Story Archives 2011

h2 strongyour occupation is nothing new,/strong/h2 p strongyoursquo;ve been occupying since 1492./strong/p p so now that yoursquo;ve found something to occupy youbr / answer this, span data-scayt_word="zhaaganaasheg" data-scaytid="1"zhaaganaasheg/span*, whorsquo;s occupying who?/p p native roots of resistance are deeper than the streets,br / and arenrsquo;t fed by the marginal soil these movements give us,br / what keeps us comes from within, direct line to the deep heartbr / of us, power comes from the land, not these castles of sand./p p if we expected the white middle class to struggle on our behalf,br / and turn their organizational ship 180 degrees toward span data-scayt_word="decolonization" data-scaytid="2"decolonization/span,br / we might as well just ask them to turn that shipbr / right back to span data-scayt_word="europe" data-scaytid="3"europe/span but hey, at this point,/p p thatrsquo;s like asking someone who shit all over your span data-scayt_word="livingroom" data-scaytid="4"livingroom/spanbr / to just leave, instead of telling them to clean up the mess thatrsquo;s left.br / and down on wall street, bay street, main street we the 99%br / saw the 1% step on this turtlersquo;s back and call their own what canrsquo;t be owned,br / and itrsquo;s at that point the games began./p p not when they started foreclosing your homes span data-scayt_word="cos" data-scaytid="5"cos/span believe me,br / they already foreclosed ours and thatrsquo;s exactly what keeps making it possiblebr / for them to pull the same moves, what they did to us, theyrsquo;re doing to you./p p you say you want a revolutionhellip;/p p but the game wonrsquo;t end if the rules stay the same, and the number one rule isbr / span data-scayt_word="“ssssshhhh…don’t" data-scaytid="7"ldquo;ssssshhhhhellip;donrsquo;t/span talk about revolution too loud..the Indians will hear you..rdquo;br / because we have thoughts of revolution too, and they donrsquo;t involve any further occupations,/p p span data-scayt_word="cos" data-scaytid="9"cos/span we have dreams beyond colonization. but you donrsquo;t want to hear about that.br / so this is not our movement, and the roots of span data-scayt_word="biskaabiiyang" data-scaytid="11"biskaabiiyang/span* go miles further downbr / than todayrsquo;s pounding of feet on pavements, whose streets, our streets, the wordsbr / jarred my span data-scayt_word="nish" data-scaytid="15"nish/span ears and jammed my span data-scayt_word="nish" data-scaytid="16"nish/span heart, whose streets indeed./p p so stay out in the streets, fight the power and keep it realbr / this ainrsquo;t a call to pull back or a bid for inclusionbr / but a revolution turning a blind eye to genocide is a revolutionary illusionbr / so fuck white power on wall street, and the border pigs toobr / span data-scayt_word="cos" data-scaytid="17"cos/span the earth and her movements are span data-scayt_word="gonna" data-scaytid="19"gonna/span get you./p p your occupation is nothing new,br / yoursquo;ve been occupying since 1492.br / so now that yoursquo;ve found something to occupy youbr / answer this, span data-scayt_word="zhaaganaasheg" data-scaytid="21"zhaaganaasheg/span*, whorsquo;s occupying who?/p p emTo contact Jen span data-scayt_word="Emm" data-scaytid="24"Emm/span email her at uindigenouscollective@gmail.com/u. Artwork by Erin Marie span data-scayt_word="Konsmo" data-scaytid="25"Konsmo/span/emem of Toronto, Canada./em/p

pMichael Buckholtz – Autism, Music A Lot Moore/p p1) Krip-Hop Nation (KHN) - Most people have known that you worked with MC Hammer back in the day. Can you tell us your work back then compare to your music work today?/p pMichael Buckholtz: Thank you. Sure. The major difference is that I'm not actually writing for Hip- Hop artists much anymore. I mostly listened to jazz, rock, folk or some other popular music of the day when I was a kid, growing up in New Jersey. The music was diverse and I've come back to that. I didn't really work in Hip Hop until my good friend M.C. Hammer asked me to. Believe it or not, my diverse musical background prepped me perfectly for a career in music with Hammer. As of this moment, I'm working with an acoustic artist on APR music (Acoustic Pop Rock). I enjoy this style very much because it allows not only the artist to express himself or herself in the lyrical content, but, the music speaks to you, as well. The artist is Perrie Kitching at a href="http://www.PerrieKitching.com" title="www.PerrieKitching.com"www.PerrieKitching.com/a./p p2) KHN - Lately there has been all of this hoopla around autism everywhere from Hip-Hop charities to politicians. Tell us your experience and your non--profit in this field./p pMichael Buckholtz: My involvement, in what's turning out to be a mad “gold rush” to capitalize on all things autism, started quite organically. I learned, back in 1993, that I was possibly on the autism spectrum along with my siblings and father. It wasn't until my nephew was born (and developing to become another autistic member of the family) that I decided maybe to learn more about this condition I might have. I took the time to become officially evaluated and am, indeed, on the autism spectrum. That discovery about my nephew and me snow-balled into wanting to do something for the Autistic Community that was direct and impactful. The focus of the non-profit (Aid for Autistic Children Foundation, Inc.) was to be simple, but comprehensive: Forgive the debt for qualified families raising autistic children or autistic adults experiencing serious financial hardship due to the unique nature of the autistic condition./p pIn as much as my experience is concerned, I lived the financial devastation that can come with having an autistic perspective on life. I continue to recover, however, I understand the need for fiscal responsibility in the lives of these families and autistic individuals first hand. I developed a system very much based on the basic principles of universal finance and my own families recovery from bankruptcy and unintentional financial indiscretion, all due to the unpredictability involved in raising children who are autistic or just being an autistic individual./p p3) KHN - What do you think about Autism Speaks?/p pMichael Buckholtz: My diplomatic answer is this: What I think about Autism Speaks will not make any significant impact on the Autistic Communities direct immediate needs. Autism Speaks is doing exactly what it is designed to do./p p4) KHN - Musically what are you working on and do you every write songs about the issues facing people in poverty living with autism or other disabilities?/p pMichael Buckholtz: Currently, I've signed an acoustic singer/songwriter named Perrie Kitching to my production company, Sunlight International Mgmt, Inc. (S.I.M., Inc.) I produced four singles on him to date. We are heavily in the promotion stage of his first single, “I Fell” (Letter of Love). Anyone can see what he's up to on a href="http://www.PerrieKitching.com" title="www.PerrieKitching.com"www.PerrieKitching.com/a./p pI actually have songs I've written specifically about the feelings one may have as a parent or person dealing with autism or being autistic. That's my personal experience and it organically tends to make it's way into my songwriting. I enjoy writing songs that talk about how people feel. Whether one is able or disabled, anyone of us can feel overwhelmed by the pressures of the world. All of us can relate to that. Having a disability amplifies many already heavy societal pressures. Those experiences can translate emotionally to anyone. That's how any song should be written, in my view. I write to include everyone in that experience no matter who they are./p p5) KHN Tell us about your book, Autism Is My Universe: ...So How 'Bout We "Not" Call It A Disability!/p pMichael Buckholtz: It's a snapshot about different moments in my journey through life as a high- functioning autistic person and not really knowing I was. I simply wanted people to see my journey for what it is; a story about a quirky kid that grew into a quirky adult and still, somehow, made good on his promised goals to himself. I try not to sugar coat things, preach or prophesy. It's all about seeing how I made it, even though I didn't always have the facts. I was intellectually curious enough to keep moving forward and not dwell on what did not work in my life. Always seek to improve oneself no matter what your circumstance, especially if you are coping or accepting autism and being autistic. I'm also a very spiritually connected person. I hope that's the overarching message folks get from it./p p6) KHN - What is your viewpoint about the Black community and their awareness around disability?/p pMichael Buckholtz: Within the Brown community, there still isn't enough attention on, or, the promotion of developing the needed intellectual curiosity to research what steps to take in making ones situation better, whether it's helping with the disabled or coping with a disability. There is, also, a disparity in the Brown community concerning the perception of how disabling a disability should be if one is brown. This generational cycle of ignoring a true disability or attempting to 'pray it away', is, sadly, the majority of the problem. Awareness isn't something that needs to be targeted at any one particular group. Disabilities affect all socioeconomic levels and nations of peoples. Empathy plays a large roll in being actively aware, but, no government could effectively mandate empathy, much like China is attempting to do now, after a the world was disgusted by how passersby let a small child lay bleeding in an ally after being struck by two vehicles. We all need to, daily, make a conscious effort to be looking out for each other as people./p pAll too often, excessive energy and resources within the Brown community are being spent trying to create the next Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lil' Wayne or Jay Z. There needs to be a focus on another crop of George Washington Carver's, Garrett Augustus Morgan's, Philip Emeagwali's and Valerie Thomas's. If readers don't know who these people are, that's the whole of our problem. There, also, needs to be a non-prejudicial acceptance and approach to educating the disabled from the time they arebr / small children to when they've grown into adulthood. Everyone has the ability to learn regardless of the pace of learning. Overall, I believe awareness within the Brown communities is improving./p p7) KHN- Do you think the music industry is ready for musicians with disabilities and how can we push the industry to do right?/p pMichael Buckholtz: No. I don't think it is. This music industrial complex is built on packaging what's perceived as beautiful, hip and cool. As long as this perception does not include persons with disabilities, no amount of pushing will create a corporate music empire with a conscience. However, if the brand of an individual recording artist gets to stratospheric proportions (like Lady GaGa), the impact of that artist promoting inclusion for the disenfranchised, disabled and the like would be much more substantial and sustained. An example is Sir Elton John and the AIDS fight. His internationally known brand, as a musician, brings much awareness, funding and action to the cause. The same needs to happen for the autistic community. That is my and Perrie Kitching's sincere intention. He WILL be the world's biggest music superstar (of his generation) to bring awareness, funding and action to autism and a few other charitable needs. The hard work to create this kind of a powerful brand for Perrie Kitching is going on as I do this interview./p p8) KHN - I read that you, your father and brother all had some form of autism. Tell us in your work today how your agency reach the Black families espespeciallyack (especially Black) fathers with sons with autism?/p pMichael Buckholtz: Yes, my siblings and father all rest somewhere on the autistic spectrum. We all cope differently. There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to discovering what works for whom./p pAid for Autistic Children Foundation is a national 501c(3) non-profit that is currently reaching out over the Internet. We lack the volunteers and funding to reach out in more organic hands on way. We cater to all regardless of nationality or ethnicity. Many issues with lack of reach do, I agree, fall squarely on the back of the agency. That agency needs to appeal in some way to everyone (brown people included) so they feel connected or drawn to that organization. I simply started with myself and a story. I'm a brown person. It's hard for me to ignore that fact. I don't hide it. On the non-profit website, I even open with a video (sponsored in part by The Dan Marino Foundation) that openly discusses discrimination./p pMany father's in our Brown communities need tools. Some fathers simply need an adviser (or mentor) they can trust will confidentially listen to their concerns and hopes for their disabled child. Many just don't want the responsibility and there's very little any human being or agency can do to change a heart condition. Others simply just won't look for assistance due to pride, constant disappointment with other agencies or the perception that the United States system of societal inclusion does not include them, so, why even try (lack of trust). We understand this sort of thing exists and work hard to address these issues./p p9) KHN - How can people help with your organization and music endeavors?/p pMichael Buckholtz: Simple. We are national, but, relatively small in structure. We are building. On our website at a href="http://www.aacfinc.org" title="www.aacfinc.org"www.aacfinc.org/a, anyone can donate by pushing the donate button. That will take you to the donation page and give you a number of options for giving. A really cool method of support is to donate to get a lapel pin of our puzzle logo. It's the puzzle with a heart. Just add it to your cart. If you want to volunteer, the most one can do is collect funds for us, but, we are not yet structured to oversee those volunteers that wish to collect monies on behalf of Aid for Autistic Children Foundation. We are still growing and need funding to facilitate that. Help us build the foundation first, then we can fan out to do countrywide AACF, Inc. fund raising events, safely and legally monitored. We want all the funding to go to the families and autistic individuals.br / The music side of things will be easy. I just need to make or produce good music with an equally good recording artist. I'll give the public what they want and the rest should be history. I did it once before and I still got it in me to do again. Just visit my Facebook Musician/Band page (Michael Buckholtz), “Like” it and follow the journey. Folks should, also, visit a href="http://www.PerrieKitching.com" title="www.PerrieKitching.com"www.PerrieKitching.com/a and register as a fan to follow his journey with me. That site is the vehicle to take you wherever he goes in the industry. He's a young talented acoustic singer/songwriter that just wants to empower people to love and dream. I mostly want folks to love and dream about him. Haha!/p p10) KHN - What is in your future work/music wise?/p pMichael Buckholtz: The future for Aid for Autistic Children Foundation is to continue building its visibility. I want it to have the recognition of the Red Cross. When one hears “Red Cross”, we know help is on its way. I'm working to develop that kind of reputation for AACF, Inc./p pAs for the music, I'm also branching into movie scoring, gaming music and corporate commercials. Music, custom autos and motorcycles are kind of synonymous, so, I will be designing vehicles to auction off or simply display at auto shows to increase funding and visibility to AACF, Inc. As Sir Richard Branson says, I'm gonna “Do good, have fun...and the money will come.” I'm not going to worry about the financial part for me. I never have. I'm only concerned about getting done for the autistic community what needs to get done. That takes planning, hard work, patience and endurance. I've got all of that./p p11) KHN - Last words and contact info/p pMichael Buckholtz: Huge hugs and thanks to everyone everywhere that has donated, participated and otherwise not hesitated to help Aid for Autistic Children Foundation, individuals in the autistic community or anyone with a disability. Everyone can contact us through a href="http://www.aacfinc.org" title="www.aacfinc.org"www.aacfinc.org/a, or snail mail us a donation or suggestion at:/p pAid for Autistic Children Foundation, Inc. c/o Admin Dept. P.O. Box 141 Macon, Georgia 30120-0141/p pTo support the recording artist Perrie Kitching, simply register at a href="http://www.PerrieKitching.com" title="www.PerrieKitching.com"www.PerrieKitching.com/a and become part of the music family that will be directly involved in raising awareness and funds for Aid for Autistic Children Foundation, Inc. along with other important charitable ventures. Supporting him supports those who are autistic, hungry, homeless and disabled. Thanks!/p

p emDecember 7, 2011/em/p p Sometimes I feel like,br / Poor people, when they get ill,br / We#39;re destined to die./p p span data-scayt_word="Muteado's" data-scaytid="1"Muteado#39;s/span wordsmdash;as family awaits more information, more ca$h, a miracle, to get cancer treatment for his 23-year-old niece Karlamdash;reflects the broken US medical system. It#39;s leaving undocumented folks without the right papers/span data-scayt_word="papeles" data-scaytid="2"papeles/span, poor folks without the right ca$h, the land full of folks without access to decent medical care, without the right to survive preventable diseases. From East Oakland to East Los Angeles, from New Jersey to Arizona, the broken system, blended with a heavy dose of racist span data-scayt_word="anti-im" data-scaytid="3"anti-im/span/migrant policies, are killing children, mothers, fathers and elders by the thousands, by denying care, visas or access to financial support based on immigration status./p p POOR Magazine is holding an emergency press conference at Highland Hospital on Friday to address this scary and heartbreaking injustice effecting mamas and babies./p p In New Jersey, a five year old girl who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant is being sentenced to death, because the US State Dept denied a visa for her 7-year old sister in El Salvador who is her only bone marrow match./p p Our POOR Magazine sister Karla, single mama to a 3-year old in East Oakland, said, ldquo;I want to stay alive for my son, he has no one to take care of him. She#39;s currently a patient at Highland hospital, facing death in the ward, because she needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. But due to her immigration status, she cannot qualify for the support subsidies available for bone cancer./p p All over the nation people are deported out of ICU instead of provided emergency surgeries, like the one Karla needs. span data-scayt_word="Po'lice" data-scaytid="4"Po#39;lice/span terror is brought to hospitals on the daily, as these big fancy privately funded span data-scayt_word="state-kkkorupte" data-scaytid="5"state-span data-scayt_word="kkkorupte" data-scaytid="285"kkkorupte/span/spand institutions profile folks out of getting the chance to survive./p p ldquo;These racist immigration policies and our the non-existent healthcare options kill poor children and mothers every day in the US,rdquo; said Lisa Gray-Garcia aka Tiny, an advocate for poor families and children and co-director of POOR Magazine, a grassroots, non-profit arts and advocacy non-profit organization based in the Bay Area/p p Come help us speak out against this nonsense cruelty!nbsp; (If you can#39;t make the press conference but would like to donate to the fund for Karla#39;s care- a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/rev_donor"click here/a- indicate on your donation that it is for the Karla Fund/p p What: Emergency Press Conference to Save Livesbr / When: 12:00 noon Friday, December 9thbr / Where: in front of Highland Hospital- 1411 East 31st span data-scayt_word="st" data-scaytid="8"st/span ndash; Oakland, Ca 94602/p

piframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O-epg_5Mo6s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen/iframe/p

p iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-IpYw7X2NHg" width="560"/iframe/p

p It is my heartfelt pleasure this holiday season to be the bearer of bad news (likenbsp;POOR Magazinenbsp;povertynbsp;scholar Bad News Bruce)nbsp;to the propertied class--landlords, gentrification agents and their officious appendages of all ages, sizes, occupations and individual degrees of delusion.nbsp; The bad news comes via the US Supreme Court who ruled in favor of elders living in Section 8 housing in Oaklandrsquo;s Park Village Apartmentsmdash;elders who were issued eviction notices.nbsp; The bad news in this article is directed towards Park Village owner Mortimer (Cannbsp;I callnbsp;younbsp;Mo?)nbsp;Howard and for the other Morsquo; Howardrsquo;s of the world.nbsp; Let the bad news keep coming!/p p nbsp;/p p The tenants are an inspiration to a community of mothers, daughters, babies, folks with disabilities and folks of color who are under the constant threat of gentrification, police violence and intentional blighting of their communities.nbsp; It is the place where the media portrays black and brown youth as criminals while, at the same time, portraying agents of the state like Johannes span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Mehserle" data-scaytid="1"Mehserle/span as just an honest guy with a lapse of concentration as he failed to differentiate between his gun and span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="taser" data-scaytid="3"taser/span./p p nbsp;/p p The good news is that a group of section 8 tenantsmdash;mostly eldersmdash;united and thwarted the attempts of the owner to evict them after he opted out of the section 8 program.nbsp; The US Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision that asserted that an owner who opts out of the section 8 programmdash;refusing vouchersmdash;may not evict tenants for non-payment of rent.nbsp;nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p In the case of emMortimer Howard Trust vs. Park Village Apartments/em, the court upheld its February ruling that denied the ownerrsquo;s request to evict the tenants in order to derive higher rents from new tenants.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p In 2005, after their last government contract expired, the owner sought to leave the section 8 program. nbsp;The request was approved in 2008, whereupon the owner rejected the rental assistance agreements of 15 tenants and filed eviction paperwork.nbsp; US District Judge Sandra Brown blocked the evictions in January 2010mdash;which was upheld by the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco./p p nbsp;/p p The court said that owners have the right to disassociate from section 8, however, a 2000 federal law gives tenants the right to remain in their unitsmdash;providing they pay their rent consistently and not give landlords legitimate reason to evict them./p p nbsp;/p p The elders of the Park Village Apartment tenants Association are heroes, to be respected and honored.nbsp; Theirnbsp;resistance to the egregiousnbsp;debasementnbsp;directed towards them on the part of the landlord wasnbsp;in the spirit of the I-Hotel, where Filipino, Chinese and African Descended elders stood their ground against eviction and displacement before a world stage on the corner of Jackson and Kearny Streets in San Francisco in 1977.nbsp; In that spirit they organized and engendered the help of the National Housing Law Project and Bay Area Legal Aid.nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p As the people chanted 30 years ago: Long Live the I-Hotel!nbsp; We now chant: Long Live the Park Village Tenants Association!nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p Merry Xmas Mortimer!/p p nbsp;/p p God is good./p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p p nbsp;/p

p…Change won’t come from a savior, a pimp or an institution, change will only come from our own poor people-led revolution!... Poetas POBRE’s/ Po Poets Project… 2011/p pI applied for food stamps over four weeks ago. I still haven’t heard whether we got approved. Without this government crumb I’m not sure how much longer I can afford to buy food for my family. My tension filled gut and I read about Rachelle Grimmer, mama of two children from Texas who shot herself and her children in the Laredo county social services agency, after trying, unsuccessfully to get food stamps since July of this year./p pIf you have never been that depressed, that overwhelmed, or that terrified you might not understand Mama Rachelle Grimmer. I do. My fellow welfareQUEEN’s at POOR Magazine do. “The hellfare system puts out one obstacle after another to make it almost impossible for poor families to get even the smallest support,” said mama Vivien, welfareQUEEN and revolutionary advocate for POOR Magazine and Homeless Action Center. /p pThroughout my lyfe on and off of welfare I have dealt with the insane requirements of the scarcity model kkkrumbs called welfare. So named a scarcity model as it is set-up to give people in need as little as possible and for as short of time as possible as opposed to a cradle to grave welfare system that until recently was in existence in Western Europe and Canada. One of the most recent examples of the US requirements is the implementation of drug tests on poor single parents in Florida when they apply for cash aid. But the 18-46 page proof of income forms, the 22 forms of identification and the endless proofs of residence that is required from all of us to get the tiny bits of cash aid, food stamps, housing or medical assistance provided by government social services agencies, became a never-ending five month nightmare for Mama Rachelle of Texas. And ultimately on that last tragic visit, when she was met with yet again more obstacles to feeding her children, she had had enough. /p pIn 2010, US poverty rose to its highest level with over 15.1 % of the people living below the poverty line. Now, with so many people in struggle it is crucial for all folks to understand the dire aspects of the scarcity model that is in place to “deal” with the poorest of the poor, because, this welfare scarcity model kills. It has been killing and criminalizing poor peoples since it began. It was originally launched as part of the “New Deal” in the 1940’s by then US President Franklin Roosevelt to give poor folks a crumb because the rich peoples were worried about the US population waking up to the deathly impact of capitalism and voting in a socialist president. At its inception the social services were targeted for the alleged “deserving” poor which then meant only certain kind of poor people, i.e, white, widows of deceased war veterans. Divorced or unmarried women and women of color were pathologized as “crazy” “aberrant” or “lazy”. My immigrant, teenage, unmarried grandmother was one of these women which is why my mixed race mama was sent to over 200 severely abusive foster homes and ended up in an orphanage where she almost died. /p pThe scarcity model of institutional social “service provision” is based on a corporate model of profit and loss and infests all aspects of our lives as poor peoples. From Hellthcare to edukkkation, it has systematically acted in collusion to confuse, incarcerate, debase im/migrant people, indigenous people, houseless peoples, elders, children and families. This is just one of the reasons I started the welfareQUEEN’s project./p pIn 2007, out of a mission district kitchen in a dangerously substandard apartment, myself and a group of criminalized and fed-up poor mamaz (Jewnbug, Laure, Vivian, Tracey, Estrella, Dharma and Queenandi) launched the welfareQUEEN’s theatre and media production where we create powerful theatre, art and medi as an act of resistance to our experiences of racism, poverty and criminalization in Amerikkka. /p pI still haven’t heard from food stamps, I’m assuming when and if I do, they will tell me I need to bring at least four more pieces of identification and record of birth and proof of residence. As I do I will be praying for Mama Rachelle, her daughter who transitioned on Thursday and her son who is still holding on to life and all the mamaz and daddyz and care-givers who are already working, un-recognized, everyday just to raise all the worlds people no matter what./p

p I was sitting in anbsp;coffee shop drinking a cup of hot chocolate as people saunterednbsp;in contemplatingnbsp;their caffeinated (and decaffeinated) beverage choices.nbsp; I sipped at my notional desire not to listen to any Christmas music as the undercurrent of corporatenbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="xmas" data-scaytid="1"xmas/span classicsnbsp;seeped intonbsp;my aural canal./p p Coffee shops are incubators of bad musical selections withnbsp;music that isnbsp;often over-modulated ornbsp;oversaturated with weeping guitarnbsp;strings bemoaning everything under the cloudsnbsp;with the exception of bad beards, bad clothes, vegan food, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="chai" data-scaytid="3"chai/span tea and othernbsp;such oddmentsnbsp;deemed estimablenbsp;(emestimable,nbsp;a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="chickenshit" data-scaytid="5"chickenshit/span word meaning:nbsp;worthy of esteem)nbsp;/emby span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="gentrifiers" data-scaytid="7"gentrifiers/span, span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="trendoids" data-scaytid="9"trendoids/span and others of similarnbsp;ilk.nbsp; I sippednbsp;my chocolate while the vocalist wailed away thosenbsp;immortal verses:nbsp;emlet it snow...let it snow...let it snow./em/p p As I satnbsp;trying to ignore the hortatory anthems exalting the holiday season, i was approached by a brother who looked to be in his late 50#39;s.nbsp; You got anynbsp;change you can spare? henbsp;asked.nbsp; Mynbsp;eyes fell on his hands--tree trunk with root-like fingers--then rose to meet his eyes.nbsp; Yeah, my mannbsp;i said, reaching into my pocket.nbsp; I felt the coinage and tepid billsnbsp;(bills, notnbsp;balls)--metal and paper that werenbsp;nearly weightless yet carrying so much weight./p p I began tonbsp;trip onnbsp;my hands--soft hands, i thought--hands thatnbsp;nevernbsp;built a house,nbsp;pushed a wheelbarrow,nbsp;worked the fields, shovelednbsp;shit or cleaned a toilet.nbsp; Hell, my father could argue thatnbsp;I barely wiped my ownnbsp;ass--and henbsp;wouldn#39;t be half wrong.nbsp; My hands,nbsp;a matrix of span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="papercuts" data-scaytid="11"papercuts/span and hangnails, gnawed to excess while flipping throughnbsp;the thesaurus.nbsp; How wasnbsp;I worthy of the hot holiday cocoa in my hand?/p p I pulled out a dollar, ready tonbsp;hand it to the brother when a voice said, Hey, you can#39;t panhandle in here...you got to go outside.nbsp; From behind thenbsp;brother a man stood, a span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="caucasoid" data-scaytid="13"caucasoid/spannbsp;male (i.e.: a white man), bespectacled,nbsp;wearing a tweed jacket, unmemorable shirt.nbsp; I looked at hisnbsp;thinlynbsp;featured face./p p My eyes fell on the brother#39;s hands againnbsp;and his gnarled rooted fingers--hands that have survived something.nbsp; Come on, you got to go saidnbsp;tweed jacket, inching closer.nbsp; Who arenbsp;emyou/emnbsp;I asked (as if i didn#39;t know)/p p I#39;m security said tweed.nbsp; Who arenbsp;emyou?/em/p p I#39;m Tiger Woods i replied/p p Tweed looked at me with disdain that said: emYounbsp;smart ass no nosed punk.nbsp;nbsp;/emReading his mind, i gave him a half smirk with all the holiday spirit i couldnbsp;conjure./p p Look i said.nbsp; I#39;m giving this gentleman some change.nbsp; I don#39;tnbsp;need tonbsp;benbsp;accostednbsp;bynbsp;emspan class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Efraim" data-scaytid="15"Efraim/spannbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zimbalist" data-scaytid="17"Zimbalist/spannbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Motherfucking" data-scaytid="23"Motherfucking/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jr" data-scaytid="25"Jr/span. /emwhile doing it.nbsp; We don#39;t need thenbsp;FBI in here/p p I#39;m not with the FBI saidnbsp;Tweed--although he probably, in his intimate moments wished he was.nbsp; Henbsp;seemednbsp;to be impressed, begrudgingly, that i knew who span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Efraim" data-scaytid="19"Efraim/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Zimbalist" data-scaytid="21"Zimbalist/spannbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jr" data-scaytid="27"Jr/span. was but to me it was inconsequential--I could have saidnbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Absorbine" data-scaytid="31"Absorbine/span span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Jr" data-scaytid="29"Jr/span. (that#39;snbsp;anti-fungal foot medicine for those who don#39;t know)nbsp;and it would have held the same meaning.nbsp;nbsp;/p p I am given to occasional lapses ofnbsp;concentration, slipping into an occasionalnbsp;fantasy here and there.nbsp; The interactionnbsp;with the tweed man prompts a sort of fantasy involvingnbsp;football.nbsp; Tweed suddenly is transformed into a football whilenbsp;I morph into Oaklandnbsp;Raiders placenbsp;kickernbsp;Sebastian span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Janikowski" data-scaytid="33"Janikowski/span.nbsp;nbsp;I then envision myself runningnbsp;up and placing a very hard, very vigorous kick into the football, whichnbsp;is, in reality, the tweed man#39;s narrow ass.nbsp; I basicallynbsp;pull anbsp;span class="scayt-misspell" data-scayt_word="Janikowski" data-scaytid="35"Janikowski/span on his ass, kicking him upwards of 60 or more yards.nbsp; The fantasy is good while it lasts, but unfortunately, it ends when my hotnbsp;chocolatenbsp;goes cold./p p I gave the brother what i had.nbsp; Tweed jacket stood watching.nbsp; It was in thenbsp;brother#39;s hand, anbsp;hand that is part of another hand with a life written into it--a hand that cannot be sculptednbsp;in the image of those who disparage its existence./p p Thenbsp;brother walked out of thenbsp;coffee shop with the little tweed man following.nbsp;nbsp;My eyes followed them both as those verses continued:nbsp;emLet it snow...let it snow...let it snow/em/p