas horas. Mi familia y mis animales nos íbamos sin hogar, prácticamente en las calle y sin apoyo, y la persona a quien le pagábamos la renta, tampoco nos dio ningún apoyo. My sad “story” and yes, I call my story that because it left a line of music, dark in me and difficult to finish or close, said from my point of view, something my own and personal, from the place where I lived with my family- human and animal. Yes, animal because in that small space lived my children, my wife and my animals, where for (19) years we were in a safe place. On July 19, 2022, at 1:30 a.m. my 19-year-old son woke us up with an alarming desperate cry asking me and my husband to wake up because in our apartment we were burning. We acted as best we could, we took only the essentials, some things and some of our animals, because one of them, who is a dog,"Bombón" had been stuck inside the apartment. That as a family, made us sad, equally did the things the reality of the apartment fire 100% changed the course of our lives. We were not rich but had more as family to celebrate our daughter’s quinceañera. And the fire changed everything. Her dress was the first thing that was burned. Not only that, but over the course of a few hours we were left without a place to live. My family and my animals were homeless, practically on the streets and without support, and the person to whom we paid the rent, nor did they give us any support. Maria Merritt 56 yrs old Life coping & learning the ropes to enhance your daily living needs. Emotional financial & race & gender. Skills to be recognized & be respected - Learning on your own & recognizing. People- circles of groups that can - hurt you or help you to learn to recognize & get knowledge of such. Consumes me when do I get to live for today without fears & struggles when & picked up - all of the above & there is no space or an ounce on my body to carry everything on my own. When would I be able to heal the memory of that beautiful little girl waking up about 3 or 6 in the morning to see my dad, pulling his hand out of my privates. He died & I love him so much with all because as a little girl I had my own issues & responsibilities… in between 7 or 10 & her mother - did not believe me or did nothing ever since then my life been shattered…broken …give me the knowledge and wisdom to get the answer to release that space in my brain to be free like other individuals. I even walk in the streets & I see they are not broken like me. I love me & still cannot release such ugly memories. Sobrellevar la vida y aprender las cuerdas para mejorar sus necesidades de la vida diaria. Emocional financiera, raza y género. Habilidades para ser reconocidos y respetados - Aprendiendo por su cuenta y reconociendo. Gente -círculos de grupos que pueden - hacerle daño o ayudarle a aprender a reconocer y obtener conocimiento de tales. Me consume cuando llego a vivir para hoy sin miedos y luchas cuando es recogido - todo lo anterior y no hay espacio o una onza en mi cuerpo para llevar todo por mi cuenta. ¿Cuándo sería capaz de sanar el recuerdo de esa hermosa niña que se despierta alrededor de las 3 o 6 de la mañana para ver a mi padre, sacando su mano de mis privates? Él murió y lo amo tanto con todo porque de niña tenía mis propios problemas y responsabilidades... entre 7 o 10 y su madre - no me creyó o no hizo nada desde entonces mi vida fue destrozada... quebrado... dame el conocimiento y la sabiduría para obtener la respuesta para liberar ese espacio en mi mente para ser libre como otros individuos. Camino por las calles y veo que no están quebrados como yo. Me amo a mí misma y todavía no puedo liberar recuerdos tan feos. Martha Escudero Coming back from rural Wallmapu was a road to insanity.  I was living among the Mapuche people.  They taught me that I am part of nature.  We, humans are nature.  Our Mother is Earth and she provides all we need to live and thrive.  If Mother Earth provides us with all we need, why are we all struggling so much?  We all deserve food, clean water, access to land, beauty, rest, joy, and so much more.  Why do some many of us struggle for these very basic human needs that are gifted to us by our mother?  I came back to the belly of the beast on Tongva stolen land concrete jungle of Los Angeles.  My spirit went into shock, my body ache, and my mind was going insane.  I felt as I was spiraling out of control into an abyss.  I had anxiety and a deep depression where each day I questioned wether I should live or not.  I could not adjust anymore to a system and way of life that tortures each day slowly dying in profound pain.  A system that sees us as robots to produce, and consume.  While it robs us of our connection, identity, and humanity. When I was younger I wanted to succeed in Capitalism.  I thought that if I worked hard enough I could win and be successful.  As I grew older I just wanted to survive.  To keep myself going to work, paying the bills, and pretending I was okay.  I was not okay I could not sleep at night thinking about mothers and children living in the streets of Los Angeles.  Surviving was unimaginably torture, it was more painful because I did not have the illusion of succeeding in Capitalism, I knew I was doomed and I knew so many others were worse than I was and I did not know how to stop the pain.  So I wanted to die as it was too painful to live this way.  As I felt my grief I also found my rage. Why do we have so many resources while so many people lack so much?  I found power in my rage, the power to create change.  I rose with my rage for my daughters and for all the generations after me, for the future of nature.  I reminded myself and my daughters that we should not adjust to a system that is not sustainable, it is unnatural for us to do this.  My loving rage said “Fuck this! We are human beings! We are nature! We deserve more!” We as humans have a choice, other parts of nature do not have a choice, they either adjust or die.  Human beings are capable to create something new, and something more sustainable for every living being.  We need a system that puts people and nature over profit.  We should all know that we deserve more and should demand more.  Revolutionary rage and love gives me hope. I want to live, not just survive. I feel like I'm in a loop, just trying to survive. I feel trapped in this system that profits out of other people's oppression; the system that we live in makes us work, work, buy, and then die. I feel hopeless and trapped in this messed-up world that treats us like we are animals that don't have any feelings. Sometimes, I lose all hope, but at the end of the day, losing hope won't buy; all we can do is fight for our rights, which will change this world. We can't just stay in bed all day. We have to do something to make our world change and make our world see what we are going through. Volver de Wallmapu rural era un camino a la locura. Yo vivía entre el pueblo mapuche. Me enseñaron que soy parte de la naturaleza. Nosotros, los humanos somos la naturaleza. Nuestra Madre es la Tierra y Ella proporciona todo lo que necesitamos para vivir y prosperar. Si la Madre Tierra nos proporciona todo lo que necesitamos, ¿por qué todos estamos luchando tanto? Todos merecemos comida, agua limpia, acceso a la tierra, belleza, descanso, alegría, y mucho más. ¿Por qué muchos de nosotros luchamos por estas necesidades humanas muy básicas que nos son regaladas por nuestra madre? Volví al vientre de la bestia en la tierra robada de Tongva en la selva de hormigón de Los Ángeles. Mi espíritu entró en shock, mi cuerpo me dolía, y mi mente se estaba volviendo loca. Me sentí como si estuviera en espiral fuera de control hacia un abismo. Tenía ansiedad y una depresión profunda donde cada día me preguntaba si debía vivir o no. Ya no podía adaptarme a un sistema y una forma de vida que tortura cada día muriendo lentamente en un profundo dolor. Un sistema que nos ve como robots para producir y consumir. Mientras nos roba nuestra conexión, identidad y humanidad. Cuando era más joven quería tener éxito en el capitalismo. Pensé que si trabajaba lo suficiente podría ganar y tener éxito. A medida que crecía solo quería sobrevivir. Para seguir trabajando, pagando las cuentas, y fingiendo que estaba bien. Sobrevivir era inimaginablemente tortura, era más doloroso porque no tenía la ilusión de tener éxito en el capitalismo, sabía que estaba condenado y sabía que muchos otros eran peores que yo y no sabía cómo detener el dolor. Así que quería morir ya que era demasiado doloroso vivir de esta manera. Mientras sentía mi dolor también encontré mi furia. ¿Por qué tenemos tantos recursos mientras tanta gente carece de tanto? Encontré el poder en mi rabia, el poder de crear el cambio. Me levanté con mi rabia por mis hijas y por todas las generaciones después de mí, por el futuro de la naturaleza. Me recordé a mí mismo y a mis hijas que no debemos adaptarnos a un sistema que no es sostenible, es antinatural para nosotros hacer esto. Mi rabia amorosa dijo "¡A la mierda esto! ¡Somos seres humanos! ¡Somos la naturaleza! ¡Merecemos más!” Nosotros como humanos tenemos una opción, otras partes de la naturaleza no tienen una opción, o bien se ajustan o mueren. Los seres humanos son capaces de crear algo nuevo, y algo más sostenible para cada ser vivo. Necesitamos un sistema que ponga a las personas y a la naturaleza por encima de las ganancias. Todos debemos saber que nos merecemos más y que debemos exigir más. La rabia revolucionaria y el amor me dan esperanza. Quiero vivir, no solo sobrevivir. Siento que estoy en un bucle, solo tratando de sobrevivir. Me siento atrapado en este sistema que se beneficia de la opresión de otras personas; el sistema en el que vivimos nos hace trabajar, trabajar, comprar y luego morir. Me siento desesperanzada y atrapada en este mundo desordenado que nos trata como si fuéramos animales que no tienen ningún sentimiento. A veces, pierdo toda esperanza, pero al final del día, perder la esperanza no va a comprar; todo lo que podemos hacer es luchar por nuestros derechos, lo que cambiará este mundo. No podemos quedarnos en la cama todo el día. Tenemos que hacer algo para que nuestro mundo cambie y que nuestro mundo vea por lo que estamos pasando.

By tiny, formerly houseless daughter of Dee, mama of Tiburcio aka @povertyskola “You have five minutes to leave,” Before the words were out of the LA PoLice officers mouth the two men in fluorescent green vests flanking him were grabbing me and mama’s tent and all the tents set up next to us, subsequently crushing medicine, baby pictures and everything we had to our names, throwing them all violently into the nearby trash truck. To me and mama this was just another day in the struggle to survive while houseless anywhere on Occupied Turtle Island. In the last few weeks when me and the world witnessed all the violent arrests and brutality against student and faculty resistors for Palestine, including the LAPD standing by while zionist terrorists attacked a peaceful tent based resistance to Palestinian genocide at UCLA and then subsequently came in to the camp and tore down the whole UCLA student comeUnity, i was eerily reminded of me and mamas life and how uncomfortable and terrifying the settler colonial connections from Occupied Turtle Island to occupied Palestine really are “Gazing out at all these beautiful tents in this powerful peaceful movement i can’t help being reminded that when we houseless folks put a tent, a tarp, a sleeping bag or a blanket anywhere in these occupied city streets we risk removal and worse, arrest, I’m asking you to remember those paradoxical connections with love and care in your collective hearts while im also praying for your safety” This was me to the students at UCLA two weeks ago when they launched their peaceful resistance in the main quad of that campus located incidentally on occupied Tovaangar lands in what the settlers call Los Angeles. I also explained that i refuse to use the term “encampment” about the student resistance movements as that word is a Military industrial complex term used as a slur against our houseless bodies when we live, reside, commune or sleep while houseless. As I witnessed the violent, state sponsored attacks by zionist hate groups that were allowed to continue for hours unchecked on the campus of UCLA , i literary became nauseous, triggered by the odd similarities of the violent attacks on houseless bodies like mine by both PoLice and housed people, if we are seen sitting, standing, leaning, or god forbid, sleeping outside anywhere on Turtle Island. Relatives like Steven Taylor, Mario Gonzales, Luis Gongora Pat killed by classism and racism and PoLice terror and Luis Temaj, burned alive in his sleeping bag in Yelamu for the sole act of not having access to a roof, aka being houseless, or the attacks from the retired fire department chief spraying pepper spray at houseless relatives and then somehow figuring out a way to blame it on the houseless people who were just sleeping. How that blame that is always put on the shoulders of houseless people instead of the system that intentionally is set up to profit off the removal of Black, Brown , working class and disabled bodies, when we no longer serve the purposes of the stolen land “owning class” And similarly , the blaming and mis-leading of the public by CorpRape media of who is “at fault” fault for this genocide on Gaza Holding onto our belongings, baby pictures, last remnants of clothes and personal effects, our tents, our sleeping bags and our medicine is a never-ending struggle for houseless peoples. In addition when we even try to create outside caring, organized comeUnities like Wood Street (Huchuin aka Oakland) and Aetna street (Tovaangar aka LA) we are targeted for removal, sweeps and other hygenic and dangerous metaphors, equating our bodies and humanity to a used paper plate or plastic fork. ComeUnity after comeUnity, small or large, when we are together we create space of love and interdependence, just like the UCLA, UC Berkeley, USC, STANFORD, Humbolt, SJSU, USF, SFSU, Columbia and beyond have done. And isn't it terrifyingly ironic that so many of these spaces were destroyed, smashed, obliterated with the same state-sponsored violence that is paid to destroy houseless comeUnities across Turtle Island. And then there is the litany of settler colonial pauper (anti-poor people) laws brought here by the settlers to CONtain and incarcerate 1st peoples and Black and Brown, disabled and houseless bodies through to today. From 41:18 code in Tovaangar (LA) to Encampment Bans in Huchiun (Oakland) to the newest LIEsuit (Lawsuit) facing the supreme kkkort which would allow settler towns to essentially "disappear" houseless communities completely, again so terrifyingly similar to the apartheid laws of occupied Palestine from the West Bank to Gaza. All of these violent connections made with the backdrop of the genocide raining down daily on the heads of babies and mamas and grandmommas in Gaza. More terrifying connections - poLice officers trained in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), and ex-IDF officers perpetrating violence against students, all to the goal of settler colonial lies of private property and land theft. The facts that this genocide has not only killed and permanently wounded and traumatized thousands of indigenous babies and mamas and families and elders in Palestine, but it has caused the destruction of thousands of homes of poor and working class Gaza residents. Leaving thousands of people homeless and with no place to return to. Because no matter the stated goal, the actual goal has always been removal, just like the genocide and removal projects against the 1st Peoples of Turtle Island. And then there is the 21st century removal, targeting and removing of our houseless bodies from the streets of Turtle Island because of the “cost” our mere visibility has on “property values”. And then settler colonial soul-ed out politrickster mayors like Karen Bass and London Breed, lining up to engage in “business deals “ with RealEsnakke corpRapeShuns that have “holdings” read: settler land theft in the West Bank, Lennar CorpRapeShun- who “owns” land in the West Bank also “owns” land in the spaces where poor people used to have affordable housing projects like Hunters Point Bayview until they were “raised” to build luxury CONdos, under more violent, benignly named politrickster removal policies like RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) that CONtinues to threaten the housing security of poor people housing complexes across the US like Plaza East right here in San Francisco’s FillNoMore- (home to POOR Magazine povertyskola reporter Queennandi X SHeba who has been dealing with this RAD project harassment for months) One of the final ironies in this sick moment is when i was in LA teaching poverty scholarship to conscious medical students who invited me in for their structural racism and health equity class at the "David Geffen School of Medicine" i was doxxed, death threatened and harassed for connecting these dots and praying for Palestine and a Free Mama Earth From my prayer for warrior students at the University of San Francisco (USF) comeUnity last week… “So as we connect all these multiple acts of settler violence in our collective hearts, from Palestine to Turtle Island, I ask all of you warrior students with love and respect to commit to not only the ongoing resistance for LandBack in this terrifying moment but also TentsBack, to commit to redistributing these tents, sleeping bags and surplus resources to the brothers and sisters right down the street who just lost their tent to yet another racist, classist “sweep” of their belongings and shelter, because this US settler society wants houseless people like me disappeared off the face of this earth.. Free Free Palestine Free Free Turtle Island.... PostLoveScript: Please Consider coming to the next session of PeopleSkool (Every January and August) at POOR Magazine to continue your true ComeUnity Learning and heal from this institutional violence

For Immediate Release: Press Contact:s Muteado or Tiny/poormagazine (510)-435-7500 Houseless Mamas Have HEALing Solutions for Housing Houseless mamas, elders and youth, who have created their own solutions to homelessness, propose a practical solution for San Francisco's hundreds of vacant and hoarded buildings in time for Mothers Day What: Houseless Mamas Propose Homefulness for San Francisco for Mothers Day When: 1:30pm Tuesday, May 7th Where: Civic Center Inn Polk and Ellis, San Francisco Homefulness - a homeless peoples solution to homelessness who just welcomed their 20th houseless family into rent-free forever housing will stand together with advocates and allies to propose a Healing housing soluiton for San Francisco's hundreds of vacant buildings in a time when violent measures and lawsuits like Grants Pass Vs Johnson are being adjudicated on to criminalize the very existence of houseless peoples and ultimately erase us from the face of the earth. "All across San Francisco there are so many vacant buildings like the Civic Center Inn, these could be homes for houseless mamas like us," said Mary X, currently houseless, mother of 3 and resident of San Francisco Homefulness was launched in Deep East Huchiun (Oakland) in 2011 by houseless, indigenous, Black, Brown and Disabled elders, youth and families, with permission and spiritual guidance from 1st Nations Ohlone/Lisjan relatives and ancestors and all Nations prayer-bringers from Maya to Africa All the "solutions" put forth by poltricksters are never rooted in healing and interdependence, it isn't just a roof we need, its love and community, " said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseless co-founder visionary of Homefulness. "Homelessness is violence, Homefulness is Healing," concluded tiny Buildings like the Civic Center Inn which has been vacant for months could be quickly transformed into healing housing like the Homefulness Project, with leadership by houseless peoples, for houseless peoples. See Testimonials from formerly Houseless residents of Homefulness by clicking here Welcoming pictures of new Homefulness Residents

The construction of Homefulness #2, a fully off-grid project, is underway. The site where this visionary project will be realized was a plot of land that was targeted by speculative real Esnake development. Through the work of poverty skolaz, elders, and solidarity family, this land has been unsold and liberated to become a site of Homefulness! So far, concrete foundations for the container homes have been poured, and two units have been purchased. We need support to buy and install solar panels for these homes for houseless mamas! Homefulness is a Poor & Indigenous people–led solution to homelessness. A sweat equity, permanent co-housing, education, arts, micro-business and social change project for landless/houseless and formerly houseless families and individuals. Homefulness #1 in East Huchiun (Oakland) now provides housing for families, space for Deecolonize Academy, PeopleSkool , Community Newsroom, Sliding Scale Cafe , the Uncle Al & Mama Dee Living Library, Revolutionary Radio on PNN–KEXU, and all of POOR Magazine's indigenous community arts & media programming.

Lisa Gray Garcia, who writes as Tiny, gets attacked after New York Post does a sensational story about her work with UCLA me By Tim Redmond Originally published on 48hills.org on April 14, 2024 A wildly inaccurate and inflammatory New York Post story on Lisa Gray-Garcia, who is known as Tiny and writes regularly for us, would be little more than a bad joke—except that now she’s getting death threats. This, sadly, has become all too common in a world where misinformation saturates social media circles patronized by violent right-wing Trumpists. Tiny, who is wearing a Cuba hat (not anything to do with Hamas) talks about the threats with UCLA med students supporting her. And now Tiny, a formerly unhoused person who works tirelessly for the rights of those left out of society’s bounty, is getting calls on her phone (and UCLA is getting calls) saying she is going to die and “we are coming with knives and guns.” All of this because she gave a talk to medical students suggesting that they pay attention to poverty (and made what are hardly radical or unusual criticisms of the modern medical and scientific model). A UCSF doctor said much of the same thing in a recent New York Times oped piece. From the Post: First-year medical students at the University of California Los Angeles were forced to sit through a lecture given by a Hamas supporter who blasted modern medicine as “white science” and ordered them to pray to “mama Earth.” First: Like many, many people in the United States today, Tiny is horrified by the death toll in Gaza and has been outspoken about Palestinian rights. That does not in any way make her a “Hamas supporter.” In fact, I can say with full confidence, after knowing her for many years, that Tiny is not a supporter of any governmental or military organization, anywhere on this planet. She doesn’t support Hamas, or the government of Israel, or for that matter the US government. “I’m not a Hamas supporter,” she told me. “I’m not any government supporter. I am a supporter of oppressed people everywhere.” Then: The idea that medical students were “ordered” to “pray to Mama Earth” is just as silly; I’ve heard Tiny speak many times, and she often offers secular prayers invoking Native American ancestors and the planet we share. But I don’t think she’s ever “ordered” anyone to do anything. Right now, she’s a visiting activist in residence at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, where she’s been giving lecture (which nobody is “forced to attend”) on poverty issues. After the death threats, she’s had to postpone another talk about community reparations. “It’s been hell,” she told me. “That’s the saddest part. Doing this time-wasting BS means more homeless people will die in LA. “But I’m not going to stop.” Original story can be found here: https://48hills.org/2024/04/wildly-inaccurate-story-leads-to-death-threats-for-activist-48hills-writer/

By Momii Palapaz April 14, 2024 The US Wildlife Fish and Game are planning to kill 500,000 Barred owls because they say it affects the "balance" in wildlife.  So far, at least 2,500, have been shot to death.  From 2013 to 2019, the US government department conducted an “experiment”, hiring hunters to track down Barred owls in Northern California.  There are 19 identified species of owls in the US and 250 around the world.  But the Barred owl is being tagged as a threat to the Spotted owl. US Fish and Game says that shooting 500,000 in California, Oregon and Washington will save the Spotted owl from extinction.  US Fish and Game says the Barred owl is an invasive species. Barred Owl Barn Owl Spotted Owl Birds as a commodity in the profit making industry Back in the 1950s, my parents were fans of the Parakeet.  It’s a chatty, colorful little bird, weighing about an ounce, that is from Australia.  They come in solid colors green, blue, yellow, white, or multicolored.  There was a huge retail market for selling these budgies, or as they were called in Europe, budgerigars.  Parakeets are one of 115 types of parrots.  They were about $2 or $4 dollars back then at F.W. Woolworth.  Sometimes we got them for free.  The five and dime store sold parakeets, aquarium fish and other wild animals to be used as pets.  FW Woolworth is the retail foundation for today’s CVS, Walmart, KMart, and Target. As a child and into my 40’s, I owned about twenty of these extremely intelligent winged relatives at different times in my life .  Because they were inexpensive, friendly and entertaining, these birds were a common part of households across the US.  Today, a parakeet costs $30.00 or more. I worked at the Woolworth store on Powell and Market in SF in 1985. As a clerk in the pet department, I would receive from the pet food distributor, Hartz Mountain, boxes of baby parakeets.  For over 3 days to sometimes a week, these birds were stowed and shipped from the breeding and distribution center of said pet merchandise seller in Florida.  There was no water.  I pulled out near dead, dead babies, sick and some healthy.  I took the most ill home and tried to heal them.  Not only parakeets, canaries, cockatiels, finches, but guinea pigs, hamsters, and fish all suffered in this popular but cruel and profit-making big business. Back in the 1980’s there weren't any animal welfare groups that responded to animal abuse in the pet industry.  One solution a pet manager made was to put the sickly birds in a storeroom with no lights on.  She left them there and demanded I not bother them.  Today, it is illegal to sell wild birds in places that are not deemed humane to animals.  It should be illegal to sell birds anywhere. These winged animals are tortured just by living in a cage. Ancestor Jimi Chu, 12 years old+ Parakeets taught me that birds in general can have identification skills, that they are capable of learning a variety of physical actions, conscious responses, mimic, repeat and speak languages of humans, animals, be a companion and feel love, anger, sadness and pain. That’s why I feel the pain of an owl being shot from its home tree, or prodded, poked, physically invaded and manipulated.  The trauma for these owls, not a pet, but an animal living, breeding and surviving in the fragile ecosystem, stokes deep ache and anger. Who protects Spotted owls and all owls?  Who decides?  What is invasive?  How does the US Fish and Wildlife know they killed the Barred owl and not a Spotted owl?  They look similar.   Why do Barred owls have to pay for the human caused devastation of the Spotted owl land?  Numerous kinds of animals and insects live on the same land.  What about their safety? I say Spotted owls are endangered because of capitalist expansion, development of human structures, redirection of waterways, logging, which eliminates wildlife land.  Pesticides also cannot be forgotten as a reason for the loss of Spotted owl and other wild animals, insects and fish. In searching for explanations to the mass extermination, there is NO mention of extreme concrete developments, encroachment on wildlife and land.  There is NO mention of the fires caused by over development, the chemical based housing structures, NO mention of rampant technology and NO mention of the continuing invasion of two legged beings spreading more waste, hoarding land and displacing millions of people; indigenous, Black and Brown and poor people around the world. Shooting owls is not the only form of torture and murder Scientists at John Hopkins have been using cruel murderous experimenting on barn owls to "study" adhd.  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA has been at the forefront of the battle to protect owls.  In recent actions, PETA has called out Shreesh Mysore, who has a PHd in neuroscience and does some extremely cruel experiments on Barn owls at the John Hopkins University.  PETA reports that  "Mysore cuts into owls’ skulls to expose their brains. Then, he screws and glues metal devices onto their heads. The owls endure two to three invasive surgeries before Mysore uses them in experiments. These birds—who are nocturnal hunters who would fly great distances in their natural habitat—are forced into plastic tubes so cramped that they can’t move their wings while Mysore bombards them with sounds and lights and measures their brain activity. For some experiments, he restrains fully conscious owls for up to 12 hours.” “During these experiments, he pokes electrodes around in the brains of the fully conscious birds, mutilating their brain tissue so severely that they become ‘unusable’ to him—at which point he kills them. “ If the owls don't die from his torture, they are killed after the experiment.  So far, no amount of protest has stopped this sick science experiment that has gone on for over 7 years.  Already, this “researcher” has received over 1.9 million dollars from the National Institutes on Health. PETA questioned further and “Mysore admits that his experiments are painful for the owls, yet in his grant application for the experiments, he provides scant information on any pain medication that would be administered".  PETA is campaigning for the Barred owl. You can sign the petition on their website. We Are All Connected Angel Heart is a fellow poverty scholar and DJ on Poor News Network radio show People’s Botanica.  I asked her about the significance of the owl in our spiritual lives.   “This is what I’d like to say on the murdering of owls because they’re being viewed as pests. Owls do an important job of taking care of the rodent population and making sure there is a balance of mother nature.  This mass murder can also create an ecological imbalance in our natural environment.  Not to mention the cruelty of all of it. On a spiritual level, owls represent wisdom. They are also on the opposite side of the chart of the hawk. Hawk being sun and owl being moon.  So there’s a lot of  wisdom and feminine energy.  It could also be a transformational type of energy that comes with owls.  I don’t want us to forget the spiritual aspects of the owl and to not discredit the importance of owl medicine in the lives of everybody who resides on Mama Pacha”.  Angel Heart is a lifelong student and teacher of humanity and spiritual healing.  You can listen to her show every Thursday, KEXU 96.1 fm at 5PM. Owls are amongst the long list of shrinking living wildlife targeted by mad scientists, and departments of the US government like Wildlife, Fish and Game.  Increasingly, inhumane testing and unimaginable amounts of money are used to torture and compete with mama earth while maiming and killing our winged relatives. STOP TORTURING BARN OWLS.  DON’T SHOOT BARRED OWLS.  FREE ALL BIRDS

A Houseless Black family with infant, former residents of Wood Street Commons, move into permanent, rent-free, healing housing at Homefulness For Immediate Release: Contact: Muteado or Tiny/poormagazine  (510)-435-7500 What: Houseless Family and infant Homefulness welcoming in with all Nations Prayer Ceremony When: 8am Monday, April 15th Where: Homefulness 8032 BlackArthur (MacArthur) Blvd, Huchiun, (Oakland) “Homefulness - a homeless peoples solution to homelessness welcomes in their 20th residents, a houseless Black family who were residents at Wood Street Commons when they were violently evicted from the vacant West Huchiun (West Oakland) land they were liberating. "We are so excited to be moving into a loving, healing community," said Dani, a houseless mama of three children moving into Homefulness. Homefulness was launched in Deep East Huchiun (Oakland) in 2011 by houseless, indigenous, Black, Brown and Disabled elders, youth and families, with permission and spiritual guidance from 1st Nations Ohlone/Lisjan relatives and ancestors and all Nations prayer-bringers from Maya to Africa "This is a vision created by poor and houseless people for poor and houseless people - its a dream and its urgent medicine for all of Mama Earth, " Xochitl Maez Valdez, prayer- bringer and teacher in the West African Yoruba tradition. "There are more Black people homeless than white people because of classism, racism, redlining and gentrification. A cycle of poverty and drug abuse contributes to the growth of the homeless population, and many homeless feel that they cannot escape." said Jeremiah, 16, youth povertyskola reporter, POOR Magazine in a recent WeSearch study led by Black and Brown youth at Deecolonzie Academy , a liberation school on the land at Homefulness. "Low/no-income, Black and Brown folks, disabled elders and youth are dying from the violence of eviction, foreclosure, sweeps, homelessness and the buying and selling of Mama Earth for profit, it is why we houseless peoples work so hard to create the template of Homefulness, that actively works to unSell and liberate Mama Earth, spiritually and legally, so families like Dani's and  mine and all the families and elders now homeful at Homefulness, will never face homelessness again" said tiny gray-garcia, co-founder and visionary of Homefulness. "This is a vision created by poor, disabled and houseless people supported by conscious folks with race and class privilege who unlearn the lies of hoarding and radically redistribute to a poor peoples permanent housing solution, said Leroy Moore, co-founder of Homefulness and founder of Krip Hop Nation. In solidarity with Shut it Down Activities on April 15th we houseless, disabled, indigenous and targeted peoples from Turtle Island stand, sit, crawl and walk along-side houseless, starving babies in Palestine, Sudan, Haiti, Congo, West Papua and Kashmir

Libelist attack of a povertyskola at David Geffen School of Medicine (UCLA) By tiny gray-garcia When mama and me were on the street barely with enuf food to eat No-one cared - they called us homeless bums See those trash over there Our life was the endless violence of  sweeps and stares But then i ask for prayer for firebombed babies and suddenly u see me clear Fast foreward 20 years Building/Writing/Visioning Homefulness for Houseless Families EVERYWHERE Always with humble liberation prayer For folks in poverty Like me and Mama Dee From LA to Palestine For slaughtered and houseless babies In all this time of local and global genocide Make up Lies To wash the truth call me names Say i forced spirit, message, away from our roots This is so strange Cuz if u know me Im always here to tell truths That people refuse to see I walked in from outside today At the Elite institution known As UCLA I always walk with equal amounts of truth and love Its a calling in not a calling out -from below and above Cuz we all been caught in so manyhurtful lies Cuz we all been taught to look away from strife “Do you see us houseless mamaz and daughters living in a tent ? ….. i said,  do you see us houseless mamaz and daughters sleeping in a tent- thats cause we don’t have money for the rent…. I opened my talk at UCLA medical school with the same ask I do of everyone I speak with… I ask housed people who have never struggled with the violence of trying to be safe outside, trying to keep their last blanket dry in the rain, their bodies cool in the deafening heat, their lungs  breathing when the air is filled with smoke and their bodies well even when they are medically fragile and have no place to safely dwell. People like myself for most of my childhood with my disabled houseless mama, who have never had a place to shelter in safely when humans are told to shelter in place. I asked this question of  conscious, loving humans who have decided to become healers because they want to save lives and make us all well. I ask this of students at UCLA medical school,  who have been protected by the “privilege of privacy” i.e.,  a roof to hide under, a door to close, a heater to stand near, a lamp to turn on, a bed to sleep in. I asked if those conscious humans are able to look at us, houseless humans,  who have none of these things, and are also dealing with the trauma that so many of us struggle with everyday,  from lives lived of abuse, racism, classism, ableism, war, gun violence and poverty. I asked this and I always ask this because maybe if they can actually see us, if you can actually see us as the human beings we are, in deep struggle just to stay alive,  as povertyskolaz who have struggled and survived by any means necessary, maybe you can also listen to us about the very real and practicable solutions we have created to solve not only our own homelessness but homelessness across Mama Earth. Solutions like Homefulness, Aetna Street, Wood Street and NIcklesville This is what i brought to UCLA medical school. Because the medical school is filled with healers with beautiful hearts who are learning how to expand those hearts to heal communities that this society would rather eradicate. Would rather not see. Learning urgent medicine of racial equity, disability justice, indigenous land rights, the connections of eviction, homelessness and gentrification on peoples health, and the very real healing of reparations, equity and housing for all. I began, like I always begin with prayer for all ancestors. 1st Nations ancestors of the lands we are sitting, standing, living and learning on, who took care of these lands for thousands of years before any settlers arrived and committed the genocide of removal and land theft . Ancestors of homelessness, because homelessness kills. Because up to 6 LA residents per week are being found dead in their tents, on the street and in the jail-like motel rooms and tiny homes aka “solutions” that aren’t poverty scholarship informed, created right now in cities across the US, about us without us poor people Baby and mama ancestors of wars across Mama Earth from Palestine to  West Papua, where poor and houseless children and mamas and elders are being targeted, murdered, burned, firebombed,  and removed so that other people can gain access to their lands of origins. Prayer for Mama Earth, Mama Trees and Mama Ocean because we as humans have systematically extracted, poisoned, drilled and destroyed all of her, all of them, and continue to, even to our collective peril and hers. For all of these humble prayers of peace and transformation,  offered to people, not demanded of anyone, spoken in truth and earnest,I was targeted, I was demeaned, lied about, framed, accused and libeled. I am heartbroken. I am in deeper grief than i already was. Because now I am clear that bringing humble truth into this institution is not protected or respected. And so I ask how can we grow the loving, life-changing human healers known as doctors, when we can’t teach truth, love and respect ?

By LeaJay Harper / Po’ Peoples Media Correspondent LeaJay with her Homefulness /POOR Magazine Family I lean my head back looking at pastel cotton candy in the sky, breathing in the smell of the creator's tears freshly falling to the ground, with an exhale- my relief of being finally home as Homefulness’ 16th resident. 8 Months ago, I was frantically tying down my belongings while a whole swamp full of hungry crocs impatiently waited for me to drop one crumb of resistance out the door of my RV. A perfect Oakland morning was the mood while a very familiar hurricane of being swept was my reality. The 10 years I was unhoused in the east bay, the countless amount of times I've been pushed, scooted, and threatened with eviction from my temporary safe space, each event promised to have new trauma to add to my shelf. Oakland keeps wasting money trying to help the homeless, but all it's done is further traumatize the already vulnerable population. Oakland promises to provide safe shelter for housed and unhoused residents, and help them find long-term housing. They've used different tactics, like constantly sweeping encampments around the city to building tough shed camps and relocating RVs to empty lots. But what if you run out of cabin time or project funding? People need wrap around services to make sure they get and keep placement. Wood Street was one of the biggest encampments in Oakland, housing over 200 people. After organizing efforts of the residents by trying to work with the city to create a solution, they were finally evicted in May of 2023. Opening up a city funded RV lot and a tough shed community was what the final plan was. Both of these options were only supposed to be temporary- a 90 day max stay. A year later, no one has been housed. One example of the broken promises from the city of Oaklands fake ass Bandaids created to waste money. The Wood Street cabin community appears like it was making a positive change in providing a housing solution. "We moved into the cabins because we wanted to stay together as a community, and the city of Oakland, specifically Latonda Simmons, said that we would all get rapid re-housing services within 90 days. Now a year later, I cant even think of one person that has actually been housed from the cabins,” bluntly states John Janosko, my dear friend and long time Wood St commons resident activist. Not knowing at the time that this would be the last time I would have to encounter the stomach knots of not knowing where I'm going to sleep once I finally settle again Every time I'm asked “What do you think homeless people need, or how can we support the unhoused?" my response is ask us. As a person that has never fit into societal norms or stereotypes well, I know one thing for sure: that there is no quick fix to support folks that are unhoused. The fact is that there are many situations that occur that may result in becoming unhoused, the latest scapegoat being covid. But for a woman like me, I had reached the plateau way before 2020, so what the fuck. What I'm trying to say is that we as BIPOC poor people need more than a poverty pimp or a non profit to help. The first ingredient is genuine determination to want to make a life time impact. The experience of living outside for myself was a major transition once I became housed. Not being familiar with my neighborhood and where to access resources. Health and medical was out of my new area. Being in a interdependent community where I felt safe, I really had a time adjusting to being alone. These are a small list of what me and my peers adjust to when we finally get inside. With systems and solutions where we aren't completely removed from our peers is also important. We have been living where we look out for each other, but once we are removed how do we continue to support our community? What helped me was being welcomed into a community of peers that don't see a community as being in a hierarchical structure, where we are all equally valuable. And with that it gave me a sense of ownership, as well as empowerment to become more involved. The bottom line is in order to make a long term impact with our unhoused family we can't throw them away by putting them in homes. Providing people with a supportive community to reconnect them to the resources they lost they lost once they became housed, is what can help people settle into a better quality of life for themselves. The issues that lead to becoming unhoused isn't a one day process so the healing from that trauma will take love and true commitment from everyone. LeaJay is recent graduate of PeoplesKool for Povertyskolaz revolutionary journalism workshop and the 16th houseless single mama, warrior, land liberator resident of Homefulness, a homeless peoples solution to homelessness John Janasko- (Wood Street Commons) with LeaJay

By Frankie Hicks / Po Peoples Media / POOR Magazine It’s happening again. It’s happening now and it’ll never stop happening. The edges of my reality are curling in themselves like the pages of a well-loved book. Flowery wallpaper starts to peel off the walls in huge chunks, the smiling faces in educational posters turn to grimaces. I vaguely register grief at the loss of comfort in this space, one of the precious few safe spaces in my life. I come to Ms. Webber when I need a break from daily stresses, asking her to call me out of class for mental health emergencies like this. I recognize that these gruesome visions are just that – visions. It’s not real, but that fact doesn’t make it easier to understand or cope with. All I can do when my world starts to tilt is wait it out, and that strategy is making it hard to focus. I try to explain this, but before I can speak, my mouth melts off my face. Drip. Drip. Pale strings of flesh dribble down my chin to the floor. I expect Ms. Webber to scream in terror and run out the door, but instead she simply tilts her head in sympathy. With a dull thud, I realize that even if I were to speak, she couldn’t possibly understand. If she did, she’d be sitting in my seat, where doubt seeps out of my pores and stains the too-soft chair. The utter normalcy of this breaks me out of my trance. No one is coming to save me. I bleed back into the scene. Suddenly I feel small again, person-sized, manageable. Panic attacks like this one are so common during this time of my life that I ask to speak to a psychologist, who diagnoses me with “acute attenuated psychotic stress symptoms.” I believe they’re caused by the stress of moving out of my parents’ home. I take it as an obstacle to be hurdled, so I square my shoulders and move forward. Eventually, I stopped feeling the symptoms entirely. As time went on, the memory of confusing panic attacks faded into the background, yet the lessons I learned from it became the fulcrum of my new identity. I’m adaptive and tough. I can handle anything. Soon, I’d have another opportunity to prove it. Frankie Hicks is a formerly houseless povertyskola and recent graduate of PeopleSkool for PovertySkolaz at POORMAgazine. Frankie is also the 14th houseless resident of Homefulness - a homeless peoples solution to homelessness