We do not have until Dec to watch this mayor’s plan fail. People will die. They are dying. This shelter plan, with no funding left for housing is dangerous and we cannot sit back. People will not be able to move through the system. Shelters will make business, whether people move through or not.

Our city’s zeroed in focus on congregate shelter that we know our friends do not find safe, stable, or dignified is going to continue to bring deep and aching loss to our streets.

Saturday night he texted “I just got my phone, is it too late, am I still able to get in?”

But by Sunday morning, Lopaka was gone.

I’m so heartbroken and I’m so mad. My chest has a tender roar that I can’t move, and my chin keeps jumping.

Last Monday was his chance. His spot came open and we were calling, texting, and Tianna drove up and down the street looking for him. The trail has been empty - swept.

We were so excited because he is family to us.

We were so close. He was next up on our list for a tiny home. Something he waited patiently for because it was dignified, it was stable, safe, and private.

Same Steph ✨ all the loves

What if we let our ego fall away and cease striving towards empire and remembered that we belong to each other.

Where we stay away from threads of “right thinking” or “right living” and lean more towards “right relationships” in our communities.

Where there are no leaders and everyone has a voice, an idea to dream, an equal part in the work- and full belonging.

What if we dismantled this language and began to talk about co-laboring and encouraging self actualization in our peers so that we can all be agents of collective liberation together?

Where we all have gifting and talents, wisdom and responsibility *for and with* one another.

It often ignores or erases the leadership that exists in quiet, collective, relational, or ancestral ways, especially among women, Indigenous peoples, and communities of color.

It insists that if you have “right way thinking,” you can become a great leader.

The obsession with “great leaders” centers traits that align with white, masculine, able-bodied norms: confidence, decisiveness, charismatic, exceptional, great at public speaking, etc.

Hierarchical structures and organizational flow charts, whether in businesses, churches, or community groups are rooted in patriarchy, colonialism, and white supremacy.

This language was created to dominate, extract, and assimilate under the guise of obedience and faithfulness.

should like. We create narratives that cause us to strive, and usually towards an unattainable goal, that is- unless you look like the system that created this false construct.

Which is usually white, male, self-reliant, moral purity, religious conversion, masculinity, and visible success.