Story Archives 2011

style type="text/css"  !--{cke_protected}{C}%3C!%2D%2D%0A%09%09%40page%20%7B%20margin%3A%200.79in%20%7D%0A%09%09P%20%7B%20margin-bottom%3A%200.08in%20%7D%0A%09%2D%2D%3E--!--{cke_protected}{C}%3C!%2D%2D%0A%09%09%40page%20%7B%20margin%3A%200.79in%20%7D%0A%09%09P%20%7B%20margin-bottom%3A%200.08in%20%7D%0A%09%2D%2D%3E--/stylep style="margin-bottom: 0in" Asnbsp; I sat in the county jail scratching at the poison oak rash that seemed to redefine my genitalia, and most of my face, chest, and torso, it occurred to me that I might be on to something. I had contacted (and contracted) the vile bush on my way back into civilization from a journey that, if it did not actually take me back in time as it had seemed at the time, took me to a simpler society, with ldquo;basicrdquo; as the operative theme of day-to-day survival, reflecting the existence of the region#39;s denizens./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in;" I became suddenly aware of an American sub-culture which eschewed the major bone of contention in urban lives, namely Money. I reflected (scratching for all I was worth and gaining what would end up as very painful scratches in very sensitive areas) that this rumored root of all evil was hardly discussed during the four days I spent panning for gold and chipping away at river rocks, searching for pickers, plunkers, and nuggets of Gold. Gold as a means to an end was hardly mentioned, in fact most conversation had to do with things like the weather, firewood, daylight, supplies, and the ever-present river itself and the creatures which lived by its bounty. Which describes us all to a man (and a woman) who mine the banks of the American river for gold./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" I paused in my scratch to imagine how it would have turned out if I hadn#39;t come back when I had, to imagine life outside of cities and towns, in the wild lands of America... Mining gold-rich regions and amassing the means to live a comfortable existence, even if simply defined, until I reached the age when I no longer felt able to work./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Many men sit in jails and wonder what might have been had they made different choices, and protest their relative innocence to the charges under which they are being held. Perhaps a million do so at this very moment, I donrsquo;t have the exact figures, but wouldnrsquo;t be surprised if it turned out to be more. This is not that story, so I will save that and return you to the world of mining for gold in the wilds of California in the 2010rsquo;s./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" After sorting out my legal issues I continued to research the phenomena of the gold trade, trying to learn as much as I could about the collection, sale and mining of the precious metal which once defined currency to more than just secluded pockets of society in America, as it does today. Our federal reserve used to back the dollar with gold, but this is not that story, either. The reasons behind the shift away from gold as a surety for our currency are as confusing to understand as the answer to the question of what it is currently backed by./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Gold has a long and bloody history as the means of, and the reason for, the oppression of one people, by another. With my newfound respect for the difficulties people have faced extracting gold from the earth, the itchier facets of mining foremost in my mind, I resolved to find an easier way to amass precious metals./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" The most experienced gold digger will often spend long periods of time without seeing other people, as the most profitable strategy for mining does not entail sharing. Also, you can#39;t spend your finds in the wild lands (by all accounts bears are not impressed by gold), which gives a person time to amass more significant amounts to then exchange at the general store which caters to the needs of all the area#39;s residents, whether they be weekend hobbyist, local, miner, fisherman, or hunter of game. It is probably not much of an exaggeration to say that every dollar spent in Iowa Hill, in Northern California, is spent in the saloon, post office, and general store under the same name. I wouldnrsquo;t hazard a guess at how much of their custom is done in direct commerce with miners of gold for the product of their labors. Traded straight across for the supplies, which would then be hiked in to the respective claims which they supplied./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" The panning isnrsquo;t really rough once you get a technique you can live with, and chipping away at cracks in bedrock, paying close attention to existing cracks, sometimes will give surprisingly easy and substantive yields. The REAL work is keeping the chain of supplies uninterrupted for long enough to thoroughly exploit a region once you find color (gold). Less than five percent of the worldsrsquo; gold is in the nugget form. The remainder is processed from minute flecks harvested from the earth with a wide variety of methods in a number of places. Nugget gold is almost always sold for more than the actual weight to dollar value, because of the rarity and unique quality of each nugget it is a favorite for jewelry makers in its simplicity./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" As I researched gold as a medium of exchange, as it exists in our culture today, I also ran into the metal recycling industries which have of late made a common practice of recycling many electronic devices for the gold used in their construction. Gold is a conductive metal, which makes it common in processors and cell phones. Almost every person in urban America and suburban America has a cellular telephone and most homes have one or more of them sitting in a box or drawer that is no longer used. There are individuals as well as commercial interests who make the collection and reclamation of these items and others into a lucrative pseudo-industry./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" Seeing this trend grow and mature is likely in times to come. The price of gold has climbed to unprecedented highs, due to the demands of the industries which rely upon it, and investors see it as one of the safest investments in short or long term speculation. One thing is sure. Gold is making a comeback, and there is nothing to indicate it will ever lose much of its present value, unlike stocks or investments in currency, since currency isnrsquo;t backed by anything in particular, at least in the case of our bloodstained American dollars./p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" I got over the poison oak. I also got out of the county jail. But I am still afflicted by the bite of the gold bug. I see it as a reliable means to insure my future, if I am patient and wise in the acquisition of it. Being willing and able to work hard doesnrsquo;t seem to count for as much as it should in our society, and independence from the paradigm of fruitless labor and oppression which prevails in our society is an extremely attractive prospect, from where I sit. And so to all of the individuals, rebels and malcontents in our society I say this: Gold!!/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in" It represents a financial autonomy that most of America will never find. It isnrsquo;t an easy path to wealth, although there is always the possibility that you will stumble upon a substantial deposit, many miners nbsp;will work all their careers without seeing much more at one time than what they can exchange for the supplies to work another week or two. No worse than the subsistence slavery that most Americans live under, in urban and suburban jobs, sans the freedom and independence inherent in life outside of the grid./p

p A recent span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Cnn.com" data-scaytid="1"Cnn.com/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed" data-scaytid="11"op-ed/span piece asked: Are jobs obsolete?nbsp; To those who are unemployed, this questionnbsp;is a luxury.nbsp; There are those who, deep down, ask this questionmdash;fleeting asnbsp;it arrives on our mental landscapemdash;and ponder the existence of life without ldquo;a jobrdquo;.nbsp; We look at the unemployment numbers, we see images of people in linesmdash;multitudes who have been out of work in the large cities and in the not-so large cities. nbsp;nbsp;Black unemployment is twice that of whitesmdash;and factoring in the sub-prime mortgage crisismdash;most black people view the current climate as a depression rather than a recession. nbsp;nbsp;We see unemployment among black youth ages 16-24 at a staggering 31%.nbsp; Resumes are printed, job workshops are scheduled and we scan the online and offline sourcesmdash;as well as our personal circles--for job leads, anything.nbsp; Meanwhile, our people are more demoralized, depressed, sick and anxiety-ridden than ever./p p nbsp;/p p Many of our cultural and community educators and activistsmdash;such as Luis J. Rodriguez a href="http://www.luisjrodriguez.com/"font color="#222222"(/fontspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.luisjrodriguez.com" data-scaytid="3"www.luisjrodriguez.com/span/a)nbsp;and Nelson span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Peery" data-scaytid="15"Peery/span (a href="http://www.speakersforanewamerica.com/nelsonpeerydialogue2.html"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="www.speakersforanewamerica.com" data-scaytid="5"www.speakersforanewamerica.com/span/span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="nelsonpeerydialogue2.html" data-scaytid="7"nelsonpeerydialogue2.html/span/a), among othersmdash;who have labored in the factories and in the military industrial complexmdash;have seen the shift from manufacturing to white collar, finance based jobs.nbsp; Industrial jobs that once provided decent wages have been sent overseas or have been diminished by corporate greed in collusion with government/lobbyists to undermine and break unions./p p nbsp;/p p The CNN span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed" data-scaytid="13"op-ed/span cited the rise of digital technology and its ldquo;Slow but steady replacement of working humansrdquo; as the cause of the problems plaguing the US Postal Service.nbsp; People are sending 22% fewer pieces of mail than they did 4 years ago.nbsp; According to the op span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="ed’s" data-scaytid="19"edrsquo;s/span author, the real culprit is email and other net-enabled means of communication such as electronic bill payment. nbsp;Other examples of jobs lost to emnon-homo sapiens /emare Google self-driving automobiles--rendering taxi drivers obsolete, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="EZ" data-scaytid="21"EZ/span passes replacing toll-takers and supermarketrsquo;s use of automated check stands.nbsp; The logical progression of this process was thought to be that the replaced workers would be trained to fix or program the robots that have replaced them.nbsp; But the people needed to make the robots are not as many as the people they replace.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p Henry Miller once wrote that making a living has very little to do with living.nbsp; Perhaps what should be asked is how we make a emlife/em?nbsp; The stuff that is made in our society is, presumably, to provide us the essentialsmdash;and often times non-essentialsmdash;of life and/or a standard of living that will make us comfortable.nbsp; But as humans are increasingly taken out of the production equation, where does that leave us?nbsp; With no job, we have no moneymdash;the bottom falls outmdash;and the effects reverberate through our livesmdash;shattering our health, relationships, self-esteem, and ultimately, the future of our children.nbsp; Is it a job that we really need when most of what we needmdash;food, shelter, health caremdash;given the countryrsquo;s productivitymdash;could be provided to the entire population with just a ldquo;fraction of us actually workingrdquo;?nbsp; As the span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="op-ed’s" data-scaytid="23"op-edrsquo;s/span author stated, ldquo;Our problem is not that we donrsquo;t have enough emstuff, /emitrsquo;s that we donrsquo;t have enough ways for people to work and ldquo;proverdquo; that they deserve this stuff.nbsp; I have always admired the person with nothing to prove./p p nbsp;/p p One such person with nothing to prove is my father James Robles (a href="http://poormagazine.org/node/2965"http://span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="poormagazine.org" data-scaytid="9"poormagazine.org/span/node/2965/a.nbsp; He worked much of his life as a janitor.nbsp; He always arrived to work on time, always did a good job.nbsp; He started his own janitorial business eventually, where I, as his sole employee, was taught the virtues of never doing a half assed job (his preferred method of spreading this particular gospel was via putting a well placed ldquo;foot in my assmdash;hence my role as ldquo;solerdquo; employeerdquo;mdash;which I still, on occasion, feel to this day).nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p After living in San Francisco most of his life (born and raised), he moved the family to Hawaii 2 decades ago.nbsp; I left shortly after high school graduation; he stayed to raise my brother and sister along with his wife.nbsp; It is not easy to make it in Hawaii, the cost of living is high and housing is tighter than ever due to the influx of people from the so-called mainland.nbsp; He still worksmdash;now as a maintenance man in a condo on Waikiki.nbsp; His work is sometimes strenuous but not overly so.nbsp; He leaves the heavy lifting for the young guys./p p nbsp;/p p In his moments of pause, he looks out at the ocean, its movement, its blueness.nbsp; He reflects on time and life and how it passes and moves forwards and backwards.nbsp; A part of him never fully accepted capitalism.nbsp; As a family, we ate at McDonalds and drank coke with a smile; but my father was never disposable, his mind was not a blank slate for the branding of corporationsmdash;nor was his heart./p p nbsp;/p p He sought out the indigenous Filipino art of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eskrima" data-scaytid="25"Eskrima/spanmdash;a beautiful art which Filipinos developed to defend their land from colonizers and invaders.nbsp; He learned the art from elders on the islands.nbsp; One elder asked, ldquo;Why should I teach you this art?rdquo;nbsp; My father replied, ldquo;This is my peoplersquo;s art, I have a right to learn itrdquo;.nbsp; It turned out the elder had waited years to hear those words.nbsp; The art is very old and is performed in styles using sticks, knives and open hand techniques.nbsp; He was a student then a teacher.nbsp; He visited the Philippines for the first timemdash;an ancestral homecoming--a few years back with his students to complete in a world span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Eskrima" data-scaytid="27"Eskrima/span tournament.nbsp; The team did well, garnering medals in multiple categories.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p My fatherrsquo;s life is located in the bamboo forests of Hawaii.nbsp; The sticks that he holds, that he honors in his martial art provide the sounds that give his life meaning, gives it life. The sticks are an extension of himmdash;his ribs, his limbsmdash;growing out of the soil of resistance to the colonization of his culture, his history, his mind.nbsp; My father has carved the poetry of his life onto his skin which is the skin of wood.nbsp; He finds pieces of wood, running his hands over each unique piecemdash;burning designs onto each.nbsp; He spends hours carving facesmdash;forming noses, eyes, mouthsmdash;that ultimately speak the story of his life.nbsp; He sends these pieces of art to his family.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p I run my fingers across the faces, each detail is unique, giving honor to our ancestral face, our ancestral blood.nbsp;nbsp; Each mark and gap carved into the wood is a story, a memory that cannot be erased.nbsp; The carvings are evidence of a life lived in resistance, in poetry, in oneness with nature./p p nbsp;/p p Carving is his lifersquo;s workmdash;greater than a job or vocationmdash;for he does it out of sheer love.nbsp; And in that love he shares it with our family and friendsmdash;and with the world./p p nbsp;/p p I see a world where wersquo;re not defined by a job.nbsp; A job is not who you and I are.nbsp; My father has written his own life in the faces, the skin of wood by carving his own life into it.nbsp; Hersquo;s still carving./p

p emSeptember 12, 2011/em/p p The people who control the first level of information available to us, through our TV sets, billboards, and radios, are a select few. Rupert Murdoch owns Dish Network. ATT owns Direct TV. Comcast (now known as span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="XFinity" data-scaytid="5"XFinity/span) is run out of a corporation in Mexico City that owns the majority of cable networks around the world. These are just the major ones, the heavy hitters. If I didnrsquo;t mention any of the others, thank God that yoursquo;re not controlled by them./p p There are four major television networks. Letrsquo;s start slow with NBC. NBC owns 16 major media operations in television, film, and radio. Their parent is Sony Corporation. Thatrsquo;s why span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Telemundo’s" data-scaytid="7"Telemundorsquo;s/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="telenovelas" data-scaytid="9"telenovelas/span are similar in style to Japanese soap operas. This is why TV is all interconnected, across the world./p p Second off the bat is CBS, is the biggest crook of the bunch. They not only own the usual suspects, like TV and movie studios, but also CBS outdoors, which controls 90% of all billboards across the United States. They own movie companies CBS Films and Showtime, the cable movie channel that broadcasts boxing and special-interest sports. Donrsquo;t forget the gossip magazine, where we can learn all the background info on our favorite CBS celebs! span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="And...an" data-scaytid="1"And...an/span ecological lobbying group called span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="EcoMedia" data-scaytid="11"EcoMedia/span, that works to harness the ldquo;vast untapped span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="resevoir”" data-scaytid="13"resevoirrdquo;/span of advertising space, to partner municipalities and NGOs with ldquo;ecologically-mindedrdquo; corporations./p p Thirdly: Disney owns ABC. Disney also owns ice shows, cruise ships, snack packs..., and a bunch of other things too long to list in this article. Letrsquo;s just say our computer crashed trying to conduct research on the Disney website. Letrsquo;s just not forget ESPN and the videogame Aaron Stone, as well as Touchstone Pictures, and Disneyrsquo;s affiliate, the all-encompassing Nestle. Thatrsquo;s all wersquo;ll name at this time, just a bit./p p Last but not least. FOX, owned by Rupert Murdoch, a man who claims three citizenships: Australian, British, and American. This is the scariest man of the bunch, the biggest of the monsters in the group. Rupert Murdoch owns large portions of all print media in North America, South America, and Australia; all the major British newspapers; financial news from Barronrsquo;s to the Wall Street Journal; a ldquo;diverserdquo; communications group known as SKY; and Dish Networkhellip;This takes up a lot of homes in the United States and the rest of the world. Murdoch also owns the usual FOX, Star Cable channel, National Geographic Channel, and several more stations that Irsquo;ll leave span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="unnamed...except" data-scaytid="3"unnamed...except/span of course the ultra-conservative FOX news, lest we forget Murdoch controls how our histories and stories are shown to the public. Thatrsquo;s all Irsquo;ll say at this timemdash;donrsquo;t span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="wanna" data-scaytid="15"wanna/span get arrested!/p p Now you know who owns you. If you own a TV or computerhellip;these are the people who own what you see, hear, and taste, from movies to candy bars./p p This is Bad News Bruce, signing out./p

p Grateful for all the things that you have done..., I prayed in church, cried too and yeah it even span data-scayt_word="phsycally" data-scaytid="1"phsycally/span hurt, can#39;t do the span data-scayt_word="Chacha" data-scaytid="2"Chacha/span span data-scayt_word="cuz" data-scaytid="3"cuz/span I was a jerk, had a warrant on un span data-scayt_word="otra" data-scaytid="4"otra/span turf-but she just dropped all traffics; span data-scayt_word="wantin" data-scaytid="5"wantin/span coffee in her, I hate cops but not all judges. I span data-scayt_word="aint" data-scaytid="6"aint/span span data-scayt_word="sittin" data-scaytid="7"sittin/span in the span data-scayt_word="bink" data-scaytid="8"bink/span just holding grudges... RAMnbsp;/p

p/p

p (Image is Attica prison 40 years ago this month ndash; Photo: AP)/p p On Feb. 10, 2011, I arrived at Attica for the third time during my 40 year incarceration. As soon as I entered the reception room, I heard a correctional officer announce to all the other prisoners: ldquo;What you heard about Attica is true. We donrsquo;t care what you do to each other, but if any of you touch one of us, we will put you in the hospital or worse hellip; Welcome to Attica!rdquo; Since being here, I am aware of seven prisoners who suffered a span data-scayt_word="beatdown" data-scaytid="3"beatdown/span by guards, and the superintendent here knows what is going on yet fails to curtail the level of violence against prisoners./p p In essence, Attica today is pre-Sept. 9-11, 1971, where prisoners are controlled by fear and terror. The only Black captain, apparently sent here for the purpose of overseeing the madness of Attica, is only capable of intervening when on site. As soon as he is gone, the guards return to their racist deadly antics. This is not to blanket all white guards at Attica as racist, but when there is an institutional culture of racism, fear and terror, it is difficult for a humane guard to not jeopardize his own safety; this includes the few Black officers in this prison./p p Why? One of the reasons is because these correctional officers, beyond the innate racism, fear another insurrection that will cause ldquo;state sanctioned killing,rdquo; as when former New York state span data-scayt_word="Gov" data-scaytid="4"Gov/span. Nelson Rockefeller ordered State Troopers and guards to open fire, massacring 41 prisoners and guards. Therefore, fear, terror and brutality are the measure of their false safety and security, none of which is a secret to the authorities in Albany./p p In September 1971, there was a vibrant progressive and revolutionary movement in this country. The prison movement reflected the span data-scayt_word="fightback" data-scaytid="5"fightback/span determination of young people believing they could create a better world. On the streets there was a movement, and in prison there was a movement. No such animal exists today, at least nowhere near the level of the late span data-scayt_word="‘60s" data-scaytid="6"lsquo;60s/span and early lsquo;70s./p p Then there were ldquo;Free Political Prisonerrdquo; campaigns going on ndash; the Free Huey, Free Angela, Free the Panther 21, Free the Soledad Brothers, Free the San Quentin Six campaigns that forged a national consciousness of span data-scayt_word="fightback" data-scaytid="7"fightback/span. No such broad political consciousness or campaign exists today./p div class="img alignleft size-full wp-image-23789" style="width: 230px;" a href="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jalil-Muntaqim-2009.jpg"img alt="" height="230" src="http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Jalil-Muntaqim-2009.jpg" width="230" //a div span data-scayt_word="Jalil" data-scaytid="8"Jalil/span span data-scayt_word="Muntaqim" data-scaytid="9"Muntaqim/span in 2009/div /div p Hence, todayrsquo;s prisoners reflect the drug and gang culture, much of which includes functional illiterates. Therefore, correctional personnel are not worried about these prisoners fighting back physically or legally. Some of the largest gains of civil rights for prisoners were in the span data-scayt_word="‘60s" data-scaytid="10"lsquo;60s/span and lsquo;70s, when prisoners filed a multitude of lawsuits and had the assistance of progressive legal organizations. Today, the Supreme Court has severely restricted prisonersrsquo; ability to file lawsuits and win./p p The absent dynamic of a vibrant prison movement negatively impacts the capacity of prisoners to fight. Absent both community and legal support, in a confined repressive environment, prisoners can only be expected to survive and try and make it home alive. Attica, Comstock, Clinton and other New York state maximum security prisons suffer the same reality, all of which tells all of us of our collective failure./p p It is my sincere hope, on this 40th year commemoration of Attica, that New York Cityrsquo;s activists recognize what for many inside prison seems to be abandonment. That they will decide to recognize the work that needs to be done to help restore the capacity for all of us to fight back for freedom!/p p emspan data-scayt_word="Jalil" data-scaytid="11"Jalil/span span data-scayt_word="Muntaqim" data-scaytid="13"Muntaqim/span is deeply embedded in the hearts of supporters of the San Francisco 8 for his extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice on behalf of his brothers. We especially should heed his words. Send our brother some love and light: span data-scayt_word="Jalil" data-scaytid="12"Jalil/span span data-scayt_word="Muntaqim" data-scaytid="14"Muntaqim/span (Anthony Bottom), span data-scayt_word="77A-4283" data-scaytid="15"77A-4283/span, Attica Correctional Facility, 639 Exchange St., Attica NY 14011./em/p

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p emSeptember 17, 2011/em/p p I let the weight of her words fall on my ears, feel it in my throat before I absorb them fully a breath later. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="1"Mesha/span span data-scayt_word="Irizarry's" data-scaytid="2"Irizarry#39;s/span words float in the air still: ldquo;For us poor disabled span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="3"LGBT/span [1] people of color, it#39;s a constant struggle to get our needs heard in the queer movement.rdquo; Yes. This is heavy business that must be acknowledged seriously by class-privileged white queers [2] like myself. Since Stonewall we privileged queers have only begun to absorb this information collectively, while before our eyes whole neighborhoods are at risk of displacement in the name of span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="4"LGBT/span ldquo;unityrdquo; and economic rejuvenation. Among those at risk of displacement are queer people of color (span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="5"QPOC/span) who are speaking up, while others are failing to hear./p p span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="6"Mesha/span span data-scayt_word="Irizarry" data-scaytid="16"Irizarry/span is the Executive Director of the span data-scayt_word="Idriss" data-scaytid="17"Idriss/span span data-scayt_word="Stelley" data-scaytid="18"Stelley/span Foundation and a disabled queer mixed-race individual. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="7"Mesha/span points out, generally, when a span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="8"QPOC/spannbsp;raises concerns about race or class within span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="11"LGBT/span forums, they are ldquo;deemed as victims or conspiracy theorists.rdquo; This is how race or class privileged span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="12"LGBT/span folks oftentimes shut out what span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="9"QPOC/span say, in favor of more ldquo;universalrdquo; interests. Such is the case for various span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="10"QPOC/span speaking up about an span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="13"LGBT/span Facebook group#39;s use of the violent and racist language of span data-scayt_word="gentriFUCKation" data-scaytid="25"gentriFUCKation/span./p p It all began this summer, when span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="26"Mesha/span and two other queers (of span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="33"Bayview/span and the Castro) joined a Facebook group called ldquo;Friends of span data-scayt_word="Gayview" data-scaytid="36"Gayview/span/ Homos Point/ Silver Tiaras.rdquo; They were tentatively interested in what sort of community the group had to offer. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="27"Mesha/span and her allies quickly realized that the group was composed of class-privileged span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="29"LGBT/span folks looking to buy homes and condominiums to get the jumpstart on gentrification in the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="34"Bayview/span/ Hunters Point area. When span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="28"Mesha/span and others called members out on their unchecked, dehumanizing assumptions about residents of the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="35"Bayview/span, implied meanings of words like ldquo;saferdquo; and ldquo;gay,rdquo; and disrespectful ways many were span data-scayt_word="unhumbly" data-scaytid="276"unhumbly/span moving to the neighborhood, they were aggressively shut out of the Facebook group./p p The Bay Area Reporter (an span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="38"LGBT/span newspaper) has published stories that demonstrate an aligned perspective with the owning-class residents of span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="42"Bayview/span/ Hunters Point. In an August span data-scayt_word="18th" data-scaytid="52"18th/span article, Tony K. span data-scayt_word="LeTigre" data-scaytid="53"LeTigre/span reports, span data-scayt_word="“Bayview" data-scaytid="54"ldquo;Bayview/span and the rest of District 10 ndash; Hunters Point, span data-scayt_word="Potrero" data-scaytid="55"Potrero/span Hill and span data-scayt_word="Visitacion" data-scaytid="56"Visitacion/span Valley ndash; is in the process of transforming into a safer, more accessible and stylish community, according to a number of local activists, residents, and real estate agents.rdquo; The reporter and many of the interviewees attribute District 10#39;s miraculous transformation to the influx of span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="39"LGBT/span people buying condos in the area. A third of our buyers so far have been gay, which makes sense, since the span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="40"LGBT/span community has that pioneering spirit, a condominium manager tells the B.A.R. ldquo;Buyers are receptive to the neighborhood.rdquo; What is implied here about the nature of span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="43"Bayview/span/Hunters Point as it stands today? Undergirding this depiction is an intensely homophobic, violent, and dehumanizing set of assumptions about the people living in these neighborhoods. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="44"Mesha/span and other span data-scayt_word="QPOC" data-scaytid="360"QPOC/span in the area are being erased from the equation altogether in such discourse, rendering an image of homophobic people of color blindly resisting the progressive advances of the span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="41"LGBT/span community as a whole. The conversation set up by real estate developers is one that pits the interests of policednbsp;span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="757"Bayview/span/Hunter#39;s Point residents against those of span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="895"LGBT/spannbsp;people, thereby erasing the existence of span data-scayt_word="QPOC" data-scaytid="997"QPOC/span in span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="1006"Bayview/span altogether./p p span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="59"LGBT/span real estate ldquo;pioneers,rdquo; like earlier colonizers of the West, are sweeping into the area on claims of superior social values, asserting that the span data-scayt_word="gentriFUCKed" data-scaytid="64"gentriFUCKed/span residents do not know how to foster the land or treat each other (especially span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="60"LGBT/span people), that these folks are just criminals and don#39;t deserve the budget crumbs they get, anyway. Members of the problematic Facebook group claim that Black people have always had an inherent tendency toward self-destructive behaviors. On the span data-scayt_word="po'lice" data-scaytid="65"po#39;lice/span murder that incited the legendary 1966 span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="61"Bayview/span uprising, one leader of the Facebook Group writes, ldquo;Itrsquo;s a shame that the young man was killed, but he was committing a felony and ran when he was caught. Anger at his death might have been appropriate, but destroying the healthy environment for the neighborhood was just insane. Such is the world when reason is gone and people refuse to take any responsibility for their actions.... This mindset is a sickness, and the part of the African American community that wallows in this has no chance of improving its lot and poisons the environment around them.rdquo;/p p I would dare to counter that the span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="67"LGBT/span folks moving into span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="68"Bayview/span/ Hunters#39; Point are participating in the destruction, more than the invented pathologies proposed above. Rather than further criminalizing young Black men in the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="69"Bayview/span (i.e. Kenneth Harding, rest in peace), accusing folks of wrong-doing and advocating punitive backlash, white queers need to step up and say ldquo;nordquo; to violent Capitalist philosophies of imminent domain. Privileged queers need to advocate anti-violence as anti-colonialism, to stop laying claim to the totality of span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="75"LGBTQI/span culture, and to stop equating Black and other non-white expressions of gender and sexuality with criminality. This is an important step toward healing the wounds of homophobia and span data-scayt_word="homonormativity" data-scaytid="76"homonormativity/span [3], to name and question the assumptions we hold about what it means to be ldquo;gay.rdquo; As indicated by the ignorance people have shown about the very existence of queer folks in span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="70"Bayview/span/ Hunters Point, there is a lot of reworking to be done around how we define queer community and safety./p p As Tyrone Boucher, who writes the blog Enough Enough, writes in an article entitled ldquo;In Defiance of All That Splits Usrdquo;, part of creating whole communities means ldquo;every one of us gets to determine for ourselves when we are #39;well#39; and when we are #39;unwell#39; and to then ask for what will support us.rdquo; This is what span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="77"QPOC/span from the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="79"Bayview/span are attempting to do, and we need to support their efforts. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="81"Mesha/span span data-scayt_word="Izarry" data-scaytid="88"Izarry/span asks that these privileged queers ldquo;don#39;t get so defensive...we#39;re asking for you to be responsible along with us. Let#39;s create forums to talk, so we can work out among ourselvesrdquo; the issues that have arisen. span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="78"QPOC/span from the span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="80"Bayview/span are not trying to be divisivemdash;they#39;re trying to expand span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="82"LGBTQI/span community, which I think is a really beautiful and positive step!/p p Queers know that space is important. We know it and define our own for survival. It takes work to make spaces feel and do right by us. My mom#39;s living room, a straight friend#39;s music practice space, the restaurant where I work, these all need to be nurtured to grow their potential as safe for myself and my queer community. With the right combination of communication and luck I#39;ve managed to feel good being my span data-scayt_word="genderqueer" data-scaytid="94"genderqueer/span self within them, while others still need work. span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="90"Mesha/span tells me that ldquo;homophobia was intended for indigenous land,rdquo; and there is a long history of gender non-normative people on this continent holding fast to their space. It is sacred. Spaces in span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="91"Bayview/span/Hunters Point have also been nurtured by span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="92"QPOC/span, for as long as each span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="93"QPOC/span has survived there, too./p p Some span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="99"LGBTQI/span folks have wide mobility to move from a space that doesn#39;t work out, while others have more limited options. It#39;s a question of what resources you have access to. Lots of span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="100"LGBT/span people (perhaps like members of the span data-scayt_word="Gayview" data-scaytid="102"Gayview/span/Homos Point group) might use money to get away, and others, especially poornbsp;span data-scayt_word="QPOC" data-scaytid="1160"QPOC/span, do not often have this luxury. This is why it#39;s such a tragedy that the tenuous spaces queers have set up in these neighborhoods are at the risk of destruction, rather than being honored and respected. Savannah Janenbsp;writes, in her essay ldquo;Is the Bay an Island?,rdquo; ldquo;Neighborhoods and other spaces created around identity are managed and policed, and span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="101"LGBT/span organizing has often mobilized concepts of place and space in ways that rhetorically map whiteness onto gayness.rdquo; What#39;s happening is a complex mixture of cultural appropriation, colonization, racism, and classism, in the case of this Facebook group, even if these effects are unintended./p p This is happening all around the Bay Area, all around the country and the world, too. Poor communities of color, and span data-scayt_word="QOC" data-scaytid="109"QPOC/span, are being colonized. Savannah wisely writes, ldquo;We need to create a new politic around space and place. One that does not conflate lsquo;The Bayrsquo; with radical queer movement culture, span data-scayt_word="cuz" data-scaytid="112"cuz/span for many folks living here, that just isnrsquo;t their/our experience. How do we both hold that The Bay Area has been a generative site of resistance and movement building, and of powerful queer and trans communities, while also holding the complexity of who has access to these communities (or wants to)?...Space is something we do. We construct it, and I think we have some shit to grapple with.rdquo; For white and span data-scayt_word="otherly" data-scaytid="113"otherly/span privileged queers like myself, there is plenty opportunity to recall rich histories of collective resistance to change our tack!!! span data-scayt_word="Mesha" data-scaytid="110"Mesha/span tells me, ldquo;White folks put their lives on the line during the liberation of slaves, even during the Civil Rights Movement, not just at Stonewall.rdquo;/p p We can mobilize against gentrification in span data-scayt_word="Bayview" data-scaytid="115"Bayview/span/ Hunters Point, and continue by expanding space for disabled, poor, and/or migrantnbsp;span data-scayt_word="QPOC" data-scaytid="1205"QPOC/span who live there. We can all be nurtured by this experience, all our lives can be made richer and brighter./p p emRo is a queer identified graduate of the mentorship program @ Race, Poverty, Media Justice Institute @ span data-scayt_word="PeopleSkool" data-scaytid="120"PeopleSkool/span/em/p p nbsp;/p p emSome terminology Un-Packed:/em/p p br / em[1]: span data-scayt_word="LGBT" data-scaytid="121"LGBT/span or span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="122"LGBTQI/span encompasses these terms: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, span data-scayt_word="Intersex" data-scaytid="125"Intersex/span. The acronym can be expanded infinitely to include other queer identifications./em/p p br / em[2]: Some people use ldquo;queerrdquo; to imply politically aware, counter-cultural, or shifting identifications associated with ways of being span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="126"LGBTQI/span. There are lots of other uses of the term out there too, but this is mine./em/p p em[3]: The span data-scayt_word="neoliberal" data-scaytid="132"neoliberal/span assimilation and normalization of span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="129"LGBTQI/span into more ldquo;respectable,rdquo; ldquo;nicer,rdquo; or digestible social categories for a straight or homophobic public. Many people argue that span data-scayt_word="homonormativity" data-scaytid="131"homonormativity/span has hurt the radical advances of span data-scayt_word="LGBTQI" data-scaytid="130"LGBTQI/span/queer activism./em/p

div class="mbl notesBlogText clearfix" div p I am troy Davis/p p Killed at the hands of overseers of plantations/p p nbsp;/p p I am Kenneth Harding/p p Murdered by span data-scayt_word="Po’Lice" data-scaytid="1"Porsquo;Lice/span for not having/p p 2 span data-scayt_word="Dollaz" data-scaytid="3"Dollaz/span/p p nbsp;/p p I am span data-scayt_word="Amadou" data-scaytid="4"Amadou/span span data-scayt_word="Diallo" data-scaytid="5"Diallo/span, Sean Bell, span data-scayt_word="Idriss" data-scaytid="6"Idriss/span span data-scayt_word="Stelley" data-scaytid="7"Stelley/span and peoples killed by ALL these occupying armies ndash;/p p nbsp;/p p I am a span data-scayt_word="migrante" data-scaytid="8"migrante/span mama crossing three false borders and dying/p p So gringos can shop at Walmart, Target and keep believing the corporate lying/p p nbsp;/p p I am cut deep ndash; so deep, I can hardly speak , see or weep/p p Straight down the middle/p p So confusednbsp; by the sys who follows the ldquo;if you donrsquo;t got money you donrsquo;t got justicerdquo;/p p Riddle/p p nbsp;/p p I am ALL my brothers and sisters killed by poverty , racism and complacency/p p And yet what I am NOT/p p Is Silent ANYMORE!/p p Walk into markets, bus stops, paycheck places and span data-scayt_word="Liqour" data-scaytid="9"Liqour/span span data-scayt_word="sto’s" data-scaytid="10"storsquo;s/span/p p And tell the ALL the people/p p Who let wall street keep ticking,/p p Bank of Apartheid clicking/p p span data-scayt_word="Po’lice" data-scaytid="11"Porsquo;lice/span Killing/p p To Believe the Lies No MOrsquo;/p p nbsp;/p p Stop believing in the White manrsquo;s definition of security/p p Stop picking up the phone/p p And inviting the military into our hoods and barrios/p p nbsp;/p p Think AND ACT outside the Box.. People!/p p Speaknbsp; up in places we should not be/p p Never call the span data-scayt_word="Po’Lice" data-scaytid="2"Porsquo;Lice/span and/p p Donrsquo;t watch the fake media and believe the Manrsquo;s side of the story/p p Just span data-scayt_word="cuz" data-scaytid="12"cuz/span it sounds nice/p p AND Never touch the manrsquo;s poison-which mite cause u to perpetrate/p p violence on span data-scayt_word="yer" data-scaytid="13"yer/span family or span data-scayt_word="homies" data-scaytid="14"homies/span/p p nbsp;/p p Be Alert ndash; Speak Up and Donrsquo;t Evernbsp; stop the Noise/p h3 nbsp;/h3 p emspan style="font-weight: bold;"Dedicated to Troy Anthony Davis and his family and all victims of span data-scayt_word="Amerikkkan" data-scaytid="15"Amerikkkan/span Just-US/span/em/p /div /div h2 strongspan class="UIActionLinks UIActionLinks_bottom" data-ft="{type:20}"button class="like_link stat_elem as_link" data-ft="{type:22}" name="like" title="Like this item" type="submit"/button/span/strong/h2