Story Archives 2016

pstrongSweeping UnHoused San franciscans like we were trash/strongbr / On the last Friday in Black Herstory Month and fresh from the scab of the million dollar corporate sports giveaway that was the stupid bowl the City launched a wholesale attack on unhoused San Franciscans still remaining on Division street, most of them, Black Unhoused San Franciscans, whose homes were stolen by privatized lies of public housing theft, useless section 8 certificate giveawaysnbsp; and greedy landlords./p p ldquo;They raised the rent on my Bayview apt by $300.00 dollars in one month, and the new Lennar homes in HP turned me down cause i didnrsquo;t pass their credit check,rdquo; Lena Smith, one of many unhoused San Franciscans who were part of our WeSearch team on Division street. Lena continued, ldquo;the city offered us all a bed in the new pier 80 warehouse, I went there twice this week but they said there were no more beds.rdquo; nbsp;/p p nbsp;Lena was one of dozens of unhoused San Franciscans who received a 72 hour notice on Wednesday, Feb 23rd stating that they must vacate Division street and that their belongings would be seized if they remained on Division street, due to so-called public health concerns./p pThese racist, classist stereotypes were ironic considering the majority of the unhoused, poverty skolaz who participated in the a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/node/5470"WeSearch project on Division st/a were careful to keep their areas clean and were constantly sweeping and organizing in and around their tents. It also made me think about the raced and classed notions of Houselessness and how many housed, tech workers with resources rarely clean their apartments but donrsquo;t receive citations, inspections, or warnings of eviction, not to mention all the other stereotypes they say about unhoused peoples like we are all on drugs, when so many housed, rich white people are addicted to substances and no-one inspects their apartments or condos and serves them eviction notices./p pstrongSimilarily, how did the US Inc adopt a notion of cleanliness that meant the lack of humans. How did so many of our cities in stolen turtle Island all become a Starbucks cafe?/strong/p p On Thursday leading up to the sweep threat Amy Farah Weiss from the St Francis Homelessness Challenge who had been working to get tents and blankets to unhoused folks for the last several weeks launched a vigil at Division st./p pAt 5am on Friday morning a small crew of housing activists and us unhoused revolutionaries from Coalition on Homelessness, POOR Magazine and conscious community members and Rainbow market worker- owners who launched a project called coffee Not Cops joined the vigil on Division st and Harrison to cop watch and DPW watch so that the impending ldquo;sweepsrdquo; of human beings did not happen./p p ldquo;Im just trying to help, we arenrsquo;t here to hurt anyone,rdquo; After nothing happening for several minutes we received word that a ldquo;sweeprdquo; was happening a couple blocks away. When we arrived the DPW trucks followed closely by SFPD claimed they were there to ldquo;helprdquo;, ldquo; We are just trying to keep things clean.rdquo; oddly after we arrived they didnrsquo;t really do anything to clean and were pretty defensive and n typical plantation politricks move of the United Snakes the workers were mostly men of color in the position of ldquo;helpingrdquo; ( read moving) the belongings of other unhoused men and women of color./p p After about 30 more minutes, we got word that the sweeps were called off for this morning. Later that day another ldquo;sweep ldquo; was threatened, in both cases people and media showed up and sweeps were called off, sort of./p pldquo;They were out here all day , cleaning uprdquo; reporter Bob X another WeSearcher and resident of Division, ldquo; they power-washed the sidewalks with a chemical made by the same people that make round-up (by Monsanto). They continued to circle all day, taking our belongings and claiming they were trash, claiming we would get them back but we all know thats a lie, ldquo; he concluded./p pBy mid-day a newly wet division street was pretty much the same with a few less tents. Police officers were telling any remaining folks to go the big shelter in the sky aka Pier 80, a huge weird jail-like place down at the bay which had been filled for the last few days. The tragic day was surreal, DPW trucks were constantly circling. We got word that another 5pm sweep would include riots cops and more DPW workers, and again the media and the people showed up, even the Amilcar Perez Lopez March wound over to Division street to stand in witness.nbsp; In the end, although there werenrsquo;t necessarily sweeps of tents, there was non-stop intimidation, threats and the lingering question, ldquo;where could people go?rdquo;/p pIn the middle of all this sweepingnbsp; there was a weird emergency hearing held at City Hall. Poltricksters spoke in soft tones about other options and things they were tryin to do to help, not hurt. I approached the mayors handlers and told them about a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/homefulness"Homefulness/a- a poor and indigenous people-led solution to Homelessness. And then..../p pstrong24 hours later everyone was gone... /strong/p pBy the next morning - all of Division street#39;s unhoused San Francisco residents were swept like we were bundles of trash. Now we are only a messy memory, and yet we are still here./p pNow we are hiding in doorways, in backs of buildings,, dumpsters, outskirts and corners of things unseen. Deeper and deeper into concrete jungle creavases, just trying to be ok./p pnbsp;br / nbsp;/p

pstrongStolen Equity-Stolen Housing Tour Stop #1: The FillNoMo/strong/p pAt 1:30 pm on the last Friday in Black Herstory Month after struggling to Copwatch at the sweeps of UnHoused San Francisco residents on Division street, POOR Magazine launched our stolen equity/ stolen housing tour, beginning on Eddy street in the FillNoMo district of San Francisco touring the multiple vacant and ldquo;in renovationrdquo; units being ldquo;rad-edrdquo; by for profit and non-profit developers.Our goal was to bring attention to the a href="http://sfbayview.com/2016/02/fake-housing-crisis-from-bayview-to-baltimore-public-housing-kept-empty-while-thousands-are-un-housed/"fake housing crisis/a being perpetrated so people could make money flipping poor people housing while unhoused San Franciscans had nowhere sleep./p p ldquo;Our neighborhoods are all gone, from Porsquo;Lice terror to our own children caught up in the violence to the RAD -funded gentrification , i am going through culture shock in my own hood, ldquo; said Queenandi X Sheba, staff writer, teacher and poet with POOR Magazine and Deecolonize Academy. as she toured Eddy street./p pThe Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) is the newest in HUD#39;s Poor People Removal Programs- and basically is the selling off of all public housing building leases on the stock market to private investors which then get transferred to for profit and non-profit housing devil-opers (as I affectionately call them) only to turn poor people housing into the lie of mixed-income affordable housing.(a href="http://sfbayview.com/2013/09/rad-public-housing-privatization-stealing-our-last-acre-and-our-one-remaining-mule/"POOR the Bayview - the only media telliing the truth on this issue for the last 3 years)/a/p pldquo;They donrsquo;t want our indigenous peoples, our Black and Brown children to be here, this is eradication, ldquo; said Sala Haquiyah -Chandler, warrior mama and fighter for justice who lost her own Sun in a quadruple homicide in January of 2015, as she joined the tour which was connecting the dots between stolen equity and generations of African and indigenous families who used to live in San Francisco./p p spanspanspanspanPerhaps in act of solidarity, on this same day the San Francisco Housing Authority employees union 1021 held a concerted walk offnbsp; during their break times to demand leadership and solutions to address the housing crisis that is disproportionately displacing African Americans and Latinos. San Francisco employees continue to raise concerns about the real-life impacts taking place as privatization continues to decimate the level of service to the cityrsquo;s most vulnerable populations./span/span/span/span/p pstrongTour Stop #2: Midtown apartments/strongbr / After going by the threatened with eviction home of the John Coltraine Church on Fillmore and so many more used to be public, now privatized buildings we proceeded to Midtown Apartments on Scott st. ldquo;They told us when we moved here that they we would be able to buy our apartments,rdquo; said Miles, revolutionary tenant from the Midtown Apartments who launched a historic rent strike when non-profiteer Mercy Housing raised all the rents of the hundreds of Black, Brown, elder and disabled tenants of Midtown apts earlier this year. ( a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oTWhvtTASc"Miles on PNN-TV)/a/p p On this powerful stop of the tour wenbsp; ended up at Midtown Apartments only to be met by some very powerful revolutionary elders and folks who refuse to accept this theft of their rightful equity. As of last week they received 60 day notices from Mercy Housing who is salivating over the potential profits of this huge apt complex./p p ldquo;San Francisco was built by all of you,rdquo; Said Leroy Moore one of the stolen equity, stolen housing tour guides from POOR Magazine./p p ldquo;Midtown residents have equity, this is your building. Midtown Needs to Give Equity Not Eviction notices,rdquo; I said as a last chant before we left the determined leaders of the Save Midtown fight determined to come back and stand with them until they recieve their rightful equity- NOT evictions. ( a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3vBuKFLOY0"Jay - Tenant and revolutionary with Midtown on PNN-TV)/a/p pa href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e05L7MmCT3E"(Youth SKolaz from Deecolonize Academy at Midtown)/a/p p strong5th stop Bayview/strongbr / We ended the tour on top of Northridge road only to find literally hundred of intentionally blighted, closed and boarded up units of perfectly good housing now completely stolen by Lennar Corporation under the RAD program. nbsp;/p pFrom the top of the hill our tour viewed literally hundreds of units of empty housing, kept that way, so the next for profit or non-profit developer could eat them up and spit us, the tenants, the long-time residents, the African, Pacific Islander, Raza and Poor peoples whose lives and hearts and families have built this hill for generations, out onto the cold streets of displacement./p pPOOR Magazine has created a model for poor, houseless and indigenous people-led movement for land liberation, self-determination and housing. We call it a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/homefulness"Homefulness./a We are proposing it to Yelamu Ohlone land (SF) right now. Maybe the Mayor could take a break from his incessant selling off the city to the highest bidder long enough to listen./p

pspanIrsquo;ve been in San Francisco, CA since 1991 but Irsquo;m originally from New York//CT.nbsp; People call the Bay area the bubble and I agree with the nice weather, what used to be liberalism, all year around vegetables and fruits you can get spoiled or think that this is the only place to live. nbsp;/span/p pspanHowever before I movednbsp; out to the Bay, my life on the east coast was also filled with first experiences like I got to see the birth of Hip-Hop in NY, walked through campuses from UCONN to Boston University to Yale to Southern CT State University to chillinrsquo; with my mother at free Jazz concerts in the park.nbsp; My writing and activism started on the east coast with my first publication in the all Black newspaper, Amsterdam Newspaper, in NY to getting arrested protesting disability budget cuts.nbsp; So it is nice to go down memory lane with what is happening today for disabled people in Boston with disability advocate, author, mother, graduate of Emerson College with a B.S. in Mass Communications, and lifelong resident of Boston, Massachusetts, Heather Watkins./span/p pspanLast time I was in Boston was for the 2004nbsp;/spanspanDemocratic National Convention/spanspannbsp;and in a nut shell that wasnrsquo;t the real Boston that I was used to. I met Heather Waltkins on Facebook and throughout our conversations among many years, I realized that we have many things in common not only being an activist and author but we both have deep interest in Black disability history, art, music, politics and she told me a secret that I will tell you is that she used to write rap lyrics and still write poetry. So yes we have much in common and at the same time of course we have our differences, such as Watkins is a parent, she is of course a woman; she still lives on the east coast while I moved to San Francisco, CA. Yes sometimes I miss the east coast so letrsquo;s see whatrsquo;s happening now in Boston, MA, and what is up with Watkins by walking or better yet limping down memory lane./span/p pnbsp;/p pspanLeroy Moore:/spanspan Heather Watkins take me down memory lane of the Boston that is still there from the 80rsquo;s and what is new./span/p pspanHeather Watkins:/spanspan I grew up in the 80rsquo;s in Dorchester, in a predominately Black working class neighborhood where everyone was friendly and familiar with one another. And get this, many 2 parent households, quite the contrary of what was painted in local papers and newsmedia when crafting stories involving communities of color, as you know. The only person in my family and extended fam, and neighborhood that I recall with a disability affecting mobility that was mostly ldquo;hiddenrdquo; until many years later when I began using a cane in my 30rsquo;s. Being the only person with that description means there were no disabled role models in community nor in any teen magazines or tv channels I mightrsquo;ve been flipping through at the time. So no support that I or my family may have benefitted from within community. I received care and participated in MDA clinics, camps, and sponsored events outside of the community often without seeing other people of color included. Thatrsquo;s why orgs that now exist like Multicultural Independent Living Center of Boston are valuable resources to people with disabilities and located within the community. I didnrsquo;t learn about disability identity and culture until much later and being in advocacy circles./span/p pnbsp;/p pspanI think having leadership like Mayor Menino (RIP) who became a great ally and who himself became multiply disabled and a cane-user was a critical piece of changes in Boston. The work of many passionate advocates who came before me and worked with officials and community folks makes the difference. Dialogue with actionable steps and full accountability were the aim then and now as we have a new mayor who I believe will help continue that legacy. Boston is pretty vocal. I will say I donrsquo;t always see the trickle down to the inner city communities as Irsquo;d like I mean I would love to see all the businesses accessible to people with disabilities. Irsquo;m still seeing many storefronts with steps, narrow doorways, inaccessible aisles/restrooms/parking, etc. If I canrsquo;t access your business than we canrsquo;t partake of the resources and since many disabled folks socialize, shop, dine with non-disabled friends and fam we all then would have to take our business elsewhere to a more accommodating venue, big-box store, etc. The loss of potential business, cost-benefit analysis, funds circulating out of community I wonder about./span/p pnbsp;/p pspanOf course there are many areas of focus and needs for improvement, just something Irsquo;ve given consideration since we have a href="http://www.ada.gov/taxcred.htm"spantax incentives/span/a for accessibility upgrades and a href="http://dnd.cityofboston.gov/#page/restore_boston"spanmatching grants for faccedil;ade improvements./span/anbsp;/span/p pspanLeroy Moore:/spanspan Another common history we share is being on many boards and non-profits.nbsp; Heather is a member of the board of directors for the Multi-cultural Independent Living Center of Boston, Disability Policy Consortium, and a founding board member of the National Association for Non-Profit Professionals. She is also a Co-founder of ldquo;Divas with Disabilities Project,rdquo;/spanspan /spanspana supportive sisterhood network representing women of color with disabilities. To continue this walk down my east coast memory lane, I know my years at non-profits in my youth of people with disabilities I was the only Black person in many cases until I saw the first Black disabled executive director, Bev Jackson in the 1980rsquo;s in Hartford, CT at United Cerebral Palsy Association. Back then in CT there was no Multi-cultural Independent Living Center. Matter of fact when I met Keith Jones, another Black disabled man who was living in Boston at that time, early 2000 he told me about the Multi-cultural Independent Living Center./span/p pHeather brings my 1980rsquo;s disability non-profits experiences on the east coast up to date by sharing what she has done and continue today especially with Multi-cultural Independent Living Center of Boston that I wish I had in Hartford, CT in the 80rsquo;s./p pspanHeather Waltkins:/spanspan My board membership with all three orgs mentioned has been within the last 3 years so I donrsquo;t have an extensive experience as itlsquo;s growing in the sector. They differ slightly in focus and thatrsquo;s a benefit since I gain new skills and exercise advocacy muscles in different ways. Disability Policy Consortiumlsquo;s concentration is more legislative, MILCB where I serve as clerk on the board is an independent living center provides core services like Information referral, peer support, job readiness skills, and nursing home transition serving cross disabilities in the community. National Association of Non-Profit Professionals is the newest initiative which got started last August that I was asked to join. It serves nonprofit professionals through networking, training, mentoring and professional growth./span/p pspanLeroy Moore:/spanspan Wow Heather and I hold a story of Hip-Hop disability. This wonderful newly history of disability and Hip-Hop that Heather and I share is amazing of two time periods one in New York at the birth of Hip-Hop when I sat outside of ciphers embarrass of my body and my only job was to look out for the cops. Compared to Heather, a Black disabled woman in 2005-06 in an online room of yahoo aka Yahoo 360, it was an online Hip-Hop cipher. So interesting and wonder if I had the internet back in the late 70rsquo;s and 80rsquo;s with the reality that nobody would see me, my walker and my turn in feet would I perform online? Heather explain how the Yahoo Hip-Hop cipher at 2005-06 worked back then and shares a verse or more.nbsp;/span/p pspanHeather Watkins:/spanspan Sure, it was a shortlived social medium site similar to Facebook. So we would have personal pages but basic features and then someone would create a forum and alert others by a tag or something that a rhyme battle was starting and someone would start it off with a rhyme and it would go from there, you#39;d pick it where last person leftover, cracking on one another, the way rappers used to do...lots of bravado, overhyped rhymes, it was hot...the energy was unbelievable, magnetic but the better the knowledge and wordplay the more creative and live it was, you know, of course./span/p pspanI remember trying to type faster than my rhymes were channeling through my brain..lol...the creative spark channeled from that kind of mind meld so to speak is infectious almost, otherworldly...for real. So much fun and a bit of an adrenaline rush. I want to be clear, I never rapped the rhymes and canrsquo;t freestyle at all..lol..but I can definitely write a ill verse if given an opportunity./span/p pspanI wish Irsquo;d save something from then but Irsquo;ll share something new since Irsquo;m thinking about this subject:nbsp;/span/p pspanHell, the revolution might not be televised but rhymed, egos crushed and bruised, brains fried from processing too many lies plied from saccharin smiles. Benefits denied, we tried..we cried. Babies still dying, canrsquo;t grow up, wonrsquo;t let us, food and water poisoned, stomachs growling, said they already fed us. Public services cut, rewrote tax codes to save a few corporate bucks./span/p pspanLeroy Moore:/spanspan We both served on commission of Mayors around disability. Me, back in the 90rsquo;s in San Francisco and of course Heather right now in Boston. I know for me it was a tug of war being a hard-core activist and going into City Hall especially at that time when the Mayor was giving everything to the dot-comers aka the tech industry. As I sat in city Hall I saw the city change and not for the good. I wonder what have Heather seen so far as a commissioner in Boston and has Boston change for the good or like many cities just for the new era of gentrification?/span/p pspanHeather Watkins: /spanspanBeen serving on advisory board of city disability commission since 2009 after it was newly convened. I became chairperson in 2014 and was the first person of color and woman to lead the board. Initially, I was very green to the process and how it all worked so I was quiet and observant and analyzed more than I spoke at first. But I love learning, networking and really being part of learning exchanges. Slowly I began catching on becoming more comfortable. The new commissioner was appointed in 2010 and really got to work and also has made an effort to diversify the board in terms of disabilities, culture, and experience. The partnerships that commission has with advocacy orgs in the city which helps us stay informed and plugged in. There is no shortage of work, and as you know any gains must be maintained. From support letters for various bills that impact pwdrsquo;s, holding community forums and ADA day events, work on WAV taxis, affordable housing, structural access, are just some of the initiatives worked on during the time Irsquo;ve been aboard. Meetings since January 2015 are now broadcast live, captioned, and available online.nbsp;/span/p pspanIn terms of gentrification, itrsquo;s happening Irsquo;m seeing parts of the city slowly transforming especially where I live in Roslindale. Recently, housing complexes have gone up and restaurant influx and I wonder about displacement. So far, Irsquo;ve been spared but that doesnrsquo;t mean others in similar positions are or have the choice to stay due to economics. When you move yoursquo;d rather do so on your own accord not being forced because itrsquo;s beyond your budget. Ideally, having access means having it across the board. Irsquo;m thinking of equalizer graph, those fluctuations are eye-catching when the music is thumping but may not translate well in real life especially for pwdrsquo;s basic needs and quality of life.nbsp;/span/p pspanLeroy Moore:/spanspan This Memory lane stops right here because I will never know what is like to be a Black disabled mother. I still canrsquo;t believe that even today I have a lack of models of Black disabled mothers in my life. When Black History Women History Months come along every year I still see a lack of stories of Black/Brown disabled mothers. As I witness in the disability field that women make up the majority but even today White disabled women make up a large amount of workers in the disability field. Although I call myself a feminist, as a Black, straight disabled man, my male privilege has much negative affect of my Black disabled sisters. So tell us Heather your experiences as a mother and also oppression you felt by men in the disability field. Lastly what White Black disabled/nondisabled males need to do to be better allies?/span/p pspanHeather Watkins: /spanspanWell, as you know disability permeates every aspect of onersquo;s life experience and it certainly had an impact on my parenting and I give insight about it in one of my blog a href="https://slowwalkersseemore.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/reflections-from-parenting-with-a-disability/"spanposts./span/a I talk about the internalized ableism, the fear of failing, and not feeling good enough. The upside was I did have a small support system however it didnrsquo;t include any other disabled mothers which may have helped immensely in terms of relatability and swapping tips, resources, info.nbsp;/span/p pspanAs far as the oppression Irsquo;ve experience I note that especially being in a leadership position is that they sometimes speak over you or may disregard your experience or might downplay what youlsquo;re saying. My leadership style is a bit more laidback and more soft spoken which doesnrsquo;t always translate into preconceived ideas of strong leadership and what that might ldquo;lookrdquo;nbsp;/spanlike. As a mass comm major my communication is often strategic and analytical Irsquo;m coming from a place of offering something I believe to be meaningful to the conversation otherwise Irsquo;m blowing hot air and exhausting time and energy. Many women like myself are coming in with heightened sensitivity, adaptive skills, appreciate back stories that have increased our patience and compassion levels and bring wealth of experience that could be transferable to leadership positions. This is why itrsquo;s so important when we talk about disability as part of the diversity conversation beyond color spectrum and optics Irsquo;m envisioning talent pool and range of voices at the table. Learning exchanges from atop the table instead of finger-wags across soap boxes makes for a more valued conversation.nbsp;/p pAlso, assuming when you join boards and councils that you already have the same level of experience. White disability advocates may not realize pwdrsquo;s of color may take longer to self-identify and seek assistance for many reasons, including but not limited to culture, family, religion, poverty, etc and making false assumptions that all of our needs are similar. You canrsquo;t even compare ILCrsquo;s in one part of town to one in another and use the same metrics. The one serving more POCrsquo;s more than likely is playing catch up./p pLeroy Moore: I hope our futures continue to be intertwined with common experiences and opportunities for me to learn from you and your work/art.nbsp; With that what is in your future and what advice would you give to a little Heather Watkins out there growing up today as a Black girl with a disability who has the same interest like Hip-Hop and being an advocate, a mother and so on?/p pHeather Watkins: I will continue to work on my brand of activism which includes board service, writing, and being part of dialogues that further the disability rights conversation where it intersects at race and gender and be open to how that organically takes place and meeting/networking/ creating partnerships. Irsquo;d like to see more sisters with disabilities across the media landscape so it becomes less newsworthy and more normalized. Irsquo;m a proud Black disabled woman and wouldnrsquo;t change anything about that since my biology has contributed to my biography in ways I never dreamed./p pI would tell a young Heather Watkins to keep being her authentic self which is a revolutionary act in itself and to connect with other sisters with disabilities. Other sisters, with a range of age and experience can help empower and illuminate aspects of your personal journey that donrsquo;t often see the light. Never doubt that your voice has value and your perspective has worth. I am excited about meeting more and more sisters who challenge ableist ideas and antiquated beliefs. That brilliance is motivating and fuels the spirit!/p pspanLeroy, thanks for the honor of being interviewed...really enjoy all Irsquo;ve learned from you, your artistry, and activism. Proud to know you and call you my brother in the struggle.nbsp;/span/p pnbsp;/p pspanP.S./span/p pnbsp;/p pspanKiss the east coast for me!/span/p

pemspanEditors Note: Andre Rosemond is one of several power-FUL PNNPlantation prison correspondents. As currently and formerly incarcerated poor and indigenous peoples in struggle and resistance with all plantation systems in Amerikkka, POOR Magazine stands in solidarity with all folks on the other side of the razor wire plantation. /span/em/p pPlease see Weather Modification in Time Magazine, DEC 10, 2012, page 65 for A Monarch for Modern Thailand for His Majesty Royal Rain Projectnbsp; has experimented extensively with cloud seeding and rain making technologies. New World Encyclopedia a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/cloudseeding" title="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/cloudseeding"http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/cloudseeding/a, the elites learned to clone, they also learned to Manipulate the weather. Weather modification is big business for the elites. Surveillance for American Citizens, see Defense News article, U.S. explores Russian of Jan 11-17, 1993. The surveillance system is new designated to be placed on working class people. The military system utilize ELF field and the Environmental Protection Agency Scientific review of Dec 1990 on ELF hazard./p pLock Down Working Class People, see a href="http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=734.0" title="http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=734.0"http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=734.0/a, wap2, the US laws and policies on this site./p pPlease see U.S. Patent No. 4,686,605 that covers HAARP, which happens to be an Ionospheric heater. The National Weather Modification Policy Acto of 1976, Defense News, Sep 26, 1994 Space Shuttle WEather Engineering, Congressional Record, June 17, 1975, page 19201-19203 and Associated Press article in Evansville Courier, Sept 11, 1994 for US Space Shuttle utilized for weather engineering/ Patent, see a href="http://patft.vspto.gov" title="http://patft.vspto.gov"http://patft.vspto.gov/a. Nanationalwweather,/p psee a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/53383/text;" title="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/53383/text;"http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/94/53383/text;/a Defense News, http:/www.defensenews.com/p pCongressional Record, google or see your local regionaldepository library documents department for the Documnet and Evansville Courier. See: a href="http://www.courierpress.com" title="http://www.courierpress.com"http://www.courierpress.com/a. Now a href="http:///forum.prisonplanter.com/index.php?topic=734.-O;" title="http:///forum.prisonplanter.com/index.php?topic=734.-O;"http:///forum.prisonplanter.com/index.php?topic=734.-O;/a wap2./p pPlease read and research and share with law enforcement officers worldwide with ranks of Cpls, sgts, lts, and captains. I want you all to have a future! Please read and research./p pAndre Rosemond, 386 Redemption Way 353806, McCormick, SC29899, USA/p

pspan class="im"span class="im"iA Mamaz sun riddled with 59 bullits from a colonizers gun.br / 59 bullits fired by slave-catchers and gentrifier glances./i/span/span/p pspan class="im"ldquo;The story the cops had was just that , nothing but a story,rdquo; said Adante Pointer, attorney for the Alex Nieto family from the law offices of John Burris as he stood in front of the multi-storied ldquo;federal kkkort-houserdquo; occupying space onnbsp; Yelamu Ohlone land (San Francisco) It was the last day of final arguments in the Nieto families civil case against the San Francisco Porsquo;Lice for the murder of their Sun./span/p p For several days of this herstory-making trial members of POOR Magazine sat in the hard wooden seats of the colonizers kkkort. When I was there I watched Pointer make clear and powerful arguments one after the other proving that Alex was killed for being a Brown man in his life-long Mission barrio (neighborhood) by the people who get paid to profile, survey, watch, abuse and kill Black, Brown and Poor people in the US./p p ithis Mama canrsquo;t look awaybr / and yet i pray so hard everydaybr / hoping to wipe awaybr / what i canrsquo;t unsee -br / what i canrsquo;t ever un-do from that fateful day/i /p p I am very confused how the jury came to the decision they did after seeing all the evidence that was presented, said Refugio Nieto, Alex#39;s father, on the night the verdict was released. Like Sr. Nieto said, the testimony on the side of truth was extensive, including an unsolicited witness who came foreward on his own to testify to Alexrsquo;s hands being, in fact, in his pockets. In addition to testimony physical evidence was clear and simple, a wrist bone fragment was found in Alexrsquo;s pocket, proving ldquo;beyond a reasonable doubtrdquo; that Alex Nieto, a student, a buddhist and a good Sun was eating his dinner before he went on his shift as a security guardnbsp; and had his hands in his pockets when he was shot 59 times by Porsquo;Lice./p p span class="im"iI look at this 28 year young sun -br / this Raza peace warrior-br / this student- this Man-child -br / this Human/i/span/p p The next clear piece of physical evidence was from the Taser Inc salesman , oops i mean, ldquo;expertrdquo; Brian Chiles who admitted that the taser wasnrsquo;t used by Alex when the Porsquo;Lice claimed he did . Incidentally Taser Inc is poised to get a multi-million dollar contract with the City and County of SF to sell tasers to the SFPD, another fact brought forth in the trial by Alexrsquo;s lawyer./p p While all the physical evidence was being presented to a mostly white, all suburban dwelling jury, the disinterested, almost arrogant Deputy City attorney. objected to little inconsequential issues and yet there was really nothing she could present that countered any of the rock solid truths. There was an extensive and confusing series of testimoney about the logging on and off of Alexrsquo;s taser as all taser use is logged in with the parent company and yet even after all this, Chiles had to admit that the taser was in fact, un-used as it lay on the ground next to Alexsrsquo; lifeless body in one of many terrifying and tragic images we all saw at multiple times in the kkkort case./p p iIm in kkkort in my wite-man suitbr / trying to not breathe ,scream or even move.br / Oppressors words wash over his beautybr / his peaceful spirit -br / I am trying to hold in screams, gritos,br / my body shakes with each utterance.br / We are taught to be still.br / Held in check by more laws that arenrsquo;t even real/i ./p p The Cityrsquo;s case was non-existent, there lack of evidence and arrogance was based on them being the tools of the machines who set up these racist, white-supremacist systems. They had nothing to present and yet they didnrsquo;t seem to care. In one of the highlights of utter sloppiness from the deputy city attorney who represented the cops, Margaret Baumgartner, there was a strange robotic like man named Mr Fries ( who I re-named Mr Freeze) who had launched his own 3D crime model business and admitted that he was paid $345.00 per hour. Once on the stand he presented his Sc Finbsp; superman image that showed Alex dropping to the ground after being shot multiple times and holding his taser like something out of a Batman movie./p p The real diagram that showed the way the shots entered Alexrsquo;s body was the one created by the Peoples Investigation, a beautiful community -led process to get to the truth of this Porsquo;Lice murder when the system refuses to come from or present any facsimile of truth. /p p ldquo;The cost is prohibitive to order an independent autopsy, one of the many ways that working class or low-income parents are kept from pursuing their own evidence, ldquo; said beautiful advocate for the family and member of the Amor 4 Alex Nieto Coalition, Adriana Camerena/p div class="yj6qo ajU" div class="ajR" data-tooltip="Hide expanded content" id=":1u4" role="button" tabindex="0" img class="ajT" src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" //div /div pBut in the end with her typical casual arrogance and understanding of the codes and signs that enable the police to get away with murder, the Porsquo;Licersquo;s attorney put the jury form up on the big power-point screen in the room and literally told the jury what box to check off to find the murderers innocent of murder./p p iA gang in blue tells us to hold our tears, our terror, our shouts, our screams.br / We are taught to be quietbr / sit in their wood chairs and not riotbr / To breathe in and out while they shoot us and get our children ready to kill or be killed/ibr / nbsp;/p p ldquo;Sure he had a bone in his pocket, Baumgartner said in closing arguments, ldquo;but maybe it accidentally got there, One check-box after another, she took the confused jury down the list, ldquo;so in this one you would just say, No, and this one you would just say no again,rdquo; she rolled off her instructions. It was a brilliant move of brain-washing of an already brainwashed jury. Mostly white and middle -class, they were all residents of nearby suburbs. None of these people knew the violence of gentrification. None of them knew the brutality of losing your baby, who did nothing but go to work and happen to be Brown. Oh yea, but that makes them, ldquo;objectiverdquo; right?. Ha, its the same lie in so-called objective media. There is no such thing as objective , everyone comes with their opinion and their opinion is shaped by their experience, and these peoples experience had nothing to do with the humble, hard-working, born and raised in Frisco Raza Alex Nietorsquo;s experience in a City where his quiet place to sit and eat and has now turned into a ldquo;dog parkrdquo; with brand new mostly white, mostly middle class residents walking around, laden with their inherent white supremacist notions of race and class and place, casually thinking a Brown young man in a red jacket was maybe a ldquo;gang memberrdquo; ( a statement actually said by Baumgartner in her closing arguments)/p p ldquo;Sure the taser wasnrsquo;t on when it was on the ground, but maybe someone kicked it or something,rdquo;nbsp; Baumgartner continued Like kicking a taser could turn it off, after we heard extensive testimony from their guy, Chiles , about how hard it was to get on and off./p p The City Attorneyrsquo;s was a testimony of maybes standing next to a testimony of truths And yet jury came back with the form filled out just as they were instructed to do the Porsquo;Lice were innocent of murder./p p In the end this was another murder of a working class Brown man in a City trying to wipe out the existence of working class Black, Brown and Poor people. The killers were paid to do what they did and the system protected their murder, like its supposed to do./p p bBuilding, Lifting Up and Manifesting our own humane systems that donrsquo;t kill us, test us and arrest us /bbr / As brutal and terrifying as this trial was for this mama, for all of us Mamaz, uncles, Papas, Brothers and Sisters.nbsp; As devastating as it was to witness yet another miscarriage of so-called Kkkolonizer justice, it was also a triumphnbsp; A triumph of organizing, of art-making, of love, of community. The powerful team of poets, and artists and dreamers and community members who showed up everyday at marches and rallies and art events and theatre and movies and eventually in kkkortnbsp; and who are part the Amor 4 Alex Nieto Coalition. Artists like Favi Estrella and Equipto and so many more. Leaders in this beautiful coalition like Adriana Camarena, Oscar Salinas and Ben Bac Sierra who along with Alexsrsquo; beautiful parents have continued to manifest community justice and lifted us up so much higher than the hater system could ever begin to bring us./p p And so although the Kkkorts said we lost, we all know our fight for justice has just begun. and it is equally important to ldquo;stop looking to trainingrdquo;of the police,rdquo;nbsp; as the catch-all soluution like La Mesha Irazarry from Idriss Stelley Foundation who lost her sun Idriss to the same killer Porsquo;Lice years ago and Leroy Moore and I say from a href="http://www.poormagazine.org" target="_blank"POOR Magazine/a and Krip Hop Nation and start looking at each other as solutions.To stop believing in the colonizers lie of safety and security aka the Po#39;Lice and 911 calls when we have an emergency.nbsp; Yes, we walk in this stolen indigenous land everyday and yes our babies are unsafe with these killer kkkops, but we also have so much community power to change. To build self-determined manifestations of change like us Poor , indigenous, Black and Brown landless people are doing with a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/homefulness" target="_blank"Homefuless/a in Deep East Huchuin Ohlone Land, a concept we are sharing with other communities in poverty, facing gentrification, racism and criminalization across Turtle Island and with a poor mama and uncle led school we built on Homefulness called a href="http://www.racepovertymediajustice,org/academy" target="_blank"Deecolonize Academy/a that refuses to teach our young leaders lies about the warriors and leaders they came from and can be. Warriors, leaders and peace-bringers like Alex Nieto./p p The first step like our elders and ancestor revolutionaries did in MOVE AFRICA, THE YOUNG LORDS and Black Panthers,nbsp; which is first to a href="http://www.poormagazine.org/node/5464"NEVER engage with the Porsquo;Lice/a but also to build community like the Justice Amor for Alex Nieto Coalition and Justice for Mario Woods Coalitionnbsp; have done. In the end we have to keep our children safe and our minds clear. Realize the issues ofnbsp; racism, gentrification, poverty and houselessness are all linked and so are we, linked. So as we continue to fight for the crumbs and bang on the systems that oppress us, we also need to build our own... For Mario, For Sandra, For Alex, Amilcar, For Oshaine, For Josiah... for so many more and for All of us./p p iBut this is a win fambr / the people have already Wonbr / With our Own self-determin-Nashunbr / With Love for Alex-br / Our ancestors andbr / our collective liberation/i/p p AMOR 4 ALEXbr / ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLEbr / OUR JUSTICE HAS JUST BEGUN- ... a poem 4 Alex by tinybr clear="all" /br / nbsp;/p pa href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJTr6ftnDRM"Ben Bac Sierra Speaking on the Trial /a/p pa href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fG-qhwnFdM"Refugio Nieto Speaking After the Verdict is Given/a/p

pPORTRAYALSbr / ___________/p pJail-bird/p pGang-banger/p pMeth-head/p pPredator/p pWanna-be mob/p pBuster/p pKnife-swinging/p pNutter/p pDeserved to get surrounded/p pBy heat-holding cops/p pDeserved to get grounded/p pWith 21 shots/p pButnbsp;/p pThese are portrayals/p pThey want you to know/p pThese are portrayals/p pThey want to show/p pBased on derogatory/p pStereotypes/p pGrist for the mill/p pOf tough-on-crime hype/p pHalf the city/p pWent ballistic/p pOver cop murder/p pSadistic/p pOn paper,/p pWe#39;re statistics-----/p pNever get this/p pTwisted/p pStreet thug image/p pAdds to the tension/p pThe reformed ex-prisoner/p pNever gets mentioned/p pNot the smiling sweetheart,/p pNot the mother#39;s son/p pThey concentrated on the menace/p pBeast without a gun/p pBut/p pThese are portrayals/p pThey want you to know/p pThese are portrayalsnbsp;/p pThey want to show/p pBased on derogatory/p pStereotypes/p pGrist for the mill/p pOf tough-on-crime hype/p pHe made no sudden moves,/p pBut they made him die/p pPolice and papers/p pUnify to crucify/p pA troubled youngster-----/p pSuckers had to play God/p pRacial death via/p pInterracial death squad/p pSuppose I got met up lit up/p pBy the bill?/p pWould the press call me a thug?/p pProbably will!/p pFolks swallowing official/p pStories get played!/p pIf you were gunned down tomorrow,/p pHow would you be portrayed?br / __________________________/p pW: 2.19.16/p pnbsp;/p p[ For Mario Woods--1989-2015. ]/p

p style="margin-bottom: 0in"span style="font-family: Arial, serif;"Poverty is politics/span/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Racism is politics/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Sexism is politics/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Classism is politics/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Capitalism, politics/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Fuck those politics /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"We live in ghettos, neighborhoods where they put all the colored folks, cause everythingrsquo;s political /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Poverty is permanent, thatrsquo;s how itrsquo;s designed, got to be careful, cause it fucks with your mind/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Many get stuck sucking liquor from the liquor store, or they try to go and rob that liquor store/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"So white folks making big bucks from the prison and the store, everythingrsquo;s political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"The radio tells kids to kill their brother, disrespect their sister and mother, and never teaches them to be a father/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Corporate execs, created a hip hop subset, called trap music, telling kids to carry techs, pop pills and flip bricks, for a little bit of cheese/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"With out telling them that the guns, drugs and tracks all coming from the place, racists, who want to put us in a social basement/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Everything political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"As a kid I grew up in a single bedroom, with my whole family, parents paying rent, thatrsquo;s life in the hood/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Solitary confinement for me, parents didnrsquo;t want me playing up in the streets, too hot, like the sweatshop where they work at/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"They decided to return to Aztlan in the eighties, ignorant people canrsquo;t comprehend the importance of migration, so they call em illegal and threaten us with deportation/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Talking bout these goons, who up to high school, try telling me theyrsquo;re cool, in their textbooks that you read in public school/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Like a fool fell for it, cause on TV all you see is fucking myths telling you believe that bull, that will make you brain rot and stop having thoughts/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Happens a lot in the hood, where there are no books, and on top of that nobody reads, but everybody watches TV/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Everythingrsquo;s political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"In Carver middle school no one talked about what college they going too, they already want to go pro, trying to impress the scouts, hoping they get drafted to join the local gang /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Thatrsquo;s all they seen since they were two, family in it too, or not around to tell em not to/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Token teacher a sell out, lying to the kids, creating a reality by saying theyrsquo;re nothing/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"The kids take it seriously and out of anxiety to prove the teacher wrong, they join a crew/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Happens everyday in LAUSD classrooms, multiplied by all the shitty districts on earth /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Those who werenrsquo;t part of that were still around that, cause no one cares about school, no studying just surviving, since it reflects a mini prison/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"In Santee high nothing seem to change, shit just kept on getting strange, teachers meaner, and the students demeanor, that of a prisoner/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"One trying to get off by doing good behavior or one doing life, but nonetheless a prisoner/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Slaves getting trained to do modern day servitude, wheatear you drop out of school or graduate/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Chances are your fate is minimum wage, or no pay in the pen where they work you like an animal/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Everythingrsquo;s political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Many buy the lies they spread in society; swag, class, and that so they stay stuck on a fake dream/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Suddenly when you try replicate all you see on the screens, you get angry because it aint happening/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Then take it out on everybody without realizing the impossibility of what yoursquo;re trying to complete/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Fantasy is something that canrsquo;t be in reality, your just wasting energy instead of helping family/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"That was me/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"What a fallacy, that damages the vision of your most important eye, making the maze, the ghetto is, harder to escape/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"I escaped, momentarily, barely, I believe, because I had both parents backing me, not saying they were perfect, but they believed in me/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"First year in university I was so sick, was still a prisoner inside my head, blamed myself for the systematic inequalities I lived/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Without even knowing what that means, or that, that was and is my reality, a brown working class man in this society /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Second year, had my awakening, dropping econ for poli sci, picking up chicana studies, and a black studies class/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Actually began to read, and started to see, clearly with the eye inside my mind Malcolm, Bobby, Huey and Gloria all spoke to me/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Political theories and philosophies helped me understand the situation, and see how those in power crate them through manipulation /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"So now I know, that everything is political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Be political but donrsquo;t fall for the system, inspect everything with your mind, and you decided whatrsquo;s right/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"If we realize they depend on us, prey on us to keep their empires alive, then we can save lives /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Donrsquo;t believe all lies they show on social media, TV, Radio, and the movies, thatlsquo;s how they trick and deceive/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"The system donrsquo;t care about us, matter of fact, they have fuck shit up for us, for them to have their crap/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"To create this country, they stole our land, to make all their money, they made us slave, and to maintain order, they send us to war/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"How is it possible? Well everythingrsquo;s political, and they control the corrupt political system/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Itrsquo;s all rigged, that what we got to see, but the systems got you tapped and you cant react /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"But just look at whatrsquo;s happing around the world, freedom means bomb, peace means missiles, love means borders, and aid, is racism /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Everything is backwards and many believe it, thatrsquo;s because they donrsquo;t know, how everything is political/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"When you rearrange your focus and long term goals, anything is possible, even freedom for the hoods /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Yeah you heard right, if you disagree with that, yoursquo;re upholding the right and their system, fuck that and them/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"This my politic, since everything political /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Take care and love those around you the most, because theyrsquo;re your people, they define you/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"They created you, so be careful what you do, love yourself, why would you hurt them and yourself/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Love people unconditional, think critical, and see reality for what it is, how everyonersquo;s is suffering for the greed of their politic /font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in"font face="Arial, serif"Most importantly do everything for your communities; solidarity is key, thatrsquo;s how wersquo;ll be free /font/p

pspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Most poor folks generally don#39;t have the privilege or luxury of traveling by air but more often than not it is most likely because a close family member or other loved one is seriously ill or dead./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"In such cases we often either have to dig into our own savings if we even have any or borrow the funds from somebody else./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"When such events occur we shouldn#39;t have the added burden of having our check-in luggage lost, damaged or stolen./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Recently while traveling back east to attend the funeral of a loved onnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;returning on American Airlines my check-in bag was severely damagednbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;I found out the hard way that they generally don#39;t do anything if you don#39;t report it within 3 hours./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"Of course they didn#39;t mention this when they charged me $25 to check my bag in nor did I find this out via the automated recording ./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"By the time I realized how badly my bag was damaged I was already homenbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;ready to climb in my bed after a week of sleeping on floors/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;chairs in what was projected to be the blizzard of the century but instead turned out to be one of the most mild winters in Boston in recent years./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"(But it was still a lot more snow than I#39;ve seen in the past 11 years)./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"But getting back to the story./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"A week had passed before I had an opportunity to go back to the airportnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;show the bag to an agent at the American Airlines baggage claim office as the automated recording instructed./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"There was only one clerk at the desk when I walked innbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;I got that feeling that so many other poor folks get when they are ready to have their rights recognized by the way she looked at me./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"When I told her what the problem wasnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;that it occurred a week prior she sneerednbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;A week ago ?/spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"You#39;re probably no longer in our system!/spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"She typed into her computernbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;then said Yeah you#39;re no longer there, you were supposed to report it in 3 hours!/spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"So I asked are you telling me I have no recourse? She sneered againnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;said Yes, I guess that#39;s what I#39;m saying/spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"After exiting the office I called the numbernbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;pressed the appropriate button to speak directly with an agent./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"The agent told me to go backnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;ask to speak with a supervisor which I didnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;the supervisor agreed with initial act. One again I exited the office called the numbernbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;got connected with a live agent explained the entire situation including the fact that I was grievingnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;the agent informed me I had a right to request a courtesy report./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"When I returned to the officenbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;did so the agent that I had dealt with in the beginning with a look of defeatnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;embarrassment began to make a reportnbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;application for a claim./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"After reading the application though I had intendednbsp; I never bother did because I just got to busy once again but it was worth going through that much just to stand up for what is right./spanbr style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /br / span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"If you travel by air anytime in the future look at your checked in luggage as soon as you retrievenbsp;/spanspan class="il" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"and/spanspan style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"nbsp;report an damage immediately./span/p

p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"Hi everybody: I just came back from an experience I donrsquo;t want to do again. I went through Homeland Parinoia better known as Homeland Securityrted on June 8, 2015. nbsp;I went to visit a friends graduation in Seattle, Washington. I known her for a long time. nbsp;She is a good friend of mine. I went through the Airport in San Francisco OK. I got my boarding pass, and went through Homeland Security and the x-ray machine by giving the Lumieadi sign (you make your hands put a triangle over your head). So in the basket where they are checking my jacket. wallet, shoes ID and other useless stuff. Went through the airport, got on the plane, left SFO. Got to Seatack, went to the ATM machine and realized my picture ID was missing. Was half nervous and my PTSD kicked in. Nervous enough. Got money from the ATM. Walked to the shuttle and got the shuttle for downtown Seattle. At downtown Seattle I picked up a cab and rode to my friends home. After I arrived I scoured the Internet for a backup ID. Couldnrsquo;t find a logical one. They all wanted picture ID. As an elder and retired I threw all my picture IDrsquo;s in San Francisco Bay. So no picture ID I called Homeland Parinoia they said,rdquo;Bring your Boarding Pass from San Francisco, a credit card you used to purchase your ticket, and three other pieces of ID.rdquo; This losing of my ID makes me feel like a drooling idiot. /font/font/font/p p nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"Since 9 ll you show your ID if you are a poor white guy more often than you show your Credit/Debit Card. /font/font/font/p p nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"Had fun that week. My friend got her Doctorate Degree. Her outfit made her look like she graduated from Hogwash instead of Washington State University. She would bake four hours in the sun with a ceremony that looked like a Mideval Festival. They played Pomp and Ceremony so many times that you know the tune by heart. When the ceremony was completed, we left after four hours. All the windbags had completed their speeches. /font/font/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"Two days later when I went home. I walked to Air Alaska Counter with my return ticket in one hand in the other I had my old boarding pass from seven days earlier. My Social Security Card, Medi-Cal Card (Faded California Medi-Cal Card that looked like it was in World War III) and a Union Bank Debit Card. Got the ticket. got the Boarding Pass walked to Homeland Paranoia where a security supervisor said,rdquo;Is this your property?rdquo; ldquo;I said, ldquo;Yes and put everything back into my wallet.rdquo; Telling him that I feel like an idiot. He replied, ldquo;Donrsquo;t , yoursquo;re the fifth guy today. It is 9:00 am.rdquo; I hope this will help you next time you go through the airport and you lose your picture ID. The world will not end if you use my technique. /font/font/font/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"You will hear from me on my next report./font/font/font/p p nbsp;/p p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 138%;"font color="#000000"font face="Arial"font style="font-size: 10pt"Bad News Bruce signing Out./font/font/font/p

p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;Itrsquo;s okay, Puddin, itrsquo;s okay, wersquo;re good.rdquo; I was more focused on calming my 10 year old daughter down than tending to my knee I hurt while hitting the floor as ldquo;Hood Terroristsrdquo; riddled our block (Eddy and Laguna Sts.) with bullets that missed my neighborrsquo;s head by an inch. A young man in his early 20rsquo;s was wounded in that shooting. On the scene of the evening shooting, a few of the Plaza East families had to patiently wait in the cold until the crime scene investigators were done with collecting the evidence and families were allowed to return to their homes. /span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"I went to the hospital with the rest of the community to check on the person who was shot. When I came home, they still had the neighborhood blocked off, and I couldnrsquo;t get into my house./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"emImage: Scharod Fleming was a great dancer and beloved son who was killed in 2004 at the age of 15 at a dance party. Scharod#39;s Law, which allows promoters to be liable for violence at their events, is named for him./em/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"I elected to follow my feline counterpart Tifah and take to the backyard. We both climbed the fence, resembling 2 members of Mama Naturersquo;s thick curvy club, a thick cat and a thick lady. (Outch!)/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Earlier that Sunday, another man was killed while exiting the McDonaldrsquo;s drive-thru area across from the Northern Police station in the Fill-no-moe. ldquo;Shootings that happened directly across the street from Northern police station is normal these days.rdquo; Says an onlooker who did not want to be named due to lack of trust of the media. This is PNN, not CNN I reminded the humble resident who then let down all guards./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Traumatized children stayed home from school the next day because of anxiety that led to a sleepless night. Windows on the right side of the 1200 block of Eddy street were shot out and a few are still awaiting repair. As of yet there has been no word of any suspects in both Sunday cases./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Richmond has had its share serving as another killing field for our young men. 14- year old Xavier McLanahan, 15 year-old Malik Barnes and 21-year old Joshmahl Russell are the latest victims of the violence that continues to rob and devour our children in the Bay Area. These kind of child murders would be declared a state of emergency if the youngsters had the ldquo;complexion protectionrdquo;/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"In my opinion, this is like a horror movie where our children are being slaughtered by the porsquo;lice and this ldquo;unseen monsterrdquo; or ldquo;community terroristsrdquo;, like some weird version of ldquo;A nightmare on elm streetrdquo; except the nightmare is on my street and not on a picture screen. Its soul-boggling that no one in either category rarely is brought to justice. Itrsquo;s frustrating and disrespectful to us, all of us who lost loved ones (my brother Marcus) and because of this racist, porsquo;lice state will pretty much never have any closure other than waiting for a year for an autopsy report and a xeroxed copy of a ldquo;Thank Yourdquo; letter from survivors that have benefitted from ldquo;donated for profitrdquo; organs from the deceased./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"While watching mainstream media, I couldnrsquo;t help but notice that almost every Black, Brown and other children of color murdered in our communities are immediately labeled a gangsta so therefore therersquo;s this reserved attitude of ldquo;one less.rdquo; If a murder victim unfortunately had run-ins with the ldquo;lawless with badgesrdquo;, there really is a vibe of ldquo;good riddancerdquo;, and that makes a cop that much more comfortable with laughing at half-assed jokes as a poor Mama wail over their love onersquo;s body. I know, (judgemental ones) itrsquo;s not the porsquo;licersquo;s job to feel our torment, but I would rather see a blank faced cop than a laughing one. I donrsquo;t think itrsquo;s decent to be laughing a few feet away while someone is catching hell right in front of you, itrsquo;s a human thing, you know?/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Changing the conversation to the side of the coin thatrsquo;s hardly voiced, a lot of our children are killed because they ARE NOT in a gang and REFUSE to engage in any wrongdoing, often being called ldquo;goody-two shoesrdquo; or ldquo;square.rdquo;/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Like in the case of Joquan, a young black man who was on his way to the store after receiving news that he was going to be a father, was approached by 2-3 gunmen who ldquo;emptied outrdquo; their guns, shooting him dead after he refused to partake in a crime. (His mother subsequently died from a broken heart over her loss)/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"The youngsters who resisted the temptations to fuel the ldquo;Those people in low-income housingrdquo; stereotype are then targeted because of their choice to do the right thing. There is a need to support the children who are bullied, and ldquo;Not scold us and make us feel bad for doing the right thing or treat us like criminals, like officer ldquo;Jezzyrdquo; did!rdquo; Said one teen who feels like ldquo;Black teen life mattersrdquo; also in the Western Addition area./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"There have been some shine on the news lately praising the success of laws that were created in the name of child victims. Legislation like Meganrsquo;s law, Jessicarsquo;s law and the Amber alert, an alert system that lets us know whether wersquo;re at home or on the highway that a child is lost or has been abducted. These are powerful tools when it comes to the safety of our children, returning them home to their families, and implementing harsher sentences for those who are responsible for committing crimes against our youth./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"The sun will also shine on Scharodrsquo;s law, coined after 15-year old Scharod Fleming, a young, black talented ldquo;dancing machinerdquo; from the Western Addition who was killed outside the YMCA in the Tenderloin leaving a ldquo;Black Saturdayrsquo;srdquo; event by Eugene Cockerham, Jr. a promoter that had of reputation of throwing events that ended in fatalities, who also failed to provide adequate security for the young partygoers after fights had broken out later that evening./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"nbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Scharodrsquo;s law was introduced to provide stricter regulations to hold promoters (more) accountable for violating licensing rules and the required security staffed at dances, but Scharodrsquo;s Law, along with ldquo;Let the Children Dancerdquo; foundation created by one of his relatives is not taken seriously, not supported and swept under the rug, like many of our childrenrsquo;s lives./span/span/p pnbsp;/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-1c727c87-a004-42a7-2ed3-e3db0668c200"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Queennandi X, PNN/span/span/p