Remembering Michael Diehl
By Lydia Gans on For over 40 years Michael Diehl was a presence in Berkeley, on the streets and the parks, connecting with people, talking, listening, or just being present. Many were homeless or inadequately housed.
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Paralyzed: the demons that prey on the homeless
By Andy Pope on When one is homeless, one is by definition exposed to all kinds of elements that escape the confines of one
The oracle in the tent next door
By Timothy Busby on I would like to share my experiences with one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. For the purposes of this story, I will call her Emerald. And if you believe in the powers that gemstones and crystals contain, her name is very appropriate.
The curious echoes of Big Pink
By Robin Silver on Big Pink was finished 23 years before the civil war began in America. Big Pink was made from local cypress trees, impervious to the rot and insidious decay that time brings to most things, the living, the dead, and all those things in between and beyond.
The Ghosts of Berkeley past
By Ace Backwords on The town of Berkeley is full of so many ghosts for me. This building on the corner of Shattuck and University is one of these ghosts. In 1986 it was the office of the Daily Californian, the campus newspaper. And every semester the staff voted on what comic strips they’d run for the semester. In 1986 I won the election. And it turned out to be a big break for me.
The girl
By Amber Whitson on On August 13, 2012, I was at home in my tent at the Albany Bulb, taking pictures of my clothing after I finally sorted all of it. Being a perfectionist, I took two pictures from each angle. I figured that I would review the pictures after I was done, keep the best ones from each angle and delete the other ones.
Rebuttal to the SF Chronicle: Visibility for homeless families
By Tracey Mixon on The 2019 one-night homeless count found 201 families (612 people), a count similar to the 2017 one-night count of 190 families (601 persons). That means 8 percent of the total counted homeless population is made up of families. The Coalition on Homelessness says the count is actually much higher, pointing out that the school district—using its own definition of homelessness—lists more than 2,000 students as being homeless.
Moving inside: Antidote to mental illness?
By Andy Pope on Mental illness is often cited as one of the driving factors behind the growing homeless population in cities such as Berkeley and Oakland. A lack of resources for the mentally ill has led many people to the streets.
From prison to the street
By Boston Woodard on On November 5, 2018, I was released from prison after serving 38 continuous years behind bars. Upon my return to freedom, a parole agent drove me to an area of San Jose that was dotted with cheap hotels. He dropped me off on The Alameda, a boulevard in San Jose, with everything I owned stuffed in a backpack and a small duffle bag.
The downside of success
By Timothy Busby on People measure success in many different ways. For some people it’s marriage and children. For others it is making money. For many it’s just paying the bills due each month. And then you have people, such as myself, who believe that success is in the friendships you make, and in fulfilling the basic necessities needed in order to survive.
Housing and Dignity residents respond to eviction in their own words
By Needa Bee, Kaleeo Alcatar, and Jodii Everett Le’Grande on On Thursday December 6, without warning, the city administration violently evicted the 13 residents of the Housing and Dignity Village (HDV), a service hub at Elmhurst Avenue and Edes Avenue in deep East Oakland. Over 20 Oakland Police officers were present to lead residents away in handcuffs, as Public Works employees worked overtime to destroy everything on site.
True love on the street: treating thy neighbor as thyself
By Timothy Busby on It was January 2016 when I found myself in Berkeley, California, by way of New Orleans. Little did I know