Housing Archives - Oakland Voices

East Bay organizations address racial wealth gap, promote Black homeownership

December 26, 2024 Katharine Davies Samway

Some racial justice advocates promote Black homeownership as a form of reparations, seeking to address the longstanding effects of slavery.

two people stand in front of a white truck that has hand lettering on it saying "junk hauling, metal..."

“We R Here” Documents ‘Life on the Streets’ in Oakland Through Cell Phone Diaries

November 10, 2022 Eduardo Jimenez

On the opening of his vignette, James “DJ Nyce” Goodwin looks into his cellphone camera resting on the Volkwagen bug’s dashboard that he lives in and bluntly declares that he is homeless. He then explains

A Black woman wearing a beanie is holding back a smile.

One Oakland Woman’s Journey From the Streets to Being an Advocate for the Unsheltered

December 23, 2021 Debora Gordon

On any given night, over half a million Americans experience homelessness. A 2019 count indicated more than 4,000 unhoused residents live in Oakland. Resheemah White, also known to friends as “RoRo,” was one of them

black and white image of tents set up in the early 1930s in Oakland, dubbed "Pipe City"

Pipe Dreams: Makeshift Living in Oakland is Nothing New

May 11, 2021 Kat Ferreira

Oakland Voices correspondent Kat Ferreira digs into the history of unhoused populations in Oakland, from Pipe City to the current encampments at the same location.

An image pf a smiling African American woman in front of a mic.

Looking back on 2020: My Family’s Housing Journey and A Pandemic

January 5, 2021 Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross

Editor’s Note: We asked our alumni and correspondents to reflect on 2020, and/or what to look forward to in 2021. Below, poet/writer Aqueila M. Lewis reflects on what a year 2020 has been for her

A woman smiles and holds up one fist in front of a housing encampment in East Oakland.

The Village Oakland’s Needa Bee Speaks Out

June 2, 2020 Iris Crawford and Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross

“This pandemic has illustrated not only is housing a human right, but a public health intervention.” – Needa B

a woman with blonde hair and glasses smiles at the camera in front of a car.

Love and Justice in the Streets’ Talya Husbands-Hankin sees homelessness as “absolute human rights violation”

June 2, 2020 Iris Crawford

“What COVID-19 shows us is that we are all connected, so if we don’t take care of the most vulnerable, everyone will be impacted.”

Moms 4 Housing: A Movement Begins

January 22, 2020 Brandy Collins

On Monday, November 18, 2019, two mothers boldly began occupying a West Oakland house that had been vacant for two years on Magnolia Street. Dominique Walker, 34, and Sameerah Karim, 41, members of Moms 4