“POOR Magazine has an open door for whoever wants to enter. I feel a deep admiration and respect and also an eternal gratitude to POOR Press. (POOR Magazine) I can only say thank you to everyone who helped to write my book.” Maria Molina, Migrant Scholar and debut POOR Press Author of her newly released book, “Humble Professional.”
In the world around us, we often tend to read about other people, their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. A question for this Race, Media, Poverty (and Legal) Scholar is how much of our own stories do we get in an opportunity to share to the world? Pens in our own hands, fingers focused on keyboards, lives seen and heard in our words, via voice.
Institutions that gate keep the publishing industry on philanthro-pimped dollars are irrelevant to our "I" voice.
Our stories owned only by us.
A deeply self-empowered woman with a vision of a dream-turned-reality, far and abroad for us to fight by write/right: "Tiny" Lisa Gray-Garcia, co-founder of POOR and daughter of Dee. In 2003, POOR gave birth to the project of "POOR Press Authors" as a revolution for all people in poverty to be self-published; as a community exempt from philanthro-pimped dollars and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex.
The POOR Press Authors project would indeed proceed to partially penetrate the publishing industry which often prevents the voice of the poor to be told. A project for their voices to finally be foretold…....…from their own.
There is a common saying, "Its not what you know, its who you know." Whereas, we all got to know Tiny before we even got to know survival in the reality of "Writing is Fighting." In 2006, (and presently) I got a first hard look of such community concept sharing a collective vision.
Survival and a struggle from system abuse that institutionalizes ignorance of poverty and homeless by implementing laws against it. “Crimes of Poverty.”
(Tiny in her book, Criminal of Poverty) Racism with po-lice terror in Single Room Occupancy Hotels, Citizens & Civilians Over Corruption: Savagely Removed Occupant (me) Border fascism (Ingrid De Leon, El Viaje: The Journey, Angel Garcia, Gangs, Drugs, and Denial, and Muteado Silencio Untold Stories in AmeriKKKa) and the struggles in surviving lifetime addictions through poetry art. (Ruyata Akio Mc Glothin a.k.a. RAM, Not Even In Therapy)
Many more stories have surfaced since the year of 2003 of one's struggle, survival, and/or combination of both. In 2009, Los Viajes: The Journeys was successful. It was a collection of stories and cultural art of resistance to false borders from migrant scholars, who mainstream media here in AmeriKKKa often label as "illegal immigrants."
I had the honor of reviewing "Los Viajes" alongside of other POOR Press Publication releases from the authors.
http://www.poormagazine.org/
POOR Press Authors release is another triumphant victory for every single author (including myself) who no longer goes unheard. A voice increased into a community that has "Taken Back the Land….…Resisting Criminalization........One Story at a Time!"
THE FOREVER JOB: THE FINAL EVICTION
Race, Media, Poverty, and Elder Scholar, Bruce Allison has released his second book titled The Forever Job: The Final Eviction. The title says it all. A series debut of a science fiction novel of an uncompromising outlook into the future, which is strikingly similar to present every day events surrounding world politics.
A native of San Francisco and a forever frontline fighter for the rights of seniors and people with disabilities; Allison’s activism is heard in his brief description of The Forever Job: The Final Eviction.“It’s a fictional account of the future by using today’s standards if we continue on our same greedy road.”
The eyes and the mind of its reader travels the deeply-warped imaginary mind of Allison into a world ravaged with corporate/governmental global oppression, displacement, and enslavement via the “Dyson Sphere.” An uprising and resistance led by Allison, and his comrade (character ed as his wife) Gioioa von Disterlo, a.k.a. Lola Bean of literally a twelve year march that’s “Not a walk around the block.”
BONEYARD
Race, Media, Poverty Scholar, activist, and Revolutionary poet, Dee Allen has released his debut book. Boneyard is a gut-wrenching collection of revolutionary poetry that speaks on life, love, religion, politics, and death. “It’s a collection of poems, and song lyrics written mostly in the 1990s.” Allen explains. “Each poem gives a glimpse into situations that impact African Descent people in AmeriKKKa.”
Equally-explosive in each of his words, Allen expresses his emotions of the chaos in the world today. The reader’s mind comes to a halt when they read this excerpt from his poem (and book titled) Boneyard:
For another child
Embittered
Had shown him his most
Glorified toy from youth
His lifelong phobia
The receiving end of a pistol.
The known face of doom.
Locked. Loaded. Blown.
Boneyard as in breath and/or death of life, not to be taken lightly for any set of eyes.
THE LONG BLACK GATE: LA FRONTERA
Ruyata Akio McGlothin, a.k.a RAM is a Race, Media, and Poverty Scholar. He is also a poet and a “Super Baby Daddy” of his two daughters. He has released his fourth book, The Long Black Gate: La Frontera. A native of San Francisco, and survivor of po-lice brutality, RAM’s collection of poetry drafts the conscious (and/or unconscious) mind of the reader regarding “border patrols” and its fascism against undocumented (migrant scholars) immigrants here in AmeriKKKa.
RAM’s recent visit to the State of Texas and his observation of “borders” is poetically descriptive in graphic detail in this excerpt:
It’s a see through wall
It aint too far past you see those bombs
It’s a war I was told
The people, the cartels
And the border police are so cold
“My book is about borderism, walls, gates, rules, hates, insides and outs. Lands and waters……..and what goes on in between them.” RAM describes and explains of his book. The Long Black Gate: La Frontera is educationally-equipped of his experience to share and penetrate the walls of ignorance to one’s mind.
SELF-HELP FOR THE APOCALYPSE: POEMS FOR THE FREAKONOMICALLY CHALLENGED
Thornton Kimes is a Race, Media, and Poverty Scholar of POOR Magazine/PNN. He is also a staff and writer facilitator. Kimes has published his second book, Self-Help For The Apocalypse: Poems for The Freakonomically Challenged. Kimes's second book collectively, poetically exclaims everyday life's problems placed upon people via system, in oppression, locally and globally.
His poems present unique themes on each verse that range from numerous issues involving poverty, racism, war, politics, capitalism, etc, etc.
Kimes explains his enthusiasm and motivation for his book. “Self-Help For The Apocalypse was a sign in the window at Modern Times Books, in San Francisco the first time I went to a POOR Press reading, while I was starting to work on my first book------Non-Profit Industrial Complex: A Love Story And Other Poems. I thought the sign made a great title for a collection of poems."
He adds in Self-Help For The Apocalypse, "We're in the middle of an economic Apocalypse, a new crew of "adults" in charge trying to fix what's broken. Poor People already knows what's broken-------the whole system............"
A slice of self-confidence in struggle can possible be felt in the reader's heart, in an excerpt of his poem, "7 Plus 8."
Up the down staircase
soothe the savage beast
sooth say I say we all say
fall down, get up
HUMBLE PROFESSIONAL
Maria Molina is a Race, Media, and Migrant Scholar. Molina has released her debut book, Humble Professional. Her book is chronicled from her very voice. Born and raised in the Province of San Rafael, Chalatenango, in the country of El Salvador, Molina struggled through over-whelming obstacles to seemingly-impossible goals. Poverty of working hourly wages by cents, not dollars at age 14.
Studying courageously for higher education behind her employer’s policy that prohibited it. Volunteering her time vigorously for an employment opportunity to teach children. The ignorance of poverty, and the discouragement from prosperity told to her at youth: “The reason of why the rich had so much was because God wanted it that way and that the poor had nothing because God wanted it that way also.”
Humble Professional, not just a book where Molina outlines her very life written before the reader’s eyes. Page-by-page, pictures are painted into the reader’s mind: Images of struggles and sacrifices, for seeds of stability.
“Throughout the book, I have manifested the way to recognize and give light to what it cost for a person of low-income to be able to complete a professional career.” Molina says of Humble Professional. She would later add in her book, “It’s HARD to be a PROFESSIONAL.”
Publications Pending Release by POOR Press Authors
MY CHILDHOOD, MY YOUTH, AND MY PRESENT.
“It deals with family violence and violence. I felt liberated because I was able to write things inside of me.”
Race, Media, Poverty, and Migrant Scholar, Ingrid De Leon of her second book.
INDIGENOUS COLORING BOOK
“Basically, we as indigenous and people of color are never portrayed in kid’s coloring books, in a positive way. The idea of my book was after seeing my niece’s coloring books from Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, and has never seen a coloring book of people that look like her or me.”
Race, Media, Poverty, and Migrant Scholar, Muteado Silencio explaining the details of his second book.
POOR Press Authors: Published from self in poverty, prosperous in their words…....….presented with the “I” voice.