12/16/2025
In Episode 4, hosts Pecolia Manigo and Chaney Turner of Oakland Rising Action bring together two brilliant powerhouse organizers Vanessa Riles and Valarie Bachelor, for a raw, real, and grounded conversation.
Affordable, stable, dignified housing is becoming harder and harder to access for working families, people with disabilities, and long-time Oaklanders. For too many, it’s already out of reach. In this episode, we break down why that is, and what it will take to build a future where everyone has a home.
We get into all of it:
The history of disinvestment that shaped today’s housing landscape
How political decisions fuel displacement
The real drivers of homelessness—not the myths
Why Black and Brown communities hold the deepest impacts
And most importantly: what real solutions look like
We name the problems—the systems that create and exacerbate the problems—but also the solutions that our elected leaders could and should invest in. Through organizing, city accountability, and prioritizing people over profit, we can dig ourselves out of this affordability hole and have a community where everyone is housed. All we need is the political will and the investments our community deserves.
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