The writers and artists recount hardship and loss, but they also show us hope and strength
Change happens. Transformation is more elusive.
To transform, you must be present: being engaged, paying attention. The process often isn’t easy to endure, and it isn’t always easy to recognize, especially while you’re in the midst of it. And as much as we’d all like for every transformation in ourselves to be for the better, the truth is that some transformations come about because our world has taken a turn for the worse.
The pieces gathered in the Street Roots 2019 Holiday Zine don’t shy away from the challenging nature of transformative change. The writers and artists assembled here recount hardship and loss, taking us, at times, into the depths of their madness, or to the origins of their trauma. But they don’t just take us and leave us there; they lead us back to the light, showing how they learned hope, recognized strength within themselves, and found compassion in others. Even if an outcome doesn’t look like a happy ending, it doesn’t mean that something hasn’t been gained in wisdom, empowerment or a sense of belonging.
In one piece, the writer asks you, the reader, and the people who look at her on the streets, to “transform your view of (her).” Hopefully, having bought this zine, you are already someone who is able to look at people on the street from a more compassionate perspective, or maybe, from reading the pieces within these pages, you are getting there. I would ask you then to start thinking at least one step further: How can we start to transform the system to meet the needs of the people, rather than blaming people when they can’t change themselves to fit within the system’s parameters? How can we change our society to bring people experiencing hardship into the fold and support them? Change the system to meet the needs of the people; don’t change the people to meet the needs of the system.
The Street Roots zine is a collaborative project and process that comes together over the course of a few months each year. The theme is announced at the end of summer, and as vendors start to submit writing and art pieces, the editorial team meets once a week to evaluate submissions and combine them into the final product that you now hold. The zine gives a boost to vendors’ earnings during the holiday season, a time during which the weather gets colder and life on the streets gets harder for many of the people who sell you your weekly paper. Vendors who participate on the editorial team and whose pieces are accepted for publication receive compensation. And, like the newspaper, which vendors buy for 25 cents and sell for a dollar, the zine creates an opportunity for extra profits: Vendors buy them for $1 and sell them to you for $4.
Thank you for taking the time to stop and buy the zine, and for taking a moment to talk to the person from whom you purchased it. We hope that you will find something, or many things, to carry with you on your own path of transformation.
Bianca Butler is the Street Roots zine editor.
PURCHASE THE ZINE
The Street Roots 2019 Holiday Zine – which features original poetry, essays and artwork by Street Roots vendors – was released Nov. 29 and is sold at vendors’ usual sales posts for $4. You can find Street Roots vendors all over Portland. Look for vendors wearing an official Street Roots badge. Please note, Street Roots offers a low-barrier program that allows our vendors to make their own schedules. Vendors' selling hours and days at each location may vary greatly.
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 . Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today .
© 2019 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657 , ext. 404.
