While living on Portland's streets, Tafari had become the protector of a sixteen-year-old boy who went by the ‘street name’ of Field Mouse. Field Mouse had been evicted from a hostel for runaways for violating curfew. As his ‘street father’ , Tafari helped him to forage for food and protected him from ‘chicken hawks’ , or sexual predators. At a Portland public library, Field Mouse taught Tafari how to use computers and email. Throughout the ‘ Out of the Doorways Campaign ’ years, Tafari was a staff writer and submissions editor for the Portland street newspaper Street Roots, and he used this position to publicise his cause among the homeless. The following passage, from an article in the December 2000 issue, is an example of the language Tafari used in his articles to rally Portland's homeless to his cause. He said, In 2005 Tafari was diagnosed with hepatitis C. As he was poor he had no US health insurance, and was therefore unable to have his condition treated. He was also a UK citizen. He resigned his position as CEO of Dignity Village and returned to London to receive medical treatment under the English National Health Service (NHS). Homeless at first, he took advantage of English squatting laws to secure temporary housing for himself and sometimes others. These laws, which originated in the Middle Ages, allowed for unoccupied buildings to be taken over as temporary housing by those in need. During this period Tafari honed his squatting skills in three areas: the ‘scouting’ of suitable squats; ‘cracking’ squats (gaining entry); and ‘legally filing’ (registering) squats, such that property owners would have to go to court to secure evictions by means of interim possession orders. On September 1 , 2012, squatting residential properties became a criminal offence in England. Tafari nevertheless continued to advocate for housing rights for homeless people, for example by forcefully opposing the sale to private developers of London's dwindling stock of council housing. In January 2016, Tafari was diagnosed in London with inoperable liver cancer. With help from a group of friends, he achieved his bucket list wish to revisit Africa, where he had travelled in 2010 in the company of his friend Leland Larson, philanthropist, of the Oregon-based Larson Legacy. He left London in the company of another close friend, Maira Fenci, travelling first to Casablanca, and then to Accra, Ghana. He died on April 20  at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra of liver failure, and is buried in Akuma Village on the outskirts of Accra. His wake and burial were performed in accordance with blended Ghanaian and Rastafari funeral rites, and included crowds of guests from Accra's Rastafari community.
While living on Portland's streets, Tafari had become the protector of a sixteen-year-old boy who went by the 'street name' of Field Mouse. Field Mouse had been evicted from a hostel for runaways for violating curfew. As his 'street father' , Tafari helped him to forage for food and protected him from 'chicken hawks' , or sexual predators. At a Portland public library, Field Mouse taught Tafari how to use computers and email. Throughout the ' Out of the Doorways Campaign ' years, Tafari was a staff writer and submissions editor for the Portland street newspaper Street Roots, and he used this position to publicise his cause among the homeless. The following passage, from an article in the December 2000 issue, is an example of the language Tafari used in his articles to rally Portland's homeless to his cause. He said, In 2005 Tafari was diagnosed with hepatitis C. As he was poor he had no US health insurance, and was therefore unable to have his condition treated. He was also a UK citizen. He resigned his position as CEO of Dignity Village and returned to London to receive medical treatment under the English National Health Service (NHS). Homeless at first, he took advantage of English squatting laws to secure temporary housing for himself and sometimes others. These laws, which originated in the Middle Ages, allowed for unoccupied buildings to be taken over as temporary housing by those in need. During this period Tafari honed his squatting skills in three areas: the 'scouting' of suitable squats; 'cracking' squats (gaining entry); and 'legally filing' (registering) squats, such that property owners would have to go to court to secure evictions by means of interim possession orders. On 1 September 2012, squatting residential properties became a criminal offence in England. Tafari nevertheless continued to advocate for housing rights for homeless people, for example by forcefully opposing the sale to private developers of London's dwindling stock of council housing. In January 2016, Tafari was diagnosed in London with inoperable liver cancer. With help from a group of friends, he achieved his bucket list wish to revisit Africa, where he had travelled in 2010 in the company of his friend Leland Larson, philanthropist, of the Oregon-based Larson Legacy. He left London in the company of another close friend, Maira Fenci, travelling first to Casablanca, and then to Accra, Ghana. He died on 20 April at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra of liver failure, and is buried in Akuma Village on the outskirts of Accra. His wake and burial were performed in accordance with blended Ghanaian and Rastafari funeral rites, and included crowds of guests from Accra's Rastafari community.
R
‘street name’
'street name'
R
‘street father’
'street father'
R
‘chicken hawks’
'chicken hawks'
R
‘
'
R
’
'
R
‘scouting’
'scouting'
R
‘cracking’
'cracking'
R
‘legally filing’
'legally filing'
D
September
R
,
September
D
April
A
April