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Street Spirit is an independent newspaper in the East Bay dedicated to covering homelessness and poverty from the perspective of those most impacted. Est 1995. A publication of Youth Spirit Artworks.

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Street Spirit is an independent newspaper in the East Bay dedicated to covering homelessness and poverty from the perspective of those most impacted. Est 1995. A publication of Youth Spirit Artworks.

Get information about planned encampment sweeps in Oakland Eviction alerts

Jack Bragen

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Jack Bragen is a writer who lives in Martinez with his wife, Joanna. His books are available for purchase on Amazon.

Natascha the sentient house cat

December 2, 2020
Arts and Culture   Fiction   YSA youth contributions
Justin had what he wanted. Natascha was a one-year-old, female, Russian Blue cat, in near-perfect health. He had bought a pet hospital months before to avoid answering the questions of an adoption agency or county shelter.

People living with mental illness are not represented in politics

November 3, 2020
Commentary   Opinion   YSA youth contributions
As an adult with mental illness and progressive values, my primary focus is not on national politics or getting Trump out of office. My main concern is about the treatment of people who live with mental illness and our lack of opportunities to better our conditions.

The state should house people living with mental illness

August 1, 2020
Commentary   Opinion
When we see our fellow human beings wither away and die on the streets, when we see encampments in the news that appear not much better than living under a pile of trash, when we see human beings who have names...the cure is not worse than the disease. Something must be done.

The pandemic resembles one of my psychotic episodes

April 1, 2020
First-person   Opinion   YSA youth contributions
The current pandemic makes it seem as though the world has gone insane. This time, I'm not crazy, but neither are other people. Reality has taken a surreal turn.

Money buys choices and I don’t have it

February 1, 2020
Commentary   Opinion
I’m prefacing this essay with a personal statement: I’m in favor of money and I’m in favor of me having

Intimidation: the cost of disability benefits

November 1, 2019
Commentary   Opinion
Many people with disabilities are dependent on government benefits in order to survive. However, the process of acquiring these benefits is nowhere near easy. It can be deeply intimidating, making it feel inaccessible for those who already struggle with disabilities.

Buddhism for the rich vs. Buddhism for the poor

October 1, 2019
Commentary   Opinion
It is well known to almost anyone exposed to Buddhism that its originator, Gautama Buddha, left behind rule of a

Disability insurance is a poverty trap August 2019

August 9, 2019
Commentary   Opinion
If you are unable to work competitively due to a disability and you receive benefits because of this, it isn’t free money—it comes with certain costs. Disability benefits and SSI are set up to impose limitations in what you can and can’t do.

Watching James Michaelson

June 1, 2019
Arts and Culture   Fiction   YSA youth contributions
Creating multiple inconveniences was one of many strategies for interfering with James Michaelson’s inconvenient, daily activities. He was opening a can of tomatoes, and my prompt instructed me to speak into the microphone.

New California bill may threaten independent workers

March 1, 2019
Commentary   Opinion
The California Legislature is currently considering Assembly Bill 5, could make it much more difficult to work as an independent

Society in 2120 (part III)

February 1, 2019
Arts and Culture   Fiction
Recap of part II: “As if to punctuate what it had said, the car abruptly accelerated and passed a cluster

Enlightenment is not the solution to poverty

January 1, 2019
Commentary   Opinion
When basic necessities aren’t present, or when one’s living conditions are otherwise compromised, (such as if you live in a

Society in 2120 (part II)

January 1, 2019
Arts and Culture   Fiction   YSA youth contributions
Recap of part I: The force put out by the book, the evil force, was stronger. It was involuntary: I

Society in 2120 (part I)

December 1, 2018
Arts and Culture   Fiction   YSA youth contributions
In a car, on my way to work, I saw the ever-present, giant, illuminated billboards along my flight path, displaying

Modern-day scammers prey upon the poor

November 1, 2018
Commentary   Opinion
I am constantly astounded at the level of sophistication reached by modern day swindlers. If ordinary folks fail to be

Social security is not enough to live on

October 1, 2018
Commentary
When a person is born disabled or becomes disabled as an adult, they are in for a life of hardship

Abolish the Inhumanity of War and Poverty

July 13, 2018
Opinion
We face a spectrum of cruelty, from bullying in the schools to the inhumanity of poverty and the catastrophic cruelty of war and nuclear bombs. Inhumanity leads to senseless shootings at the local level and senseless wars on the global level. People must learn to be kinder and more humane.

Compassion: A Way Out of Conflict and Enmity

June 18, 2018
Opinion
Compassion means empathy and imagining the perspective of others. The idea that “we are all one” may be dismissed as straight out of the 1960s. But that idea stays with me and continues to influence me. This consciousness of love and compassion is one of the pillars of most religions.

Psychiatric Cruelty in the Modern Era

August 10, 2017
Opinion
Before the first medications were developed, lobotomies were used on the most difficult cases, and electroshock was often used as well. Even with modern treatments and knowledge in the field of psychiatry, senseless cruelty continues to be perpetrated upon persons who suffer from mental health problems.

Lost and Homeless Among the Stars

February 6, 2015
Fiction
When I die, or after I die, I want to look back at my life and see that I ate that cookie, I drank that vodka, I made love to that woman. I did not shy away from living because of the petty fear that death might come sooner.

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Street Spirit Newspaper
1740 Alcatraz Ave, Berkeley, CA 94703