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By Sis Omowale/POOR Magazine ?manna From Heaven 28 April 2025 They breathed their last free, uninterrupted breaths at 3:59 am on that encamped Wednesday morning on the West and East sidewalks of Shattuck, just south of the 51st Street side of the ARCO fossil fuel gas station and its AM-PM Mini-market. Then the earth caved in with the sounds of cop-hands exploding metal molecules on car hoods and door sides.  Cop hatred spewing venom languages , screaming "Get out", GET OUT", "we got your stuff", "Walk away"; more shock-waved anti-sleep vibrations, fraying the nerves of the waking residents.  Confusion and anger, forced shouts of resistance, dogs barking trying to run free to bark-bite their home defenses.  Then, grab your stuff. Acts of preservation, grab it and pile it, grab it and hide it, but where?  Three Oakland PD cruisers had far too many thieving hands and voices everywhere, arriving all of a sudden...! By 6:23 am, the sweep was over, but the vibe of loss resounded in the standing sleepers, rocking to-and-from in shock, switching back and forth from hurt-filled, pained anger, like "why did they not NOTIFY us the DAY before"?  WHY  NOT?  The cars taken.  The RV/s yanked from blocks. The people-licenses and doggie-ID's, records of their former homes and babies' footprints, Great-grans' rings and antiqued family jewels and hand-crocheted accessories, all dumped along with AC Transit bus passes and empty clipper cards. Sis. Min. Joycelyn saw them first, spoke with one brother who seemed the least traumatized.  He relayed the story to her and then she to me, thus suddenly without breath, when I had arrived 12 minutes later.  We began to serve, as best we could, bringing the shocked to our breakfast site for that morning.  We returned with breakfast plates for those too shocked, too stunned to bring wet tears, and too saddened to move.   ****** EPILOGUE.  At 3:00 pm in the afternoon, the OPD death-by-a-thousand-cuts unit did another raid on the encampments on the diagonal side of the same intersection at 51st Street, facing Shattuck east, in broad day-light, during the beginning of peak traffic.  They hit and split before we were even able to hear of the raid.  We heard what the witnesses saw: that nothing was left, and no one was resilient enough to find anything or anyone.  COMPLETE GENOCIDE...in less than 12 hours on the same day, the 9th of April: the devil's power number.                                                                 -  30  -  Ms. S. Omowale Fowles

By Queennandi I was born in the Western Addition aka Fillmoe in the early 70’s, and my spirit has been residing here ever since. In the earlier years it was a beautifully diverse community with Asian, African, Filipino, Latina and Pacific Islander families, with a few sprinkles of European immigrants. The community got along well amongst those who called Fillmore home. There were no “gentrifuhkers” riding on electric bikes, joggers in designer workout clothes, looking at us “Fillmore Natives” like WE don’t belong, but best yet, we had the “Artery of community Education,” Marcus Bookstore. Fast forward several decades later, the “gentrifuhkers” have succeeded in creating a “paradise for parasites,” and in a blink of an eye our community’s historical murals were painted over as if we, the people darker than blue, had never existed, and Marcus Bookstore—the best learning institution for the people—was destroyed and the family was displaced by a insignificant hair salon that serves red wine.  Corner of Divisadero and Hayes, 1978, iconic mural in background. In the late 1970s, this area, called NOPA in the 2000s, was almost entirely African-American. Image and caption from FoundSF digital community history archive. https://www.foundsf.org/The_Fillmore:_Black_SF SF housing eventually was overrun by wealthy “devilopers ” who put their “dead souls” dollars into the community, but not into the interests of the people. The forced removal of our learning institution—Marcus Bookstore—was a fatal blow to our community of color because the lack of concise information and knowledge. Ourselves and our youngins began to glue our faces to the social media BS, and now many folks have chosen the “ratchet reality shows and how to snatch a $300 wig off of someone in 10 seconds!” as a doomed form of education.  My birthplace, Plaza East in Fillmore, is now owned by John Stewart. At first, some folks displayed a glimmer of hope that our living conditions would improve, but unfortunately that is not the case. After I had endured black mold, carpets that has been proven to be a contributor to asthma and other allergies, so-called gangster office management forced me to move out of an apartment in 15 more minutes before throwing away my property—some priceless items also—and made a mockery of my age and disabilities and depression. I had reached my breaking point then! The only thing that improved was that the ratchet so-called gangster office management was replaced because some residents were violated by these 3 women so horribly to the point that there would have been some serious fighting going on at Plaza East.  Many of us were at our breaking point at this particular time like I mentioned before, but my nightmare was far from over. My family has been and still is being harassed, stalked, car vandalized and our safety put in jeopardy by a squatter who has a boyfriend whom lives at Plaza East and she, Ms. S. Smith, comes over and raises hell with the community by starting fights with not just my family but other residents have been assaulted by this woman. My family’s attempt to get a protection order failed because a few residents continue to hide her in their apartments from the law. Police reports are useless to us and JS company is not even entertaining the idea to place a stay away order against Ms. Smith, and even though her boyfriend’s house was raided and several guns recovered by police AND KRON news did a story on it, a slap on the wrist basically is what these folks got along with other trouble makers that reside at Plaza East. Trouble makers like GR, a neighbor from hell who destroyed my zen garden and allows her dogs to come outside every morning around 8am to attack passersbys and young children, AND runs a raggedy daycare on the property. Despite my five year restraining order against her and her violations on the grounds, Ms. GH didn’t so much as receive a lease violation. Animal control was a joke also because her dogs are still being let outside every day to bite and bother people. Ms. LB, another hellraiser at Plaza East was rewarded with a brand new apartment here after she had committed “set up” robberies in which a relative of mine was a victim also and she would lie to her gun-toting relatives that she was afraid (of retribution) some of us residents here.  Plaza East Apartments. Yesica Prado/San Francisco Public Press Around May 14th of 2023, Ms. LB had once again called over gun-toting relatives based upon lies, and while I was parking my car, Ms. LB’s “cousin” was walking up on a group of females, including myself, my children, my disabled neighbor and other innocents and attempted to shoot all of us on the block. Then out of the blue, a youngster who is not known to be a “hood terrorist” had pulled a “quick draw McGraw” and saved our lives and at that very moment I had to unblur the lines between “hood terrorist” and “hood hero,” because regardless of how I felt about violence in the community, this young man, Mr. KH, had prevented a massacre of elders, children and disabled residents. Ms. LB was never held responsible for telling lies to incite violence nor was she held liable for being an accessory after the fact. After hiding in a rabbit hole for a short while she was given a fresh new apartment at Plaza East in the same complex. I guess it’s safe to say that “hood terrorist” have more privileges and entitlement to even have good community folks injured or killed because they are well aware of their immunity on John Stewart property. The recent loss of my firstborn daughter-and another young man who was murdered in Larch alley has my PTSD so high that my trauma is not even located on earth anymore! And John Stewart security was a big cartoon joke, failing to protect the residents and following proper procedures. The woman, S. Smith, is still allowed to this day to stalk and follow my family because she has a “boyfriend” living on Plaza East grounds. She even threatened to assault my 4-year old grandson and even with evidence stemming from a text, nobody gave a damn.  The straw that broke the camel’s back was when Ms. Smith was trying to coax myself and youngest daughter to come out of our apartment because her “homeboy” was waiting outside with a gun. At this point, my mental state was the color red so I attempted to defend my family by chasing them back across the street on Eddy with my puny little weapon (butter knife sword) but I was successful in getting the gunman and Ms. Smith away from my home but the heartbreaking fact is I had to teach my four year old grandson how to go upstairs in our home to hide whenever Ms. Shamiyah Smith was squatting at Plaza East. As I walked back to my home after running Ms. Smith and her gun-toting “homeboy” into her boyfriend’s house, a blinding red light flashed in my eyes with someone shouting “BITCH, DROP YOUR WEAPON OR I’LL BLOW YOUR FUHKIN HEAD OFF!” Comparing my “weapon” to the gunman’s was like comparing a teacup yorkie to a bull mastiff! A passerby and two of my neighbors pleaded with this trigger-happy hankie-head John Stewart security guard not to shoot me which he yelled at them to go away. I did comply with his demands even though I felt like the SISTUH who got shot in Chicago by the police—by putting what was in my hand inside of my home, getting on my knees on my “welcome mat” and interlocking my fingers on my head. I was frozen with fear that turned into anger and then into a full-blown anxiety attack because this so called security guard at Plaza East was tempted to shoot me in the back while my 4-year old grandson was inside. I pleaded with the house negro to allow for me to SLOWLY reach into my right pants pocket to make phone call to my mental health specialist and again he said that he would blow my head off if I reached for my phone. My daughter was able to call on my behalf while the sellout uncle Ben bastard contacted SFPD. Perhaps there was a possibility that he was related to the “lying hood terrorist” Ms. LB because he had got on the line shouting as if he was auditioning for the TV show “cops”- “I NEED BACKUP NOW! THERE IS A WOMAN WALKING AROUND THE WHOLE COMPLEX THREATENING TO HARM PEOPLE!” But in reality it was a grandmother who was seeing red and fed up with a damn SQUATTER coming to my home with gunman like so many times before and I stood tall against them!  When SFPD arrived on the scene my panic/anxiety attacks were so devastating that I was handcuffed because I couldn’t function or stand still. The “bootlickin’” security guard went on to tell the officers all these lies about the incident to make himself look like a hero until an courageous angry neighbor had shouted out “WHILE YOU STANDING THERE LYING ON THE VILLAGE MOTHER TELL THE POLICE HOW YOU BE SNORTING COCAINE ON WILLOW STREET DURING YOUR BREAKS!!!” I didn’t know about the John Stewart/Plaza East security guard’s alleged drug use, however when that one neighbor spoke up, a few more were speaking up the next day.   The file of evidence my youngest daughter was saving for over a year was the proof that we were being terrorized and it contradicted the security guard’s statement, and one of the SFPD officers had given the guard the “uh oh, caught you in a lie” look while another officer had scolded the punk guard.- The officer asked “WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE WHEN DEALING WITH CITIZENS WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OR SEEING RED?!?!” After the security guard’s “Abba dabba boo boo huh?” Response the officer said “YOU NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED BECAUSE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DE-ESCALATE THE SITUATION, NOT THREATEN TO BLOW THEIR HEADS OFF!!!!” After the officers has assisted me to catch my breath from all the attacks, one officer asked “Ma’am, were we able to help regarding this incident?” Four words I don’t remember ever in my life saying, but you give credit when credit is due- I answered “SFPD SAVED MY LIFE!” That security guard still had his gun pointed towards my back even when I was on my knees with interlocked fingers by the time the police arrived and I was terrified that he was going to shoot me with my grandson in the house. He dared me to make any moves or he would shoot me, so my traumatized mind focused on my 4 year old grandbaby and not wanting him to see his grandmother get shot dead by some security koon!  THE AFTERMATH???  The security guard was still working at Plaza East and IF I stepped out of my home and saw him, I would run back inside screaming to him not to shoot me! Management on the grounds had refused to give me any information on this security clown, not even his name.  Former Mayor London Breed even put in a request for an urgent emergency move to help keep my family safe, but unfortunately for me, the only John Stewart units that were available were the ones that Ms. Smith and her goon friends and family were either residing or squatting at, except for the North Beach housing complex—in which I was flat out denied to relocate there. I went to the corporate headquarters of John Stewart in hopes that someone could help me, but once my words went in their ears, they farted it out of their asses! John Stewart can put our family in a safe home, in a safe environment if he dared cared.  Finding an attorney to help my family was fruitless because in my opinion COURAGE is extinct also! I’m still here in Fillmore surviving by default. I survived all kinds of horrific trauma and I even stood tall against “The night stalker” Richard Ramirez as a child when he tried to get me to go into the women’s bathroom. My longtime friend, Terry had survived the “nigger get out!” notes and the house fire that displaced his family. We at Plaza East survived the begging and pleading to put a security gate up so “hood terrorist” would stop walking into Larch Way alley, ambushing and killing our youngins on camera! We are all survivors! Like I said before, I was BORN HERE in this community but having to tolerate “gentrifuhkin’ racist kkk implants” and “hankie-head negro hood klan” has destroyed my mental health to the point of me being afraid to leave my home, to focus on business and in many cases it’s hell just to get out of bed.   No good folks in the community deserve this, but sadly we are living in BABYLON where the wicked can roam freely to kill, steal and destroy with impunity… You ask: “who is this native “Fillmolian” that broke her silence?” My Name is Queennandi…. CRDB  Village Mother from Fill-no-mo….

Por/ By Teo Todos tenemos los mismos derechos de pertenecer en cualquier parte de este planeta que llamamos Madre Tierra. Estamos muy aparte de las constituciones porque por mucho tiempo, nuestros antepasados compartían el instinto de supervivencia pero creo que todos tenemos diferentes perspectivas. Muchos miramos las historias de diferentes maneras, pero en mi experiencia, estoy entendiendo algunas ideas de supervivencia . Pero todos en esta parte de la tierra nos enfrentamos con diferentes tipos de situaciones, algunas veces llamándolos obstáculos. También nosotros, aquellos a quienes llaman inmigrantes, jornaleros, ilegales, también algunas personas racistas los nombramos criminales porque hemos cruzado una línea divisoria de nuestra planeta, estamos afectados por las políticas de oficina. A lgunas personas se encuentran con todo tipo de obstáculos del diario vivir-- por ejemplo el alcoholismo y drogadicción. Estas situaciones se reflejan en las comunidades de todos los rincones del mundo. Por ejemplo, en el estado donde vivimos se refleja los problemas de la comunidad en muchos hermanos y hermanas, tíos y algunos abuelitos peleando con un dejo de consumir cualquier sustancia que disfrutan consumiendo. Eso se refleja ante todos los de los comunidades tratando de vivir en carros abandonados debajo de los puentes de la ciudad, en los parques, negocios abandonados, y residencias abandonados. Construyendo casitas de campaña o de cartón como se pueda, así se reflejan las situaciones de nuestras comunidades. Muchos de estas personas no son emigrantes pero los atrapa el alcoholismo y las drogas We all have the same rights to belong anywhere on this planet we call Mother Earth, no matter what the constitution says. For a very long time our ancestors shared the instinct of survival, but I think we all have different perspectives. Many of us look at the stories in d ifferent ways, but in my experience, I’m understanding this story from a survival perspective. But everyone on this part of the earth faces different kinds of situations, sometimes calling them obstacles. We too, those who are called immigrants, day laborers, illegals, and also by some racist people are called criminals because we have crossed a dividing line of our planet, we are affected by official policies. Some people encounter the obstacles of alcoholism and drug addiction, and these situations are reflected in communities all over the world. For example, back in our home state the problems of the community are reflected in the many brothers, sisters, un cles, aunts, and even grandparents who are fighting the aftertaste of whatever substance they like best. It’s reflected to everyone in the communities living in abandoned cars, under city bridges, in parks, abandoned businesses, and abandoned residences. Building tent houses or cardboard houses when possible, we reflect the situations our communities face. Many of these people are not immigrants but are caught by alcoholism and drugs.

Upcoming events: This Saturday; April 26 Huchiun (Oakland, Ca) 3pm | EastSide Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd May 20 Yelamu (San Francisco) 6pm | City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Ave This new genre “guide Book” is full of truth about genocide as well as poetry, prayer, stories and art on indigenous resistance to settler colonial erasure, poLice terror, homelessness and the many acts of  indigenous/Black/Brown-led resistance from Turtle Island to Palestine and all across Mama Earth  The UnTour Book chronicles the removal of the violent colonizer known as Juniperro Serra who was canonized into sainthood by recently deceased Pope Francis. In Fact the cover depicts the removal by young indigenous peoples. The first Bay Area release was marked by a powerful prayer ceremony held at the mission on Occupied Miwok Lands ak a so-called San Rafael Mission where the Juniperro Serra “ManUment” as named by one of the authors tiny graygarcia, was removed in 2020 by the Indigenous Peoples Day 5  The book chronicles our walks into occupied land and stolen resources in the US. Sites like occupied Lenape Territory aka Philadelphias’ main Line and the historic “Old Philadelphia” are rife with examples of what tiny gray-garcia calls Klanmarks and ManUments, honoring the multitude of self-proclaimed “discoverers” such as Christopher Columbus who in actuality perpetrated great harm on indigenous peoples both personally and historically. Other chapters discuss Clayton Duncan and other indigenous Pomo leaders who work to unwash the lies about the Bloody Island Massacre in so-called KelseyVille named after the murderer who perpetrated the genocide of hundreds of innocent indigenous women and children, and Priscilla Hunter, the Pomo Mama Tree Warrior and Protector of so many old growth trees from the violence of the Lumber Industry. The book uplifts the Resistance Marks of Alex Nieto, Mario Woods and Sean Monterrosa to name a few, killed by PoLice but honored in San Francisco in beautiful street-based murals of resistance to the warrior work of indigenous women creating their own Land Trust, and the story of indigenous women taking down the ManUmeant honoring a Spanish missionary who committed genocide on California Indians, to sites of BlackLand Return and resistance, all of this and so much more, reaching globally into Palestine, West Papua, Hawai’i and Kashmir.   “We find ourselves again at a crossroads, where we each need to choose a side AND when our Mother Earth and all living beings are under attack. The UnTour book gives us a guide to how we got here and Hope of finding our way back from the edge of destruction of our very souls.” — Corrina Gould KlanMarks, ManUMeants and Plakkks- UnTour Guide Across Occupied Turtle Island “KlanMarks” are my word for all the colonizer blight claiming sacred spaces and sacred stories and washing the truth of genocide off the stolen land— thousands of mis-named, occupied and stolen indigenous lands and sacred sites across Turtle Island, where the land-stealers, occupiers, genocidal perpetrators, aka colonizers are lifted up as heroes. The names of the murderers, the rapists, the robbers, the stealers, the re-writers, and the occupiers litter Turtle Island. But, in this book, there are also so many powerful acts of re-creating, redefining, LandBacking, and land-returning  stolen Mama Earth—from Palestine to Chief Siah’l (Seattle) on Turtle Island, from Bloody Island to Lisjan Land—so this UnTourBook is also meant to honor, pray, dream, and lift up the voices of resistance until all of the KlanMarks are gone and all the LiberationMarks replace them.— Tiny gray-garcia aka povertyskola - visionary and co-writer of the Untour Book Across Occupied Turtle Island El Libro de UnTour narra sus caminatas en tierras ocupadas y recursos robados en los Estados Unidos. Sitios como el Territorio Lenape ocupado, conocido como la Línea Principal de Filadelfia y la histórica “Vieja Filadelfia”, abundan en ejemplos de lo que tiny gray-garcía llama Klanmarks y ManUments (monumentos), honrando a la multitud de autoproclamados “descubridores” como Cristóbal Colón, que en realidad perpetró grandes daños a los pueblos indígenas tanto personal como históricamente, o Clayton Duncan y otros líderes indígenas Pomo trabajan para deslavar las mentiras sobre la masacre de la Isla Sangrienta en la llamada Kelseyville, que lleva el nombre del asesino que perpetró el genocidio de cientos de mujeres y niños indígenas inocentes, o Priscilla Hunter, el Pomo Mama Tree Warrior y Protector de tantos árboles viejos de crecimiento, desde la violencia de la industria maderera hasta las marcas de resistencia de Alex Nieto, Mario Woods y Sean Monterrosa, por nombrar algunos, asesinado por la policía, pero honrado en San Francisco en hermosos murales callejeros de resistencia al trabajo guerrero de mujeres indígenas que crean su propia tierra, y la historia de las mujeres indígenas derribando el monumento honrando a un misionero español que cometió genocidio contra los indios de California, a los sitios de retorno y resistencia de Tierra Negra, todo esto y mucho más, llegando globalmente a Palestina, Papúa Occidental, Hawai’i y Cachemira. “Nos encontramos de nuevo en una encrucijada, donde cada uno de nosotros necesita elegir un lado Y cuando nuestra Madre Tierra y todos los seres vivos están bajo ataque. El libro de UnTour nos da una guía de cómo llegamos aquí y la esperanza de encontrar nuestro camino de regreso desde el borde de la destrucción de nuestras propias almas.” —Corrina Gould.

Houseless ComeUnities from Across the US gather to teach, share and resist  state sponsored violence   What: Teach-in Gathering  When: 1-4pm April 22 Where Lake Merritt Amphitheater (btwn 12th St and 1st Ave) “These sweeps, they kill us,”  said Marco, 64, longtime houseless resident of Lake Merritt in Oakland which on April 7th 2025 experienced a violent sweep and eviction from their comeunity who lived under the bridge adjacent to the lake.  Initial findings from a survey of 223 unhoused community members 81% reported not being offered any services at all, 62% had all their belongs stolen and thrashed by authorities, 67% got no advance notice and 81% were still living in the streets afterwards - 68% with Stay Away orders from the neighborhood they were living in! As one person said “Its not the department of homelessness, it the department of gaslighting” On year 2 of a Supreme Court anti-homeless ruling, houseless and formerly houseless residents and advocates from across the State will gather around Lake Merritt in Oakland to teach, speak and share resources, art and resistance to the ongoing myth that objectifies, dehumanizes and criminalizes houseless people for the sole act of being houseless. From James Edward Oakley of Vallejo to Cornelius Taylor of Atlanta, both run over by bulldozers in sweeps in this last year, the sweeps and the violent and ongoing harassment and criminalization is killing us. Deaths of houseless people are up to 6 people a day in Los Angeles. April 22nd known for the celebration of Earth Day, is also a day of mourning, when a case was brought before the US supreme court known as Grant Pass versus Johnson. Grants Pass V Johnson, which was finally ruled on in June of the same year codified what us houseless people always knew and have experienced for years,  our human-ness is not valued, in fact we are treated with less respect than a discarded bottle or tin can.  “Ever since the ruling in 2024 the sweeps of our bodies and communities have increased to daily, hourly, randomly with no notice and everywhere across the nation, Literally millions of dollars are spent in police and sheriffs to accompany the city trash workers while service providers rarely if ever supply residents with viable housing solutions or places to go,” said  Tiny Gray -García, formerly houseless co-founder of POORmagazine /Homefulness  “In SF alone during March 2025 police arrested 119 people for being unhoused, the highest such total of any month in the last 7 years. “Homelessness obviously doesn’t exist because we lack enough cops, it exists and continues to grow because our government has wiped out affordable housing funding and access to living wages and treatment. This police approach is brutal, ineffective to address the real issues related to homelessness and also completely asinine” according to Paul Boden with the Western Regional Advocacy Project  “They come out and pretend to say they are providing us with services, but they supply us with nothing, there are no services, there is no housing” said John, longtime houseless resident of Mosswood Park- slated for eviction and sweeps on Monday, April 21, 2025  Grants Pass ruling stated that Houseless residents of any city or town across the US, should not be afforded protection under the 8th amendment of the constitution.  “It's important to keep our eye on the way public space is being policed and the way people are being corralled out of community. We can first see it at play in our unhoused communities, as we're the most vulnerable to penalties related to not participating in the private property system of real estate. The repeal of the right recognition won, that being criminalized for being unsheltered when whatever shelter you've been able to create for yourself is taken away from you is cruel and unusual punishment, is a hardening of hearts against the harm inflicted on such vulnerable communities” Said Gordon Gilmore, Berkeley Homeless Union . For years houseless people have struggled with sweeps. Millions of dollars in “homeless funding” has been spent on removing, evicting and destroying peoples outdoor communities and throwing away or stealing our necessary belongings. Funding that is theoretically given to cities and towns to support, house or help houseless people is used to remove us and harm  us.. “Politricksters refuse to listen to houseless people when we present our own practicable, affordable and healing housing solutions like Homefulness  and Wood Street Commons and instead resort to endangering our lives with violent sweeps and inhumane, uninhabitable, life-threatening so-called housing like the “cabins” in Oakland or the Inside Safe Program in Los Angeles,” concluded tiny gray-garcia, POOR Magazine/Homefulness.  Theatre of the POOR from POOR magazine and all nations prayer will be offered as well as an altar for all of our houseless relatives lost to these violent sweeps  and art activities for all ages.  Website for all national activities: https://wraphome.org/a-national-call-to-action-for-april-22nd-and-every-day-thereafter/ Follow  @westernregionaladvadvocacyproject on IG for updates  @poormagazine for live stream of the event

For Immediate Release:  Contact: Tiny garcia510435-7500 /Muteado Silencio /POOR Magazine Jon Janasko/ (510) 712-7639Wood Street Commons     Documentation and Testimonials of violent Sweeps Against a Peaceful Houseless ComeUnity in Oakland -   When: TOMORROW- 8:30am Monday, April 21, 2025  Where:Mosswood Park  Inviting media to take testimonies from residents who are facing imminent removal from their long-time outside community at Mosswood park  .. See Some Testimonials here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ubd9pE06ZX4 On Monday April 14 peaceful residents of Mosswood Park are requesting media to witness and take testimonies of the state terror of sweeps threatened by the City of Oakland as  longtime houseless residents of Mosswood Park will be violently swept to nowhere by the city of Oakland.. “They came out here and posted notices and when i asked them about any referrals for housing they said i had to have been a participant in a census taken over six months ago and because i wasn’t present for that, bye bye,” John, a longtime resident of Mosswood Park spoke to POOR Magazine .  ‘This follows the sweeps of Wood Street, the death of James Edward Oakley from a Sweep in Vallejo and the brutal sweep of Lake Merrit, in every single incident, all of the residents lose their communities, their safety and their precious belongings. Oakland perpetrates this violence even though Wood Street commons and POOR Magazine have viable affordable solutions,”   said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseles co-founder of POOR Magazine.”We as houseless peoples have solutions, that don’t include millions of dollars sweeping us like we are trash,” she concluded “Once again the city of Oakland feel the need to continue doing things that harms the community and separates us more..” John Janasko, formerly houseless resident of Wood Street Commons  Houseless residents of Mosswood Park have struggled with sweeps before proving the futile project of spending millions moving people to nowhere rather than listening to poor and houseless peoples solutions.  “The Oakland Homeless Union stands in solidarity with all unhoused Oakland residents, and we will continue to fight until the voices of the unhoused are acknowledged as the experts of our own lives that we are. We are not subhumans, nor are we garbage to be swept into the shadows; we are human beings, and one day history will show who was on the side of right, and who was not.”,said Freeway , Oakland Homeless union  Because of this sweep and the daily sweeps harassment POOR Magazine, Wood Street Commons and Oakland Homeless Union are demanding that the City of Oakland, immediately implement a moratorium on sweeps Click on this link  for sanctuary solutions/demands created by houseless and formerly houseless residents and leaders of Homefulness/POOR Magazine and Wood Street Commons  Please follow: IG @reinadeaztlan  IG & fb @poormagazine  IG @woodstreetcommons IG & fb: @oakland.homeless.union

PoorMag's Poverty Skolas will be at the 4th National Copwatch Conference What: 4th National Copwatch Conference Time : Saturday April 19th. Panels from 10am-3:15pm, Evening Program 7pm-9:30pm Place : Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704 10am Evictions, Displacement, Police Violence Since the Supreme Court’s Grants Pass Decision - Tiny participating in panel with other folks working against displacement. In the summer of 2024, places where unhoused people sleep and congregate are increasingly under attack by the state. In parallel, working class communities are displaced by gentrification. Police are at the forefront of both. 7:00pm An evening of artistic resistance with art, music and poetry! Po-Poets will be performing along with a combo of music, short videos and share-outs.

What: Press Conference  When: April 14, 2025 at 9am   Where: 34th Street and Wood Street Intersection, Oakland, CA 94608   Over the last several years, the Wood Street curbside community has been pushed around through acts of state violence, that have occurred under the orders of Oakland City Administrator Jestin Johnson, Homelessness Administrator Harrold Duffy, former Mayor Sheng Thao, and now interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins. Millions of dollars are being wasted yearly through “encampment closures” that do nothing to solve the housing crisis. A new Mayor is about to be elected, and Oakland needs a mayor to change course to stop wasting money in a budget crisis. On Monday, April 14th, members of the Wood Street Commons community are being swept again with nowhere to go. It costs the city roughly $12,000 a day to displace a curbside community from one street to the next. One of the former residents named Freeway said, “the fact that 2 years ago we were doing the EXACT same thing is a prime example of the failure this city calls ‘homeless services.’ This is not an accident, it is a humanitarian crisis.” When people are being pushed from one street to the next, and no one is getting housed, something needs to change. Criminalization is not the solution. A better approach to the housing crisis is needed. A short-term solution would be to improve the living conditions for people living on the streets, by providing water, bathrooms, and trash services to keep the area clean. Also, preventing illegal dumping by businesses and neighbors would go a long way to stop blaming people experiencing homelessness for the trash that accumulates. Then, a pilot program that uses vacant land and provides wrap-around services should be funded with the money being saved from “encampment closures” or through the Measure W money that was passed in 2020 from a countywide sales tax in Alameda. Long-term solutions include creating more permanent supportive housing and preventing people from entering homelessness through evictions.  We can balance the budget, and help solve the housing crisis but we need to listen to people directly impacted, who have real solutions.

Define Home- What is home mean to you How did you become Homeless? Would you be interested in helping to build homefulness? Anthony Land Home is a word  that the meaning h has changed in my Journey Of  Life.  Home was the physical building mom dad the place you rest.  Now becoming homeless home is the place my soul feels rest and safe & can change as I grow older. I am inflicted with the terrible Disease of Addiction to Drugs.  Its cause me to Burn all my bridges lost the trust of my family & worst caused chronic health problems the will ultimately shortening my Life.  This is the Sad but Honest non bullshit story of how I became homeless. Not sure I can Build but I’m 4 it. Davonte Where i took my First nut Pissed out my own blood Testified and Tested U misunderstood did it myself And represented many languages Obedience and given time out of my days Worked on the new thats now i know its true Home is this to me I simply ran away from home Sharon DeShay To me that word is kina of hard to define.  Myself, personally that word means to be around people, or loved ones over that you care about and vice versa.  Not necessarily meaning you “love”.  That and you being able to live with each other. In an enclosed space, doesnt have to be a room.  Feeling safe, comfortable, a place that puts a smile on your face when you thnk about it.  A place that you love to go to HOME!! …in a relationship with this beautiful lady + her family.  ..1 time..many and an argue started!  …going to jail for a year and got out to nothing at all.  Went to a program and left that.  Dont know why?  But after that I found myself outside for the last 6 years.  Hopefully this ends sooner than later. I am very interested in supporting homefulness Jonathan C… ..is a place to be happy Home is a sanctuary to raise your family Home is where you feel safe to grow old Drugs, and I also traveled on Grateful Dead Tour my whole life.  I’m from East Coast and gre up poor… Homefulness all the way! Buddy I .. in a apartment with my mother and father.  We had a regular amount of money and I went to school like most other kids.  At 12 years old I started using dope with my friends at first it was kind of worse than better but my friends pushed it on me so I thought I was supposed to do it more. After a while I could keep drugs a secret and my friends and parents found out that I was using drugs then they wanted me to stop and decided just leave because they couldnt watch me all the time. Yes, but I have struggle staying sober but I support it Blake Ferrell What is home to me  Home is were the heart Is home is were I Keep my hat and If I ever find it I’ll be there I drop a scrwe in the hop house why I do not NO Homefulness Yes! Anonymous Safe place to call my own Making decisions & different life experiences Homefulness Ase! Anonymous Built Has become homeless Shana Miller I never considered myself HOMELESS - Just HOUSELESS.  Home to me is wherever I lay my head, where my partner is comfortable & where we raise our kids (and dogs) On and off my entire life.  I learned to embrace it rather than resent it so I rode trains thru 28 states and now I found a place that I love, SF, and I’m struggling to stay HOUSED w/my life partner here. I would be very interested in homefulness - we need healing & housing Killian P Home is A safe space filled with love and compassion.  A place where you go to rest your head at the end of the day.  Your personal decompression zone. I was living and working in Portland, Oregon. (This is back in 2019). I met  A young woman who was everything my current parner wasn’t.  Soon we were causing chaos in the streets.   Doing drugs and I was no longer going to work.  Everything screwballed from there… Would you B A Junes Home to me means I’m with my kids and Family wherever they are is Home.  I Guess you could say “Home is where the Heart is”  Because they are my heart My dad passed in 2016 and I started using heroin to deal with that and that led me to prison ..programs and I didn’t have anything to go to when I got out  so I started using again and just didn’t care about anything.  So I would rather be on the street getting High than being alone inside. Home is homefulness …Harris Home is where you feel safest and you know you can have most things your way. I lost my way.  I gave up on my marriage, and began to turn to drugs Homefulness YES! Micaele Wimbush Is a secure safe Place Were you dont have to Worry bout Nobody hurting  You I became homeless When I ran from Foster care when I was Sixteen because I was Being sexual abused Homefulness is A BeAuTifUL VISION Sf Needs it Dave  …. My space where I stay I run the area mostly now Where I sleep and sty (occupy) When I stay with others to dwell And occupy.  To have privacy or perks I ran out of people I could trust And money at the same time Then I couldn’t decide where I want  To be-by myself or with others Homefulness is SAFE! Kelly Ambrose Home is your sanctuary.  A place to escape the stress of the world.  A vessel for you material possessions, as well as sentimental landmarks of life.  A Home is a .. castle, until your castle ..then it becomes a distant memory of some past life when you don’t have adoor to close, or escape from whatever you want to be away from-it … like I never had one before I was in an accident in 2004, got put on pain pill, got cut off, then started self  medicating…rtsdrf the next and before i knew it, my wife, children and I had worked for all my life, ..I was now an addict. It felt like a tornado blew ..my ..and I awoke in the aftermath, destitute and cast out..a family hopes and dreams but I couldn’t put the drugs on the shelf even…I was losing all I could have had, helpless. I try to stay positive, but positive isn’t what gets me through each day. ..slave to my habit and all controls every… decision I make. I’ll keep crawling till I stand up. HOMEFULLNESS! David Home is where you feel safe.  Its some where only those you want to surround yourself with can be  It’s where you can start new lives I became Houseless by a number of factors deaths in the family and drugs all play a part out ifs a never ending cycle Homefulness yes! Isabella Peru RIP bunny Foster A home is where im safe I have my children my husband would be home but for some reason God wanted him in heaven a year ago now my home will look like me and kids I became homeles a year ago after losing my husband who was walking to work and got hit by a car and died of a heart attack  I miss him everyday  Im trying to do good by kids Thank you for letting me tell my story Homefulness is everything! Tony Vialau Home is a destination it’s also a place where you Feel safe-a place were you can lay your head shower and also spend the most of your time I became homeless when I was s24 I’m 30 years old when I started bing homeless my Family abandoned me because I started using drugs and alcohol Anonymous I Trying to right Back on the page BC I statd to get hiht MATTHew Home means to me a type of sanctuary and or safe gathering place for a group tribe or family …meet congregate and dream together.  Being able to take part in building a home with other people can be an especially rewarding process.  Both the building and certainly the enjoying of the said space. A very long story involving highs lows and some unfortunate sideways manuevers by some less than ethical  People acting under the guise of friendship.  It involved a good friend passing away, Me getting repeatedly robbed (inclduing my dog!)  and opportunistic Bad Actors coming to claim whatever .. had been left on the ..sorry for being vague! More.. Yes! Anonymous Home to me is where you can go to feel content and happy.  Where nobody Judges you, where you can be yourself. I came down to San francisco to be in the occupy movement.  I really felt lik I was going to somehow make a difference, but occupy ended and I had nowhere to go so I drowned myself with heroin/Fentanyl, being an addict made it so hard to Just be a “normal” person.  Which I guess …paying rent and being a “contriibuting member of society” 100%! Yes Alexander Family have a food bed a place to stay every day Lost everything job I stared doing dope-every day I need more money for my Yes please! Noel Davis  Thank you! My own safe, clean sanctuary that I can come & go as I please–Homefulness PLeASe! I got divorced & my ex husband has- (had) money for a decent lawyer & screwed me out of our home - cars- pets- & $ Kristin Showers It did mean a shelter with 4 actual walls, ..from the elements, that is safe clean and with privacy & with food, a place that is yours to grow and live.  Somewhere to be comfortable and provide for our family. Came to Yes Anonymous Home doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, I think that’s obvious by now.  For me, home means feeling safe.  Feeling like nothing bad can or will ever get to you.  HOme is a quiet smile on top of loud music while we sit in the car and unwind after putting our son to bed.  Home is teal and yellow light gleaming through her hair from the summer sun.  HOme is where I have no doubts, no worries, and can do no wrong because she’s there, and I donn’t believe in much but I have com plete faith in her. In  2019 my mother stopped paying our rent. In 2022 she left my brother & I to fend to ourselves.  Shortly after my best friend moved in with us and we kept the home going until Oct 15, 2023.  By ..the landlord and barricaded ourselves inside until the sheriff’s showed up

This is the second in a series of book release events for The UnTour Book: Across Occupied Turtle Island - 1pm at the site of the So-called San Rafael "Mission" The book chronicles our walks into occupied land and stolen resources in the US. Sites like occupied Lenape Territory aka Philadelphias’ main Line and the historic “Old Philadelphia” are rife with examples of what tiny gray-garcia calls Klanmarks and ManUments, honoring the multitude of self-proclaimed “discoverers” such as Christopher Columbus who in actuality perpetrated great harm on indigenous peoples both personally and historically. Other chapters discuss Clayton Duncan and other indigenous Pomo leaders who work to unwash the lies about the Bloody Island Massacre in so-called KelseyVille named after the murderer who perpetrated the genocide of hundreds of innocent indigenous women and children, and Priscilla Hunter, the Pomo Mama Tree Warrior and Protector of so many old growth trees from the violence of the Lumber Industry. The book uplifts the Resistance Marks of Alex Nieto, Mario Woods and Sean Monterrosa to name a few, killed by PoLice but honored in San Francisco in beautiful street-based murals of resistance to the warrior work of indigenous women creating their own Land Trust, and the story of indigenous women taking down the ManUmeant honoring a Spanish missionary who committed genocide on California Indians, to sites of BlackLand Return and resistance, all of this and so much more, reaching globally into Palestine, West Papua, Hawai’i and Kashmir.   ALL EVENTS April 12 Coast Miwok Land (San Rafael, Ca) 1pm   |  San Rafael Mission, 1104 5th Ave  April 26 Huchiun (Oakland, Ca) 3pm | EastSide Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd May 20 Yelamu (San Francisco) 6pm | City Lights Books, 261 Columbis Ave “We find ourselves again at a crossroads, where we each need to choose a side AND when our Mother Earth and all living beings are under attack. The UnTour book gives us a guide to how we got here and Hope of finding our way back from the edge of destruction of our very souls.” — Corrina Gould KlanMarks, ManUMeants and Plakkks- UnTour Guide Across Occupied Turtle Island “KlanMarks” are my word for all the colonizer blight claiming sacred spaces and sacred stories and washing the truth of genocide off the stolen land— thousands of mis-named, occupied and stolen indigenous lands and sacred sites across Turtle Island, where the land-stealers, occupiers, genocidal perpetrators, aka colonizers are lifted up as heroes. The names of the murderers, the rapists, the robbers, the stealers, the re-writers, and the occupiers litter Turtle Island. But, in this book, there are also so many powerful acts of re-creating, redefining, LandBacking, and land-returning  stolen Mama Earth—from Palestine to Chief Siah’l (Seattle) on Turtle Island, from Bloody Island to Lisjan Land—so this UnTourBook is also meant to honor, pray, dream, and lift up the voices of resistance until all of the KlanMarks are gone and all the LiberationMarks replace them.  Tiny gray-garcia aka povertyskola - visionary and co-writer of the Untour Book Across Occupied Turtle Island El Libro de UnTour narra sus caminatas en tierras ocupadas y recursos robados en los Estados Unidos. Sitios como el Territorio Lenape ocupado, conocido como la Línea Principal de Filadelfia y la histórica “Vieja Filadelfia”, abundan en ejemplos de lo que tiny gray-garcía llama Klanmarks y ManUments (monumentos), honrando a la multitud de autoproclamados “descubridores” como Cristóbal Colón, que en realidad perpetró grandes daños a los pueblos indígenas tanto personal como históricamente, o Clayton Duncan y otros líderes indígenas Pomo trabajan para deslavar las mentiras sobre la masacre de la Isla Sangrienta en la llamada Kelseyville, que lleva el nombre del asesino que perpetró el genocidio de cientos de mujeres y niños indígenas inocentes, o Priscilla Hunter, el Pomo Mama Tree Warrior y Protector de tantos árboles viejos de crecimiento, desde la violencia de la industria maderera hasta las marcas de resistencia de Alex Nieto, Mario Woods y Sean Monterrosa, por nombrar algunos, asesinado por la policía, pero honrado en San Francisco en hermosos murales callejeros de resistencia al trabajo guerrero de mujeres indígenas que crean su propia tierra, y la historia de las mujeres indígenas derribando el monumento honrando a un misionero español que cometió genocidio contra los indios de California, a los sitios de retorno y resistencia de Tierra Negra, todo esto y mucho más, llegando globalmente a Palestina, Papúa Occidental, Hawai’i y Cachemira. “Nos encontramos de nuevo en una encrucijada, donde cada uno de nosotros necesita elegir un lado Y cuando nuestra Madre Tierra y todos los seres vivos están bajo ataque. El libro de UnTour nos da una guía de cómo llegamos aquí y la esperanza de encontrar nuestro camino de regreso desde el borde de la destrucción de nuestras propias almas”. Corrina Gould. KlanMarks, ManUMeants y Plakkks (Monumentos y Placas) - Guía de UnTour a través de la Isla de la Tortuga ocupada “KlanMarks” es mi palabra para toda la plaga colonizadora que reclama espacios sagrados e historias sagradas y lava la verdad del genocidio de las tierras robadas: Miles de tierras indígenas mal nombradas, ocupadas y robadas y sitios sagrados a través de la Isla Tortuga, donde los ladrones de tierras, ocupantes, perpetradores genocidas, también conocidos como colonizadores son levantados como héroes. Los nombres de los asesinos, los violadores, los ladrones, los reescritores, y los ocupantes ensucian Turtle Island. Pero, en este libro, también hay tantos actos poderosos de recreación, redefinición, LandBacking y devolución de tierras robadas Mama Tierra —desde Palestina hasta el Jefe Siah’l (Seattle) en la Isla Tortuga, desde la Isla Sangrienta hasta la Tierra Lisjan—Así que este libro de UnTour también está destinado a honrar, orar, soñar, y levantar las voces de resistencia hasta que todos los KlanMarks se hayan ido y todos los LiberationMarks los reemplacen.   Tiny gray-garcia alias povertyskola, visionario y co-escritor del libro Untour a través de la ocupada Isla Tortuga

Violent sweeps of longtime houseless ComeUnities residing at Lake Merritt -a supposedly "public" park When: TODAY: 8:30am Monday, April 7th  Where: Lake Merritt Amphitheater  Emergency press conference organized by houseless /formerly houseless residents of Lake Merrit, Liberation Health Network and POOR Magazine- co-sponsored by Wood Street Commons and Oakland Homeless Unión and SELC  .. TODAY Monday April 7 at 8:30am, longtime houseless residents of Lake Merritt will be violently swept to nowhere by the city of Oakland.. “I have nowhere to go, none of us do, we will be pushed to some other outside location. That’s the City’s idea to solve homelessness,” Ronnie G, longtime houseless resident of Lake Merrit and lifelong Oakland resident explained to POOR Magazine.  “As they have with every other houseless community in so-called Oakland, the City will be spending literally thousands, possibly millions of dollars moving people off of so-called public land  to nowhere. Again,” said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseles co-founder of POOR Magazine.”We as houseless peoples have solutions, that don’t include millions of dollars sweeping us like we are trash,” she concluded “Once again the city of Oakland feel the need to continue doing things that harms the community and separates us more..” John Janasko, formerly houseless resident of Wood Street Commons  Houseless residents of Lake Merritt have struggled with sweeps before proving the futile project of spending millions moving people to nowhere rather than listening to poor and houseless peoples solutions.  “This is the third sweep we have dealt with, everywhere we go we are harassed,” Marcus explained to us that he had been swept from two other comeunities before coming to a very secluded part of the lake, “ I never bother anyone, I cause no trouble,” he concluded “The Oakland Homeless Union stands in solidarity with all unhoused Oakland residents, and we will continue to fight until the voices of the unhoused are acknowledged as the experts of our own lives that we are. We are not subhumans, nor are we garbage to be swept into the shadows; we are human beings, and one day history will show who was on the side of right, and who was not.”,said Freeway , Oakland Homeless union  “We are artists, we are a community, we support each other with food and help and whatever one of us doesn’t have we share, they are breaking up our community and sending us to nowhere,” Reina de Aztlan, a houseless Lake Merritt resident from Liberation Health Network who co-organized this press conference with POOR Magazine, sees no point in this violent displacement.  Because of this sweep and the daily sweeps harassment POOR Magazine, Wood Street Commons and Oakland Homeless Union are demanding that the City of Oakland, immediately implement a moratorium on sweeps Click on this link  for sanctuary solutions/demands created by houseless and formerly houseless residents and leaders of Homefulness/POOR Magazine and Wood Street Commons  Please follow: IG: reinadeaztlan IG & fb:poormagazine IG @woodstreetcommons IG Oakland.homeless.union

Jobs and Homes of hundreds of families lost overnite By tiny aka povertyskola We are asking people to please : Call the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Pleasanton city council at +1 (510) 272-6347  and (925) 931-5001 . Email the Alameda Board of Supervisors and Pleasanton City Council: Pleasanton City Council: citycouncil@cityofpleasantonca.gov D1   (Pleasanton) : Shawn.Wilson@acgov.org , gloria.gregory@acgov.org , Melissa.Hernandez@acgov.org Other Districts : efeosa.orhue@acgov.org , bos.district3@acgov.org , district5@acgov.org , ashley.strasburg@acgov.org , Jasmine.Howard2@acgov.org, Valerie.Arkin@acgov.org, Tell them to keep the fairgrounds open for the families to stay and keep their families and homes and community intact. Reparations Not Evictions. Thanks to Wood Street Commons and Oakland Homeless Union for research support and love. I have done this work for over 30 years, its all i know.” Sr Hernandez’s eyes welled up with tears, “I have no benefits and can’t even get unemployment,” Sr Hernandez was just one of so many elders and families who have been lied to and face immediate homelessness and joblessness in Pleasanton after being terminated from their job supporting the “racetrack” industry. On January 30th “the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF) stated that   it would end all Golden State Racing stabling  and training operations in Northern California, including at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. They told stable staff who lived in Recreation Vehicle’s they had bought after being displaced from a previous racetrak in Albany, Ca, to be ready to vacate by March 25th. “We came here after they closed Golden Gate Fields because they said we would be employed for five years, now we have no job and no place to live.” Vicky, one of the indigenous residents of the Alameda County Fairgrounds RV park who have worked for the stables there since they got there. The fake corpRape promise by the CARF to all of these poor, indigenous stable workers, which included a five year job guarantee and a stipend to offset the 1,400 dollar exhorbitant rent for their spaces at the RV lot, is typical of the lies told and sold to people to get them to leave our homes and our communities without a fight. The sick part of this situation these hundreds of families are facing is these workers are the reason that the CARF and all of its billionaire and millionaire stakeholders (aka wealthhoarders) made all that money on this industry. They do all the really hard work to care for the horses and the stables. But since when did krapitalism care for or about poor workers. Krapitalism is built on endless exploitation of land and people and when the “profit-margins” don’t pay off - they throw us away. “ These families moved from Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley—uprooting their children—to Pleasanton. We see this happen frequently: marginalized populations are moved into other cities, and the city of origin then uses the resulting lower numbers to claim success, rather than revealing the true nature of the reduction in their unhoused population. What is happening in Pleasanton is catastrophic in terms of displacement and the removal of a Latinx community—many of whom have dedicated over 25 years of service to California’s equine industry,” said Andrea Henson, lawyer and advocate and founder of Where Do We Go , who is working with POOR Magazine to support the families.   “Reparations NOT evictions!”  my chant was clear at an emergency press conference POOR Magazine held with the families and Where Do We Go lead attorney Andrea Henson and our youth at Deecolonize Academy. “They shouldnt have to pay any rent,” said Simbha, 12, one of our youth skolaz at Deecolonize Academy to the small crowd. As of press date nothing has been resolved and these families are in limbo and we at POOR Magazine believe first and foremost they should be offered the land for free to live on forever, as some reparations for the decades of work put in by them to the billion dollar horse-racing industry but knowing how krapitalism moves we are at the very least demanding they are offered to stay on the land for free until they find other job placements or housing. “We have no jobs and nowhere to live with our children, we don’t even have trucks to take the RV’s off this lot, what will happen to us?,” one of the mamas whispered to me in tears.”   We are asking people to please call the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Pleasanton city council at +1 (510) 272-6347  and (925) 931-5001  and tell them to keep the fairgrounds open for the families to stay and keep their families and homes and community in tact Reparations Not Evictions. Thanks to Wood Street Commons and Oakland Homeless Union for research support and love.