We Must Organize Against Trump and His Billionaires. Poor and Unhoused Communities Are Under Attack!

by Contributing Author

by Cathleen Williams, Homeward Street Journal

Protests have ignited across the nation in the first weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency, with protests against Trump’s deportation policies taking place in Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. In Los Angeles, protesters shut down U.S. Highway 101 on February 2 to bring awareness to the threats to migrant and immigrant populations.

Hundreds of Californians of diverse ages and ethnicities rallied at the state capitol in Sacramento on February 5 to bring attention to this and other developments.

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Imprisonment Includes Assault on the Soul

by Contributing Author

by Jack Bragen

The messages are hammered in when you’re incarcerated, and you’re expected to believe them. You are told you’re no good. You’re bad news. You don’t deserve anything. Not love, not comfort, not money, nothing. You are undeserving. You are a bad person, and you should be punished.

Other people believe this of you under these circumstances. Try as you might, you can’t control someone else’s beliefs. 

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Black History Month or Thanking The Slaves for Making America Great?

by Contributing Author
https://www.facebook.com/events/525025368378190/

By Bilal Mafundi Ali

For many people, especially Black people, the month of February signifies the annual celebration of Black History Month/African-American Heritage Month.  February is designated as a time to recognize African American achievements and contributions to America. One notable consequence is the hero worship of a handful of prominent figures.  What’s more, this celebration of Black achievement particularly tends to be sanitized, and this selective representation is often at the expense of erasing a rich legacy of individuals,

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How the L.A. Fires Could Exacerbate California’s Homelessness Crisis

by Contributing Author

By Marisa Kendall/CalMatters

Jennielynn Holmes stood in the middle of a make-shift evacuation center when the scope of the crisis hit her. 

Surrounded by thousands of people that had just fled the Tubbs Fire that burned through Santa Rosa in 2017, Holmes realized many of these people would soon be added to the area’s already extensive caseload of unhoused clients.

“This is the group of people (that) is one crisis away from entering homelessness,” thought Holmes,

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I Manage SF’s ‘Pit Stop’ Program—Here’s Why Public Bathrooms Matter

by Contributing Author

story and photo by Hollie Garrett

A Pit Stop toilet in downtown San Francisco. Photo by Hollie Garrett.

Disclosure: Hollie Garrett works as a manager for San Francisco’s Pit Stop program.

San Francisco’s Pit Stop program is a public restroom program that also provides used needle receptacles and dog waste bags. The program has become a critical component in addressing public sanitation and a safer environment for both the city’s homeless and local residents.

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New Study Demonstrates the Enduring Legacy of U.S. Slavery

by Contributing Author

by Neil K. R. Sehgal and Ashwini Sehgal

Legislators who are descendants of slaveholders are significantly wealthier than members of Congress without slaveholder ancestry, new research has found.

The legacy of slavery in America remains a divisive issue, with sharp political divides.

Some argue that slavery still contributes to modern economic inequalities. Others believe that its effects have largely faded.

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Vehicle Residents Succeed in Appealing Overnight RV Ban

by Contributing Author

by Lukas Illa

Image by Solange Cuba

On December 10, for the first time in its history, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors overturned a decision passed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) Board of Directors that would have banned oversized vehicles citywide.

The move prevented the ban from taking effect. It would have targeted streets in the Lake Merced area after vehicle-dwelling San Franciscans were swept from the area earlier this year.

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A Win for Youth Housing at 1174 Folsom St.

by Contributing Author

by River Beck

On December 4, a diverse coalition of housing advocates in San Francisco succeeded in toppling a series of obstacles facing a 42-unit housing project for transitional-age youth in the city’s South of Market neighborhood. The permanent supportive housing (PSH) project, which will support LGBTQ+ young adults, is a critical step towards solutions desperately needed to avoid chronic homelessness. 

The intergenerational and multi-racial bloc of residents,

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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Approves Extended Rapid Rehousing Subsidies to Combat Homelessness

by Contributing Author

by Julian Highsmith

San Francisco took a monumental step forward in addressing its homelessness crisis this week as the Board of Supervisors approved new legislation on a 10-0 vote to extend the duration of rapid rehousing subsidies from two to five years. This landmark decision promises greater stability for families at risk of returning to homelessness by providing longer-term financial support, ensuring they have the time and resources necessary to transition into permanent housing.

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