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Tim Nishibori on addiction and optimism

By Julia Irwin on
Features   Street Spirits
Tim Nishibori disappears into the depths of his cramped but cavernous shack, which sits near the end of a strip of trailers and tents in West Oakland. His gray pit bull, Lady, plays hostess, entertaining me with enthusiastic kisses by the makeshift gate as Nishibori rummages around. Eventually, he emerges with two chairs, and invites me into his home. “Sorry about the mess,” he says

Who counts as homeless?

By Alastair Boone on
Features
On January 30, I woke up before dawn to drive around East Oakland and count all the homeless people I could find. I was one of the 600 volunteers who participated in the 2019 Point-in-Time (PIT) homeless count for Alameda County, California. The PIT count is a nationwide effort to tally the number of unsheltered Americans living on the street on a single night in January.

Remembering Julia Vinograd: the Bubble Lady

By Benjamin Schneider on
Arts and Culture   Features
The beloved poet died in early December, leaving behind a legacy of poems that capture a bygone Berkeley. Julia Vinograd—resistance icon, the Bubble Lady, Berkeley’s very own bard—died on December 4 after a long battle with colon cancer. She was 74. Vinograd has been a staple of Telegraph Avenue since the late 60’s, selling poetry books, blowing bubbles, and watching the world go by.

2018: The year homeless people fought back

By Darwin BondGraham on
Features
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.

Out of the closet and onto the street

By Anthony Hackett on
Commentary   Features   YSA youth contributions
In the eyes of sixteen-year-old Hunter McLaughlin*, “coming out” would be a gateway to a new life. It would give him the opportunity to live more honestly and with a renewed sense of authenticity to his true self. But when he told his parents that he was transgender, the “new life” that awaited him was one plagued by emotional abuse, threats of violence, and seemingly endless conflict.

Geno the barber: look good to do good

By Julia Irwin on
Features   Street Spirits
The first thing I notice about Geno is his impeccable sense of style: standing by the tent encampment under I-580 at Magnolia and 35th, he’s wearing khakis and a fitted olive-green sweater, boot-laced sneakers as clean as they come, and a spiffy straw fedora. He sports a large stud in one ear, and his beard is pristinely groomed. He looks like a suave sentinel, a GQ model moonlighting as—in his words—“the tent city’s point person.”

In Dialogue with Boots Riley

By Alejandro Ramos on
Features   In Dialogue
Boots Riley is a veteran of Oakland’s political scene. Frontman of hip hop group “The Coup,” Riley has lived in the area ever since his family moved there when he was young. As he grew up, he became interested in activism at an early age.