Side by Side

chair frames and baby toys, 

jackets, toothbrushes coffee cans and pillows

wrapped up in paper bags made of memories

nylon homes buried under lives made of storms… Povertyskola

 Sunday, February 12, 4PM @the Lab, 2948 16th Street in San Francisco

Sunday, February 26, 4PM @PianoFight, 1540 Broadway in Oakland

Six houseless residents of San Francisco, LA and Oakland live outside in tents,

READ MORE

Political Issues Facing Black San Franciscans Today

by Andrew Khakali

When Same was a child, they didn’t see any difference between them and their mostly white  preschool mates. Like all children, they simply enjoyed the company of other people, and saw them as either nice or mean based on the way that person treated them. How they felt about others had nothing to do with race, who their parents were, how wealthy their family was or anything else.

READ MORE

Black and Trans in San Francisco

By Mia Harper

Homelessness and how to end it has been a topic of conversation over the past several years at the state, federal and community levels. However, there has been little conversation on how homelessness and racism are linked. It is time to speak up and call it what it is.

It is so sad that at this time being Black still feels like a crime in this country.

READ MORE

Homelessness Among Black San Franciscans Should be Treated as a Racial Equity Issue

By Martine Khumalo

The intersection of Blackness and homelessness in San Francisco is a result of gaps in the system, and it is said you can’t beat the system. On any given night in America, there are over a half- million people who are homeless. Many suffer from chronic health conditions  and have  limited access to health care, or no access at all. This is an untenable situation, and it is not only a moral issue but also a public health crisis.

READ MORE

What the Future Would Look Like Without Racism

by Belinda Moses

What is racism? Racism is the prejudice, discrimination or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. There is a worldwide belief that some races possess distinct characteristics, abilities or qualities that make them superior to others.

Racism does a lot of damage to both individuals and the community.

READ MORE

The Future Without Racism

by Terry Johnson

What would the future look like if racism were defeated? This question causes my heart to yearn. The belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities or qualities that distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another is what makes this world so divided. We could instead embrace a world that is diverse and colorful, full of different kinds of people with different mindsets and backgrounds.In a bid for racial superiority,

READ MORE

Poetry

SUBTRACTED

by Dee Allen

Sisters aren’t valued

In this world of ours

Seen nowhere on the streets

Not the hospitals, malls or bars

Because they’re

Missing

Subtracted

From the city

Headcount cut down in size.

Sisters aren’t respected

In this world of ours

Yet their kin are fraught w/ worry.

READ MORE

What Black History Month Means to Me

by Tariq Johnson

It is a time of Reflection to sharpen my perception of who I am and where I come from. The struggles that my ancestors went through, to overcome the obstacles of racism and achieve their goals. So the positive definition of the word N-I-G-G-A could and would become: Never Ignorant – Getting – Goals Achieved.

I am 58 years old, born in 1964 when Black Power really meant something to my people.

READ MORE

Make the Change

Make the change 

Give your change 

Lend a helping hand 

Buy a meal 

Feed the soul 

Don’t feed me the processed 

Feed me the organic truth 

The fiber, the greens 

The antioxidants to give me life 

Make the change 

Give your change 

Read me a lyric,a story 

What’s your story? 

Can you smile that it makes me want to dance and sing To perform art,

READ MORE

Oasis Inn’s Family Shelter to Close — Unless the City Steps In

Less than two weeks before the planned closure of a shelter for unhoused families, housing and homelessness advocates converged on the steps of San Francisco City Hall to protest the Oasis Inn’s December 15 closing date.  The demonstrators—many of whom live at the Oasis and are facing imminent displacement—demanded that the City move to buy the building in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, while also calling on the Oasis’s owners to sell the property to the City or a prospective nonprofit contractor at the December 6 action.  

READ MORE