2011

  • Occupied by Real Estate Snakkes, Eviction and Homelessness #1

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p span data-scayt_word="PNN-TV" data-scaytid="1"PNN-TV/span re-ported and sup-ported on the Mass March or housing which was the culmination of 4 neighborhood rallies organized by tenant and neighborhood groups. The Tenants Union will begin in the Tenderloin where we will march to buildings bought by span data-scayt_word="Citi" data-scaytid="2"Citi/span Apartments with money from Wells Fargo./p
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  • ¿En Estos Tiempos Todo el Mundo Está Loco? / In These Times is the Whole World Crazy?

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p emSeptember 6th, 2011/em/p p Scroll down for English/p p span data-scayt_word="Español" data-scaytid="132"Espantilde;ol/span span data-scayt_word="sigue" data-scaytid="134"sigue/span/p p No, no span data-scayt_word="está" data-scaytid="55"estaacute;/span loco, span data-scayt_word="simplemente" data-scaytid="57"simplemente/span la span data-scayt_word="gente" data-scaytid="59"gente/span span data-scayt_word="hoy" data-scaytid="45"hoy/span span data-scayt_word="día" data-scaytid="60"diacute;a/span span data-scayt_word="tienen" data-scaytid="61"tienen/span span data-scayt_word="mas" data-scaytid="63"mas/span span data-scayt_word="maldad" data-scaytid="64"maldad/span span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="46"que/span antes. No se span data-scayt_word="tienen" data-scaytid="62"tienen/span el span data-scayt_word="corazon" data-scaytid="66"corazon/span span data-scayt_word="por" data-scaytid="67"por/span span data-scayt_word="eso" data-scaytid="49"eso/span span data-scayt_word="hacen" data-scaytid="70"hacen/span span data-scayt_word="daño" data-scaytid="71"dantilde;o/span a los span data-scayt_word="niños" data-scaytid="50"nintilde;os/span, span data-scayt_word="aunque" data-scaytid="73"aunque/span span data-scayt_word="ellos" data-scaytid="51"ellos/span no span data-scayt_word="esten" data-scaytid="74"esten/span span data-scayt_word="asiendo" data-scaytid="75"asiendo/span span data-scayt_word="daño" data-scaytid="72"dantilde;o/span a span data-scayt_word="nadie" data-scaytid="76"nadie/span. span data-scayt_word="Hoy" data-scaytid="77"Hoy/span el span data-scayt_word="cielo" data-scaytid="52"cielo/span span data-scayt_word="está" data-scaytid="56"estaacute;/span span data-scayt_word="cubierto" data-scaytid="78"cubierto/span de span data-scayt_word="angeles" data-scaytid="79"angeles/span span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="47"que/span se span data-scayt_word="han" data-scaytid="80"han/span span data-scayt_word="ido" data-scaytid="81"ido/span, y no span data-scayt_word="porque" data-scaytid="53"porque/span span data-scayt_word="Dios" data-scaytid="118"Dios/span los span data-scayt_word="allá" data-scaytid="119"allaacute;/span span data-scayt_word="llamado" data-scaytid="120"llamado/span. span data-scayt_word="Por" data-scaytid="54"Por/span span data-scayt_word="manos" data-scaytid="122"manos/span span data-scayt_word="criminales" data-scaytid="123"criminales/span span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="48"que/span no span data-scayt_word="piensan" data-scaytid="124"piensan/span antes de span data-scayt_word="hacer" data-scaytid="125"hacer/span span data-scayt_word="las" data-scaytid="126"las/span span data-scayt_word="cosas" data-scaytid="127"cosas/span y se span data-scayt_word="dejan" data-scaytid="128"dejan/span span data-scayt_word="llevar" data-scaytid="129"llevar/span span data-scayt_word="por" data-scaytid="68"por/span span data-scayt_word="corajes" data-scaytid="130"corajes/span o span data-scayt_word="envidias" data-scaytid="131"envidias/span o span data-scayt_word="simplemente" data-scaytid="58"simplemente/span span data-scayt_word="por" data-scaytid="69"por/span span data-scayt_word="maldad" data-scaytid="65"maldad/span./p p Estos nintilde;os que hoy estaacute;n en el cielo seguiraacute;n con la sonrisa que los asia brillar como a unas estrellas. Sus miradas inocentes sus confiansas en los adultos. Esas miradas brillantes siguen y segriraacute;n igual, cerca de Dios nuestro creador ero porque se fueron sin manchas y sin maldades./p p Pero hay de los que no los dejaron vivir hoy y siempre estaraacute;n en las rejas de las carceles y peor aun lejos de Dios, si no se arrepienten y piden perdon a Dios y a los familiares de sus victimas./p p A mi me duele el corazon ver la sonrisa de estos nintilde;os pero a la misma vez yo seacute; lo que esta pasando. Unos matando otros peleando paiacute;ses en guerra treemotos y tantas cosas que la gente dice mucha maldad hoy diacute;a. Esto solo quiere decir que el hijo de Dios viene por nosotros y devemos de estar muy alertas y que no vallamos a lamentarnos alguacute;n diacute;a./p p Hoy me quede sin palabras al escuchar como este hombre confiesa su crimen de haber matado a la nintilde;a Rodriguez con una bolsa solo por averla encontrado cerca de su picina. Y lo que mas arranca el corazon, es el tiempo que dice eacute;l que duro la nintilde;a antes de morir,br / que sujrimiento fue para ella sus uacute;ltimos minutos de vida. Y que dolor para esta familia perder lo mas sagrado y maravilloso que da la vida que son nuestros hijos. Nada nos puede doler a los padres mas que los hijos, pues son una erencia de jeova y no hay comparacioacute;n con ese amor./p p Porque yo soy madre y no estoy cerca de mis hijos me duele mucho lo que pasoacute; con esta nintilde;a pues ella jamas pienso que el alejarse de su casa y de sus padres fuera costarle la vida.br / Porque asiacute; son los nintilde;os bien inocentes pues en el corazoacute;n de ellos no hay maldad y menos si son pequentilde;itos como esta nintilde;a de tan solo 3 antilde;os. A esa edad son tan curiosos que todo lo que ven quieren saber que es. Y si ella vioacute; el agua por su curiosidad se acerco./p p Por eso yo les pido a los papas que no nos confiemos de dejar un rato a nuestros hijitos solos mas en este paiacute;s que hay gente de todo el mundo y no toda la gente que vemos sonreiacute;r es buena.br / Hay gente que solo queren acernos dantilde;o y lo pueden lograr si nos descuidamos tantito un minuto puede ser fatal para nuestros hijitos./p p span data-scayt_word="Por" data-scaytid="1"Por/span span data-scayt_word="eso" data-scaytid="2"eso/span span data-scayt_word="escribo" data-scaytid="3"escribo/span span data-scayt_word="esto" data-scaytid="4"esto/span span data-scayt_word="pues" data-scaytid="5"pues/span span data-scayt_word="yo" data-scaytid="6"yo/span span data-scayt_word="siento" data-scaytid="7"siento/span la span data-scayt_word="muerte" data-scaytid="8"muerte/span de span data-scayt_word="esta" data-scaytid="9"esta/span span data-scayt_word="niña" data-scaytid="10"nintilde;a/span span data-scayt_word="porque" data-scaytid="11"porque/span se span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="12"que/span span data-scayt_word="es" data-scaytid="16"es/span span data-scayt_word="perder" data-scaytid="17"perder/span lo span data-scayt_word="maravilloso" data-scaytid="18"maravilloso/span span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="13"que/span span data-scayt_word="tenemos" data-scaytid="19"tenemos/span y saber span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="14"que/span span data-scayt_word="jamas" data-scaytid="20"jamas/span span data-scayt_word="volverá" data-scaytid="21"volveraacute;/span. span data-scayt_word="Pero" data-scaytid="22"Pero/span span data-scayt_word="ella" data-scaytid="23"ella/span span data-scayt_word="como" data-scaytid="24"como/span span data-scayt_word="sientos" data-scaytid="25"sientos/span de span data-scayt_word="niños" data-scaytid="26"nintilde;os/span span data-scayt_word="hoy" data-scaytid="27"hoy/span span data-scayt_word="gozan" data-scaytid="28"gozan/span de span data-scayt_word="una" data-scaytid="29"una/span span data-scayt_word="mejor" data-scaytid="30"mejor/span span data-scayt_word="vida" data-scaytid="31"vida/span en el span data-scayt_word="cielo" data-scaytid="32"cielo/span y span data-scayt_word="si" data-scaytid="33"si/span span data-scayt_word="nosotros" data-scaytid="34"nosotros/span span data-scayt_word="creémos" data-scaytid="35"creeacute;mos/span span data-scayt_word="endios" data-scaytid="36"endios/span span data-scayt_word="sabemos" data-scaytid="37"sabemos/span span data-scayt_word="que" data-scaytid="15"que/span span data-scayt_word="ellos" data-scaytid="38"ellos/span no no span data-scayt_word="están" data-scaytid="39"estaacute;n/span span data-scayt_word="muertos" data-scaytid="40"muertos/span span data-scayt_word="sino" data-scaytid="41"sino/span span data-scayt_word="dormidos" data-scaytid="42"dormidos/span..../p p nbsp;/p p English follows/p p nbsp;/p p In These Times Is the Whole World Crazy?/p p No, the world is not crazy these days, itrsquo;s just therersquo;s more people doing harm. It donrsquo;t touch their hearts when theyrsquo;re harming kids, even though kids do not harm anybody. Today the sky is full of child angels that have left us, and not because God has called them, but because of criminals who do not think of what they are doing, and get carried away by madness and envy or evil./p p These kids are now in heaven and will continue to smile bright as the stars. Their innocent gaze and their faith in adults, those bright smiles will continue just the same, close to God our creator, cause they left without any sins and without evil./p p But those who cut their lives short will live incarcerated or worse, far away from God if they do not repent and ask forgiveness to God and the victimsrsquo; family members./p p My heart aches thinking about the smiles, but at the same time I realize that people continue to kill each other, countries to fight among themselves, earthquakes and all the evil in the world of these times. That means that the son of God is coming for us and we must be alert, and not regretful one day./p p Today I was speechless when I heard how a man confessed his crime of killing a baby girl named Rodriguez with a plastic bag, after the girl approached his swimming pool. What breaks my heart the most, is that in the time he said it took for the little girl to die, the little girl was suffering so much, and in her last minutes of life, no less. I canrsquo;t believe the suffering of these families after losing the most sacred and marvellous things, which are the lives of our kids. Nothing can be more painful for parents then losing a little one, because they are the sons and daughters of God./p p Because I am a mother and far away from my little ones, it hurts to think how, simply by the small act of walking away from her house, her life was lost. Thatrsquo;s just how children are innocent and donrsquo;t carry evil in their hearts; they are kids like this little 3-year-old girl. At that age they are very curious and want to learn everything and explore everything./p p Thatrsquo;s why I ask parents not to leave their kids alone, especially in this country which has people from all over the world, and all the people that smile are not good people. There are people that only want to harm us, and they can accomplish that if we are not alert. A minute could be fatal to our kids./p p This is why I wrote, cause I feel the death of this girl, cause I know the feeling of being away from our marvellous kids and not having them near. Because of this little girl, hundreds of kids have a better life. If we believe in God we know that they are not dead, they are only sleepinghellip;/p
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  • Speaking Up for Brother Troy Anthony Davis and all victims of Amerikkkan Just-US

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p (photo credit: span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Tiburcio" data-scaytid="1"Tiburcio/span Garcia-Gray)/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" We were all standing there in line at the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="3"po#39;lice/spannbsp;station in different states of hegemony ndash; some of us bought in to the lie of security and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="po’lice" data-scaytid="9"porsquo;lice/span, believing we had ldquo;done wrongrdquo; or span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“f-ed" data-scaytid="11"ldquo;f-ed/span uprdquo; and some of us not. It was Wednesday, September 21supst/sup, the day of the state sponsored murder of Troy Anthony Davis and there werenbsp; easily 210 of us standing in a line snaking out of the building. We were in the Cop span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="sto’" data-scaytid="13"storsquo;/span the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Po’Lice" data-scaytid="15"Porsquo;Lice/span Bank, the building known simply as ldquo;850 Bryantrdquo;. Uniforms rushed past us with relaxed authority. This was their place, we were just waiting in it.nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" For traffic tickets to felonyrsquo;s this is your building, this is your nightmare. In the last six months since budget cuts have cut deeper wounds in societies collective flesh, yet more cops roam the streets issuing more tickets, the line for traffic tickets outside room 145 at 850 Bryantnbsp; has begun to expand like a python ready to strike, like an un-checked levy after a storm. The people are piling up and the workers to help them diminishing./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" I was there standing in that line. I was rocking my hand-made, life-size, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“Yo" data-scaytid="17"ldquo;Yo/span Soy Troy Davis hellip; I am Troy Davis shirt/body patch. It was 11:00 am and I was tweeting, calling, petition signing, and calling again. And then I remembered, I had a voice, maybe thatrsquo;s all I had, but I had a voice and I could speak up andnbsp; then..../p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" Excuse me, can i get everyone#39;s attention..... I waited until the halls were clear of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="5"po#39;lice/span and the only sound you heard was thenbsp; silent tapping of fingernails to touch screens and then I did it. I stepped outside of excepted norms of behavior. All those unseen, unsaid demands on speech and when is ok to speak up, They are about to execute an innocent man in Georgia in less than 5 hours, and you all can do something about it, right now, from right here... I went on to explain a little background about the case of brother Troy and fact that 7 out of 9 witnesses recanted their testimonies, how so many people, including several span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="politricksters" data-scaytid="19"politricksters/span in power have stood up to say this is wrong./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" I have the number on my phone that you all can call, i have the link to the petition that you can sign, please consider it, we aren#39;t doing anything else for at least the next hour, right? nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" And then it was over. I finished speaking and people looked away. They continued ticking on their meta-keyboards, and looking at their nails, and reading their papers, and looking at their feet. And it was if i have never said anything. Or was it?/p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" My brother, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Muteado" data-scaytid="21"Muteado/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Silencio" data-scaytid="23"Silencio/span, in our POOR Magazine family of poverty scholars and reporters told me he did a similar thing on the evening of the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="SCOMM" data-scaytid="25"SCOMM/span threat of deportation his family had just had to deal with in Oakland./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" I looked around, it was a crowded BART train and no one was saying anything or doing anything. We were all just standing there. I knew no-one else would say anything so i decided to speak up, I busted out with my poem about the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="criminalization" data-scaytid="27"criminalization/span of immigrants,/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" He said that when he was finished with the piece,nbsp; no-one said anything, but the air was heavy with his words./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" As i write this piece my heart is heavy with the deep loss of a powerful spirit like brother Troy Anthony Davis. I gaze at his humble image, now a part of our POOR Magazine altar for all fallen victims of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="7"po#39;lice/span terror, plantation systems, racism and poverty and i cry./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" Wenbsp; grieved yesterday and held a inter-tribal prayer ceremony in POOR#39;s family, holding the grief of all our lost and stolen brothers and sisters. We didn#39;t move on. We did no work./p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" Some organizers and conscious folks talk about moving on and doing the work. But wenbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" as indigenous peoples from many nations at POOR Magazine, will not move on, we will hold this grief in our collective hearts and souls and act daily to re-port and sup-port on not only the movements of change but the movements of no change.nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 15px; font: 12px times new roman" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px times new roman" We will continue to speak up in places we are not supposed to about things we are not supposed to even mention and we will make art and cultural work about things and people that never get art made about them and we will work daily to make sure that all silenced, removed, deported, lynched, incarcerated, criminalized, harassed and abused peoples are heard and loved and remembered and we hope you all do the same. even when its uncomfortable for you to do so./p
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  • Who's Rosa Parks?

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p (Editor#39;s note: This article was written in mid 2010.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;We now share it as part of Revolutionary Worker Scholar#39;s collection of essays)/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p iItrsquo;s got our beautiful children /i/p p iLiving in all kinds of hell/i/p p iCoping to survive and/i/p p ispan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Makin’" data-scaytid="1"Makinrsquo;/span it well/i/p p iSwinging together in/i/p p iMisty darkness with all/i/p p iTheir love to share/i/p p iSmiling their Christ-like /i/p p iForgiveness that only a/i/p p iGhetto cross could bear/i/p p i--Poet span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Piri" data-scaytid="3"Piri/span Thomas /i/p p  /p p I recently started a new job with a new security guard company after a year and a half of service with XYZ Security Company. The new company is quite large, with offices all over the globe. I sat through training with 4 other guard prospectsmdash;young men of color looking quite hungry for employmentmdash;if not the dinner plate. I was the middle-aged guy whorsquo;d seen these young men beforemdash;in one incarnation or anothermdash;in security company training past. We sat through films about sexual harassment, workplace safety, domestic terrorism etc.nbsp; I looked around the office as the training was administered--i saw all the requisite symbols of patriotism: the flag, the memorials to 911, a picture of some long dead European explorer etc.nbsp; And to my amazement, i found out that one ofnbsp;my fellownbsp;guard trainees was a young man named emMao X. Che/em.nbsp; The office air became thick with irony./p p The classroom discussions were facilitated by a nice man whom many of the guards referred to as Ancient Age. Age was a portly man with short-cropped gray hair. He recalled his experiences as a guardmdash;how he foiled a bank robbery attempt and de-escalated any number of potentially dangerous situations. I looked at the manrsquo;s rotund physique. The bank incident surely happened long ago, when he was thinner and able to run (IE: haul ass) a block or two./p p He had a fatherly way of speakingmdash;the kind yoursquo;d expect in a counselor or minister. I sat wondering why he was in security and why people called him Ancient Age. He wasnrsquo;t that old. Turns out hersquo;d been in security for nearly 30 years after serving in the military. I felt ashamed for thinking that the reason he was called Ancient Age was because he drank it (see: http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="en.wikipedia.org" data-scaytid="5"en.wikipedia.org/span/wiki/Ancient_Age). At the end of the classroom training and testingmdash;which I passed with 100% in all categories (thank God for open book tests), I followed Ancient Age to the fitting room where I was issued my new uniform./p p I put on my new security guard uniform. Therersquo;s a new car smell quality that comes with a new uniform--as if the poor worker at the uniform factory stuffed a cardboard air freshener into every pocket. I took a deep breath. The company is very strict about appearance and is steadfast about clean uniforms. I was given an assignment. I walked out the door feeling like a new man./p p I was sent to a Public Housing Complex to meet the Security Site Supervisor who I will refer to as B. B was a somewhat muscular man who looked like he may have played high school football in his glory years (I too was on a high school football team, my only glory: The uncanny ability to pluck splinters from my ass--supplied by the copious benches I rode). He led me into an office where he informed me that there was a lot of violence at the complex and that many black people lived there. He indicated that there was loitering, gangs, domestic violence, graffiti, and a recent fight on the property that involved 40 people, some of whom had baseball bats./p p He spoke eloquently. I indicated that I was familiar with black people, having seen them on span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="buses" data-scaytid="7"buses/span and music videos. I looked at his dark knit sport shirt with some kind of logo stitched into it. These types of guys always seem to wear shirts like that for some reason. He told me of the high turnover rate of guards at the site. He asked me if I was interested. I needed the work, the hours. I said yes. Come back in two hours, he said./p p I returned to the complex and entered the security office. I met 2 young men in dark, SWAT-like uniforms minus semi-automatic weapons. On a desk was a row of books. I scanned the titles for poetry or novels or books by POOR Press authors but all I saw was science fiction and titles pertaining to criminal justice. Next to the books was a framed tribute to American patriotsmdash;including the firemen who died during the 911 attacks. Next to that was a computer monitor flickering with images relayed by cameras that were strategically placed all over the property. I was briefed by the guards who told me what the site-supervisor had told me: the complex is dangerous--gangs and loitering, people who do not value life etc. I was given paperwork to fill out indicating the beginning of my shift./p p I walked alongside my fellow guard, a young guy in his late 20rsquo;s, past the units and parked cars. There were many children. Some looked at me and asked, Is that the new guard? The kids had wide eyes filled with possibilities. I looked and saw future astronomers, poets, artists, teachers, philosophers, writers, organizers--elders. Yes, Irsquo;m the new guard I answered. The kids searched my face and ran off. We kept walking. We saw a group of young people gathered on the property, just standing and talking. I was told that this was loitering (which the guard pronounced ispan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="lootering" data-scaytid="9"lootering/span/i) and that I should indicate in my officerrsquo;s report that I observed gang members congregated on the property. How do you know they are gang members? I asked. The guard indicated that the young people were not residents and that they stand around intimidating residents with their unruly behavior. But I didnrsquo;t see the young men behaving in a threatening or unruly way. We walked by them and proceeded on our patrol./p p I was told of the many house rules, which, if broken, can result in a write up that could be cause for eviction. You could be written up for loitering, excessive noise, parking in an unauthorized spot among other things. As I listened, it seemed there was a house rule for everything. I began to feel like this was a controlled environment, a place of confinement rather than a place of residence. I recalled the words of Henry David Thoreau:/p p nbsp;/p p emAny fool can make a rule and any fool will mind it/em/p p nbsp;/p p We continued our patrol and came upon an area of the property that is named in honor of civil rights figure Rosa Parks. My fellow guard informed me that we were at the "Rosa Parks section of our patrol". Rosa Parks I said. Whorsquo;s that? The guard told me he didnrsquo;t know. Itrsquo;s just the name, he said. I asked another guard the same question during the next patrol. Rosa Parks I said, That must be the person who conceived the idea of building this housing complex, right? The guard looked at me and said, Yeshellip;she is the one who thought of it. I took a nice deep breath of air. Neither of the guards knew who Rosa Parks was./p p But what we did know--thanks to the core of the non-profit industrial complex and racist police mentality that is held in such span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="salvific" data-scaytid="11"salvific/span esteem in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Amerikkk--was" data-scaytid="13"Amerikkk--was/span that this housing complex has lots of black people who loiter, deal drugs, involve themselves in gangs and have no value for human life. I looked at my fellow guard, an immigrantmdash;very personable--a nice guy, as well as the other guard, an immigrant as well. Itrsquo;s a shame their energies are focused on this type of workmdash;anchored by ideas fueled by the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PO’Lice" data-scaytid="15"POrsquo;Lice/span, the prison and non-profit industrial complexes./p p Would they see things differently if they knew who Rosa Parks was? Would it make a difference? We continued our walk towards the security office. We walked past people, not just black, but brown and yellow too. I looked at the kids on the sidewalks and driveways. I looked at their eyes and I again saw future astronomers, poets, artists, teachers, philosophers, writers, organizers, elders. They looked at my fellow security officer. They looked at me. What did they see?/p p  /p p  /p p copy; 2010 Revolutionary Worker Scholar/p p font size="2" /font/p dl dt  /dt /dl p font size="2" /font/p p font size="2" /font/p p font size="2" /font/p p font size="2" /font/p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p p  /p
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  • Author Peter Jamero talks about Growing Up Brown in America

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    h2 nbsp;/h2 p (Editor#39;s Note:nbsp; Peter span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jamero" data-scaytid="3"Jamero/span is a longtime friend of Al Robles.nbsp; He is the author of 2 books--Growing up Brown and The Bridge Generation.nbsp; The books talk about Filipino life in America from the perspective of a native son navigating between two worlds--the world of his parents and the world of America.nbsp; This interview was done after the publication of his first book Growing up Brown.nbsp; His follow up book, The Bridge Generation was just released by University of Washington Press and will be featured in an upcoming column of POOR Magazine.nbsp; For more information on Peter span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jamero" data-scaytid="5"Jamero/span, go to:nbsp; a href="http://peterjamero.net/default.aspx"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="peterjamero.net" data-scaytid="1"peterjamero.net/span/default.aspx/a.nbsp; Tony Robles--Co-Editor, POOR Magazine)/p h2 nbsp;/h2 h2 By a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/author/the-international-examiner/" title="Posts by The International Examiner"font color="#003366"The International Examiner/font/abr / Posted in a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/category/news/" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in News"font color="#003366"News/font/a, a href="http://www.iexaminer.org/category/issue/volume-33-no-20/" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Volume 33 No. 20"font color="#003366"Volume 33 No. 20/font/a/h2 div class="postmetadata_single" p class="clear" nbsp;/p /div div class="entry" !-- AddThis Button Begin --!-- AddThis Button Begin --!-- AddThis Button Begin --!-- AddThis Button Begin --SCRIPT type=text/javascriptvar addthis_product = 'wpp-261'; var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":false};/scriptSCRIPT type=text/javascript src="//s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#pubid=wp-4e63b3e01490ca14"/scriptp !--cut=none--!--cut=none--!--cut=none--!--cut=none--/p p strongBY LUCIA span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="ENRIQUEZ" data-scaytid="9"ENRIQUEZ/span/strongbr / emstrongExaminer Contributor/strong/em/p !--/cut--!--/cut--!--/cut--!--/cut--p Peter span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jamero’s" data-scaytid="11"Jamerorsquo;s/span newly published memoir, ldquo;Growing Up Brown,rdquo; talks about early Filipino American history. He was born in 1930 at a Filipino farm workerrsquo;s camp run by his parents in California, surrounded by 80-100 workers housed and fed by his family. He overcame a language barrier and became a precocious and popular young man in high school. Despite many early achievements he experienced discrimination. Undeterred, he went on to join the Navy and took on broader and riskier opportunities when he got out. He started a family and at the same time went on to graduate school. Then he rose up to the executive ranks in government and played a prominent role in the Filipino community in Seattle in the lsquo;70s and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="‘80s" data-scaytid="13"lsquo;80s/span./p !--cut=raquo; continue reading--!--cut=raquo; continue reading--!--cut=raquo; continue reading--!--cut=raquo; continue reading--p An enthusiastic and raucous audience received Peter span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jamero" data-scaytid="7"Jamero/span at a talk and reading at the University Bookstore in Seattle last August. I sat with him prior to the reading to talk about things he learned from his experiences, how he overcame the lack of opportunities and ended up trailblazing an amazing career./p p strongLE:/strong Tell me about growing up in the camp. We hear a lot about the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“manongs”" data-scaytid="15"ldquo;manongsrdquo;/span (first-generation Filipino farm workers who came over in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="‘20s" data-scaytid="17"lsquo;20s/span and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="‘30s" data-scaytid="19"lsquo;30s/span) but most of the stories are about single men, not about families who actually ran their own camps./p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="21"PJ/span:/strong Therersquo;s the misconception that the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“manong”" data-scaytid="39"ldquo;manongrdquo;/span generation were all single. Many of them were, but a lot of them were married, including women from the Philippines. And my father was fortunately one of them. And there were also a lot of mixed kids. Those of us in the ldquo;Bridge Generationrdquo; (the children of the farm workers) considered those mixed kids as Filipino. If they hung out with us and said they were Filipino, thatrsquo;s all that was necessary. We didnrsquo;t make the distinction that was prevalent at that time of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="regionalization" data-scaytid="41"regionalization/span, where people identified as span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Visayan" data-scaytid="43"Visayan/span, or span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ilocano" data-scaytid="45"Ilocano/span or whatever. We just simply felt that in our generation, if they were Filipino they were Filipino. And we didnrsquo;t go beyond that. We didnrsquo;t question whether they had a white mother or a black mother or whatever./p p At the same time we were Filipino. Our belief system was Filipino. Our cultural way of life was Filipino. People spoke different dialects, but that didnrsquo;t matter. Our identity was Filipino, there was no doubt in our minds about that, and thatrsquo;s the way we continue to feel./p p strongLE:/strong It was startling to read about your experience meeting white people for the first time. To you it was a strange encounter because most of the people you knew were Filipino, and that you consider English a second language./p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="23"PJ/span: /strongItrsquo;s hard today to imagine the situation then, but we were isolated. But the country at that time wasnrsquo;t as heavily populated. And so we were not unusual in that sense. I think most ethnic groups hung together, but in our case because were not like the prevalent white folks, there was more of a reason for us to be on our own or to be by ourselves. And so it was true, I had no idea that there was an overwhelming number of white people in this country. Until I went to school, of course, and found out that, indeed, the United States of America was a lot bigger than the farm country that I was familiar with. And so that was a big awakening for me./p p strongLE:/strong You describe your many responsibilities at camp. It seemed like a city almost, like a little town./p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="25"PJ/span:/strong In many ways it was. We had a little store there, a ldquo;sari-sarirdquo; (variety) store that my mother ran. We were pretty independent in terms of preparing our own food, we slaughtered our own chickens and our own span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“baboy”" data-scaytid="47"ldquo;baboyrdquo;/span (pigs or hogs), grew our own vegetables. But lots of families in those days were doing that same thing. What was unusual was that we had to provide for 80-100 people, most of whom were single men./p p strongLE: /strongWas it then unusual for you to go to school, having come from camp?/p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="27"PJ/span:/strong Very unusual. I was the only one in school then who came from that situation./p p strongLE:/strong So you had the acculturation at camp, and a different acculturation in school. In spite of that you did very well. In high school you write that you were class president, then student body vice president./p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="29"PJ/span: /strongThat was my span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="naïveté" data-scaytid="49"naiuml;veteacute;/span. I believed what they tried to teach us in this country about equality. Discrimination wasnrsquo;t something I experienced until high school. It isnrsquo;t like that today obviously, but that was an awakening. I think you read in there about one of my teachers saying to me when I signed up for college prep that my kind belongs in agriculture or machine shop./p p strongLE: /strongThat must have been devastating./p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="31"PJ/span: /strongVery devastating. You may also remember what I put in the book, especially after the prom, where here I thought I was so popular that I wouldnrsquo;t have a problem getting a prom date. I was very wrong. I tried to wash my color. It didnrsquo;t come off./p p strongLE: /strongWhat kept you going despite these kinds of experiences?/p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="33"PJ/span:/strong I got pretty good guidance from my mother in particular, who was a teacher in the Philippines, and very much believed in the ideals of this country. And, of course, a number of teachers who were very supportive of me as well. They were not only supportive, but very helpful in trying to show me other aspects. They didnrsquo;t necessarily know the hurt I went through but they believed in me as an individual. I went through some bitter things, but that was not necessarily all of my experience. The good experiences I had with my classmates were sustaining./p p strongLE:/strong Tell me about the people in the camps. Did some of them take other jobs, or did they tend to stay as farm workers and migrate?/p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="35"PJ/span: /strongMost of them ndash; not because they preferred it that way ndash; died as farm workers. Which meant that if they were fortunate enough to live till they were in their span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="60s" data-scaytid="51"60s/span and 70s, they were still farm workers. It was not because they were not educated, and did not have the desire to do something else. It was because the opportunities were not there./p p The doors were not entirely very open to us, and we were American citizens. So you can imagine that people who came from the Philippines had even greater problems in trying to make it in mainstream employment. Donrsquo;t forget there were no laws there that would protect you against discrimination and things like that. In fact, those laws didnrsquo;t protect me for most of my career. They didnrsquo;t come into being in this country until the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="‘60s" data-scaytid="57"lsquo;60s/span. And by the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="‘60s" data-scaytid="59"lsquo;60s/span, I was already in my span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="30s-40s" data-scaytid="61"30s-40s/span, so there were no legal protections for people of color./p p I chose to look at those events where I experienced discrimination as learning experiences. Some people go through events and become bitter. I donrsquo;t look at it that way, and my wife and I try to raise our children that way. We were very clear with the kids. Understand racism, know how to deal with discrimination. But never, never use it as an excuse. Itrsquo;s an easy cop-out to say well, I didnrsquo;t get that job because I was Filipino. I never really did that./p p strongLE:/strong What would you like new immigrants from the Philippines to learn from your history?/p p strongspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="PJ" data-scaytid="37"PJ/span: /strongWhat I would hope theyrsquo;ll learn is that what they may be going through in trying to make it in this country ndash; and this is a tough country ndash; therersquo;s nothing easy here even today. The history ought to teach them that theyrsquo;re really not alone, and havenrsquo;t been. What theyrsquo;re going through is similar in a lot of ways to what other people are going through. Thatrsquo;s what I mean by understanding history./p p One thing I like to say at book readings is that, despite the things Irsquo;ve gone through, I truly appreciate that only in America could the things that Irsquo;ve been able to accomplish happen. I come from peasant stock in the Philippines. I wouldnrsquo;t have been able to do this in the Philippines. I know the old country ways, and I know this country./p p Newly arrived immigrants ndash; the thing that I hope they would do is they would turn to people like us whorsquo;ve gone through some of this. We can help. We can at least tell them, donrsquo;t feel alone. These are the ways Irsquo;ve handled it. They (immigrants) ought not to put us down because we canrsquo;t speak Tagalog. Thatrsquo;s the least thing they ought to be concerned about./p p Whether we speak Tagalog or not, the blood that goes through our veins is the same as theirs. We donrsquo;t see them as different. They ought not to see us as different. span _fck_bookmark="1" style="display: none"nbsp;/span/p !--/cut--!--/cut--!--/cut--!--/cut--/div
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  • Corporate Destruction of our Mother (Mother Earth/Pachamama)

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p Our politicians are either stupid or lazy, because they donrsquo;t look at the bigger issues and are only concerned about monetary span data-scayt_word="profit.”" data-scaytid="1"profit.rdquo;/span Alberto span data-scayt_word="Saldamando" data-scaytid="2"Saldamando/span, representative from the International Indian Treaty Council, gave me this simple revelation concerning the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.nbsp;/p p What concerns me is the fact that it could affect the reservations that surround the proposed pipeline. Tens of thousands of people below poverty level could get sick and die or get hurt or killed in an explosion or rupture. Trans Canada Pipelines Corporation clearly already have pipeline laid down to Cushing OK, where major refining plants are located, and hence they already go around the areas where major poverty levels are at./p p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;" President Barack Obama, self-proclaimed leader in clean energy revision, has planned to accept all parties undertaking this project that could lay waste to sensitive ecosystems, up the price of gas because of such dirty oil needs to be refined even further due to different compounds that make up the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada. But most of all that matters to me, with this controversial topic, is where they want to build it as well as the environmental issues/p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanUpon reviewing a map of the proposed pipeline, it shows the original Keystone Pipeline as it heads south from span data-scayt_word="Hardisty" data-scaytid="3"Hardisty/span, then it makes itrsquo;s way to Winnipeg. Which is east from span data-scayt_word="Hardisty" data-scaytid="4"Hardisty/span. From there all the way down to Steele City KA, then breaking off from there to span data-scayt_word="Patoka" data-scaytid="5"Patoka/span and Wood River IL.,/p p class="MsoNormal" Instead of going east to Winnipeg, they decided it must go south to Baker MO., already several issues come to mind. Including a way to put the pipeline inside of the Rocky Mountains, also along with that comes the issue of the strength and durability of the pipeline as well as a way to keep it from leaking or corroding. I believe we may have another BP situation on our hands here. What happens when there is a spill of BPrsquo;s proportion on land? Do the politicians think of that? Just last Monday September 20, a major oil rig exploded and not a single word was said about it, witness Maria Slay told the span data-scayt_word="Oklahoman" data-scaytid="6"Oklahoman/span that she heard four or five explosions and said workers are at the drilling rig around the clock. No injuries were so called reported. Letrsquo;s say that happened near the reservations. That would be a cataclysmic event that would affect a lot of indigenous people of the reservations. Another issue is the compounds that make up the tar sands of Alberta, Canada./p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanBituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. Making liquid fuels from oil sands requires energy for steam injection and refining. This process generates two to four times the amount of greenhouse span data-scayt_word="gases" data-scaytid="7"gases/span per barrel of final product as the production of conventional oil./p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanHeavy metals such as vanadium, nickel, lead, cobalt, mercury, chromium, cadmium, arsenic, selenium, copper, manganese, iron and zinc are present in oil sands, which make the oil sands extremely hard to pump and refine, which is why many people call the bituminous sands ldquo;dirty oilrdquo;.span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /span/p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanAnother issue I just stumbled upon is the lies that were told to us. I recently heard from a colleague of mine, whorsquo;s name I will not release due to the relative nature ofspan style=""nbsp; /spanthis article, informed me that Trans Canada Corporation is not selling the oil to the United States but instead they are only renting the land from the United States to sell oil to South America. When I heard this, two things came to mind, jobs and money./p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanIf this is true, Americans near and around the extended pipeline would be the most in danger, including those peoples on the reservations. What if nothing happened, oil production is moving forward in the process and oil is being sold. Greenhouse gasses would be the major problem. Many people in the Midwest have breathing problems due to so much drought.span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /span/p p class="MsoNormal" span style=""nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; /spanThe only money the United States would be getting is from Trans Canada Pipelines for renting the land, and the only jobs created by this would be for the oil rigs that are already in place and have workers. Not a single man or woman would be able to build the actual pipeline even if they had the experience. I canrsquo;t say for sure if anything will happen, but what I have the right to say is that this proposed pipeline will only bring more issues to come instead of solutions./p
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  • The 1966 Hunters Point Rebellion: The Fight Must Go On

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p (Editor#39;s note: This story is reprinted from the San Francisco span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="127"Bayview/span Newspaper, September 2011 issue.nbsp; To read other stories from the San Francisco span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="131"Bayview/span Newspaper go to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.sfbayview.com" data-scaytid="137"www.sfbayview.com/span)/p p nbsp;/p p With the current wave of uprisings across England ndash; after police murdered Mark span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Duggan" data-scaytid="9"Duggan/span, 29, Black father of four, and beat a 16-year-old girl at the peaceful protest led by Markrsquo;s family outside the police station when she asked police why they shot him ndash; and the insurgence of flash mobs across the United States, sparked by unrest in Black communities in cities from Chicago and Kansas City to Philadelphia, where Black youth face problems of unemployment, poor education and constant span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="demonization" data-scaytid="11"demonization/span and vilification from the police, media and wider span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="U.S" data-scaytid="1"U.S/span. demographic, it is appropriate to call on the history of rebellions by our people./p p nbsp;/p p As Dr. Martin Luther King span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jr" data-scaytid="13"Jr/span. once stated, riot is the language of the unheard; and so it comes as no surprise that the language of our underclass is of the same dialect that it has been for decades and even centuries, as the socio-political issues that plague Black communities have refused to subside and the outcry of our people continues to ring a mere murmur in the ears of the power elite and our fellow world citizens./p p The span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="15"Bayview/span community erupted in 1966, at the height of the civil rights movement, upon the unlawful police killing of 16-year-old Black youth Matthew ldquo;Peanutrdquo; Johnson. Police killings continue to haunt Black communities not only here in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="17"Bayview/span Hunters Point ndash; rest in peace, Kenneth Harding ndash; or even the Bay Area ndash; Oscar Grant and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raheim" data-scaytid="29"Raheim/span Brown, to name but two stolen lives, remain in our hearts ndash; but across the Atlantic too, in Black communities suffering the same injustices that burn fury in the consciousness of our people: a people of peace./p p Our people of peace, when provoked tirelessly by the evils of police brutality, gentrification and a near genocidal prison system, stand together and claim a united voice: the voice of rebellion./p p So to those young rebels fighting the oppression of Black people today in America, the United Kingdom and across the world, we stand in solidarity with your vision. The fight began long before the 1966 rebellion and continues to live on in the consciousness of every man and woman who has the courage to stand against the white supremacist state in which we live./p p The following interview, conducted earlier this year by span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Alka" data-scaytid="31"Alka/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Joshi" data-scaytid="35"Joshi/span, talking with her neighbors in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="19"Bayview/span Hunters Point who lived here then, gives an inside look at the 1966 uprising. Those rebels are present today in the consciousness of our youth: Our plight necessitates the continuation of their fight./p p strongMan:/strong That chain of events ndash; [Nat] span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Burbridge" data-scaytid="41"Burbridge/span [president of the San Francisco NAACP] had to take a stand on something. And the issue was: murder./p p strongWoman 1:/strong I realized that it was just, they were fighting for the right to be enabled to walk down the street and be equal, just like anybody else./p p strongMan:/strong Irsquo;m not just span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gon’" data-scaytid="43"gonrsquo;/span let you get away with doing anything to me and expect me to like it. And my stand is, is to fight back./p p strongWoman 1:/strong We were span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="havin’" data-scaytid="47"havinrsquo;/span an Indian summer; it was warm that day./p p strongMan:/strong We were, you know, out in front of the house playing, like little kids do, and we heard tires span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="squealin’" data-scaytid="49"squealinrsquo;/span and saw a guy in a stolen car and hersquo;s just span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="wheelin’" data-scaytid="51"wheelinrsquo;/span around the schoolyard and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="doin’" data-scaytid="53"doinrsquo;/span doughnuts and stuff like this. At that time it was real exciting, lsquo;cause he was too young to be driving./p p strongMan:/strong Police cruisers came into the schoolyard. I can remember him doing a doughnut and heading towards the south end of the schoolyard and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="slammin’" data-scaytid="57"slamminrsquo;/span on the breaks; the car slammed into one of the school benches and he jumped out and took off span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="runnin’" data-scaytid="59"runninrsquo;/span. He went to jump off the top of this little hill and I heard the gun crack; and I saw the body contort. They shot him! But they shot him in the back./p p Mind you, I was a kid then. So I really didnrsquo;t understand all of the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="grumblin’" data-scaytid="61"grumblinrsquo;/span and the anger and stuff like this ndash; I didnrsquo;t make the connection then. Well, he stole a car, he did span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="somethin’" data-scaytid="63"somethinrsquo;/span wrong; but, they didnrsquo;t have to kill him./p p strongNewscaster from 1966 clip:/strong It was as if a war had broken out on San Franciscorsquo;s city streets [the sound of people screaming in the background]./p p strongWoman 1:/strong I could hear my mom on the phone, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="talkin’" data-scaytid="69"talkinrsquo;/span about a riot; and, itrsquo;s like, you know, what is span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="goin’" data-scaytid="71"goinrsquo;/span on? And then my brother, he says, he goes down to Third Street and he said the National Guard is out there. I can still visualize all the helicopters; I remember the police cars and paddy wagons that was span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="goin’" data-scaytid="73"goinrsquo;/span back and forth./p p strongMan:/strong [inaudible] span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="comin’" data-scaytid="77"cominrsquo;/span from everywhere, a lot of police sirens and stuff like this./p p strongWoman 1:/strong Shots were fired around the Opera House, which was just down the street from my school./p p strongMan:/strong A whole lot of Black people gathered in the streets and they were span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="shoutin’" data-scaytid="79"shoutinrsquo;/span: ldquo;Piggy, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="wiggy" data-scaytid="81"wiggy/span! span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ooo" data-scaytid="83"Ooo/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="ooo" data-scaytid="85"ooo/span, you span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gotta" data-scaytid="87"gotta/span go now. Oink span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="oink.”" data-scaytid="3"oink.rdquo;/span/p p strongWoman 1:/strong It was really, it was just a mess, it really was. It really, really was a mess./p p strongWoman 2:/strong I have been in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="21"Bayview/span for 48 years. My parents purchased a home here a month before I was born./p p strongMan:/strong My dad was in the Navy./p p strongWoman 2:/strong My dad was in the military. He was a porter on the Southern Pacific railroad. 1964, when they came here and bought the house, [there were] very few places that would allow Blacks to move [in]. But finally, I was someplace where I could run up and down the street and have a big back yard, and I was just so happy. I was just so happy in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="23"Bayview/span./p p strongMan:/strong Third Street was a beautiful place. We didnrsquo;t even have to go out of the community, basically, for anything. Everything we needed was right there. It was such a thrill to have a quarter and to be able to go to Third Street, to the candy store./p p strongWoman 1:/strong Half of the counter was full of candy. And it was so, it would just be so fun to go down there and just pick up all the candy you want!/p p Everybody would come home and do their homework; and if it was a nice day, somebody would try to talk their parent into span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="hangin’" data-scaytid="93"hanginrsquo;/span outside. If we had one parent outside, everybody was able to stay out. And sometimes one parent would fix hot dogs and chips, or one parent would fix French fries and maybe a sandwich; and we all shared it together./p p And we would get on somebodyrsquo;s stairs or we would sit in the driveway and just sit out and eat and have fun./p p strongWoman 2:/strong The demographics when we moved in rsquo;64 here was very diverse. White, Black, we had an Asian family that they still live down there./p p strongMan:/strong This was all Russian and Italian before we moved down here: Russian, Italian, a few Chinese, but no Hispanics./p p strongWoman 2:/strong Didnrsquo;t feel any type of racial tension, really didnrsquo;t at all. At least I didnrsquo;t. Everybody was just so nice. I can still look around and think about ndash; I probably went into everybodyrsquo;s house on this whole entire block./p p Things were so different: If you as a child was rude to someone, or another neighbor saw that you were doing something, they would go and tell your parents, but they would spank you!/p p strongWoman 1:/strong Then you went home and got disciplined. You got disciplined at school, [so] you walk down the street and somebody donrsquo;t know what happened [says], ldquo;What you span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="doin’" data-scaytid="55"doinrsquo;/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="goin’" data-scaytid="75"goinrsquo;/span home at this time of day?rdquo; You got in trouble with them; you got in trouble with who was at home; and then, you might even get in trouble when your daddy came home [laughs]./p p strongWoman 2:/strong The stores that were down on Third Street ndash; I didnrsquo;t even think anything about span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="walkin’" data-scaytid="95"walkinrsquo;/span down Third Street. We would go shopping down Third Street all the time, walk down there never worried about anything really happening. It was really a nice place to shop./p p strongWoman 1:/strong One family on the other block, they would get tickets for the Giants and we would pack up a lunch and we would go span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="walkin’" data-scaytid="97"walkinrsquo;/span off to Candlestick. And then, the thing about it, it wasnrsquo;t just African American children: We had all nationalities, all religions. But we had a good time./p p strongWoman 2:/strong You have to remember the shipyard was still open too. And you hear the Navy that was down there ndash; you could hear it in the morning, you could actually hear the trumpets with revelry, taps in the evening at 10 orsquo;clock and just sailors all over the place, just all over the place. You couldnrsquo;t even get a seat on the bus lsquo;cause it was just packed with the sailors! So I thought that was cool too, how we had the Navy hellip;/p p strongMan:/strong After the riots, most of the business started span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="movin’" data-scaytid="99"movinrsquo;/span out. Immediate. They got the glass back in the place pretty quick, but, as I can remember, [a] few places stayed empty./p p After the rsquo;66 riots, thatrsquo;s when the white flight took and people moved down to the Peninsula, mainly to escape from here. And thatrsquo;s when span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="25"Bayview/span really got a bad reputation. And it was that nobody cared; nobody cared at all and I felt it was so sad to walk down Third Street or drive down Third Street and see all these abandoned places and nobody cared any more. People just packed up and they left./p p Some of the places, theyrsquo;re still there but theyrsquo;ve changed over the years. Theyrsquo;ve changed owners. At Third and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Palou" data-scaytid="101"Palou/span, we had span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Rexall" data-scaytid="103"Rexall/span drugstore; we had, oh God what was that, it was like a five and dime store; it was just all these cute little boutiques and places you could go in and buy hellip;/p p strongMan:/strong With the riots and stuff, what the riots and stuff did was basically just highlight the injustices. Some of my best friends back then were white, so, you know, it really messed me up. All of that to me, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="kinda" data-scaytid="105"kinda/span liked shaped me as a child./p p strongWoman 2:/strong There was some Maltese out here and that was sad too, to see them leave. They used to have their social club on Oakdale./p p strongMan:/strong I remember one kid that happened to be a good friend of mine named Michael Wilson, ended up span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gettin’" data-scaytid="107"gettinrsquo;/span caught up in that mess and he was only 6 or 7, but he was down on Third Street with the rest of lsquo;em, you know. And I can only wonder today, if that had anything to do with him, you know, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="bein’" data-scaytid="109"beinrsquo;/span in and out of prison, you know, like myself./p p strongWoman 2:/strong People who wore uniforms, like even like mailmen, anybody that was in a uniform, they took it as like that they were the cops or something ndash; that you donrsquo;t belong here type of thing./p p strongMan:/strong Somewhere around here shortly after, they would bus in children from the other neighborhoods hellip;/p p strongWoman 2:/strong When I got old enough to move away ndash; I left when I was 17, soon as I graduated ndash; I was just so happy to get away from here./p p strongMan:/strong The mentality of the people is totally different now than it was back then. Wersquo;d look out for you. If we saw you everyday, then yoursquo;d have people span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="lookin’" data-scaytid="111"lookinrsquo;/span out for you. Now people, especially in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="27"Bayview/span, really donrsquo;t care. They see a crime span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="happenin’" data-scaytid="113"happeninrsquo;/span and they look the other way, ldquo;Oh span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="well.”" data-scaytid="5"well.rdquo;/span Thatrsquo;s the way it is, you know. So there is no, no genuine love and care and any more./p p strongWoman 2:/strong I hated this place so much, just hated it, because of everything that had happened in the past and all the violence./p h4 News broadcast from rsquo;66:/h4 p strongNews anchor:/strong ldquo;Is there going to be more trouble tonight?rdquo;/p p strongInterviewee:/strong ldquo;I donrsquo;t know if therersquo;s span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gonna" data-scaytid="115"gonna/span be more trouble and if I did know I wouldnrsquo;t say, because I donrsquo;t think, I wouldnrsquo;t trust a white man as long as I live ndash; never again. I know I span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gotta" data-scaytid="89"gotta/span go to him for a job. I know I span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gotta" data-scaytid="91"gotta/span go to a white manrsquo;s school and Irsquo;ll go. But if they donrsquo;t want to treat me right, I ainrsquo;t got to beg, lsquo;cause I wasnrsquo;t accustomed to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="beggin’" data-scaytid="121"begginrsquo;/span: I got pride./p p strongWoman 2:/strong I think that the kids that did it, they had so much anger anyway simmering inside of them. I donrsquo;t think that it was something that could have been avoided. There was just too many deep rooted anger. If it wasnrsquo;t that [the police killing] it wouldrsquo;ve been span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="somethin’" data-scaytid="65"somethinrsquo;/span else, I think, it wouldrsquo;ve been span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="somethin’" data-scaytid="67"somethinrsquo;/span else./p p But yeah, I kind of wish they wouldrsquo;ve found a more constructive way of going about things. I mean, didnrsquo;t they, I mean Martin Luther King was still alive at that time. Itrsquo;s like, didnrsquo;t they pay attention to, you know, anything that he said, you know? He would have never consented to that sort./p p So but what I would of hoped to happen is that it never happened./p p strongMan:/strong If you suffered some of the things that we suffered as a people, as a people, therersquo;s a lot of stuff ndash; we span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gon’" data-scaytid="45"gonrsquo;/span make you go on and we span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gonna" data-scaytid="117"gonna/span stand up. We span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gonna" data-scaytid="119"gonna/span support each other. I donrsquo;t think the law is always right, because therersquo;s an element of humanity there. I mean, what is morally right? Not according to the law, but by human beings./p p emspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Alka" data-scaytid="33"Alka/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Joshi" data-scaytid="37"Joshi/span, who recorded this interview, was born and raised in India until the age of 9, when her family immigrated to America. She graduated from Stanford and worked for 25 years, then in the advertising industry before enrolling in the MFA program at California College of the Arts. Earlier this year, she interviewed three of her African American neighbors to learn more about the lingering emotional and economic scars that stem from the Hunters Point rebellion 40 years ago. span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Joshi" data-scaytid="39"Joshi/span can be reached at /ema href="mailto:creativewiz@earthlink.net"creativewiz@earthlink.net/aem. You can listen to this interview at /ema href="http://www.samizdat.me/oral-history-san-francisco-bayview-1966-race-riot/" jquery16105522250723188635="67" modo="false"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.samizdat.me" data-scaytid="7"www.samizdat.me/span/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="oral-history-san-francisco-bayview-1966-race-riot" data-scaytid="123"oral-history-san-francisco-bayview-1966-race-riot/span//aem. /em/p p emNatasha Reid, who transcribed the interview and wrote the introduction, is a writer of Zimbabwean and Scottish descent. She holds an honors law degree, though her real passion lies in journalism and political awareness. You can contact her at a href="mailto:tash.reid7@gmail.com"tash.reid7@gmail.com/a./em/p p br / emspan _fck_bookmark="1" style="display: none"nbsp;/span/em/p
    Tags
  • Hipsters Desecrating an Altar

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Muteado
    Original Body
    p strongHipsters Desecrating an Altar/strong/p p nbsp;We began walking with span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ayat" data-scaytid="1"Ayat/span, Ram, and I heading to Clarion alley a narrow street or alley surrounded by murals, graffiti, art, debris everything you can imagine in an alley, we were heading to the site that has POOR Magazine mural, a mural created by POOR Magazine Family multi-generational, multi-Ethnicity, multi-culture, and mural that speaks about the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="GentrufuKation" data-scaytid="3"GentrufuKation/span, the displacement of poor, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="migrante" data-scaytid="5"migrante/span and ldquo;minoritiesrdquo; out of the Mission. The mural also speaks out of the resistance that people are living and are fighting in the Mission day by day./p p nbsp;One our span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sheroes" data-scaytid="7"Sheroes/span in the POOR magazine mural is Super baby mama she is a poet, writer, mother and she is on welfare, her words are her weapons, her voice is her power, she shatters stereotypes while protecting poor mothers and children everywhere. Her unborn child can detect police harassment at anytime from anywhere and she signals her mother. Super baby mama crushes the batons, guns and squad cars of the unjust law officers within 10 seconds.nbsp; El Mosquito is our span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="polylingual" data-scaytid="9"polylingual/span, multi-racial Superhero who speaks more than 2000 indigenous languages who are no longer spoken and he is a panhandler by day and fightrsquo;s for poor people justice by night./p p nbsp;Is privilege for Poor and oppress peoples to make and create art and be exposed, we are proud of the POOR magazine mural that was created by our family and community members./p p nbsp;As we talk of the mural we notice a group of ldquo;Hipstersrdquo; arriving from the other end of the clarion alley bumping disco music and looking as usual, nbsp;we didnrsquo;t care so we went back into talking about the mural and the message of it, we also admire a beautiful altar that someone had created, from flowers, posters, rare stones, and boxes that seems contain something inside, it was a beautiful Altar. As the nbsp;sun went down we decide to leave, as we pass by the hipsters we had no choice to walk around them to get by, as we pass them you can feel the negative energy they were given us, almost like ldquo;get out, you donrsquo;t belong hererdquo; but we kept quite and walk on. As we got to Mission and 16supth/supI realize I left my plastic bag containing my hot span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Cheetos" data-scaytid="11"Cheetos/span and Orange span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jarrito" data-scaytid="13"Jarrito/span so I told nbsp;Ram to nbsp;wait for me while I went back to get my munchies./p p nbsp;As I was getting back I notice that two of the hipsters were close to the Altar and POOR magazine mural, as got closer I realize nbsp;what was happening, the hipsters were desecrating the Altar, dumping the small wooden boxes that seems they containing personal things and taking some of the posters with them and destroying the Altar I stood and watch as they continue to disrespect the altar, I wanted to say something but it was seven of them and I was by myself, one the hipsters notice that I was just there watching, he got up from sitting in the curb and start stretching like he was getting ready to fight, I watch until they finish disrespecting the altar./p p nbsp;I was sad and mad at the same time, and could not understand what I had witness, I told friends about the incident and my anger turn into sadness after realizing that those young man, they were product of the environment they were raise without respect, manners, without any culture, without knowing about their ancestors, just like span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="15"Amerikkka/span was born. As I think more deeply of the ancestors of these young man ornbsp; ldquo;founding fathersrdquo; as they are know who were a bunch thieves, who rape and murder nbsp;who stole land and use slaves to build span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="17"Amerikkka/span .I am not surprised how even their ancestors were weird in dressing too, wearing fake wigs and the weird clothes they wear, to show their ignorance./p p ldquo;They say that apples donrsquo;t fall far away from the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="tree.”" data-scaytid="19"tree.rdquo;/span/p p nbsp;Is sad to see the arrogance on these group of folks all over Valencia street, creating span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="GentriFukation" data-scaytid="21"GentriFukation/span and almost feels like they are entitle to do it../p p nbsp;I hope each of those creatures who disrespected the Altar get what they deserve and that our ancestors make justice./p p ldquo;You span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gotta" data-scaytid="23"gotta/span Give respect, to get respectrdquo;nbsp;/p
    Tags
  • Krip Hop Nation-Disability in the Hip-Hop Mix- October 22 Event Syracuse University

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Leroy
    Original Body
    p A Panel on Hip-Hop Artists with Disabilities plus introducing upcoming CD span data-scayt_word="Mixtape" data-scaytid="3"Mixtape/span/Documentary entitled, Police Brutality/Profiling Against People With Disabilities.br / There will also be Live Performances/p p LOCATIONbr / Syracuse Universitybr / span class="text_exposed_show" Syracuse, NY 13244-5040/span/p p span data-scayt_word="Krip" data-scaytid="5"Krip/span Hop Nation Founder/Activist/Poet Leroy Moore will be in Syracuse NY for the October 22nd Event Disability in the Hip-Hop Mix with talks about an upcoming span data-scayt_word="mixtape" data-scaytid="7"mixtape/span/documentary Police Brutality against people with disabilities and more. He will be part of a Panel which will include Keith Jones, span data-scayt_word="Kalyn" data-scaytid="8"Kalyn/span span data-scayt_word="Heffernan" data-scaytid="10"Heffernan/span and others talking about the group#39;s work and the upcoming Documentary produced by span data-scayt_word="Emmitt" data-scaytid="11"Emmitt/span Thrower and span data-scayt_word="Wabi" data-scaytid="12"Wabi/span span data-scayt_word="Sabi" data-scaytid="14"Sabi/span Productions Inc entitled WHERE IS HOPE. span data-scayt_word="Wabi" data-scaytid="13"Wabi/span span data-scayt_word="Sabi" data-scaytid="15"Sabi/span Productions will be attending and filming events, performances and interviews for the documentary project./p p Documentary Website located at/p p a href="http://www.whereishope.webs.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"spanhttp:///spanspan data-scayt_word="www.whereishope.webs.com" data-scaytid="1"spanwww.whereishope.web/spanwbrs.com/wbr/span//a and/p p Fundraising Effort and more info at/p p a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/whereishope" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"spanhttp://span data-scayt_word="www.indiegogo.com" data-scaytid="2"www.indiegogo.com/span//spanspan data-scayt_word="whereishope" data-scaytid="16"spanw/spanwbrwbrwbrwbrhereishope/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/span/a/p p and CD span data-scayt_word="Mixtape" data-scaytid="4"Mixtape/span project produced by span data-scayt_word="Krip" data-scaytid="6"Krip/span Hop Nation 5th Battalion around Police Brutality and Profiling issues and it is called Broken Bodies: Police Brutality Profiling. Afterward there will be a Live performance./p p The Featured Performers will include Leroy Moore, span data-scayt_word="Kalyn" data-scaytid="9"Kalyn/span span data-scayt_word="Hefferman" data-scaytid="17"Hefferman/span, Keith Jones also Featuring MC span data-scayt_word="Dj" data-scaytid="18"Dj/span R Source/p p This event is Presented by The Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee./p p Additional support provided by SU Center on Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies , The span data-scayt_word="Taishoff" data-scaytid="19"Taishoff/span Center, School of Education, Teaching and Leadership Programs, Nutrition/p
    Tags
  • Bayview Library: Building down, price up $2 Million

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p emstrongEditorial by Willie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ratcliff" data-scaytid="13"Ratcliff/span/strong/em/p div class="img alignright size-full wp-image-23554" style="width: 450px" div On July 12, when demolition of the old span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="21"Bayview/span Library was getting underway, all the construction workers were white. ndash; Photo: Natasha Reid/div /div p On the corner of Third and Revere, where the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="23"Bayview/span Library used to be, nothing is left but bare ground. One of the few places in the neighborhood where youngsters felt safe and enriched and everyone was welcome is gone./p p nbsp;If the City had allowed the low bidder to build the new library, it would have been at least halfway to completion by now. The youngsters who love the library would be watching their parents and older brothers and sisters build a beautiful new library for them to return to in a matter of months./p p Liberty Builders, my general contracting company, was that low bidder. If yoursquo;ve been reading the Bay View for at least a year, you know that the City awarded the contract, I signed and returned it, and then the City snatched it back. Their flimsy excuse was that my insurance broker was a day late submitting a certificate proving I had auto insurance, even though Irsquo;d given the City a certificate for that same auto insurance policy over four months earlier./p p On Aug. 18, a library activist friend called and suggested I check out the agenda for the Library Commission meeting later that afternoon. Item 2 on the agenda was described like this: ldquo;Branch Library Improvement Program Budget Transfers Action (Discussion and possible action to increase BLIP program reserve through transfer of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Visitacion" data-scaytid="53"Visitacion/span Valley Infrastructure fund revenue; and transfer of funds from program reserve to increase span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="25"Bayview/span Branch Library Project budget).rdquo;/p p They werenrsquo;t talking about transferring a little bit of money; no, the Library Commission that day approved a transfer of $1.7 million. On top of the $310,000 extra the City is unnecessarily paying span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="KCK" data-scaytid="55"KCK/span Builders, the second low bidder ndash; thatrsquo;s how much higher his bid was than Liberty Buildersrsquo; bid ndash; the ldquo;progressiverdquo; City of San Francisco is paying a total of over $2 million more taxpayersrsquo; dollars for choosing to put a white contractor in charge of building the new library instead of sticking with the low bidder, a Black contractor./p p I went to the Library Commission meeting that day, and Claude Carpenter went with me, even though he was recovering from surgery. Claude was the first president of the African American Contractors of San Francisco, and I was the second. He knows and I know and you know the good that an infusion of construction jobs would do for this community. Thatrsquo;s why I bid to build the new span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="27"Bayview/span Library./p p Construction workers make good money, enough to support an extended family, and a Black contractor who cares about the community will be happy to hire you even if yoursquo;ve been locked up, as so many have these days. The trouble is that because of hostility from City Hall, the number of licensed Black contractors in shape to bid City work can be counted on one hand with a few fingers left over./p div class="img alignleft size-full wp-image-23555" style="width: 380px" a href="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bullet-hole-in-our-bedroom-window-051310-by-Francisco.jpg"img alt="" height="285" src="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Bullet-hole-in-our-bedroom-window-051310-by-Francisco.jpg" width="380" //a div When a .44 caliber bullet was shot through our window at 1:45 span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="a.m" data-scaytid="1"a.m/span. on May 13, 2010, from the roof of the bank next door, Mary span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ratcliff" data-scaytid="15"Ratcliff/span reported in the Bay View, ldquo;(Willie) span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ratcliff" data-scaytid="17"Ratcliff/span has a strong hunch it was fired by someone trying to scare him into withdrawing from the competition for the contract to build the new span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="29"Bayview/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Library.”" data-scaytid="3"Library.rdquo;/span The bullet was fired exactly one week before the City issued the final bid package for the library. Read more in ldquo;Bullet through Bay Viewrsquo;s window: Whorsquo;s afraid of Black power?rdquo;/div /div p We told the Library Commission that they could save that $1.7 million to buy more books and keep the library open more hours if the City would sit down with me and Claude and others in the community with decades of experience hiring our own people and work out a way to get construction of the new span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="31"Bayview/span Library back on track. Today, as you can see whenever you pass Third and Revere, our beloved library is nothing but a vacant lot./p p nbsp;/p p Ho hum, who cares? The long struggle for construction work by Blacks in span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="33"Bayview/span Hunters Point ndash; that was the other demand besides an end to police violence that kicked off the world famous Hunters Point rebellion 45 years ago, on Sept. 27, 1966 ndash; has been a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="snoozer" data-scaytid="61"snoozer/span at City Hall among the powers that be. But itrsquo;s not any more./p p This morning, the struggle over the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="35"Bayview/span Library literally woke people up all over San Francisco when it was a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/29/MN5L1KS0PR.DTL" jquery161046892778666693574="67"font color="#265372"the main story on the front page of todayrsquo;s San Francisco Chronicle/font/a. I applaud the Chronicle for taking the issue on, but I wish theyrsquo;d told the real story. The writer, Stephanie Lee, also attended the Aug. 18 Library Commission meeting. We talked then and she called and interviewed me later by phone. Not a word I told her made its way into the story she wrote./p p She wrote that the libraryrsquo;s price is up more than $2 million because subcontract bids are coming in way high, but she didnrsquo;t say why. Two main reasons were expressed at the meeting. White contractors complain about the workers, saying span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="37"Bayview/span Hunters Point workers will drive up the price, implying theyrsquo;re inexperienced ndash; and thatrsquo;s true for the younger folks; Blacks here have been locked out of construction since 1998 ndash; and hinting theyrsquo;re also slow, stupid and lazy./p p Black contractors know the truth ndash; that Black construction workers are the best in the business. What Black contractors complain about is bonding and financing, saying the City wonrsquo;t let them bid without it, when everybody knows that banks and bonding companies are racist to the core. Even the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="U.S" data-scaytid="5"U.S/span. Supreme Court has told cities over and over again not to exclude Blacks when banks and bonding and insurance companies keep them out of the game ndash; not due to their ability but due to their color./p p Irsquo;ve spent a lifetime ndash; and so have Claude and other veterans of the struggle ndash; figuring out how to put our people to work in spite of all that. I would have used those techniques if the City had let the low bidder ndash; Liberty Builders ndash; build the library. And itrsquo;s not too late. Irsquo;m waiting for a call from Mayor Ed Lee inviting us to the table to work out a plan using contractors and workers who live here to build the library our children are waiting for./p p And I know that when one of our two favorite candidates for mayor ndash; wersquo;re endorsing Public Defender Jeff span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Adachi" data-scaytid="63"Adachi/span first and Supervisor John span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Avalos" data-scaytid="65"Avalos/span second ndash; replaces Ed Lee, wersquo;ll really put our people to work, not only on the library but year lsquo;round, year after year./p p Mike span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Hannegan" data-scaytid="67"Hannegan/span of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="KCK" data-scaytid="57"KCK/span Builders, who was given the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="39"Bayview/span Library contract almost immediately after the City snatched it back from me, even though his bid was $310,000 higher than mine, has no idea how to put our local Black contractors and workers to work. Hersquo;s not even from here./p p The Chronicle story claims that span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="KCK" data-scaytid="59"KCK/span is ldquo;a company in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="41"Bayview/span,rdquo; but I went to visit Mike shortly after the City gave him the contract last November. I went to the address on span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Egbert" data-scaytid="69"Egbert/span that hersquo;d given the City./p p What I found was another companyrsquo;s office suite. The owner showed me Mikersquo;s office: a room that was almost empty except for a desk and chair./p p I agree with one person quoted by the Chronicle: Library Commissioner Larry Kane said regarding the extra $1.7 million, ldquo;Obviously, I would prefer not to have that money spent, to keep that money for hours and librarians and library span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="services.”" data-scaytid="7"services.rdquo;/span So would I, and so would you no doubt./p div class="img alignright size-full wp-image-23556" style="width: 248px" a href="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Dr.-William-Mason-president-Metro-East-Black-Contractors-Organization-MEBCO-atty-Eric-Vickers-St.-Louis-0811.jpg"img alt="" height="302" src="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Dr.-William-Mason-president-Metro-East-Black-Contractors-Organization-MEBCO-atty-Eric-Vickers-St.-Louis-0811.jpg" width="248" //a div Dr. William Mason, president of the Metro East Black Contractors Organization (span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="MEBCO" data-scaytid="71"MEBCO/span), and attorney Eric Vickers fight for economic equity in St. Louis./div /div p The Chronicle reports, ldquo;So far, 10 of the 27 subcontracts are set to be awarded to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="43"Bayview/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="companies.”" data-scaytid="9"companies.rdquo;/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="45"Bayview/span companies, hmm. This is the ldquo;low rent districtrdquo; for office and warehouse space, and non-Black contractors are flocking to it. But a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="47"Bayview/span Hunters Point address doesnrsquo;t guarantee a commitment to the people who live here./p p nbsp;/p p If itrsquo;s any comfort, we in San Francisco are not alone. Blacks are fighting City Hall in other cities to put their people to work. Our old friend Eric Vickers in St. Louis, a lawyer whorsquo;s nationally known for fighting to stop the now nationwide lockout of Blacks from construction, made the news this week in a local Black paper, the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Rivercity" data-scaytid="75"Rivercity/span Examiner./p p He and Dr. William Mason, president of the Metro East Black Contractors Organization (span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="MEBCO" data-scaytid="73"MEBCO/span), want to shut down the Mississippi River Bridge construction. When the agency in charge, the Illinois Department of Transportation (span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="IDOT" data-scaytid="81"IDOT/span) wanted to meet anywhere but East St. Louis, the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Rivercity" data-scaytid="77"Rivercity/span Examiner wrote:/p p ldquo;What span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="IDOT" data-scaytid="83"IDOT/span obviously didnrsquo;t realize was that their refusal to meet in the very city of the citizens that they were depriving of opportunity further showed their racist perspective on Blacks. It was a continuation of their discriminatory principles and practices. They could make the arrangements for Whites, by the truckloads, to go into East St. Louis (a city which is 99.5% Black) to work on the bridge project and take the money back to their White communities, but they certainly couldnrsquo;t participate in a meeting to discuss the depth of the outrage of the Blacks who were affected by the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="deprivation.”" data-scaytid="11"deprivation.rdquo;/span/p p Theyrsquo;re fighting discrimination on the multi-million dollar renovation of the local library too. The span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Rivercity" data-scaytid="79"Rivercity/span Examiner made a video thatrsquo;ll make your blood boil. Watch it below. It shows 97 workers walking onto the worksite one morning with their big lunch boxes ndash; so they wonrsquo;t have to spend their money at a Black restaurant ndash; and guess what? Every one is white./p p If we donrsquo;t intervene soon, that could be the sight that we and our children will see live every day that the new span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="49"Bayview/span Library is under construction ndash; if it ever gets started ndash; for the next year and a half. Sounds a lot like the five years we were locked out of building the light rail, the one the T-train runs on, the one Kenneth Harding was exiting when a couple of cops asked for his transfer as proof hersquo;d paid his fare./p p He ran, they shot him, he died hellip; just like Matthew ldquo;Peanutrdquo; Johnson 45 years ago this month, whose police murder sparked the 1966 Hunters Point rebellion ndash; or riot ndash; that made headlines around the world and showed the world that span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="51"Bayview/span Hunters Point is one fierce neighborhood./p p This time, letrsquo;s settle our differences with City Hall at the negotiating table. Mayor Ed Lee, wersquo;re waiting for your call./p p emBay View publisher Willie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ratcliff" data-scaytid="19"Ratcliff/span can be reached at (415) 671-0789 or a href="mailto:publisher@sfbayview.com"font color="#265372"publisher@sfbayview.com/font/a./em/p
    Tags
  • JAKE Krip-Hopping From Madrid Spain

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Leroy
    Original Body
    p nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Tahoma; min-height: 16.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 1) span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="1"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="2"KHN/span)nbsp;Where are you from tell us about the Hip-Hop SCENE there./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="3"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spannbsp;isnbsp;Malaga, anbsp;city in southernnbsp;Spain,nbsp;but I live innbsp;Madrid/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 2) span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="4"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="5"KHN/span)nbsp;Tell us more about the song, nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="6"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:nbsp;/b /spanThenbsp;song talks aboutnbsp;overcomingnbsp;strugglenbsp;belongs tonbsp;Jake#39;s new albumnbsp;where she worksnbsp;andnbsp;T-Sonnbsp;span data-scayt_word="Juako" data-scaytid="7"Juako/span./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 3) span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="8"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="9"KHN/span)nbsp;Being disabled Hip-Hop artist what is the hardest thing for you?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="10"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/b /spanIn Spainnbsp;itnbsp;isnbsp;harder tonbsp;be seen,nbsp;no onenbsp;opts for anbsp;disabled person./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 4) span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="11"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="12"KHN/span)nbsp;What is your future goals/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="13"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/b /spanMynbsp;goal is tonbsp;get mynbsp;CD,nbsp;because fornbsp;various reasonsnbsp;I had to leavenbsp;the span data-scayt_word="labelbecause" data-scaytid="14"labelbecause/spannbsp;itnbsp;did not meet established in the contract,nbsp;and decided tonbsp;start from scratch./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 5) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="15"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="17"KHN/span) What do you think about span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="16"Krip-Hop/span Nation?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="18"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/b /spanI like knowing thatnbsp;we are many andnbsp;above all thatnbsp;we cannbsp;unite andnbsp;show the worldnbsp;what we do./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 6) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="19"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="20"KHN/span) Do you know any other disabled musicians in your country?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="21"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spanYes, butnbsp;many peoplenbsp;feel verynbsp;badnbsp;reputationnbsp;... we havenbsp;spokennbsp;a thousand times,nbsp;but since winningnbsp;annbsp;MTV Europenbsp;Award/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" forgetnbsp;all the friendship./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 7) span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="22"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="23"KHN/span)nbsp;How did you get into Hip-Hop?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="24"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spanI startednbsp;with albums likenbsp;The Predatornbsp;by Icenbsp;Cube,nbsp;span data-scayt_word="NWA" data-scaytid="25"NWA/spannbsp;then,nbsp;and started lookingnbsp;in my language, I foundnbsp;a groupnbsp;(span data-scayt_word="CPV" data-scaytid="26"CPV/spannbsp;violentnbsp;Poets)/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" I decidednbsp;that Inbsp;could do that,nbsp;tell a little ofnbsp;me ... andnbsp;so I startednbsp;...nbsp;in 1994/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Arial; min-height: 16.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 8) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="27"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="28"KHN/span) How do people react to your performance?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="29"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/b /spanInnbsp;concert, I gotnbsp;to dancenbsp;tonbsp;4 000nbsp;people, Inbsp;playednbsp;with greats such asnbsp;span data-scayt_word="Jeru" data-scaytid="30"Jeru/spannbsp;The span data-scayt_word="Damaja" data-scaytid="31"Damaja/spannbsp;ornbsp;span data-scayt_word="Masta" data-scaytid="32"Masta/spannbsp;Ace People alwaysnbsp;enjoy anbsp;show./p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 9) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="33"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="34"KHN/span) What can we learn from your music?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="35"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spanIn my musicnbsp;there is struggle,nbsp;and farnbsp;exceedednbsp;message.nbsp;Althoughnbsp;you span data-scayt_word="canfind" data-scaytid="36"canfind/spannbsp;songs withnbsp;great force/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" and muchnbsp;hesitation/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 10) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="37"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="38"KHN/span) How can readers contact you?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Tahoma; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="39"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spanTonbsp;contact menbsp;has 2nbsp;media,nbsp;and on mynbsp;websitenbsp;a href="mailto:jakecrudo@gmail.com"span style="text-decoration: underline ; color: #234786"span data-scayt_word="jakecrudo@gmail.com" data-scaytid="40"jakecrudo@gmail.com/span/span/a/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #234786; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="text-decoration: underline"a href="http://www.lahainepro.tk/"span data-scayt_word="www.lahainepro.tk" data-scaytid="41"www.lahainepro.tk/span/a/span/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5; min-height: 18.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma" 11) nbsp;span data-scayt_word="Krip-Hop" data-scaytid="42"Krip-Hop/span Nation (span data-scayt_word="KHN" data-scaytid="43"KHN/span) Any last words?/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Tahoma; min-height: 17.0px" nbsp;/p p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; color: #333233; background-color: #f5f5f5" span style="font: 14.0px Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent"bBenjamin span data-scayt_word="Villalobos" data-scaytid="44"Villalobos/span Gonzalez AKA JAKE:/bnbsp; /spanThank you fornbsp;these lines and excusenbsp;my limit English.nbsp;Andnbsp;soon mynbsp;CD will be onlinenbsp;for free downloadnbsp;on my website./p
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  • Poverty Gold

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    style type="text/css"  !--{cke_protected}{C}%3C!%2D%2D%0A%09%09%40page%20%7B%20margin%3A%200.79in%20%7D%0A%09%09P%20%7B%20margin-bottom%3A%200.08in%20%7D%0A%09%2D%2D%3E--!--{cke_protected}{C}%3C!%2D%2D%0A%09%09%40page%20%7B%20margin%3A%200.79in%20%7D%0A%09%09P%20%7B%20margin-bottom%3A%200.08in%20%7D%0A%09%2D%2D%3E--/stylep style="margin-bottom: 0in" Asnbsp; I sat in the county jail scratching at the poison oak rash that seemed to redefine my genitalia, and most of my face, chest, and torso, it occurred to me that I might be on to something. I had contacted (and contracted) the vile bush on my way back into civilization from a journey that, if it did not actually take me back in time as it had seemed at the time, took me to a simpler society, with ldquo;basicrdquo; as the operative theme of day-to-day survival, reflecting the existence of the region#39;s denizens./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" I became suddenly aware of an American sub-culture which eschewed the major bone of contention in urban lives, namely Money. I reflected (scratching for all I was worth and gaining what would end up as very painful scratches in very sensitive areas) that this rumored root of all evil was hardly discussed during the four days I spent panning for gold and chipping away at river rocks, searching for pickers, plunkers, and nuggets of Gold. Gold as a means to an end was hardly mentioned, in fact most conversation had to do with things like the weather, firewood, daylight, supplies, and the ever-present river itself and the creatures which lived by its bounty. Which describes us all to a man (and a woman) who mine the banks of the American river for gold./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" I paused in my scratch to imagine how it would have turned out if I hadn#39;t come back when I had, to imagine life outside of cities and towns, in the wild lands of America... Mining gold-rich regions and amassing the means to live a comfortable existence, even if simply defined, until I reached the age when I no longer felt able to work./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Many men sit in jails and wonder what might have been had they made different choices, and protest their relative innocence to the charges under which they are being held. Perhaps a million do so at this very moment, I donrsquo;t have the exact figures, but wouldnrsquo;t be surprised if it turned out to be more. This is not that story, so I will save that and return you to the world of mining for gold in the wilds of California in the 2010rsquo;s./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" After sorting out my legal issues I continued to research the phenomena of the gold trade, trying to learn as much as I could about the collection, sale and mining of the precious metal which once defined currency to more than just secluded pockets of society in America, as it does today. Our federal reserve used to back the dollar with gold, but this is not that story, either. The reasons behind the shift away from gold as a surety for our currency are as confusing to understand as the answer to the question of what it is currently backed by./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Gold has a long and bloody history as the means of, and the reason for, the oppression of one people, by another. With my newfound respect for the difficulties people have faced extracting gold from the earth, the itchier facets of mining foremost in my mind, I resolved to find an easier way to amass precious metals./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" The most experienced gold digger will often spend long periods of time without seeing other people, as the most profitable strategy for mining does not entail sharing. Also, you can#39;t spend your finds in the wild lands (by all accounts bears are not impressed by gold), which gives a person time to amass more significant amounts to then exchange at the general store which caters to the needs of all the area#39;s residents, whether they be weekend hobbyist, local, miner, fisherman, or hunter of game. It is probably not much of an exaggeration to say that every dollar spent in Iowa Hill, in Northern California, is spent in the saloon, post office, and general store under the same name. I wouldnrsquo;t hazard a guess at how much of their custom is done in direct commerce with miners of gold for the product of their labors. Traded straight across for the supplies, which would then be hiked in to the respective claims which they supplied./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" The panning isnrsquo;t really rough once you get a technique you can live with, and chipping away at cracks in bedrock, paying close attention to existing cracks, sometimes will give surprisingly easy and substantive yields. The REAL work is keeping the chain of supplies uninterrupted for long enough to thoroughly exploit a region once you find color (gold). Less than five percent of the worldsrsquo; gold is in the nugget form. The remainder is processed from minute flecks harvested from the earth with a wide variety of methods in a number of places. Nugget gold is almost always sold for more than the actual weight to dollar value, because of the rarity and unique quality of each nugget it is a favorite for jewelry makers in its simplicity./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" As I researched gold as a medium of exchange, as it exists in our culture today, I also ran into the metal recycling industries which have of late made a common practice of recycling many electronic devices for the gold used in their construction. Gold is a conductive metal, which makes it common in processors and cell phones. Almost every person in urban America and suburban America has a cellular telephone and most homes have one or more of them sitting in a box or drawer that is no longer used. There are individuals as well as commercial interests who make the collection and reclamation of these items and others into a lucrative pseudo-industry./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Seeing this trend grow and mature is likely in times to come. The price of gold has climbed to unprecedented highs, due to the demands of the industries which rely upon it, and investors see it as one of the safest investments in short or long term speculation. One thing is sure. Gold is making a comeback, and there is nothing to indicate it will ever lose much of its present value, unlike stocks or investments in currency, since currency isnrsquo;t backed by anything in particular, at least in the case of our bloodstained American dollars./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" I got over the poison oak. I also got out of the county jail. But I am still afflicted by the bite of the gold bug. I see it as a reliable means to insure my future, if I am patient and wise in the acquisition of it. Being willing and able to work hard doesnrsquo;t seem to count for as much as it should in our society, and independence from the paradigm of fruitless labor and oppression which prevails in our society is an extremely attractive prospect, from where I sit. And so to all of the individuals, rebels and malcontents in our society I say this: Gold!!/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" It represents a financial autonomy that most of America will never find. It isnrsquo;t an easy path to wealth, although there is always the possibility that you will stumble upon a substantial deposit, many miners nbsp;will work all their careers without seeing much more at one time than what they can exchange for the supplies to work another week or two. No worse than the subsistence slavery that most Americans live under, in urban and suburban jobs, sans the freedom and independence inherent in life outside of the grid./p
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  • Someday the Poor Will Run Wall Street

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p I am a low-income, African-American mother of four. I have worked all my life.nbsp; 1 year ago after the all the rich people working downtown as bankers and investors were paid 7 billion dollars, my landlord was foreclosed on. I have never owned a house and probably never will, because i will never have that kind of money or credit. But i have rented a rent-controlled apartment which i was evicted out of because of the foreclosure./p p Now i am homeless with my children./p p When my sister Tiny (span data-scayt_word="PNN" data-scaytid="1"PNN/span co-editor)nbsp; called me to ask me how I felt about the the Wall Street protests, I said. oh yea!!! that#39;s what I#39;m talking about. Finally some people speaking up to these legalized gangsters and bank pimps./p p Sadly, i can#39;t go to the protests. I don#39;t have the time. I am too busy working two jobs just to save money to try to move out of the shelter we are in to hopefully somewhere safe for me and my kids./p p But those folks are speaking for me and all poor peoples who don#39;t even know if we can pay for the rising cost of food much-less dream of getting a loan or a mortgage from these terrible corporate thieves./p p Tiny thinks that someday Capitalism will end and span data-scayt_word="po" data-scaytid="2"po/span mamas like me and her and all of the never thought about people will have the chance to take care of ourselves and our children and our land./p p I hope so. But right now i walk around my cleaning job with a smile on my face as i empty the trash of rich white people in a luxury hotel i work for. Someday, i dream, maybe these people will finally understand the struggle i have seen and maybe someday the poor people can run Wall Street./p p emMaria Lourdes is a poverty and mama span data-scayt_word="skolar" data-scaytid="3"skolar/span and span data-scayt_word="PoorNewsNetwork" data-scaytid="4"PoorNewsNetwork/span New York Correspondent/em/p
    Tags
  • Review of the 4th Annual San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival: A Sunday Kind of Love

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p Editor#39;s note: This review is of the 4th Annual Filipino American Jazz Festival that took place Sunday October 9th at span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi's" data-scaytid="5"Yoshi#39;s/span San Francisco)/p p nbsp;/p p emspan _fck_bookmark="1" style="display: none"object width=560 height=315span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="7"param/span name=movie value=a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TfjgRKkorzQ?version=3amp;hl=en_US/cke:paramcke:param"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.youtube.com" data-scaytid="1"www.youtube.com/span/v/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="TfjgRKkorzQ" data-scaytid="19"TfjgRKkorzQ/span?version=3amp;hl=en_US/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="9"param/spanspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="11"param/span/a name=span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="allowFullScreen" data-scaytid="23"allowFullScreen/span value=true/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="13"param/spanspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="15"param/span name=span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="allowscriptaccess" data-scaytid="25"allowscriptaccess/span value=always/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="param" data-scaytid="17"param/spanembed span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="src" data-scaytid="29"src/span=a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TfjgRKkorzQ?version=3amp;hl=en_US"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.youtube.com" data-scaytid="3"www.youtube.com/span/v/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="TfjgRKkorzQ" data-scaytid="21"TfjgRKkorzQ/span?version=3amp;hl=en_US/a type=application/x-shockwave-flash width=560 height=315 span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="allowscriptaccess" data-scaytid="27"allowscriptaccess/span=always span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="allowfullscreen" data-scaytid="31"allowfullscreen/span=true/embed/objectnbsp;/span/ememspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Dahil" data-scaytid="33"Dahil/span Sa span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Iyo" data-scaytid="37"Iyo/span/emmdash;Lena Sundayrsquo;s voice weaved through the syllablesmdash;unfamiliar vowels and consonantsmdash;slowly becoming familiar and vibrant like the sweet fragrance of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sampaguita" data-scaytid="41"Sampaguita/spanmdash;blooming into the centerpiece of the 4supth/supannual San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival at span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="43"Yoshirsquo;s/span, located in San Franciscorsquo;s historic Fillmore District.nbsp; Sunday, a gifted singer and daughter of a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Filipina" data-scaytid="51"Filipina/span mother and African American father, shared with the audience that she did not learn Tagalog growing up, that her Filipino identity was something she was still embracing and claiming as her own.nbsp; Lena Sundayrsquo;s rendition of the classic Filipino love song span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Dahil" data-scaytid="35"Dahil/span Sa span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Iyo" data-scaytid="39"Iyo/span, dedicated to her mother, was one of many heartfelt moments for jazz span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="kababayans" data-scaytid="53"kababayans/span and community members to listen to, remember and celebrate in the month of Octobermdash;Filipino American History Monthmdash;highlighting the Fillmorersquo;s Filipino roots, Filipino Jazz performers and their contributions to the African American gift which is jazz.nbsp;/p p The San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival is in its 4supth/supyear celebrating and showcasing outstanding and world class Filipino jazz artists from both the US and the Philippines. The festival has featured artists including Mon David, Primo Kim, John Calloway, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Tateng" data-scaytid="57"Tateng/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Katindig" data-scaytid="59"Katindig/span, Sandra span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Viray" data-scaytid="61"Viray/span and Jo span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Canion" data-scaytid="63"Canion/span. The founders and organizers of the festival are Carlos and Myrna span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="65"Zialcita/spanmdash;2 musicians whose marriage reflects their love of sharing music and culturemdash;a love that gave birth to the festival. Being immersed in the music business they saw many talented Filipino jazz musicians whose gifts were not being exposedmdash;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="underappreciated" data-scaytid="75"underappreciated/span in roles as side musicians, not being afforded opportunities to shine as headliners.nbsp; The festival is their effortmdash;in tandem with community educators, activistsmdash;to showcase these talented Filipino jazz musicians and vocalists to a wider audience.nbsp;/p p The journey to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="45"Yoshirsquo;s/spanmdash;a major jazz venue on the West Coastmdash;followed a year of events featuring Filipino jazz performers including a concert commemorating Jazz Appreciation Month, The Asian Heritage Street Celebration, the ldquo;People in the Plaza Concert Seriesrdquo; and various events throughout the Bay Area.nbsp; ldquo;It took a year for us to get the festival tonbsp;nbsp;nbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="55"Yoshirsquo;s/spanrdquo; said Myrna span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="67"Zialcita/span.nbsp; ldquo;There are so many Filipino musicians that are world classmdash;musicians that need to be heardrdquo;.nbsp;/p p It is befitting that the festival be hosted in San Franciscorsquo;s Fillmore District, home of many Filipino families that settled in the neighborhood in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="1920s" data-scaytid="77"1920s/span.nbsp; Among those families were the Robles and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sorro" data-scaytid="79"Sorro/span familiesmdash;large families whose lives were inspired by the sounds of jazz coming from clubs like span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jimbo’s" data-scaytid="83"Jimborsquo;s/span Bop City and the Blackhawk.nbsp; Poet Al Roblesmdash;widely regarded as the Poet Laureate of San Franciscorsquo;s span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Manilatown" data-scaytid="85"Manilatown/span and who was honored by the Festival in 2009mdash;paid homage tonbsp;nbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pinoy" data-scaytid="87"Pinoy/span jazzmen Charlie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Abing" data-scaytid="91"Abing/span and Flip Nunez in poems such as Jazz of My Youthmdash;two musicians with deep ties to the Filipino community pavingnbsp;the way for Filipino musicians to follow.nbsp;/p p Bill span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sorro" data-scaytid="81"Sorro/span, activist and community leader who would later be a central figure in the struggle to fight the eviction of Filipino elders from the International Hotel, was inspired by jazz in his physical beingmdash;becoming a dancermdash;with a goal of joining the Alvin span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ailey" data-scaytid="93"Ailey/span Dance Company. nbsp;nbsp;The Fillmore was home to African American families, Filipino families, mixed families that were both Filipino and black, as well as Japanese American and other multiracial families.nbsp; One legendary performer who grew up in the Fillmore to Black and Filipino parents was Sugar Pie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="DeSanto" data-scaytid="95"DeSanto/spanmdash;who Carlos span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="69"Zialcita/span has performed and toured with and has lobbied for induction into the Rock nrsquo; Roll Hall of Fame.nbsp; So inspired was Al Robles by this African American art form, this language that touched his life that he wrote:/p p emSometimes my heart is Filipino/em/p p emSometimes my heart is black/em/p p emAnd sometimes my heart is Filipino and black/em/p p emAt the same time/em/p p The language of jazz is the language of heartbreak, struggle, survival and resistance.nbsp; The Fillmore was a neighborhood under attack in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="50s" data-scaytid="97"50s/span and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="60s" data-scaytid="99"60s/span.nbsp; Slowly the neighborhood was demolished to make way for redevelopmentmdash;the idea being that the neighborhood was blighted and needed to be cleaned up.nbsp; Many families were forced outmdash;mostly low income families of color.nbsp; Beautiful Victorian houses were demolished.nbsp; The antique dealers with their affluent clientele from Marin County converged on those abandoned housesmdash;taking door knobs, banisters, and fixturesmdash;anything that could be sold.nbsp; The landscape was bulldozed and scarred but the sound of jazz remainedmdash;nothing could erase its memory deep in the soil and in the concrete canvasses where songs and scores were yet to be composed.nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;/p p The event was a homecoming, anchored by the music of the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pinoy" data-scaytid="89"Pinoy/span Jazz Quartetmdash;whose passionate playing and relaxed presence showed deference and respect to the audiencemdash;a multicultural gumbo of jazz lovers, friends, elders, youthmdash;a multiethnic Bay Area audience who came out en masse to support the gifts of our community within the spacious yet intimate setting of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="49"Yoshirsquo;s/span.nbsp; The quartet included long time musicians Ben Luis on bass, Rey Cristobal on piano, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Melecio" data-scaytid="121"Melecio/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Magdaluyo" data-scaytid="123"Magdaluyo/span on sax and flute and Richard span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Aguon" data-scaytid="125"Aguon/span on drums. Their range was impressive, expertly handling standards from the great American songbook, as well as classics and fusion.nbsp;/p p San Francisco born vocalist Lena Sunday wowed the audience with her vocal prowess on songs such as ldquo;Centerpiecerdquo; and ldquo;Throw it awayrdquo;mdash;showing why she was the featured singer in Lou Rawls#39; band for 4 years, as well as a session singer/songwriter for artists such as Stevie Wonder and Nancy Wilson.nbsp; Her self-effacing presence was engaging and refreshing in a world of self-absorbed lesser performers who are too often given the label of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="“diva.”" data-scaytid="101"ldquo;diva.rdquo;/span/p p span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Millbrae" data-scaytid="103"Millbrae/span based, world class vocalist Ann Marie Santos revved up the audience with classics such as ldquo;Love for Salerdquo; and ldquo;It donrsquo;t mean a thing (If it ainrsquo;t got that swing)rdquo;.nbsp; Santos, who started singing at the age of 6 and has toured and performed all over Asia, is a returning performer to the Festival, having appeared in 2009, performing a duet with Mon David, bringing down the house in the eventrsquo;s finale. Her passionate performance prompted host Carlos span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="71"Zialcita/span to declare, ldquo;Somebody call the fire department lsquo;cause itrsquo;s getting real hot in hererdquo;.nbsp; Her rendition of ldquo;What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Liferdquo; got me teary eyed (but Irsquo;m sure I wasnrsquo;t the only one)./p p Pianist Winston span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raval" data-scaytid="113"Raval/span shared his giftsmdash;which include being a pioneer in the area of jazz fusion as well as a band leader and musical director.nbsp; His playing struck an emotional chord that somehow connects jazz with our indigenous past.nbsp; span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raval" data-scaytid="115"Raval/span is a pioneer in connecting jazz with indigenous Filipino instruments bringing aboutmdash;what Myrna span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="73"Zialcita/span describes as ldquo;A redefinition of what jazz means.nbsp; You canrsquo;t keep peoplersquo;s influence from coming into the genre.nbsp; When you bring your culture into jazz, you add it to that span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gumbo.”" data-scaytid="105"gumbo.rdquo;/spannbsp; Winston span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raval" data-scaytid="117"Raval/span is an extremely accomplished musician, having written the scores to 23 films in the Philippines.nbsp; During the evening, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the Festival.nbsp; His humor was not lost on the honormdash;in introducing the song ldquo;Who Can I turn To (When nobody needs me)rdquo;mdash;he changed the title to ldquo;Who can I turn to when your GPS is driving you span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="crazy.”" data-scaytid="107"crazy.rdquo;/span/p p Annie Brazil showed why she is called ldquo;Asiarsquo;s Queen of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jazz.”" data-scaytid="109"Jazz.rdquo;/spannbsp; Her style and repertoire is classic and classymdash;her songs coming from the Great American songbook.nbsp; Singing since the age of nbsp;6, she grew up in the district of San Miguel near span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Malacanang" data-scaytid="137"Malacanang/span Palace and has performed all over the world.nbsp; She performed with bands led by span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Iggy" data-scaytid="139"Iggy/span De Guzman, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pepe" data-scaytid="141"Pepe/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Merto" data-scaytid="143"Merto/span, Cesar span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Velasco" data-scaytid="145"Velasco/span and Ding span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yalung" data-scaytid="147"Yalung/span.nbsp; Brazil ran clubs and booked acts which brought her into contact with American jazz performers. She jammed with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, James Moody, Ellis span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Marsalis" data-scaytid="149"Marsalis/span and Sarah Vaughn.nbsp; When asked about Billy span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eckstine" data-scaytid="151"Eckstine/span, she once said, ldquo;I bow to Billy span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eckstine.”" data-scaytid="111"Eckstine.rdquo;/spannbsp;nbsp;Her unique voice nailed timeless songs such as ldquo;Satin Doll,rdquo; nbsp;ldquo;Smile,rdquo; and a medley of Tagalog songs.nbsp; The 78 year old Brazil recently released an album of classic songs with new arrangements, produced by her son, vocalist Richard Merck.nbsp; Currently based in New York, she continues to perform regularly./p p The festival honored Annie Brazil, Winston span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Raval" data-scaytid="119"Raval/span and Bob span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Parlocha" data-scaytid="129"Parlocha/span with lifetime achievement awards.nbsp; span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Parlocha" data-scaytid="131"Parlocha/span, a native of Vallejo and son of a Filipino father and Afro Filipino mother, is a musician and was music director for legendary radio station span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="KJAZ" data-scaytid="135"KJAZ/span, was affectionately spoken of for his radio programming and knowledge of jazzmdash;a genre that he celebrated on his syndicated program ldquo;Jazz with Bob span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Parlocha" data-scaytid="133"Parlocha/spanrdquo;mdash;a program that is aired in both the US and Canada.nbsp;/p p The close of the show featured the three vocalists on stage together, singing in the scatting style that is beyond words but is all feeling.nbsp; And the feeling was that we were at homemdash;in the Fillmore, in the heart of jazz, in the heart of our story that is in a big pot of gumbo and rice and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="adobo--that" data-scaytid="153"adobo--that/span pot of jazz in which Filipino musicians have added their own flavor to the many flavors that it is.nbsp; For more information on the festival, go to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.sfpinoyjazzfest.com" data-scaytid="127"www.sfpinoyjazzfest.com/span./p p nbsp;/p p copy; 2011 Tony Robles/p p nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;/p
    Tags
  • Grateful for all the things U have done

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Bad News Bruce
    Original Body
    p Grateful for all the things that you have done..., I prayed in church, cried too and yeah it even span data-scayt_word="phsycally" data-scaytid="1"phsycally/span hurt, can#39;t do the span data-scayt_word="Chacha" data-scaytid="2"Chacha/span span data-scayt_word="cuz" data-scaytid="3"cuz/span I was a jerk, had a warrant on un span data-scayt_word="otra" data-scaytid="4"otra/span turf-but she just dropped all traffics; span data-scayt_word="wantin" data-scaytid="5"wantin/span coffee in her, I hate cops but not all judges. I span data-scayt_word="aint" data-scaytid="6"aint/span span data-scayt_word="sittin" data-scaytid="7"sittin/span in the span data-scayt_word="bink" data-scaytid="8"bink/span just holding grudges... RAMnbsp;/p
    Tags
  • Dark Streets

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p (Editor#39;s Note: Dennis Gary is a student innbsp;mynbsp;memoir writing class, a collaboration between POOR Magazine and Senior Action Network.nbsp; Born in Chicago, he has lived in Bozeman, MT, Klamath Falls, OR and in Sacramento. He has lived in San Francisco since 1975.nbsp; He shares his experiences and poetic vision with his fellow students at Senior Action Network.nbsp; We will be featuring writing from studentsnbsp;in thenbsp;coming weeks.nbsp; For more information on Senior Action Network and its programs, go tonbsp;a href="http://www.sfsan.org"www.sfsan.org/a--Tony Robles, Co-editor, POOR Magazine and Memoir Writing instructor, Senior Action Network)/p p nbsp;/p p strongDark Streets/strong/p p For I have walked along dark streets,/p p And I have known peace and safety./p p I have walked through vast canyons of concrete,/p p And known the courtesy of a nod and the comfort of a smile,/p p When a twenty changes hands and we lie together doing close, intimate things./p p I have walked along dark streets,/p p Through vast canyons of concrete,/p p And known the excitement of a moment/p p And the happiness of an hour./p
    Tags
  • Review of the 4th Annual San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival: A Sunday Kind of Love

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p emspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Dahil" data-scaytid="1"Dahil/span Sa span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Iyo" data-scaytid="3"Iyo/span/emmdash;Lena Sundayrsquo;s voice weaved through the syllablesmdash;unfamiliar vowels and consonantsmdash;slowly becoming familiar and vibrant like the sweet fragrance of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sampaguita" data-scaytid="5"Sampaguita/spanmdash;blooming into the centerpiece of the 4supth/supannual San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival at span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="7"Yoshirsquo;s/span, located in San Franciscorsquo;s historic Fillmore District.nbsp; Sunday, a gifted singer and daughter of a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Filipina" data-scaytid="9"Filipina/span mother and African American father shared with the audience that she did not learn Tagalog growing up, that her Filipino identity was something she was still embracing and claiming as her own.nbsp; Lena Sundayrsquo;s rendition of the classic Filipino love song, dedicated to her mother, was one of many heartfelt moments for jazz span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="kababayans" data-scaytid="11"kababayans/span and community members to listen to, remember and celebrate in the month of Octobermdash;Filipino American History Monthmdash;highlighting the Fillmorersquo;s Filipino roots, Filipino Jazz performers and their contributions to the African American gift which is jazz.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival is in its 4supth/supyear celebrating and showcasing outstanding and world class Filipino jazz artists from both the US and the Philippines. The festival has featured artists including Mon David, Primo Kim, John Calloway, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Tateng" data-scaytid="13"Tateng/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Katindig" data-scaytid="15"Katindig/span, Sandra span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Viray" data-scaytid="17"Viray/span and Jo span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Canion" data-scaytid="19"Canion/span. The founders and organizers of the festival are Carlos and Myrna span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="21"Zialcita/spanmdash;2 musicians whose marriage reflects their love of sharing music and culturemdash;a love that gave birth to the festival. Being immersed in the music business they saw many talented Filipino jazz musicians whose gifts were not being exposedmdash;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="underappreciated" data-scaytid="23"underappreciated/span in roles as side musicians, not being afforded opportunities to shine as headliners.nbsp; The festival is their effortmdash;in tandem with community educators, activistsmdash;to showcase these talented Filipino jazz musicians and vocalists to a wider audience.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The journey to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="25"Yoshirsquo;s/spanmdash;a major jazz venue on the West Coastmdash;followed a year of events featuring Filipino jazz performers including a concert commemorating Jazz Appreciation Month, The Asian Heritage Street Celebration, the ldquo;People in the Plaza Concert Seriesrdquo; and various events throughout the Bay Area.nbsp; ldquo;It took a year for us to get the festival to span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="31"Yoshirsquo;s/spanrdquo; said Myrna span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="29"Zialcita/span.nbsp; ldquo;There are so many Filipino musicians that are world classmdash;musicians that need to be heardrdquo;.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p It is befitting that the festival be hosted in San Franciscorsquo;s Fillmore District, home of many Filipino families that settled in the neighborhood in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="1920s" data-scaytid="35"1920s/span.nbsp; Among those families were the Robles and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sorro" data-scaytid="37"Sorro/span familiesmdash;large families whose lives were inspired by the sounds of jazz coming from clubs like span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jimbo’s" data-scaytid="39"Jimborsquo;s/span Bop City and the Blackhawk.nbsp; Poet Al Roblesmdash;widely regarded as the Poet Laureate of San Franciscorsquo;s span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Manilatown" data-scaytid="41"Manilatown/span and who was honored by the Festival in 2009mdash;paid homage tonbsp;nbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pinoy" data-scaytid="43"Pinoy/span jazzmen Charlie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Abing" data-scaytid="45"Abing/span and Flip Nunezmdash;two musicians with deep ties to the Filipino community and who paved the way for Filipino musicians to follow.nbsp;/p p Bill span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Sorro" data-scaytid="47"Sorro/span, activist and community leader who would later be a central figure in the struggle to fight the eviction of Filipino elders from the International Hotel, was inspired by jazz in his physical beingmdash;becoming a dancermdash;with a goal of joining the Alvin span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Ailey" data-scaytid="49"Ailey/span Dance Company. nbsp;nbsp;The Fillmore was home to African American families, Filipino families, mixed families that were both Filipino and black, as well as Japanese American and other multiracial families.nbsp; One legendary performer who grew up in the Fillmore to Black and Filipino parents was Sugar Pie span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="DeSanto" data-scaytid="51"DeSanto/spanmdash;who Carlos span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zialcita" data-scaytid="33"Zialcita/span has performed and toured with and has lobbied for induction into the Rock nrsquo; Roll Hall of Fame.nbsp; So inspired was Al Robles by this African American art form, this language that touched his life that he wrote:/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Sometimes my heart is Filipino/p p nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Sometimes my heart is black/p p nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; And sometimes my heart is Filipino and black/p p nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; At the same time/p p nbsp;/p p The language of jazz is the language of heartbreak, struggle, survival and resistance.nbsp; The Fillmore was a neighborhood under attack in the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="50s" data-scaytid="53"50s/span and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="60s" data-scaytid="55"60s/span.nbsp; Slowly the neighborhood was demolished to make way for redevelopmentmdash;the idea being that the neighborhood was blighted and needed to be cleaned up.nbsp; Many families were forced outmdash;mostly low income families of color.nbsp; Beautiful Victorian houses were demolished.nbsp; The antique dealers with their affluent clientele from Marin County converged on those abandoned housesmdash;taking door knobs, banisters, and fixturesmdash;anything that could be sold.nbsp; The landscape was bulldozed and scarred but the sound of jazz remainedmdash;nothing could erase its memory deep in the soil and in the concrete canvasses where songs and scores were yet to be composed.nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The event was a homecoming, anchored by the music of the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Pinoy" data-scaytid="57"Pinoy/span Jazz Quartetmdash;whose passionate playing and relaxed presence showed deference and respect to the audiencemdash;a multicultural gumbo of jazz lovers, friends, elders, youthmdash;a multiethnic Bay Area audience who came out en masse to support the gifts of our community within the spacious yet intimate setting of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Yoshi’s" data-scaytid="59"Yoshirsquo;s/span.nbsp; The quartet included long time musicians Ben Luis on bass, Rey Cristobal on piano, Melecio Magdaluyo on sax and flute and Richard Aguon on drums. Their range was impressive, expertly handling standards from the great American songbook, as well as classics and fusion.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p San Francisco born vocalist Lena Sunday wowed the audience with her vocal prowess on songs such as ldquo;Centerpiecerdquo; and ldquo;Throw it awayrdquo;mdash;showing why she was the featured singer in Lou Rawlrsquo;s band for 4 years, as well as a session singer/songwriter for artists such as Stevie Wonder and Nancy Wilson.nbsp; Her self-effacing presence was engaging and refreshing in a world of self-absorbed lesser performers who are too often given the label of ldquo;diva.rdquo;/p p nbsp;/p p Millbrae based, world class vocalist Ann Marie Santos revved up the audience with classics such as ldquo;Love for Salerdquo; and ldquo;It donrsquo;t mean a thing (If it ainrsquo;t got that swing)rdquo;.nbsp; Santos, who started singing at the age of 6 and has toured and performed all over Asia, is a returning performer to the Festival, having appeared in 2009, performing a duet with Mon David, bringing down the house in the eventrsquo;s finale. Her passionate performance prompted host Carlos Zialcita to declare, ldquo;Somebody call the fire department lsquo;cause itrsquo;s getting real hot in hererdquo;.nbsp; Her rendition of ldquo;What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Liferdquo; got me teary eyed (but Irsquo;m sure I wasnrsquo;t the only one)./p p nbsp;/p p Pianist Winston Raval shared his giftsmdash;which include being a pioneer in the area of jazz fusion as well as a band leader and musical director.nbsp; His playing struck an emotional chord that somehow connects jazz with our indigenous past.nbsp; Raval is a pioneer in connecting jazz with indigenous Filipino instruments bringing aboutmdash;what Myrna Zialcita describes as ldquo;A redefinition of what jazz means.nbsp; You canrsquo;t keep peoplersquo;s influence from coming into the genre.nbsp; When you bring your culture into jazz, you add it to that gumbo.rdquo;nbsp; Winston Raval is an extremely accomplished musician, having written the scores to 23 films in the Philippines.nbsp; During the evening, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the Festival.nbsp; His humor was not lost on the honormdash;in introducing the song ldquo;Who Can I turn To (When nobody needs me)rdquo;mdash;he changed the title to ldquo;Who can I turn to when your GPS is driving you crazy.rdquo;/p p nbsp;/p p Annie Brazil showed why she is called ldquo;Asiarsquo;s Queen of Jazz.rdquo;nbsp; Her style and repertoire is classic and classymdash;her songs coming from the Great American songbook.nbsp; Singing since the age of nbsp;6, she grew up in the district of San Miguel near Malacanang Palace and has performed all over the world.nbsp; She performed with bands led by Iggy De Guzman, Pepe Merto, Cesar Velasco and Ding Yalung.nbsp; Brazil ran clubs and booked acts which brought her into contact with American jazz performers. She jammed with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, James Moody, Ellis Marsalis and Sarah Vaughn.nbsp; When asked about Billy Eckstine, she once said, ldquo;I bow to Billy Eckstine.rdquo; nbsp;Her unique voice nailed timeless songs such as ldquo;Satin Doll,rdquo; nbsp;ldquo;Smile,rdquo; and a medley of Tagalog songs.nbsp; The 78 year old Brazil recently released an album of classic songs with new arrangements, produced by her son, vocalist Richard Merck.nbsp; Currently based in New York, she continues to perform regularly./p p nbsp;/p p The festival honored Annie Brazil, Winston Raval and Bob Parlocha with lifetime achievement awards.nbsp; Parlocha, a native of Vallejo and son of a Filipino father and Afro Filipino mother, is a musician and was music director for legendary radio station KJAZ, was affectionately spoken of for his radio programming and knowledge of jazzmdash;a genre that he celebrated on his syndicated program ldquo;Jazz with Bob Parlochardquo;mdash;a program that is aired in both the US and Canada.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p The close of the show featured the three vocalists on stage together, singing in the scatting style that is beyond words but is all feeling.nbsp; And the feeling was that we were at homemdash;in the Fillmore, in the heart of jazz, in the heart of our story that is in a big pot of gumbo and rice and adobo--that pot of jazz in which Filipino musicians have added their own flavor to the many flavors that it is.nbsp;/p
    Tags
  • Carving a Life

    09/24/2021 - 09:13 by Anonymous (not verified)
    Original Author
    Tiny
    Original Body
    p A recent span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Cnn.com" data-scaytid="1"Cnn.com/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed" data-scaytid="11"op-ed/span piece asked: Are jobs obsolete?nbsp; To those who are unemployed, this questionnbsp;is a luxury.nbsp; There are those who, deep down, ask this questionmdash;fleeting asnbsp;it arrives on our mental landscapemdash;and ponder the existence of life without ldquo;a jobrdquo;.nbsp; We look at the unemployment numbers, we see images of people in linesmdash;multitudes who have been out of work in the large cities and in the not-so large cities. nbsp;nbsp;Black unemployment is twice that of whitesmdash;and factoring in the sub-prime mortgage crisismdash;most black people view the current climate as a depression rather than a recession. nbsp;nbsp;We see unemployment among black youth ages 16-24 at a staggering 31%.nbsp; Resumes are printed, job workshops are scheduled and we scan the online and offline sourcesmdash;as well as our personal circles--for job leads, anything.nbsp; Meanwhile, our people are more demoralized, depressed, sick and anxiety-ridden than ever./p p nbsp;/p p Many of our cultural and community educators and activistsmdash;such as Luis J. Rodriguez a href="http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/"font color="#222222"(/fontspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.luisjrodriguez.com" data-scaytid="3"www.luisjrodriguez.com/span/a)nbsp;and Nelson span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Peery" data-scaytid="15"Peery/span (a href="http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/nelsonpeerydialogue2.html"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.speakersforanewamerica.com" data-scaytid="5"www.speakersforanewamerica.com/span/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="nelsonpeerydialogue2.html" data-scaytid="7"nelsonpeerydialogue2.html/span/a), among othersmdash;who have labored in the factories and in the military industrial complexmdash;have seen the shift from manufacturing to white collar, finance based jobs.nbsp; Industrial jobs that once provided decent wages have been sent overseas or have been diminished by corporate greed in collusion with government/lobbyists to undermine and break unions./p p nbsp;/p p The CNN span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed" data-scaytid="13"op-ed/span cited the rise of digital technology and its ldquo;Slow but steady replacement of working humansrdquo; as the cause of the problems plaguing the US Postal Service.nbsp; People are sending 22% fewer pieces of mail than they did 4 years ago.nbsp; According to the op span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="ed’s" data-scaytid="19"edrsquo;s/span author, the real culprit is email and other net-enabled means of communication such as electronic bill payment. nbsp;Other examples of jobs lost to emnon-homo sapiens /emare Google self-driving automobiles--rendering taxi drivers obsolete, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="EZ" data-scaytid="21"EZ/span passes replacing toll-takers and supermarketrsquo;s use of automated check stands.nbsp; The logical progression of this process was thought to be that the replaced workers would be trained to fix or program the robots that have replaced them.nbsp; But the people needed to make the robots are not as many as the people they replace.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p Henry Miller once wrote that making a living has very little to do with living.nbsp; Perhaps what should be asked is how we make a emlife/em?nbsp; The stuff that is made in our society is, presumably, to provide us the essentialsmdash;and often times non-essentialsmdash;of life and/or a standard of living that will make us comfortable.nbsp; But as humans are increasingly taken out of the production equation, where does that leave us?nbsp; With no job, we have no moneymdash;the bottom falls outmdash;and the effects reverberate through our livesmdash;shattering our health, relationships, self-esteem, and ultimately, the future of our children.nbsp; Is it a job that we really need when most of what we needmdash;food, shelter, health caremdash;given the countryrsquo;s productivitymdash;could be provided to the entire population with just a ldquo;fraction of us actually workingrdquo;?nbsp; As the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed’s" data-scaytid="23"op-edrsquo;s/span author stated, ldquo;Our problem is not that we donrsquo;t have enough emstuff, /emitrsquo;s that we donrsquo;t have enough ways for people to work and ldquo;proverdquo; that they deserve this stuff.nbsp; I have always admired the person with nothing to prove./p p nbsp;/p p One such person with nothing to prove is my father James Robles (a href="http://poormagazine.org/node/2965"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="poormagazine.org" data-scaytid="9"poormagazine.org/span/node/2965/a.nbsp; He worked much of his life as a janitor.nbsp; He always arrived to work on time, always did a good job.nbsp; He started his own janitorial business eventually, where I, as his sole employee, was taught the virtues of never doing a half assed job (his preferred method of spreading this particular gospel was via putting a well placed ldquo;foot in my assmdash;hence my role as ldquo;solerdquo; employeerdquo;mdash;which I still, on occasion, feel to this day).nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p After living in San Francisco most of his life (born and raised), he moved the family to Hawaii 2 decades ago.nbsp; I left shortly after high school graduation; he stayed to raise my brother and sister along with his wife.nbsp; It is not easy to make it in Hawaii, the cost of living is high and housing is tighter than ever due to the influx of people from the so-called mainland.nbsp; He still worksmdash;now as a maintenance man in a condo on Waikiki.nbsp; His work is sometimes strenuous but not overly so.nbsp; He leaves the heavy lifting for the young guys./p p nbsp;/p p In his moments of pause, he looks out at the ocean, its movement, its blueness.nbsp; He reflects on time and life and how it passes and moves forwards and backwards.nbsp; A part of him never fully accepted capitalism.nbsp; As a family, we ate at McDonalds and drank coke with a smile; but my father was never disposable, his mind was not a blank slate for the branding of corporationsmdash;nor was his heart./p p nbsp;/p p He sought out the indigenous Filipino art of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eskrima" data-scaytid="25"Eskrima/spanmdash;a beautiful art which Filipinos developed to defend their land from colonizers and invaders.nbsp; He learned the art from elders on the islands.nbsp; One elder asked, ldquo;Why should I teach you this art?rdquo;nbsp; My father replied, ldquo;This is my peoplersquo;s art, I have a right to learn itrdquo;.nbsp; It turned out the elder had waited years to hear those words.nbsp; The art is very old and is performed in styles using sticks, knives and open hand techniques.nbsp; He was a student then a teacher.nbsp; He visited the Philippines for the first timemdash;an ancestral homecoming--a few years back with his students to complete in a world span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eskrima" data-scaytid="27"Eskrima/span tournament.nbsp; The team did well, garnering medals in multiple categories.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p My fatherrsquo;s life is located in the bamboo forests of Hawaii.nbsp; The sticks that he holds, that he honors in his martial art provide the sounds that give his life meaning, gives it life. The sticks are an extension of himmdash;his ribs, his limbsmdash;growing out of the soil of resistance to the colonization of his culture, his history, his mind.nbsp; My father has carved the poetry of his life onto his skin which is the skin of wood.nbsp; He finds pieces of wood, running his hands over each unique piecemdash;burning designs onto each.nbsp; He spends hours carving facesmdash;forming noses, eyes, mouthsmdash;that ultimately speak the story of his life.nbsp; He sends these pieces of art to his family.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p I run my fingers across the faces, each detail is unique, giving honor to our ancestral face, our ancestral blood.nbsp;nbsp; Each mark and gap carved into the wood is a story, a memory that cannot be erased.nbsp; The carvings are evidence of a life lived in resistance, in poetry, in oneness with nature./p p nbsp;/p p Carving is his lifersquo;s workmdash;greater than a job or vocationmdash;for he does it out of sheer love.nbsp; And in that love he shares it with our family and friendsmdash;and with the world./p p nbsp;/p p I see a world where wersquo;re not defined by a job.nbsp; A job is not who you and I are.nbsp; My father has written his own life in the faces, the skin of wood by carving his own life into it.nbsp; Hersquo;s still carving./p
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