Jaison Kirk will launch a monthly KBOO program featuring his Street Roots cohorts
"I love to network,” said Street Roots vendor Jaison Kirk. “I connect dots, and the dots are people. I bring them together.”
Jaison is using his networking skills to produce a monthly podcast in collaboration with KBOO radio. He plans to showcase select Street Roots vendors during his podcast.
“It’s going to be an hour long. There will be a little music, conversation and poetry readings in between,” Jaison said. “I plan to ask the vendors about their lives, their experience and aspirations. I will ask, ‘What are your goals today? What are you grateful for? Who are your influences?’ I will ask them to describe their perfect day and talk about how Street Roots helped them in their daily life.”
Jaison, a frequently published Street Roots poet, was originally inspired to create a radio show in late April when 15 Street Roots vendors held a standing-room-only poetry reading at Multnomah County’s Central Library. KBOO radio’s Sean Steward was there to record the event. Jaison approached him afterward to brainstorm about a possible vendor poetry corner on KBOO. Not long after, he was sitting in on Steward’s show, learning all he needed to know to produce his own podcast.
“Without the poetry slam at the library, I wouldn’t have gotten to KBOO,” Jaison said. “I did the volunteer orientation and hung out during Sean’s show. He taught me the engineering ropes. You learn everything so you can work the boards like it’s second nature. I’m going to enjoy being on the radio, being a personality.”
Jaison’s own poetry “is tinged with what I’ve seen on the streets,” he said. “Something about being on the streets for two years can make you a poet. I’ve had to live in my imagination a lot, being on the streets.”
Years ago, Jaison recalled, a KBOO newscaster read the Street Roots poetry and articles on air regularly. He is excited to bring back that tradition, adding his own twist with his newly acquired skills splicing in introductions and selecting musical segues.
“I plan to add in some jazz fusion music,” said Jaison, who spends many hours of his spare time in the listening room at KBOO, researching what he will play.
Jaison began recording in late September. His first vendor spotlight will be Aileen McPherson, a frequent poetry contributor to Street Roots. The podcast will be available through the KBOO website, www.kboo.net.
“They might put some of it on the air,” he said. “KBOO archives everything. You will be able to link to the podcast and download off their site.”
Jaison said he looks forward to working with Street Roots vendors.
“I like that I will be able to learn more about the vendors and share their voices,” he said. “I get to do something tangible. Helping others with their dreams helps me with mine.”
Jaison is a member of the Sisters of the Road speakers association known as The Roadies. The Roadies participate in outreach projects such as street fairs, school presentations and tabling. He has also served on the speaker’s bureau for the City Repair Project’s Village Coalition, a network of advocates, activists, and houseless villages and individuals committed to combating homelessness by designing safe shelter alternatives. He also helped brainstorm tiny-house designs with the St. John’s Center for Opportunity Housing Action Committee on the Kenton Women’s Village project last year.
Jaison has been a Street Roots vendor for three years. He sells at the Grocery Outlet in St. Johns at 7741 North Lombard Street.
Street Roots is an award-winning, nonprofit, weekly newspaper focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. Our newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Learn more about Street Roots
