Women Recyclers in Bolivia Build Hope and Demand Recognition

by Contributing Author

By Franz Chávez, Inter Press Service / International Network of Street Papers

They haul many kilos of recyclable materials on their backs but receive little in return. These Bolivian women who help clean up the environment from dawn to dusk are fighting for recognition of their work and social and labour rights.

The inhabitants of La Paz, Bolivia’s political centre, walk hurriedly and almost oblivious to the women of different ages silently opening heavy lids of municipal garbage dumpsters that are taller than the women themselves.

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My Body Knows How to Survive

by Contributing Author

by Jack Bragen

The human organism is designed to survive as long as it can, to procreate when possible, and to contribute to the success, the survival, and the prestige of the group.

Human consciousness could be a product of the human body. It serves us by allowing us to think, to reason, to ponder and to be better. Consciousness, while normally it thinks itself in charge, takes a back seat to other creations of the body in some crisis situations.

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Insecurity with Security and the Law

by Contributing Author

by Derek Williams

One Saturday, I was sitting in front of the Safeway on Church and Market streets when a petite Black woman came up to me and told me that a store security guard just struck her on the head with a broomstick from behind. What made that worse was that she was on the toilet. What’s a mall cop doing in a women’s bathroom anyway?

A friend of mine overheard our conversation and commented that there had to be more to the story than meets the eye,

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Embracing Humanity in Our Approach to Studying Homelessness

by Contributing Author

by Claudine Sipili

As a board member of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) Lived Expertise Advisory Board that played a major role in the design and implementation of the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness, my participation on the project was deeply influenced by my personal experience of homelessness. Having faced the challenges and uncertainties associated with housing instability firsthand,

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Living=Surviving: How Capitalism Makes Us See Double 

by Contributing Author

by Cierra Cardenas

Growing up in America during the height of globalization—and byproduct—capitalism has quickly shown me the dichotomy between human experiences as a result of a system that was built by many, to be enjoyed by few. I became aware of the classist formula of capitalism once I was able to experience its effects, both personally and from others who had seen sides of it I have never had to see. 

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A Record Add-back Year for the Budget!

by Contributing Author
Members of the Budget Justice Coalition inside Board of Supervisors chamber at SF City Hall

by Jennifer Friedenbach

It was a record add-back year, even though there was a decrease in General Fund revenue and we had a Mayor’s proposed budget that cut many community programs including $60 million from housing for homeless youth and families and $30 million from child care in two voter initiatives (from 2018).  In total the add-back pot for an overall $14.6 billion budget was $80 million over two years.  

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Op-ed: Budget Advocates Missed an Opportunity to Root Out SRO Collaborative’s Conflict of Interest

by Contributing Author

by Jordan Davis

It seems that every year, the budget process in San Francisco is a peculiar song and dance you will not find in any other county—or in very few cities— in California. We could have a professional city manager working with the Board of Supervisors and community to create a workable budget, but there ends up being unpleasant surprises on June 1, and we have to scramble,

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The Biggest Survey of Homeless Californians in Decades Shows Why So Many Are on the Streets

by Contributing Author

by Marisa Kendall, CalMatters

Losing income is the No. 1 reason Californians end up homeless—and the vast majority of them say a subsidy of as little as $300 a month could have kept them off the streets.

That’s according to a new study out of UC San Francisco that provides the most comprehensive look yet at California’s homeless crisis.

In the six months prior to becoming homeless,

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‘You are killing us’: Lives Lost to Involuntary Displacement, aka Sweeps

by Contributing Author
Let This Radicalize You

by Robbie Powelson

Joel died on or around April 20, 2022 in a gutter in San Rafael.

I received the news, like most everyone from our encampment in Sausalito, around noon while about a quarter of our camp attended a court ordered settlement conference with the City of Sausalito.

Joel was 24 years old, with a big goofy grin. The last time I saw him, he was catching a pigeon in the center of the city-operated camp in Sausalito.

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On Meditation and Medication

by Contributing Author

by Jack Bragen

There is something to be said for not being afraid to get your hands dirty, for not being afraid to compete, including when things aren’t friendly, for being on the bottom and clawing your way to the top, and, to sum it up, living in the soup. And the soup might be distasteful, its meat could be foul, and its veggies and noodles could be overdone to the point of mushy.

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