Street Sense Media: Recent Episodes
Street Sense Media
Real stories, real people, real change from the street media center of our nation's capital: empowering people experiencing homelessness and educating the public since 2003. To help make more podcasts like this happen or more information, visit www.streetsensemedia.org.
For so many of the guests featured in this series, Street Sense Media has become its own kind of home. Regardless of the conditions or circumstances that led someone to homelessness, Street Sense makes space for community connection and creative expression. In this bonus episode, Director of Vendor Employment Thomas Ratliff shares how Street Sense vendor-artists “become their own boss” and how you can support their great work.
People say “time and tide wait for none” and nudge us to make the most of our time and the trials or treasures we experience on our way. Jet Flegette keeps perspective, even when facing trauma: valuing people (and pets) over things, staying joyous and curious in the world, and remaining compassionate in sight of struggle. She talks about navigating grief, exploring trust, and exercising empathy – all of which help her tell stories that prompt people to better see and support each other. Given the chance to relive the toughest times, Jet says she’d do it all again and challenges us to ask ourselves what it means to fully feel and deeply participate in our lives.
People are naturally wired to evolve: to remain agile, adaptable, and ambitious even when facing serious life challenges. Queenie Featherstone and Morgan Jones explore the process of “rebuilding yourself” and describe what they strive for and how they thrive, despite housing insecurity. They discuss how – through health, humor, hard work, and helping others – they’ve grown. They also share their goal-setting and go-getting mindsets for working, studying, creating, and giving back.
For some, housing insecurity might seem a distant or unfamiliar threat. But scenarios that can thrust someone into homelessness take many forms, and they may not be as impossible or implausible as is convenient to believe. Street Sense vendor James Davis talks about how his journey of moving from a “normal” life – complete with a house, career, travel, and family – into the uncharted territory of homelessness. He shares how he used his skills to support those he now found himself in community with, and how he helped cultivate the valuable “home” that Street Sense Media represents for so many people.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be? How would you balance reveling in your strengths and leveraging them for the greater good? And what does it look like to be both superhuman and super humble? This special episode, a series highlight, captures a spontaneous conversation between several Street Sense vendors about the role models that mold us – and the roles or responsibilities we carry in trying to be the best humans we have the power to be.
While “community” can connect us, it can also mean different things to different people. Even in shared space, there can be tensions over who has the legacy or leverage to live and work there — who has the right to make it “home.” Responding to recent “not in my community” refrains, area natives Reggie Black and Robert Warren provide a different perspective, commenting on the history (and embedded inequities) of Washington D.C. housing policy.
When life leaves people feeling uprooted, sometimes places and spaces that feel like “home” can be especially grounding. For Frederic John, creative communities have helped him hone his craft, express his voice, and find a sense of purpose. As a D.C. native who also lived and worked in New York, he shares his unique take on this city’s historical and cultural evolutions — and on leaving a legacy through art.
As humans, naturally driven to connect but also to categorize, we sometimes make false assumptions about each other (especially across lines of difference). What does it take to challenge misconceptions about who you are? Or to consciously “break the cycle” and avoid becoming who you don’t want to be? Nikila Smith and Angie Whitehurst share their experiences as learners, lovers, daughters, and mothers – smart, strong, savvy women whose worlds misread them and their experiences of homelessness.
Street Sense Media artist/vendor and homelessness advocate, Wendell Williams, shares his experiences as a fifth-generation African American Washingtonian and his insights about the changes the city has seen, his personal experience with chronic homelessness, and his involvement with the street newspaper movement as a means to not only sell or distribute newspapers but as a way to address homelessness on a systemic level. Williams shares his unique perspective on a whole host of related issues from racism to federal funding to the role gentrification has played in exacerbating the homelessness crisis. Williams was interviewed September 16, 2022 fellow Artist/Vendor Aida Peery as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Street Sense Media artist/vendor, Amina Washington, reflects on her experience becoming homeless at the age of 14 and the ensuing years she spent being unhoused. She details her younger years, prior to becoming unhoused after a neighbor reported her father and she was sent to school in Florida. Upon finding Street Sense Media in 2022, she’s been able to utilize their various resources in order to find permanent housing and more financial stability. Additionally, through Steet Sense Media’s class offerings, Amina has been able to develop her skills as a poet. Amina Washington was interviewed October 14, 2022 fellow Artist/Vendor Aida Peery as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Rochelle Walker, a Street Sense Media artist/vendor, shares her story about growing up in Washington, DC, going to Morgan State University and University of the District of Columbia for her associate’s degree in Early Childhood Development. She discusses how she worked in early childhood care for over 20 years, before becoming unemployed due to the pandemic. She lost her longtime housing, after her building was condemned. She found out about Street Sense Media through another vendor and has been working with the organization steadily since then. She also shares how So Others May Eat (SOME) helped her secure housing, once her building was condemned. You can watch Walker at Artshow 2022 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MytjSSeZhFE. She's on at 6:13. Walker was interviewed September 15, 2022 by fellow Artist/Vendor Jacqueline Turner as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Street Sense Media artist/vendor Martin Walker shares his history, growing up in Washington, DC and Landover, MD. He details how he learned about Street Sense Media when he was living in a men’s shelter, as well as his increasing involvement with the organization over the last 17 years. Walker has not only worked as a vendor, but has been both a vendor trainer, as well as the vendor manager. He also was the first vendor to serve on the Street Sense Media Board of Directors. Walker also details the precarious economic situations felt by many that lead to homelessness, as was the case in his situation. Walker was interviewed October 13, 2022 fellow Artist/Vendor Aida Peery as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Born in Leesburg, VA, into a religious family, Jacqueline Turner, a Street Sense Media artist/vendor, reflects on her experience growing up in and around Washington, DC. She details what it was like to live in DC during the 60s and 70s, especially her time attending go-go dances. Turner’s experience with homelessness began shortly after she joined the Street Sense Media team, once she left her husband. She recounts how Street Sense Media and other organizations in DC helped her leave an abusive relationship and rebuild her life. Aida Peery was interviewed May 6, 2022 by fellow Artist/Vendor Aida Perry as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Street Sense Media artist/vendor and reporter, Eric Thompson-Bey chronicles his experiences growing up in Anacostia, as well as other parts of DC. He recounts how his mother was murdered when he was only two years old, as well as how his father died when he was only nine. After that, he was raised by one of his sisters. Thompson-Bey shares his experiences with homelessness, as well as how he discovered Street Sense and how the organization has helped him over the last 14 years to find housing, as well as develop his skills as a writer. Additionally, Thompson-Bey details how the case managers at Street Sense Media have helped him navigate struggles with mental illness. He also shares how selling Street Sense papers helped keep him out of prison, as it provided away for him to be financially independent without having to resort to anything against the law. Thompson-Bey discusses an investigation into the violent conditions at his apartment building, though ultimately he had to quite the investigation due to threats against his housing situation. Finally, Thompson-Bey talks about his aspirations for the future, which include getting a college degree, and the ways in which the staff at Street Sense Media have and continue to support him in achieving those goals. Thompson-Bey was interviewed October 7, 2022 fellow Artist/Vendor Jacqueline Turner as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Street Sense Media artist/vendor Aida Peery grew-up in Chicago, IL and Washington, DC. She studied networking and information systems at Strayer University, after which she worked for the Department of Defense for five years. She is now an artist/vendor and vendor program associate at Street Sense Media. She started working with Street Sense Media ten years ago and has continued her work both selling papers and advancing to the role of vendor program associate, as well. Her work with Street Sense Media was integral to journey out of being unhoused. Peery was interviewed May 5, 2022 by fellow Artist/Vendor Jacqueline Turner as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Former biomedical engineer and graduate of George Washington University, Conrad Cheek has been an artist/vendor for Street Sense Media since its first issue in 2003. Cheek reflects on his experiences as a biomedical engineer at Arlington Hospital, as well as being the first African-American to work at the UCLA Medical Center’s Biomedical Engineering Department. He discusses his experiences with being homeless off and on over the years, after struggling with discrimination in the workplace, particularly at UCLA. His article on his father is at https://www.streetsensemedia.org/article/an-unsung-african-american-hero-my-father/#.Y_z2-R_MIdU. He also chronicles his experience living in his car, being kidnapped, carjacked, and stealing his own car back. His article on that is at https://www.streetsensemedia.org/article/kidnapped-carjacked-and-i-stole-my-car-back/#.Y_z_PB_MIdU. He discusses how he found out about Street Sense during its founding. Cheek was interviewed October 21, 2022 fellow Artist/Vendor Aida Peery as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Street Sense Media artist/vendor, Phillip Black shares his experiences growing up in Washington, DC. When Black was in high school, he was an All-Metropolitan basketball player. He details how that led to a lot of attention, which was at times distracting. Black was the youngest of a family of nine, and after the death of his parents and a divorce, he became homeless. He discusses how he found out about Street Sense Media from a pastor at St. Alban’s Church. Black recounts how eventually he started selling Street Sense papers dressed in a Cat in the Hat costume, which set him apart from other vendors and helped him gain a following of regulars, some of whom are prominent Washingtonians. Throughout his tenure at SSM, Black has brought in over 45 other vendors, including his own son. Black was interviewed August 4, 2022 by fellow Artist/Vendor Jacqueline Turner as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
Street Sense Media artist/vendor Daniel Ball shares his story about growing up in and around Washington, DC, as well as his work with Street Sense Media over the last ten years. He recounts details about his childhood, as well as his experience with chronic homelessness. He has struggled with homelessness at various points in his life, dating back to the 1990s. He is currently unhoused. A former fast-food and carwash employee, Ball has been able to sell the paper for Street Sense, as well as become a regular contributor, for the last ten years. He has also partaken in many of the classes offered by Street Sense Media, including their writing classes and drawing class. Ball was interviewed August 18, 2022 by fellow Artist/Vendor Jacqueline Turner as part of Street Sense Media’s Oral History Project, “In Our Own Voices: Artist/Vendors 2003-2023.”
For many of the homeless men and women who sell the Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C., the COVID-19 pandemic was just another obstacle they had to deal with in their day-to-day lives.
The restrictions caused by the pandemic had a significant impact on Street Sense vendor Queenie Featherstone's ability to communicate with others. As a woman with a hearing disability, she relied on reading lips to understand what people said. The mask mandate made that nearly impossible and don't get her started on social distancing.
"That part kind of hurts my heart, because I've always been a people person of hugging or greeting or kissing, in a friendly manner," she said, with a chuckle. "But now because of this pandemic, I air hug.”
Featherstone demonstrated by crossing her arms across her chest and gesturing for the person she was talking to to do the same.
"We air hug each other, but it's not like the physical greeting of your fellow man," she said. "This is different.”
This week's episode of the "Look at This" podcast examines the big and small ways the COVID-19 pandemic affected the daily lives of the District's homeless population.
Saul Aroha Nui Tea, who goes by "Salty," has chosen to walk a different path than many of the other vendors of the Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C.
"The life I have chosen is a preparation in the Gospel of Peace and a full commitment to being willing to lay my life on the line as a pilgrim diplomat," he said.
Salty expresses his peaceful activism through the stories he writes for Street Sense, his puppets, and music.
In this week's episode of the "Look at This" podcast, Salty talks about his recent trip to California, how he learned to play guitar, and what inspired him to walk a path of peaceful activism. He also plays a new song written especially for the Street Sense podcast.
Photo of Saul Tea by Rodney Choice.
Street Sense vendor and artist Rita Sauls lives in a tent encampment with around 30 other people in Washington, D.C.
"Before becoming a tenter, I was living in a three-bedroom house," she said. "It did catch on fire, so I was displaced.”
In addition to being a Street Sense vendor and artist, Sauls is also a "tent facilitator," which means she provides and helps set up tents for other homeless people in the District.
"I used to walk around and see people on the benches and in the streets and in the storefronts, and I would ask them, 'Would you like a tent?'" she said.
In this week's episode of the "Look at This" podcast, Sauls talks about how she became a tent facilitator and reveals some of the hardships and losses she and her fellow tenters face by living on the streets in D.C.
Carlton Johnson is a homeless man who sells the Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C. He's also a poet.
Although Johnson began writing poetry when he was young, the poems he writes today reflect the things he sees and feels when he's out on the streets. Sometimes he even recites poetry to his customers.
"I call it street slamming," he said. "They'll see what I see but they'll hear what I'm feeling.”
In the first episode of "Look at This," Brian Carome, Street Sense Media's executive director, said a valuable resource the newspaper provides for its vendors is an opportunity for self-expression. Many vendors, like Johnson, do this by writing articles or poetry for the newspaper they sell.
This week's episode of the "Look at This" podcast, Johnson and fellow vendors Ayub Abdul and Darleesha Joyner share their poetry and talk about the importance creative expression plays in their lives.
Sheila White has been able to turn her life around thanks to the classes and connections she found working as a Street Sense vendor in D.C. In this week's episode of the "Look At This" podcast, White talks about how working for Street Sense Media put her on the path toward earning a college degree and pursuing a career in photojournalism.
In the premiere episode of "Look at This," vendors Marcellus Phillips and Chon Gotti share stories on how Street Sense Media has helped them turn their lives around and become more self-sufficient and independent.
“When you’re homeless, you have kids, you have bills, you have family, friends, responsibilities,” Ronald Dudley said. “The only thing separating you from the rest of the world is a lease.”
Dudley, aka Pookanu, is a musician on a spiritual mission — a mission to make sense of life, God, and fatherhood. It’s a lot to examine when you consider he’s relentlessly working to not only provide for his family but also find permanent housing. His life hasn’t been easy and you can hear it in the hard-bitten, sermon-like lyrics on his recently-released album, Father’s Day. Pookanu joins Sounds from the Street to discuss music, family and his experience with homelessness.
You can read more in this feature interview and his music is available at pookanu.com.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
As a girl, Wendy Oxenhorn aspired to become a professional ballerina before a tragic injury shattered her dream. But that twist of fate catapulted her into a life of social work that eventually led her to co-found the first street paper and spark a global movement. Today, there are 112 street papers in 35 countries employing some 11,000 homeless vendors at any given time.
But Wendy’s work didn’t stop there. She eventually landed a dream job saving musicians’ lives at the Jazz Foundation of America and was recently named a 2016 NEA Jazz Master, the nation’s highest honor in jazz.
Wendy shares her incredible journey in her own words.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Born in Mississippi, raised in Pennsylvania, Patty Smith now calls D.C. home. It’s here where she’s spent the last decade selling Street Sense. She started in 2005, two years after the paper was founded. Her life, like many struggling with housing stability, was steeped in unexpected setbacks, bad luck, bad relationships, and bad health. The one constant through the tough times has been music — Patty looooves music. She’s always singing, taking the pain and the grief of life — the blues –and transforming it into song.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
On June 3, 2015, a group of students from Alice Deal Middle School organized a rally to support homeless anti-discrimination legislation. Guided by their teacher, Michael Martini, then-sixth graders Nico Foxley and Sofia Giorgianni worked with The National Coaltion for the Homeless and the People for Fairness Coalition. The capstone event was part of a year-long service-oriented curriculum where Alice Deal students explored the issue of homelessness. Tune in to hear two of the youngest activists ever, and their teacher, Mr. Martini.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Though Snowzilla and the dark days of winter are fading from our memories, it’s technically not spring yet. In fact, the Interagency Council on Homelessness’s [ICH] plan to protect the homeless from hypothermic injury lasts until the end of March.
Analyst Kate Coventry of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute is on the show to share her knowledge of the Winter Plan. She’s joined by artist and advocate Reggie Black, who has firsthand experience on both sides of the Winter Plan. Formerly homeless, Reggie is now a member of ICH and is on the diverse team of policy makers and citizens tasked with designing the multi-layered plan.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
After weeks of walking past a Street Sense vendor selling newspapers, online marketing expert Adam Motiwala eventually asked the vendor if he was interested in an experiment. What began as a one-on-one digital marketing tutorial developed into a weekly workshop at Street Sense called Digital Hope. Adam discusses how his workshop has evolved into a groundbreaking income-generating model for homeless individuals.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
At age 24, Nick Flynn started working at the Pine Street Inn, the largest shelter in Boston. It was here that he reconnected with his estranged father, who was unsheltered at the time. Ten years later, Nick shared the story in his moving memoir, “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City”, which was later adapted to the big screen as Being Flynn, starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano.
Nick explores the story behind the story while shedding light on the origins of homelessness and the subsequent explosion of shelters across the United States.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
It doesn’t take much for someone to lose his or her way in life, but substance abuse certainly accelerates the process. Addiction is a painful problem that plagues people from all walks of life. No one is immune and that became abundantly clear in talking to Father Tom Weston, a Jesuit priest. The native Californian has been clean and sober for some 40 odd years. He’s spent those years working with people in recovery from Myanmar to Kitty Hawk, N.C. In this week’s podcast, he generously shares not only his personal story, but also important insights on how to live a better, more peaceful life. Father Weston is filled with wisdom. You’ll have to listen to learn what we’re talking about.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Working as an educator and counselor in Stafford, VA, Christie Jones has come into contact with a lot of children experiencing homelessness. She decided to write Are We Home Yet?, her first book, to shine a light on the issue. Max, the main character, gives homeless children a chance to see themselves represented in a book while allowing non-homeless kids a chance to better understand what life may look like for someone who doesn’t have a traditional home or childhood. Jones hopes the book will help bring the epidemic of child homelessness out of the shadows by giving voice to those who inhabit a world that is too often stigmatized, or worse, ignored.
For more info on Are We Home Yet? or to purchase it yourself, click here.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
As Street Sense enters a new year, our executive director sits down to discuss the organization’s past, present and future. Brian, who has been fighting homelessness in the nation’s capital since the 80s, discusses what still needs to be done to solve the problem and how an exciting new Street Sense jobs training initiative might help.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
In a slight departure from our typical guests, we sit down with a policy maker. This is something we hope to do more and more. Laura Zeilinger has dedicated her professional career to working on behalf of low-income families who need access to better (and more) affordable housing. The former Executive Director of the US Interagency Council on the Homeless, Laura was chosen by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2014 to oversee the Department of Human Services.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
A father, a jazz-lover, an artist, and an entrepreneur, Ken Martin is a true renaissance man. But after two heart attacks and a prolonged health struggle cost him his job and his home, he found himself sleeping at Reagan National Airport. In an ironic twist of fate, a man that worked in social services for over 20 years is now experiencing housing instability himself.
Yet Ken remains positive. A self-described “survivor,” he is working tirelessly to get a hat business off the ground and reclaim his life.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Robert Williams says his years of service in Marine Corps helped him secure a HUD housing voucher, but not the respect and compassion that he and so many homeless veterans like him deserve. Surrounded by a society blind to the struggles of the homeless, Robert has turned to poetry and theatre to help increase awareness.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
In the last episode, we learned how Benjamin is a musician of and for the people. He performs with homeless musicians and will often donate some of his proceeds to folks who are struggling to make it on the streets. This time, Gates is going to reveal his origin story– how he found the cello, or rather how the cello found him. In addition to his music, Benjamin shares some heartfelt thoughts about the instrument’s sound and how it makes him feel while performing.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Benjamin Gates grew up playing the cello. Now the instrument is his livelihood. From playing gigs at the Embassy of Sweden to the occasional wedding, Gates connects with the greater community through what he calls being a “musician of the people.” That’s not some fluffy promotional nickname – he means it. Tune in to hear how and why.
Gates played live at the Street Sense 2015 “Home is Where the heART Is” Fall Gala.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
It’s no secret that, whether you’re suffering from PTSD, depression, pain or grief — making art heals. Art therapy through music, dance and reciting poetry is gaining traction in all sorts of scientific studies. This week, in part two of our conversation with Angie Whitehurst, she shares her perspective on art, how it connects humanity and how it soothes the soul. Plus, art does not discriminate. “Everyone is an artist,” according to Whitehurst. Angie is one of the many Street Sense artists that will be performing at the October 1 Home is Where the heART Is gala event.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Angie Whitehurst’s story explodes any and all stereotypes of what homelessness is or “looks like.” An econ and poli-sci major at Connecticut College, Whitehurst was an accomplished international consultant for years until she contracted a rare—and oftentimes fatal—strain of malaria in the early 80s. Twenty years later, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Hamstrung by a pair of debilitating diseases, she’s had to fight to stay in the game mentally and emotionally. As she worked to recover, she turned her attention away from herself and towards caring for her mother and sister. Her life was interrupted in the most unexpected of ways. As she says, “It can happen to you. It wasn’t supposed to happen to me.”
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Jeffery McNeil discusses the joy of writing, welfare (and why he’s not for it) and how his regulars helped him kick his addictions, find employment and rise up out of homelessness.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Cynthia Mewborn lived in a tent for a year on the street. In spite of the mental and emotional toll that’s taken on her body and soul, she’s fighting harder than ever to get her life back. Part of her recovery, as she calls, is opening up about her rough experience and the associated PTSD and anger she’s been forced to manage. She’s now housed and super engaged in several multimedia workshops put on by Street Sense—from theater to illustration to filmmaking. Tune in to hear her explain how the arts have enabled her to re-calibrate and re-frame her life.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
Thanks in large part to police brutality and racism, Levester Green has been homeless off and on for years. But when you see Levester’s electric smile, it’s difficult to grasp the fact that he lives on the street. He’s living proof that people have an infinite capacity to endure. In this episode, he shares his take on street life and explains how art (poetry, filmmaking, music) helps propel him forward.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
In this episode, Sasha Williams reveals the haunting story behind her homelessness and then counters her tragic narrative with extraordinary grace and positivity. She also shares a couple beautiful life hacks: one of which is being a mom to her pride and joy, Eboni.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
In this interview Artist-in-Residence Bardia Saaedi, explores interactive art, becoming an activist, and, of course, his dynamic art/bus project. The participants in his workshop are literally transforming a bus into a mobile art gallery and advocacy platform.
If you'd like to see the bus and the folks working on it, check out these gorgeous images shot by Reuters. And you can learn more about the bus in these stories from WAMU and the Washington Post.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.
In the inaugural Street Sense Media podcast, longtime vendor Eric Thompson-Bey discusses shelter conditions, friendship, and more.
A full transcript of this interview is available here.