Trying to Make It in America

by anonymous
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

I am an immigrant from Malawi, and I have lived in San Francisco for the last ten years. I came to the United States for a wedding and afterwards I decided to stay and try to make it in America.

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Fighting to Survive

by Quiver Watts
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

I came to the United States five years ago from Uganda with an invitation from my husband who had secured a visa a few years back. My husband and I were both brought up at a children’s home in Kampala.

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Full of Opportunity?

by Ashina
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

Immigration is the movement of people from one country (mostly developing or underdeveloped countries) to another (usually developed countries) in search for better livelihood. Homelessness is the state of one being without shelter.

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It Seemed Like a Dream Come True…

by Lunar Ramires
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

Hello, I’m Lunar Ramires, an immigrant. Three years ago, I met an agent back in Mexico who promised to bring me to the United States and help me get a housekeeping job.

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A Scam I Can’t Recover From

by Tyler Smith
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

Hello, my name is Tyler. I am an immigrant that came to study in the U.S., San Francisco. Just like many other immigrants who visit the USA,

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Thing Took a Turn

by Jocey
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

The rate of homelessness in San Francisco is currently alarming and it’s quite unfortunate that I have been a victim of it. My name is Jocey, a 28-year-old divorcee,

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Looking for Greener Pastures

by Sofia Henry
A rooster stands atop a skull wearing a hat that reads "ICE", with handcuffs lying beside it. The image is framed by cacti and a scorpion.

Content warning: The stories throughout this issue may be especially activating for some readers. Many of these pieces involve descriptions of traumatic experiences including sexual violence, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, queer/transphobic violence, in addition to the violence of states and false borders.

Africa is a beautiful land full of resources, tourist attractions and diverse culture, but still many of us leave it to visit the U.S. and look for greener pastures.

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Georgia Marie

by Jason Albertson

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual individuals, alive or dead, is coincidental.

Case counts were down; I told the folks delivering vaccinations that I could help. We set up Mobile Outreach Vaccine Events to find homeless people to vaccinate. We gave people twenty bucks worth of gift cards for vaccinating, and offered flu vaccines, booster shots, Johnson and Johnson one-shot-gets-you-done vaccines, and completion doses for Moderna and Pfizer.

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Mousey’s Story: Homelessness and Mental Illness

by Johanna Elattar

It’s a frigid day in New York as I step outside to check the mail. A snow storm has covered  everything in glistening white, and I’m only dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans. It only takes a minute to check the mail, but I’m already freezing. I open the mailbox and there’s no mail. I’ve forgotten that it’s Martin Luther King Day. I stand on the porch for a second to look at the snow,

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Are You Still Awakening?

by Jesse Mentken

So this is me catching up to myself, and this process of endless awakening is really the same path towards finding a home.

We all must navigate a society that endlessly attempts to diminish our relationship to soul-spirit-body-heart-mind-God-earth.

I say that it attempts to diminish the relationship, which is very different from stating that it diminishes the soul itself. That never takes place, even though we all believe it does somewhere in our deepest suffering.

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