Story Archives 2008

by Calvin E. Peterson & Leroy Moore

by Calvin E. Peterson

Every day millions of U.S. dollars are being spent in support of the nonsensical war on Iraq; a war that is causing the population of disabled people to increase by astronomical numbers. Soldiers are losing their limbs and their minds and are coming home totally transformed.

In addition to this tragic reality, large numbers of black men and women, both young and old are being incarcerated for multiple lifetimes, convicted over economic disparities that are rooted in the perpetuation of poverty. Reports show that housing an inmate costs up to $66,000.00 per year, while the costs of educating a college student costs less than $20,000.00.

I am baffled to think that today being an African descendent, living in poverty with a disability, in this great big world with no parents or any support system that the fact that I am forced to live on the streets as a houseless educated man is by design.

As I think back on my life, the question that Marvin Gaye asked 20 years ago “ Who really cares “ is still prevalent and significant today.

Actually I have been homeless three times in my life. The first time was when I was a student at Long Island University (LIU) in New York. I was always an activist rallying and mobilizing against injustice, and fighting for my human rights.

At LIU, their focus was on strictly enforcing their administrative policies that curtailed the free will of the students. We were expected to go to class, go to the cafeteria, and go back to the dormitory. This was our only regiment. I broke out of that confined regiment and was punished for my actions. LIU changed the lock on my door and put me out of the dormitory. For weeks into (8) months, I was forced to live at a public hospital. Consequently, I wrote a letter to Congressman Charles Rangel who helped me by pulling whatever punches he could to get me reinstated and back in LIU.

The second time homelessness occurred in my life was after successfully completing my degree and returning home again forced to apply for public housing. The Atlanta Housing Authority ( AHA) at that time was not yet handicap assessable. AHA also told me that according to their policy , someone was required to live with me. They told that people with disabilities were not allowed to live in an apartment alone. When AHA rejected my application, again I was forced to live inside of a holistic restaurant called the “Here & Now”. The Black Nationalist brothers and sisters took care of me for 3 months.

The third time was not a charm. I received a positive response from the AHA to move into an apartment, which was not handicap assessable, yet. I mention not yet because AHA kept promising to renovate, then it took maintenance or the administration up to 13 years before the job was completed. I finally found someone to live in with me to get the personal care that I needed. She however did not want to sign onto the lease. So that put me again in jeopardy of eviction. For the record, normally I paid the rent on time. To survive, I paid my attendant instead of paying rent, therefore, I was evicted.

I stood firm on my position to withhold the rent in my own ‘rent strike’. I landed on the street once again, evicted! My day in court proved me right and wrong. However, AHA took issue with my stance of non-payment and that decision prevailed. Many of my DIA supporters stood with me protesting all the way to the Atlanta’s Mayor, Maynard Jackson . When the Mayor dropped the ball on my case, I was put on the streets, which resulted in my returning to live at Grady Hospital., for several weeks.

Right now, I want to encourage the disabled to stay focused on your personal goals. My book “Nothing Is Impossible” chronicles my challenges and my victories. As African descendents, we need empowerment tools to help us to combat these societal ills that are designed to eliminate us all. “Nothing is Impossible” gives you the opportunity to overcome obstacles that have already been conquered.
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My impression of the US Social Forum was the same as that of so-called mainstream society in that the makeup was exclusive. There was a diverse cross section of people in attendance, each going their own way, not always connecting. It was still a good showing of people who reject the unjust practices of the status quo, however as a disabled activist, I still had to struggle to be included and heard.

I witnessed the lack of workshops that addressed the continuing issues of racism and poverty in the disability rights arena. Although I had been asked to participate as a speaker and a disability rights panelist in February at the annual Poor Peoples Day by the national planning committee coordinator, no one contacted me further, and a workshop was not included.. So I was hyped up in the expectation of the social forum, but I was disappointed in its delivery. I am hopeful in the establishment of the Peoples Movement Assembly as the outgrowth.

About the Author:

Calvin E. Peterson was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in the civil rights era. Born with cerebral palsy, he recognized early his calling to organize around the disparities in education and the human rights of the disabled when he founded the Advanced Association of the Physically Handicap in high school and Disabled In Action, Inc (DIA) after graduating from college. He is an educator, advocate, lecturer, program director, and resource to individuals and organizations that focus on issues of equity and inclusion for the disabled.

To contact DIA: disabledinactionatl.org / disabledinaction009@comcast.net/ 678-358-1180

by Leroy Moore

I want to thank Mr. Peterson for sharing his story about his life, his organization and his dedication to people with disabilities in poverty and how he was treated at the US Social Forum that took place in his hometown of Atlanta, GA. POOR Magazine invites Peterson and other disabled advocates living in poverty to become a regular contributor of Illin-N-Chillin.

The best thing that came from the US Social Forum was meeting people and hearing voices that were muffled at the Forum. I had a chance to meet one of Peterson’s associates, at the US Social Forum during the closing ceremony. I was excited to get to know about another Black disabled advocate but when I found out that Peterson had the same vision as POOR Magazine to advocate and talk about poverty, houselessnes and discrimination toward people especially Black disabled residents of Atlanta and elsewhere I knew this was the reason why I attended the USSF.

POOR Magazine was looking for stories like Peterson. This is the reason that POOR came up with the whole notion of the Ida B Wells Media Justice Center at the USSF where the media would be made by collaborating and co-producing with poverty, race youth and disability scholars with workshops led by these scholars and our own newsroom in an accessible, large space. Just like Peterson, POOR Magazine had been apart of a committee of the USSF but we were on the media committee of the USSF for almost four months before the Forum. POOR Magazine stuck to our guns with our mission and certain people on the calls agreed with our mission. We tried our best to push our mission by contacting local disabled advocates in ATL to make sure that the space for the Idea B Wells Media Justice Center was accessible. We were told it was accessible with a freight elevator.

My friend in Atlanta tried to find me at the Idea B Wells Media Justice Center and was told to go up, down and up stairs. She found me and took me to see the real Atlanta. After visiting one of the MAD HOUSERS Inc’ camps where houseless people live in small hunts in wooded areas, my friend took me around downtown Atlanta next to The Homeless Task Force where she pointed out lines of people sleeping in parking lots, on churches front steps and on sidewalks that led to the metro\subway stations with no benches.

She also told me the reality of fullfiling POOR Magazine’s goal of getting stories and having people in poverty pen their news along with media “experts” would be very hard because the city has arrested houseless people if they get close to the civic center where the USSF was taking place. Although POOR Magazine fought to get an accessible place for our newsroom at the USSF our workshops were still in a place that was mildewed, not accessible and very hard to get to. Because of all of this many of our reporters got deadly sick due to the smell of the Ida B Well Media Justice Center. The above could be one reason why Peterson and over forty disabled advocates that POOR Magazine outreached to during the opening March of the USS Forum could not find my workshop on Race, Disability and Poverty in the Media.

I was excited to see advocates with disabilities in front leading the March that opened up the USSF but my excitement didn’t last when I read in the Progressive newspaper that the city changed the route of the March to avoid two other local protests for affordable housing on a street that had abandon buildings and to help keep Grady Hospital open.

Mr. Peterson has experienced both, housing discrimination and working on accessibility plan of Grady Hospital plus he was born and lived there, but like he said his voice and workshop were not included in the USSF although the National committee coordinator of the USSF had contacted him. After all the struggles that Peterson and POOR Magazine went through at the USSF, we realized that we were still able to make relationships, networks and news that reached far beyond the walls and security guards of the USSF and that our new writers like Calvin E. Peterson and poverty, race, youth and disability scholars from down South, on the East and West Coast and in Canada have now joined forces with POOR Magazine in the struggle to be heard.

by Amanda Smiles/Race, Poverty and Media Justice Intern

Driving through the bones of Hilo, a residential town on the eastern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii, I feel as if Hilo is a fish caught on the barbed hook of development, hopeless with little chance of recovery. This is my home, where I was born and raised for 17 years, returning every few years to watch my little island town drift slowly into the mists of corporate control and big business.

As a young child, I remember the businesses in my town. From the diner we ate so often they knew I was afraid of the crack in the booth, to the video store that never needed to ask my mom´ s name, most of the businesses we frequented were local. This isn ´ t to say we didn ´ t have big mainland business in our town. Long Drugs, Sears and JC Pennys are old standbys in the mall, but these corporations were few and far between, a minority in Hilo

I remember when the second McDonalds opened in Hilo and the delight our parents shared when they no longer needed to drive downtown for a Happy Meal. Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Baskin and Robbins followed, the acne of Hilo. Soon Boomers, the 1940s style ice cream shop in the mall closed. I never thought to ask my dad why. It just seemed to happen.

Costco opened when I was in middle school and threw the island into a frenzy. Everyone went to " the other side " (of the island) to shop at Costco. We made special trips to the beach and then us kids would scream with joy on the way to Costco, knowing our moms would come home with a car stuffed, like a Thanksgiving turkey, with name brand foods, closing the gap between Hawai&acutei and the mainland.

Soon after Costco opened, K-Mart followed and the island went into an even bigger frenzy. Now entire days were set aside for shopping trips to the other side. Two hours driving over, for 3 hours of shopping, and 2 hours driving back. The Big Island welcomed these businesses with open arms and open wallets.

Although the Costco- K-Mart frenzy was a source of excitement for many locals, it was well known that Hilo was safe from these corporate invaders. Hilo is not a tourist town; it is rare people stay in Hilo more than a night, usually in a desperate attempt to experience the " real " Hawaii before returning to the safety of a resort and an Astroturf- like vacation.

Kona, " the other side, " is more digestible for tourists. Unlike Hilo´ s black and green sand beaches, Kona is a platter of white sand beaches like the ones admired in postcards and travel guides. Every resort has some sort of " authentic," Hawaiian experience that can purchased for twenty dollars, from luaus offering the local flavors of kalua pig and lomi lomi salmon, to Hula and Tahitian dancers swinging their hips in front of hungry mainland eyes, it is a far cry from the two dollar loco moco Hilo offers.

Perhaps the chief reason tourist flock to Kona, and not Hilo, is that Hilo is one of the rainiest towns in Hawai´ i and, although tourists like to snap photos of the ripe, emerald, forests of the Big Island, they have little patience to experience the mother of the Big Island´ s beauty: rain. These reasons have kept big business and big tourism out of Hilo, or at least it seemed, until Wal-Mart opened its doors. Now, big business was no longer after the tourist´ s dollar, it was seeking the Hawaiian’ s dollar as well.

Wal-Mart opened in Hilo while I was still in high school, across from the mall, in a grassy field that would also become home to Borders, ROSS, and Office Max. This undeveloped plot of land, centrally located in Hilo, was not only a superior location for business, but also part of Hawaiian Homelands. Hawaiian Homelands are plots of land set aside for native Hawaiians to settle and build homes and businesses. The Hawaiian Homelands Commission is the gatekeeper of Hawaiian lands, distributing the land as they see fit, and although thousands of Hawaiians are on waiting lists for land settlements, land is usually diverted to commercial interests. In this case, Wal-Mart.

Within the first 3 months of Wal-Marts opening, the store became the heart of shopping and as cars clogged the main arteries of Hilo on their way to the jumbo sized store, inside Wal-Mart pumped dollar after dollar out of local peoples and local businesses.

A year later the mega-sized Wal-Mart-ROSS-Borders-Office Max dynasty was in full effect and it seemed the entire eastern half of the island had forgotten about the jewels outside of the family fortune. Auntie Barb, a family friend who I have known my entire life, ran a small bookstore specializing in Hawaiiana books in the mall and had been there since I could remember. Within a year of Borders opening, her business dropped drastically and she was forced to move her store to the sleepier, less trafficked, but cheaper downtown location. No longer could I spontaneously drop by to talk story when I was in the mall.

After leaving Hawaii I for college, I did not return for two years. Although I heard casually of the development phenomenon devouring Hilo, I was in no way prepared for what I encountered when I returned. Macys opened two locations in the mall, my friends now wore American Eagle Outfitters and Hot Topic. Cold Stone was the new hip ice cream place, Wal-Mart never stopped thriving, and most disturbing of all, Starbucks and Jamba Juice overtook the town like a vine of angry ivy. I couldn’t bear to ask myself what happened to Bears, the only coffee shop in town, where I played as a child while my father sipped a cup of joe.

Two years later, I have returned and the development I had witnessed on my last visit has only spread more lethally than before. Half of Hilo looks like a ghost town- whole buildings have been abandoned after corporate development slowly tortured them into closure. Other parts of Hilo look like exact replicas of shopping complexes found in strip malls throughout the mainland. Thick, illustrious glass doors and vivid neon signs are in stark contrast to the squeaky screen doors and chipping signs of my childhood. I wore myself out, searching for a hint of Hawaii that is authentic, a piece that does not mimic the country that has pocketed its culture and autonomy.

On my last visit home, a family friend, who has lived on the Big Island for over 30 years, said to me, " Hawaii used to be one of the most mysterious places on earth. We’ve used up all that mystery, now. People no longer come here to find the unknown. We have to look elsewhere for that."

The last time I drove through Hilo I felt the tides of tears wash over my ocean-glazed eyes, sheltering them from a formula all too familiar to small towns in America. I drove through town with my 3-year-old niece, who will come to visit Hilo throughout her life. The Hilo she will visit will not be the Hilo I have grown up in, however. It will not be a Hilo that enchants her, that is a source of magic apart from the mainland. It will not be another way of life, a tucked away culture mystifying to outsiders. Instead, it will be a Hilo she recognizes, a Hilo that binds her memory to California, and a place where she can always get a Grande Triple Vanilla Latte.

by Angel Garcia/Race, poverty and immigrant scholar

Living as an immigrant in this country, I know what it is like to go to public health clinics and try and receive health care. The first thing the desk clerks want is proof of insurance. My answer has always been the same, "I don't have any insurance." As soon as the words roll off my tongue I always wish I hadn't spoken them. The demeanor of the person across the desk from me quickly changes. People look down on me. I am a nuisance to them because I have no health insurance.

Every time I hear the same laundry list of unaffordable options for people like me to obtain health care. In the end I will have to pay ridiculous fees just to see a doctor for five minutes. I have to think twice about going to the hospital or going to get any kind of health treatment because I can’t afford it.

For many immigrants in this country the story is the same, and most of us are forced to live without any kind of health insurance. Often immigrants will not seek health care unless they desperately have to.

Recently a health campaign and twelve-city health fair tour was launched by Celebra La Vida Con Salud. The campaign targets immigrant and Latino communities. The fairs offer screenings and health information with the goal of focusing on the high percentage of Latino women with preventable cervical cancer.

Although Celebra tries to treat people at these one-day fairs, which is nearly impossible to begin with, it does not seek to understand or address the reasons behind the high percentage of preventable diseases among Latino communities. Health fairs do not look at the root causes for the lack of health care among immigrant and Spanish speaking communities. Health fairs are a quick fix for a larger systemic problem in this country. The main reason immigrant families do not seek health care is because to obtain treatment is a long and expensive task. Health fairs do not address the issue of lack of affordable health insurance and health treatment, rather they use a bandaid approach to fixing this large problem.

Health fairs serve to boost the image of their sponsors. Celebra's sponsors include big pharmaceutical corporations such as Merck. Health fairs are marketing strategies. Health fairs portray their sponsors and pharmaceuticals as angles and saviors of the community. The media only reports on the "heroic" stories concerning the health and health care of immigrants. These are the sexy stories. We do not hear stories about the families that have to wait in long lines just to see a doctor and have them say they will be okay they should just take an aspirin. The people who attend health fairs are generally poor people who work two or three jobs and have no health benefits. These families come to health fairs to try and get some treatment for themselves and their families. But these health fairs do not provide long term lasting solutions.

I continue to be skeptical of health fairs when large pharmaceutical companies such as Merck are sponsors. Merck was established in 1891. As written on their website they say, "Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs." Merck has stolen indigenous plant medicines from rainforests in Latin American countries and criminalizes indigenous people by making it illegal for them to use their own traditional herbal medicines.

Merck has a long controversial past. In 1999 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Vioxx, also known as rofecoxib, made by Merck. In 2004 Merck took Vioxx from the shelves because of the serious adverse side affects it can cause, such as heart attacks. Many lawsuits were filed against Merck by patients and family members of people who took the drug. Over eighty million people were proscribed the drug.

Merck also produced the drug fosamax that was later found to cause serious health issues. The media continues to largely ignore these issues surrounding Merck's past. Merck is participating in health fairs while simultaneously distributing and continuing to distribute drugs known to be harmful. I ask myself, are these companies really concerned about the people they claim to be helping or are they just concerned about making a name for themselves? These pharmaceutical companies and all these health fairs, are like politicians, full of promises but take no concrete action.

Health fairs glorify the current health care system and the big pharmaceutical companies. We need to hear more voices from immigrant families, the people who are supposed to be helped at such events like health fairs. My own story is no different than many immigrants living in this country. I have lived in the Bay Area since I was fourteen. I have never had health insurance. I have never had any continuity of doctors or health care. I only go to the doctors when I have to because I am forced to pay in cash up front.

Immigrant communities are wrongfully blamed for their own lack of initiative concerning health care. But the real reasons behind higher percentages of preventable disease among immigrant communities is not because of a lack of understanding or self-care, but because of this country’s denial to provide access to health care for all.

by Sam Drew/PNN

“Our beef is with the city,” explained Nick Pagoulatos of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition (MAC). As he spoke, a large gathering and I watched behind chain linked fences as SFPD arrested 11 peaceful protestors. They had erected 4 tents in an empty parking lot to draw attention to the community’s need for affordable housing. Pagoulatus continued, “It (The City) should get behind the community.”

At the heart of the issue is the proposed project for 3400 Cesar Chavez (formerly Kelly Moore Paint Store) near the hyper busy intersection of Mission and Cesar Chavez. Seven Hills Properties Development has offered to build 60 condos(with only 9 being market rate) and a 24 hours Walgreens on the location. Of the 60 units being built only 9 will be market rate. The remaining 51 units will be priced between $500,000 and 700,000.

The average Mission household makes $48,733. Displacement is a dark reality in the Mission district. The displacement horror currently being experienced by co-founder of POOR Magazine and poverty scholar Lisa Gray Garcia, aka Tiny is an eye opening example. At the protest she explained to me, “As a single mama living in the Mission I am being attacked by displacement by a slumlord who wants to flip housing into a 400% increase. The only way to do it is to get me out by illegal means. We are systematically being irradiated.” As she finished her statement she turned around and began loudly chanting support to those fighting for a better community and affordable housing.

The energetic crowd yelled in approval as demonstrators were booked and photographed by police. Pagoulatos exclaimed, “We have enough high end housing but not enough affordable housing. We don’t need more big box retail.”

Unlike many problems in San Francisco, the issue of affordable housing is one with viable solutions. As Pagoulatos confidently stated, “We’re not just saying no we’re saying yes to something better.” MAC has already submitted an alternative project that does not encourage displacement and gentrification. This proposal seeks to develop between 60 and 70 units of affordable housing and would include a new home for the San Francisco Day Labor Program.

The current Day Labor Program is located in a drab white office that is much too small for the number of community members accessing its services. On each corner several men line up daily to exchange a day’s hard labor for meager wages. These men are easy targets for abuse and exploitation.

I was a witness to this reality when I visited the Day Labor\ Worker Employment and Resource Center that same day. As I asked people for directions I heard loud screams coming from across the street. People were pointing and police sirens were blasting while tires screeched in agony. When I arrived at the site of the commotion I saw a young man on the ground being restrained by police and a large group of people standing around in a state of agitation. Some were filming with phone cameras while others engaged the officers in hotly debated conversation.

According to Jill Shenker of the Day Labor Program when she came outside, “I saw a day laborer on the ground with his head bloody saying they’re torturing me!” Shenker added that, “The cops said they were arresting him for weed. There was no need to hurt him.” The San Francisco Day Labor Program provides these vulnerable laborers with much needed resources.

As we banged on the chain link fence, we witnessed several protestors being shown the inside of the paddy wagon I check out the signs that are being vigorously waved up and down while those being arrested bowed their heads and entered the van. “We Need Family Affordable Housing!” “No Walgreens Monopoly!” “No Luxury Condos!” “Low Income Housing!” Oscar Grande of PODER tells me of a grander vision for the Mission. He states, “We’re getting the neighborhood involved. We have a vision for the next 20 years. We are out here winning hearts and minds. We want everyday people to take control. This sends a message to the city.”

1,560 family members including 760 children (40%-0-5 years old) are in single room occupancy hotels. If ever there was a win-win situation, the proposed 3400 Cesar Chavez site is it. It offers 60 to 70 units of affordable housing and allows for a reduction in traffic congestion by avoiding big box gridlock. It combats the gentrification and displacement running rampant in the Mission district. It improves community services for individuals who are often exploited because they are the most vulnerable. “Otro Proyecto Es Posible! Queremos viviendas accesibles y negocios pequenos.”

Please help send a message to the Planning Department and the Mayor. These city agencies and elected officials are supposed to serve the community well being. Don’t let them pass up a win-win-win-win combination.For more information go on line to www.Myspace.com/missionantidisplacement

by Lola Bean and Jewnbug/PNN

We are under attack

The community,

The children, the elders, the parents.

The residents in the communities of the Mission, Western Addition, Oakdale.

A gang injunction is a restraining order sought by the City Attorney's Office and issued by the court against members of the community labeled by law enforcement as gang members from a particular gang. The current gang injunctions sought by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera targets 32 community members, including one young woman with child, in the Mission District and 44 of our neighbors in the Western Addition. Through a gang injunction, these pre-selected members of the community are prohibited from engaging in certain activities in certain areas. Currently 60 block area of the Mission district and a 6 block section of the Western Addition have been targeted.

Some of these activities are already illegal while other activities are legal. According to a news release issued by City Attorney Dennis Herrera, the injunctions seek to prohibit such activities as loitering, trespassing, intimidation, graffiti vandalism, gang recruitment or retention tactics, displaying gang signs or symbols, or associating with other gang members. The proposed injunctions would additionally prohibit gang members from possessing drugs, graffiti implements, guns, and other dangerous weapons within the proposed zones. This gives the SFPD authority to arrest and prosecute people for such legal and harmless activities as visiting family members and carrying basic school supplies.

We are under attack

The community,

The children, the elders, the parents.

The residents in the communities of the Mission, Western Addition, Oakdale.

As a child the police

Surveillanced us in the mission

As a mom the police

Survelliance us in the Western Addition

Legal action that can lead to jail time can be taken against someone that is accused of violating these restrictions. Since gang injunction violations can be pursued via civil lawsuit, those accused are not allowed certain protections such as the right to an attorney or trial by jury. In cities where injunctions are in place, we can find evidence of such abuses of power. In San Jose, for example, community members faced 6 months in jail or a $1000 fine for engaging in such legal activities as talking to someone inside a car, carrying pens, and climbing a tree. According to Herrera's release, "Violations of such injunctions could be pursued civilly by the City Attorney, for monetary penalties and up to five days in county jail for each violation, or prosecuted criminally by the District Attorney, as a misdemeanor for up to six months in county jail.�

Me and my brother

Got harassed

Cuz we dressed a certain way

Cuz we gathered in a certain place

Tha accountability on how to behave

was to hold back tears-n-rage

eventho filled with pain

The first gang injunctions were used in Los Angeles in the 1980’s. Today, there are 33 injunctions issued against 50 groups that city alone. In San Francisco, the first injunction was issued in 2006 against about two dozen people in the Bay View District identified as the Oakdale Mob. In California, gang injunctions can also be found in San Jose, Burbank, Westminster, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, and Oxnard. Other states issuing injunctions include Texas and Illinois.

They are being sold to the public as a way to promote community safety.

In San Francisco, Dennis Herrera's claims, " We have a moral obligation...to do everything the law allows to target and disrupt the activities of criminal street gangs before they escalate into still further tragedies. And gang injunctions have proven to be an effective tool for doing exactly that. "

We (the people) r under attack

We r the experts

Forming groups is the way we hold onto our interdependence

As a unit we survive

When we r individuated

We die

Violence isnt stopped by marginalization of family

Its displaced

We are under attack

But have they really made communities safer?

According to the Mission District's La Raza Centro Legal, the gang injunctions:

1. Make it easier to criminalize youth

2. Exclude those under the injunction from their communities

3. Make it easier to prosecute alleged "gang members" by making "gang signs" a crime, wearing certain colors a crime, associating with other folks under injunctions a crime, and much more

4. Legalizes Racial Profiling against Blacks, Latinos, and other People of Color

The police threatened me on 30th and Mission

When I was 16 years old

Cuz I refused to give up my backpack

They put my hands behind my back

My face lay down on the cop car

The officer says be quiet

Or he'll take me to

Juvenile Hall

A report recently released by the Justice Policy Institute declares, " the billions of dollars spent on traditional gang suppression activities have failed to promote public safety and are often counterproductive. " Gang injunctions do not reduce crime. In many cases, gang injunctions lead to increases in violent crime in the " Safe Zones " as well as in neighboring communities.

Co-author of the report, Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies , Kevin Pranis states, " Our review of the research found no evidence that gang enforcement strategies have achieved meaningful reductions in violence, but ample proof that science-based social service interventions can curb delinquency. "

The experts say

poverty and child abuse

causes violence

The experts say

Police presence

Police harassment

Police brutality

Cause violence

La Raza Centro Legal states, "The mission district feels that gang injunctions are an extension of gentrification because it is segregating more people of color out of their communities were they could receive services or interact with community organizations that can provide help to them. We also feel that we have directly been pushed aside from any decision making in this process. Where is the jobs for youth? Where is the money for rehabilitation programs? Why haven't our children's schools been getting more funding?
Our communities should demand to be included in policies that will directly affect our families, friends, and communities.

cuz I cant afford

to own a house

or own a car or to finish college

Born into poverty

Funding is cut in recreation and in school

Education is privilege

so we find other ways to be cool

and u do the math

Invest into education

Economic Stability

Less Police Presence

Can create safety.

Community members have been intentionally left out of the gang injunction process. Organization that have succeeded in curbing violence and uplifting members in their communities are all speaking out against the gang injunctions and demanding that this attack on their communities be stopped.

I am the expert

Born into poverty

Born in the Mission in San Francisco

Incarcerating youth and giving police authority to harass people in Oakdale, the Western Addition, and the Mission will only increase community fear and violence.

The next gang injunction hearing will be on September 18 at 9AM - 400 McAllister in rooms 301 and 302. Please come out and show your support for the community.

If you are in need of information and resources, or you are one of the 76 people targeted by Denis Herrera, there are people out there that can help you. You can call Ana Maria Loya from La Raza Centro Legal at 415-575-3500 or Jennifer Leslie from the ACLU at 415-824-8717.

by Dee Allen

There is no peace between classes.

Only war.

The war may have begun several centuries ago,

But the latest battle began the moment

Certain words fell from certain lips of

Sons & daughters of privilege----

The line was drawn between factions

Before any shots were fired

Created distance through actions

Cooperation had expired----

Refuse to share living space under one roof*

Disrespecting the elders

Indigenous to this land

Disrespecting the POOR----

No solidarity

Just toxic air

Seperated from the community

In the basement, unfair

Security guards, tall gates

Disturbing & vast

Restricting my movement

Unless I wear a pass

Where's the equality?

Where's the social justice?

They are non-existent

In this "progressive" artifice

Sharing skills & resources?

They refuse

Even here, the indigent lose

Due to states of abuse

Became enemies hen we should've been allies.

I was prepared to fight the good fight

Against a common adversary.

The concealed weapons of

Race & class privilege put an end to that.

In its place, a petty conflict

Without corpses & blood.

The ones who broke our trust:

Born with a silver spoon

Bred with the world's luxuries

Served to them on a silver platter

So they are free from stressing over

Starvation, thirst, destitution, want

And security.

Because they have been sheltered

Away from poverty, the

Privileged will never know the needs of the

Impoverished.

The will remain in darkness, despite their

Efforts to reach out to us, half-hearted.

Unless they toss their baggage aside.

Or kick it down.

Dedicated to saving an

Endangered woman's CHOICE in the USA

Whether or not to carry a growing seedling

Inside her 9 months long----

From the other side of the battlefield:

Pledged to making media

Untainted by corporate world influence

Through the lens of common people

Honourbound to saving this world from

Cataclysms manmade

Through their stories

Became enemies when we should've been allies.

They the privileged perpetrate

During activism on parade

Screaming: "WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE!

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE!"

Another world will be impossible

To reach if oppressive systems

Stil stand erect

In us & in movements.

Lessons learned in a battlefield

Called the United $tates Social Forum.

by Rob Rooke

The nine letters of the HOLLYWOOD sign up on the hills are visible for many of Los Angeles’ rich and poor alike. While the working poor of East Hollywood can always see the sign, Hollywood Inc, it never looks back at them like it does for the rich.

Hundreds of thousands in LA live in housing with rats, roaches, broken windows, mildew, leaking roofs, insufficient hot water, faulty electricity. Many of these people make up the millions of working people that propelled themselves into the headlines on the recent May Day marches. These are the same people that scared Capitol Hill’s Congressmen into retreat in their attempts to isolate and crush America’s undocumented. These same families, with or without papers, continue to live in the slum conditions that LA landlords’ impose.

One slum-like building stands on Lockwood Avenue in East Hollywood. The eight-unit building is divided into one bedroom apartments that are smaller than 700-square feet each. The squeeze of high rents and low pay can mean up to 3 generations sometimes living in one small unit. For years, broken windows here have been duct-taped, while the landlord promises to ‘get back’ to tenants. Roaches vastly outnumber all other species in the building. The proliferation of cucarachas are so normal for the children that they have invented games revolving around killing them.

During the winter, children in these units got sicker than their school friends. Tenants were expected to buy their own space heaters, but with the electrical wiring so ancient that microwave and television-use can’t co-exist it is usually only luck that prevents deadly electrical fires in these apartments.

But on the day I visited this building, the past was getting pushed aside and the future was rolling in. Angelica, from the Campaign for Renters Rights walked me around the buliding. There was every sign of an active construction site. Brand new windows ready to go in, cans of paint, sheets of plywood and workers walking back and forth.

Angelica introduced us to Marta and her two daughters. Marta works what she describes as a very low paid childcare job. She has held onto this apartment because of Rent control. She proudly showed us her brand new wall-mounted heater. All 8 units now have these same heaters. By law, a landlord must provide one, but for the last 12 years of Marta’s tenancy her landlord evaded this minor detail. They’ve also remodeled Marta’s bathroom, slightly haphazardly, but it has been somewhat improved.

The landlord put in a new sink and counter top and painted. I looked under the sink to see where Marta showed me they had attached the new counter to mold-ridden wood: a gang of cockroaches scurried out. Marta was very impressed with the improvements and very grateful for the help in organizing. Another tenant made it clear to me that much still needs to be done and the repairs are far from over; however, he also, was both pleased and surprised that the landlord, after years of inactivity, was doing repairs.

Julia, Angelica and Arturo, over recent months, spent many, many hours talking to the tenants, eating with them, detailing all their housing problems. Arturo’s folks have lived there for years. They put flyers up around the neighborhood. They took tenants down to the City. They did their best to embarrass our public servants. And shy tenants, used to getting second best, or worse, rose up and demanded a voice. Their collective voice and their courage is currently transforming their slum conditions.

The landlord, Alfredo Alvarado, is a major shareholder in a factory in Peru and the owner of a number of apartment buildings. He has done his best to resist spending any of his money. He tried to scare tenants with evictions. He told them they could be fined for complaining. He called the police on the organizers and reminded everyone that he has “big lawyers.� But his old tricks did not work this time around.

On leaving the neighborhood, Julia walked across the street and took a yellowing flyer off the windshield of a dust covered old van. SE BUSCA – Alfredo Alvarado: WANTED – to do repairs, with the landlord’s picture on it.

This great drama between the poor and those intent on keeping them poor will continue in all of the world’s “other Hollywoods�. And as that tide gathers steam and people continue to raise their collective voice, all that has been stolen from us - will be taken back.

by Sam Drew/PNN

According to Webster’s dictionary journalism is defined as "The collecting, writing, editing and publishing of news in periodicals." At Poor Magazine, we practice Webster’s kind of journalism, but we take it a step further. Actually we just flip corporate media right on its head. At POOR, we practice "I" journalism. The "I" is the life experience that the individual brings to each article. The words of our unique experiences with poverty, gentrification, racism, sexism, classism, and displacement breathe life and hope onto blank pages.

Recently the John Stewart Company, a developer of public housing in San Francisco, demanded a retraction of statements that appeared in the May 17, 2007 San Francisco Bay View article "Selling of the City." In the article, several current and former tenants of John Stewart properties tell their stories about the slumlord style conditions they have had to endure. They recite a litany of violations of human rights experienced first hand. Their words come directly from experience, not from spin-doctors or well-groomed and rehearsed "experts." By demanding the retraction of the statements made in the article, John Stewart is saying these people’s experiences don’t matter. John Stewart is saying the experiences of these people are false. John Stewart is calling them liars.

On July 26th at high noon, scholars from POOR Magazine arrived at John Stewart’s door. We were there to rebut what John Stewart Company had claimed in their "slap" suit against us and the Bay View Newspaper. Several of the people quoted in the article were also present. We stood there with our own ammunition - our experience of struggle against the bad practices at John Stewart.

Poverty scholar Laure McElroy defiantly reaffirmed the truth of her quotes regarding John Stewart. She said, "Yes, I was quoted and yes those were my experiences…I applied for housing 4 times at 3 different locations … and I was told conflicting stories about income verification."

Some curious San Franciscans approached us. We handed out informational leaflets recounting John Stewart's unethical practices. McEloy continued, "John Stewart you are making housing inaccessible to people like me with a family."

John Stewart Company did not ask for retractions of statements such as, "The elevators were often out of order… they were extremely dangerous. Once a small child’s finger was chopped off when it got stuck in the door." Or statements such as, "After a major fire in one of the towers where a Black firefighter was killed authorities discovered emergency exits chained shut preventing residents escape." No one questioned the statement, "Police moonlighted as security guards harassed and molested the residents." These uncontested quotes speak more loudly as to what type of housing developer John Stewart.

The types of statements being contested are statements of fact and squabbles over mailing dates. POOR Magazine editor and poverty scholar Lisa Gray-Garcia sums up the retraction demand. She said, "How can they say these statements are not true when we have actually experienced these things. We are the low income housing residents."

Marie Harrison proudly confronted John Stewart’s demands for retraction. Harrison said, "I don’t have no reason to lie." She went on to say, "Every property John Stewart works on, I’m called in with complaints."

As more and more speakers approached to tell their stories I could see the Security Guard nervously eyeing us. We were confined to a small
space on the public sidewalk.

Lisa Gray-Garcia slammed John Stewart on their false claims. She said, "They make a claim that there is a one for one replacement. Meaning when one family is displaced one family gets housing. This is just one of many ways they lie to the community. Another way is to claim they are providing affordable housing for poor people." Gray-Garcia continued on, her voice demanding attention of all, "They displaced people out of their homes. We don’t need mixed income housing. We need real housing.”

As the short but powerful demonstration came to a close we all gathered up our signs and any left over items. The ground was cleaner than when we found it. What a novel idea, coming clean and being a good citizen our corporate counterparts. I think they need to be taking notes from us.

by Christina Geovany/Xicana Moratorium Coalition

It has been 37 years between the first Chicano Moratorium and the present day. Raza is still constantly facing the same struggles and dealing with similar problems such as the war, immigration, deportation, gang violence, poverty, etc.

The first Chicano Moratorium was a march that took place on August 29, 1970 when people gathered to protest the outstanding number of casualties in the Vietnam War that were of Raza decent. On that day 20,000 to 30,000 Raza peacefully gathered and protested for the cause, which until recently was the first time that such a large amount of Raza had come together to unite their voices in protest here in the Aztlan/U.S. Territory.

It was a peaceful gathering until the East Los Angeles police used the excuse of a stolen six pack to suddenly riot against the protestors. As a result three young people died, many were injured, families were greatly affected and countless Americans were shocked by the brutal measures that the law enforcement acted upon that day.

On that day a young boy named Angel Dias, Lynn Ward, a teen Brown Beret and Rubén Salazar, a Mexican-American columnist, activist and reporter that worked for the Los Angeles Times, were killed by the police. Rubén Salazar was killed by being struck in the head by a tear gas canister shot at short range. Many people still believe that this was done purposefully because he was one of the public figures at the time that was shedding light on the struggles that Raza folks were facing and called people out to make change.

August 26th will be the 28th annual Xicana Moratorium Day where we will commemorate what happened that day and continue the fight to rid our people of injustices.

The Xicana Moratorium is a significant event for Raza because we remember those that have given themselves for the cause by commemorating them with an event that unites people to organize and fight for change.

This year the event will be held in San Francisco at Dolores Park on 20th and Dolores in the Mission District and will last from 11am to 4pm. There will be a sunrise ceremony at 5am with Danza Xitlali, vendors, food, fun activities for kids and the whole family to enjoy as well as live music and other performances from talented individuals from all around the bay area.

Our theme this year is “Con Nuestras Raices Rompemos Fronteras”or “With Our Roots We Break Borders.” As young folks we constantly see the borders in our neighborhoods by gangs and turfing, but through embracing and acknowledging our indigenous roots we can come together as Xicanas and prove that NO BORDER whether it may be physical or mental will ever stop us and our legacy of resistance. The youth organization Huaxtec, H.O.M.E.Y and the Xicana Moratorium Coalition organize this event for our community to come together with our families and friends to speak out on the injustices in our community.