The prison industrial complex is the current manifestation of the legal legacy of the racialized transformations of plantations into prisons, of Slave Codes into Black Codes, of lynching into state-sponsored executions.

Guest, Bob Offer-Westort, Coordinating Editor of the Street Sheet, San Francisco homeless people's newspaper, and the Civil Rights Organizer for the Coalition on Homelessness. Guest, Tiny (daughter of dee, single mama of tiburcio) is a poverty scholar, co-editor and founder of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork, member of the Poetas POBRE- Po' Poets Project and the welfareQUEENs, and author of Criminal of Poverty: Growing up Homeless in America.

The first few days at the Olympic Tent Village have gone strongly and smoothly, thanks to the community effort to support and defend it. Hundreds have gathered during the evening and through the night, especially Downtown Eastside residents, homeless people, and youth...Over the next week, we are calling on all supporters to continue to defend the Olympic Tent Village and to support the residents.

Day 2 at the Olympic Tent Village went strongly and smoothly, thanks to the community effort to support and defend it. Hundreds gathered during the evening and through the night. During the day, there were a few minor police altercations, including the identification of two undercover police officers and another incident when the [Vancouver Police Department] attempted to barge into the Tent Village.

By Am Johal - Thursday, February 04, 2010

Some time after the Olympic opening ceremonies take place, there will be a sea of red tents fanning out around the downtown core. They will be housing homeless people and their supporters as a sign of visible protest at the inaction of government...There are between 10,500 and 15,000 homeless people in [British Columbia]. There are between 200,000 to 300,000 homeless people in Canada.

A video on the housing legacy of the Vancouver Olympics.

By Am Johal - January 30, 2010

Not since Rowdy Roddy Piper attacked Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka on Piper's Pit has there been such a grave injustice in modern sports - the 2010 Olympics have been that bad to the people of Vancouver.

By Roger Annis - January 14, 2010

On February 12, the corporate sporting behemoth known as the 21st Winter Olympic Games will open to great fanfare in Vancouver. In a time of economic hardship and government cuts to social programs across Canada...[b]illions of dollars have been spent constructing venues, a new convention center and airport terminal; widening and paving untold kilometers of roads and highways; building a hugely expensive rapid transit line...and erecting new hotels to serve the influx of corporate sponsors and spectators.

By DTES Womens' Centre Power of Women Group - January 11, 2010

“[Prime Minister of Canada Stephen] Harper and other politicians are always quick to point out the undemocratic nature of other countries. To us, Canada is a failed state given the consistent and systematic failure of all levels of government to address the pressing issues of homelessness, gentrification, missing and murdered women, poverty, and criminalization in the DTES. We are demanding that the government prorogue the Olympics!”

--Harsha Walia, Project Coordinator of the Downtown Eastside Womens' Centre

Unfortunately, 2009 proved for many big-city tenants that the golden rule was promiscuously traded for gold. Why would 2010 be any different?

Happy New Year, For Tenants Nothing's Changed!

By Am Johal - January 04, 2010

There are now over 200,000 homeless Canadians from coast to coast to coast. There are somewhere between 10,500 and 15,000 homeless people in [British Columbia]. 1.7 million Canadian households are in core housing need, representing over 4 million Canadians. And things are getting worse...Canadian housing policy is a health and human rights disaster. A homeless person dies every 12 days in BC.

Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director of the Coalition on Homelessness, Freedom is a Constant Struggle TV show, November 20, 2009. Originally from Redwood City, Jennifer has worked about 18 years on homeless and poverty issues, including welfare rights, housing, homeless prevention, healthcare, disability, and human and civil rights.

A local tale of unmitigated greed and the criminal enterprise of one family to corner the residential real estate market in San Francisco led to the shady world of collateralized debt obligations and derivatives.

By Chris McGreal - Thursday 12 November 2009

A United Nations special investigator who was blocked from visiting the US by the Bush administration has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis..."I learned through this visit that real affordable housing and poverty is something that hasn't been dealt with as an issue. Even if we talk about the financial crisis and government stepping in in order to promote economic recovery, there is no such help for the homeless."