Story Archives 2011

The story of Dee and tiny, the previously homeless, currently at-risk mother daughter art duo, and co-editors of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork is a many layered, multi-colored panopoly of poverty, struggle and myth...

The story of Dee and tiny, the previously homeless, currently at-risk mother daughter art duo, and co-editors of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork is a many layered, multi-colored panopoly of poverty, struggle and myth...

The story of Dee and tiny, the previously homeless, currently at-risk mother daughter art duo, and co-editors of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork is a many layered, multi-colored panopoly of poverty, struggle and myth...

The story of Dee and tiny, the previously homeless, currently at-risk mother daughter art duo, and co-editors of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork is a many layered, multi-colored panopoly of poverty, struggle and myth...

Once upon a time dee and tiny, mom and dad and their eleven brothers and sisters were traveling on a slightly used yaught in the Bremuda Triangle and then suddenly the yacht capsized, killing everyone but Dee and Tiny who were rescued by a Hindu Tamal Coast Guard Cutter and brought to Berkeley - where they painted shirts and sold them on the streets for 17 years and saved $780.00....

Several quixotic miracles and multiple evictions later we find Dee and Tiny somewhere in The Greater Bay Area after founding the non-profit, grassroots, arts organization POOR Magazine and the on-line magazine from virtually nothing and now because of deep and dark funding cuts in social services and foundation budgets (Post 911) they are now struggling just to keep the organization open so they can do all the amazin' education, media and art programs for poor and houseless youth and adults locally and globally ...

Scroll thru Po' Poets to view the rest of the story, parts 1-7!

Greetings, I am writing in representation of those who are being held in the buildings of California's biggest money machine. Better known as prison. I must contend, I sure don't see any of that money my confinement is generating, especially not in reforming me with education.

Here behind the wall being low income people it is very rough and tumble. A majority of the convicts really do try to seek something better in their lives. The system though does not allow them to because the many cut backs in funding for prisoner reform and education has made rehabilitation obsolete. The majority gets back out into society on the same level they entered prison, only a bit more angry.

I see people come and go and come again. I have come to realize these last six years that 99 out of 100 men I come across are generally from a low income background, living in low income neighborhoods. Now they're caught up in a vicious cycle, with no end in sight. And the judge at sentencing had the audacity to call this the Department of "Corrections". I see no correction here only oppression and demoralization. This is my fourth term and I'm serving 22 years 8 months to life. I received all that time to be "corrected" and pay back my debt to society. And yet, they do not offer any "correction" courses so I can learn to better myself. They will though provide a senseless novel to read. They do not offer any job training skills so that convicts can pick up a trade and return to society as an asset, but they will give me a deck of cards to keep me busy.
 

It's pretty amazing when I hear of a convict that got out and made something of himself. So amazing, in fact, that in six years I still have not heard of it. What I do hear of is the constant battle with the establishment. Many who are released from behind these walls end up back in because they were in the wrong area and it does not matter if they're clean and working now. They still lose their freedom just because they were walking through a known drug area. What I also hear is men and women being released only to end up on street corners or dead. People come behind the wall everyday and go nowhere. Some sell their soul for protection, others sell their bodies just to survive. After months or years, it just creates a madness in these individuals. I've had three neighbors hang themselves, only one lived. I've heard the cries of rape and bitter hatred. I've seen people stabbed, shot and pummeled to the ground. There are nights where I myself have layed awake with tear filled eyes, remeniscing about my family and the child I left behind. I wonder if I will live to see another day. I see, it is vital that people find education before it is too late. Otherwise, you end up like me; without a job, without a family and without a name, only a number. Just because we are homeless, doesn't mean we are hopeless and just because we are convicts doesn't mean we can't create a more positive future for ourselves. The key is education and without it we go nowhere.

Noel Sambrana, #K-53140
P.O. Box 3476 C.S.P. SHU 4A2R-37
Corcoran, CA 93212-8310

Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score, plus fifty points for using all my letters. Game's over. I'm outta here.

What I Learned at Folsom State

How does one keep his sanity?
In a world totally insane
Why should one have humanity ?
When the world is so inhumane

Once upon a time we forgot
What we did not know, we knew
The victims of a fiendish plot
And the evil things that men do

Men dwell in darkness til they die
With numbers instead of their names
Unaware, they were sold a lie
That smothered their collective flames

They must endure a masquerade
In order to keep hope alive
Imagined friendships often fade
As better deceptions arrive

Living our days enclosed in tombs
Eats away at ones' self-respect
Each d a y, as the madness resumes
Self-esteem suffers ill effects

Old vultures have no tears to wipe
Hyenas, no laughter to hide
Old men bite fruit thats not yet ripe
But cry if its rotten inside

Ravenous wolves seek to devour
Innocence like newly killed meat
Then leave uneaten parts to sour
And stink with the smell of defeat

All these things I see everyday
Behind these walls of steel and stone
Yet, I refuse to give my soul away
To be buried like a dog's bone

Am I all that you think that I am ?
A villian on the late night news?
No, my soul will never be damned
Because of the image you choose
 

Prison is about loss . It is about loss of freedom, loss of control, loss of family and friends, of any and all conditions of life. Prison is about punishment, loss of freedom is the punishment. But, that is and of itself is no longer enough. Now prisons are slave camps and warhouses for human consumption.

Big Business has moved in to combine with the California Department of Corrections and has set in place work forces nick named P.I.A (Prison Industry Authority). This has become a thriving business where the inmate is forced to work for pennies, in often unsafe conditions while the prison system grows and prospers. Politicians have come up with fancy names like; "war on crime", "war on drugs", "three strikes your out", "the crisis of public order". At the same time words like; high infant mortality, horrible housing, lack of food, poor education, lack of jobs are forgotten. Our court system is rushing those who are unable to retain private legal representation through the "proper channels" on into the prision system and into big business' hands and calling it procedure.

We must pull together as a people because it affects out communities. It affects us all.

Anthony Cozart, #C-01398
P.O. Box 3466 C.S.P./3B 04 143
Corcoan, CA 93212
 

I might get shot

Misunderstanding misrepresenting

Missing the point

Rolling down to LA

Car full of Kripples

Our politics, art & music we will display

Pop pop pop we might get shot

Wearing our politics on our sleeves

Goes deeper than what you can feel and see

Krip-Hop telling the story

Behind our name

Taking it back & we are not ashamed

Respecting the crips

Telling it like it is

Reclaiming what was ours in the beginning

Turning it inside out

But some will yell and shout

How we are disrespecting & pimping

From Blues to Hip-Hop honoring what got us here

Time for you to learn

Drop the guns & put your hands in the air

Krip-Hop schooling on the mic

No more fear no more staring

Educating/Advocating through music, poetry and comedy

Krip-Hop in Hollywood

On the corner in the hood

Behind a podium in LACC’s Classrooms

Fuck the fame

But we will have our own star on the Walk Of Fame

Once again, Krip-Hop goes deeper than a name

For all the Blind musicians who were ripped off

For the Latino break-dancer on crutches whom wasn’t mention in the movie Breakin

For Vernon Green who walked and sang on the streets of the Watts in the 50’s

Krip-Hop giving dues that is long over due

If you can’t understand than you must be a fool

We have no time for u we will go on doing what we do

Because it is bigger then I and you

Time for Spring Cleaning

Washing out old attitudes

Rolling down to LA in early May

Car full of Kripples

Our politics, art & music we will display

By Leroy Moore For Krip-Hop Nation’s gig in LA in May 2011

Diversifying Hip Hop-NYU 2010 Seminar
Posted by Bent Radio Jan 15th
Category: Bent Radio News
Tags: Hip Hop Homo Hop Leroy Moore NUY

The second Krip Hop/ Homo Hop seminar proved to be as informational as its first. The seminar brought together hip hop artists of the LGBT community as well as artists from the disabled hip hop community to discuss the visibility of both groups within the genre. Held at the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, activist and founder of Krip Hop Nation Leroy Moore led the seminar with confidence and character as he presided over the event. Leroy who was born with Cerebral Palsy formed Krip Hop Nation shortly after he produced a three part series of disabled hip hop artists in conjunction with KPFA Radio in Berkeley California. Moore's quest to examine disabled artists visibility in the world of music today turned into what he called an "international project".

Unfortunately, I missed the film portion of the seminar where the Keith Jones documentary Un-Rapping Disabilities was a big topic of discussion. The seminar panel consisted of individuals representing both disabled artists and LGBT artists, who answered questions on the topic asked by the audience and Moore himself. Representing Homo Hop were Lester Greene, Soce The Elemental Wizard and activist hip hop group People With Teeth. Krip Hop panelists consisted of Kalyn from Wheelchair Sports Camp and Rob Da Noize Temple. Temple has performed and toured with the original Sugarhill Gang all across the globe. As a disabled DJ with Erb’s Palsy DJ Rob, is a veteran in the music industry of over 30 years that enlightened us all with his wisdom and experiences. The panel also spoke on the agenda of mainstream music, educating the community, their personal experiences so far during their careers, and what we as music lovers and independent artist supports can do to help our favorites become more visible in society.

Performances ended the evening and included a bit of spoken word by Moore himself. The Seminar hoped to educate, encourage, and enlighten attendees. No matter where or who it’s coming from if its good music, its good music. The seminar was a meeting of the minds, a showcase of talents, and informed us all in the words of Moore; it’s than just getting a label, its social justice.