Revolutionary Stories: POOR Press 2012 Collection

p class="MsoNormal" To write with laughter, heart, fire and humilitymdash;to get those words down and draw the reader inmdash;to make the reader warm with the fire of poetry, wet with the tears of memory, full with the soup of experiencemdash;leaving the reader satisfied and inspired to change the worldmdash;that is what the writer does.spannbsp;nbsp;/spanThe latest offering from POOR Press is a down-home, humble, timely and inspiring collection of books written by povertynbsp;span data-scayt_word="skolahs" data-scaytid="1"skolahs/span from POOR Magazinersquo;s People span data-scayt_word="Skool" data-scaytid="2"Skool/span, aka span data-scayt_word="Escuela" data-scaytid="3"Escuela/span De la span data-scayt_word="Gente" data-scaytid="4"Gente/span.spannbsp; /spanPeople in academia spend lots of money to be able to learn how to articulate what is real, what is humblemdash;to be able to express what comes so naturally to poverty span data-scayt_word="skolahs" data-scaytid="5"skolahs/span who donrsquo;t have money to access the statuary world of the academia./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" This new collection is written with passion, with stories gleaned from the experiences of poverty span data-scayt_word="skolahs" data-scaytid="7"skolahs/span who have lived through and survived span data-scayt_word="houselessness" data-scaytid="9"houselessness/span, the criminal (In)justice system and isolation in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="10"Amerikkka/span.spannbsp; /spanPOOR Press provides publishing access to poverty span data-scayt_word="skolahs" data-scaytid="11"skolahs/span whose important stories go untold in the span data-scayt_word="classist" data-scaytid="13"classist/span and exclusionary world of book publishing.spannbsp; /spanPoverty span data-scayt_word="skolas" data-scaytid="14"skolas/span conceive their booksmdash;poetry, memoir or short storiesmdash;write the text and work on overall design.spannbsp; /span/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Poverty span data-scayt_word="skolah" data-scaytid="15"skolah/span and mother of 2 span data-scayt_word="Terrilyn" data-scaytid="16"Terrilyn/span span data-scayt_word="Woodfin" data-scaytid="17"Woodfin/span articulates span data-scayt_word="houslessness" data-scaytid="18"houslessness/span and span data-scayt_word="landlessness" data-scaytid="19"landlessness/span with passion in her book, a href="http://www.poormag.info/static/terrilyn/"ldquo;I am Homeless, the new face of Homelessnessrdquo;./aspannbsp; /spanHer story begins in Knoxville where she sets off for San Francisco. She ends up in Santa Ana for 2 years, facing innumerable obstacles to housing and food.spannbsp; /spanDuring hard times, which included her being ostracized unjustly from her church, she recalled the words of her spiritual mother who said she was going to go through a ldquo;great deal of heartache and the rollercoaster ride of her life before she would see the real blessings manifestingrdquo;.spannbsp; /spanUprooted and not knowing where her family would sleep, span data-scayt_word="Terrilyn" data-scaytid="20"Terrilyn/span felt the guilt of being a poor woman of colormdash;guilty that she had let her kids down.spannbsp; /spanBut her faith remained strong with the knowledge that God never lets you down.spannbsp; /spanHer writing is reminiscent of Filipino American author Carlos span data-scayt_word="Bulosan" data-scaytid="22"Bulosan/span whose seminal novel ldquo;America is in the Heartrdquo; (published in 1946) painted a portrait of individuals who behaved in heroic yet unheralded waysmdash;in contradiction to the ubiquitous racism and classism in societymdash;to aid their neighbor.spannbsp; /spanSimilarly, span data-scayt_word="Terrilyn’s" data-scaytid="23"Terrilynrsquo;s/span experience shows that God looks out for us by working through people./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Dee Allen is an important poet, articulating the struggle of the workers, police brutality victims, migrants and span data-scayt_word="houseless" data-scaytid="24"houseless/span folks.spannbsp; /spana href="http://www.poormag.info/static/dee/index.html"ldquo;Unwritten Lawrdquo; /ais the second volume of poems by Dee published by POOR Press.spannbsp; /spanThis moving collection of poems rises like fire.spannbsp; /spanDee eloquently decries the police state in ldquo;Requiescatrdquo;, a poem with a haunting refrain ldquo;Let them restrdquo; that envisions a world without ldquo;enforcers of haterdquo;.spannbsp; /spanUnwritten Law draws upon the history and presence of native peoples, the overlooked and those whose stories have been erased from history.spannbsp; /spanDee asks: who is the migrant in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="25"Amerikkka/span today?spannbsp; /spanDeersquo;s poetic vision is the shared breath/heartbeat of the workers, the builders of civilizationmdash;the span data-scayt_word="Zapotec" data-scaytid="27"Zapotec/span day laborer, the span data-scayt_word="Salvadorean" data-scaytid="28"Salvadorean/span youth, the Lebanese woman, the Senegalese taxi driver.spannbsp; /spanHow are these people terrorists? He asks.spannbsp; /spanHow are they criminals?spannbsp; /spanDee Allen is a poet who continually puts himself on the line for the community, participating in civil disobediencemdash;refusing to be intimidated when issues of justice are at the forefront.spannbsp; /spanHe is truly one of the best poets I know./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" In the world of Joseph Bolden, real or imagined, all roads lead homemdash;although he has been known to lose his way.spannbsp; /spanJoersquo;s a href="http://www.poormag.info/static/joe/"ldquo;Lost in span data-scayt_word="Amerikkka" data-scaytid="29"Amerikkka/span /ais anecdotal, weaving irony and humor into the quilt of struggle in connecting with loved ones and the important choices one makes on their lifersquo;s journey.spannbsp; /spanspan data-scayt_word="Well-travelled" data-scaytid="31"Well-travelled/span shoes adorn the cover of Joersquo;s book ndash;perfect metaphor for the chaotic pace of society.spannbsp; /spanJoe gets lost, his shoes covering the landscape from SF to New York to Colorado to Hawaii.spannbsp; /spanHis stories of sweat lodges, the search for love, his neighborhood, his shoes, glasses, hat, etc. make his book a journey not to be missed without a pair of well-worn shoes./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" Lisa Gray-Garcia, AKA Tiny, has bestowed a beautifully written and illustrated inter-generational book ( as tiny says: its for both parents and children) called a href="http://www.poormag.info/static/TheManInTheMoon/"ldquo;The Man in the Moonrdquo; (El hombre en la span data-scayt_word="luna" data-scaytid="32"luna/span)/a.spannbsp; /spanThe story is allegory at its finest, with indigenous farmers who thrive with their animals until the rains no longer come.spannbsp; /spanAt the top of a hill lives a man with a span data-scayt_word="plentitude" data-scaytid="33"plentitude/span of food and water so the villagers ask for help, which he repeatedly refuses.spannbsp; /spanWhen the man is confronted by what appears to be a mother and child, appealing to his humanity and later transforms into the span data-scayt_word="Orisha" data-scaytid="34"Orisha/span span data-scayt_word="Yemoja" data-scaytid="35"Yemoja/spanmdash;he finds that he is accountable for his span data-scayt_word="self-centeredness" data-scaytid="36"self-centeredness/span and faces a fate that will allow him to make amends./p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p class="MsoNormal" These books make for great reading.spannbsp; /spanYou can purchase any of these beautiful books on-linespannbsp; /span@ a href="http://www.poormag.info/static/" target="_blank"http://www.poormag.info/wbrstatic//wbr/a. If you would like to publish your own book with POOR press ndash; you can enroll in POOR Magazinersquo;s span data-scayt_word="PeopleSkool" data-scaytid="37"PeopleSkool/span revolutionary media program which begins on January 31supspan data-scayt_word="st" data-scaytid="38"st/span/sup ndash; - more info at a href="http://www.racepovertymediajustice.org/" target="_blank"http://www.wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrracepovertymediajustice.org//wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/a or by calling POOR at a href="tel:415-863-6306" target="_blank" value="+14158636306"415-863-6306/a/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr /wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbr/wbr/wbr/p p wbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbrwbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/wbr/p p class="MsoNormal" nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p /p