In the United States in the 1980s, there was a dramatic increase in homelessness, nearly doubling between 1984 and 1987. The hope and utopianism of the '60s was over - you didn't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blew, and it was towards the greed and inequality of ‘80s neoliberalism. President Ronald Reagan, following a similar package of reforms to Margaret Thatcher in the UK, cut housing and social services. Many residents of social housing found themselves pushed out and made homeless whilst unemployment skyrocketed.

Reading by Rory.

DOPE Magazine is a street newspaper about politics, art and culture. Each issue we print 40,000 copies, and hand them out for free to anyone who wants to sell them in the street. Each year, we make roughly 1/2 million pounds for our mainly homeless vendors. By subscribing to DOPE Magazine, you can support our vendors and help us to continue spreading radical ideas on the streets. Go to dopemag.org to subscribe.

Thanks to the MayDay Rooms for the audio studio.

Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin is an American writer, activist and black anarchist. He is a former member of SNCC, the Black Panther Party and Concerned Citizens for Justice. Following an attempt to frame him on weapons charges and for threatening the life of a Ku Klux Klan leader, Ervin hijacked a plane to Cuba in February 1969. While in Cuba, and later Czechoslovakia, Ervin grew disillusioned with the authoritarianism of state socialism. Captured by the CIA in Eastern Europe, he was extradited to the US, put on trial and sentenced to life in prison in 1970. He was introduced to anarchism whilst in prison, inspiring him to write Anarchism and the Black Revolution in 1979. Released after 15 years, Ervin remains politically active.

Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin

Sophie Bass

It has become impossible to deny the deep ecological crisis imperilling our planet. Poisoned air, dying coral reefs, scorching heat, wildfires, and the flood waters of “super storms” that pummel us as global temperatures rise – these are just a few of the many environmental traumas bearing witness to the immense destruction of the ecosystems of Earth.

By Debbie Bookchin

Reading by Delilah.

DOPE Magazine is a street newspaper about politics, art and culture. Each issue we print 40,000 copies, and hand them out for free to anyone who wants to sell them in the street. Each year, we make roughly 1/2 million pounds for our mainly homeless vendors. By subscribing to DOPE Magazine, you can support our vendors and help us to continue spreading radical ideas on the streets. Go to dopemag.org to subscribe.

Thanks to the MayDay Rooms for audio studio.

In an era marked by using social media and instant messaging to talk to each other, there is something quite beautiful about sitting with a group of people writing letters. What makes it even more beautiful and important is that we are writing to prisoners.

Article by

Reading by Jamila.

Artwork by Rory Robertson-Shaw.

DOPE Magazine is a street newspaper about politics, art and culture. Each issue we print 40,000 copies, and hand them out for free to anyone who wants to sell them in the street. Each year, we make roughly 1/2 million pounds for our mainly homeless vendors. By subscribing to DOPE Magazine, you can support our vendors and help us to continue spreading radical ideas on the streets. Go to dopemag.org to subscribe.

Thanks to the MayDay Rooms for the audio studio.