On Tuesday November 11, 2014 because I was broke and didn’t feel like standing in line at a soup kitchen I decided to take advantage of the fact that I am a US Military Veteran [US Navy 1983-1987]. Many businesses offered free or discounted goods and services on this day most of them large chain operations. My biggest regret is that I didn’t get up earlier or otherwise plan my activities for that day otherwise I would have got a lot more swag and had a lot more to brag about. I started the day with a cup of coffee from Starbucks [even though officially I am boycotting that chain for its ongoing support of the Zionist state of Israel and its inhumane and genocidal attacks on the Palestinian people and ongoing occupation of Palestinian territory].

The young lady who served me seemed a bit bewildered and I’m not sure if she secretly held the same or similar feelings I currently do for the U.S. Government, if she knew what my feelings were, if she just felt like I was a no good bum looking for a handout, or if she knew she wasn’t getting a tip or all of the above but at any rate I enjoyed my not so guilty pleasure of enjoying premium coffee for free! Next I got on the bus and enjoyed another free cup of Starbucks coffee on Fisherman’s Wharf and acquired a bottle of their [ I’m sure overpriced ] bottled water that another patron left behind. Clerk 2 also seemed a bit bewildered and I’m not sure if it was for the aforementioned reasons or if due to her being from another nation and didn’t get my accent because honestly even I know it varies at times. Next I went to IHOP on Fisherman’s Wharf Where there was no bewilderment, service was a little slow but cheerful due to the place being packed and enjoyed a free stack of their “Red, White and Blue” pancakes.

While waiting at the counter I enjoyed a little conversation with a fellow Navy Vet. Who served in Vietnam as an officer. He suggested I go to Chili’s which I did where I enjoyed a steak dinner also free! I decided on Chili’s next because I figured I would need some protein after all those carbs before I hit Denny’s for a “Build your own Grand Slam Breakfast” which I missed due to it only being served from 5a.m. to noon and after circling the wharf several times looking  for Denny’s [which I found out today is in Holiday Inn, weird the same week Big Bank Hank from the Sugarhill Gang passed. The year their hit “Rappers delight” came out I was still in high school and I started getting in touch with many of my old high school chums this week also eeire !] I even was apparently told bad information by a clerk in one of the local hotels not sure again why but I did.

I made my way too the Maritime Museum to use the rest room where I inadvertently discovered the senior center which I may or may not join and somehow wound up with a free lunch there also. I got on the bus two of them actually and headed to Mission Street where I knew there was a Denny’s, and hit 2 more Starbucks the very last one gave me a very large cup and actually thanked me for my service which none of the others did ! By the time I got to Denny’s it was 2 pm so I missed their swag. I’m generally not accustomed to telling major chains especially those that have had racist incidences in their past to update their addresses on line but when it comes to free stuff yo' dude update your address ! To top the night off I got a free ticket to see Brad Pitt’s WW2 war movie Fury. All in All it was a great movie and as most “historical “ movies it embellished on the truth some because I know America’s military at that time was more segregated than Hitler’s but as Brad Pitt’s character “War Daddy” put it “ Idealism is peaceful history is violent !”
 

October 7, 2014

Several years ago former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom shared his vision of making SF the greenest city in America while in office. In more recent years Mayor Ed Lee has invited many tech giants into the city which has caused real estate prices to increase drastically. I have an idea that can address the holes in these two mayors' visions for the city.

With the drastic increase in real estate has come the displacement of many longtime and life-long residents of SF. They've had to seek housing in other places, some as close as the East Bay some farther away. This even resulted in Poor Magazine having to relocate to Deep East Oakland.

Many of these folks still have jobs and other obligations in SF, and have to commute long hours back and forth across the Bay.

Within the last year Muni has donated used buses to an organization called Lava Mae so they can be used as mobile showers for the homeless. (I almost want to say this was an idea that was stolen from me but it is far more important that people have their basic human needs met than to argue about who gets credit.)

I would however like to propose an idea that Muni donate outdated diesel buses to the people, for an organization run by the people, that get converted to bio-diesel and/or solar power to shuttle displaced people back and forth across the Bay.

Big tech giants have helped sponsor Lava Mae. Why not get bio-diesel and other green organizations to donate labor and parts to make this a reality?

On my way to the office today I notice the renewable energy fair was still happening. I stopped and talked briefly to a representative of Luminalt, a local woman-owned solar power company. Hopefully we will work together in the future.

Many of us rode a big yellow bus to school as kids. It's time we ride a big green bus to work not only to help our displaced brothers and sisters but also to honor our Mother Earth.

Power Tu D People!

According to my personal study of medical research that has caused me trauma made me write and study the mind. I read an article about the human genome it stated that "On June 26, 2000, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium announced the production of a rough draft of the human genome sequence. In April, 2003, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium is announcing an essentially finished version of the human genome sequence." Basically they are trying to clone people in the name of cell research.

The Genome Project is dealing with the brain and how it functions for different people to studying how certain genes run through families. This version, which is available to the public, provides nearly all the information needed to do research using the whole genome. Just for the people who do not know what a genome is it is a scientific word describing genes and the way the mind works. Poor people are victimized in the name of health research and discovering genes.

The difference between the draft and finished versions is defined by coverage, the number of gaps and the error rate. The draft sequence covered 90 percent of the genome at an error rate of one in 1,000 base pairs, but there were more than 150,000 gaps and only 28 percent of the genome had reached the finished standard. In the April 2003 version, there are less than 400 gaps and 99 percent of the genome is finished with an accuracy rate of less than one error every 10,000 base pairs. The differences between the two versions of the genome are significant for scientists using the sequence to conduct research. During these years of practice I thought about how they may be able to go in and pick the brain cells that cause mental health issues, cancer issues, autism etc.

When the genome study started it became extremely popular, because everybody wants to be healthy and if we can negate certain genes out of our body to keep certain discrepreicnes away then I am for it. But sometimes people have the wrong intent and will offer money to test people like guinea pigs. I thought about the incident that happened in the sixties during the civil rights movement when they gave people what they consider an STD these days. Or how scientists make up diseases and give the medicine to people for what they made. Aids is another example because a lot of people say it came from Africa, from my personal research it is proclaimed to be a man made disease that killed billions of people. I just wanted to  write about the genome project, because I thought about mental illness and if they can actually stop it from running in a family. My illness is genetic just like diabetes and I think it is important for people to take into consideration to further their knowledge on testing vaccinations and everything attached. Its scary now in America because sometimes diseases become epidemics, but the genome project is research that will hopefully be a positive thing.

October 7, 2014

It would seem that common courtesy and respect to elders is a thing of the past.

In my most recent travels I have noticed more and more, as I greet strangers, especially youth of color, that they rudely ignore me and even stare at me indignantly.

A colleague of mine, Norma, actually overheard a white woman tell her children “Oakland is a dumpster. Oakland is part of California, but it is the worst part because all the poor people from all over the world come to Oakland.”

It would appear that the youth of color are somehow being influenced by their white peers noy only to look down on their own elders of color, but also not to identify with them!

Thankfully there are places like DEEcolonize Academy in Deep East Oakland, as part of the landless peoples movement known as Homefulness, that teach eldership, respect, and appreciation for indengenous values as part of its curiculum.

Sadly enough it would seem that the rest of the youth of color are doomed to assimulate into the dominant culture in addition to coming to actually believe in its superiority over ancestral ways.

By briefly looking at widespread trends like crime rates and destruction of the enviroment, we can't help but realize this so-called "superiority" is so far from the truth. These trends are rather an indictment of how horrible and destructive the dominant culture really is.

Our youth of color appear to be doomed to learn the same tired old lies that their ancestors were savages fortunate enough to to be enslaved and conquered so they could become “civilized.”

As one of the greatest revolutinaries and ancestors Malcolm X once stated, “They identify more with their master than they do with their own Black selves....If the master got sick, the house Negro would say, 'What's the matter, boss, we sick?'...If the master's house caught on fire [they] would fight harder to put the blaze out than the master would."

The biggest tragedy of all is they think they are the “master's” peers, and feel no kinship whatsoever to their own forebearers. What will it take to wake these young people up?

Shutting Down the OPD

By Kimo/PNN-RYME Youth Skola, 11years old

I was yelling my voice out. My voice hurt. My head hurt .I lost my voice while saying, “I don't see no riot here, why are you in riot gear?”

I saw a man up on the flagpole and people chaining themselves to the door of the Oakland Police Department . I couldn't believe how some of the cops were smiling about what happened to Micheal Brown,Eric garner,Trayvon Martin,Alan Blueford.

While I was screaming my voice out I heard other people screaming their voices out too and I thought to my self how all of these 100reds of people had to scream to make the world know that so many innocent lives were took-en.

It was hard to think about it, but I felt like I wanted to punch the cops lined up in front of us, but i knew i couldn't. So I kept on using my voice. My voice was dying but I kept on going for all the peoples, for all the lives that were too-ken by the pigs for no reason.

Youth Skolaz from DeeColonize Academy RYME class learn about GentriFUKation and criminalization of us Po peoples of color in North Oakland from Aunti Frances Love Mission Self-Help Hunger Program —

Caption: Mama Warrior DInyal New, who lost both of her Suns to Gun Violence in 2014 speaks and shares at POOR Magazine's  1st Herstoric Community Newsroom at Homefulness

 The Oakland Police Department Shutdown

December 15th, 2014  the Oakland police department (OPD)shutdown for four hours and twenty minutes.
The people who organized it, were from multiple different anti-police-brutality groups like
black out collective and others, They chained themselves to the door of the OPD head quarters at seven in the morning and stayed until eleven twenty when some cops brought in the tactical reinforcement unit and cut through the hard cover of the plastic protecting the chains.

While there, I witnessed  a t least a hundred or more people  protesting, shouting chants, and giving out doughnuts.
 It surprised me how many people chained themselves  and were willing to get arrested for the cause. Me and several other students from decolonize academy joined in about an hour in.

“INDITE, CONVICT, SEND THOSE KILLA COPS TO JAIL! THE WHOLE DAMN SYSTEM, IS GUILTY AS HELL” shouts the crowd,  as they stare the line of cops straight in the eyes.

The feeling of being there, protesting it just gives you that specific rush that you can only get from protests.

-Nadja Mogilewski  
 

"I will not stop until i get justice for my sun and all of our young people, said Frank Alvarado Sr, teacher and father of one of four po'lice shooting victims in Salinas who spoke at the 1st convening of the California Network for Revolutionary Change(CRNRC) spearheaded by Author, Poet Luis Rodriguez, his beautiful partner poet and cultural worker Trini Rodriguez, their sun and revolutionary Ramiro Rodriguez, comrade and revolutionary lawyer Anthony Prince and many more.

For more information on how to get involved in the CRNRC go to http://canetworkforrevolutionarychange.org/

The sound resonated off the pavement like drums in perfect harmony. Boom! boom! The protest was coming. And it was huge.

As I looked up to the sky, I saw police helicopters and big droplets of rain coming toward my face . When I look to my left I see people like me. People who want justice. But the Oakland Police Department were looking like they wanted to stop us from having and getting justice.

It was December 15^th and there were about 3 dozen or more people in the protests supporting the shut down the police department of Oakland,California. We were rallying in front of the OPD because we successfully shut their station down and changed their flag to ours. A flag of all the boys murdered by the police.

“Shut it down for Micheal Brown! ” the protesters chanted finally as we walked away.

Eyes paved
Over

Voter Suppression? or voter gentriFUKation- ?? one after the other states filled with poor and working class peoples of color -have been the victims of very serious bait and switch games with our votes. Couple the theft of peoples votes with the kkkorporate media  lies filling neo-fascist poor wite and working class peoples of all colors with hater-ism towards their fellow poor folks and you have a recipe for a blood-free 21st century wite-supremacist re-colonialonization of the tiny bit of democracy we thought we had in Amerikkka  

From actual voter theft by all kinds of address hustling, to profiling and dropping names off of lists, these few wealth-hoarders and land -stealers are moving like the gangsters in suits they are, landing this huge gaggle of old wite and newer wite people repupublicrats in the senate to control, override and take back any few gains us peoples have made,

But again this doesn't surprise me, there is absolutely no way the wite-supremacists behind the curtain will let this stolen land run any different than they ever envisioned it to since the lie of discovery and the so-called "founding" wite-fathers/land-stealers who created papers and laws and treaties that  say that they own Mama Earth and make the rules that they use against us to this day

And sadly i'm not at all surprised about the theft of our tiny little participation in the so-called democratic system which was built to intentionally incarcerate, mis-educate and confuse us peoples of color and indigenous peoples- Rich people started the theft of 1st Nations territory by using our bodies for profit and destruction. When folks stood up and fought for their/our right to vote in the 50's and 60's, they killed them, beat them, stomped on them and silenced them. Now that we supposedly have the right to vote, they just returned to their old template to steal our votes again through all the channels of information  they run, own and control.    

And for people asking why can't the demicans stand up to the republicrats - because they are the same people. The Demicans are neo-liberal, quietly racist, classist, rich people and the Republicrats are transparently racist, classist rich people.

This is like a pekinese dog fighting a Chihuahua - they are different. but both small and nervous.( NOTE: no disrespect to the dogs who are much better than these robo-humans)

From demican devil-opers and real estate snakes who poured thousands of dollars into fighintg the humble resistance to heavy gentriFUKation in San Francisco known as prop G- so they could continue spekkkulating and gentriFUKing us out of everywhere to the Republicrats in Oregon and Oklahoma who used the hate of us poor families on food stamps to pit us against other poor people who probably qualify for food stamps to win their republicrat offices. 

There are tiny glimmers of poltrickster infiltrations run on small city to city fights like the Green party sweeping Richmond, which according to community organizer Andres Soto, is because of  middle-class Wite people who are conscious voting.

And the anit-fracking win in Denton, Texas which was rooted also in middle-class wite people who are conscious voting( already being heavily fought in the kkkourts before its even official)

But in Oakland we might be left with a gentrifier for Mayor (Libby Schaaf) which is nothing less than frightening for all of us.

So how much middle of the road demican-ness will it take for people to completely give up on the poltrickster system or truly get involved in the fight? Many of us revolutionaries in CalifAztlan are still mourning the loss of Luis Rodriguez in the Gubenatorial race.  I hope this horrible wite supremacist election wakes sum folks up to whats really going on and the necessity of our inclusion, even if only on the local level, in the push back and resistance of this system theft, voter theft and voter gentriFUKation across amerikkka.

Making History: Minkahyup
Will Fight a Thousand Times Over: The Power of a Mother

On October 16th, Minkahyup had their thousandth Thursday protest against the National Security Law and for the release of all political prisoners. On October 22nd, Jeong-Eun Hwang, Stephanie Park, and Dae-Han Song visited Minkahyup to interview its current president Jo, Soon Deok; former president Kim, Jeong Seok; and administrative coordinator Kim, Hyun Joo.
“What was your reaction when you found out your sons were wanted by the police?” I start the interview. Jo, Soon Deok begins, “Mothers usually think, ‘The work [fighting for democracy] needs to be done, but why does it have to be my child?’ I felt the same.” A few months after becoming Student Council President, her son gave a five minute speech at a farmer’s rally in Yeoido Square and on the spot became a fugitive. “When a son or daughter becomes a fugitive the whole family becomes one too. The Gwanak police, the school police - they harass you at home, at work,” continues Jo, Soon Deok.
Both these women are of my mother’s generation. I wonder what my mother’s reaction would be given a similar situation. “You are both a little older than my mother. She is fairly conservative. Were the progressive politics always there or did they emerge from your work?”
Kim, Jeong Sook responds, “Your mother can’t but be conservative. She came from that time. Live as the government tells you to live; don’t do what they tell you not to do. Study hard; go work in a good company; make good money. Marry a good person; have children; live a good life. Those are the desires of a parent.” Her voice becomes tinged with emotion as she recalls the anxiety and distress of those times, “You don’t start coming out to the protests because you understand your child. You come because you are the parent, the mother. But as you come, as you listen to the stories and thoughts of others, you realize, ‘My son did right. How can we just live for ourselves? He is better than his parents: He wants to create a better world for everyone.’ When mothers realize this, they start to get even more active. It begins to matter less whether they ate or got roughed up by police that day.”
Their sons had both been incarcerated and/or been fugitives for a few years; yet Jo, Soon Deok’s Minkahyup activism spans nearly two decades and that of Kim, Jeong Sook’s over two decades. I ask what kept them committed. Kim, Jeong Sook responds, “At first people came out because their child was incarcerated. We came knowing nothing simply because the only people that could understand us and could comfort and console us were the veteran mothers who had experienced this. There was no other place. As we became the veteran mothers, we felt that same obligation towards mothers that were just starting.”
As Kim, Jeong Sook continues, it becomes clear that their work to free their sons became a gateway to a new understanding and engagement with the world. “At first, it was just about getting your child out of prison as soon as possible. And that was important, but we started to realize it was also about building a better world, about abolishing the National Security Law, and releasing the prisoners.”
Kim, Jeong Sook kept stealing glances at the clock. I find out she has to leave soon to pick up her grandson from school. Our interview focuses on her. As an activist, I ask the question I’ve posed to all the activists I’ve interviewed, “What was the hardest thing about the work? How did you overcome it?”
“Back then it was so repressive,” starts Kim, Jeong Sook. Her son became a fugitive in 1989. While the military dictatorship had technically ended with direct elections in 1987, the split in the opposition party allowed Roh Tae Woo, a military leader during the dictatorship, to win the election. “My son was a fugitive for just a year. During that time, he would show up at a press conference, make a statement, and then flee. So many cops were looking for him, that they used to say that if you didn’t have a picture of my son in your pocket, then you weren’t a cop.” Jo, Soon Deok chimes in, “Her son’s was a high profile case. He is the current deputy mayor of Seoul.” For Kim, Jeong Sook, not knowing when or how her son would be caught was her greatest anxiety. She recounts an instance when he fled by getting on a bus. When the bus stopped and the police rushed in, he jumped out the bus window and broke his leg. He was arrested on December 19, 1989 after someone tipped the police of his whereabouts.
She then pans out to the story of countless other mothers. “At that time, they would torture the prisoners. We worried our children were being tortured. When we went to see them, they would always say they weren’t being tortured.” She recounts the story of an overjoyed mother whose son told her he had not been tortured. Later during the trial, the mother fainted at hearing his testimony of torture. He had been tortured by electrocution, water drowning, and whisky bottle. Kim, Jeong Sook recounts the whisky bottle torture, “They would place the prisoner’s penis on the table and hit it with the whisky bottle yelling that he didn’t deserve to have children because he was a criminal. Then they would take turns drinking from the bottle. ” “Now, he’s an Assemblymember for the Democratic Party,” she adds. “I could spend days telling you all these stories.”
Our time is up; I ask her for any last words for readers abroad. “I would like to tell them to not forget what has happened in Korea. All the prisoners of conscience and their families that lived such difficult lives, I hope that they will not forget them and help support us and remember us,” she responds.
I pose the same question of difficult moments and overcoming them to Jo, Soon Deok. She mentions that the hardest time was not her personal experience but that of witnessing the distress of countless others as they ran around protesting in front of police stations and the Agency for National Security Planning (now the National Intelligence Service).
In reference to the previous week’s 1000th protest at Topgol Park, I asked how she felt about it. Many of the speakers that day had mentioned that while sad that the NSL and political prisoners had continued for so long, the protests were nonetheless a testament to the mothers who had persisted for so long.
“In the beginning, we never thought we would have 1000 protests. But because political prisoners and social problems persist, we keep going. It would not have been possible to do the Thursday protests for 21 years without those around us – organizations and individuals – supporting us,” Jo Soon Deok responds.
We move on to Minkahyup’s current demands. Kim, Hyun Joo the Administrative Coordinator answers, “Our demands are the release of all prisoners of conscience and the abolition of the National Security Law.” Minkahyup also engages in various struggles around democracy, prison conditions, and peace in the Korean Peninsula. All the issues are part of a struggle to build a better world. As one of the key organizations against the National Security Law, Kim, Hyun Joo gives us a brief overview of the National Security Law and the struggle against it. She recounts its origins from a Japanese Colonial law used to capture and oppress independence fighters. On December 1st, 1948, it became a Korean law under its current name. While we were talking, Jo, Soon Deok slipped out and came back with an old photo. Kim, Hyun Joo notices and mentions, “That’s a picture of our annual funeral for the National Security Law in December 1st, 1998.” Every December 1st, social movements gather to call for the abolition of the National Security Law, thus celebrating not its birth but future demise.

The use of the National Security Law had peaked in 1996 with the Yonsei University Uprising. The Korean Confederation of Student Councils was labeled an enemy of the state, and many of its student activists became fugitives and were arrested under the NSL. When Kim Dae Jung came into office in 1998, the NSL persisted, but many of the accused were pardoned and the number of incarcerations under the NSL drastically dropped. Then in 2004, President Roh Moo Hyun stated he would put the NSL in a museum as it was outdated. This inspired massive mobilizations in civil society to get the NSL abolished. A thousand people fasted for its abolishment in Yeoido Park (near the National Assembly). Yet, the growing protests and mobilizations sparked a backlash from conservative groups. Kim, Hyun Joo recalls, “The conservative groups argued, ‘If the NSL is abolished, how are you going to lock up a person that goes out to Yeoido waving the North Korean flag and yelling long live Kim Il Sung?’ My response is: ‘So what?’ When Obama comes to Korea, aren’t there people outside waving US flags and saying long live Obama? How is that any different?” Ultimately, the NSL failed to be abolished or even reformed. Nonetheless, it was rarely used under Roh Moo Hyun. It was only after the conservatives came back into power with Lee Myung Bak’s election that the NSL began to be used to investigate, prosecute, and convict people. It continues to be so used under the conservative Park Geun Hye administration.

Currently, the NSL discussion has taken a backburner since 2004 because there were so many other struggles like the Ssanyong Auto Workers Struggle, or the Yongsan Eviction Tragedy. The NSL struggle never reached the peak it did in 2004. Minkahyup, Alliance to Abolish the National Security Law, Human Rights Groups, or the Korea Alliance of Progressive Movements – we keep holding protests every December 1st calling for the abolishment of the NSL.

Currently, conservative groups are trying to introduce legislation that would confiscate property and mete out harsher punishment against those that join organizations deemed enemies of the state. While individuals can be arrested, the NSL cannot disband these groups. So, other people can still join the organizations. So, the Saenuri Party introduced these types of legislation where property would be confiscated or there would be harsher punishment if you joined such illegal organizations. We have managed to keep this legislation from being introduced in the National Assembly.

I wonder at the survival of such vestige from Japanese colonialism and the Cold War, “What would it take for the NSL to be abolished?” Kim, Hyun Joo explains that the NSL is linked to inter-Korean relations. She elaborates, “When inter-Korean relations are better, when we view each other as partners in reunification and cooperation, then the National Security Law loses significance. Back when hundreds a day would visit Mount Geumgang - when exchange was very active - all of those were infractions of the NSL; yet, so many people were doing it, that the NSL dissipated from the hearts of people. But now when inter-Korean relations are bad, and the government has a policy of pressuring North Korea. We start to think, ‘If I say anything nice about the North Korean government, will I be violating the National Security Law? And so they self-censor.’ Roh Moo Hyun’s statement about abolishing the NSL in 2004 had only been possible because there had been a policy of engagement and reunification since Kim Dae Jung’s presidency because the Mount Geumgang tours were happening, because the exchange was very active. So the struggles for improving inter-Korean relations and for abolishment of the NSL are interconnected.

As we wind down our interview, Jo, Seong Deok has the last word, “I hope that the NSL is abolished, that there will no longer be any political prisoners, and that we no longer have to have the Thursday protests.”
‘Till that day.

Krip-Hop Nation (KHN):  As a disabled activist/artist & founder of Krip-Hop Nation, I am totally interested in your 2011 documentary, All I Wanna Do, but first talk about your background as a film maker. 

Michelle Medina: I got into documentary filmmaking at Smith College and went my junior year abroad to Morocco which is where I returned on a Fulbright Fellowship after graduation and started my first short documentaries about motherhood, women, Judaism, Morocco and Islam. Most of my friends and my daughter's father is a rapper so hip hop music and artists were all around me. I wanted to make a film about this scene but the artists had such large images to protect that I decided to wait on making any documentary. My daughter's father, told me that the man who worked on the street was a rapper and an interesting man. I went and spoke to him and he told me he wrote lyrics and rhythms and was inspired by the Beattles of Morocco called Nass El Ghiwane. I went to visit his father and met his son who was a big fan of one of Morocco's most famous rappers, Don Bigg. The family was kind and seemed to represent the majority of urban Casablanca and what more, they knew all the Moroccan hip hop artists. If I wanted to discover Moroccan hip hop, who better to tell me the story than their fans who were also amateur writers and artists themselves. So I began filming my first feature documentary, All I Wanna Do. 

KHN: Do you think films can help change public view about certain people, communities & help to create change? If so how has your film change society in Casablanca especially the music industry? 

Michelle Medina:  I think film and images can most certainly change people's minds. I am a fan of documentary because I never forget the people I meet in a film that is based on a moment with real people. I have changed radically my own world view because of places I have been, people I have filmed, and films and documentaries that I have seen. That is partly why I do it. To reflect life and change our reality for the better which for me is a more peaceful and creative world. 

My film was made for a Moroccan audience here. It was not meant to go around the world as it has but of all the prizes it has one the two from Morocco mean the most because they were given with lots of affection and pride. 

KHN: Tell me how did this story of a father and his disabled son becoming a Hip-Hop group? 

Michelle Medina: They were budding rap artists and very shy about it but talking about how much they wanted to make an album. I asked if they would let us film them as they made an album with our help and backing because we also wanted to see how an artist in Morocco even managed to get to the radio and was it possible to live off of that. So they agreed and formed a band named "Jumerah" which means burning coals. They started the process of recording an album and learned how even if they had never been to a studio before. It was very amazing to see the transformation they went through on this expedition. 

KHN: As Founder of Krip-Hop Nation, I’m very interested on how Hip-Hop artists with disability are treated all over the world. If you know can you give us some insight about disability & Hip-Hop in Casablanca, Morocco? 

Michelle Medina: In Morocco, disability is seen as a hardship because it is very hard especially if you are coming from a poorer family. On a governmental level more should and must be done. People with disabilities here don't get the same advantages as elsewhere. A lot of people with disabilities can be found begging in the street here especially near where I live in Casablanca. For the lucky ones from families that can afford the care it's better but not by much. That is not to say that there is hate towards the disabled. There is a lot of concern and love. When Ayoub is seen on screen and met in life people adore him and treat him with such dignity. It put me to shame that in America that kind of human interaction would probably not happen at all. What I find shocking more than poverty and lack of resources in Morocco, is the hate in the States that exists for no valid reason just seemly here for free. 

What I discovered in the distribution of my film was that disabled folks are treated not very kindly or with much respect in the States. When I submitted my film I once got an earful from a program director from a major and well respected festival in Brooklyn that posted on Facebook that: 

"Just because someone is missing a limb or a tongue or an eye or an ear or is somehow handicapped or sort of elderly, that doesn't mean that you should make a documentary about how they still like to do normal stuff like dance or fuck or tag or play bocce..."Yeah, put that shit in you "What Not to Doc". 

His friend followed up with: "Little people and speech impediments excluded." 

The program director answered: "I am confused. You want to watch a short film about a man who has a lisp who plays bocce? That doesn't sound that awesome to me." 

The thread followed with demeaning remarks for those with handicaps as if they were a joke. That of course was the year I submitted my film "All I Wanna Do" and there weren't many with handicapped issues that year, as every year there isn't that many. It struck me as hateful and angry but about what? I never got that sort of angry reception from Moroccan audiences before or since.

KHN: The music industry especially Hip-Hop is not to friendly toward musicians/Hip-Hop artists with disabilities.. In the film do we see how the music industry in Morocco react toward the son & father? 

Michelle Medina: Well, the only people that set limits on Ayoub for his disability was one radio jockey. He unloaded all his baggage on him On air. The radio jockey said all sorts of inappropriate things we didn't even add to the documentary because it was so abusive but the little we did include was how he asked Ayoub if he feels different because of his disability. Ayoubs father interjected to say, "Ayoub can jump higher and Ayoub can rap louder and Ayoub is complete." It was a strong moment as was the time when the disk jockey said that I shouldn't be making the film because it was going to give them hope to dream in a country without possibility. I was once told the same that I shouldn't reach or dream because I wasn't worth it but I did. This might not be their career but if it makes them feel valuable then that's all we could have hoped for but to say you can't is demeaning.

KHN: I love that is a father & son movie because here in the US you barely see a disabled son &father movie especially people of color. Tell us why you chose these two main characters? 

Michelle Medina: I guess you are right, I didn't think about that from an American perspective. They are unusual even for Moroccan standards primarily because the father supports his son's dreams and they are truly friends.  Mohamed's love for his son led him to join in on his son's passion for music and this is where they found a way to express their opinions and struggles and to bond. The main reason I chose these two individuals was because their social situation and their sentiments on life seemed to tell the story of many people in Morocco and yet they as people are really so truly unique. Mohamed forged a connection with his son built on mutual respect and sharing. He is a remarkable father and they are exceptional by all standards. Many men in the filming commented on the relationship with envy and admiration saying they wish they had the same with their fathers who most likely said to them that music was a waste of time. 

The songs they wrote were interesting beyond just their aesthetics. One was a song about alcoholism and family violence and was insightful. They didn't hide anything. Another song was about his love for his country and another about respect for all the work of their mothers and the women that make up their lives. They were very profound and simple. 

If I had once thought about making a documentary about rap and interviewing rap groups, after meeting Mohamed and Ayoub it was clear I was going to be filming almost exclusively just them. In them I could learn about other Moroccan rappers and also discover Morocco through their vision of life. 

KHN: What is the political realities in North Africa & has those realities made it into the film? 

Michelle Medina: The political realities for a citizen of the MENA region is difficult and Morocco is considered one of the best in regards to human rights and development. However for a regular joe that doesn't have connections, doesn't know someone in power or enough people at companies, there is no chance that you can hope to get a job that pays enough to be considered middle class. So one is usually going to continue in their fathers footsteps and stay at that level and many cases worse. That can discouraging and also painful because when you can't eat well or take care of yourself that is harsh. Public education is lacking, religion is enforced by the state, things that you might take for granted in the USA like ambulance services or a 911 emergency line is just a dream here. If you have an accident and it's critical, prayer is about all you have got and we joke here that we must have a higher power always hanging over Morocco because we are by and large still here. So for an average Moroccan they can't leave easily, they can't get an education or a job easily, they can't do a list of things by religion and society, well that has a discouraging effect on people and it kills your hopes and dreams. People at an early age are expected to be "realistic" which is a word I hate because it often is meant to mean "think less do less" because not only will nothing come from hope but you aren't worthy of it. These feelings are for me the root of the Arab Spring and those realities were expressed in this film right before the MENA region blew up.

KHN: What was your research that you did for this film & do you like Hip-Hop? 

Michelle Medina: I love hip hop I have been a fan since I moved to America at the time when Tupac was at the top of the rap charts. When I came to Morocco, I found myself intrigued that although hip hop is such an urban American musical form it seemed to connect to Moroccan teenage boys in the city and in some spaces to women and to people in the countryside. It was something people loved or hated and it seemed to connect to certain individuals that I found to be on the margins of society or felt like they identified with the margins and needed a space to voice rage or despair or ask questions. I immersed myself into the hip hop music scene in Casablanca and interviewed and spoke with as many musicians, fans, DJs and concert organizers as possible to learn what their challenges were and the culture. There are few outlets to perform let a lone earn a living from it. 

KHN: Tell us about the son character’s real life. 

Michelle Medina: Ayoub was born without a part of his leg. In the context of Morocco, there are many families that feel the need to give up their children to the street in hopes that someone with an organization might adopt them. Ayoubs parents are of very modest means and they embraced him and encouraged him and took such delight in celebrating their boy. They were a couple that married for love and it shows. Many do marry for love, I don't want to make it sound like that never happens but for many many people, love is a luxury. There are many decisions to be made and discussions to be had by the very wealthy and the modest before a marriage takes place and a proposal gets filtered through many different priorities that are dependent on your education, family upbringing, exposure to the world and on how one is perceived in the larger societal network. It is a great luxury to make that major life decision with the least amount of interference. But it's not that easy or simple in most places in the world but thankfully Mohamed and his wife were lucky enough to fall in love and get married and remain a loving supportive couple with their three children. 

In Morocco there is also still no publicly funded governmental agency to house and educate orphans. If Ayoub had be born to another family there is a great possibility that he could have been left on the street like countless other orphans. When I interviewed people that run private orphanages they told me that most children that come to them have special needs of some sort. Ayoub's parents registered him in every possible government program available to educate and help their son. Ayoub became quite the star of PR campaigns and was discovered and recruited to act in many Hollywood films that were set in Afghanistan or Iraq but filmed in Morocco. In so many ways, Ayoub thrived and his work as an actor made him feel worthy and meaningful. In the film we talk about a moment in his film work where he thought he might have the chance to go and film a scene in LA and when that didn't work out he went through a difficult time and felt lost. However despite this he has no shame in himself thanks to his wonderful parents. He plays soccer, he bikes, he is athletic and gets into trouble like a lot of teenagers his age but the feeling I got from his father and family was that what made him special was that he didn't let others' beliefs stop him from living fully. His parents admired him, looked up to him really. He is everything you hope for in a son. 

KHN: Being a woman filmmaker doing a film about Hip-Hop what kind of reactions you get in Morocco compare to the US? 

Michelle Medina: Such a good question! The politics of space. I am a woman and although I am on the starving artist end in America, I am a privileged woman to many eyes here in Morocco. Also hip hop is such a 'masculine' space in its sometimes performative tropes of masculinity. Despite all of that I did manage to educate myself on the Moroccan scene and I can't remember a single time me being a woman was a problem in how anyone treated me as a person. I was more respected by Moroccans in general as a filmmaker then I ever have been while working with Western men where I found a lot of sabotage and out right disrespect. In the filming process, there were moments when I knew I would have to back off and let my male assistant come in to ask some of the harder more personal questions to the men, some of whom were older. Without explaining or defending that, I do have to say I understand that there will be moments when we need to talk amongst ourselves, whatever that may be to express things in a safe space. I felt no hesitation to get out of the way if it meant a better more honest climate.   

KHN: Has the disabled community/organizations in Morocco embrace this film & how did you reach out to this community? 

Michelle Medina: Actually the disabled community is more like a government run building and this wasn't something they were very interested in.  However the documentary was featured on national government run TV in Morocco so it undoubtedly was seen by the maximum available population. The viewers sent in really positive social media feedback.

KHN: I do workshops about music & disability. How would you like educators & culture workers use this film in their classrooms, in the community & at home and what are the main messages you want viewers to leave with? 

Michelle Medina:  It's not until half way that you can see in full view that Ayoub has crutches. This was not done on purpose but worked out well because the audience has come to see Ayoub already in a different way by the time they see the first scene with this crutches. It's then it is immediately discussed by all the members of his family and himself. I think one lives with people in documentaries and if I could give my version and vision of things and it helps open up the discussion I would be very happy for that. I don't know enough to guide educators like yourself about how to use the film within the disabled community, but I would be so happy to know of the feedback from its use. The main message of the film for viewers is the same for every film. I want people to find themselves in these stories and to connect to people in far away places that we aren't supposed to know or care about. A lot of what we see in the media are quick little stereotypes of what we already know. Just looking at the news these days the summary is people in the MENA region are savages, both the Jews/Israelis and Arabs/Muslims. It's depressing as I have been to all of these places and have friends in every part of the conflict and region and I see one thing on TV and another in reality. No one is a savage and if we buy into any narrative that attests to that no matter if its right or left, it goes against reality and humanity. It's easy to be extreme it's difficult to be balanced and in my documentaries I expose myself and offer up an vision of a life in the hopes to communicate and convey all the beauty I see in so many places and people. 

KHN: What are the father & son doing these days since the movie has been out there? 

Michelle Medina: The father refused to work anywhere else other then where he is now with the people of the community and Ayoub is still writing music and started working.

KHN: Do you think Hip-Hop & Hip-Hop culture in Morocco & word-wide has embrace people with disabilities? 

Michelle Medina: I hope so. I know they embraced Ayoub easily. I don't know about the Western world, I think that will be a more harder challenge because disabilities are looked down upon and masculinity is still so narrowly defined in the West. 

KHN: Will you continue to make films with a disabled character? 

Michelle Medina: Yes. I haven't any plans to do a film about it at the moment but my next film has a character that does have a disability. 

KHN: Thank you so much! How can people stay in contact with you? 

Michelle Medina: www.michellemedinafilm.com

KHN: Any last words? 

Michelle Medina: I think I spoke already so much, but thank you for being patient with me.