“We need to knock off this enabling business,” Commissioner Gary Edwards said, adding that “they have chosen a deviant lifestyle, and if we endorse it, and don’t hold them accountable, they will continue to come.” 1 In towns and cities across the US, sidewalks, overpasses and wooded areas are home…
Posts published in “Issue: June 2019”
Seattle’s street paper embeds its vendors in a caring community Tim Harris founded and is the Executive Director of Real Change, a weekly progressive street newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. He was interviewed by Matt Crichton this May. Matt Crichton: Why did you start Real Change? Tim Harris: I started…
Washington State will have the strongest immigrant protection legislation in the country, according to ACLU Coordinator Eric Gonzales. “Keep Washington Working,” just passed by our legislature, ensures the rights and dignity of all residents and recognizes the importance of immigrants. The legislation repeals two anti-immigrant bills that have been on…
When Amazon unleashed its bidding war for a second headquarters, more than 200 cities offered mind-blowing sums of money to lure the e-commerce giant. Crystal City in Virginia “won” at a cost of $23 million in perks, on top of $75 million more from the state. “Loser” Long Island City…
I don’t remember when my parents were kicked out of their apartment. I was one, my older brother was two, and a younger brother was just born. The landlord told my parents that he can’t have three little kids in his apartment. We moved in with my grandparents for three…
In my family, we shake our heads when we read about the booming economy. My husband works as a merchandiser and we have an amazing 19-month-old son. I’m a stay-at-home mom, because we can’t afford childcare. In this supposedly booming economy, we find ourselves struggling every month just to cover…
Do I have a right to exist in America? Do you? Answering should be easy; of course: we do. Because we are here, we are alive, we are human. Do people who do not have decent housing have a right to exist? That answer is not always so easy, especially…
PFLAG Olympia Garage Sale... Olympia Climate Action.... National Gun Violence Awareness Day... “Mission Impact: Our Collective Future”... Bat Walk... Garden Gala... Progressive Candidate Forum... Jacobin Reading Group... Hispanic Roundtable Community Summit... StoryOly... Capital City Pride Parade and Festival 2019... SURJ Annual Potluck... IWW 114th Birthday Party... Mycorestoration/Saving the Bees...
In the current circumstances, it’s hard to think of a phrase laden with more cynicism than “home is where your heart is.” Under the sugar-coated implication that the location of ‘home’ is defined by an act of love lies the concealed notion that fulfilling human needs requires no material basis.…
OMJP saw the writing on the wall in 2005... In 2005, US newspapers were full of talk of the need to counter Iranian nuclear ambitions—with possible military action....
Dr. James Peter Warbasse wrote in the journal Co-operation, “Once the people of New York City lived in their own houses, but those days have gone. … The houses are owned by landlords who conduct them, not for the purpose of domiciling the people in health and comfort, but for the…
Whether a renter or a homeowner, we can all celebrate the increased tenant protections Washington residents gained this legislative session. Now, the people who have been most affected by weak tenant protections—people of color, women, seniors, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, veterans, low-wage workers and families—will have additional protections to remain…
When I was in elementary school, my parents had a list of tasks and bills to pay on the refrigerator (sometimes they argued about it). One day, looking at the checkmarks, I was hit with amazement that it took so much to run a house. I had a nervous thought…
Covenants preventing African-Americans, Native Americans, Filipinos and other “colored” persons from buying a home in certain areas existed in Olympia deeds until at least 1947. In the SW neighborhood, there were deeds that specified that no colored person could live in the property—with an exception for domestic servants...
In 1947 my grandmother, Mamo, was 14 years old. She was in high school, in Whittier, California. 85,331 people lived in Whittier. Mamo had slumber parties with her best friends and rode her bike everywhere. She went to parties on the beach and rode horses in the hills. She worked…
Joining others of like mind and working on a shared goal is a hallmark of what it means to be human. In many of our pursuits, there are ready-made organizations: from Tai Chi to Rotary, we seek out others who seem to be pursuing important work, and we join in.…
For much of my life I thought that home would be found in the right place, with the right people, the right work, the right politics, the right spiritual practice, the right relationship, at the right time. From an early age, after growing up in Los Angeles, I took to…
Civilizations degrade ecological systems. Ours is no different (see the essay on restoration for a summary). Empowered by fossil fuels, our destructive power outpaces any potential for natural recovery. We are the global keystone species, and it isn’t pretty. Our current condition is ironically both revealed and obscured by professional science and…
It was 7 a.m. April 30th in Caracas when I awoke to hear gunshots outside my hotel. Our group, seven US citizens and one Canadian, were attending a housing conference and looked forward to the next day’s May Day celebration. The coup attempt I feared the worst. For several weeks,…
I have always had a roof over my head; it has only been a matter of finding one after moving to a new place. I have moved around quite a bit – different countries, different cities within those countries, different places within the cities in those countries. Sometimes by necessity,…
May 21, 2019 marked the four year anniversary of the police shooting of two Black brothers, André Thompson and Bryson Chaplin. Officer Ryan Donald is the white police officer who shot André and Bryson multiple times each. They both survived. Anniversaries of police terror incidents are always difficult for the…
The June 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) explores the many benefits of having the public own our electric utilities instead of letting big business own them. People typically think about “democracy” in terms of…
Approximately thirty nuclear disarmament activists took part in a spirited rally at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor on Saturday, May 11 honoring the original antiwar message of Mothers Day, which called for the abolition of war and militarism.. Activists blocked the entrance to the Trident Submarine Base Main Gate while holding up…
