Story Archives 2007

by Janak Ramachandran/ PNN Community Journalist

On April 12, 2006, the man some have dubbed the John Wayne of South Indian cinema passed away. Rajkumar, whose given name is Muttaraj, was born April 24, 1929 in the small remote village town of Gajanur. Proud fellow villagers boast of the boy from the village, born in a dilapidated hut on the side of a dusty road, who grew to become a superstar. Encouraged by the example of his father, who was a dramatist, Muttaraj joined his father’s troupe, where he learned his initial skills as an actor and singer. He entered the film industry at a young age and, as Rajkumar (meaning Prince), starred in his first ‘big break’ film in 1954. Considered one of the most versatile actors in Indian cinema and with over 200 films to his credit, his character depictions ran the gamut from drama to action to comedy to romance and he had a penchant for choosing films with social messages addressing societal evils. Also an accomplished singer, Rajkumar won a national award for one of the many songs he sang in his films.

But fate had more in store for the self-titled Prince. Less than ten years back, Rajkumar decided he wanted to live the remainder of his life with his fellow villagers in Gajanur. Lauded not only for his superstar status but also for a personality given to simplicity, generosity, kind-heartedness, and peace-loving ways, his fellow denizens were happy to welcome him home. But, as India’s John Wayne returned to the new house built across the road from the hut where he was born, he was paid an uninvited visit by the man many of the villagers in the area praise as a modern day Robin Hood. Veerapan, known for sandalwood smuggling and poaching and hailing from the same village as Rajkumar, reportedly conveyed to Rajkumar’s wife, Parvathamma, “Please do not worry. We assure you we will never harm Rajkumar but we have some serious demands (of the government). We are compelled to use these means to make ourselves heard.” Veerapan then kidnapped Rajkumar.

When the state police chief was asked about the Robin Hood image of Veerapan and if the locals see him as a criminal, he retorted candidly, “…he is seen as a do-gooder. He helps the locals by paying for their marriages, renovating temples, helping poor people, getting a poor widow a square meal, and so on…” In the same breath, he continued that, “Everybody is afraid of him.” Since the villagers see themselves as aided by Veerapan’s actions, it seems unlikely that the ‘Everybody’ to which the state police chief refers includes them. More likely he means the wealthier interests and their governmental comrades who send the police to enforce those interests. Indeed, Veerapan has supposedly killed a number of police and other government officials in his pursuit of justice. In addition to his political motives on behalf of the poor in his area, Veerapan may be motivated by personal experience. His brother and sister both died in police custody.

So the day that Robin Hood kidnapped John Wayne, all of South India came to a standstill: neighborhood shops closed, distraught fans worried, and Bangalore, the heart of India’s Silicon Valley, ground to a halt for several days. After 108 days in captivity, Rajkumar was released by Veerapan when he was assured through negotiations that atrocities committed by government police and its Special Task Forces would be pursued and that efforts would be made to release those innocents detained under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act. One of the negotiators for the team that included human rights activists and journalists opined, “Everybody knows how Veerapan became a big problem…the socio-economic factors played a major role in his rise.” Of the crimes attributed to Veerapan, he added, “Why do you accuse Veerapan alone? The guilty are living happily in our society. Why do you pardon them? What we want first is action against all those who…have committed atrocities on the poor villagers.” Detailing the evidence of 90 people in jail without access to trial, 60 women subjected to sexual assault, and more than 300 men handicapped by police torture, he called for action against those responsible in the government and concluded, “Action against Veerapan can be taken after that.”

For his part, Rajkumar, on his release, reported, “Veerapan did not harass me.” And in an earlier message, he declared, “I am being taken care of with great love and they are behaving with great trust.” When referencing that Veerapan and his group have a point of view, with which he agreed in many ways, Rajkumar stated, “There is actually much that we have to learn from them. Having lived with them like an elder brother to younger brothers, I have had a lot of opportunities to…understand them well. It’s my fate that I was abducted by Veerapan.”

And so it was that Robin Hood and John Wayne became brothers. Two men from the same village with very different life paths yet with a common devotion to the local poor who protected them. For those curious, Robin Hood Veerapan was eventually found dead with a bullet in his head—the police story of how he was captured and killed appears to contradict the circumstances of his death—and the evidence of the possibly execution style bullet in his head would not have been found had the police not been stopped from prematurely cremating his body. In any case, both Rajkumar and Veerapan are no longer with us. The question remains though, ‘Are we with them?’ Are we committed to a world where a rich success can meet a poor bandit and see his brother…his sister? If so, perhaps Robin Hood and John Wayne together can topple the King.

by Gretchen Hildebrand/PNN L.A. Correspondent

"The stories you will hear tonight are not supposed to happen.” Parent and CADRE (Community Asset Development Re-Defining Education) member Naomi Haywood stood on the low stage at the front of the packed meeting room. The parents and students from the South Los Angeles community that filled the room mirrored Haywood's frustration and outrage. They exploded into applause for her and co-facilitator Linda Sanchez as they set the stage for last Wednesday's People's Hearing on the institutionalized "push-out" of children of color from the Los Angeles public school system.

"This is a human rights crisis," continued Haywood, engaging the almost entirely African-American and Latino crowd in rhythmic alternation with Sanchez, who spoke in Spanish. "students and parents - have a human right to dignity, education and participation!" The crowd responded with passion. Each seemed to have their own story of how District 7 schools in South Los Angeles had pushed their children out of public school, through the systematic application of punishments intended to humiliate and suspensions and "opportunity" transfers that often exile students from their own education.

Many in the crowd wore CADRE's bright green t-shirts, and had already come to this community organization with their struggles to obtain a respectful and meaningful education for their children. Haywood herself was one such parent. When her son was in middle school, partial blindness in one of his eyes was slowing down his learning. Despite this, his teacher made him sit far from the board and insisted that he was "just lazy."

Haywood was only notified of the situation when her son had already been suspended, after he had been disciplined several times by the teacher for acting out. When Haywood brought in a doctor's note describing her son's disability, her son's teacher brushed her off, saying she didn't care. Eventually her son missed two weeks of school before the administration agreed to meet her son's needs. "It wasn't til I went to CADRE that I learned that I have a basic human right to participate in my son's education. The school just treated us like WE were the problem.

Luckily Haywood's son is still in school, although she still worries about the threats of suspension and discipline that are leveled at him because of his disability. Beyond her concern, she is also angry that her son could be so easily denied an education by a system that prefers to punish rather than educate low-income students of color.

CADRE was formed in 2001 by low-income parents of color in South Los Angeles who believed that decent education for their children was a basic human right that was being systematically denied to them by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). While working to educate parents in their community about their right to be involved in their children's education, CADRE parents found they all had stories similar to Haywood's and often worse. And the results of the discipline procedures are what CADRE calls a direct path to poverty or prison.

The hard data collected by CADRE supports this theory. Public high schools in South LA have the highest suspension rates in the city. These schools also have the lowest graduation rates. For every 100 ninth-graders, as few as 24 receive diplomas, with the average graduation rate in schools like Fremont, Locke, Jordan ranging from 24% to 42%. This crisis is happening in districts that are primarily African-American and Latino. In nearby Whitney High School, in a district where Black and Latino people made up less than 20% of the census tract, the suspension rate was 0%, and the graduation rate 93%.

Many from the audience were there to share heartbreaking stories of the pain they and their children have experienced at the hands of this system. A shy woman in a long a flowing skirt told in Spanish of how her daughter had been suspended 5 times because the school felt that they couldn't stop the other children from hitting her. Even though she was the victim of other children's behavior, her daughter received no help in making up her work and is now so far behind that she may not graduate. Worse was that her daughter, who once loved learning, has "turned into a person full of resentment."

Another parent told the story of a CADRE member who tried several times to arrange a meeting with administrators and teachers to discuss her son's suspension. After being stood up twice, finally one teacher showed up to a third meeting. Instead of listening to the parent's frustrations at this treatment, the teacher called security to have her removed from the school. "If they don't want to deal with angry parents, they need to give us the proper respect, to let us know when a red flag goes up.

All outrageous, the parents stories have common themes, the sense that their children are being humiliated by their punishments, one parent told of her child being subjected to taunts while picking up trash in a courtyard. Parents also find themselves excluded from decisions made for their children, while schools show little effort to address the problems that may be interfering in their education, whether they are learning disabilities, behavior issues, or a lack of safety and support available in the school. The commonality between all these students was that they lost access to education when punished, and not given a chance to catch up – and many of them are encouraged give up.

In CADRE's recent report, More Education, Less Suspension, data on school drop-out rates is backed up with a survey looking to find out why students leave school before graduation. In a study of 120 such former students, CADRE found a systematic pattern of suspensions being extensively overused in the absence of other disciplinary techniques, which were applied in disregard to the impact on the child's education. Many of the students who left school did so after a series of suspensions and many were advised to leave by teachers and school administrators.

Parents and students who had undergone school suspensions were also interviewed, uncovering the mistreatment that many felt subject to in the public school system. Their children weren't listened to or respected in the discipline process. One of the students at the hearing told a story of a classmate being dragged in handcuffs to the dean's office because he wouldn't pull up his pants. Angry at this treatment, he made the point, "The principles of behavior and respect that they want us to use should apply to staff, too." Tellingly, the report also found that African-American students in particular were subject to a higher proportion of suspensions.

The implications are clear: low-income students of color are subjected to a system that denies them respect, and in many cases, an education at all. The "drop-out" crisis in their community is really a "push-out" crisis supported by these institutionalized disciplinary practices.

The parents of CADRE were present to stand up for their children's right to an education with dignity, as well as their right to be a part of decisions that impact their children. "We do not have to accept this, and nor do our children," insisted Haywood, "as primary stakeholders of our children's futures, we deserve to be a part of the process."

Will the LAUSD listen? Perhaps. One Board Member-elect, Monica Garcia from District 2, sat through several hours of testimony and then addressed the crowd, saying,"I'm listening." While she gave respect to CADRE and the students present, no specific promises were made. And in the absence of more official power in the room, most media outlets passed over the event.

But CADRE isn't waiting for promises, they are urging the LAUSD to pass a resolution implementing a Discipline Foundation Policy, now a draft bulletin at the Board, that would reshape the principles behind the school district's policy and implementation. Their demands are simply that the LAUSD commit to a policy preserving students human right to dignity, a right to education, and a right to parent participation and monitoring in discipline implementation. CADRE is in effect, demanding accountability from the system that prefers to blame students and their parents for its own failure. They will be at the LAUSD's next meeting on Tuesday, June 27th from 4:30- 6:30 (333 South Beaudry Ave.) to present their demands with parent power.

An insightful note did come from Board Member-elect Garcia, who insists, "I got it." She does seem to, as she noted that urban education in America has been underserved for centuries. To make a goal of 100% of kids graduating from high school in LAUSD schools, she added, is nothing short of revolutionary.

As one parent led the room in the chant "Parent - Power!" it was clear that there was revolution in this room, in the righteous and insistent voices of parents who have seen their children suffer and be denied enough and will not back down. And in the face of such staggering educational inequities, their movement will only grow.

by Leroy F. Moore Jr.

It has been almost 74 years since Franklin D. Roosevelt hid his disability to the world as President of the United States. In this year’s election people with disabilities are running for political office in record numbers from Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Senate, House of Representatives and State Assembly local Supervisors.

There are candidates with disabilities not only on the two major political party tickets, Republican and Democrat, but also on third party tickets as well, such as the Green Party and the newly formed Green-Rainbow Party in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts 30-year-old Martina Robinson, an African American with cerebral palsy, is running on the Green Rainbow party ticket, against three White non-disabled men- Republican Reed Hillman, Democrat Tim Murray and Independent John J Sullivan for Lieutenant Governor.

by Leroy Moore/Illin n chillin

In May, I got an email that the Berkeley Police Commission might have an opening on their board. I attended Berkeley Cop Watch monthly meeting to get more information and to see if it was worth it for me to put my name in the running. What I found out in that meeting was the serious case of police brutality against local disabled activist and founder of Disabled People Outside. I interviewed Danny McMullan about what happened on Sunday April 30th at People’s Park in Berkeley, CA. Danny McMullan is a wheelchair user and founder of, Disabled People Outside DPO.

DPO is a volunteer organization that supports disabled people on Berkeley’s streets and teaching them how to travel through the beaucracy to get what is respectfully theirs; services, housing, disability income etc. He started this project in 1995 after a motorcycle accident in 1994 that left him disabled. The hospital gave him a pair of crutches and sent him on his way. Before the accident, Danny had very little connections with people who are homeless.

With no money, no insurance, and no medical insurance, Danny was on the streets for eight years. He just wanted the government to respect their side of the contract because when he worked he paid taxes and was on his parents’ insurance but the government didn’t respect their side when he became disabled and homeless. Danny spent eight years on the streets of Berkeley piecing his life together relying on the free box in People’s Park for food and clothes. At the time of the police brutality against him at people’s Park, Danny’s struggles were almost a thing of the past. He slept in front of Social Security and Section Eight Offices and got his section eight and SSI payments.

His experiences on the streets led to the creation of Disabled People’s Outside Program, a volunteer group that receives no money from the city operating on fundraising and donations. He works on two levels in advocacy of services for disabled people on the streets and on another level DPO got Mayor Bates to sleep outside, got the rain shelters started and a transition plan for people coming out of ALTA Bates Hospital.

Today he is married with children and working but on April 30th Danny was entering People’s Park with his two sons and wife to meet about the conflict with the city over the Free Box, free food and clothing organizations and people leave for people in need. UC Police had stationed themselves in People’s Park to cite people who drop off food and clothing for people in need.

On April 30th, road signs were blocking the entrance to the park but Danny’s sons removed these barriers. As Danny rolled through the barriers two UC Cops were on him twisting his arm, asked him to show his ID and spitting on him in front of his wife and children. Witnesses and members of Berkeley Cop watch told me that UC officers were pushing/yanking Danny out of his wheelchair down to the ground where 6 UC police officers got on top of him including one who repeatedly beat Danny in the stomach. Although Danny and many others at the scene told UC officer, O'Connor, that he is disabled with a false leg O'Connor insisted Danny lean over the back of the squad car which hurt him.

This abuse placed Danny in the hospital but UC Police continued to cit him on destruction of a road sign, one account of resisting arrest and two accounts on battering of an officer. According to Danny, the UC police said that he kicked him with his right leg, however Danny is an amputee with no right leg and spit on him but Danny stated that the UC Police spit on him and he was trying to get the officer spit off of him by spiting on the ground.

The charges are still on Danny! He emailed me the latest on his case. On May 31st. David A. appeared for Danny at the Alameda County Courthouse. None of the charges against Danny were filed but the police decided to go ahead with a probation violation thereby denying him a fair trial by jury. The police also put a $10.00 dollar bail against him. In a police report police stated that Danny never spit on anyone or destroyed any property. Danny told me that he is a target by UC Police because he is a long time advocate of Peoples’ Park for the free box and human rights for activists, people who are homeless and disabled.

To get more info about Disabled People Outside Project and to donate to Danny bail fund call him at (510) 688-2342 or danmcmullan@comcast.net

Danny is advising residents of Berkeley to call Mayor Tom Bates (510) 981-6900 and asked him that something needs to be done about police brutality by UC Police and to restore the Free Box.

by Leroy Moore/illin n chillin

Although it is the 40th anniversary of the Black Panther Party and our community is celebrating Black History Month, I’m very worried about my Black Panthers who are reaching their golden years.

I recently wrote about Malcolm Samuel, a local Black Panther with a disability who, in 2005, was rounded up by Berkeley police for no reason and died in prison. Now, one of our queens has been dethroned by the state and left homeless. Queen Mama Khandi of Ohio is one of our living treasures.

The state has always tried to weaken our leaders, and although Malcolm and Queen Mama Khandi were thousands of miles apart, they shared many things in common. Both were Panthers, both disabled yet turned away from social service agencies and both were victims of police abuse.

Malcolm is with our ancestors, but we still have time to help Queen Mama Khandi regain her queendom. She is physically disabled, a diabetic and wears a full back brace. I was contacted by her friends, who reached out to me on her behalf, to help tell her story – one of oppression, discrimination and downright prejudice, committed by of the state of Ohio against a disabled Black Panther, activist, artist and entrepreneur.

Mama Khandi is a musician who joined the Black Panther Party early in her youth. This was the same time Mumia Abu Jamal joined. They attended the same broadcasting school. While disabled and homeless, she graduated magna cum laud from Central State as the first Black woman.

A supporter of the MOVE family Afrika, she played a key role in organizing the members after MOVE was bombed. At that time, her house was raided by police on horseback. They trampled three of her daughters and beat her until she lost the child she was carrying.

Queen Mama Khandi has delivered Black babies at her home for Black women for over 32 years. And she co-founded several independent Afriikan schools in Philly and two in Ohio. She is also co-founder of the Afrikan-Amerikan Cultural Center in Millville, New Jersey, the Church of the Afrikan Sons and Daughters of Sampson and COASADOS, which has given monetary, resource and material support to various freedom fighters, POWs and political prisoners.

So why has the state of Ohio completely destroyed her Afrikan queendom? Mama Khandi, who spent her days working with children, was accused of child abuse by two white ladies in her neighborhood.

On Jan. 13, 2002, Mama Khandi was asleep in bed when the police barged into her home with no search warrant and told her to get dressed. They threatened her, saying that they would pull her out of bed and take her to jail naked if she didn’t comply.

The cops would not wait till Mama Khandi got on her brace. She was not told what she being charged with and was taken to jail in her wheelchair. The arresting detective tried to trick her in signing her rights away.

Her bond was $850,000. While imprisoned, she was contacted by the housing authority, who told her that her housing voucher was being taken from her because “the head of household is not in the home� and that “being in jail constitutes (her) having somewhere else to live.�

It was very hard for me to read Khandi’s letters. She wrote about how she was consistently taunted and abused by guards and staff. She also went into details of the physical abuse she’s had to endure while in prison.

She came very close to following in Malcolm Samuels’ shoes – almost dying at the hands of prison guards and a lack of accurate medical care and access to a specialized diet. Being locked in solitary confinement – where she didn’t receive the physical therapy or medicine that would help to ease her pain – her disability worsened.

She was even denied her back brace, wheelchair and even warm clothes. Mama Khandi lost half her weight in the six months she was there.

Her health case manager explained to the judge that if something didn’t change soon, then they will have a dead prisoner on their hands.

In November 2002, Mama Khandi was released from jail on $40,000 bond and placed on house arrest. For almost three years, she has been trying to get her Section 8 and disability income back. She was staying with friends until she was forced to leave. These same “friends� decided to keep her personal belongings on March 10, 2003.

In November of that same year, the house arrest anklet was finally removed and her criminal trail began. The jury found Mama Khandi not guilty of kidnapping, not guilty of abduction, and they split 10-2 in favor of not guilty on the charge of child endangerment. However, she still is not allowed to see her son.

Mama Khandi is in the middle of representing herself in civil court, small claims court, juvenile court and criminal court and struggling with medical disability and financial crises. The pre-trial civil court case that she filed against the “heffas� who had her arrested was scheduled for Feb. 13. She also found out that she has to file another lawsuit, on her own behalf, against Section 8 because many disability law offices in Ohio can’t help litigate.

Mama Khandi called the local Red Cross about housing, but they had nothing. She received the same response from the Salvation Army. Despite her history of advocacy for African Americans, Mama Khandi wrote that no local African American agencies or organizations have come forward to assist her in any way! Not even those organizations of which she is a member.

It was sad, but not surprising, that the only agencies that have come to her aid, including the organizations that advocate for people with disabilities, are all-white or white-run.

As we celebrate Black History Month and the Black Panther Party’s 40th anniversary, let’s practice what we preach. Help restore Queen Mama Khandi to her throne. She needs your assistance, donations and love now.

To read her full story, view prison letters and her art and to listen to Mama Khandi’s music, go to her website at www.geocities.com/khandipages. Send donations to Rev. Khandi I.N. Paasewe, P.O. Box 6965, Columbus, Ohio 43205 or her PayPal.com account at khandipages@yahoo.com.

Leroy F. Moore Jr. is vice president of the National Minorities with Disabilities Coalition. He is a poet and activist and a race and disability consultant. Email him at sfdamo@yahoo.com and visit his website at www.leroymoore.com.

There is no summer in jail

by Queen Mama Khandi

There is no warmth behind cinderblock walls; leaks from the ceiling constantly falls; flooding solitary confinement jail cells; to make a change, deputies are not compelled.

Iron metal beds, upon which we sleep; concrete floors, inmates pace and creep. Metal ceilings, tables, benches and stools; deputies insult intelligence and condescend as if we are fools.

There is no distinction between innocent or guilt; upon corruption and oppression, this genocidal system is built. Inmates and deputies, to each other they cuss; fights, arguments, unjust treatment and fuss.

A paradigm most imperialistic and strange, this place is enough to make someone deranged. It’s cold in treatment and temperament alike. Lights on at all times, robs melanin battery at night.

Ceretonin/Melanin imbalance is thusly enforced; acid over alkaline, giving inmates no choice. Poor – nutrition, medical, rehab – a joke. All – so sickening, robbing body and spirit – to choke.

Nothing allowed that’s living can be, in anyone’s cell; considered contraband – not even a shrine with me.

I trust the Almighty, in spite of all, will prevail. ‘Cause truth be told, there is no summer in jail!

by Leroy Moore/illin n chillin

When economist, sociologist, scientist and politicians predict the future of our society, we are thankful and continue to look for their advice. However when the messenger is outside of these professional sects, we question their motive and some times point our finger to the messenger when social conflicts happens. Many times the messengers for the young, urban residents and people of color are artists\activists. From James Baldwin, to Chuck D artists\activists have been predicting or warning about the social constrains in communities of color that have erupted into in civil upheaval but theses messengers have not been embraced by many professionals who are in a place of power to make the changes.

Matter-of-Fact when a messenger artistically communicate his\her’s message he or she is blame in starting protest or a riot. The LA riots and the riots in Paris France of 2005 have a lot in common. Both had prophets in the hip-hop arena trying to get their message to people in power about the situation that their neighbors are going through from unemployment, run down housing projects to police brutality. Before Rodney King beating and trail, LA Rap stars from Ice Tea to NWA were warning everybody about the tension in South Central and else where in LA. Even Movie director, Mike Singlter gave us a message in the 1998 movie, “Boyz-N-The Hood. Almost the same thing happened in Paris France. Rapper, Monsieur R, put his SOS out their but did the lawyers, economist, sociologist, and scientist and politicians listen?

Now hip-hop artists are the ones to blame for violence in their community. The same thing happen in the Blues when Blind Willie Johnson was arrested outside of Costume House in New Orleans in the 1920’s for singing his song, If I had My Way I’d Tear this Building Down. Police said by singing the song Johnson was trying to start a riot. Now in 2006 French politicians and lawmakers are using the same accuse against Monsieur R for his song, 'FranSSe' for starting the riots of 2005 that he penned almost a year before the riot. Monsieur R wrote the song after researching the living condition of his neighbors.

As a researcher\activist\poet I too have felt frustrated by the injustice of my disabled brothers and sisters of color. And like Monsieur R, Sister Soulter, Paris and many more, I too use my pen as a means of getting my message to my people and mainstream society. So am I going to be in front of a judge when my poems, If I Had A Gun, Hey Mr. White or Tell the Truth come out? No wonder I can’t find a publisher! Our so called political leaders are missing the meaning of our messages. If we can drag our artists\activists in court than why can’t we do the same with legislators whose ink has led many of us in prison, segregated schools, trapped in run down public housing and deported. These are the reasons why riots happen and today’s blunt disregard to some politicians, police and other so called “authority figure!” In this climate, Kanye West to Monsieur is what Audre Lord called “Truth Tellers!”

by Leroy Moore/Illin'n chillin

It is again Summer and Californians are holding their breath, hoping that it will be a cool Summer to avoid fires. Although it’s been cool here in California, a different type of fire has been spreading from the East to the West this Summer.

I’ve been writing about violence against people with disabilities for more than ten years. However, the recent cases are just shocking and sick! In June there were two cases from Florida to Oregon involving people with disabilities who were set on fire or had bleach poured on them that caught the media’s attention. These cases took place in Jacksonville, FL, Schenectady, NY, and Spokane, WA. However, before June there have been other cases of people with disabilities being set on fire. Last year during the Paris riots a disabled woman was doused with petrol and set on fire. And on March 6th of this year a disabled homeless man in Boston was kicked and set ablaze, according WHDH TV of Boston, MA.

Newspaper reports identified the victims in the above Summer cases of 2006 as three men and one woman so far. All had physical disabilities and at the time three were reported to have survived and one died from being burned. The March case in Boston and the recent case in Oregon both involved victims who were homeless. The New York case happened in a home and was perpetrated by a stranger; the case in Florida was also in a home of a disabled woman who was forced to drink bleach and was then set on fire by her caregiver. As you can see there are similarities and differences in the above cases. I point this out because the public has to realize that these crimes against people with disabilities are not isolated incidents, but the frame of a distributing picture of violence against people with disabilities from Coast to Coast.

Even though Congress passed the Crime Victims With Disabilities Act on Jan. 7th 1998, and the good work of the National Organization for Victim Assistance, which has a department on victims of crimes with disabilities has helped, the above cases continue to happen largely in silence. It is only July, the beginning of the 2006 Summer, and we must not only stop these fires, but bring them to the forefront in all of our work, advocacy, and organizations. We must voice our concerns and come up with programs and policies to deter the growing violence against people with disabilities!

Sources

1) The Guardian

Disabled woman set on fire as Paris riots spread,
11/5/2005

2) WHDH TV Boston

Suspects set fire to homeless man,
3/6/2006

3) Channel 3 News New York

Man accused of attacking disabled woman, trying to set her on fire,
6\30\2006

4) News 4 Florida

Caregiver charged with throwing bleach on disabled woman,
6\16\2006

by Antonio William/PoorNewsNetwork Youth in Media

"The funded tree resembles me.." The powerful poetry of Tracy, a Castlemount High School student and member of Youth Together, cut through my down mood. Tracy was one of several students from across the Bay Area who was speaking out against the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) preceding a court action about to be heard in San Francisco last week.

I am a high school senior from Oakland and I did not pass the Exit Exam. Had it not been for my editor at POOR Magazine, I wouldn't even been here today, because in a lot of ways I have lost hope. And yet the challenge of this racist, classist law put into place by State Superintendent of schools Jack O' Connell, continues.

Attorneys for students attending the worst schools in the state asked the Court of Appeals on Tuesday in San Francisco to reinstate an injunction against the Exit Exam and retroactively award diplomas to as many as 42,000 seniors. This followed an Alameda County Superior Court judge who granted the injunction in May, which halted the diploma penalty for the Class of 2006 because he found many students had not had an equal opportunity to learn the material being tested. The California Supreme Court suspended that injunction on May 24th and the issue was transferred to the Court of Appeals.

The Lawyers from Morrison & Foerster who are representing the students suing the state over the Exit Exam argued that some schools failed to adequately teach students the material on the exam. “Denying them diplomas for flunking the test is an unfair punishment”, said Arturo Gonzalez, one of the lead attorneys for the students.

"You can't blame the kids”, Gonzalez said.

The funny thing is, if you listen to the words of Jack O'Connell's office you would think that in fact you can “blame the kids” because they continue to say that graduating seniors who lack basic math and English skills demean the value of the state's high school degree. I am not sure what they mean by that. I worked hard in school. I attended all my classes and I actually got good grades. How is that demeaning? I would argue that the people this test demeans are hard-working students who are trying to get an education.

I am also one of those kids who came from an "underserved school". Our school didn't have a lot of resources and we had teachers who were just out of school and didn't have a lot of experience in the classroom. However, we actually had a lot of art in our school and a lot of parent volunteers who really cared. The point is that everyone who does well in school isn’t always able to pass the tests. So the real problem here is the tests and the fact that that is how they decide whether a student should get a diploma, which is just wrong.

My mind came back to the powerful group of student activists from Youth Together who had gathered on the grass outside of the Superior Court in San Francisco last week. “If we meet all of the students requirements, don't we deserve to walk across the stage?", Jennifer, another high school student from Oakland and member of Youth Together, called out to the crowd.

Yes, I thought. Unfortunately, the people in control of our educational system in the State of California don't put any weight on what we, as students in the system, deserve.

by Jewnbug

One Night

Bus Stop

Hot Block

Gun Shot

dru on cue...wit laughter

changin up rhythm matters

down wit beat flippin...wut they gave him

maintained peace

despite... Prop 21& ED cuts

Youth Makin A Change

spins hood anthems from the ground up

One Night

Bus Stop

Hot Block

Gun Shot

injustice he scratches away

changin tha cursin 2 an up rite version

this beautiful joyous being

departed from flesh

rejoices in a whole new season

nevathaless

transitions tragedy

I grievin

anotha WAR hero takin

souls shakin

in a world that needs tru (in depth) healin

realness no fakin!

One Night

Bus Stop

Hot Block

Gun Shot

he came from a supportive family

workin daily

showed folks mad love

then came tha light of the dove

after tha grim reaper

tha gatekeeper

said its time 2 cum

One Night

Bus Stop

Hot Block

Gun Shot

really need 2 think

change violence prevention & intervention programs

its apparent tha contradictions don't teach

I'm parent who weeps

worries for my son

who could have all tha love

all tha support

make healthy decisions

n still git crossed

@ tha intersection

where death meets life

where people meet gun

no fun

put up fists

still live 2 see

one mo day

one mo thing

one love

one life

One Night

Bus Stop

Hot Block

Gun Shot

We need protocol

2 address dominate culture

WAR

R.I.P Dru/ Dj Domino

I appreciate all the work you've done.

I pray your spirit is manifested in a space & time.

tha Truth!

by Tiny, poverty scholar and daughter of Dee /PoorNewsNetwork

“But we have to save John Swett, it’s not just a school, it’s a whole community, and it’s just a crime if they close it…” My mama’s voice trailed off into the car’s whir.

My mama and I were fighting on the way back to our offices from the house of one of the parent liaisons of John Swett Elementary. But that was typical, when we were under stress we always reverted to fighting, a by-product of our life in poverty and our seemingly unending struggle to stay up and out of it. But today it was about what to do about John Swett, how to divide our minimal resources at POOR Magazine between all the urgently needed issues we attempted to work on and where to put our time and more importantly, our energy so this school would not be closed.

John Swett Elementary School was slated for closure and merger with another school this year by the San Francisco school board as part of a response to declining enrollment in the district. After a huge outcry from the parents, grandparents, students, and teachers of John Swett, a school with an arts-based curriculum and a proactive parent and student body, several members of the San Francisco Board Supervisors got behind a concerted effort to save the school. This effort launched by San Francisco Supervisors Ross Mirakarimi and Chris Daly resulted in the approval of a measure to support the school with $650,000.00 emergency dollars.

The money was rejected by the school board.

Add to this rejection the fact that the school was and is running at 81% enrollment, a far higher percentage than other schools that were slated not closed. The Board’s calling for closure made no sense.

“Well, then we’ll have to work on John Swett as our only media campaign this month,” I concluded with an annoyed, disrespectful tone to my voice, to which my mother almost slapped upside my 35-year-old-attitude-having head.

Ever since my mama Dee heard about the pending closure of the school located in the heart of the historically African–American majority neighborhood of the Western Addition, which was destabilized by the lie of redevelopment in the 1960’s, she insisted that POOR staff unilaterally dedicate time to save it. We visited several John Swett classrooms, two John Swett families’ houses, talked with several teachers and students, and had conversations with the school principal and a supportive school board member. After our comprehensive research was completed, our urgency to save the school increased. This was one of the most real examples of the “village” we had ever seen in action.

The school was an unbelievable mix of class, culture, and languages. Families were truly integrated into the running of the school in a way I have rarely seen in any school. The school actively practiced the indigenous tradition of “eldership”, which POOR Magazine organizationally and personally practiced as well. And they didn’t follow scripted, packaged curricula. Instead creating an innovative art based curriculum that drew on the scholarship of the school’s diverse families and communities.

After having their hopes and efforts dashed in June when the $650,000 was rejected by the school board, the families re-grouped and came back with their newest fight to save their school in the form of a lawsuit alleging that the School Board failed to conduct environmental impact studies on the merger required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). To which the School District legal counsel David Campos has so far responded that school closures are exempt from CEQA except in cases of significant impact.

“I don’t want them to close my school,” said a small framed, serious looking 10-year-old John Swett Elementary School student named David, and then he added, “My auntie and grandma don’t want them to close my school either.”

My Afro-centric thinking and practicing Mama Dee passed in March of this year. John Swett was the last media organizing campaign she worked on at POOR. And like every campaign she launched, she focused all of her brilliant analytical, socially just mind and soul to it and became integrated with their story as though it was her story, our story.

I am sorry for every moment I gave my mama “lip,” especially that last time about John Swett cause she was right, nothing else we were working on mattered as much right then, no matter how important, because if this school was closed, if this school is closed, a community will fall apart, the elders will have lost their important role in the “raising” of our youth, and a whole community and its future generations will be broken apart.

Tiny, aka Lisa Gray-Garcia, welfareQUEEN, poet and daughter of dee is the editor of POOR Magazine and PoorNewsNetwork. For more journalism and art on issues of poverty and racism by youth and adults who experience if first-hand go on-line to www.poormagazine.org. Tiny's memoir Criminal of Poverty; Growing up Homeless In America will be released by City Lights In November. She Is dedicating It to her mamaDEE