2011

  • AL Robles Living Library Launch @ POOR Magazine for Black History Month- Photo gallery

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

     

    From Left: Manang Maria Kingtan, Phil Chavez, and Tony Robles

    From Left: Poet Laureate Jack Hirshman, Tony Robles and Maria Kingtan

    POOR Press Author, Migrante Mama and Poverty Skolar Ingrid DeLeon

    From Left; Tony Robles with Eric Robles

    The Beautiful Altar for Manong AL Robles in the Al Robles Living Library (created by Vivian Hain)

    Manong Al's Typewriter in the Al Robles Living Library

    Leroy Moore from Krip Hop Nation and PNN next to the White Male Sale outside the AL Robles Living Library Launch party

    Auntie Teresa Robles with the powerful and very important part of the Al Robles Living Library - Pancit! (made by Aunties Teresa and Carmen)

    From Left rear: Mama skolarz Vivian Hain & Tiny  Front Left: Youth SKolar Tiburcio, Carina Lomeli, artist extroadinaire, POOR Press author Marlon Crump all under the beautiful mural of herstorical poverty heroes by Carina Lomeli

    Poet and Scholar Lou Syquia and friend at the AL Robles Living Library Launch

    Jean Ishibashi (Ish) doing the opening blessing (with some help from youth skolar Tiburcio)

    POOR Press author Dee Allen who released his book Boneyard in the 2011 POOR Press collection at the AL Robles Living Library Launch

    POOR Press author and poverty skolar Bruce Allison released his book The Foever Job in 2011 at the Al Robles Living Library

    Author, teacher and poet Oscar Penaranda

    Utopia Hammond Robles speakng before the showing of Manilatown is in the Heart at the Al Robles Living Library

    Youth Skolar Jasmine Hain

    The Beautiful art created in for the door of the AL Robles Living Library @ POOR Magazine by Carina Lomeli -

    Come visit soon!

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  • Denver Art Museum -American Indian Exhibit

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

    On this Saturday, I (Mari) went to The Denver Art Museum and was guided by Mat from the Center (see previous blog) and it was free first saturday! I saw so many things that inspired me but the most that stuck with me was seeing a old Ute bear dance growler. I also loved seeing the seminole patchwork as it reminding me about my upcoming trip to Florida!

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  • Bill Miller Concert

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

     

    Rachel, My roommate Della and I all went to Fort Lewis College for a Free Bill Miller Concert. He is an amazing musician that also shared many stories with us. My favorite story was when he talked about how his polish friend and his dad shared an intimate moment by expressing love with a father/son kiss. 

     

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  • Tocabe - An American Indian Eatery in Denver, CO

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

    Today was a late start from the weekend of transformation... so we went to Tocabe and a free direct impact workshop they had this night. Had some great exercises... now back to Tocabe...

    Tocabe is an American Indian Eatery where you can get frybread, and stuffed frybread. The stuffed fry bread is shaped like a calazone and is something i eat every time I go to Denver. We ordered the stuffed fry bread with the shredded bison. Rachel said, "The Meat is very juicy, and fresh."

    Blaine then further told us of how the restaurant will be on the Food Network's show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." He also let us know that the Restaurant was named after the Owner's Mom's Favorite color, blue. Tocabe is the word for blue in Osage. An ode to the owner's mom, We honor you and the frybread you fed to your son.

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  • 50,000 volts a zap

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Mad Man Marlon
    Original Body

    (Photo taken by David Elliott Lewis)

    "If, at 50,000 volts a zap five officers shoot their tasers at the same time, the subject gets 250,000 output. The electrical charge inside the death penalty (electric chair) chamber." Mesha Monge-Irizarry's explanation of the fatal functions for taser use by po-lice officers.

    The Use of Force: Batons. Bean bags. Weight-knuckled (sap) gloves. Choke holds. Then of course, the gun. All of the said arsenals above commonly used by po-lice officers. Codes of conduct often used unlawfully, locally and globally. Notwithstanding, the use of an electrical controlled device, (taser gun) and its potentially deadly results.

    "If your son was tasered instead of shot, would he still be alive today?" A reporter asked Mesha Monge-Irizarry. This was following the death of her only son, Idriss Stelley killed by eight San Francisco Po-lice Officers, in 2001 at the Sony Metereon Theater. Mesha replied, "No, he would've been fried to death."

    An estimated total of 400,000 volts would've traveled into his body.

    Before former BART Po-lice Officer Johannes Mehserle fired the fatal bullet onto the back of Oscar Grant, it was reported that Grant pleaded with him not to taser him. Theoretically, the outcome tragically could've been the same.

    A Taser is an electroshock weapon that generates electrical current to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. It fires approximately 50,000 volts, and can drop someone from up to 15 feet away. Taser International is the chief developer, manufacturer, and distributor of taser guns.

    The San Francisco Board of Police Commissioners held a meeting on tasers, February 23rd, 2011. A proposal to its possible passage caused chain reactions of outrage and fear, for many communities here in San Francisco, CA: People in poverty, youths of color, the elderly with immobility issues, homeless/landless, mental health crises, undocumented immigrants (migrant scholars), and for all system resisters.

    Myself, and my POOR comrades, "Tiny" Lisa Gray-Gracia, (POOR co-founder) Tiburcio (her son) Bruce Allison, and Ruyata Akio McClothin a.k.a. RAM arrived a half-hour early at S.F. City Hall. The meetings are publicly held and televised at 5:30 p.m. Outside the meeting room were many of our community comrades waiting to oppose this deadly "proposal."

    Our acts of digital resistance in re-porting and solidarity supporting were shockingly met with a resistance...........from the municipal administration, itself.

    A San Francisco Sheriff Deputy barred our entry until everyone inside (the commissioners and command staff) were “situated.” Apparently, they (S.F.P.D.) were afraid that community members were going to prevent po-lice personnel from seating, in an act of civil unrest and resistance.

    Forced to form a line as if we were in a soup kitchen, we each held up a sign:

    COPS + TASERS KILLS!

    Finally after nearly an hour's wait, we were allowed inside. The seats quickly became filled, in that S.F.P.D. and municipality members had now reserved their own. Throughout the duration of the meeting, the room became somewhat surrounded of po-lice officers and sheriff deputies. Inside, this public televised meeting was the item agenda anticipation everyone anxiously awaited:

    Discussion and Possible Action Proposal for Modification of Use of Force.

    When the meeting came to order, Thomas Mazzucco, the commission’s president requested that the item agenda be "taken out of order." Protocol or not, this is a common chess game tactic used by the commission and the Board of Supervisors. The purpose: To prolong presentations, as an attempt to discourage public opposition from their own self-influenced decisions.

    Imposition to impatience. Mazzucco, nearly five hours later announced the item agenda we waited patiently (and impatiently) for. He even attempted to decrease our two minute testimonies, by 30 seconds. I would later criticize the entire commission for "not prioritizing the public."

    The commission heard numerous presentations from the department, proponents and opponents of tasers. Discussions took place regarding ramifications, research, and even the costs involved. The reported estimated cost to overall arm the S.F.P.D. with tasers is two million dollars. Where was the city going to find gun funding, considering its current fiscal "shortfalls?"

    Is it going to come from, in light of the recent reports of the city considering to layoff 500 officers in the department?

    The S.F.P.D. claims that (tasers) are an "alternative approach to officer-involved shootings in death-related cases." Allegedly-aimed for "de-escalating situations" without using "deadly force."

    Whereas there are optimistic proponents of this proposal...............

    "The San Francisco Sheriff's Department has used tasers for eight years. I have found them to reduce injuries to citizens and officers when force is used." San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey, himself, had explained his experience to me. Seemingly optimistic in his presentation of his support, he added, "They cause temporary pain, but do not cause physical injuries.........as do nightsticks, gas or guns."

    there are surely opponents to this proposal.............

    “Almost all situations designated as crisis scenarios here would be inappropriate and unsafe for taser use.” Jeremy Miller says, activist, and co-director of Education Not Incarceration. During his public testimony, Jeremy pointed out his health history of epilepsy. An encounter for him with a taser if unlawfully confronted by a po-lice officer could be deadly.

    Even those who've had firsthand experience.

    My comrade, Mesha informed me just recently regarding her experience of actually being tasered................as a volunteer. Much to my shock and surprise. "In 2004, Steve Tuttle of Taser International called me to fly two of his representatives to S.F. from Arizona, to do a promotional demo at Idriss Stelley Foundation." According to Mesha, "This was to gain a 1.2 Million contract with the S.F.P.D.

    She laid out in detail of the medical aftershocks from being (no pun intended) shocked.

    "One copper prong ended embedded in my right sciatic nerve, and the second damaged the conjunctive tissue between my right femur and the pelvic bone, aggravating my diabetic neuropathy. This is why I walk with a cane to this day."

    On the display screens in the meeting room were draft drawings. They proposed alternative targeted areas, as opposed to a po-lice officers shooting at "center mass." One of the critical areas was the groin area. An officer presented a "less lethal force" weapon before the commission. It looked like an old fashion Tommy machine gun used in old gangster movies.

    "It is a Penn Arms Forty millimeter multi-launcher." the officer replied when I asked him what it was. It is used in SWAT team situations. They can shoot a suspect at 250 feet per second with rubber bullets causing significant blunt trauma. A "less" lethal weapon? A blatant attempt to sway support from the commission, by inducting intimidation.

    "It is also important to keep in mind that tasers are NOT non-lethal weapons. They are less lethal." Barbara Attard, stated in her address. She was a consultant for NACOLE, the National Association Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. "In San Jose, at least six people have died after tasers were used on them. In two of those cases, the coroner ruled that the taser was the contributing factor in the death."

    In a disgusting display of entertainment/education via racism, two plain clothes officers engaged in a mock theater role play before the audience. One was a black male and a white woman. The act was he was the aggressor in a dispute with his girlfriend, in which he shook and screamed at her.

    Two uniform officers of Asian descent "responded" to a domestic dispute call via a computer-voiced over 9-1-1 dispatch, weapons drawn. One had a gun drawn, the other a taser. The male suddenly pulled a knife from his back pocket and threatened them with it. Before he could advance further towards the officers, the "performance" was halted.

    For viewing of video credited to The Bay Citizen;
    http://www.baycitizen.org/policing/story/sf-police-commission-oks-taser-...

    "I've been in at least ten-related cases involving taser-related cases." Civil rights attorney, John Burris stated briefly to me. He too was here at this hearing to present his opposition. "Tasers can be an abusive weapon."

    There were testimonials from officers of the Mission District Station, of "life threatening" experiences they claim to have encountered. To me, it seemed as if this was another blatant attempt to blindside public opinion. Secret agendas to sway support from the commission.

    "Let me be fair for a moment here. How do we know that a police officer's 'use of force' was really justified?" I asked during my own public testimony. "Police officers have lied, lied, and lied SO many times. Its difficult for anyone to determine if they're telling the truth or not." (Based on my own personal experience of observing cops, and their collective cover ups to their own crimes.)

    Dr. Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, presented his report and support for tasers. In his mid-presentation, Wexler argued that tasers "were not made to kill." His argument was met with mellow reactions of ridicule from the audience. Commissioner Petra De Jesus (a opponent to tasers) fired back at Wexler, regarding her concerns of serious ramifications, if this instrument were implemented.

    This exact same "proposal" was brought before the commission, last year. Then-police chief, George Gascon (handpicked by Dr. Wexler) pushed for this proposal, but was narrowly defeated in a 4-3 vote. “I underestimated the political environment that I was operating under." Gascon later told reporters.

    It’s rather interesting how quickly he was immediately appointed as District Attorney by Gavin Newsom, before Newsom left his mayoral seat for his elected position, as California Lieutenant Governor. Gascon contributed to Gavin’s campaign, as so did an employee of the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, attorneys for Taser International.

    (Records of their contributions found at the following site.)

    http://www.electiontrack.com/lookup.php?committee=1325415

    Speculation surfaced recently that stun gun manufacturers will be contributing to Gascon's upcoming DA campaign. Time can only tell reality.

    The commission voted to conduct further study and research on these "less-than-lethal" weapons. In 90 days, they will render a report to determine its decision for taser use in the community. If passed, elders, youth, pregnant women, houseless/landless people, protesters, Sit-Lie law victims (Prop L), migrant scholars, and people in poverty will literally be in the line of fire, via voltages.

    Any weapon, advanced, sophisticated, and or "less than lethal" weapon they vastly equip themselves with expresses their desires to brutalize, criminalize, and marginalize communities deemed "undesirable."

    From our own experiences, po-lice culture is a trendy terrorism attributed with fascism and imperialism for immobilization. Arming po-lice terror with a taser does not "modify" use of force. Rather, it ensures more cruel and unusual punishment, of future torture techniques from one device.

    Silenced voices. Voltages to our voices in our villages.

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  • ROBOCOP (LIKE SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) BELONGS TO US!

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Redbeardedguy
    Original Body

    Internet stories about a statue, dedicated to the dystopian science fiction movie hero Robocop, being built to stand somewhere in Detroit, Michigan, went all the way to the city's Mayor.  Despite being told there were no official plans for such a thing, a group of people raised $50,000 in less than a week (to have the thing designed and created) and pledged to continue to raise money until the end of March 2011.

    Robocop: The Statue, created by a group of people with too much time (and too much access to money not-well-spent) on their hands, and not much political consciousness.  The Robocop future is one where Detroit is wholly owned by a mega-corporation and the Po'Lice are a private security force that protects the corporation and its executives and nobody else.

    We are so close to this "future", or we live in it already, and anyone reading these words knows what POOR Magazine poverty skolahs think.  We know/feel this future in our bones, it is more true to reality than the pie-in-the-sky Gene Roddenberry fed us in the form of Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, et al.

    I liked a lot of the Star Trek stories, but Roddenberry's future somehow couldn't include gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender folk in his sci-fi paradise.  Star Trek fans got a few crumbs here and there, a lot like the crumbs Jerry the Gentrifier of Oakland, CA (now Jerry the Whatcha Gonna Do To Us NOW? Governor of California in 2011), licks his lips over while newspaper headlines help spread the "tough love" fear.

    The truth of our reality is trumpeted from the offices of Congress and the Obama Oval Office in the Blight House.  The newspapers and on-line news dispensers can only ask the questions Who Will Blink First?  Who Will Lose If There's Another Government Shut-Down like back in the Bill Clinton Era.  "They say" the Elder Voters of the nation will be unhappy with the Republicans and Tea Baggers they voted for.

    The Elder Poverty Skolahs of the Nation, and the Poverty Skolahs too, stand to lose a lot more than any political party or pol will, but, as POOR Magazine poverty skolah Gioioia Von Disterlo, stuck in the Akkkdemic Kampus of the University of Washington in Seattle is often told, the poor must be led by the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, which knows better than we do how to fix the problems we have.

    Among other things, whither the Ten Year Plot To End Homelessness?  That is well more than half-way through its tenure in public policy of rat-racing many houseless and semi-houseless people into Poor People Housing that will cease to exist if the Federal Government goes all $100-billion-postal on us and the State of CA dances the Tango with them while the Robocop future becomes ever so much more painfully real.

    The Robocop statue belongs to us.  It is a symbol that can't speak to any well-fed tourist who makes it merely a bullet-point on their Bucket List of Things To Do And See Before They Die.  "The Boss", Bruce Springsteen, wrote and sang "Born In The USA" as an indictment of Amerikkka, and had it's meaning culture-jacked by happy disco dancers and Ronald Raygun.

    "They've Been Bought, We've Been Sold" is a slogan on a protest poster I used as an image attached to a recent article about Stage Three Child Care for poor mamaz in California.  The slogan has long legs, we get sold every day to corporations like Lennar (that own big chunks of San Francisco and are part of the dance of gentrification continuing to make this place less economically diverse), that write their own grafitti tags all over us.

    This is our task--to make it harder for Them to steal things like Robocop and Slumdog Millionaire from Us.  Robocop belongs to the Poor.  Say it LOUD!

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  • Krip Hop Nation Listens to Deaf DJ's & Deaf Jams

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    DJ Supalee SPinning

    DJ Supalee Spinning

    Monday, February 1, 2010;

    Krip-Hop Nation & DJ Supalee Listen to Vibrations

    When Krip-Hop was first launched we had The Helix Boyz on the radio. At that time The Helix Boyz were one of the first Hip-Hop duos that were and are Deaf in Hip-Hop Also I learned from Fred M. Beam of the Wild Zappers, a Black Deaf dance troupe from D.C., that Deaf people had their own music underground called Deaf Rave in the UK and DIP in the US. From there not being Deaf I continued to let Deaf musicians educate me and I found out here in the USA there are Def Familia Entertainment, Def United Edutainment and many more organizations/groups providing a stage for Deaf musicians including Hip-Hop artists. Through my continued research I found an article on DJ Supalee of Brooklyn, NY. He is a Deaf DJ and his father is also a DJ but not Deaf. I was so interested in his story that I decided to ask if I could interview him. Below is that interview and a song I wrote about his father and him.

    1) Krip-Hop Nation – DJ Supalee tell us how did you get into Djing

    DJ Supalee - I started out boxing with the influence of my stepfather. My parents were divorced and she was married to him. After a few stints fighting in school and coming home bruised, somehow my father got encouraged to get me into his hobby (djing).

    2) Krip-Hop Nation – Knowing that your father is a professional DJ how did he react when you showed interested in Djing

    DJ Supalee - Its not like I jumped in and told him "I want to be a dj". He threw some equipment at me and told me to try it, he taught me how to understand sound frequency by showing me how to use a crossover. I still remember it like yesterday, he was frustrated at first cuz I didn't know how to take the bass off the midranges. He improvised by telling me to put my hand on the speaker; if I feel no bass then I'm doing all right. The next step was blending the music and I normally practiced that with my hearing partners. We used make tapes in my bedroom blasting the music real loud. I had like 4cerwin vega subwoofers in my bedroom. Then I would listen to my own tapes and that's how I was able to improve.

    3) Krip-Hop Nation – Tell us about Deaf Rave in the US and Deaf artists in Hip-Hop.

    DJ Supalee - I've never formally met deaf rave in person, but spoke to them a lot online, we talked about doing something big together to spark it internationally but was never able to get the funding together cuz of the traveling expenses. With a little bit of sponsorship, we would be able to accomplish a lot. I've worked with deaf artist all over the USA: Sean forbes, locofunk, GHE, Helix Boyz, wild zappers, dancers, DJ, singers from all corners of this country. Our biggest struggle is trying to do what we love to do and be paid for it. These are some very talented people and just like me, we can be driven by support of our followers.

    4) Krip-Hop Nation – Why did you start your organization, Deaf United Entertainment?

    DJ Supalee - First off, let me put it on record that I did not founded D.U.E. I actually joined a group of deaf guys who founded the business in Texas. I've always known that with a group effort, were able to accomplish anything. I saw a group if young motivated deaf people with a dream of providing entertainment to deaf patrons worldwide. I joined and helped pushed the business national. Our first national event was in Las Vegas, then after that we did, New York, DC, Florida, Indiana, St Louis, Texas and so on. I felt that this country needed something for people like myself to get exposed. We needed more role models or at least a symbol to encourage us that there are things out there for people who are deaf, blind, crippled or disabled in any way. We had a great run without a single sponsor. At the end, the cost of a large event has just gotten too high and we had to slow down a little bit.

    5) Krip-Hop Nation – Is there a movement of Deaf Hip-Hop artists? If so give us so history.

    DJ Supalee – I hosted Supafest back in the year 2000 at Gallaudet University as a move to get myself known. Before that, there were small just deaf house parties. Back then there were no sidekick pagers or blackberries for us to keep in touch. If we wanted to reach another deaf person we would call with a TDD device or meet them at a social gathering to catch up. Victor Medina who founded Locofunk at NTID inspired me. This event was our "Saturday night fever" he showcased dance shows and had some sign songs and I was his DJ. When victor graduated I had dreams to do something of my own because I knew I had something that was rare. I took over and put together SUPAFEST at the most popular deaf college in the world during Homecoming and then followed up with my biggest event at NTID. That was the event that jumps started my solo career and sparked the movement of deaf entertainment. After that, everyone started doing his or her thing. Deaf rappers and more djs came out, more folks started performing and things were great. Then I started hearing about things happening overseas which got me real curious.

    6) Krip-Hop Nation – It’s so hard to find disabled woman in Hip-Hop. Can you tell us your experience finding Deaf women that are Djs like DJ Star Baby?

    DJ Supalee – Betina Washington a.k.a Dj Starbaby is a native from Chicago. She used to come to my events and watch me dj half the night. She became inspired and wanted to become a dj also. She started off by getting herself some equipments and music. When she put that together she told me she was trying to become a dj. I flew over there to help her learn the ropes and I even djed at an event with her in chicago, When she was ready I hosted "Deaf City" at Fur Nightclub in Dc. she came and did her thing. We had over 3,000 people in that building. She's the first female deaf dj in the world.

    7) Krip-Hop Nation – I know there has always been a separation between the Deaf community and the rest of the disabled community, do you think we can come together in music like your organization and Krip-Hop Nation and how?

    DJ Supalee - oh yes. Definitely, with deaf people, the only key challenge is understanding music and feeling that flow. I had visions of having hundreds or even thousands of people with disabilities being entertained at a club or some major event. It can happen and it WILL happen.

    8) Krip-Hop Nation – What was your view on how the Hip-Hop community and media dealt with Foxy Brown losing and regaining her hearing?

    DJ Supalee - Man, when I herd she lost her hearing, I was really trying to reach out to her, to talk to her, you know, let her know what I went through and wonder if she was willing to blend. Foxy Brown and me actually grew up in the same area in Brooklyn. When I herd she got that cochlear implant. I cant say that I wouldn't encourage it because she lost her hearing at a really late stage of her life so it seem more of a move out of desperation. I'm not sure if she would ever be the same. I've never met her so I can’t really say, but I noticed her music hasn't been out there lately. I hope she's reading this and will consider the opportunity to look into what were trying to do. When you loose your ability to do something you're used to, you have to learn to adjust. Even if you do, things wont be the same, at least for most of us.

    9) Krip-Hop Nation – If you had a chance to meet with music agent, mainstream Hip-Hop artist or an editor of a Hip-Hop magazine, what would you tell them?

    DJ Supalee – I would tell them this. "Instead of spending millions of dollars on a contract for some hot shot new artist that's going to give us the same thing, try putting half of that down on this movement and watch what happens. I'll bet my career on it, you will be impressed."

    10) Krip-Hop Nation – What are you and your organization goals in 2010?

    DJ Supalee - I have big goals for 2010. I'm hosting a summer bash in nyc. Will provide entertainment for people with disability this fall at south seaport in august and I have a deaf cruise coming up this November. I'm still trying to do that new years eve party in London. I’m also going on a few trips to California. I'm hoping this decade will be one of the biggest positive decades of our generation with so many changes going on. D.U.E is coming to DC in November and I got a feeling that's going to be HOT also. And last but not least, I'm hosting ASL poetry at busboys and poets on the last Friday of every month. This is a place where you can watch people do sign language songs, recite and create poems and even do a short Skit for those who want to write plays. Email me if you like more info on any of these events.

    11) Krip-Hop Nation – How can people get in touch with you?

    DJ Supalee – best way to reach me is my myspace and facebook page or my email address (djsupalee@aol.com). I check that everyday. Be sure to title your subject line cuz I get a lot of spammers.

    12) Krip-Hop Nation – Last words.

    DJ Supalee - I just want to tell those who are reading this to invest into our community by subscribing to i.d.e.a.l magazine. You don't need to be deaf to attend a deaf event. If you're disabled in any way, don't allow yourself to become the victim. There are millions of people out there looking for people like you. So come on out and make yourself known.

    DJ Dad Deaf Son

    Verse 1

    Dad mixing son feeling the beat
    Small hand in big hand
    Both on turntables music fuses 2 generations into 1
    ASL & spoken nothing like dad & son

    Chorus

    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood
    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood

    Verse 2

    Older younger
    Grooving off each other’s vibes
    Flowing bodies music like blood
    Pumping through veins like a bass drum

    Chorus

    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood
    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood

    Bridge

    Son took off into Deaf Raves
    One hand on the deck other in the air doing da wave
    Till death do em apart
    DJ Dad Deaf Son always be connected by rhythm in the heart

    Keeps em alive
    As they kick
    A funky mix
    At the club every night

    Verse 3

    Hear or feel it
    DJ… DJ…Dad…Dad
    Deaf… Deaf… Son… Son…
    Same… Same… Blood… Blood…

    Chorus

    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood
    DJ Dad Deaf Son
    Same blood

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  • Driving back down south to Southern Ute Lands

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

    This morning we woke up and dropped off melisa at her job, Azteca, a mexican supermarket. It was the first time I heard party music inside a grocery store, which was awesome! Then we left denver since it started to snow... We sang lots of songs, talked, and had some deep conversations about life with many breakthroughs!

    We had a pit stop at a thai food restaurant, and saw bout 30 deer while driving back down. When we got to my house, we watched What Bleep Do We Know?. An awesome film, and I cooked food for rachel. To find out more about the film, go to http://www.whatthebleep.com/

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  • Krip Hop: The Movie

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    Friday, January 15, 2010;

    Back when Hip Hop first started, radio, television and locals refused to play it. But soon after many determined aspiring artist started doing underground shows, radio and started selling hundreds of thousands of records themselves, the industry took notice. Leroy Moore finds himself in the same situation 3 decades later. Now the same thing is happening to disable artist. Leroy leads a world challenged artist into aKrip Hop Nation.

    Hello aspiring disabled artists, I am looking to collaborate with anyone from, photography, poetry, modeling, drawing and whatever you're not letting disability stop. To make a 1 long video showing off your talents, organizations, products you're selling, whatever. I need you to send me any videos, songs, pictures of your work , that I can include in the production. I'm doing this because after hearingsimilar stories how it's difficult for us to break into the industry, I wanted to make a video about what we can do despite our disabilities. So gather up your videos and send me some vides, images or songs and you can also email me links to your video online like youtube . Email me for details of sending if you need help. March 1 is the deadline forreceiving your work so please tell your other comrades to be part of this projects.

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  • Don't Check in - Check OUT- The Hotel Frank Workers' Crisis

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    PNNscholar1
    Original Body

    Who was the woman who changed the bed sheets and bed spreads the last time I stayed in a hotel? I saw her pushing a cart that hid her face, a face darkened by the sun, moving from room to room, seen in glimpses then forgotten. She could have been in her 20’s or 30’s or older. When I checked out of the hotel, I left a few dollars on the bed with a note that said “thank you”. I thought about the woman’s hands—how many bed sheets had she changed, how many tears had she wiped from a child’s face, how many indifferent glances had she pretended not to notice, how many journeys were cut into the landscape of her hands and face?

    I looked at my own hands, hands that write while working as a door man at a high end apartment complex in San Francisco. My hands are soft, yet feel the hard water running over them. I followed the lines etched in my brown hands that led me to the Hotel Frank in San Francisco’s Union Square. I saw her, the woman who changed sheets; I saw bell persons, desk clerks, maintenance workers and room cleaners, gathered in solidarity, boycotting the hotel for not honoring its contract with union workers. I looked at the woman who changed the linens. I saw her brown face clearly. Her hand was a tight fist.

    “There’s a boycott here…Check out! Go somewhere else!”

    Workers at The Hotel Frank—represented by Unite Here Local 2-- are boycotting the Management Company Provenance. Workers say that Provenance has not honored the existing union contract between workers and management. At stake are the worker’s medical coverage, pensions, sick leave and rights to due process when addressing grievances.

    The Hotel Frank is in the heart of downtown San Francisco in Union Square. A Street bearing the word Union should have union workers, one would think. It is a place where tourists visit restaurants, enjoy live music and take in the sights of a world class city—a city that is increasingly hostile to working people and families. Walking the Hotel Frank’s picket line are those who have worked as many as 40 years at the hotel. Marc Norton, who worked as a bellman for 12 years, was fired in September after the hotel was auctioned off in a foreclosure sale in May 2010 by Wells Fargo bank. The bank then sold the hotel to a financial speculator called AEW Capital Management. The hotel is now managed by a company called Provenance.

    The new management has not honored the long standing contract with its workers. The company has not contributed to worker’s medical coverage and pensions. Workers are now forced to work an extra half hour without pay. Housekeepers now work more rooms, skipping breaks and meal periods. According to workers, staffing levels have decreased since Provenance took over. The management company has been charged with violating Federal Labor Laws by the National labor Relations board. Both sides await the decision of the board.

    “When Provenance took over, we became new, at-will employees who can be fired at any time” said Marc Norton, longtime bellman as the Frank who has been a local 2 member since 1976. A petition was circulated at the Frank requesting that Mr. Norton be appointed as shop steward—a petition every local 2 member signed. Mr. Norton was fired shortly thereafter.

    Benefits are a crucial issue for workers. Under the union contract, workers contributed $10.00 a month for healthcare if they had dependents, no cost for those without dependents. Management now wants members to pay $150.00 to $250.00 a month for their health coverage.

    Josephine Rivera is an organizer with Unite Here Local 2. She worked for 16 years at the Marriot, helping organize workers in a fight for representation—a fight that lasted 7 years.  She walks the picket line at the Frank, her face reminiscent of Filipino workers whose work and struggle helped organize farm workers into the UFW.  Ms. Rivera spoke of the challenges in organizing workers. “Some workers, such as the Filipino workers, work very hard but have the attitude that the company is being good to them so they do not talk, do not speak up. They have learned not to question authority but to respect it”.  Because of unity and organization, the workers at the Frank are united and speak their minds. 

    Marc Norton spoke of the connection with workers in Wisconsin, whose collective bargaining rights are under assault.  "We feel a lot of solidarity with the folks in Wisconsin who are fighting for worker's rights.  We have to stand together.  It's the only way we've won anything".

    Support the workers of the Hotel Frank by supporting the boycott by its workers. Urge others to support workers and their families—workers who have put in many years to reap the benefits and equity they have earned. “There’s a boycott here! Check out! Go somewhere else!”

    Join organizations like the California council of Churches and the National Urban Alliance who have pledged to boycott the Hotel Frank. Call Provenance and tell them to give their workers a fair deal:

    Bashar Wali, President—(503) 295-2122 x101
    Maribel Olmeda, Human Resources Manager—(503) 295-2122 x110
    Stan Kott, Hotel Frank General Manager—(415) 986-2000
    Dayna Zeitlin, Hotel Frank Assistant Manager—(415) 986-2000

    To Listen the PNN Radio interview with Marc Norton click here

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  • Thoughts on the death of Trent James Hayward aka Harpo Corleone

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    June 10, 2000

    When I heard Trent died it seemed both unreal and inevitable. I look at his picture and he looks so alive, so energetic so vital. So young.

    Yet his death also feels like peace, rest at last. I remember my years and years of endless homelessness, homelessness with its wall-to-wall nonstop brutal reality with no time out. I just wanted off, to rest, for it to be over, to die. Heroin was not in my toolbox, but I have met many people who told me they were going to get some and OD because they just couldn't take it any more. It's a pretty easy way to die. Maybe that's what Trent was doing. Or maybe it was just a mistake.

    He was having a hard time with his success, of getting the gig writing a column for the online Bay Guardian. Many street people can't handle "success", Food not Bombs has had a lot of people who can't. Perhaps because it is associated with such ugly behavior by those who have our society's definition of success. The flip side of failure and punishment, success and the right to fuck people over. The fear of losing it. Trent's drinking seemed to escalate after he got the job. I had rarely seen him drunk much before, once at a housing meeting he came really out of it. Periodic scabs on his face from some long night. He mostly seemed ok when he came to the ROV writing group this past year. He worked hard and he was a bit crazy, like the rest of us.

    He was supposed to start writing a column about the world from his view as a homeless person. I think about that: having a job, writing: but did he have to stay homeless to keep it? What if he got housing with his salary, would the SFBG still find his edgy, sharp writing exciting? Then, what I remember that was so painful for me in my years of homelessness, was how could people with housing work with me politically, claim to believe that homelessness was politically wrong, claim to be my friends, and yet neither offer a time indoors nor help me find housing. Only those with the least shared it. It made me very crazy, and cynical.

    And the double life of having to look meek and scruffley to get what I needed to survive, and to look neat and confident and together to get what I needed to get out of the trap. The situational insanity of poverty. Perhaps some of these things were going on with Trent.

    At the same time other things happened. His good friend Tom Gomez left town a week before, apparently ran off with some people who wash feet; and his friend Max lost his housing which was a place Trent had been able sometimes stay indoors. Losses in a fragile support system can be the tipping point.

    We may never know what was really going on for Trent, but we do know it's not all right for people to live like this in the midst of the great, obscene wealth of San Francisco, of the USA. So maybe it was murder.

    Trent was always a pleasure to be around, his vitality gave me a lift, perhaps some hope. I am sad he is gone, but I still suspect he may be relieved to not have to work so hard and endure so much pain anymore.

    I am touched by the outpouring of responses to his passing. I am charmed and saddened by the range of people's reactions, functional and dysfunctional. Death, our great companion and taboo.

    I thank you great spirit that we had Trent in our lives while he was here. His family told people he died because he had a bad heart, but we know he had a good heart. Goodbye, Trent.

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  • Ute Mountain Ute pottery factory tour

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

    We loved the Ute Mountain Ute Pottery Factory so much that we had to do a special piece just for this...

    Dexter showed us around the factory and how the Ute Mountain Utes do the pottery from start to finish. They have many molds for pottery, and a favorite part of our when a woman was explaining what the symbols on the pottery.

    Needless to say we bought some pottery for loved ones and some Indian Country Maps for our Indigenous Peoples Highway!

    After we went to the Ute Mountain Ute Casino and ate the frybread buffet! I made a Indian taco out of sopapillas! yummy!

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  • Indigenous people don't say goodbye...

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    mari
    Original Body

    Today Rachel left to go back home to do some organizing around childcare and pregnancy. She got home safely, and in two weeks we will meet in the east coast and do some Indigenous Peoples Highway work there, and might even go into Canada. We will both be speakers at a conference at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. Mari for the next two weeks will be at a round dance in Utah and go to Florida with her sister. 

    Mari and Rachel will both be documenting their everyday lives the two weeks they are apart physically but spiritually unified. 

    Here is their favorite round dance song they both love to sing... Red and White (Driving Me Crazy) by Northern Cree. Hope it drives you crazy...

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  • An Excerpt from His Last E-mail to POOR

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    Thursday, June 1, 2000

    "Yeah its gonna be an opinion column, online for now but we'll see about print they said. They are trying to do more online stuff cuz it is cheaper than paper. I also found out that I got the internship as well, so I am super busy all of a sudden...Im going to work the internship on Mondays and Fridays so Thurs and Tues are open for POOR and ROV. Right now I am scrambled due to the first column, so forgive me if I have been flaking on the newsroom. As soon as my schedule gels into some amorphous semblance of rigidity, I will be more regular.

    (I hear bran muffins help also) Peas, Trent

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  • Ode to the Life in a Library that Uncle Al is Giving to us all...

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body


    To the life in a library
    and a library in the living

    to the spirits of people kept from
    left from
    undone by never being sung

    to the dreams and schemes
    of mamas and daddys
    who plant deep seeds
    when they teach their children to read
    while they struggle to find food to eat

    to ritmo y congo
    y ukelele and
    banjo

    these beats are swimming - in a library thats living
    in a library that's alive
    not dead
    and yet also they can be read

    to the living in a library
    to the uncles and the aunties
    tias y tios
    who knew above all
    that truth is in stories
    written with Creators glory

    to dirt in the sky and colors in the road
    to pages and pages of tells not shows

    to pancit and arroz y chiles and chicken adobo

    to all the things not meant to be there
    and the circles of indigenous knowledge we share
    to the herstories and histories silenced and removed
    to the peoples who have lost land and home so rich folks could make loot

    This is a new old space -
    filled with ancestors grace,
    elders embrace
    for un-heard voices so real u can taste
    caught forever in the middle of a book
    a dream, a sentence, a meal for y'all
    a rhythm, a library for the living
    Uncle Al is giving to us all
     

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  • To Trent From Darrin

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    June 2000

    Trent Heyward was one of the most creative people I've ever had the honor of knowing.He possessed a wonderful sense of humor and an exceptionally keen mind. He was a good friend and I'll miss him a lot.

    Tags
  • To Trent, From Jesaka Irwin

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    June 2000

    Dedicated to Trent Hayward...
    You are...
    A screaming memory reborn in a whispering connection.
    So much strength
    sheltered beneath your travelling eyes.
    I have learned the intensity of loss,
    and the propensity for madness
    re-occurring.
    So tonight I light another candle
    the smoke from nag champa burns like a blazing fire
    and another joins the ancient burial ground in my soul
    where the sacred at rest never die.
    I may never understand the earths claiming
    of street prophets, and works of art.
    I will never comprehend...
    but I will place all my faith in your next journey...
    and hope I see you around in the next life.
    Take care sweet Trent

    One can never get used to loss, I have learned this over and over again.
    It only gets deeper, and harder every time. Sometimes I hope I will get colder... because each passing becomes a mourning for everyone I have lost.

    We will all miss you...

    Tags
  • 27,000 Phone Consumers in Danger!

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    Over the past years I gave up using the landline.   Services with AT&T were too expensive.   As a privileged computer owner I have free domestic and long distant  phone service.  As for the approximate 27,000 people living in San Francisco under the poverty line, free phone computer service is just a pipe dream. 

    A couple of blocks a way from the AT&T pay bill department was the community meeting sponsored by several community collaborative groups, just to mention a few TURN The Utility Reform Network, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, Disability Rights Advocates, SRO collaborative, and California Alliance for Retired Americans. 

    The meeting was to help keep affordable telephone service and the lifeline program, which offers basic phone service at a discounted rate for low-income consumers.

    According to advocates of phone affordability the CPUC California Public Utilities Commission has drafted a proposal to eliminate phone services and discount phone rate service for individuals on fixed income.  Representing the CPUC at the community meeting was Commissioner Mike Florio former Executive Director of TURN. 

    Currently the basic landline phone service is $6.48 per month.  This price is offered to elders, the disabled, families and individuals on a low fixed income.  However the CPUC has voted to increase this rate in the beginning of 2013.

    “ Lifeline can sky rocket its rates”.  According to Kori Chen, Community Organizer of TURN, phone companies want to shift their revenue interest towards cell phones and internet service. 

    This decision not only can impact the 27,000 phone consumers on fixed income, but may also eliminate phone service for those on a shoestring budget.  This means no more calls for 911 emergency dispatch calls or your basic day-to-day calls that help with everyday living. 

    Is phone service going to be regulated, or “will it be subject to free market deregulation” Mark Toney Executive Director of TURN.  What is at stake is the consumer right to pay fair value of phone service, but the problem is that phone industry is making more money from cell phone service, cable service and internet service, thus landline service rates need a hike increase to be able to keep up with the competitive market.

    CPUC Commissioner Mike Florio, shared his concerns, and wanted to make sure that he and others at the CPUC would make an effort to serve the public interest and not to serve the private interest.  Mr. Florio listened to the concerns of several community collaborators. 

    Kori Chen had made reference to the, “The California Lifeline Protection Act”.  This act was drafted so that representatives in Sacramento can endorse the bill.  The protection act protects the Moore Universal Telephone Service Act enacted by legislature in 1997.  This act ensures that all Californians that qualify for lifeline have access to lifeline’s affordable rates. 

    As phone companies keep trying to raise their rates, this bill would tie rate increases to cost of living adjustments, including people who are receiving Cal Works, Social Security and other government benefits.  TURN is mobilizing a trip to meet with legislation, and needs all the support it can get.  To get a better overview of the CPUC, Christine Mailloux, Staff Attorney of TURN gave us a historical rundown of the formation of the CPUC.

    The CPUC was formed back in the 1900’s.  Their was only one phone company the CPUC regulated.  By the early nineties the commission has been finding ways to introduce more phone companies.  This resulted in the way services were regulated.  Following the mid two thousands events took place that began the process of deregulation. 

     Services like caller id, information, toll service (calling from San Francisco to Marin or Santa Rosa) began to increase.  The basic phone service remained regulated for the most part.  Increases by twenty-five cents were made here and there, while all other phone features were becoming more expensive. 

    Other services affected by deregulation were the Public Purpose Program, lifeline service, the deaf and disabled telephone program, and the California tele-connnect fund, which discounts phone service for schools and libraries.  The CPUC was trying to figure out a way to change these services to accommodate new emerging phone carriers in a competitive market.  The CPUC’s had these basic services regulated so that people on fixed incomes could use the services. 

    As the new definition for basic service was drafted new phone carriers, wireless carriers, and other wire line carriers were allowed to compete with landline services.  This forced landline service to increase its fees in order to compete with its competition.  New rates plans no longer reflect the basic standard of living.  Future rate plans will be determined by looking at all these new technologies, new services, and their new rates to come up with a fee the primarily accommodates phone / wireless companies, lowering the original standard used to assist folks on fixed income.

    It seems like the root principles of corruption all have the same fundamental strategy.  Police brutality, Wall Street, the criminal justice system, gentrification, HUD, pharmaceutical industry, Congress, city planning, and the distribution of wealth.  Everything is all corrupt.  

    “A hunger beggar roamed the fields and he saw a chicken.  The beggar killed the chicken and ate it.  Not to distant from the bagger was a king on his horse watching the beggar eat his chicken.   The king rides to the beggar and says, “Who are you?” and the beggar replies, “A hunger peasant. “ The beggar asks the man on the horse,  “Who are you? “ “ I am the king of this land and you ate my chicken.”  So the king gets off his horse and walks towards the beggar and the beggar ask how the king attain all the land.  The king responds, “I conquered, destroyed and took with my bare hands what I wanted” So the beggar tells the king, “So that’s how you became the king.”  The king responds, “ If you want something you have to take it.”  The beggar experienced a moment of “enlightment”, he grabs the king and finishes him off.

     Everywhere around the world change is happening, people are becoming more aware of the different forms of injustices.  We must fight back for phone regulation.  No to CPUC rate increases; Yes to phone regulation.

    To Speak truth to Corporate and legislative lies on this issue- come out to speak up at the next PUC hearing.

    Where: 505 Van Ness in SF

    When: 2pm Wednesday , March 10, 2011

    Your Voices Matter!

     

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  • To Trent, from Kaponda

    09/24/2021 - 09:12 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body

    June 2000

    I had the honor of meeting Trent Hayward at the community newswroom in the offices of Poor Magazine. I was impressed as he claimed the persona of the Chief Justice of the High Court when issues of poverty were discussed. Trent's presence not only empowered everyone in attendance on that afternoon, but the unpretentious contribution he brought to the newsroom made him an instant friend to me.

    We only had one occasion for social interaction, which offered me some of his insightful thoughts. I only wished there could have been more. I will carry his trove in the recesses of my heart.

    So long, Trent.

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