By Madison Britt Since 2016, the idea of a wall at the U.S México border has been endlessly contested across countless platforms. It has been the subject of national debate, caused a government shutdown, and, most recently, lead Donald Trump to declare a national state of emergency to secure funding in hopes that he would be able to fulfill his campaign promise at long last. The wall’s detractors certainly have good reason; according to research published by the ACLU, a border wall could inflict serious cultural, economic, and environmental damage on border communities. Furthermore, the research suggests that the “overall number of people attempting to cross into the United States without authorization remains unaffected by walls and other enforcement measures,” and has been in steady decline for years. Existing segments of border fencing have forced migrants to take increasingly dangerous routes through the Arizona-Sonora desert. Neither the border fencing nor the harsh desert has deterred migration to the United States. These strict border policies have been linked to an increase in migrant deaths, and an in-depth look at policy outcomes conducted by Princeton University’s Douglas S. Massey indicates that such policies have largely backfired, and in fact created a self perpetuating cycle of migration. Despite the evidence that a border wall will not be an effective immigration or border control policy, many are still in favor of Trump’s proposed wall at the border and are increasingly frustrated with the government’s unwillingness or inability to fund it. This frustration is manifesting here in Cincinnati, a city where Cincinnati Compass estimates 12.3% of area residents are foreign-born, a number which is growing rapidly. On Tuesday, the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza hosted an “Ohio Town Hall” entitled “We Build the Wall”, lead by conservative pundit Steve Bannon, former chairman of Breitbart news and chief strategist in Trump’s White House. The meeting also featured Brian Kolfage, who started a GoFundMe to pay for a border wall, Kris Kobach, former Kansas Secretary of State, along with other conservative pundits and politicians. This meeting was, as one might expect, an outpouring of hateful, dangerous, and non-factual rhetoric about Mexicans, immigrants, and sanctuary cities. According from detailed notes and recordings Cincinnati activists obtained at the event, much of the discourse at the event blamed immigrants for human trafficking, increased presence of dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, and criminal and gang activity in the states. The speakers directly recommended a privately funded and controlled border wall to combat the government’s inefficiency, “[literal]... push back against the government, and even “devise a plan to go after and dismantle and destroy Mexican cartels and their networks." In face of this alarming rhetoric, it is pivotal to consider Cincinnati’s positionality as a Sanctuary City, meaning. This, in its most basic sense, that the city won’t aid ICE in deportations, but the concept of sanctuary means much more than this. According to an analysis of present day Sanctuary by Myrna Orozco and others, the designation of a place or city as “sanctuary” indicates that it is a place of refuge, safety, and respect. Cincinnati’s sanctuary status is admittedly complicated, as a City Beat article by Nick Swartswell explains, but the pushback against the sanctuary movement by Bannon and the like is clear - at the We Build the Wall event frequently labelled the sanctuary movement as unlawful and in defiance of U.S sovereignty. Despite these complications, Cincinnati has committed on paper to being a Sanctuary City. Activists in the city are attempting day by day to create cities and neighborhoods that are equitable for all Cincinnati residents, and a small crowd gathered outside of the Hilton in downtown Cincinnati to protest the event, and loudly tell its participants and attendees to “Go home”, to unequivocally state “you and your wall are not welcome here,”. As a city, we should follow their example. When we proclaim ourselves to exist as a safe space for immigrants and refugees, we dedicate ourselves to keeping racist and dangerous rhetoric about immigration out of our home. We should protest events like “We Build the Wall” to let those proponents of unethical and ineffectual walls that they are not welcome here, complain to the venues that host them, and show our immigrant neighbors, brothers, and sisters that we stand with them in solidarity.

The gate is open It isn't locked there are no locks on the gate You must decide to enter or not There is no turning back one you enter the gatee Baffled and unsure yet wanting to continue the gate is straight ahead open the door enter if possible tell me what you see at the place Where no one Needs a key By Kim Green

Believe it when you see someone bundle up sleeping in the street Believe it when you see someone looking in the garbage for food to eat Believe it cause all of these things are real and none are made up Believe that there are many men, women and children who are down on their luck Believe that with the economy all twisted and headed straight to hell Believe that there are many who just give up, commit suicide or take leave for a jail cell Believe that to the homeless, jail with three hot meals, cell buddies for friends and a cot Believe to some may mean nothing but to the homeless means one hell of a lot Believe with faith all things are possible for all including you and me Believe in God, have faith, and pray then change will come all you have to do is believe By Willa Denise Jones

I’ve been selling Streetvibes since May 7th, 2009, the old and new school Streetvibes. But the new people got to know how to sell papers, Everyone has their “pitch,” Mine starts with “Good morning” “Have a good afternoon” “Have a good evening!” In my position, you have to deal with the people. You have to deal with attitudes and everything else. I always sell papers at Reds Opening Day, right on vine and Central Parkway by the Kroger building. In dealing with the people coming down from the suburbs or different neighborhoods for Reds’ Opening Day, I have to deal with people who are dumbfounded when they see me. They look at me like a nobody. I get motivated. I don’t mess with Duracell but I mess with Everready batteries all day every day. The bunny is back. I’m from up north, from Detroit. I been down here since July 2002. I came down here the year after the riot. My mother said we all the same color but when I came down here I had to deal with a bunch of racist motherfuckers. I don’t mess with the KKK, I will bring the Black Panthers in here and we’ll occupy Cincinnati. I’m trying to bring the Homeless Congress back and I need some sponsors. By James Brown

Time- Everything in life takes time Time to plant Time to be born Time to die But let us remember To spend time with our loved ones- My mom and dad are no longer alive I can no longer hug them and say hi and that I love you If your mom and dad are still alive please give them a long hug and tell them you love them Your heart and mind will feel so good that you took the time you will remember that and even more days you can do You will know that God has blessed all of you By Cleo Wombles

I woke up this morning and smelled the coffee. You just don’t know about life, until you wake up. I was born November 13th, 1970. Life is real. Life is precious. I’ve been through hell and back, but I’m here. Psalm 116:8—"For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling or stumbling.” I got stabbed through the heart on July, 1994. I had two heart attacks on March, 2006. November 20th, 2018 they took an old heart valve out, and replaced it with a new one. They put a pace maker in on February 8th, 2019. Yes, life is so precious. The kids today are not raised the way we were. I need the old school people to come cleanup the streets. By James Brown

The Sky was dark The Sun was gone The arrival of Rain made the Gusty Winds Come The Air was cool the rain felt good As I embraced the Gusty Winds See and Son God Loves you more than me! By Kim Green

To be called a friend is sometimes very hard to be To be a friend is a honor with many responsibilities To have a friend is someone you can depend on To have a friend with you when all hope is gone Being human beings we all fall short of God’s grace Being human plus a friend can be a difficult race Due to difficult circumstances in every persons life To put trust and faith in someone can be only strife So for me I keep the faith and never forget to pray As I sing that old hymn what a friend we have in Jesus Each and every day!! By Willa Denise Jones

By Tess Sohgen New Ohio Study Provides Insights into Food Access for Homeless Youths at a Drop-In Center When you’re young and don’t have a suitable place to live, how do you eat? A recent Ohio study examined exactly what food is provided at a youth drop-in center to answer this question. This study is the first of its kind to go into the service center and evaluate the food available to the 60-plus youths it serves every day. While previous research has taken a broader lens to the food resources available to homeless youths, the results of this new study demonstrate what’s possible when a service center can provide a quality food environment to adolescents – and the “x-factor” for doing so. How Many Youths Experience Homelessness? Deemed “The nation’s invisible homeless population”, more teens and young adults are living on the street than ever before in US history, and their numbers are rising. In one year, nearly 1.7 million youths will experience homelessness. These unaccompanied youths — any person under the age of 25 living without adequate housing and without a parent or guardian – are more vulnerable to the consequences of homelessness. Without guardian supervision, these young men and women are more prone to victimization – trading sex and unpaid work, panhandling, and committing petty crimes for food or shelter. In their eat-or-be-eaten world, homelessness is the gatekeeper to experiencing violence, acute and long-term illness, and food insecurity. The Food Environment for Unsheltered Youths As many as 96% of youths experiencing homelessness are also affected by food insecurity, according to research by the Canadian Journal of Public Health, which has published several studies around youth homelessness and food resources in Toronto, where youths are also a growing portion of the country’s homeless population. Here is just one example of how fast and deep the knife can cut for unsheltered youths. The lack of access to nutritional and adequate food has long-term negative health effects for young men and women. “Inadequate nutrition can permanently alter children’s brain architecture and stunt their intellectual capacity, affecting children’s learning, social interaction and productivity,” according to Feeding America’s 2018 Child Food Insecurity Module. New Study – Evaluating Food Sources for Homeless Youths With limited resources to find work and money, homeless youths often turn to charitable services, crime, and begging for food. Here are the most-common food sources for homeless youths, according to a study published in Public Health Nutrition journal: (65%) admitted to theft as a means to food, (63%) food supplemented by welfare agencies, (61%) begging for money or food, (44%) begging for food items, and (34%) asking for help from friends and relatives. In a new and groundbreaking study from the Ohio State University Institutional Review Board, researchers evaluated the food at one of resources used most-extensively by youths experiencing homelessness: drop-in centers. Drop-in shelters targeted specifically for youths are typically the initial point of service for these young people since they are less restrictive than other service centers and aim to build trust and relationships with these adolescences. But how are they able to provide food to youths, and does the food meet their health needs? The researchers evaluated the variety and quality of food provided at a youth drop-in center in the Central Ohio region, assessing the type of food available, how accessible it was to youths in the center’s kitchen, and the health quality of those items. Their findings were surprising to the researchers. Not only did the center offer a fairly high variety of fruits and vegetables but also limited obesogenic (unhealthful) foods accessible to the adolescents they served. The X-Factor for Providing Adequate Food at Drop-in Centers These findings sharply contrasted previous studies and hypotheses predicting that food provided at these types of shelters did not meet adolescent’s nutritional needs. Researchers speculate a notable x-factor for why the results from the Central Ohio study are so different: available funding. The level of funding available to drop-in centers is a crucial determinant of the types of food organizations can offer its homeless populations. When the welfare center relies on charitable donations of food, the quality, quantity, and nutritional value of the food available plummets. On the contrary, centers that can afford to pay staff, purchase food, and cover the costs of rent and utilities does not depend on donated food. This drop-in center in Central Ohio purchased most of the food it provides to young people from local food banks. The center also provides laundry, shower facilities, recreational activities, links to additional community resources, and beds to adolescents. On average, the center sees between 60-80 homeless youths ages 14-24 daily, with two to three new clients arriving each day. In Summary The study was the first of its kind and could contribute to more research in the future that examines homeless youth’s food environment. However, since the study was conducted at the only youth drop-in center in the metropolitan area – and considering the money available to the center – these finding don’t attest to the food environment and availability of youth shelter houses elsewhere in the country. This study simply shows that with adequate funding, services can be an adequate food resource for youths experiencing homelessness.

By Robert Park A monotonous seemingly endless series of almost daily full-page ads in the NY Times from Purdue Pharma explained what a responsible company they are and how hard they’re trying to help with the opioid overdose crisis. This company is the maker of OxyContin and other opioids, and is owned by one family, worth about 13 $billion according to Forbes magazine. The recent history of Purdue Pharma, described in the NY Times (Jan.16, 2019) is visible because of law suits. In 2007 the company paid a 634 $million fine on federal criminal charges against top management, members of the Sackler family. They were charged with lying about the dangers of OxyContin in promoting the drug to doctors. More than 200,000 opioid overdose deaths have occurred since 1996 when the drug was introduced. The Sackler executives were removed from management of the company but continued to run it, according to subsequent law suits. Massachusetts attorney general, Maura Healey, is suing Purdue right now and new information has appeared as a result. Aside from further evidence of wonton murderous profiteering (about one billion $ per year in OxyContin sales), some insight into how these people think has emerged from internal company documents. When president of the company in 2001, one Sackler brother wrote: “we have to hammer on abusers in every way possible… They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.” Ruling class contempt for the working class: this is about as clear as it gets. Thousands of people with injuries caused by their work, or by accidents, with pain from appropriate medical treatments or from deferred or absent medical care, trying to keep their lives on track and deal with family obligations, they are the criminals. Kids that don’t see a livable future are the criminals. Trump’s losers, which includes most of us whose attainments in life didn’t depend on bullying, cheating or lying, we are the criminals. These are not anomalous ruling class attitudes, they are normal. Their class education trains them to think that way (although some wealthy people with a strong streak of honesty and integrity actually acknowledge, to themselves at least, a more accurate view of reality). Workers are blamed for industrial injuries and illnesses when process design and operating procedures are the culprit; students are blamed for enormous debt; homeowners devastated by banking fraud are blamed for reckless borrowing. We need to figure out who the criminals are, folks.

By Bill Woods Citizen organizing of every type received attention at an all day forum on Saturday February 23rd. Two hundred plus activists took part in "The Power of Organizing - Finding Your Community's Voice," an event sponsored by the Murray and Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation. Speakers, panels, and breakout discussions focused on how citizens can have an impact on government policy and the decisions that effect their communities and neighborhoods. The day began with a keynote address by Karen Hobert Flynn, the President of Common Cause U.S.A. Although Flynn now heads an organization that spends a lot of time and energy promoting political reforms at the national level, she believes in citizen organizing at all levels. In fact, Flynn began her career organizing at the grassroots. Reflecting on how state legislators often try to avoid contact with constituents, she revealed that one of her strategies as a young activist was to corner representatives right before they entered the bathroom. Flynn had some of her previous successes at the state level. She played a key role in organizing the adoption of public financing for campaigns for state elective offices in Connecticut. As a regional director for Common Cause, she assisted a number of state chapters, including Ohio, in their reform efforts. She stressed that some of Common Cause's best work continues to take place in the states, and she noted its success (in collaboration with other groups) in passing redistricting reform in Ohio last May. Flynn emphasized the importance of having the Seasongood event at this particular moment in U.S history. Citizen organizing to preserve our democratic institutions is critical. On a positive note, she proclaimed that citizen involvement in groups such as Common Cause has greatly increased in the last two years. The morning panel that followed the keynote focused on the nuts and bolts of organizing. Featuring local people with diverse organizing experiences, the panelists emphasized how they went about recruiting and working with volunteers. For instance, if citizens are going to give their time and talents to an organizing effort, they need to be appreciated and to believe that their involvement makes a difference. If it's a major effort involving a coalition of groups, one panelist stressed that a corps of leaders must evolve that works well together and trusts one another. All the panelists noted organizers must prepare their groups for unexpected setbacks, which can often be used as learning experiences. Moderated by Liz Blume of the Season Good board, the panel included Jennifer Summers of the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, Dorothy Smoot of the Partnering Center, Bill Woods of Applied Information Resources, and Nicole Edwards of the Sierra Club. One of the most valuable parts of the day occurred before lunch. Attendees split into three groups, and these breakout sessions allowed everyone to say why they were there. These sessions also encouraged people to present their ideas about needed organizing projects in Cincinnati. As an example, many neighborhood representatives noted that neighborhoods are isolated and need some kind of coalition in order to be heard and taken seriously by public officials. Over lunch, two full time community organizers, DeMario Cooper of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, and Katy Heins of Community Change, shared their thoughts on the theme "Why Organize?" Heins began by saying that organizing is all about providing sufficient power to citizens to insure that they have an impact on public decisions that effect their lives. On a variety of issues from fair wages to affordable housing, Community Change works with citizens in various cities and states to bring this about. DeMario Cooper agreed with Heins' statement about "power." Often working in low-income African- American neighborhoods, he described the inequities that exist without effective organizing. He was especially blunt about the inequities confronting Black males. As an example, he pointed to the huge percentage of Black males who serve prison terms in this country and the deep hole this places them in once they are released. Issue 1, on last November's ballot, was a justice reform initiative that would have eliminated much of the unnecessary incarceration in Ohio. Although the organizing effort for Issue 1 by groups such as the Ohio Organizing Collaborative ended in defeat, Cooper already sees some positive next steps emerging from that campaign. A final panel also featured diverse citizen organizers discussing their recent work and how they go about it. Catherine Turcer, Director of Common Cause/Ohio, described the organizing that went into the campaign to bring about redistricting reform in Ohio. She depicted how the successful state-wide signature gathering by volunteers for the grassroots Constitutional Amendment proposal persuaded members of the Ohio House and Senate to draft a real reform proposal of their own which the voters passed overwhelmingly passed last May. Panelist Josh Spring, the Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, told attendees about his work in organizing tenants. Tenants, especially those living in publicly assisted apartments, often need to know their rights in order to stand up to landlords who fail to maintain their buildings or who are attempting to evict them in order to raise rents or to sell their properties to developers. Spring has been successful in his goal of working with tenants so that they successfully speak and take action for themselves. As a conclusion to the day, David Altman, Executive Secretary of the Seasongood Foundation, and Michael Coffey, of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, talked with attendees about the availability of grants for citizen organizing. Altman noted that it was a good sign that two local foundations not only saw the need for citizen involvement in public decision-making, but they also recognized the importance

By Dr. Mark Mussman How many people need to die on the street before we enact long-lasting systemic change? Last week, we honored the life of Danny Lee Miles, just 61 years old, on the corner of Race and Liberty. Danny Lee is just one of what will likely be over 100 people who die in Cincinnati because of homelessness in 2019. Every person who spoke at the memorial commented on how they wish they could have done more, that there is a crisis, and that Danny Lee was a kind and gentle soul. The details of his passing were unknown at the memorial, but we do know that he died alone, outside, in the cold, on a night with temperatures in the 20’s. The emotions on the corner ran high as clothing items and food were handed out to whoever needed them. Organizers, who want to honor Danny Lee, said that these items were being given out in honor of Danny Lee, from Danny Lee himself. Curious passerby who stopped to asked what was going on were shocked to learn of Danny Lee’s passing, and many had stories to share about reaching out to him, and sharing food with him. Danny Lee’s life didn’t need to end short. He had been living in a Northside group home for many years before finding himself out on the streets in October of 2018. A person connected with the group home said that he was de-comping, which means that his mental state wasn’t able to handle stressors. This may have led him out to the street last fall, but the system ended up failing him. Several organizations and individuals had helped him while he was staying on the corner of Race and Liberty Streets, but ultimately, they were unable to prevent his death. Danny Lee had been estranged from his family for almost two decades, but their communication with the organizers was similar to that of those who passed him by each day - they wish they had done more. It seems that his mental state had put up barriers between him and his family for some time. Although Danny Lee attended the University of Louisville and received an EMS Certificate, he was unable to care for himself at the end of his life. Some questioned if we could have forced him into the shelter, after all, Prince of Peace operates a winter shelter literally across the street. Prayers, pleas, and calls for system change were the focus of the memorial. One family, who lives on the block, attended the memorial because they had brought him blankets, mittens, and other items over the past few months. The young kids looked on as their mother spoke, “...I even offered to get him an Uber to the homeless shelter one night because it was very cold. But he was like ‘I’m okay, I’m okay.’ You know that was the kind of person he was, he didn’t ever ask for help, ever, but because we saw him everyday, we wanted to help. It breaks my heart that we live in a city that would board up a doorway, to keep him from being seen on a main street, rather than give him the help that he needed. He was human being. He was more than just a homeless face. He had a family. We loved him. We were his family.” Danny Lee passed away in the doorway on Race Street, just out of sight from busy Liberty Street. He had been sleeping in the doorway on Liberty, but the doorway was recently boarded up. It seems clear that the purpose of the board was to prevent him from sleeping there, in the eyes of someone, to remove the blight. Since the doorways on Race Street, on the same building were not also boarded up, it seems clear that this was about visibility - they don’t want people to see poverty in the gentrifying neighborhood. As “OTR” creeps northward into Over-the-Rhine and FC Cincinnati decimates the West End, only two blocks from where Danny Lee died, the push to remove signs of poverty have been elevated. But what does it mean to push people further into the shadows? Liberty Street is literally a battleground right now. The City is back at the drawing board regarding the Liberty Street Pedestrian Safety initiative. The southern part of Over-the-Rhine may have a SID forced upon us, forcing affordable housing out of the area. North of Liberty, the Brewery District continues its plan to turn the neighborhood into a museum, erasing all contributions and existence of African Americans from the neighborhood. Liberty Street is a major traffic artery, with “rush hour” from 7am to 7pm during the weekdays, as it connects the two interstate highways. Those of us who cross Liberty daily know the dangers of the street, but dying, alone in the cold, is not on the agenda of any of these current battles. Streetvibes Distributor and Contributor, Kim Green made an impassioned plea for affordable housing at the memorial. She used her voice to bring light to the pressing issues that we face in the neighborhood today. At the podium, Kim proclaimed that “here in a city where developers are coming in, taking historical buildings, making them into storefront eateries, it’s really heartbreaking… today people are buying these buildings, they are trying to genocize (sic)... move affordable housing out. The churches, the Homeless Coalition, and [the shelters], they are doing their part to try to help with affordable housing. The City of Cincinnati and City Council are to be ashamed of themselves to let this happen. City Council stand up, help your community - let’s get affordable housing!” We know how to eradicate homelessness through affordable housing, livable wages, and housing protections, but it seems to me that people are still stuck in the mentality that it’s the fault of the individual, so therefore we have no responsibility. This mentality can be traced back to the Reagan Administration, who pushed the idea that churches should be responsible for dealing with homelessness, not the government. Unfortunately, the government has manufactured the current housing and homelessness crisis. By dismantling public housing in favor of privatization, by rewarding developers for displacing residents in favor of market-rate housing, by allowing wages to fall way below a livable wage, by giving landlords carte blanche protections to deny and remove people from housing, the government has created and maintained a system that has resulted in the crisis we have today. We have been to too many funerals over the past few years. The Homeless Coalition’s memorial service that takes place on the longest night of the year counted over 110 people last year who died due to homelessness. Over the past year, the City and County have worked together to make it an arrestable offense to live outside on public or private property. The claim that people who are living outside pose a significant threat to the public is wrong, and forces people further into the shadows, further into isolation. Here we have an individual who was seen every day, yet was in danger himself, and the system wasn’t enough. We are short 40,000 units of affordable housing. All the shelters are over capacity. The jail is also overcrowded. Unless we do a major affordable housing push, a push for livable wages, a push for housing protections, the number of people who lose their lives to homelessness will continue to rise. While so many people are gaining from the displacement of people from our neighborhood, shouldn’t they take on some of the burden? We’ve lost more than 2400 units of affordable housing in Over-the-Rhine over the past 10 years. We are hemorrhaging our neighbors, yet someone is making a great profit off of it, using benefits and public incentives that come out of our taxes. The family who helped Danny Lee with blankets and mittens and offered to get an Uber to the shelter ended their memorial statement with this call to action. “We live on a block with all these vacant buildings. No one’s doing anything with them but making a profit eventually… we have to do better as a people. We just got to do better. No one should have to die outside, alone, in the cold.”