Poor Magazine youth and adult poverty skolas and reporters are reporting and supporting on the Social Forum in San Jose
“ The only way their lives are devalued is if we don’t carry the torch for them,” said San Jose councilmember Ash Kalra during his speech at the Social Forum in San Jose, California on June 24, 2015.
I had the privilege of attending the Social Forum and the environment was like no other. Seeing all these people coming together to help create change not only for their communities but for the whole world was very inspirational.
Especially from my point of view it helped open my eyes to situations going on in my life that I never realized before. It made me think about all the people I have lost throughout my life and it wasn’t even their time to go.
It made me reflect on how as a pacific islander and an indigenous woman of color it may not affect me directly but oppression is still happening and I can’t leave my comrades to fight this struggle alone. I must stand with them and help them fight these injustices.
I also had the honor of interviewing Sandy Perry who is a part of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry and Affordable Housing Networks organization.
He felt the need to be present at the forum because it gives people a chance to network around the Bay Area and work together.
“The figures don’t mean anything because people are still homeless,” says Mr.Perry when the subject of how the percentage of homeless people have gone down was brought to his attention.
He also adds that it doesn’t matter if there’s an increase or decrease in the percentages because at the end of the day people are still homeless and being oppressed.
“We didn’t need a flag to tell us the history of racism and oppression in our country,” says councilmember Ash Kalra at the conclusion of his speech.
We are imperfect human beings so none of us are going to create change on our own and the reality is that to create a movement takes a lot of energy, but when we all come together the energy force is more powerful than ever.