Story Archives 2002

by The Purple Berets

In the most important women's rights case in the country María Teresa Macias v. Sheriff Mark Ihde, on Friday, February 15th federal district court Judge Susan Illston heard oral arguments on the County of Sonoma's petition requesting dismissal of the $15 million civil rights lawsuit. Although Judge Illston's written ruling on the request won't be out for a couple of weeks, she opened the hearing with the statement that her preliminary view is that she will deny the motion to dismiss the case on summary judgment. Assuming that ruling stands, the case will go to trial in federal court in San Francisco on April 22nd.

This is a great victory for women and domestic violence victims everywhere, as this landmark case breaks new ground with every court appearance. A July 20, 2000 ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has already established in the clearest language ever that women have the right to hold law enforcement legally accountable for their response to violence against women. That ruling, which sent the case back to the district court for trial, is already being used by other domestic violence lawsuits all over the West. A trial victory will have even more far-reaching effects on women everywhere, and will likely become the law of the land.

The number one reason for domestic violence homicide is law enforcement's refusal to enforce the laws protecting women from abuse by their partners and ex-partners. Until now, women have had virtually no legal recourse. A victory in the Macias case would put law enforcement all over the country on notice that failing to provide law enforcement to women will cost them millions a fact that likely will save thousands of women's lives.

María Teresa Macias was shot to death by her estranged husband, Avelino, in April 1996, after the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department ignored Teresa's more than 25 calls for help. Avelino also shot Teresa's mother, Sara Hernandez, before turning the gun on himself.

The civil rights case came out of the Purple Berets‚ month-long investigation of Teresa's murder, focusing in particular on her many contacts with law enforcement. That investigation showed a 2-year pattern of deputies‚ failure to investigate, make arrests, write reports or in any way protect Teresa from Avelino's escalating violence, sexual assaults, stalking, and threats to kill Teresa and her family. 

The lawsuit alleges that the Sheriff's Dept's behavior emboldened Avelino, increasing the risk to Teresa and her three children and leaving Avelino free to hunt her down and kill her, all this in violation of California state law and Sheriff's Department policy.

We ask you to support what is by far the most important women's rights case in the country and be a witness to women‚s history in the making.  Here's how:

* Make plans now to attend the April 22nd trial in San Francisco,
slated to last two weeks. The final pre-trial hearing will take place on April 9th.  That too will be open to the public.  It's very important that the judge see this case is being widely watched.  Your presence can help to change the world.

* Invite Purple Berets to speak at meetings and events between now
and April.  The higher the profile of the case, the more law enforcement will be forced to pay attention to women's right to non-discriminatory law enforcement.

*  Support the Purple Berets.  Between now and April we'll
be putting hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into this case.  We need you to volunteer your time and to donate money to make it all possible.

PURPLE BERETS


Women Defending Women

PO Box 3064

Santa Rosa, CA 95402

707.887.0262; fax 707.887.0865

http://www.purpleberets.org>http://www.purpleberets.org

by Laurie McElroy/PoorNewsNetwork

My son Evander is a regular boy, he loves riding any kind of train; so Saturday night, the 9th of February , I chose to take us home from his Glen Park babysitter’s via Glen Park BART. Very public transportation. We exited at 16th Street cautiously because it was around 10:30pm and that intersection tends to be busy, especially after dark; but I wasn’t particularly worried since all we were doing was passing quickly through on the way home: my son and I live right near 18th and Folsom. We came out of the entranceway to the station and turned onto Mission Street from the lightless, pee – smelling corridor. We were both relieved at the mixture of neon and streetlights illuminating the main drag, and we paused. I recalled a story I’d glimpsed on one of the big networks about the San Francisco Police Department intensifying their presence in and around our neighborhood, and particularly this area, in what the reporter called a "sweep". I wasn’t sure what the news report meant, but I hoped that it translated to Evander and I being a little more secure that night on the walk home.

We stepped into the din and motion of the sidewalk going south down Mission toward home, holding hands. After a very few paces I heard someone yell, "HEY!" It didn’t sound like a cry for assistance to me, and in my experience, in a high crime area like that, if the person calling you doesn’t know your name, it’s best not to acknowledge them or turn around. So I didn’t. At that moment Evander broke from me and headed into Taco Bell. I went in after him and recaptured his hand, turning him around and walking him back toward the door, gently reminding him that we’d eat when we got home if he was hungry, like always. As we approached the door, I saw three big uniformed police officers standing in a semicircle, a latino man, a white woman, and a black man, all arms folded. I walked forward with raised eyebrows, wondering. Why were they waiting there? Maybe they were looking for someone… "Hi, is there anything wrong?" I asked.

"What are you doing out here?" the middle cop asked in a clipped, hostile voice.

Her tone hit me like a puzzling brick, and she and the other two standing there began to look more and more like an inexplicable wall. "I was just walking my son home from his babysitters’… " I shrugged a little and began to frown myself. What was going on here?

"At 11o’clock at night?! What kind of mother has her kid out in this area this late?" Now the woman was glaring, and her tone was more like a snarl.

I was increasingly mystified. I motioned my son behind me as I further explained, "I’m sorry, but his babysitter lives in Glen Park and he likes to ride the trains, so we got off here because this is the closest…"

She cut me off. "Turn around, face the car and put your hands behind your back."

Finally alarmed, I searched the faces of the other officers, hoping for some semblance of sense or sympathy. "But I don’t understand, what did I do? Are you arresting me or questioning me? "

Her pale face was now a mask of unmistakable contempt, and although (or perhaps because) I had no idea who any of them were as people, or if they were people at all, I began to feel a terrible sense of shame along with my confusion, and a lonely, helpless fear for my sweet little boy, who understood so much less than I at this moment, and whose fear I could not even begin to imagine.

"Turn around, face the car, and put your hands behind your back!" the female officer barked.

My stomach churned. I half- turned and, pleading, eyes on my boy, repeated, "But what are the charges? "

That was when she hit me with her club. " Turn around!"

"OW, that hurt, why did you hit ---"

Then the next one hit me, this time in the leg.

"But what are the charge—" I moaned, and the last policeman thrust his club into my stomach with a vindictive force that doubled me over. When I went down they ground my face into the pavement and hogtied me. I kept asking the charges until they put duct tape over my mouth.

My glasses had flown off and I was facing the wrong way anyway, so I couldn’t see my baby standing alone on the sidewalk ,but in the squad car, after the doors were shut, the female officer muttered "What kind of mother are you, making your kid watch us beat you with clubs?"

That was when I started to cry..

***************

LAurie's child is currently in custody and this is the beginning of a three part series from laurie and Courtwatch- Laurie, who is a disabled journalist, poet and artist with PNN is working with Dee from Courtwatch to get justice for her and her child, who following her arrest was taken from Laurie by Child PRotective Services(CPS) and charged Laurie with "Child Endangerment". CPS is using Lauries' Disability to keep her child in custody. Please stay tuned for further organizing efforts around this atrocity.

Courtwatch is a media advocacy project of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork(PNN) dedicated to helping parents who have been abused by an adversarial court system and/or Child PRotective Services, for more information, to help out, or to tell your story of CPS abuse go on-line to the front page of PNN and click on COURTWATCH - or call (415) 863-6306

by PoorNewsNetwork staff

When I was little, my single mom and I lived on disability she received for bipolar disease. Though she's a talented writer interpreter and translator, my mom can't work full time and make enough money for us to live on and be able to save in case of an emergency because she has been intermittently plagued with highly debilitating illnesses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I just came to understand the meaning of savings and how terrified my mom must be that we don't have any such life savings in case of an emergency. 

That Eemergency, that always seemed so distant came right before I was to start my last year of high school. Despite a verbal agreement that we would continue paying the same rent at least until I finished high school-- around August of 2000-- the landlady of our San Francisco apartment gave us a notice saying she would be increasing our rent from $1500, a price that we couldn't afford without a roommate in the first place, to $3000 for our two bedroom apartment. 

She claimed that it was legal under the Costa-Hawkins precedent because we were supposedly subtenants.  This was at the height of the dot com boom when there was a 1% vacancy in SF. After a crazy legal circus and way more anxiety than my mom could handle, we settled.  We had until the next August to leave and she gave us 5,000. The money went to the lawyer and we essentially got left with nothing. 

With all the anxiety that this precarious situation caused in my mother she again became ill and could not work as much as she needed.  Now we had to look for a house with a past bankruptcy on my mom's credit report and no reference from our last landlady, besides the fact that rents were way too high and we didn't have the money to put down first and last months rent on any place.  If it hadn't been for my grandfather 's and my godmother 's help we would have been on the street.  It really is a thin line between homefullness and homelessness.   

So for the people faced with such emergencies, through no fault of their own, who don't have families and friends to back them there is the street or the centralized intake system &  For single adults who can't even get into shelters 90% of services are only offered Monday through Friday from nine to five o'clock.  Adult shelters can often consist of one hundred or more people all in one room with one monitor.  And, despite legislation that is supposed to provide service to all those needing in-home support, it seems that no results have surfaced.  This means that if a person is not capable of self-care they are thrown out. 

As Allison Lum from Coalition on Homelessness pointed out a major problem with the shelter system is the disparity in power between staff and homeless people &the power of writing people up is all in the hands of staff. And there isn't total unaccountability, where the treatment of the people in the shelters is concerned. 

According to Rebecca Vilkomersen from Homeless Prenatal there are three basic ways to get into a shelter. 1) Case management, which means you follow what the case manager tells you and can get into a shelter from 30-60 days 2) lottery, this is random and can get you a room for one to seven nights 3) coordinator referral, which just isn't working right now. For people with children the only option is a family shelter, of which there are four in San Francisco. 

Right now there are 150 families on a 3-6 month waiting list in order to get into a shelter.  Once they are there, depending on the situation they can stay for up to 6 months and then they have to sign up all over again. The instability of the current shelter system is especially destructive to families.  Those that don't get into shelters often ride buses all night, go to SRO hotels or stay in abusive relationships in order to keep a roof over their heads.  Under case management there are certain times when a person must be in or out of the shelter. 

The times are set without regard to a person's work schedule.  A major problem occurring right now is the waste of money on bureaucratic systems that don't really serve any useful purpose.  Right now $500,000 a year is going to an office whose only job is to manage the shelter wait-list. 

Rebecca notes that there is more emphasis on database collection then on services.   Homeless Prenatal is currently working on a "Know Your Rights Book" to hand out to people in shelters.  If you would like to participate they are asking people to go 995 Market St. on the 9th floor from 3 to 5pm every third Thursday of the month. 

The press conference to release The Community Homeless Proposal was held on the steps of city hall Wednesday, February 20, 2002.  In response to Supervisor Gavin Newsom's homeless plan which includes extended hours for shelters and drop-ins, the creation of a new homeless department and homeless services advisory board, and interagency coordinating council, a five-year plan and the centralized information system, the community of homeless people and homeless service-providers has introduced The Community Proposal, endorsed by over 40 organizations. 

While the real experts, homeless people and homeless service-providers, agree that extended hours for shelters and drop-ins are needed we feel that the rest of the legislation would waste money, violate people's rights and in the end would only help to perpetuate the cycle of poverty and homelessness.  According to the experts, 'This proposal is an expensive and desperate attempt to make it look as if change is happening. In reality, it simply creates more bureaucracy at high cost.  None of the components of the proposal would create the permanent solutions that are really needed: such as additional subsidized housing, treatment, child care, education, job training or living wage jobs.

Finally, as Joyce Miller put it, If homeless people had housing they would not be homeless. It is for that reason that The Community Proposal seeks to build low-income housing while reforming the shelter system until sufficient housing is built. It is time for people to stop seeing homeless people as a separate population that came out of nowhere and that can be thrown in and out of shelters and can be used by this and that politician to win votes.  Homelessness needs to be solved and the only way to do so is to provide homes through a process that involves the real experts every step of the way.

*******************************************************

The following is the Executive Summary of The Community Proposal:


Making A More Effective and Accountable Homeless Program

The Community Proposal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The following is an alternative proposal, birthed from years of bi-weekly or monthly workgroup, council and community meetings, as well as a critical examination of practices in other communities.  It is in response to Supervisor Newsom's recently released plan to create a new Homeless Services Department.  We have serious concerns with that proposal and put forth this proposal in its place.

CITY-WIDE HOMELESS COORDINATION AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

Eliminate the Mayor's Office of Homelessness

In its place, create an Independent Office with at least one full time staff person.  This Office's responsibility would be to provide staffing for the Local Board.

Change the make up of the Local Board

To include federal and state representatives, as well as the current local department representatives.

Two-thirds of the remaining community seats would be held mainly by homeless or formerly homeless individuals (90%).

10% of the community seats would be for homeless service providers.

40% ofthe community seats would be for families and 60% for single adults.

In addition, community seats would be representative of poor neighborhoods throughout the city and reflect the City's homeless population young and old, immigrants and veterans, gay and transgender, disabled, victims of domestic violence, members of the diverse racial and ethnic groups.

Televise the Local Board meetings on a public access station

MANAGEMENT AUDIT OBJECTIVES

To discover and understand the weak links or breakdowns in this large and complex system, a true Management Audit needs to do the following:

determine who is making what decisions and on what authority

review enabling legislation (Local Board) for all funding streams and policy making bodies

sort out who does what among the various coordinating / advisory / intra- and inter-departmental groups

list community and provider strategy planning sessions

review contract goals and objectives

monitor oversight and advisory bodies

review contract awarding processes

review program policy, procedure or eligibility changes

determine who makes changes in objectives and priorities, and on what authority

determine who oversees and monitors the coordination and integration of homeless programs with treatment, housing, employment and education

determine who decides what is or is not cost effective, and on what basis.

MONITORING COMMITTEES

System-wide Shelter Monitoring Committee

Develop a system-wide monitoring committee to make unannounced visits to shelters and drop-in centers. The responsibilities of the Committee will include the monitoring of city-funded shelters and drop-in centers for single adults, families and youth.

Civil Rights and Diversity Monitoring Committees

Begin implementation of the civil rights and diversity committees as described in the Continuum of Care plan, recently passed as the City's five year homeless plan

HOMELESS DEATH ACCOUNTABILITY
           

Restart the homeless death count immediately, with staff allocated for this effort.

Reform the Advisory Board to advise the department of Public Health's outreach team, to oversee the data collection, and with input from DPH epidemiologists, to release an annual report in time for the Winter Equinox annual memorial.

CENTRALIZED LIST OF VACANT CITY OWNED PROPERTIES

Create a central database of all vacant city owned property. Each landowning city department will report quarterly on property whose original use is no longer needed, e.g. when a school or fire house closes down or moves.

Create a Community Advisory Board to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors that is made up of non-profit housing developers, architects, Homes Not Jails, homeless or formerly homeless people, and the Mayor's Office of Housing. The Board will determine if the newly vacant property is suitable for providing affordable housing to people who are homeless, or if it should be sold to create a dedicated Fund for the development of affordable housing.  The Local Board will maintain this fund and award contracts for the development of this housing.

Ensure long-term affordability of all housing developed through this process by developing through a Community Land Trust. Rehabilitation of the buildings will utilize a model that includes wages for homeless and formerly homeless people.

INTAKE FOR FAMILY SHELTERS

Reduce services at Connecting Point to a 1-800 number for homeless families, the telephone to be staffed by two individuals, staggered hours, at a community organization.

COORDINATED STREET OUTREACH WITH INTAKE WORKERS

We propose an outreach effort, coordinated through the Mobile Assistance Patrol, that will have intake workers from different non-profit agencies and representing different area of service accompany MAP drivers. In addition, we propose that the police stop their practice of ordering homeless people to move on when no law has been violated.

by Connie Lu/media intern PoorNewsNetwork

The memory of Idriss Stelley continues to fuel the
sheer and ever powerful driving force behind the
pursuit of justice that united the many passionate
supporters who gathered at the Justice for Idriss'
Community Forum, which served as both an update to the
shooting of Stelley and as a meeting for a violent act
of police brutality around Hunter's Point.

Mesha Monge-Irizarry, Stelley's mother, has been
fighting this long battle since June 13, 2001 when her
son was shot over 20 times at the Sony Metreon by
eight San Francisco police officers, who were fully
aware of his personality disorder, but obviously not
trained to handle situations such as this. Irizarry
has been ignored and lied to by the SFPD, but has
recently broken through to the SF Board of
Supervisors, who voted in favor that all SFPD Officers
undergo a crisis intervention training program.
However, this is only the beginning for Stelley's
mother, who continues to seek justice and at the same
time, support those who have suffered through the
similar pain of police brutality.

As Irizarry finishes with updating the current
situation regarding her son, she introduces the
mothers from a closely knit neighborhood around
Hunter's Point, where police brutality has also become
a threat to the lives of the many children who no
longer feel safe to play outside. The innocence of
their childhood will never be the same as it is taken
away by the very ones who are supposed to protect and
preserve their safety.

Susan McAllister, who lives
in Hunter's Point with her 13-year-old daughter began
sharing about this traumatic incident as tears formed
in her eyes and in her broken heart. Her voice was
shaky and apparently very upset as she spoke to the
audience that sat surrounding her in a crowded, elbow
to elbow semi-circle. The walls were made of red
bricks with layers of mortar oozing out from between
the bricks. There were also a few windows in the
front of the room, which brought on sudden relief to
the extreme sauna of body heat and sweat, as people
fanned themselves in a desperate, yet futile attempt
to somehow coax the cool air outside to come in.

But soon, the heat was forgotten as my attention
was drawn to listening intently to McAllister's
emotional account of an unforgettable Martin Luther
King Day. The police were yelling and holding a
threatening gun to the head of McAlllister's daughter,
who was absolutely terrified along with the other
three children involved, ages 12 to 14 years old. The
oldest boy, Jerome Brown suffered the most severe
injuries of a concussion, dislocated jaw, and bruises.

The police finally answered the parents after
ignoring their several attempts to find out why their
children were being treated like criminals when they
had done nothing wrong. The police say that they
received a call regarding suspicious men in a red car.
But, there was nothing found on the innocent children
or in the car they were in.

After this traumatizing experience, the children's
perception of the police will be completely skewed and
corrupted. They continue to struggle with even being
able to sleep with ease at night. I did not
personally experience the terror these children had to
endure, but at the same time I have realized that a
uniform does not necessarily symbolize trust and the
absence of feeling vulnerable.

At the end of the forum, I truly felt a sense of
unity after listening to the many personal experiences
that were shared. By holding hands in concentric
circles within the room, I realized the power of unity
to achieve a common goal, as each person around the
circle said just one word of encouragement such as:
love, peace, unity, Jesus, courage, hope, justice,
power, prayer, determination

by Joe B.

Wednesday, 27, 2002. A brimming summer day in the city.

Yesterday I hear stuff about S-President Bush Jr’s proposed "Marry Unwed women to father of child or children plan." [I’m thinking of the Moony multiple marrige guy in the late 1970 or ‘80’s ].Has Bush had some ‘kinda mind-meld or is this a sick Moral Majority joke?

Some of the newsprint is from ABCNEWS webside so I can understand this Washingfluke ‘um ‘ton type of reasoning.

Many conservatives have made this their top priority, arguing that two-parent families are better for children and key to escaping poverty.
[There’s that Transubstan
tiation
]. bug infecting people who think: one size fits all or how they were raised works for everyone
It don't, just look at both republican, Democrat, or any other politial or quasi political parties broken, reformed, and blended families.

Let’s continue. But many are uncomfortable putting government that deeply into people's personal lives and no one knows what sort of programs would succeed in increasing marriage rates.

Governors, who want as much freedom as possible in spending welfare money, detest this sort of mandate, and aides note that Bush and Thompson are both former governors.

So the Bush plan will offer a pot of money — at least $100 million each year, according to one official — for experiments aimed at getting poor people to marry.

The administration will also suggest that states be required to explain what they are doing to promote marriage, forcing them to at least consider the issue.
[What does Bureaucracy mean?]

The administration also wants to scrap $100 million in annual bonuses to states with the largest reductions in births to unwed parents. Some argue that these bonuses have failed to reward the states that are really doing the best job. (To be continued)

Looking at Overall Funding
Another hot issue before Congress will be overall funding for the welfare program.

The president plans to ask that state grants be maintained at $16.5 billion per year.

Others argue there is much work to be done, and Thompson, who has always said the nation can't do welfare reform "on the cheap," agrees.

Thompson is now looking at how to move welfare reform to the next step: Helping people who have left welfare move into higher-paying jobs.

Studies have found that while most former welfare recipients found jobs in the strong economy of the last few years, most didn't make enough to leave poverty.

[He’s finally putting the cart and horse in the barn even though its way late in the day, maybe Mr. finally gets better education/skills component - to bad S-President Bush is stuck on marry-the-women-now-jobs-later deal.]

I looked up the Sun Moon stuff on the mass marriage thing.

Anyone remember Sun-Myung Moon (Translated: Shining truth)

I seem to remember a Reverend message, one of rebuilding families and restoring and uniting communities.

"We are one family and we want to stand together to end all the problems of our society.

We believe division does not serve our purpose."

"The Christian family we believe is coming together, them standing together to break down wall that divide us, racism, denominationalism, husband and wife." [Our current ‘Pres would eat this up.]

Mass Marriages: WHAT IS IT?

The term "Mass Marriage" is actually a misnomer.

I titled this section
'Mass Marriages" simply because that is what they are known as.

In reality, no one is being married in these mass wedding spectacles.

Instead, the "Blessing" as Moonies refer to this event, is a religious
ceremony and not actual weddings.

Though they are dressed as brides the ones that intend to be husband and wife will have to obtain marriage licenses from whatever jurisdiction they reside in.

In former years, only those couples that Sun Myung Moon had matched (Moon chose usually complete strangers that would then become husband and wife based on Moon's selection) or those that had passed very stringent qualifications (including from 3 to 7 years of celibacy before marriage) would be allowed to be 'blessed' by Moon.

In recent years, these events are often billed as a 'recommitment of marriage' to unsuspecting participants. That’s enough of that.

At least Moon’s marriages were only symbolic practice unlike what

Bush unlike Moon’s symbolic marriage really wants women married to men who fathered their children.

The nuclear family has imploded and simply marrying single men or women with children in no solution.

Is free or less expensive child care, along with expanded higher education, updated job/career skills, both traditional and non traditional vocational work. I know,

I’m confused too but that’s how this stuff plays out or looks to me. Bye.

by Connie Lu/PoorNewsNetwork

Laura Flynn begins speaking about the harsh political
and financial situations facing the people of Haiti,
as her soft voice strains to compete with the constant
roaring of cars, buses, and blaring sirens rushing by
outside. I eagerly lean forward in my chair during
Community Newsroom at POOR Magazine, in an attempt to gain a
clear view of her expressive face, to read her lips,
which enabled me to not only hear with my ears, but
with my eyes as well. As Laura's large articulate
eyes continue to speak from her heart, and filled with
compassion for Haiti, seeds of curiosity begin to
firmly take root in my mind. What inspired her desire
to completely change her life by moving from San
Francisco to Haiti, one of the world's poorest
countries? But after having the opportunity to talk
to Laura personally, I realized that her source of
inspiration was truly compelled by the people of Haiti
themselves, who have so little and yet, still possess
this amazing amount of hope and strength that feeds
their perpetual hunger for a better life.

Before Jean-Bertrand Aristide became President of
Haiti, the people suffered greatly under the military
because it had complete control and power over them.
Flynn explains that one of the many unreasonable
demands made by the military was forcing people to pay
taxes for the simple act of taking a goat into the
city. As many as 5,000 Haitians were assassinated for
taking a stand against the military. However in 1995,
Aristide, who was the country's first democratic
President, abolished the military and broke the chains
of suppression.

After hearing about the Haitians' fight for freedom,
I am reminded of the history of China, my homeland.
The people of both Haiti and China sacrificed their
lives not for their own benefit, but for the benefit
of future generations. In 1989, students protested in
Beijing's Tiananmen Square against the communist
teachings of Chairman Mao and demanded freedom and
democracy until the order was given to the military to
end the student protest, as well as their lives. The
courageous students who dedicated their lives were not
able to witness the changes that have come about. But
if I were a student living in China today, then I
would have the freedom to apply to the job of my
choice, instead of being assigned to one by the state.

While in Haiti, Flynn developed a great respect and
love for the people as they warmly welcomed her into
their country, which soon no longer felt foreign to her.
She feels a strong sense of community, unlike America
which imposes the individualistic way of being
independent from your family and having your own
phone, car, and house. Haitian families and neighbors
depend upon each other with a sincere and genuine bond
of trust within the community.

I experienced this same sense of communal life when I
volunteered as an English teacher in China last
summer. I was concerned about my shy and quiet
personality that normally surfaces when meeting
unfamiliar faces. However, by the end of the summer
the students I taught were not only my close friends,
but now also a part of my family. My whole mind-set
and way of interacting with them was entirely
transformed into perceiving them as my own younger
brothers and sisters, even though I had just met them
a few weeks ago. The gifts that I received were
deeply treasured, knowing they were hand-crafted by
the students because they could not afford to spend
extra money.

Today, the people of Haiti have freedom under a
democratic government, but continue to struggle with
financial hardships. The United States has cut-off
crucial funding that was originally intended for
healthcare, education, and transportation services in
Haiti, claiming that this action was necessary because the
elections of 2000 held in Haiti were miscounted due to technical
processing problems. Coincedently, the U.S.
was not in favor of Aristide becoming president
because it was believed that he would gain control over the
parliament. Flynn also explains that the underlying
reason for this political controversy is racism because Haiti
inhabits the descendants ofthe many slaves that were in America.
But despite the inadequacies of Haiti, its people remain
optimistically strong in keeping hope alive through
their faith in God and unity within their communal
society and culture.

After talking to Laura Flynn I have gained a better
understanding of Haitians. Meanwhile, I was fortunate to experience
haitian food because I had the opportunity to eat at a Caribbean
restaurant that night for the first time with a couple of
friends. I tried the Chicken Roti, which is similar
to a burrito filled with rich and hearty curry
chicken. Every taste bud danced as they tasted the
flavorful spices that warmed my entire body. I also
realized that Haitian cuisine is truly a reflection of
the powerful flame of hope that continues to burn in
their hearts as they strive to improve the lives of
their future families.

Contact Information:

Haiti Action Committee

510-483-7481

haitiaction@yahoo.com

Donations:

Haiti Action Committee

P.O. Box 2218

Berkeley, CA 94701

by Kristina Shih/PoorNewsNetwork Media Intern

The early evening, warm and heavy with humidity, was drawing heat out of the sidewalks and streets. I arrived at the Hall of Justice on 850 Bryant St, joining a rally gathered to support the families of Hunters Point who recently experienced an incident comparable to a terrorist attack on their children. As the sun began to set, the red hanging in the sky all day was dissolving into evening coolness, but I could sense something else growing with intensity. Hot emotions of anger, frustration, and pure rage against the San Francisco Police Department were pouring out of peopleís mouths. On January 25th, five SFPD officers held four young children (ages 12 to 14) at gunpoint without warrant, brutally abusing as well as inappropriately touching the two girls. The victimsí parents, along with members of the community, demand that the officers be put on desk duty and that an independent investigation be established. Put together by the Bay Area Police Watch, a program with the Ella Ba ker Center for Human R

Fluorescent lights gleamed off the tops and sides of wooden benches. Filled with bodies brown, white, yellow and red we waited, and waited, and waited for the commissioners to come out. 5:35 pmÖ 5:40 pmÖ5:45 pmÖ

A young Latina woman steps up in front of the room and announces that since the police commissioners refuse to come out on time, we all must call them out ourselves. Someone behind me shouts, "Thereís no excuse for child abuse!" Louder and louder we repeat the chant, clapping our hands while our voices resonate stronger. The policemen and corporate media stare at us in amazement and disdain - they canít believe we have the audacity to rise up as equals to the supposed powers that be.

We jump from verse to verse, grabbing onto different words of protest when our throats tire of repeating the same sounds. "Stop police brutality in the Black community!" "Who got the power? We got the Power! What kind of Power? People Power!" Just as we are singing out, "Commissioner, Commissioner you canít hide, we can see your dirty side," the clock hits 6:10 pm and one by one the suit clad commissioners emerge from hiding and sit down behind a wooden panel table on the other side of the room. I think about how the architects who designed the conference room might have intentionally designed a twenty foot space between the public seating area and the panel in order to create the illusion that the People must approach the police with reservation and piety.

The five police commissioner sitting before the publics were Sidney Chan, Viktor Makras, Connie Perry, Wayne Friday, and Angela Quaranta. To the amazement of the people, Commissioner Chan announces that the police officers involved in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Incident were re-assigned to another district, and that there would be a departmental investigation before any further action is taken. The first person to step up to the microphone was Samantha Liapas of Bay Area Police Watch. According to Liapas, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has received dozens of phone calls from concerned San Francisco residents concerning the violent incident, and that many peoplesí fears of police brutality are grounded by the fact that these officers are still on the streets. "Seeing the perpetrators armed and still roaming the neighborhood adds insult to injury and further traumatizes these already shell-shocked children."

Following Liapas' statement, the parents the children gave emotionally testimonials to the trauma they saw their children go through. Tanish Bishop passed around the pictures she took of the children and the bloody streets the police officers left behind. "This doesnít happen in the Marina, in Nob Hill, in Pacific Heights." She reminded the commissioners of what a police officer said to her and the parents when they asked why they were physically hurting their children. "One officer told me, "As long as you people are here, we will do this to you. It's clear that these individual officers possess are racist and should not be roaming the streets," says Bishop. "This could happen again anywhere - in the Mission, the Fillmore, the Tenderloin, in Chinatown."

James Brown, the father of the child who had to be hospitalized for his wounds, gave a powerful statement expressing his great disappointment and anger at the San Francisco Police Department for letting such violence occur and stalling to take any course of action. "A badge does not give a person the right to abuse and acost our children. If the Police Commission truly cares about keeping San Francisco children safe, it will remove these dangerous officers from the streets until there is a full investigation. I taught my children to grow up trusting in policemen, but since I saw what the police did to my innocent son - shoving three teeth up into his jaw, slamming his head down on the pavement, and beating him down to the point where he did not recognize me at the hospital - Iíve rescinded that trust."

"If a parent were accused of doing these things to her child, she would immdiately lose access to the child," said Susie McAllister, the mother of one of the brutalized children. "But these officers are still patrolling the neighborhood, and can harass and frighten my daughter. How do I explain to her why her attackers are still on the beat, when sheís afraid to leave the house for fear of her life?"

As the parents bravely stood to describe their families' suffering and the damage done to the community of Hunterís Point, the police commissioners sat still with stoic expressions and looks of boredom. I couldnít believe how they did not show any bit of compassion or humanity towards the parents. Rachel Jackson of Books Not Bars, took the stand to point out to their faces that their behavior is, "most disgraceful. These are people, with feelings and hearts. Will you, Commissioner Chan, do something to right this wrong?" Commissioner Chan stutters and tries to avoid accountability by reestablishing his authority. "I cannot answer any questions, this is a public hearing. We are here to listen to what you have to say, and not give our opinions. There are two sides to every story, and we are here to listen to your side." Jackson proceeds to ask each commisioner, only to receive negative responses.

Many more individuals from the community continue to speak at the podium, adding more voices to the swelling dissent. Ying Sun Ho of the organization Letís Get Free, responds to Commissioner Chanís statement concerning the need to underside both sides of the story. "You have already spoke to the community with your silence. There are two sides of the story. The Truth, and the Lie. Which side are you on? Are you going to do the right thing? "

The meeting ended with the commissioners running out with their police escorts, while the rest of the people who came to support the parents stood united to fight the upcoming battle for justice. I spoke with James Brown, inquiring about his sonís condition and what he thought about the meeting. "Heís still in the hospital and is not okay. Iím very disappointed in the way the commissioners faced the community, and I donít expect them to do much."

As I stepped outside the Hall of Justice into the black night, I look up at the gray mass looming over my head. An American flag waves on the roof to the clouds passing. I can't believe I live in a country where children can be attacked by those sworn to protect them. I think about how outrageous and insulting the meeting was to the victims of the crime. How can law abiding citizens be protected from the law itself? And as communities like Bayview are facing gentrification pressures, poor people of color are going to be facing more harassment from the police trying to make neighborhoods more "liveable" for the wealthy. Todayís meeting clearly illustrated how the San Francisco Police Department, as well as the municipal political system, is reluctant to make any systematic changes for the benefit of the community. If our society is to progress, citizens must be able to walk the streets without fear of harassment and violence from our own government.

For more information, contact:Samantha Liapas at Bay Area Police Watch 415.317.3486

Po’-lice

by Tiny

"The government department established to maintain order, enforce the law and detect and prevent crime.!!?"

" The Government...."

-Regimental

-Goodly preventable

-Help me..I’m in the cell-now

"Department..."

-Compartment

-Cause that’s where me and God went..

"Established"

-By Corporations

-Plantations

-Of progressions

-And regressions

"To Maintain..."

-Reframe...

-And Con-tain...

The Human Spirit who is in fear of this place

and just trying to survive, thrive

and stay alive

A-BUSE -

enforce-ment

through those two doors

I went

But for what?

for crimes-

Doin time

for what?

doin my time

for Crimes...

of pover---tee

by Gretchen Hildebran with PNN Media interns Gay Montgomery and Joseph Bolden

The two young women on the stage would have probably
liked to have been somewhere else. Driving up into the
Bayview on this hot and blue Saturday morning, I was
lulled by the light breezes and wide vistas on top of
the hills, serenaded by distant radios and kids
playing on sidewalks while parents and neighbors
chatted and kept an eye out. Surely Tenisha Bishop and
Susie McCallister would have rather been at home or in
the park with their kids, but on this past Martin
Luther King Day--a blue and hot day--their children
were terrorized in front of their homes by
eight uniformed police officers. They came to the Hunter's
Point Town Hall Meeting last Saturday to let us
know, in Susie McCallister's words, "We have to speak
up. We can't lay down any longer." Theirvoices boomed
around the wood and cement walls of the gymnasium, and
the affirmation that they received from the crowd made each
mother sit up taller and speak up a little louder.

The Town Hall, which was hosted by Kiilu Nyasha and
Wendell Harper and broadcast live on KPFA, was called to
give voice to those most recently terrorized by the police in
this neighborhood, and to link police brutality to the
environmental racism of the Navy and the Hunter's
Point Power Plant that has poisoned the air, water and
soil of this residential community. As panelist
Maurice Campbell put it, "We are talking about basic
human rights."

I have intense respect for all mothers, starting with
my own. The fight that all parents in this part of
the city face to create a safe environment for their
children is against increasingly severe factors.
Willie Ratliff of the San Francisco Bay View explained how
worsening conditions are forcing this community to
flee the city. Rather than experiencing the economic
good times of the last decade. Ratliff said, "San Francisco
in the last seven or eight years is regressing for
African-Americans." Quality of life in Bayview
Hunter's Point has been so endangered by police
brutality, pollution and economic decline that 23% of
the African-American community has been displaced in
the last ten years. 20,000 people have left. The
parents, neighbors, educators, doctors, artists and
activists that came out to this meeting addressed the
root causes of these multiple injustices that
jeopardize the health and future of their community.

"A Rose That Stings"

Environmental pollution that this community faces is
severe. In her introductory comments, Marie Harrison
of the SF Bay View and the Restoration Advisory Board
insisted, "This is environmental racism. By any other
name it is a rose that stings." Children are the most
vulnerable victims, and have outrageous rates of
asthma, Attention Deficit Disorder and cancer: The
environment we live in is so tainted, so toxic, that a
three-year-old can't go outside or breathe the air, a
12-year-old can't stay in school because he can't
concentrate. Another parent described her child's
symptoms of feeling crushing weight on his chest.
Mesha Irizarry, mother of Idriss Stelley, the young man
who was killed by police this past June, told of how
her son had had to filter the air in his room to sleep
at night as well as the water he would use to shower.

Panelist Dr. Ahimsa Sumchai explained many of the most
deadly toxins in the area originate from the Naval
Shipyard. The Navy, while acknowledging that the
poisons, which include lead, radium, asbestos and
radioactive cesium, originated from their activities,
has not taken responsibility for the effects on the
residents of this community. A case in point is the
fire that broke out on Parcel B of the shipyard.
Ray Tompkins, a Bay View resident who has been trying
to track the levels and effects of Shipyard pollution,
described that it took the Navy 16 days to even report
that fire to the SF Department of Public Health. Not
only did residents go on breathing contaminated air
without warning during those days, but physicians who
treated people suffering from the fire had no
knowledge of what to test or treat their patients for.
Tompkins explained that when the Navy was
eventually confronted with the medical effects of the
fire, they claimed that people's symptoms were
psychosomatic. They wanted to tell us, "You're all
just crazy!"

The powers are adept at ignoring reckless endangerment
of people of color's health rather than protecting
them. Tompkins explained, "Part of the fallacy of the
racism in science is that "normal" means a 35-year-old
white man." The testing that is supposed to be done
often doesn't get done at all or doesn't represent the
community. One government group who was supposed to
test air quality levels mistakenly did their tests in
Visatacion Valley rather than the Bayview. Other
tests don't allow for the fact that children are more
vulnerable to toxins. Tompkins own tests, done with
the help of professionals and at standards higher than
the EPA, showed toxins at levels 100 times over a safe
measure for cancer risk. He said he had taken at
least one sample from where neighborhood kids hang out
and play basketball.

Tompkins is working to urge Mitchell Katz, the head of
the SF Health Department, to release hospital intake
records from 6 weeks before the Shipyard fire broke
out and 6 weeks after. A comparison of these records
would be a crucial step towards building proof of the
health problems of the community due to the fire.
Until this proof emerges the Navy is unlikely to take
any responsibility for the disaster.

"The tentacles reach deep," said panelist Don Paul, as
to why the Navy and the city are willing to ignore
this situation. High-financed developers all want a
piece of the Bayview, if they don't own it already.
An Enron executive apparently sits on the the board of
directors of Bayview housing developers. Artist Lani
Asher from the Shipyard studios described how the
Bernard Corporation wants to build an "artist mall" on
contaminated parts of the Shipyard. All too often
corporations and government are in agreement about the
value of property over people.

In a chilling example of this, Dr. Sumchai gave
details of a conveyance agreement which Mayor Brown
plans to sign on April 1st which would transfer
contaminated Parcels A& B from the Navy's property and
open them for quick development. "Never in the
history of conveyance agreements has a developer been
named in the agreement. There always is a bid," Dr.
Sumchai stated. The agreement is illegal and grounds
for a lawsuit, she said, and is not in the interest
of the health of the community. The agreement must
first be approved by the Board of Supervisors and she
encouraged the audience to contact Supervisor Sophie
Maxwell to tell her to reject the measure.

Slavery All Over Again.

While environmental pollution poisons the natural
elements of the community, police brutality isolates
and terrorizes its people so they can't clean up or
hold onto their neighborhoods. Tenisha Bishop
described her experience on Martin Luther King Day as
"Slavery all over again." Her neighbor Susie
McAllister described how their children were
subjected to the very treatment that we warn them
from.

Theirs and other neighbors' children were pulled from a
car in front of their house, pushed to the ground, and
held at gunpoint. Some of the five kids, ages 12 to
14, were physically assaulted and arrested. The girls
were inappropriately fondled and molested by male
officers, and others had police hold them down with
their boots. A child who has grown up feeling the
weight of asthma on his lungs had then the pressure of
the police's boots in his back. McAllister described
her feelings at seeing her young daughter brutalized
by the police, "I felt helpless, I was being ignored,
treated less than a piece of meat."

Beyond the shock and fear that the audience reflected
upon hearing these descriptions laid the outrage and
anger at the targeting of communities of color by the
police. Bishop herself said, "I've work in Laurel
Valley, I've never heard of anything of this kind
happening there." Other audience members echoed this
sentiment, one rising to comment, "If white children
were treated in this manner, the whole country would
be plastered with the news!"

Basic Human Rights Should Apply

Samantha Liappes of the local advocacy group Bay Area
Policewatch made the simple comment about these
events, "Basic human rights should apply." This is
the demand of the community against the racist system
which ignores pollution where people of color live
while downplaying the brutal actions of police towards
those same people.

These were the rights that were missing on MLK day,
that were missing when Idriss Stelley called for help
during a psychiatric crisis and was shot down by
police, and countless other instances when police
practice brutal and illegal racial targeting, and the
rights that are ignored by the Navy and the
city government when it allows contaminated land to
continue to poison an entire community.

The next steps to be taken will be against the police
department, which has placed the events of MLK day
"under investigation." One speaker from the community
reminded us, "Civil Rights is about love. We
shouldn't hate the officers that did this as much as
we should hate the system which allows them to do
this." "Policewatch and other groups are working to
create community control over the police," said
Liappes. "The community should have power and
oversight over the police department and we have the
resources to make it happen right here."

Harrison expressed the desire that accountability will
also come with reparations for the damage done. When
she declared, "My intent is to see this police
department pay dearly for what they've done to these
children and this community." Her sentiment was
affirmed throughout the audience. The mothers spoke
of needing grief counselors, a greatly lacking
resource in this neighborhood, to help their children
deal with the trauma. A woman in the audience offered
her services. Maurice Campbell of the SF Bay View
stated, "We need to be with each other on this."
Along environmental justice and police reparations,
many people spoke out about the economic injustices in
their neighborhoods which need to stop. Campbell
spoke out on the practice of "redlining" neighborhoods
of people of color. "Banks have vacated our
community," he stated, while pointing out that fraud
was a common way of diverting city and other
government contracts away from local businesses.
Beyond a clean and safe environment, as Willie Ratliff
put it, "We all need the opportunity to get a job and
feed our families." Neighborhood activist Theresa
Johnson poised the question "How did we get involved
with criminal politics?" When our government signs
away protection, lands, lives, and children's futures, she
said, "I don't find that to be freedom."

Hopefully the mothers whose children suffered will
find hope in the community that rose up to support
them last Saturday. Samantha Liappes of
Policewatch mentioned in closing the recent racial
targeting of Laurie McElroy, a Poor Magazine writer
who was unjustly arrested for walking home with her
son in a neighborhood that the cops didn't find
appropriate. Liappes pointed out that "simply
existing in our own communities is now a criminal
act."

The only protection that these parents and their
children now have is from the community, whether that
is by calling city officials to demand a stop to
environmental racism, or by demonstrating against the
police, or by joining a lawsuit against the Navy and
other racist institutions. What is crucial is that
the larger community of San Francisco become educated
and involved in the struggle. Even if this wouldn't
happen "in my neighborhood." Because Tenisha Johnson
doesn't have to read the paper to know about what is
going down. As she said, "I just have to look out the
window, I see the power plant, I see children being
brutalized by cops. We have an amazing view but once
you get down to flat ground reality kicks in."

To express your outrage over the policies' racist
attacks:

Contact the Police Chief Lau at (415) 553-1551

Police commissioners: Sidney Chan (415) 397-1985,

Victor Makras (415) 992-1990, Connir Perry (415)
538-4146, Wayne Friday (415) 431-1702, Angelo Quaranta
(415) 885-1557.

Or to get involved contact Bay Area Police Watch:
(415) 951-4844 Ext. 224

To tell the SF Board of Supervisors to reject the
illegal conveyance deal on Shipyard Parcels A and B
call your district supervisor and call:
Supervisor Sophie Maxwell (415) 554-7670.

To demand that the SF Department of Public Health
immediately release the records of hospital intakes
before and after the shipyard fire, call Dr. Mitchell
Katz (415) 554-2600.

by ALDO ARTURO DELLA MAGGIORA/PoorNewsNetwork

While returning my taxicab to the garage, I use to drive under the freeway underpass on Cesar Chavez Street where several folks reside outdoors.

I used to see several people gathered together around a fire trying to keep warm

Underneath the army street freeway exit, cars passed by where dry leaves blow soundlessly through the streets of San Francisco and into the world of homelessness.

A group of educators named Erasure lead by Matt Behnke built arches out of shopping carts throughout the bay area in remembrance of the displacement of homeless folks and those who have died due to the neglect and apathy of our society to homeless folks. Artist, Matt Kertesz clarified that the current location underneath the freeway overpass was chosen for the Shopping cart installation, because there was an extensive community that was swept out.

Greg Leon a resident of the area said that many people who reside in the area are respectful of the land and keep it clean. "It is a convenient spot because one can collect money from the recycling center which is near by." Leon told me that Cal Train would come every morning starting at 7:30 am to remove the homeless and sometimes call the police. Furthermore, Leon explains, "This area became publicized in the news which attracted several heroin addicts to move into the area. This was convenient for some of the users because they had access to methadone from General Hospital, which is nearby. Littering became a problem, and women with children who passed by were harassed. As a result of the media drawing in some of the heroin addicts, Cal Train and other city officials arranged the fencing of a big portion of land under the freeway where the homeless would sleep," The sign said, "State Property No Trespassing Penal Code 602 (L), No Lodging Penal Code 647 (J), No Littering with Personal Property Penal Code 374.4, Violators Will Be Prosecuted." The actions of some of the drug addicts made the rest of the community look bad," said Leon.

Matt Behnke addresses the homeless issue as an American issue. "America does not want to see poverty in their country because they don’t want to take responsibility."

The arch of carts is a symbolic display of art representing one’s survival. Many people lost their carts and their belongings due to Cal Train’s policy of taking and crushing the carts, including the belongings of those individuals who used the carts. Cal Train's bully tactics have cost many hardships to the homeless who have lost their money, referrals for drug rehab programs, food, sleep gear, etc.

I participated with Erasure and helped put up an arch of carts. There was a feeling of relief to pay tribute to the unseen population of the homeless. Unfortunately the arch of carts was thrown down 20 minutes later after Erasure left the site. I hope one day to see the fence under Ceaser Chavez freeway exit come down so the communities of people without housing can at least gather around a fire and have a place to keep warm and sleep

by Tuto X/ POOR Magazine Youth in the Media Intern

I dream

because living as a poor young woman

without dreams

without hope

and who no matter how hard I try

can’t help or can’t change my family’s situation

and sometimes feel like I can’t keep on ..

excerpt from a poem by Tuto/Po' Poet

Before I joined the POOR Magazine Youth in the Media program I never even admitted that I was raised on welfare, that I was barely able to stay in school due to my families homelessness and poverty or that I was often too depressed to even want to live. When I listened to the new CD released by the Center For Young Women’s Development entitled; SHE WHO DREAMS, I began to realize the power of dreams for all people – but especially for young folks like me who often suffer in silence, cause they are too afraid to even speak, much less to speak –UP

I am the one who listens

I am strong mexican warrior

I am a mother –

As I listen to the "affirmations", one of the first cuts off the CD that features Marlene, Marjon, Cynthia, Tiffany, Latrice, Lina, Tee-jai, and Tiffany M. I am inspired not only to affirm my power as a woman, but my to affirm my struggle and my families’ struggle.

There are many excellent poems on this CD, some mixed with music, all mixed with love and vision and I urge you all to get a copy of this amazing piece of poetry- support young women speaking out and UP- and maybe like me you will learn to Dream

You can reach The Center For Young Women's Development @ 1426 Fillmore St., Ste 205 SF 94115 or call them at (415) 346-0264