Story Archives 2014

March 12, 2014

A letter to the world with chaos and madness—
You have isolated me with loneliness and sadness.
You say to me

'I punish you with “Eternity”
Now I walk away and throw away the key.

For you, Freedom there will never be.
I'll isolate your mind
Tear down your body and spirit...
Ultimately robbing you of your identity

Killing you of all that you are—
You will think of the world no more!
For your world Now Will Be
Solid concrete metal doors,
Gloomy days rainy nights

And ooh yes, I forbid sunlight...
As I patiently watch your soul
Struggle and fight
I'll take everything from you
That you have taken from us
Two times three times over,
Until we say it's enough.'

A letter to the world with chaos and madness,
You have isolated me with loneliness and sadness.
You've thrown away the key...
Giving me Eternity.
Freedom there will never be...
Now you want my mind, body, spriit, and identity?
No more me you wish to see...
Now who's the real killer of humanity?
Who's in charge of empathy and sincerity?
Who gives away solid concrete and metal doors

Gloomy days and rainy nights
And ooh yes, forbids one of sunlight...
And who gets a kick out of watching a soul
Struggle and fight!

And now you judge what's wrong and right.

Letter to the world with chaos and madness. 

**Mr. Ramos has been in solitary confinement at the Pelican Bay SHU for 15 years straight.

I find myself in a city of searching.  I didn’t just get here, didn’t arrive by car, plane, or boat; or by the lure of a tech job.  Nor did I get here by accident.  My family has a long history in the city.  My great grandfather was a San Francisco fireman, my grandfather, a Muni driver.  My father’s people ran the streets of Fillmore for decades, starting in the 1930’s.  I have family that was part of the African American journey that weaved its way through the Sierra Mountains.  But I find myself in my city, searching.  The faces of the past are gone, by way of eviction and with them their stories.   I search the streets for a face, a face that knows me, a face that sees me, not only in the present but a face with eyes that look into my face and say, with unsaid words: I remember you.  Didn’t you go to George Washington High School?  Didn’t you hang out in such and such a place?  Eyes that connect dots written in a face, each dot a memory, a song triggering other memories that are like being submerged in cool water.  It is beautiful to experience the spontaneous beauty of memories that come out of hibernation and see light and breathe; and when you come across someone whose face you know in a city that no longer knows you or acknowledges you, it’s one of those rare moments when life is once again lived.

I search for an unevicted face, an unbeaten face, a face unriddled by unsolvable riddles—a face that just is.  I walk down the block from my job.  In the skyline invading my eyes is the twitter headquarters where any number of bluebirds are perched.  I hear no music.  I keep walking and suddenly I hear music.  I follow the sound.  It’s James Brown, then it’s George Benson, then it’s the Dramatics, and Marvin Gaye.  I must be close to heaven, I think to myself.  I walk and walk and I get to the music.  It is coming from the garbage room of an apartment complex where the smell of rotten vegetables mingles with scraps of this and that in heaps of discarded and forgotten matter that no longer matters, heading for a place that is out of sight, out of mind.

A man emerges from the corner of the garbage room.  It’s a black brother who looks like he has worked the land. It’s a shame he’s in the garbage room of an apartment complex and not in nature.  He smiles at me.  Part of his front tooth is missing resembling an axe blade.  His eyes see me, sharing its light.  “Say man” I say.  “My pop used to listen to that song.  It’s from the Breezin’ Album, right?”  The man looked at me.  He was somewhat muscular in his work outfit, probably mid 50’s. “Yeah, that’s the album that got Benson a grammy” he replied.  And we spoke about how George Benson had been nominated year after year for a grammy and had lost to Stevie Wonder and Lou Rawls.  And he smiles and his smile became my smile.

The brother was from the city.  He had worked in record shops in the past, in the Bayview off of 3^rd Street and on Fillmore Street.  I remember my uncle telling me about the record shops he went to years ago where you could listen to albums in a booth before buying them.  And more songs came out of that speaker that was somehow mounted in the corner near the trash compactor. And the brother and I talked music, talked jazz, talked soul, talked the music of our lives written in smiles and faces above the drone of cranes invading the sky and looming shadows of skyscrapers where no light comes through.

And slowly that garbage room turned into a record shop.  And the music became louder and the walls began to quiver with movement in our skin and blood.  In the corner stood my uncle, sampling a record.  He is young and music is written upon his face in a score that cannot be erased or deleted.  And the brother walked over to me.  No longer in a janitorial uniform, but dressed sharp.  In his hand is a record. “Check this out” he says.  I take the record.  It slips from the jacket like a newborn.  I put it on the turntable and put the needle in the grooves.  The sound seeps into my skin.  It is the sound of the brother’s life.  I listen and let it take me away from this place.

Then, somebody turned on the trash compactor.

(Photo from www.foundsf.org)

© 2014 Tony Robles

SAN FRANCISCO-- In the heart of the Mission, on 24th Street. between the sparkle of Valencia Street and the few fruterias left on Mission Street, Jesús Sanchez, a Latino immigrant and Mission resident came home Wednesday night to find that the locks to the unit had been changed and all his belongings had been removed.

Because Sanchez was never served with notice nor given the opportunity to defend his ability to stay, it is an illegal eviction. Sanchez demands that his rights as a tenant be respected and that he be let back into the unit and resume his tenancy.

Sanchez has been living in the unit as a subtenant for 18 months.  In January Sanchez contacted PG&E to report a gas leak. The utility company shut off the gas until a repair was made. Sanchez says one of the building owners turned the gas back on without addressing the leak.

The master tenant in the unit attempted to verbally evict him for reporting the leak and began harassing him to leave. On Monday March 10th, Sanchez says both the master tenant and the owner Eric Dabanne verbally attacked him screaming that he leave without giving him proper notice.

On Wednesday when he got home, not only were the locks changed. Through the window the counselor and the tenant could see that the carpet had been pulled up and repairs had begun in the unit. On Thursday tenant and counselor contacted the owner to demand he be allowed back into the unit and he refused.

Sanchez is one of hundreds of tenants and subtenants feeling the brunt of gentrification in SF manifesting itself through harassment, abuse, illegal evictions and ultimately displacement. Building managers, landlords and real estate speculators continue to profit as they bring in higher income tenants.

Leticia Arce, CJJC counselor working on the case said,  “We see these kinds of cases all the time, immigrant and low income tenants kicked out, and being replaced by higher income tenants who can pay up to double and triple the rent.”

Sanchez' story highlights the need for stronger protections for tenants and protections for the growing number of sub-tenants who live together and pool their money due to rising rent prices and less affordable housing.

“Jesús is one more tenant standing up against displacement,“ says Dawn Phillips, co-director of programs at CJJC and lead author of “Development Without Displacement,” a soon-to-be-released report that contributes to the conversation and understanding of gentrification and displacement from the perspective of a frontline organization working in neighborhoods most impacted by the crisis.

“[Cases like these] are why we see dealing with gentrification threatening our neighborhoods to be our most urgent work right now,” added Phillips.

#StopDisplacement  #Housingisahumanright #stoptenantharrasment

#####

I truly believe that in losing the black community, San Francisco is losing its spirit, heart and soul.  Spirit, heart and soul—do those qualities matter or count for anything anymore?  In today’s city, those words seem to be analog relics to be collected in cold storage and looked at or revisited at the next theme party.  It was the city’s black community that inspired and fused—through music, art, folk wisdom and struggle—a distinct San Francisco culture that was an attitude of resistance and respect—and we all became part of the black way of seeing and hearing and breathing—that black way of feeling that reaches into the most insensate parts of our being, until settling into the marrow of our bones and song of our spirits.

Perhaps that was the all of it, the black feeling that was in the air that became a part of us, through our pores and in the words we couldn’t say—words stuck down in the deepest parts of us that told the story of our people.  And in the feeling of the black community and its music and heart  and mama’s and daddies and aunts and uncles and extended aunts and uncles and in the recalling of stories of down home bellies filled with sadness and joy came the words of my uncle, the poet Al Robles who wrote of that feeling:

                                             Sometimes my heart is black

                                             And sometimes my heart is Filipino

                                             And sometimes my heart is

                                             Black and Filipino at the same time

The black feeling of the down home, the community, is what is dying in our city.  One by one the down home places are getting pushed out; another elder evicted—another death of the spirit that reverberates through the bones of the people who still feel, whose senses haven’t been dulled in the digital, virtual, or just plain mindlessness. 

And the feeling that was once here is being drained from the city like blood drained from a body that once held life.  And all around us are those ready to converge on the bones and pick them clean until nothing is left.  And the new places crop up whose air is sterile, whose fixtures and tables and windows contain no layer of dirt, grease, fingerprints—history.    And on their walls you might see the faces of our people in black and white—jazz artists—Louie Armstrong, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, various blues singers; and cultural icons like Che and Frida etc.  Or you might see reproductions of our faces, and our children’s faces on murals on walls that are now barriers, symbols of gentrification.  Our faces are reproduced in photographs and walls but not in skin. 

And in the eyes of those images of us there is the feeling as the walls and spaces in our community become smaller.  Those black and brown faces on the walls are now safe shadows in the backdrop of a new coffee shop advertising a new blend while people stare into their computers.

 © 2014 Tony Robles

Krip-Hop Nation (KHN) – So glad to finally getting a chance to interview you.  You had a health scare some time ago.  How are you feeling now?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  Hello, thank you for inviting me to do this interview.  And yes, I did have a health scare nearly 2 years ago.  I am feeling good now and getting healthier everyday.   However, the thing about “the scare” that happened didn’t just happen it was a gradual decline in my health over the years.  I had been having the symptoms of my heart condition and other serious health conditions for quite some time I just didn’t pay attention to them.

KHN:  Do you think we support each other in the underground?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  I think there are many folks in the underground/independent Hip Hop scene that do support each other but I also think that we can always do more to help one another and lift each other up.  There’s always room for progression.  At the same time I do believe that there are certain scenarios/situations and individuals/people or groups that don’t support at all.  I also think that positionality, power and privilege plays a role in how someone would get more

KHN:  As a poet what are your main goals?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  As a poet, my main goal is always to tell my story and to express my feelings.  There’s nothing like being able to express your hurts, wounds, struggles, joys, tears and love on stage.  By nature, I’m honestly shy in person but when I’m on stage I am able to unshed, release and let loose.  I am able to show my fears and my vulnerability.  For some reason, it is easier for me to speak my truth through poetry than it is for me to be able to speak it one on one with someone.  Poetry helps me to find my voice.

KHN:  I read that you are writing your autobiography tell us more and why is it so important to put this out?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  I have learned from my mentors that it is important to tell our story; otherwise someone is going to tell it for us.  For me to tell my story means that I am claiming my space, saying that “I am here” and “I exist”.  Growing up, I have often felt silenced and unheard… writing and performing has always been a way for me to tell people that I am here, to voice myself and to tell my story.  Telling my story is also very healing for me, it helps me to “let go” as it is important for me to share a part of myself… it’s my contribution to my community.

KHN:  In your view what is Hip-Hop today and what is a Hip-Hop activist?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  Hip Hop is alive.  I don’t necessarily like it when folks say that Hip Hop is dead because it isn’t dead.  Perhaps to the mainstream world, what is being heard on radio and on mainstream media it appears to be dead but the culture and the true essence of Hip Hop is very much alive… It is alive around the world with so many people contributing to Hip Hop’s purpose and principals.  As far as Hip Hop Activist - well, I always claim myself as that since I do utilize Hip Hop as a vehicle to create radical change and to organize within our communities. 

KHN:  What has changed in your life after your health situation?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  After my hospitalization and heart scare in April 2012, I had 3 major surgeries/procedures within the last 2 years, which include a pacemaker, implant and heart ablations.  I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB) and most recently Supra Ventricular Tachycardia (SVT).  Since 2012, I’ve dedicated my life to living a healthy lifestyle with change of eating habits and daily healthy exercises.  However, what most people don’t understand is that my condition isn’t necessarily a biological issue.  SVT is an electrical issue of the heart.  While, I’ve changed a lot in my life like being vegetarian and etc.… and while I am no longer diabetic, have no high cholesterol and no high blood pressure and even being off a majority of medications… arrhythmia’s are quite different.  There are many things I do on my own end to continue living healthy to prevent any tragedies or incidents to happen again but at the same time my heart condition is a lot more complicated than people realize.  I have various invisible disabilities, one of them being my heart condition.  In the last few months alone, I’ve had many SVT episodes which include dizziness, shortness of breath, and etc.… last month alone I fainted while out at an event.  While I am working with the best holistic practitioners and cardiologists to help me sort out what my next steps will be, my life has changed where I must have accommodations met, ensure my own safety and well-being, and know my disability rights.

KHN:  You worked on some video documentaries please explain some of them?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  I wouldn’t say I am a professional documentarian but on some activist exposure trips and travels from some of the tours/performances I’ve done I have filmed short docs about them and the things I have learned while I was on the trips.  meeting people from different communities, their struggles and the organizing they do for themselves, their lands and their people.

KHN:  In your workshops/presentations, what do you talk about?

DJ Kuttin Kandi: I do various different workshops, sometimes on Hip Hop, sometimes on Wom*n in Hip Hop, on Poetry but whatever the subject I always connect it along the intersections of race, class, gender, abilities, etc. and connecting it to power, privilege and oppression. 

KHN:  I have to ask this, what do you think about Krip-Hop Nation and have you your work talked about your health and how the Hip-Hop arena treat people with disabilities?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  I believe Krip Hop Nation is important because it and you honors and embraces musicians with disabilities.. bringing to the forefront all of us who are here, who have been here… It is a necessary movement for too often we are silenced, shunned, shamed when the truth is we are alive, living, resisting, surviving as we are thriving. 

It took me a long time to share my health with folks.  When public announcements came out about my heart condition and heart surgery, pacemaker implant in 2012 everyone had a huge reaction.  But I’ve been having health issues long before 2012 and have been actively trying to work on it for years.  When people see a large wom*n of color the fat-shaming, sizism and fatphobia happens… immediately there were forums of so much fat-shaming about me… about how I wasn’t working on my health.. then the interview I had… I revealed a lot about my mental health.. sharing even though I was scared of the feedback.  And of course there were the ignorant comments.. again the abelism.  There are many providers and in the health care industry who don’t know or understand invisible disabilities… so of course again when they see a large wom*n of color they immediately place judgment… assume I haven’t been working on my health for a long time… but because I’m not that standard healthy “size” they assume I haven’t been working on it at all.  Plus they ignore all the other struggles I’ve had that intersect with the heart disease.

As far as how Hip Hop treats people with disabilities - I think its not limited to Hip Hop, of course “it’s bigger than Hip Hop”.. but I can say when it comes to the abelism - it does takes place, the ignorance, the discrimination that happens.. the ablest micro aggressions when folks don’t realize they are being discriminating.. when spaces aren’t inclusive.. when disability justice is secondary to all other struggles issues.. it happens… it happens all the time.  And it’s disheartening to me when even social justice and conscious folks who leave us out of the justice movements… that’s the part that’s heartbreaking to me.  The micro aggressions are real.

KHN:  What are the main issue that Hip-Hop have to deal with?

DJ Kuttin Kandi:  It would be hard for me to pinpoint a main issue when it comes to Hip Hop.  Hip Hop is a beautiful culture filled with beautiful people who contribute, participate and celebrate it… but it’s also complex.  It’s not perfect.  And when it comes to taking on issues… I believe it all intersects… and I believe just as bell hooks believes that in order to end one oppression we must end all oppressions.  So as we work on one issue, we must understand connections.. the roots.. and how it’s all part of a system… a white supremacist patriarchy system.  And of course we all can’t take on everything (even tho we are strong warriors and we know we can)… because we also must take care of ourselves.  we must be aware of activism burn out.  However, we can be part of conversations… continued conversations amongst one another… where we critique, challenge, interrogate and be able to be uncomfortable… to be able to understand and to learn from one another.   I believe if we do this.. we are taking down one issue at a time while working on it simultaneously too.

KHN:  What are you working on now?

DJ Kuttin Kandi: Right now, I’m working on balance.  Balancing my life, so that I can be here for the revolution.  So that I can continue on with the struggle… building my strength everyday.. the spiritual, emotional and physical strength… preparing that warrior in me…. because the battles ahead only get much harder.  and I’m going to be ready for it.

KHN:  Any last words and how can people follow your work?

DJ Kuttin Kandi: People can follow me at kuttinkandi.net, twitter, Facebook page or my instagram. But most of all… you can meet me in person.. I like the heart to heart connections.

Co-editors Note: On March 31st @ 6p Join the Protest Against more fetishizing Corporate Sports Mascots in front of The Oakland Coliseum

In Newsroom for March 2014 I was ecstatic listening to Josh Cadji talk about his family from Morocco yet they do not identify as African, instead middle-class Jewish. He grew up in Los Angeles, and lived a life of joy. He does not like the injustices against the Native Americans within this country. I asked him why he cares so much for a race that is not his own, never having lived on a reservation. He explained that he sees himself as an ally not directly affected by the Indians' racial conflicts, not as victim but supporter.

Josh is hosting an event in the Bay Area. Food drinks and fun to raise money for the organization and advertise the beauty of diversity. The theme is called "IM NOT YOUR INDIAN ANYMORE: FUNDRAISING PARTY" (Party ccurred this past weekend, March 15th). There are protests against the Cleveland Indians' use of racist anti-Native images at the Oakland Coliseum and AT&T Park, March 31st and April 25th. For all the information you can go to the main website of AIM (American Indian Movement). You can follow up with this history to get a backdrop of what is going on in the world of indigenous organizing and life.

AIM's publications, images, merchandise, and logos are intended to be used only by American Indian Movement affiliated Chapters, AIM members, and AIM support groups and related organizations found to be in good standing with the American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council, AIMGGC. AIM has an aggressive copyright policy and has to keep their publications and etc. really closely protected.

They are forced to take this action due to the fact that several individuals, wannabes, frauds, phonies, rip-off artists, etc. for some time have expropriated their Trademarked intellectual and cultural property rights. With deceit and treachery, they have attacked the leadership of the American Indian Movement. Additionally, they have carried on a campaign to foment disruption and confusion among our friends and supporters nationally and worldwide. Moreover, some are soliciting financial support by using the American Indian Movement and/or the Leonard Pettier Defense Committee to line their own pockets.

Membership in the American Indian Movement is open to all people of goodwill nationally and internationally upon request.

AIM policies about knowing who they organize with has everything to do with people appropriating native images, native culture, and even native social movements for liberation. The event Josh helped to host this past weekend deals with similar issues of cultural approriation and undermining the dignity of American Indian peoples.

Thank you Josh for being a thoughtful ally!

Co-editors Note: Papa Bear Transitioned to his Spirit Journey on or around March 10th- POOR Magazine will be holding a humble homegoing ceremony for him on the street corner where he lived and worked at Geary & Van Ness on Tuesday, March 25th @ 7:30pm - bring a flower or a prayer to share. Papa Bear, a survivor of the US Military Industrial Complex and the poor people hate law called Sit-Lie, shared his monthly reports of living and working as a panhandler in the racist classist streets of Amerikkka every month at POOR Magazine's Peoples Newsroom we call Community Newsroom- here is his last report, translated by PNN Poverty skola Leontyne Smith-

As people know, Papa Bear comes to newsroom every month with a report straight from the streets of Frisco, as tired as he is from pan-handling all day and getting harrassed by the police. He said recently the police have expidited their patrols to three to five minutes. They are taking photos of the dope dealers and beating them up.

Even though he talked about the usual stuff that goes on in the Tenderloin he brought up the problems with power washing. A lot of people are dying because of what the Department of Public Works put in their washing chemicals. Some people think this is happening on purpose to demean the homeless and make them know the are supposed to be inferior.

I read on Google the only harm that happens to the homeless is self-inflicted, and they should just die without food and shelter. This month at Newsroom the news about how homeless folks in the room are getting treated is absurd. At shelters they make you sign in at five oclock in the morning and you are never gauranteed a bed. They are ususally infected with bed bugs which are really hard to get rid of and usually you get bites all over your body instantly.

Other people in the room talked about how the staff are worse than the clients, and they do not care. Being that i have been working with Poor Magazine, a lot of people were homeless and/or living in low income housing, which in itself costs way too much now.

At the end of Papa Bear's update, he talked about getting another warrant which is number nineteen now and he is aiming for twenty. Police have broken his ribs for sleeping on the streets and now they are even closing parks just to give homeless people a hard time. Golden Gate Park closes one hour before midnight, and that is making trouble with people enjoying the earth and people who need to sleep there too. Parks are nature and that is something that brings peace and contentment of mind. I used to love writing in my journal in the cuts of the trees in Golden Gate Park when i was a teenager. That was my escape from everybody and everything. It was like hiding out in a little forrest where nobody could find me. Something about breathing in the trees, flowers and the beautiful plants.

I am not homeless and I am seriously mad as hell because nature is a safe-haven for some people. Papa Bear has been homeless for a long time after serving his country for half his life and what does he get? Racism and warrants, wow.
 

Last month’s Community Newsroom at POOR was in honor of Black History Month ( even though we know at POOR Magazine, that every month is Black History) One of our guest speakers, named Kinara Sankofa, blew the crowd away. Being that I graduated from an Africana Studies program his name automatically intrigued me because Sankofa is an important part of black history. Though our guest did not talk about the meaning of ‘Sankofa’ I thought it was important to understand the history context of this historically significant name. According to Black Student Union coordinators at the University of Illinois:

“The concept of ‘Sankofa’ is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa. ‘Sankofa’ is expressed in the Akan language as ’se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki.’Literally translated, this means ‘it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.’ ‘Sankofa’ teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone, or been stripped of can be reclaimed, revived, preserved, and perpetuated. Visually and symbolically, ‘Sankofa’ is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg (symbolizing the future) in its mouth. This ties with our motto: ‘In order to understand our present and ensure our future, we must know our past.’ “

Kinara Sankofa is an inspiring artist, entrepreneur and leader. He has been writing poetry for years. When I asked him what kind of poetry he writes, he said his biggest dream is to write about love and the beauty of the black women. He went on to explain how valuable black women are and that we deserve to have good men in our lives. He moved to Australia for about twenty years where he fell in love with a woman who inspired much of his poetry. He also talked about how men are disconnected from their femininity. He said that for men to cry and show vulnerability is actually a sign of strength, not weakness. In an insightful linguistic flip, he used the term “white inferiority” instead of white supremacy, and he made it clear that we have to stop blaming other people for our problems. He said that we need to educate the next generation of powerful black revolutionary leaders by teaching our history in our communities (such as the often forgotten fact that Oklahoma used to be the black Wall Street) and celebrating people such as Malcolm X, Assata, Muhammad.

Among his many accomplishments, Kinara Sankofa has also written a book, and started a clothing line. Black Power Clothing has a beautiful logo of a black fist with African colors. Visit his website at www.ashaybythebay.com.

He closed out his presentation at the POOR magazine newsroom with a poem entitled “The Coldest Summer Ever.” He captured the moment with his last sentence in the poem saying, ‘niggas’ spelled backwords is ‘saggin.’  This poem was awesome and really got the newsroom thinking. There were no disagreements with anything he was preaching. After his poem, we finished with a drum circle and a prayer. What can you get that is better than that?! Even though February is the shortest month of the year, we celebrated Black History Month with unity and community at POOR magazine.

Rise Up and Walk.

That's what Mom said.
But the thing is, I couldn't--
I was already dead.
It isn't like I didn't know how,
I used to love walking...One foot
After the other, just eating
Up the distance between where I was and
Where I wanted to be...

It was good, good to walk,
And as I walked and sometimes stopped to talk to people I met,
Or the animals I'd see along the way, I would
Even have
A word or 2 for the flowers
Along my path,
The ancient trees who leant me shade, or
Clouds that trailed lazily along with me.

Sometimes I even spoke to the Man.
The one who wanted me to get up,
And get walking again. I assume that's the reason
He was talking to me now.
When I thought about it and remembered how
I would sometimes ask him for things, beg Him for help.
Curse Him in my pain, and he would take it
All in stride, as long as I
Kept on walking.

So I guess that explains why He told me to do it.
Thank You.