George aka “Boxer”
Photo: Emil Lombardo.
How did you get started selling the magazine?
It was a recommendation. Since I became homeless, at first I was just being moved from one place to another, hostel to hostel, but mainly sleeping on the street. It wasn't until the 2024 Crisis at Christmas that I got really stuck into selling the magazines. I wasn't taking it too seriously at first, but, yeah, I started from then.
Where do you tend to sell the magazine?
Ideally, I look for a busier location, one of them being Liverpool Street, and yeah, just random stops where it’s suitable to speak to people about it. And I tend to just stick with one pitch to get through to people.
Are people receptive to it, or does it depend?
I think with the way I present the magazine and the reasons behind why I'm doing it, to any normal person that I may approach, some people resonate with this storyline. And for that reason, they decide to purchase it. But, yeah, not everyone settles well with it.
Do you ever get bother from people for selling it?
Not that many.
Photo: Emil Lombardo.
Is it hard to sell an anarchist newspaper, or do people not know about the radical politics?
Many times they don't. Those who know have never, ever, ever turned against it. Those who don't suddenly are quite intrigued by the pictures and some of the headlines in it. Yeah, it kind of draws them to want to know more. And the fact that they know at the end of the day they're doing a good thing by supporting a homeless person makes them keen to buy it.
So what kind of stuff do you do when you're not selling DOPE Magazine?
Oh, chasing. Chasing after housing. Mainly sitting in meetings with my key workers. And yeah, chasing recovery, really.
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? What would you change?
Well, I'd want to try to balance the unfairness between us and the police. I was released today—this morning—from the police station. For something that I haven't done, but yet I have to go to the police station and sign on until there's been an investigation. I've been arrested for someone shoplifting, a robbery that took place in a shop. But since I started selling DOPE Magazine I’ve put a stop to that. I used to participate in stuff like that, but because of the magazine, I've not had to participate in stuff like that. So, yeah, it is a low blow from the police's point of view to arrest me, knowing what I do...
There's a lot of imbalanced cases between the police and the homeless. I mean, you see a homeless person and you would think, the police being human, they'd consider, ‘does this person have a lot on their plate already?’ So they would be more thorough in investigations and not let mistakes like mine occur.
So you meet a lot of people every day, selling the magazine. What do you want them to know about you and your life?
I’d like people to know, if they do end up reading my page, that I have on many occasions told people my story might be presented in the magazine, since other people have taken the lead on doing this. So yeah, this is pretty much my time I suppose. Yeah, I’m in there!
Photo: Emil Lombardo.
Is there anything else you kind of want to talk about in the interview that you think is important for readers of the magazine to hear?
I think people need to understand that not all these fingers are the same [he holds his hand up] or come in the same length, size, or shape. Homelessness is real. It is real... When you see people like myself, please do consider helping because it could be worse. I could be waiting for a handout at some station perhaps but that's not the case, you know? DOPE Magazine, fortunately, allows us to make that first step towards independence or bettering our lives. So yeah, when you do see people like us, do be considerate, do look at things from a different perspective. We're not all born with a silver spoon in our mouth.
DOPE Magazine is free for anyone who wants to sell it in the street.
Photos: Emil Lombardo.
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