2009

by Bruce Allison/PNN

The mayor has found another loop-hole for the mid-season budget cuts. The smallest of the cuts is to the Mayor’s office which is a total of $541,870.

The area that the mayor is using from the San Francisco City charter is 3.001.

Basically, this says that the portion of the charter states that the mayor has “wide and varied powers”.

The portion of the budget that will be hit the hardest is Public Health which will receive a 26 million dollar cut under the mayor’s new spending plan. Due to the hosing of the public a pandemic is possible due to the way officials are handling public finances. I guess all we can do is pray that doesn’t happen because nobody is working to prevent it.

At this time there is also a lawsuit that may be held in the city for not holding a real public impact hearing, which usually occurs when there is a cut in Public Health. The last one was held at the department of public health which is a violation of the state law which governs Bealinson hearings. The hearings are supposed to be held in the County’s Board of supervisor’s chambers.

Due to San Francisco city and county’s unique position the mayor has pulled a fast one. If it was held at the board of supervisor’s chambers then this most likely would not have occurred. Because the majority of the supervisors including an unlikely one (mayor’s appointee Alieto-Pier) would have voted against the cuts.

Since the mayor knows that, he has used this loop-hole in the state law with assistance from the city attorney. With the present board there may not be a way to have this stopped, putting us all in danger.

by Mari Villaluna/Indigenous Peoples Media Project

I spent five months of my life walking and praying for Mother Earth. Praying that people around the earth will start to take care of our home in a way that our ancestors knew. Praying that my descendants will be able to see Jean Charles Island in southeastern Louisiana, which is threatened by land loss and climate change.

When the Longest Walk 2 walked through the United Houma Nation Terrorrity in southeastern Louisiana, we walked through Jean Charles Island. We were told that in one generation this island that the Houmas live upon will not be here anymore due to climate change, and land loss. While being eaten up by insects, I looked over at my praying partner and said, “Imagine one day, our descendants won’t see this land where we are walking on. That’s why we are walking to save the lands we have left.”

This memory echoed in my mind when PNN assigned me to a story on the UN Conference on Climate Change that is being held in Pozan, Poland. I remembered the Houmas and thier struggle to physically keep their land. I remembered how Hurricane Katrina was at a category 3 and then due to climate change it rose. I remember living in the east coast and how sometimes there would be very warm winter days. Everyone would say how beautiful day was, but all I could think about how climate change played a role in the abnormality of a east coast winter.

I contacted a fellow longest walker named Marek Nowocien, who is Polish and attending the conference and doing media around it. He mentioned how there was over 10,000 people there, which includes governmental, NGO (non-profit), and Indigenous peoples from all over the world in attendance. Many organizations are present to speak about the human rights of Indigenous peoples to the land as it ties into the destruction of Mother Earth. Many times when the environment is talked about, Indigenous peoples are systemically left out of the process. This conference was no different, in that Indigenous peoples once again challenged values of the environmental community (I couldn’t think of a better word).

Global Forest Coalition, The Wilderness Society, World Rainforest Movement, Global Justice Ecology Project, Via Campesina, the International Youth Delegation and the STOP GE Trees Campaign united as Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples to redefine what the United Nations/Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) considers a forest. As of right now, the UN views corporate industrial tree plantations as forests. In a press release by the above groups, they stated “Plantations are not forests. Forests are diverse ecosystems and plantations are void of biodiversity. The UN definition endangers Indigenous Peoples, forest dependent people, peasants, small farmers, biodiversity and exacerbates climate change.” The UN that is talking about climate change is also the same one helping to promote it by leaving this definition the way it is.

These groups are challenging the UN to change the definition of forests so it recognizes the difference between native forests versus plantations. Ana Filippini from World Rainforest Movement (Uruguay) stated, “The conversion of native forests to plantations is bad for biodiversity, people and the climate. Human rights, especially women's rights, are being violated where there are plantations, and they should not be defined as forests.” These are the changes to the definition that the groups are proposing:

Forests are defined as 'a terrestrial ecosystem generated and maintained primarily through natural and ecological and evolutionary processes that are home to most of the world's biodiversity'.

Plantations are defined as a crop of trees planted and regularly harvested by humans that do not provide habitat for biodiversity.

"The definition of forests under REDD is utterly ridiculous", stated Sandy Gauntlett, a Maori indigenous rights activist from New Zealand, and representative of Global Forest Coalition. "It leaves wide open the ability of countries to destroy their natural forests and replace them with industrial tree plantations-which destroys wildlife habitat and displaces indigenous and forest dependent communities. New Zealand is an example of the disaster of tree plantations-and now we are in the process of developing genetically engineered trees for plantations", he continued.

All these groups agree that, “"If it is not resolved, and REDD applies this definition of forests, the global community could miss the chance of avoiding dangerous climate change and the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests for there survival will continue to be negatively affected." Dangerous climate change can be avoided by the simply changing of a definition of a forest. I started to think about the United Houma Nation and how hurricane after hurricane their land is being lost. I remember how every member of that nation used the words climate change and land loss over and over again. I remember the sad look upon their faces as they talked about losing their land and how climate change is at fault for that. I thought about all the corporations, governments, and international organizations are at fault for climate change. With just one simple definition of a forest, many global indigenous peoples could still keep their Nations alive with their traditions and way of life.

To get involved, please contact:

Orin Langelle, Global Forest Coalition media coordinator +48 696 723 046

Gemma Tillack, The Wilderness Society +61 427 057 643

Ana Filippini, World Rainforest Movement +48 785 260 455

by Bruce Allison/PNN elder and poverty scholar

Back when San Francisco was celebrating the beginning of the roaring 20's, a decade of peace and prosperity, the lower Haight district was one of the top places for citizens to enjoy.

Fast forward to 2008. San Francisco is continuing the legacy of anti-discrimation and respect for all by opening units of affordable housing that would be open to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender seniors in San Francisco as well as those that are straight.

The property being used as the site for this affordable housing unit is about 3 sq. acres and though it may seem small, in San Francisco it is considered to be quite large. This land was originally the campus of the University of California, San Francisco. In the 1920s, the property was given to the University of California, Berkeley in which they had designed into an extension campus. In 2004, UC Berkeley chose to abandon this property and gave it up to the city in order build affordable housing for seniors and people with disabilites

.

To take this a step further, OpenHouse, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco that provides opportunities and programs for LGBT seniors in the Bay Area, has proposed to make the property of 55 Laguna Street into affordable housing for but not exclusively to LGBT seniors. Though not given preferential treatment, seniors that are LGBT are given priority because many have complained about being harassed by landlords and not given places to live. The area media income required to live in these units would possibly equal 30%.

This past March, the plans for these affordable housing units were put in front of the Board of Supervisors at City Hall. Though the NIMBY(Not in My Neighborhood) citizens voiced their discontent by arguing that seniors that are mostly 70-80 will group together and form a gang that will attack the other citizens in the neighborhood, they were igonored. The Board of Supervisors voted for the plans for affordable housing for LGBT seniors and construction is set to begin in 2009.

by Tony Robles/PNN

People get ready

There's a train-a-comin

You dont need no baggage

You just get on board

--Curtis Mayfield

People Get Ready by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions--to me it's the greatest song ever written. Rolling Stone Magazine named it the 24th greatest song of all time (It named Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone"#1). Forget Rolling Stone. People Get Ready--when I hear it I reflect, sometimes cry. More often, I feel inspired in a world full of war and bad news. In the late 80's I was a student at San Francisco State University majoring in broadcasting. I wanted to be a radio DJ. I succeeded--sort of. I worked in small towns spinning dusty records. One such station was in a wheat field in Stockton where cows sauntered by the window, shooting occasional glances and dropping mounds of steaming cowshit everywhere--including the parking lot. When I got to my car, I'd dodged so much cowshit that I thought I was in a field of landmines. As they say in radio, it was paying your dues.

At SF State I saw a flyer announcing that Curtis Mayfield would be performing in a small theater in the student union. I immediately bought a ticket. The girl I was dating was younger than I was--Curtis who, she asked.

I remember when I was a kid. My uncles and father used to hang out listening to records. My father had about a thousand albums and loved to sing. He and my uncles would sing with the records, hitting the highs, lows and in-betweens. They had a singing group called "The Brothers of Minority". My uncles were like the United Nations--one looked black, the other Chinese, the other, Chicano--they were a cross section of the people of color in San Francisco gentrified out of the Fillmore. My family was gentrified. They never lost their music.

I got to the small theater that was half-filled. I thought, how could this so? Curtis Mayfield is a legend, a man whose music inspired young people, the civil rights and anti-war movements. Anything less than standing room only seemed insulting. I sat down and he came out. He greeted the audience. He picked up his guitar and started playing,accompanied by a pianist. It was part music, part Q & A. One audience member asked, "Curtis, where have you been?" Curtis just shook his head and said that just because you're not recording, doesn't mean that life doesn't go on--that he'd been busy with other things, like everybody else.

He played his songs. It was the soundtrack of my Uncles lives. He played Gypsy Woman, the song about a lovely woman in motion, with hair as "dark as night", and eyes like a "cat in the dark". He stopped occasionally to speak to the audience. I wanted to ask him something but my mind went blank. I requested a song. "Can you play, I'm so proud?" I asked. He played it and I sat thinking of all the girls I liked that I never had the courage to talk to.

Prettier than all the world

And I'm so proud

I'm so proud, I'm so proud of you

Curtis Mayfield recorded the song, "People Get Ready" in 1965. Hearing it reminds me of my Uncle Anthony. Uncle Anthony is a street minister. You might have seen him on Market Street donning a black hat and bright red sweatshirt. He gives out tracts with a message--a message that breathes the lyrics of Curtis Mayfield.

There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner

Who would hurt all mankind just to save his own

Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner

For there's no hiding place against the kingdom's throne

My street minister uncle reaches out to the players, the pimps and those in the life. I see him at times--times that I need him most. He appears--telling me the little things I worry about ain't nothing, that I have to get ready for the lord. He says that God doesn't differentiate between a person's color. "Let me ask you this", he says, "When you die and meet God, do you think he's gonna ask you what color you was down there? He always makes me laugh but his insights make me think. "I'm working for the lord now
, he says. "It may not pay much but the retirement plan is out of this world".

I sometimes think of the words of a Filipino minister that I heard one Sunday morning. "God is an equal opportunity lover", he said.

A little more than a year after that intimate performance by Curtis Mayfield I learned that he had been involved in a tragic accident. While on stage in New York, the wind blew down a utility pole, which struck Curtis on stage. He became paralyzed as a result. Regardless, he went on performing--releasing the critically acclaimed, "New World Order" album in 1999.

I walk through the gentrified streets and I'm sad. I see my city dying but if you look close enough, you can see life--a spark. The writer Charles Bukowski once wrote, "Keep a little bit for yourself, a spark. One spark can set a whole forest ablaze".

People get ready is a universal message that honors the creator. It honors the blood and bones creation in us held together in poetry and ancestral voices reaching far into the soul waiting to breathe and praise the goodness in us as the sun beats its pulse upon our chests.

The world has gone crazy and in this inching towards insanity there is pause. It is given in the pages of a book, the sound of a trumpet in the Bart Station, the tap dancer tapping stories on pavement and in the words of songs.

People get ready is a song that gives you hope. In it you'll hear the voices of your grandmothers and grandfathers and their grandfathers and grandmothers. It will take you back to interdependence--mother, father and daughter and son and neighbor and creator. The way it was meant.

All you need

Is faith to hear

The diesels hummin

Don't

Need no ticket

You just thank

The lord

by Vivian Hain/PNN poverty scholar in residence and welfareQUEEN

As a welfare QUEEN and superbabymama, I have overcome unbelievable obstacles in my life on many levels--rising up from houselessness and domestic violence to recently earning my B.A. I've successfully completed four years in formal institutions of learning after having to fight the welfare department for my right to be there while living in poverty with the help of LIFETIME (Low-Income Families Empowerment Through Education). I didn't realize that I would have to fight for my right in having the true ability to properly transition off of welfare

Having graduated with my B.A. in Public Policy in December 2007, I felt it was time to begin planning for my future in a way that would help me to get to the next level in my life--which would open new doors of opportunity for me. Though I have still been attending community college, taking courses that would update my present skills in multimedia, I was also working at the college as a part-time teacher's aide, so that I could gradually transition off welfare and into the workforce. As a very low-income single parent with children, transitioning off welfare is very hard, especially when the welfare department doesn't help parents who are trying to seek stable career opportunities. But, imagine all of a sudden, getting arbitrarily cut of!

In July 2008, when the welfare department decided to kick me off welfare, instead of sending me the new version of the official forms I needed to give to my doctor so that I could continue receiving care, the welfare department arbitrarily cut me off without advance notice. It is illegal to cut anyone off of public assistance without advance notice. This created extreme financial hardship for my family and me. It also caused me to get behind on my PG&E bill. For more than two weeks I was not able to contact anyone who I needed to talk to regarding my case and the fact that they had cut me illegally off welfare. Immediately, LIFETIME was on the case, advising me to file an appeal and, as my authorized representatives,, tirelessly attempted to contact the Alameda County of Social Services, only to get no response for days�

The next month was nearing and still LIFETIME or myself were not able to reach anyone to discuss my case. So, as my last resort with the help and advice of LIFETIME, I went to my County District Supervisor Keith Carson's office to make a formal complaint on what was happening to me and how everyone at the welfare department had literally dropped the ball regarding my case. I met with County Supervisor Keith Carson's Legislative Aide Aisha Brown. She sat down with me and listened to everything I told her as she took notes. She also asked me for all of the names of my social workers and their supervisors and told me that she would make some phone calls to find out why they did what they did to me.

Before I knew it, she made a single phone call to the welfare office and within fifteen minutes of leaving County Supervisor Carson's Office, I got a phone call from Ms. Brown, telling me that my cash-aid should be reinstated within minutes. She told me that if I had any problems with receiving my welfare benefits to contact her immediately. I was so relieved! This took a massive weight off of my shoulders that had been on me for a month! I am very thankful to LIFETIME for their help and to County Supervisor Keith Carson's office and to his Legislative Aide Aisha Brown for getting me my welfare benefits. "No family should ever have to go through what I went through, yet it is good to know that we have true allies out there who will bat for us."

by tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia/PNN

Thousands of families, children, and elders in poverty are barely subsisting in this country, while thousands of others are struggling to stay housed after having their houses foreclosed on, their welfare subsidies timed out(ended) and their food stamps cut off, if we were given even one billion of the 700 billion dollar bailout, that was approved by congress, we could bring hundreds of families permanently out of poverty and into economic stability.

This is an excerpt from a press advisory released last week by POOR Magazine. I made this statement as a formerly houseless and currently very poor mother. I made this statement as a director of an organization that works on visionary and real solutions to poverty. I made this statement as a resident of a country who consistently pits the poor against the poorer and decides with impunity who is deserving versus underserving of aid.

It was noted many times last week, even by so-called moderates and conservatives in casual conversation that capitalism doesn't work. Mothers, fathers and individuals in poverty have been knowing that for years. It was also noted on BBC radio (one of the few places where one can actually hear truth-media) that other countries across the globe know this but that the way they implement so-called socialism is not by saving multi-million dollar corporations in need, but rather, by setting up guaranteed housing, health care and services for their neediest citizens.

As poor people who have struggled to survive and sometimes even thrive, we have developed, through lived scholarship, logical solutions to poverty and economic instability, lasting solutions that we have figured out through our own experiences. One of our ideas include a sweat equity co-housing model that provides permanent housing, micro-business opportunities, arts education and a multi-generational, multi-lingual school for houseless families. The interesting thing is each of these models only costs 2.5 million dollars.

Once again this is a flagrant example of who is trusted with money, whose ideas are considered legitimate and whose requests for help are even listened to.

As Congress and the Senate pondered the extremely expensive corporate bailout, poor people across the nation watched in disbelief. Shelters are closing, state budgets are being slashed, services for the poor are being closed and peoples homes are being lost to foreclosures. Meanwhile economic justice advocates have been begging, pleading and requesting support for years, and our requests are continually referred to as special interests, handouts or too much government.

Finally, the saddest aspect of this odd experience is the overt example of the deserving versus undeserving mindset that informs U.S. service and resource allocation. When poor people ask for help, we are called bums, stupid, lazy and/or blamed for what got us into poverty. When the high profile panhandlers of Wall street and beyond came up with this insane corporate welfare plan, they weren't laughed at or called names for all their deadly mistakes with our tax dollars or questioned about their corporate scams that set up the average homebuyer to fail with overpriced interest rates. No, instead they were rewarded for their innovation and given 700 billion dollars.

by Leroy Moore/PNN

What did the all women in the Hip-Hop group, Salt-N-Pepa, say in 1991? "Lets Talk About Sex". Well people with disabilities today in 2008 are not only talking about sex and sexuality, they are politicizing it, shaping it in their own voice, image and performance!

For the last three years the Bay Area has been the stage of a new cultural revolution by disabled artists/activists who are of color, queer/trans around embodiment and disability, what we call Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility or for short just Sins Invalid.

This annual performance will be undressing itself at the BRAVA Theater in the Mission District of San Francisco September 5th and 6th 2008 at 8pm.

Hold up, lets pull the curtains back to reveal a brief history of Sins Invalid and what you will be witnessing on September 5th and 6th at the Brava Theater. The combination of friendship, art and food is and has been a powerful starting point for some amazing ideals that grew into events, activism, movements and organizations.

Two years ago, in 2006, this combination was in the air when Patty Berne and Leroy F. Moore Jr. were hanging out. Two friends who share a lot in common, both persons with a disability, both of color, both community activists, both artists and both questioned why there wasn't an artistic/political stage in the Bay Area cultural arena for people who shared our identities and politics. We put down our forks and started to examine our his/herstory in activism and art realizing that our portfolios were full with DVDs, poetry notebooks and a long list of successful community organizing events, some hot and sexy and some political cultural work.

What happens when you question authority? Well, sometimes you find out that there is a need to be filled. With all of our work in the community, we knew that a craving for a cultural/political event was bubbling in the Bay Area. Patty and I gathered with friends to show our videos and talk about the disability rights movement, and how we as people of color and queer/gender queer can make our voices and art heard and seen in all communities, with a message that all bodies are beautiful. This vision was blown up when I put what my mother taught me, networking , to work. We, Patty and I formed a partnership with the founders, Todd Herman and Amanda Coslor of The Dancing Tree, a non-profit alliance of visual and performing artists seeking to facilitate, develop, perform, document and publish the stories of underrepresented people around the world, and launched a revolutionary series - Sins Invalid: Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility was born.

Since 2006, the first Sins Invalid show at BRAVA Theater, Sins Invalid has grown from a one day film event with local artists with disabilities, to year round programming with our multidisciplinary performance base workshops, political/cultural presentations at conferences, local colleges/universities, non-profit organizations and collaboration with national and local organizations, to international artists with disabilities. Sins Invalid is now a two day annual event with the future goal of touring. Sins Invalid grew not only in artists but also in staff, tech team and our community.

In past years, Sins Invalid found artists by putting out a call locally, nationally and globally and got back some amazing art in all forms; videos, spoken word, visual, music and the list goes on. This year, 2008, we had a chance to build on a part of our vision and that was mixing our cultural art with our politics and organizing skills. We did this by selecting a group of artists from previous years and built a community of sharing our political views around sexuality, disability and our identities/culture. What you will see on September 5th and 6th at the BRAVA Theater in San Francisco is not only artistic beauty but a year long community building that took place within Sins Invalid's performe's core uncovering our struggles, personal stories of society's attitudes towards us, experiences of institutional practice, that led to our healing and reclaiming our strength, voice, sexuality, community. All of this will be on the BRAVA stage through dance by Rodney Bell, a Maori male dancer from New Zealand, performs aerial dance in his wheelchair in celebration of the body. Maria Palacios, a Latina poet, performs her acclaimed spoken word piece about forbidden love (Maria, Full of Sin) and also transforms herself from crippled girl into a goddess (in Testimony). These pieces, along with original works by Patty Berne of Oakland, Noemi Sohn, Seeley Quest, Leroy F. Moore Jr. and Nomy Lamm are simultaneously erotic, tender, and fierce to name a few.

So here we are, "Sins Invalid", ready to pull back the curtains again to display what is a part of life and that is our sexuality, political thought, art and expression as people with disabilities. This offering is for our communities, love ones, supporters, families, allies, media, professionals, politicians, artists, activists, lovers and yes strangers.

Patty Berne, Artistic Director of SINS INVALID, describes this performance event as "a healing for all who challenge themselves honestly when unearthing their sexual expression. SINS INVALID recognizes that we will be liberated as whole beings as disabled/as queer/as brown/as black/as genderqueer/as female or male bodied as we are far greater whole than partitioned. Our stories, embedded in analysis, offer paths from identity politics to unity amongst all oppressed people, laying a foundation for a collective claim of liberation and beauty."

The third annual SINS INVALID: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility will be performed on Friday and Saturday, September 5-6 at 8pm at Brava Theater (2789 -24th Street, San Francisco). The performances are wheelchair accessible and ASL interpreted. Tickets are affordably priced at $15 sliding scale. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. You can buy tickets in advance at www. brownpapertickets.com or at the door. PUBLIC INFORMATION: (510) 689-7198 or sinsinvalid.org

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the content of the program, this show contains nudity and explicit content. It is appropriate for ages 18 and up. SINS INVALID: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility is made possible by grants from the AEPOCH Fund, Cultural Equity Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Astraea Foundation.

By Leroy F. Moore Jr.
Co\Founder, Community Relation Director and Performer of Sins Invalid.

www.sinsinvalid.org
sinsinvalid07@yahoo.com
blackkrip@gmail.com

by RAM/ PNN Race and Poverty scholar

I have lived with formerly incarcerated people who tried to get clean and their lives on track without the prison industrial complex holding them back. I know from personal experience how it separates families and prevents us from raising our own kids who end up in the clutches of child protective services (CPS)--leading to the revolving door of juvenile hall, county jail and ultimately prison.

I grew up with addicted parents. I was the victim of their addiction and domestic violence. After they separated, police raids and sexual pressures put upon my single mother pressured me to leave the house at age 11. I left to better my condition and be an example to my little sister--who was born a week after my 10th birthday. I wanted to go to school in a better district so that my sister would follow my example and strive for a better education instead of handing out in the hood and doing hood things. I had no summer vacations--I changed diapers, fed her, took her to doctors appointments and cared for her everyday after school.

My father passed when I was 16, leading to my mother's decision to get clean. I decided to venture into heavy drug use and alcoholism. While she was getting clean, I was getting dirty, which lasted 8 years. I had my first daughter at 22. When she was 3 I entered my first program (Walden House) of my own recognizance. I was 25.

Recovery is a lifetime goal that I'm still struggling with. Going to meetings, changing my crowd, living in a residential treatment facility where you can't get drug and making the decision to get clean I changed the people, places and things in my life.

My first time at Walden House was a 2-week stay; the second, 3 months; the third, 10 ½ months. I was housed in the same room as my mom who graduated in 1996. The third stay gave me enough time to let it soak in instead of simply biding time. My kids drove me to get clean, but living with my mother--a drug counselor--is my motivation to stay clean.

I am personally in support of proposition 5 because it takes the government out of raising our kids. Since I made the decision to get counseling, my kids have a better chance of going from preschool to school and then to work instead of the preschool to prison pipeline. I believe we need to get rid of the prison industrial complex--it just doesn't work.

A quick glance at California's prison industrial complex reveals the preferred method of dealing with people struggling with drug addiction: incarceration, incarceration, and incarceration. Prop 5 is on the November ballot. It puts forth a lasting solution to replace mindless incarceration of people who need help with drug addiction.

Prop 5 will reduce criminal consequences of non-violent drug offenses by mandating a three-tiered probation with treatment and will provide for case dismissal and/or the sealing of records probation; it will limit court authority to incarcerate offenders who violate probation or parole, shorten parole for most drug offenses, including sales. It will create numerous divisions, boards, commissions and reporting requirements regarding drug treatment and rehabilitation. Prop 5 emphasizes treatment,not punishment as a solution to drug addiction and seeks to expand and increase funding and oversight for individualized treatment and rehabilitation programs for non-violent drug offenders and parolees.

by Catherine Limcaco/POOR Magazine Race, Poverty and Media Justice Intern

"We want to remove their faces", proclaimed Quanah Brightman. Quanah was of one of the many activists in attendance at the Mount Rushmore Reunion that took place on August 29th 2008 in South Dakota. As people commemorate and remember the land that Mount Rushmore covers, it is surprising that many do not know another silenced story about the mountain: Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincon, Theodore Roosevelt , and George Washington have nothing to do with it.

In many historic accounts that range from the Great Plagues to 9/11, each record is written and then distributed by a publisher. Each publisher upholds different standards and criteria when choosing what events are important for the public to know and what events should be forgotten or in many cases, buried. If only people read between the lines in those history books.

The Hearst Family is one of those families that represent the closest thing the U.S. has to corporate royalty in this country. William Randolph Hearst was the forefather of the white-owned, rich-people controlled newspaper industry and his great granddaughter Patty known for her scandalous run-in with the law. The man behind the legacy is George Hearst--a man devoted to discovering (colonizing) the best mines in the country as well as investing (stealing) from the most profitable land. George Hearst was not only able to provide a future of wealth and privilege for his family, but he gave the U.S. a memento that would stand the test of time.

On August 29, 1970, the Sioux peoples and many supporters made the mark on Mount Rushmore, an iconic landmark in the United States provided by George Hearst. The Black Hills is a sacred site that is significant to the Sioux culture. In fact, the area that Mount Rushmore inhabits is sacred to the Sioux. In an effort to take back their land, the Sioux stabbed their flag reading "SIOUX INDIAN POWER" into the heart of Mount Rushmore. Within moments, many--especially the media--were attacking the Sioux for "disrespecting" a monument so powerful as Mount Rushmore.

Unfortunately, the media didn't know better as well. The Hearst Family were pioneers in the corporate news industry at the time; could it be that they prevented the REAL story from coming out?

"This is a national movement for the public," says Linda Roberts, of United Native Americans Inc. As a Chickanmauga Cherokee, Linda is an example that this problem just doesn't affect the Sioux people. Linda says, "All Native people, we are all responsible for protecting these resources." The 2008 event also acted as a memorial to women like Linda, women of the red power movement.

The published history of Mount Rushmore disguises the true story of the Black Hills. When George Hearst purchased the mine under the Black Hills, he devoured all it represents and the gold that could be found there. George Hearst was not the only one at fault; the government has their hand in this invasion signing a document entitled The Fort Laramie Treaty which they never honored.

An excerpt from the Fort Laramie Treaty

ARTICLE I.

From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall forever cease. The government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it.

And the government know they did it too. The Sioux people were offered 600 million dollars by the federal government, but they refused claiming that the land is sacred and not for sale.

How did "the heart of everything" that the Sioux represents become a "National shrine of Democracy?" The silenced story reads more like a mockery of Democracy.

by Daily Newswire Service

LOS ANGELES -- City officials and residents gathered at a memorial service Saturday for a homeless man doused with gasoline and set on fire.

John Robert McGraham, 55, died October 9 when he was set on fire near Third Street and New Hampshire Avenue.

Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge told the crowd at Immanuel Presbyterian Church that McGraham was mentally ill and living on the streets, but remembered as a simple but peaceful man.

"In the case of John and all of the homeless, we must encourage all of our leaders to work on the issue of mental illness," LaBonge said. "I know that we'll always keep John in our hearts."

During the service, a projector showed pictures of McGraham's family, and shots of him as a baby and young boy. The last photo showed him with his hair uncut, fully bearded, wearing a battered coat, shirt and shoes.

Presiding pastor Rev. Frank M. Alton, officiated the services, which included a translator for a largely Latino crowd on the second floor of the church.

"We thought he was alone," said his sister, Sharon McGraham. "It is so wonderful to be loved. Thank you so much."

The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote next week to offer a $75,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever is responsible for the crime.

At a news conference Friday, police and McGraham's relatives asked for the public's help in finding two men believed to be responsible for the killing.

LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck called McGraham's death "a crime that should shock every man, woman and child in the city of Los Angeles."

Witnesses say two men, in their mid- to late-20s, jumped out of a late-model tan or gold car, possibly a Honda, and poured gasoline on McGraham before setting him on fire, Beck said.

The men bought a red gas can and filled it at a station in the area, Beck said. Police have yet to find surveillance video that would help identify the killers.

The man, who once worked at the former Ambassador Hotel nearby, lived on the streets for years, where his sisters brought him food and money.

Susanne McGraham-Paisley said her brother was a peaceful person who avoided trouble.

"This is a guy who never hurt anybody," she said.

Sharon McGraham choked back tears as she described her brother as sweet and good-hearted.

"He was just so precious. He was such a sweetheart," Sharon McGraham said.

by Tony Robles/PNN

The Chronicle recently ran an article whose headline read, "Black population deserting SF". To me, a 4th generation San Francisco native, San Francisco has deserted its black population. The city is losing its heart. Its soul cries.

I attended a hearing at the SF Board of Supervisors regarding the black exodus from San Francisco. I arrived while another agenda item was being heard. I walked through the chamber past beautiful Muslim women with their children, black men in suits and ties. They looked as if they'd been waiting…and waiting. Their silence said it all.

The black community is the heart of San Francisco. I recall going to a café for a cup of coffee not long ago. It was in a neighborhood undergoing gentrification. On the walls were pictures of great jazz and blues singers of the past. The voice of Billie Holiday came through the overhead speaker. I looked around—no black people to be seen, just gentrifiers drinking coffee.

The item being discussed was about the SF zoo. The mostly white folks in attendance spoke passionately about whether the zoo should be changed to a zoo strictly for "rescue" animals who have been liberated from roadside zoos and the like. "I was born in a land where animals were free", said a lone man of color speaking on the issue. "I believe in freedom, animals should roam freely". When the agenda item ended, the zoo docents and other advocates left in exodus. The chamber was noticeably less crowded. I looked around at the faces—still black, still waiting.

Our item was item #11: The dwindling African-American population in San Francisco. A representative from the San Francisco Redevelopment agency presented the findings of the "African-American Out-migration task force" put together by the mayor's office last year. The purpose - to find ways to stem the tide of out-migration of the black community.

I listened as the nicely dressed African-American man from the Redevelopment Agency asserted that the black exodus in San Francisco is more pronounced here than in any other city in the country. I sat thinking that it is ironic that a man from an agency that has done more to cause the black exodus would be the one presenting the findings of what that agency has sown.

"I wanted to have this hearing 7 years ago but felt that politically I couldn’t have it. But now I can" said Supervisor Chris Daly, facing an audience eager to speak. The Supervisor cited many causes for the exodus, including lack of educational, social and cultural opportunities, housing affordability, environmental injustice and the epidemic of violence.

Looming heavy in the air of the chambers was the subject of Lennar Corporation and the environmental justice concerns of Bayview Hunter's Point that have gone unaddressed. Figures and statistics were given indicating that 45 % of the black population in San Francisco have been exposed to asbestos. Lennar Corporation spent over 4 million dollars to pass Prop G, a major housing development at the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point. Residents know it for what it is - a land grab - with the city giving 720 acres of land to Lennar. The result has been 250 eviction notices to residents of Bayview Hunters Point.

Fred Blackwell, head of the Redevelopment agency, presented the numbers. The black population in 2000 was 54,000. In 2005 there were 46,000 blacks in the city. "That’s not enough to fill Candlestick Park" he said as the audience sat patiently. The bottom line - all other ethnic groups increased in population while the black population decreased.

A paralegal from Hunter's view cited the San Francisco Housing Authority's role in contributing to the exodus with it's Grannie Evictions - the practice of evicting grandmothers for the deeds of a grandchild.

Aileen Hernandez, chair of the task force expressed frustration at the process. This is a city that has a problem with discrimination. Task forces are put together but often times not paid attention to. We can put out 10 more reports but if we have no vision, we have nothing.

A resident from Bayview Hunter's Point concurred. "This is an emergency situation. There should be emergency hearings. If you want a problem to go away, study it to death. 6 months later people will forget about it and we'll be back to business".

The final report and its recommendations will be presented to the board of supervisors within the month.

by Jesse Muhammad/Final Call

On Saturday, October 4, I received a serious phone call from Krystal
Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP) in regards to a possible
dragging death in Paris, Texas which is located about five hours north of
Houston. The first thing that immediately came to my mind was that 2008 is
the tenth anniversary of the lynching of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.
Liken unto that case, the victim in Paris was said to be a 24-year-old
Black man and his killers were two White men.

I immediately Googled the town and saw that there were only a handful of
media outlets that had covered the story which involved Brandon McClelland
and these two White males. One reason possibly that there was hardly any
coverage was that this killing took place on September 16, which was the
tail end of Hurricane Ike hitting landfall so I am sure the town officials
were hoping this would be swept under the rug. Too bad, because the Final
Call is on top of it!

Sister Krystle told me that members of the NBPP Dallas Chapter were on the
grounds already to meet with the family. So myself, Sis Krystle and my
older brother Deric Muhammad hit the road on Sunday, October 5 to do some
on the grounds work to see what really happened.

After a five hour drive, we arrived in the 'hood of Paris. We then
caravaned over to the home of the McClelland family where Brandon's mother
sat on the porch with tears in her eyes. Ms. Jacqueline McClelland and her
family gave recorded statements to me for my Final Call story as well as
the NBPP for an independent investigation. We were also joined by local
activists, a head of the State NAACP chapter and other friends of the
family.

After hearing their accounts, it was verified that her son was dragged on
the back of a pickup truck by these two White males and his body was
dismembered. Jasper all over again. Afterwards we drove over to the grave
site.

We then went to the scene of the crime in Lamar County. You would not
believe that parts of that Brandon McClelland's skull was still out there
on the ground! Shows how much the police cared. It was like an episode of
CSI:NY with blood tracks up and down the road and tire marks chased by the
blood trails. This was one of the most painful stories I have had to cover
in person.

"They tied my son to that truck and dragged him until his body parts were
detached", said his mother Jacqueline McClelland to the Final Call. "His
body was so destroyed that it could not even be embalmed by the funeral
home. This is a hate crime. I don't want the death penalty for these
killers because that would be too quick. I want them to suffer for life in
jail without parole since I will never have my son back".

Read my entire story in next week's edition of the Final Call Newspaper

>

by Guillermo Gonzalez/PNN & Diane Macasa/ISO

for english scroll down

los captores de esclavos del siglo 21 Guillermo Gonzalez de POOR Magazine y Diana Macasa de la Organizacion Internacional Socialista dan el reporte de sobre los Derechos de Inmigrantes.

RICHMOND-"El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue"� - Mas de doscientos cincuenta residentes de cinco condados incluiendo Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, Alameda cantaron en unidad - "El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue" - para poner en marcha la Junta del Pueblo de la Area de la Bahia sobre los derechos de inmigrantes en Richmond el sabado, 6 de Septiembre. Organizaciones de la comunidad de la Bahia entraron como pudieran a una cafeteria pequena y llena de gente para expresar nuestra oposicion al continuado hostigamiento de trabajadores inmigrantes por parte de la policia de Inmigracion y Aduanas (ICE). Ramon Cardona abrio el foro para la discusion exigiendo, "Paren las redadas, no mas paros policiacos descriminatorio a las familias inmigrantes, den identificacion municipal a todos los residentes de la Bahia, y queremos que California se convierta en un estado santuario que defiende y vela por el cumplimiento de derechos para todos ". Todo la gente por unanimidad declaro que la Area de la Bahia se encuentra en un estado de emergencia para los trabajadores inmigrantes y sus familias.

Este estado de emergencia viene de las redadas de ICE que en los ultimos meses en la Area de la Bahia ha resultado en la detencion de mas de 400 trabajadores inocentes. Nuestra gente trabaja por menos del salario minimo, pagan sus impuestos, no tienen un record criminal aun son llamados delincuentes por un sistema que se beneficia de su mano de obra barata y en ultima instancia, son culpados por la crisis economica. No solo es evidente en la A�rea de la Bahia donde los residentes estan muy politizados y organizaciones expresan su oposicion a esta injusticia, pero es una tendencia nacional que afectan a areas como Postville, Iowa y Laurel, Mississippi, donde poco apoyo politico para los inmigrantes existia antes de los ataques terroristas realizados por el ICE en las fabricas este ano adonde mas de 1000 trabajadores petrificados fueron arrestados. Estos ataques no estan detras de nosotros, ellos continuaran como las recientes incursiones de el distrito de Bayview en SF y la pequena ciudad de Arcada han demostrado, y continuaran en todo el pais a menos que se exige el cambio en inmediato.

En la manana de miercoles 3 de septiembre, una madre en el distrito de la Mision en SF vio a sus dos hijos siendo arrestados por ICE ilegalmente e injustamente aunque ella mostro a los oficiales documentos oficiales que acreditaban que sus condiciones de residencia se encontraban pendiente. Esta fue una de las muchas historias que se compartieron en la reunion que describe el estado de panico en que los inmigrantes viven a diario. Feliciano, un trabajador afectado por las redadas en las taquerias de El Balazo el 2 de mayo, describe los efectos de la violencia de ICE que afecta a toda su familia negandole el derecho a trabajar y proporcionar un ingreso estable para su hijo que sufre de cancer terminal. La historia de Feliciano y muchas otras historias donde los arrestos de ICE inmovilizan los proveedores principales de ingresos de una familia crean un sentimiento de desesperanza en la familia y la comunidad; un sentimiento de obstaculos ineludibles y destruyen las posibilidades de superar y sobrevivir, un sentimiento que solo podria ser provocado por el genocidio intencional de una comunidad. Despues de escuchar estas historias, las exigencias de la reunion estan justificadas y aclaran por que estas exigencias deben cumplirse inmediatamente-- los derechos humanos de trabajadores migrantes no deben ser un punto de discurso y conflicto entre la izquierda y la derecha. Todo ser humano merece vivir con dignidad. Este fue el mensaje a los politicos en la reunion.

Phil Hutchings de la Alianza AfroAmericana para Inmigracion Justa afirmo a todos los presentes en la reunion, "ICE son los captores de esclavos del siglo 21!" Y Gloria Esteva de Voces de Inmigrantes en Resistencia de POOR Magazine exclamo, "Nosotros somos los trabajadores que se les paga nada a hacer mas ricos a los ricos!" Estas injusticias no son desconocidas, sin embargo, las demandas simples de la reunion aun no se han aplicado: un alto a las redadas violentas de inmigracion que destruyen comunidades enteras, un alto a la policia discriminando contra los conductores latinos, IDs municipales para todos, y lo que es mas importante, hacer California un estado santuario. Los politicos escucharon, pero sin una voz constante de descontento y oposicion agresiva expresada por la comunidad, no habra presion para cumplir con estas exigencias. La Reunion de Richmond unio activistas de la comunidad, un gran numero de organizaciones de derechos de inmigrantes y los trabajadores migrantes que han sido directamente afectados por la violencia de ICE, pero para que nuestras exigencias sean cumplidas el impulso debe prevaler y debemos permanecer unidos y continuar la lucha y ganar la amnistia para todos los inmigrantes. "El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue!�

RICHMOND- "El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue"--"The people live on, the struggle lives on." Over Two hundred and fifty concerned residents of over five counties including Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Alameda chant in unity-- "El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue"-- to kick off the Bay Area Town Hall Meeting on Immigrant Rights in Richmond on Saturday, September 6. A number of Bay Area community organizations cramped a small cafeteria to voice our opposition to the continual harassment of immigrant workers by the police and Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ramon Cardona opened the forum for discussion by demanding, "Stop the raids, stop police checkpoints that target immigrant families, give every resident of the Bay Area a municipal ID, and we want California to become a sanctuary state that upholds and enforces rights for everyone." Everyone unanimously declared that the Bay Area is in a state of emergency for immigrant workers and their families. This state of emergency derives from the trend of ICE raids within recent months in the Bay Area that has resulted in the arrests of over 400 innocent workers. Workers that work for less than minimum wage, pay their taxes, have no criminal record yet are criminalized by a system that benefits from their cheap labor and are ultimately used as scapegoats for the current economic crisis.

Not only is this evident in the Bay Area where residents are highly politicized and organizations express their opposition to this injustice, but it is a national trend affecting areas like Postville, Iowa and Laurel, Mississippi where little political support for immigrants existed prior to the terrorist attacks conducted by ICE in the factories this year where over 1,000 petrified workers were arrested.

These attacks are not behind us, they will continue as the recent raids of the Bayview district of SF and the small town of Arcada have proven, and will continue nationwide unless change is demanded immediately.

On the morning of Wednesday September 3, a mother in the Mission district in SF witnessed in horrific shock the illegal and unjust arrests of her two sons by ICE even as she showed the officers legal documents proving that their immigration status was pending. This was one of the many stories that was shared at the Town Hall meeting that depicted the state of panic that immigrants experience daily.

Feliciano, a worker affected by the El Balazo Taqueria raids on May 2nd, depicted the effects of the violence of ICE perpetrated on his entire family by denying him the right to work and to provide a steady income for a son suffering from terminal cancer. The story of Feliciano and many other stories where ICE arrests immobilize the main income providers of a family create a feeling of hopelessness within the family and community; a feeling of inescapable, unbeatable odds to overcome and survive, a feeling that could only be brought about by the intentional genocide of a community.

After hearing these stories, the Town Hall demands are justified and clarify why these demands need to be met immediately. The human rights of migrant workers should not be a point of discussion and conflict between the left and the right. Every human being deserves to live with dignity. This was the message to the politicians at the Town Hall meeting.

Phil Hutchings from Black Alliance for Just Immigration asserted to everyone present at the town hall meeting that, "ICE are the 21st century slave catchers!" and Gloria Esteva from the Voces de Inmigrantes en Resistencia program at POOR Magazine further exclaimed, "We are the workers that get paid nothing to make the rich richer!" These injustices are not unknown, yet the simple demands of the Town Hall meeting have yet to be implemented: stop violent immigration raids that destroy entire communities, stop police checkpoints that target Latino drivers, issue municipal ids for all, and most importantly, make California a sanctuary state.

The politicians listened, but without a constant voice of discontent and aggressive opposition being expressed from the community, there will be no pressure for them to follow through on these demands.

The Richmond Town Hall Meeting united community activists, a large number of immigrant rights organizations, and migrant workers who have been directly impacted by the violence of ICE raids, but in order for our demands to be met the momentum must prevale and we must stay united and continue the struggle and win amnesty for all immigrants. "El pueblo vive, la lucha sigue"--"The people live on, the struggle lives on."

by Tony Robles/PNN

In his autobiographical novel Ham on Rye the poet Charles Bukowski described ROTC:

ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) was for the misfits. Like I said, it was either that or gym. I would have taken gym but I didn't want people to see the boils on my back. There was something wrong with everybody enrolled in R.O.T.C. It almost entirely consisted of guys who didn't like sports or guys whose parents forced them to take R.O.T.C. because they thought it was patriotic. They parents of rich kids tended to be more patriotic because they had more to lose if the country went under.

It was 1981. I was boarding the 18 Sloat bus when the driver said to me, "Rotten old tomato cans?" I looked at the driver. "Huh?" I said. He laughed and said; "R.O.T.C. stands for rotten old tomato cans". I smiled, paid my fare and went to the back of the bus. I looked at my R.O.T.C. uniform, the drab color of it contrasting with the vivid green and yellow leaves on the trees in passing. I ran my fingers over the brass buttons I'd vigorously shined with brasso polish the night before. I remember my father calling it a monkey suit and how I was a fool for wearing it. I remember struggling to tie my tie. I remember the way it hung around my neck like a noose made of a wet noodle. I rode to school.

I wasn't a patriot--I didn't like the idea of the military. To me the military was behind the massacres of native peoples and the stealing of indigenous lands. I had relatives who'd served in the military--an uncle who served in the Philippines in WWII and a cousin who served in Vietnam. They left one way and returned another. My father looked at my J.R.O.T.C. (Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps) uniform and at me in disgust. Dad may have been born in the US, but was Pilipino to the bone. He didn't graduate from high school. He knew more.

To be honest, the reason I got into J.R.O.T.C. was that it was an alternative to PE. I had acquired a fascination with girls and spent many hours on my Afro--dousing my fuzzy head of hair with products such as Afro sheen and Murray's pomade. Going to PE meant getting my hair messed up. Hell if I was going to do that. I had to look good for the girls. The asthetic beauty of my hair could not be compromised--no, never.

The folks I encountered in J.R.O.T.C were, as Bukowski said, misfits. Some were in it for the same reason I was--to keep their hair looking good. But an ironic thing transpired--I was promoted from a buck private cadet to staff sergeant/platoon leader because I was very proficient at marching drills and could get the entire group of misfits to stay in perfect formation. I was even a decent shot on the firing range.

I remember my platoon leader on the day John Wayne died. "He was a great man, a great man", he said. I couldn't think of any great things John Wayne had done--movies included but I stayed quiet. My platoon leader must have known of the great things accomplished by "The Duke".

One day the military recruiters came in. They talked about military service and how we could acquire money for college and marketable skills when we got into the "real" world. They showed us a film that seemed like a travelogue. We saw military men eating and laughing and having fun overseas. When I suggested that the films weren't giving the true story, a recruiter responded by saying there was nothing wrong with having fun after you work--that they were merely showing that side of it. "Don't you have fun after you work?" they asked. I didn't have a job.

All of this brings me to PROP V on the November ballot. San Francisco eliminated JROTC in 2006 after nearly 60% of San Franciscans voted in 2005 to eliminate military recruiters from schools. The proponents of Prop V deny that it is a recruitment program and are injecting big money to ensure its passage. The proponents say that J.R.O.T.C. promotes leadership and responsible behavior. Riva Enteen from the organization "No Military Recruitment in Our Schools" feels that the youth can focus their energy in better ways. "San Francisco needs a safety response plan in case of a major disaster. The youth could be trained as responders". Members of the San Francisco school board have called for such a program--calling it "student emergency response Volunteers". There is already a leadership development course with community service in place to provide a non-military alternative to JROTC".

I recently saw a picture of high school students walking door to door asking the community to support PROP V. I thought of the school arts programs that have been cut and of the displacement and gentrification in our neighborhoods and about elders in rooms. We need those young people's hands to not carry guns but to carry our elders fresh flowers; to guide them down flights of stairs. We need our youth to listen to the stories and songs and poetry of the ancestors and claim what is theirs. They need to hold hands with the elders and walk in the sun without the deafening noise of the blue angels to ruin it all.

Author's note:
To see a poem about my father and the military, go to www.tony-robles.com and click on links. The poem is "Brown boy on the 4th of July"

by Tony Robles/Co-editor

"Think of a Number", said Peter Johnson, the new millionaire buyer of the office building where POOR Magazine is located and now faces eviction. He was smooth -smooth like a snake; his voice, his demeanor, his bootstrap "rags to riches"story. He was smooth and authentic-seeming as he prodded co-editor and founder Tiny AKA Lisa Gray-Garcia and myself to think of a "number", i.e., the price of what it would cost for POOR to relocate our entire multilingual, multigenerational classroom and multi-media production center. At that moment, Tiny and myself were completely drawn into his story. What we later discovered was his cleverly woven web of lies and betrayal.

POOR Magazine is an indigenous organizing project. We practice eldership, true community, revolutionary journalism and truth journalism. We bring together silenced communities - mamas, elders, youths, migrant and indigenous folks whose voices are silenced in mainstream media. We are media producers and digital resisters. We do the work that needs to be done. We practice interdependence rather than separation. We do not practice poverty pimpology. As POOR Magazine's new co-editor, I am proud to say that we are true to our mission. We have not sold out. Now we are being evicted. And there is no "number" being offered to us, only eviction notices and threatening letters from lawyers.

POOR Magazine has called 1095 Market Street its home for the past 4 years. From our small offices we have produced our radio shows, our poor press books, our online magazine, our Welfare Queens theater production and provided community and professional development through our Race, Poverty and Media Justice Institute www.poormagazine.org/RPMJ/

Peter R. Johnson is a wealthy Australian whose fortune was earned through technology. He purchased 1095 Market Street for 2 million dollars in cash. His wife sits on the board of Larkin Street Youth Services. He says he cares about the youth of the community. His son Simon occasionally wears a knit sport-shirt with the Larkin Street logo as he saunters past the increasingly vacant offices at 1095 Market. Meanwhile, the youth at POOR's FAMILY project which provides arts and social justice education and advocacy are being evicted.

POOR has faced eviction before - a few years back by a previous owner - and through a collective effort with other tenants - was able to retain its offices. This time the eviction didn't just impact POOR, but many others in the building - including long term tenants whose tenancy extends more than a decade.

The tenants at 1095 Market contacted Chris Daly's office for help. In mid August we met at City Hall with the landlord and his son Simon Johnson, whose vise-like handshake said volumes. The Johnson's assured supervisor Daly and the tenants that they had the community's best interests at heart and that they would meet tenants individually to reach agreements beneficial to both parties.

The day Tiny and I met with the Johnson's we discussed the fact that we recognize and follow the UN Declaration on indigenous people - that we have a right to this land and a right not to be displaced. We also brought to the Johnson's attention that their home country, Australia, was one of 3 countries that did not sign the UN Declaration. Mr. Johnson indicated he was aware of the declaration and that his home country was not among the signatories.

Mr. Johnson informed us that we were going to have to move. We responded that displacement would be an extreme hardship on our organization - one that has very limited resources. Mr. Johnson assured us 3 months free rent and that we would meet again to discuss compensation that would make for the smoothest transition. He indicated that he would donate new computers to POOR and help us defray our relocation costs. We were told to go back and think about a "number" i.e., fair compensation to present to our next meeting.

That meeting never came. What we got instead was a notice of an Unlawful Detainer action. We have been helped by the Tenderloin Housing Clinic and Randy Shaw. They wrote Mr. Johnson, reminding him of his commitment to discussing fair compensation for POOR Magazine. What we received was a letter from his attorney denying all the specifics of our discussion.

POOR Magazine is an indigenous organizing project practicing eldership and interdependence. Ours is not an easy road. What we stand for is threatening to the corporate and non-profit colonizers who are in control. As long as we are dependent upon them for grants and operating space, we will be running like hamsters in a cage.

POOR Magazine has launched a Capital Campaign ( which we are re-naming an "equity campaign" ) called "Homefulness". Homefulness is permanent housing based on a sweat equity model - not based on how much money a person has or makes, but what they can contribute, be it art or maintenance work or teaching, child care,etc. Our dream is to permanently house 3-5 families, to have a space for a school, computer lab, and arts and performance cafe. Tiny at POOR Magazine already has created a template for homefulness at her current residence in the Mission. Homefulness works - and we want to use this blueprint to house and empower families. Bottom line, POOR Magazine needs a building. If you know of an available building or have suggestions on how we can obtain one, please contact us.

POOR Magazine needs your help. Any amount you can donate is appreciated. Donations can be made on line at www.poormagazine.org www.poormagazine.org. Or you can mail donations directly to:

POOR Magazine
1095 Market Street #307
San Francisco, CA 94103

by Tony Robles/PNN

Live it down

There’s a lot of us been pushed around

Red, yellow, black, white and brown

With a tear of their own

Can’t you see
While you’re pickin’ on society

That the leaves on your family tree

Are calling you to come home

"Keeper of the Castle"--The Four Tops

I remember sitting in my father’s chocolate colored Cutlass in 1972. Dad was a young father—handsome, a sharp dresser and a guy that didn’t take any crap—especially from his son. He owned what seemed to be 10 thousand record albums. We drove to my aunt’s house on 12th Ave when I heard the Four Tops’ “Keeper of the Castle” on the car radio (KDIA, "Lucky 13"). The song was about fatherhood: You’re the keeper of the Castle/So be a father to your children/The provider of all their daily needs/Like a sovereign lord protector/Be their destiny’s director/and they’ll do well to follow where you lead. I can't forget the powerful voice of Levi Stubbs on that record--a voice that told fathers to handle their business. My father had that album. The song meant something to him.

Program Director “JJ” of San Francisco’s KPOO (89.5 fm/www.Kpoo.Com) announced the death of Four Tops lead singer Levi Stubbs at age 72 during his afternoon show on October 17th . I was in my girlfriend’s beat up Volvo station wagon affectionately known as the “Hooptie Volvo” heading down Divisadero Street with a couple of Filipino poets when the news hit me. JJ dedicated his show to the memory of Levi Stubbs by playing “Baby I need your loving”. The poets were silent.

Levi Stubbs possessed one of the greatest voices of all time. When I reflect back on growing up, I always think of the music of the time. The music was truly the soundtrack of the poverty and indigenous scholarship I was blessed to have as a child. I would come home from school and my father would be listening to his record albums. Black music—jazz, rhythm and blues—was what he listened to. Without it I don’t know if my uncles or aunts—Filipinos with black/brown hearts, bellies, minds—would have survived.

Levi Stubbs was born Levi Stubbles in Detroit in 1936—the cousin of legendary R&B singer Jackie Wilson (www.jackiewilson.net). He and a group of friends formed The Four Aims in 1954—changing their name to the Four Tops in 1956. In 1963 the group signed with Motown Records. Levi Stubbs’ rich baritone was the lynchpin in a succession of hits that included, “Baby I need your lovin’”, “I can’t help myself”, “It’s the same old song”, “Reach out I’ll be there”, “Standing in the Shadows of love”, “Bernadette” and “Ain’t no woman like the one I’ve got”. The group’s longevity was amazing--performing 4 decades with all original members. The group was inducted into the Rock n Roll hall of fame in 1990.

Levi Stubbs and his wife Clineice were married in 1960 and stayed married until his death. He was the father of 5 children and grandfather of 11. His unforgettable voice was in demand and in 1986 he was the voice of Audrey II the carnivorous plant in the movie version of “Little Shop of Horrors” and the voice of “Mother Brain” in the animated TV series “Captain N: The Game Master in 1989. In 1995 Levi Stubbs was diagnosed with cancer, followed by a stroke. He stopped touring and performing, making occasional appearances at special events.

As I drove down Divisadero in the Volvo, the voice of Levi Stubbs took me back to another place. I was no longer in a Volvo but in a Chocolate colored Cutlass with my father and, this time, driving him around. I’m asking him to talk story with me about being a Filipino boy in the Fillmore and to sing me his favorite songs. I can hear his voice and the voices of my aunts and uncles and the spirits of my elders as I listen to Levi Stubbs' incredible and beautiful voice. He’s the keeper of the castle.

by Atwynn Delgado/Youth in Media Intern/POOR Magazine

Im 17. Im Black. I live in the United States and I'm gonna die very soon.
Maybe not today, but very possibly tomorrow. Not because of an illness, or
car crash, but because I will be shot.

After the shooting death of Joshua Cameron and other young men of color in
San Francisco last month and countless other youth of color shot dead in the
Bay Area over the last year, I traveled from Oakland, where I live, to
gather alongside several hundred youth, families and youth advocates on the
steps of City Hall in San Francisco last week to mourn their death and ask
why.

I know why. A lot of my friends know why. There are a lot of "whys"--
corporate media images perpetuating violence, the school to prison pipeline,
poverty and institutional racism and a society hinged on financial wealth
and consumerist values have conspired to promote violence as a living,
breathing thing that has a life of its own. Many of my friends, long ago
alienated by a gutted school system that no longer teaches us anything
except how to take a test; families, communities and generations destroyed
by years of poverty, de-stabilization, gentrification and joblessness, are
no longer listening to our elders and even if they are, they are shot by
other youth not listening to their elders, their ancestors, their cultures,
their humanity.

For many youth in poverty, the lack of real opportunities for living wage
jobs are staggering, so many of us are forced to earn income through
underground economic strategies. These strategies are criminalized, so if we
aren't shooting each other, we are being incarcerated and criminalized. Our
schools seem to be set up to discourage us with endless tests and things like
art, music and social studies being taken out completely.

The voices of the youth who spoke broke my heart--like they always do, like
they did for my cousin who was shot in Oakland two months ago; like they do
when I hear about anyone taken from this earth for no good reason at all; like I do when I hear about children and families shot in Iraq for a war we
have no reason to be in; like I do when I hear about another young person
joining the military to fight and probably get killed in this ridiculous
"war"; like I do when I hear of another young person being pushed out of
school cuz they didn't pass the barrage of tests they are given; like I do
when my mama cries in fear for my life when I go out at night.

One young man at the memorial for Joshua spoke of being afraid to walk
outside, for fear of getting shot. That's when I knew. It wont be today or
even tomorrow, but if we don't do something very different about these
"whys", me and my friends wont make it through this year.Im sure of that.

by Marlon Crump/PNN

"Nancy Pelosi is SO out of touch with the regular American, that it is pathetic. She said that this will be a NEW direction, but instead, they're going in the same!" said anti-war activist /Peace Mom, Cindy Sheehan, during an interview for POOR Magazine/ POOR News Network.

Following the interview, Cindy attended POOR Magazine's Community Newsroom, where she was collectively interviewed by my POOR family, on October 7th, 2008 on what her relation (s) and thoughts to the very issues that deeply impact people in poverty and even privilege, daily. October 7th also marked the three-year anniversary of my near death-experience of racial profiling, at the hands of a dozen members of the San Francisco Police Department.

Last year during an event in the backyard of the headquarters of both ISARC (Idriss Stelley Action Resource Center) and the S.F BayView National Black Newspaper, in San Francisco Bayview Hunter's Point, my comrade and godmother, mesha Monge-Irizarry, founder/director of ISARC introduced me to two women.

One of them was anti-war activist, Cindy Sheehan, Peace Mom, and founder of "Camp Casey" The other was former U.S Representative, and current Green Party candidate for the 2008 U.S Presidential election, Cynthia Mckinney.

I had the pleasure of meeting both of these women. During the festivities, I greeted Cindy Sheehan with a warm hug of solidarity, in the movement for struggle towards change from everything that affected people universally, from poverty, oppression, racism, war, etc, etc.

Sheehan, and many people, nationwide have fought a near-never ending battle to the end of a certain war, since its birth on March 20th, 2003 by the U.S President, George W. Bush:

The End of the Iraq War, and the U.S occupation in Middle Eastern countries!

For those who are unfamiliar with Cindy Sheehan, and her opposition stance against the War in Iraq, she joined the anti-war movement in 2004, following the news that her son, Casey Sheehan had been killed in the war. Casey was a specialist in the First Cavalry Unit, in Sadr City.

Since Casey's death, Cindy unleashed ultra-unrelenting attempts against the entire administration of President George W. Bush, towards ending the Iraq War, and the return of U.S Troops back home to their families.

For centuries, the children of Almighty God were often sent to wars, convinced that their self-sacrifice is to" serve their country" unaware of the frightening reality that they're really serving their country's "interests!" Glory for the greed of governments, guts spilled from children who're unsure if they'll ever return to their families, in one piece to say the least.

"In God We Trust" as it is hypocritically inked on the average U.S 1$ bill.

Despite Cindy Sheehan's efforts, from her appearances to the White House, arrests of civil disobedience, giving untold amounts of speeches, touring countries, and even purchasing property to bring "Camp Casey" near Bush's ranch, in Crawford, Texas; President Bush's heart remained hardened like Pharaoh who was constantly warned by Moses to either free the slaves of Israel from bondage, or feel God's wrath.

Instead of producing twelve plagues, however, Cindy chose different approaches by battling the Bush Administration with her very voice of resistance, struggle, and presence. In that process, she's received nationwide and international attention, with that same voice.

Most of the youth, sons and daughters that has ever served in the U.S Military, were either brought up in poverty, a working class family, or a place of privilege. "When my son was killed in an illegal war, he wanted to have college money. I suffered without health insurance." Cindy would later explain, during the interview.

Cindy Sheehan was born in Inglewood, California in 1957 to working-class parents who came of age during the depression and World II. Cindy's parents, Shirley and Dennis Miller met at the Lockheed Martin Corporation where they both worked during the 1950s. Shirley raised three children-Cindy, her younger sister Dede and her brother Scott-while Dennis worked as an electrician. Cindy attended public school in Bellflower, California.

In 1974, Cindy Miller met Patrick Sheehan. The couple married in 1977 in Norwalk, California. In the subsequent years, Cindy and Pat Sheehan had four children Casey, Carly, Andy and Jane, and settled their family in Vacaville, California.

When her youngest child was two, Cindy decided to go back to college to earn her bachelor's degree. She first attended Cerritos College where graduated with honors. Thereafter, Cindy transferred to University of California Los Angeles where she majored in U.S. history with a concentration in California history.

Following UCLA, Cindy worked as a Youth Minister at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Vacaville, California for eight years and coordinated an after-school program for at-risk middle school children for the City of Vacaville.

Late last year, Sheehan decided to continue increase her efforts, by going into politics. On December 8, 2007 Cindy Sheehan officially opened her campaign headquarters in San Francisco, CA, where she is now running as an Independent candidate for the United States Congressional Seat, for California's 8th Congressional District, against current incumbent, U.S House Majority Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Following this opening, the Cindy for Congress campaign acknowledged the poor population's motivation and commitment(s) towards change, after they appeared out of oppression-able isolation (including myself) to vote, volunteer, and spread the word towards helping Cindy Sheehan be placed on the November ballot.

On August 8th, 2008, this goal was accomplished after the required signature amount, were approved by the City and County of San Francisco, Department of Elections.

Many S.F voters share the same passion, with Sheehan for the removal of Pelosi, who failed deliver her "Articles of Impeachment" (among other U.S Government accountabilities) against U.S President, George W. Bush, following her successful win in the November 2006 Election.

I arrived at her campaign office, CINDY FOR CONGRESS, located at 1260 8th/Mission St, at around 1:50 p.m. After a brief welcome from her volunteer staff, and family members, I greeted Cindy Sheehan and began with the interview. "Should you win the election, what would be one of the first things that you would do? "This was my first question.

"Well, I'm running on a very detailed, progressive, populace platform. My major issues are of course the immediate troop with drawls, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and holding George Bush and Dick Cheney accountable." Sheehan replied. "That's why I am running against Nancy Pelosi because she refuses to hold Bush and Cheney accountable, as well as the occupations in Iraq, and Afghanistan."

I then asked, "Miss Sheehan, what was the feeling you got after meeting with President George W. Bush?" (The devil of devils, monsters of monsters, I thought to myself.)

"Two months after Casey was killed on April 4th, 2004 me and my family met with him. (Bush) He met with us, and approximately 17 other families. The feeling that I got from him was that he didn't care about our loss, and he didn't even want to be there."

As I continued the interview, it quickly dawned on me that her son's death was on the same date that the most famous civil rights leaders in history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was struck down by an assassin's bullet. The news of King's death caused chain reactions of sorrow, anger, and violence to thousands nationwide.

Thirty-six years later, on April 4th, 2004, there was another news explosion that every mother and father dread. When Cindy received word of her son's demise, via Bush lie, Cindy's internal emotions snapped, like the many that felt lost without Dr. King. Angered, and saddened beyond measure, Cindy Sheehan joined the anti-war movement as a Peace Mom.

During her years of anti-war activism(s) in the road to end the Iraq War, outcries could often be heard in the distance:

"Bush lied, thousands died!"

"Bush lied, thousands died!"

"Bush lied, thousands died!"

Though there exists criticism of her alleged use of her son's death to selfishly achieve her own agendas, Cindy countered this criticism with the inner emotion and strength she carries by transforming tragedy into triumph.

Others have also turned tragedy into triumph, before and after Cindy, such as John Walsh, host of the T.V show "America's Most Wanted", Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D) and mesha Monge-Irizarry, founder, director of the Idriss Stelley Action Resource Center, a non-profit grassroots organization that counsels victims of police brutality.

Cindy, herself, started an organization that founded the Gold Star Families for Peace, (an organization of families who've lost loved ones, to the Iraq War)

I paused as she briefly tended to her grandson. After a few minutes, I then continued the interview. "How has your journey been for you against George Bush?" I asked. Cindy's face seemed to answer that question, by giving a slight shift that showed an expression of the weary road that she left behind, and the road that lies ahead of her.

"It was hard to do in mourning my son." she softly replied. "It was physically exhausting, emotionally, and financially draining. It is still very difficult to be so committed to fundamental positive change, when the system is so stacked against it. "I asked her in regards to change, "Do you think that after you're elected that you can accomplish that?"

Cindy replied, "Well first of all, I am running against the Queen (Pelosi) of the system. "When we (Cindy and her supporters) take her down (defeat her at the November ballots) that is really wounding the system."(From a changing perspective.) "We have the people's platform.

"When Pelosi's out, that puts everyone else in Congress on notice that their jobs are in jeopardy. They will have to listen to their constituents............not their lobbyists."

I then asked about her thoughts regarding the gentrification movement(s) that's occurring, locally, and universally. "How do you feel about gentrification, Miss Sheehan?" She replied, "I think that privatization and gentrification harm communities, because they destroy diversity. Not only is it destroying communities, but it is profoundly harmful to poor families."

It has been reported that Nancy Pelosi supports the housing land development company, based out of Miami, Florida called Lennar Corp. Lennar was recruited by S.F Mayor, Gavin Newsom sometime ago to join the city's "redevelopment" (gentrification movement) against the poor of the entire community of S.F Bayview Hunter's Point.

Recently, Pelosi supported George Bush, after he and Treasure Secretary, Henry Paulson proposed to Congress to sign into law a "Bailout Plan " known as The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to solve the "financial crisis" and "rescue" mortgage companies, banks, and stock markets of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street to avoid another "Great Depression."

However, it is yet to be reported of a "Bailout Plan" for those plagued in poverty, and not another Economic Stimulus Plan that would once again fail to boost the economy in crisis.

"This massive bailout is nothing short of a scheme by irresponsible corporate pirates to privatize gains and socialize debt," Sheehan stated recently in an interview on PRNewswire. "Such a move will only further add to the burden of individuals and families, who are already struggling to make ends meet. Not one of our tax dollars should go toward rescuing an industry that is failing because of unregulated lending and trading practices."

"WE ONLY NEED ONE BILLION!" These are the current cries and pleas of seniors, people with disabilities, families, and people living in poverty to gain equity access from U.S Congress towards affordable housing. (This is also in reference to the October 3rd POOR article by "Tiny" Lisa Gray-Garcia, regarding her analysis of the U.S $700 Billion "Bailout Plan" that included the wealthy, but excluded the poor.)

Sheehan pointed out a clear conflict of interest on the part of her opponent, Nancy Pelosi, and other members of the Democratic Party leadership pushing the "corporate bailout" forward. Apparently, Pelosi is one of more than 50 members of Congress, who is said to have investments in the companies involved in the current "financial crisis."

Sheehan also explained how on PRNewswire how Pelosi has half a million dollars in stock invested in AIG (American International Group) alone, which is included in this "bailout" situation. "We need elected officials who will stand up for our interests, not protect their own pockets or the pockets of the very same people who got us into this mess in the first place."

"We are tired of giving golden parachutes to greedy corporate interests. We're standing up and saying, not this time, not with my money and not with my consent!" This "Bailout Plan" is also expected to cost each taxpayer in America $2,300 in the future!

"If you fall on the side that is pro-George and pro-war, you get your ass over to Iraq, and take the place of somebody who wants to come home. And if you fall on the side that is against this war and against George Bush, stand up and speak out.'" -----Cindy Sheehan, BuzzFlash August 20, 2005.

by Staff Writer

by Catherine Limcaco/POOR Magazine Race, Poverty and Media Justice Intern

Women & revolution are alive & inseparable." In her opening keynote address, celebrated poet and unionist Nellie Wong put it bluntly: "This weekend, we continue the fight for women's liberation because it's as necessary as breathing. The revolution is ours to make. It is our greatest duty. It is our greatest joy." Such sentiments permeated the high-energy event. As one young Chicana noted, "Thunderous applauses, tears of pride and cheers of laughter empowered and emboldened those who came to build the revolutionary feminist movement."

Participants traveled from far and near to attend Radical Women's 41st anniversary conference, The Persistent Power of Socialist Feminism. The landmark Women's Building was a tapestry of ethnicities and colors, feminists born in the United States and many other places, such as Somalia, Iran, Puerto Rico, China, South and Central America, and Spain.Convened in the midst of the imploding U.S. economic crisis, the four-day conference of keynotes and policy resolutions, panels and workshops, sparked intense discussion. The result are concrete action plans to strengthen women's leadership in the social movements, to build united fronts with other committed activists, and to foster solidarity among working people at home and abroad. Merle Woo, one of the volunteers on behalf of Radical Women says , "In these times of economic meltdown, the rise in ranks of economically-distressed workers, the unemployed and homeless, the Radical Women Conference was a true antidote to all these ills, because our goal is to build a grassroots socialist feminist movement that is independent of the Democrats and Republicans and which will truly represent us, the majority, in theory and action."

One pivotal resolution was for a U.S. feminist movement independent of the twin parties of war and reaction. The author, Oregonian mom and bi-lingual teacher Laura Mannen, provided concrete advice on how women can organize independently of the two major parties. "On the job where we are already reviving union power," said Mannen. In coalitions where an army of grassroots women organizes in every community and social movement. In the anti-war movement, pressing it to include youth, women, people of color, queers, socialists, anarchists, pacifists, GIs, veterans and unionists in the crucial war against U.S. militarization. The point, she stressed, is to work together, not separately.

Other movements for immigrants, people of color and queer rights we're spotlighted at this conference. Seattle Radical Women president, Christina López, motivated Estamos en la lucha: Immigrant women light the fires of resistance, the second major policy resolution of the conference. A Chicana-Apache, López exposed the harsh impact of U.S. immigration policies on women and children and heralded the leadership of migrant women fighting for the right to survive around the world. Radical Women members voted unanimously to step up defense of immigrants and to send López on a national speaking tour to address these critical issues.

A panel of Asian American, Black and Chicana/Latina members spoke on "The galvanizing impact of multiracial organizing in a society divided by racism." From its founding in 1967, emphasized Emily Woo Yamasaki, New York City president of Radical Women, the group has fiercely defended its fundamental political position that there can be no revolutionary change without the leadership of women of color. How to teach and practice this made for riveting discussion.

Queer activists at the conference, eager to address issues beyond same-sex marriage, want to combine their issues with the struggle for immigrant rights. The conference pledged to help a guest from Arizona, one who is integrating these struggles in her community. The group also agreed to highlight transgender rights and organize to support the New Jersey Four — Black lesbians being prosecuted for defending themselves.

Moving into action. The conference concluded with National Organizer Anne Slater's report and proposals, Rising to the challenge of socialist feminism in a neoliberal world. Radical Women members affirmed plans outlined by Slater, including the need to maintain a strong national organization and build chapters. The group decided to canvass door-to-door in workingclass neighborhoods to see what issues are of interest to women in local communities, and then organize campaigns around those topics. Furthermore, it was agreed to send resolutions of support and solidarity to political prisoners including the San Francisco 8, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Marilyn Buck, and Leonard Peltier in the United States, Lori Berenson in Peru and Lex Wotton in Australia.

At the end of the four-day conference, it was clear that socialist feminism is alive and thriving. Linking arms across age, race, gender and sexual orientation lines — attendees went forth fortified with the ideas and practical knowledge needed to build a stronger, independent women's movement. Woo believes breaking these racial barriers was one of the highligts. So what's next? Woo says, "A lot needs to be done to implement some power in youth and start crossing generational lines. The youth are the ones who will be left to carry the movement."