Anna Trombley

Since I moved to Seattle almost four years ago and bought my first copy of Real Change, I have been intrigued by street newspapers and the concept of their use as tools for social change and homeless empowerment. While not all street newspapers are intended to serve as a voice of the poor or a forum for political action, one thing they do have in common is the sense of solidarity they foster between vendor and buyer. What I like most about buying Real Change is that I am actually excited about reading the paper and feel that I am purchasing something of value. Unlike receiving social services or panhandling, in this situation the vendor has something to offer people that they might very reasonably want. There is a sense of dignity that is restored along with the feeling that the exchange is mutually beneficial.

Another aspect of street newspapers that I have seen as a powerful element of the movement is insofar as they constitute an alternative media source, specifically one that is in tune with issues of the poor and homeless. In one of our earliest class discussions, before we had chosen a focus for our project, we brainstormed ideas about ways that street newspapers could address issues of poverty in a more global way. While we found this idea very exciting, we also realized that the fact that street newspapers are locally focused is one of their greatest strengths. Further, as we all know from reading major newspapers, news of the devastation happening throughout the rest of the world tends to be both overwhelming and disempowering (we can’t even stop homelessness in Seattle, how can we affect poverty in Colombia?!). At the same time, so many of our local issues of poverty are strongly related to federal budgeting issues which are of global concern in that the money that is not going to provide for the basic needs of Americans is going instead to fund, for example, the military operations in Colombia that are so destructive to the poor of that country.

Street newspapers seem to be a more than appropriate venue for an alternative source of news of global poverty. Again, however, we recognized that the strength of local papers is that they convey a sense that the community has the capacity to respond to and even solve the problem; global news might not contain this important element. The vision that came out of this that I found most exciting was the idea of a one page insert in a local street paper entitled “Local people acting globally” which would highlight the activities of local activist groups working on behalf of the poor and homeless throughout the world. In each publication, a global issue could be addressed including some historical background and information about the involvement of the US government in the issue and then a feature article on a local activist group that is addressing the issue. Although I am not as familiar with other cities, Seattle has many small groups organized around specific causes that have little opportunity to publicize their activities. A feature spot in a street newspaper would not only provide these small groups, which are themselves so often under-funded and marginalized, with a chance to have their voice heard among the socially conscious public, but it would also raise awareness of readers around global poverty in a way that is solution rather than problem focused. Readers would not have to walk away simply feeling shocked or depressed but could instead choose to become involved in working on an issue that is particularly salient to them.

One of the greatest challenges in attempting to inform people about issues of poverty is the sense of powerlessness that it invokes. Street newspapers are powerful because they provide people with a chance to first perform a concrete act in support of an individual (purchasing the paper from a homeless vendor) and then have the opportunity to learn more about poverty within the community. By first performing this act of solidarity, the purchaser gains permission to see themselves as an ally rather than an outsider, that is, as part of the solution rather than part of the problem, and is subsequently more open to learning about the issues addressed by the paper. Adding news of global poverty issues to this simply adds a further opportunity to stand in solidarity as a community against poverty and to connect local issues to global ones. People would have a chance to become aware not only of the needs of the community but also of the strengths of individuals’ responses to needs that is both local and global.