Street Sense Media

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...

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 –...

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 g...

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 his journey of moving from a “normal” life – complete with a house, career, travel, and family – into the uncharted territory of home...

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 car...

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...

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...

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 mot...

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 homelessn...

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...

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 he...

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 al...

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 hus...

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 disco...

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 con...

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 be...

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...

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 f...

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...

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...

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 peop...

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 fe...

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 fa...