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  • Oakland Mayors’ Waste Millions on Homeless Sweeps; Will a New Mayor Be Different?

    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.

  • UnTour Book Release in Huchiun (so-called Oakland)

    Upcoming events: April 26 Huchiun (Oakland, Ca) 3pm | EastSide Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd May 20 Yelamu (San Francisco) 6pm | City Lights Books, 261 Columbus Ave 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.

  • POOR Magazine/RoofLESS Radio Street Writing Workshop Yelamu/SF 3/21/2025

    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

  • UnTour Book Release Ceremony in So-called San Rafael- Occupied coast Miwok Lands

    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

  • Locking up the Lake (Merritt)

    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

  • Reparations Not Evictions

    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.

  • La Historia de un Inmigrante/The Story of an Immigrant

    Esta es la historia de un joven que emigró a US en el estado de California en 1983 por primera vez cuando tenía 14 o 15 años de edad. Esta persona venía con muchas ilusiones de superar monetariamente porque allá en su país, México, creía que no había oportunidades de ganar dinero como lo que tenía la gente que regresaron de los Estados Unidos, pues eso parecía porque los dólares valían muchos pesos. Creo que eran 12 pesos por dólar. Esta persona yo lo conocía bien y platicabamos mucho y me estaba confianza- por eso estoy escribiendo su historia al paso de los 11 meses trabajando. Pudo guardar 3,000 dólares y fue a su país México en el estado de Jalisco. Pero unos meses antes de su regreso a su país natal, empezó a beber cervezas algunas veces, konjac, tequila y algunas bebidas de licor que no recuerdo. Regresó a su estado natal Jalisco con la alegría que tenía de ver regresado y con algún dinero que había juntado trabajando en US. Compró un carro clásico de 4 puertas y todos los días se divertía manejando su carro y celebrando escuchando música y brindando. Pero con el tiempo, regresó a los US con los mismos sueños de superación.  En los años 80, no era difícil cruzar la línea divisoria de México a los Estados Unidos. Los emigrantes han apoyado económicamente a sus familiares en sus pueblos natales, también a la economía de sus regiones y su país. Este joven emigrante regresó a seguir luchando por superación monetaria. Todas las personas inmigrantes que venimos aquí a este país se encuentran con muchos obstáculos-- por ejemplo, comunicarse en diferentes idiomas, navegar diferentes costumbres, y también por algunas razones algunas gentes no nos aceptan. Podemos escribir muchas historias pero nunca vamos a estar de acuerdo porque nadie pensamos igual. Algunos somos demócratas y otros republicanos. Entre todos anda la enfermedad así lo vamos a nombrar el capitalismo.  En las últimas elecciones nos están declarando la guerra contra todas las personas que había cruzado la línea. Le nombran “muro fronterizo.” Para concluir, con buena actitud, AT. ciudadano del mundo. This is the story of a young man who emigrated to the US in the state of California in 1983 for the first time when he was 14 or 15 years old. This person came with a lot of hopes of improving financially because back in his home country of Mexico, he didn’t think there were opportunities to earn the kind of money people came back from the US with, and it seemed to be because dollars are worth so many pesos. I think it was 12 pesos for a dollar. I knew this person well and we talked a lot and he trusted me - that's why I'm writing his story at the end of the 11 months he worked and managed to save 3,000 dollars to return to Mexico. But a few months before his return to his home country, he started drinking occasional beers, konjac, tequila and some liquor drinks that I don’t remember. He returned to his home state of Jalisco with the joy of being back along with some money that he had collected working in the US. He bought a classic 4-door car and had fun driving his car and celebrating with music and drinks. But eventually, he came back to the US with the same dreams of success. In the 80s, it was not difficult to cross the border from Mexico to the United States. Immigrants have provided financial support to their families back home as well as to the economy of their regions and country. This young immigrant returned to continue fighting for financial gain.  All the immigrants who come to this country encounter many obstacles-- for example, communicating in different languages, navigating different customs, and also for various reasons certain people don’t accept us. No matter how many stories we write, we’ll never be on the same page because nobody thinks the same. Some of us are Democrats and others are Republicans. But in all of us lives the disease we call capitalism. In the recent elections they’re declaring war on all people who crossed the border. They’re calling it a “border wall.” In conclusion, with a good attitude, AT. citizen of the world

  • Homeless and Jobless in Two Days

    Hundreds of Stable Workers living in their RV’s at Alameda County Fairgrounds and their families face homelessness and joblessness this Friday! Soon to be Houseless families from Alameda County Fairgrounds with formerly houseless POOR Magazine Youth and Family advocates FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Contact: tiny gray-garcia/muteado silencio, POOR Magazine/Homefulness,510-435-7500  What: Emergency Press Conference   When: 2pm Thursday, March 27 Where: Alameda County Fairgrounds - Gate 12     “I have been working in these stables for over 30 years and then all of sudden I’m jobless and homeless,” said Nicolas Hernandez, who is one of hundreds of workers and RV park residents at Alameda County Fairgrounds facing immediate eviction and job termination due to the end of the “Horse racing industry in California”   “the California Authority of Racing Fairs confirmed Jan. 30 that it will end all Golden State Racing stabling  and training operations in Northern California, including at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. That means that many of the staff, who lived in an RV park on the grounds, may have to vacate by March 25. Workers who stay on the site beyond that date could face fines due to wastewater runoff the state has deemed unsafe, according to the Bay Area News Group .” Houseless and formerly houseless organizers from POOR  Magazine and Oakland Homeless Union are demanding housing resources be offered to the soon to be jobless and homeless workers  “This is a significant population of families with children who will become unhoused if resource providers don’t step in quickly. 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. The hundreds of residents of the park are very low-income, hard-working families with small children who live in Pleasanton and go to neighborhood schools and now suddenly because of the end of an industry face homelessness and joblessness. “They have worked and lived there for decades, how about equity, how about reparations for their years of low-wage work in that billion dollar industry that is closing overnite with no account for the hundreds of workers that kept it alive . They deserve reparations not terminations, they deserve equity not  evictions”, said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseless, advocate and co-founder of POOR magazine   The press conference will feature residents of the RV park, advocates and formerly houseless members of Voces de inmigrantes en resistencia and Youth reporters from POOR Magazine, Deecolonize Academy, Where Do We go Berkeley and Oakland Homeless Union For updates follow  @poormagazine @wheredowegoberkeley @oaklandhomelessunion

  • Evicted, Swept and Kicked…. cuz Settler Towns like these don’t give a shit ..

    UnTour Thru the Occupied Pacific Northwest to MamaFest Homefulness By tiny aka povertyskola Tiny speaking with relatives in occupied Duwamish land. “We don’t lack the willpower, intelligence, love or heart, we just lack the money,” Tent City 3 resident Joe Molloy’s clarity was beautiful medicine for all of us over-swept, never heard houseless relatives struggling with the degrading demeaning lies constantly being generated and perpetrated about houseless people. Us Houseless/formerly houseless povertyskolaz ( as we call ourselves) from POOR Magazine were getting an inspiring tour thru Tent City 3,  launched by the homeless women-led movements known as SHARE & WHEEL. Joe’s tour was preceeded up by an equally inspiring tour thru Tent City 4 t he day before after our poetry workshop and skills share  with SHARE & WHEEL povertyskolaz.  We were in Chief Siah’l (aka Seattle) on our 3rd UnTour thru the Pacific Northwest to share and teach with tent cities povertyskolaz , and University students on a “solution” to homelessness that we houseless peoples have built and are currently housed in, Homefulness,  like the Tent Cities is in fact a homeless peoples, rent-free, healing housing solution that currently houses 23 houseless families, youth and elders in occupied Huchiun (Oakland) and there are a group of housed and houseless residents who are working hard to bring it or Mamafest it in the Pacific Northwest.  Joe Molloy gives us a tour of Tent City 3. “Sometimes we get so cold out here that we end up doing things we know aren’t safe like light fires in our tents… just to stay alive…” said Keinard Gaines, a talented artist and excellent father who is currently houseless in so-called Tacoma , after a nightmare with a non-profiteer, and Anti-social worker who unhoused him after offering him housing. Our humble Untour took place in the indigenous lands of the Duwamish, Squaxin, Nisqually, Pullyup and many more nations that colonial genocide has erased.  And to be clear I always use the indigenous names for all of the regions of Turtle Island (aka US)  that us houseless people are trying to sit, stand, sleep and live, because as far as i’m concerned you can’t overstand or speak about the violence that rains down on our heads as houseless people, without overstanding the history of genocide of the 1st peoples of this land who were violently removed to build the colonial project known as the US. The same racist, classist, settler anti-poor people lies ( i mean, laws) that incarcerated, murdered, removed  and destroyed hundreds of thousands of thriving nations of people living on Turtle Island through a campaign of erasure, hate and violence, are the exact same “laws” that cause us houseless Black, Brown, Indigenous, disabled and poor wite peoples of all nations, to be swept, killed, and removed, all and both in the name of “cleanliness” devil-opment, expansion, renewal, improvement,business and most of all krapitalism .  Scene from one of the book readings. Additionally, to add another disturbing aspect, over 60% of the houseless peoples who participated in our RoofLessRadio WeSearch project in the Pacific Northwest are themselves indigenous to the lands they are “houseless” on. This fact rarely or never gets named by mainstream or even progressive media.  This is why in addition to workshops and skill shares and love - The 2025 UnTour included the release of KlanMarks, Plakkks and ManuMeants - an UnTour Book Across Occupied Turtle Island-  a powerful new POOR Press book which includes the unwashing of colonial genocidal history past and present as well as what i call Resistance Marks, examples of street altars, murals, and sites of remembering for Black, Brown and houseless relatives stolen by the current genocide of PoLice, racism and hate. Helping people overstand that the genocide and removal of 1st peoples and now houseless peoples all across occupied Turtle Island follows the same violent template we are witnessing in Palestine right now.  “They don’t care if it’s snowing or 30 below, they pull up with their bulldozers and take everything and leave us out there in the elements,” another houseless povertyskola spoke to RoofLEssradio  in so-called Tacoma after one of our street writing workshops at St Vincent De Paul’s community center. While we were in there, snow fell to the already freezing ground while houseless relatives figured out how they were going to survive through the night.  As i have spoken and taught many times, the word and concept of “sweeping” humans is one of many hygienic metaphors used to equate us houseless humans with trash, thereby de-linking us from our humanity solely because we don’t have access to the lie of rent.  Once the general public no longer sees us as human like them, they can easily rationalize our being removed from so-called public spaces, i.e, we are no longer members of the public even when many of us used to live in homes in these in areas or lands for generations but due to eviction, crisis, violence, we are hiding and trying to survive outside. In addition, as i have often done, we need to examine the settler lie of public space itself.  Finally, this krapitalist society CONtinues to disrespect and silence our voices, our solutions, and our survival. They would like to kill us all like they just did with Cornelius Taylor in Atlanta and James Edward Oakley in Vallejo, but we have solutions and they work. Homefulness works, Tent city works, we just need to be listened to.

  • Land Black, Black Land, homelessness is a colonizer’s scam: UNTOUR BOOK LAUNCH IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST

    Momii Palapaz, PNN poverty scholar “I want to point out the other resistance marks in this beautiful prayer…the resistance marks of our warriors lost to police terror.. Mario Woods, Luis Temaj, Iris Canada, a 100 year old Black elder evicted from her home of 40 years.  Because capitalism kills”.   Tiny, co-founder of POOR MAGAZINE, introduces the beautiful prayer, The UnTour Book, Across Occupied Turtle Island. From Yelamu, to Suquamish, Standing Rock to Alcatraz, the UnTour Book is a compilation of resistance marks, from poverty scholars in communities and towns, where rivers, mountains and forests were destroyed and threatened.  The poverty scholars' untours crossed Turtle Island meeting Indigenous relatives from all over the world at Standing Rock, South Dakota, visited communities of Black and Brown displacement, and met movements of poor brothers and sisters in cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Tallahassee, Nashville, Boston…housed and unhoused, fighting for justice. Aunti Frances Moore, co-founder of Self Help Hunger Program, brought to everyone’s attention the long trek walking into history while producing the book. “ The chain of lies has been broken”, she said, “All the atrocities, the blood sweat and tears that my ancestors shed… it’s a miracle that I’m still standing tall.”  Share Wheel resident Harriet with Vick and Aunti Frances Aunti Frances reads at Orca Books, Olympia, WA Unhoused and Unheard “Homelessness is instability, insecurity, always wondering when the next shoe will drop. Un-certain where I’m waking up,”  wrote Harriet.  Her shoulder length brown hair framed her face that smiled as we talked on our first stop of the untour.  Share Wheel Shelter in Seattle, Washington, temporarily houses over 40 women from the bitterly cold February weather.   Over 20 women, mostly elders, promptly wrote stories reminding the reader of the lack of permanent housing, the system’s constant abuse, the desert of mental health support and poor people’s solutions.  The enthusiasm energized the room.  Rarely do unhoused people get asked to share their stories, opinions and solutions to homelessness. Harriet finished her story, writing, “Constant super-vigilance, must be awake - aware who is around me, who is honest, who do I need to steer clear of. “   For years, POOR MAGAZINE writing workshops have given hundreds of unhoused community members the platform to be the voice for the unhoused and unheard.  The latest sessions were also held at Tent City #3, University of Washington and St. Vincent De Paul's community center in Tacoma.   Colonizer scam Centuries of land stealing, and centuries of the fight for independence, sovereignty and international solidarity have been erased from colonizer made history.  From territories to reservations, communities of Black and Brown, immigrant and working class, poor people’s struggles are made invisible while klanmarks dot cities with KKK manuments praising and celebrating racial violence, slavery, displacement and massacres of indigenous tribes people  Spanish weapons of mass destruction invaded Ohlone land with the Missions of California.  Junipero Serra, was a colonizer who raped, kidnapped, enslaved, murdered, sold and tortured the Indigenous population up and down the Ohlone coast. tiny at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA Vick at Bulldog News, Seattle, WA   Two spirits, Vick Toreya, of Sogorea’ Te read passages from an interview with POOR MAGAZINE in the UnTour Book , page 71. “It was on Indigenous People’s Day, October 12, 2022.  He’s ( J.Serra) the reason why we have the missions here in California and why so many of our California Indian relatives are still suffering some of the long term effects of the mission development system, which eventually turned into the prison industrial complex. This colonizer basically brought the missions to California, starting with the first mission in San Diego… to the closest ones to where I’m at on Lisjan Ohlone territory right now…known as Oakland and The Bay Area..These statues represent genocide, rape and the extermination of Indigenous people.”          Areya, Solidarity Family Rick Williams, master carver              tiny, Toby and Christy, St. Vincent DePaul’s, Tacoma, WA POOR UNTOURS took me to Denver, discovering the gentrification schematic that repeats itself across turtle island.   Driving miles southeast, in the dry, suffocating heat, I felt the hot wind, the dusty dirt that panted for moisture. Not a soul could be seen on this desolate trek.  Somehow the ancestors were welcoming me as we neared the Japanese American Concentration camp, Amache, named after the daughter of Cheyenne Chief Ochinee.  I cried without restraint, taking in the despair and sacrifices of my ancestors.  My life wouldn’t be here without their inspiration and resilience.  Just north a ways, we met the descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre.  Prayers and dansa were laid to honor the martyrs of this site.  On page 168, the UNTOUR BOOK  tells the herstory of hundreds, mostly women and children, massacred by the U.S. Army in 1864. The POOR MAGAZINE week long UNTOUR BOOK launch was imagined and introduced by POOR MAGAZINE co-founder tiny Garcia, with poverty scholars and POOR Solidarity Family. Bulldog News, Cafe Red, Evergreen State College and Orca Books (Olympia, WA), and King Books (Tacoma, Puyallup Tribe) hosted the POOR MAGAZINE Untour Book Readings, with guests, Rick Williams, Eagleson, Lisa Ganser, and poets. Jay, Areya, Ed, Tye, Joy, Kaitlan and Seamus, from the POOR Solidarity Family coordinated the launching of the UNTOUR BOOK in Olympia, Tacoma and Seattle (the city originally named after Chief Si’ahl in the 1860’s for the Duwamish and Suquamish natives).

  • The City of Oakland is Making us Homeless Again

    Human feces at the Cabins from leaking sewage pipe that was never maintained properly - foto courtesy of Wood Street Commons For Immediate Release:  Contact:  John Janasko: Wood Street Commons (510) 712-7639  Tiny garcia : POOR Magazine/Homefulness  (510-435-7500  After claiming the City of Oakland had created a housing “solution” to homelessness they make us homeless again.  Wood Street Commons, Oakland Homeless Union  and POOR Magazine hold a press conference in front of the failed, abandoned and dangerously neglected “housing solution” in West Oakland known as the “cabins”  On Monday March 24, 2025,at 11 am, residents of the cabins, along with houseless and  formerly houseless  leaders from Wood Street Commons, Oakland Homeless Union, and POORmagazine/Homefulness, will be holding a press conference at 2601 Wood Street, Oakland, CA, the site of the RV park and Community Cabins that will be closed at the end of the month.).  "The complete lack of oversight from top to bottom is nothing unique; it's the fabric that holds together the homeless industrial complex. It's time for the city to start listening to the residents and resident leaders, who have been fighting to be heard this entire time" Freeway, former resident of the Cabins and organizer with Wood Street Commons and The Oakland Homeless Union.. Residents of the Wood Street Community Cabins and Safe Parking Site were informed by management that the “Cabins” or interim housing site will be closed because the city has stopped paying the non-profit service provider operating the site, Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS) Residents have been given no indication that they will be allowed to continue residing on site or offered alternative accommodation, and approximately 80 people are now at risk of becoming unsheltered.  "I'm not sure how I could be disappointed, when I never had high hopes from the beginning," “J” a houseless resident of the “Cabins” who will be on the street again after they close the cabins. Wood Street Commons, the Oakland Homeless Union, and POOR magazine, are declaring that the site should become a self-governed sanctuary community in which residents will be granted security of tenure until they receive permanent supportive housing and be empowered to manage the site autonomously. Wood Street Commons invites all grassroots community service organizations and frontline service providers to support the residents in the face of their abandonment by the city by helping provide food, services, donations, camaraderie, friendship and solidarity.  “The politricksters & LIEgislators 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, expensive sweeps and inhumane, uninhabitable,life-threatening so-called housing.”said tiny gray-garcia, formerly houseless cofounder POOR Magazine/Homefulness “The feces gushing out of the cabins plumbing is just the final proof they would rather kill us than listen to us.” concluded tiny The organizations call on all allies and supporters of unhoused people to advocate to the City of Oakland and Alameda County to embrace the self-governed sanctuary model, pledge not to displace Wood Street residents before they can receive housing, respect resident autonomy in the management of their community, financially support a nutrition program, and improve residents’ access to healthcare.  “Preliminary agreements made by the City to Wood Street Commons  community were not met with the cabins being built,” aid LaMonte Ford, one of the formerly houseless residents of Wood Street Commons and survivor of the violent eviction by the City of Oakland The city of Oakland’s 2022 homeless services audit found that more people exit from the cabins to homelessness than to housing, falling dramatically short of their “positive exit” targets. In 2023, the District 3 Councilmember requested an official report by C’mon Falls, the then Homelessness Coordinator for the City of Oakland. This report was supposed to include the rate of successful exits into permanent housing, as well as the services that were then being offered at all emergency intervention sites, such as the Wood Street Cabins. This report was never produced and since then C’mon Falls has resigned from that position, leaving many more questions than answers for residents and allies alike. BOSS and the city have demonstrably failed to provide safe and dignified living conditions at the Wood Street cabins. In a series of press conferences last year, residents and allies called attention to abusive staff and roiling staff turnover; ignored disability accommodation requests; ineffective housing navigation; mold growth in many of the cabins; disrepair of bathrooms, s; kitchen and laundry facilities, including nonfunctioning toilets and showers and kitchen ranges that residents are unable to access or use after certain hours; sewage seeping out of the ground; paperwork lost by staff; lack of employment training; insufficient access to healthcare. One resident described the site as a mere “storage area for homeless people.” Another said residents are treated as an inconvenience when they ask for help with paperwork and documentation. Resident demands for accountability have been ignored, and those lucky enough to get permanent housing placement had done so with the help of outside service providers, not the onsite staff Recent investigative reporting by Cal Matters  has confirmed what unhoused residents and advocates have already been saying, which is that emergency shelters are unsafe, lack oversight, and are ineffective at getting people out of homelessness. And one study found that the increased unhoused mortality risk of 350% is the same for both sheltered and unsheltered individuals, demonstrating that emergency shelters do not constitute effective public health interventions. Wood Street Commons and partner organizations, advocates that all interim housing and safe parking programs be subject to the shelter monitoring system designed by Ian Cordola Morales, from the advocacy organization Where Do We Go?, with the assistance of unhoused and formerly unhoused advocates with Wood Street Commons, to provide independent oversight and hold service providers accountable for ensuring high standards of safety and care for residents.  The non-profit service providers operating city-managed emergency interventions such as BOSS, Operation Dignity, BACS and Urban Alchemy have little trust or credibility in the community due to their dismal track records of providing safe and dignified conditions, which is why Oakland and Alameda County should move towards resident self-governance of interim housing sites based on the model outlined in the Homeless Advocacy Working Group’s “Self-Governed Sanctioned Communities” policy proposal.  Furthermore, we are demanding that the City of Oakland, immediately implement a moratorium on sweeps, until at such time a thorough investigative report is done on the success rates of these so-called “transitional housing” programs. In said audit, we insist that an independent audit into the appropriation of funds towards contracts with non-profit service providers that have been in operation for more than 10 years, be included. 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 @woodstreetcommons IG & fb: @poormagazine

  • Interview: Tinotenda Mudarikwa of Zimbabwe

    People With Disabilities Organizing, Krip-Hop Newest Chapter Interview by Leroy Moore Leroy Moore: Tell me more about your recent event and why you organized it? Tino Mudarikwa: Our recent event was a joint commemoration of Rare Diseases Day, International Wheelchair Day and World Birth Defects Day. We chose to do this commemoration with the most impoverished group of people with various disabilities from our oldest suburb in our town. We managed to provide a decent meal to everyone who attended. Leroy: What did you do at the event and how are you going to build on it? Tino Mudarikwa: What we did at event was to gather persons with various disabilities and reminded them that they are not cursed or bewitched. We also had the medical students present on spina befida, cerebral palsy and other forms of Rare Diseases. We plan to increase the number of Zimbabwe Medical Students Association to work with us and attend to needs of our beneficiaries medical Leroy: What does the government do for people with disabilities in zimbabwe? Tino Mudarikwa: The government doesn't do much, I last heard the social welfare ministry gave money equivalent to $7.00 Leroy: Have there been protests against the government for more services and to raise the benefit from $7 to more? Tino Mudarikwa: People are scared to protest they can be arrested for protesting. It happens in many African countries! Leroy: What wow! Are there disability laws there? Tino Mudarikwa: There is a Disability Bill that is waiting for the President's signature. Leroy: What’s your future work and where does the new Krip-Hop chapter come in to the future of people with disabilities in Zimbabwe? And did Zimbabwe sign the United Nations Treaty on Disability, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD)? Tino Mudarikwa: This is not what is on the ground right now. Persons with disabilities are marginalized in Zimbabwe. Leroy: So how can Krip-Hop Nation can help? Tino Mudarikwa: We think that our involvement with Krip-Hop Nation and establishing Krip-Hop Nation Zimbabwe Chapter will be a game changer for musicians with disabilities in Zimbabwe. We will have a platform where we can showcase talent, where we can publish our work online as musicians with disabilities. So it is crucial that we open up Krip-Hop Nation Zimbabwe Chapter. I also think that having a Krip-Hop Nation Zimbabwe Chapter would give opportunity to networking with other persons with disabilities from other countries, specifically from South Africa our neighbor. If we are to work and connect with South Africa, we will learn a lot from what they've been doing as a chapter. Networking is something we look forward to and hopefully get some support from our networks and have exchange programs in the arts and music to be specific.

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