Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile | Housing brings stability
Marcus Ruby was born in Davenport, Iowa, where he lived for 22 years before moving to Tennessee. He moved to Portland in 2012 and has been living here ever since. “I was on the streets from then up until about a year ago. When I first moved out here, I didn’t have a care in…
Culture
Seeking change through Black cosplay
Standing in a blue striped leotard with large ethylene vinyl acetate foam wings protruding from her back and sharp pointy horns sticking up from her head is a female cosplayer who performs under the stage name Tif von Batsy. “I wanted an outfit that stands out, and I didn’t want to wear a costume that…
News
From a roughly $100 traffic ticket to nearly $9,000 in debt
Malik Seamster needs to get his daughter to and from school, go to the grocery store, landscaping or warehouse jobs and elsewhere. Without a driver’s license, getting to all these places means asking for rides from others, waiting in the rain at the bus stop or calling a rideshare service. The reason for Seamster’s transportation…
Portland Street Response set for citywide expansion
Bronwyn Jones Carver is a member of Street Roots’ MoJo program. MoJo is composed of vendors learning about journalism, covering life on the streets and writing about issues important to our community. On Feb. 16, 2022, Portland Street Response will celebrate one year of call responses for the Lents neighborhood in Portland. A new influx…
Opinion
Kaia Sand | Let this new year be transformational for our shared humanity
“In our fragile and crowded world we can survive only together,” said Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died Dec. 25 at 90 in Cape Town, South Africa. The great South African leader fought to bring down the apartheid system — and then confront the damage of its aftermath, as well as other struggles internationally. He spoke…
