2004

by Leroy Moore/Illin &Chillin

From Hip-Hop to Gospel to Rock to Soul to World
Jazz to Spoken Word, local artists, musicians, and
poets of color with disabilities are holding the mic
captive while shocking the local artistic arena.

From Lotus, a Philadelphia Rock\Funk band whose led singer,
Bird Williams, is a short person to the up
in coming Chicago's Paraplegic MC with his new CD
single Pieces of Dreams are blowing up the stage. We
can't forget the first ever spoken word CD, Until, by
a deaf poet from Boston, Ayisha Knight. The list is
endless but nine times out of ten I can't find the
above artists CDs at record stores! Why is that? Is
the music industry not willing to take on disabled
artists especially disabled artists of color? It is
striking how the music industry has the same practice
as the publishing arena when it comes to authors with
disabilities especially us of color, invisible.

The music industry has its door crack open for
certain artists with disabilities i.e. blind artists
like in blues, jazz, soul, country and now Hip Hop
with Tony Touch but artists with other disabilities
especially physical disabilities can't fit through the
little crack. The music industry is a carbon copy of
the publishing world! In the publishing world the
door is slightly cracked more but mostly only to the
medical system, universities and stars like
Christopher Reeves. However with every industry there
is an underground, independent labels, small presses or
do-it-yourself productions which most of the disabled
artists I mentioned and will talk about have gone this
rout. This is a mixed bag! Although I'm excited that
I found out about people like Rob DA Noize Temple,
the first disabled song writer\producer on Jive
records, I still have to special order his music.
He is the longest standing, well known disabled
producer in the music industry today. It is awful
that I had to search the internet to find his work and
like I mentioned above, most of the times I can't find
their work including his in local music stores!
Please don't bring up spoken word to your local
record store! Many times they don't have a spoken
word section but if they do it is very small.

In2003, Ayisha Knight made history by being the first
deaf poet to put her poetry to music on a CD entitled,
Until, performed by her friends. How did I know about
her? I was very lucky to have a mutual friend that
knew Knight and also doing research on the internet
about her work. How did I get her CD? I got her CD
by emailing her. Knight's CD is a spoken word CD with
hip-hop and soul music in the background. Knight used
to live in Berkeley, CA. Now she resides in Boston,
Mass. Her CD, Until, speaks about being Jewish,
Black, Deaf, and a lesbian and other issues young
women face in our society i.e. rape, body image and
becoming an independent woman who shares her love,
strengths and flaws with a commune of women, men,
youth, gays and lesbians. I checked in all record
stores and they didn't even have her in the computer.
Get this hot, groovy, finger popping CD by checking
out her website www.ayishaknight.com.

The same story is repeated from many upcoming
disabled artists in the local music arena from the
East to West Coast and in other places in the US. So
come on and feel our rhythm as I describe some
incredible CDs by the hottest local disabled
musicians, singers, rappers and poets of color today!
If you want the real deal, go to your local record
store and tell them to order these artists CDs or surf
the artists website or call them directly.

I'm so proud that Avotcja, music junkie, DJ on
KPFA & KPOO radio stations in the San Francisco Bay
Area, has accomplished what her fans and I have been
asking for and that is a CD of her poetry with the
international flavor of her band, Modupue. If you
haven't seen Avotcja & Modupue, well you haven't
lived. It's like being on a jazz cruise around the
world; you 'll hear music from all parts of the world
in one place. To help her band make more CDs go to
their performances. You can get in touch with her by
calling KPFA 94.1 FM radio station in Berkeley at
(510) 848-6767or KPOO radio station in San Francisco
at (415) 346-5373.

During Christmas holiday of 2003, I had the
opportunity to meet Bird Williams AKA Bird in New
Jersey. After talking about my poetry, Bird gave me
his CD entitled Knock A Wall Out. Bird is the lead
singer of a band called Lotus. Bird has a voice like
a humming bird on a Spring day. He gave me a little
piece on what he can do and I was blown away. This
strong and instrument like rhythm flew out of his
mouth and wrapped around my ears. Lotus mixes it up
with everything soul, hard rock jazz-fusion and
hip-hop. You name it Lotus can do it! Go to their
website at www.lotusband.net and if you're in Philly
catch them live.

They say Gospel is the music that keeps you
grounded and can put you on a higher plane all at the
same time. Well Michael Manning, a brother with a
disability that have been release from jail on bogus
charges after four years teamed up with Tanaj Perry to
return to his passion, music. Michael wrote in one
letter to me that, he wants to educate his people
through the music he writes and produced. With the
gorgeous soulful voice of Tanaj Perry, Michael returns
to the studio to assist on their debut album, The
Calling. Come fly with the hip-hop soulful holygost
on their album, The Calling. Michael Manning is from
Pennsylvania. Email Michael Manning at
www.justice4mike@pnpa.net and help them with
distribution and promotion of their CD. What a bag of
treats, The Calling, that is. This CD's hip-hop &
soulful gospel made my spirit dance beside me. This
album will be out later this year.

The whistling in the Chicago air is not the wind,
it is the tornado that Tony Green aka The Paraplegic
MC has been whipping up with his single, Pieces of
Dreams. I had the chance to speak to Paraplegic MC
and he told me he has been writing and rapping for
more than 15 years and his father said that, he is
really good! I'm waiting for his CD. In August last
year Paraplegic MC was interviewed by abc7chicago.com.
By bumping into this article online I had a chance to
talk to Tony and will receive his CD. Thank god for
the internet! Drop him a line at
medoxx@ameritech.net. He is looking for distributor
and agent.

Lets stay on this Hip-Hop thang! Hip-hop has
been blowing up everywhere in urban areas, the
suburbs, in the political arena, in the publishing
arena and in the media. Hip Hp has become more
diverse with women MCs, White, Latino and yes, Chinese
rappers but once again disabled MCs, rappers and DJs
are missing from this diversity. Like Blues, gospel
and jazz blind musicians are the first ones to enjoy
recognition and Hip Hop is no difference! The success
of Tony Touch and KRS One DJ is another example how
the door of hip-hop is only slightly open to blind
artists. Leave it to the underground to blow the
doors off its hinges! I would like to see the
Paraplegic MC in Chicago connect with the thumbin
sounds and lyrics of Fezo da Madone aka Keith Jones, a
one man rapper, producer and DJ of Boston, Mass.
Fezo has been making music and rapping for years.
Although he has Cerebral Palsy, Fezo is truly a
hip-hop head and dope producer. He writes all of his
rhythms and mixes his beats and sounds with his feet.
Yes with his feet!! His first album, Who is Leon
Soze? dropped on his own label, SeoulSpitahz
Entertainment. I'll be receiving this album soon but
from his website, www.dasoultoucha.com it says that
Who is Leon Soze? speaks on Fezo's life experiences
of being a Black disabled man. He is working on his
second album, Here I AM expected out on July 12th
2004. Fezo also talked about how hard it is to break
into hip-hop and also said that many have told him
that hip-hop is not ready for a hip-hop artists in a
wheelchair. He told me over the phone. Fezo and I
talked about our goals for our artistic talents and
the future of other disabled musicians. Something is
cooking in our rhythmic kitchen! Watch out because we
are cooking up something for all of us.
As I'm a researcher, I can't let a good topic
just slip between my fingers, so once again I turned
to google to find a long time producer, songwriter and
keyboard musician of Noizemozis, Rob Da Noize
Temple. The title of his article was the medicine to
my invisibility in the artist arena. The title of
this article says it like it is, Where are the
Disabled Musicians in the Music Industry?You see,
Rob Da Noize Temple, has only one arm. He has
played keyboards for more than thirty years. This man
has been around and he had a number one international
hit, Free, However in this article Rob Da Noize
Temple makes it clear the discrimination he faced in
the musical industry because of his physical
disability being called names to negativity of well
known artists toward him. He sends out a call for
disabled musicians to contact him so he and others can
work together to do a CD featuring disabled musicians
and to support each other. His email address is
Noize53@aol.com Listen to his music at:

http://www.ofmbsite.com/ofmbsite/noismos.

Once again I took the name of his band,
Noizemozis, his hit song, Free, to four different
record stores and nobody had this record or his recent
CD, Peace Thang. The only thing left for me to do was
to contact Rob Da Noize Temple. Hopefully soon I'll
receive his CDs in the mail. Thank god I'm a
researcher and resourceful if I wasn't I wouldn't have
known of these talented people I mentioned and would
never hear and feel their incredible music and
rhythm!! What can you do? Go to your local record
stores and demand that they carry these artists and if
you are in their area, go to their concerts. It is
called SUPPORT! Music industry, watch out, we're
coming kicking in your doors!!!!!!!!!!

by Joe B.

Longevity Race

While contemplating my first fifty years on earth I also wondered will my delayed youth,learning to slow,reverse,and otherwise intervene in my personal life span what will happen in the next 10 to 20 years hence?

Between the temporary stoppage of Gay Marriage, Meteors floating about ready to deep impact earth,the flooding of the eastern and western seaboard,and future impact of therapeutic and recent process of cloned embryo’s and nanotechnology science,plus a few so called leaders in the white house what do you folks think upper most on my mind?

The ground hasn’t opened up to swallow so called sinners of same sex marriage.

Fire has not consumed anyone and even the HIV/AIDS virus though still alive and killing is being slowly beaten back by people acting more responsible and protective of themselves and their partners.

White House is the most worrying because if our leaders are riding on horseback going back to fossil and coal fuel instead taming nuclear and alternative energies.

The last thing worrying me is same sex marriages.

It may cause ideological,moral,and ethical considerations but its coming and it won’t be stopped by scared homophobic senators,an un-elected though selected president so freaked he’s willing to amend the constitution to make outlaw same sex unions.

The church,well institutions as these are here to keep order and stabilize society which is good except they become impediments to necessary change then they become problems to a society outgrowing dogmatic or outmoded concepts.

Being of roman catholic faith myself with nuns in their bat like outfits which I thought they turned into bats and sucked blood from bad little boys and girls.

Priests seem to be there with the sign of the cross telling you avoid girls while the nuns told girls avoid boys no wonder catholic girls were both angry and horny when they found they were set up by both parent and catholic church.

Getting back to Therapeutic and cloning Embryos make it possible not only to clone a human but also to avoid ethical concerns by bypassing creation a human for spare parts as in an old science fiction flick.
"The Clonus Horror where clones are created spare parts for their human hosts.

"The Clones" two films showing the mostly dark mechanisms of cloning in individual and or a government’s hands.

"Clone Master,a 1978 film is a bio chemist (Pat Hindle using replica’s (clones) of himself to thwart the planned destruction of a top- secret cloning project.

In creating clones of himself they quickly are human to him as they from the moment of full grown birth show they are exactly alike but different in personality.

Ms. Robyn Douglass plays love interest of the bio chemist helping her natural nurturing instincts turned on as she and boyfriend assist the clones in their birthing process.

Venerable Ralph Bellamy plays a wise scientist who at first doubts former students success until he’s breaking the law helping clones to survive government shut down of the project.

The clones are scatters using telepathy to contact their creator/father/ brother telling them of success and failure.

One is caught by police "Father they have my prints they think I’m you."

"Father my eyes,my vision is going

Father,I met a girl I think I’m in love, she wants to marry me."

The films ends with their creator and girlfriend going looking after them.

I think is was suppose to be a pilot where in every episode a clone dies.

I think the original move can be shown on the SCI Fi Channel and a new updated series can be based on it with surviving clones with families and even one or two clones creating younger versions of themselves.

Thanks to E!Online Movie Facts for information freely given.

I mention the three films just to say we’ve come a long way from science fiction to science fact.

I for one want to have cloning in my life so I can have a longer life but that doesn’t mean I’ll make a human then take his parts for me NO!

I want to separate parts grown for me from brain stem,veins,nerves, blood vessels,to other parts separated from each so as not to be human and cause him/her pain as they die just give me the parts un-whole and when that technology is perfected cloned parts minus human clone will make the "Do clones have souls?" mute.

Eggs that become embryos then grow into humans have souls are unique in themselves and are every bit as human no matter how they were created.

Reader’s you may have problems with cloning and other life saving,death, delaying sciences.

But if your child, mother,father,sister, brother,wife,has a chance to be safe, the lives made healthier,longer our you yourself would you deny them the chance?

That’s my question to all my readers out there, give the choice it the science was out here,how would you use it?


Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco,CA 94103

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Joe B.

Pre 5–0 And Counting

Ok,maybe calling readers chicken went a bit far but what do you expect from a columnist after near non stop writing for six years?

As for on liner’s guessing who I am,seeing my photo if included it as part of my profile; well you know what my problems was bad image,mouth slightly covered with gapped teeth.

Its been rocky a PM mainly because I’ve a lousy office manager with bad manners toward PC’s, phones,combo copy/fax machines,and CD players.

It seems the mostly female interns see through my rough exterior black- gray sparse middle of my bald spot head psychically know they are not objects for ogling because when they or anyone be they young or mature boys,men or girls,young women or mature ones they are serious about being here and always had my deep respect for going Poor Magazine’s rigorous programs.

Most of the boys and young men for some reason drifted away whether it was family,personal,jobs or finding a new job maybe some other crisis suddenly arose guys seemed to leave quicker than women.

Women on the other hand (I hate to say it guys) were more determined to get through the programs, study,sacrifice,and drink in all the knowledge that equal Co creators of POOR Magazine Inc. has to impart.

After a few months being surrounded by more estrogen than testosterone it became natural to listen a little more than be my regular problem solving,solution orientated self.

Women confide,ask questions,not really wanting answers but exploring options and somewhere in their way answers are found.

One such woman said "Joseph has a big ass."

I didn’t know my real was so obvious however looking back in past photo’s I see my wide can I guess those are genes from my mother’s side now I’m wondering how many women saw my backside and like wide distribution of my fleshy ass?

Being to lazy as a youngster to get into drugs,drinking,pills, glue, rock concerts or even sex until my late teens I missed the sped up aging process many of my contemporaries now show signs of.

Did go relearn dance, go to dance club/bars and begin drinking because one of the busy interns loved to dance but didn’t want to be alone doing it so she drags me along its almost as if she corrupted me when I began to drink beer so as to fit in it’s a two glass or bottle limit so I’m a light social drinker.

I’ve always been disconnected with the in group from way back in grade school on through high school and some Jr. College.

Now that I am entering decade 5 more and more I must follow my own path which includes life extension,cryonics,and eventual immortality.

Death is a given but a longer fuller life that’s what I want experience and I’ve always felt live as open ended though certain rules must be followed as in make few enemies,keep learning,if love and marriage is not in my near future then live a long, slow,intelligent, sensuous,soulful life as long as one possibly can.

Feeling,acting younger than middle ages of the past is a difficult thing because it use to be those few freaks whom aging somehow slowed now there are others older, healthier,adults,a few of them act their age,stay home,take their medicines, slowly vegetate into death,others like myself cannot keep still,take classes,are bio-logically young yet chronologically doesn’t follow a straight line to the grave guess I’ll re read those Age Wave Books over again.

Between Korea’s embryo cloning,life extended knowledge exploding all the old then death as normal rules do you think I feeling younger than I’m suppose to will just let nature and time have their way?

They’ve already had their way chronologically it just biologically I’m better off.

If one can be chronologically 70 yet look and feel biologically 45 or 30 guess what? Chronological time is wiped out,it’s biological that’s important.

If we can delay,slow, retard,stop,or reverse biological time itself then no matter what anyone’s chronological clock say is moot.

A hypothetical example: A woman,man,girl,or boy has genes,blood, chemistry,that slows their aging so that each decade they only age four months it means it takes 30 years for this individual to age one whole year.

Its not immortality only an extended life span.

That’s hypothetical now but we’re learning enough to begin influencing gene expression to turn on and off may be inserting or replacing good genes for bad or even having longer lasting artificial genes.

Does this mean people born with artificially created genes are still human?

Lots of questions like the above will be asked and not all of them or their answers will come from youthful college, university,or undergraduate students but many youthful minded elders and though traditionally youth does replace age we’re entering a twilight area where youth and age converge, and being elderly isn’t automatically mean old and slow and youth isn’t automatically quick and nimble.

Politics will be shaken up by age quakes as age and youth blend who knows instead of dance clubs separated by age they might combine creating the ultimate breakdown of youthful aged,with first youth where many May December might not end as is usually thought as elders out think,out live, out love,showing outsized capacities that experience and time can only know.

Snail or email me. What’s your views,inform me.


Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

Market St.

San Francisco, CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Dee Gray/COURTWATCH

PNN first interviewed Rebecca Armistad in 2002 when she had taught herself to be a paralegal so she and her son could launch a lawsuit against Child Protective Services for taking her three children out of her home and into foster care custody 14 years ago. Parents and children who have dealt personally with CPS, The foster Care system, and the welfare department understand that these systems feed off low and no-income youth and families, as there is a monetary incentive for CPS for taking children away from families and therefore these are "Closed" systems, i.e., almost impossible to fight, that is why we believe Rebecca is a poverty hero and should be a model to all parents who feel overwhelmed by these systems. Dee and Tiny interviewed Rebecca in May of 2004 (A. stands for Armistad, T for Tiny, D for Dee)

PNN; Rebecca can you give our readers a brief summary about what the lawsuit is about;

A: "The lawsuit is about Paul suing the C. P. S. [Child Protective Services] social workers in San Francisco County and Santa Clara County for having them taking him away from me illegally. That's the first legal issue in our lawsuit, the second legal lawsuit issue has to do with the illegal raid at Juan's house in East San Jose where we lived and where I got custody of Paul at."

T: "Right, I got that, and then lastly the defendants that you keep referring to are in fact Child Protective Services Workers?"

A: "Right, and we've got over twelve defendants."

T: "And are they named Child Protective Services Worker's?"

A: "Oh, yeah like Richard Wong, CPS Social Worker from Santa Clara County, who works for the Department of Social Services-Oh yeah."

T: "Ok great, These people, are they still in the department after all these years?"

A: "Yeah, they are still Social Workers."

D: "I was wondering, you went to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals…"

A: "Well let me finish the story." After we filed the summons and complaint and the defendants were served the defendants tried telling us no they were not served properly - Which is Bullshit! It was a outright lie, they were just trying to get out of a lawsuit. So what I did was I got really upset with the Feds … Federal Judge, Jeremy Fogul? took over the case from James Ware. They reassigned the case from James Ware to Jeremy Fogul. Now Jeremy Fogul is the presiding judge over our case.
Well, that's… the first thing I didn't like, the second thing I didn't like was that our defendants claimed that they were not properly served and they only answered the summons and complaint after the fact after I filed the default judgement."

D: "Ok."

A: "So I filed the default judgement… like I don't know remember which month it was let's see, we're going back over two years - man; so let's say September."

D: "Ok."

A: "So we we're suppose to back in court with our defendants like September and October of 2000 and I didn't show up in court because I got fed up with them."
So the Judge made his ruling based on the fact that Paul and I didn't show up in court."
So we filed the default judgement it was denied by the United States District Court Clerk and then he went and asked Judge Jeremy Fogul, they showed the default judgement they must of went up in arms - you know what that means…? I we were granted the default judgement they would owe us $25 million dollars!

T: "Right."

D: "A-huh."

A: And we would win the lawsuit, well Judge Jeremy Fogul didn't want that to happen because he's on their side. You have to look at the Judge as being for the state, being for the federal government."

T: "You have any history on this Fogul dude."

A: "Yeah, he's suppose to be one of the most liberal judges on the Federal Bench here in San Jose California."

T: "Oh."

A: "We're not talking about the Federal bench in San Francisco, we're talking about the federal bench in San Francisco."

T: "Gotcha'."

A: "We're talking about the federal… who sits on the federal bench in the San Jose
District, United States District Court. These are the men, some of them, and one of them is United States District Judge, Jeremy, Folgul."

D: "Yeah, but didn't you actually go to the San Francisco's Ninth District Court of Appeals?"

T: "Wait a minute on that, hold on, the defendant responded to the lawsuit after the fact after the fact that we filed the default judgement. Check this out. I did not like the judge's decision we were suppose to court, we didn't show up, the defendant showed up, the lawyer for the defendant showed up, and Judge Jeremy Fogul out right, just out right denied Paul's lawsuit on both legal issues." When we already had informal propos standing to sue on the second legal issue they gave us that right to sue on the second legal issue. Then he (Judge) turns around and denies the whole lawsuit.
I got pissed off and I filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal telling the Ninth Circuit Court that what this judge had done was illegal and does he have a right to deny a default judgement when it was filed in a timely manner.

So what happened was the Ninth Circuit Court in December/January of 2003 or somewhere in there they made a ruling on Judge Fogul's behalf and they threw out and just-just totally disregarded the lawsuit altogether and they made a ruling on Judge Fogul's behalf and they favored his decision." So Boy, I got even more pissed and I filed and appeal the United States Supreme Court." And that's where the case is right now."

D: "Ok, but you know what, when you called us, when you called us you said were very unsure and your friends and your family encouraged you to file with the United Supreme Court because, apparently you said it was very hard, very laborious, and very detailed a thing to you have to do…"

A: "Yes."

D: " I was very distraught and depressed and I didn't think I could do it but I got so much encouragement that I ended up doing it."

D: " And you have no representation, your just doing on your own?"

T: "How did you teach yourself to do that Rebecca?"

A: "Once you’re a Paralegal and you know how to work on cases it just Federal Law is not that much more difficult that State Law as a matter of fact I think federal law is easier."

D: "Why have you not been able to get any representation?"

A: "Everybody wants $25,000 - $50,000 to take the case, come one I don't have that kind of money."

D: " Right."

A: "That's why we can't find a lawyer they all want $25,000 to $50,000 dollars down."

D: "Have you talked to any civil rights attorneys about this?"

A: "Oh yeah, Anthony Boscovitch is civil right attorney in San Jose - he called us. He said please bring down the copies of all the work that you filed so far I want to look at your lawsuit. "That Son Of A Bitch" He asked to see the case almost six months ago and he never, he still hasn't called us to talk about the case, to have Paul and I to come into his office to discuss what going to happen; he just wants to find out what the United States Supreme Court is gonna do."
Well, let me you what's gonna happen - if there's a God in heaven and I've been a Christian all my life, if there truly is a God we will get a favorable decision. But if there isn't a real truly a true God in the heaven's then this whole thing's gonna go away that's my feeling on it because I'm very spiritual and I just stand on the ground that if there is a God the United States Supreme Court - they will make a favorable ruling for us.

In other words what they' re gonna rule is they'll either going to remand the case back time to the trial level and tell Judge Fogul that he has to hear our case because we have merit to the case. The defendants are saying Bullshit, Paul doesn't have a merit case to the lawsuit - throw it out, throw it out, that's what their saying that my son has no merit to the lawsuit."

D: "This is the lawsuit in his behalf?"

A: "Right, my name is nowhere on the lawsuit-and I'm not even a plaintive, this is my son's lawsuit for him and is brother's and sister's and sister Christina and Robert."

D: "Right, Can you just quickly describe what that lawsuit is that your trying to get heard."

A: "This is the lawsuit where Paul is suing the C. P. S. Social Workers for taking him away from me when he was four years old. That's the first legal issue. Now they went and raided my house before I we could file the lawsuit - you know what that did that opened up the doors for a second cause of action to be put in our main lawsuit. You think we're gonna let these people get away with raiding our house illegally without a search warrant? Come on we're not gonna let them get away with that.
What happened to us at Juan's house in 2001 we added that to Paul's lawsuit, and it was never suppose to be this way. We're not suppose to have two legal issues to our lawsuit its only suppose to be Paul suing the C. P. S. workers but look what they went and did.

They went and Fucked with us, they went and Fucked with me after I got all my kids out of the child welfare system, So because they went and Fucked with me, I threw in the other legal issue. That they raided our house illegally, they did not have a search warrant to come in, and we're suing in federal court, we're suing the office of the public. Now this the second state run agency that we are suing is called The Office of the Public Guardian And Conservator's. That's the proper name and they are another bunch of filthy bums. The umbrella of that agency is The Department of Social Services. There's two agencies' that work under the guise of The Department of Social Services. It’s the C. P. S. Child Protective Services Social Workers and the second state run agency is called The Office of The Public Guardian And Conservator's.
And that's what the public doesn't realize. The American people out here don't know that those two agencies are run by and through under the guise of The Department of Social Services."

D: "So you're hoping that will end up back in …"

D: "Now who will handle the trial?"

A: "If the United States Supreme Court Justices make a favorable ruling in Paul's Case and they remand the case back down to the federal courts that's where we have to go back into court to prove our merit, to prove that they damaged my children, and they did what they did illegally then we can have a trial on the merits of the case - are you understanding me now?"

D: "Yeah."

A: "Ok, so that's how this is going and its already being PU'd and we're not even at a trial level you see what bullshit you have to go through you see how long this shit takes."

D: "Yeah, I do and I'm so impressed with your perseverance that's the most interesting thing when you aren’t even a lawyer." You haven't had that kind of training, You taught yourself all of this?"

A: "Oh, I know."

D: "Taught yourself all of this."

A: "I know."

T: "You know what I did Monday, April the 5th we had to mail all the… The United Supreme Court wrote Paul a letter and said you made one error you have to correct it by April the 18th . So we corrected the error that we made and we sent everything back over to United States Supreme Court on Monday, April the 5th . My cousin, was with me, my cousin Benny Berraza? He served our defendants, I was able to get this paperwork back in the mail back over to Washington D. C., The United States Supreme Court. I anointed… because I'm a lay Chaplain with my church, I have the power to use anointing oil-and to lay hands.

D: "A-huh."
So I laid hands on the documents, on all the documents before we mailed them out."
And I sprinkled anointing oil over my documents!"

T: "Right On, Whatever it takes."

A: "So God's hands upon this case, if there really is a God, we're gonna get a favorable decision.

T: "Alright."

A: "That's what I mean, because I'm really losing ground in my Christianity, I don't go to church anymore, I'm very unhappy with the Catholic Church and what's been going on in the news about the molestation with the children, and I'm losing ground in the area of my spirituality. I'm being drained-pray for me, So I really need people to pray for me-please keep me in prayer."

D: "What exactly is your legal training?"

A: "I'm a Paralegal, but if you understand the court system, the court system is a process, and it’s a process of basically a lot of paperwork.

T: "Right."

A: "That's what it is, that's why the judges and everybody is screaming about all these case coming into the court house and now they don't have enough judges to hear all the cases and that's why they ended up in federal court, they ended up with a Federal Case Management Conference - Settlement Conference that you can go to. They initiated that about ten years or fifteen years ago because the court were just being overwhelmed with all these lawsuits. So now you have case management settlement conference, that you go to before you actually start your trial level and most people settle out of court and they never even see the courtroom in a trial level."

T: "Right, and I just want to say Rebecca that we gotta stop pretty quick - cause we got to get off the phone but the one thing is and let you got back to sleep but the one thing is-you’re an inspiration to hundreds and hundreds of mothers and fathers. I think you know that, everytime we put your story out on P N N we get like so many responses-so really…"

D: "Well anyway the main thing is when will you'll know… you don't when the Supreme Court…"

A: "The Supreme Court takes anywhere from 30 to 90 days to make a decision, so we just mailed everything back April the 5th so we're looking at May, June, July the 5th . "

D: "We'll do a continuation follow up after we find out what happens with that.
But its just really impressive that you've done and stuck with this and gone all the way through with it."

A: "I know its really a miracle."

D: "I can hardly believe it, its so proactive, Its really wonderful - Ok, Rebecca."

T: "Ok, bye."

A: "Ok, God bless you all.

To read Rebecca's first interview paste the following link into your web browser
http://www.poormagazine.org/index.cfm?L1=news&category=5&story=780

by tiny and Dee/PoorNewsNetwork

Light red acryllic carpet fibers rose like steam in the sun strokes that filled the empty lobby of the Trinity Plaza Apartments

It was the summer of 1989, the week after the Bay Area rose up and broke itself in half. My mother and I were barely surviving in Oakland at the time. I had just turned 18 and we were selling art on the street to eat, smarting from a recent eviction and living in a cheap motel at 32.00 a day trying desperately to save money for an apartment. The earthquake took away what little "market" there was in Berkeley for our goofy sold out-no longer art-product and the only way we had a chance to survive at all was if we were able to "set-up" an unlicensed vending booth in the City. So every day delicately wedged between the shattered ruins of consumerism dee and tiny stood forelornly, like charlie brown in the rain, hoping someone would buy even one of our silly t-shirts, so we could eat lunch and put away a couple of bucks toward our homefulness .

One day as I emerged from the civic center bart station i needed to use a bathroom so i snuck into the vast red carpeted lobby of Trinity plaza apartments, with its huge plate glass windows untouched by any earthquake damage - as i did i noticed the sign - Apartments - fully furnished - reasonable prices - available daily, weekly, monthly. I ran back to my mom to tell her the good news, we would move in - this would be cheaper cause we could avoid bart and then we could even work on the union square streets more.

"this place wasn't even damaged by the earthquake", Elizabeth Glover, retired schoolteacher and 15 year resident of the Trinity Plaza Apartments told us in her beautiful teacherly diction. It was almost fifteen years later, and as PoorNewsNEtwork reporters and activist "sup-porters" my mother and I were sitting with the tenants of the Trinity in a tenants meeting discussing the terms of an offer they had just recived from their landlord Angelo SanGiancomo.

On April 7th of 2003 400 residents of the Trinity Plaza Apartments received a letter from Sangiacomo stating that he was seeking a demolition permit and would be evicting all of the tenants so he could demolish their units and build five new condo towers at that site.

From that point on the tenants who were primarily working class elders, youth, immigrants, families and disabled folks began to organize to fight this landlord who was notorious for his horrendous treatment of tenants in other buildings . As well, because there are several trinity plaza tenants who are elders of color –this eviction effort is reminiscent of the I-hotel demolitions that displaced over 5000 asian/pacific islanders from their homes in the 70's

"Once they tell you to leave it puts you under an enormous amount of stress", Ms Glover, a very dignified African-American elder was relating the situation that the tenants have been facing since last year.
The Trinity is very convenient for disabled people like myself, there is a store downstairs, a restaurant and elevators that work"

Dee asked Ms Glover what the community at the Trinity was like. "it is a wonderful community of folks ranging in age from babies to seniors with disabilities and a truly multi-cultural group of people" Her statements were proven even in the little meeting - which quickly filled up with African-AMericans, asian and filipinos, latino, white and Native Americans.

"I don't want to move, this is my home", Sally Ramone, 11 year trinity resident, Native American elder, war veteran and San Francisco City employee spoke to us about the difficulty of living in a buidling that would be undergoing massive construction. As of this meeting the landlord had made an offer to the tenants which the tenant advocates who were present at the meeting characterized as "somewhat of a victory" against this very powerful well-connected landlord. Sangiancomo had offered to only let the tenants live in the building while the construction was in progress and then give them apartments in the new building. Although this sounded good on paper there was no clear discussion of comparability -ie the specifics about what kind of units the tenants would be getting in the new building, as well, the new units would not be subject to rent control because they would be so new. They recieved this offer, the advocates said, because of their effective resistance

Throughout the struggle of the last year, the tenants and their advocates lobbyied the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to change the loophole in the law that allow landlords like San Giancomo permits to demolish. From that effort an anti-demolition ordinance was born. This legislation would protect sound housing in buildings with 20 or more units from demolition and preserve existing rent controlled housing for all San Franciscans, including those at the Trinity Plaza. This legislation would have passed except that our new landlord-friendly mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed it, perhaps because Newsom recieved over 15,000 in campaign contributions from Sangiancomo's family. District 8 supervisor Bevan Dufty has waffled on the issue and is now the deciding vote needed to override the veto.

"San Giancomo attempted the same eviction in the 80's and only because of the strong organizing by tenants it was halted, In a follow-up call to Sam Dodge, from the SRO Collaborative, one of many tenant advocacy groups involved in this effort , including SF tenants union, Housing Rights Committee and many more. He continued, "That's why we need to get this legislation on the books" If people want to help, they should contact Bevan Dufty's office and ask him to support the Anti-Demolition ordinance"

One month after the earthquake, my mother and I moved in to apartment 215 at the Trinity Plaza Apartments- replete with a faded gold couch, chipping end tables, a few pieces of silverware, dishes, linens and the lobby with its glitterring Las vegas chandliers, big plate glass windows and
bright red carpets perpetually floating in the morning sun

Contact Bevan Dufty to urge him to support the anti-demolition ordinance at 415 554-6968. For more journalism on issues of poverty and racism by people who experience it first-hand go on-line to www.poormagazine.org

by Joe B.

The Near 50 Guy Again

Yes,it’s a few months away and I should shut my hole about it right?

That makes sense in a perfect world but we ain’t ‘livin in a poifect world folks.

Women had the 27-30 or more years old-unmarried= old maid without marriage or having male friends at all was between slim and none although there were exceptions its also few and in-between in the mid ¡6th to early 20th centuries.

(its conjecture on my part but I’m sure there are statistics for those wishing to know more about single women,men, marriage,divorce,widow and widower’s.

While men didn’t have that particular problem but still as now died earlier but our compensation was the control of young girls and women’s lives I most aspects of their lives either as fathers,boy friends,husbands,even as son’s treating women as the dim,weaker sex roles foisted upon them.

For many it was "the good old days" when men held dominion most males used that power meanly, often to women’s detriment.

We treated emotion, physical pain as intangibles to conquer.

Many a strong man died from hidden medical ills, dangerous working conditions,or in conflicts with other men and war thrives on the blood of youth then mostly young and male.

Gone and good riddance to those supposed good days.

Recently we men have gone through our own numbers of dread.

From 30’s to our own dreaded 40 marks and fitful to fabulous 50’s which I may have confused with the "Fabulous 1950’s decade.

One way young men may have bypassed these thresh hole passages is to have an even more traumatic experience at younger ages.
My belief is youthful men and women of world War-2, Korea, Desert Storm, Shield, or the current supposedly ended IRAQ middle eastern battle. (historically call a police action and not a war though American’s and Koreans died in war like clashes.)

In these conflicts youth comes age under fire, death-from-above,
strafed by bullets,sniped at,and hand to hand combat.

All of this makes impressions on young minds of how short, bloody, fleeting,life really is and how some survive,many die that afterwards most of the young seasoned warriors – those mustered out never wanting to see war again but need to lead complete anonymous lives, or seeks out a more adventurous life.

When young men,women go through their baptism of fire they are changed in ways friends,loved ones, family,and lovers can never,dimly understand.

Only those who’ve shared with them or others from past conflicts know what inner turmoil,fear, exhilaration,horror,or sadness of lost friends and the cost of taking orders,honoring the fallen,and wounded in body,mind or both means.

After that everyday is a blessing or living on borrowed time.

Numbers of age mean little for surviving war, cruise ship,train, airplane,car crashes, kidnapping,car-jacking, drive by shootings,armed robbery on the streets,or serious life threatening illnesses.

Women and men are now living a little longer, age is a number that can impede or be a freeing sensation.

A women’s greatest empowerment seems to be when reaching their early ‘30’s and ‘40’s especially in the 40’s past child bearing,years and though hot flashes,bloating, (water retention) and knowing their cycles of months,days,of moons.

They know their strengths,weaknesses and have experience with men and need not worry about pregnancy and can purely enjoy sex without second guessing themselves knowing their own power.

Women don’t need wars, conflict,their own bodies are battle fields,their complex biological functioning more than anything are micro wars in miniature they must constantly battle with is it no wonder that men seem like children in their petty daily lives.

As a black male entering young middle age I wish to travel,learn, and mostly have lots of safe sex if marriage is in not in my future being a single long lived, experienced male may one day have the equivalent of cool as we live longer to find youth as an extension of healthy living maybe regain youthful vigor.

Our perceptions of youth,old age,are changing rapidly and I would like to have friends of all ages,backgrounds,feel comfortable in anyplace they and not feeling out of place because age or lack of years who know I might have to create Club Age Neutral from 18 to 95 of course being chronologically 95 can the equivalent to 35 to 45 year olds and they closer to 25!

Its going to be weird for a while but I’m getting use to not falling apart and learning to re-youth myself.

I’ll explain that next time folks.


Any questions, answers, give ‘em up people.


Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco, CA 94103

Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

Market St.

San Francisco, CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Leroy Moore/REvolutionary poet and activist

There has been a terrible trend on how police and politicians’ policies treat our activists who are elderly! During the so called good times of the 90’s in the San Francisco Bay area gentrification hit and many elders were kicked out of their homes under the San Francisco Ellis Act i.e. Grace Wells. And during the anti-war rallies of 2003 protesters who were elderly from, Florida to New York to San Francisco, were physically abused or placed in jail by police including elderly nuns. Three Dominican nuns, Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Marie Hudson is serving six to eight years because they protest against US nuclear weapons in 1993.

The US is not the only one who is trying to silence their elderly activists. The arrest and police brutality of Zing Dilin of China, who is the leader of the Tiananmen Mothers, an activist group for the families of those killed in the Tiananmen Square massacre is another example. Although two of the Tiananmen Mother were release from jail, according to New York base Human Rights of China organization Zing Dilin has not been released. And how police arrested Annette Auguste, an elder Haitian singer and leader of the Lavalas activist movement in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for no reason. The pattern continued with the death of May Molina in police custody on May 27th, 2004 in Chicago, Molina, who was a long time activist against police brutality and the prison system especially those who were wrongfully convicted, was an elder Latina and disabled. All over the world police are trying to silence our activists who are elderly once and for all!

Why is the state trying to silence our activists who are elderly? The reason why, is that the state, police and certain politicians know that the elderly are a treasure of knowledge of what happen, what works, how to organize and have inside information on the system from local policies to international affairs. Some don’t want our elderly activists to pass down their knowledge to the next generation. Some see them as a threat to the system because they know where the wholes are and where the system is weak. I really think that some people in authority roles are shocked on how many elders are a part and play a key role in many grassroots movements form police brutality, local progressive political campaigns to the anti war movement. Many people in power have a common vision of the elderly and that is churchgoers, bingo players, golf players and knitting. This stereotypical vision doesn’t give the police and politicians the right to take away their homes, physically abuse them at rallies and drag them off to police stations where they are not given the medical care they need!

During the 2003 anti-war rally the number one issue came up over and over again in planning meeting of people of color against the war was the issue of elderly protesters who couldn’t keep up with everybody and didn’t feel save at the end where police were waiting. I am reminded of a friend who is a deaf Native American activist who was tipped out of his wheelchair by a San Francisco police officer during the anti-war rally in San Francisco of 2003. According to Napal Daily News of Florida & Associated Press in November of 2003, Miami police abused demonstrators at a protest of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. One of the members of Alliance for the Retired, Bentley Killmon said "he was trying to get back to the buses provided by the Alliance for Retired Americans when police pushed him to the ground, arrested him and handcuffed him for 12 hour."

I wonder what would the Gray Panthers and their founder, Maggie Kuhn, say about what is going on with activists who are elderly? The Gray Panthers (whose motto is "Age and Youth in Action") has and continue to work on issues that affect people of ALL ages and welcome and encourage members of any age. Margot Smith, Co-Convener of the East Bay chapter of the Gray Panthers puts it like this. "The police are cracking down on everyone who exercises their right of free speech, including the elderly. We must stand up for our rights against the Ashcrofts and others who would turn us into a frightened populace, fearful of overturning their rule. Even more oppressive is their cruel treatment of the elders, denying them medications and home health care through their cuts to services. They are spending our tax money on war and tax cuts, and deliberately cutting the social advances that we have fought so hard for over the last 70 years. Just as Reagan wore down the Russians with the arms race, Bush is wearing down our entitlements with the new arms race. We must stand up for our rights now!" To get involved with the Gray Panthers email Margot Smith at GrayPanthersBerk@aol.com.

Justice Riding on Four Wheels & Brown Fists

(For May Molina)

Activist in Action that was May Molina

Kept police & prisons

In checked

Turning over wrongful convictions

Target on her chest

She drove between institutionalize bullets

in her wheelchair

Like Harriet Tubman, Molina led her people to freedom

Out of the prison system

And into an activist revolution

Help started an organization

For Families of the wrongly convicted & victims of

police brutality

Her community, supporters and family

Demands answers about her death in police custody

Although she had diabetes police refused medical care

Thanks to police & mainstream media her background has

been smeared

While the names of officers are invisible

Seems like we've been here, Cammerin Boyd in San Fran,

Annette Auguste in Haiti

Hey Homeland security, am I next in line?

Cause like May Molina, I'm outspoken about systematic

oppression

I can see Molina wheeling up to the mic

at the Chicago Police Board

my Latina disabled sister

your spirit has traveled from Chicago to San Francisco

to clear my vision and to rededicate my life to your

mission

Time to bring attention

to how the black & blue

abuse their authority

onto my brothers and sisters with disabilities

Forget about internal investigation

Open up politicians & police's closets all around the

world to the public

The community & family is the Juror & the Judge

And we have our progressive, ethnic and activist media

Mother May Molina, your wish has come true

Judgement day is here

The power structure is crumbling

and Justice is riding on four wheels & Brown fists!

By Leroy F. Moore Jr.

Revolutionary Love! Rest in Peace Molina

by Leroy Moore/Illin and Chillin

Mainstream media paints the picture

of my brothers and sisters in Haiti

They haven’t seen what lays inside
of Enock Placide’s frame

capturing lush landscapes of his country

born in Gonaives and at age four contracted polio.

Going back home to open an art studio

The ink from reporters’ pens don’t tell the story of Soni

or the book on his life, “Soni Mended’s Wings”

A disabled Brother who was on the brink of homelessness

spent his first five yeas in a crib

Now he dances all over the world to raise funds

for orphanages, Wings of Hope and St. Joseph’s Home

Not men in office but boys from the streets helped create

Looking after their brothers with no government strings

But What I do see and read

Poverty, broken communities & high rate of illiteracy

Gives a green light for a coup de etat

Can’t have a Black independent country so close to its Masta, the US

Who enslaved its people to drag them to the home of contradiction

Haitians, Africans, Jamaicans The Black Diaspora

Making the connection

to decades of oppression from Uncle Sam

From slave boats to US Airforce planes

Repeating history

from Florida to Haiti

White men turning back the clock

with budget cuts at home while invading Black land

But people like Michael Geilenfeld & Rose Anne Auguste

Dig their heals deep into Haiti’s soil

to plant seeds of change

Healing Hands for Haiti strengthen the voice of the disabled

and the melody of Boukman Eksperyans,

calls out demonstrators to the streets

creating their own media, art, justice and society

Independence for Black people from DC to Haiti!
…………….Poem for Haiti
By Leroy F. Moore Jr.

My African American Brothers we must learn from
our brothers of St. Josephs Home in Haiti!! After
the coup de etat of Haitis president, Aristide, I got
on the internet and asked my activists friends for
information about Haitians with disabilities.
Receiving very little, until I found the website of
Peter Eyvindson, a Canadian writer which led me to the
powerful and heartfelt story of St. Josephs Home in
Port au Prince, Haiti, for street boys and the life of
Soni Derazin, a Haitian disabled young man now.
Eyvindson was only visiting Port au Prince but his
heart couldnt let go of Michael Geilenfelds work
and the boys of St. Joseph who created Wings of Hope,
a home for disabled youth. Like many writers Peters
pen is connected to his heart and booth took over to
write the book, Sonis Mended Wings

As tears washed my face, anger boiled inside me
like a pot on a high flame. I was torn between the
mainstream media blasting the people of Haiti to the
uplifting and determination detailing the work and
love of Michael Geilrnfeld, who is the founder of
St Josephs Home and his boys who single handily
created Wings of Hope. This was a personal research
of disabled Haitians for me because after doing the
research of St. Josephs Home, Wing of Hope, the life
of Soni Derazin, I had the rare opportunity to talk
to Peter Eyvindon who is the author of Sonis Mended
Wings and Soni. Mr. Eyvindon and Soni are on a book
tour of the US to rise funds to build and furnish of a
physiotherapy unit at Wing of Hope, a home for the
physically and mentally disabled. At their readings,
Soni dances along with the drumming while Peter reads
from the book. This is amazing if you know Sonis
background. According to Peters book, Soni spent his
first five years in a crib and had not had the
opportunity to learn how to walk or talk. Now,
thanks to the boys of St. Joseph, Soni is walking.
They were in North Carolina making their way home
to Canada when I had the chance to speak to them over
the phone. They are pleased that Poor Magazine, the
San Francisco Bayview Newspaper and Pushing Limits
show on KPFA Free Speech Radio are interested in their
story. Soni told me he is learning to read and also
thank me for writing this article. On March 9th I
received the book, Sonis Mended Wings and will be
writing a book review.

According to Peter it is hard on the boys of St.
Joseph and Wings of Hope right now with the recent
events in Haiti because the orphanage survive solely
on donation and tours of people visiting. After the
recent events in Haiti, the boys have to stay inside
and there has not been any visitors, thus cutting back
on their monetary resources for the every day needs
of the boys plus the day-to-day operations of the
home. i.e. electricity, heat and food etc.. Its also
affecting when and how Soni will fly back home to
Haiti. Stay tune for the words from Soni and Peter
about their experiences on tour and the situation in
Haiti for disabled youth.

by Joe B.

Steady State Lives

Last time which I babbled about the half century mark and how its different for me and my generation as it will be for those coming up behind me if they survive their individual journeys taken to be there.

People reaching 50 and beyond know more than I what lies in store whether its paying less for money, bus-train rides or cruise ships jaunts.

There are perks to getting old but one better take care of themselves while getting there or they may have chronic pain,crippling disease or the dread wasting of mind malady of Alzheimer’s the last I do want to avoid with vengeance.

I’m no science whiz but if life extension began on microscopic scale of a few human’s living slightly different to radically altering their life styles.

My example is thinking I could achieve real immortality by drinking a bottle of Morgan David wine after eating spearmint gum.

It didn’t work but if it did how would know at 24 or 25 I still looked 14 at the time.

There is lightheaded- ness,feeling sick and knowing I would not experiment with my life that way ever again.

A "Steady State" life span is the technical Western equivalent of Eastern Guru’s do with their mind.

Yogi’s can slow or speed up their heart at will,A Biofeedback machine helps westerners achieve a yogis’ mastery over their mental and physical states.

In truth Biofeedback has not been used to see what the human brain can do or how far our minds can traverse the interior or exterior of our mental and physical selves.

Steady State is the western flips side of eastern mysticism only applied science is thrown in to test for accuracy instead of pure faith.

If one could if only slightly delay,retard,or stop aging for a year it means little but to be on the same regimen for 10,20,or 30 or more years then one can see where this leads.

This isn’t immortality but the first faltering steps onto life extension.

Now think of a yearly regimen done for 5,10,to 20 years.

A person may have stopped aging but if will continue if and when the regimen is dropped going further there is enough knowledge gained so people can delay,retard,or stop aging for a full 50 years or more?

Its still no where near immortality though time has slowed for this person as others age normally or what we use to think as normal.

Now,stay with me folks, think of reversing the process year by year for 20 to 50 years or more as science and technology catches up with our genome and science is able to replace bad genes with good ones and later have improved man or woman made genes,cybernetics and nanotechnology.

As with Cryonics [Freeze body after death for revival in a future when science can revive them in their original body,improve that body or have a newer improved cloned version ready for full brain or the electrochemical identity of the formally dead into a better genetically longer lasting body.)

I know,"this guy’s already approaching senility,hogwash and bull droppings."

To that I say you might be right but are you absolutely sure tomorrow will be the same as to day,that the next decade or so will be as it always is? Remember nuclear weapons,radio,CD’s,PC’, laptops,palm pilots,cell phones,VCR’s,and DVD’s we’re always with us.

If your like me there’s little time to argue all one can do is find out ways to find their own regimens of stead state or the Ying/Yang balance points of body,mind, spirit,and soul.

Health practitioner’s have written books, gone on PBS to inform people of paradigm shifts in health care and preventive medicine.

Prevention is obviously a better way to go than being sick and paying to stay well.

For all those out there seeing clearly you know it everyone for themselves at some point health care is individual if not job related or by disease jumping from animal, insects,mutating to human hosts.

For those that comes to late they do need help from medical professions but for those of us on the fence its time to get off and take care of ourselves as best we can until our combined world wide applied sciences can take care of all the people equally.

As for Governments, Multinational Corporations,the bottom line is sick,tired, overworked employees cannot be competitive asset only healthy ones with minds that are rewarded for innovative strategies keeps business on leading edge of competition.

I have a more ideas but they may seem radical now soon it’ll make sense or sound so now.

1)Who can build the safest,quickest way into space,carve homes and fueling bases for military/commercial space ships governments or private sector?


2) I propose a race around the moon,mars,the sun the winner sets up mining on moons, asteroids,planetoid rocks.


3)The ultimate race on earth is two fold best cryobiology revival and best applied sciences around the world to create our birthright from life extension to immortality.
(Immortality is the prize) and that is appropriate immortality (that is,no immortal infants,toddler’s,12 to 18 year olds but hormonally, genetically balanced so rejuvenation,regeneration is also possible and that the process is reversible (I know later it won’t be but in our early days it is).

I hope you can add to this way more than I so the road to Utopia can begin on a less rocky clime,you know the drill folks,tell me what ‘cha got.


Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco, CA 94103

Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

Market St.

San Francisco,CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Clive Whistle/PNN

"No Justice No Peace

No Housing No Peace"

The words poured out onto the tidy white streets of Main Street, United Snakes of Amerikka (actually, Encinal Ave in the city of Alameda).

"Who has the money or the means to move to Eureka or Fresno?"

The words poured out of the mouths of children and families of all colors and cultures on the brink of homelessness. Suddenly the haves were not so safe in their cuccoons of lies. Suddenly the have-nots were taking over the streets!

On Friday, June 25th over 70 tenants along with advocates from Campaign for Renters Rights marched through the main street of the city of Alameda demanding justice, housing Justice.They did this in protest to the 264 Section 8 tenants who received eviction notices from the Alameda Housing authority less than a month ago. As reported in PNN/SF Bayview last week, the classist policies instituted by the Bush Administration' s appointee to Housing and Urban Development(HUD) Alphonso Jackson, who was publicly quoted as saying that poverty is just a state of mind, are causing poor families and elders across the nation to become homeless due to drastic and unexpected cuts to the Section 8 program.

As a formerly homeless San Francisco and Oakland resident who is now home-ful because of the Section 8 program, I "felt" this protest. When my editor, tiny informed me of this new attack on the poor, I volunteered to attend the march in solidarity with the Alameda Tenants. When I traveled over to Alameda on the bus, the real possibility of Class war started to hit me. Where would hundreds of thousands of poor people from New York to Los Angeles go?

" No justice No Peace!!! We marched across their brick lined sidewalks. We banged pots and pans. We spoke the truth."What if it was YOUR family about to be homeless?!!"

"No Housing No Peace" After we made it down Main Street. We marched into "their" neighborhoods. Over 40 tenants marched through the "nice" neighborhoods of Alameda. We were on our way to the Mayors House.

"No Justice No Peace."Over 40 tenants invaded the Bay Farm island neighborhood of Alameda where the mayor of Alameda resided. We marched for over an hour. We would not be silent. We would be back.!

And then suddenly, like "magic" "They" found the money to re-fund 105 vouchers. Later that same day, The Alameda Housing Authority began making calls to let the tenants know that 105 vouchers would be reinstated. Housing advocates cite the combination of legal pressure and people pressure from the protests. Bill Simpage, attorney for disabled tenant, Charlie Jammer,and attorney Benjamin Gould from Legal Aid who under the notice laws put pressure on the Alameda Housing Authority for not giving proper notice to tenants to move because Housing Authority only gave the tenants less than three weeks notice that they would not be funded in Section 8's program is still questioning how they are "picking" the tenants they will reinstate. As of this press date for instance, Charlie Jammer still has not been reinstated. But no matter, our voices are starting to be heard and we will not stop until all 264 tenants in Alameda are definitively reinstated.

And like my editor said in last weeks report, this is only the preview of bush's plans to cut funding for 250,000 existing Section 8 vouchers in fiscal year 2005. So as far as I am concerned unless people are completely numbed by too much corporate media slush their will be more neighborhood invasions, more truths spoken and no peace in the streets!!!

by Lynda Carson

Oakland CA--In a move that is certain to please
bankers, realtors, landlords and developers, on March
16, Oakland's City Council moved another step closer
to ensure that the notorious Nuisance Eviction
Ordinance (NEO), may soon be used to weaken long
established eviction protections for all of Oakland's
renters.

The Nuisance Eviction Ordinance (NEO), requires
landlords to evict anyone that is targeted and deemed
to be a nuisance by the City of Oakland. Renters need
not be arrested, cited or convicted of anything to
face eviction under the NEO.

Despite the loud boisterous objections of a well
organized crowd of opponents to the NEO, landlords and
City Officials took pains to create the impression
that Oakland's renters may be a bunch of pimps,
prostitutes, and violent drug dealers before the 6 to
1 vote in favor of the tweaked version of the NEO took
place before an outraged citizenry. The new NEO
version comes back on April 6 before the City Council
for a final vote and passage into law.

As the heated rhetoric over the NEO recently exploded
into a public debate, Deputy City Attorney Richard
Illgen became the front man to promote the NEO by
exclaiming that Oakland's renters have illegal
activities going on all around them and needed
protection. Renters and their supporters opposed to
the NEO responded and challenged City Officials to
address the real needs of society and to stop
pandering to special interests that may profit by
those that demonize the poor.

According to Vivian Lee and Sitara Nieves of Critical
Resistance, "The NEO, as it's currently written,
permits eviction without conviction -- and without an
appeals process. With little due process, evictions
could be initiated by a disgruntled neighbor or, in
the case of landlords, for financial gain. Property
rights advocates should be concerned that landlords
would be forced to evict their tenants based on mere
hearsay from the police or other neighbors," said Lee
and Nieves.

Tuesday's City Hall meeting was packed with a loud
energetic crowd that repeatedly chanted, "No On
N-E-O," before the NEO vote took place, and
Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente on several
occaisions threatened to chase everyone out of the
chamber if they continued their chants. Some were
removed from the council chamber by the Police as the
evening wore on.

At least 35 speakers were signed up to voice their
support or opposition to the NEO, and many represented
progressive organizations on behalf of the renters,
while others represented landlords or different
factions of the Neighborhood Crime Prevention
Council's known as the NCPC's. By far, the majority of
the speakers were opposed to the NEO.

Landlord Sylvester Grisbey, addressed the council to
say, "I support the NEO because it will save me money,
and help clean up the community. It cost me $2,000 to
evict a drug dealer from my property, and the NEO
gives landlords the opportunity to have the power."

Indeed, under the NEO, Oakland subsidizes the eviction
of renters for the landlords. The designated case
manager and the City Attorney's Office will
administratively collect the evidence used against the
renters. They will create files on renters from a
source of snitches and information provided by the
Police or public agencies and may freely offer the
files to the landlords evicting their renters.

The NEO gives landlords the power to get around well
established renter's protections and subsidizes
evictions in the process.

Oakland's version of the NEO is much more draconian
than the version used in Los Angeles (LA), and records
show that most renters that were served eviction
notices under the NEO in LA, never bothered to fight
the eviction and left after receipt of 3 Day, 30 Day,
or 60 Day Notices.

The Nuisance Eviction Ordinance is Oakland's latest
scheme by City Officials to scapegoat Oakland's
renters as a bunch of criminals, and no evidence was
presented at the council meeting to back up their
assertions. The NEO does not apply to homeowners
selling dope from their residence, and the children of
homeowners do not have to fear from being evicted if
their suspected of illegal drug related activity.

It's the newest reason being used to weaken or
demolish a well established body of state and local
renter's protections that have been agreed upon in the
terms of a lease or month to month rental agreement
for renters in commercial properties, condominiums and
apartments.

It is another part of the master plan to gentrify
Oakland on behalf of the monied interests that have
corrupted the balance of power in favor of the
realtors, landlords, bankers and developers.

Ever since Measure EE, Oakland's eviction protections
went into effect on December 27, 2002, Oakland's City
Council has moved as quickly as possible to weaken
eviction protections and rent control for one reason
or another.

Underlying all the different reasons being used to
attack renter's protections, a June 10, 2003 city
staff report gets to the heart of the matter. The
staff report covers the subject of properties that
become exempt from renter's protections. The report
concludes that properties may be sold at a higher
premium when becoming exempt from renter's protections
because it allows purchasers of property to qualify
for higher loans based upon the increased cash flow at
those properties, and will in turn increase the sale
price of the properties.

As stated in the NEO Summary signed by Councilman
Larry Reid, in part it is being sold to the public as
an economic reason to positively impact the value of
Oakland neighborhoods by evicting renters that may be
accused of illegal drug related activity.

A search of the records show that violent crime levels
in Oakland are down by 8% during the past year. Drug
related arrests have consistantly dropped from a high
of 11,405 arrests in 1990 to a low of under 4,000
arrests during February of 2003 through February of
2004. Since 1969, burglary and robbery have been at
their lowest levels during 2000 through all of 2002,
and theres no evidence or statistics showing that
evicting renters is a deterrent to murder.

Northern California ACLU staff attorney Julie Moss
said,"The language of the ordinance is so vague that
tenants will not know what they have to do to avoid
having eviction proceedings brought against them. You
don't actually have to be engaged in illegal drug
activity, you only have to have activity that usually
accompanies drug activity in order to say you have a
drug related nuisance. So, people not involved in drug
activity could get caught up by this ordinance."

"People that are not creating a nuisance, but may be
dealing with a drug addiction in the privacy of their
own apartment are also included in this ordinance, and
the ACLU urges the council to vote against the NEO,"
said Moss.

The NEO takes away well established renter's
protections, and even goes as far as to offer cover
for wrongful evictions because Section J says
evictions are deemed to be done in good faith. The
latest version of the NEO being trotted out, offers
one new exception, and if the tenant being evicted can
prove that the landlord withheld evidence showing
their innocense, then the tenants may have the right
to sue the landlord for a wrongful eviction.

Adam Gold of Just Cause Oakland denounced the NEO
before the council vote took place and said, "We're
tired of the council carting out these trojan horse
ordinances that hurt the tenants. We can't put our
faith in an ordinance that can be used to abuse the
rights of Oakland's renters and we oppose the NEO."

Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) member
Gloria Jeffrey said, "I represent the Mac Arthur NCPC
and we have a bunch of neighborhood commitees, groups,
citizen bands, and NCPC's collecting evidence. Thats
what we've been doing. We are on the streets, we're
the ones that are filling up books and books and
books, and are taking pictures of criminal activities
happening out on the streets."

Councilwoman Jean Quan is all for the NEO and insulted
the community by stating that people should have read
the ordinance before speaking out against it. She then
lamented that she knows people in the NCPC's that are
being threatened for their activities (snitching on
neighbors) in Oakland. She went on to mentioned a
woman she knows in the NCPC that has people showing up
on her portch to intimidate her family, and that
someone else she knows in the NCPC had a daughter
threatened while in the laundry room of their building
by one of their neighbors.

Rose Braz of Critical Resistance said, "We just heard
from a woman talking about neighbors snitching out on
each other. This ordinance relies on neighbors
snitching out each other to be effective! It turns
people in communities against one another.
Homelessness does not build safer communities. Housing
is not easy to find in Oakland, and you need to create
more access to housing instead of creating more
homelessness with the NEO."

Councilwoman Nancy Nadel said this ordinance does
nothing to affect the problems of poverty that force
people into criminal activity just to survive and that
all it does is punish them.

Steve Edrington of the Rental Housing Association of
Northern Alameda County said, "I support the NEO, and
if your causing trouble in Oakland, you gotta go! Not
every one deserves the right to have protections in
Oakland."

Jonah Zern a school teacher that is with the Education
Not Incarceration (ENI) Coalition said, "Closing
schools and kicking people out of their homes is the
same issue. Listen to the message of the ENI. We're
asking for social programs for our community. We're
asking you to create an inclusive community, not a
divisive community that kicks out the poor for the
well being of the wealthy."

At times, thunderous applause came from the packed
chamber as one speaker after another got their point
across to the councilmembers, and at times Councilman
De La Fuente appeared to do his best to frustrate some
of the speakers or use up their time to antagonize
them.

Judy Appel from the Drug Policy Alliance was cut short
by De La Fuente several times as she said, "This
problem cannot be solved through a law that is fraught
with constitutional and statuary pitfalls, and the
Drug Policy Alliance opposes the NEO." The crowd
yelled out in a roar several times by saying, let her
speak when De La Fuente tried to stop her in mid
stream.

Olivia Prater of the Black Student Union at Laney
College said, "I feel that this is a conservative Jim
Crow law, and I also feel that the school system is a
conservative Jim Crow program. People need a good
education and you should consider that, because now I
see all of you with white sheets over your head."

The Councilmembers appeared to be unmoved from their
position as the majority of speakers denounced the NEO
and rose to the occaision in opposition to this
ordinance that appeared to be promoting homelessness
as a means to solve Oaklands problems.

As it turned out, Councilwoman Jane Brunner leapt from
abstaining on the NEO during the February 17 vote, and
came around to supporting it this time around.

Jorge Aguilar of the Eviction Defense Center said, "It
is unconscionable! It's unfair to tenants, overly
broad, and likely to be unconstitutional."

"I think this is awful public policy, said Sitara
Nieves. Nieves who has a Bachelors Degree in
Comparative Religions, is one of the organizers from
Critical Resistance that helped to fill up the council
chambers with people in opposition to the NEO. "This
will make Oakland less safe and it's not a solution to
Oakland's drug wars," said Nieves.

In contrast to many others, Michael Collins said, "The
residents of the Oaks Hotel are all prostitutes, pimps
and drug addicts, and everyone should drive over to
15th and Jefferson Streets to see all the action
happening over there."

Like a pit bull ready for a fight, macho Layla
Montarch marched up to the podium and she said, "I
represent alot of neighborhoods and I do alot of work
in this area of drug abatement. Evidence is coming
from my neighbor people who are out there with log
sheets and cameras to record the activities. We're not
going to have drug dealers anymore in Oakland," she
said, as she swaggered away from the podium like an
angry Drill Sergeant with a bad hangover.

Local figure Hugh Bassett, said, "I must be getting
old because I used to be on the same side as all the
people here that are in opposition to the NEO. I'm a
homeowner now, and I support the NEO."

"I live in a neighborhood with drugs and criminal
activity," said Demetria McCain-Higgins.
McCain-Higgins exclaimed that she has relatives that
have fallen into the hands of those dealing drugs and
have had friends that have been improperly arrested,
tried and convicted, and she opposes the NEO. "I'm
against the NEO because I understand from reading it
that it's fraught with problems. Your the government
and you only get one bite, and you don't get two
bites. Let the criminal justice system take it's
course. If the tenant gets arrested they have a fifth
amendment right, but you want them to defend
themselves in an administrative setting. This is only
going to throw people on the streets, and not solve
any safety issues." Vote no on the NEO," she said.

Periodically, Councilman De La Fuente would start
calling out names again to get speakers lined up to
speak their piece, and then he would go back to
interrupting them as the clock was quickly ticking by,
and the crowd would start up again with another chant
saying, No On N-E-O, No On N-E-O, NO On N-E-O, No On
N-E-O.

Dorcey Nunn had his turn and said, "I oppose the NEO
because theres not any real evidence and it's based on
allegations and not convictions. Your getting ready to
deny people housing in Oakland without having a
conviction! This is outrageous behavior, and will push
people of color out of Oakland."

Elder Freeman says, "We need to deal with the source
of the drugs coming into the community, not to go
after it once it's been spread throughout the city.
Talk to Bush and his daddy, their dope dealers."

Linda Evans from the All Of Us Or None Organizatiion,
said, "We are an organization of people coming out of
prison. We know we have to fight for our rights
because on every front we are being subjected to
terrible discrimination. I think that the NEO is just
one more example of that kind of discrimination. It
allows people to be evicted because of an arrest,
because of hearsay, and it is unacceptable for people
trying to integrate themselves back into their
communities and families. I think you should seriously
consider opposing this ordinance."

The council members have been trying to sell the NEO
as a tool needed to protect the renters from criminals
in their midst, but not even one tenant showed up to
speak up in support of the NEO.

John Murcko of the Eviction Defense Center was a fire
cracker when he spoke and he stirred up the crowd by
saying,"This law is a sham! The source of the problem
most tenants live with is not crime. It's the
condition they live under. I've represented thousands
of tenants, and their exposed to rats and roaches,
leaky roofs and sewers backing up into their homes,
and no heat in the winters. We should be passing laws
against the landlords for allowing these conditions to
affect the community."

Doris Stancil a former member of the Rainbow Push
Coalition said, "If any of you really think that the
solution to Oakland's problems is to toss our
grandchildren out into the streets when they get into
trouble and expect the system to take care of them,
then your a damn liar!"

James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union believes
eitherway, that if it's not a conspiracy, it's a
deliberate plan to take away the rights of the tenants
and their eviction protections. At the podium Vann
said, "This is bad law. This is terrible law. It
tramples on civil rights. It tramples on human rights.
It tramples on everything we're supposed to believe
in."

When all was done and said, Councilman Larry Reid
refused to allow any amendments being pressed by
Councilwoman Nancy Nadel that were meant to make the
NEO a bit more compassionate. All the other
councilmembers stepped in line to pass the NEO, except
for Councilwoman Desley Brooks who failed to appear at
Tuesday's meeting.

Once again, the NEO is coming up for another vote for
it's final passage on April 6 at Oakland City Hall.
Activists are urging people to keep hope alive and to
keep on fighting this ordinance until hell freezes
over.

My apologies to all the others that have not been
quoted for in this story, but have made the selfless
effort to oppose the NEO.

Best wishes to Father Donald Weeks and his Housing
Program for his strength and compassion in standing up
against the bully that threatened 30 people with an
eviction, just to get at one of them.

Critical Resistance may be reached at 444-0484

by Joe B.

Which to do, Comedy,Sing or both?

Yeah,it’s the not yet 50 guy yammering again, so don’t listen,get of the site already if you’re no longer interested in someone else’s thought farts.

In a few months it’ll be over and I’ll be 5-0 (not the popular Hawaiian cop show with Mr. Jack Lord piled high hair;no a chronological turning of one’s biological age.

After that I may fall into another career if I can sing,or do comedy trouble is which with both timing is key but an audience and performer can have bad days no matter how good each are.

As for singing if one has great pitch,good ear, and can project their voice interpreting or reinterpreting old or new songs the crowd will take notice,people know when someone is trying their best even if they suck bad.

I always wanted to see if I can really sing but in my past my throat was speared in Frick High School back in the late 1969’s or early 70’s.

It felt and looked worse than it was and yes it was a revenge from another kid who embarrassed my by pulling my gym shorts down glad I was wearing short instead a jockstrap.

Mama enrolled me and later my younger brother Solomon to learn some Martial Arts.

After a few weeks it began to feel great minus an accidental hand and toe to the testicle both time its by the same girl surviving that I practice blocking hits there and elsewhere.

Anyway my gym shorts pulled down as a joke.

Training takes over as I rabbit punched the guy twice quickly in the mouth.

Gum in his mouth gets stuck in his mouth and he begins choking.

Did I care,not at all as I walked of the green field letting the guy choke.

A few Weeks later I’m outside when I saw a wheeled cart headed at me with great speed I ran but not fast enough.

Its weighted down with weights,tied with ropes.

Tripped slipped and as I fell before hitting the ground the dull edged part of a post–the part buried underground for bars that can be see below or above for people poll vaulting.

A red,bloody looking horror I was the power of speech dramatically lost for months.

To this day I don’t know what that did to my voice box,trachea,or how it may have altered my voice if I did try to sing.

I’ve been it the Hotel Utah before it was bought, during the troubles of Bob-o-matic and a tight community of people creating a floating Utah and then at the I-Can owned by a fella named Simpson,who I had thought was the creator of the multi-player game The Sims.

He’s an artist, musician,poet,and sometime comedian and owner of the I-Can that was for a time a comfortable niche for a rootless Hotel Utah.

I did my demented comedy and worse sing song in the I-Can.

The recent move back to its roots revitalized all the people there.

It there I did a horrible rendition of an Alice Cooper Classic "Only Women Bleed"

I was about to give up on singing until while ridding myself of spam saw an ad for some reality show.

After calling the lady on the email I decided to give singing another chance with all I can muster because my comedy is really not as honed as I would like it but I need so when singing acappella. (without musical accompaniment)

What I hope and gamble on is that the purity of spirit,off all the pent up beauty,rage,honesty, integrity,and realism of one person doing something out their normal element can be seen through and appreciated.

If it does not work at least it’s a regret I won’t be looking back on.

My other ideas House Sitter bussiness,to be in or write skin flicks, learning to be a professional Masseur on a cruise ship and later in with my own business and teaching also.

I still would like be a courier if I can.

I know lots of dis similar occupations but for me they seem to blend but if I had to give up one it would be the porn movie since I haven’t gotten into it as yet.

Thing is as I get older the thought of being see as a dirty old man throbbing young girls is appealing only if I’m a fully functional old guy.

Here’s how I see it-its one thing to be smutty talking old guy who cannot back up his ‘rep but if I’m a healthy,fully functioning dirty old man with young girls and women who will vouch for me then

I don’t mind the title.

Because if one is to be a dirty old,nasty man or woman then one has to take care of the old ‘bod so as to be a challenge to all those youthful horny and horny mature woman that are also up to having absolutely dirty,raunchy, fun without the problem of "He/She died as we were about to…

Anyway I some plans and one of them is to be a fully functioning dirty old man, after all someone needs to show innocent virginal youth and mature women who didn’t have a chance in their youth a way of healthy,physical, and emotional relief.

All I’m doing is repaying many women who’ve helped me on my way to manhood and I should be able to do the same for fems with as much professionalism as one should for such delicate potentially embarrassing situations.

Don’t get me wrong I could never be a gigolo because I only have the wit,intelligence, sensitivity,creative spark,and natural endurance which I intend to build on but as for looks,languages, and higher graces of the gigolo sadly I’ll never fit the profile besides I like women too much to charge them for a priceless gift of themselves even if many think it no big deal I’ll always believe in the natural sacredness of entwined bodies in emotional,sensual synchronized,balance.

Slavery was,is,and remains a blood stain on the human psyche.

Off course it there is anything human,humane, and humorous it would be that then people went how one looked outside.

Imagine a scrawny, short male sold to a widow woman because he looked like if he was mated with any slave women the children would turn out like him short,scrawny, seemingly week.

The surprise to the 24 year old (old maid) that the cheap labor bought on the farm where she is sole owner possesses a powerhouse of small stature not small passions then she and he are going at it in the stable, kitchen, and finally hidden in her bed.

She’s radiant, youthful, and she knows why and when people want to ‘borrow her hired hand for back breaking work its

'No,I'm need him on my farm,he's weak and but works well on this small farm.

Lets call her Lorain and the male slave Tate.

No one must know that Tate ‘works Lorain awfully well before work,some during and lots after.

I won’t go into pregnancy but plain old-maid Lorain's lover isn’t so scrawny and weak he could be one of Mr. Ray Victory’s unknown ancestors.

[Ray Victory] is one a few black male actors in porn film industry he and a few other I’ve watched along with a lady friend across the bay but we’ve never seen the end of those films because watching those flicks leads to %^#@!!-lots of %^#@!! :-].

People haven’t changed all that much I myself could be Tate’s relative also.

My build is mesomorphic is that I am short, stocky,well muscled with a layer or two of fat around the belly and a prominent behind.

As a youngster I’m skinny and light weight guy when older and learned about exercise then I learned that my body responded building me up adding musculature I wished I was able to keep it up but life changes I gained weight but I’ve learned it can go if I really work at it and as for women…

They are the ones staring at me when I am blinded by others(men)saying girls will never like or touch you and some didn't.

Rejection lasted until it came to me though my face isn’t handsome marred by a left lazy eye but my body is likable and I’ve never been so glad to have a sense of humor about myself and others.

I was changed by my first sexual experience even though it disconnected me from my faith (a married lady in a congregation seduced me, we were never caught,no violent confrontation followed but I felt guilty(huge mortal sin) adultry one of God's chosen daughter's!

I lost faith for a time however other kind women gave it back to me with their kindness,words, wisdom,and bodies I couldn’t fault myself or anyone for being human and falling in lust,love,and passion.

I still am susceptible to women’s eyes,ears, lips,thinking, expressions,touch,anger, voice,and physical nearness its an achingly greatful desire I have the other sex and trying to suppress it hurts me more when I try.

Having female friends can be agony when they don’t realize how beautiful they naturally are and worse when they do.

As for myself I still don’t see myself as having a good body but a few women and young girls have eye me sideways and I get a glimpse of women’s constant male gaze upon her.

I’ve been in desperate need of… love and there are times I feel it is what my life’s struggle is for that one soul but if that is not to be a longer life,with women as good and dear friends,lover’s passing through it or both.

One day maybe after a few centuries I can truly say I have love but for now its equally a strong attraction.

Can a women and men beside as elderly people be friends and lover without consuming each other?

I’ll find that out on this long road.

Women,Men,boys,girls, young adults,everyone from every spectrum of Peoples; what’s motivates or means love to you?


Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco,CA 94103

Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

8th and Market St.

San Francisco,CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Leroy Moore/Illin n' Chillin

In 1967, a Black disabled leader was born into an
independent thinking and radical Black family. My
mother was very independent and blazed new grounds on
how to rise her children. My father, an ex football
player and Black Panther, who worked with Push,
rainbow Coalition and was a revolutionary. Our family
saw him going to house meetings and groups he helped
start for Black youth, and his involvement in the
Black Panther Party. My mother dragged me to disabled
meetings, school's PTA's and protests on many issues.

In my early days I tagged along with my father
at house meetings on issues concerning the Black
community. Many youth at that time witnessed our elders
doing everything under the sun in the community;
children programs, home schooling, opening up stores,
providing in-home-support services to elders,
community doctor's office etc. This all took place by
people coming together at friends houses over some
soul food to lay out what needed to be done and how to
raise funds for the work. What happened?

Very slowly my father and others got involved
with organizations outside the Black community and
found the concept of receiving money outside the
community from the government and white foundations to
do work in the Black community. In my view this was
the downfall of the extraordinary work youth like
myself saw in my community. The first element that
was scraped was the environment my elders met in.
Slowly the structure of house meetings became ridge
and people had to fit into this strange uniform that
restricted our progress, conversation and created an
hierarchy with president, vice president, treasury and
secretary. All-of-a-sudden people had their hands out
for a piece of the money that flowed in from outside
of the community and the work we, youth, saw every day
by many was cut back drastically and the house
meetings were no longer popular in the community.
You would of think my generation would learn from
what we viewed when we was younger? Just like my
father, I got involved with my community and activist
groups. Carrying what my mother showed me by
attending all of those white disabled groups and that
was learn from them but always remember you cant
relay on them to carry out your agenda. She used to
say to me. Just like what I saw in those house
meetings I saw in many new groups today including
Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, DAMO,
that got together to work on their own agenda. The
same thing has happen to these groups compare to the
groups my generation grew up in. Much incredible work
was done in the early days of these groups and it was
a family affair until outside pressure began to
influence the group. However in these days the amount
of time between a loose collective group to a
structure official uniform of non-profits is very
short and this is unfortunate.

The tight straight jacket of non-profits most of
the times suck the creativity, friendships, vision and
dedication of the group who started out with thinking
and working from their hearts but on the other hand in
our capitalist society very few of us can or will work
for free. So where is the middle stage? How much
some of us would love to turned back the clock to my
youth, seeing our communities totally ours without
strings attach to foundations, the red tape and paper
work and hierarchy of non-profits! But we must charge
onward into the future to find out new models of
community activist work that has a mixture of the two
models mentioned above or is it time to come up with a
whole new model.

Today, after five years of building Disability
Advocates of Minorities Organization we've felt the
straight jacket of fitting a collective group with
strong like family ties into a cold, informal and
culturally insensitive non-profit structure in the
last two years. This has turned my stomach inside out
so much that I'm taking time off and really answering
the question, are non-profits the way for
activists\revolutionaries like myself?
Just think about it, every group that turns into
a non-profit has to go down the same avenue. About
the time we have come out of this tunnel in getting
our non-profit status, do we have our same vision and
individuality and commitment to our community or are
we too wrapped up in bureaucracy culture of the
non-profit machine? Is this diversity? Hopefully we
know by now that there has to be another way to
continue to do our work as activists!

by Joe B.

Bio-Chrono,I Explain

Last time I went talked of deep abiding like of women because I couldn’t say love yet adding maybe in a few hundred years (Goddess and God) willing I’ll know enough of the feminine psyche to not run into so many of the opposite sex that have a smoldering hate of the male which I couldn’t help being part of.

Also there was writings of biological and chronological processes that may help me achieve an if not impossible but improbable goal.

For me women have both been waking nightmare and living breathing angels when they looked beyond the surface of this male’s deformed looks (wandering lazy eye) as I’ve said I was glad their were wars that disfigured,maimed, men though being killed is what mostly happens surviving war can be a long harrowing process.

Men born whole then by job injury,accident elsewhere in youth or in war return changed out or inside and must adjust to how people see them the most difficult for them are with women known or unknown to them judging them on looks appearance along.

Girl friends may leave, wives divorce or strangers avoid eye contact it is difficult to be rejected by something that happened them in youth,by accident, or war.

I didn’t go through war but my own facial features made it a problem because young girls,women expect to see good looking men to compliment their own good looks.
"Wonder looking Couple, they’re great looking together" as oppose to what does he or she see in him or her?

Sometimes I’ve though God made me with a correctable flaw that I young to understand and so missed looking as other people do.

My lazy eye flaw tells everyone as with cancer, or terminally obese that we human’s aren’t the paragons of animals we’d like to believe.

On the other side it was girls and women not men who help me through those lonely,angry,youth while guys used every opportunity to cut me away from them so I wouldn’t compete.

The Goddess gave me intuition,gift of gab, sensitivity,and a budding though slow to show gregarious outgoing personality and more a pleasing form if not face.

"If he cannot be perfect of face then he’ll be interesting and likable" it seems that’s the Goddess or Goddesses gift so it would not be complete hell it God plays it rough while Goddesses tempered what trials with imagination,wit,mother wit and courage to face what I must which had been constant rejection from her mortal sister’s wrath of being fashioned with flawed facial image.

Now on to time and life.

Time’s inexorable pull on us year by year as we bend lower coming closer to death if not final then temporary rest.

Life on the other hand fights time with all its might never giving in to the so called inevitable which is only such it life gives up.

Biology can beat time not by fighting it but using its system of retarding,slowing, reversal,and rejuvenation.

Not being a physicist, research scientist,or theorist reader may take everything said with a grain of salt.

We’ve all heard of children,men,women, animals,or someone’s beloved pet falling through ice and being quick frozen by the extreme cold and revived with little or no brain damage.

That’s time preserving bio signs by suspending it slowing the beating of a heart nerves and breathing to zero or close to it.

What I’m thinking is can one by eating, exercise,and lots of help from research scientists, nutritionists,and others in the life extension field could help slow or retard aging.

Now if a person could do this for a year actually suspend their biological time while chronological time moves it may be possible to be our own chronological clocks!

Time becomes superfluous because it’s the biological time that’s more important.

Say one absolutely stops or delays time for 1 year then 2?

Chronological time has moved while biological time has not.

Now say 2 years becomes 5,7 to bigger leaps of 10, 20,30,years of bio suspended time while alive and not waiting to return after death when and if science finds way of bringing the frozen dead back to life.

If one could while alive enable themselves to age-stop their personal time for maybe 50 years or so then chronological time begins to mean absolutely nothing to a you a bio-entity.

Of course one has to stick with the regimen for decades unless could gather the knowledge and have a full century of stopped time.

What’s Next?

Reversing aging slowly as chronological time moves one so now one isn’t only stopping their aging but also reversing it as well.

Sounds like fantasy and it remain so if people don’t try this option as well as others at our disposal.

Ok,so said person or person’s as test subjects have stopped and reversed their personal aging confounding friends, family,and themselves.

If needs an economic component lets say the longer and healthier people live the less strain on all medical fields and shows that America is still literally a land of dreams because where else do a people actually believe they can not only cheat time they beat time as well.

After a century of course some interior and exterior body parts have to be replaced by therapeutic cloning,some nano bio-bots forever keeping human systems healthy,merging with virus’s symbiotically keeping the safe from within.

No one is immortal yet just life extended longer than before.

If these people and others continue on this way immortality could be there’s long before their sleep freeze brothers and sisters awaken to they resume or live their lives anew.

Think about if there is no physical way of stopping,reversing biological time then Cryonics is away but if can do the above… it seems to me it should also be tried as another option.

I’ve always thought the first immortals are among us trying out wit,cheat, beat,liberate themselves from the narrow constraints of linear time.

I don’t know if I’m of that number but I do know it will take more than money,genius,luck, providence,science,or fate to make life extension and eventual immortality a reality it will take all of us globally using our unique talents,faults, grace,love of life to wrestle our way out of mortality.

I believe we will though it will take a tremendous effort because it is something we’ve never done before.

We all know just because something has not been done doesn’t mean it never will.

Becoming long lived species as death is a wake up call,if death may be a way of slowing down then life extension is our species alarm and immortality is our "stay up and awake" phase.

A few of us can rest and won’t die from it but for the rest of it’ll a time multiple levels of self explorations.

That’s my take on time and life of biology and chronology.

I have an idea on the android/human debate and how both species if androids become walking, self aware beings independent of their human creator’s.

Any grade or high school child knows the answer to that problem if they think a little.

Tell Joe what you think.

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by Joshua Cinelli/Street Roots

Sheila had only been in town for a few days, having hitchhiked from Michigan with her human companion Brent. Even though Sheila was a long way from home, she looked very much at peace on a sunny day on the park mall lawn climbing over a group of young people collapsed in one heap.

Sheila is a young red heeler who nibbles on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while her companion talks about her.

"She is a pure bred — loyal and smart. We got picked up mostly because of her," says
Brent, who looks road weary but smiled as he glanced at his pup.

"We feed her before we feed ourselves," he said. "Even though she is small in stature, she is good protection and has an ability to sense danger."

All of which make Sheila a valuable companion on the streets of Portland where many youths arrive still clinging to the best friend from home, a dog or a cat, or maybe a stray that has tagged along. Homeless shelters in Portland don’t accept pets, and most owners aren’t willing to let their pets loose, or worse, for a night on a shelter bunk. Even if a shelter did allow pets, “It would have to be a nice one if I was going to let my dog stay there,” said one of Sheila’s companions. “Not like the pounds with the cages.”

Web has lived on the street for 10 years. He leans up against the side of a building while his two dogs, Ghengis Khan and Generation 13, play with a ball. “It’s hard out here with dogs. It’s a lot of responsibility. You can’t take the max or the bus. You can’t do a lot of things. But they are worth it.”

Web pats one dog on the back and said his four-legged friend has traveled 2,600 miles by way of hitchhiking. “There should be a program for alcohol and drug rehab where you can have animals.”

Right now there is hardly anywhere to bring an animal at night.
“There is no safe place to keep your pet,” a young man nicknamed Groundscore said. “You’d rather sleep under a bridge than give up your dog to go inside.”

At the Streetlight youth shelter, workers are addressing the needs brought up by youth who said the lack of shelter space for homeless youths with companion animals is a barrier in getting them off the street.

“Presently, we have two kennels and are working to make agreements with the youth to walk their dogs at night and first thing in the morning while making sure that the animals have proper vaccinations and licensing,” said Kevin Donegan, director of community programs at Janus Youth. “Otherwise, it is a danger to other pets and staff.”

Jess Fraver, a veterinary assistant at Lombard Animal hospital explained the necessity for the recommended immunizations for puppies and the financial cost involved with keeping up with shots and check ups.,

“If a shelter were to house animals there would be a need for a kennel cough vaccine because the kennel cough is a respiratory ailment quick to spread and with serious implications,” Fraver said.

There are currently free vet clinics offered periodically at Outside In and Dignity Village provided by volunteer veterinarians working with Progressive Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS. PAWS is taking a leadership role in providing direct care of homeless companion animals. Dignity Village currently has 30 cats and 14 dogs living out at Sunderland Yard and is the one place where folks who are homeless can live with their animals off the streets.
Matt Roselle of In Defense of Animals believes that companion animals are truly part of the family.

“If someone’s life situation changes and they end up without a place to live, the companion animal should be part of the equation,” Roselle said. “They should have shelters where families and individuals can have animals until they get back on their feet.”
There is a fine line between those who had companions when they were housed and those who take on animals while they are living on the street, Roselle said.

“It is not a responsible move for a homeless person that doesn’t have an animal to choose to take on an animal when they are in that situation. It is a big responsibility and should be taken seriously,” Roselle said.

It raises the issue that a large number of the housed population feel it is cruel for people who are on the street to have animals. Animal cruelty can be determined, according to PAWS, by observing characteristics of their environment, including access to food, water and shelter.

For a lot of young people without housing, an animal is a source for unconditional love and a constant companion. Snaggle Tooth, a trained chef, said his pit bull Chevy was the reason he gave up drugs.

“I just wanted to spend more time with her and be better to her.” Chevy, an affectionate smoocher, is dressed in a maroon sweatshirt and some beads hang around her neck. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Snag says.

Snag’s and Chevy’s relationship is not uncommon for people who are homeless and animal companions. Dogs, after 10,000 years of domestication, now depend on humans to comprise their pack. A sufficient amount of contact with the human pack provides the dog with the necessary security and order. This devotion becomes a two way street. Even during the coldest days and most adverse conditions of outside living, outreach workers have found a barrier to bringing people off the street into shelter because they will not abandon their companion.

When a person does give up an animal, if it is not taken by another person, than the animal goes to the animal shelter where many animals are euthanised after being labeled “unadoptable.” Mountain, a young woman now in housing, said it was extremely difficult to find an apartment that would let her keep her dog. Despite the limitations placed on individuals living on the street with companion animals, there are many positives for these young people to have an animal that provides love, protection and security. However, there are currently no plans to begin accepting pets into public shelters, according to Heather Lyons of the Bureau of Housing and Community Development.

“There has been discussion in the past on what to do with homeless people that have animals, especially youth, but there has not been a broad-based effort or an allocation of funds as of yet to change the access available.”

City's new alcove policy stirs up homeless displacement issues

By Joanne Zuhl/Street Roots

The city’s decision to waive fees on erecting alcove gates for downtown business owners is expected to further displace the city’s homeless population into outlying neighborhoods.
That might not have been the intent behind the 18-month pilot program, but it is a consequence homeless advocates hope the city is prepared to deal with.

"In these alcoves, police get a number of calls for services regarding the removal of criminal activities," Myers told the Council as photos of gratified alleyways, discarded beer and wine bottles, used syringes and feces flashed on the large screen above the Council.

The pilot project, proposed by downtown’s Senior Neighborhood Officer Jeff Myers, waives the high fees associated with permitting gates in downtown alcoves. The intention is to give business owners greater freedom to erect gates to prevent vandalism, drug use and other misuse of the alcoves along the city’s streets and alleys. The policy was supported by the city’s police and fire bureaus, city attorneys’ office, department of transportation, and other Portland departments, and received a unanimous vote of support from the City Council on March 17.

While the benefits to the pilot program were not questioned, Marc Jolin, an attorney with the Homeless Law Program of the Oregon Law Center raised the consequences.

"There will be a secondary effect on homeless people who use alcoves as a shelter of last resort," Jolin said to the Council.

"Alcoves are not part of our homeless system," said Commissioner Jim Francesconi said,
Perhaps not officially, but they are used as shelter for the homeless, which number far exceeds the amount of shelter beds provided in Portland.

Jolin said the impact on the homeless population must be addressed and incorporated into the process for developing and monitoring the pilot program. Many groups have already been addressing the homeless population to find new solutions, including the city's Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness, the Southeast Uplift Homeless Working Group, and crossroads. "The alcove abatement should be rolled into that process." Jolin said.

Other speakers questioned how the review process, which is paid for by the fees, will be conducted without the cut in funding. The impact on the displacement of the homeless into neighboring residential and business communities was also raised as a concern.

"It doesn’t go away," said one resident and board member of the Hosford-Abernathy Neighborhood Association. "It just changes the places. This may be ultimately part of the answer, but I think we need to involve everyone."

Commissioner Erik Sten said it was unfortunate that the homeless advocates were not involved in the process leading up to the abatement policy, but he voted in favor of the new policy saying there was still room for involvement as this program and others move forward.

All the members of the Council commented on the need to address the displacement issue, but that the concerns for criminal activity and the protection of property values were equally important for the downtown business owners.

Responding to the questions of displacement, Myers said the alcove project is only one of eight pilot projects the police and the city are working on to address the growing homeless population in Portland.

by Joe B.

2 For 1 Column Day

Today is a special [I know,"you’ve written long columns before Joe."]

True in the past 3-4, even 6 pages long or more this time its on purpose an not an accident of prose overflow.

The first is about the recent "Poor People’s Congress" From P.O.W. E.R. [People Organized to Win Employment Rights

It is a mass meeting of the above and other like minded organizations sick and tired of getting the shit end of San Francisco.

On Saturday,April. 17, 2004 the meeting began late but you know brown ‘n black bro’s and sister’s are first we meet,talk, catch up on each other, friends,and family are stomach and thirst then we concentrate on real serious business of worker rights for all.

A slide show from of Early Barbary Coast’s (S.F.) wild west past how emigrants from Aisans, Mexico,Original American’s,Blacks,Whites, and Pan Pacific Islander’s from the late the mid 1800’s (19th century and early 20th century help create the City we know and some of us love today.

But everyone of these worker’s time and again are given a raw deal as their communities became poorer while the blood, sweat,and toil meant profit and opulent wealth for those on Nob Hill, Pacifica,and other wealth communities.

A vote on a platform to give the majority of working people in this city a say in what happens in their lives and not to forced out when rents sky rocket because of reckless speculation, greedy real estate developers,and equally greedy land lords wanting convert their building into profit making loft or office building complexes not from any problem caused by tenants but for how much green to be made.

Mult lingual chants, a food break,question and answer, and play on how P. I.C.[Private Industry Council] playing politics with lives of single adults and families.

Next a call for to spread involvement into an unstoppable movement to create real affordable housing not the oxymoron it means now.

Questions and Comments were next followed by a two man rap group I’ve forgotten but their four songs though all were deep and makes you think.

Myself fell in and out of sleep sitting comfortably in the basement of Boniface Church.

It was an uplifting event which will grow because too many people and families middle income and less are shafted out of their fair share.

By 2:20 my second black bean and rice,taco,carrot cake, and grape juice lunch was done its time to bid ado to return home before returning the digital data machine, mikes,wire and bag they came in back to Poor Magazine on the same night that day.

All I say is there’s to many fed up,intelligent, poor folks out of work and they have lots idle time figuring out solutions to most of the problems they have not cause but are constantly scape-goated for and whatever befalls the silk hatted, Champaign,Caviar,bunch (though most mind you are innocent doing everything to help their fellow working,low waged San Franciscan’s)

For those guilty of corruption and grievous gobbling of excess money not really needed by folks who’ve already are wealthy as can be.

Got any ideas out there?

Hard working women, men,and families need all the help against forces arrayed against them.

Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco,CA 94103

Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

Market St. 94102

San Francisco,CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Tiny/ PNN ReViEwsfOrTheReVoLuTiOn

"I do not consent to talk to you"

"Am I being detained?

"Am I free to go?"

As i watched these POWERful words of police resistance emote from the new COPWATCH know your rights training video I wished i had known these things when i was questioned, detained and finally arrested for Driving While Poor violations in Oakland a few years ago. In my case, the first rather innocuous questions about why i was " in the neighborhood" turned into the more serious, police sanctioned, "questioning" cause i was driving in a hooptie (old car) with all my possessions ( we were houseless at the time) i had priors for sleeping in my car, and although my mother was with me, i was only 17, all of which cleanly placed me as a "possible suspect" in the small strange minds of what i call the Po' Lice ( ya know parasites on the po')

"By not fearing the system you can change it" this empowering and engaging "training" video entitled "the Streets Are Watching" including brothers like Islord, a founding member of the Cinncinati branch of COPWATCH giving us words of scholarship from their ongoing struggles and necessary resistance to the local police departments' harassment of African-Americans in the Cinncinati area . Islord's narration cited the case of Timothy Thomas who was chased by cops on April 7th into an alley and then assasinated by cops igniting the infamous riots that ensued the day after the murder happened.

"People said we were tearing up our own neighborhoods", another Cinncinati member named Gavin related,but home ownership among African-Americans in Cinncinati is running at 3% - they were just trying to get noticed about this unjustice."

"The cops were basing all their stops on race profiling" Steve Nash, a founding member of the Denver branch of COPWATCH related their groups' recent win with the DEnver Police department. He went on to tell us that every Cinco De Mayo when thousands of Latino youth cruise the main Denver boulevard the police was pulling over several thousand youth on race based stops resulting in arrests and impounds of almost everyone they pulled over until the COPWATCH folk fought back by being present at the checkpoints and documenting each illegal stop- dropping the arrests to 15 citations and no arrests.

The first half of the Video was looking at the resistance of regional branches of COPWATCH; the second half was an on-screen KNOW YOUR RIGHTS training with extremely important information for all conscious citizens', especially poor folks and folk of color always at-risk of police harassment and abuse, such as the young folk at the school of Social Justice in Oakland who suffered the recent attacks by OPD

"You need to treat cops alot like farm animals, you don't want to startle or scare them" Andrea Pritchett from the Berkeley branch of COPWATCH narrated much of the Know your rights training tips with odd on-screen moments from startled and obviously defensive cops thrown in for visual aid, "You have the right to verbally refuse a search, if they are asking you questions and you answer then you are voluntarily participating in the cops' investigation" She went on to relate the modest beginnings of COPWATCH which was originally started in MArch of 1990 because the Berkeley police were trying to rid downtown Berkeley of all homeless people.

" The Signature of a real democracy is that there is a restraint on the police" As I watched civil rights attorney Osha Neuman who literally saved me from a long trip to Santa Rita County Jail for my crimes of poverty with his free and extremely innovative lawyering, speak into the camera, I was filled with not only inspiration but empowerment that with the knowledge imparted in tis video people could effectively resist the brutality, the harassment and maybe, even the wrongful death caused by the Po'lice

To get a copy of the video THESE STREETS ARE WATCHING produced and edited by Jacob Crawford contact COPWATCH at (510) 548-0425

by Joe B.

A Personal Quest

Well,folks a second column for the unseen public who are not able to write me because of excess spam may some of you get through someway,somehow, so dialog(s) can begin.

I remember reading Ann Fairbairn’s Five Smooth Stones about Joseph Champlin and his growing up from the early 1930’s through the 40’s,1950’s, and ‘60’s it is a book worth reading and pondering on but like Flower’s For Algernon the ending is too hard to take and I could never read those two books again.

Both Charlie and Joseph go struggle succeed only to fail one because of a chemical that a turns Charlie from a slow retarded man into a genius only to return back to his state of slow wittedness.

Joseph,an intelligent, sensitive,college educated young man falls in love with a white woman despite his friends and family he commits to marriage because he does love this woman and she returns his love.

A child is born and at a pivotal moment Joseph after an accident causing him to walk with a slight limp he again faces a civil rights orientated situation which doesn’t end well.

I am tired of Rainbow(Caucasians) included but mostly non white’s dying to live first for their rights, then for money,fame.

We have been dying shedding blood in war,by police,chased,de-balled, chard alive,chased like animals by mobs,KKK,or just for fun following their father’s teachings.

Isn’t time we as men stop setting our selves up as targets for hunting.

Bad enough we have a history of being set up by police to end up behind bars.

As a Black Man approaching 50 venturing though youth most girls ignored me,kept me at arms length which saved me during the late 70’s and 80’s before I knew about AIDS.

I met a few women learning about care, jealousy,and break us.

Finally a long term relationship with a lovely,sensuous,serious minded Black Woman and a friendship with a younger one completed a long process of delayed growing up.

My life has been difficult but not really as troubled as some of my brother’s and sister’s I see damaged women and men and wonder if I’ll ever be faithful married man to the woman who chose me as hers soul mate for life.

A low wage job,on Section 8,in the sometimes dangerous Tenderloin area of Market Street in San Francisco is not what most woman think of as date/mate material.

Even being in the City taints me as other than heterosexual even though my original home is New York,near the Bronx, Queens,and Park Avenue then moving to Oakland and Berkeley California or visa versa and while homeless learning silk screening,painting, environmentalart,and photography gave so may directions its difficult following one.

At this point I’m thinking of a longer span of life I owe it to myself to live,love,experience, as long as possible but the radical thing for me is see if it is possible to slow down and reverse my own aging process first struggling on my own then with help of Gerontology. Most people live their lives either quietly, adventurous,or inbetween I would really would like to try this way of living, has it been done before surely yes, but now if I had help from the government and followed some of they dictates minus too little sex. (I’ve done that already) I would like a small stipend and there should be others doing the same as I.

What would be the purpose of this living longevity study?

How about living longer and the results published so many more people can do the same but not under government care as we guinea pigs.

First as now I’ll struggle along giving up most of the foods, desserts,meats,all that cause to age the interior of the body,deep mental techniques,exercises to help further reverse maybe rejuvenate tissues throughout the body.

Later if a year then 2,3,up to 5 happens more will be possible until there is a limit then some cloning replacement parts, as the process of de-aging continues and some if not all of become younger there will be sexologist’s testing us further or our girlfriends,wives may do the honors checking on our complete sexual functioning.

It sounds science fictional but I’m starting now because there is no time like the present to go for this after all life should be enjoyed to its fullest and want more life for its fullest enjoyment.

If I succeed alone well its only I who’ll benefit but if the government or a life extension cartel with vast amount of knowledge can help then it speeds the way for everyone.

So,people,this is my quest and I don’t think I’m fighting windmills but it will take others doing the same thing to see what I’m about.

For the rest of you thinking me completely cracked even if I learn to slow,delay,and reverse my personal aging process.

If I can do it exactly the same way 50,60,70,or 80,times all it means is by 2030,40,or 2074,2084,I might not be an immortal that’s not the aim.

The aim is to simply be alive and healthy.

My other question is where will you reader’s be?

That’s it,my two columns,email or snail mail me especially Life Extension and Immortalist organizations.

Please tell where I can find studies on how to best do this self experiment without harming my self. Thank You



Donations C/0 Poor Magazine

1448 Pine Street #205

San Francisco,CA 94103

Snail or Email Joe at:

PO Box 1230 #204

Market St. 94102

San Francisco,CA 94102

Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Leroy F. Moore Jr.

Sit down & listen

cause there will be a test at the end

Displaying & speaking

our history & culture

through music & art

From slavery to homeland security

Black disabled artists

roots grow deep

however this garden his starving for recognition

The most famous classical pianist

in the mid to late 19th century

was a Black Blind Autistic slave

Tom Wiggins aka Blind Tom was his slave name

his master used him to make money

and left him poor and broken

Horace Pippin, the first Black Disabled self-taught
painter

lost his arm in WW1

using his left arm

to prop up his right forearm

crafted his first masterpiece depicting horrors of war

Oh, the price he paid for being Black, Poor,

Self-taught & Disabled

Blues is the Black Anthem

attract blind singers & musicians

to make a living on the streets

some made it into recording studios

Blind Willie McTell born in 1898

played on the streets of Atlanta

Blind Willie Johnson born around 1902

a street evangelist

stepmother threw lye

in young Johnson’s eyes

causing blindness

Johnson became the first

gospel guitarist too record

he died of pneumonia

hospital refused admittance

due to his blindness

Blind Blake & Blind Boone’s

Birthdates are not known

Blind John William Boone formed

his own concert company

traveling all over the country

more than 8,000 concerts

in the USA Canada, Europe & Mexico

The most popular Male Blues

recording artists of the twenties

was Blind Lemon Jefferson

he was also a street performer

Black deaf schools

in the fifties produced

independent businesses like barber shops

down south and social clubs in the East

Writers like Mary Herring Wright, Linwood

Smith & Ernest Hairston

voice the experiences of our Black Deaf Brothers &
Sisters

Listen to the Melody Heartbeat of a Black Deaf
Woman

Jades fingers reads I’m a proud Black Deaf Woman

Black sign language was developed cause societal

attitudes & educational policy helped create a dual
system and what grew?

A strong Black Deaf identity

integration killed Black Sign & almost

erased Black Deaf Culture

Let’ s travel to Jamaica

Where in the fifties Polio infected the island

Skelly, Wise & Apple are Israel Vibration

they met each other

at Mona Rehabilitation Center

got kicked out cause their religious beliefs in Rasta

homeless, poor & disabled

began to sing on the streets

now they are the Fathers of Reggae

Back to Africa

tribal dancing

to the drumming, guitar strumming and singing

of Amadou & Mariam

a Blind married couple

blending Rock, Pop, Jazz & Hip Hop

with an international flavor

from Cuba to Asia & India to America

Coming home to the Bay Area

to swing from Charles Curtis Blackwell & Avotcha’s

jazz Poe-tree & celebrate

Disabled African American Visual Artists

at Harambee’s annual art show called KUUMBA

So get out your number two pencils for your final

on Black Disabled Art History

By Leroy F. Moore Jr.