Story Archives 2001

Police use leathal Force for Medical Energency.

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pstrongbLast Tuesday on June, 12, 2001br / Inside the Metreon Theaterbr / br /Mr. IDRIS STELLEY, a 23 year old/b/strong/p pblack man, shot to death by 8 policemen.br / br /His body riddled with 26 bullets.br / More questions of WHY Mmultiply. /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 pbr /And for what? a 1 to 3 inch penknife police say was larger weapon? br /bIs this the start of a cover-up, framming the dead?br / br /Won't Happen Now, With or Without Witnesses, This Is Not Going Down Asb"Rightous Shoot, End Of Story."/b/b/p pNo way not today Not Again Folks Because it can be br /any of us facing some out of control cop or bandbr / br /of brother's, sister's at the end of their '38,'45 or shotgun; Wanna Take That Chance? I Didn't Think So.br / /p pThe fact that his mother Mrs. Meesha is trainned in calming down her son and others with br /simular mental problems means nothing./p pInicially, she calls police for help with her son who has a mental disorder, I heard he was having bouts of depression.br / br /Even when Mrs. Meesha explains her son’s problem.br / br /All the police could think of is “LEATHAL FORCE.” shooting the young man so many times that they hit one of their own.br / br /This has happened again and again Mr. Dialo taking out his wallet outside his doorway at his own home in New York shot fourty times, or knocking on the wrong door in Oakland killing someone defending his home from intruders.br / br /Its always been a gastly bleakbNightmare in America/b for people of color especially black folk in particular. /p pJust as in England blacks,Indians (of India and Indian Decent), Pakistani peoples or Irish/Scottish were treated less than human in that country. I say that knowing that these people know how a word, look, or any control method can be mean death to persons under the oppressor’s yoke. /p pI do not know all the details but I do know since the br /Mother was there, she knows what her son had and it was no weapon.br / br /This reminds of rap and video by 'N.W.A., "Digital Underground, “911 is a joke in our town” or Ice-T's “Cop Killer.” Remember all the flack Ice went through to the point of then President Bush Sr. used him as hisbr / scapegoat ticket for another term in the White House./p pThe Police (not the one with ‘Sting’) but the blue guys and women with guns blazing wanted no one to buy Ice-T’s CD because of its content told people to defend themselves, take a few ‘em with them if ‘somethin broke off. Meanwhile “cops killing” goes on in communities all over this country./p pMost police uphold, abide by the law, work within the system even thebr / hotshots know where to draw the line from lawlessness; but other br /jerks in uniforms make everyone fear all cops./p pHere’s an Idea, Get rid of the rotten driftwood and the black silhouette. Instead use multicolor ones.br / br /those black silhouette in use now make all black people living, breathing targets without the need of a bullseye-since our whole body to police is the /ppb BULLSEYE!/b /ppten years later, a brand new century young black men are still seen asbr /bTARGET PRACTICE/b It’s time for an updatedbr /b“COP KILLER, BEAM ‘EM DEAD. ten album CD set along with all the other ills. Use Rap instruct our young and old in street survival it seems many of us have forgotten the price paid "Living in AmeriKKKa."/b Someone will say I’m advocating violence./p pGet it right, I’m advocating survival, self defence, of anyone including those who gets jacked up by cops just because cops can jack‘u up. One of the best ways to fight this bGOON SQUAD MENTALITY IS GATHERING EVIDENCE OF THIS DEADLY PATTERN ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THEN INTRODUCE AND DEMAND LASTING CHANGES TO THIS "DEADLY TARGET PRACTICE."/bbr / br /If I ever do buy a gun, lets just say one will not be enough I might have to invest in bullet proof vests, and gas masks too. Notice what the police ware to counteract riots and we as citizens should do the same they don't have all the firepower bTHEY WANT US TO THINK THEY DO./bbr / I’m beginning to thinkbpigs/bas long as they can some will go on “Joykills” being a powerful group they can always say b“THE SITUATION ESCALATED OUT OF CONTROL, SORRY ABOUT THAT.”/b Remember Appology as policy, do a public appology and keep on killing people.br / br /This Tuesday, June, 19, 2001 on the steps of Thomas C. Hill Hall of Justice at 850 Briant St. there is a new media feeding frenzy.br / br /Mr. Van Jones, Executive Director of PoliceWatch held a tight reignbr / on the media explaining the circumstances of another young man’s death.br / Mr. Jones said “S.F.P.D. Protocol responce is Deadly, training is escalate, escalate, escalate.”br / br /After this a silent prayer for the fallen young 23 year old./p pThere are signs protesting the way police killed the man some of them read,br / br /b911 = Blood Bath, pCalled The Police, Better Call The Ambulance, /ppPolice Road Rage, br /A Cops Fears, Equals a Mother’s tears, /pp26 bullets, Another Dead Black Man, br /Swiss army pocket knife does not call for 26 Bullets./p/b /p pQuestions float about Mr.br / Idris having head wounds and police denialbr / while morticians working on the body indicate reconstruction problems with Mr. Stelley's head. /p pI don't know I haven't view the young man's bodybthrough close relatives, close friends who did canbr / br / shed more light on this./b/p pThe full truth will outbr / br / and this time it won't take years to uncover./p pPolice have to be trained in fundamental new ways on how to cope with a changing society, that color and mental disablility cannot be solved with stun guns, bean bags, rubber bullets, or tranquilizer darts.br / br /Incidently, why didn’t they bring alternative defense/subdue weaponsbr / in case they were needed?/p pThe police needbr / schooling in altinate kinds of in br /defence of life not just the taking of it. /p pCops might have to keep their vests and visors on 365 daysbr / a year, 24 hours a day year in, year out, br /until they learn they work for the public not to br /isolate and kill them. /p pPlease donate what you br /can to Poor Magazine orbr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th br /St. Street, San br /Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.San Francisco, br /CA 94102br / br / Email:askjoe@poormagazine.br / orgbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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My Baby was going to be 24 years old

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pstrongbA 911 Call Meant Death for a Young African-American San Franciscan/b/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/380/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy Moore and Tiny/p pOn Friday, June 15th 2001, I sat in my chair at the Mayor’s Council on Disability under the gold dome of City Hall, listening to a representative of the San Francisco Police Department talk about the first graduation of the new Police Intervention Training. This training is geared to improve the safety and outcomes of police encounters with people with mental illness. However, two days before this meeting, a young African-American man with mental illness became target practice for three White police cops, who fired twenty shots at Idris Stelley, a twenty three year old college student living with mental illness. The shooting took place at the Sony Metreon movie theater in San Francisco while the movie Swordfish was showing./p pIdris Stelley knew what many Black men know. He knew that if you are a Black man the quickest way to end your life is to call the police, especially if you’re a Black man with mental illness. From Margaret L. Michell of LA. to Errol Shaw of Detroit, the police have put many Black men and women with mental illness in the coffin. This is why Police departments from Memphis, Tennessee to Los Angeles and now San Francisco, California are forced by community organizations, advocates and parents to get training on how to deal with people with mental illness. /p pBut is the training working? In San Francisco only one officer per station graduated last month from this new training, and only those who volunteer are signed up for this training. After almost two years of fighting, community organizations and advocates convinced the police and city political leaders to make the training a part of SFPD.br / Idris Stelley knew that the confrontation with police would end up in his death; that is why he told people in the theater to “Go home now,” if they wanted to see their loved ones, because he was going to die. He knew that the police were coming. He even kissed his girlfriend and told her to go home. /p p Unfortunately he was right, as the confrontation with the six White officers ended up with three officers firing twenty shots at Stelley. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Stelley had a keychain knife and was approaching, trying to stab one of the officers, who had a bulletproof vest on. The article, quoting Homicide inspector Holly Pera of the SFPD, said that the officer had tried to pepper spray him./p p“My baby was going to be 24 years old, he had a 4.0 grade point average..at Heald College.. he was a lover of animals and people- they butchered my baby...” Idris Stelly’s mother, Mesha Irizarry spoke at a rally at the Hall of justice on Tuesday, June 19,when I heard her speak those impassioned words, I realized while reading the Examiner article that the only voice I heard was Holly Pera, of the SFPD. What happened to the voice of this mother, who is a dedicated community activist?/p p“I am extremely upset about what the SFPD did- there were eight officers present- it was wrong”, Summer Galbreath spoke to the crowd while holding back tears,” Summer had told me in an interview the night before that the officers were very rude to her when she asked questions about the shooting, and that they knew about his illness. /p p“The reports have said that he had a “large knife”... we believe that the investigation will show that the knife was no bigger than this , as he spoke to the crowd, Van Jones, from BayArea PoliceWatch dangled a two inch pocket knife in front of his face for the crowd to see, he continued, “the rush to judgement on the part of the police was wrong, the SFPD training protocol is about escalation”/p pWhy were twenty shots fired over a keychain knife, knowing that the officer had a bulletproof vest on? Were the officers scared of a Black man with mental illness and a keychain knife approaching them? Did they think that a keychain knife could slice open a bulletproof vest, or were they not thinking, just reacting!?/p pBack in 1999 Margaret L. Mitchell, a Black college graduate who became homeless and mentally ill, was shot by Officer Edward Larrigan in LA. Larrigan claimed he had feared for his safety. Mitchell was 5 feet tall, one hundred and five pounds, her only weapon a foot long screwdriver. In Detroit last year Errol Shaw, a black man who was deaf and mentally ill, was shot to death because he was swinging around a four-foot rake, even though his family was screaming to the police that he couldn’t hear. /p p The shooting of Idris comes three weeks before a groundbreaking forum entitled Senseless Crimes: Brutality against People with Disabilities. Cases like Idris Stelley’s are why Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, in conjuction with Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative, the Coalition on Homelessness and Poor Magazine will be hosting the Senseless Crimes Open Forum. This is only one avenue of educating, empowering and providing a supportive network for our disabled brothers and sisters and their families who have dealt with crimes and brutality. We also need to pressure the San Francisco Mental Heath Board, political leaders and our own Black community to take action politically and at the grassroots level in a proactive way. /p pIdris Stelley and many other Black women, men and youth with mental illness are screaming for help, but many of us in the Black community also know that we can’t call the police for help. Did the action of Idris prove that 911 is not in the business of protecting us, but will serve to eliminate us!? /p pA prayer was led by a friend of the family at the rally..Idris's mother, Mesha, spoke the last words to the silent crowd, “ My son is here... he is protecting us... he is watching over us and he wants to make sure that there are changes in the system... so no more children suffer like he did - we don’t want revenge.... we want justice” /p p/ppCheck out the Po' Poets Tribute to Idris Stelley by clicking the Po' Poets button on the front page. (URL "http://www.poormagazine.org/index.cfm?L1=newscategory=8story=392) /p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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B.Jr./Putin BAD SEEDS?

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pstrong pI’m half asleep listeningbr / to Mr. B.Ward’s take on ’Select‘br / Prez Bush's European visit withbr / the elected President of Russiabr / bVladimir Putin./b/p pAre both men bclonesbr / of each other?/bbr / br /Do they needing militarybr / might and theb”good 'ole daysbr / of brinkmenship?”/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 Joe Bolden/p p“With these two leaders both our countries br /br / br /Russia and America are in submarines made with leaky screen doors.br / br /We’re taking on water slowly sinking; lets jettison these two./p pThe above are my words. br /I listen and think of others not only conservative butbr /ultra conservative stations whooping up this “Star Wars, br /Floating Missle Denfense “shinola” System again./p pbr /Who can blame Mr. Putin for upgrades of Mother Russia’s Nuclear defense brwhen ourbUnilateral/bbr / br /uneven,br /one-sided, br /single,br / skewered, basymetrical,br /lopsided, br /unequal br /leader won’t change his mind on particular situations that call for deeper thinking and reasoning./b/p pbr /Isn’t this why we elect officials, for their ability to see farther than their own personal gain?br / br /Oh, G.W. was “Selected” by the Supreme Court not elected bybWe The people/b-I forgot that vital fact./p pbWe cannot go back to multi-headed ballistic nuclear missles./bbr / br /Remember the “One Nuke can ruin your day?” bWell, multi-headed ones from space will br /bFUCK THIS ONE WORLD PERMANENTLY!/b/b/p pbr /All this to militarize space. /ppI said it before and I repeat G.W. Bush Jr. is a man of yesteryear with rear-view-window vision./p pbr /Yes, we are a superpower however we need each other it happens with complexity./p pbr /We are not alone in the world we need cooporation not multi-phallis flexing. /p pbr /This Missile Defense System is a stupid move. /p pbr /I thought Conservative meant putting on brakes to keep cool heads and advance slowly to better futures./p pBut this administration is a - and I use the expression in the extreme is a brbHORRORSHOW.br / br /Is Bush a livingbr / br /“Clockwork?”br / br /Maybe Mr. Albert Gore never attacked G.W’s Jr. heart but his neural net or wetware may be contaminated by lead poisoning. /brb/p pbTHIS GUY’S AMERICAN FEATHER NEAR, HIS FRONTAL LOBES ISN’T CLICKED ALL THE WAY FORWARD./b/p pbr /Can we start impeachment proceedings now, or at least give him and "Heart-man" complete medical and psychological checkup starting with the latest M.I.R. scans./p pQuestion, is G.W.B. Jr. our early 21st.Century version of br /b‘Doctor Strange Love?/bbr / br /Is he really capable of snatching war out of the relatively shut mouth of peace? /p pbr /Is Mr. Yesteryear so afraid of peaceful coexsistance with other nations or boring things like improved health care for all, a future where spacers come in every hue, religion, sex, and living in space is so boring and routinebr / br /that fatalities are not as upsetting br /because every country has known grief while living and working in space's high frontier?/p pbr /I’m just speculating positive from negative aspects.br / br / Bush is acting very negative in his first year in office, good the more he reveals the more people can get him out of office in 2004. /p pbr /Sounds fair to me. Lets keep up another tradition like father, like son give 'em both one term in office./p pbr /Hope folks are taking notice of ‘Prez Bush and our socalled leaders and not just two browns across the bay. /p pIts ‘gettin scary ‘n hairy in Washingtoon, uh, ‘ton now Mr. Bush knowsbr / br /California is not an isolated case, this energy crisis? as other states start suffering brown/black outs, gas, oil, and other shortages./p pMr. Bush is talking a differently on it. /p pbr /There are choice words I’d say about this ultra conservative, God fearing, family values, moral, right wing administration.br / br /I won’t because there are others more elequent than I can ever be.br / br /So let them go prosy and sling wet dirt with a much larger circulation than I and the hard working scribes of Poor Magazine./p pbr /Please donate what can to Poor Magazine orbr / C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St.br / San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Wedding Zone Pt.4

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pstrong pbA trip to and from to Las Vagas,br / Nevada is as close br / tobr / Purgartory without actually dying Continues./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 Joe B./p pWe did make it to the crowded casino, found our rooms collapsing in our beds. br /Though my mother and I are in separate beds she decides to do some gambling saying “You don’t go to a casino to sleep.” Made sense to me except I am so tired, I br /mumble /p p“If you gamble half asleep you’ll lose money and still be tired.”br / By 9am. br /I’m enjoying the amenities of our hotel/casino’sbr / bathroom, shower,br / wash cloths, soap, bath gels, combination shapoo/hair conditioner, crispbr / white towels and the always clean fresh feeling of a bath or shower. /p pAfter having a pleasent breakfast with bride to be and groom,br / friends and my mother are having a lively conversation ofbr / family secrets and me not wanting know keeping silent speaking only br /I felt I could contribute to it being so worried about thebr / wedding and how I’d look not wanting to embarrass anyone including myself./p pThis is a special and solemn occassion and I didn’t want to ruin it. /p p Downstairs the usual-arm-bandit machine is my level of playbr /blackjack, keno,dice table or spinning wheel to me is to fastbr / br / stick to quater machines is safer,recently the move tobr / silver dollars machines is my next level of betting./p pI’m a cheap gambler using ten dollars worth of silver dollarsbr / to play figuring if that’s lost the real test tobr / see if I had a true gambler’s gene, blood, conditionbr / or whatever the syndrome is./p pAfter downing several coins and using another the maching came up br /with 40 which means I won fourty dollars./p pThe decision is taken from me when I’m called to br / visit my Aunt Delores in another casino, who I hadn’t seen br /in years but remember her. /p pCousin Melvin had visited before but at the time my C.N.A. job br /kept me from seeing much of him. /p pHe's been in Nevada for two days and already knows the lay of the land./p pLong before that my mother and I walked in the hot sun to another casino past the “Pirate Of The Caribbean” for excercise. /p pThe live action are full of large scale explosions, people jumping br / off authentic looking 17th century ships into the sea. /p pIt’s so crowded we resolve to walk on the opposite side of the street on our return.br /br / Time is relative in Nevada casino’s because clocks are not seen and the lightingbr / br /is enough to see but can lull the senses into staying up delaying br / or resetting your bio-rythms./p pIt was close to 7 or 8pm. I’m ready to sleep butbr / we’re picked up by Alvin and Phyllis and Melvinto visit Aunt Delore’s at her hotel/casino./p pI don’t know about my mother but I knew zzzzzz’s are in my eyes/p pThe last thing I want to do is walk anywhere but br /someone in our group had the bright idea “Let’s visit the br /New York, N.Y. hotel/casino, its only a block away.” /p pI didn’t want to go, but how many free trips to Nevadabr / does one get and this is my brother’s last night as a br / single guy everything has a special glow about it./p pIt must be a last minute rush of adrenaline and the harty br /lunch and dinner in the casino before going out again br /that gave us an extra boost of energy because its abr /long walk to the New York Casino and my energy is flagging./p pWe are suppose to meet back at a certain time at thebr / entrance we came in of course that didn’t work with ourbr / group splitting up and heading in different directions./p pI went some place to sit after going to the bathroombr / waiting for mother to return from the women’s restroom./p pI kept her insight while using my exra winning to againbr / gamble and test my resolve./p p In-laws to be, myself and mother are sitting down br /on soft backless seats next to dollar slot machines./p p“What’s that your drinking” I asked my motherbr / br /“Sex On The Beach, want one, its free?” she replies./p pThe small orange-red miniature sunrise drink looks temping and I saidbr / “yes, please.”/p pWhile waitng for the light acholic drink I feed thebr machine win/lose - win/lose as I’m down to my last br /nine dollars of my original winnings and before the ladybr / in a cute short, skimpy french maid costume gives me my br /“Sex On The Beach” from a tray I press the lighted spin square./p p80 is the number I hit as bells ring and the noisebr / of silver coins hitting the stainless steel slot trays below./p pListening to dropping coins, looking at my mother, she looks at me and other people looking around./p pWhen it stopped I say to myself more than my motherbr / br /“That’s it for me.” /p pGrabbing my winnings and exchanging it for 80 dollars in cash. /p pMother made 20 dollars off one coin she stopped too.br /br / I know, gambling is something I can do without being addicted, as a non smoker, drinker, drug/pill user, and br /now gambling made me feel more relaxed and rememberingbr / being real sick in the late 1980’s getting well and wondering if I’m one of those br / immune to the aids virus which I never thought of until that moment.br / I think 'nah, I'm not that blessed that happensbr / only in science fiction, fanasy,or tall tales./p pTommorrow is the big day and sleep tugs at me./p pAunt Delores left early as I enter the casino looking all over to find herbr / my younger brother paged her twice without success which is why he’s br /watches human white cell anti bodies and I write my strange br /columns on the fringes of science and applied science./p pThe walk back took whatever reserved energy I have left luckily there br /is a smorgasbord like dinner where I can proudly say evenbr /though I ate tree healthy plates of dinner and some pie ala’ modebr / I was not stuffed the gills with that belly ache feelingbr //p pbut satisfied with full stomache and bladder to empty until its time for bedbr / Meanwhile I hurry to find the elevator to the tenth br /floor as my mother decides to play kino for awhile./p pI want to be up early so I shower, be and br /feel clean and be properly dressed in my new suit, shirt,br / tie, sox, and shoes./p pSleep is easy. br /This is it one ‘bro about take the plunge and me, br /well the blushing bride-to-be has been hinting for weeks br /to get me hooked up with someone in her half br /jest/half serious tone. /p pI don’t think of myself as a catch, I’m blind tobr / br /stuff others may seebr / to me all the non things I don’t do is no big deal. /p pDid I bring all the clothes, will they fit, am I ready for this?/p pThe last question is easy No, I’m still not readybr / for this br /but its herebr / bDeal With It 'Bro. Deal.br / /b/p pPlease send donations to br /Poor Magazinebr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th br /St. Street,Sanbr / br /Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.San Francisco, br /CA 94102br / br /Emailbr / br /a href="mailto:askjoe@poormagazine.org"askjoe@poormagazine.org/abr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Just Becuz I'm a Asian

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/386/photo_2_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Bao Xiong /p pJust becuz i'mm a Asian doesn't mean u have ta be racistbr /br / Just becuz i'mm a da color brown doesn't mean i have ta get downbr /br / Being what i am ish just how it ishbr /br / I luv being the color brown and i'll always be truebr /br / And never let mah people downbr / /p pJust becuz I'm Asian and i don't date other racesbr /br / That doesn't mean i'mm a racistbr /br / I luv other race and they are mah peepsbr /br / And i will always be their homiesbr //p pJust becuz i'mm a Asian doesn't mean i'm let each and every one of yah gobr /br / I have respect foe yahbr /br / Just becuz we are all different color doesn’t mean we have ta hate each other foe lifebr //p pI luv mah self and i will never put mah self downbr /br / I luv all the thangz i dobr /br / I luv who i ambr /br / i thanx god foe taking mehbr /br / and making meh come into this worldbr //p pBut Just becuz I'mm a Asian doesn't mean u have ta hate meh.... br //p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Gentrification Under the Veneer of Revitalization

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
Original Author
root
Original Body
pstrong.Westpoint will become the sixth neighborhood in San Francisco to be "revitalized" with the HOPE VI program, leading to the forced displacement of several hundred low-income African-Americans./strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/387/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby kaponda/p pIn 2002, 267 families who have bathed in the golden rays sprinkled lavishly from the illustrious sun will be relocated to other parts of the city of San Francisco and state of California. The spirited cadence to which these families in Hunters View once strutted will be reduced to a drone, and they will march to the tune of a dirge. Immediately after these families have gone, their 350 aged houses located on 22 acres of hilly coastline off the San Francisco Bay will be demolished and replaced by 442 newly developed homes. In 2005, after the new homes have been constructed, 117 families will be permitted to return. The other 150 families will have the only housing they have ever known taken from them, as lions steal both the wildebeest and its terrain./p pBut the lion is not masked, and neither is the plan that will aid in the permanent displacement of the 150 families. The national action plan to eradicate severely distressed public housing arose out of recommendations by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing. The plan, dubbed HOPE VI, has always been met with vehement opposition throughout the country and has been described as a device used for gentrification under the veneer of revitalization./p pIn June of 2001, the San Francisco Housing Authority submitted a HOPE VI 2001 Revitalization Application to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a “traditional San Francisco neighborhood of attached town houses and flats to replace the existing barracks style ‘public housing,’” located in Hunters View, which is commonly referred to as Westpoint, in San Francisco, California. If the application is approved, Westpoint will become the sixth neighborhood to be revitalized with HOPE VI funding. North Beach, Valencia Gardens, Bernal Dwellings, Hayes Valley and Plaza East have also been funded through the HOPE VI Program, causing a critical reduction in the number of African American families in San Francisco./p p “There is no truth to this assertion that residents are permanently displaced,” stated Salem Prouty, General Engineer with Public Housing in San Francisco. “The rules and regulations for HOPE VI state that anybody displaced will be given first opportunity to return. If a tenant does not choose to return to the new house, then the unit will be given to the next person on the waiting list -- just like any other public housing,” Prouty stated as we spoke in his office at the Federal Building in San Francisco./p pAn application has been submitted for HOPE VI at Westpoint. Based on the one-for-one policy of the San Francisco Housing Authority, each HOPE VI unit that is demolished has to be replaced by a newly developed HOPE VI unit, “ensuring full opportunity of all existing residents in good standing to have first choice for the new units.” But if only 60 percent of the newly constructed housing will be made available to residents, it would be mathematically impossible for every resident to return to the new dwellings that will be perched atop the ridge at Westpoint. “Is this correct?” was the dilemma I propounded to Salem Prouty./p p “Well, if you put it that way, yes,” replied Prouty, in recognition of the oblique language which allows for an agency to employ methods associated with corruption in its selection of which families and individuals it will designate to enjoy the comforts of newly developed property. This vague language also allows for wanton disregard of the rules and regulation and vested rights of all families and individuals to return back to the place from which they were removed. Eviction is one method that an agency may employ to preclude a family from eligibility of future public housing./p p “Renee Taylor is on record as being opposed to the HOPE VI Program at Westpoint. She was evicted from Hunters View for a puppy that was given to her son on his birthday over two years ago,” stated Marie Harrison during a discussion of evictions that seemed to have no other logical reason except retaliation as their causes. “The puppy was stolen on the night that it was given to her son. Everyone involved with the San Francisco Housing Authority located on the premises of Westpoint knew the puppy was no longer at that unit, but no one at the Housing Authority at Westpoint had been trained well enough to instruct the Sheriff’s Department, which carries out evictions, that it was an unlawful eviction. Renee Taylor told the Housing Authority at Westpoint that the puppy had not resided at the unit since the night it was given to her son. She asked the Housing Authority, ‘Why is this eviction moving forward?’ The answer she got was that the Housing Authority at Westpoint ‘did not know how to stop it.’ No one at the Housing Authority called downtown to inform them that the puppy had not been at the home of Renee Taylor since the first night she received it, over two years ago. They could not act as a liaison between Renee Taylor and the San Francisco Housing Authority downtown to prevent the eviction. Renee Taylor came home from taking care of her aunt to find her furniture and personal belongings being carried into the streets by deputies of the Sheriff’s Department. Her home was boarded, and she now has to find an attorney to argue her case,” concluded Marie Harrison./p pThe situation in which Renee Taylor finds herself is not unique to the cadre of activists who are the Ghandis of their communities. They have decried the unscrupulous conduct of the San Francisco Housing Authority and resisted all its efforts to silence them. They have read and educated their communities on issues like federal public housing regulations and HOPE VI Programs./p p “I know the regulations and believe in the Constitution of the United States,” stated Theresa Coleman, the rubber band that holds the Westbrook community together -- the community adjacent of Westpoint. “I will make these regulations work for the people of Westbrook. But government does not follow its own rules. It changes the rules to accommodate the rich,” explained Coleman, her eyes like those of a disappointed child who stands in front of a locked candy factory. /p pTheresa Coleman has a long-standing and solid relationship of activism in the community of Bayview/ Hunters Point. Her home is also the mailing address for Ujamaa, the Resident Management Corporation for Westbrook, which has been recognized by the San Francisco Housing Authority, HUD, Congress and the City of San Francisco as a legitimate corporation. But Coleman also has openly opposed the HOPE VI Program at Westbrook because, she says, “the concept of HOPE VI that the San Francisco Housing Authority has designed does not allow for all residents to return after construction of new housing. This hill is prime real estate in San Francisco. It has been a lifetime dream of politicians and developers to take it.”/p p “I have the understanding to drive a HOPE VI, and to take every single one of my people to homeownership,” stated Coleman as she explained why she believes that her impending eviction is politically motivated./p p “Whenever the San Francisco Police Department is called to public housing, for whatever reason, a piece of paper is generated and sent to the San Francisco Housing Authority downtown. A kid who lives outside of the community was being chased by police. He ran inside my house and locked out the people who were in my house. And my daughter and I found ourselves trapped inside my house with this person. As I came out of the bathroom, I saw the legs of my granddaughter flying though the air. I immediately came to her rescue. The police were not able to penetrate the barricade. Because my unit was involved, the San Francisco Housing Authority will soon serve me with an eviction notice. When the report was written by the police, it stated that I had intentionally harbored this person,” stated Coleman./p pThe San Francisco Housing Authority has to employ this retaliatory tactic against savvy-minded activists like Theresa Coleman and Renee Taylor because, although there will be no public housing lost in the creation of new, plush homes under HOPE VI guidelines, there will be wholesale replacement of people who cannot afford the new homes. These intrepid activists are like soldiers who have begun to trumpet the wake-up call in their communities. The aim of the San Francisco Housing Authority, however, is to leave the armies in disarray through its reprisal of removing the generals from the communities./p pBy virtue of the nature of its purpose, the San Francisco Housing Authority realizes that there is a less than one-percent vacancy rate in housing in the city of San Francisco. It has to reconcile any notion of a HOPE VI Program with the stark realization upon completion that not one sheep from Westpoint will be lost upon completion of the revitalization process./p pIn Westpoint 67 percent of the families have no income and 80 percent have children. Where will the 150 families be permanently relocated, if they are not permitted to return because they do not earn $30,000 dollars, annually -- or 40 percent of the Area Mean Income, which is approximately $70,000?/p pBut an application has been submitted by the San Francisco Housing Authority for Westpoint and in 2005, only a ghost of the effervescence of children frolicking on the hillside in Westpoint will be apparent. The other children will no longer be a concern for the city of San Francisco./p pOther revitalization sites have already been designated and retaliatory practices are being employed by the San Francisco Housing Authority in anticipation of resistance. According to Marie Harrison, “On May 16, 2001, a discrimination lawsuit was lodged against HUD and the public housing in Shoreview by a woman, who, by all accounts, is pro-active in community organizations and a vocal resident of her tenants association. On May 25, 2001, she was served with a 30-day notice of eviction. The woman has two sons who were receiving social security from their dead father. She took the first check that she received to Housing in Shoreview and had it photocopied so that her income could be adjusted. Housing in Shoreview said that the boys were not 18 years of age, so the income did not have to be added to her income. Last month, however, over eight years later, Housing decided that the social security income her sons received is income that has to be added along with hers. So, she is being charged with fraud and has gotten a 30-day notice of eviction.”/p pThe lure of an attractive, revitalized community with town houses, streets paved with new asphalt, swimming pools, and all of the amenities that come with redevelopment would dazzle many residents whose desires fall within the sphere of “ordinary people.” But for the many activists whose commitments exceed the plains of temptation and corruption, nothing short of a one-for-one return will be acceptable./p p “Unless I am dead and planted up under the dirt somewhere, Westbrook will not be gentrified with the lure of buildings like the Taj Mahal and other mansions. The black community has been raped too many times,” stated an emotional Theresa Coleman.br / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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Faith-Based Bonanza

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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pstrongWill the homeless have to pray for their supper?/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/389/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Bill Berkowitz/p pIn their day-to-day lives the homeless depend upon a bevy of government services including job training, shelters and food programs, to name a few. President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative, which aims to fund social services through religious organizations, is certain to effect delivery of these services./p pUnveiled in spectacular fashion just months ago, President Bush's faith-based initiative has hit the skids. Rather than being a potentially handsome payoff to his Right Wing culture warriors, it has instead become the nexus for an unorthodox alliance between the Left and the Right. The controversy Bush's initiative engendered has forced him to delay implementation. /p pFor the Christian Right, there are three contentious issues related to the initiative: one, how qualifications of eligible religious organizations will be determined; two, governmental regulations and scrutiny linked to funding; and three, the threat government grants will require to diluting their central, religious message. /p pFor liberals and progressives, criticisms of the faith-based initiative are centered on, but not limited to, questions involving separation of church and state. /p pbThe White House Office/b /p pOn January 29, amidst fanfare and surrounded by Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy, Bush issued an executive order creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives./p pImmediately after Bush's announcement, the gold rush began as the White House switchboard fielded nearly 200 calls per day requesting information about the program. After the February 20 official opening the staff was slammed with phone calls looking for grant applications, writes the Associated Press' Sharon Kehnemui. /p pBush's faith-based initiative, trumpeted during the presidential campaign, is exemplar of his commitment to “compassionate conservatism,” has been on the agenda of Right Wing think tanks and Christian Right for a decade. “Charitable Choice” first came to light when Senator John Ashcroft (now Attorney General) inserted this provision into the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996 (welfare reform). The charitable choice amendment requires states contracting nonprofit organizations to provide social services to include religious organizations in the mix of agencies eligible for government contracts. Announcing the Whitebr / House Office, Bush remarked, “We will not fund the religious activities of any group, but when people of faith provide social services, we will not discriminate against them.” While religious organizations historically received government funding for emergency food programs, childcare, youth programs and the like, they were specifically prohibited from religious proselytizing. /p pAshcroft's provision, writes Cathlin Siobhan Baker, co-director of the Employment Project, removed “prohibitions regarding government funding of pervasively sectarian organizations. Churches and other religious congregations providing welfare services on behalf of the government may display religious symbols, use religious language and religious criteria in hiring and firing employees.” Bush's faith-based initiative expands thatbr / precedent, allowing religious organizations equal access to governmental funding for performing an array of social services. Bush has also appointed a group of true believers and seasoned conservatives to head up the effort and spread the word. /p pFor starters, the president appointed longtime criminologist and political scientist John DiIulio director of the new agency. In the mid-1990s, Bruce Shapiro writes in Salon.com, DiIulio “made a stir with what turned out to be one of the most dangerously wrong predictions in the annals of public intellectuals. Relying upon reams of supposedly irrefutable data, DiIulio predicted a massive coming wave of crime by children and teenagers, crime of unprecedented brutality.” He characterized these youth as a “generational wolf pack” of “fatherless, Godless and jobless” teens, whom he termed “Superpredators.” /p pDiIulio's rhetorically-charged prediction had at least two outcomes. His star rapidly rose within conservative circles, and politicians from both parties outdid each other staking out the “We're tougher on crime than you” turf. This unleashed an unprecedented war on America's young people, including punitive legislation such as California’s recently passed Proposition 21.br / Though DiIulio was flat-out wrong- in fact, despite highly publicized school shootings, overall juvenile crime has plummeted, DiIulio has been rewarded with appointment as director of Bush's new White House Office. /p pThe deputy director for the Offic of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives is Don Eberly, who served as deputy director for the office of public liaison during the Reagan’s administration. Eberly is one of the intellectual pillars behind the conservative notion of building the “civil society.” In conservative lexicon, the civil society shrinks government by taking responsibility for the social safety net through the good works of faith-based, corporate and community entities, along with philanthropists. Eberly has written several books on the subject including: “America's Promise:br / Civil Society and the Renewal of AmericanCulture.” He is also founder of the National Fatherhood Initiative and author of “The Faith Factor in Fatherhood.”/p pbFaith-based Barnstorming Hits Augusta/b /p pWhen Cynthia Parr, wife of an Augusta, Georgia rabbi, showed up at a Saturday morning gathering in late February to hear Stephen Goldsmith, the president's top advisor on faith-based initiatives, she wasn't sure what to expect. According to Parr, Augusta's mayor invited some 200 clergy to meet Goldsmith, the former mayor of Indianapolis, so he could explain the president's new initiative. (Parr learned of the event from a blurb in the local newspaper andbr / showed up uninvited.) /p pHolding the meeting on a Saturday morning, the Jewish Sabbath, ensured limited participation from the Jewish community. This was troubling enough, but Parr was unnerved by what she heard. Goldsmith explained how religious organizations would now be eligible to receive government funds to provide a broad array of social services, and yet they could “continue to pass outbr / religious material and require prayer for their clients.” They could do anything short of billing the government for Bibles. /p pTopping off the event was an appearance by the mayor's special guest, Ralph Reed. Former Christian Coalition executive director, Reed now runs his own conservative political consulting operation. He played a key role in mobilizing the Christian Right for Bush prior to his do-or-die victory over the hard-charging Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) in the South Carolina primary. Reed is currently a spokesperson for the president./p pParr left the meeting wondering: How might Bush's program effect the separation of church and state?/p pbIn the Crossfire/b /p pBush's faith-based initiative has been the lightening rod for criticism and objections from liberal and Left groups concerning potential violations of separation of church and state. Also in question is the lack of professional credentials and competency of those hired to deliver services, as well as potential discriminatory hiring practices at faith-based organizations. The initiative is a solid blow against public service workers and may furtherbr / erode the power of labor unions. Seasoned observers note it will also be nearly impossible to ensure financial accountability. Liberal church officials who have provided social services for years are also wary this initiative paves the way for wholesale dumping of the poor and homeless on the doorstep of America's churches. /p pRecently, resounding criticism has come from an unexpected quarter: the Christian Right. Pat Robertson, founder and head of the Christian Coalition, was first out of the gate expressing his doubts about the initiative, which was quite surprising given Robertson's early and unequivocal support for Bush during the campaign. /p pOn his Christian Broadcasting Network's “700 Club” and in abr / mid-March op-ed piece in IThe Wall Street Journal,/i Robertson admitted to being deeply troubled that groups such as the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and the Church of Scientology might get in on the action. /p pIn early March, the ubiquitous Jerry Falwell, founder of the now-defunct Moral Majority, called upon Bush to specifically exclude Muslim groups from eligibility for government funds. In an interview with Beliefnet.com, an interfaith Website, Falwell claimed, “There's clear evidence that the Islam religion, wherever it has majority control, doesn't even allow people of other faiths to express themselves or evangelize or to exist in their presence.” A few days later Falwell backed off, after U.S. Muslims reacted negatively to his comments./p pIn a curious explanation, seeming on its face to bar many Christian Right groups from government money, Falwell suggested any group that “steps up to the door bearing any bigotry toward any human being should be disqualified for federal funding.” /p pRichard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, wants no part of government money because he's concerned along with the money will come government intervention and regulation. He claims there are too many strings attached and he wouldn't touch the government's money “with the proverbial 10-foot pole.” /p pJohn DiIulio, speaking at the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Dallas, may have done more in one speech to alienate religious conservatives from the administration than liberals might ever hope to achieve. He told conservatives to “get real” and get out in the streets. “It's fine to fret about 'hijacked faith,” he lectured, “but to many brothers and sisters who are desperately ministering to the needs of those whom the rest of us in this prosperous society have left behind, such frets would persuade more and rankless if they were backed by real human and financial help.” He reminded them that the Constitution “requires the government to give equal access to all religious groups and non-religious groups seeking federal money.”/p pbDivvying up the Goodies/b/p pGroups such as the Hari Krishnas and the Nation of Islam have been receiving taxpayer dollars for years. Laurie Goodstein, in The New York Times, points out the International Society of Krishna Consciousness has “received millions of dollars in government contracts to run a network of services, including a shelter for homeless veterans, transition homes for recovering addicts and [a] halfway house for parolees.” /p pMose Durst of Berkeley, former national president of the Unification Church, told reporters: “You have to open it to all religions or no religions.” According to Goodstein, both the Unification Church and the Church of Scientology are preparing to stake claims on these funds. “You will see us involved in any area where we can partner in practical projects with the government,” the Rev. Phillip D. Schanker, the Unification Church's vice president for public affairs, told Goodstein. The Church of Scientology plans to apply for funds to support its drug rehabilitation and literacy programs./p pEberly responded to some of the program's critics, offering assurances they will do everything possible to make sure religion and social services are kept separate. While temporarily assuaging secular organizations, this is not what fundamentalist Christian groups hoped to hear./p pbAnswering the Bell for Round Two/b/p pIn late-April, a second round of advocacy and opposition began with a series of high-profile events. /p pOn April 24, according to GayToday.com, a coalition of religious leaders, organized by Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Coalition Against Religious Discrimination, held a Capitol Hill press conference to “unveil a letter signed by over 850 members of the clergy expressing strong reservations about the main aspects” of the initiative. /p pThe House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution began holding hearings on “Charitable Choice” issues. /p pRep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) co-chaired an invitation-only, one-day Faith-Based Summit in Washington, D.C., for clergy. This Republican party-backed event drew several hundred clergy, many of them African-American. The event also resulted in protests from gay and lesbian organizations outraged over the appointment of the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, who is virulently anti-gay, and the equally controversial, anti-gay, former Green Bay Packer Reggie White as advisers to the White House-supported summit. /p pIn another development, the Associated Press reports the newly formed Good Works Coalition has plans to “spend $250,000 over the next two months lobbying for the Bush plan by airing a TV ad in Mississippi and South Dakota, home states of the Senate Republican and Democratic leaders.” The ads say: “ Good works are happening throughout America today - feeding the body and the soul, treating the head and the heart, fighting addiction with support of friends and faith.” It encourages viewers to contact their members of Congress. /p pbWhere's the Beef?/b/p pOne of the unasked questions in the debate over faith-based initiatives is, “Do they really work?” Thus far, there is very littlebr / Empirical evidence that they do. Moving into the second round of the battle, lack of empirical evidence is beginning to show. /p pThere are many groups such as the Good Works Coalition supporting faith-based solutions to social needs. While these organizations make all sorts of unsubstantiated claims of successes, in reality there appears to be no proof these programs are any more effective than secular ones. When the conversation turns from glowing anecdotes to empirical data, even John DiIulio, director ofbr / the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, doubts there is evidence that religious programs perform more successfully than non-religious programs. /p pByron K. Johnson, a University of Pennsylvania criminologist who works with the Center for Research on Religion and Urban Society, a think tank started by DiIulio, also has his doubts. In a report posted at the American Atheists website, Johnson told The New York Times: “We've created an office out of anecdotes.” Johnson has been an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute, one of the conservative think tanks pushing a greater role for religion and religious organizations in civic affairs, and he had passionately argued that “Religious belief is a proven and powerful tool in combating community problems.” /p pJohnson now seems to be changing his tune: “From the left to the right, everyone assumes that faith-based programs work. Even the critics of DiIulio and his office haven't denied that. We hear that and just sit back and laugh. In terms of empirical evidence that they work, it's pretty much nonexistent.”/p pDr. David Reingold, of the Indiana University School of Public andbr / Environmental Affairs, is another researcher skeptical of so-called successes of faith-based programs. Reingold says, “It's an extreme exaggeration to say that religious organizations are more effective.” He compares the results of faith-based initiatives with school voucher programs in that both are self-selective. According to Reingold, religious institutions “are more likely to limit and filter the clientele they serve.” Will the homeless and hungry be required to profess faith before being allowed to sleep in sheltersbr / or eat at soup kitchens?/p pbMoney for Buildings, Not People/b/p pIn another troubling under-reported development, John DiIulio, in an early April speaking engagement in Philadelphia held by the little-known Partners for Sacred Places, called for taxpayer money to be used for rehabilitating thousands of churches and other religion-affiliated structures throughout the country. /p p “When these buildings crumble,” he said, “when the deferredbr / maintenance catches up, the preschool and the prison ministry and the day-care center and the after-school latchkey learning program crumble and go away, too.”/p pThe Philadelphia Inquirer reported that DiIulio hopes “to challenge a 1995 administrative ruling which banned the use of federal National Park Service preservation money for rehabilitating or maintaining any religious properties.” DiIulio also said President Bush wants to create a “Compassionate Capital Fund” to make grants to religious institutions for “infrastructure improvements.”/p pThe American Atheists website reports DiIulio is the first government official to attempt linking “public funding and the new faith-based initiative to the 'problem' of deteriorating churches and other houses of worship.” DiIulio has advocated governmental support for rehabbing churches since Partners for Sacred Places issued its “Sacred Places At Risk” study in 1997. The Philadelphia Inquirer also reported DiIulio has said the study’s findings “helped lead to Bush's faith-based agenda.” /p pRound two plunges Bush's faith-based initiative into yet more controversy. If these conflicts continue, the faith-based crowd might be moved to try a different set of tactics. Through the use of the community development block grant program, conservatives might add language into legislation allowing money for rehabilitation of religious buildings. The flip side for conservatives is this would once again be an open invitation to the Moonies,br / Krishnas and Scientologists to rehab their properties as well./p pMarvin Olasky, Bush's relatively unknown “compassionate conservatism” guru, summed up the Christian Right's concerns about faith-based initiatives during an appearance at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation last year. In order for any faith-based initiative to succeed, Olasky said the battle must be fought by Christian ground troops defying the heavy artillery unleashed by nonbelievers. For Christians to create what then-candidate George W. Bush termed, “armies of compassion,” who will transform America, they must maintain their most potent weapon: the powerbr / of prayer. /p pIResearch assistance by Greg Paroff.br /br / Bill Berkowitz is a freelance writer covering conservative movements. He is a featured columnist at WorkingAssets’ Website workingforchange.com./i/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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The Quiet Storm

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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pstrongAbuse of Deaf Women and Children/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/390/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Greg Paroff/p pWomen often find themselves homeless when escaping situations of domestic violence. As difficult as such violence is for hearing women, Deaf women face additional challenges dealing with abuse./p pJulie Rems-Smario founded Deaf Women Against Violence (DWAV) to serve Deaf women and their children residing in the Bay Area. Rems-Smario, who has been Deaf since birth, taught at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and saw the profound impact domestic violence has on the children of Deaf women. /p pSome of the Deaf children, Rems-Smario writes, were coming to school on Mondays, relieved to be on safe premises. These children started “acting out” on Fridays as they prepared to go home for the weekend. Rems-Smario realized these children were being abused at home./p pUntil the late 1990’s, there was only one organization in the U.S. dealing with Deaf battered women and their children, the Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services (ADWS) of Seattle, WA. In 1998, Rems-Smario was five months pregnant with her third child when she was invited, along with representatives from four other cities, to attend an ADWS training seminar on how to organize a similar group in the Bay Area./p pIn March 2001, with the support of the Deaf Counseling, Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA) and three years of grassroots fundraising, DWAV opened an office in Hayward, California, with Rems-Smario as executive director. Since the California School for the Deaf is located in Fremont, Alameda County has an especially populous Deaf community./p pDWAV provides services to Deaf survivors of domestic violence through its advocacy in medical and legal arenas. DWAV not only advocates for Deaf women and their children, it also trains public officials how to best serve the special needs of Deaf women and children./p pWhen abused, Deaf women seeking help from police and staffs of hospitals and shelters are often forced to deal with people who do not understand Deaf culture. Police seldom avail themselves of interpreters when called to scenes of domestic violence, wrongly assuming all deaf people can lip-read. This renders communication impossible./p pPeople working in shelters often misinterpret the behaviors of Deaf women and their children. For example, when hearing children want to get the attention of their Deaf parent, they stomp on the floor to create vibrations. At home, these children are used to speaking very loudly. These behaviors are often interpreted as acting-out, and women are asked to leave the shelters, which may return them to the cycle of violence./p pIn August, DWAV will be expanding its services and opening its 24-hour hotline for Deaf battered women. In order for the organization to thrive and further extend its services, it needs support from the community./p pCheck out DWAV’s website at a href="http://www.dwav.org" title="www.dwav.org"www.dwav.org/a. They can be reached by TTY at (510) 538-0107. Hearing people can reach them via California Relay Services by calling (888)877-5378 or (800) 735-2922 and giving the TTY number to the operator./p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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To Pawn or to Perish

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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pstrongLow income people across California are forced to pawn off their belongings just to pay for their inflated PGE bills/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/371/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Linda Washington /p pI have lived through alot.. the death of my first son - teen pregnancy of my daughter -a job doing manual labor for 32 years job and the endless struggle to get through every day with the severe arthritis that I have had for the last six years and yet nothing has made me feel quite as defeated as I did the other day....It all started at about 6 am when I got up for work -the sun seemed to light up my tiny kitchen more than usual- but it wasn’t a bright cheery light that made me feel like my usual hopeful self - it was just a glare... an odd glare that made every thing look dull and disordered - but perhaps it was me - a dull and disordered me who didn’t want to have to pick one of several favorite belongings to take to the pawn shop on that day - so I could get enough money to pay my PG E bill - but that was another story - /p pYou see, two months ago when this whole mess started with the alleged “energy crisis” I began to get a sinking feeling in my stomach because I knew something was seroiously wrong- and yet almost everything I read about the “crisis” confused me more - so I stopped trying to figure it out and ended up just feeling angry- angry that the big money corporations were duping me so blatantly and that I was truly unable to do anything about it- I kept up with some of the activism launched by Global Exchange but I wasn’t much of an activist and besides, after struggling to get through each day - I barely had time to sleep - much-less, be “pro-active” so on I went, angry and impotent.Then I got my bill.. $346.00 - this was a 120 percent increase - this was more than I spent on food, clothing and medication- this was more than I had.to my name......../p pI began to look around my room - I prayed, I wept.. I prayed again... I had always paid my bills..mostly on time or if I couldn’t - I would hold off on that purchase or vow to stop buying anymore furniture...or....- well, this was different- I could never stop being in this form of debt- and even worse- I could never see being able to pay these bills- That’ s when I started to look around my little apartment for something to sell- something to hand over to the omnipresent jaws of the neighborhood loan shark, pawn shop - call it what you like- it meant one thing- I would never see one or more of my valuables ever again- /p p“$85.00”, he spit out the words without as much as a glance up from his papers. /p p“You’ve got to be kidding that’s worth at least $200.00- I said, pointing a shaking finger at my VCR. I had chosen the CD player and the VCR, this meant no more movies from the Video store- this meant no more soft music to soothe me to sleep - and yet he didn’t look up../p p“ I said 85.00 - that’s all I can give you lady- take it or leave it” He was shaking his head in unison with his words./p p“OK” I said, knowing that I would have to take the only piece of jewelry I owned back to the store. If I was lucky, it might make the rest of the bill.../p pI PNN contributor Linda Washington who lives and works in Oakland, Ca. wrote this with co-editor, Lisa Gray-Garcia, as part of POOR’s writer facilitation project which aims to give voice to low and no income voices locally and globally/ibr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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In A Near Future, To Be All You Can Be... Is The Challenge.

09/24/2021 - 11:34 by Anonymous (not verified)
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Original Body
pstrong pbAs a global species,br / do we have the will to br /br / meld A.I. Technologies?br / /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 Joe B./p pWhat does Artificial Intelligence, Human Genome Project, br /Working poor families, Sheltered folk, or Homeless people have in common?/p pIt’s getting harder to ignore "them."/p pNot only that, but people who have nothing to lose tend to br / do whatever is possible to rise up be it legal, illegal, or quasi legal. /p pIts always a surprise to the general populace that the most br / downwardly mobile of us have the same aspirations, moral imperatives, forthrightness, br /spiritual, mental, strengths, and weaknesses as everyone else. /p pThe very idea of our own personal integrity, br / incorruptability doesn’t sound or feel right even to those with higher paying jobs, living in secure homes with their morgages paid off. /p pThough we all br /bleed red blood out of blue veins this logic is put on hold. /p pBecause we go against a so-called stereotypical roll of helpless, confused,br / drug/drinking, bums‘n hobo's called "the homeless" and "working poor." /p pHave people looked in the mirror lately? br / The real fear: that anybody can suddenly become "The Other" by jobloss or homeless./p p More individuals and families are not drunks, dopers, or anti socialbr / misfits but people with jobs, following the governments rules, went to school earned degrees, in college, and universities, also /ppin high tech businesses.br /Many are out of work through no fault of their own br /and are blamed doubly for their situation. /p pFirst by co-workers, family, friends, and finally themselvesbr / who could not have forseen orbr / prevented the situation only until after the facts./p pLots of these highly trainned, intelligentbr / people are out of work situations they never imagined or expected. br //p pTrapped in low pay, dead end jobs with homelessness looming ever closer./p pOn a lighter and more imaginative note.br / br /Scientists and researchers work on improving br /artificial intelligence made inroads there and the H.G. Project./p pPeople, are leery about intelligent appliances, homes, or the old upgraded talking toasters. /p pAs for genetically modified foods, its good to knowbr / which engineered microorganisms good or bad is in our food./p p We have qualms about Biotech foods, Pro Choice/Abortion, br /Artificial Intelligence, Stem Cell Research, Human Genome Project br /and Nanotechnology, Electronics also Cloning. /p pFolks will really be besides themselves (no pun intended) onbr / Life Extension to Immortality which churches have had abr / br /lock on for hundreds of years./p pThey held sway literally over our lives./p pIt was a dull deadly time, they may have delayed br /the age of Enlightenment by a few centuries!/p pThis is a time when all the se technologies begin to merge and blur.br //p pWhile we have our unique imageneering minds there are ways not br /to be surplanted by human created A.I.’s.bArtificial Intellegent Humanoid Machines./b/p pBuild them with a kill switch for instant off if they self-evolve too quick./p pDon’t build them.br /If you don’t build them,br / they won’t evolve and suplant us./p pUltimately we'll merge A.I. and our genesbr / creating self evolving humans./p pAlong with help from virus sized nanites or bacteria andbr / other formerly dangerous microbesbr / br /now used in the service upkeep, regeneration,br /br / rejuvenation and constant self-analyzing of itself and us bybr / every gene, cell, and brain in human’s./p pImagine, these ultra small nanites and chemical/gene modifed biochips br / not made of metal unless its amalgamated ones in fluid forms br /(there are no transistors, silicon circuitry),br / but liquid molecular watch dogs thatbr / oversee maintain, and improve our health./p pWe humans self evolve along with Artificial Intelligent systems br / rapidly shrinking A.I. into bacteria and viruses./p pTo molecular quantum strands that actually make it possible forbr / humans to further self evolve on their own asb Quantum Humans./b/p pIn the brain other modified systems may increase the intelligence by thinking or changing our very form, color of hair to whatever we choose./p pMorality is a changing construct take heedbr / in your life's choices, be flexible and open./p pThis is the place where, how and what we think can instantly br /translate our being into whatever improvements wanted or needed.br / br /Your own brain becomes a wish machine, its up to you on how far youbr / want to evolveb to better bodies and beyond or hover near pure mentality keeping your improved body. /b/p pFantasy, maybe but I no longer say what is possible and what’s not./p p It's not survival of the fittest but of those willing br /to go or at least visit a new world of AI-Humanity./p pIt begins from how we eat to what we think and other choices./p pAs individuals chose to live longer or die of tradtional old age./p pTo be an Immortal is the ultimate right to life/death br /choice each person will choose either type of eternity./p pIts all coming down the pike fasterbr / than most of us expect but on the lighter side we’re alreadybr / in the future, go figure./p pOnly some kind of mass Ebola, AIDS genetic mishap or gray bio-goobr /with no cures, prevention or human immune factors will wipe us out now./p pNext time I’d like to ponder what personality isbr / br /best suited to Immortality, just thinking out loud. br //p pAny pro or con ideas folks?/p pbr /Please donate what canbr / br /to Poor Magazine orbr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9thbr / br /St. Street,br / br /San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pbr /For Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.br / br /San Francisco, CA 94102br / br /Email:br / br /askjoe@poormagazine.org/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p
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