2013

Krip-Hop Nation (KHN): Hello Cassandra, tell us about your work and your new single, “My Time”.

Cassandra Saunders: Hi, Leroy! First of all, I need to clarify something. “My Time” was going to be a single from my upcoming album, but as of right now I’m working with a vocal arranger on material that we are going to be pitching to major/independent labels, and independent artists. I feel like I need to establish myself as a lyrical songwriter before I make albums. As far as the song is concerned, it’s about a girl who is determined to show the world that she is going to make a name for herself in the world and nothing is going to stop her.

KHN: You have, or are starting a label, D Minor Entertainment, tell us more.
Cassandra Saunders: The label is in the development stages, but I can tell you that my reasoning behind its development is to implement what I believe will actually aide in stabilizing the economic side of the industry, and also to help develop and promote other disabled urban artists.

KHN: What is your advise for young women with disabilities who want to sing?

Cassandra Saunders: My advice for disabled women, and really any disabled artists who wish to become singers, rappers, or a combination of the two is simply this; when someone or something knocks you down, get right back up and approach the situation from a different angle. Most importantly, never let yourself become defeated, instead become the defeatest.

KHN: What are the projects that you are working on now?

Cassandra Saunders: Currently, I’m continuously writing songs and in about a month, my team and I will start pitching to different entities. As I said in question three, I’m focusing on the label and the corresponding publishing company formation.

KHN: This upcoming album, what are the main messages of the songs?

Cassandra Saunders: Whenever I do release my album, I will do my best to promote positivity in relationships, despite negative situations. And, overcoming struggles in everyday life. I want to be a role model for all my fans; disabled or not.

KHN: What would you say to a major record labels about your work/music?

Cassandra Saunders: What I want to say to record labels about myself and my music is this; the dynamics of the world has changed. The general public has embraced disabled artistry, it’s time that executives in this industry does as well. I am however, refraining from thinking that all hope is lost in regards to that because of the current American Idol contestant who only stutters when he is not singing. I want to see if a major will pick him up even if he is not the American Idol chosen by the public. (Reference for the American Idol comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLdg9FMp7f8&feature=youtu.be)

KHN: How can people support you work/music?

Cassandra Saunders: At the present time I am working on developing both my official website (Cassondra Saunders.com) and the label’s website (D Minor Entertainment.com) for now you can support my work by following me on twitter https://twitter.com/IWriteLyrics4U and liking our Facebook page http://facebook.com/dminorentertainment

KHN: As a disabled female musician, what can the music industry learn from your work?

Cassandra Saunders: What this industry can learn from my work is that with the right amount of determination and drive, anyone can do anything that they put their mind to. It does not matter the race, color, color, gender, or disability I will not stop preaching that until I stop breathing.

KHN: Tell us your process, high points, and roadblocks of creating your upcoming album.

Cassandra Saunders: To be completely honest, the two occasions that I had the opportunity to record music were learning experiences. There that have never been any roadblocks and the major ups came in knowing that individuals with clout in the industry gave me tremendous help in starting my career and I’ll never forget them. When I do begin recording an album, I’m going to do two things:
a.) I will continue working with a vocal arranger two and sure that I have the best arrangements possible.
b.) Have several meetings with my production team to ensure that we are all on the same page. Everyone will have notes and everything will be structured the way I need it to be.
Did I mention that my label will have acquired distribution from some major label?

KHN: How can people listen to your music and connect with you?

Cassandra Saunders: As of right now, everyone can listen to my music at http://www.soundclick.com/cassandrasaundersmusic. When that page is no longer available, it means that the official website is complete and all twitter accounts related to me will reflect that. People can always contact me at csaunders@cassandrasaunders.com. However, all label inquiries must go to info@dminorentertainment.com. If you forget my twitter ID just look it up using my name in Google or by entering csaunders@cassandrasaunders.com

Doctor you say yes, I say no

By Tony Robles

It is sad to feel insignificant. To not be wanted, especially when you are awaiting a service—such as that of healthcare—is akin to arriving at an airport after a long flight and disboarding to find that there is no one to meet you. It's a feeling of isolation. That's not to say that everyone has someone to meet them upon arrival or that they even have the privilege of flying to begin with. But to arrive at the airport and not have someone greet you when you expect it leaves one a bit empty, even if your ride was stuck in traffic through no fault of their own. It is, in a word, anticlimactic.

Such is the feeling I had when I lost my job and slipped into MediCal. I was never a fan of the doctor's office. The glare emanating from the walls and floors seemed to hum a piped-in, subliminal message of inferiority--namely mine—and that it was mandated that I be thankful for the feeling. I had lost my job under very chickenshit circumstances that I could only describe as penurious (for details, see POOR Magazine article, “The Presidio Landmark, Occupied by the 1%"). It seemed the day after I was let go, I got a letter in the mail from my former bosses in their ubiquitous offices in the philanthropy capital known as Cleveland. I thought i'd have a few days—a little wiggle room to get a teeth cleaning and maybe a new pair of glasses—severance for a year and a half of selfless and equanimous service in my duties as doorman to those richer than I—who happened to be anybody that walked through the door. Wrong. I was shown the door—scuffed eyeglasses, plaque stained teeth and all.

I applied for and got on MediCal. I had lost my coverage and ran out of medication at the same time. I needed a refill. I got a refill at Tom Wadell clinic. When I ran out, I had received my MediCal card with the name of a doctor—let's call him Doctor Ngo (pronounced “no” for those who don't know).  I had gone to UCSF urgent care thinking I could get a refill there but was informed that they couldn't help me. “Ngo”...or, “No”, they said. I had to go to the Doctor on my card. So I made the trek to his small office in the Richmond District.

When I arrived I felt I had landed in a doctor's office from the 70's—the early 70's. And judging by the condition of the floors, walls, and windows, it is quite possible that the last time the office had been cleaned was in that particular decade. I looked around for a rotary telephone when my eyes landed on the face of an irritated looking woman in the reception area behind a desk.  She looked like a perpetually pissed off aunt--always pissed off at you for reasons you nor anybody else will ever know. In back of her were medical files that sagged against the wall, large stacks of paper that looked like they'd collapse with a sneeze or if a fly touched down on them.

I took about 15 minutes trying to answer her two questions: 1) Who are you? And 2) Who sent you? She didn't seem to comprehend that Medical had assigned me to her office, that Doctor Ngo was now my doctor. She asked me several times if I had a primary care doctor and I answered Ngo, I mean, “No” several times. Then she told me there was no room for me there, that the doctor had too many patients. She told me to go back to the Tom Wadell Clinic and I responded that they would only send me back to her smiling face.

So reluctantly, she gave me a health history chart to fill out. I sat filling it out when the door opened. In walked a man in a robe, pajamas and leather slippers that slapped the linoleum. The health questionnaire asked the standard health history questions but also asked what my sexual preference was,  if I had sex with my wife and if I enjoyed sex with my wife. As I was filling out the form, the woman was on the phone trying to pawn me off to another clinic. All I needed was a prescription refill, not a colonoscopy.  She hung up the phone and led the man in the robe to a room.  Meanwhile  I completed the form and waited.

15 minutes later I was approached by a kindly looking older man in white. He greeted me and I followed him into the exam room that was a little bigger than a walk-in closet. He told me to sit on the table with the wax tissue covering while he tended to something else. I looked at the implements and various scopes and stainless steel—that were stained—tools of the trade. The ear scope appeared to have dried wax at the end from ears gone by. The other implements looked like they hadn't been sterilized.

He returned and did the usual—blood pressure check, breathe in, breathe out, open wide, etc. He jotted things on a chart. I looked at the wall. His degree hung in the still air. The degree was for something called “Medical Ambassador”. Maybe that was another term for doctor. The degree looked like it had been xeroxed by one of those copy machines you'd find in safeway or wallgreens. He took my weight and said that at 5 foot 9 inches and 182 pounds, I was obese. He showed me a body mass index from some university (I think it was Stamford...that place of higher learning in Connecticut) to back the claim. Dr. Ngo was Vietnamese. I Didn't see myself as obese. Perhaps if I were Vietnamese, I would have. To get to his suggested weight of 160, i'd have to go on a serious diet. I'd go from obese to emaciated. He finally finished and wrote me a prescription with one refill.

The doctor was nice enough. He was far more pleasant than his assistant. As nice as he was, I left with the feeling i'd been pawned off to a doctor that perhaps shouldn't be practicing. The run around I got in getting this level of care, in a neighborhood—i might add—that I grew up in, left me feeling sorry for the next person who had to visit this doctor—and heaven help them if they have some kind of serious condition. I thanked the doctor and wondered if all those files stacked high at the medical reception desk had fallen as I shut the door.

(Graphic from biowizardry.blogspot.com)

I knew that the pills the nurse was holding were the wrong ones.  But she kept insisting I take them.  A gurney was waiting to take me upstairs for more tests.  I swallowed the pills and climbed onto the gurney.  They wheeled me next to a room where a woman kept saying “no” in a loud, pleading voice.  I asked a nurse what was going on.  She explained that a woman was having a very painful procedure on her foot, and could not tolerate pain killers.  As I felt my blood pressure drop, I heard her cry out “no. please!”  This was my experience of the American health care system.
      My experience was not unique.  Health care in this country is in crisis.  Studies show that A quarter of all patients are harmed during hospital stays.  A common cause of hospital death is giving people the wrong drugs. Twenty to thirty percent of all procedures and tests are unnecessary.
   And this is just the average.  Studies have shown that the worst American hospitals treat twice the number of poor and elderly African American patients as the best ones.  And these hospitals have twice the rate of death from Pneumonia, which is generally preventable.
  How do some people wind up in the relatively good hospitals and some in the very poor ones?  One can not find out which hospitals, doctors, specialists or surgeons are good by going on Yelp, as people now commonly do for restaurants or hotels.  And even the good medical personnel have a code to not reveal the bad ones.  You can't tell by how they act.  Often, the worst doctors have the most pleasant personality's, and thus are loved by colleges and patients alike, despite their poor safety records.
  So people usually choose there hospitals by default.  They go to the closets place that takes whatever insurance they have. if any.  And this is how the poor and minority patients wined up in the worst places.
   I live in the Tenderloin district, and my insurance is medi-cal.  Perhaps that is why I wound up lieing on a stretcher, blood pressure needlessly drooping, listening to  the screams of a woman whose consent was being violated.  As, in a subtler way, had mine.

Krip-Hop Nation (KHN)  I just read about you through Divas With Disabilities Project.  Tell us about your connection to that project.

Kebra Moore: Divas with Disabilities is an outstanding organization. We share the common bond of being beautiful, educated women with disabilities that display a "Can Do" attitude towards anything we put our minds to.

KHN:  You sing more than Gospel tell us about your music and this new single.  Explain the title of your upcoming album, “Under the Influence,”.

Kebra Moore: I obtained my BA degree from Claflin University in Music Education. This opportunity allowed me to display my talent of singing in a variety of genres like Opera, Jazz, R&B and Gospel. I began singing gospel exclusively in 2007 when I gave my life back to Christ.  I love to sing other genres as well but it has been mostly Gospel as of late.

The "Under the Influence" album has the combination twist of all four types of genres present with a little hip-hop flavor as well. Like my last album, "Kingdom Understanding" it has something for everyone to relate to. This album is an empowerment, no longer succumbing to society views of what beauty is or allowing society to place limits upon what you can or cannot accomplish.

KHN:  You have this great campaign called Beautiful tell us more.

Kebra Moore: The Beautiful Campaign primary goal is to educate people on the endless possibilities that are available to those who have recently suffered life-altering injuries; as well as restore a sense of pride and self-esteem. Throughout the United States, I personally visit spinal cord injury hospitals, rehabilitation centers and disability expos to enlighten and uplift all with physical disabilities. Upon arriving at these facilities, we host concerts, seminars and patient spa like treatments that focuses on ability not disability. This uplifting experience brings a sense of hope and newfound inner peace that assist in recovery.

 KHN: I read on your website that your songs titled “He’ll Make a Way” was featured on President Barack Obama’s documentary soundtrack BECOMING BARACK: Evolution of a Leader.  Tell us about that project.

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 Kebra Moore: The documentary was the beginning years of the President while he was still the Illinois senator. I was contacted through my distribution company MDI to have a song of mine placed on the soundtrack.   I wrote and recorded the song "He'll Make a Way" and submitted it. A few weeks later, I was contacted stating the song had made the cut and it would be placed on the "The Evolutions of a Leader" soundtrack. This was really a huge blessing for me in my music career. Not in a million years I could have imagine writing a song for President Barack Obama.  I hope that one day I get the opportunity to sing it live for him.

 KHN:  Do you think Gospel is more open to musicians with disabilities compare to Hip-Hop & R&B?

Kebra Moore: Yes, in my opinion, the Gospel community appears to be more accepting of those with disabilities. However, great music is acceptable to any genre; you have Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder as testimony. Many artists with disabilities within the Hip Hop and R&B community, but their disability is not as visible as mines' or those mentioned.

KHN:  Do you see other women with physical disabilities in your work?

Kebra Moore: Yes, I encounter other women and men with disabilities in my line of work.  It is very uplifting to see those with disabilities working alongside of those that are able bodied. It erases a negative image of disability or rid misconceptions about those who have disabilities

KHN:  In your video “Beautiful”  I like that you left the viewer with a big wow at the end.  Will you do more music videos?

Kebra Moore: Yes, I am scheduled to film the video to my next single "Never Let Him Go" in June 2013. I am excited about the video, if you think "Beautiful" had a wow factor. Just wait until you see this video! It's going to set the bar quite high for all genres.

KHN:  Many people who become physically disabled later in life have a thinking that they be cure or want to “overcome” their disability.  What are your thoughts about that?

Kebra Moore: It takes time to mentally heal from life altering injuries.  I say that because I have come to accept who I am in life and my disability. Initially the shock factor affects everyone around you and the reality that medicine and technology has not evolved enough to cure you. If not for my disability, I do not know where my life would be right now. It does not define who you are; it only allows you to be easily picked out in a crowd of people. (LOL)

KHN:  You say you’re a speaker.  What do you speak about and being Black and disabled what is your advise to young Black young women with disabilities?

Kebra Moore: Majority of my speaking engagements are about raising self-esteem and being comfortable with you. I would tell any woman, regardless of color, "that life is precious and do not allow society to make you feel inferior or self conscience about who you are. Put God first and focus on your new abilities."

KHN:  I just listen to the single Trouble, POWERFUL. Tell us about the story behind that song.

Kebra Moore: That song hit home and was special to me because growing up I saw how my own mother struggled to raise my brother and I. I have crossed paths with many people of different lifestyles who had a story of their own struggles, and decided to write about it. Troubles don't escape anyone! You have to place your faith in God and let it go. Often time people focus on how big their problem is vice how big their God is.

KHN:  What is on your calendar for this year?

Kebra Moore: Wow, non-stop. I am part of the abilities expo, so I travel and perform as part of the event segment of the expo. In addition, I recently won Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi and I will be working with Mississippi legislative to make the state more ADA friendly. Along with being a full time mother and wife. So my schedule is quite intense now.

March 30: Ms. Wheelchair Alabama Pageant, Birmingham, AL

May 3-5: (Ability Expo) New York

June 8-9 (Video Shoot) "Never Let Him Go", Los Angeles, CA

June 21-22:  Mega Disability Conference (Ms. Wheelchair Mississippi) Jackson, MS

June 28-30 (Ability Expo) Chicago, IL

July 6: Speaking Panel (Essence Festival) New Orleans, LA

July 10-14 (Delta Sigma Theta National Conference) Washington, D.C.

July 15-21 (Ms. Wheelchair America National Conference) Houston, TX

August 2-4 (Ability Expo) Houston, TX

October 5 (Black Essence Awards) Nominee, Bend, IN

More to come!!!!

KHN:  How can people follow your work?

Kebra Moore: www.kebramoore.net

https://www.facebook.com/KebraMooreFocusingOnAbility?ref=hl

https://twitter.com/Kebra_Moore

https://www.facebook.com/KebraMusiq

            I have never been good with dates, but this is one that I will never, ever forget. Involuntarily, I find myself re-visiting the crime scene and going through the evidence, applying non-attachment, while allowing myself to experience the emotions and let them go. Buddhist theory at its best, real life situation at its worst. That morning, I opened my eyes to sheets the color of the most bitter, deep crimson red wine anyone could ever taste. Today I wake up in a different bed, in a different city, exactly a year from that morning when I met and became best friends with a side of myself that I never knew existed; the side of me capable of experiencing intense, almost polar emotions. Today I realize that, along with one more woman every 9 seconds, I too experienced at a bruised skin-deep level what the system knows as domestic violence. I am a dot, a pixel that makes the graphs accounting for perpetrations of violence a tiny bit bigger...  every 9 seconds.... a bit bigger... 9 more seconds, bigger, bigger...

            I don’t know if knowing that I am not alone, that this hasn’t happened only to me makes me feel better, or it makes my stomach turn inside out. 1 in 4 women has experienced or will experience domestic violence in her lifetime; an estimate of 1.3 million each year. Women ages 20-24 are at the greatest risk of non-fatal intimate partner violence. Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police and out of those that are reported, most don’t get prosecuted.  Domestic violence against immigrant, undocumented women has an even higher incidence rate… check mark, check mark, check mark … Yes, I am part statistic, part human. I am a part of those statistics that are counted for, and I am  a part of the underground statistics that no one will ever hear, just like millions of other women undocumented as myself, who don’t report or follow up the case because of fear of deportation and a lack of information about our rights as victims of domestic violence.

            When I woke that morning, a spasm of fear ran through my body, mixed with chaos, confusion and a lack of memory. As I stood up, wondering where my partner had gone and whether or not he was the source of the wine-resembling puddles on the bed, I happened to stumble upon the one extra-wide mirror in the room. A fearful squeal escaped my lips, which abruptly ended when I realized that the scary creature in the mirror was nothing other than a reflection of myself. Tears began to wash down my face, mixing salt with bitterness and a strong taste of iron. Although I couldn’t remember the recently passed hours, a few flashes of my partner’s fists running with intention and infinite hate into my face, head and body began to come into my mind, as violent as the punches. I cried, I curled up in the corner, I stood up, curled back up. I walked from one side of the tiny room to the other, opened the window to let the smell of pain out, felt vulnerable to the air blowing inward … closed the window.  I had no idea what to do; the only thing I could think to of was to pack my belongings and leave, without looking back.

             I drove erratically, never once thinking to head toward a hospital or police station. I feared that, although I was the “victim”, they would ask for an ID, they would ask why I was here, they would find out that I am a nobody in this country, that I am not one of their citizens, that I have no rights. I feared that they would tell me they are not here to protect me. Every time I saw a police car, I felt a knot in my stomach and prayed not be noticed, not be questioned. I spent the next week or so in shock, sleeping through most of the days and nights, coming in and out of nightmares. Somehow, my body healed unbelievably fast; in my few wake moments, I deleted every picture I had taken of my beaten body, along with anything that could remind me of him or of us. When I finally felt a tiny bit more grounded in reality, my friend, who was taking care of me convinced me to file a report. I still feared being arrested and deported for being in the country “illegally” but at that point, I had decided to go back to Mexico, so I didn’t care.

            The police came, asked a thousand questions, many of them about my status and reasons for being in the country. Many questions remained unanswered, I could tell they made assumptions from my silence. They took a couple pictures and told me that, being realistic, nothing would happen and he would most likely not be prosecuted. They said that because I waited so long – nearly two weeks-, the case was weak and it most likely wouldn’t withstand in court… apparently, the blood in my eyes, the bruises and scratches could have happened in many ways, “most likely accidents,” they said. The police officers never mentioned that, even though I wasn't a U.S. Citizen, I was protected under the Violence Against Women Act. They never told me that I could actually apply for a temporary permit to stay in the country because of what happened.

Within two weeks, I was silenced twice by men that I was supposed to trust, by men who were supposed to care for me and protect me. First, by my partner who covered my mouth and choked me as I screamed and begged for help, begged for my life, begged him to stop... later, by the police officers who muted my cry for justice, for fairness, for peace of mind. That's all I asked for so I could move on and start healing.

         Maybe it was my stubbornness, or maybe it was my inner self guiding me to heal, but from that moment on, I refused to be silenced again. If these men wouldn't let me speak up, I would do it without their help. I made a self promise to speak up for myself and for all the women who have never spoken up and for those who never will. I made the commitment to break the silence for every immigrant woman who has remained in silence and to help break the cycle for all of the women who are put in the position of victims. Women who have suffered from domestic violence should not be called or categorized as victims, we are not victims; we are survivors. I believe part of my healing has come from refusing to be a victim, from refusing to feel weak and be babied for what happened. Part of the healing has come from telling and re-telling my story, from making it awkward for people and force them to listen to my voice, which simultaneously carries the voices of all those other survivor women. The word survivor carries strength, the word victim denotes weakness. One needs to be strong to survive the physical punches, as well as the punches that life brings us afterward, along our healing path. I wake up today and know that I am still not good with dates, but I also know that I am strong, that I have grown from the pain and that I will never, ever again be silenced. Every nine seconds I will speak up. Every nine seconds I will say “Ni una mas, not one more.”

The current wite-man production Django Unchained opens with the camera’s "gaze" focused on the scarred backs of our Afrikan ancestors walking, shirtless, in a moonlit night. The scars are a cheap cinematic device meant as a visual reference to the violence of chattel slavery. This was a mere Tarantino footnote barely intended for a fleeting glance by the distracted movie goer. But these kinds of images cut my heart in half with a sharp edge razor. With each scar moving in the filmic moonlight I heard the songs, tears, cries, screams, flesh and blood of so many unseen, always remembered, victims, survivors and spirits of the horror story known as chattel slavery in Amerikkka. Which is why Tarantino had no business making this movie.

The horrible image of their scarred flesh had another unintended impact, as a metaphor for the media and media-makers who exploit the descendents of slavery in movies like Django. Considering Tarantino was assuming a stance of hipster alternative meets spaghetti western Tarantino style - where almost anything is supposedly possible the truly “alternative” opening shot would have been with a camera gaze resting on the backs of a shirt-less, whip-scarred witeman- the backs upon whom the legacy of torture and the profit of chattel  slavery and its sickness should be held-with reparations, anger and action- but this was a rich wite man produced movie and so the Afrikan man held the burden once again.

 After  the opening credits, we see these are enslaved ancestors in leg irons walking shoeless through a desert. Within minutes, an eccentric wite-man, Christopher Waltz shows up to "save" the day, calling upon the embodiment of centuries of settlement workers/social workers/non-profiteer saviors who arrive in an empire/capitalist created setting of oppression and profit to "save" the very people they have been complicit in the destruction of.

Through the agenda of the eccentric, German settler/colonizer played by Christopher Waltz, one of our tortured and brutally enslaved ancestors played by Jamie Foxx, is "freed" by agreeing to a  “deal” which is to murder people for hire. Without so much as a moment, the desperation of his and his families’ enslavement as a backdrop for the values he holds that might not jibe with murdering people, the Jamie Foxx character agrees, kill or be killed, seems to be the “deal”. Bringing up years of the prison industrial complex “deals” where a plea bargain is “offered” to a wite-supremacy defined “criminal” for their freedom. This saving also emulates the many social workers and agents  of the non-profit industrial complex who provide service to peoples they profit from.

In a few more scenes we meet the cartoon character of “Stephan” Samuel l jackson. Played to comic perfection, complete with black-face make-up, Uncle Ben side-hair, and code-switching brilliance, his character is the personification of Amerikkkan hegemony. The genocidal power of hegemonies destruction of human compassion and agency is alive in Stephan, the father of the security guard industrial complex, the doorman, the probation officer, the warden, and the cop, he the recipient of so much genocidal hegemony as to make him the powerful defender of the system to which he is “owned”. Being called a wite-man’s property while he is actually runs the entire plantation and protects the brutality perpetrated on him and his brothers and sisters.

His character was played without nuance, one dimensionally horrible, reminding me of the security guard of color who might earn a whopping $8.00 per hour and yet believes that it is his proud duty to arrest and incarcerate one of his brothers or sisters if he is caught stealing a loaf of bread or the police officer of color who participates in the slaughter of young men and women if they happen to be walking, running, standing or living while black or brown in Amerikkka.

I believe in some ways his character was the most fleshed out because that kind of two-faced, duplicit evil is the backbone of the Hollywood plantation system. Rife with wite-supremacy, overt racism, rape, molestation, pedophilia, substance use, patriarchy and fetishization for hire. This is the world that killed Whitney, Marilyn and Corey Feldman, witened Michael Jackson and Jennifer Lopez and endlessly uses and throws away thousands of children and adults who you never see and never will hear from.  It is the world you must live in and pretend to love, if you are Quentin Tarantino, Samuel  Jackson and Jamie Foxx. I was born and raised there, was houseless and po’ there, mama was racialized and hated there and thank Creator, we barely got out, alive.

It must be said, that all the critiques about this movie are right- from an Afroc-centric perspective this movie is so wrong for so many reasons, but from a Hollywood, wite-supremacist entrenched and informed perspective, making any movie about slavery in Hollywood is not easy.

Quentin Tarantino is an artist, in that wite-man, shock for shock sake, nothing is sacred way that many of his ilk come from.. Believing his own hipster-mythos that he is “conscious” just because he hires people of color, and makes movies on subjects like Django, without even so much as a hint of reparations discussed. If he was truly “conscious” as he believes himself to be, he would have done all the phone calling, booshie lunch-having, pitch-making, and thought pimping necessary to do a movie centered on the issue of slavery in a wite-supremacist plantation system like Hollywood and then given it to a black film producer and director to make the movie. But he is not. And so we have, to paraphrase the writer Ishmael Reed, a film about wite-people who run the system reflected off of Afrikan people’s suffering.

Finally, in my humble opinion, beyond all else, what is wrong about this movie is the desecration of the spirit. The spirit of our sacred stories, our pain, our suffering and our resistance. When Spike Lee said it was disrespectful of our ancestors, he is right, these stories are our stories, this pain and this herstory is our pain,  they do not belong to some spaghetti Western hipster interpretation, and to truly free our broken, exploited backs we must continue to resist the re-telling, re-writing, hipster conscious revisioning of our herstories,

After witnessing and living through as much pain as this mixed race daughter of a strong black Indian mama has, I have come to understand the depth of colonization and its disrespect of not only our collective backs, our hands, our stories and our lands, but most of all our spirits. That these colonizers whether they be the banksters, sheriffs, po’lice, the politricksters, the media-makers or the saviours, they ultimately use us and confuse us so that we don’t’ understand the crucial aspect of our own sacred. And that in that holding and protecting of our sacred is our healing and our teaching and our liberation. That our ancestors stories and lives and resistance efforts cannot be bought and sold and traded and lost through the endless exploitation they receive, that we must hold these stories to our chests, we must write these books and film these movies ourselves, and no arty, self-absorbed hipster wite-man can take them away from us. And the media colonization will continue only as long as we allow it.

Editors Note: After a marathon meeting on January 22nd,  that saw an attendance of more than 500 Oakland residents and nearly 4 hours of public testimony, the Oakland City Council voted in the early hours of Wednesday morning to move forward with spending $250,000 on a contract to hire controversial police consultant William Bratton. As well, POOR Magazine believes that not only should there be no Bratton, but that we as poor peoples of color in resistance we should Never engage with any Po'Lice/plantation forces.

William Bratton is not the best choice for Oakland in terms of Law Enforcement and crime reduction strategies. His “stop and frisk” law enforcement strategy targets poor people and people of color in the United States and in other countries. Bratton is a consultant with the private international security firm, Altegrity Risk International, serving as a Chairman of a new division where he consults with security for police departments worldwide. Bratton states that racial tensions and distrust of the police are hindrances to reducing crime.  Many are concerned with racial tensions, police brutality, racial profiling, and distrust of the police. Like most people of color, I reject Bratton.
　
On Tuesday, January 15, 2013, the Oakland City Council chamber was filled to capacity.  It was a "Special Public Safety Committee" hearing to discuss the possible hiring of William Bratton as consultant to the distrusted and embattled Oakland Police Department.　
　
If Bratton is hired by the City of Oakland, Oakland Police Department could implement his selective discriminatory policy against Black and Brown, people of color, and minorities.
　
Masses of people gathered outside Oakland City Hall giving speeches and protesting against the hiring of Chief Bratton. The public got fired up and the room was standing room only for item 4 on the agenda.
　
Item 4 was a recommendation to adopt a resolution authorizing Oakland's City Administrator to amend the contract with Strategic Policy Partnership, LLC in the amount of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) to hire a consultant to put in place a much needed short-term crime fighting strategy and a citywide reduction and Community Safety Plan (12-0231).
　
Why does Oakland need an antagonist racist like William Bratton, to conceive a public safety plan coordinating a multi-agency programmatic and law enforcement approach to violence and crime prevention?
　
According to Critical Resistance.Org, Bratton is a “tough cop”. Bratton "relies heavily on the controversial Compstat crime tracking system which has been used to manipulate data to justify repressive police strategies. Bratton favors gang injunctions, curfews, anti-loitering ordinances, stop-and-frisk, aggressive ticketing and harassment as policing tools which disproportionately target young people, people of color, and poor people. He recommends breaking up policing jurisdictions and decentralizing the police chain of command. Bratton's zero tolerance policing relies on racial profiling. Stop-and-frisk not only relies on racial profiling, but has also resulted in complaints against cops for harassment, brutality and other misconduct which have skyrocketed. In early January 2013, a Federal Judge found that stop-and-frisk violated Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Gang injunctions destabilize neighborhoods, compromise people's civil liberties, give police overly broad authority to label people as gang members, and have no proven track record of stopping the kinds of harm they claim to.
　
Who is William Bratton? From the LAPD website I was able to find this information. "...He led the development of CompStat, the internationally acclaimed computerized crime mapping system developed by the NYPD in the 1990s and now used by police departments nationwide. By bringing all crime and arrest data together by category and by neighborhood, CompStat revolutionized policing, enabling officers to focus their efforts in problem areas, armed with real-time information, accurate intelligence, rapid deployment of resources, individual accountability, and relentless follow-up..." (LAPDonline.org). Does Bratton's law enforcement strategy reduces crime by repressing Blacks and Brown people of color?
　
I do not stand with Police repression. Although POOR Magazine has a solid No Po'Lice engagement ever policy, I agree that societies need Police, but police MUST be good police force; men and women in uniform with morals and integrity to serve communities public safety needs. Law enforcement is extremely necessary, but Police abuse is not necessary. I reject Police tactics that violate people's Constitutional rights, freedom, privacy, civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights. My experience was never too extreme. However, I had good and bad experiences with the Police. In all instances I was the victim. Police can be biased and negligent, particularly when dealing with a person of color, primarily, a Black man, African, or people with accent foreign to them. Some Police might think I am dumb and do not know my rights, those police officers are wrong and underestimating me. I heard so many stories from immigrants who had negative experiences with the police, and they fear police, in most instances. I prefer not to quote anyone as they do not permit me to do so.
　
If you have the characteristics I described above relating to accent and appearance of being an immigrant and person of color, police usually tend to profile you and may label you as dumb; someone who doesn’t know anything and you might end up be treated any kind of way. I went to college here in the United States, studied the California Penal Code, Constitutional Law, earning a degree in Criminal Justice. If a Police officer or anyone underestimates me and may think I'm a foul or stupid, they are wrong and heading to an unpleasant surprise because I know my rights and do all I can to the best of my abilities to not break the law, either intentionally or unintentionally. I was feeling it in Oakland.
　
Why Oakland Chief of Police, Howard Jordan, needs some old white man to travel from far way to come to Oakland to tell Jordan what to do? Chief Jordan got heckled. That guy, Jordan is pathetic. Chief Oakland’s City Council is going to adopt something to fight crime eventually, but who knows what that will be?
　
I witnessed firsthand what democracy is all about.  I saw what people's power is supposed to mean--an overwhelming rejection of racist William Bratton's law enforcement policy, his destructive comprehensive crime reduction strategy that ultimately will target Black and Brown young men in the City of Oakland if implemented. Bratton's crime reduction tactics is backed by uncle tom Chief of Oakland Police, Howard Jordan. "Do you prefer a tough on crime policy that increases violence and death in the streets by shooting, and so on, or do you prefer restorative justice?" asked one speaker.
　
A speaker who chose to be anonymous, told me, "it would be nice to see Oakland PD planting trees in Oakland to help the environment than to harassment Black men in the streets of Oakland with Stop and Frisk. The community would love the police if they start doing things like helping the community, not killing Black and Brown kids! They, most of the COPS, do not even live in Oakland. White racist supremacist rednecks---fuck them COPS, she continues! We do not want fucking William Bratton here in Oakland! Shit... look at what he did in New York and Los Angeles to the Black community, it did not improve crime situation. He will make crime go even higher if they hire this racist son of bitch here in Oakland. Why should the taxpayers pay one quarter of a million dollars for this guy to come up in here to commit injustice against Black and Brown folks?" She asks.
　
Another speaker had completed his 2 minutes for public speaking, and he said that he was going to use the time of Oscar Grant killed by OPD officer. The speaker also said that he was going to use time of others who got killed by the COPS.
　
There were as many as 83 speaker cards. Many speakers shared their time with other speakers who did not have enough time to finish his or her statement. Many of them were having similar concerns: "racial profiling by the Police may increase, don't hire Bratton; Oakland does not need more consultants to make OPD more effective. Stop the mass arrest of Black and Brown for the prison industrial complex, stop harassing, killing of Brown and Black young men. Stop police brutality. Use the money to benefit the community by investing in our children and other social programs, jobs, education, etc. We hate killer Police fuck you OPD!" Speakers were saying.
　
The debate has not ended.  It was approved unanimously to send the matter to the full Council to discuss and vote on Recommendation was to adopt a resolution authorizing The City Administrator to amend The contract with Strategic Policy Partnership, LLC In The Amount of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000). BUT, there was no agreement on staffing, meaning who To Hire As Consultant to Put In Place was not decided at January 15, 2013' meeting. There was an outpouring of disagreement and discontent among members of the public regarding bringing in William Bratton to Oakland. Many people attending the meeting were insulted that the City of Oakland even considered Bratton in the first place. 　
Should Oakland’s City Council Adopt the Bratton – Wasserman Oakland Police Department Proposal?
　
I  interviewed a person identifying herself as CAT from Onyx Organizing Community. She told me that 15 murders in Oakland in two days, 250 k for William Bratton is not okay. She said there is no data that more COPS reduce crime because we live in a culture of violence. Instead of expending money promoting more injustice for Black and Brown, we should invest in education, jobs, etc.
　
Chief Howard Jordan wrote a letter to the Community on Tuesday, January 15.  He writes: "Much needed and public conversation has recently occurred regarding crime reduction strategies and best law enforcement practices. Given the seriousness of crime in Oakland, my efforts to increase safety through prevention, intervention and enforcement are needed and expected. It is my obligation to use lawful tools, respectfully and professionally, to police within our communities. This is why it is important for me to address the issue of "Stop and Frisk," a concept that is often mischaracterized or poorly explained..." (Howard A. Jordan Chief of Police).
　
"...Furthermore, as Chief of Police, I am committed to police practices that build community relationships and trust; I firmly believe that every police contact is an opportunity to create understanding and worth in the eyes of the community. "Zero-tolerance" policing is not a strategy I employ or find valuable to these ends. Strategies and enforcement developed from objective evidence, intelligence and data should focus on those individuals or groups deserving of law enforcement’s attention, and not on community members who happen to be proximate..." (Howard A. Jordan Chief of Police).
 

Folo Santome is a graduate of POOR Magazine's PeopleSkool/Escuela de la gente in revolutonary journalism and an Afrikan brother in Diaspora

Apparently the State is not happy with the fact that Chairman Fred Hampton of the P.O.C.C. and B.P.P.C is building bridges and doing work in Oakland with like-minded community organizations dedicated to improving life conditions for oppressed, repressed and terrorized citizens in the city of Oakland and beyond.

Tonight, at approximately 4 pm, the Chairman and three of his comrades were trailed by police into the Target shopping center in Emeryville, just outside of West Oakland. Initially, they were stopped by two Oakland Police vehicles (IN EMERYVILLE). The police flashed their lights and ordered the passengers to both put their hands up and roll down the windows. As this was occurring, another 10-12 police cars arrived and blocked off the entire parking lot.

The passengers were separated and one of the sisters in the vehicle was pulled from the car, slammed against a Police SUV and her arm twisted. Her arm was so badly injured that an ambulance later took her to a nearby hospital. BEFORE THE COP HAD EVEN OPENED THE CHAIRMAN'S WALLET, HE SAID "Are you still at the same address in Chicago?" THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS BEFORE THEY PULLED HIM OVER. THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION OF HARASSMENT IN RESPONSE TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

When asked why they were being pulled over, it was explained to them that a robbery had occurred in which a cell phone was stolen and the phone had been tracked to the Target parking lot. NOT THEIR CAR BUT THE PARKING LOT. The Chairman pointed out that there were some 300 additional cars in the lot and so why their car but received no answer.

The police then brought the supposed 'victim' of the robbery to the scene and paraded each one of the passengers in the Chairman's vehicle in front of a bright light for the 'victim' to look at. S/he identified no one.

Following this, the police attempted to just walk away as if nothing had happened. The Chairman and additional passengers requested and received the Sergeants name and are planning to file a formal complaint.

It should not be overlooked that last month, the Chairman sat on a panel examining the MXGM report "Every 36 Hours" that focused on the execution of Black men, women and children by police, security guards and vigilantes every 36 hours in Amerikkka. Additionally, last week the Chairman joined hundreds of community members in speaking out against the hiring of William Bratton as a consultant to the OPD at a City Council Public Safety meeting. It should also not be overlooked that a follow up City Council meeting to address the Bratton issue was to scheduled to be held the following day

Journalism Can’t Teach Friendships (Thank you for all the interviews throughout the years.)

This is not a Q&A
More like conversation
Building relations
Having fun in the creation

No unequal balance of power
Respecting each other
Throw out objectivity out of the water
Intelligent questions brings us closer

You guide me
And vice versa
I listen you speak
And vice versa
Give & take

Going there not pushing u over
Revealing things that's been hush hush
We both feel comfortable there's no rush rush
Exchange numbers when it comes out I'll call u up

In your own words no journalistic filters

Deep conversations
Should be the basis of journalism
Can't teach that in classroom academic education
It must be already in you as a person

Sometimes we must unlearn what we learned
To have conversations beyond I
That turns an interview
Into see the person eye to eye

This poem is for all
The interviewees that enriched me
With their conversations
That led to deeper friendships

Leroy Moore Jr.

“I’m innocent,” said Tekpatl (aka Albert Haedinger). As poverty scholar at Poor
Magazine, I met Tekpatl on October 2nd 2012 in Poor Magazine’s Community Newsroom. I was shocked to hear about his violent experience with UC Berkeley Police. Therefore, after I was assigned the story I began to research the case. Albert Haedinger alleges that he was legitimately on campus when he was beaten by two police officers. According to Mr. Haedinger, the officers violated his civil rights, and violently attacked him.

At the Newsroom, Mr. Haedinger handed me a flyer that reads "UC Berkeley Police Abuse of Authority" on one side. In that flyer I could see a lot of blood on his legs and on his T-shirt. Also, it appears that Mr. Haedinger was handcuffed. The other side was titled "Brutalized Twice: Police Beat Native Man and Now Want to Give Him Three Strikes!"

Mr. Haedinger told me that everything happened in the Spring Semester of year 2012, on March 3rd to be exact, between 3:30-4:00am, when UC Berkeley Campus Police brutalized him. According to Haedinger he was volunteering his time to teach Berkeley students about their culture and traditions. Haedinger told me that he got up to gargle his mouth in the communal bathroom because of a throat infection, and someone had probably called police because the person(s) thought he was a homeless person trespassing the premises. The UCPD officers targeted him while he was in a bathroom stall; when they requested his ID, he returned to the room he'd been staying in, and attempted to communicate this to the officers. The officers ran after him, and as he entered the room, one officer held him down while the other beat his shins with a baton multiple times inside the dorm room. I was skeptical of the police story.

I contacted the University of California Berkeley for verification. I received contradictory statements. One, from UCB's Office of Public Affairs, said, “Mr. Haedinger was not a guest on campus…” Another, the UC Police Department's Community Relations, stated “...received a call from a staff regarding suspicious person on site. Two officers responded… the suspect was uncooperative and started punching at the officers. The suspect did not identify himself as being a guest on campus.” Furthermore, UC Campus Police alleged “the officers did not target the suspect in a random search, the officers were called to the scene by a campus staff. The suspect was arrested. UC Campus Police say that the suspect may had been a guest on campus, but he did not let the officers know about it.” Community Relations of UCPD told me that a Police Review Board concluded there was no misconduct based on their own internal investigation.

I requested to see a copy of the police report and the UC police refused. My understanding is that Haedinger is currently being charged with resisting arrest, serious bodily injury to an officer, disturbing the peace, and obstruction of justice. Recently, the accusation of serious bodily injury was added, in exchange for battery of a police officer.

I wonder, if Mr. Haedinger was handcuffed, and if there are no witnesses to Haedinger laying a hand on anyone, how can the police report be consistent? Did the police who alleged being seriously injured walk around like nothing happened to him? Because the prosecution is also bringing up an 18 year old case from North Carolina, can it reinforce readers' understanding that the whole story is not credible? Mr. Haedinger told me that he was wrongfully convicted in North Carolina, and the District Attorney is trying to use it to prosecute him under the "famous three strikes" law, thus threatening him with life in prison.

In California's 2012 election, Proposition 36 was approved by the voters and made a change in the "Three Strikes Law." It revises the three strikes law to impose life sentence only when the new felony conviction is "serious or violent..." (http://ballotpedia.org/).

I received several letters in support of Albert Haedinger during the course of writing this article.

The Sacramento Native American Health Center writes that Mr. Haedinger has been “extremely active in his community.” This letter reads that Mr. Haedinger has been a mentor to many men and women in the Warrior Down reentry support program. Warrior Down is a peer-to-peer support group that helps secure employment, provides educational opportunities, and helps people connect with emotional, mental, physical, cultural and spiritual resources. Mr. Haedinger has been a model for other members in our community. Mr. Haedinger is an outstanding father to his daughter and son to his parents.

Mr. Haedinger’s daughter wrote another letter: “…He showed them (the police) his ID, but they beat him anyway. It was painful for my dad to walk. He didn't deserve it. My dad also told me if he got locked up he would lose his job. I would never want my father to loose his job, or anybody else. My father also participates in my one sport - soccer. My dad also takes part in my schoolwork, too. He comes to the parent conferences, and if I need help with any homework he takes his time to help me. He also takes me to my dentist appointments, which is very caring. My dad pays for my phone….I love my dad and I would never want anything bad to happen to him. I really care about my dad.”

A third letter of four pages is from Albert Haedinger' parents. They write that Mr. Haedinger is a very caring and devoted son who helps them immensely considering his dad is 97 years old and his mom is 83 years old. They said they depend on Mr. Haedinger for a lot of assistance. They also said they know that Mr. Haedinger helps out in the Native community.

Mr. Haedinger informed me that he has carried a 4.0 grade average since 1999 till the present. He has received honors certificates over the years, and his most prestigious certificate was awarded in 2010, in Business Law. Mr. Haedinger said he has been employed by the State of California for 5 years now, with excellent progress reports from his supervisor.

Mr. Haedinger also said he has not had any police contact since he was released from probation.

If you would like to help Mr. Haedinger, please join him at his upcoming court date:
January 28th, 2013. Time: 8:45a.m. Location: Alameda County Courthouse, Wiley W. Manuel, 661 Washington Street, Oakland, CA 94607. To express your opinions on this case, call Alameda County Deputy District Attorney John Creighton, direct line 510-268-7500, reception 510-272-6222. Tell him to drop all charges against Albert Haedinger.

When: February 2013 Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Feb 14-17/2013)
Where/Venues: SF Main Library-The Latino Room, Mental Health Consumers Concerns (Concord), The Living Room Project (West Oakland) & Eastside Arts Alliance (East Oakland)
Feb 14th Mental Health Consumers Concerns (Concord, CA) Time TBA
Feb 15th SF Main Library-The Latino Room 1-4pm & Eastside Arts Alliance (East Oakland) 7-9pm
Feb 17th The Living Room Project (West Oakland) 7:30-10:30pm

What: Musicians and poets with disabilities come together as a coalition named Krip-Hop Nation, for a Bay Area Mini-Concert and to honor the late Blind Joe Capers. The concert will feature a mixture of music from Punk, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Spoken Word to Rock. A panel of speakers will explain Krip-Hop and talk about why Krip-Hop Nation is important. Musicians and poets will tell their stories about dealing with the entertainment industry underground and living in the community as an artist. A sneak preview of an upcoming documentary about the late Joe Capers aka Blind Joe who worked with Oakland CA Hip-Hop artists like MC Hammer, Tony Tone Toni and more, along with a multi-media presentation with audio interviews and a slide show of over one hundred pictures of Krip-Hop artists from around the world will round out the program. This event is about more than music. It will be an arena for advocacy, education, building cultural activism through artistic expression and coming together.
Who:

Fezo Madone – Lives Boston, MA & Sacramento, CA.USA and is a hip hop artist/activist determined to use his mic and his feet, to turn the hip hop community and the perception of his disability upside down. Jones is the President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences. His farewell offering, Vocal Tai Chi will be out soon.

Joy Elan is from Oakland and Berkeley, CA. She received her undergraduate degree in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and her graduate degree in Education at Stanford University. She is currently working with urban youth and raising her daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area and is an author of, Signs of Life: Past, Present and Future and a well-known Bay Area Black Hard of Hearing poet.

Lateef McLeod – Lateef McLeod is a phenomenal black poet with cerebral palsy who just published his first poetry book entitled A Declaration Of A Body Of Love this year. He is also in process of writing a novel tentatively called The Third Eye Is Crying. He was also a cast member of the 2007 Sins Invalid performance and the 2011 artist-in-residence Sins Invalid performance entitled Resident Alien.

Lee Williams – Lee Williams is a disabled African American activist, artist, poet, songwriter, singer, athlete and father. Lee performed with the late Celeste White. He played Porgy in George Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, CA and has appeared on the big screen in, Made in American that featured Whoopie Goldberg and Ted Danson. His CD of spoken word & music, Phase V, came out in 2006. Lee Williams lives in Antioch, CA.

Enajita Pela Enajite Loicy Pela is a disabled queer woman of color musician, poet, writer and activist. She has been playing music in the bay for 8 years, and has finally landed like-minded musicians. Eni writes lyrics and composes songs through blues, jazz, and soul rock all mixed up with the facts of life as a disabled, queer, woman of color.

Vivi T - a Bay Area-based poet with POOR Magazine's and Advocate with the Homeless Action Center in Berkeley, has been slappin' rhymes since her early days as a recording artist in the U.K. and today, performing with POOR Magazine's Po' Poets Project throughout the Bay Area and beyond with what she describes her poetic style as 'floetic', a droppin' n' poppin' poetry style, speaking on struggle and truth.

Leroy F. Moore Jr. is a Black writer, poet, hip-hop\music lover, community activist and feminist with a physical disability. He has been sharing his perspective on identity, race & disability for the last thirteen years or so. He is also the creator of Krip-Hop Nation (Hip-Hop artists with disabilities and other disabled musicians from around the world) and produced Krip-Hop Mixtape Series. Leroy is currently writing a Krip-Hop book on musicians with disabilities from the Blues to Hip-Hop .

Contact: Leroy Moore kriphopproject@gmail.com (510) 649-8438