Darwin BondGraham is a journalist who covers criminal justice for The Guardian and The Appeal. He previously was the investigative reporter for Oakland’s East Bay Express where he spent years writing about policing, housing, homelessness, and development in the Bay Area.
2018: The year homeless people fought back
Amidst a slew of new homelessness policy, the unhoused organize to make an impact. Homelessness has long been recognized as a staggering social crisis in the Bay Area, but 2018 was the year it became a full-blown political and legal crisis. In Oakland—the epicenter of the East Bay’s shelter crisis—homelessness was the top issue debated during the mayoral and city council races, and the city’s leaders increasingly recognize the need to prioritize services and shelter for the unhoused.