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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2011)
2 Street roots Nov. 25, 2011 EDITORIAL Building something special with every edition T Time to roll up our sleeves and put OWS to work F | Ahere’s a lot of white noise enveloping the Occupy Wall Street movement, but one truth still resonates: OWS X. has awakened a sleeping giant, and despite tense confrontations, the menacing numbers of riot police, and even the immense gravity of the status quo - it is a positive force in which we can all find strength. At its core, the movement seeks to reverse the policies that have resulted in mass foreclosures, rampant and unwavering unemployment, skyrocketing student debt, downward mobility and widening economic inequality for 99 percent of Americans. It is about the positive change people desire and deserve as citizens of the richest country in the world. It’s about decency. The camp in downtown Portland sent a clear History has shown us that message that the massive amazing change can occur march and demonstration when Americans put their on O ct 6 was not a one- mind toward righting social off, like so many other grievances. protests that bubble up ■■ h b b h h h b h b h h h u h and then simmer down. This is a movement that is here to stay, even if the camp, for the long-term, did not. The camp was a place of daily meetings and concensus gathering, and academic workshops on political issues, including corporate personhood and economics. It wasn’t perfect, but it made a statem ent 24 hours a day during its existence. The camp is gone, but perhaps we don’t really need it anymore. This movement has legs, across the country, and its future lies with people flexing their collective muscle. It’s shortsighted to say, as one politician did, that the movement is “just anger and frustration.” Still, that’s a powerful combination, now shared by multiple nationwide unions, including the Teamsters, SEIU, AFL-CIO, United Autoworkers and National Nurses Union, among many other organizations. It is millions in solidarity on issues that are becoming common talking points in city halls and capital buildings across the country. Mayor Sam Adams has said himself that he hopes the movement doesn’t go away. And he can be a positive part of keeping it in motion. He can start by following through with talk of moving city funds out of the major corporate banks, including Wells Fargo, and into local credit unions. He has pledged to work to peacefully continue the message of the Occupy movement, and he should have the full support of the City Council to be bold, to be a leader within government. This includes passing a resolution calling for the end of corporate personhood policies that have corrupted our democracy and our economy, and overpowered the will of citizens who have Leen clamoring for change for more than a decade, but who only now have bent the system’s ear. We can also throw our weight behind the campaign finance reform efforts to end corporations’ freedom to spend unlimited resources to influence elections. The samé is true for putting real teeth into banking regulations that institutions have criminally skirted to their great financial gain and our peril. There’s a lot of work to be done. History has shown us that amazing change can occur when Americans put their minds toward righting social grievances. That giant has been asleep for 30 years. Now that it’s awake, let’s roll up ite sleeyes. Our anger and frustration may have gotten Wall Street and Washington’s attention, but action is what will hold their feet to the fire. Ü I Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him a t israel® streetroots.org e Street Roots mottos are “For those who can’t afford free speech,” and “Real news from the streets.” The content and investigative journalism in the paper provide ongoing narratives on a . range issues concerning poverty, including health care, immigration, housing, homelessness, public and more. DIRECTOR'S safety The newspaper DESK offers solution-based models and pathways B y Israel Bayer for the community at ' large — often taking very complex issues, boiling them down and showing readers ways to be involved. More than that the newspaper offers a voice to people on the edge, be it economically or socially. It offers a snapshot of life on the streets without apology, but always with a purpose. One SR volunteer put it best when she said, “If the investigative journalism of the paper uncovers the way people are being marginalized, the personal side of the newspaper reminds us that we are all connected.” The vendor program is something more altogether. First and foremost, it’s about basic survival and allowing people to access immediate income. For some that might mean a hotel tonight, out of the pouring rain, for another it might mean supplementing a small income to improve their quality of life. SR puts $10,000 minimum into the hands of people experiencing homelessness and poverty every two weeks. Multiply that by 26 — and that’s $260,000-plus a year for people to become self-sufficient. That’s about the same amount of the annual SR budget We are creating as much income for people in poverty as we are spending as an organization to publish the newspaper, the Rose City Resource Guide and offer a variety of services. It’s a win-win. Moreover, the SR vendor program is about creating relationships and building self- confidence. For many people, purchasing a newspaper from a SR vendor may be the only interaction they have with someone on the streets. For vendors selling the newspaper, it allows people to be part of the broader community and to not be reliant on the social-service continuum for their basic survival. Instead of hanging out all day among other people on the streets, many vendors are selling the newspaper and developing a relationship and customer service with businesses and individuals throughout the region. Beautiful. SR, along with the help of people like you, has built something special in Portland. We are delivering readers some of the best news and commentary the city has to offer, all while giving people on the streets a hand-up and offering a healthy environment for bridging class and cultural lines. SR can’t do this without you. We ask that you make a donation to SR through the Willamette Week GivelGuide (see back page) or through the Web site at www.streetroots. org. No amount is too small or large, and with your donation you are helping SR remain strong and build capacity towards expanding our programs. With your support, dreams come true, and social change does happen. Thank you for your consideration. ESSAY The w a r is over BY JAY THIEMEYER WHAT DO YOU THINK? Send letters to the editor to the Street Roots office, 211 NW Davis St, Portland, OR 97209, or e-mail to joanne® streetroots.org. he old man with no color in his face wanderedloosely down Lombard saluting every dark window he passed. It was approaching midnight, only a few weeks until Thanksgiving. A week from Armistice Day. 1Ì-Ì1-11.11th hour, 11th minute. 11th day of the 11th month. The war in Iraq was over. The old man saluted his reflection. Everybody who thought they knew him said he was no damn Marine. He was just crazy. Been a drunk since before dirt. Been a familiar in St. Johns forever, walking and checking, walking and checking, never letting a pay phone get past him. Wasn’t a coin slot that was safe when he was around, They wouldn’t even allow him in the bars these days. I saw him once try to get in , Brad’s, and even they wouldn’t let him in. No neighborhood taverna to call home. Man, that’s sad. That’s doing something. Getting barred from Brad’s, For life! But he didn’t remember. Next night I saw him get barred again, like a nothing from the night before had registered at all. When he left that door, with that same bald-headed fuck yelling at him, telling him no one wanted him around, he checked the coin slot at the payphone he’d just passed and crossed the street. I’ve seen him walk across Lombard in rush hour. Oblivious. But this night there were no cars. Everyone, it seemed, had disappeared. Only a ghost like him was about. The Spirit of Thanksgiving. OldSt Bic, I called him. Don’t ask me why. Maybe because his flame was out of fluid. Like his brain, it’d all leaked out. And all he could come up with to do this Sunday night when he had the stage of Lombard all to himself, was thump on dark store windows, pound on locked doors and yell for someone whose name was unintelligible. Over and over till he came to the corner and turned. God knows where he lived. When I’d asked him, to . see if he needed help, he looked right through me. Like I was the ghost. Our mission Staff Board of Directors Vendors Street Roots creates income opportunities for people experiencing homelessness and poverty by. producing a newspaper and other media that are - catalysts for individual and social change, - . Executive Director Israel Bayer Bruce Anderson (Chairman), Michael Anderson (Vice- chairman), Heather Stadick (Treasurer), Eddy Barbosa (Secretary), Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes, Ken Hawkins' . Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents each and seli them fo r $1; keeping the 75 cents in profit fo r themselves. In order to keep the cost low to ■our vendors,we receive additional support from donations and in-kind contributions. Street Roots publishes every tw o weeks, launching on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our street vendors or by subscription, We are proud members of the North American Street Newspaper Association and the International Network of Street Papers. Street Roots 211 NW Davis St Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax: 503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.streetroots.wordpress.com israd@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl. joanne@streetroots.org Vender Coordinator Becky Mullins becky@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Cole Merkel cole@streetroots.org Grant Writer Sarah Cloud Accountant Heather Stadick Reporters Amanda Waldroupe, Stacy Brownhill, Jake Thomas Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Jennifer Jansons, John Ryan Brubaker Intern Liz Fosteer Volunteers Christine Gadeholt, Mary Patios, Leo Rhodes, Jan Bayer, Eliese Baker, Sue Zalokar, Tave Drake, Michael Moore Street Roots Rose City Resource Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a comprehensive booklet o f services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. To inquire about getting an order of the Rose City Resource for distribution, please write to pdxrosecityresource@gmail.com. Resources are also available online at www.rosecityresource.org. goes directly to the vendor w ho sold you the paper goes toward printing costs Vendor orientations are at 1 p,m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
