Is recycling work? Is panhandling work? Is mothering work?

Yes, all of these types of labor should be considered work. But why do these activities become criminalized when the worker is a person living in poverty?

These are exactly the questions POOR Magazine asked of us in their theater presentation during a community appreciation party we held for clients, partners, and collaborators back in May. [Watch the full presentation here.] “As folks at Poor say, ‘you can’t perform poverty’ - so all of the actors had personal experience - or poverty scholarship - with what they were re-enacting,” shares Law Center Staff Attorney Tobias Damm-Luhr in this blog post where he describes how the presentation impacted his worldview.  

What is poverty scholarship? Poor Magazine’s Poverty Scholarship book describes it as, “a scholarship based on lived experience, struggle, survival, and resistance.” During the presentation, Dee Allen from Poor Magazine shared that, “poverty scholars are the people usually silenced. Incarcerated. Criminalized. Displaced. Homeless. Disabled. Marginalized…Our scholarship is the scholarship of struggle.” After our month long series of conversations on #TheFutureOfWork, POOR Magazine’s question — why is work done by poor and houseless people criminalized — is vital to study and understand as we work towards a vision where our collective survival does not depend on underpaid, coercive labor, and care is freely available to everyone.

Read Tobias’ blog to learn more about how POOR Magazine continues to shape our thinking around labor.

The conservation movement should join in solidarity with #LandBack

Earlier this month, Law Center Staff Attorney Veryl Pow participated on the panel, “Land Back in the PNW: An Exploration of Tools and Ways to Support and Promote Native Lands in Native Hands and Investing in Healing the Land and Its People'' at Northwest Land Camp, encouraging the conservation movement to join in solidarity with land back. He focused on land back as healing work for all involved; de-emphasized legal tools and instead centering on organic relationships that emerge in stewarding land; and framed land back as transfer of title to indigenous groups rather than land access.

Ban Land Grabs!

Law Center staff have started to meet with Bay Area policymakers about our proposal to ban corporations and other profit-seeking entities from treating our homes and communities like an asset class. If you’re interested in learning  more, here is our one-page policy overview. Stay tuned for the longer report! 

Beginner’s Guide to Divesting from Militarism

The Law Center in collaboration with partners from art.coop, Resource Generation, and Obran Capital Advisors have developed this helpful guide for anyone looking to divest their money from extractive systems and corporations. Below is an excerpt:

“As genocide(s) have escalated, calls to divest from militarism and war have grown louder. As of Spring 2024, the Palestine solidarity encampment movement has drawn incredible attention to divestment as a movement tactic. The goal is not just for institutions like universities to divest from militarism and war; rather, we must all withdraw any resources we can from extractive systems in alignment with movements for justice and liberation.”

The One Africa Project 

The One Africa Project is a revolutionary movement designed to reshape how the Diaspora conducts business in Africa. By adopting innovative and sustainable practices, they’re moving beyond traditional capitalism's limiting and destructive frameworks, and focusing on establishing equitable and community-centric economic systems that empower and uplift every member involved.

Initiated by our fiscally sponsored project Repaired Nations and Abibikwantuo, The One Africa Project is designed to tackle the significant economic disparities facing Black communities in Africa and beyond. This project is a  response to the urgent need to bridge the wealth gap and promote sustainable economic development within our communities, and to achieve it; they need our help! They have set a goal to raise $50,000, which will be crucial in funding the necessary renovations at One Africa. Learn more about the project here.