Story Archives 2013

Editors Note: Jose is one of several power-FUL PNN Plantation prison correspondents involved in the Hunger Strike to end all solitary confinement and the in-human treatment of all of our incarcerated brothers and sisters.

A clenched fist goes out to you all!

I wanted to update the people about what is currently taking place to po’folks in these dungeons. We are on a hunger/work strike in California prisons which began here in  pelican bay shu. For those who don’t know, the shu is (security housing units) a place where the prison population is terrorized and stuffed into these windowless cells where we get no sunlight and no human contact, we are even forbidden to even say “hi” or even pass someone a magazine to read as the state has in its perverted way labeled this as gang activity.

Chicanos are the vast majority of the peoples targeted for shu, of the block I live in and 50 prisoners here 90% are Chicanos and the rest of the shu here mirrors this institutionalized oppression.

We Have tried to take other routes via mediation with the state and even via lawsuits to no avail, we are stripped of not only our civil rights but also of our human rights and we say no more to this!

We have identified the cause of our oppression on national oppression plain and simple. It is not about making money to criminalize huge swaths of Aztlan, New Afrikans on the first nations it is about national oppression! Prisons are used to control po’folks and the SHU’s are used to terrorize and neutralize po’folks who rebel within U.S prisons.We are snatched off the prisons general populations at the precise moment when we become conscious, we are then tagged and sent to be broken or brain washed into working for the state as informants. We refuse to be pawn’s for the capitalist controlled state and we resist the only way we can at this point in our torture and that is by depriving our bodies food in an attempt at stopping the torture, any way we can and shining the light on our oppression in the process.

Today is the third day in our hunger strike and we see ending our actions no time soon. Like the brave men in Guantanamo- who are also po’folks- we stand up to white supremacy even tho’ we are shackled head to foot bound with 500 years of chains and yet we rise above this oppression that has afflicted Po’ Brown, Black and red folks for so long and we say enough is enough, we will stop this madness any way we can!

Free The People!

La Lucha Sigue

Click here to read PNN Plantation Prison Correspondent Amari X & the list of demands

I am Hungry... 4 Justice ..PNN Plantation Prison Correspondent on Hunger Strike

Garden for Trayvon Martin & ALL of Our Suns

By: Youth Skolas 2013

Alexis Capers, 19 years old.

“Dear Trayvon,

My heart cries 4 you, I’m so sorry 4 the way you had 2 leave this life. It was incredible injustice and you did not deserve this. I feel  4 you deeply and pray 4 your family, and I am even more sorry that the demon responsible for your death was not held responsible nor punished for his wrong racist act. My school has dedicated our garden 2 you and I would like 2 dedicate my picture 2 you. This is the least I can do but I hope it helps Trayvon, you are truly missed but more importantly you are loved.”

Michael Capers, 18 years old

This garden in my opinion represents peace and power.  Peace being that this of nature, power is because without nature mankind can’t survive. So I’m wondering with that being said how come nobody pays attention, hasn’t nature been trying to explain how important it is? Hasn’t nature tried to help itself, well it can’t do it alone, that’s why we as mankind have to do our part and help. So that’s exactly what my new family and I did, we helped nature. So I can say with confidence, welcome to the garden of Trayvon. This garden of peace and power goes to you, may you be remembered with unconditional love, it was wrong and straight up foul what happened to you and you deserve justice.

 Jiisary Chatman, 12 years old

Back last week we built a garden. I planted 3 different sages, growers, friends sages, pineapple sage and I forgot what the other one was but I planted them for my mom. There was an herb that cures diabetesand I am going to bring that plant to my grandma and to Elder Freeman.

Felyx, 20 years old

Concrete land, Rebellious plants through the cracks. Garden resilience to industrial, spiritual death.  Medicine grown in once empty yards, Aloe Vera, Echinacea, Kale, Mullin, and Chamomile. Garden beds full of life. Compost, soil, succulents bring nutrients to the dirt. Built with love, to honor grandmother past, mothers and families. Black Riders, peoples, medics coming together to liberate their peoples.

Niani,10 years old

“To Trayvon’s Family,

I’m sorry about what happened to Trayvon and I know how you feel, it’s a hard thing that happens in life. Sometimes I think that whites are cruel to all people of color.”

From: A Black Sister, Niani

Kimo, 10 years old

Trayvon was shot dead, blood on the ground red, he was a teen with a hood in the dark. It’s like you’re a seal, some like a shark stalk lurking 4 it’s next kill, like a Great White & it ain’t right.

Jazzmond, Mama Skola

“Our garden in mourning” Trayvon; killed in cold-blooded murder

Evil wicked diabolic killer- premeditated murder, off you might say, my words are too strong as I write against this animal, an individual with no soul… He didn’t have a conscience. He is filled with pure hatred and there is no cure for such a thing, if that individual does not accept the anecdote of love. There is only one cure for spiritual poison! Who is the real culprit? You will either be a vessel used by hatred or you will be a vessel used by love, THERE ARE NO GRAY AREAS! A person with blood-stained hands of cold-blooded murder stands accused of that murder forever – the truth will always stand. He will never escape his own foul, guilty hands. He will wear it as a second skin for the rest of his life, een if it isn’t behind bars. God saw him, he will not go free, because he is not innocent and no matter what, the truth will always stand.

Our garden is about Healing, and this garden stands in memory of Trayvon.  It also represents love and justice.

Tiburcio, 9 years old

“Trayvon, we livin’ in a Babylon, can’t even go to a barber shop or salon. Up there we see you, and you see us. Maybe the guy who had the gun was John or Shaun but never Trayvon.”

Ajahbrielle, 11 years old

During the prayer circle for Trayvon, I learned about the herbs and medicinal plants. I wrote a poem in honor of Trayvon Martin.

Garden of Trayvon Martin

Medicine, herbs, and plants, it’s all part of a garden it was made for Trayvon Martin. Thank you God for all the blessings, peace e to those people that re protesting.  The prayer circle is for courage. I learned to be strong and to BE POOR Magazine.

                My name is Ajahbrielle and I am 11 years old. My mother’s name is Libah, sometimes I worry about my mom. My mom is the strongest woman I have ever met. I thank my mom for everything she has done for me.    

Garden We-Search

By: Youth Skolas 2013

Seven Curley, 9 years old

I’m Seven Curley, I live in Oakland, California. I went to the first gardens that is on 51^st st. I found blueberries, raspberries, and black dragon pepper. Marinette said that the most important thing about the garden is the soil.

Dante, 13 years old

We went to Muteado and Marinette’s house and seen their nice garden and they had a lot of things. Chili peppers, bell peppers and pineapples. Their stuff was nice and I wish I could have seen more if it. Then I went to my house to see cabbage, greens, strawberries, and blood tomatoes. My mom said she built the garden on August 29, on her grandma’s birthday. I said the more you water it the juicier it gets.

Alexes L. Capers, 19 years old

I am youth skola Alexes L. Capers. I am 19 years old and I am currently homeless with my mom and my brother. We are also a part of Homefullness, building healthy gardens with no GMO’s which we dedicated to Trayvon Martin, and our gardens are also to help feed the community and the homeless of this community. Today in camp we had a field trip in which we visited 2 other fantastic gardens in this East Oakland community, now the first one we visited was the Muteado garden which is near the BART station, and they grow jasmine, bell peppers, broccoli, purple tree kale, raspberries, and black dragon chili which is good in helping speed up metabolism, also echinacea and aloe Vera which is an indigenous medicine and mullein which is good for asthma and other issues with the lungs. Now one of the issues with Muteado’s garden discovered when they had first started out was that their soil wasn’t very clean, so the solution was to bring in clean soil and quote, “grow selectively”, also they grew some things in garden boxes and now a beautiful healthy garden now grows. Next we were off to Ms. Sherena Thomas’s garden and a quite beautiful garden at that. Now I worked the camera at this garden so I wasn’t able to get all the notes but here is what I got. Ms. Sherena Thomas grows fresh squash, broccoli, collard greens, sage, tomatoes, greens, and strawberries. Ms. Sherena and her family quote “We planted this garden August 29, in memory of our grandma.” So with that being said it is truly a blessed garden and a blessing to everyone in many sense of the word because Ms. Sherena and her neighbors barter and barter means to trade things between each other without money.  So this in my opinion is very fabulous and not to mention GMO free. Another thing I got from the garden is the fact that Ms. Sherena was letting some of her lettuce dry out so she could harvest and that healthy organic celery is hard to come by. Ms. Sherena also grows chamomile and that is good for anxiety, a fact that I did not know ‘til I visited Ms. Sherena’s garden.

Michael Capers, 18 years old

Today we visited 2 neighborhood gardens. The first garden was Muteado’s, I got to use the camera, so I wasn’t able to get notes and it was also my first time using the camera so I hope I got some good footage. The second garden was Sherena Thomas’s garden. I learned that she started the garden August 29^th of last year which is also her mother’s birthday. I also learned that she helps feed her neighborhood with her garden. In her garden she grows strawberries, tomatoes, squash, greens, broccoli, and celery. I learned that organic celery helps your kidneys and helps fight anxiety. Once again nature shows us peace and power, I think the more we support nature the more nature can help us.

Jiisary Chatman, 12 years old

When I went to Muteado’s garden, I saw green, red and black bell peppers. Dante tried the black one and I tried the red one but they weren’t spicy. Muteado said he had lots of pineapple sage. But I only saw white and growers friend sage. Then when I went to Dante’s garden we saw squash, strawberries, and tomatoes. The people who helped Dante’s mom who helped build her garden was the Black Riders, Dante’s family and I.

Sahara, 8 years old

I built my garden on the 21^st of August. My garden is the biggest one seen. I planted chamomile, tomatoes, and purple beans. Next I went to Muteado’s garden. It had lima beans, black dragon beans, semolina and mullein.

Tiburcio Garcia, 9 years old

I went Muteado’s and Marinette’s garden, it was fun because I got to eat a very hot chili pepper. A healing thing in their garden is white sage, it heals sinus pressure and helps with coughs. There was also Aloe Vera, “we’re not sure if the soil is safe” said Marinette, the owner of this beautiful garden as well as Muteado Silencio, “So, we grew small plants in containers.”  After we ate a few more chili peppers, we went to the garden of Ms. Sherena Thomas. There, all the plants were big. There was broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries, squash and plums that were pruning. “The more water them, the juicier they will be.” says 13 year old Dante Curley in his mother’s backyard gardens. Afterwards we came back to our own garden and said, “I’ glad to be back.” I live in 45^th Ave and I am really poor, my mom had a hard life but managed to have me.  

(Scroll Down to Watch More PNN-TV interviews from the March)

The bible says it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it will be for a rich man to make it into heaven. I didn’t understand what that really meant until now. The greed of money and power will cause you to lose track of the importance of life. The wealthy whose god has become money will screw their own family to have it. It doesn’t matter whose back you overwork to have it or whose life has to be snuffed out so you can keep it and it doesn’t matter who has to lose everything they have so they can continue to get rich and richer.

When we think they have done it all they (the wealthy) go and pull something else out of their bag of tricks or should I say their bag of harm to humanity and beast alike, in other words they will screw themselves over for the almighty dollar. The bible says in Hosea 4:6 “My people perish for a lack of knowledge”, in other words you die for what you don’t know. The bible also says in john 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. The truth in this world seems to always be hidden from the 99% of the population of inhabitants and is only revealed when it’s too late to do anything to change it. Well my story is no different but I say better late than never cause with truth we have the power to unify and fight back or succumb to the reality that greed of money and power rules with deadly impact.

“Fracking” is a word that you will want to know about, a word you will teach your family about, a word that should be talked about in your social networking, church settings, schools and everywhere else you go. This is the only way to get the word out and organize to change the course of devilment that is damaging the Earth that God gave us all dominion over to take care of.

You may be wondering what fracking is, you wouldn’t be the first because personally when I heard it for the first time I didn’t know what it was but after doing a google search of it I do now. Fracking is the hydraulic fracturing technology that the energy industry hopes to use to expand “natural gas” production in the United States. You may think this is harmless but wait until I tell you what it is doing in the environment and to mankind.

The reason why fracking is so harmful to the earth, it’s people and beast is because back in the 1940’s pipes were laid under the earths surface about 10,000 ft below, in those pipes is gas. When you see the fuel trucks at the gas station with the hose going from the truck to the ground they are pumping gas into the pipes that lead to the pumps where you are able to get fuel for your vehicles. In the 40’s it seemed like a safe thing to do right? Well now a discovery has been detected and in truth there isn’t really anything that can undo the error of man; the pipes are now leaking and the gas that is 10,000 ft below the earths surface has now seeped into the soil that you plant in, it’s in the water we drink and its in the air we breathe, not to mention in some places here in the United States when they turn on their faucets they expect water to flow out but instead sparks and fire is what they get because it is in over 500,000 wells across the US.

Yesterday August 3, 2013 I attended a march and protest in Richmond, California where the Chevron refinery is, even as I got out of the car you could smell the gas in the air and I thought at that moment what are the head officials at Chevron thinking about? Oh yeah they only think of money, greed and power to hell with the residents of Richmond. I stood listening to different ones talk about the injustice to mother earth and all I could think about was the people who suffer from breathing in the toxins with no where else to move, I thought about the ones who now suffer with debilitating illnesses all in the name of blood stained Amerikkkan dollars. Shame, shame, shame on them.

I wasn’t interested in what the activists had to say as much as I was the residents. As an activist we are deeply concerned about the well being but for the most part we live elsewhere and come to the aid of those that don’t feel they have a voice, so instead of keeping up with the march I broke off and went to interview some of the residents who are really suffering. Few declined and one in particular struck me, even though they shunned away from me and I understand why but I thought “what is the only way to keep the suffering, suffering?” by supporting them. Yes that is right, the Chevron Corporation is financially supporting the below-poverty stricken houseless shelter living residents of the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, I thought wow!

One man I spoke too was all too happy to thank us for taking a stand; he said, “He remembers it like it was yesterday. It was 6:15 and I was standing on my porch talking to my neighbor when I heard the first explosion and I asked my neighbor what was that? And before he could answer we both heard the second explosion and we rushed to my back yard and saw smoke rise 400 to 600 ft in the air the wind picked up and carried it north that was on August 6^th two years ago”. Milton Griffin

Right before that interview I spoke with the Mayor of Richmond Gayle Mc Laughlin, she said a lot of things but one of her concerns is for the safety and health of the residents of Richmond. “Our kids and community are traumatized as a result of this Chevron fiasco. We want Chevron to take responsibility for the negative impact this has had on our city.” She went on to state that “ 4.5 million metric tons of emission are given off every year” that is what’s in the air looming over this city like a cloud of doom. She said “1.2 million dollars is given to elections for those running for positions who are Chevron friendly”. Once again it proves that these big KKKorporate companies don’t give a damn about the 99%. If you’re lucky to find one that does it’s like a needle in a haystack.

I walked about three blocks down and saw a group of people standing out watching what they thought was a parade and so I stopped and spoke to another person who was willing to speak with me, her story broke my heart. Mayra Rodriguez said” we heard the first explosion and my children started crying because they didn’t know what was happening and neither did I but I was afraid too. Then minutes later we heard the second explosion and it was louder than the first one then people started running to see what was going on and that’s when we saw a huge cloud of smoke rising in the sky, my daughters thought the sky was on fire. They were traumatized and within hours both me and my kids were itching and my youngest daughter was breathing funny, I was so scared cause I didn’t know what was happening so I took her to the emergency room and was told that because I didn’t have insurance they couldn’t help her. So I went to Mexico and they told me what was wrong with her but they couldn’t give her the treatment because I wasn’t insured there and didn’t have the money to pay for the service. It wasn’t until recent that I was able to find out what was wrong with her and get her the help she needed”. I asked her if her 3 year old has Asthma and she said “yes”. She also stated that the other child who is 5 sees a therapist behind being traumatized. 

See Below for More PNN-TV Interviews at the Powerful Rally:

Nathaniel Arnold- Union Leader

Pastor Kamal Hassan

Wounded Knee DeOcampo

Mayor Gayle McLaughln

Pacific Island Skolaz-

(There will be a memorial service next Tuesday, August 13th at 2 pm at Richardson House at 365 Fulton, SF to honor Valerie Schwartz. Please join us in honoring this Poverty Hero, Valerie Schwartz, and her life.)

“I had a sense of unity to come and that the tear in the fabric of humanity is being repaired slowly, methodically, and with love and with a voice that will not allow itself to be stifled or censored any longer. "We are still here and more determined."

- Valerie Schwartz

“In retrospect, I have somehow, for reasons not yet revealed to me... survived a long and incremental suicide and today I can say that I have made a conscious decision to join the living...

I have re-found the desire to; live again, learn to live life on life's terms and the desire to become a whole person...

I'd like to be self-assured rather than arrogant, afraid, and unsure. I want to learn new things and re-learn some of the things I never truly grasped or held onto for whatever reasons... to find my voice.”

- Valerie Schwartz

“They don't even have a paupers graveyard anymore, I'm not sure what they do with the ashes of the homeless.”

- Valerie Schwartz

Dear Val,

I miss you. I hardly knew you, but for the brief period of time we came into each others' lives, you taught me so much. I wish I could have told you that, and I am sorry that I did not.  Sitting here after your passing, I am reading your stories from over ten years ago and crying. You are teaching me even after your departure from this place. I wish I had been brave enough while you were alive to get closer, to tell you that to me you were important, that you were brave and brilliant and I could feel your generosity and mentorship on the other end of the phone as we spoke.

I am struck by your fierce commitment to not give up hope on community, people, and connection even when this place and the people in your midst did not reach their arms out to you. You had been through so much. You came to POOR magazine in 1999, as a houseless, formerly incarcerated, recovering addict; and as an amazing writer and dedicated teller of truth and stories. Tiny told me that in 2003, when POOR magazine was in limbo, losing all of our grants and Mama Dee being diagnosed with heart disease, we lost track of you. But you came back into our lives in 2010 when POOR found a home at 2940 16^th Street.

 I met you in community newsroom in April of this year. You came to tell your story, and to ask us for our support. Speaking with you on the phone several times and writing to each other it struck me how even after everything you had been through (poverty, isolation, slander, violence, houselessness, incarceration; being outcasted, being harmed, and being alone) you still gave us, and gave me a chance. I am grateful for that chance as I sit here, realizing after knowing you my life will never be the same.

Working with you on a story, I admitted to you that this was my first time writing for POOR magazine. I remember you calling me more than once to encourage me, and to gently and firmly offer me guidance. Your wisdom about writing, about telling a story, about journalism, and about teaching deeply impacted me. Your generosity of spirit, of guidance, and of love sit on my chest and in my belly. My fingers are alight with your encouragement as I type now, looking at this document of your words I compiled so recently before you died. You called me “kiddo,” and told me I was making “a valiant effort,” and told me not to be scared if people were angered by my truthful words. You helped me learn how to edit, how to honor what needs to be honored through words, and what it means to tell stories that need to be told. Your impact on my life will unfurl with time, I am sure. Thank you for trusting me during a time when it was really hard to trust people. Thank you for trusting us enough to come to us with your stories and your fears. Your power and grace are profound and will not be forgotten.

I am reading your stories now. I am struck by your analysis, your allyship to so many, and the grace and holiness you saw and communicated from what you lived on the streets. Your honoring of Lula Bell Seymour and the way she prayed as she grilled anything she had and shared it on the streets of the tenderloin, your poignant and almost poetic ability to differentiate between the whole beauty that radiates from a person and the distracting beauty of the reflections of shattered glass that surrounds someone one as their head rests on concrete, and your unwillingness to give up on the right that everyone deserves to just treatment, including yourself, humble me. You have been an unsung poverty hero, and today and into the future you shall be sung. In a story you wrote about homeless deaths you said, “they don’t even have a pauper’s graveyard anymore, I’m not sure what they do with the ashes of the homeless.” We will honor you as we live, and scatter your teachings, your words, and your courageous love in this city that was your home. We will sing you here.

Stories written by Valerie Schwartz for Poor Magazine:

Even After all This, I Still Refuse to Hate You

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/4787

The Life...

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/997

We Need 10,000 Lawyers like Lynn Stewart...

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1109

IF DIRT WERE DOLLARS

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1145

The Homeless cannot Rest in Peace...

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1173

Looking Homeless

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/979

A Mama’s Love...

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1033

Open Letter to the SF Examiner aka Gavin Newsome’s Other Publicist

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1117

White Collar Time

http://www.poormagazine.org/node/1169

  The Joe Capers Legacy Project                                     

                                                                                                Contact:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           Naru Kwina     hiplearning@hotmail.com

                                                                           510-842-3324  

                                                   Leroy Moore kriphopnation@gmail.com

CELEBRATE THE LEGACY OF JOE CAPERS

ON AUG. 31 AT RECEPTION, 1-3PM

The Joe Capers Legacy Project will host a free community Reception on August 31, 2013 to celebrate Joe Capers Month – proclaimed by the City of Oakland as August 1-31 every year.    With an official Proclamation reading at this event, Joe Capers will be posthumously recognized as one of the creators of the seminal Oakland, CA music scene in the 80’s & early 90’s:

Celebrate the Legacy of Joe Capers

                1-3pm  ¨ Saturday, August 31^st, 2013                     

2168 40^th Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94601

Five blocks above Foothill Blvd

Reception highlights include artist performances aka Joy Sledge, Leroy Moore, tribute song to Joe Capers by Naru, and James L Richard II and a video trailer of the upcoming documentary on Joe Caper’s life.  And, throughout the month other tributes will honor Joe’s extraordinary work in the local music industry and dedicated service to the blind communities in Oakland & SF Bay Area.  

A blind multi-instrumentalist and music producer, Joe Capers helped shape a rich & soulful musical signature of Funk, NeoSoul, and Hip-Hop, out of his Oakland Hills J Jam Studio - the first completely accessible studio in the SF Bay area.   Through deed and example, Joe served as a tireless advocate for persons with disabilities.

With Joe as impresario, J Jam Studio became a staple in Oakland California music scene from its inception in August 1989.  By providing affordable studio time to musicians of color long before home-recording studios became ubiquitous. Joe led his avant-garde Oakland cadre to jump-start a creative wave of independent music.  Recordings on which Joe served as principal Sound Engineer went on to become Platinum and Gold selling records.  Many J Jam imprint bands and artists went on to become R&B, Soul, and early Hip-Hop legends such as MC Hammer, Toni, Tony, Tone, Dawn from Envouge, and Digital Underground, just to name a few, garnering acclaim worldwide.  

             J-Jam Studio Master reels are a playlist & historic soundtrack for a golden era of         serious party music in Oakland.  Without knowing it… today’s Oaklandish music producers, performers, and artists have inherited, sampled, and riffed on J-Jam beats — all beneficiaries of Joe Caper’s musical Legacy.

                                                                                             #  #  #

Listen to The new song by the Black Kripple called Kraving! KRAVING (Song) Written & Sang by Leroy F. Moore Jr. Produced by thundertainment and binkiwoi  Lyrics Below

KRAVING (Song)

Written & Sang by Leroy F. Moore Jr.

Produced by thundertainment and binkiwoi

I want to tell you a story

Kripple boy reaching adulthood

Living in the hood no one thought he could

Busting out of societal box kicking in the mosh pit

To spit his own Hip-Hop & he shouts

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Spraying mace in your face

Black & Blue all over you

Taking out our oppressors one by one

The state has lose Krip-Hop has won

Limp it roll it march it on down

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Streets burning up

Occupy get out of our way

CP MS, MD everyone follow me

Freak what the politicians have to say

Click click all in your ear

No bill collector on the phone

No rent to pay

Pop pop pop Krip-Hop Krip Rock is here to stay

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Alternative Hip-Hop Punk

Kounterclockwise

Mixing up the funk

Kaya & Deacon eye to eye

Kripple Boy Kripple man

Living on SSI but he got a plan

No wings he still can fly

On concrete banging his head shouting

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Krip-Hop Krip Rock

Dear Peter,

I read your blog post about my city.  I am a 4^th generation San Franciscan whose family has seen many changes.  I am sure your remarks were fairly typical of newcomers such as yourself to the city.  Rather than respond to you by using words such as entitled, obnoxious, self-absorbed, insensitive, oblivious etc., let me just say that you did the right thing by removing your post.  It is like the old saying about the guy walking around with his fly open: everybody knows it except him.  Fortunately, in your case, you had sense enough to zip up.

You cited many things you deem unpleasant and inconvenient about my city: the homeless, traffic, bikes, the opposite sex and the social scene.  I'm not sure if you are aware of this but the tech boom has meant evictions for many elders and people with disabilities in the city.  People are literally being intimidated out of their homes because real estate speculators want to rent to—you guessed it—folks like you.  So, the elderly woman on a fixed income who has lived in the city for 40 years or more, gets evicted, and as a result, gets sick and ends up in substandard housing.  Talk about being inconvenienced.  Or imagine if a family is evicted, the effect it has on children.  So Peter, in regards to being inconvenienced, don't feel bad, you are not alone.

It is important that you do not fall into the gentrifier trap that many newcomers to San Francisco do.  You have to know where you are at, because you obviously don't know. San Francisco is the epicenter of the Asian American movement in this country.  Perhaps you have never heard of Manilatown and the International Hotel.  Manilatown was a neighborhood adjacent to Chinatown that was demolished to make room for financial district expansion.  Our friends from the financial district just could not bear to see elderly Filipino and Chinese folks obstructing their views so a campaign was put in motion to rid them from the neighborhood.  What an inconvenience to those elders who had worked all their lives whose only wish was to live with dignity in their community. 

When the International Hotel, the last remaining vestige of Manilatown, was slated for demolition (to make way for a parking lot), the elders and community fought back and delayed the eviction for 10 years.  Tenants were pulled from their units and dragged down staircases. Elders, most of whom were Chinese and Filipino, were left with no place to go--again, another example of inconvenience.  After decades of sitting empty, the site of the old I-Hotel was replaced with a new I-Hotel, providing elders with 104 units of affordable senior housing.  Perhaps you didn't hear about this, or didn't take an Asian American history class.  If you did, you would have seen Curtis Choy's excellent movie documenting this event called, “Fall of the I-Hotel”.

Some of the things we learned from the International Hotel struggle were honoring our elders, that the road we travel and the advantages we enjoy was a result of somebody paving the way, paying the price for us though sacrifice and eldership.  As an Asian man, you should know this.  Some things, such as humility and respect, cannot be gleaned through an app, the click of a mouse or through the tinted glass window of a google bus. It is not without irony that your blog post came in August, the 36th anniversary of the historic eviction.

You're a newcomer here and you must realize that the city doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around us all.  The city didn't just come about the day you arrived.  I urge you to be a part of the solution to the city's problems by coming with respect.  If not for the Asian American movement—which owes much to the African American movement—you wouldn't be where you're at right now.  I urge you to look into organizations such as the Manilatown Heritage Foundation, SOMCAN, United Playaz, the Chinese Progressive Association, Jobs For Justice and the Bill Sorro Housing Program—just a few among many community organizations--to get a better sense of the city you now call home.  Perhaps you can embrace the community with humility by contributing to the very real, very hard work and missions of these organizations.  It would be looked upon as an act of good will.  Being here makes you a part of the city's Asian American community, and speaking on behalf of the historic International Hotel struggle of San Francisco that involved both Chinese and Filipino seniors--a struggle that received worldwide attention--we look for accountability from you to the community you are now a part of.  Whether you like it or not, whether you want to accept it or not, you are now a part of San Francisco's Asian American Community--which includes the poor, the homeless, those with little or no resources, elders, children--many of who are being evicted from their homes.  The question is: Will you be accountable?  How will you help us?  How will you show your maturity?  How will you show humility?  We will be watching.

The branding of our city as the playground for upwardly young tech workers and real estate speculators breezing by, carefree, while the rest of us subsidize their lifestyles, has persisted long enough.  We too, are being inconvenienced. 

So Peter, take a look at yourself and the place you find yourself in.  Ask yourself, who's being inconvenienced by your presence?  When you look around, what do you see?

Ps: You won't find it in an app

Sincerely,

Tony Robles

4^th Generation San Franciscan, Board Member of Manilatown Heritage Foundation and Co-Editor of POOR Magazine

Editors Note: - it is actually much further on in the herstoric hunger strike as of press time but it took us several days to receive this letter from our reporter locked up behind the plantation at Pelican Bay

Today is the 37th day of the prison hunger/work strike and still many continue to go without food, not just in Pelican Bay SHU, but throughout California prisons. There has been one strike related death in Corcoran SHU, where on July 22nd a prisoner named Billy Sell lost his life while struggling for Human Rights. The prison immediately attempted to cover up this death by calling it a "suicide". We prisoners do not believe the states' vile propaganda, especially when it pertains to peoples struggles. We know that they always call strike related deaths "suicides" but WE DON'T BELIEVE IT!! During the 2011 Hunger Strikes CDCR covered up four strike related deaths by calling them "suicides", it's not SUICIDE IT'S TORTURE!!

As of today Sacramento and Governor Brown in particular refuse to negotiate with our mediation team and meet our 5 core demands and for this many more may succumb to more deaths, and many more will have health problems the rest of their lives because of having to go without food for so long. What kind of a country allows it's prisoners to starve to death? What kind of a system tortures people just because they're poor?

We continue to face retaliation, we have received write-ups and two months added to our time for our participation in the peaceful protest, for refusing torture we get 60 more days added to be tortured- What kind of sick people run such a system??

La Lucha Continua!!