By Haley Edmonson Sitting down for the girls writing circle that I help lead every Monday up at Rothenberg, the energy is soaring as my kids greet me and find their name tags. Fighting over who gets to sit next to me and talking about the drama from their day at school, they bring a big smile to my face as they always find something to compliment me on. The whole goal of the circle is to give the fourth to sixth grade girls in the after school program at Rothenberg a safe space to talk about challenges but also to lift up one another. I always leave surprised with their maturity and kindness for their age as somehow they always find a way to make me feel safe and lift me up as well. But my positive outlook is not one commonly upheld within the community nor would the state of Ohio or Department of Education would reciprocate. Rothenberg has recently received yet another “F” on the state’s education report card, deemed solely on state test scores. Printed boldly on the Ohio Department of Education’s website are the words “Great things are happening in Ohio schools!” yet the blaring red letter grade on the school overview’s page makes that statement hard to believe. The report card has now set the tone for the school year and Principal Alena Smith’s first year as the head of the school. The fact is, Rothenberg’s demographics already set their students and school as a whole to fail in the eyes of the Department of Education. Ninety-nine percent of students at Rothenberg are in low-income households and ninety-five percent are African-American. Our current system fails them through inequitable funding. Since the property taxes determine the funding available to public schools, low-income neighborhoods will receive significantly lower amounts of funding than their high-income counterparts causing a large disparity between educational systems. Even as the demographics of the community of Over-the-Rhine has changed, the school’s have not despite some of the higher property taxes. Schools have also seen millions of dollars taken out of education, as the bounty of tax abatements for development directly affects their funding. Privileged families take their children outside of the city for education and take their sum of tax money with them to their new respective schools. They would say they don’t have their kids go to Rothenberg because it’s a “failing” school. Yet anyone working within the walls of Rothenberg would tell you that they are a community, providing services far beyond other schools in the district to ensure the success of not only their students, but their entire families. Ms. Dorothy is a long time community member that has worked within the schools’ walls for years and has had all of her children and now grandchildren attend. She is satisfied with the results that Rothenberg is producing despite the adversity they are facing and is proud of who her kids have become with the help of this schools’ education. One of her kids is in fact now a teacher there themselves. Ms. Dorothy volunteers and runs the Parent Resource Center there, providing support in every realm possible from housing, to food, to a comforting hug. This resource center, is not only valuable supplying resources to the deficits within the school, but is also entirely unique to Rothenberg. No other school in Cincinnati Public Schools assesses and assists the student’s needs outside of the classroom that affects their education. No other school has a strong parent base looking out for the interest of all of the students, not just their own. So is it fair to label our schools like Rothenberg and the students that learn within its walls “failing?” It’s important to acknowledge that this grade based exclusively off of test scores isn’t necessarily fair nor shows the other positive things happening. It doesn’t convey the compassion of the teachers and staff for their students and families. It doesn’t communicate the other real-world lessons they have learned from a young age regarding personal hardships and community adversities. Rothenberg offering the services and caring community to allow students to achieve their greatest heights, in of itself is spectacular. What’s happening in Rothenberg is a story happening in many schools and contributing to the idea that public schools just don’t suffice anymore. The failing school rhetoric radiating in our nation has contributed to the rise of charters, magnets, and private schools, pulling sums of money out of the public education system. In turn this has made education for low-income students less attainable as now some neighborhood schools like St. Francis Seraph School, are no longer free. Rothenberg is now the only neighborhood public elementary school as development and the Department of Education has shut the remainder down despite some of their outstanding marks. What is now the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, used to be a neighborhood elementary school, and was considered one of the best schools in Cincinnati despite the bad connotation the city had of the community surrounding it. Talking to a student teacher within St. Francis Seraph now, she mentions that her students are fearful that something will happen and they will no longer be able to attend the private school, meaning they would have to go to the “failing” Rothenberg. Our students believing the notion that our public schools aren’t good enough and should have to pay to receive a “better” education, shows the dangerous effects of the failing school rhetoric. While test scores can make important assessments, they don’t assess everything that our schools have to offer and other learning equally imperative to our students and society. The state doesn’t see my girl’s explaining to me the importance of loving yourself and standing up for what’s right. The state doesn’t see one of my girl’s whispering to another, “I think you are beautiful” after questioning her beauty. The state doesn’t see one of my girl’s struggling to stay awake and participate in a circle she loves because she didn’t sleep last night for one of the various struggles that cause a lot of our kids are unable to come to school with a good night’s rest. Their test scores might not be where they should be, but the resilience and the kindness exuding from these students that can’t be measured makes them more successful than other kids in “A” rated schools. The Ohio Department of Education might say Rothenberg is failing, but the City of Cincinnati and the Department of Education is failing Rothenberg.

By Bill Woods "While the region has experienced successes, we are leaving lots of our neighbors behind, and this will not change without significant, intentional, sustained effort - an effort that will mean we have to change how we allocate resources, and address long term socioeconomic issues." This quote comes from "Fair Housing Assessment," a just released report completed by Xavier University's Community Building Institute for the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The report, authored by Liz Blume, the Director of CBI, assesses the region's housing market and the ability of different groups to find adequate, affordable housing. Such assessments are required every five years from cities and urban regions that receive funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). How is Greater Cincinnati's housing market doing in terms of providing adequate and affordable housing for all its population groups? The opening quote indicates that although the City and County have rebounded from the Great Recession of 2008, a large percentage of African- American residents and other low-income individuals and families have not fared well. In fact, this report reinforces the recent LISC-study that found that Cincinnati and Hamilton County possessed a shortage of 40,000 affordable housing units. The report highlights some facts that showcase the affordable housing crisis. The area's homeless population in 2017 totaled 7,197. Meanwhile, 8,465 households experienced evictions from 2014 - 2016. Of the 54,200 residents living in the most depressed, disinvested neighborhoods, 75-percent were Black, and these neighborhoods housed 7,122 families with children. One of the focuses of these regular assessments is the extent of racial segregation in urban regions. Have federal laws prohibiting racial segregation in terms of renting and selling housing had an impact on where people live in a city and a region? The report notes, that over the years, Greater Cincinnati has been one of the most segregated urban regions in the country. The current assessment finds that although this region had improved statistically in recent decades, the last ten years brought increased segregation that erased these improvements. The new report also found overt discrimination impacting the housing opportunities of people with disabilities, young people, and families with children. The report declares that housing discrimination and housing affordability are separate issues, but they are nevertheless "tightly intertwined." It acknowledges that the major affordable housing shortage "exacerbates" problems confronting African-Americans and other groups protected by ant-discrimination laws in their search to find adequate housing. With fewer affordable housing units being built or rehabbed, existing zoning codes and rising rents dovetail to make the search for housing almost impossible for these individuals and families. The assessment includes maps that detail the housing patterns existing in Greater Cincinnati. It also reviews factors over time that has inevitably led to the current affordable housing crisis. The emphasis on promoting growth and commercial development in neighborhoods like Over-the-Rhine has led to displacement and a loss of once available affordable units. At the same time, wage inequity has made rising rents a mounting obstacle for the working poor. Meanwhile, the current public transit system fails to connect city residents to better paying jobs available in the metro area, while high priced housing and restrictive zoning make it impossible for the development of more mixed income housing in the suburbs. Probably the biggest factor of all is the steady cutting of public dollars for various housing assistance programs (especially federal funding) since the 1980s. What is to be done? The report provides a series of recommendations focused on increasing resources and improving systems. In terms of resources, the top recommendation is to establish affordable housing trust funds at the city and county levels (City Council established such an entity this year.). Increased support for community and regional organizations that create and assist affordable housing is also endorsed, while the report also backs further support for agencies that protect vulnerable households. A final recommendation calls for community and economic investments in north central Hamilton County. In terms of system improvements, the assessment calls for expanded public transportation. It sees a need for the creation of more lending practices that assist African-Americans and other protected class households, and also changes in zoning codes that "open new areas for protected class households. It calls for better housing code enforcement, and the ability and commitment of local governments and agencies to better respond to individual and family housing crises. The release of this report comes at an opportune moment. LISC (the Local Initiatives Support Corporation) is working on a housing plan for the region, and groups such as the Homeless Coalition and Advocates for Affordable Housing are gearing up for a ballot initiative to provide adequate funding for the City's Housing Trust Fund. "Fair Housing Assessment" by Xavier's Community Building Institute adds yet another credible document calling for serious and immediate action to address Greater Cincinnati's affordable housing crisis. (The full report is available on line: http:/ bit.ly/ fairhousing2019)

By LoA Beinit A vision in red has come to Cincinnati and some on the streets who have seen this have become quite unsettled. A human dressed in crimson red from head to toe with a painted white face is walking through areas very slowly. Children run away in terror. Grown men move closer to their friends, actually pushing them closer to this foreboding beacon, trying to save themselves. The powerful and prayerful performance is a micro portion of a worldwide movement. This moving human being is a Red Rebel of the Extinction Rebellion. What is the significance of the Red Rebel? The Red Rebel is the attraction to get people to think of the scariest thing facing society: our future. Stories of mammals, reptiles and birds all dying are only stories, for most people have long been divided away from nature in their everyday life. The seasons are failing but our thoughts are too quick to lose recognition of this as we move from one temperature controlled environment to another. Our planet is being plundered causing these extinction events, yet do we feel we have a choice outside of consumer purchasing? The Red Rebel is the recognition that we are one blood no matter how hairy or scaly our skin condition. This revolution of unity is even for the trees for it has been proven their destruction is all based on profiteering by banks and corporations. Human life is destroyed as we are used as commodities to keep profitable the medical/ pharmaceutical system. Our children are stolen as another commodity by the federal government. The Red Rebels are the collective pain and prayers of all beings. They are the embodiment of quiet, prayerful, flame of rage. How dare the false power and principle of money destroy what eons of time has made in diverse life forms. The Extinction Rebellion is the grown up response to Greta Thunberg's action of bringing children around the world to use their Fridays to school their individual governments about the average humans desire for more say in creating a healthier, livable world. In the autumn of 2018 in the United Kingdom Extinction Rebellion began. This year it grows through over 600 cities. It is Occupy Wall Street armored up with love. We use non-violent disruption to stop the business as usual destruction of every creatures’ home. It was very amazing to see the swarming to close down streets for 5 minutes at a time to share with the drivers the impact of changing “business as usual”. On September 25 2019, San Francisco participated in a major action essentially shutting down Wall Street West; 6 bank headquarters’, the consulates of Canada and Brazil along with the senator’s office. At 7: 30 in the morning twenty circular murals were laid out covering the road of two city blocks. When I walked past a bank it was a uniformed officer telling the customer the bank was closed for the day, in recognition of the profiteering off environmental damages. I saw no police brutality, nor was it known that anyone was arrested, (as activists were prepared to be), but a community in celebration for a day of smog-less streets. There were indigenous prayers, music, dancing, clowning around and free food. This is something we could do here and now. In fact, these streets flooding with humanity is already happening as seen through the BLINK activity where lights, parades and community shut down many streets. I even had a police officer say it would be a nicer way to be, walking within community at a pace where we could all promote peace. Disruptive non-violence can be such a pleasant thing. Building community is natural choice, as seen in nature where a plant, a creature, and micro-beings fill the niches to create a symbiotic balanced unity. Sometimes there is an encroacher that needs to be set in a boundary as we see in the Extinction Rebellion revelry against destructive corporate greed. There is another boundary that is nigh to expand, the interest increase of 40 acres and a mule in this 400th year of slavery recognition. The JubileeCincinnati.org movement is tackling the business as usual by examining why our tax dollars are buying up land through the Port Authority keeping us complicit in our own gentrification when we ourselves should be custodians of our land. We ourselves have the rite to our food and animals; it is an abomination to deny it for the sake of someone’s profit. Our water and air, our education and employment and finances. These are the gifts of our creator, not some corporate livelihood. This is our world, we have every rite to live the way we do without being cemented over for others progress because they wrote laws that consume the life out of us. It will require an open mind to reexamine what we are doing and why. Plus, how do we want our actions to affect the myriads of creatures in the world around us? Are we capable of being worthy of royal life? Are there enough willing to live awake and live in a more community healing way? Will 3.5 percent of our population be willing to change their ways to counter the “enormous catastrophic breakdown"(- Rabbi Jeffrey Newman) of our earth unraveling? Are people working cooperatively?

Homelessness may seem like a complicated issue, and for the most part it can be. While experiencing homelessness, daily tasks such as showering, eating, and working can be daunting tasks. The isolation, loneliness, and depression that comes with homelessness leads to greater likelihood of drug abuse, risky sexual activity, mental stress and illness, as well as, suicide. The experience of homelessness will likely follow you for the rest of your life, lowering your life expectancy. In Cincinnati last year, more than 150 people died from homelessness, with an average age of 51. These are only the people we were able to account for, as with all statistics around homelessness, the numbers are always lower than reality. Have you considered where you’d register to vote, if you’re experiencing homelessness? Ohio law says that your home is any place you intend to return to. People can use park benches as their address, but they won’t get their mail delivered to a park bench, so they will not be able to participate in the voting process (as there are required documents that need to be mailed). Being able to get mail on a regular basis is a luxury that many people, in all types of homelessness, are not able to enjoy. In Hamilton County, more than 25,000 people will experience homelessness this year. Less than half of those people will come in contact with the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) that reports back to the federal government on the severity and need surrounding homelessness. National data has shown that less than 25% of people who are eligible for housing support actually receive it. And with a deficit of more than 40,000 units of affordable housing, Hamilton County is in a housing crisis. More than 10% of Cincinnati Public School students will experience homelessness this year, meaning they have no stable housing, or they will lose their housing at some point during the school year. The homelessness crisis is real, and it affects everyone, regardless of your housing status or income level. When people learn the types of homelessness, they often remark that they didn’t realize that they had experienced, or are currently experiencing homelessness. It is often jarring to realize that the support that you thought you had actually kept you on the edge of homelessness, or that your idea of what a “home” is has to be reevaluated. From couch-surfing to sleeping rough, homelessness has a negative effect on the individual and community. Couchsurfing is often seen as a right of passage after major events, like graduation, or even just during summer break from school. But more often, adults who are not in school, are spending time on their friends’ and families’ couches. Trying to help out where they can by cleaning out the garage, babysitting, taking care of the yard, or helping to pay a portion of the energy bill. This type of homelessness is difficult to get out of because people end up spending a lot of their time and energy trying to please friends and family, so getting on their own two feet becomes impossible with the lack of time to spend on seeking out independence. Even if someone is sleeping on a bed, they are couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is not considered homelessness in some models, and is often overlooked like doubling up. Doubling up is when two families are living together out of economic necessity. Once again, this could be living with friends or family, and is very similar to couchsurfing. Only one family has their name on the lease and is legally allowed to occupy the home. Many times family members double up so much that they think it is a normal way of life, not realizing that it is a form of homelessness. Because there is no place in the United States that a minimum-wage worker can afford a two bedroom apartment, many times the working poor are doubled up, even while working full time. The wages don’t allow for families to become independent while leave families vulnerable to eviction or abuse. Sometimes, after exhausting couchsurfing opportunities, people find themselves sleeping in their cars. Afterall, homelessness is an economic issue, not a moral one. If it was a moral issue, we would not let it happen, but because it is an economic issue we are able to continually justify homelessness. There is an entire reddit devoted to car- habitation and how to modify your vehicle so that it is more comfortable to live in. Readers exchange tips on how to find safer parking spots, prepare food in your car, and create the most comfortable sleeping situation. Imagine keeping all of your possessions in your car and sleeping in it every day. Where will you shower? How will you get a hot meal? This car might be the last thing someone owns, and they may be about to lose it to repossession or citations. Last year, Cincinnati saw a standoff regarding the street encampments. Ultimately, the City and County colluded to make it illegal to experience homelessness on private of public land in the entire county. While this puts more than 25,000 vulnerable people into an even more stressful and dangerous situation, it does nothing to end homelessness. The Homeless Ban has forced people further into the shadows, putting them at considerable risk. People who sleep on the street have a right to under the First, Fourth, and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution to do so. While this is being settled in federal court, understanding that it is not desirable to live outside, even with a tent, but it is difficult, dangerous, and leads to poor health outcomes, can help us come up with create and humane ways to reduce homelessness. If you are living in a motel, that is a type of homelessness. Motels are only designed for brief stays, and living in one room with a small refrigerator and a contraband hotplate, while it may seem better than living in a tent, will result in lowered health outcomes as well. Eating fried, cheap food, sleeping many people in one bed, having nowhere to decompress, paying most of your income on just a room, will lead to long-lasting physical, emotional, and psychological harm. Families need stability and the ability to be a part of a specific community, which cannot be done while living in a motel. Homeless at home is another type of homelessness that affects countless people in our region. The number of people who experience this type of homelessness isn’t included in the 25,000 people who will experience homelessness this year in Hamilton County but it also has a very negative effect on our community. Many youth especially experience this type of homelessness where they have a roof over their head, but there is no food on the table or parental guidance. Children are often receiving their only meals at school or going to a neighbor’s house for something to eat. If you’re paying more than 30% of your income towards your housing, you may just be a paycheck away from losing it all. Most Americans don’t have at least $1000 in savings, leaving us closer to homelessness than ever. Even if you are getting in a relationship for a place to stay, this is still a form of homelessness until you have a lease in your name. People who are vulnerable to homelessness include people who have experienced homelessness throughout their lives. The wealth gap created by race-based policies that lead to white generational wealth has given us a system where Black people are way more likely to experience homelessness. Unless we have a restructuring of wealth with an eye on race in this country, homelessness will continue to rise, creating with it new types of homelessness that fall beneath the radar and certainly don’t make it into any governmental count. Educate your friends and families on homelessness so that they can work harder to create a more stable and equitable community.

By Gabriela Godinez Recently I went on a food tour with my family. We thought that it was going to be a nice escape from all the terrible news we hear and read at every turn, but instead it only highlighted the fact that so many citizens are unaware of the hurt Cincinnati is going through. While we were trying to have a break from reality, our food tour guide made the point to praise 3CDC for “cleaning up” Washington Park and other areas that were “abandoned.” What she didn’t mention was the fact that those weren’t simply vacant buildings, but actually buildings left by people who were deliberately pushed out. What she ignored was that Washington Park wasn’t a murderous drug infested park, and that now the people in the park selling the drug alcohol are the very people she praises. My mother was furious and tried her best to calm down, though the smoke coming from her ears wasn’t preventable. This experience showed me that there is no real way to take a break and escape the reality of our world and more specifically Cincinnati. Some people are malicious in their spread misinformation, and others are simply ignorant and spew such ignorance without negative intent. Either way, we are accountable for the information that we give others and need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. According to the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, “Hamilton County is short more than 40,000 affordable homes, 28,000 of which are needed within Cincinnati.” Shelters are constantly over capacity and still don’t have enough beds for every person experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati. Josh Spring, the director of the Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, wrote in a recent press release, “Black households are living under the constant threat of being displaced from their homes. Hundreds of people have died because of homelessness, yet we continue to pump funds and tax abatements into the development of luxury housing. We know the solution is to publicly fund the creation of new affordable housing and the preservation of existing affordable housing and to end displacement and unjust evictions. Our People, agencies and faith partners will wait no longer. We will be marching and speaking in mass to demand HOUSING NOW!” On October 2nd, people of all walks of life came together in Laurel Park to begin a march to city hall. There was an empowering ambiance at this initial gathering. Some students and community members were gathered on one patch of grass making signs for the march, while other folks stood around eating and chatting. It was a wonderful show of community. As to be expected, there was one moment where two police cars and four police officers on bicycles circled around us in the name of “surveillance”. This did not deflate the energy that was being cultivated through such strong presence of community. At least 31 organizations participated in the march and about 150 people gathered initially at the park. The count only got higher as the march began. Once the march commenced, the energy only got more intense, showed by the chanting and singing of the people as everyone walked on. People were obviously fed up with the leadership of the City of Cincinnati ignoring its people in favor of monetary gain through the guise of development. In part of Josh’s speech in front of City hall he pointed out that the city council members weren’t even there to hear our complaints, even though they were meant to be meeting that day at that time. They are well aware of what is happening around them, and chose to not be there and to ignore the problem. However, this demonstration and protest shows that the community is not having any of it. They all showed up to demand affordable housing now, and we will all keep fighting until it is done.

By Dr. Mark Mussman “Should we still go out to bars and restaurants in Over-the-Rhine?” asks a participant on a recent Alternative Break trip with us at the Homeless Coalition. Our Alternative Break (AB) program is one of the most robust and educational programs in the country. Over-the-Rhine provides us with diametrically opposed perspectives on the simple question: “Who belongs here?” On the surface, participants see an amusement park with pedalwagons, scooters, outdoor drinking, ax-throwing, arcades, sports, arts, music, and did I mention drinking? But as we get deeper into the complexities, they begin to question what impact they themselves are having on the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. My experience in advertising has taught me that first impressions last forever, and that consistency must persist throughout a relationship to be successful. I have long said that “Over-the-Rhine is a neighborhood: OTR is a brand” as a way to distinguish between the many perspectives on this area. While the neighborhood has been abbreviated as “OTR” for many years, delineating between the two is an important first step in seeing the divide between those who claim ownership in the neighborhood and those who yield to a common voice. Our Alternative Breaks have a different effect on local participants. People who have never been to Cincinnati, who have never heard of Over-the-Rhine, look at the situation with an almost unemotional gaze, as if they are taking it in, comparing it to their own experience, and tucking it away as a memory in a scrapbook. I have been contacted by many former participants who said they have been able to apply what they experienced in Cincinnati to their own communities. Local participants tend to have more difficulty understanding the power dynamics in the neighborhood. Often they have a common historical knowledge of Over-the-Rhine: “It was bad, but now it’s not.” But reconciling their own, often entertainment-based experiences, becomes more difficult. Don’t get me wrong, our AB program is intense and often demanding, but when students become so emotional that they are in tears in the room with strangers, I realize there is something else going on in their lives. During a trip last year, one of our community speakers simply opened up the discussion with “What is gentrification?” One of the participants broke down in tears, because they were having a difficult time reconciling their own experiences and, in essence, their own identity. They explained that they often go to bars in “OTR” and that they feel guilty for contributing to the displacement of residents, businesses, social service agencies, in the name of profit. The student was definitely on to something — and this was just the first day! The question of who belongs in the neighborhood is examined because gentrification is displacement, and displacement has consequences. For example, when people are displaced from a park, whether it Washington, Zeigler, or Findlay, once the parks have been privatized, should people who enjoy the park before feel comfortable and able to use the park after the investment is made? And if they do feel comfortable enough to use the park, should their enjoyment be impacted by knowledge (and experience) of exclusion? Shouldn’t all people in the neighborhood be able to use something that is available to all of the people in the neighborhood without judgement of fear? How can this even be measured? When your neighborhood changes right in front of your eyes, and indirect gentrification has removed your schools, your neighbors, your play spaces, your stores, your laundromat, your hardware store, your post office, your family and friends, but you still must survive, you will likely still participate in your community, but in a different way, with a different lens. Life becomes complicated and burdensome. Being able to flow freely through the neighborhood becomes impossible. Another example of this is the removal of the Kroger grocery store from the neighborhood last month. Many of our neighbors depended on that store to have basic staples and we have spent a lot of time with our neighbors shopping — even in that small, over-priced store. Once the new downtown Kroger opened, creating a food desert for many in northern Over-the-Rhine and the West End, should people who shopped at the old Kroger feel different about shopping at the new “fancy” Kroger downtown? Will they feel included or excluded by the security and staff at the new store? What choices do they have when the corner stores that sold cleaning supplies and other items not found at Findlay Market have been closed down? When you are simply trying to survive, not only is closing a neighborhood grocery story difficult on the community, especially the most vulnerable, the elderly, people with disabilities, people who have to walk up many flights of stairs and cannot carry all their groceries at once, but it also forces our community connections to be altered. These are the social fabric changes that people facing displacement must deal with every day. The effect of indirect gentrification is the same as direct gentrification — displacement. Eventually, the bottom falls out, and you are forced from the neighborhood. The zip code that covers Over-the-Rhine, Downtown, and Mt. Adams has been found to be the most expensive rental market in the entire state, which is partially why the question of “who belongs?” persists. Clearly, there are power dynamics in the neighborhood that are tipped in favor of those who have more resources, coming from generational wealth, and who enjoy privilege due to their color of their skin. Many times AB participants are resistant to the message that racism even exists, and they exert their fragility by becoming quiet, afraid to speak up. They want to believe that their are only two sides, and that things can be painted as either “good” or “bad” unless the “bad” somehow includes them or the decisions that they make. Some participants break free by critically thinking and they start to unlearn racism through the experiences they have on the trip. In either case, the memories they make in Over-the-Rhine will be carried with them throughout their lives. Whether or not they are able to answer the questions they pose about their own actions and choices is not something that I would ever be able to measure. If they go out in Over-the- Rhine in the same manner as before the trip doesn’t mean that the trip failed. Their AB experience should enable them to see how they can be supportive in their own communities. Hearing from community leaders and residents, people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity, gives them the opportunity to take those voices with them to answer the most pressing questions about homelessness, poverty, hunger, displacement, housing, and gentrification. It should also give them the tools to organize and become advocates for affordable housing.

By Bill Woods Have you received a scary postcard in the mail? It warns not to give your phone number, email address, home address, or other personal information to a particular petition gatherer, because it will end up in the hands of the Chinese Government. Besides making you personally vulnerable to wily Chinese bureaucrats, signing this petition will aid China's plan to invade Ohio's Energy Grid while taking away thousands of jobs! A plethora of TV ads with the same message also blanket the air waves on a regular basis. What is going on here? Is China really about to take over Ohio's energy resources? The answer to these questions is a resounding no! What we are experiencing is another round of "dark money" attempting to protect a terrible state law enacted last summer and purchased by the same "dark money." Here is the story in brief. First Energy, a corporation located in Akron, Ohio, is the primary villain in this tale. As the operator of two failing nuclear power plants in Ohio, First Energy tried but failed to persuade the Ohio General Assembly to enact legislation that would subsidize its nuclear facilities. Even a Republican dominated Legislature that is inclined to assist business saw this as a losing proposition. After this initial defeat, First Energy and its allies decided on a plan based on campaign contributions to elect House and Senate members that would do their bidding. First of all, the plan called for supporting a new Speaker of the House who would be amenable to their bailout legislation. Rep. Larry Householder, a co-sponsor of the unsuccessful bailout bill, became their choice, and he received during the 2018 election year $67,416 in campaign donations from First Energy and the other energy corporations supporting such state assistance. Next, First Energy supported candidates in eighteen House Districts who ran in the 2018 Republican primary against incumbents who had voted against the bailout. With significant donations from First Energy, fifteen of these challengers won, and twelve of them were elected in the fall general election. These candidates received a large percentage of the approximately one million dollars spent by First Energy's PAC during the 2018 election cycle. Meanwhile, three other PACs representing coal-fired power plants spent another $700,000 in this campaign to line up enough members of the Ohio House and Senate to support a bailout. The plan worked. First, Larry Householder was chosen by the new House as its Speaker when it convened in 2019. Then, work began in earnest to craft new legislation that would effectively bailout both the nuclear and coal corporations in Ohio. While this Bill was being drafted, several million dollars worth of TV and radio ads touting this approach ran on stations throughout the state. What emerged and was passed by both the House and Senate in July was a law that would provide a bailout of $1.1-billion to First Energy and the coal plants over a period of seven years. Known as House Bill 6, it was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine on July 23rd. It should also be noted that DeWine received a $25,000 campaign contribution from the First Energy PAC in 2018. Almost immediately, a group called Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, began a statewide petition drive to repeal House Bill 6 by the initiative process. It currently works to get 265,774 valid Ohio Voter signatures by October 21st in order to stop the bailout from beginning before a 2020 referendum vote. However, once signature gathering began, a new limited liability corporation named Ohioans For Energy Security began a $3.4-million ad and mail campaign attacking this petition drive. This brings the story to the present moment and the ads on TV and the post cards designed to scare us about the threat of China taking over Ohio's Energy Grid while misusing our personal information. Although research by journalists and good government groups can find nothing valid about these claims of potential Chinese misdeeds, one possible link has been put forward. Apparently, one energy company that may be supporting the repeal got some financing from a Chinese bank for a natural gas plant in Ohio. This is speculation and not necessarily true, and it hardly ranks as a Chinese takeover. It does show, however, that Ohio election laws cannot currently stop well-financed false information campaigns. A follow up article will focus on what reform groups such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause propose to do about this dilemma and the crisis of "Big Money" in general.

By Katelyn Lusher A few months ago, you may have read that I am creating a digital archive for Streetvibes. Since I started archiving the back issues (dating as far back as 1997), I have discovered so many great and fascinating things about the Cincinnati community. I have seen how people will come together in a moment of crisis to stand up for what is right, just like we did last week for the Housing Now! March. I have read about the rise of activists who didn’t know that they would become activists until they were called to stand up. I have seen people lifted up and given a platform to share their story when everyone else turned a deaf ear. I have seen so, so many strong relationships forged within the pages of Streetvibes. The people who were involved in the paper early on still tell stories about each other and refer me to others who can help me build the archive. It’s truly amazing how deep these roots go in the activist community. But on the darker side, I see the same tragic things repeated far too often. One reason why community advocates become so close and know each other for so long is because they are continuously fighting the same hard, uphill battle against oppression and greed. Time and time again, I see stories reporting the mistreatment of people experiencing homelessness, the displacement of an entire neighborhood, or the complete lack of affordable housing in the city. The story repeats itself and the same people are always on the front lines fighting back against big businesses and government entities who are very selective about who they consider “worthy” of a decent place to live. As Bonnie Neumeier said in her speech at City Hall last week, she attended the first Housing Now! March back in 1989. Thirty years later, we are still marching for the same reason. Similar protests for better affordable housing options are littered throughout Streetvibes’ timeline. In November 2009, the front page headline reads, “Metropole Tenants Tell 3CDC: Hell No, We Won’t Go.” In July 2004, citizens mobilized to protest “the war on the poor” in Washington Park in honor of the late Rev. Maurice McCrackin. The previous year, in August 2003, people fought against the city sweeping away a tent city by the Bailey Bridge (not unlike a similar eviction that happened in August 2018). People organized to protest the city bulldozing public housing projects for redevelopment in June 1999. The list goes on and on, and it’s appalling that this is still a fight that needs to be fought not just in Cincinnati, but all across the country. This is the kind of history that people conveniently forget. The struggles of others do not stop just because it isn’t reported or is given minimal coverage in mainstream media. In many ways, Streetvibes purposely runs counter to what we expect to read when we pick up something that looks like a newspaper. What I’ve come to understand about Streetvibes is that it’s not just a run of the mill newspaper (which many of you who already know if you’ve followed Streetvibes for a while) and it’s not supposed to be. What Streetvibes represents, in my mind, is a common place. It is a place to discover what other activists and community advocates are doing in Cincinnati, in the U.S., and around the world to improve the lives of people. It is also a place to share a story, voice an opinion, or talk back to injustice. It is a place where people can see themselves represented. With that being said, I am happy to announce that I am now at the point where I can show everyone the website’s progress and start gathering community feedback and contributions. If you go to svarchive.omeka.net, you will see what I have added to the archive so far. At the moment, I have only added the 1997 and some of the 1998 issues, but it will gradually expand to catch up to the present. All of the issues can be downloaded as PDFs and they are all searchable. In the future, I plan to add profiles of people who frequently appear in Streetvibes and add interview audio and video with them. However, I am also welcoming contributions from any community members who are currently or were formerly involved with Streetvibes in some form. If you click on “Contribute an Item” in the left sidebar of the website, you can pick your content choice (story, image, or profile) and contribute your voice and memories to the archive. If you have any questions or suggestions for the archive, please fill out the contact form on the website or come by the Homeless Coalition on Thursdays at 3:30 and I will be glad to talk to you! Streetvibes exists because of community and the archive should reflect its roots.

By Martha Stephens I read almost every issue of Streetvibes. It tells truths you can’t find in any other paper. I always like the column on the first page of the paper by editor Gabriela Godinez. Godinez doesn’t hesitate to tell it like it is -- on many difficult subjects. I have admired her take on our mounting gun violence, for instance, and the need to ban assault weapons; and I agree with her entirely about Title X, the federal program for family planning, and her insistence that a woman must have the right to make decisions about her own body. I always read Dr. Mark Mussman. His knowledge of the city is phenomenal, and I learn from him about the struggles people are facing in all corners of the town -- and what we need to do about it. I like the poems and stories of our homeless friends, and I enjoy the many articles from other street-papers in the U. S. and around the world. I wish, though, we had more local writers pitching in with their personal stories and insights. As I see it, we need more dialogue in the paper, so I’d like to reply to a Streetvibes article in a recent issue by Bill Woods. News media is “Both Under Attack and in Decline,” he writes in the Oct. 3 edition. Mr. Woods contributes a lot of fine thoughtful writing to Streetvibes, and he is very good at explaining what caring people need to do to organize ourselves to create a town where no one lives in fear and grave distress. On big media, though, I have a somewhat different take from Mr. Bill. He writes on how he regrets that corporate news (the large papers and t. v. news) is losing out - to social media, perhaps? Yet as I see it, the corporate media has never been a true friend of ours. Only this past year have they been willing even to mention climate change. What was happening to our sick little planet was basically a secret from their readers all those years! The business cartels that put out the papers did not like the whole subject until quite recently, when they felt they had to get on board. Big media can be good at human-interest stories of all kinds, but we are suffering horribly now from this absence of climate news over the years. Do we love and admire the New York Times? Do we love NPR? Think of them as progressive? Don’t we recall how they helped get us into the terrible war in Iraq; their total support for those killing fields? I recall only too well when the NYT wrote that Hussein was a Hitler and had to be gotten rid of, no matter what. Once the invasion began, NPR (though it’s a better program today, under Trump) would not let us hear a single voice opposing that war. Many of us in Cincinnati marched against the invasion of Iraq in 2003. We felt there was no point in that war. The Iraq Body Count -- of civilians killed in the conflict -- is still rising every day. (We can take a look at this count on line. As I write, it’s up to almost 200,000 deaths.) In short, the American Empire has torn up much of the world through its wars and installing its bases around the world. Jim Luken can tell this story much better than I can, and I hope we’ll still hear from him from time to time. Jim was once a war correspondent, and he wrote about war for many years for Streetvibes, even after he moved away from Cincinnati. One could go on and on -- as to what we learn from Big Media and what we don’t learn. We may be fortunate that today we have Democracy Now and a good many other progressive and truth-telling organs for news. Facebook, for all its drawbacks, does allow us to learn from each other. My Facebook friends post all kinds of eye-opening reports from sources I wouldn’t otherwise know about. And again, we have our street-papers to help us understand what’s happening to common people in the U.S. and around the world. It may be that we are not worse off for less corporate news, but better off - or so it seems to me, when it comes to the grave decisions we have to make in the U. S. today. Maybe those of us reading and writing for this paper should have a thorough dialogue on such subjects, and perhaps others will pitch in right here on Streetvibes. In short, let’s talk to each other - through letters and counter-articles. That’s what keeps a newspaper alive! Martha Stephens is a writer and retired teacher. Her book about the victims of a research project in the U.C. College of Medicine is titled The Treatment: the story of those who died in the Cincinnati radiation tests (Duke University Press 2002); and her most recent work is a memoir titled Me and the Grandmas of Baghdad (in libraries and on Amazon). She can be reached at stephem@ucmail.uc.edu.

By Alex McIntosh As a college freshman, at once indecisive and overly-enthusiastic, my most feared question was, “What are you studying?” Pair this with the vulnerable position of being in a dentist’s chair, and picture me fumbling over my words—and the fingers in my mouth—trying to explain my Outdoor Education major and that I wanted to teach kids about the environment by taking them backpacking and canoeing. I hadn’t even gotten to the rock climbing skills when my well-meaning, extremely conservative dentist looked me in the eyes over his mask and said, “Oh, you’re one of those environmental liberals.” I started to protest, to explain that I wasn’t even talking about politics, just a basic appreciation of nature, but quickly resigned, sinking back into the chair while he poked at my gums and lectured me about the dangers of the welfare state. I had yet to learn the power of political connotations, or the fact that something as broad as “the environment” could be owned by one side of the political aisle, or the fervor of those who opposed my so-called liberal agenda. Flash forward eight years to find me—a more decisive but still enthusiastic version of me—in front of Cincinnati’s City Hall on September 20th of this year. Hundreds of voices rise together, joined in the words of a call-and-response song led by a local high school student: “I hear the voice of my great granddaughter saying ‘climate justice now.’” The protest, organized by Ohio Climate Strike and the Young Activists Coalition in conjunction with similar events around Ohio and the world, is a demand for political action in response to the problem of climate change. Of course, for politicians and voters to respond to a problem, they must first be convinced that there is a problem. In this era of fake news and flat earthers—two of this decade’s most popular anti-consensus trends— it’s no wonder that something as scientifically evident as climate change might be up for debate. The tiniest bit of research— via sources as trustworthy as NASA, The World Wildlife Fund, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations, National Geographic, and every major news source (including Fox News)— reveals that the Earth’s temperature is rising at an unprecedented rate, and that the vast majority of climate scientists (97% according to NASA.com) agree that human activities are the likely cause. Rather than speculating on the financial and political causes for many politicians’ refusal to make climate concerns a priority, the Climate Strike’s anthem was a song of unity, of our belonging to the Earth and to each other, as well as to those who will come after us. As polarized and divisive as our current political situation remains, the environment stands to serve as a unifying factor. Might the ground we walk on— and the air we breathe, and the water we drink— become neutral ground? As a lover of the outdoors, who is by no means an expert in climate science, I’m constantly amazed at the power of nature to rekindle our humanity. Being outside— and away from the demands of modern technological society—allows me to rest in a completely unique way. Even sitting in a neighborhood park provides the mental and spiritual space for me to breathe more easily, listening to birds chirping and watching the sunlight dance between tree limbs to play on the sidewalk. Science shows again and again that being in nature is good for our mental well-being, and even those who distrust science can’t deny that we rely daily on the natural world. It saddens me deeply that the environment has been manipulated into a political tool that divides, rather than a blessing that unites.

By Katelyn Lusher It was a sweltering, humid day when I shadowed Karen on the corner of 5th and Walnut Street in late June. I arrived around 11 am and downtown was bustling with people getting on buses and walking from work on their lunch break in suits and high heels. For Karen, the people are the best part of selling Streetvibes even when it’s unbearably hot out. She’s been selling papers since July 8th, 2008 and has several regular customers who frequent her spot. Her corner is close by a Currito downtown and the employees always make sure she stays hydrated with cups of water in the summer. While I shadowed her, one of the employees came out to chat with Karen and make sure she was doing okay and they joked around with each other. Other customers regularly see her on certain days of the week and give her generous donations for an issue of Streetvibes, which she always appreciates. One aspect of the job that Karen loves best is that she’s able to take care of her family and her two cats that need extra care in their old age. A regular customer even gives her cat food or kitty litter to help take care of the cats! We talked a lot about kids and animals, which we both loved to see pass by on the street. Babies are her favorite when they come by in their strollers with their tiny feet and hands and dogs are always fun to watch too. Karen is the mother of five children and proud to have a grandbaby on the way as well, which she talked about often. Because of Streetvibes, she’s able to help out her family when she can. Selling street papers isn’t always easy, however. Health problems have plagued Karen in the past and sometimes that makes it difficult to sell papers on the street. Days can be long and some people hardly look at her. People even looked at me funny because I was standing close by Karen as she sold papers. For the most part though, people are polite and will talk to Karen about her family or compliment her on her bright blue eyes, which are impossible not to notice. If you see Karen after reading this, make sure to say hello and purchase an issue from Streetvibes from her on the corner of Walnut and 5th!

Do you know what you feel.. Do you hear yourself when the world is standing still? Do you recognize the difference in the sounds that you hear ? Do you believe that you can make a difference in this world today? Be for real!! Do you recognize the world and hear the the world as it so slowly revolves around? Do you understand that it is your life that you are hearing and only your life you've found! Do you know your rights to live without disrespect being happy, and loving your life? Do you know anything about your past, present not to mention being born in strife? Realizing that we are born from one womb and destined to die in one tomb alone With all this knowledge do we know right from wrong or how to be strong! Now knowing everything a living our lives and forgetting where we derived from. Now seeing deceit and can't do nothing about it, now don't we all feel dumb! Now i believe that there is a power greater than any man's understanding right here today! Looking around today trying to distinguish what was and what i see now! Everyday i have to pray!! Changes everywhere i look, from where to catch a bus to where do the hungry eat Changes in every walk of life and that includes if you homeless now where do i sleep? Now think are you happy, sad , disillusioned, misunderstood, confused or simply lost? Now is the time to believe in that power greater than man. I know god and he is boss!!! By Willa D. Jones