Street Spirit

Berkeley Merchants Plot a Police Clampdown on Youth

Opinion
Nearly every homeless organization in Berkeley is now united in opposition to the sitting ban before it has even been introduced at the City Council. Already, some council members that the business associations had boasted were already in the bag are evidently having second thoughts about supporting the ban.

Poetry, May 2011

Poetry
The Hungriest People / Song by Carol Denney/ the hungriest people in this town/ aren’t starving in the street/ they sit in fancy restaurants/ and worry what to eat/ the poorest people in this town/ without a single doubt/ conspire at boardroom tables/ how to drive poor people out/

YEAH! Shelter from the Storm for Street Youth

Features   Uncategorized
Many participants from Berkeley have helped to build YEAH!, tended it, fed the youth, and donated time, energy and money to the endeavor. They bring their warmth, their respect, and their desire to make a difference. The Lutheran Church of the Cross, which houses the shelter, has a commitment to making a difference for people who would otherwise live outside. YEAH! is their commitment.

In Search of Libraries’ Clean, Well-Lighted Spaces

Opinion
They call them “public libraries” for a reason. In an increasingly corporatized world, public space is growing scarcer. Shopping centers have collaborated to form “business improvement districts” where “outsiders” are monitored and curtailed, often by private security forces. Also, laws such as the sit-lie ordinance, approved by San Francisco voters in November, place further limits on where homeless people may assemble peaceably.

Building a Budget for Humanity in California

Features   Uncategorized
Instead of funding affordable homes, we are housing over 160,000 people in over-crowded prisons and jails. Instead of funding In-Home Support Services, we are building prison hospitals. Instead of building community colleges, we are building county jails.

House Votes to Terminate Key Foreclosure Program

News
“Last week, the U.S. told the United Nations that addressing homelessness here at home is a human rights obligation. Cutting vital housing programs gives the lie to those obligations — and damages our credibility as a leader in the world community.” — Maria Foscarinis, NLCHP executive director

Landlords or Panhandlers: Who Is Really to Blame?

Opinion
But before Berkeley sends another potentially pointless anti-poor ordinance through the courts, it makes sense to institute a retail vacancy fee on landlords who keep storefront locations empty for years, refusing to acknowledge the recession’s effect on merchants, generally, and the effect of empty storefronts, specifically, on a struggling commercial area.

A Nonviolent Path to Peace in the Holy Land

Arts and Culture
Increasing numbers of Palestinians and thousands of Israelis see nonviolent action as an effective way to challenge the Israeli military occupation. This excellent book encourages all of us to get beyond the all-too-common division of the world between “us” and “them,” and the need to resort to war and killing as a way of solving problems and achieving security.