Episode 218 - The Homeless Industrial Complex

This week, Roqayah and Kumars are joined by housing justice and tenant advocates Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal and returning guest Shanti Singh. Tracy, making their Delete Your Account debut, is a writer and cofounder of the Los Angeles Tenants Union whose book Abolish Rent is forthcoming from Verso Books. Shanti, formerly deputy data director of for the Bernie Sanders campaign in California, serves as Legislative and Communications Coordinator for Tenants Together as well as on the board of the San Francisco Community Land Trust.  The gang discusses the flood of evictions underway in California, how today's capitalism needs mass homelessness to function, what a YIMBY is, the success of tenant organizing in LA, the facts behind the recall of San Francisco's reform-minded District Attorney Chesa Boudin, how the LA mayoral race will impact the city's unhoused population, and more.  Follow Tracy on Twitter @two_evils and Shanti @uhshanti. If you're in the Los Angeles area, find out how to get involved with the LA Tenants Union at latenantsunion.org, and if you're elsewhere in California, check out Tenants Together at tenantstogether.org. And make sure to read Tracy's article published for The New Republic titled "Inside LA's Homeless Industrial Complex".  As mentioned in the introduction, a list of abortion funds most urgently in need of financial support can be found here.  If you want to support the show and receive access to tons of bonus content, subscribe on our Patreon for as little as $5 a month. Also, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review the show on iTunes. We can't do this show without your support!!!