2013

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

Espanol sigue/ Scroll down for English

Por lo Amarillo del cielo, pienso que eran las seis de la tarde cuando nos reunimos en una casa hermosa. Aproximadamente eramos 50 personas mujeres hombres y niños , No podíamos dormir porque  los coyotess  nos dijeron que velaremos pues nuestra vida corría peligro, en cualquier momento se aparecen los narcos  y si  se duerme lo matan nos dijeron los coyotes.

Todos le pedimos a Dios  que  nos cuidara de los hombres  malos  y de los animales que nos quisieran hacer daño.

Aunque de todos modos  el ingambre de zancudos , Nos tenían en alerta por  los sumbidos en nuestros oídoss.

A las  cuatro de la mañana emprendimos el viaje caminamos entre milpas  y pastos.  El rosillo de  la mañana  nos mojo la ropa cuando la oscuridad desapareció nosotros estábamos  en la orilla de un rio el coyote nos dio una bolsa plástica a cada uno para que metieramos nuestra ropa, Todos en coro le dijimos "que dices nos vamos a quitar toda la ropa? Porque y para que ?"

El dijo, "es una orden quieren vivir o morir que no saben que la ropa mojada pesa y es fácil que el río los arrastre o se hundan en el"  dijo el coyote

Yo no me la quería quitar por vergüenza de que toda esa gente  viera mi cuerpo. Pero desde Guatemala yo traía un justan o fondo como le llaman otros  como pude me lo puse mientras me quitaba el pantalón cuando el coyote me vio  me gritóo yee guerra quitate eso o no pasas dijo y como yo muchas mujeres llorando se quitaban la ropa , El volteo sin medir consecuencias, pero el agua me cubrió asta el cuello y en ese momento me asuste cuando el coyote y la gente gritaron "porque lo hiciste estupida que no ves que tengo que medir el agua primero con esta vara para ver su profundidad" dijo el coyote pero yo ya no podía salir entonces todos como rebaño de vacas cruzamos el rio bravo.

Al estar en el otro lado dijo el coyote "ya estamos en Estados Unidos, Pero tu guerra tienes que esperar mis órdenes no hagas estupideces si quieres llegar a San Francisco  mira lo que acabas de hacer fue un milagro que no te hundiste te hubieses matado sola ,por algo soy el guia" dijo el muy enojado.

Yo aprendi la leccion cuando el dio la orden que corrieramos entre los espinales estaban los carros esperándonos.

Ami me metieron en una cajuela con cuatro hombres más yo sentía como si todo mi cuerpo estaba amarrada con lazos por lo apretados que íbamos pero en mi mente estaban mis hijitos pues no quería que se quedaran sin mamá o sea sin mi.

Después de un largo rato nos metieron en la una ventana  de una casa rodante donde había como 80 a 100 personas el vano parecía un chiquero  estaba sucio como un drenaje  pues había de todo desde pipi asta vómitos.

Y se imaginan el olor que se sentía parecíamos pollos en granja.

Gracias a Dios y a mi hermano Edgar que mandó el dinero y esa misma noche salimos de alli lo malo es que  uno de ellos dijo alguien viene y nos escondimos por unos 15 minutos masomenos.

Y la luna se perdió entre las nubes negras.

Todos afligidos caminamos porque la luna era la unica guia que traiamos pues el coyote dijo nosotros vamos al lado contrario de la luna y no se veía nada caminamos sin dirección  toda la noche y el día siguiente y otra vez la noche yo sentía que mis piernas estaban dormidas por tanta fuerza en el pantano y el dia siguiente mis fuerzas se fueron deteriorando porque no había comido dos noches y un dia todo ese tiempo sin comer porque como dije antes  un hombre de Veracruz me ofreció su ayuda pero a cambio de sexo pero como yo no quise le puso sudor saliva y moco alas tortillas y me las dio  por eso yo no comí  se las regrese por la cara.

Cuando la noche llegó nos reunimos con  el otro grupo  que salió la noche siguiente pues ellos no se perdieron como nosotros , Ellos llegaron antes y estaban sentados y con sonrisas , Yo quize hacer lo mismo pero ese momento todos empezaron a caminar me sentí quebrada porque no pude pense descansar.

Seguí  caminando y llorando mi cuerpo se estaba deshidratando mas y mas  pero  me corazon sonrio cuando a lo lejos vimos una luz tan pequeña como la de una luciérnaga pensabanos que estábamos cerca de la ciudad

pero el coyote dijo si no se apuran no llegaremos antes de las 5 de la mañana  dijo y apenas eran como las ocho de la noche pero esa luz nos motivo a seguir pues entre mas avanzamos mas grande se veía  la luz sabemos que nos estábamos acercando pero como a la una de la mañana mis piernas ya no me respondieron empeze  a pedir ayuda como cuando un niño empieza a caminar y nadie me ayudo no pude levantar los pies sentía como si hubiese pegamento en la tierra mis pies se sentían  tan pesadas como un quintal de papas en cada pie cada vez más pesado hasta que caí como un árbol por la tormenta allí tirada segui pidiendo ayuda y nadie me ayudaba eran como 60 personas y de todas ellas nadi Ni si quiera el coyote que estaba ganando como cuatro mil dolares me ayudo el dijo lo siento pero por ti no voy a perder todo que te coman los animales hasta aqui llegastes dijo y se dio la vuelta y se fue.

Ese momento mis ojos se bañaron en un mar de lágrimas saben lo que llego a mi mente mis hijos  mi mamá llore si claro que llore mas cuando escuche los lobos a lo lejos. Intenté levantarmee pero no podía pues la gente ya había caminado sobre mi como si hubiese sido un objeto o un papel que no sirve pero en ese momento llego a mi mente el nombre del ser más poderoso del mundo Dios llorando le dije padre perdoname se que te e fallado pero te amo y te necesito , Levante la mirada al cielo y en la luna llena vi una cara y escuché una voz que me dijo levántate seguí llorando y le pedi perdon por confiar en los hombres y no en El y le dije si tu me ayudes a llegar a aquel lugar  yo te prometo servirte hablar de lo que tu hiciste en mi vida y de nuevo escuche la voz diciendo levántate y van hacia la derecha sentí una mano sobando la cabeza  me levante  y no me dolía a nada corri  y los alcance cuando estaba enfrente del coyote el me grito que haces aqui tu estas muerta dijo  yo le dije fijate que no porque Dios mi padre me ayudó después de eso  llegue Huston  pero aun allíi estaba en peligro estuvimos encerrados en una casa por una semana parecíamos puercos de engorda porque nos daban comida por montones para engordarlos luego las que venimos para california nos separaron y nos llevaron a otra casa allí nos estaban obligando a tener sexo con unos hombres que les decían los gordos y el flaco fue traumante todo esto  pero aun no se compara con lo difícil que es hablar con Obama y convencerlo que de una amnistía para todos parece que el es mas dificil que todas estas cosas que tuve que pasar al cruzar el Rio Bravo.

Ingles Sigue/English Follows

The yells in my ears ring my eardrums like an alarm clock (kkkkh).  Get our!  Get out!  I hear the sound of the hegemony security guards of the Westfield mall in San Francisco trying to get us out of the place on their big bullhorns. 

My brother Luta Candelaria keeps on singing.  I like that guy,  As we are pushed out on the bare Market Street.  I hear the chants of idle no more and I hear the voices of the security guards behind us with their arms out saying, “Get out of our property!” 

Since we had a protest in Sacramento on Saturday January 26^th well…I was not there but I heard some of the junior wanna be cops talk about how we should all be in Sacramento right now. 

The  idle no more chants are still in my ears so I start to chant too, fists up.  Everybody together,, we are a family, all the familiar faces, some I don’t know, but we all stand as a native community by the time we are out on the urine filled sidewalk. 

We started to dance.  It wasn’t a round dance actually we were not all dancing.  Only one person was dancing.  We stayed there for about a minute or so then we crossed the street so we could have a bigger dance. 

Tiburcio- 9 years old,, Prensa POBRE/PNN

Leroy interviews Damon Lamar Fordham, author and professor about the story of Samuel Smalls aka Porgy in his book, True Stories of Black South Carolina,where he talked to the family of Samuel Smalls at his upcoming talk at U.C. @ Berkeley, CA on Feb 8th 7pm (Details below).  We also talked about his other books and a lack of disability history in African American studies and more.  Come out on Feb 8th/13 @ 7pm on UCB campus, EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">310 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley  Below are more details

EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Porgy’s Stories: Race, Disability and Representation A Roundtable
Friday Feb 8 , 7 pm, 310 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

Please join us for food and drink (think crab and other Catfish Row treats) and lively discussion when a group of experts who have fascinating things to say about Porgy and Bess and the histories behind it welcome our guest of honor, Charleston-based author Damon Lamar Fordham. Sponsored by the Disability Studies Program, UC Berkeley.

Where: 310 Dwinelle
http://www.berkeley.edu/map/maps/CD34.html (Please read the directions below).

Who:

Damon Lamar Fordham, "Samuel Smalls: The Forgotten Man Behind ‘Porgy & Bess.’”

Historian Damon Lamar Fordham is the author of multiple books on African American history in South Carolina, including Mr. Potts and Me (Charleston: Evening Post Books, 2012) Voices of Black South Carolina: Legend and Legacy (Charleston: History Press, 2009), and True Stories of Black South Carolina (Charleston: History Press, 2008).

Todd Carmody, "Porgy and Prehistory: The Port Royal Experiment."

Todd Carmody is an ACLS New Faculty Fellow in the English Department at UC Berkeley, where he is currently writing a book on disability and the social geography of race in the postbellum United States. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, Callaloo, and Criticism.

Leroy F. Moore, Jr. “Poetic Porgy in the Reality of Today.”

Leroy Moore is a Black writer, poet, hip-hop\music lover, community activist and feminist with a physical disability. He is the creator of Krip-Hop Nation (Hip-Hop artists with disabilities and other disabled musicians from around the world) and is currently writing a Krip-Hop book on musicians with disabilities from the Blues to Hip-Hop.

Anthony Tusler, “Porgy’s Long Journey.”

Anthony Tusler is a writer, consultant, trainer, and advocate on disability issues and disability culture. Founding director of the Disability Resource Center at Sonoma State University, he helped launch a number of disability-related nonprofits. He has published an article specifically on Porgy, in New Mobility.

This event is wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodations, please contact Susan Schweik at sschweik@berkeley.edu, 510-292-0589

Directions for Dwinelle Hall: Dwinelle Hall is notorious for being hard to navigate. In order to find the room we suggest that you follow the directions below. 1. Enter campus via Sather Gate, which is located near where Telegraph Avenue meets the Berkeley campus. After going through the Gate and crossing the immediately following bridge, the first building on your left will be Dwinelle Hall. Enter through the doors off the big plaza. 2. This entrance to Dwinelle Hall is on Level D. To the right in the main hall, there will be an elevator. Take it to Level F/G. Alternately, you can take the stairwell directly opposite the elevator. 3. Once you have exited the elevator, follow the room numbers to 310. (Dwinelle Hall has two wings, North and South. In the North Wing of Dwinelle, rooms are numbered in the 1000s. You want the South Wing of Dwinelle, where rooms are numbered in the 100s—on this floor, the 300s).