Welcome to 2025 at We the Unhoused! Theo is starting the year on a high note, interviewing former Black Panthers, Lorenzo Ervin and JoNina Abron-Ervin. They share their experiences and insights on what a more just world can still look like. In Unhoused News, Theo takes a look at the persistent struggles faced by people transitioning from temporary to permanent housing, and the real dangers of hypothermia in Los Angeles among the unhoused.

Stay tuned for We the Unhoused's ongoing reporting on the fire impacts on the unhoused in Southern California -- stay safe.

More of JoNina Abron-Ervin's work here:

https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/books/45/#:~:text=Description,decade%20of%201965%20to%201975.

More of Lorenzo Ervin's work here:

https://www.plutobooks.com/author/lorenzo-komboa-ervin/

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In our last episode of 2024, Theo reflects on how 2024 has affected the unhoused community, and how to look forward to 2025. Then, he speaks with two returning guests -- Peoples City Council cofounder Albert Corrado about his journey toward mutual aid and building a better world in the wake of his sister Mely's murder at the hands of the LAPD, and Azoy, who speaks to the struggle to remain housed with the prejudice that exists in employment.

Follow Albert here: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDlBRnBy9sO/?img_index=1

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Theo returns to the field to continue exploring SELAH, the Los Angeles mutual aid organization working to educate their participants and volunteers on Grants Pass and provide necessary services. He speaks with volunteer coordinator Rachel Sanoff, participant Cindy, and longtime outreach volunteer Suzy to learn more. Also: Theo reflects on the horrific Daniel Penny decision, memorializes Jordan Neely, and looks at how the media covers violence against the unhoused.
Learn more about SELAH here: https://www.selahnhc.org/

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This week Theo provides updates on the Jordan Neely murder trial before exploring how one Los Angeles mutual aid organization is working to educate their participants and volunteers on the Grants Pass decision, and how they plan to continue providing services during a second Trump administration. We speak with new volunteer Max, current volunteer site lead Raquel, operations manager/local advocate Maebe A. Girl, and frequent participant Yruz about their experiences with SELAH, and how they’re looking to the future. 

Learn about SELAH here: 

www.selahnhc.org 

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This week, Theo gives insight into what the election means for the unhoused population, and speaks with activists on how to move forward. Rooflesser returns to the show to discuss their work on the ground in LA, and we check in with home reclaimer and advocate Martha Escuerdo to talk about her continued fight for safe and sustainable housing.

Follow Rooflesser here:

 https://x.com/rooflesser

Follow Martha and the reclaimers here: 

https://reclaimingourhomes.org/

Martha's GoFundMe here: 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/roh-eviction-defense?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp_guide_do&member=23980295&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaacbK7ZifQKOIKl7BDWFNecK55yFoHqgwLa99w3V6972xQu-S2dPL4j6BA_aem_E1B2NBvWaOlNoIVy3m7g5Q

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This week, Theo checks in with two candidates for judge we spoke with earlier this year -- George Turner and Erika Wiley. We discuss what's changed with the Grants Pass decision, the journey to the ballot box, and the pressing need for local politicians that are advocating for the unhoused.

Learn more about George here:

https://georgeaturner4judge.com/

Learn more about Erika here: 

https://www.wileyforjudge.com/

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Ahead of the election, Theo dives deep into why the unhoused vote is so crucial with Dr. Caitlin Krenn. Also, Theo speaks with Oregon-based activist Jetty about how Grants Pass legislation is already affecting the intensity of sweeps across the country.

Follow Jetty here: 

https://www.instagram.com/junkartlady/ https://www.instagram.com/barefootdefenders/
Follow Dr. Krenn here: 

https://www.caitlinkrenn.com/ 

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Theo continues his exploration of the wreckage of the Grants Pass ruling with a focus on the effects of youth houselessness, and goes in depth with Dr. Robin Petering and Tonny St. James to discuss the Young People to the Front initiative. But first, Theo speaks with Emptea about the uptick of evictions in Los Angeles in district one, and how they're taking City Councillor Hernandez to task for failing to protect residents like them from eviction.

Follow Young People to the Front here: 

https://www.instagram.com/youngpeopletothefront/

Venmo Emptea at @emptea

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This week, Theo is on the ground for a brutal Grant's Pass motivated sweep of a long term, vulnerable unhoused community in El Monte, CA this month. He speaks with people affected, and asks sheriffs and Army CORPS members on how one can justify sweeping and threatening to arrest allies assisting the unhoused in the middle of a triple-digit heat wave. How are sweeps changing now that the Supreme Court has empowered them? The reality is gruesome.

Then, Theo speaks with returning guest Kath Rogers, an attorney with the Southern California ACLU, who gives a detailed perspective on how the establishment is taking advantage of the Grant's Pass decision, how it differs from policies under the Martin v. Boise decision, and how the unhoused can defend themselves in the face of this horror.

Learn more about Kath's work here: 

https://www.aclusocal.org/en/biographies/kath-rogers

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It's a busy week on We the Unhoused -- Theo travels between California and Michigan to take a closer look at the intersecting struggles of the unhoused and the housing-insecure. 

First, we speak with journalist Phoenix Tso of LA Public Press and Alejandro Gutierrez of the Hillside Villa Tenant Association on the current struggle to keep longtime residents housed in the face of brutal landlord rent hikes and complicity within the city government. 

Then, we head to Michigan, where Theo speaks to Tyree Guyton of the Heidelberg Project in Detroit, where we discuss how art and political education intersect with the liberation of the unhoused people.

Over on Unhoused News, Theo continues to cover the developing horrors of the Grant's Pass Supreme Court decision, and discusses the current brutal heat wave across LA.

Follow the Hillside Villa Tenant Association here: https://www.instagram.com/hillsidevilla_

Follow Phoenix Tso here: 

https://www.instagram.com/phoenixtso

Follow the Heidelberg Project here:

 https://www.heidelberg.org/history 

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