Story Archives

by Joseph Bolden

Californians are going through rough times while Texans are living easy. But I don't blame Texans; that's not right, fair, or the American way.

Cali's been called the Fruit 'N Nut state since I don't know when. Mr. Dennis Tito is excluded from any criticism, afterall, he knew the risks of space travel, but knew that is could be done. Any Texans goin' to the Moon or Mars? Yes, our Fruit 'N Nut status began way before San Francisco became the state's painted lady. Like gruff multimillionaire doers and dreamers, like Texans, we have our pride. We do things up different; we're not as big a state as you, but we are as unique.

Yes, we fell off our high horse in a canyon where no one hears our calls for help. Think this affects only "those pussyfooted, lily-livered, granola eatin', holly-weird, strangely dressed, crazy idea folk up in Northern California? Think again.

Imagine, if the shoe were on the other foot. Prez Clinton is in Texas for a 20-minute talk about oil and gas with Governor G.W. Bush. Texas is feeling pressured to buy oil at ever-inflated prices from Arab oil cartels and is being gouged with higher electric bills by California's P.U.C. companies who are constantly upping heating oil prices.

Clinton says, "Keep conserving, drill along the pan handle or in the Alamo historical site, because of the rich crude oil deposits found there; transport wild horses and buffalo from their grazing grounds." He doesn't mention renewable, alternative energies. He says, "Conserve and keep paying Cali and Arkansas."

We love whales and dolphins, just as you love horses, buffalo, and the great God's country. We are different people in different situations, but we share the same country. The same situation could happen to you. Just think on it awhile. Wouldn't you feel offended at so little time being spent on problems looming so large in your state? We got twenty minutes for an energy crisis that is slowly spreading across this country.

Texas and the legendary Texans have shown what independence means. You can to do it again by developing alternative renewable energies. You are the Giants of oil, gas, and electricity. You can show our President Bush that it's time to move ahead not drift backwards.

That's enough from a transplanted New Yorker in the Flake State, but please heed my warning-alternate and renewable energy is coming quick. California is hurting now but once we're free of the national grid I don't want to hear that Texas is experiencing rolling brown and blackouts:

THIS IS A CALL TO ALL 50 STATES DEVELOP INDEPENDENT ENERGY PROTOCOLS-NOT GOVERNMENT OR STATE BASED ONES.

I hope I don't sound like a lone radical anus but it might be what we have to do. Tell me if I sound like a complete idiot.

Please send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe
at 255 9th St. Street,
San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA

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Email:askjoe@poormagazine.org

by John X/PNN Community Journalist

A few weeks ago I was staying in a shelter here in the city and me and one of the staff got into an argument that ultimately led to the police being called. This is a short story and history lesson for what happened. Hopefully some insight and knowledge will flow from this to help the entire shelter and S.R.O community.

Upon engaging this staff person in this argument I decided to call the police since I was told I was going to be " put the fuck out". I called the police and explained a staff person was going to put me out of a shelter of which I had a contract with management (CASE MANAGER) for services for this facility.

To avoid any more problems or confrontations I waited at the bottom of the stairs inside the facility for the police to arrive. A senior manager arrived and asked me why I was at the bottom of the stairs after curfew. I advised this person a staff member had thrown me out of the facility or at least had threatened to do so and I was waiting for the police. He briefly stated " she can't do that" and "give me a minute and I will talk to her".
I waited at the bottom of the stairs for his return while at the same time wondering where San Francisco's Finest were at.

A few minutes later the senior manager came back to the top of the stairwell area and stated " you have been denied services and you have to wait on the outside of the gate for the police." This is where it becomes interesting, as I agreed to comply again to avoid any confrontation or even appearance of confrontation with this facilities staff.

Upon arrival of the police their was a great debate as to what the staff wanted as opposed to me, the person who had actually called for the police intervention.

With 4 officers, 2 police, 1 sergeant and the acting lieutenant for the station we all began the discussion not in my return to the property, but exactly in what manner or fashion I was to not be allowed to return. The lieutenant told me that they had not removed me from the property (I removed myself when I stepped outside the gate) but at the same time had no authorization to return me. We argued back and forth a bit and the only thing I was told was they could assist me in removing or gaining access to whatever property I had in the facility but would not assist in any matter with my return as the matter was now civil in nature. I attempted in vain to explain to the police that I had a contract with this facility between myself and the case manger thus " by invitation of resident or management" I was allowed to be on the property. However this proved to be useless and went absolutely nowhere. After this 20 minute interchange I was told matter -of- factly by the police there was nothing they could or would do to assist me and I was out and they were leaving, period!

Since I had nothing better to do, (sleeping now not on the agenda) I decided to take a walk to 850 Bryant street. I spoke with the lieutenant for the station and had asked him how it was that the police could use the term " agent or representative" to give the shelter staff the authority to remove someone but for the purposes of enforcement for a violation (my unlawful removal and failure to allow re-entry) the case was now a civil matter.

The lieutenant could not explain the interchange of the two to any degree of validity and finally went to his office and came back with section 602 n of the California penal code. He had originally attempted to state that these "shelter type" facilities have their policies and procedures and under those procedures can lawfully remove someone as they chose from the property.

He was absolutely unequivocally wrong! When he returned he handed me a copy of 602 n and in short this is what it states. After reading the entire section the last paragraph reads " however this subdivision shall not apply to persons on the premises who are engaging in activities protected by the state or federal constitution, or persons who are on the premises at the request of a resident or management and who are not loitering or otherwise suspected of violating or actually violating any law or ordinance".

What this means or meant for me was this. When I had the argument with the staff I was invoking my first amendment rights (freedom of speech), also I was not charged by the police with "violation of any law or ordinance" i.e. penal code 415 - disturbing the peace.Also I had permission (request) to be on premises by management by my contract with case management for services. As such I was entitled to be present on this property. I was also entitled to have the staff attendee charged with violation of 602 n and if necessary then removed from the property for violation of 602 n and legally if staff refused to leave property also arrested and charged with standard trespassing (Penal Code 602) and criminal trespassing (Penal Code 602.5). Though I was denied any of this, I have learned that civil remedies are available to me for the police department refusing to take any actions on my behalf that I was legally and constitutionally entitled to.
Now what this means for you someone in an S.R.O environment is this. First, let me explain how this section works so you can better understand how it could fit into your situation. The rules for single room occupancies are just that, rules. Not laws or ordinances just rules. The best example I can give you is this, municipal code 25 (sleeping in doorways) is a city ordinance. That ordinance allows the police without the owner to be present on the property to remove and arrest any person found sleeping in their doorway for the state penal code (law) of trespassing 602 PC. Because again local ordinance municipal penal code 25 has been violated.

You have a right to use your space as you see fit as long as you are not in violation "of any law or ordinance" period !. This covers overnight guests, visitors (local-out of town) etc. You are paying to stay there. Your rights can not be infringed upon by anyone.
Unless the rules or policies for San Francisco single room occupancies has been standardized and local ordinances have been created with hearings held by the Board of Supervisors with voter approval and ratified they all are illegal and unconstitutional and could and should be challenged in federal court.

Now how this applies to proposition N is quit simple. Prop N states that any recipient on assistance who is in non compliance with a policy of a shelter provider and is removed from a shelter facility will be considered to be in non compliance with the requirements for his/her general assistance and will be removed from the general assistance program.
As a note, I have kept copies of the original legislative version as proof to this statement
" For the record".

.None of these shelters or single room occupancies have any laws or ordinances that support the actions of which some of the management and staff take. Although it has been stated that numerous homeless service provider organizations worked in collaboration with the Board of Supervisors on " acceptable policies and procedures " none of those procedures or policies are constitutional and can not be upheld if held to any degree of legal scrutiny of which I emplore this readership to do. It should be noted that federal law on this in two specific areas is quit clear. First, title 18 U.S.C (United States Code) Sect. 241 makes it a crime to conspire to deprive someone of their civil rights. Title 18 U.S.C Sect. 242 makes it a crime to deprive a person of any right under color of law. This section applies to everything from judges to appointed or elected city ,county or state officials (including police officers)in official capacities. I remind this readership that proposition N was drafted by "lawyers" and the rules of the city S.R.O'S was drafted by , supported and approved by the Board of Supervisors. Probably the most important point I should make to this readership is the following, federal law precludes any group,organization,or government body from creating any rule or law that is either know or to be know as unconstitutional. If it is found that any group,organization or government has created a rule or law that is found to be unconstitutional in any regard that law is to be considered immediately voided. As it is the position of the federal government that no one is to be held whether knowingly or unknowingly to any rule or law that violates any of the constitutional protections of any citizen of the United States Government. If we allow proposition N to pass we will continue to allow this city to bash the civil right of a group of people who continues to have less and less of a voice in this city except by "poverty pimps" who claim to be working for the interests of the indigent but at the same time non of them has taken the time to present a story of this type to this many people with as much of a potential legal and financial impact as I, John X, have.

by Leroy Moore/PNN

Krip-Hop: Tell us about Heavy Load.

Heavy Load: We're a five piece punk band from Brighton, England. We've been together for 12 years. Three of us have learning disabilities (Learning disabilities in the UK means people with developmental disabilities like Down Syndrome)¦Jimmy started everything by telling his support worker he'd like to be in a band. They sent out an advertisement and a week later the band had formed.

Krip-Hop: What kind of music you play?

Heavy Load: It's loud garage/punk rock.

Krip-Hop: Name the members of Heavy Load

Heavy Load: Heavy Load is Simon Barker (vocals), Jimmy Nicholls (guitar and vocals), Mick Williams (guitar and vocals), Michael White (drums) and Paul Richards (bass)

Krip-Hop: Name some titles of your songs?

Heavy Load: Stay Up Late, When will We Get Paid, Farty Animals, We love George Michael

Krip-Hop: Tells us about your documentary.

Heavy Load: The film follows us for 2 1⁄2 years as we try and take our music to a more mainstream audience playing at music festivals etc and particular challenges that face each member of the band in their lives. It's going to be broadcast on IFC on 23rd June and then at cinemas in the UK later in the year as well as being shown on the BBC.

Krip-Hop: How long will you be in the US?

Heavy Load: We're only in the US for five days and for all except Mick…it's our first trip to New York City.

Krip-Hop: Have you ever played with an all disabled Hip-Hop group like 4Wheel City?

Heavy Load: Last year we played with a young hip-hop group from London who had learning disabilities and we hear great things about 4Wheel City. We're really looking forward to it.

Krip-Hop: Tells us Heavy Load's experience in the music industry.

Heavy Load: I don't know what the US is like but it's difficult in the UK. It seems to be a lot about money. We've had a couple of meetings with record companies but no success. But with the Internet we can do our own thing, release what we want, and there's no shortage of gigs so we're happy do everything our own way. It seems to work for us.

Krip-Hop: Name some other disabled musicians in London/UK

Heavy Load: We're just about to release a compilation album called Wild Things “ songs of the disabled underground' which is a project we've undertaken to gather together learning disabled musicians from the UK together on one CD for the first time. There are some really great acts on it. Ones to look out for are Beat Express (also from Brighton), Vanessa and Kick Me Ugly, Dele Fakoya, Dean Rawat and The Coasters. It's a really varied album and we're really excited to be releasing it. We'd love to do a US version if people want to send us their recordings.

Krip-Hop: Tell us your Stay Up Late campaign

Heavy Load: For years we'd been playing gigs at disabled club nights and got frustrated at how early everyone was going home.
We soon realized that it was because support workers were
only scheduled to work until 10pm at night so would want
to leave by 9pm so they could get the person they were
supporting back home . We thought this was wrong so we recorded a single 'Stay Up Late', got some money from the
National Lottery and set about raising awareness and
getting disabled people to tell their staff that from time to time they wanted to Stay Up Late â“ and that this should be their right. After all most live music nights don't normally end at 9pm

Krip-Hop: What is your next project?

Heavy Load: We're currently getting the Wild Things album out there and then we'll be releasing our second album 'Shut It' at the end of June. After that we've got various gigs lined up across the UK either to promote the film or the Stay Up Late campaign. We also organizing 'mixed' nights that involve bands with and without disabilities as it creates a great vibe with the audience and introduces the public to music they might not have heard before so we'll be doing more of that later in the year. We've had a lot of requests to play gigs so the film will probably keep us busy for a good while – we hope.

Krip-Hop: Tell us about the disabled rights movement in UK compared to USA

Heavy Load: There's some great and challenging stuff going on with websites like www.bbc.co.uk/ouch which has got correspondents discussing all sorts of issues. There's also a healthy self-advocacy movement making sure that people are able to have a voice and know what their rights are. There's still a fair bit of work to be done though.

Krip-Hop: How can people get in touch with you?

Heavy Load: They can check out our myspace which is www.myspace.com/heavyloaduk or go to our website
www.heavyload.org and you can email us from there.

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.

by Tiny AKA Lisa Gray-Garcia

Scroll Down for English

OPINION: “Soy ilegal, Mama?” Me pregunta mi hijo de seis años que tiene un mestizaje de Mexicano, Chino, Puerto Riqueño, y Irlandés, mirándome con los ojos mas grandes y tiernos después de que habíamos visto un reportaje en las noticias comerciales sobre el Alcalde Gavin Newsom. En el reportaje, el Alcalde esta rechazando una legislación propuesta por el Supervisor David Campos, que le daría un proceso debido a los jóvenes migrantes que se involucran con el sistema criminal de justicia.

by Leroy F. Moore Jr

I can’t rest

My disabled brothers and sisters are dragged, shot and beaten to death

Society is scared of him..Big, black and mentally ill

Take him away and give him more pills

I can’t sleep

My disabled brothers and sisters are living on the streets

The ADA has done nothing for me
Listen to my life

Got raped in a shelter

Got robbed on the streets

Three strikes and now I’m in prison for life

I can’t rest

28 million dollars for Ed Roberts’ Campus

Can’t even get my SSI cause I have no address... Does anybody care?

Disabled youth abused in foster car..Segregated in school.. now I’m on welfare

My disabled brothers and sisters are put to rest...

On the streets, in psychiatric wards and in prison

But I feel your spirit and anger in my chest

I won’t rest..Your spirit and anger won’t rest

...We won’t let you rest

by George McKibbens

Poor people in New York City are not impressed that Rudolph Guilliani has been voted Person of the Year by Time Magazine or that he has appeared in GQ and Cigar Aficionado. Any mayor who makes homelessness illegal and turns Manhattan into a police state is not in high regard of anyone that lives paycheck to paycheck.

During a recession the efforts of the rich to gentrify parts of the city like Harlem and the East Village backfire. When there are no Dot Com jobs and middle management positions available, landlords are at the mercy of the tenants who are no longer forced to pay over $1000 for a one-room apartment in Queens.

In October of 2001, I finished the tour of my one-man show in Brooklyn (which proved to be an underground success in other cities, but and ultimately lost a lot of money thanks to a bankrupt Brooklyn theater owner). I was sleeping in the attic of a church in Hells Kitchen for three weeks, and every day I was looking for a bartending job. There were none. I looked for retail jobs. There were none. I looked for jobs as a waiter, and wasted $10 applying for a government job. I found an apartment thanks to meeting a Brazilian shuttle driver in a bar. The same week I was lucky enough to land a job as an usher at the Big Apple Circus. I was able to pay rent, working six days a week, 10-13 hours a day for $250 a week; which is roughly 3 to 4 dollars an hours. The circus was a non-profit in which they did not have to comply with minimum wage laws and their corporate sponsors received a tax write off.

I had a residence and a way to pay for transportation to and from work. I was proud of myself until I began my new job. Circus life meant that I was on my feet the whole day doing nothing remotely interesting. I scraped cotton candy off the ground, arranged chairs, and showed the circus patrons to their seats. The circus was only in town for another month, and I had beaten out five people for the job.

Tips were few and far between. I tried to seat people with the most expensive tickets, I could never afford to come to the circus and I would never want to attend the circus because the show was horrible. The people who tipped had ringside or box seats. Often time’s women would drop their purses and if you crawled under the bleachers and got it, their husbands would tip you. If the audience was a crew of rich women tips were a lost cause, just a ‘thank you,’ and spilled popcorn and soda in your hair. I became bitter and was very rude to all patrons, and then I started getting more tips. Can’t explain the logic in that.

The animals were treated better than the staff. The life of a horse in the circus was spent in a small stable for most of 24 hours with frequent grooming, then the horse would have 10 minutes to run circles in a ring while Russian acrobats did tricks on their backs.

Most of the ushering staff were first generation Russian, or from the Bronx. I was the only caucasian person at the job who was born in the United States; I was also the only usher born in the United States who was not from New York. It took at least two years of being an usher to graduate to a managerial position, such as supervising usher or head usher. These positions included a red tie, to distinguish from the yellow bow ties of the regular ushers, and a silver flashlight. Most usher’s flashlights were black and held the AA batteries together with scotch tape. Each usher had a section of the circus to clean, there were 12 ushers in the circus, and five brooms. We had a minimal amount of time to sweep between shows. We could not all sweep at once, and we could not go on break until we had finished sweeping.

The job of the supervisor was to make sure that the ushers did our jobs. The usher’s job was heavily mundane and suicidal. The ushers who did not have the stamina for the work often had problems with authority.

Damon, a 30 year old man from the Bronx almost got into a fight with the supervisor one afternoon because he would not permit any more of the supervisors harassment. James was our supervisor and proud of the fact that he had been with the circus for three years. Two of the years he was an usher. Whenever an usher would sweep, take out the trash, wipe the tops of the trashcans, or do any of the simple tasks we were assigned, James would give us our assignment again as if we were doing them incorrectly; which perpetuated the stupidity of the circus. If the usher failed to do his or her job, James was at fault. When we swept the isles, James would ask us to sweep the isles. James’ job at the circus was redundant to say the least.

I was one of the few ushers who did not have children. The work was physically draining, to the point that relaxing was the only thing that matterd. The war and the economy did not cross my mind, though I’m taxed for it first. When I worked forty hours a week in Boston and 60 hours a week in San Francisco, I spent a lot of time writing about things like American Imperialism, and drug laws. As a former member of the Young Socialists, this job was making me lose interest in politics.

Poverty is not the least bit interesting when you are broke. All I did every day was return from work, drink beer, write in my journal, then fall asleep. I did not care in the least how many of my tax dollars were killing Afghanis. Activism and social awareness are luxuries of people that have time. And all the ushers who had kids were mainly concerned with purchasing winter coats for the new year.

Damon and I had similar lifestyles. We both worked one shit job after the other. When Damon asked me what I did with my free time I replied, "I write." When I asked him what he liked to do, he said, "I watch the Knicks and the Yankees." Two of Damon’s friends had moved to Sacramento, and Damon wanted to join them once he saved up enough money. I told him he should do it. Every day Damon would tell me that he was going to quit and go to California. He never did.

Two pay periods later we got our checks and I had saved up enough to cover the following month’s rent. I finished my shift and handed the supervisor my uniform. I gave Damon my voicemail number and left.

"What are you going to do after this?" Damon asked me the day I quit.

"I’m going to try to get another job. It won’t be easy but I have a few weeks to find something else."

Damon never left the circus.

by Ace Tafoya/PoorNewsNetwork Community Journalist

I was a child in the 1960's. Vietnam, the British Invasion, Martin Luther King, the hippies, race riots, Cronkite, Malcolm and the Kennedy's blared through the black and white television set my father purchased for us. My father always told us that violence never solved anything.

On Thursday, August 14, 2003, I along with scores of concerned citizens from all over the bay area and all walks of life took part of the "Heal the Tenderloin March!". A vigil organized by Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, St. Boniface, St. Anthony's Foundation and The Islamic Society of San Francisco.

With the spirited Reverend Cecil Williams leading the way, we took our spots on Ellis Street and proceeded to take over the Tenderloin. "Peace, love and happiness," Classy Martin, 17, a resident of the east bay said to me before the march began.. "We need to stop all the violence while we're still young. Classy works in the Tenderloin and is tired of all the violence happening this summer in the TL.

Louis "Lu-Lu" Williams was a resident of the TL. He lived in the Dalt Hotel. He was murdered there on June 28, 2003. "Lu-Lu" worked in the kitchen at Glide. "Louis Williams can be remembered! He didn't die in vain," reflected Brigardo Groves from Diamond Heights. He thinks this march is an important event in the community. "Homeless people are dying all the time in the street, they're nameless and faceless. A lot of people with disabilities are living in the Tenderloin."

I was proud to see the members of the kitchen staff and the guys who hand out the meal tickets for people waiting to receive something to eat out on the march too. They do a hell of a job. From my window I've seen may fights break out for any reason. They take control of the situation easily. I take my SF Giants beanie off to them!

Singing songs like 'Lay My Burdens Down', 'We Shall Overcome' and one of my favorites, 'Amazing Grace', Robin from "Tranny Talk"(which airs the 1st Sunday of the month at 11.30 a.m. on Cable 29), whose lived in the TL since 1995 exclaims, "(This event) is a healing of the community." As her dark frock ruffled through the San Francisco breeze, we eddied around Ellis to Leavenworth towards our destination, she continued, "This violence doesn't have to happen,"

"Guns are not part of the neighborhood," reveals Calvin Gipson, Director of Human Services at Glide. "This neighborhood is about recovery. We're not going to stand for violence!" Some of the employees of Glide stared to feel insecure about the neighborhood. This march was dedicated to Louis Williams, Paul Howard, Carlin Satterwhite, Joseph Garcia, James "Dirty South" Evans, James Bravard (who was the culprit of the crime) and all who have lost their lives or have been effected by violence.

When we reached the Dalt Hotel on Turk Street, the vibrant Rev. Williams took to the stage and he went off! "My brothers and sisters- we have come here for a purpose." "Amen," I and others yelled. "We want love in the Tenderloin." The crowds excitement grew louder. "We want to get along with everybody." And to the many youth in attendance he rallied, "You've got a voice in the Tenderloin, you've got a prescience in the Tenderloin." Everyone at the march were all shouting out and witnessing now, "Violence shall be overcome! Love is taking over the Tenderloin." His words brought cheers and yells from the people who gathered at the site of the murders.

Now, as I, along with Killa B, Flatfoot and many others who struggle with our recovery, I watch the Northeastern Blackout, the wacky race for Governor, that bullshit of a initiative Prop N being dragged out by the SF Board of Supervisors and the mayors race on my 27" Magnavox that Johnny, my best friend gave to me, I know that love can make a difference. . As one resident in the Tenderloin said to me, "Love is alive in the Tenderloin!" At least it was here tonight - if only for a minute.

by Bruce Allison/PNN

After getting the fifth degree from a security guard who wanted to know
more about me then my own parents, I got approved to go into 1095
market street. A seven story building with only six or seven companies
in it. (also the site of POOR's previous office where we were unceremoniously gentrified out of!

I walked into environmental action non-profit, Green Actions’ headquarters for an interview with POOR Magazine family friend and long-time Bayview activist and power-house Marie Harrison. I sat down
while she had lunch, we had a half hour interview about Lennar, the
nuclear dumpsite, and biohazards all of which are located in Hunter’s
Point. The area where Lennar Corporation are planning to build low income housing
has been capped five times due to toxic and nuclear leakage.

As my interviewee explains “Newsom and his Auntie gave Lennar a 3 million dollar
loan” and magically Newsom’s brother in law got a job in Lennar’s
executive ranks. This area is so toxic that the Navy has lost all
records of how much has been dumped there. It goes back to WW2 when
Fat man and little boy were assembled there, and parts which weren’t
used were dumped into the water. Letterman Hospital in the Presidio
has records of animal parts being dumped there after experiments.
According to my host she mentions that pockets of retardation in the
hunter’s point area has been high for that community. A fire started
at a former hunting lodge that the SFFD was told not to put out, for
unknown reasons. My host also informed me “Us poor people have no
place to live because of Lennar”.

This area historically was a mixed use area through WW2, you had a
Japanese fishing colony and a hunting lodge in Hunter’s Point. During
WW2 a building was there for working people, which is presently the
ghetto, this building was for shipyard workers and their families
originally and was to be torn down at the end of the war. Now it’s the
Evan’s Street/Candlestick projects, this building was only meant to
last until the end of the war.

Also, the politicians that are involved in this fiasco goes as far as
Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi on the Federal
level. On the state level there is a friend of mine called Mark Leno
who I didn’t think would be so mean and Fiona Ma who is not a friend
of any poor person. On the city level those who are responsible are
Willie Brown former mayor and Gavin Newsom. Sophie Maxwell will get touchy if you mention the name
Lennar.

The housing set aside for the people who paid money for it will be 3 ten story towers that will be put in hunter’s point
where presently low income people are living. For the working people fifty percent of the area medium
income is $100,000 for family of three. The majority of these people
have already been moved across the bay to Oakland or other places
outside of San Francisco. This makes San Francisco have the lowest
population of families that live in a major metropolitan area.

From a sixth generation native of this city and an elder, my city has
been robbed and raped by many corporations and agencies, Lennar and the San Francisco redevelopment commission as their partner in
crime. The redevelopment commission is the back door the mayor uses to
do this dirty work without leaving his fingerprints on it.

by Staff Writer

Yeah it's me Anjia the little black girl

that gets judged by my peers

Yeah I was born in the bay

but that doesn't mean dat everyday

I should pay

Being misunderstood just because

they feel that I 'm hood


by: Anjia Glover Age: 17