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$
JULY 28, 2023 | VOLUME 14 | ISSUE 16
ASK YOUR
YOUR PURCHASE BENEFITS THE VENDORS.
PLEASE BUY ONLY FROM BADGED VENDORS.
You've got NO mail: tips on receiving
mail while homeless. Page 7
VENDOR: WHAT
IS YOUR BEST
NICKNAME?
GARY LEVERETT #554
GROUNDCOVER
NEWS AND SOLUTIONS FROM THE GROUND UP | WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICH.
HOUSED: Gary
Jackson, Alcoholics
Anonymous and
being responsible for
oneself. page 4
THIS PAPER WAS BOUGHT FROM
• Proposal: Housing-development
accelerator
• Charbonneau: Open your eyes to
housing inequity. PAGE 4
@groundcovernews, include vendor name and vendor #
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
GROUNDCOVER
letter to the EDITOR
Last Wednesday during our regularly
scheduled lunch at Liberty Plaza, one of
our guests was arrested. We were finished
serving food, yes, but our community was
still present and FedUp staff did all they
could to stop the
arrest, without
success.
I immediately followed up with three
AAPD staff — an officer, a detective and
a sergeant — all of whom have a working
relationship with FedUp and an understanding
that when FedUp is serving and
guests are receiving services, no investigations
will occur out of respect for the
community and our work. How can
people safely come to have their needs
met if they are afraid police will go fishing
in a pond?
I was given the contact information of
the lieutenant who is in charge of scheduling
the Wednesday day shifts, and he is
not responding to my requests for a meeting.
It’s been three business days and two
weekend days since I’ve reached out. In
our past experience, police activity
breeds more police activity. I am still
working behind the scenes to meet with
AAPD leadership about this gross misuse
of power, but we need your presence with
us.
I was told that the man who was
arrested for petty theft would be taken to
the station, fingerprinted and released if
there was no other warrant — meaning
these officers exerted power over a community
member (a non-violent community
member they weren’t planning on
even incarcerating) while compromising
the integrity of our program and the
safety of the rest of our community who
no longer feel fully comfortable accessing
our services. What was the point of doing
that while our community members were
gathered to receive services?
If you’re able to come out to our free
meals these next couple of weeks to
observe, to hold space, and to work for
justice and peace in our community, we
need you.
Ann Arbor Police Department, I’m willing
to meet with you any time to work out
an agreement that keeps our community
safe and cared for.
— Rev. Anna Taylor-McCants
Need a
Free Meal?
FEDUP
MINISTRIES
FedUp serves good, healthy,
food truck style food with
dignity to communities that
are food insecure and
economically exploited by
unjust racial and economic
systems in the United States.
email: info@fedupministries.org
https://fedupministries.org/
Catch the Food Truck!
Every Tuesday Lunch:
@ Zion Lutheran Church, A2
Every Wednesday Lunch:
@ Liberty Plaza, A2
@ Ypsi Transit Center
Every Thursday Breakfast:
@ 16 S Washington St, Ypsi
12pm-1pm God & Grub
12pm -1pm
1:30pm - 2:30pm
10 -11 am LiftUp
NO QUESTIONS ASKED!
YOU ARE INVITED HERE.
JULY 28, 2023
CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND A
VOICE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE WHILE TAKING
ACTION TO END HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY.
Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3)
organization, was founded in April
2010 as a means to empower lowincome
persons to make the
transitions from homeless to
housed, and from jobless to
employed.
Vendors purchase each copy of our
regular editions of Groundcover
News at our office for 50 cents. This
money goes towards production
costs. Vendors work selling the
paper on the street for $2, keeping
all income and tips from each sale.
Street papers like Groundcover
News exist in cities all over the
United States, as well as in more
than 40 other countries, in an effort
to raise awareness of the plight of
homeless people and combat the
increase in poverty. Our paper is a
proud member of the International
Network of Street Papers.
STAFF
Lindsay Calka — publisher
Cynthia Price — editor
Layla McMurtrie — deputy editor
ISSUE CONTRIBUTORS
Mohammed Al Mustapha
Elizabeth Bauman
Annika Burman
David KE Dodge
Gino Garcia
Washtenaw Literacy
Markona Love
Mike Jones
Ken Parks
Anna Taylor-McCants
PROOFREADERS
Susan Beckett
Elliot Cubit
Zachary Dortzbach
Anabel Sicko
VOLUNTEERS
Jessi Averill
Loga Brown
Luiza Duarte Caetano
Glenn Gates
Alexandra Granberg
Harleen Kaur
Robert Klingler
Holden Pizzolato
Alex Tarbet
Melanie Wenzel
Mary Wisgerhof
Max Wisgerhof
Claude VanValkenberg
Navya Yagalla
Emily Yao
GROUNDCOVER NEWS ADVERTISING RATES
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CONTACT US
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׉	 7cassandra://ntksXhjGaEI6CH4lQvPIfXKVOo8RLh-SRFSpMd8yS9oP` dy+Fז0?HU׉EJULY 28, 2023
ON MY CORNER
ASK YOUR VENDOR
What is your best
nickname?
G Junior.
— Gary Leverett, #554
Big Mike.
— Mike Jones, #113
T-Love.
— Teresa Basham, #570
Joe Smoogums.
— Joe Woods, #103
Halster.
— Hal Klenk, #88
Tambito or Cuba.
— Roberto Isla Caballero, #347
Ronahnonamacon.
— Justen White, #543
Rubber Ducky.
— Juliano Sanchez, #174
B-Man.
— B-Man, #172
Chill (not Will).
— Mansel Williams, #96
Pony is actually my nickname!
— Pony Bush, #305
Kung Fu Panda.
— Cindy Gere, #279
Fuzzy.
— Ken Parks, #490
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
War, peace, commodity fetish and
compliance culture
The goal of U.S. foreign policy is
to keep and extend the United
States dollar as an indispensable
global financial tool. Money is created
at will by those in command.
The gods of wealth and power
create the illusion of eternal
supremacy through their human
servants. Many are those who succumb
to this illusion and keep their
noses to the grindstone with no
time or energy to look honestly at
their lives. Even in this dark age of
chaotic and confusing conflict,
there are those who speak the truth
and many who understand simple
and clear when they encounter it.
Both Presidents Eisenhower and
Kennedy warned us of the military
industrial complex and the need
for peace.
The war machine has grown like
a cancer in the commodity-fetish
culture of the capitalist political
economy. “The invisible hand”
(market forces) control resources,
labor, production and distribution
in order to maximize profit. War
profiteering becomes central to
budget and policy decisions.
Despite the worldwide desire for
peace after World War II, the warmongers
moved to force Hollywood
to glorify war and prepare for
the next one to combat communism,
the eternal enemy. General
Reinhardt Gehlen, Hitler’s chief of
intelligence on the Eastern Front,
was recruited for the Cold War. His
contacts in Ukraine have received
CIA support from the time the
Office of Strategic Services was dissolved
into the CIA (in order to
focus on regime change in the
USSR and stop the Chinese
revolution).
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
a key player in the Cold
War, was created to encircle the
USSR. France’s invitation included
the commitment to help them
regain control of Vietnam and
Algeria if they joined NATO and
help in this effort.
The promise that NATO’s nation
Join Ken Parks August 14 at the AADL!
membership would not move east
was part of German reunification.
The fact that the promise was not
put in writing is the U.S. rationale
for NATO expansion and aggressive
war games with nuclear weapons
nearby. NATO war crimes in
Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan,
Libya and Syria, and the de facto
war in the Ukraine are now spreading
to Asia as plans for war with
China continue.
KEN PARKS
Groundcover vendor No. 490
parts, usually self and other. Identity
thinking can fixate on a separate
self and intensify the
separation from reality. This is a
violation of natural law which clarifies
the interrelatedness of everything.
The basic step towards
freedom is to recognize ignorance
and give it up. The addiction to violence
and war is born from a belief
in dualism, the need to be a good
person facing many “bad actors.”
Facing reality is a challenge
which is best countered when we
The endless culture of war feeds
an addiction to the adrenaline rush
that violence gives to many. Those
who glory in violence may be wellpaid
in service of the empire. The
supremacist ideology which promotes
settler colonialism and subsequent
imperialisms is deeply
rooted in pathological ego formations.
The struggle for peace and
freedom begins with unconditional
love,
which is expressed
through action.
The accumulation of wealth and
power by any means necessary is
the religion of the global “commodity
fetishism” culture, sometimes
called the Washington
Consensus of rules-based policy.
War is the center for all decision-making
as the corporate state
revolving door for financial interests
extends the “full spectrum
domination strategy” into the digital
age.
Information control and the
demand for your time is the front
line in the war of full spectrum
dominance. The demand to be in
compliance with bureaucratic fiats
based on terms and conditions
that no one fully understands takes
so much of our time that we easily
forget to make our own life a priority.
Preparations for nuclear war lie
behind the mass shootings and the
violence of everyday life, as democracy
is replaced by autocracy at
work and play becomes sensationalized
consumerism.
Our addiction to self-destruction
is shocking. Scientists design food
that is addictive with no real attention
to nutrition. The data on this
violence in food production and
consumption points to sharp
declines in mental and physical
health. The many hormone-disrupting
chemicals increase the
health challenges we all face.
The trauma of ignorance is
wedded to a belief in dualism, the
error of splitting reality into two
pause for a breath with each obstacle
and compost the energy of
dualism into the energy of completion.
Reality is complete by itself,
all its parts are interrelated and
united. To separate anything from
reality is the error of dualism.
The experience of this completeness
is the simplest and most elusive
of experiences because it has
no cause and cannot be contrived.
There are moments in history —
such as the Awakening of Shakyamuni
under a tree and Jesus on the
cross — that instill awareness and
gratitude for the completeness of
reality.
We have many ancestors. Indigenous-centered
living opens the
door to a grand display of our
shared heritage. We share air, water
and sun as well in the blessings of
interrelatedness.
We are at a crossroads of history
now and clear choices can be made
that help us discover our true
nature. When compassion, loving
kindness and wisdom arise, the
struggle of humankind will change
course from war culture to happiness
culture. Our addictions to
ignorance will be composted in the
best way as we learn to benefit all
beings without exception, self and
others seamlessly.
Please visit the following sites
vfpgoldenruleproject.org,
annarborcoalitionagainstthewar.org
annarborcommunitycommons.org
for more information.
The Golden Rule sailboat team
will be at the Ann Arbor downtown
library August 14. We are planning
Water Ceremony with Beatrice
Menase Kwe Jackson, one of the
indigenous elders of Michigan,
and the Golden Rule on the Detroit
River at Milliken State Park on
August 15. See the flyer to the left
for more details. Let’s keep in
touch!
3
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
HOUSING
JULY 28, 2023
HOUSED: Gary Jackson, Alcoholics Anonymous
and being responsible for oneself
Groundcover News: Tell us about
your journey to housing.
Gary Jackson: I was born in Detroit
and raised in Belleville. I had an
unmanageable life for a while. I was
drinking and panhandling, being
mean to people — generally just
unhappy. I tore up cars. My alcoholism
played a big part in my life.
I worked steadily for most of my life
— several different jobs — but the
drinking made it unmanageable. The
alcohol took a big toll. When my
mother and father died in the 90s, I
was lost. I’m the youngest of eleven
siblings, but I couldn't rely on my
brothers or sisters. We were grown; I
had to fight it out on my own.
I went back and forth between
Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo — in
and out of county jail, hospitals —
thankfully never prison.
I was homeless off and on last year. I
stayed with my brother for some time
but that didn’t work out. I had to get a
foundation in my life. Most recently, I
became homeless because of a bad
relationship in Kalamazoo; it was not
healthy for me.
I’ve been in Washtenaw County
since January 3 of this year.
I am in my 60s and I knew I had to
get it in my head that I have to quit this.
I didn’t know where my life was going
until I turned around and got into
recovery. I started in the 80s, but I
couldn't stick with it. If I had, I would
have had 30 years of my life back.
that. Thankfully I already had my
social security card and ID because
that would have added on more waiting
time. I needed references and had
to fill out a large application. And the
whole time I had to save my money.
You need to have your finances in
check. I worked multiple jobs.
All of that required motivation and
LINDSAY CALKA
Publisher
I moved into Hospitality House Ypsi
in January which helped me stay motivated.
Hospitality House is a Catholic
Worker house in Ypsilanti. It motivated
me to want my own space; I
wanted to be responsible for myself. I
had to bite the bullet, humble myself,
save my money, set goals to move on.
I started to lead Alcoholics Anonymous
meetings there in January, and
have kept it up since. I want to show
other people it works, even where I
come from. I’m proud and I’m thanking
God I’m staying focused.
GCN: What was the biggest barrier
that you faced in obtaining housing?
GJ: I was afraid I would lose my life.
How many chances would God give
me?
I used Section 8 — which required a
lot of coordinating with the Robert J.
Delonis Center and my caseworker. I
had to have proof of my birth certificate
— which I didn’t have — so I had
to order a birth certificate and wait for
follow through.
GCN: What is an unexpected, positive
thing that most people expect
when transitioning into housing?
GJ: First, comfort. I wasn’t out in the
cold anymore, sleeping outside. That
was painful for me. How much pain
could I take? Being homeless was a
blow to the head.
Second, keeping myself clean and
fresh. I don’t have to go days without
washing anymore. That’s a big plus:
keeping my hair combed, brushing my
teeth, keeping my hygiene up. It feels
good to open my closet and see clothes
and shoes to choose from.
GCN: What pieces of advice would
you give to people who are experiencing
homelessness?
GJ: If it's alcohol or drugs — any
addiction that’s hindering you —
you’ve got to change. I’m not gonna
tell you to stop, but you’ve got to
change. You’ll be tired of living the way
you are living. You will feel good about
yourself and will be more open to help
— and helping others. It’s not easy. But
there is help out there.
Pay for the roof over your head first.
Jackson organizes the AA meetings
at Solidarity Hall on Tuesdays
and Fridays 6-7 p.m.
Then light bills, food, whatever. But
housing first.
GCN: What’s next for you?
GJ: Right now I’m working part time
at Michigan Medicine and the Salvation
Army. I’m saving my money and
building my credit up. My hospital
bills accumulated, but I’m working on
clearing them. Also, I am working on
getting a car.
My goal is to keep working, saving,
and move up. I can’t wait to make an
even bigger step. It’s only up from here.
A quick history of housing segregation in the U.S
ANNIKA BURMAN
Groundcover contributor
Most of us grew up in segregated
neighborhoods, in segregated schools,
with heavily racialized life experiences.
On the surface, it should not be like
this since the Civil Rights Act, passed
in 1964, prohibits discrimination on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex or
nationality.
However, many of us have realized
that in actuality, government policies
have continued to incentivize segregation,
and individual biases have made
it even more difficult to create an integrated,
equitable society.
Many people are surprised to hear
that the United States was less residentially
segregated in the 1890s than it is
currently. Although racism was rampant,
Black people and white people
were more likely to live together, interacting
on a daily basis for the sake of
their career and relationships.
Everything changed after the Great
Migration in the 1910s. Over the next
six decades, six million Black Americans
moved north or west in pursuit of
better job prospects. These poor Black
families funneled into northern cities
like Chicago, New York City and
Detroit en masse, scaring white families
into moving out of diversifying
neighborhoods.
White families used multiple tactics
to keep Black people from moving into
their neighborhoods, such as threats
of violence, actual violence and policies
by newly-founded Neighborhood
Improvement Associations. One of the
methods Neighborhood Improvement
Associations used to enforce segregation
was restrictive covenants
— contracts signed by homeowners
promising not to sell their property to
people of color; sometimes these contracts
extended across multiple generations.
They also would collectively
buy out Black residents to force them
to leave the neighborhood after
already moving in, fight politically for
single-family residential zoning as
opposed to apartment complexes, and
they would boycott real estate agents
that sold to Black people in their
neighborhoods.
Some real estate agents also strategically
profited off of “white flight”
through a process called “blockbusting.”
Since segregated Black neighborhoods
were overcrowded, wealthier
Black families were eager to move to
the outer edge of these disadvantaged
neighborhoods or into majority-white
neighborhoods that would afford
them more opportunities and safety.
Blockbusters sold properties in white
neighborhoods to Black families at
increased prices, profiting off of their
desperation to escape neighborhoods
suffering from systemic
disinvestment.
The real estate agent would go doorto-door
informing the white residents
in the area that the neighborhood was
about to turn over. He would point to
the Black family that just moved in
across the street or Black teenagers he
paid to brawl publicly that morning,
then make an offer to buy their house
for less than it was worth. He played
into racial stereotypes in every step of
the process, and Black families were
the ones to suffer the most from his
actions. The blockbuster knew that
see SEGREGATION page 10 
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DIGITAL LITERACY
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
5
GET TO
KNOW YDL!
WHERE TO FIND US:
Online at ypsilibrary.org
Call us at 734-482-4110.
WASHTENAW LITERACY
Q: How can I tell if
information I find online
is accurate?
A: The internet is absolutely filled
with information, with millions of
websites, articles, posts, and forums
providing details and opinions
about every subject imaginable.
Wading through the google search
results for any topic can leave you
feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes
you might even find two different
sources online that contradict each
other. When trying to get reliable
information from the internet, it is
really important to be able to tell
which sources are credible, and
which sources shouldn’t be trusted.
One easy trick to help tell if a website
is a reliable source of information
is to look at the domain name of
the website. If the website’s address
ends in “.gov” or “.edu” there is a very
high likelihood that the information
found there is truthful. For a website
address to end in “.gov” it has to be
affiliated with a branch of the U.S.
government at the federal, state, or
local level. For a website to end in
“.edu” it must be affiliated with a
higher education institution.
Because of the restrictions on their
use, websites with these addresses
are much more likely to contain
accurate information.
Another strategy you can use when
sifting through the results of an
internet search is to pay attention to
the publisher, the author, and any
sources that are referenced. If you
are not familiar with the organization
or website that is posting information,
you should be more careful
about trusting it. If the author of an
article or website is someone reputable,
such as a credentialed scientist
or journalist, that is a good sign.
If an article or website links to other
sources that can also be a positive
indicator of its trustworthiness. Even
in those cases, it can still be a good
idea to verify what you find by looking
at other websites and sources of
information. Try using additional
internet searches to find out more
about the publisher, author and
claims made by online sources.
It's important to keep in mind that
sources can contain accurate information
and still be biased. All the
information contained in an article
or website can be true, but other
important information could be left
out. This is another reason why it can
be helpful to do additional research
about your sources themselves.
Looking at multiple sources that
cover the same topic is one of the
best ways to get the full scope of
available information.
It may go without saying, but you
should be especially careful about
information found on websites that
have a clear agenda or that want to
sell you something. Be aware that
online advertisers often dress up
their content to look like news articles.
The top few results under
Google searches are often there
because businesses have paid for
them to show up. Thankfully, google
labels these results as “sponsored”.
Avoiding sponsored content can
help you find more reliable sources
of information.
Q: I’ve received an email
telling me that several
people who I went to high
school with are trying to
get in touch with me. I’m
not sure if this is a scam
or not. How can I tell if
the emails I get are
legitimate?
A: Spam and scam emails have
been around since the early years of
the internet, and they remain a huge
problem for email users today.
Although most email services provide
some form of automatic filtering,
directing suspicious emails
away from your inbox and into a special
“spam” folder, it is always possible
that some unwanted and/or
nefarious emails will get through.
Falling for a scam email can lead to
hacked accounts, stolen money, and
identity theft. To avoid those disastrous
outcomes, it's crucial to remain
vigilant when going through your
inbox.
Let's consider the suspicious email
that you received, which claimed
that several people from your old
high school were trying to contact
you. Since you are not sure if it is a
scam email or not, my first piece of
advice would be to avoid opening it
or clicking on any links that it contains.
Scam emails can’t hurt you if
you never open them. If you have
any suspicion that something might
be a scam, it's usually best to err on
the side of caution.
That being said, sometimes you
want to be really sure. If your former
highschool classmates really are
trying to get in touch, you wouldn’t
want to leave them hanging. A good
first step is to think about why you’re
suspicious that the email might be a
scam email in the first place. Ask
yourself if you did anything recently
that would prompt your old classmates
to reach out to you. Unexpected
or unsolicited emails are
more likely to be scams. If you
recently signed up for a mailing list
at a class reunion, there is a greater
chance that the email is authentic.
Otherwise, it's likely to be a scam.
Checking an email’s sender can
also help you determine if it's legitimate
or a scam. It's a good idea to
check the sender's exact email
address in addition to the name that
shows up in your inbox. Do you
know who the sender is? Scam
emails are almost always sent by
unfamiliar email addresses. Pay special
attention to what shows up after
the @ sign in the sender’s email
address. If it's something unusual
that’s a red flag. Once you’ve seen
the sender name and email address
you can do a google search asking if
they are a scam. Other people might
have already fallen victim to the
scam and posted about it online.
Keep in mind that scammers will
sometimes send emails that look like
see DIG-IT page 11 
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Limited to residents of the City
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in part by a Washtenaw County
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
EMPLOYMENT
Give it up for FedUp!
question: What is your favorite thing
about working or volunteering for
Fed Up Ministries? And everybody
had the same answer: the community
they serve.
I interviewed Kimberly Sells and
MIKE JONES
Groundcover vendor No. 113
Let’s give it up for FedUp Ministries:
they’ve been putting in work throughout
Washtenaw County. From Ann
Arbor to Ypsilanti, they have been
feeding low-income and homeless
people, not only food to sustain life,
but also food for thought and spiritual
growth, while also providing
employment and volunteering
opportunities in our community.
I want to give a shoutout to a few of
the many wonderful people that
make FedUp happen: Pastor of Zion
Lutheran Church Rev. Anna Taylor-McCants,
kitchen team leader
Corey Fuller, volunteer Kimberly
Sells, kitchen staff Todd Crawley,
kitchen staff Brandy Hill, and volunteers
Marissa Moore and Phil Huhn.
I had a chance to talk to my friends
at Liberty Plaza in downtown Ann
Arbor, and I asked them all the same
Marissa Moore who are college
interns. Sells, who has volunteered
for one year and now has finished up
her internship and is a recent graduate,
is moving out of state to further
her career and continue to be
involved in communities such as this
one. Moore is now on her third week
of volunteering and will be continuing
for a year also. She said she enjoys
interacting with the community and
the environment Fed Up Ministries
provides.
As usual on Wednesdays, you can
find the big food truck at Liberty
Plaza in Ann Arbor at noon and the
Ypsilanti Transit Center at 1:30pm.
But now the community can also
find the big food truck at the Ypsilanti
Marketplace every Thursday
morning at 10 a.m. for breakfast.
Heads up — FedUp Ministries
announced mobile showers and
laundry units for those in need at the
Ypsilanti Farmers Market location
every Thursday morning.
Come to any one of these three
locations to enjoy the food, community
and more.
Top: Chandra takes the mic at FedUp's Thursday morning worship
breakfast. Left: Two employees pull the food truck into the
Ypsilanti Transit Center for Wednesday's lunch. Right: Pastor
Anna (pictured right) and Shivana (pictured left) during lunch
service at the YTC.
JULY 28, 2023
׉	 7cassandra://lracpf5xwOqpPSWSJjecTu1hnC62iDsJOHm_PXUBN0sT` dy+Fז0?HU׉EJULY 28, 2023
HOMELESSNESS
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
You've got NO mail: tips on receiving mail while
homeless
Being able to receive mail is a blessing
many take for granted. The first
letter I remember writing was a handwritten
one I wrote to my adoptive
maternal uncle. He had immigrated to
the United Arab Emirates from Sudan.
I was excited to write my first letter, as
it was being delivered by a traveling
relative who was also going to the
United Arab Emirates for work.
I
believe it was about my impending
trip to California from Sudan.
When I was a labor-seeking immigrant
in Qatar, living in a workers'
house populated by a multitude of
African migrants with different life stories,
one of those stories stuck with me
and is related to this topic in a way.
There was a retired Sudanese police
officer working in Doha as a Public
Relations Officer. He was building a
house back in Sudan and supporting
his kids through college. We were discussing
the nostalgic feeling of receiving
a letter from a loved one or family
as an immigrant in a different country,
before the time of emails, cell phones
and text messages.
Letters would only be delivered by
traveling relatives or neighbors, so it
was difficult; illiterate relatives would
record their messages on cassette
tapes. Hearing the voice of a relative
was far sweeter than reading the handwritten
messages. Mr. Ahmed Ali, the
retired officer,
talked about how
important it was to receive those letters
from his wife and family. He
described how excited he would be to
get some news, the wait for the relative
to arrive, the awkward moments when
he arrives from overseas but is tired
and must rest, and it is rude to bombard
him to unpack the letters and
parcels, the care packages, the homecooked
meals. The officer went on to
detail how he would retrieve his letter
and then, as a grown man, would
climb to the roof of the house to read
the letters in peace by the moonlight,
so as not to be seen crying by the other
housemates.
I have received my fair share of letters
in my life. I even thought about
working for the post office; it is an awesome
job, notwithstanding the nuisance
of pet canines.
As a homeless man, it gets very difficult
to accomplish daily tasks of
modern civilian life without the necessary
tools. I am one of the lucky
houseless people who had a valid form
of ID when I became homeless, but
many of my fellow houseless humans
don't.
Another one of these “necessary
tools” is an address — required on all
job applications, for deliveries of
important documents and as a way to
receive vital communications.
As an experienced houseless individual
who wishes to relate his experience
to other fellow humans for the
sake of convenience, I am going to
detail the options available for receiving
mail as a houseless individual:
• For those of you who are homeless
Group mailboxes at the Groundcover News office. Vendors are
able to receive mail at Groundcover. Names blurred for privacy.
or facing homelessness, you can utilize
the address of the Delonis Center.
You can sign up with the Delonis
Center, and they will open a file for you
there to receive mail. It is a free service,
and you can check on your parcels
every day. The reception staff are awesome
human beings and will always
accommodate your requests. Additionally,
a multitude of service organizations,
community and social centers,
both humane and religious, will also
allow you to utilize their address.
• PO Box: You can sign up for one at
the local post office. You will need two
forms of ID, at least one with a photo.
Prices vary, and you can check your
mail anytime the post office is open.
• General Delivery: Certain USPS
offices will allow you to pick up your
mail at the post office if you do not
have a permanent address.
• Virtual Address: These are virtual
office addresses run by companies.
You pay a monthly subscription or
annual service fee to rent their address
solely for receiving your mail. They will
open and scan the contents of the mail
and email them to you on a daily basis
if you consent. Some of these companies
like iPostal1.com and mailbox.
com will charge a fee starting at 14.99
a month for 60 pieces of mail.
Lastly, you can use the address of
relatives or friends, but that may
burden the address holder and put
you in an awkward situation with your
friends or family, especially if you
don't want them to know that you are
homeless.
There are a multitude of services that
houseless individuals cannot utilize
due to the lack of a proper mailing
address. It is part of civilian life to be
able to receive, deliver and exchange
ideas, information, and communication.
It is disheartening that fully functioning
humans miss out on
opportunities because they lack an
address to receive communication. In
all cases, I pray for the day when we
are all sheltered not only physically
from the elements but also mentally
and emotionally from the evils and
sorrows of life. Amen. I wish that you
all receive a nice piece of mail soon.
Love, peace, happiness, and good
karma are coming your way. I am
happy that we are blessed once again.
“Striving to be a better man today
than I was yesterday, and a better man
tomorrow than I am today.”
MOHAMMED ALMUSTAPHA
Groundcover contributor
7
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
IN REVIEW
Read "Outsourcing Duty: the Moral
Exploitation of the American Soldier"
DAVID KE DODGE
Groundcover contributor
Over five years ago, I wrote a
book review which was published
in the May 2018 issue of Groundcover
News. The book reviewed in
that issue is titled "What Have We
Done: The Moral Injury of Our
Longest Wars" by David Wood. At
the time that book was written in
2016, the concept of moral injury
in veterans and service personnel
who are racked with guilt over
things they have done in combat
was just starting to receive attention
by the Department of Defense
and the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
In his book, Mr. Wood comprehensively
describes what is meant
by “moral injury” and the state of
the art of helping persons who
suffer from moral injury.
In "Outsourcing Duty," Robillard
and Strawser redirect the issue
of moral injury from its burden
upon veterans and service personnel,
to parties who, in a sense,
obliviously carry guilt, which is, to
my mind, greater and more
shameful than that of combatants:
the citizens of the nation which
grooms, targets, selects, recruits,
trains and sends especially vulnerable
parties into combat in never-ending,
gratuitous wars.
The term “the one percent” has
been around for some time, at
least as early as the start of the
Great Recession of 2008, referring
to the one percent of the U.S. citizenry
who control a vastly disproportionate
amount of the nation’s
wealth. “Outsourcing Duty” redirects
its readers’ attention to
another one percent: the portion
of the U.S. citizenry who incur
“dirty hands” on behalf of another
portion who, in too large part, is
indifferent to the nation’s eternal
war-making.
The maldistribution of the moral
burdens of war creates a sense of
injustice in our military personnel.
This is succinctly characterized by
the statement of an unknown service
member who served in Iraq,
which heads up chapter three of
the book: “We were at war while
America was at the mall.”
Those of us who no longer wish
to be obliviously complicit in our
nation's war mongering will do
well to read this book.
"Outsourcing Duty" is available
online at my favorite bookstore,
Literati, for $38.
Buy it, read it, keep it.
JULY 28, 2023
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JULY 28, 2023
PUZZLES
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
9
Groundcover Vendor Code
While Groundcover is a non-profit,
and paper vendors are self-employed
contractors, we still have
expectations of how vendors should
conduct themselves while selling
and representing the paper.
The following is our Vendor Code
of Conduct, which every vendor
reads and signs before receiving a
badge and papers. We request that
if you discover a vendor violating
any tenets of the Code, please contact
us and provide as many details
as possible. Our paper and our vendors
should be positively impacting
our County.
• Groundcover will be distributed
for a voluntary donation. I agree not
to ask for more than the cover price
or solicit donations by any other
means.
• When selling Groundcover, I
will always have the current
biweekly issue of Groundcover
available for customer purchase.
• I agree not to sell additional
goods or products when selling the
paper or to panhandle, including
panhandling with only one paper or
selling past monthly issues.
• I will wear and display my badge
when selling papers and refrain from
wearing it or other Groundcover gear
when engaged in other activities.
• I will only purchase the paper
from Groundcover Staff and will not
sell to or buy papers from other
Groundcover vendors, especially
vendors who have been suspended
or terminated.
• I agree to treat all customers,
staff, and other vendors respectfully.
I will not “hard sell,” threaten,
harass or pressure customers,
staff, or other vendors verbally or
physically.
• I will not sell Groundcover
under the influence of drugs or
alcohol.
• I understand that I am not a legal
employee of Groundcover but a contracted
worker responsible for my
own well-being and income.
• I understand that my badge is
property of Groundcover and will
not deface it. I will present my
badge when purchasing the papers.
• I agree to stay off private property
when selling Groundcover.
• I understand to refrain from
selling on public buses, federal
property or stores unless there is
permission from the owner.
• I agree to stay at least one block
away from another vendor in downtown
areas. I will also abide by the
Vendor Corner Policy.
• I understand that Groundcover
strives to be a paper that covers
topics of homelessness and poverty
while providing sources of
income for the homeless. I will try
to help in this effort and spread the
word.
If you would like to report a violation
of the Vendor Code please
email contact@groundcovernews.
com or fill out the contact form on
our website.
Pitch a story
Leave a comment
Join our newsletter listserv
Ask a question
Fill out volunteer interest form
Make a donation
Visit our website
... all on the Groundcover News LinkTree!
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
EDUCATION
The students America forgot
GINO GARCIA
Wolverine Pathways student
contributor
I currently attend an alternative high
school in Ypsilanti. As only 1.6% of students
attend an alternative school, I
have a different experience than many.
I used to think of alternative schools as
where the worst possible students
attend school – juvie. But this common
preconceived notion I had was ultimately
shattered. Further adding to my
rare perspective is my identity as an
Asian-American student; a demographic
almost non-existent in the
alternative education system. Enrolled,
but without particular reason, I spend
most of my time feeling like a fly on the
wall, just an outsider looking in.
Having been there for well over a year,
it has gifted me my most cherished
school-related memory. That memory
is one of accomplishment and joy — but
not of my own personal accomplishment
and joy. It was one of my first days
there as I sunk into a routine of plopping
down on a chair, eyes fixated on a
 SEGREGATION from page 4
other Black families would be trying to
move into the comparatively prosperous
neighborhood, so he would resell
the properties to Black families for
unreasonably high rates, knowing they
were short on other options. Often, the
real estate agent would also subdivide
existing single-family homes into
smaller units to make more of a net
profit. The end result was merely an
expansion of the poor, Black neighborhoods,
with little improvement in
living conditions.
By the end of the 1940s, cities were
incredibly segregated and racial tensions
were high. World War II would
be ending soon and the 16 million
Americans who served in the war
would be coming home. President
Truman enacted a program through
the Federal Housing Association to
significantly subsidize the construction
of suburban housing for veterans
returning home — a plan that fully
realized the American dream for millions
of white families, increasing their
generational wealth to this day.
The FHA also offered a similar program
that would insure home mortgages
for “promising” neighborhoods.
In order to determine where the new
housing should be built for the best
return on investment, the FHA would
assign neighborhoods different colors:
green and blue meant a good neighborhood,
red meant bad. The catch?
Neighborhoods with people of color
computer screen, engrossed in schoolwork.
But this was not a routine day.
Commotion jolted me out of my trancelike
state. I darted my eyes to find out
what's happening; in front of me, a student
excitedly spoke with a teacher. She
proudly revealed she had just graduated,
and the dozen people I shared the
room with applauded her, celebrating
the grand accomplishment. Joining in
felt like clapping for someone I had
known for a lifetime. But I didn’t know
her. And I would imagine that those
dozen people hadn't known her either.
At the moment, we supported that student
as a community despite our lack of
familiarity with her, cheering for someone
some of us didn't know before then
— it’s why I treasure that moment still
to this day.
An alternative school’s provided
sense of community and support could
be treasurable factors to others as well.
It remains an option for those going
through excruciating life circumstances
such as homelessness, teen parenthood
and LGBTQ+ discrimination to further
their education. But unfortunately, lots
were almost automatically rated red
and undesirable. So as white families’
real estate was being subsidized, Black
families were left behind in the inner
cities in divested neighborhoods.
To make matters worse, the FHA’s
neighborhood rankings were used by
a wide range of industries, private and
public, including real estate developers,
real estate agents, business owners
and banks, to determine whether a
place was a good investment. Even
wealthier Black families were less
likely to be approved for mortgages,
largely due to their zip code.
After millions of white Americans
moved to the suburbs, companies followed
suit, thereby decreasing the job
opportunities for Black Americans in
the city. The resources they needed
were leaving, but they were unable to
follow. Black men could not find manufacturing
jobs nearby, so many of
them dropped out of the workforce.
Black women started to work in the
service industry to make up for the
loss of income from manufacturing
jobs in their communities.
In many ways, this is a story of generational
wealth and racial oppression.
For centuries, Black families have
been blocked from the same government
services and funding on which
white families have built their wealth.
Efforts to create more affordable housing
for Black families has been lackluster.
Public housing, for example, was
often built in isolated, undesirable
neighborhoods that lacked nearby job
of alternative schools across the country
don't provide this type of community or
safe environment.
For many students, alternative
schools are places they're sentenced to,
not options. According to a 2017 ProPublica
Survey, 29 out of the 39 State
Education Departments stated that
school districts retain the power to
transfer students involuntarily to alternative
programs due to disciplinary
infractions. A staggering number of students
are involuntarily sent to these
schools for minor offenses and entirely
fall off their educational track. Furthermore,
this survey demonstrates that
these transfers contribute to America’s
decrease in graduation rates and academic
performance.
On top of that, a majority of these
institutions lack the resources to offer
adequate mental health support for the
students sent their way. According to
the U.S. Government Accountability
Office, 47% of traditional schools had at
least one social worker, whereas, for
alternative schools, that number is an
abysmal 26%. In every school district
opportunities or social connections
with people who did not
surveyed, students had experienced
debilitating trauma such as homelessness,
poverty, the death of a loved one
or gang violence; such findings remain
consistent with trauma research surrounding
behavior and education.
From staffing issues to low budgets,
these institutions lack the capability to
meet the students' psychological needs.
Unfortunately, this is another case of
the embarrassing lack of support for the
most underserved and vulnerable populations
in the United States. Lacking
the necessary funds to make a widespread
difference, these schools struggle
in a climate where public education
is already underfunded enough as it is.
This experience has changed my perception
and opened my eyes to the pitfalls
of America's education system. My
time there has imparted me with an
experience I hold dear while fueling my
desire to bring awareness to our system’s
downfall. Thus, alternative schools
require an extensive revamp, noticeably
because the students attending them
always end up forgotten.
JULY 28, 2023
live in
extreme poverty. Its infrastructure was
also not maintained. Still today, middle-class,
educated Black families live
in fundamentally different neighborhoods
from
white
middle-class
families.
Even the few Black neighborhoods
that managed to thrive despite the
countless obstacles they faced continued
to be targeted by racist policies
and development. In the 1950s, for
example, highways, stadiums and
luxury housing were purposefully
built on majority-Black neighborhoods
to displace them from desirable
locations. The Black residents were not
paid the full value of their property,
were not given a choice to stay and
were not provided with equal-value
housing elsewhere in the city.
Today, there continues to be a lack
of affordable housing. This harms
low-income people, who are disproportionately
people of color, but other
populations also bear the consequences
of a lack of diversity and
working class people in their city.
Before we judge someone’s living or
financial situation, we should remind
ourselves of the near-insurmountable
obstacles that have plagued people of
color for hundreds of years.
It is in all of our interests to fight for
more affordable housing in Ann Arbor,
and to provide services to help those
that our current housing market has
failed. We made decisions in the past
that got us into this mess, and now we
must consciously make decisions that
lead us out of it.
PUZZLE SOLUTIONS
׉	 7cassandra://u2UmxLwPNYyjS6Nfz3hGzljv7FbMN4My3NCtlQpVdVoOi` dy+Fז0?HU׉E!JULY 28, 2023
LOVE BY LOVE
Love by Love: "Saving the Lost"
At what point does a homeless
person become completely disconnected?
So disconnected that other
people are only a temporary access to
their
necessary
functionalities.
They've become NUMB! Numb to
dumb the blues of pain and sorrow.
The glazed over look with no emotional
energy, the air of surrender and
for every action, it feels as if to go on
is to draw energy from the very
marrow of the bones holding them
together — the feeling that one more
confusion could break them.
The view ahead may become dim
and short-sighted … so much so that
the near-sightedness is, “if it ain't
within my grasp, then it's of no concern
to me.” The will to push on is
fading out of sight.
Many assuredly would say I'm being
far reaching on where I presume
them to be — I could reply, "Have you
been there?”
I have been there, briefly, but
enough to understand what I'm witnessing.
I was one lucky SHB (special
human being, pronounced “sheb”), in
a cast that felt as if it was the size of a
lotto draw, when an Angelic Light
shined a new way for me. In the end,
it was just luck that pulled me out …
that a savior was there to help me:
right place, right time. How do land
brokers put it? Location, location,
location.
Then, how do the majority of 'the
Lost and the Lonely' get back when
they've apparently checked out?
LOVE!!!
We first talked about our SHBs in
the article “What the Streets Took,”
then continued the conversation in
“Kona's Right Light” and finally started
reaching deeper into questions for
solutions in “Back in the Crack.”
Meanwhile, the beat-down continues
to disconnect the Lost. By beat-down,
I refer to the summation of our previous
discussions in my articles (and
references), while the housing crisis
and inflation are getting worse, stacking
more on our SHBs.
Who does or doesn't get the lucky
paths? The same paths don't go the
same way for everyone. Making the
right choice is sometimes the wrong
choice. Nobody can ever know what
awaits us down that road. We are all
One, the same with the exception of
choices, or detours that lead us down
alternate paths.
Once the Lost are completely disconnected,
they will start the spiral
down the ‘rabbit hole.' Some never
return to reality. So, the first step is to
reach in and pull them out … that is
all about Love and patience. They
may then be able to reconnect
through social services, BUT unless
MARKONA LOVE
Groundcover contributor
the system adjusts to find a way to
keep from losing them again, most of
them will fall back out.
Are you able to not take offense
from their brash response? Can you
be of no judgment, regardless of you
not being able to understand their
choices? Are you fully sincere? Let me
forewarn you. This is a daunting and
possibly dangerous task. Living on
the street, you better be ready to
defend yourself. The Lost are bound
to be about nothing but defense.
More or less, in a constant state of
PTSD (fight or flight).
Can you be there to support them
in their new awareness? This would
be a good follow-up question to how
far you can go with them — this isn't
just giving a peddler a dollar on the
corner.
This is a commitment. This is a sacrifice
that Loves you back.
Questions to oneself should be
posed in advance of an approach of
that manner. A hasty approach could
merely scare somebody off and make
them even more reluctant to connect.
Sensitivity and patience must be the
virtues when attempting to bond with
someone who may feel completely
broken, also probably justifiably
guarded (not paranoid, necessarily).
They may feel the need to feel you out,
test your resolve a little, to know
you’re for real. Don't take it
personally.
Just because you might not see light
in their eyes, be assured, it's hiding in
them, burning the fire to fight on.
They only need a brave, compassionate
hand to reach in and pull them
out.
That's a lot, though everything is
measured in relativity. There have
been many more anonymous, selfless,
gifted humanitarians through history
that lived and died in obscurity, than
the few raised high. Real, compassionate
human beings are what's
needed to save our SHBs. The point
being made is that, stop looking to
anyone else other than you to take a
pause in life to help start someone
else's back up.
"If you can't change the World,
change yourself." [Matt Johnson]
A column on compassion
At what point after the 1960s did
corporate America start regulating
Love distribution, and when did the
hippies stop giving Love — stopped
saving LOVE? Oh, that's right, capitalism
… "Love for Sale."
Americans are programmed consumers
looking to the billboards for a
dictation on how they should look,
feel and express themselves, followed
by the rest of American society. "Conform
or be cast out."
Everybody is more concerned
about how they appear to others than
what they do to and for others.
I wanna call out to our Disconnected,
our Lost, but they can't hear
us. They are not listening anymore.
This is why I'm speaking out loud to
my readers. Please my 'Loving Concerned'
(what I call the ones following
my message of Love and
Acceptance) open your hearts and
feel someone else's pain. That is
Empathy. Feeling someone else's
pain takes some of that person's
burden. Real Love is sacrifice. Love is
not used to sacrifice, it is created
from within the act.
This final call to action is to the ones
that already live in the world of the
Lost, our active SHBs can help others,
help the Lost, by sharing knowledge
of street and the Lost. Nobody knows
more about how the Lost got lost than
the homeless that are a step behind
them — but hopefully getting a step
forward.
SHBs have already learned how to
be humble, empathetic, compassionate
and understanding and know
better than to judge. Come on SHBs
let’s bring the others back, they may
end up being the one to have a hand
for you when life turns.
Anybody remember when there
was some authenticating still to the
statement “Love Thy Neighbor?” By
this time in human history we
shouldn't need that statement to be
a Commandment — we should be in
a place in our humanity where we
would consider nothing less, than to
know we all deserve that Love.
Human beings want Love, to give
Love. Giving Love is receiving Love.
When you Love others, you Love
yourself … So, Love the way in which
you desire to be Loved.
"Without a noise, without my pride,
I reach out from the inside." [Peter
Gabriel]
This is the call to action: How do we
urgently connect with these Lost/disparaged
individuals that the system
is aware of, but can't connect to using
conventional protocol? The system's
most recent solution, the Deja Vu
nightmare ... "put 'em' in a
Sanitarium."
All the Grace to Our Lost, may they
find their way back to us, more assuredly
with our compassionate reach.
We all should be so blessed.
Sincerely,
MarKona Love
(with Kona)
Author's Note: Kona opened my eyes
on how to Love (choosing sacrifice)
and how to truly witness and experience
Life at its fullest, regardless of
determent. She will always be the light
that shines upon my path through this
Cosmic Journey … and keeps me connected.
I sincerely wish everyone to be
so fortunate.
For comments or suggestions for
upcoming topics, please email me at
konagod.love5@gmail.com
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
11
 DIG-IT from page 5
to a fake website.
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from. A common phishing tactic is
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Instead, use your web browser to
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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
FOOD
Roasted garlic aioli
ELIZABETH BAUMAN
Groundcover contributor
Ingredients:
1 garlic bulb
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 6 oz jar artichoke hearts
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1 cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut off the pointed end of the garlic
bulb and place the bulb on a piece of
tin foil. Drizzle with tablespoon of oil.
Roast at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or
until soft.
Remove from the oven and let cool;
squeeze pulp from garlic cloves. Place
in a blender with artichoke, lemon and
mustard. Blend for a few seconds and
JULY 28, 2023
then add mayonnaise.
Blend well. Chill.
Serve with fresh vegetables, blanching
the veggies if needed.
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,July 28, 2023dy(?UŎ|