Why people depend on you to track down a copy of Speak Up street magazine
We all deserve to have our stories told. Matt Shaw recognized that this was missing for the homeless men and women in Charlotte. He created Speak Up, a street magazine filled with stories, poetry and artwork by homeless men and women. Speak Up’s first issue was published in 2011.
Speak Up is one of 120 street magazines in an organization called International Network of Street Papers. Speak Up is a non-profit organization and receives most of its funding from individual donors. Street magazines do more than bring awareness to the homeless population.
Shaw said, “It gives a voice to voiceless people. It also gives them an income opportunity.”
Shaw, a former high school English teacher, was exposed to Street Wise, a street magazine, when he was a college student in Chicago. Later, his parents started something similar in the Philippines. In both cases, homeless men and women were selling the magazines.
Shaw said, “I caught a vision and a personal sense of calling to launch this.” Since the start, more than 40 issues of Speak Up have been published.
Writers are paid $25 for published stories. Shaw recruits writers and sales people by handing out business cards to homeless people he sees around the city. If interested, they participate in an interview and orientation process that includes watching a training video, signing a code of conduct and role-playing the sales process.
First-time sellers receive 20 copies of the 16-page Speak Up magazine to sell for $2 each. They keep the $40 plus tips. They can come back and buy more magazines at $1 apiece, or walk away.
Vendors depend on regular customers to buy a copy. Subscriptions are available online. You choose a vendor and the magazines are sent to you through the mail.
“At every turn, there is that level of ‘skin in the game’ for them. It is a really unique thing to watch,” said Shaw.
Rather than the homeless people receiving a handout, as they may do in a social services setting, they are buying more magazines with money earned. Essentially, they are running their own small business.
Creative writing workshops are offered every Thursday. It gives writers an opportunity to share ideas and discuss themed issues. At the workshop before Christmas, several volunteers and writers gathered. They each had their own reasons for being a part of Speak Up. Ruth, who has been a vendor since 2012, said that she enjoyed the encouragement, compassion and understanding within the group.
Buyers can offer that same understanding. If you see someone selling, don’t pass up an opportunity to buy one and take a minute to find out about the person selling it to you.
Speak Up is published monthly, but Shaw has higher expectations: “I won’t be satisfied until we are weekly.”
Through a partnership with Lakeshore Christian Fellowship in Tega Cay, they are able to print the magazines at a reasonable cost. They can print in small quantities and customize the magazine to the vendor. They add their name, photo and quote to the back of it. According to Shaw, the personalization of each magazine has been successful.
“When they are out there selling it, it really amplifies the ownership and dignity,” he said.
With its current publishing process, Speak Up is able to respond quickly to current events. They put out an issue within three days of the protests this summer. It included photographs, an interview with one of the Speak Up vendors and short essays about people’s reactions and experiences to the protests.
Look for the newest issue on Monday, Jan. 23. The theme introduces new readers to the magazine. A number of the vendors have written, “To me, Speak Up is…”
One of the vendors, Edward Smalls will be selling copies on the corner of 5th and Tryon streets.
Photos: Peggi Knowe, Matt Shaw, Vanessa Infanzon
This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Why people depend on you to track down a copy of Speak Up street magazine."