As someone who once lived in substandard constructed Section-8 project-based housing in Berkeley, California for six years, I can assure you that all so-called ‘affordable housing’ built and/or refurbished with HUD (U.S. Government Housing for Urban Development) funding for low-income communities was built with many corners being cut in order to meet the limited financial budget of the HUD funding building subsidy. This is true of the ‘Library Gardens’ apartment complex in Berkeley which was actually built in 2003, where 12 years later on June 16, 2015, thirteen J-1 Visa summer work program young adults from Ireland would tragically fall, six of them to their untimely deaths and seven of them seriously injured, from a faulty balcony. It collapsed as a result of substandard low-budget HUD funded faulty construction.

What the mainstream media is failing to tell everyone is that the Library Gardens apartment complex in Berkeley was first built in 2003, not in 2006.  How do I know this?  Well…  In 2003, I was a full-time student attending Vista Community College, which today is known as Berkeley City College, working on my Associate’s Degree in Multimedia Digital Imaging. There were many other students in my class like myself who were low-income and during this time, several of them were trying to get into affordable housing at Library Gardens as during this time, Library Gardens was being built to be project-based low-income affordable housing, not market rate housing.  

This part of Library Garden’s initial history to how it was built and funded has been intentionally kept out of the mainstream media, away from the public ear, therefore the truth has not been told about its history of when it was built.  Mysteriously, sometime between 2004 and 2006, Library Gardens silently changed hands of ownership without any public input nor notification of any sort after it had sat dormant for a couple of years until a new owner quietly acquired it.  Almost immediately, this new owner would rent to primarily market rate paying tenants and students only.

However, Library Gardens had been initially ‘quickly’ built with a HUD funded cheap, substandard construction materials with many ‘short-cuts’ made in the overall construction work to stay within its tight budget, including a low-bid construction contract with Segue Construction who has a track record for faulty construction practices, which in turn would later render multiple problems with Library Gardens, as it was initially built for low-income communities. It’s obvious that the City of Berkeley in its entirety had intentionally turned the other way on this issue, failing to research Segue Construction’s bad history of multiple problems with their construction of balconies at other properties, but then again…this apartment complex (Library Gardens) was being built for poor communities, right?

Unfortunately in 2006, after Library Gardens was bought by an out-of-state real estate developer with offices based out of both Delaware and New Jersey, calling themselves Library Gardens LLC Delaware and Library Gardens International and California (I am unable to now find their contact information online since the balcony collapse incident), with the property being managed by Texas based Greystar Real Estate Management, who specializes in renting properties at top dollar to starving students in college towns across the United States, nearly all of the rental units turned into market rate units.  Eventually, Library Gardens rental prices skyrocketed with a two-bedroom/1-bath costing $3,600.00 a month for 719 sq. ft. which forced many struggling young college students, including visiting J-1 visa international students to bunk up in these cramped over-priced apartments in large numbers due to the extremely high rent.

Since 2006, there has been minimal construction maintenance work and inspection done on the Library Gardens property although there were multiple complaints about structural problems from the tenants over the years with no inspections made on the balconies. The balconies were cheaply made with substandard construction and building materials, including the lack of waterproofing the structure around the balcony areas of the apartment complex.  

In all truth, this unfortunate tragedy could have been avoided by all means.  And, the fact that the property was virtually ‘flipped’ to become a ‘for profit’ apartment complex after remaining dormant for 1-2 years was intentional so that it would no longer be mandated to remain primarily low-income affordable housing, instead turned for profit despite the low-budget construction which would result to the balcony collapse tragedy for these young Irish J-1 visa students who most likely come from working-class families.  

And on top of that, I can only imagine that nobody has really stepped out to ensure that those young adults from Ireland who came to the U.S. on J-1 visas affected by this horrible and preventable tragic incident were informed about the ‘HealthPAC’ Medi-CAL program in Alameda County (Berkeley is in Alameda County), which is a low-cost/free State run medical insurance program made specifically for immigrants/undocumented immigrants in the United States. This could surely help those injured and their families who have been adversely affected by this tragedy to avoid being faced with astronomical medical bills for being a victim of some big real estate conglomerate’s excessive greed and neglectful practice.

Yet, let’s not forget that this apartment complex ‘Library Gardens’ was originally built for low-income communities, which only tells me as someone who once resided for six years in an apartment complex in Berkeley that also had multiple structural problems due to HUD budget cutting limitations, that our lives don’t matter as these contractual privatized real estate developers don’t truly care about our overall well-being. Instead they are only out to grab government subsidized funding from HUD to build their property development for ‘cheap’ just to later, ‘flip’ the property for a huge profit after getting rid of the low-income tenants through a ‘new owner’ along with new bogus rental contracts that include discriminatory policies intentionally designed to disqualify us.  However, in the case of Library Gardens, this horrible balcony collapsing incident has truly shed light upon the frivolous and wrongful practices in which big money real estate developers are partaking in, their lies in disguise and how we in the end pay the ‘price’.

BUENO escribi sobre mi vida.

[Scroll down for English]

Mi nombre es Teresa C.

Mis padres: Beatriz Bautista Lerdo,

Mauro Cortes Rosas.

El verir a USA me cambio la vida. Trabajo, en salubridad en el estado de Puebla , pue., y tenia una cita para trabajar en la camara de sensdores, para el (P.R.D.) vine a trabajar cuidando niños y me pagarian $1500.00. Y fue mentrira pues trabajarba 24 hrs. Y con $450.00 al mes. Eran 2 niños. Una niña de 3 años y un niño recien nacido. Al paso del tiempo., no me gustaba, pues llege en Abril (13 abril 1997) llego la epoca de lluvia y dias grises, 12 hras continuas, muy aburridas, y extraño mi vida, Y despues de 7 meses cuidaba 12 niños de todas las edades y las otras familias me pagaban 1 dollar por dia y era muy cansado y le dije a la familia que no trabajaba mas. Ellos dijeron no pues si te vas me tienes que pagar $3500. El me dijo: si ves este frasco, todos estos Tickets son lo que tu me debes. Cuando yo le pregunte cuando llege aqui: Cuanto te debo y el dijo luego hacemos cuentas. Entonces me dijo si ya no quieres trabajar aqui, tienes que pagarme. Entonces hicimos cuentas; 1 año de 400x12=4800 y el tenia mas dimero de lo que a mi me pagaron.

ALRIGHT. I’m going to write about my life.

My name is Teresa C.

My Parents are Beatriz Bautista Lerdo and Mauro Cortes Rosas.

   Coming to the U.S changed my life. I worked in health care in the state of Puebla but I had an interview to work for the chamber of senators for the PRD. I came here to work as a nanny, caring for children with a promised wage of 1,500 dollars a month. It was a lie. I worked 24 hours with a monthly pay of $450. I cared for two children: a 3 year old girl and a new born boy. In time, I didn’t like it. It was April 13^th, 1997, a time of rain and gloom. Twelve boring, continuous hours back to back. I missed my life! After 7 months, I was watching 12 children of all ages and the families only paid me a dollar a day. I was exhausted, so I told them I wasn’t going to work for them anymore. I was then told that if I left, I would have to pay them $3,500 dollars. “You see that dish, and all of those tickets? This is what you owe me,” they said.

When I first arrived, I asked them: “How much do I owe you?”

                                                              “Later, we’ll do the math,” they would answer.

  Once again, I was reminded, “If you no longer want to work here, you need to pay.” So we did the math: 1 year and 400 dollars X 12= 4,800. They ended up with more money than what I earned the entire year.

Translated and co-edited by Laura Cedillo

July 14, 2015

I suppose I should just resign myself to being emotionally abused by my new doctor
or to find another one.

The onslaught continues in the emotional tug of war between me ascertaining my rights and her attempting to impose her will over me.

My doctor continues to attempt to interrogate and cross examine me rather than advise and offer me words of encouragement. Case in point occured during my most recent office visit to Tenderloin Healthcare formerly known as Glide Health Services. I far exceeded my health goal of walking more. I also joined a gym. I routinely put in excess of 2 hours a day in the gym not just a couple of times a week but about everyday, taking an occasional day off only because I know my back will give out if I don't. My walks are not just around the block but rather up and down some of the steepest hills the city has to offer. My diet, although it's not perfect, has been trimmed of many of the bad food items and they have been replaced with healthier alternatives. True enough, I admit that I'm eating more but it's due mainly to my increased physical activity.

Rather than congratulate me and encourage me to keep up the good work she just tells me unnecessary and unwanted things like, "If you need me to write a letter to the Y to get a discount, I can do that." Why would that be necessary if I joined a gym?

According to my chart I gained 2 lbs, but rather than thinking that maybe the best plan of action is doing a body mass index [bmi], she says, "well it looks like you gained 2 lbs. so you're right back where you were. I would advise you to watch what you eat so you can lose weight." Why would she say this when she knows that my diet is cheifly dictated by food pantries and soup kitchens?
Could it be that I gained 2 lbs or more of muscle and lost some fat?

When I told her I'm peeing more because I'm drinking more tea she asked, "Is it sweetened tea?"
I feel like she is constantly trying to catch me in a lie so she can prove how right she is. If she bothered listening to me she would know I know a great deal about nutrition and exercise and have been applying it.

                                                         THANKS

Daca

[Scroll down for English]

Por Blanca

Alto al daca..............

hola soy una mujer migrante que se encuentra frustrada a raiz de esta notcia el dia de hoy un juez del estado de Texas detiene el DACA una ley que faborese a jovenes y adultos imigrantes que tienen una vida hecha en este pais que buscan el anelado sueno americano y que por personas con complejos estupidos y racismo que piensan que migran a este pais bienen a robar o a quitarles los trabajos....... Bueno espero que tengan en mente que estados unidos es una nacion formada de inmigrantes de los cuales muchos fueron y siguen siendo abusados.... MI ejemplo soy enfermera y aqui no puedo ejercer mi profecion e trabajado de mil cosas menos de lo que estudie y me gusta ser que era ayudar a las personas …....

DACA

by Blanca

Enough with DACA…

 Hello, I am a migrant woman who finds herself frustrated and the root of it is today’s news;      A judge in the state of Texas has declined the new DACA law- Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This law favors youth and immigrant adults that already have it made in this country; and those in search of the aspired American dream. Because of people who have the complex issue of being stupid, racist, and think that those who migrate to this country are here to steal and take their jobs, the ruling was declined. I’ll use myself as an example: I am a nurse and I can’t practice my profession. In this country, I have worked doing thousands of things except what I studied for. I would like to be who I used to be… I would like to help people. Well, I hope that they have in mind that the United States was a nation formed by immigrants in which many were abused and still continue to be.

Translated and co-edited by Laura Cedillo

No doubt you've heard the old saying "if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is."

But even the best of us have been caught off guard by a slick talker or something that appears to be on the level.

Let's face it, it's human nature to want something for little or no effort. And that's exactly what con artists, flim flam men and online schemes count on.

Whether it's a scheme to cash a check, the the old bait and switch [the shell game or 3 card Monte] or an online scheme it all ends the same. They give you nothing and you lose money.

Recently I fell for it in the form of an online scheme that claimed I would get a free I-Pad just by answering a few survey questions. This particular scheme that got me was a variation of the pyramid scheme where they ask you to complete a series of seemingly harmless task to build your confidence and trust. It began with me first responding to a link on Facebook that got my name and other personal information with the promise of free samples and even money for answering "paid surveys."

I began receiving E-mails from various companies offering me free samples or money to answer surveys. I even got some free samples of some items.

Then an offer came along to get a free I-Pad so I jumped on the opportunity being that my PC is a world of problems these days and the many hardships of using second party computers to due the many task that the digital age has forced on us all.

So I began answering the survey and started noticing that there were "special offers" that I would be billed for later or would only cost a few dollars and I could cancel at any time. I answered an ad from a company called Eagle Moss that promised to send me a $1 silicone muffin tin just for joining their club and would receive more items that i could return.

Within the same "Survey" another company "free shipping .com" offered me free shipping for some items bought online [little did I know Eagle Moss offered free shipping]  for a non-refundable $12.95. I figured why not, I'm getting a free I-Pad right?

As the various companies and offerers were made I realized they were all asking for small amounts of money using my debit or credit so I decided eventually they would add up to more than the cost of an I-Pad.

When I received the baking cups from Eagle Moss and saw how shabby they were I decided to cancel and get my money back. When I contacted them they told me it only cost me a dollar and since I opened it it would cost more than what I spent.

Then my account got an overdraft fee so I went to the bank and inquired. I was told I was being charged by Eagle Moss so I contacted them again and they told me a package had been shipped out before I canceled so I should just write return to sender on it and bring it back to the post office. I got another over draft fee, so again I called them and was told it could take 7-10 business day's for them to receive it.

After 14 business days passed I called them once again and was told they would refund my money but it could take 3-5 business days. It took about 3, but I still got the overdraft charges. And even though I canceled the shipping .com account it was not refunded. Don't let this happen to you. All that glitters is not gold or a shiny new I-Pad !

Decolonewz-

a quarterly revolutionary, multi-generational newspaper 4 the BlackArthur Neighborhood and all of Mama Earth- a project of POOR Magazine, Homefulness & Decolonize Academy Skool

Two Issues Available so far:

Volume #1 The Gentrification Issue- 

Volume #2 Climate Change= Mama Earth's Destruction (Back cover of the issue by artist Anthony Sul is shown in the picture-other  artists and poets include Dee Allen, Thomas Greyeyes and Kehkoli Cheif

Copies of the paper are available to pick up at POOR Magazine on tuesdays or thursdays- 12-6pm

Or by mail at 8032 MacArthur Bl Oakland, Ca 94605

Submission Guidelines:

Attend at least one session of the indigenous news-making circle at POOR Magazine called Community Newsroom - meets the 1st Tuesday of every month at 6pm (or mail stories, poems, art in on issues of poverty, racism, gentrification, climate change,education, incarceration, liberation - no guarantee we will be able to publish them)

Decolonewz and POOR Magazine NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!!! Please consider placing ads, or buying bulk copies for your family , community or establishment-or becoming a monthly sustainer to POOR Magazine cuz we are in fack Po'-  Make all checks payable to POOR Magazine- 8032 Macarthur Bl Oakland, Ca 94605 or go-on-line to this link to make a one-time donation or purchase by paypal - put in the "notes" that its for Decolonewz- 

 Poor Magazine youth and adult poverty skolas and reporters are reporting and supporting on the Social Forum in San Jose

“ The only way their lives are devalued is if we don’t carry the torch for them,” said San Jose councilmember Ash Kalra during his speech at the Social Forum in San Jose, California on June 24, 2015.

I had the privilege of attending the Social Forum and the environment was like no other. Seeing all these people coming together to help create change not only for their communities but for the whole world was very inspirational.

Especially from my point of view it helped open my eyes to situations going on in my life that I never realized before. It made me think about all the people I have lost throughout my life and it wasn’t even their time to go.

It made me reflect on how as a pacific islander and an indigenous woman of color it may not affect me directly but oppression is still happening and I can’t leave my comrades to fight this struggle alone. I must stand with them and help them fight these injustices.

I also had the honor of interviewing Sandy Perry who is a part of the Community Homeless Alliance Ministry and Affordable Housing Networks organization.

He felt the need to be present at the forum because it gives people a chance to network around the Bay Area and  work together.

“The figures don’t mean anything because people are still homeless,” says Mr.Perry when the subject of how the percentage of homeless people have gone down was brought to his attention.

He also adds that it doesn’t matter if there’s an increase or decrease in the percentages because at the end of the day people are still homeless and being oppressed.

“We didn’t need a flag to tell us the history of racism and oppression in our country,” says councilmember Ash Kalra at the conclusion of his speech.

We are imperfect human beings so none of us are going to create change on our own and the reality is that to create a movement takes a lot of energy, but when we all come together the energy force is more powerful than ever.

While Ellis Act reform was being voted on in Sacramento for the second time, you probably were unaware of the recent passing of two seniors whose lives were profoundly affected by the law.

North Beach resident Elaine Turner, 78, died March 11^th, and Daly City resident Ron Lickers, 69, died February 19^th, 2015. Elaine had lived in her North Beach flat for more than 30 years while Ron had lived with his family in Daly City, having been forced out of SF through an Ellis Act eviction two years ago.

Both people’s lives were disrupted and thrown into chaos by the Ellis Act —one of the many tools landlords and speculators use in their arsenal to prey upon and extricate seniors and people with disabilities from their long-term rent-controlled homes, destroying the fragile fabric of their lives.

Both Elaine and Ron were valuable members of their communities. Elaine loved her North Beach home. She loved the smell of North Beach that emanated from the bakeries, cafes, the markets—all close together—in a cluster of faces and comings and goings, accentuated with voices whose words were stained with the broken English of Italian thoughts and Chinese thoughts, which were complete thoughts that were often articulated in a mere gesture, forming an unbreakable bond of communication and recognition that can only be described as true community.

She loved the hills and the music that rose from the rooftops of the houses of the working-class immigrants of the past who built them. She loved to dress up, and she never divulged her age because she didn’t have to—she was timeless. She loved singing and acting. The fragrance of her life was kept in drawers, closets, jars, pictures, paintings, notes, and those timeless and beautiful things were renewed as the sun rose and the scent of Elaine’s life flowed through the curtains and spread over the landscape and settled into the heart of North Beach.

Ron Lickers was a Native American. He was a son of the Seneca nation. He was an organizer and educator who was involved in the Bay Area Native community. As a young man, he was one of the organizers of the occupation of Alcatraz and was involved in the fight for the establishment of ethnic studies as San Francisco State College in the 1960s.

After the eviction was served on Elaine, her health began to deteriorate. “Where will I go?” she asked, terrified of what lie ahead—including the possibility of homelessness, the possibility of moving to another location without friends and community, or the hopelessness of housing waiting lists whose waits can take years.

Insecurity is terrifying for seniors whose lives are a fragile, delicate and complicated network of appointments, doctors, providers, and transportation that offers, after years of routine, a semblance of stability that is shattered under the cruel stress of eviction.

Ron had a disability as a result of a job-related accident. He was a union worker, employed by Sign and Display local 510 for many years. He lived with his wife and daughter. After they were evicted from their San Francisco home through the Ellis act, his health spiraled downward — as did the health of his wife. He suffered from multiple health issues that culminated in a series of strokes. He had received relocation money as part of the eviction, but that money ran out, leaving Ron and his family in a constant state of duress. As bad as his health had become, he still fought for Ellis act reform, going to Sacramento as part of a contingent of tenants testifying in support of Senator Mark Leno’s Ellis Act reform bill that eventually failed in committee last year.

Leno has reintroduced legislation to reform the Ellis Act. Senate bill 364 would make it illegal to invoke an Ellis Act eviction with buildings whose ownership has changed within five years. The bill was defeated by a 6-5 vote in the state assembly. We are extremely disappointed with the lack of empathy shown by the politicians who voted against this very reasonable, very common sense bill. And we are disgusted by the tactics of the real estate lobby, who shamelessly parade people to hearings under the guise of “property owners,” misrepresenting facts and outright lying to maintain their hunger for profit regardless of who it hurts. The evictions in San Francisco have done so much damage to innocent people—especially seniors looking to live with dignity and stability.

We honor Elaine and Ron’s life, and their fight. Last year POOR Magazine, with the help of attorney Anthony Prince, opened a case of elder abuse with the SF District Attorney’s office against real estate speculators who cause harm to seniors by eviction. In memory of Elaine and Ron and so many more youth, adults and families across the state, 1st nations justice fighters, anti-displacement organizers, houseless organizers, anti-police terror organizers have launched For Rich People Only- 1st Nations, Black, Brown & Poor People Across the State stand together to resistthe apartheidization of California  We will be holding state-wide press conferences and actions on May 7th in Oakland, LA, Vallejo and on May 8th  at the 850 Bryant Street at 10am and then on to City Hall at 12 noon to join the Mission Takes City Hall Action with a visit to the City Attorney's office to pursue child abuse cases against serial evictors of families.

We are collecting stories from people whose health and lives have been adversely affected by eviction. If you are a senior or person with a disability or a family with children who has struggled with eviction and displacement and want to share your story (you can remain anonymous), please contact Senior and Disability action at 415-546-1333. Or you can contact POOR Magazine at 510-435-7500 or email poormag@gmail.com or tony@sdaction.org, or theresa@sdaction.org

Transcription of PNN-TV Interview/Entrevista en texto: (Espanol sigue)

Translation by Vinia R Castro/PNN

PNN-TV: US Social Forum San Jose2015: War ON the Poor Resistor Anthony King. Organizer with CHAM and other power-FUL groups fighting anti-poor people-laws and for tenants rights in the middle of Silicon Valley, San Jose, Northern CalifAztlan.

Anthony King, a revolutionary poverty skola speaks with PNN-TV on the recent attack by Po'Lice and poltricksters of a houseless peoples encampment called "The Jungle" and the situation for poverty skolaz in Silicon Valley

PNN-TV is the broadcast channel of POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE/PoorNewsNetwork (PNN) and is written and produced by poor people in resistance, POOR Magazine is a very grassroots, poor people-led, indigenous people-led arts organization dedicated to providing media, art, education and revolutionary advocacy to youth, adults and elders across Mama Earth.

I am Tyray Taylor reporting from PNN-TV on the case of Freddy Gray. Freddy Gray was a twenty five year old man who was killed by police brutality

Freddy gray was killed in Baltimore. When Mr. Gray was placed inside the police van, he was able to talk. He was upset. And when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk, and he could not breathe.

The reason why this happened is because police always target black and brown young men

My opinion as a young black man in america kkk is that thousands of young people are killed by police brutality all over the world .

A selfie can make
You healthy, wealthy
And wise

Editors Note: Ana is a student-mentee in the Revolutionary Youth Media Education(RYME) summer program at POOR Magazine

“Do not judge by appearances; a rich heart may be under a poor coat.”

People tend to judge others based on their appearances, and we have all been taught that one particular saying that you should never judge a book by its cover. However, none of us seem to abide by the things we say or our own ways of thinking.

What do I mean by this? I'm talking about a little something called “Ugly Laws.” Ugly laws made it illegal for people with “unsightly or disgusting” disabilities to appear in public.

Currently, in Berkeley, California their city council met on June 30th to vote on a proposed law that would basically make it illegal for anyone to lie in or on top of a city owned planters, spread out bedding on the sidewalks between 7am-10pm, urinate or defecate in a public place, etc.

It also regulates the size of the belongings they may carry with them to 16in. By 18in., Bob Offer-Westort from Sidewalks Are For Everyone a.k.a SAFE states, “ It's not the size of a duffel bag...it's ridiculously small...my backpack is bigger than that.”

Many people say that the proposed law will either address problematic street behavior, make a more pleasant place to visit, or further criminalize the homeless.

It's weird how this proposed law somehow connects to pauper laws. Pauper laws were basically English laws that criminalized people for being poor.

It supposedly helps poor people by forcing them into shelters which therefore, helps them gain more profit and coincidentally Berkeley is building more shelters to “help” those in need.

The legislation in Berkeley and the Pauper Laws connect to *Ugly Laws because they build these shelters to keep poor people hidden from the city's eyes because they are an eyesore to look at or be around. Creating more shelters and making sure that there are some in the area assures that poor people are kept off the streets and that people can walk in peace.

Councilwoman Lind Maio states that the ordinances aren't trying to solve homelessness, but about basic, socially acceptable roles and behaviors. This is the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. First we need to act a certain way in public and what's going to be next, we can't breathe or eat a certain way too.

People from the South Pacific also migrate here and when they do come here they can't just rely on family all the time so they end up on the streets and have to go through this type of oppression as well. As a young indigenous pacific islander woman I want to do all I can not only to help my people but other oppressed people of color as well.

Post-script: the City Council meeting of June 30th was shut down by the people who, led by Mama Vivi T of POOR Magazine and hundreds of other angry Berkeley residents yelled SHAME and made it impossible for yet another anti-poor people law to be instituted in this so-called progressive city)

*The Ugly Laws by Susan M. Schweik

"You can make lots of money.” At this moment the skies opened up and I heard every T crossed and I dotted. His mask of deception seemed almost kind and sincere.

Bam. Suddenly the dreary clouds were in my midst. There was no air. I had fell prey to the ugliest of greed. I was kidnapped, trapped, and freedom suddenly had a price. Every night was his delight.

A room with no doors. Here I was kidnapped at the age of 28 in Richmond, CA. not against my will but voluntarily and willingly.

It was one of those things, believing in his dream. I was an opportunist and when he laid his sales pitch I actually believed that moving in with his wife and kids, we /I could live “happily ever after.”

It sounded great the way he explained things to me.

"You can work the night time as the bartender and my wife will work the day time as a bank teller.” He was so convincing.

Days became weeks. The absence of home became overwhelming and besides, there was no love here. It became apparent love did not live here.

Up the dark unfamiliar stairs, on a typical night “on the job,” me and my pimp knock on a small door. The door is opened,

I see darkness and silhouettes of frail bodies shuffling from one dark room to another, there was no light.

"Go in there.” We then are directed to a room where he could begin his pitiful high, as I sat and watched, hoping he would immediately run out of money then we can go home. Thats only if no one come by and owes him a free high. My fingers stayed crossed. Usually by 3am we were free to go.

It was the same every night. He taking my money after work, dragging me around to all his local dope dispensaries, me usually finding him in a sweat of a nod at someones table, them always strangers to me .

Then there came a day when I woke like a slap in my face my consciousness of who I was, who I represent. From the blood of my elders I am that black woman that I am.

"You need to come get me.” One day I woke up and decided to leave. I set up a dramatic exodus using my brother. I called him one morning when I was being guarded by the pimp and the pit bull he used to keep me imprisoned. it was one of those morning he had to go out and get his fix. I called my brother I cave him a innocent role. Not letting him know that I was being held no longer of my choice, I ran down the address and the pitch that would free me.

When I got my butt out that door and was sitting in that car I could see the sky. Because I am a revolutionary and will not be contained.

I had to find my way out. It wasn't that I was out of state and not too far from my family but I had to make sure that I didn't get my family involved in my bullshit. I would never forgive myself if they were harmed because of my ill choices.

This time in my life, being the outlaw that I have always been, I was a renegade prostitute. The thought of a pimp controlling my body and my money was disgraceful. I was determined to run my life.

“Transients and tourists- thats all this town was built for,” my mama said, disgustedly shaking her head at the stream of 20 something white people streaming out of the downtown BART station in San Francisco. I remembered my mamas wise words standing on the steps of 812 Guerrero today to block more evictions by the  21st century colonizers I have affectionately called the gentryTECHnation. Today we are blocking the pending eviction of a disabled elder Becky, yesterday it was limiting thousands of apartments from being turned into an app called Airbnb- the day before it was in North Beach to stop the eviction of 20 elders and tomorrow it will be another 12 in one building. All of these elders, in all this terror, are folks my mama would say walked softly on Mama Earth. The folks who built the City's character but weren't supposed to stay here

Tragically, we didn’t know that being poor in the Bay Area was in some ways even harder than being poor in LA, more po”lice harassment, more nimbyism, more weird hypocritical politically conscious people and even less, if any affordable housing. So after launching and working hard in a micro-business that never really supported us, we ended up in and out of houselessness and finally gentriFUKEd out of Oakland in the first dot-com avalanche of evictions for profit, which landed us in San Francisco, of all dangerous places to be.

It was here in gentriFUKation city that my mama became most angry and clear about the fate of poor folks like us. It was here in this side of Ohlone Land that we knew our days were numbered.

“After my wife died, i was unable to keep working, as soon as i was late on my rent the landlord gave me an eviction notice.” said Richard X, African Descendent elder, poverty skola who panhandled right next to our little unlicensed vendor stand in the financial district. All of us Po’ folks existing on the margins of San Francisco’s capitalist dreams would meet on the streets, collaborating against po’Lice calls  knowing even then in 1999 that it was only a matter of time before people like us would be cleansed out of this town.  A town built to resemble European aristocracy with aspirations to become part of the pseudo -fuedal nation. It was in these street workshops that POOR Magazine was born  

So here we are in 21st century SF - governed by a mayor who offers millions of dollars to rich people and corporations to be here while allowing the mass out-migration of its few remaining Black, Brown and working poor residents  and the eviction of elders and children for profit while turning all the rest of its homes into different forms of tourist hotels and temporary rooms, aka airBNB's.

So what of Becky the disabled elder who is being swept out of her home of decades and Mario, the Italian elder who faces eviction from a trumped up owner move-in out of his North Beach home of several decades and  Ron Lickers the 1st Nations elder and Elaine Turner who died shortly after the trauma of eviction on their bodies and souls? all being swept  out of their homes of decades by the evil hand of the gentryTECHNation, their real estate speculators and their wanna-be beneficiaries In the cases of Becky and all the other tenants fighitng the case to live in their homes at 812 Guererro, its courtesy of Google itself- their lawyer, Jack Halperin

“All the folks who are homeless now walking the streets have stories, I don’t want Becky to become another one of those tragic stories, “ said Claudia Tirado, revolutionary teacher, mama and fellow tenant of 812 Guerrero.

We do have stories, stories of tragedy and near death, constant police harassment , anti-poor people-laws and the loss of home, which more often than not kills us. Just because you don’t hear from us once we are evicted it doesn’t mean we fade away , it just means we have become silenced. Our outcome is too impossible for most people to even hear. 

It is why POOR Magazine helped three brave elders launch elder abuse cases against landlords and speculators who evict for profit with the District Attorney on May 8th and are inviting other elders to join us. It is why we keep telling our untold stories. It is why we connect the dots from this 21st century mass displacement to the 19th century removal and genocide of 1st Nations peoples

“The system doesn’t care about us, and that’s why we need to fight,” said Gloria Esteva, indigenous Oaxacena revolutionary and reportera of POOR Magazine’s Voces de immigrantes en resistancia who stood along-side me and dozens of others in the rain at 6am to block the eviction of Becky.

At 10:50 am on Wednesday we finally got word that there would be no sheriff today for Becky. But the intervention was too late for Ron and Elaine and so many more. And what will it take for the tourist stop that is the 21st century San Francisco to become a city again, with apartments, and houses and working peoples and thriving communities of color? This poverty skola hopes that there will be never be a sheriff coming for Becky, or Mary or Theresa, or any of us.

--

Editors Note: Heidy is a student-mentee in the Revolutionary Youth Media Education(RYME) summer program at POOR Magazine

The Ugly Laws In The 21^st Century

By: Heidy

From the late 1860s until the 1970s, several American cities had ugly laws making it illegal for persons with "unsightly or disgusting" disabilities to appear in public. Some of these laws were called unsightly beggar ordinances. Better known as * The Ugly Laws.

They pretend it ever happened. The first appearance of the ugly laws were in San Francisco Ca, the Bay Area. Even thought they deny the ugly laws ever existed they're still evident in the Bay Area.

The Berkeley City Council is has proposed multiple example of modern day ugly laws which they call- "regulating behaviors in the streets of the city". To the oblivious person this seems like a great thing, the council is trying to make the streets safer. They don't realize how many people this law is screwing over.

A recent proposed ordinance which was heard at the city council meeting of June 30th plans is targeted for the homeless only. The proposal would ask the city manager to look into the possibility of implementing ordinances prohibiting unpermitted cooking on public sidewalks, panhandling within 10 feet of a parking pay station and deploying bedding on sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.. . It also includes recommendations to consider extending youth shelter hours beyond the winter months and ensure the availability of public restrooms. They are regulating the size of their belongings. The measurements are 16 in. x 18 in. which is ridiculous they're making it so small. This information is provided by Bob Offer-Westort from Side Walks Are For Everyone (S.A.F.E.)

Pauper Laws try to help poor people, but in reality it forces people to live in shelters. It works perfectly with the city ordinances. Since the city is building more shelters and prohibiting all of these things that poor people will be forced to go to the shelters, which just make the people who own it rich. It a perfect combination for the poverty pimps.

As a young Honduran migrant I'm concerned my people that are migrating and dont have a place to live will fall for this vicious cuycle of explotation.

(Post-script: the City Council meeting of June 30th was shut down by the people who, led by Mama Vivi T of POOR Magazine and hundreds of other angry Berkeley residents yelled SHAME and made it impossible for yet another anti-poor people law to be instituted in this so-called progressive city)

referece: *The Ugly Laws By Susan M. Schwek

In April we went to city hall in San Francisco. Before we went into city hall we were telling our stories at a rally in front.

"Rad is going to privatize all of our poor people housing" said Tiny.

After that we walked inside city hall and went to the first supervisor office and said can you save our homes cause rad will kick our families out of our homes. After we went to all the supervisor offices we had went out side to the black lives matter protest. While we were in the protest they started to say names of the people who got killed by the police. We left cause we had to go eat lunch.

My opinion is that I was happy we went in there cause we saved a lot of people's lives.

White culture isn’t good for anyone even white people, “ the words of my mixed race ghetto skola mama sailed through my ears when the sci-fi horror movie called Rachel Dolizol unfolded. As the white skinned daughter of a mixed race, disabled,, houseless, single mama I have always claimed my wite-skin privilege. I have named its infiltration powers and the ways this deeply racist, amerikkklan society stolen by settler colonizers who look like me have continued their legislative, education and institutional terror over everyone of color. I was taught early by my mama and our life of struggle that it was not only essential,  but dire, that I  use every ounce of my skin privilege  so me and my family could survive as well as every other person in our same position.

The Sci Fi Movie called Rachel D.

So why was Rachel so afraid of her white-ness? Perhaps because it is so evil, and in her twisted, fairy-tale desiring mind she was empathing instead of owning. Owning is hard. It means you have to swallow the hard pill of  perpetration. Everyday In everything you do and walk and see and be.. And yet what she might not have understood is this is the same confusion the saviors of NGO’s and non-profit industry workers and media producers, artists and actors who write, act, speak, create and profit off of poor people don't get. We don’t want your fake empathing,saving, story-telling and/ or helping, what we want is what you and your ancestors, stole from us and continue to steal from us so we can re-build, create, make and manifest ourselves.

Hussling skin privilege to survive

From early on I had to understand that our houseless family would rely on my skin privilege or not make it.  I was told that every bit of my white-looking self would be exploited for our collective survival.  From apartments to motels to broke-down cars to jobs to customers the implicit racialized perception of “goodness” my “honesty” held by this racist kkkapitalist society was used to hustle access for us. When we did get a little bit of blood-stained dollars together, I was sent out to rent an apartment  or motel room in a k-mart suit with a rent starter kit, i.e. a story,  i was a single 25 year old girl making 65,000 a year at a full-time job. It never failed. I would get the place. We would run little surveys just for fun. My mama would go out and try the same thing and get heavily questioned, rejected, or just plain not called back. And best believe because of our recent experience with the launching of Mama House by me and three other mamas of color from 2007-10 nothing has changed.

More and more Rachel’s to come
Sadly the Dolizol woman’s strange sci-fi theft of culture and identity, spray tans and hair weaves, will probably become more prevalent over the years as settler colonialist with fuzzy connections to gentry and colonial genocide begin to face their own positions of un-culture in an increasingly Black and Brown world. Not to mention when profit margins and “research” grants are discovered by "white-science" and kkkoporations when they figure out how to make robots and change DNA and morph faces and skin color.for all the confused white people of the not to distant future

The capitalist away nation fueled by akkkademia, wealth-hoarding, the lie of land ownership, angst, colonization and racism is evil and yet it could not continue without the complicit and explicit support by all the white people who continue to benefit.

Trans-racial to Trans-Poor'?
The so-called Trans-racial process or fronting of Dolizol  reminds me of all the people i have met over the years who front like they are poor, wearing dirty clothes and not washing their under-arms and "squatting" when they have perfectly good homes with loving families across the country to return home to. But instead, like Rachel, they decide to "front" , take up meager space, say nothing about the people they are actively displacing and stay in urban cities suffering from serious displacement crises, often adding to the displacement and gentriFUKation of hundreds of poor and working class people and people of color from their homes and neighborhoods of generations.

These are the hard lessons us Poor white, Black, Brown & Indigenous, gentriFUKed, houseless, disabled, Bordered, colonized, and racialized  poverty skolaz at POOR Magazine’s PeopleSkool base our entire body of work around. Beginning with Theatre of the POOR about our multiple stories of trauma, racism, criminalization, houselessness, false borders, poverty industry pimping, colonial land theft and ableism from all four corners of Mama Earth, we teach young people with race, class and formal education  privilege how to un-pack their relationship to our oppression,. How unlike the thousands of messages and lessons taught in the capitalist away nation that clearly teaches the lie of individualistic success, motherism and independence which relies on our separation from our families and communities and cultures, the pathologizing, profiting, researching and pimping of our stories and our lives and the endless reign of white –supremacist planned land theft and colonization, conscious white people can activate and create real change with a model we poverty skolaz call Community Reparations. This concept teaches back peoples love and spirit and humility, which we all have and institutes a radical concept in capitalism called Inter-dependence.

Selfish Appropriation vs Active Reparations

These lessons of truth taught to the descendents of the original land stealers, current perpetrators of Mama Earth's destruction, academics and multiple poverty industry executives are nothing less than urgent. Forget the guilt, fear or selfish appropriation white people.  As our insanely twisted corporate culture continues its drive towards hyper displacement, and destruction of mama earth, it is more important than ever for people to understand, confront and  activate movement, change and reparations based in realness, not hyper-realness so we can all heal and actually repair our colonized souls..

To find out more about the upcoming session of PeopleSkool's Decolonization/DeGEntriFUKation & Community Reparations Seminars in August email deeandtiny@poormagazine.org