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

By Gera “WE WANT YOUR MOM” Arriving in Guam was really uncomfortable even though I did not have anything on my person, I totally felt like we (me and my girlfriend at the time) were being followed. As we got near the baggage claiming area you could see the Customs agents huddling up around the metal detector exit line. We then claimed our baggage and proceeded to the exit where we were met by agents who stopped us. "Would you happen to bring any narcotic into my island.” "No sir absolutely not.” In my mind I was thinking 'I do not' and although my girlfriend does, I have to act like she does not have anything on her also. Immediately, they separated us despite us yelling “We are US citizens,” while reaching out to each other, unable to touch one another's fingertips. Next, the interrogation process started, which I knew they were experts at doing. Within the first 15 minutes they told me that they had found drugs on my girlfriend and she said I had dope on me as well, which I knew was a lie. The whole time I was denying what they were telling me, asking for an attorney and for a phone call, being denied each time. I learned fast that not only did they not believe me but the communication between us was complicated because they spoke little English, they only spoke Chamorro (the Guamanian language). After, they took me for a long drive, angrily saying I had drugs on me and that I was lying about it and how they knew I was the son of the “king pin” (my Mother). They made me feel like I was being taken to be killed and “make me disappear,” as one of the Guam customs agents said back in the interrogation room at the airport. I was shackled up in the back seat, being held against my will by one big Guam agent on each side of me making sure I didn't release out any drugs from my body without them noticing. I prayed out loud and let them know I am not a bad guy and I think they are making a mistake, because I honestly do not have any drugs on me and I don't know why they are saying my girlfriend has some on her because I have no idea what they were talking about. It was a 2 hour drive when they made me hop out the back seat still shackled arms and legs, it was dark all around. It looked like an abandoned military base and we walked up a long flight of stairs. I asked if I could please have a cigarette because I noticed one agent smoking. They granted me a smoke with an attitude, saying that I was lying about things and I was lucky to have one. Finally I was taken to a room where some white doctor came out and asked me if I was sure that I did not have any drugs in my person because if so then now was the time to tell him. I said, "NO, but I need my phone call.” The white doctor assaulted me with a blue rubber glove that he had on his hand as he stuck his whole hand up my rectum, feeling around for anything foreign inside me. It was the worst feeling ever! As the doctor gestured to the agents that I was clear, they all looked at each other dumbfounded being that they all were making bets if I was packing or not. With watery eyes from the man's hand that just came out of my body, I was pissed off that they did that to me and were still asking me questions about my Mother along with this whole conspiracy thing they threatened me with . "We want your Mother,” he said. They showed me recordings and paperwork of all the people that were cooperating against Mom, saying it was enough to send her away forever so “You better start talking.” "We want your Mom,” said Duenas, the Guam customs agent at the dark abandoned military base that was also the medical facility they violated me at minutes ago. They proceeded to interrogate me and finally forced me to cooperate as they continued threatening my Mom's life. They even knew names of my people that were also at risk of indictment. It was unbelievable the things they knew. All I knew at that point was I had to save Mom's life. One of Mom's so called "friends” was in the process of setting my Mother up back home and I was able to put a stop to that. When I was given my phone call finally upon booking into the Guam prison in Hagatna, I called home collect and said in code language to let my Mom know they are coming for her. There is no way around that because they had been investigating for 6 months and more than a few people had claimed she was the ring leader. Upon my call I was able to tell fam to make sure she got out of there NOW. She went on the run and was captured 2 months later. These are the things that are caused by oppression in a crapitalist society. Crime is the first stage of rebellion, we resort to crime when the law is not meeting the needs of the people and defending what we believe in. The US Government breeds rats and will not follow through with the promises they make upon cooperation, although in my heart I know what I did was the best way to handle the situation in order to save my Mother. Still, she received 7 years when they said she would get the mandatory minimum of 3 years for cooperating the same as I received. I recommend NEVER to cooperate with any Government agency as they will deface your character and make false promises. This is not part of my current lifestyle but an experience I feel needs to be addressed to the people in hopes of creating awareness and change. Til this day, me and Mother are on the Government watch list and they bother us daily by gang stalking etc.

From the Western Regional Advocacy Project Dear friend, An urgent reminder to please sign the SB 1011 opposition letter by April 3 and distribute this action alert widely. It only takes a minute to sign on! EVERYONE DESERVES EQUAL RIGHTS. Join the Equal Rights for Every Neighbor Coalition in opposing SB 1011 (Jones) – a harmful and discriminatory bill that violates the rights of unhoused neighbors. We need as many organizations and individuals to sign on as possible! Use this form to read and sign on to our opposition letter by April 3 OR Personalize and submit a separate letter [here and attached] to the Senate Public Safety Committee by April 9. WHAT IS SB 1011? This bill is similar to last year’s SB 31 (Jones), which the EREN coalition successfully killed. SB 1011 would prohibit sitting, lying, sleeping, or storing personal property within 500 feet of any public or private school, open space, or major transit stop, making large swaths of cities off-limits to unhoused neighbors. It would also prohibit being on any sidewalk or street anywhere if a homeless shelter is “available.” HOW WOULD SB 1011 HARM OUR COMMUNITIES? SB 1011 would criminalize the very existence of our unhoused neighbors in public spaces state-wide. We are gravely concerned that SB 1011 would further demonize, destabilize, criminalize, and violate the human rights of unhoused Californians while failing to address the underlying driver of houselessness: the lack of affordable and accessible housing to Californians with the lowest incomes. Join us to demand equal rights for EVERY neighbor! In solidarity

By Reddie Harris The black window of a 30 foot RV (my castle) hangs wide open. A large bag of cat food sits unopened inside. Four litter boxes are laced over with translucent spider webs and I feel like a total failure. I do my best to provide security and shelter for myself and those I possess in my right hand. As a non-resident of California, I have no rights, even though my castle is across the street from the overseer (police) station. I have no papers linking my kitty, Lil Mama, to me. Lil Mama is an affectionate spirit covered in fur. Gray tiger stripes decorate her fur and she does her best not to scratch me as she crawls and climbs from one end of the castle to the other. With the black window open, she can come and go as she pleases. Her food dish is always topped off, so I need to stay stocked. The litterboxes stay cleaned only when there’s something inside to clean. It is on me to protect and provide for her because she can’t buy food or clean her litter boxes “I would like to keep her until her shots appointment next week. Get a chip in her. How do you feel about that? Her and my cat are insanely attached. I didn’t expect that…Ok, if you have $500 for all that and can prove it’s a healthy environment, I will return Lil Mama” Oxford defines appropriation as “the action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission” “Can you take time to consider this? She’s thriving. I give them four meals a day. She goes out as she pleases. She has her own water fountain with fresh water at all times” Does this sound familiar? Have you heard this argument before? Has anyone tried to justify wrongdoing on grounds that they made things better? That’s what happened to me, but I remembered some very good advice that turned this situation around. “As long as you keep your composure no matter what’s going on, you’re doing great”. It wasn’t my clever wit or domineering authority that turned the situation around. I didn’t resort to threats of retaliation because realistically, the overseers have little to nothing to gain by defending my rights. Without a mailbox, the city is constantly trying to purge me and others from it. No, I don’t think the city is an entity that plots against me. There are things like this that happen all over the city, but predators always follow the same patterns. A predator’s first choice will always be the vulnerable, the underrepresented, the unattended. When Crazy Cat Lady first took Lil Mama from the castle, (I don’t know if she went inside or got the kitty as she was outside), she saw her unattended, thought she had no representation and was vulnerable to prey upon. Let me tell you what works. Prayer and patience. You know, I do not believe that talKing is an action, unless it’s in prayer. I prayed on this and had trust that Allah would eventually sort out my affairs, as always. I prayed for the safety of Lil Mama and even through this trial, she was safe. I was patient in remembrance that Crazy Cat Lady, like so many walKing on cracked concrete instead of grounding themselves in comeyounity, is hurt. I couldn’t possibly expect her to sympathize or rationalize on her own. Neither her or I have ever been in control of this or any situation. The Creator hears and answers prayers. With patience and trust, she was brought black to my castle by the one who took her. Despite this trust, I must admit that I was surprised how much pressure Crazy Cat Lady got from the people around her. All I had to do was tell her to listen to the voices around her. The truth is a beautiful song coming out of someone else’s mouth. I dare not interrupt. Crazy Cat Lady told me she knew she was being selfish and asked me what I thought she should do. I suggested she search her heart and do what is right. Regardless of what we’ve been through, regardless of what we’ve done or seen, regardless of the state of the world, we are people. We are. If I see someone, I see mycellpH. If I feel something, that’s felt all over the world. I treated her the way I would like to be treated, with compassionate honesty. May Allah be pleased After much procrastination and with tears abundant, Lil Mama was brought to my door by Crazy Cat Lady. She (Lil Mama) jumped right in and on my lap for pet-pets. I didn’t protest as Crazy Cat Lady stood outside swollen-eyed lamenting over her love of all things furry. Personally, I think she is trying to fill an empty space, like so many others. When comeyounities fall short, people seek ineffective alternatives. Cats are not parents. Cars are not children. Money is not a lover and childhood cannot be relived through substances. Try as we may, we cannot consistently rely on anything or anyone but the Creator. This situation has reminded me that things and people will come and go. That is life and it’s best not to get too attached. Be happy for what you’ve got and try not to oppress anyone Lil Mama is with me happily feasting on yum-yums and getting pet-pets at the castle. I still see Crazy Cat Lady around from time to time and no grudges are held. Not all situations are resolved so amicably though. My firstborn son was taken away from me by my family because they feel that they can take better care of him than I can. Palestinians are being forced away from their land by people who think they can care for it better. There is no escaping loss, theft and appropriation, not without faithful prayer

Text: Dedicated to redistributing resources directly to poor, unhoused, and formerly unhoused single mamaz, (fathers) and children who are unable to afford rent, a drivable vehicle, diapers, food, and other emergency needs related to their survival and thrival. The po mama fund was created by the people and supported by the people that is why the po mama fund is so important to impoverished families like mine. The po mama fund should be expanded all across the WORLD because families in a poverty crisis need all the help we can receive in a “non county” time frame. Many of us po mama’s including myself have been in life or death situations and have been victims of violence. Speaking from experience the county and its selective resources will jeopardize your lives even further and refuse to relocate families in danger HOWEVER the perpetrators of the community violence- those that create hostile, dangerous and uncomfortable situations for other folks in the community get the best housing resources and the victims get zippidy do dah! I should know as I have to see the bullet holes in my daughter’s wall every day while the perpetrators of the violence received a brand new unit in the same complex!!! I say this because my point is this is why the po mama fund and Homefulness Healing Housing is direly needed and should be supported that way we in the community can help our own folks and relocate families in danger because unfortunately the county/state MAY help your family once you are on the morgue slab!