by Leroy Moore

Leroy discusses the lack of financial
support and recogniton for small
grassroots non-profit organization.

Warning! Warning! To My Black disabled brothers
and sisters: Black traditional organizations from the
NAACP to the Urban League are trying to fix our
problems, empower us and protest in our name without learning
from us!

Only a Couple of years ago, Black traditional
organizations such as the NAACP, the Urban League,
ASPIRA and more made a commitment to work with
the President’s Committee on Employment of People
with Disabilities on the status of African Americans
with disabilities, and especially the issue of the high
unemployment rate. On April 6th the NAACP and the
President Committee hosted a conference titled "Employment
of Persons with Disabilities" in Milwaukee.

What is shocking about the new attention from Black
traditional organizations on African Americans with
disabilities is that it took a federal agency to get traditional
Black organizations on board when it comes to African
Americans with disabilities. For years many people,
parents, advocates and grassroots organizations
(including my parents and myself) have approached these
organizations, but received nothing. For example, in 1998 I
was working at the Youth Department of the Center
for Independent Living, and I and my supervisor, a
Black disabled lawyer, talked to the NAACP Oakland
Chapter about Black youth with disabilities, and how we
could work together. We never received a response.

ain the same year the Co-founder of DAMO, Gary
Gray, wrote to the NAACP National office about his work
and the lack of organizations run by and for disabled
people of color and their parents. This is why today you
have grassroots multi-cultural and Black disabled organizations

like Disability Advocates of Minorities Organizations,
Harambee Education Council and African Americans with
Disabilities Advocacy/Support Organization, to name a
few.

These organizations are grassroots, but are consistently
looked over when it comes to support, funding and
providing input.

I challenge the President’s Committee, a federal agency that has
little connection and knowledge what goes on every day
in the communit,. to contract out to
grassroots organizations that are for and by disabled
African Americans and their parents to conduct technical
education and disability awareness training to Black
traditional organizations.

by Ken Moshesh

UNSEEN
ARE THE DIVERSE FACES
OF MY HOMELESS AND AT-RISK
PEOPLE
STILL CLOAKED IN INVISIBILITIES
OF
SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL, COLD
WAR
DENIALS AND FEARS
PASSED DOWN THROUGH
PAEENTINGS AND NIGHTMARES
OF PAST AND POSSIBLE
DEPRESSIONS
VEILED IN PRESENT
INSECURITIES AND OBLIGATIONS
DEEMED NECESSARY TO PREVENT
THE NON-BEHOLDER FROM
BECOMING THE BEHELD.
STEEPED IN SELF-SERVING
NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES DEMOCRATIC PROCLAMATIONS
RATIONALIZING
LOFTY, POSITIVE,
FOR WHICH WE HAVE KILLED.

AND NOW, FAR TOO MANY
WHO RISKED ALL TO KILL
FOR THE CAUSE
ARE ALSO RENDERED
HOMELESSSLY MISSING IN
ACTION
BY THE UNNECESSARY
UNREGULATED GREED
OF A FEW.
BLIND ARE THE TUNNELED EYES
OF THE ABUNDANT SOLUTIONS
TO THE BEAUTIFUL HUMAN FACES OF
MY HOMELESS AND AT-RISK PEOPLE
WHO ALSO
BARELY SEE EACH OTHER
AS THE NATION STRUGGLES
TOWARD HOMELESSNESS RECOVERY

K MOSHESH 3/00

by Tom Gomez

Sunday morning I went out the door of my shelter at 6:30 am. I intended to go to sit on a bench in U.N Plaza and read my Sunday Times while waiting for the Quaker services I regularly attend to begin at 11:00 am. Sitting on those benches and reading my morning paper is a daily ritual for me. If I have an extra dollar I also like to enjoy coffee with my paper. My job (yes, I have a job, and so do most homeless people I know) doesn’t start until 3:00 pm and nothing opens until 9:00 am. I would stay in and sleep late like most of you probably do, but I live in a shelter. So I occupy a bench at my local park, reading my paper and watching the sunrise while sipping my coffee.

The city is offended by that. Channel 4 is outraged by it. On Saturday the City removed the benches. A bench removal that had been planned for several months. Channel 4, I’m told, portrayed the park as an open sewer where homeless people sell and use drugs flagrantly. I don’t have a television. I missed the report. I miss the benches too.

Does the city expect me to believe that with literally thousands of officers they are powerless to prevent a few dozen criminals from selling and using drugs in broad daylight? The crime the city has targeted here has nothing to do with drugs being sold or used. The city wants to purge its downtown of poor people and especially men of color. Throughout the whole weekend after the removal of the benches I observed police stopping black men exclusively, for no apparent reasons, demanding they produce identification and conducting random searches.

I am tired of being victimized for no better reason than my inability to pay $2,300.00 a month rent on my income from a $9.00hr catering job! Being a man of color is not a crime, and should not constitute “probable cause” nor invite forced warrant checks and random searches.

No one supports urban blight. But in this case the city is responsible for failing to enforce existing laws for years, thus creating public outrage, and then mounting an outright attack on the poor in response. If the city is tired of seeing desperately poor people littering the streets of this city, I have a fine suggestion: BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING! And instead of punishing all of us, forcing us off public benches and into the streets at dawn, how about the innovative solution of curbing crime by arresting criminals? What a concept. Someone should suggest it to Chief Lau and Mayor Brown.

A coalition of groups and individuals is organizing to oppose the city’s racial profiling and its attack on the poor and public space. Persons interested in getting involved in fighting this injustice should contact Adam Arms at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, 468 Turk, San Francisco CA 94102. (415) 346-3740

The Camera’ s gaze panned across the landscape at San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza lingering at discarded bottles, crumpled paper bags, empty beer cans...and then....a face... a man...An African-American man....smoking something...a cigarette, perhaps.. we’re not sure..then another African-American man.. then an African-American woman...then an African-American child...then another....then another and..another..and another and...until one would believe that the entire population of homeless folks in UN Plaza was African-American and then a voice, the voice of truth, the voice of.....authority?..

“At the United Nations Plaza our hidden cameras uncovered the rampant drug use of Homeless People in UN Plaza...” This so-called “undercover” report by KRON-channel 4 (which incidently is owned by the Hearst Corporation) was followed by a “shocked” interview with Mayor Brown - who after viewing the tape I just described, commented that he “would have his office look into it and see what could be done”

Several hours later the Benches at UN Plaza were removed, or rather

by Joe B.

While looking a the last two hour Xena[Warrior Princess]
the emergency broadcast broke into the show explaining

that a major 7.9 earthquake off the coast of Peru, Chile,
and Bolivia killing many people and destroying buildings
is heading to toward
San Francisco
after hitting Los Angeles taking an hour to
get here at 2:39 am Sunday.

The show resumes as I watch it thinking of what
a
Tsumami looks like. Aside from a disaster show where
I saw people actually looking at one up close getting swept
into the sea as it hit them with terrifying force.

"Now that was a stupid thing to do" is my thinking when
it suddenly came to me, "I could check it out forgetting
what I just said about people doing the exact same thing.

When Xena ended I set my alarm for 1 am watching

"Saturday Night Live" with two Hilarious skits on the Bush Presidency
and later if Nader was President as pink pigs flew, devils playing with
snowballs with Nader shaking hands with them.

I awake before the 1 am alarm.
quickly washing up, get dressed, wore two shirts, a black sweatshirt
with a zippered front pouch inside is a notepad, pen, and taperecorder.
Its not cold but breezy, on the way I hear sirens, see police cars
people gather outside a bar as two more sit on the pavement
while three police write notes.

A purple van rode by inside are two pretty women,

both are well formed black woman. They call out "We're Prostitutes."

My peripheral vision saw them but being
so intent on not missing a rare natural event I say
"I have something else to see." I thought immediately what
they’d think, another gay guy walking up Polk Street.

I hadn’t walked up Polk Street to Fisherman’s Wharf
in years but I still walk all over the city so I’m
not out of shape.

Endurance seems to be my natural Wild Card power
however intelligence or plain mother wit
may not have been hardwired into my wetware.

The closer I get to the 900 beach and The Natural Historical Park
and Maritime Marine Museum I’m thinking what have I done?

"Going to the site of a Pacific Tsunami, in dawn’s dark,
without friends or a floatation device is nuts.

I go to check the water by the lit lamps I do not see much beach sand.

The wait is long when arriving at 2 am on a quiet
Fisherman’s Wharf and a few people walking the Wharf or

in the curved apartment building looking out at the waters.

When 2:39 am arrived there is a sigh of relief
from me as I now know if the
Tsunami had been a been heading at me I’d wouldn’t
be able to out run and having no bus fare only adds to my inspired idiocy.

I’m walking back home craning my neck just in case I might have to run away.

By 3:19 am. safe at home the minor non adventure over
I sleep thinking how stupid-curious I am and if we as a global civilization
can balance these and other drives
we as a species might survive our searchings and wonderlust to learn
from nature maybe all those horrible deaths will have meaning.

And as for myself on Sunday Gay Pride Day.
I am at my office sending a quick Darwin Award Story

to Art Bell because I must laugh at my gene defect and yet.

If there was a circular rip in time’s continuum that appeared in
front of me I’d probably jump in for the adventure of it
but that's just me.

I know we all do dumb things, but I
actually heard the warning and still went out to see what a Tsunami really looks like.

My adventure done,
I’ll go home and fix up my one room apartment.

Please send donations to
Poor Magazine C/0 Ask
Joe at 255 9th St.
Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA

For Joe only my snail mail: PO Box 1230 #645

Market St.San Francisco, CA 94102

Email:
askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Vlad Pogorelov

I stayed up all night before the eviction, listening to Beethoven’s 5th symphony - “Ta-da-da!....” The sheriffs were supposed to come at 6 am. By 8 am I said to myself: “Fuck it”, and went to sleep. I woke up in a couple of hours, fixed myself a breakfast, had two cups of coffee. It was promising to be another decent day. I unlocked the gate and went outside.

There were 3 cars sitting in front of the house. A big sport utility vehicle, a locksmith’s van and a smaller car. A sport utility was occupied by a Filipino couple. The locksmith was in his van. When I walked out into the front stairs they all stared at me and stopped talking. There was something in their eyes, in their expressions which reminded me of vultures waiting for the dying animal to expire.

I came up to the SUV and asked the man if he was a landlord. He confirmed that. “Fuck you”, I said, “you gonna make me homeless. Fuck you”.

Then the locksmith came and asked me for the key. “Fuck you both”, I said and went back to the house.

My roommate Rob started to fantasize: “If sheriffs don’t come today then maybe they won’t at all, at least not before Thanksgiving...”
Poor Rob. He has been living in this little house for almost seven years. A long time , long enough to fill almost every square inch of it with hundreds, and hundreds of pieces of junk he found on the street -— TV’s, old record players, broken computers...you name it. And now he was about to loose his treasures. I saw this incredible sadness in his eyes. Just yesterday, upon learning about the inevitability of the eviction he threatened to commit suicide., and sheriffs department sent him to a mental hospital. They let him out ,however, so they can evict him properly.

“Maybe I can talk them out of it”, I told him. I went outside and locked the gate behind me. There was some commotion on the block — a few white official looking cars rolled in. Half a dozen of sheriffs with guns came out and joined the vultures. They all looked tense.

“What are you doing here?”, they asked me.

“I am here to watch you”, I told them.

“Do you live here?”. One of them pointed at the house.

“I was”, I told them,” until today”.

“Give us the key”, they demanded.

“I paid a dollar for my key. Have you got a dollar?”

None of them had a dollar. Greedy bastards. Or maybe they wanted to see the locksmith in action. Who knows...

A smooth voiced sheriff who called himself supervisor got on the phone and called Rob. “Come out Rob. We are not going to hurt you. We just want to do this eviction. It’s lunch time. The boys are hungry”, he said while looking at his troops.

“Come out with your hands up”, I joked.

The supervisor gave me a dirty look. “I would advise you to stay away”, he told me.

“Don’t do it Rob”, I screamed.

They negotiated with Rob for about half hour. Then I saw him emerging behind the gate. The sheriffs moved against the door. Skinny, little Rob—a strange Jewish guy who made his living by collecting junk—against 6 well fed, fat sheriffs with guns. He did not stand a chance. Suddenly, he became even smaller, as if he shrunk suddenly. He unlocked the gate. The sheriffs rushed in. “You have five minutes to get your papers, medications, etc. We will supervise you while you doing this.”

I went into my room and grabbed a female mannequin and a few books. I came out carrying the mannequin in my arms as I would carry a wounded comrade. “This guy is crazy”, somebody said. Then I saw Rob coming out of the house. He had a scarred cat in his arms. The cat really hated to be evicted. The sheriffs stood there in a circle, laughing. Fat, ugly bastards who are just doing their job and will go back to their families just like the Nazis did after torturing Jews at the camps.

Me and Rob shook hands. “Where would you go?”, I asked him.

“I don’t know”

“And you...?”

“I have no idea. Probably will sleep in my car”.

The sun just came out from behind the clouds. “A beautiful day to start a new life as a homeless person”, I thought as I was leaving a little white house in Potrero Hill— my home for the past 4 month.

Part Two

It’s only a few weeks later and I am already feeling like it was a few light years ago. My lifestyle has completely changed since I became an individual without address. For the first three weeks I had to sleep in my car, and later, thanks to a friend, I was able to move into a broken motorhome parked on a dead end street by the San Francisco Bay. Sometimes, I wonder if I am at a “dead end” myself. I was literally driven almost into the water and there is nowhere else to go but out of town.

Bad news for Rob—it is his last day to remove his belongings from “our house” as he calls it. And then almost immediately he would correct himself: ”Our former house”. It seems that he just can’t get over being evicted. Last night he started discussion about Sylvia Plath and her suicide. “I was thinking a lot about this subject”, Rob told me.

“You know Rob, I have a propane leak in my motorhome. You can smell it a block away. So, if you are contemplating to follow Sylvia—welcome to my place.” He only laughs: “I am too old for this kind of solution. After all I am almost 50. And Sylvia was this adolescent girl who never grew up.”

“It’s never to late Rob”, I am telling him while watching his reaction. But he only shook his head and doesn’t say much.

We drove to “our house” in Rob’s beat up van and started loading it in somewhat chaotic manner trying to save Rob’s treasures but he still had to loose almost ninety percent of his possessions after the deadline. About 4pm we decided to get some food and “recharge our batteries” for the final push. I volunteered to make a run to the local store and get us sandwiches. It took me about fifteen minutes. On my way back to the house I noticed that something was very wrong over there, There was a police car sitting outside the house and Rob was in the back seat of a cruiser, looking like a caged rabbit waiting to be used for some bizarre scientific experiment. I noticed two policemen and the landlords drugging a heavy garage door and trying to put it back on hinges. (We had to take the door off the hinges in order to move out some large objects.) After a collective of “real estate and law enforcement forces” finally succeeded in putting the door back in place they let Rob out. “You have thirty minutes to clear out”, the cops told Rob.
“We’ll check on you soon. If you are still here with your stuff on the sidewalk then you gonna loose it to the Street Cleaning Department.”

“You don’t have to do that”, he replied. “The landlord will call them for you.”

I saw landlords walking back towards their SUV and smiling with relief. Finally, they succeeded in shutting the doors of the house for good.

I helped Rob to load the remaining belongings into the van. “Why did they detained you?”, I asked him.

“They said, I was trespassing.”

“But you were not! You had until 5 pm. They cheated you of almost an hour, man!”

“They sure did. But I don’t feel like fighting anymore. I am about to give up and move far away from this nightmare, my friend. Maybe, even to the countryside...you see I am fed up with this city. This city is being sold to the highest bidder on a daily basis and I don’t want to be a part of this Sodom anymore. Count me out. I quit.” Rob was sounding tired and depressed.
“You see, I just was inside the house packing my stuff”, he continued,” and then the cops came and ordered me to come out immediately. Well, I invited them to come inside since I wasn’t trespassing but they only got angry and drugged me out of the house, searched me and took away my “Leatherman” tool.”

“Did you get it back?”

“No. But I am about to call Bayview Police Station and ask for it”. He got on the phone and called the police station. “...what do you mean, you don’t know who you send to harass people?...you mean you don’t keep records of which car was dispatched?...”, I overheard the pieces of conversation. “It is hopeless”, Rob conceded. “They told me, they have no idea who these policemen were.”

We sat on the curb for sometime, not talking much, contemplating our dim future. It was getting dark. We both looked at the house again as if saying last “Good bye” to the ordeal of the last two months, got in to the heavily loaded van and drove away towards even greater uncertainty.

by Ken Moshesh

THE TWO MILLIONTH PERSON
WAS INCARCERATED
THIS BLACK HISTORY MONTH,
WHICH IS SO MANY MORE
THAN COMPARABLE SOCIETIES...
AND HOMELESSNESS,
INCLUDING SO MANY WAR VETERANS
AND INCREASING NUMBERS OF
FAMILIES AND JOB HOLDERS,
IS RISING
IN APPARENT INVERSE SOCIAL PROPORTION
TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
WHICH IS SOARING TO RECORD HEIGHTS
PRAYTHEE
WHITHER "DOST" THE EAGLE FLY?

by Husayn Sayfuddiyn

To the poor - a

mobile home

has new meaning

Life’s Blood on Wheels

Fancier than the

shopping carts

of the ne’er do wells

until SFPD stopped me

as unlicensed to live

illegal necessities

unwanted baggage

to Tow Away

and I saw in his steel eyes

that I was next

on the Tow Away list.

by Staff Writer

To you, Mr. Stelley

a doomed young San Franciscan

Who is now one of my ancestors from Life

Taken down in your Prime

Before you could make your woman your wife.

Before you could procreate a child

Graduate from college

who had made no comittment to create a Crime.

To you who are now a memory

A bad boy memory to the coppers

who shot you down

without a cold-bloodied frown.

Who emptied their holsters

without a breath of hesitation.

Shot down, Like the animals you loved.

But you were her sacred Son.

I Salute You! Mr. Stelley

-Ms. A Faye

by NJ WOLLMAN

We are continuing our battle to get the TIAA-CREF (TC) higher education
pension system to do "positive investing" with a small portion of its
socially responsible "Social Choice Account" (SCA). It can mean up to $300
million going toward such things as loans for low-income area housing and
business start-ups, and venture capital for companies championing a new
socially/environmentally responsible product. Companies thus supported can
become stronger models for other new companies and the very prominent TC
could become a model for other institutional investors. A survey taken by
T-C revealed that 81% of SCA participants want this proactive, positive
approach for the fund.

TC does token low-income housing investment in a different fund of theirs,
and are using that as an excuse for not doing so in the SCA. But, first of
all, the Social Investment Forum (trade association) recommends putting 1%
of a fund's assets in such investment, while the Methodist pension fund
puts in 3-5%. TC's investment in low-income housing is pitifully below such
levels and you might ask them why. And there is no reason they can't do
such investing in the SCA, where it certainly belongs. Additionally, there
are other things we propose that are not being done at all in any of their
funds. A number of socially responsible funds are already doing what we
suggest, so why can't TIAA-CREF. ASK THEM WHY THEY REFUSE TO CONTACT THOSE
IN THE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT FIELD WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO TALK
TO THEM..

Our original effort to get the SCA started took five years, so, after four
years, "We have just begun to fight." We have a long list of prominent
group/individual endorsers and media stories keep coming--Wall Street
Journal, L.A. Times, etc.. But with a group as large as TC ($300 billion in
assets; 2 million participants, etc.), the inertia and paternalism is
strong. We started a tactic that takes a few minutes weekly-- and your
involvement could really help. THANKS, Neil (mark your calendar or ask if
you want brief bi-weekly campaign updates and reminders about
calls--njwollman@manchester.edu)

PLEASE TAKE THREE MINUTES A WEEK TO LEND YOUR VOICE in support of the
proposal for "Positive Investing" for the Social Choice Account: (a)
positive screening looking for more socially responsible companies, such as
those with good labor practices (b) low-income area housing and business
startups, and (c) venture capital for companies championing a new
socially/environmentally responsible product. And ask them to dramatically
increase investment in low-income housing in their TIAA Account, where they
now do a token amount out of $100 billion.

Call John Biggs, their CEO, at.1-800-TIA-CREF (842-2733), ext. 4280.; or
212-490-9000. You'll likely have to leave a message with his secretary, but
do ask for a response if you can. We are creating a weekly "presence" that
will continually remind him of our concerns! And email Mr. Biggs, as well,
or instead of, if you can't make a call:(WWW.TIAA-CREF.ORG, then click
"Contact TIAA-CREF", then "General Information")

If you are interested in getting further involved in the effort, we do
everything from gather signatures for petitions, to "visiting" TC trustees
around the country, to demonstrating at TC headquarters in NYC or at their
local offices around the country. Contact us if you want to get further
involved at your local level or in national strategizing and organizing
(219-982-5346).

--more info:
http://ARES.manchester.edu/department/PeaceStudies/njw/disclaim.html
-PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

by Chance Martin

As part of the latest wave of human rights abuses directed at poor and
homeless people in San Francisco, Food Not Bombs(FNB) had their 5:30 food servingto homeless people in UN Plaza disrupted by San Francisco Police Department.

This is following the midnight removal of the plaza's benches Saturday,
April 28th in supposed "official reaction" to an investigative report on the
Hearst Corporation's KRON that aired on the previous evening's news. The
KRON newscast was slanted to portray all of UN Plaza's homeless residents as
violent drug addicts.

Subsequent FOIA requests made by the the Coalition on Homelessness revealed
that Mayor Willie Brown's office has been planning the benches' removal
since October, 2000 -- in callous and cynical disregard of the valid needs
and reasonable accommodations for disabled and senior citizens, homeless or
not.

FNB'ers at risk of arrest relocated the serving across Market St. from the
plaza, regrouped, then decided collectively to return to their regular
serving spot in the plaza. Two cops on bikes advised FNBers that they were
in violation of a court order and would be arrested if they did not stop
serving. They did not stop serving and the cops called it in.

Lt. McDonough, SFPD arrived shortly with court order in hand and simply
pointed and arbitrarily said, "you're arrested" to FNB servers and
organizers present. Soon after there were at least 8 police cars, a police
van, and 6 more bicycle cops.

A total of four FNBers were cited, two were cited and released, and two weretaken into custody for lack of proper identification.

FOOD NOT BOMBS NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!!!

THE NEXT SCHEDULED SERVING IS WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH 2001 AT 5:30PM.
There Will be a press conference at 5:00pm

BE THERE! BRING A CAMERA! BRING A RECORDER! BRING A FEW FRIENDS!!!

EVERYONE TAKE NOTES, NAMES, BADGE AND VEHICLE NUMBERS!!!!

¡¡¡¡BE CREATIVE!!!!

It's time to end human rights abuses in the United States.

It's time to end ONGOING human rights abuses within spitting distance of a
monument to the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING...

by By William T. Hathaway, william.hathaway@ewetel.net

After the savage denouement of Election 2000 we can look back on a campaign that saw Gore sacrifice his principles and Bush sacrifice our democracy, all to the great god Winning. The final debacle agonized but didn't surprise us. With grim inevitability it stripped away the last facade of red, white and blue idealism. Five weeks of political thuggery made it clear that our votes don't count. Bush didn't win this election; he seized power through a legalistic coup d'etat.

We may mourn for Gore, but he wasn't even outraged. A true son of the system, he'd rather sink than rock the boat. Despite some positive qualities, he's not a genuine agent for change. Like Bush, he supports capital punishment, genetic engineering of foods, corporate globalization, and a military build-up. Economically, the two men differ only in the size of their trickle down.

To find the reason for this Tweedledee and Tweedledumb pairing, we just need to look at their mega donors. The soft-money moguls don't want us to have a real choice. Campaign financing shows us that the major parties are just two sides of the same gold coin, two modes of control by the corporate oligarchy.

The economic power base of both parties lies in the business establishment, and they represent two tendencies within it. The Republicans support a fiscal orientation aimed at preserving the value of capital by keeping taxes and inflation low. To them, a moderate increase in the number of poor people provides an anchor on the economy by holding wages and thus inflation down. The Democrats support a mercantile orientation aimed at expanding public buying power. To them, a moderate increase in the number of prosperous people enlarges the customer base. Each party contains more than this, but this is their economic core that keeps their leaders from acting against corporate interests. The alternation of power between them ensures that neither tendency gets carried so far as to destabilize the very profitable enterprise. Given this structure, the changes we need can't come from them.

Through ballot-access laws, matching-fund regulations, and debate policies, the major parties try to shut out other approaches. They're the only game in town, and it's now obviously a shell game with no winners except them.

They and the corporate media have also avoided an open discussion of their economic interests by riveting public attention on the emotional sideshow, the battle of winners and losers. Politics, like the news, has become garish entertainment for an increasingly ignorant populace: we, the people.

Both parties are now calling for restoring harmony, for pulling the country together, for healing the national wounds. But what they really mean is healing the wounds to the establishment.

For the first time since our defeat in Vietnam, a major crack has appeared in our two-party but one-purpose elite. As they try to patch that crack and restore the cosmetics of democracy, we can expect a media campaign to create good feelings about America. Hollywood will get into the act, as it did after the Vietnam war with films such as PRIVATE BENJAMIN, AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN, and TOP GUN, designed to restore the charisma of the military. The studio execs are probably already conceptualizing a hip, "mock the system at the same time you reinforce it" version of MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. And George W. Bush will now play Mr. Nice Guy, dismantling only gradually and indirectly the few progressive measures that Clinton was willing or able to implement.
But the crack is there and it can be widened; a wedge can be driven into it and it can eventually be split apart, and this monolith of power can fall and something new and more humane can take its place. Otherwise the establishment wouldn't be trying so hard to patch it up and erase the memory.

Forty-five thousand ballots that antiquated voting machines couldn't read, most of them from poor districts, still remain uncounted in Florida. Paid Republican demonstrators interfered with the counting, Florida officials governed by Bush's brother refused to accept revised vote totals, and the Republican-dominated US Supreme Court insisted on enforcing a deadline that the law itself says is flexible. Due to this coup, Bush won Florida by 193 votes and assumed the presidency against the national popular vote.

We must not forget this! But most people already have because it's too painful.

If the Left can reach those who haven't and turn their alienation into radical engagement, we may yet see a ground swell of political activism that will force fundamental changes. Until that happens, we, the people, will continue to be the losers.

by Takuya Arai

( POOR Magazine released Volume #4 The Work Issue in 1998. In that issue we explored the concept of Unrecognized labor and specifically the idea that Panhandling was, in fact, work)

I was walking down Haight Street in the city of San Francisco with my roommate. After the consecutive cold days of rain and chilly wind, we finally had a nice, warm day. We were approaching Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Shop on the corner, where a group of four teenagers with eccentric attire were begging for change from the pedestrians. When we walked across the street, I noticed that one of them looked at me and turned to her companions to talk about my MTV T-shirt, which I knew looked pretty stupid. They were laughing at me.

"Can you spare me some change?" she said to us with a sneer.

"I am sorry, but I am broke too," I replied, because my financial situation is getting really tight these days.

"No, you’re not!" To my surprise, she suddenly raised her voice, telling me not to lie to her. I think she was just trying to get some fun out of us because it seemed they did not have anything else to do. But I felt offended.

'That's none of your business. Get out of my sight." I did not say that, but I wanted to.

I just ignored her and went to a bookstore to buy my textbook. With the textbook in my hand, we passed Ben & Jerry's again on our way back. They were still there.

"Now you have some change because you bought something." I could not believe how she could have the nerve to say that.

"What the fuck!? I'll give you a penny if you lick the sole of my shoe." I did not say that, but that was my immediate response. Instead, I just stared at her eyes for about 15 seconds as we passed her by. She cast her eyes aside, so I stared at her other companions.

I am Japanese. Haight Street is introduced in the Japanese best -selling tour book "How to Walk the Earth" as one of the hottest spots to visit in San Francisco. Whenever I go there, I encounter several Japanese tourists wearing nice, fancy clothes with GAP shopping bags in their hands (although I have no idea what GAP has to do with Haight community). So I knew how she felt when I told her that I am broke, because I think she knew that I was Japanese and most of the Japanese people she sees on Haight Street can afford to go traveling and shopping.

If you live in a big city, you have a few chances a month to encounter people who ask for change on the street. The other day, I was driving my car and I stopped at a traffic light where a homeless person was standing. It was a cold, windy day. With a brown cardboard sign that said, "Homeless, even a smile would help," this disabled man in his 50's, wearing a torn shirt and ripped jeans, was bending forward and asking drivers in every car that was stopping at the traffic light for change. Although I did not know anything about this person, his shabby appearance immediately aroused a feeling of pity and made me want to do something for him.

At the same time, however, he reminded me of a teenage girl on Haight Street who was basically doing the same thing that this homeless person was doing. Instead of giving her some change at that time on Haight Street, I gave her a contemptuous look. While I was thinking about the difference between the girl on Haight Street and this homeless person at the traffic light, he came to my car. I opened the window and gave him eight quarters. With a big, warm smile on his face, he said, "Oh, thank you. Oh, thank you. Now, you have a pleasant day." He had a hoarse voice, but I felt good. I gave him change because I thought it was worth more to him than it was to me. I guess I gave him money out of compassion.

I wondered if it was the right thing to do. I think I did the right thing because I helped him, even temporarily. But then I wondered if he deserved money that I gave him.

We live in a free-market capitalistic society where money is used as a means of transaction. Money is an officially issued coin or paper note that is legally established as an exchangeable equivalent of all other commodities. It is used as a means of storage of assets and as a measure of comparative values on the market. Therefore, whenever somebody pays money, they get something of equivalent value in exchange.

When I gave the homeless man money, what did I receive in exchange? It is true that I felt good when I gave him money, because I felt like I helped him and he thanked me. But does that mean that I bought conscience? Did I receive good karma? Was he selling misery? If so, is there any demand for the product or service he offers? When he spends money that he received from the pedestrians, how does he feel about it? Does he feel guilty? What if he lived in a society where barter is the main form of commercial transactions? Would he still be begging for food without giving anything in exchange?

According to a dictionary, "work" is defined as physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something. A "job" is defined as a regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one's trade, occupation, or profession. It is a task that must be done, a specified duty or responsibility, and a specific piece of work to be done for a set fee.

Without any guarantee to secure enough money to get by, panhandling on the street for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week must be harder than any type of job we have on the market. But when people are standing on the street begging for change, how are they contributing to the good of the society? What are they producing? What are they trying to accomplish? Are they responsible for anything? Are they trying to give us a signal that the society is not functioning properly? I really do not know if we can call panhandling work.

One thing is true. When I gave him change, it was mutually beneficial. I felt good and he got what he wanted.

by Dee

Walking sticks appear, seemingly from nowhere to dine on tender leaves. The spindly insects resemble trees as they slowly creep up the tail and paws of Hands and Lester.

Hands and Lester look around to find themselves deep in the countryside of North Eastern Oklahoma, It is the year 1839.
Why, lands and Lester wondered, why have we found ourselves in Cherokee country and why did we have to travel the Trail of Tears?
In generations past the Cherokee people come to this area to rebuild their nation after the westward trek from their beloved homelands in the mountainous South - Herded by federal soldiers, the Cherokees took a path in 1838-39 that became known as the “Trail of Tears.”

Why, Hands and Lester wondered? Why have we found ourselves in Cherokee country? Was it to live on the hard scrabble farms dotting the region that many Cherokees continue to live on?

Was it to attend some of the first schools west of the Mississippi for the education of both men and women? Or perhaps it was to work on Oaklahoma first newspaper published in both English and Cherokee.
After all it was only 1839 and again lester and Hands were living another of their nine lives.

That nite Lester had a dream. He dreampt he and and Hands were ill. No amount of Medicine or prayers could heal Lester and Hands in this dream. A native American spiritual leader appeared to lester in Lesters dream.

He told Lester that Native Americans regard their names as essential parts of their personalities. A native persons name is as vital to his or her identity as the eye or teeth.

If prayers and medicine fail to heal a seriously ill person, the spiritual leader tells Lester, then the spiritual leader sometimes realizes that the patients name itself may be diseased. The spiritual leader then goes to the water and with the appropriate ceremony bestows a new name on the sick person.

The healer then begins anew with the patients new name in hope that these measures will bring about restoration and recovery.
Lester anxiously awoke from his dream. He awoke. “Hands, Hands.hands"Lester said, “I’ve found the answer in a dream as to why we have found ourselves in Cherokee County in 1839.” Hands listened excitedly, while quietly purring. Lester continued “We have to find a spiritual leader and most important, ask him to change our names!”
To be Continued.

by PNN staff

On Tuesday, January 16, 2001 the Mission Anti-displacement Coalition (MAC), Senior Housing Action Network and several other neighborhood groups held a rally to support SanFrancisco’s new Board of Supervisors. The rally will call on the new board to vigorously protect our neighborhoods from displacement and promote a progressive agenda that includes more affordable housing, environmental and economic justice, a people’s budget, and community control of city planning-- the spirit Proposition L.

Last December’s election of a progressive slate of district supervisors
culminated a year of community organizing and movement building by MAC, SAN and other community groups across the city. Everyday people tired of the

corruption at city hall won a clear mandate for an independent Board of
Supervisors, one that will enact a progressive agenda to safeguard San
Francisco as a city for working people.

The rally of several hundred San Franciscans will serve to celebrate our
electoral victory as well as to remind the supervisors that we will be
actively participating in the legislative process. Speakers from various
neighborhoods and constituencies will be present along with community
members, supervisors and their staff.

by Leroy Moore

Do Black disabled people have a history? You wouldn’t think so when Black History month comes around. For ten years I have been on a search for Black disabled people’s contributions to the mainstream society, as well as to Black and disabled communities, but it is almost as if we do not exist.

Black disabled people are beginning to tell their stories, but in writing our history, we must overcome many barriers. Under slavery, having a healthy mind and body was the key to survival. Masters viewed disabled slaves as a burden and usually killed them, so disabled slaves hid their disabilities to stay alive. Today, I wonder if we black disabled people are still hiding part of our identity.

There were disabled slaves who did survive on the plantations. The most famous was Harriet Tubman, who escaped and helped others to do the same. Tubman’s disability is part of our hidden history. I had to dig to learn about the brain injury that caused her to have seizures and blackouts. Perhaps this inspired her to found the Harriet Tubman Home, sheltering disabled and elderly slaves within her own home.

Black disabled people do have a recorded history in an unusual kind of profession. Books by Rosemarie G. Thomson (Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring physical Disability in American Culture & Literature) and Robert Bogdan (Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit) report that freak shows employed a high population of Black disabled people. Today we think of freak shows as disgraceful, but in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some Black families entrusted their disabled children and young adults to freak shows because they provided paying jobs for people who could not get other employment.

Among them was Joice Helth, George Washington’s nursemaid. Thomson describes her as an old, toothless, blind, crippled slave woman. Thomson goes on to explain that several physically and mentally disabled Black men were displayed as "What Is It?" exhibits in freak shows

At the other end of the entertainment spectrum, remember George Gershwin’s opera, "Porgy & Bess?" This first Black opera portrayed a disabled Black man as a main character. The story was based on DeBous Heyward’s novel about a real Black disabled beggar, Samuel Smalls of Charleston, South Carolina.

These are some of the stories that must be remembered if Black disabled people are to have a sense of their own history, and if everyone is to understand what has really happened.

Today, disabled African Americans are finding and using their own voices. Locally, disabled artists have exhibited their artwork in Oakland and San Francisco during Black History Month for the past three years. Last year, four Black disabled artists, poets and lecturers presented their artwork and talked about their lives at local bookstores. This year, Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO) presented "Breaking the Silence on Disability in the Minority Community," with a panel on issues that touch disabled minorities, spoken word and a video presentation on February 17th at the San Francisco Main Library.

There are a small number of recent books by Black disabled authors, including "Sounds Like Home: Growing Up Black & Deaf in the South" by Mary Herring Wright. Idell Wilson, author of "Dream Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces" and Leroy Moore, author of "Black Disabled Man with Big Mouth & High I.Q." are two local Black disabled poets, activists and lecturers They read from their new books on February 16th at the Family Resource Network of Oakland.

We of the Black and disabled community are becoming more visible. David Patterson, a blind New York state Senator, has taken disability issues to the political arena. Curtis John Pride made history for being the first Black, deaf, professional baseball player. "Becker," a new sitcom on ABC, includes a Black blind character. Here in the Bay Area, organizations such as Harambee Education Council, a state wide organization of and for parents and advocates of African American youth and young adults with disabilities, and DAMO are looking forward to a bright future. To get involved with the second annual Harambee Oakland conference in June of 2001, call Sonia Jackson Ricks at the Family Resource Network @ (510) 547-7322.

Disabled African Americans have a rich history, varied talents, and fresh voices with which to chronicle rarely shared experiences that deserve to be heard. If we are going to celebrate Black History, lets celebrate the history of all Black people. For more information contact DAMO at (415) 695-0153

Black Disabled Trivia by Leroy Moore & Gary Gray of DAMO

1) This slave rescued other slaves and brought them to freedom. Who is she? What was her disability?

2) This famous soul singer in 1997 he wrote a book called Truly Blessed, about his life before and after his accident. Who is he?

3) This African American is the first deaf professional baseball player. Who is he?

4) This Black actor is an inspirational speaker who played in Boyz N in the Hood. Who is he?

5)A 1992 comedy show, ‘In Living Color’, introduced the first Black disabled hero. Who was it?

6)This Black amputee, 1984 Olympic skier and author was the first Director for President Clinton’s Human Capital Issues on the National Economic Council. Who is it?
------------------------------------

Black Disabled: Trivia Answers

1) Who was Harriet Tubman

2) Who is Teddy Pendergrass

3) Who is Curtis John Pride

4) Who is Reggie White

5) Who was Handiman

6) Who is Bonnie St. John Deane

by Joseph Bolden

According to Michael Welmer, a forensic psychiatrist and the creator of the "Depravity Scale", his invention is a scientific way for judges, juries, and others to measure evil acts.

Mr. Welmer’s Depravity Scale has 26 categories, divided into three subcategories: intent, actions, and behavior. Unfortunately I can’t go through these categories or I’d be plagiarizing Mr. Libaw’s work. Lets just say crimes committed based on race, sexual orientation or religion all have their place on the scale. Torture, murder, or harm with intent not to kill though seriously hurt and/or maim are all on the depravity scale, which someday all victims and jurors may use in court.

Mr. Welmer has worked most of the glitches ‘n gremlins out of his prototype, so when testing begins, he should be able to pass all the tests he’ll be given by various law enforcement officials.

To Know the Evil Deeds we are all capable of is a burden I don’t want, but if it forces us to examine and improve ourselves, then bring on this evil and depravity contraption. So far we’ve only been guessing at what constitutes pure evil or a bad seeds, leaving Old Nick to tell us if our souls are weak.

I hope there are also ways to measure goodness too, someday only then will Mankind have both weighed equally.

Please donate what can to Poor Magazine or C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St.Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA.

For Joe only my snail mail:
PO Box 1230 #645 Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Suzanne Rostler (courtesy Homeless People's Network)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many of the programs set up to
help elderly people afford food are not reaching those in need,
results of a study suggest.

According to researchers, nearly one quarter of about 1,000
disabled women aged 65 years and older said they could not afford
food. But less than 3% received home delivered meals, less than
5% attended group meal programs and only about 19% were receiving
food stamps.

``Despite national programs targeted at reducing nutritional
deficits in the elderly, particularly the frail elderly, many
older disabled women still appear to be having difficulties
obtaining adequate food,'' Dr. Lisa M. Klesges, from the
University of Tennessee in Memphis, and colleagues report. Their
study is published in the January issue of the American Journal
of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health
Association.

Minority women were more likely to report financial barriers
to receiving food, the report indicates. Nearly 50% of non-white
women compared with just over 13% of white women reported
financial difficulty obtaining food.

The authors suggest that this
finding reflects ``the depth of
poverty in non-white women.''

In other findings, women who were depressed were more likely
to report financial difficulties, and those who reported
financial problems were more likely to be diagnosed with anemia.

``Given the high prevalence of nutritional problems reported
in older disabled women, especially urban blacks, nutritional
screening programs in health and social agencies need
consideration,'' Klesges told Reuters Health. ``Methods to increase
the availability and acceptability of nutrition programs to older
Americans should be considered to prevent potential ill-health
and early demise.''

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2001;91:68-75

**In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.**

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by Leroy Moore

The title of this essay, "Buried Alive not Dead," is a metaphor for the unspoken and unwritten connection between Black history and disability.
In this essay I will concentrate on two major historical events that shaped the future of African Americans: the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and slavery. So far my research into these two periods reveals a sharp connection that links early African American history to disability. You will see that although disability has been intertwined with African American history, it has been overlooked, put on the back burner for the sake of "bigger issues." This history has been buried alive, but the history and contribution of Black disabled people is not dead.

The Bible

In the Old Testament disability was seen as a sin, or a punishment from God. Sometimes disability was seen as being possessed by evil. In the New Testament Jesus healed the lame, sick, blind and crippled, or in today's terminology, ìpersons with disabilities.î

But also in the Old Testament we find a prophet of God who performed some amazing feats without changing his physical stand. This prophet comes up again and again throughout the history of Black Americans, from African slaves to Martin Luther King. I'm talking about Moses in Exodus.

In Exodus, Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelite slaves out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom in Israel. When God came to Moses and gave him this dangerous assignment, Moses doubted his own abilities to lead because he was slow of tongue. Another way to phrase this is to say Moses had a speech impediment.

But God didn't cure Moses' "speech disability" (as Jesus did to his followers in the New Testament). God gave Moses an accommodation, his brother Aaron, to speak for Moses. Moses and Aaron were a team together. Moses had the leadership skills and Aaron provided the voice.

The connection between Moses and African slaves was the strong hold of religion in the Black community. The Black church expressed a rich spirituality that sustained slaves and freed people through hard times. Although White masters taught their slaves to be Christians by preaching the New Testament, slaves were interested in the Old Testament because it spoke of their lives, and gave them hope of a new and better world. Moses was a hero to African American slaves, inspiring them to sing, "Go Down Moses."

Slavery & Disability

Although slaves looked to Moses as a role model, Moses' speech disability did not translate into positive attitudes toward disability at that time. We can say that Moses' disability did not affect his ability to perform physical labor, so it was placed in the background of his life. In slavery times, the main link to being a successful slave was the ability to perform physical, manual work on the plantations.

Many Africans did not survive the long boat ride to America because of the inhumane, abusive conditions of the slave ships. The slaves who were sick and physically disabled from the conditions of the boat ride and the physical torment from the White settlers were tossed overboard and left to drown. Is this where my history stops, at the bottom of the sea?

The harsh treatment of slaves produced a high rate of physical and mental disabilities. One historian linked mental illness and insanity among slaves to the separation of families. In 1863 a slave woman went insane because her sons were sold and sent to the trader's jail.

Disability had to be hidden away for a slave to stay alive. African slaves who were born physically disabled were put to death by their White masters or even their own parents because these disabilities made them useless on the plantations. When a slave woman gave birth, the first thing she was concerned about was the infant's physical condition. As time went by, the mother forced the baby to stand and walk.

I'm reminded of a short story titled 'Black Diamond' by Afi Tiomble A. Kambon. The story starts out in a small village in Africa and talks about the White invaders who brought the African villagers to the New World. The story concentrates on a slave woman who gave birth to a lovely girl who sparkled like a diamond. The only problem was the baby girl's legs were thin, and she was unable to stand and walk. At the end of 'Black Diamond,' the master dropped, kicked and stomped the baby until it was dead.

Pages 133 and 136 of American Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a
Thousand Witness describe the slaves' masters' views on disability as follows:

Old Slaves:
They're seen as a tax to the Master, it would be in the best interest to shorten their days.

The Incurably Diseased Maimed:
It would be cheaper for Masters to buy poison than medicine.

The Blind, Lunatics and Idiots:
They're seen as a tax to the Master, it would be in the best interest to shorten their days.

The Deaf, Dumb and Person Greatly Deformed:
Such might or might not be serviceable to the Master, many of them would be a burden and many men throw their burden away.

Feeble Infants:
Would require much nursing, the time, trouble and expense necessary to raise them would generally cost more than they would be worth as working animals.

This document goes on to give estimattions of 1600 slaves who were deaf and dumb, and 1300 blind slaves, in 1830. The directors of the American Asylum produced these numbers for the Deaf and Dumb of Hartford, CT.

On many plantations there were hospitals for sick slaves, but these were not healing places. Slaves in these hospitals had to work while recovering. In a personal narrative, Mr. George A. Avery describes the treatment of sick slaves as "revolting!" The same book reads, "If no cure was found for the sick slave then death was ordered with no compensation to be made, but if cured a bonus up to $300.00 was to be given" (336). Nine times out of ten, when a slave was really, really sick, he was left in an empty room alone for days or even months to die.

All disabled slaves were not killed! Many slaves lived and worked on American plantations with their physical and mental disabilities by making adaptive equipment to make them seem 'normal'. Mentally disabled slaves leaned on the slave community to hide their illnesses. These slaves were watched closely by their Masters to make sure they were not dangerous to themselves and others.

The bodies of the slaves were on display for auction, and slaves and their Masters tried to hide flaws, weaknesses and disabilities. Still, slaves' masters continued to use harsh torment and physical abuse, causing physical and mental disabilities.

Harriet Tubman, who led the famous Underground Railroad, was beaten so badly that she experienced black outs and seizures. Ms. Tubman's health made it difficult for her Master to find her a new Master. In 1857 Harriet
Tubman brought her parents to freedom. Her parents were too feeble to walk, so she hired a wagon to accommodate them. In her journey to lead slaves to freedom, Ms. Tubman would leave her company hidden in the woods while she herself went into towns in search of information. After freeing slaves, Ms. Tubman watched over their welfare, collected clothes, and organized the free slaves into societies. She also raised funds to build a house for her parents.

During her days of the Underground Railroad, one of Ms. Tubman's disguises was to look so stupid that nobody would suspect her of knowing enough to be dangerous! She, like Moses, led slaves to freedom, and her disability, like Moses', was and is played down or looked upon as a pity in the history of Black Americans.

As you can see, disability was a part of slavery. Although disability among slaves often equaled death, many disabled slaves contributed on the plantations, helped free other slaves, invented adoptive equipment and gave encouragement to the slaves' population.

After the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves went to war to fight for their freedom. What happened to the soldiers who returned home disabled? What happened to disabled slaves after slavery? Did Black disabled free people enjoy the benefits of the Black Reconstruction? What happened in the sixties to Black disabled people?

The two histories, African American history and Disability history, do mention Black disabled people and their contribution, but it is buried alive. The connection between African American history and Disability history needs more attention and research in a positive light.

by Leroy F. Moore, Jr.

In 1916 Jesse Washington, a Black , mentally disabled, young adult, was hauled out of court and dragged through the streets of Waco, Texas. He was then stabbed, mutilated and finally burned while 10,000 men, women and children cheered. What happened to Jesse Washington is not an isolated case and we can't chalk it up to history; we are still healing from the 1998 dragging and killing of a Black, disabled man, also in Texas, named James Byrd. Since the dawning of day individuals with disabilities, especially those of color who are poor, have had to and still are fighting to stay alive.

People with disabilities are not excluded from the brutal history of this country, a history that is still being played out today. Systematic discrimination and harsh brutality by individuals, institutions and the state against people with disabilities has, until very recently, been glossed over. The state has played and continues to play a big role in the physiological, mental and physical abuse of people with disabilities, especially disabled people of color. Look at the days of slavery, the Eugenics Movement, institutionalization to deinstitutionalization, and now the US Supreme Court is looking at the debate over state executions of mentally disabled prisoners. All of the above examples have one key component in common and that is they had the legal backing of the state. When the state institutions have the legal platform to end a person's life or to help create an environment that leads to brutality, it makes it harder for individuals to fight against this injustice because it is institutionalized.

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated, thirty-four mentally disabled prisoners have been executed in the United States. The website of LOST SOULS STOP KILLING MENTALLY RETARDED, www.geocities.com, reports that many of the prisoners were and are people of color. Since the state of Georgia mistakenly executed Jerome Bowden, a Black, mentally disabled prisoner, the state has issued a ban on executions of the mentally disabled. This case helped the campaign to gain momentum, especially as it won the support of the American Bar Association. Now Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington have also banned the practice.

Even Florida's own Attorney General Bob Butterworth, historically one of Gov. Jeb Bush's strongest advocates for speedier executions, supported the bill sparing persons with mental retardation from capital punishment. However, the bill did not pass and now Florida is the next state targeted by the campaign to end execution of mentally disabled prisoners.

As a researcher and writer on race and disability, I have noticed that the concepts of race, sex, disability and class have not been discussed in the executions of people who are mentally disabled. There are cases like Anthony Porter's and Earl Washington's, both Black men who are mentally disabled and poor. Both were on death row for crimes they didn't commit but confessed to because of their inability to understand what they were confessing. Both men were cleared by DNA testing and other evidence that was buried in their first hearing. Anthony Porter served seventeen years and Earl Washington had to wait until the beginning of this year to be released from custody. Many advocates are working on this issue but I don't see disabled, race and class advocates and organizations coming together with one voice on the execution of people who are of color, poor and have a mental disability.

"Crimes against people with development disabilities, i.e. mental disabilities, have reached epidemic proportions. Although it is similar to elder abuse, child abuse and domestic violence, it remains largely invisible and unaddressed." This statement comes from a report entitled "An Epidemic of Violence: A Collective Challenge", by Daniel D. Sorensen. Sorensen works at the California Victims of Crimes Committee which sponsored the federal Crime Victims With Disabilities Awareness Act. The Act requires the National Crime Survey to begin collecting data on crimes against people with disabilities. It also requires the US Attorney to issue a report on crime and violence against people with disabilities.

This committee helped convince Governor Gray Davis to establish the Crime Victims With Disabilities Initiative. This is the first permanent state government program that addresses the issue of crime against people with disabilities. Although the above accomplishments are helping to get the issue of crimes against people with disabilities out there in the public, it is a taboo subject for many in the disabled community and in the general public.

Is there justice in the US justice system for people with physical and mental disabilities? Many studies have found that individuals with disabilities, especially people with mental disabilities, who become involved in the criminal justice system, are more likely to face injustice if the system does not consider their disabilities and capabilities. According to www.geocities.com's story "Stop Killing the Mentally Retarded", most attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers and juries lack the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure that people with mental disabilities obtain equal justice. It goes on to say that appropriate investigations and expert testimonies are costly. The fact is that individuals with mental disabilities lack the resources and income to get a fair trial.
A good example of how money can shape justice in the criminal justice system is Wanda Jean Allen, a poor, disabled, Black lesbian in Oklahoma who was executed in January for the murder of her lover. Wanda's family approached Bob Carpenter to handle the case. Since Mr. Carpenter believed that the case was not a capital case he agreed to represent Wanda for $5000. Wanda's family gave an initial payment of $800. However, the state charged Wanda with third degree murder and announced it would seek the death penalty, refusing Mr. Carpenter's request to drop the case.

In the end Wanda was left with an attorney who had never tried a capital murder case before and had a lack of resources to investigate her mental disability and other key elements in the case. In fact, Mr. Carpenter was quoted in the Associated Press and in the Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty's website as saying that he had only learned about Wanda's disability after the case.

Although Allen did kill her lover, did the justice system kill Allen because her family's economic status instantly created an obstacle to her receiving equal justice? Right up until her execution, Wanda maintained she had shot her lover in self-defense, but the scar on her face from her lover's assault and the weapon that made that scar were not included as evidence of self-defense in her case.

The same is true for Michael Manning, a Black disabled young man who is fighting for his life in Pennsylvania's criminal justice system in a self-defense that is detailed on-line at http://michealmanning.homestead.com. For the past three months, I have been e-mailing Michael's parents to get his story. Their e-mail is mannfam@pnpa.net.

For almost four years the Manning family has been trying to receive media coverage and justice for their 30-year-old, physically disabled son, who is serving a 12 to 30 year prison term in Pennsylvania for what the justice system defined as first degree murder. But Michael and his lawyer, Salvatore Vito, have clearly demonstrated a case of self-defense. On September 15, 1999 a jury of nine women and three men (not his peers) of Monroe County, Pennsylvania convicted Michael Manning for the third degree murder of Harry Burley Jr. on June 16,1997.

Michael, friends, co-workers and family all took the stand and came to one conclusion—he acted in self-defense. According to Michael's lawyer and his parents, on June 16, 1997 Michael was on his way to pick up his mother from work. Noticing he needed gas, Michael pulled into a gasoline station. Michael also noticed he was being followed and subsequently endured an unexpected knife attack by two men. One was Michael's stepsister's boyfriend, Harry Burely, and the other was a drug dealer well known to the Court of Monroe County. After a few minutes of Michael struggling to defend himself, Burely fell to the ground.

The real tragedy began with the investigation and trial. The DA and Detective Thomas Lynott cleared Michael of any charges. However on November 5, 1997 Michael was arrested even though the fingerprints on the knife at the time didn't match Michael's. During Michael's case, justice was nowhere in courtroom. Firstly, there was the lack of fingerprints, and secondly, there were the instructions from the DA to the jury to bring back a verdict or he would have to sharpen his jury selection skills. Although the accomplice in the attack was proven to be a well-known drug dealer who had previously lied in another police matter and was currently on parole, he was allowed to testify.

To completely close the door on justice, Michael's parents found out that Judge Ronald E. Vican made a racial remark at another self-defense case of a Black man, stating, "I suspect this goes back to the cultural thing." He then invoked Michael's name and spoke of the case. The DA made derogatory remarks about Michael's disability after he demonstrated his walk to the jury. These remarks and the lack of awareness of Michael's physical limitations are stunning when you consider that Judge Ronald E. Vican has a noticeable disability and his wife is a physical therapist.

Now it is 2001 and the Manning family is still trying to find justice and media for their son. The latest news is that on April 5, 2001 Michael was scheduled for an evidentiary hearing with a new judge. The judge has a reputation of being a "man of justice". I pray for justice for Michael but he and his family need you, i.e. the Black community, the media, and his disabled brothers and sisters all across the country.

Through e-mail, the Manning family has reaffirmed why I do what I do. Michael's parents have contacted many disabled organizations and on-line disabled groups, but haven't gotten any support. The same goes for certain Black organizations. For example, Michael's parents contacted the NAACP, Jesse Jackson's Rainbow-PUSH organization and the Reverend Al Sharpton. The only response the Manning family has received is from Jesse Jackson, plus the Black media.

Our disabled brothers and sisters of color are fighting to stay alive but we can't do it alone! Here are some resources for more information on how you can get involved in helping rescue people with disabilities who are searching for justice and fighting to stay alive:

For family members who have a loved one on death row who is mentally disabled:
The United Nation Economic & Social Council campaign to eliminate the death penalty for persons who are mentally disabled. Information is available on-line at www.geocities.com in "Stop Killing Mentally Retarded" or go to your local Association of Retarded Citizens (ARC). The US Senate will vote on it next session.

For families with disabled youth in the juvenile justice system contact:

The National Center on Education, Disability and Juvenile Justice
University of Maryland
1224 Benjamin Building
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-6462
www.edjj.org

Protection & Advocacy
100 Howe Ave. ST 185N
Sacramento, CA. 95825
(916) 488-9955

Victims of crime contact:

International Coalition on Abuse and Disability
www.quasar.ualberta.ca/ddc/ICAD/icad.html

Office for Victims of Crime (provided funding to the National Organization for Victims Assistance (NOVA) for the project Working with Crime Victims with Disabilities, www.ojpusdoj.gov/ovc/, they offer grants and other funding)

Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative
State Department of Mental Health
1600 9th Ave., Room 100
Sacramento, CA. 95814
(910) 654-6567 - Lisa Bowman

Justice for a Few
Update on Fighting to Stay Alive

Executions of the Mentally Retarded:

Texas : Last year Gov. Bush voted against a bill banning executions of the mentally retarded. He also refused to talk about the highly visible Johnny Paul Penry case. Now Gov. Rick Perry was quoted in the Houston Chronicle of May 31, 2001 as saying, "Texas already has safeguards against putting the mentally ill to death." In the same article he is further quoted as saying during a speech that we (Texas) do not execute the mentally retarded. Has he forgotten about the six mentally retarded Texans put to death since 1982? While the new governor of Texas is hesitating about signing the bill, legislators and the House of Representatives are moving ahead to pass a ban on executions of people who are mentally retarded.

Although Bush is in Washington now, the case of Johnny Paul Penry has fueled the debate on the executions of people with mental disabilities. His lawyer argues that his mental state should bar him from execution, a key element that was overlooked in his original case. In 1979 he was found guilty of the rape and murder of Pamela Mosely Carpenter. Penry has been on death row since 1979 and is White. The June 5, 2001 issue of the LA Times reported that the US Supreme Court overturned Penry's death sentence, stating that jurors were not clearly told to consider Penry's mental retardation as a reason to spare his life. So Penry escapes death one more time, for now. This was not the first time Penry was granted a stay. Last November Penry was hours away from being executed when the court granted a stay.

The official ruling that will consider whether the execution of mentally retarded defendants is always cruel and unusual punishment, and should therefore be stopped as unconstitutional, will be voted on in the fall. More and more states are joining the campaign to ban executions of people who are mentally disabled. Florida has passed a bill, but Gov. Jeb Bush has yet to sign it.

On June 5, 2001 Connecticut became the fourteenth state in the country to exempt mentally retarded criminals from execution. The state didn't stop there. It also wants to establish a nine member commission to study the death penalty, including whether or not there are disparities in prosecutors' decisions to seek death sentences based on the defendants' or victims' race or economic status. Bingo!! These are the issues that I brought up in Fighting to Stay Alive.

I wonder if Wanda Jean Allen a Black, disabled lesbian, as well as many other defendants of color who are poor and mentally disabled have the same access and resources as Penry. Can they get top notch lawyers like his? If you remember from my article, Wanda Jean Allen's lawyer did not discover her mental disability until after the trial. Because Allen's family could not afford to pay the lawyer in full, he could not do a full investigation. Earlier this year Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma denied Allen's request for a stay of execution and a new clemency hearing. Hours later, the US Supreme Court denied her final appeal.

From my e-mails it is clear that many who are fighting to ban executions of the mental retarded haven't consider race as part of the issue. Ummmmm interesting!!!!! This is one more thing to think about my brothers and sisters in California. The LA Times reported on June 5, 2001 that California has the largest population of inmates on death row but has not adopted the ban. In California, because the capital punishment law was approved by a state vote, to ban the executions of people with mental retardation would require a statewide referendum. For more cases of race, disability, class, and the justice system look up Oliver Cruz, Kim Lim, Earl Washington, just a few of the countless cases needing further investigation.

Michael Manning, a disabled, Black man is still locked up on self-defense! In my last article, I laid out Michael's story communicated to me via e-mails with his mother. At the time the article Fighting to Stay Alive appeared, Michael was waiting for his second trial with a new judge. Days after the article, while Ms. Manning was thanking Poor Magazine and me for coverage of her son's situation, injustice was served once again in court. Michael's lawyer appealed the first decision handed down by Judge Ronald E. Vican. The Manning family and Michael's lawyer had had high hopes and had expected that this new judge would notice the blunt injustice of the case. But the outcome was not in Michael's favor and he is still in jail for 12 to 30 years for the June 16, 1997 third degree murder of Harry Burley Jr.

This was not the first appeal that was rejected. A previous appeal was rejected by the Superior Court in 1999. This time Judge Peter J. O'Brian denied Michael's post-conviction appeal in which Michael said he received faulty defense from Salvatore Vito. The appeal also asserted that the questioning of a witness during the trial by Presiding Judge Ronald E. Vican prejudiced the jury against Michael. O'Brien found Vican's questioning "clearly unbiased". Michael's lawyer, Jeffery Velander, said that the way the judge wrote the opinion gives Michael much more latitude in Superior Court. The Mannings are planning to appeal the decision. Michael's new lawyer feels Michael has a very good chance of reprieve when his case is heard in Superior Court. His lawyer goes on to say that it is rare that convictions are overturned in the lower courts.

Media be on the lookout. The Manning family has put together a campaign to inform the media and the public at large of the travesty of justice that their son is enduring. They have contacted Geraldo Rivera at MSN Investigates, Oprah, and various newspapers. While some Americans stand by and watch this injustice unfold, many are closely following Michael's case and helping out in many ways.

Thanks to Michael's family's campaign, a Danish man found out about Michael's case and translated the case into danish and sent it to newspapers and radio and TV stations in Denmark. He also appeared on a Danish TV talk show with the US Ambassador to Denmark and spoke about Michael's case. In addition, Rubin Hurricane Carter's organization took an interest in Michael's case and is looking into the case. Mr. Carter has contacted Michael's attorneys. For more updates on Michael Manning's case visit www.michaelmanning.homestead.com and sign the petition!!!!!

WAKE UP! OUR DISABLED BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE SCREAMING AND CRYING FOR JUSTICE!