CPS ABUSE IS CHILD ABUSE

by Queennandi Xsheba/PoorNewzNetwork

"Yes, I called em' (cps) and reported abuse and neglect, because I didn't like her!" The voice of new SF resident Sherie Lewis still echos in my ears as she confessed to me her part in the separation of Christana Martel's family. As we further spoke, she also admitted that she called the calworks department (Alameda county) and falsely reported that Christana sold all of her food stamp benefits on her EBT card for in exchange for marijuana, (that accusation resulted in Christana paying a HEFTY price) which according to (then) neighbors Mertis Bowden and Michelle Howell was a "f-ed up lie!", and that Christana kept "plenty of food"- Michelle explained to me that she was a guest over for dinner often. Ms. Lewis boasted on with her vengeance against Ms. Martel, attacks ranging from "manipulating" Christana's family members just to cause dissent, and too in one case, to win a frivilous lawsuit against a former landlord.

I stood there in awe as I literally watch this sista take sadistic pleasure in tearing down another sista. When I asked Ms. Lewis why, the sad and simple answer was that Christana was a poor mama. Far as CPS goes, people like Ms.Lewis whom in this case overstepped her boundaries and abused it (the Sssystem) tend to do this to "get back" at someone who was either an adversary to them, or out of plain jealousy. Either way, what is more than always overlooked is the children and their feelings towards being torn apart from their families, for no ligitamate reason other than their mama wasn't very well liked, or "crossed" by a certain individual. CPS "stands" for Child Protective Services, indicating that if a child is in immediate danger, or if the child is being abused, there is a hotline number to call and report such actions- granted. However, there are mamaz like myself, tiny, vivian and jewnbug who strongly believe in "Tribal Intervention" and the "It takes us to heal us" theory, which is unfortunately not practiced amongst all of the members of our tribes (communities), thus the results are tribal dissent, and definitely reasonable (understatement) mistrust for the outside Sssystem.

The impact of being removed from the home affected baby girl Destiny a bit more than her brothers, Dalevon and Deshawn. She was depressed, withdrawn and suffered from massive hair loss, but has been improving since Christana was given more time to spend with the children, and to see about Destiny's mental well-being. Why is this type of CPS abuse allowed to continue? The question remains in the "smokeblower", while mamaz such as Christana and myself ponder on non-exsistent penalties for folks like Ms. Lewis who abuse the law and walk away laughing, taking high stride pride in helping to break up fellow black families.
"Looking back at the Hassani case, in my opinion, placing the children in foster care isn't always the best option." Ms. Martel said. "If a mother is able- bodied, mind and willing, she should be given more access to resources that would enable us to become indpendent caretakers, rather than just snatch our children away from us."

Christana Martel is a single mother of four now, who loves her beautiful, talented children dearly. Fighting and overcoming a heartbreaking situation like hers took alot of strenght, and we @poormag call for others to press on, at the same time we commend Christana on her perserverance.

Ms. Martel is currently a supervisor at a popular eatery and keeps in close contact with her children regularly, since the children are with family members, Christana should have all the love and support from the family to help her and children repair the temporarily broken bond.