Story Archives 2001

i wake up in the morning

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pstrongBy Drek/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/357/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Drek/p pI wake up in the morning as I run my fingersbr / br /through my nappy hair, I remember the awkward glancebr / that thebr / br /guy behind the counter gave me./p pI open my eyes to another day where my being will be scrutinized./p pas I lace my Timbos and slide on my baggy jeans,br / br /I grab my walkman portfolio and I head off to work.br / br /I think about mybr / appearance as I listen to THE ROOTSbr / br /on the bus ride, and by the time "You Got Me” comes thru,br / br /I've forgotten the awkward glances. /p pI say “what's up” to my coworkers I head upstairs br /and I study my hands as the lady clutches her purse.br / /pPMy menacing Brown hands/p p. while I don't know what she's thinking,br / br /I can't help but wonder what the guysbr / br /that shadow me when I'm br /in storesbr / br /downtown think./p pI wonder how my relatives were seenbr / br /before they fell victim at Moore's Ford.br / br /I wonder if they felt the need to validatebr / br /their humanity or intelligence./p pby the time I Step Into the Realm comes on,br / br /I could care less what people thinkbr / br /about my skin, hair, or dress I begin constructingbr / br /my own definition of Drek./p pI paint with the shades of my fore bearersbr / br / rest my brush on a palette of colors visiblebr / br /to all./p pand I frame this image in raw truth /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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BIRTHDAYS MORTALITY.

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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pstrong pbr /Recently my birthday passed,br / it was celebrated quietly with littlebr / fanfare. Which is how I like it, beingbr / a thousand plus. /p pbr /All kidding aside, its a daybr / closer to the reaper’s scythe. /p pThe irony is our applied sciencesbr / makes it harder to strike us all down,br / sooner than later death’s blade willbr / break from rust.br / /p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pbbr /I was born nine years after World War II, ten years before the end of WW II‘s Baby Boom./b /p pI’ve heard there is a w-site dedicated to this vast middle group I am part of by sheer chance./p pbr /Its funny that our squeezed in-group sees what’s happening to our brother’s and sister’s ahead of us and tries to warn our younger siblings how it’s changing. /p pbr /Two books, 1 called "The Age Wave" and another "Third Wave" comes to mind./p pbr /Did you think any of you would be here alive, healthy, married with children, wealthy, or poor in the Twenty First Century?/p pbr /I am still pissed at being gypped out individual jet packs, anti-gravity belts, rings, boots, or rolling roads that people can stand or sit as moving sidewalks conveys them to where they want to go with or without automated computer guided cars. /p pbr /and hoverboards the size of skate and surfboards with child or adult auto-safety devices enbedded in these sports itemes. /p pWe men have found that we are as complex as womenbr / claim they are, that they can indeed rape us if they have a weapon or are physically stronger [think of China] that beautifully sculptured, tall, sexy amazon lady wrestler./p pbr /Some women say don’t need us, can clone us, themselves or even given time improve on the original model. The exact same argument can be said of women by men. /p pbr /These battles of the Sexes wars without sex is exhaustion without the fun. /p pbr /Men and Women sitting out the battle engaging with each other will produce offspring that will end this insane war./p pbr /My future plans are simple be, healthier, stronger, more intelligent, sensitive to my own needs before worrying about others, most importantly maintaining a sense of humorbr / about myself, the world around me and to leaveb[if and when I do]/bthis world slightly better than when I entered it./p pbr /My one disappointment is that young folks haven’t kidded each other on the "thousand years" millennium jokes./p pbr /Dad, mom, what did you do before DVD’s and Virtual Immersion Games?/p pbr /How does it feel being 500 to 1000 years old?br / br /Son, you’re a thousand years old you just look 13, 15, 18, 20, 25 and so on./p pbr /"It's true everyone in grade school, Jr. high, college, university, undergraduate, graduate school, all have turned 500 to a thousand years old at the stroke of twelve midnight at the end of 2000." /p pbr /Ok, so everyone is sophisticated and its all-so-2000 already; it doesn’t mean all fun is dead, let us celebrate anew our survival as a global species in this new age./p pbr /Problems sure, death, illness, dying, granted but all human beings are on this floating rainbow jewel in space. /p pbr /We better take care of it like a sacred talisman or we won’t survive long enough to spread ourselves off world and beyond our solar system./p pbr /That’s one of our varied futures if we dare take up the challenge. Dare I say, quest?/p pbr /That’s enough. I’ve got to find a place to swim after doing Tai Chi exercise either in the City or Berkeley across the bay. /p pbr /I’d like to be living in the 22nd century and beyond. But there are a few things to do this century. /p pbr /Getting back in shape for my own wellbeing is a start. Live Long, and prosper./p pbr /Please send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pbr /For Joe only my snail mail:PO Box 1230 #645 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email:askjoe@poormagazine.br / orgbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Senseless Crimes Panel

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/363/photo_2_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy Moore/p pbSave our Disabled Brothers Sisters! /bbr / br /COME Express Your Thoughts,br / br /Solutions and Network/p pJuly 14th 1-5 @ CENTRO DEL PUEBLObr / br /474 Valencia St. San Francisco Second Floor cross Street 16th a block frombr / br /16th Mission Bart Station/p pbCrimes Brutality Againstbr / People with Disabilities/b/p pDo you know the rate ofbr / violent crimebr / is 5 to 10 times higherbr / against peoplebr / with disabilities than against the general public?/p p* Many of these crimes are not reportedbr / but when they are the testimony of victims with disabilities are not taken seriously./p p* Do you knowbr / there has beenbr / a rise ofbr / police shootingsbr / of people withbr / mental illnessbr / especially poor peoplebr / of color?/p pBecause of this there has beenbr / an increasebr / demand for disabilitybr / training of police officers./p pA groundbreaking network to bring people with disabilities,br / advocates, services providers,br / law enforcements and local media together.br / There will be panel discussions and presentations by disabled advocates,br / SFPD ADA Coordinator andbr / Resources etc../p pSponsored by Disability Advocates of Minorities Organizationbr / Co-Sponsors: Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative,br / San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness br / Poor Magazine/p pFor more information call Leroy Moore atbr / (415) 586-2047 orbr / E-mail a href="mailto:sfdamo@Yahoo.com"sfdamo@Yahoo.com/abr / Scent free environment!br / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Bio

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy F. Moore Jr/p pbr /Nigger With Disability, NWD isbr / br /Here, there everywherebr / br /Leroy revolutionary Black disabled poetbr / br /Can't stand stillbr / br /Yuppies need to get realbr / br /Breaking through white picket fencesbr / br /Downing Southern Comfortbr / br /But NWD is anti comfoftablebr / br /So eveybody on your feetbr / br /And welcome Leroy AKA NWD/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Know Your Rights

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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pstrong"KNOW YOUR RIGHTS" TRAINING Saturday June 30 11am-2pm./strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/372/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Copwatch/p pCopwatch will present information on what to do if you arebr / br /stopped by police, what your rights are, how to observe cops safelybr / br /and what you can do if the police violate your rights. Thisbr / br /training is free and open to the public. Learn how to documentbr / br /incidents of abuse and how we can work together to defend the civilbr / br /and human rights of all people in our communities./p pFor Information Contact Copwatch at (510) 548-0425br / br /Located at 2022 Blake Street (Near Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley)/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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The Wedding Zone, Part I

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pstrong pbFriends and family of my brother and his fiancée are on their way, by car or by jet, to Las Vagas, Nevada. p/p/b/p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pThis column is dedicated to anyone born with a rotten sense of direction who dreads driving, walking, flying, or taking trains or other kinds transportation to destinations unknown. This is not for the know-it-alls who, with only vague approximations from others maintain perfect or near perfect powers of direction. Like the perfect pitch musicians and singers are gifted with, some of us have gifts in abundance while most can only look on admire this true talent./p pIt has taken me three weeks to get over my brother’s marriage, not the marriage itself, but gearing up for the special event and going to it./p pSuddenly there were new clothes to buy, work to be missed for a few days, money to be taken out of the bank, maps to be read, and studies to be done on how tospend less on food than gas./p pMy mother, brother, and I live in three separate areas of California—Fairfield, San Jose, and San Francisco. /p pIt is lucky for me that some years ago, while emptying trash from my one- room apartment there was a dirty brand name portable icebox. You know the kind, They are multi-colored and rubber-lined for water proofing when filled and perfect for keeping sandwiches, sodas, water, or whatever is placed inside in deep cold until ready for use./p pI was glad to have something of value to contribute, since I didn’t have enough money to buy gifts for the bride or broom on such short notice./p pPresent at the wedding were my immediate family, the couple to be wed, their close friends, and two more relatives from out of town. My mother bought me a complete suit that decked me out from head to toe as well as one for my brother./p pThe wedding was to take place in Las Vagas, Nevada. I will not name the hotel casino where we were because immediately after the wedding there was a medical emergency, It was one of the rare times I was glad that there were persons with cell phones who could call an ambulance for medical help./p pEven before that incident, two weeks before I was a nervous wreck worrying about gifts I could not buy, Do I have a gambler’s genes, or do I write about this another time. So many questions were swimming in my head as I rode the Richmond BART to the El Cerrito del Norte station.br / br /My mother picked me up at the station to drive me to Fairfield. All of my new clothes were in a clean, dry, aluminum-lined portable icebox whose brand name will remain unknown, since I don’t want to give a free plug unless it’s a charity or I’m paid a few dollars. The aluminum provides extra padding that will protect both the icebox and the new clothes within.br / br /At this point I have never used the icebox. I have only cleaned it. Its use as a carrying case is only for purposes of not damaging the clothes. At my mother’s home, I carefully took the clothes from the icebox and hung them up carefully. /p pI placed the icebox in the bathtub and took the foil out for reuse, before running water in it. Then I closed the box and let it sit./p pThis is the background, before my trip to Las Vagas, Navada.I dislike doing a second part to this; however, if I didn’t no one would believe how people with a map can go so wrong, both to and from Las Vagas, Nevada. But it is a true story./p pbPlease send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St.Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USAbr / For Joe only my snail mail: PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email:askjoe@poormagazine.org/b/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Two Lost To a Wedding, Part II of The Wedding Zone

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pstrong pbThe traveling to and from my brother's wedding takes its toll/bbr / /p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pMy mother and I were ready for the eight-hour drive to Las Vegas. The "Gilligan’s Island" theme song was playing in my head, unfortunately I didn’t heed the context of travel in the famous refrain, "A 3-hour tour…"./p pDresses, suits, belts, and vests were ready and packed. The night before, the portable icebox filled with water hadn’t leaked one drop of water—a good sign that food and especially water would be the least of our problems on this combination road trip/gambling junket. We’d packed some cold cuts, wheat bread, mayonnaise, non-dairy-product cheese, plus knives, forks, spoons, and fruits for snacks, instead of candy or other non-essential foods. We’d be riding through the Mojave Dessert and the best liquid to have cold or warm is plain old water. It could mean life or death without it./p pMother and I were suppose to be up, washed, cleaned, and dressed and out by 2am. We woke up at 3 maybe 4am. That was our first of many errors in judgement. But we had a map… if both of us knew how to read it properly everything would’ve have turned out fine. Unfortunately the two people in the car were looking at landmarks instead of the map. Two hours later we were still in Fairfield circling like demented homing pigeons./p pI thought it was a straight route to Nevada. I was to learn the hard way that there are twists, turns, and on and of ramps that make or break connections between highways. We kept going North and nothing was familiar. I did not like that sinking feeling that we had missed something./p pMy mom, her eyes steady, has a crooked smile and says, "Oh shit. We’re lost." We both had our crooked smiles on, knowing from sad experience that this was going to be one long drive on the endless asphalt highway./p pbPlease send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/b/p p For Joe only my snail mail:PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Our Words... Our Images

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pstrongOur society is in for a rude awakening and I say, “Bring it on!” /strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/377/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy F. Moore/p pI wonder, are you ready for the next generation? I don’t think so! Our society is in for a rude awakening and I say, “Bring it on!” The creative talents, voices, and the revolutionary stands of disabled youth are doing their Spring cleaning—airing their words, images, and politics for the world to see, feel, taste, and smell. Here is a little taste of what disabled youth are serving up locally, nationally, and internationally. Open wide!/p pIn the arts and entertainment section of the Asian Weekly a couple of months ago an article on the voice of one of the characters in the new Rugrats movie, iRugrats in Paris/i, appeared. Dionna Quan, 22, of San Francisco beat one hundred and forty-seven actors for the part of Kimi in iRugrats in Paris/i. She is visually impaired. Quan began acting at the age of 14 and has taped commercials; CD-ROM games, and an animated series. She has moved to LA where the show is taped./p pStephen Michael Nelson has engulfed the world through his heart and love for mankind, through praise for his mother, honor for his grandfather, and thanks to all the individuals who care for him on a daily basis. This young Native American disabled teen has displayed his first words for the world to read in his book of poetry, iStephen: Letters of Courage and Hope/i. Stephen had more courage than the Wizard of Oz. Stephen spoke through a mechanical device. According to his mother, Chrissy, the writing process was not easy for Stephen. Individual letters were selected one at a time to form each word and resulting sentences. Chrissy wrote that Stephen’s process of writing took hours and sometimes even days to complete a single poem. Unfortunately, Stephen passed away Friday, June 1st, the day before he was expected to promote his book of poetry. For more information contact the Stephen’s Hope Foundation at (630) 235-2245 or HYPERLINK a href="http://www.stephenshope.org" title="http://www.stephenshope.org"http://www.stephenshope.org/a, or a href="http://www.stephenshope.org" title="www.stephenshope.org"www.stephenshope.org/a and let you soul read his words of love, courage, and healing./p pMichael Seal, Jr. of LA has a smile like Magic Johnson, a mind like a business tycoon, and images that will put bright colors back into the gray world we live in. Michael, an African American disabled teen who is a painter and entrepreneur has done what artists have trying to do for decades; he has figured out how to mix the business world with art. Michael has blended the two worlds to create and promote both sides of his reality. I had a chance to talk to Michael at a conference in LA. where he was selling his paintings and talking about future business ventures. Although only in his mid-teens, Michael gets around, I mean AROUND in his sports wheelchair. His photo album reads like a night at the Grammies. This teen has met many stars, politicians, and musicians. But what caught my eye were the colorful imagines he had on display. Michael lectures, gives workshops, and is working on future business plans. He says that everything he does is incorporated into his artwork, i.e. his own personally designed postcards, envelopes, stationary, etc. He is working on his own website. Drop Michael an e-mail at HYPERLINK a href="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com" title="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com"mailto:okra-head@Juno.com/a a href="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com"okra-head@Juno.com/a or 17701 S. Avalon Blvd., #1 Carson, CA. 90746/p pbOn the Political Side/b/p pYou are never too young to be an activist! Nkosi Johnson, a 12-year-old South African boy who contracted HIV during birth, became a young activist in 1997 after battling to force the public school to admit him despite his health disability. He later campaigned to raise AIDS awareness and fought for the government to do more to save other babies from being infected. He also spoke during the opening of the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. This young man died last month./p pIn the US, disabled students are rocking the boat with revolutionary advocacy, thoughts, and organizing. On February 21st, 2001 the National Disabled Students Union (NDSU) was founded to stop the backlash on our civil rights. Check out the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama et al v. Garrett et al. NDSU has recognized that the voices of disabled students of all ages have been left out in decision-making, in the media, and even in our own disabled community. NDSU is a national, cross-disability student organization. The main goal of NDSU is to mobilize and organize students with disabilities throughout the nation by bringing them to the table in order to continue the legacy of empowerment and community solidarity that is our heritage. The NDSU held its first nationwide LEAVE OUT demonstration on April 17, 2001 to protest the Garrett case and other attacks on our rights. Disabled students and their allies left their schools, jobs, and homes to remind the government that we mean business when it comes to our legal rights. Check out their website at HYPERLINK a href="http://www.aboutdisability.com" title="http://www.aboutdisability.com"http://www.aboutdisability.com/a, a href="http://www.aboutdisability.com" title="www.aboutdisability.com"www.aboutdisability.com/a, or e-mail or call Sarah Triano at HYPERLINK a href="mailto:strian1@uic.ed" title="mailto:strian1@uic.ed"mailto:strian1@uic.ed/a or a href="mailto:strian1@uic.ed"strian1@uic.ed/a, phone (773) 463-4776./p pI like to leave you with a quote from Mutinda Kimilu, a nine-year-old disabled activist in England. He writes, “We have certain rights! What I need from you is only my rights, not a lot of sympathy.” So I asked you again, are you ready for the next generation? /p pStay tuned for more words and images from disabled youth and young adults./p pbBy Leroy F. Moorebr / Poet and Executive Directorbr / Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization/bbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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History

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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root
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pstrongNotes From The Hip-Hop Summitbr / /strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/376/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Jeff Chang (Portions of this article appear at a href="http://www.360hiphop.com" title="http://www.360hiphop.com"http://www.360hiphop.com/a)/p pIt was, in some respects, just what you would expect from hip-hop./p pNothing started on time. The rappers weren't where they were supposed to be.br / Neither were their managers or the industry execs, off in some cornerbr / backslapping and exchanging cards. Volumes and volumes of words werebr / spilled. And NYPD sweated everyone in sight./p pIn other respects, it was just what you wouldn't expect from hip-hop./p pA high-level gathering, put together by Russell Simmons from Tuesday throughbr / Thursday last week, to discuss improving hip-hop and the world—which drewbr / massive media interest despite the fact that the media was barred from mostbr / of the important meetings./p pA hip-hop conference in which not a single fight broke out, and some beefsbr / even ended up on the mend. A lineup of speakers that more often had rappersbr / silently rapt, rather than shooting the gift or heading for the bar.br / Sessions that actually resulted in tangible outcomes and real programs./p pIn short, the hip-hop summit lived up to its billing as an historic event./p p"We've accomplished everything we wanted to accomplish," said a beamingbr / Russell, "and more."/p pIt was, in fact, the third hip-hop summit in eight months, a sure sign thatbr / hip-hop's elite are keen on pushing some of their wealth toward establishingbr / political clout. /p pThe first, convened by The Source last year at the Reverend Al Sharpton'sbr / National Action Network headquarters in Harlem, gathered community leaders,br / rappers and executives. By many accounts, the affair was better intentionedbr / than organized, with many complaining that there were lots of answersbr / proferred but little agreement about the problems./p pShortly afterward, Minister Conrad Muhammad, leader of A Movement forbr / CHHANGE (Conscious Hip Hop Activism Necessary for Global Empowerment),br / called for another summit to discuss providing better images for youngbr / people, and supporting hip-hop leaders for political office. It was held inbr / May as an ugly public beef developed between Minister Conrad and Russell.br / Russell called Minister Conrad a hip-hop critic in the mold of a C. Deloresbr / Tucker or Bob Dole who did not have hip-hop's best interests at heart.br / Muhammad accused Russell of "contributing mightily to the degradation" hisbr / summit was trying to address./p pRussell promised that his own summit would bring together hip-hop leadersbr / with black politicians, civil rights activists, and intelligentsia to workbr / out a specific agenda of action./p pA long list of hip-hop celebrities showed up, whether officially invited orbr / not, including pioneers like Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flashbr / and DJ Hollywood; "golden age" heroes like Chuck D, Will Smith, Eric B,br / Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Luther Campbell, and LL Cool J; and thebr / nineties crowd, including Wyclef Jean, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Keithbr / Murray, Redman, Krayzie Bone (with daughter on arm), Talib Kweli, Dead Prez,br / Fat Joe, and Black Ice. They joined executives like Bad Boy's Sean "P-Diddy"br / Combs, So So Def's Jermaine Dupri, Def Jam's Kevin Liles, andbr / University/Motown's Haqq Islam./p pThe summit also attracted Nation of Islam head, the Honorable Minister Louisbr / Farrakhan, and a host of black congressional leaders, civil rightsbr / activists, and public intellectuals, including the NAACP's Kweisi Mfume, Rapbr / The Vote's Mario Velasquez, and the SCLC's Martin Luther King III;br / Professors Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, and Manning Marable; Congressmanbr / Earl Hilliard and Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The summit was presidedbr / over by Minister Benjamin Muhammad./p p(While many of the pioneers were not given invitations, they were escortedbr / in by conference staff when they arrived on Wednesday. In one closedbr / session, however, Zulu King and Rock Steady Crew member Fabel made the pointbr / from the floor: "If you're gonna call it a hip-hop summit, you need to bebr / inclusive of graffiti writers and b-boys." Minister Ben Muhammadbr / respectfully noted. "We would not be here if it were not for the Zulubr / Nation.")/p pPerhaps the lasting impact of the summit will be that it brought togetherbr / generations and sectors of the black community—some of which have, untilbr / recently, sparred viciously and in public—to reason and build behind closedbr / doors. /p pAs the sessions commenced, twentysomething rappers and hip-hop activistsbr / often had unkind words for their elders. But the elders took the criticismsbr / to heart, said they were there to listen. West admitted that his generationbr / had somehow dropped the ball. Dyson demonstrated he was paying attention bybr / quoting verses from Nas, Lauryn Hill, and Talib Kweli./p pKweli was impressed, "I see the dialogue happening and it's a beautifulbr / thing."/p pA two-and-a-half hour speech on Wednesday by the Honorable Minister Louisbr / Farrakhan, focusing on responsibility and reconciliation, set the tone forbr / the conference./p pDuring the speech, Farrakhan refused to rebuke the rappers, saying, "Societybr / wants you to clean up the lyrics but the society doesn't want to cleanbr / itself up". He went on to point the figure at "gangsta government" as thebr / real problem. "I'm not here to condemn you", he said./p pInstead he gently nudged the artists toward their better selves, saying thebr / speech he was giving that afternoon was perhaps the most important he hadbr / ever given. "One rap song," he said, "is worth a thousand of my speeches."/p p"The hip-hop generation is our best generation, not our worst," hebr / thundered. "You are the most courageous generation, the strongest, the mostbr / fearless."/p p"The old guys didn't do so good. They didn't feed the flock", he said. "Ibr / believe that you can change the reality of American life and racism—that youbr / have the power to stop it."/p p"The people are feeding you now," he said. "What are you gonna do now tobr / show your appreciation?"/p pSo the dialogues happened, aided by a decision to close much of thebr / convention to the media, a gag order that left some journalists fuming butbr / gave a certain gravitas to the proceedings. On the first day, unscheduledbr / speaker Tricia Rose, the NYU professor, justified the decision, "Beforebr / hip-hop became such a cultural force, we had much more cultural space tobr / raise questions and critiques and to be in conversation, without everybr / moment being magnified and picked up worldwide."/p p"Black culture is no longer separate from mainstream culture," says Rose.br / "That's why the dialogue has to happen in institutions that are not drivenbr / by profit."/p pAnd yet, the most newsworthy item was all about the bottom line. Almost to abr / person, from Simmons to Kweli, participants voiced grave concerns with thebr / FCC's June 6 decision to fine a radio station for playing Eminem's "The Realbr / Slim Shady". Senator Joe Lieberman's and Hillary Rodham Clinton's "Media andbr / Marketing Accountability Act" also loomed large over the proceedings,br / although summit organizers denied it./p pMainstream media picked up on these lyrical content issues, as hip-hopbr / leaders repeated the mantra, "We're keeping it real." But even as hip-hopbr / seemed to be repeating its past, it was eliciting bizarre speculation aboutbr / its future. Take this spacey discussion on CNN's "Take Five" talk-show:/p pMICHELLE COTTLE, CO-HOST: Jake, you're a big hip-hop fan. Are the sexistbr / and violent lyrics just poetry aimed at the establishment?br / JAKE TAPPER, CO-HOST: That's Mack 10, by the way, in case you're wonderingbr / what that video was. You know... I had a bunch of these people from thebr / hip-hop summit, Russell Simmons from Def Jam Records and Chuck D and a fewbr / others. /p pAnd what amazed me -- yes, I like hip-hop. I am an adult, of course,br / purportedly, and a lot of this music is listened to by children and it isbr / affecting these kids. I was amazed, none of these guys would accept anybr / responsibility for the lyrics and for the message they were sending. It wasbr / really phenomenal./p pJOHN DICKERSON, TIME MAGAZINE: Russell Simmons, in particular, since hebr / makes money directly from all of this, and the others as well. One thingbr / that's interesting, though, is you know a genre has made it when it startsbr / navel-gazing. I mean, hip-hop is here to stay, and you know, there are abr / lot of other types of music that haven't done it. This is now a fundamentalbr / part of American culture./p pCHRIS CALDWELL, WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, it might be a sign of demise,br / actually. What might be happening is what happened to the folk musicbr / movement in the '60s, where these things hang around until they get more andbr / more pretentious and have these huge claims to want to reorder society,br / which is... /p pDICKERSON: Well, I disagree. There seems to be a whole raft of new hip-hopbr / artists who are going to see this summit and want to do everything...againstbr / whatever they are talking about in these closed rooms./p pFELIX SANCHEZ, "P.R. CONSULTANT": But the idea of the summit, which was tobr / organize the hip-hop constituency to have a political action committee, etbr / cetera -- I mean, when Cornel West from Harvard has his own hip-hop albumbr / about to come out to preach, basically, to young kids, I think that we'rebr / missing the boat about this genre of music. But at the same time...br / CALDWELL: ... it's like taking the booze out of Irish ballads, or somethingbr / like that. /p pOn Tuesday, behind closed doors, RIAA head Hilary Rosen led hip-hopbr / executives to, if not take the booze out of their ballads, at least bluntbr / some Congressional criticism—in particular Senator Lieberman and Senatorbr / Clinton's Media and Marketing Accountability Act in late April, abr / grandstanding piece of legislation that gives the Federal Trade Commissionbr / the ability to fine entertainment companies that deceptively market violentbr / or sexual materials to children up to $11,000 per day./p pSince the introduction of the bill in April, the Beltway seemed girding forbr / a fight with the hip-hop industry. The FTC began serving notice it was readybr / to begin pressuring record companies, criticizing it publicly forbr / advertising which failed to disclose potentially obscene or violent content.br / Passions peaked the week before the conference with the FCC's Eminem fine.br / Even Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) warned the summit participants,br / "Washington can regulate you out of business if you do not have your actbr / together." /p pThe point was made: move now or face growing opposition. Some execsbr / nervously whispered that radio promotion budgets (read: payola) andbr / marketing budgets might be next. One rumor circulated that Russell would getbr / Hillary Clinton to promise to sink the bill if the guidelines were adopted./p pSo the execs emerged with new voluntary guidelines—which include expandingbr / "Parental Advisory" and "Explicit Lyrics" stickering to all print,br / television and radio ads, internet sites and posters—and a new party line.br / On Thursday, Suzan Jenkins, senior vice president of marketing at RIAA,br / said, "The labels very much want to be able to provide a vehicle for parentsbr / to know what they are listening to."/p pBut was it done under duress?/p pDef Jam's Kevin Liles said, "No, we were not forced to do anything. We wantbr / to make pro-active change before the government comes in and says, 'Hey, youbr / have to do this.'" He added, "I want the consumer and the parent and thebr / government to take some responsibility also, to know [that] when you go buybr / a tape, know what you're buying. You do your research. You don't just go buybr / a car."/p pRosen said, "I do not expect Senator Lieberman to give up in his quest tobr / silence this community. I think they try and make this be about marketingbr / when we know it's about the lyrics, and I don't expect him to give up that."/p pHaqq Islam was even more direct, "I think Lieberman is crossing a line thatbr / he doesn't want to cross. He should wise up. I mean, it starts here butbr / where does it end? At a Schwarzenegger movie?"/p pBy Thursday, a new concern had emerged: rap profiling./p pWhile Jay-Z was a no-show and Sean "P-Diddy" Combs' presence prompted heavybr / Fruit of Islam presence, James Prince, the CEO of Rap-A-Lot Records, walkedbr / quietly through the crowd, embodying one of the stranger incidents ofbr / profiling in recent years./p pIn December 2000, the Republican-dominated House Committee on Governmentbr / Reform looked into reports that Congresswoman Maxine Waters urged Attorneybr / General Janet Reno to drop a drug trafficking investigation against Prince.br / Waters wrote that Prince had been a target of "racial profiling" by roguebr / DEA officers, including illegal searches, surveillance, and racistbr / harassment. /p pThe DEA subsequently dropped the case and one of the officers wasbr / reprimanded. But Republicans pushed for the hearing, and continued to pressbr / for a reopening of the discredited investigation, even introducing lyricsbr / from Rap-A-Lot artist Scarface into the record. Prince said, "They werebr / trying to do their best to cover their ass as far as racial profiling isbr / concerned."/p pHe added, "I feel it's a conspiracy to destroy people like myself that trybr / and uplift my community and help my people to dream again. It's a sad thingbr / but it's real, man."/p pDuring the week at the summit, NYPD presence noticeably increased, withbr / crews of officers filling the New York Hilton's driveway, and clogging thebr / corners on 6th Avenue. They issued public nuisance tickets to bass-bumpingbr / promotional vans parked by the hotel and stared down summit participantsbr / entering the hotel./p pThe profiling peaked on Wednesday, the day that more than a thousandbr / gathered to hear Minister Farrakhan speak. Says Liles, "Everyone wasbr / stopped, they were taking license plates and everything. They made my driverbr / move 20 times. When we came out you saw the cameras flicking, you know whatbr / I mean? You never know what's going on."/p pBut they couldn't overpower the vibes upstairs./p pAt the end of Tuesday, Chuck D had been convinced that, despite all thebr / starpower in attendance, the summit would end up like any other, a lot ofbr / talk and not a lot of action. He was dismayed about having to help mediatebr / the feud between Russell and Minister Conrad Muhammad. But as the Wednesdaybr / sessions began, he watched as the artists began to fire each other up./p pIn a closed door session, Fat Joe told the crowd, "I think us as artistsbr / need to interact more with the community. A lot of rappers seem to shy awaybr / from talking about political things. I think they're scared to really saybr / what's going on."/p pSister Souljah exhorted the attendees to fill their appropriate roles, andbr / help get it all together. "If our shit was tight, Al Sharpton wouldn't be inbr / jail," she said. "Nobody is playing their position."/p pAfter Minister Farrakhan's speech, Chuck D was as close to giddy as he couldbr / get. "I'm satisfied," he said. "All my questions are answered."/p pOn Thursday, the fruits of the summit were on display. The publicbr / intellectuals announced the creation of university-based hip-hopbr / think-tanks, with the first to be launched at Columbia. In response to onebr / of Chuck D's recommendations, Def Jam offered an artist mentoring program,br / "The Hip-Hop House"—part Motown, part "Fame" finishing school, the otherbr / part 21st century media and image training boot camp—to be built in Harlem.br / A "strategic alliance" of the NAACP, SCLC, Nation of Islam, and Rap The Votebr / vowed to set up a hip-hop political action committee and a voterbr / registration drive directed at the 2002 and 2004 elections./p pJeff Johnson, the 28-year-old national director of the NAACP's youth,br / college and young adult division, had opened the conference critical of hisbr / own organization for failing to engage hip-hop generation. He left feelingbr / very optimistic: "A lot of people have been doing work in a vacuum, now theybr / can do it collectively."/p pSean Combs said, "The things I've seen in the last three days have touchedbr / me in such a positive way, and I think it gave a true representation to whatbr / hip-hop is and what hip-hop is about."/p p"What you're witnessing right now is history," he said./p pOne sideshow to the summit ended happily in a moment of Farrakhan-brokeredbr / reconciliation. Russell Simmons and Minister Conrad Muhammad's rift—a warbr / which blew up in the press that week—seemed to be in the process of beingbr / quashed./p pOn Tuesday, Muhammad was barred from the summit. He had appeared on CNN tobr / bitterly tell viewers that Russell had urged a boycott of his own summit inbr / April. But by the next morning, Chuck D had got him in to see thebr / proceedings. /p pAt the podium, Minister Farrakhan began speaking about Russell and Ministerbr / Conrad's beef. "No leader should fight another", he warned. "Because whenbr / the leaders fight, the followers also fight." Farrakhan urged the two tobr / quash their beef behind closed doors. "When you all agree, come on out andbr / let the press see you," he said./p pAs he spoke a clamor erupted at the back of the room. "He's here!" saidbr / someone from within a crowd of journalists near the back door. Ministerbr / Conrad waved to his mentor. Russell, sitting onstage next to Ministerbr / Farrakhan, applauded and smiled. With shouts of "That's right!", the crowdbr / applauded loudly. /p pAfter Farrakhan's speech, Minister Conrad and Russell embraced, and withbr / cameras flashing, they smiled./p pEND/p p-- /p p"I could go on and on the full has never been told."-Buju Banton/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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110 Tons of Dangerous Air

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
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Original Body
pstrongMirant Corporation attempts to double production and further polute a low income community of San Francisco/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/378/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Dee Gray/p pi"I can't breathe here…"/i/p pThey were the largest cement squares inside of a sidewalk I had ever seen./p pMy mother and I were stranded on one... holding on to each other for dear life. I was eleven years old. We were in downtown Los Angeles - the Rampart district, which is on the edge of the Crenshaw area, known for its gang activity, drive-by shootings and opaque landscapes filled with giant alabaster apartment buildings that droop over the immense streets and sidewalks. /p p"I can't take that job….I can't breathe here……br / …..I've got to get out of here," her words came out in tense clumps./p pI could not stop focusing on the sheer depth of each concrete square, and as she spoke, the squares got larger and the thick concrete foundation at the base of the apartment building in front of us seemed to stretch and bend until it curled around us. After several minutes I only heard parts of her words, and then it was just the consonants rubbing and twisting together, jumping up and down in the atmosphere, smashing into my ears, fighting to get in./p p"But couldn't you just try it for one week,” I begged nonchalantly, my desperation dangling in the silent white-brown afternoon air. I looked up to find some sky, some indication of blue, or tip of cloud - some sound, wind or ray of sun, but was only met with the same diffused-almost air and the omnipresent glare, a sky color specific to Los Angeles, which was generated by reflections off of windshields, chrome bumpers, sunglasses, apartment windows, billboards and the bottom of planes./p pI went on, "…You need this job, it might be the last one you get......," while she pondered momentarily. Parts of my stomach that were drowning in an admixture of adrenaline and acid came up for air. "We' re not going to make it without that job- we have no savings, what about the rent?" Desperation was seeping into my voice./p p"But you know I can't breathe in this smog.... I just don't know what to do.........."/p pMy whole body waited for something else to say, knowing so securely, so perfectly clearly that if she did not take this job, if she did not get out of the house NOW and get back to normalcy immediately, life would change forever. Not partially or for awhile, but completely, irreversibly, and forever. Excerpt from uCriminal of Poverty/u by Lisa Gray-Garcia /p pLow income people suffer abuses of many kinds – most of the time they are not obvious – abuses such as environmental racism and classism. When we were living in Hollywood, California, at first we weren’t sure that the increasing asthma I was suffering from was because of the smog of the LA Basin. When we finally figured it out, it was almost too late- my mother’s lungs were permanently damaged – and our only option, to leave LA, was too difficult financially, like moving, relocating, or leaving is for most poor people. We finally managed to move to Venice Beach , thinking the air would better near the ocean. However, because of oil drilling off the coast of Venice, the air was just as bad as in Hollywood, making it necessary for us to leave once again./p pIn low income, predominantly African-American communities of San Francisco there has been a well-documented history of environmental racism and classism against the residents. The most recent example of this is the attempt by the Mirant Corporation, owner of the existing power plant at the foot of Potrero Hill, which wants to more than double its production./p pThis expansion would further pollute the Bayview/Hunters Point community, which is already among the most polluted sections of San Francisco./p pThe following is a partial list of the environmental impact of this expansion compiled by the Communities for A Better Environment:/p p1) There are 1000 children at 3 Potrero Hill schools within a mile and abr / half of the power plant./p p2 ) Almost 2 out of every 10 children in Bayview/ Hunters Point schoolsbr / have asthma./p p3 ) Over 80,000 people live within a 3 mile-radius of the power plant. Sanbr / Francisco’s Planning Department concluded our area had the greatestbr / increase in new housing in the city./p p4 ) The plant expansion would add 110 tons of dangerous air emissionsbr / each year for the next 40 years. Our community already has two existingbr / power plants and suffers from high levels of pollution from nearbybr / industries, diesel trucks, buses, and freeways./p p5 ) With the expansion, the Potrero Power Plant would have a peak capacitybr / of 900 megawatts. The City has concluded that, in terms of power plantbr / size and proximity to dense urban population, the State has no directlybr / comparable power plants./p p6 ) Mirant Corporation is being sued by the City and the State for unfairbr / business practices./p pPlease join PoorNewsNetwork staff in the effort to stop this expansion!/p pTuesday, June 19, 6:30 pm: Public Comments on State preliminary assessment at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House at 953 DeHaro St. Hear and be heard!/p pFor more information, please contact Mike Thomas with Communities for a Better Environment at (415) 642-1091/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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