Oakland’s Unhoused: Wood Street Commons Refuses to Give Up

Story and photos by Yolanda Catzalco

Note from the editor of the People’s Tribune: The Wood Street Commons is what was recently left of a large long-established community of tents, home-made small dwellings, and vehicles, of originally 300 people, the largest of hundreds of encampments in the gentrifying East Bay city of Oakland, California. Under threat of eviction since last year, the Commons had gotten a restraining order against removal, but this was then lifted,

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Analysis: U.S. Food Benefits for Poor to Shrink as Pandemic Provisions End

By Leah Douglas

Low-income Americans will soon receive less in food assistance or completely lose their eligibility for the benefits, as the federal government ends policies adopted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that kept millions from going hungry at a time of lockdowns and rising unemployment.

Anti-hunger advocates warned that the looming drop in aid could undo progress toward a Biden administration goal to end US hunger by 2030.

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The First Women’s Muslim Shelters in New York and California

by Johanna Elattar

It’s Ramadan, and as an Arab-American Muslim, I’ve always loved this month. Ramadan is the time of year when Muslims all over the world fast, pray and reflect on their beliefs. Every Muslim must give a percentage of their income to charity during Ramadan. I like to give to organizations that support homeless people, as well as animal charities. 

While looking for a Muslim women’s charity to donate to,

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Review: Gabriel Kahane’s “emergency shelter intake form”

By Anthony R. Carrasco

The San Francisco Symphony devoted its first two evenings of February programming to a breakup soundtrack with an immoral economy. The month of romantic gestures began with the haunting power of George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F; a prelude to the inquisitive song cycle of Gabriel Kahane, creative chair of the Oregon Symphony. The San Francisco premiere of emergency shelter intake form yields an important reflection.

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