2012

Day 2 of Healing the Hoods Weekend @ Homefulness opening ceremony included from above image Yoruba Chief Luisah Teish and in below image from left: Luta Candelaria, Corrina Gould, Luis J. Rodriguez, Tiny, aka Lisa Gray-Garcia, Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, Mari Villaluna and Jose Cuellar. Photo Credit: Carina Lomeli/PNN

I am unable to find enough praise words that come from the deepest parts of my heart and soul in the one colonizer language i have been taught to express the gratitude i feel for the 2 day, cross-bay Healing the Hood weekend that happened this weekend, July 7th and 8th.So i will try to show u pieces of it.

"Our medicine is in us, it is with us in our minds and souls and barrios," said author and community healer Luis J, Rodriguez, to a crowd of at least 45 people who attended his morning healing circle on Day 1 in San Francisco. He told the group about his own experiences as a son, a father and a man of color, an indigenous man who is son of another indigenous man who seemed, as he put it, "to never show any emotion because it was so buried under so many layers of loss and struggle and codes of what men are supposed to be like". Luis sat with us, healed with us and spoke to us on both sides of the bay about his experience not only healing himself, but helping to bring the medicine of healing to other youth, adults and elders in struggle, in prisons, community centers, skools and organizations like POOR Magazine. He shared poetry, his writing and his soul with so many of us still living in plantation housing known as Single Room Occupancy Hotels (SRO's) projects and the cardboard motels, and then on Day 2 after a beautiful healing in our 2nd half of the day - he even showed us his belly, "I have several tattoes, he said, this is just one of the most important ones." After telling us that he rarely if ever has done this, he explained that this was an image of Coatlicue an indigenous image of great mother, Pachamama, called many different names in many different indigenous communties but that it always means our mother earth.

In addition to Luis there were cooking demonstrations by indigenous warrior wombyn, Ingrid DeLeon, Needa Bee, Luz Calvo,  Catriona Esquibel, and myself. On both sides of the bay trying to show indigenous peoples in diaspora across these false borders, and lands and struggle how to go back to our own knowledge, our own foods, our own mothers, off of Monsanto colonization of our food and as Luz and Catrona teaches on - how to decolonize our diets.

We went from food to a new teaching we are developing at PeopleSkool/Escuela de la gente @ POOR Magazine called Medicine from Our Mama- This weekend brought with love and scholarship and prayer and intention by Estrella Divina and Tanya Henderson and Earth Mother Iyalode  who skooled us on so many ways to heal ourselves that cannot be bought at Walgreens- but can be found in our environments, in our hoods and growable in our communities

We were blessed with the power, stories and work of youth warriors 67 Suenos who fight these false borders on Pachamama and brought their stories and helped bring so many others  Qi Qong and meditation by one of POOR Magazine's brothers - Aldo Della Maggiorra, a healer and poverty skolar, poet and drummer

Our opening prayer ceremony on Day 2 was a moment in herstory with dreams and songs and spirit brought by so many cultures, traditions and cultures, holding and embracing them all to honor where all peoples walk from and to, beginning with medicine from Ohlone warriors Corrina Gould and Luta Candelaria, followed by Pacific Island scholar, Fuifuilupe Niumeitolu, to power and words of  Yoruba Chief Luisah Teish, with words and spirit for all African peoples in diaspora and all peoples, to the beautiful flute of Jose Cuellar and then more medicine from our brother Luis J Rodriguez culminating in the beautiful danzantes;Kalpulli Coatlicue

All of this magic, this spirit, this love and this medicine was shared with poverty skolaz, youth, elder and indigenous skolaz from both sides of the bay and before each day was finished we closed with the first video shoot of Gheto Rider, a community ryme i started to help us heal our physical bodies from the many serious illnesses that are caused by our lives of not enough movement, too much stress, poverty, racism, violence and colonization. Poor bodies of color like my mama dee who never really moved her body because as  a poor wombyn of color who was never properly loved and always racialized and oppressed and only had access to cheap and colonized food and more stress and depression that any one body could handle.

There was also poetry and art and beats shared by Dregs1, Tony Robles, welfareQUEEN's, Po' Poets, Pamela Arrieola, Muteadoo Silencio, Mari Reprado, and so many more..
 
This weekend was for everyone, and this weekend was for my Mama Dee, my strong Black indian mama - for without whom there would be no me- who transitioned wayyy too young because in her very hard lyfe she was never healed.  this weekend was for her and all us poor peoples, indigenous and poor peoples of color who are struggling to stay alive-in this capitalist system controlled by corporations, perpetrators and plantations.

This Healing the Hood Weekend was brought to you by your poverty skolaz in residence at POOR Magazine, and co-sponsored by 67 Suenos, because we have been trying to heal our poor bodies of color in struggle for awhile and we knew it was essential to manifest our visions of a poor peoples-led,indigenous peoples led revolution. This is not the first and wont' be the last and we don't own healing just like we dont own land or dreams or voices or spirits or plants or medicine or love.. Healing happens everyday, just like pain and struggle and positivity and possibilities. But we launched this weekend  mostly to bring the beginning of spirit and medicine to the Pachamama community garden at  Homefulness.

 Please join us East Oakland neighbors, community and allies, Sunday, August 5th @ 12:30 for lunch and a community talk-story about what this we all want to eat and what we want to grow. Be this change, walk this with us, because without all you there would be no us.

The Amazing Medicine Poet, Healer, Father and Loco Hermano de Prensa POBRE!!!! showing his Tattoo of Aztec/Mexica goddess Coatlicue- @ Day 2 of Healing the Hood weekend @ Homefulness in East Oakland- photo courtesy of Rebecca Ruiz - compa de Prensa POBRE (To see Luis at the book signing and film screening events this week in the Bay Area- check the schedule out here)

My heart and eyes watched young Olympian Gabby Douglas with desperation. A  painful craving that reached deep into my overwhelmed, poverty-stricken and sorrow-filled soul.

From the first minute young, strong, beautiful and black Gabby appeared on the Disney production, known as the 2012 Olympics which I have affectionately re-named the PimpLympics, my eight year old son and I have been glued to the screen, coughing, hacking and guffawing through an onslaught of kkkorporate public relations lies from BP oil ( who destroyed the water of the entire Gulf Coast where so many young people of color live, fish and try to swim, McDonalds ( who makes so many of our poor young people of color at –risk of diabetes and heart disease with their fat-filled, GMO created food),  DeVry University (with its overwhelming quickly mounting tuition debt and seemingly easy access for so many young folks of color) and thousands of other corporations too many to mention, so we could  cry, scream, dream and root for Gabhy.

And then when Gabby won the first all around gold medal last night, I cried, deep, sorrow-filled and yet elated tears. I cried first for her mama, who raised such a strong, powerful young wombyn and was so proud right now,, then I cried for my mama, a young mixed race (African-Taino-Roma) girl who always wanted to be a singer, a gymnast, a long distance runner, but who never was cared for, or watched or even loved enough by anyone in the orphanage she was raised in to get that chance and instead was experimented on, hated, racialized and left. Then I cried for all the other young people of color and specifically young Black people (cause Race does matter), who I work along side, teach and learn from who don’t even think they can move their poor bodies of color enough to become the next Gabby Douglass. Who might, because of Gabby, dream that dream, if even for a day, and reach up beyond the intentionally limited choices ever offered to them.

So then, with a momentary, silly smile and a tear-soaked face, I went to bed. And then I woke up. And I realized, that they got me. Disney, Devry, Dow, BP and MickeyD’s hooked me in. It was Obama all over again. For a minute of critical thinking-less reality, I believed it. The Princess and the frog had been re-cast, this time using live characters. And I believed. I believed we could flyyyyyyy.  All of us , out of racism, poverty, the insane and disgusting prison industrial complex, racist occupying armies known as the po’lice and the plantation of Amerikkka. Meanwhile, the revolution of John Carlos and Tommy Smith, who I had posted about in the beginning of the pimplympics, floated down my face-crak timeline with the simple corporate ease of Zuckerburg getting another billion dollars for some nothing thing he just did.

Gabby is a beautiful young, dark-skinned woman, her mama is a powerful and strong single mama, who did an amazing and beautiful job. Everything that I know about their process to get this medal is based in determination and focus which all young people need and should gain strength from  Additionally, race and racism in Amerikkka is real, the lack of young peoples of color images that are positive is serious and the ways that poor children of color and adults are fetishized and portrayed as gangsters, thugs or just not seen at all is equally serious. My mama knew this when she sent my witegurl looking self out to rent apartments at 12 with a lie about how I was 25 and making $60,000 a year, because she, as a low income mama of color would be automatically seen as suspect and a “bad” tenant and not rented to when we were living in our car houseless in AMerikkka But the frightening thing is the narrative of the young Gabby Douglass was the narrative necessary to move the kkkorporate lies along. And in the US- her story was perfect in terms of bootstraps, Horatio Alger based capitalism perfection.

Poor people of color like me and my mama and all of the folks at POOR Magazine are told everyday that all we need to do is work hard, stop being lazy and we will get ahead. And yet so many of us, work so hard, are extremely focused and we still oddly never “get out” much less get ahead, whatever that even means anyway. This obsession with “productivity” hard work as defined by corporations and US capitalist values, has nothing to do with loving or caring for our ancestors, our elders, our mothers, our brothers and sisters incarcerated and in struggle and ultimately with our Mother Earth.

“Gold metals, you can’t eat those, the children in my Harlem neighborhood can’t eat those, said by John Carlos in 1968 when he and Tommy Smith, took off their shoes and showed their black socks and put their black gloved hands in the air for Black power, liberation, poverty and black peoples, poor peoples self-determined futures .

So then I go back, and think about the millions of dollars stolen by the London mayor and pimplympics committee from crucial government services like the funding of disabled people services pointed out to me by my brother in struggle Leroy Moore of Krip Hop, the ways in which EVERY single city who brings these large corporate sport events to their towns like the Olympics, the Superbowl and the World Cup immediately begins displacing, evicting and sometimes even killing their poor residents in the case of the ShackDwellers Union in South Africa facing rubber bullets when they refused to leave their shanty towns or the 400 poor people tenants, mostly of African and South Asian descent of East London evicted to make room for a 2012 Olympic stadium so vollyball could commence in shiny new corporate splendor.

Or the not –kkkoporate digestible Damien Hooper, aboriginal boxer who was stripped of his ability to compete because he made the brutal “mistake” of wearning a t-shirt of the aboriginal flag of this peoples.

So then I go back again to the beautiful and proud face of Gabby and Cullen Jones – one of the first African –Americans that I have seen in the Olympic pool- at least in my Olympic herstory. Go Wid yer baaad selves and even if you don’t get up at the end on your collective podiums and raise the black power fist or rock the African Peoples Unity flag on your t-shirts. I’m going to claim your wins back for the people. Your glory wasn't won for Dow chemical, your wins didn’t get me or Tiburcio or Tony to go to DeVry or think differently about the violence and murder of BP oil, or the sick food of McDonalds, rather you brought the spirit of hundreds of years of African peoples liberation into the eyes of the world for just one night and the Orishas heard you and the ancestors upon whose shoulders you were standing on heard you. And the thousands of poor young children of color saw you and felt you and for that one minute 45 seconds, became you. Ase’ Damien and Cullen and Gabby Douglas,- this mama is so proud of all of you.

Krip-Hop Nation (KHN) We have been friends for a long time but I’m not a father tell me as a Black disabled father what do you face in public.

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  Normally people would stop and stare when I would take my children out to the playground and play ball with them. I felt more concerned about my children’s feelings,being that I would be the only disabled father in the park and sometimes my children would be ridiculed, however my children dealt with it.  My mother was my mentor she taught me at an early age how to do most things with one            hand, cooking household cleaning and taking care of my younger  brother, so my children lived a pretty normal life.

Lee Williams: Surprisingly, I generally get favorable response, you know how I am…..I SMILE AND SPEAK TO JUST ABOUT EVERYONE I ENCOUNTER.  I think that after all of the years, since 1980, I found that it puts them at ease, because they have no idea as to how we, as a person with a disability is going to    respond…..Some of us are uptight, and might respond in negative fashion….not nessisarily because they are disabled…..maybe they just got a parking ticket……a smile and a warm ‘hello’ puts a different spin on meeting the general public.  My children, Grand, Greatgrand, and Great Greatgranies, keep a smile on my face all of the time…..The public generally admires that.

King Kaution: As a black farther being disabled in public I’m always faced with alot of answering questions from kids when they see me with my boys. Alot of men woulda gave up and leave it up to the mothers.. I get congratulated from the public cause they see I’m not letting my situation stop me from being involved in my kids lives .

2) KHN: color:black">Hey CoolV you are different from Keith Jones, Rob ‘Da Noize Temple and Lee Williams because you told me that you are looking after your   sister’s children and one have autism.  Tell us how did that change your life being a caretaker or a father like figure and has that played into your work in the entertainment field?

CoolV: Well 1st it demands more time because he requires a lil bit more attention because he has special needs but although they tag him as disabled he can do just about anything anyone else can just needs a love and encouragement. If you don’t believe me see the story called “My Name Is Khan” an autistic man who was so special he received an award from the president for all the amazing things he did. He has taught me the value of hard work because he tries extra hard also the how to forgive others. He is so caring and selfless in love he tries to help almost everyone. I got him when my sister found out she had cancer and neither her nor her husband was not able to take care of him and his other brothers. My mom & me raise these boys. The rest of the family chips in my older sister had them 1st and as they got older I felt they need to step in.  So in short they helped me go harder to set the example and also taught me how to forgive people. As for my life in the entertainment field I can’t just pick up and go when I want to and I have to be supportive to his needs.

3)   KHN:  Tell us about your kids and what do you want for them?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple: I have 5 children 3 girls and 2 boys, 11grand-children and 1 great grand-child, my oldest son Anthony, passed away in 2010 from complications due to sickle cell anemia.  My oldest daughter Yvonne was my right hand she took on that role herself, and would assist me with the things I might have trouble with, like cooking, household chores, braiding her sister’s hair and watching her when I would have to go out and gig.  I only wanted the best for my children.  This music was for my children to provide them a legacy to be proud of.  I never knew that I would be blacklisted my entire career, I chased this music dream and sometimes I missed those precious moments I could have shared with my children.  It was hard enough to try and make it with one-hand in the music business, but to be shut-down, silenced, a career totally eclipsed truly affected my children and how I had to raise them. Fortunately I worked in corporate America as well.  I was the first black disabled corporate accounting manager at Time Inc. I had to single handily, no pun intended, juggle corporate life and the music business along with family.

Lee Williams: Well, like most proud fathers, I pray that they will have the very

best of all good things.  We have a few phd’s in the crew and others  striving.  Wonderful people, my kids.

King Kaution: My kids are my motivation to live life to the fullest..i want them to be the best at whatever they wanna be. My oldest love video games and i taught him how to use the computer at age 3....same as my youngest who is 5 now and love basketball..my oldest wanna design games in the future ...they both like hearing themselves on the Mic...my big helpers like helping me get dressed to helping me record by clicking the buttons and putting my headphones on.... I want my kids to know that no matter your situation life still goes on

4) KHN:  As an artist/activist has your children been interested in your work and have they got used to other friends, musicians and activists with disabilities

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  Yes my children follow everything I am into.  They see the challenges that I had to overcome and they are proud of where w were able to make it in life despite the setbacks.  My disability has never been an issue with my children, I am sure they had those moments when they might have gotten teased at school about their father’s arm.  However they now look at my disability as a badge of honor, simply my uniqueness in this universe.  They are very excited about my involvement with the Krip Hop Nation.

Lee Willams: OF COURSE !!  I USED TO TAKE MY KIDS TO MY SHOWS, AND THEY PROBABLY KNOW MORE PEOPLE IN THE ARTS THAN I      DO NOW.  MOST OF THEM SING, ALL OF THEM DANCE. YEAH, THEY ARE MY BIGEST FANS.

King Kaution: i don't know too many disabled artist in mainstream...when

people see me with my kids they congratulate me for not giving up...

5) KHN:  Give us your outlook on mainstream view around Black masculinity and disability plus does that thinking totally change when people see you with your kids?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  I don’t think that there will be a fair outlook when it comes to the view that mainstream has towards the disabled.  The two issues disability and masculinity have to be addressed individually.  There was never an  issue of my masculinity, I found that I encountered discrimination based on the unknown, I don’t fit in, or that I want something from them or I deserve some sympathy because of my disability I just wanted my piece of the rock.  I only encountered issues of masculinity when dealing with the “ism’ and secret cliques in the music business where your sexuality and preference are more important than your talent.  That has truly affected my career and my ability to take care of my family.

color:black">  CoolV: I think it’s kind of sad how a lot of our young black men are raised by single parent household without a male figure yet go do the same thing to their kids that their father did to them as a child. I see it like this you have either two options...  You either hate it so much that it changes you and you try to be the best man and best father figure you can be or use that as an excuse and continue that vicious cycle and do exactly or worse to your child and plant that seed of hate for your offspring.  I think the perception of what most people think of black    men and kids these days are low so their expectations are low I hear it all the time of how most of our black men don’t take care of their kids and yada yada yada although some of it is true you can NOT make a general statement on our men because now-a-days I’m finding out its a lot of us.  The sad thing is their is a lot of people who just don’t understand kids with disabilities and are ignorant to just how amazing and special they are because they are to busy judging a book by its cover.  I usually get the wow factor and when they find out they are my sisters kids some are like wow others are looking like yeah I bet them are his kids which I laugh and think man we either got some strong genes or my sister must of been mad at me because truth be told we do look-a-like.  But I think our society have the wrong depiction of what a real man is anyway the heroes are the fathers and those community leaders who are fighting for better schools, education and to feed the homeless and who have opened programs to help our young men.

Lee Williams: Well, we, as a people, have always had that rep for our masculinity, and athletic ability.  Most people with disabilities do what I do….my children and I are generally  so involved with what we are doing that we hardly  notice….but you know that I dance, and I am an athlete  as well.  Generally,  people are surprised to know that I ski and race as well as several other events.

6)  KHN:  Rob, Keith and Lee you did a song with or bout your son.  Tell us about                             those songs?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  That song “Antonio’s Song” was written for my oldest son Anthony “Antonio P. St@ckz Temple, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 23.  I am still in a state of shock, we were really just starting to grow closer and gaining an understanding of each other. I got to record his first album on my record label, but he is not here to share it.  So there is some bitterness I feel that had I “made it” in this industry he would still be here, but no one gave me a chance, they just turned their back.  As I said previously, this music was for my children, to provide them a better life to help heal the world through song.  I know I could have been a better father, but I tried, I never gave up, I always believed in God and the gifts He gave me.  That song wrote itself through the tears, the heartache, the feeling of loss, my son whispered the words and the music to me

CoolV:  I thought about doing a song about my nephews but it doesn’t matter to me honestly its knowing I played a great role in their lives is all that counts.

 Lee Williams:  Lee jr.  wrote the song, and he wrote it about me.  That is what I told him, years ago.  No matter what, I would be there for him…..Rain or   Shine…..it took us a few years before we could do it without crying like crazy.  I love the song…I love him.

King Kaution: I’m waiting on the right beat to make a song.

7)    KHN:  What are some of the projects you are working on.

 Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  I am still on tour as keyboardist and DJ with the group Rapper’s Delight aka The Sugarhill Gang, the group is also in the studio working on a new album and the soundtrack for their new documentary “I Want MY Name Back”.  I am also working on the musical score for a new Black Broadway play entitled A Season For Love, I am working on music for a cookbook, The new Temple Dynasty CD, arranging and producing music for the legendary music producer George Kerr and of course the new Krip Hop/MWD CD to be released on my label this summe.

CoolV: Wow man you know how I am Leroy too many to name here Let’s just say I’m the founder of the Rated Next Brand #TRN which umbrellas a lot of companies in short I’m a small business and entertainment marketing consultant, promoter, public speaker, humanist, producer, event coordinator, promoter etc.  I wear many hats but my most proud is uncle/dad and Operation We Care and now the “M.A.D” movement which stands for “Make A Difference” program in short I feel instead of complaining what are you doing to make a difference? Ask yourself that question and if the answer is nothing then I impose another question what are you willing to do? We can all make a difference it doesn’t matter how big or small the contribution you make it all helps and it doesn’t always have to be monetary it can be time it all helps and counts in the end! Team Rated Next new website coming soon, a workshop tour with my boy Money Mike (Mike Minter) my partner from Money & Music Inc. where he handles the financial tips (He is amazing and one of the top financial advisors in the country ) also CEO of Minco Financial and I give the marketing tips. As for my track records let’s just say I work hard and have been in the industry for a minute and was just featured in Arizona Weekly.  Nominated and came in 4th place for the Shorty Awards this year for the best in marketing and have a couple of interviews with major publications my most proud one is Soul Train (I’m Honored) because I was a big fan but honestly I am honored with all my features or stories no matter how big or small the media outlet.  When a person thinks that much of you you got to be honored and humbled.  I am looking forward to the cover of special edition Wave magazine, my candid interview with Divas On Deck ‘s own ms B so GOD is good and there is a lot on deck just follow me on Facebook (official whistle or twitter @coolvsratednext to see what’s NEXT!) You heard the whistle!!!

Lee Williams:  Well, you know that I have an art gallery now, and my daughter Tique runs the spot.  I have done a few voice overs and of course, I do the art.  The rest of the time I am staying low.  You know that I just got out of hospital.

King Kaution:  b.a.r.z beats and rhymes original mixtape. King of the jungle mixtape ft comedian Dave Jones. Best kept secret mixtape...king and queen of Gunrule mixtapes... My documentary about music and my accident

 8)  KHN:  It is very hard to find Black disabled male role models in today                        society.  Do you think that there is room for Black disabled fathers                         to make it through all the isms in both communities, the hyper                        masculinity and bling bling on a bigger stage at father’s day and all                         year around for young Black disabled boys growing up now?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  I think the whole definition of role model has to be redefined.  For me The Most High God is the only role model.  What defines a father is shaped by their upbringing, how they view love, how they view women, how they view family.  Growing up in a single family home, my mother had to take on the role of both parents. My uncles, cousins and the male adults around me served as role models, I would try to emulate at least the better qualities.  I am just a father who just happens to be disabled that’s how I would prefer to be viewed, no GQ magazine look, no bulging muscles, no bling bling, those are but momentary things.  Running up and down the court or catching the ball or scoring the run for the team doesn’t make you a role model.  Will you be there, will you sacrifice, and will you be selfless will you really be willing to learn what it takes to keep your family together.  When the underground street movement Brooklyn House began, I was accepted as just a “real” dude an ‘OG”, I never tried to be a role model, if they saw something in me that was good, then let it serve as an inspiration.  I get that kind of respect from the streets today, just by being real, “real recognized real”.  If I had to point to one disabled person who influenced me it would be Stevie Wonder, he is an artists, musician, activists and father.

CoolV:  There is NOT enough support for men that are doing what they are supposed to do sometimes. It is hard raising my boys but what’s crazy is the school systems and communities do not have enough support for those that do I think that if we acknowledged the ones that did instead of so much drama there would not be as many dead beat dads.  It is hard for a black man to raise a kid disabled or not.  It’s tough but its extra tough because society doesn’t care and they have to work that much harder to provide that much more.  As for the black role models we have to 1st stop being so judgmental of each other and a lil more supportive and also give men more support when they are doing the right thing and we have to stop feeding into what the media tells us who and what we should be!

King Kaution:  If we had the support and men to step up we can inspire the

youth...i like to look nice and just cause we in a chair don't mean we

gotta dress like patients lol

9)  KHN:  You have sons and daughters are there any difference how they relate

                  to you etc?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  Well each of my children deals with me on a different level.  My daughters were first and when I separated from their mother they came and lived with me in New Jersey for 12 years and then returned to New York in 1986.  We have a great relationship because we did everything together. They had to sacrifice much from mom to mom, home to home as I tackled this music game, my daughters are my rock, I just discovered another daughter that was mine after 23 years, that’s a whole new chapter.  My youngest son is a         music producer and he is in the music business as well he is more like    my partner I began teaching him music when he was a baby, he will carry on the legacy.

Lee Williams: I know that the girls take great care of me.  They know how much I love and care for them.  They respect  me and no sweeter kids  will you ever find.

King Kaution:  I have two sons.  My oldest wanna see me get up...he helps A lot My youngest is catching on but does some things the way i do like using the mouse with my pinky lol

10) KHN:  If you feel comfortable tell how your dad dealt with your disability?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  My dad and my mom separated when I was child, although I saw my dad growing up, he died when I was a teenager, I grew up in a single parent home. My mother, who was also an entertainer, assumed the roll of dad.  My mother taught me how to cook, sew, clean house, karate, iron clothes, do the laundry and wash dishes.  She wanted me to be independent to do for self.  She knew there would be little compassion for my situation, so she prepared me to face the challenges of life.  My mother never wanted me to feel sorry for myself, or expect sympathy from anyone.  She built me to be self-contained and she wrapped her teaching in love.

CoolV:  Its no problem the truth is my father was a dead beat and although I love him and wish him well we don’t communicate because of his pride.  I never wanted to NOT have a relationship but some men will never own up to what they done or how they failed as a parent. We have been passed that for years but he has a different outlook on life then I and God gave him another chance with my brother which he did a better job.  Just wish I could speak to him man to man and he be honest instead of living ne denial which a lot of men do these days they don’t want to take ownership when they mess up and this have hurt our families, spouses, friends and even the way we perform our jobs.

Lee Williams:  Gee…I was quite up in years when we got together.  But he wanted to pick me up and carry me, and sometimes he did.  I am the eldest of all of his kids, but he wanted to baby me.  He loved my children to the max

King Kaution: Never seen my dad & I’ll cry till the day my heart stopped...he

stayed in the hospital everyday till i started moving ...he brought his friend pastor mcfall and Marvin sapp in to pray for my healing ....its working but my mom quit her job to take care of me

11)  KHN: Your family is so talented musicians and singers, as disable musicians what are you passing down about the music industry to your children?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  Family is everything, my family gave me love,    and those musicians I’ve played with all surrounded me with a wall of sound to enhance my playing.  My years in the music business are bittersweet.  By my own existence I state never give up, believe in yourself, believe in God most of all.  My children has seen the treatment and disrespect I have been dealt in this industry, and I try to caution my youngest son, who is walking in my footsteps, on the pitfalls to be aware of.  My children continue to be my motivation, the reason I keep on pushing on.

12)  KHN: On Father’s day what do you say to fathers?

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  Don’t be afraid to fail, for in your failure there is victory.  Love that woman, love that child, and don’t be afraid to cry.  Go that extra mile, I wish I had the wisdom then so that I would have really known how to bring my children closer and not lose them chasing my dream.  Cherish each moment with your children; never  take for granted that they will always be there.

CoolV: I say to all those fathers biological or not “Happy Fathers Day!” also to those that are NOT it’s never to late to make a difference and even if your son is grown if they got kids be a grand parent and turn your failure into a success story by helping the young men in the community because honestly the world need more dads!

Lee Williams:  Happy Father’s Day & Thanks again.

King Kaution: kids need us..interact with your kids..talk to them share how y'all feel tell them how much u care and show them...educate them outside of school.no matter what stay in their lives .

13)  KHN: Any last words:

Rob Da’ Noize Temple:  HAPPY FATHERS DAY…..

           
Lee Williams: Yea, thank you so much for the interview, and Leroy, go have a few kids.

King Kaution:  shouts to leroy Moore for the opportunity to share a part of my life. Cool v for sharing his story and giving me inspiration to never give up...pray for me

14)  KHN: How can people contact you?

 Rob Da’ Noize Temple  www.facebook.com/robdanoizetemple

www.myspace.com/robdanoizetemple

www.myspace.com/solidnoize

www.facebook.com/templedynasty

www.myspace.com/templedynasty

www.myspace.com/kriphop

CoolV: Google Me haha just kidding (I always wanted to say that in an interview) it’s like I said earlier add me on Facebook or twitter @coolvsratednext or just email me coolvbiz@gmail.com Leroy thank you from the bottom of my heart not just for giving me a platform to speak but for being an amazing brother, better friend and someone who always fights for others and show love I am humbled, honored and forever thankful and to all those that took the time to read about little old me I thank you and hope I wasn’t too wordy or boring you just heard the whistle ….....................Its Official!!

            Mr. Official Whistle “Cool V”

Lee Williams: CONTACT ME AT (925) 5656743.  THANKS AGAIN MY BROTHER.  KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK THAT YOU DO FOR THE DISABLED COMMUNITY, AND THE COUNTRY IN GENERAL.  GOD BLESS YOU.

King Kaution:  follow me @IAMKINGKAUTION
Kingkaution@r2lrecords.com
r2records.com coming soon
kingkaution@gmail.com
Facebook King Kaution

Opt Ed – August 1, 2012

Safety for people with developmental disabilities is a critical concern. The most recent legislation, S-618 requiring school bus safety precautions for adult students with developmental disabilities is a small part of the safety conversation.

The continued lack of support for safe community long term systems has created a crisis for poor urban families with developmental disabilities who live in neighborhoods frequented with gun violence.

Brenda Gillison of Paterson explains although she can teach her younger children to lie on the floor when they hear the sound of gunfire, she cannot teach her 21 year old daughter with developmental delays to do the same. She also talks about how over the years her neighborhood has changed to violence. After a particularly dangerous night she said “because of my daughter’s limitations, me and my kids are going to die in this apartment.”

A large part of the problem in developing policy for poor, urban families with developmental disabilities is the long standing attitude that disability is worthy of safety nets, while safety nets for poverty is met with opposition. It would follow that poor families are being looked at only from poverty perspectives therefore the intersections of disability needs are not being met.

David Wittenburg of the Urban Institute in Washington, DC states “I have generally found, in news outlets and at research conferences, other programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and food stamps tend to get far more publicity in serving low-income adult populations than disability programs. As an economist, this is a very interesting phenomenon given the amount of money we spend on the two major Social Security disability programs, which include Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Disability Insurance (DI) —the expenditures on those programs are more than double the amount spent on TANF and food stamps combined. Yet when it comes to disability programs, we often think of them as separate, and a key question is why are we thinking of these programs as a separate component of the safety net? And I think part of the issue is, at least when these programs were set up, policymakers considered the population of people with disabilities somehow different and separate and deserving of cash support from other low-income populations.”

A recommendation for safe housing for families with developmental disabilities would be multiple housing agency partnerships with the Division of Developmental Disabilities. The partnerships would assist at risk families, who struggle with poverty and disability, for safe housing.

Families can no longer wait because they are in additional danger when they cannot teach their child with a disability to lie on the floor when they hear gunfire. Families can no longer wait because they need to be safe. Families can no longer wait because not to assist with both disability and poverty is unacceptable.

Jerome Harris of NJ is the Chair of the National Black Disability Coalition. He can be reached at www.jharris@blackdisability.org

I don't know if there's an easy way to say this .... It's not you, it's me.  We have had some wonderful times together.  We'll always have '08.

As I watch the campaign unfold I can't help but wonder how we found ourselves in this spot .... Again.  The spot where it seems, progressives are portrayed as "big government, wealth redistributing, morally flawed, everybody deserves a medal, anti-capitalism, tree-hugging punks.  Again. As we try to rail against the depiction I find myself disappointed and at times a bit dispirited at the seemingly repetitive nature of our futility.

 How is it possible? Is the populous that tuned out? Are we that tuned out?

Every Sunday morning I sit and click.  "This Week", "Meet the Press" and such with the same focus on absolutely the wrong things.  Watching questions being posed like they're in a game of T-ball.  And, if not for the devastation that would be the result of failed vigilance, it would be comical.  Comical I tell you.  With each stated claim of this nation's greatness, I marvel at the boldness of it.  However, strangely enough I sort of admire the dogged dedication and steadfastness of it all.

Think about it, what is there not to admire?  How else do you explain some of the fundamental stances? 

"Economic growth Is only stimulated through less regulations, less taxes and with these things in place capitalism and the private sector will be unleashed.  Thus, releasing a tidal wave of prosperity for everyone."   And people believe it!  Ha! I mean seriously, but hey maybe it's me.... That's why this is so hard for me to say to you ....

I fear we've grown apart ... You've changed so much that at times I wonder, "are you in there?".  I mean what happened?  We always had each others back when came to stuff like, the ability to eat, pay bills, get a good education and earn a decent pay.  We fought for that.  YOU fought for that and didn't flinch.  Amazing.  Now, it seems even you are starting to believe what they're saying about us.  Compromise is a nobel word capitulation is not. 

How did we let the education of our children, the safety of communities, the very people who are us become vilified and with little resistance?  How?  Why do we not seem to have that same doggedness and steadfastness that for all intensive purposes seeks to reinstate the gilded age of the robber baron.  Except, this time it's being done with compliance ... And I don't know anymore if you're with me in this fight.  Are you?  I hope you are .... I really hope you are.

The voter suppression, the union busting, the homophobia, the racism, the sexism, the ableism and, the unveiled attempt to paint America as "theirs".  You heard it, "Let's take 'our' country back."   So, when they sing, "Our country tis of thee...." who exactly is the OUR?  You know, I remember when this would happen in the past we would not only fight but rigorously push for the fundamental of our principles,  equality.  We don't fight together anymore, now it seems that you're scared that you'll have to actually stand toe to toe.  It's not the flinching ... it's the caving.  It's not the willingness to bargain.  It's not the pragmatic approach to problems.  It just seems at times that you are befuddled at their tenacity.

Equality in access to opportunity is no weak-minded spineless position to take.  It by its very nature causes us as a.country to at least need to come to terms with certain realities.  But more importantly, it offers endless opportunities to make the promise of this nation actualized. 

 I hope you understand .... It has reached a tipping point of sorts.

Keith P. Jones - Progressive

Advocate/Activist

The Po’Lice line was hard, boot to boot, helmuts to helmut, unmoving, bringing the threat of death with each gaze.. The opposing line was a circle and it was moving, with resistance. And strength and people power. We were mamaz, uncles, daddys, sisters and brothers in solidarity and. we wont stop fighting, we won’t stop walking, we wont stop speaking until this ongoing Po’Lice murder of our babies was over

These two lines were in front of the MUNI bus tunnel at 14^th & Church. at 6am on Monday, July 16, 2012 streets in  San Francisco which I have affectionately re-named (Stop and) Frisco due to the proposed Stop N Frisk legislation by Mayor Ed Lee. The line of resistance successfully stopped the MUNI buses from coming or going out of the tunnel for almost two hours.

“We pay you, and you kill us,” Tracey Bell-Borden, one of many justice fighters fighting against the ongoing police terror of our neighborhoods chanted as she walked back and forth in front of the po’Lice line.

“We are here to celebrate the anniversary of one year of my son Kenneth Harding Jr’ s murder by SFPD,” fierce mama and revolutionary freedom fighter, Denika Chatman spoke to the crowd of almost 100 people who gathered to honor Kenneth Harding and all young black and brown warriors who constantly face state-sponsored police terror for the sole act of being a young person of color in Amerikkka. Denika went on to relate the ways in which the MUNI transit police practice blatant racial and poverty profiling of poor peoples of color communities like the BayView and the Mission with a massive and unequal police presence on the buses of these neighborhoods.

“Our children are being stalked and murdered in cold blood by this ongoing police harassment and it cannot continue,” Cephus Johnson aka Uncle Bobby, Oscar Grant’s uncle and a powerful leader against police terror in the community walked the line, speaking, not stopping, with the truth.

“All of us are under attack, and this is murder, “ Toussaint Dubois, from Labor Black and Brown, walked the line with his real talk.

As we spoke, the police gangsters stood, eyes glazed as they are trained to do, as though we were animals they were taught to kill on sight, clutching and unclutching their helmuts, the threat of attack present and constant.

As I, a poor mama saw them, I shuddered, I tried to hold my head up, to not think of the many times my melanin challenged self faced their hate, because I am the daughter of a poor wombyn of color, because I am the child of a houseless and hated family, because we didn’t have the money to pay for a roof over our heads for most of our lyfe in Amerikkka. I shuddered as I walked, and yet I walked for Ramarley Graham, Oscar Grant, Kenneth Harding, Amadou Diallo, Annette Garcia, Idriss Stelley, Alan Blueford, Derrick Gaines, Rahiem Brown, and every single victim of this ongoing occupation called the police.

At approximately 7:30am the police occupiers shifted their stance, giving the final threat of attack. We, the people, the fighters for justice not JUST-us, moving with humility, peace and liberation, began to march, still chanting, still walking,  because we mamaz, daddys, uncles, sisters and cousins and community members won’t stop until THEY stop, the killing, the stalking, the harrassing and the profiling of our babies, our communities and our spirits.      

I remember the days when my mother would tuck me in at night with a sad look on her face, almost to a point of crying. I never did ask what was wrong because I had an idea, but knew that if I went further I felt I would’ve broken her. To this day I still don’t know what makes her sad. I only know one truth to her that I fear on the daily, the idea of losing her child.

As a survivor of the institutionalized system of foster care and group homes, I wish to point out the inhumane ways of brainwashing our young children of color into believing that their parents were horrible creatures’, as one therapist put it, that didn’t deserve to keep their children.

My mother did not have the mental capability to fully raise me in a “proper” manner. She had the physical capability to provide a home, food, and put me in school. But she had problems to deal with on her own. She had her ways of dealing with those problems, which was usually drinking.

The fact remains that many children get taken from their parents all he time due to poverty, forced diasporas, police brutality, and straight up racial profiling. 1.“Native American families feel the brunt of this. Their children make up less than 15 percent of the child population, yet they make up more than half of the children in foster care.”

This is a perfect example of assimilation in the united ‘snaaakes’ of amerikkka. Assimilation is a psychological way of stripping one’s identity from them. Many would say otherwise but to those who can empathize, you know the feeling During the days of forced assimilation
in the boarding schools, my mother was beaten, raped, and many other unspeakable deeds occurred. My mother struggled with that since she iived in the days of “kill an Indian, save a man” days.

I have been told many times that families, especially those in diasporas, need the right people behind them. We’re talking lawyers, doctors, and expert witnesses. My father was an expert witness for the Indian Child Welfare Act. He has saved many native children from what
goes on in the system. We need those who have that compassion and determination to save the children from the system or we change the system.

Now as a young single Lakota Sioux father and understand the fear of many parents that have been through what I have. I plan on putting my heart and soul into raising my daughter in a traditional and humble way. Maybe one day she may save a few children from the forced
diaspora of ASSIMILATION!

As part of Living Pimp-Free: The Revolutionary Change Session @ POOR Magazine held on Juneteenth Weekend 2012  all of the revolutionary participants of the session joined indigenous leaders from across Pachamama standing up for our Ohlone ancestors sacred burial ground at Sogorea Te (in Vallejo, CalifasAztlan)  and against the devil-opers from Greater Vallejo Recreation District who desecrated a 3500 year old shell mound to create a bike trail.

A Open Letter from Corrina Gould on Sogorea Te

Co-editor's note: The Following series of poverty journalism or what we at PNN call Revolutionary Blogs are from the multi-lingual multi-racial, youth, adult and elder poverty skolar students in POOR Magazine's PeopleSkool Summer Revolutionary Youth Media Education (RYME) program, We are all speaking from our personal experiences with poverty, police brutality, racism, profiling and border fascism. We are speaking for ourselves as poor peoples, indigenous peoples, migrant peoples, and revolutionaries, because mainstream media lies about us and so we must tell our own stories in our own voices. This is our un-pimped, off-plantation form of what we call We-Search (Poor People-led Research) about the new Stop N Frisk proposal put forth by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, a racist piece of legislation that has made me, Tiny, re-name The City: (Stop N) Frisko- Please listen. Please spread the word - Stop N Frisk will only cause more po'lice stopping and killing!

This Legislation Does NOT help- It HURTs

by Travis, Youth Skolar/ RYME @ PNN 

When I heard about the proposed legislation, stop in frisk (proposed in San Francisco by Mayor Ed Lee) it reminded me of a memory. I was coming home late from a party one night.  On the way home a couple people gave me nervous looks or covered there purses as I walked by.  However, they were not the last to judge me.  As I made my way home minding my own business a police officer stopped me and asked what I was doing out so late.  Questioned me for a while and attempted to intimidate me and then finally let me go.  This legislation would not only allow, but encourage this kind of behavior.

This legislation does not help the community but instead hurts it.  It would lead to people of color mistrusting both the police and the government.  Instead of trying to make neighborhoods safer by racially profiling their residents, they should heal and attack crime at the source.  Rather than harrassing young black and latino men they should give us jobs.  They should give us an educational opportunity to escape our impoverished environments.

The Perfect Target for Stop N Frisk

Phillip Standing Bear/Indigenous Youth Skolar- RYME@ PNN

I am Phillip Standing Bear, descendant of a revolutionary generation from the days of Crazy Horse and Black Elk, who were the first to try to stop the colonization of other people’s lands. Everything about me (as I have been told), my demeanor, stance, look and walk all point towards a revolutionary individual, who would be the perfect target for San Francisco’s proposed “Stop-and-Frisk” legislation.

Being a young light- skinned native made me a target in my own homelands of Pine Ridge, SD. One day, coming back to the emergency shelter from Sioux Nation grocery store. I was stopped by the tribal po’lice for being young and “out-of-place” as he put it. Regarding the fact that he thought that I was one of the local ranch boys, he tried to harass me and say he was going to take me  “where I belonged”. Without any knowledge of who I was or where I truly belonged, I backhanded him and ran as fast as I could back to the emergency shelter.

With any po’lice law having to do with arbitrary decisions, comes stereotyping of an individual. As Eddy Zheng, Project Manager at Motivating Youth to Succeed, said “Instead of Stop-and-Frisk, let’s Stop-and Educate.”

If instead that tribal officer had been educated on who I am or where I came from, he may not have had the motivation to try and harass me.

Soy Pobre/Soy Inmigrante/I am Poor- I am an immigrant

By Nana/Migrant and Poverty Skolar

Scroll down for English

Hola soy Nana, soy Latina, soy inmigrante, soy una mujer de 23 anos, soy lesbiana, soy

un ser humano, soy el ave en la jaula del zoologico, soy igual a todos los demas aunque

piensen que no. Soy aquella mujer que camina pensativa y angustiada ante la amenaza

de la posible aceptacion de la ley Stop And Frisk. Posibilidad que me afirma una vez

mas que no estamos haciendo historia, que los derechos no han avanzado, solo estamos

viendo como el gobierno nos pone en un circulo en el que el Americano de color siempre

sera esclavisado, visto como una “especie inferior”, haciendo de lado que somos todos

iguales.

Cuando pienso en este proyecto de ley inevitablemente siento que me afectaria al poner

en riesgo mi integridad fisica y personal; la mia y la de todos aquellos con quienes

comparto quien soy. Siento terror de pensar que un dia camino al trabajo algun policia

racista va a venir a solicitar mi ID, mi permiso para vivir aqui, cuando el haber nacido

deberia ser el unico requisito para caminar donde mis pies deseen. Que un dia corriendo,

alguien me senale de ser sospechosa solo por tener un “bronceado natural” y me haga

sentir menos, es ya un ataque a mi integridad, es ya una injusticia, es ya arbitrario.

No quiero ser tonta, pero tampoco eceptica de pensar que algun dia, ojala muy pronto

todas estas leyes, ideas de estupidos capitalistas dejen de atacarnos, y se vuelvan en

nuestro lado. Que ojala un dia se caigan las fronteras, las diferencias, los racismos, los

prejuicios. Que algun dia, ojala pronto me dejen salir de la jaula en la que me hallo, por

que asi la jaula sea de oro, no deja de ser haula, porque asi pueda entrar al mall no dejo de ser atacada, porque asi sea libre no me dejan correr. Quiero sonar que pronto seremos un 100% igualitario y no un 99% al que quieren terminar de hundir.

English follows

Hi I am Nana, I am Latina, I am a migrant, I am a 23 year old woman, I’m lesbian, I am a human being, I am a bird caged in a zoo, I am the same as everyone else even if you don’t think so. I am that woman walking thoughtfully and in frustration against the threat of accepting the law Stop and Frisk. The possibility of affirming once more that we are not making history, that our rights are not moving forward, we simply see that the government puts us back in the cycle where the American of color will always be enslaved, looked at as “inferior species,” putting aside the fact that we are all the same.

When I think of this law inevitably I feel that it would affect me and put my physical and personal integrity at risk; mine and all those with whom I share what I am. I feel terror to think that one day as I walk to work some racist cop will approach me and ask for my ID, my permission to live here, when I was born it should be the only requirement  to walk where my feet say. That one day while running, someone will single me out as suspicious soley for being ”naturally brownish” and make me feel like I am less, this is an attack on my integrity, this is unjust, this is arbritrary.

I don’t want to be dumb, but I also do not want to be skeptical and think that one day, hopefully very soon all these laws, ideas of idiotic capitalists will stop attacking us, and come to our side. That one day the borders fall, the differences, the racism, the prejudgements. That one day, hopefully soon they let me free from my cage, even though it is made of gold, it remains a cage, because when I walk into the mall I am still attacked, because even being free they do not let me run. I want to dream that soon we will be 100% the same and not 99% that are being driven under.

I am more than any profile could hold

By Ayat/PNN Poverty skolar

I am who I will to be. I am far more than the information any profile could ever

hold. I am a father, poor scholar, revolutionary, a Black Seminole, and son of an every-

generation-before me freedom fighter. I have witnessed and held the voter card held by

my great-great grandmother, dated 1837, at a time when people of color didn’t vote and

simply being a person of color put you at risk for being detained and taken off the street

if you couldn’t prove you had an master/owner. The proposed stop frisk law would take

us all back to that time in history. Imagine taking a walk through your neighborhood

with your son/daughter, speaking about life, sharing thoughts and enjoying the day. Now

picture an officer stopping you because he feels a ”need to”, consider if you were asked

for I.D., both of you stopped and asked all the disrespectful questions. Not the “normal

questioning” but the dehumanizing ones saved for a time when the officer’s discretion

calls for it. The asshole’s procedure that asks. . . “is there a needle in your pocket”, “do

you have any drugs on your property”, then patted down and asked to wait while dispatch

run a check on your names for warrants, violations or unpaid tickets. Truth is that this

happens already. On a daily basses we the poor are put through this and worse “at the

discretion of the officer”. Now those who we elect for our benefit want this nightmare to

be a law or a proposed norm.

In today’s society, being a person of color can and has been a roadblock to making

it home to your family. I knew yesterday that I would risk my life for my children’s

future. I say today that it is very likely I will have to risk my life, and may loose it,

for the benefit of all our future: which is the very lives of our children live today.

All our children. All over the U.S. the people are crying from oppression and calling

for a change. This goes especially for the brutalities we suffer from those who are

here to protect us. And the answer we get is the legalization of the alienating, racist,

dehumanizing acts from the police. If you are still waiting for change instead of helping

to “BRING IT”, if you are in support of the “stop frisk proposal” you may as well wear

the badge that killed Kenneth Harding, Graham Marley or Oscar Grant.

I see alot of racism everyday in this country

By Ingrid DeLeon/Poverty and Migrant skolar de Voces de Inmigrantes en resistencia de

PNN

 Scroll Down For English

Mi nombre es Ingrid de leon

Madre de 4 hijos y luchadora de la pobreza

Vivo en San Fransisco porque pienso que es un lugar santuario.

Pero me da miedo con la ley que quieren aplicar en esta Ciudad

Como la ley parar y esculcar, yo se que solo es una propuesta de ley

Pero como en los Angeles  y en Nueva York  asi empiezan.

Lo malo es que avemos muchas personas que venimos ullendo de nuestros paises

tenemos tanto miedo  y solo aqui   en San Fransisco

Nos sentimos seguros en este momento.

Pero si pasan esa ley , mi Corazon se aselera de miedo que si me ven  mal bestida o por cualquier otra cosa me van a esculcar como si yo fuera una ladrona. Me da miedo no solo por mi sino por toda mi rasa Latina porque la mayoria no nos bestimos con ropa de marca  o sea con traje  de bestir nos bestimos umilde mente porque tenemos familias que mantener o por el trabajo que tenemos que hacer. Los trabajos que los latinos hacemos no lo hacen los gringos, yo lo se porque los latinos no nos rajamos por un trabajo pesado.  Qreo que si esta ley pasara mucha gente se quedaria enserrada en su casa.

 Yo beo mucho rasismo cada dia en este pais

Y no megusta nada la idea de esta ley porque la gente ba vibir como ratones escondiendose del gato en esta  bella Siudad

Espero que no se aga realidad la ley parar  y esculcar porque si pasa esta ley el rasismo asia la gentee de color  seria peor

English Follows

My name is Ingrid Deleon

Mother of four children

Fighter against poverty

I live in San Francsico, because I thought this was a sanctuary city.

But I am filled with fear about the law that they are trying to pass in this city/.

Like the law Stop and Frisk, I know it is only a law proposition. But like in Los Angeles and new york this is how it starts, and the bad thing is that there are a lot of people that come here seeking refuge from our countries and we are very scared and here in San Francisco we feel safe … until now.

If this law passes , my heart speeds up from the fear that if they see me not well dressed or for whatever reason they decide, the police will want to frisk me as if I was a thief, I am scared not just for myself but for all my people of color, because the majority of us do not dress with designer clothes or have fancy suits, we dress humbly because we have family members to care for or for the jobs we have to do. The jobs that us Latino people take the many white people will never do, I know this because we never give up regardless of the difficulty of a job. I think that if this law passes, a lot of people will keep themselves looked up inside their own home. I see a lot of racism every day in this country and I do not like the Idea of this law, because people will end up living like mice hiding from the big cat in this lovely city. I wait and hope that this “Stop and frisk” law does not become a reality, because if it does the racism  toward the people of color is going to get worst.

A Target

By Maria Machetes/Poverty y migrant skolar de PNN

Scroll down for English

Como afectaria mi vida si la ley de “Te Paro y Te Esculco” llegara a ser promulgada

como una ley…

Como mujer de color Latina indigena inmigrante del barrio de la Mission en San Franciso

tengo el derecho de longebidad como para poder decir y senalar que la policia es un

elemento del gobierno que nuestros ninios pequenios ya temen, las mamas cuando los

miran serca se sienten nerviosas y nuestros jornaleros actuan ansiosos sin saber que o

cual sera la reaccion del policia al rededor de nosotros. Cada vez que una patruya pasa

o un policia aparese se vuelve obvio que la opresion es injusta porque ellos se quieren

sentir heroes pero la realidad es que los vemos y sentimos como antagonistas de nuestra

comunidad y no como aliados, porque entre el gobiernos mas nos emprobrece mas los

convence de que nuestra pobreza es delincuencia y no consecuencia de la oprtesion

ejercida por cientos y cientos de Colonizacion.

El nerviosismo cuando un azul aparese es inegable. Todo lo que nos representa como

cultura paresisera ser parte de la lista de “discrecion”, han venido practicando esta

ley desde antes. Recuerdas en el 2008 aqui en la Mission, nuestros ninios marchando

pidiendo a la policia que ya no Marginen y senalen a sus papas como criminales, nuestros

ninios pintaron en Dibujos imagines que representaban a los policies locales golpeando y

detenedno y disparando a sus papas y mamas, marchamos de la plaza 16 a la estacion de

Policia , Yo y muchas familias nos vimos afectados para siempre por los experimentos de

practica activa , usaron nuestro barrio para “Practicar una possible ley” nos maltratan y

abusan mientras practican para que nuestra reaccion de enojo haga parescer a los demas

que la le yes necesaria porque paresiera que ser pobre biene con el sinonimo de enojado!,

practican con nuestros padres y hermanas como si fueramos animals, despues de practicar

les dap or aplicar la ley! Aplicar , Practicar y Editar , mientras la policia aplica y practica

esta possible ley nootros la vivimos con la piel y todas las caracteristicas a discrecion

que por mas discretas que las quieran plantear siguen siendo las mismas por las que nos

dividen y nos hacen sentry mal, existir , ser pobre, no ser limpiamente blanco obvimente

academico, siendo yo la mujer Latina inmmigrante lesbiana despapelora y actista que

soy estoy en la lista discreta de sus perfiles discretos , esta ley no me afecta me margina,

me exclaviza , me hace la presa del cazador, la calle es el bosque , yo soy la caperucita

y ellos son el lobo disfrazado de abuelita!, me afecta a salir a la calle pues paresiera que

estan esperando a que salga para meterme a la carcel, bajo discrecion de su miedo a que

yo posiblemente sea delincuente, discretamente se calla que la lista para ser un possible

delincuente es muy paresida discretamente a la lista de ser inmigrante, human of color,

radical tinker o solo alguien diferente a la supremasia Facista que nos rige discretamente”

Es pore so que esta ley por mas que ha sido Practicada y Aplicada ya en la Mission y

en otros barrios de San Francisco tendra que ser editada por NOSOTROS y no por uds

que discretamente no son parte del Perfil , so no patare hasta dejar claro que aquel que

no esta con nostros esta en contra de nosotros, si yo soy un delicuente por discrecion

aquellos que no ayuden seran asesinos conocidos y nosotros delicuentes discretamente

encarcelados. Por el bien a discrecion del Pueblo! Esta ley no pasara a pesar de que

practiquen con sus nuevos Poli skoolas en nuestros barrios! Tu conmigo sino entedere

que estas con el asesino.

English Follows

How the “Stop & Frisk” possible law will impact my daily Routine my regular life?

Like a Women of color, Latina decendent, indigena light skin from the mission in San

Francisco , I have the right of longevity, to have the power to speak

about the [ractice of the police in our barrio. The Police is an element of the government

that I not trust or feal secure , because I see with the years the damage that they seed in

are barrio, kids live in fear of them all the time.

Women feal nervous around them to, the day labor man in the corner is always afraid and nervous about the police presence, if

the police appear, the energy gets low & every one get nervous , even when your not part

of their supposed target, we get nervous about them. You can notice that response when

your driving your car in peace & suddenly you are close to a Polica Patrol , your body launguage

changes and we start driving with anxiety & fear of possibly breaking the law!.

It is realy sad to see the gap between the true feallings & the reality, Police’ man or women

they want to feal like heroes, but they are not , their pimps fake the truth for them, they only

have the suit to think that they are heroes but their definition of justice only serves a few.

Apparently the police decisions and stereotypes about migrant peoples is part of their list of “Discretionary law"

this p[articular “Discretionary Will” is practiced in our communities withoat telling us that they are

practicing and it is a part of "Law enforcesment. Did you remember in 2008 when we march from

the 16 street Plaza to the Mission Police Station? Did you remember our youth from the barrio  speakin for

us, representing us during that peace walk? The young people draw images of the Police violating

the rights of their fathers and mothers freedom to walk withoat harassment just because

the Police needs to have a possible motive. We are not your motive, justice should be your motive.

Me and a lot of other families in the Mission will be seriously affected forever by   

experimental practice of this proposed law. Now they already mistreat us , violate our basic rights , they probe us in our communities, they use our barrio like

laboratory to practice unfair laws.  Then when we finally react to their

violenr and discriminatatory practice they use our anger to supposedly prove that being poor is

a synonymous with violence and bad behavior.

They practice their unfair police tactics in a real scenario like the mission, they use

me and my kids and my parents to practice their new discretionary targeting plan , so after they

use us like animals, they pretend to make us part of the solution , using other words to cause

the segregation of societies like “Stop & frisk” pretending that the police has the power

of psychic and telepathic power to determine who is a good law enforcer & who is a law

breaker.

Practicing, apply and editing, by the police applying the practice of their possible law!

We like Poor People pay the bill.  They edit their law to make it seem better after they

mistreat us. Target us ,  Me as a lesbian or like a women of color, of like indigena who practice medicine, or like Latina activist

who don’t bealiave in criminalicing poverty, if this practice of harrasment come to be a

law I will be so afraid just to go to the streets , beacuase all that who I am is part of the list of possible targetsI will feal like caperucita Roja in the Forest! & the

Police is going to be like the wolf dressing like grant ma! .

This Possible law is already being practiced by the Police in the barrio. It is already applyied

in the pass years, so because im poor women color, a lesbian , inmigrant I have the possibility of 5 times being arrested just for my existence in

this area.

that is why i say who is not with us is against us & is literally killing us jus because we are the ones

who are poor.

Profiled for being Poor

By Bad News Bruce /Elder and Poverty Skolar

I am BRUCE ALLISON 6th generation native of `San `Francisco ,12th year experience with houselesness, force veteran, and survivor of the `Vietnam war.

The stop and frisk proposed legislation will be used to profile houseless folks for the act of being poor, in areas where they would say you don’t belong.

When I was houseless I was in the Marina,San Francisco sleeping in a park, a cop wakes me up, and says” What are you doing in this neighborhood, give your ID, grandpa….I was not doing nothing bad…I was getting some rest…the cop replied “why are you not in a shelter or a old folks homes, you have no business in this neighborhood.

I got out my phone, and call Newsom phone. If did not had call him, I would be arrested…as 90 percent of my comrades are…and are put in seniors home better know as `san Francisco jail #2…

If they pass this law other veterans, can be shot by the police by not having the proper training to deal with veterans with PTSD or battle fatigue..

I remember a few months back when I had a difficult experience trying to get a pair of new shoes.  My shoes were so worn down that they developed large holes on their soles.  This happened during the winter and often times I would walk home in the rain and ended up with nasty wet sox on my feet. With food and other expenses I did not have enough money to buy a new pair.  It was definitely a big hardship not to have enough money to travel comfortably by foot.

            There are plenty of youth in the bay area that are too poor to afford basic necessities.  It’s sad to say that so many of our youth cannot have their basic needs met.  Over 15 percent of people in san Francisco are living below the poverty line.  Across the bridge in Oakland, a staggering 25 percent of children live below the poverty line.   These children do not have good food in the fridge or access to an education.

The youth need these necessities to have a healthy and fulfilling childhood. They need food in the fridge in order to have energy to focus on school.  If youth live in poverty then they are forced to hustle to have enough money just to get by.  The youth SHOULD have enough money for school supplies, food and clothes.  Parents should not have to spend their valuable time fighting for welfare.  Instead it should be easy to obtain for parents, allowing them to give their children the opportunities they deserve. Politicians need to stop serving the needs of the wealthy and give some money to those who are ignored by the rest of society.  Especially the poor youth who need money as children to grow up and raise their kids successfully. 

My story of not having enough money for shoes is one of many.  However, my story can give you an idea of what it is like to not have enough for your basic necessities.  It is societies duty to take care of youth in poverty and give them the same opportunities as those who have money.

Indigenous Peoples Media Project of POOR Magazine and POOR NEWS NETWORK fully endorses the action United Native Americans Hosts: Occupy America's Past-Time. Ending Racism Towards Indigenous People. We at POOR News Network are passionate about the issues of racist mascoting and have been reporting and supporting on these issues many years.

We support the call to the Major League Baseball to end all racist mascots, and to create a National Day of Honor for American Indians in Major League Baseball. Native Americans are rarely noted in history except in cases of colonization, genocide, and racist stereotypes. Native Americans are only noted when it supports capitalism and not when we are asserting our own self-determination.

We know that there are sports that the American public plays such as lacrosse and football, that stem from indigenous sports and games played by Native Americans and Pacific Islanders. Native Americans still continue to play our indigenous sports and games such as handgames, Cherokee marbles, stickball, lacrosse, while playing other sports that include baseball and basketball.

Just as the motto of this call of action is:

Our History IS Your History

We have contributions

We are not mascots, we are Human Beings.

We stand aligned with that voice and urge the Major League Baseball to stop the racist mascoting within its organization and to create a National Day of Honor for American Indians in Major League Baseball.

AHO!

POOR Magazine, and POOR NEWS NETWORK

Indigenous Peoples Media Project of PNN

To Donate to this action: http://www.gofundme.com/q6f9s

The different ways that poor peoples of color are "moved" out of The City

The city that sits on water almost all alone, except it is connected but not connected in so many ways. Once you cross the Bay Bridge or the infamous Golden Gate Bridge, which isn’t gold in color but reddish orange, or travel across by ship or ferry boat. Whether you travel by rail system, bus or car you enter into a whole different world that is connected yet not connected to the United States. 

This city is known all over the world as an attraction that is one big tourist Mecca, steeped in history a mysterious city it is and most intriguing, it seems to envelop you in, almost as if a spell is being cast over you to lure you in. It is one thing to visit but it's quite another thing to live here. It is a city that has it's own set of laws aside from those of the entire state and the country as well. I realize that with every city within a state have some laws that are different but not like SF. 

One of the things I like about this city is the transit operations it's like no other by far the best I've seen but there is so much about this city that I dislike like the fact that the city doesn't do much to encourage you stay but will go over and beyond to not only encourage you to leave but will bend over backwards to help you leave. The project has a name and it's been operating since the mid nineties but here recently have been really enforcing it, it is called OPERATION EXTERMINATE.

What is Operation Exterminate? It is a plan to rid the city of all African Americans, Mexicans, other peoples of color and what they consider poor white trash by any means necessary. If you have a house they encourage you to sell, if you own a business they make you an offer you can't refuse. If you are home/houseless they help you find someplace else to go whether it's the east bay, south bay, North Bay or anywhere but SF bay is fine by them. Who are the them's? The powers that be in the city, and the ones with serious money.

Yesterday I was on the bus and saw a sign posted in one of the neighborhoods that stated: WILL BUY YOUR HOUSE FOR CASH gave a number to call, that's what I mean by encouragement. I was on the train the other day and overheard a conversation between two women and a man and one of the ladies stated that the city offered her a quote on her house and she took it, the other lady was waiting on a quote for her house but the man took the cake, they wanted his house and business that had been in the family for over 30 years in the Bayview District, so with the offer they too took the deal and moved to Texas and though they are doing fine they were still encouraged to leave their native home.

Then there are people like me who have been homeless since coming to this city 14 months ago, the only thing that was offered to me and my family was a shelter bed and pretty much nothing else, but the minute I chose to leave the city I have been offered first and last months rent and security deposit anywhere in the United States of Amerikkka other than San Francisco. One place even offered to transport my furniture free of charge to myself and provide a ride for me and my family out of the city. Although I am happy to be leaving I don't get why you want to spend more to get rid of people than to just offer a way for everybody to stay. The question is what is really going on?

El perceptivo de un trabajador inmigrante en un proyecto multimillonario de condominios 8 Washington

15 Mayo, 2012

Estaba asiendo fila para podrer ablar con alguien que me diera informasion aserca de los condominios que piensan hacer en el embarcadero que cuesta dos millones de dollares y que enmpesaran a construirlo a finales de mayo o en Junio. 

Dijo el Señor Hernandez cuando le pregunte si el sabia cuando empesarian.

Cuando si esto benefisiaba a la guente el me respondio que si porque ellos trabajan con la union y si se construye alli esto alludaria a la gente a crear mas trabajos con aseguransa  para los trabajadores, y que entonses ellos ya no tendrian que ir al Hospital General porque tendian aseguransa en otro Hospital, y  porque sus trabajadores que el tiene ganan aproximada mente mas de treinta y cinco mil dollars al año y que el quiere que ellos ganen mas de esa cantidad. Que bien se escucha  porque el dijo que estan peliando para que la gente que no tiene trabajo tenga on trabajo. 

Pero si nos quedamos de brasos crusados sin aser nada esperando que el superbisor  haga algo por nosotros el no esta asiendo nada ni prollectos tienedijo el senor Hernandez.

Pero cuando los personas que iban con migo le isieron unas preguntas el paresia enojarse y contra desir las preguntas y cuando ellas ya no estaban el me dijo no le aga caso a ellos porque ella no entiende nada pero nosotros estamos aqui para alludar y dar tabajo bajo una proteccion y con aseguransa y lo que importa es que tengamos mas trabajos dijo el señor hernandez y cuando  yo le dije esta bien pero que pasara con los que no tenemos papeles el se sonrrio y dijo de algo se empiesa talbes limpiando cuartos o tendiendo camas dijo. 

Pero a mi me parese que esto no alluda en nada a los inmigrantes  porque esta jente que trabaja aalli en construccion todos tienen papales y ademas en ese lugar ban apoder vibir solo los ricos porque nosotros los pobres no podemos pagar tanto dinero si apenas pagamos renta de los cuartos viejos y pequeños. Enberdad ahunque digan que no es para gente rica  si lo es porque cualquier prollecto que agan en este pais siempre es para lo mejor de los ricos y entre mas suben los ricos mas abajo nos ponen a los pobres y mas a los inmigrantes que este  condominio  no benefisia a nadie de las personas como yo que no tenemos papeles. Por eso digo que las personas que an nasido en este pais y son hijos de padres latinos piensan que si estan  alludando a los latinos a agarrar trabajos pero no porque a nadi nos quieren dar trabajos por el simple echo de ser indocumentados. Yo pienso que nos quieren engañar porque en nada nos benefisia  porque esta siudad es demasiada cara  no hay nada barato asi que al señor Hernandez yo no le creo nada.

The injustices that Housless individuals face in the country of AMERIKKKA, especially the individuals who "defend"  this countries' "freedom"

Okay let me get this straight SFHA (San Francisco Housing Authority) list is closed indefinitely right? There is no room left in the shelters, there are no drop in centers that take families anymore and definitely not for men, you now have a law that you are enforcing called the sit and lay law that prohibits anyone (houseless) from sitting and laying in a public place. Though I understand how it makes the landscape look and how it lets the tourist and everybody else know that there is a real problem with houselessness in this city but by the same token what's a person to do who is either facing or already houseless? The real question then becomes what the heck are we suppose to do, where are we suppose to go?

One might say go into the SRO's (Single Room Occupancy's) but then you have to ask how does one pay for it when you don’t have enough money or no money at all.

Like so many that I have talked to on the streets, they are either waiting on their SSI or pensions to start or they have been denied of services. The system comes up with all kinds of crazy reasons why they can't give you what you need or what you worked for when you were fighting for the freedom of this country so that we all could be safe, like Papa Bear who fought in one of the most horrifying wars that brought men back negatively different, some lost their minds, limbs and lives. Most have referred to the Vietnam war as HELL and they come back home and have to end up panhandling or begging on the street corners holding up signs of cardboard boxes for spare change that in most cases is thrown to them as if they are dogs hungry for crumbs.

I know with me and my family we stay in these Residential Hotels and we are grateful that we are able to sleep on beds and no longer on bus stop benches, no longer riding the buses all night because we've got no where else to go, no more mats on cold concrete floors with one thin sheet and blanket to cover you. In these hotels you stand the chance of being food for the spiders and bed bugs and in some cases having to share a bed with mice. These are not things I've heard only but rather what we have experienced. Even though they won't rent to us (it’s suppose to be for single people) they will let you do the 28 day thing which might I add is really illegal but you let it slide because you don't want trouble so you deal with it and keep on living the best way you can.

For those that don't have that option they are just crap out of luck. If the police catch you sleeping in an alleyway or on the street they arrest you, why? BECAUSE IT'S AGAINST THE FREAKIN LAW TO BE HOMELESS! What kind of mess is that? When you've got hundreds of empty abandoned houses and apartment units there shouldn't be a problem with finding adequate housing for people who don't have a place to live. Where is the compassion, where is that sense of community the one where you help your fellow man/woman in need, where did that go?

Everything is not about money though it seems that way. The economy is jacked up and most people don't have money or they don't have much money, especially not enough to afford a place in the city. It's crazy because you can't afford to stay and don't have enough money to leave so what do you do?

Would you rather that your Amerikkan dollaz went toward getting people off the streets by putting them in jail which is going to cost you more than helping out in ways that would teach skills to get a person back on their feet, would give them an opportunity to better themselves and to have a sense of pride.

Watch Papa Bear on PNN-TV @ POOR Magazine's Community Newsroom in August-

las voces de inmigrantes de PNN lloran para Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas/Voices of immigrants in resistance @ PNN cries for Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas

Espanol sigue/ Scroll down for English

Duele el Corazon  de los inmigrantes.

Por amor a los hijos abese  perdemos la vida  por que ellos son todo para nosotros y no queremos que esten solos.

Por eso hay mucha jente que cuando an sido deportados intentan regresar a este pais por su famila pero em el intento muchas personas mueren ya sea por las pamdillas en el camino o por las ahutoridades que se sienten dueñas de la vida de otras personas  y que no tienen alma pues son demasiados malbado.

Yo siento el corason lo traigo en la garganta porque soy una mujer inmigrante y soy madre poreso . Me duele que que la migra  sea demasiada  odiosa hay acaben con la vida de gente trabajadora y padres de famila que solo estan crusando las fronteras para poder abrasar a sus hijos y pore so los matan y como nosotros no tenemos armas conque defendernos ellos nos matan como si nosotros los inmigrantes fueramos ratones .

En año  2010  a las 8 de la noche el dia viernes 28 de mayo en la garita  de San Isidro Tijuana.

Mas de 20 agentes de imigracion  y otros ofisiales

Golpearon a Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas  un mexicano padre de 5 hijos lamentable mente fallesio por una gran golpisa que le dieron los ofisiale de la migra apesar de tantos gritos y suplicas de el mejicano escomo si ellos estubieran sordos y unas personas que pasaban por alli grabaron unos videos para que la jente se de cueenta el odio rasial que tiene la migra a los inmigrantes.

Yo no se a cuanta jente an asesinano porque solo se laban las maos disiendo que las camaras no Serbian.

Alomejor es sierto y pore so se aprobechan de aser con la gente lo que se les da su regalada gana.

Lo que isieron con elseñor hernandes no se bale porque ya le abian amarrado las manos  lo tenian en el suelo tirado lo estaban golpeando mas de 20 asesinos  digo porque aunque no lo asepte la migra eso son porque lo tenian a el como los leones rodean a un benado cuando lo tienen atrapado todos se lamben la trompa saboriandose.Asi igual  se ben en el video los de lamigra esperando a que ora esta persona moria para selebrar  segun ellos su bictoria pero apesar de todo esto yo pienso que segun disen los testigos uno de ellos les iso senales y saco su pistola electica para acabar con el señor Hernandez y lo logro porque eso fue lo que rebelo la aptopcia que 2 descargas electricas probocaron la muerte de el señor Anastasio  dejando a su  esposa y sus hijos solos 

Por eso yo me siento como si fuera  un hijo de el.

Pues yo pase por ese dolor de perder ami padre cuando era una niña  de tan solo 10 años y apesar que el asesino de mi padre fue el canser me duele el Corazon

No quero ni pensar com se sienten los hijos de el ya que an pasado dos años pero cada dia que pasa se ve la ahusensa Deberdad que no tengo palabras para estas personas que probocaron su muerte solo les digo que Dios los perdone y que no encueten paz en sus corasones asta que se rindan al que es dueño de la vida y deberdad ya quiero que paren de aser esto con las personas inosentes ponganse la mano en la conciensia sies que tienen nosotros abeses benimos ullendo de nuestros paises y no es justo que nos maten.

Ingles Sigue/English Follows

Voices of immigrants cry for Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas

Is San Francisco really as compassionate as they say they are?

That's the question at hand along with a few other questions like how much out their way do they go beyond the giving Holiday's to people in need? Are people only in need during the fall months (October - December)? I can answer that and so can you. If you take the time to walk down Market Street, which is one of the most popular and well-traveled streets here, in the city after dark and during the day as well you will discover people in need and a great many other well traveled or not so well traveled streets. 

If you go into these shelters and drop in centers you will discover people in need, if you go into these residential hotels you will discover people in need, if you visit the main library you will see people in need and if you take the time to visit just a few of the agencies here in the city you will discover people in need the point is there are a great many people in need of different ways, just so happens that I'm referring to food right now. As I am currently writing this article my family and I are in need of both food and a place to live. I don't just go around interviewing other people, I live the articles that I write.

After being in a meeting and hearing one of my fellow colleagues quote that if you went into a store that you frequent on a regular basis and had no money you couldn't even get a loaf of bread to feed yourself or your family? That was the question she asked and the response to her question was that she didn't think so.

 I thought about what she said and to some degree I disagreed with her not because I didn't want to believe her but because of what I had experienced. There are some compassionate people and businesses here. Nonetheless it piqued my curiosity and I decided I would find out for myself just who was compassionate enough so I went out one day going to the market for two reasons, one to buy drink and to find out if they would give to a family or person in need.

 Before I got there I went into an eatery and asked the employee the question...if I came into your establishment and told you I didn't have any money but my family is hungry would you give us a meal?

She looked at me with such sorrow in her eyes and told me that if she was the manager she would, but unfortunately she wasn't at liberty to make that call. She told me I would have to return the next day to speak with the manager with that I thanked her for her time and exited the fast food restaurant that would mean that if me and my family were destitute at the time we would based on her answer have gone hungry that night and the question then becomes how many in a days time can say they were turned away because of policies?!

I left and continued on my way to the store. I went in and grabbed a shopping cart and walked over to the manager. The look he gave told me that he wasn't going to make me happy and he proved his expression, though he was professional he was rude and short with me while I was talking to him a little boy walked up as though I wasn't standing there and he proceeded to help him like I was a nobody. I waited until he finished and tried to continue my research but before I could finish my statement he cut me off twice and finally told me to call the corporate office, when I asked for the number he quoted it to me instead of writing it down, I think it was 1-877-SAFEWAY. If there had been another store within walking distance I would have left but I stayed. I think stores like that feel as though they can treat you any kind of way when they're the biggest chain in the city. Maybe it was just that one but it was a total turn off to me and it proved that both Mari and myself are right.

I have been in an eatery when I had nothing to feed my family and talked with the manager and was given food to feed my family but never in a store. I've stayed in a couple of hotels that let me and my family in on a promise to pay once I got money, I have met strangers who have been nice enough to put me and my family up, I've met people who have been kind enough to feed us when we had nothing, so there are some but clearly not enough.

I would like to see many more show compassion in this city, poor people will help each other on a daily basis before rich people would help the poor at anytime other than Thanksgiving and Christmas. I shudder to think that when I have money you're smiling in my face but the minute I have nothing you look at me and treat me as if I carried an odor or something. The inhabitants of San Francisco’s level of compassion on a daily basis have got to change.

I don't think God allowed you to be rich, well off or wealthy just so you would harbor it or be a show off of what you have accumulated off the backs of the others or have inherited, He gave it to you so you'd have a better life and so you would share with others.

This Statement was written on behalf of The Native Youth Sexual Health Network, on 10 May 2012 at the Eleventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 7-18 May 2012 regarding Agenda Item 4: Report on the expert group meeting: combating violence against indigenous women and girls, article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

I am here on behalf of The Native Youth Sexual Health Network, an organization that works across the United States and Canada on all issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice by and for Indigenous youth.

We would like to congratulate Chief Ed John on his appointment as Chair to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and look forward to working with you for the advancement of the rights of Indigenous youth and women. We thank you and all the Permanent Forum members as well as our allies, brothers, and sisters in this room for the support you have shown towards us and other Indigenous youth for our participation during this 11th session.

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network affirms the importance of taking a culturally safe, rights-based approach of sexual and reproductive health as an integral part of ending violence against Indigenous women and girls.  We reclaim healthy sexuality as a central part of ending sexual violence, as well as all other forms of violence. As taught by Mohawk midwife Katsi Cook; “Woman Is The First Environment”.

We wish to remind those present that the ongoing, widespread shaming and blaming of sexuality today is directly linked to the underlying philosophy and legal framework of the Doctrine of Discovery, which in turn creates the structural conditions that lead to violence against Indigenous women and girls.  Instead, we call for the reclamation of Indigenous understandings of gender and sexuality fluidity.  Such understandings are rooted in self-determination and cultural practices; including coming of age ceremonies and rites of passage, which affirm the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples over our own bodies and related control of our own reproductive health.

In accordance with article 7 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and as recommended by the Report of the Expert Group Meeting on combating Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls, we call for greater investigation of the links between increasing rates of suicide and inadequate supports given to young women facing situations of violence.  Supporting self-determination in experiences of violence means empowering women to make their own decisions. We also recommend particular focus be given to the high rates of suicide among young Two-Spirit and transgendered women as forms of violence that are currently being overlooked. The self-determined gender expression of Indigenous Peoples, for example, the freedom to identify as Two-Spirit, is something to be celebrated - not criminalized.

Incarceration of Indigenous women in the prison system is a particular threat to the foundation of  reproductive health and justice for Indigenous women and girls. The incarceration of our bodies is the incarceration of our reproductive health, such as the unacceptable practice of shackling women who are incarcerated during pregnancy, labor and birth. Such control sets the stage for the further violations of the rights of Indigenous women.

The increasing rates of incarceration require immediate action as they are a continued form of institutional and structural violence from the state. We agree with the findings of the EGM report that highlight the need for increased support of Indigenous systems of justice.  However we are concerned with the over policing and under protection of Indigenous peoples when state police systems and criminal justice are involved, and often directly responsible for violence.

Therefore, we support the submission to the Committee on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) from Indigenous women from the Vancouver Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and the Native Women’s Association of Canada which highlights the over 800 missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada and calls for a UN inquiry under CEDAW’s optional protocol into these cases, which have gone under- or un-investigated for far too long.  Furthermore, we denounce the provincial Missing Women’s Inquiry in British Columbia which denied the full, equal, and effective participation of Indigenous women who experience violence while allowing authorities responsible for the lack of due process to be overrepresented.

Similarly we support the Violence Against Women Re-Authorization Act (VAWA) currently before Congress in the United States, and that it be passed with the full inclusion of tribal provisions, which calls for the self-determination of Indigenous communities over the decisions of justice on violence that happens on tribal lands.  In this regard, we support the attached joint submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Prof. James Anaya, entitled, “Self-Determination and Self-Government: Using the UN Declaration to End Violence Against Native Women” by the Indian Law Resource Center, the National Congress of American Indians Task Force on Violence Against Women, the National Indigenous Women’s Resources Centre, Inc. and Clan Star, Inc. The enactment of tribal provisions in VAWA is sound practice that supports self-determination through restoring of Tribal jurisdiction including over non-Indigenous peoples and the rights of Indigenous women through implementation of the UN Declaration.

We also call for recognition of the need for a broader definition of the expansion of what is considered ‘violence’ pertaining to Indigenous peoples.

For example, a central driving force of the HIV epidemic for Indigenous women includes new forms of colonial manifestations of violence. As identified in paragraph 25 of the Expert Group Meeting, there is a need to address disproportionately higher rates of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections in women and girls.  In fact, there is minimal culturally specific HIV/AIDS support and resources for Indigenous women and youth that supports a harm reduction approach. There is still a need to reduce stigma and fear; while the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS rates are decreasing, these rates are increasing for Indigenous peoples, specifically Indigenous women.

As read by our sister Andrea Carmen and submitted by the International Indian Treaty Council, we affirm the 2nd report and declaration of “Our Health, Life and Defense of Our Lands, Rights and Future Generations” from the 2nd Indigenous Women’s Reproductive and Environmental Health gathering in Alaska in April 2012 in which we were also a participating organization. This report includes particular concerns around environmental violence and how it relates to increased sexual violence and the overall assault to our Mother Earth through resource extractive industries.

One particular aspect of environmental violence that affects the overall health and well-being of Indigenous women and future generations is inadequate access and culturally unsafe reproductive health services and resources for Indigenous women. Due to the lack of appropriate options, conditions are created for increased experiences of violence within the industrialized medical system. This can include a lack of access to traditional and ceremonial services such as traditional midwifery.

In closing, we recommend that the Permanent Forum work with other UN bodies and mechanisms that work on sexual and reproductive rights and health to apply this set of rights specifically to Indigenous peoples, with particular attention to young Indigenous women and girls. We call upon UN agencies, states and Indigenous peoples to advance the sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice of Indigenous peoples – this is not an issue that is the sole responsibility of Indigenous women and girls.  If woman is indeed the first environment, then this is everyone’s responsibility.

Thank you. 

I was told by those old ones
that every song has a special time and a place where its sang
this is our song
and this our time
they used to say the only good indian is a dead indian
i must be a no good at being indian
cuz I feel alive and kicking
we are the bastard reject children of manifest destiny
the offspring of fornicating aimsters
raised by our grandparents who told us
not to confuse being warriors with gangsters
the edward curtis groupies get jazzed by anyone fitting the bill
and America gets jazzed by every Bury My Heart at Walmart film
here i stand before you
this crowd of nations
this life of sanctions
an awkward patience
like five hundred BIA buildings vs. a fathers' unfiltered hate
right next to the IHS building with a two and a half week wait.
a cinderblock battlefield where few are left standing
and the people its failing, its' marginalized estate.
i am armed to the teeth with words from the ivory tower
and those good indians told me its borrowed power if...
if i talk loud enough
if i talk clear enough
that i would be heard
that for some talking is singing
that for some singing is praying
but i guess that depends on who is doing the talking
and i guess that depends on who is doing the listening
...so understand me in english,
you have been robbed of your tongues
the taproot of thought
in the middle of resisting
the language got caught
and she only shows her face during ceremony
like she's ashamed of her scars
like what she has to say is never really heard. at all.
and the violence she knows is enough to never sing again
but i killed the cameraman and stripped him of his lense.
i photographed the body and asked him to forgive.
forgive me as i cut out your tongue
forgive me as i put you in this powdered wig
forgive me when i put your body in a museum
forgive me of all my sins
for not being a good indian
the balls of your forefathers will be traded for whiskey
to fuel the molotov cocktails to be tossed at your cities
and the breasts of your mothers severed and bloody
will be sold to the freak show for the revelers money
your children will witness their whole world collapse
as kidnapped siblings must erase names off maps
so forgive me of all my sins
for not being a good indian
i was taught better than that
i have more respect than that
there is no history book with my story
there is no newspaper to give me my glory
because no one has heard this language in years
cept kokopelli, dream catchers and a trail of beers
my voice is a small pox blanket
that spreads like fire on the prairie
infecting both fist and hatchet
in the spirit of fucking crazy

This poem is republished with permission from Ryan Red Corn from 1491s and Buffalo Nickel