Two stories from PNN on the Poor People’s March to City Hall demanding economic justice for all
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by tiny and Mike Vizcarra/PNN
We aren’t goin down now or anytime soon... "Broke, To’ up, beat-down and …Po’ ….Yeah, we’re all that… but we’re also, strong, mad, smart, and fierce and we’re aren’t going down now or any time soon, certainly not cause some privileged white folks want us out of town…. Clive Whistle, PoorNewsNetwork staff.writer and poverty scholar The sun shone on the red bricks surrounding the BART station at 24th and Mission Streets in San Francisco on Saturday, November 1st for the Poor People’s March for justice. The people gathered – standing together in unison against economic apartheid - Feet piled on top of more feet – feet covered in payless athletic shoes, paid for by mothers struggling to care for their children on a $450.00 per month welfare check, feet belonging to working poor mothers struggling to pay their rent on $6.75 an hour job in a city that allows landlords to evict those same women and children if they can’t afford a rent increase –feet belonging to workfare workers at-risk of losing their meager wage due to racist, classist legislations, day laborers trying to work and being harassed for being poor and other than white, Asian immigrant elders trying to be housed and not evicted, children and youth of color trying to be educated rather than incarcerated, disabled folks, and houseless folks, all fighting to be heard, to have their stories told as they really are… fighting for justice….. for housing…. for life. I was among them, my feet had been on those food stamp lines, welfare lines, unemployment lines, free lunch lines and shelter lines – I was one of the poor people in the poor people’s march and it wasn’t often that I felt strong – or happy or filled with power. I usually felt tired and beat-down and ready to give up – cause the corporate media and the politicians were always telling my story and talkin’ bout me and callin’ me and mines names we weren’t – and sometimes they won – but today was different… "We aren’t going anywhere" Geena Douglas was speaking into the mike at the rally held before the march. Geena was a long-time member of People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER) "I will never forget the first day I joined POWER, 5 years ago, when it was called General Assistance Rights Union – and when I did it was the first time that I as a welfare recipient didn’t feel like I was a lesser person, " she continued, head held high into the air, " I am a poor person, I am a welfare recipient, I am a worker and I am a resident off San Francisco and I am not going anywhere. The feet continued to gather…. worn-down-soles-feet….. slightly slower feet. The feet were ready to fight – the feet were ready to win… "Proposition N and R are created by people in this city who don’t want us in this town", Cindy Weisner from POWER began educating the crowd on the racist, classist legislations that were on the ballot in this election and inspired the poor people’s march, "people with so much money they can waste it. Proposition N will lower our General Assistance check to $59.00 a month which is less than 1.84 per hour – slave wages – do we want that?" The swelling crowd roared, "Nooooo…." "Proposition R would take up to 85,000 apartments off the rental market, exempt them from rent control and convert those units to condominiums for more rich people….do we want that?" Cindy called out again. Again we responded "Nooooo" "Let’s show this city who has the POWER", Renee Suacedo from La Raza Centro Legal grabbed a bullhorn and climbed atop a truck covered in a mock-up of a San Francisco jail cell with the words: SF’s Homeless new shelter painted in red. Under proposition N and R the city jails will be the only place poor folks of San Francisco can afford to live. In this city alone 40% of the people in SF city jails are there from homeless related citations, from 1993 to 2001, 30 million dollars have been spent incarcerating homeless people, I guess after we have been redlined, evicted and choked out of our real housing, that’s where the Gavin Newsomes and Diane Feinsteins aka rich folks who back Props N and R want us all to go. Renee launched the march with the chant, "Whose got the power? A thousand people strong – we began, signs waving in the sun-kissed sky. We, the poor people, the brown, black and beautiful people, POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork, Coalition on Homelessness, POWER, Homeless Prenatal Program, The San Francisco Day Labor Program, The Chinese Progressive Association, and so many more, were there to protest Proposition N and R – two legislations aimed at harming low and no income people in San Francisco. But we were also there to demand truth, respect and justice from the corporate media, who lie about us, the police who abuse us, the legislators who harm us, the social workers who take our children from us, the judges who adjudicate against us cause we don’t have the money for equal "justice" the banks who redline us, and the landlords who evict us, that we are here and we aren’t leaving any time soon… The Poor March Poor people do not have the money the supporters of Proposition N and R have. We do not have the 2 million dollars they spent to promote these Propositions. But what we do have is power. People power. We can march with our feet and we can vote. And we can beat them with numbers, not money. This is what hundreds people did on Saturday, November 2, 2002. On a beautifully warm, sunny afternoon, protestors met on the corner of 24th and Mission. People, representing everyone from all walks of life, showed up in tremendous numbers to protest Proposition N and Proposition R. From the young to the old, from African Americans to Asians to Latinos and everything in between, a great crowd had formed to show San Francisco their power. Our power. The people’s power. There were speakers talking of the injustices Proposition N and R would have on the people of San Francisco. Proposition N, as everyone should know, is the latest attempt by the local elite to blame their policy failures on poor and homeless people, slashing money earned by working people and replacing it with empty promises. The bottom line: Prop N will take money away from the people who really need it. Proposition R, on the other hand, is a landlord backed condo conversion measure that would replace rent control with phony “lifetime lease” promises. It increases condo conversions from 400 to 3,400 a year. The Proposition also enables apartment buildings of ANY size to be converted and it repeals rent control from 3,400 apartments a year (State law lets landlords repeal rent control from rented condominiums). It also allows just 25% of people in a building to decide if apartments can be converted to condominiums – an unfair and undemocratic process. “Every time the rich get richer,” says Geena Douglass from P.O.W.E.R., “the poor get poorer.” “Where’s the care? Where’s the compassion? Where’s the common sense?” she asks the crowd. There were also interpreters in Spanish and Chinese to translate what was being spoken to the crowd. We started marching around 12:30, going down Mission Street towards Van Ness, with the crowd holding up signs saying, Real Jobs Not Workfare Slavery, or No On N & R. Our own Ace Tafoya and Richard Midget were dressed in an orange vest and carrying brooms representing the street workers of San Francisco. The streets echoed with chants of, “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? People power!” Passersby and people in cars yelled and honked their horns in support, respectively. Curious onlookers, from this predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, looked out their apartment windows and waved their support. The loudspeakers from the truck we were following blared chants in Spanish, English, and Chinese. As I turned to look at the crowd behind me, I was amazed to see this huge mass of people, acting as one, march down the street. It was truly an amazing site. This was a protest. The march lasted almost two and a half hours, going down Mission to 6th Street, and then crossing Market and up Turk to Polk Street, all the while the crowd chanting and holding up their signs relentlessly. When we finally arrived at City Hall everyone erupted in cheers. Our very own Tiny was one of the first to address the gathered crowd. She introduced Mari, a Po’ Poet, who read a poem to the masses. Cindy Wiesner, from P.O.W.E.R., was hoarse from screaming all day but continued her duties as M.C. and provided energy to the crowd. Chris Daly was also present to show his support. “Proposition N is a trial balloon for Newsome for Mayor,” he told me. “He’s trying to climb up to a higher office on the backs of the people,” he continued, “Of course we need care, but the care is not there.” Asked what he thought of the march, he said, “It’s good that this is happening. People need to organize. We need to stop the war on poor people in San Francisco.” I thanked Chris for his time and he responded, “I’m glad someone is covering this,” as he looked at the KPIX and KRON vans parked in front of City Hall, obviously not there to report on the march but on the reaction of City Officials as to whether San Francisco or New York would get the bid for the Summer Olympics in 2012. Businesses and rich individuals have spent almost 2 million dollars trying to get these Propositions to pass. They spend all this money when that money could go elsewhere. We may not have that money to promote our cause, but we have the vote, we have the numbers. As the famous chant goes, they can buy the election, they can buy the media, they can buy commercials, they can buy buildings, BUT THEY CAN’T BUY THE PEOPLE! Vote no on Proposition N & R! |