Dominique Walker

I am Dominique Walker. Oakland is my home. My family has been in Oakland since migrating from the rural south in the 1950s. I attended Castlemont High School before co-founding and graduating from the School of Social Justice & Community Development. I earned a B.A. in Sociology from Tougaloo College in Mississippi, and was living in Mississippi raising my younger sister and my children up until I moved back to Oakland, April 3rd, 2019. I was planning on going back to school for a Masters in Nursing until I saw how the housing crisis has impacted my community. I became homeless while working full time, like so many other working unhoused folks. Housing is a human right. Being homeless is very violent, and has so many harmful effects both physical and mental. I am taking a stand. Oakland CAN house ALL unhoused folks. There are four times as many empty homes in Oakland as there are homeless people. We have lost our humanity. There are children sleeping on the streets - we should be outraged! I am. I will continue fighting for the unhoused until we all have shelter!