Story Archives 2018

Amerikkka the great. Amerikkka the beautiful. Amerikkka the colonized land of confusion that consists of wicked rulers who slaughtered the Natives and kidnapped the Africans. (just to name a few crimes against humanity) These are the same “great ones” that bombed other nations with impunity and enslaved US citizens to toil in a corporate, capitalist society where we are proud to be oppressors in the form of someone’s else’s boss.

The great Amerikkka that eats her young, lynches Black people, exploits the world and now when things can’t get any worse the wite house is conducting koon meetings with rappers that do not make any common sense whatsoever when communicating with a prez who always has the “little nigger” look on his face whenever he has to pacify his “black brethren”....

 

Kanye West sounded ridiculous and the mumbo-jumbo he spewed out of his mouth made it clear that he was short on his meds and needs to really take care of himself-pronto.  The prez

frolicking with Hollywood won’t exactly solve this Nation’s problems, HW is still the land of make-believe and some celebrity ranting will not house the houseless, feed the hungry, protect the defenseless, heal the sick for free nor will it save this land from judgement for the centuries of wrongness and injustice.

We have someone in the wite house who contradicts himself, tweets like a bird, he’s rude and obviously mean to cats when it comes to his hairstyle but he runs the US of A and literally he’s running it to the ground because his way of making Amerikkka “great again” is by repeating the history of this country’s bloody, wite supremacists agenda.

The history of genocide, land theft, racism and terrorism has left the US soil with a bitter taste from the poison of strange fruit that has been planted HERE by the forefathers of colonization.

 

The prez cannot even share an umbrella with his own wife so how is he to is to take the issues of global warming, poverty, and human rights violations seriously and consciously? Instead of bragging of victories over adult film stars who claimed he came up short, calling him “TINY” prez should have more class and integrity about himself- first of all and to have more important “victories” under his belt by doing his part to see that every family in this country is housed, fed, acknowledged and safe. We still have the hoarding of guns, money, land, education and hellthcare to address and the man who is supposed to lead and represent America never in his days has ever tweeted the likes of; “HOMELESSNESS? NOT IN AMERICA!!!!! HUNGRY FAMILIES??? NOT IN AMERICA!!! POLICE BRUTALITY??? NOT IN AMERICA!!!” If a prez is going to brag, boast about doing right by the world! It may be unnecessary and egotistical but doing “the right thing” is not going to happen anytime soon besides doing all of the above weren’t the deeds that made America great in the first place in the name of wite supremacy and if this isn’t the case the why did the highly propagated  movie D.W Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” (originally called “The Clansman”) suggest otherwise?

 

It is no accident that this (strange) fruit still grows flawlessly today but at the same time the vines are choking the souls out of the people and this land’s “leader” is not taking this earth crisis seriously for it is all about sport, play and arguing with porn stars to him and what is so “Great” about that?

Gregory Bush was arrested shortly after killing two African Descendent elders at a Kroger store in Jeffersontown, KY. The 51 year old was charged with 2 counts of murder and multiple counts of wanton endangerment and is being held on 5 million dollar bail.

Around 3 PM, Vickie Lee Jones, 67, a caretaker to an elder family member and retiree from the Veteran’s Hospital and Maurice E Stallard, 69, the father of Louisville’s Chief Equity Officer Kellie Watson was shot and killed in an unprovoked hate crime. Bush entered the store and fatally shot Stallard in front of his grandchild and upon exiting the store, he shot Ms. Jones. One armed bystander was said to have shot and wounded the suspect but according to Chief Rogers the claim of the armed bystander and the statement from a witness who was inside of Kroger could not be verified. The witness, Steve Zinninger, told a TV station that while inside the store his father was armed and had confronted Bush but that the gunman said to his father that “whites don’t kill whites” and then he left.

Not long before the Kroger shooting Gregory Bush was seen on video attempting to make a hateful entry into the first Baptist Church of Jeffersontown. It has been reported that Bush was trying to enter in hopes of ambushing the churchgoers.

“There were 70 people at our weekly meeting service just an hour before he came by. I’m just thankful that all of our doors and security was in place,” said a churchman by the name of Mr. Williams.

Bush, with an extensive criminal record including domestic violence, assault and racially motivated threats says that he struggles with mental illness and I must admit I agree with the kkkiller. Because to have hatred for someone’s skin color- not because a person was mean or cruel-  but because of their skin color is not only a mental illness but a cultural insecurity.

The brutal attack against Blacks has seen an everlasting uptick especially since ratolerant (A racist that tolerates those racist against) president Trump entered office. We have laws like stand your ground backing up racially motivated crimes disguised as self defense, and the fact that if someone is charged with offenses under these laws against Blacks the charges are often lessened or dismissed altogether. Community casualties behind such biased laws have included Markeis McGlockton, Stephon Clark, Travon Martin and Marissa Alexander who have been murdered or incarcerated because of rules not meant to protect people of color.

Take the April 19 case of Dorika Uwinmana, a Black child on her way to school that was assaulted and choked to near death by a white man “needing help” from her.  She would have been killed had it not been for the school bus pulling up intercepting the attempted murder, and the attack left the child with severe damage to her vital organs due to lack of oxygen, for which she had to have a heart transplant. The suspect, Terry Wayne King ll was arrested and charged with a mere “injury to a child causing serious bodily injury” and NOT “attempted murder, assault on a minor causing serious bodily injury, child endangerment and hate crime.” The police say they can find “no motive” for a hate crime but they deliberately overlooked the “uphold the rule of wite supremacy law” which has been a motive since wite supremacy was planted. The hate crime is fueled by resistance the “trump whites” showed against the migration of over 15,000 Congolese citizens to North Texas who are fleeing war and crimes against humanity.

Dorika’s father Twizere Buhinja had fled the Congolese war with his family and spent many years inside a Ugandan refugee camp before migrating to North Texas where the family has been for the past couple of years, still struggling to make ends meet. Families like Twizere’s have been the target of racism and resistance from the “make america great again” crowd but many of the crimes went unreported because one the lies amerikkka sells to our families migrating from other countriesthat it is better to be “free, poor and live “good” ” here than to be “persecuted and slaughtered” back in your “Cultureland.”

As far as Dorika’s family situation, the terrorizing ordeal forced the family to relocate out of fear but they were fortunate to have the support of the village (community) to come through with love and Dorika’s recovery is going along well.

My friend asked me the other day my feelings about all of this. I told her “I feel 1940’s nervous! You know, the fear our folks felt back then, like TrumpaKlan is going to bum-rush (raid) the community at any given time he takes a notion and that we will be totally defenseless!”

What a nightmare!!

Amerikkka the great. Amerikkka the beautiful. Amerikkka the colonized land of confusion that consists of wicked rulers who slaughtered the Natives and kidnapped the Africans. (just to name a few crimes against humanity). These are the same “great ones” that bombed other nations with impunity and enslaved US citizens to toil in a corporate, capitalist society where we are proud to be oppressors in the form of someone’s else’s boss.

The great Amerikkka that eats her young, lynches Black people, exploits the world and now when things can’t get any worse the wite house is conducting koon meetings with rappers that do not make any common sense whatsoever when communicating with a prez who always has the “little nigger” look on his face whenever he has to pacify his “black brethren”....

Kanye West sounded ridiculous and the mumbo-jumbo he spewed out of his mouth made it clear that he was short on his meds and needs to really take care of himself-pronto.  The prez frolicking with Hollywood won’t exactly solve this Nation’s problems. HW is still the land of make-believe and some celebrity ranting will not house the houseless, feed the hungry, protect the defenseless, heal the sick for free nor will it save this land from judgement for the centuries of wrongness and injustice.

We have someone in the wite house who contradicts himself, tweets like a bird, he’s rude and obviously mean to cats when it comes to his hairstyle but he runs the US of A and literally he’s running it to the ground because his way of making Amerikkka “great again” is by repeating the history of this country’s bloody, wite supremacists agenda.

The history of genocide, land theft, racism and terrorism has left the US soil with a bitter taste from the poison of strange fruit that has been planted HERE by the forefathers of colonization.

The prez cannot even share an umbrella with his own wife so how is he to is to take the issues of global warming, poverty, and human rights violations seriously and consciously? Instead of bragging of victories over adult film stars who claimed he came up short, calling him “TINY” the prez should have more class and integrity about himself- first of all and to have more important “victories” under his belt by doing his part to see that every family in this country is housed, fed, acknowledged and safe. We still have the hoarding of guns, money, land, education and hellthcare to address and the man who is supposed to lead and represent America never in his days has he ever tweeted the likes of; “HOMELESSNESS? NOT IN AMERICA!!!!! HUNGRY FAMILIES??? NOT IN AMERICA!!! POLICE BRUTALITY??? NOT IN AMERICA!!!” If a prez is going to brag, boast about doing right by the world! It may be unnecessary and egotistical but doing “the right thing” is not going to happen anytime soon besides doing all of the above weren’t the deeds that made America great in the first place in the name of wite supremacy and if this isn’t the case the why did the highly propagated movie D.W Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” (originally called “The Clansman”) suggest otherwise?

It is no accident that this (strange) fruit still grows flawlessly today but at the same time the vines are choking the souls out of the people and this land’s “leader” is not taking this earth crisis seriously for it is all about sport, play and arguing with porn stars to him and what is so “Great” about that?

Listen to the Podcast from a Poverty Skola by clicking here

Read the transcript below:

Yea this very low-income, broken, formerly unhoused single mama actually has a roof now- but not cuz of no poltricksters “saving” me- Me and my sun have a roof in a landless peoples movement built from extremely hard work by myself and fellow indigenous migrante, incarcerated, homeless, criminalized, bordered, black, brown and poor Poverty skolaz who can’t stop won’t stop - who refuse to engage with the savior industrial complex, the non-profit industrial complex, the government gangsters or corporate banksters - who know that in the end, like i always say with my fellow Po poets- Change won’t come from a savior , pimp or an institution- change will only come from a poor people-led revolution

yes we need to fight the settler colonizer laws - cuz things get worse if we don’t - but it aint everything - matter of fact its very little - in fact i think the reason people rely so heavily on a “vote” is cuz its simple, easy- it doesn’t include holding folks in trauma so you can build together beyond your difference and your internal colonization,- it doesn’t include endless teaching, un-packing, un-colonizing conversations to help other folks un-learn the lie of poLice calling, wealth hoarding - and continual land-stealing - it has a clean , simple end goal, and it has a tangible result-

And yet the Water gangsters, and the Land stealers & sellers and breakers, and the Mama Earth polluters, removers and destroyers continue to steal, destroy, pillage,pollute, break, and think they own-

So readers, i hope u got yo vote on and Im so happy for Prop C and R -but i aint holding my breath- cuz i been lied to before by propositions that we supposed to help educate, feed, house and support me and my family and guess what? the tow trucks keep coming for my home, the bulldozers  for my tent - and the poLice for my shopping cart and for me.

And yes race and culture and gender matters cause Melanin and culture and gender winning these (s) elections is a twisted form of amerikkklan equity- but sadly hegemony is too. Or we wouldn’t have, as my sister junebug says- Brown faces in high places- people like Obama and his right hand man Julian Castro a brown, neo-liberal politrickster who wrote the RAD program (Rental Assistance Demonstration) which has single-handledly caused the sale of all of our poor people housing aka “public” aka “projects” housing on the private stock exchange to housing developers like ING and Citigroup- ensuring that we, the poorest of the poor have no more guaranteed housing anywhere in the United Snakes.

Similarily, we wouldn’t have the new mayor of San Francisco, who just like her predecessor , Ed Lee, came from poverty, the so-called projects, places where us poor folks dwell, turning around and taking homeless peoples tents as her “solution” to homelessness and then to call upon the election- backing the anti-C campaign in her own city that was created to support unhoused peoples in San Francisco,

In the end, i repeat, this landless peoples movement we unhoused and indigenous people call Homefulness, wasn’t built by politricks, Lygislators or a measure or a vote- it was built with Poverty skolaz  hands, and hearts, and hard work and minds and ancestors, and prayers and spirit and love refusing to give up a dream of poor people-led self-determiNation.

--
 

Dear Babies,

 

I am sorry that I am not here to kiss you goodbye when you wake up. There is a “Caminata del Migrante”  going to the US that is getting underway so I have to leave very, very early to meet with the people at the bus station in San Pedro Sula to board the caravan. Although San Pedro Sula is dubbed one of the most violent cities in the world, it is still worth the risk to get to the “American Dream.”

 

The dream that one day I will come back for you, your three brothers and your grandfather. And we will be able to live in peace and reap the bounty of our fruits. The dream that you can be whatever you want to be in life, may it be a doctor, lawyer or teacher. You will have endless opportunities in America.

 

My babies, I will not lie to you. This is a long, long journey and it may take months to reach my destination. But do not worry, for I hear America’s citizens are friendly and will welcome all of us eventually with open arms. I feel so terrible that I had to leave you all behind in the midst of all the violence and poverty but after the deaths of your father, uncle and grandmother, I have to leave to seek out a better life for us. Please do your best to look after your grandfather and younger brothers and help with the cooking and cleaning.

 

I promise that we will be together again soon. So as I began the migration with very little food, water or other necessities and the burning sun as my unintended nemesis I will have you all in my spirit and that is enough to keep me strong in this search for home.

                                                                                                                

 -A Poor Migrant Mama

 

President Trump has reportedly sent thousands of U.S troops to line up on the US border with the promise of making sure that no one enters the country “illegally” and that any resistance will result in arrest. In the month of September alone there were around 16,000 arrests or more of poor people trying to cross the US border. So will more incarceration show different results?  Instead of this nation addressing the global issue of poverty, the “Cheeto Prez” would rather spew racist lies and rhetoric suggesting that Middle Easterners, terrorists, and other criminals are all that consists of the occupants of the caravans.

 

Trump was said to even had stooped to the level of threatening to cut aid altogether to stricken countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras for allowing the struggling people to pass through their borders, further adding to the insult and injury of the suffering.

 

There have also been reports that many of those traveling on the grueling journey have opted to seek asylum and/or refugee status in Mexico while some poor, exhausted folks have walked the last mile and returned home with the sense of feeling of at least trying. The president in all his arrogance says that they are “wasting their time” when speaking upon people that are so poor and traumatized from violence and hatred that “wealthy, wicked man controlled” that folks are risking their lives for that “Amerikkkan Dream” with the lie of the “Promised Land”

 

“Bad elements” abroad is no valid excuse for why HUMAN BEINGS are being denied basic human rights. There are “bad elements” here already in the form of  “illegal” colonizers who wiped out the Natives for the whites’ “right to be here” and the same whites slaughtered black people in resistance to the Black man and woman’s “right to be here” and the most intelligent thing “cheeto prez” could come up with is that “very bad people” are being backed by a few rebellious rich folks and that they (migrants) are wasting time heading to the border only to be met by troops that promises not to shoot.

 

Well, tell that to the poor migrant Mama….

                                                                    Queennandi Xsheba PNN KEXU

On October 23, 2018, MOVE 9 member Mike Africa was released from prison after 40 years of incarceration. Mike was released on parole from SCI Phoenix in Skippak Township. Mike was imprisoned since August 8, 1978, in relation to an altercation between the Philadelphia police and the MOVE Organization. Mike is one of 9 MOVE members, collectively known as the “MOVE 9,” who were convicted and sentenced to 30-100 years in prison following the altercation.

 

The MOVE 9 are innocent men and women who have been in prison since August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on us at their home in the Powelton Village neighborhood of Philadelphia. This was seven years before the government dropped a bomb on MOVE, killing 11 people, including 5 babies. It has been 40 years since the August 8, 1978, police attack on MOVE, 25 years of unjust of imprisonmen. But despite the hardship of being separated from family members, despite the grief over the murder of family members (including babies), the MOVE 9 remain strong and loyal to their Belief in the teaching of MOVE founder, John Africa. Members of MOVE have an uncompromising commitment to their belief, which is what makes them a strong unified family, despite all that the government has done to break them up and ultimately try to exterminate them.

 

Mike’s wife Debbie Africa was also one of the MOVE 9. Debbie was eight months pregnant at the time of the incident and gave birth in jail to their son, Mike Africa Jr. Mike Sr. has been incarcerated for his son’s entire life and today was the first opportunity for the father and son to spend time together outside of prison. Mike Sr. and his wife Debbie maintained their relationship despite both being ncarcerated and separated from one another for 40 years. In June of this year, Debbie became the first member of the MOVE 9 to be released from prison. Today marks the first time that Mike Sr., Debbie and their son Mike Jr. have ever spent time all together.

 

But this struggle isn’t over. There are still MOVE members who remain behind the razor wires who deserve to be reunited with their families and loved ones. Mike Sr. has been eligible for parole since 2008 and went before the Pennsylvania Board or Probation and Parole (PBPP) for the tenth time in September of this year. Mike’s legal team submitted a packet in support of his parole petition, detailing Mike’s exemplary prison record, his educational accomplishments in prison and over 75 letters in support of parole. These included letters from religious leaders, retired DOC staff who knew him personally and former prisoners who described the positive influence Mike had on them. Mike also received recommendations for parole from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC), corrections expert and former DOC Secretary Martin Horn, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

 

Bret Grote, of Abolitionist Law Center, another lawyer for the MOVE 9, stated, “This historic release of Mike Africa renders the Parole Board’s decision to deny the rest of the MOVE 9 all the more incomprehensible. For example, Janet and Janine Africa have both maintained DOC records that are as exemplary as Mike’s and essentially identical to that of Debbie, yet they were inexplicably denied parole this past May.  Their attorneys have recently filed petitions for habeas corpus on behalf of Janet and Janine in federal court, challenging their parole denials.

 

In addition to Janet and Janine, three other members of the MOVE 9 remain incarcerated, and two, Merle Africa and Phil Africa, died in custody. All five surviving members of the MOVE 9 (Janet, Janine, Chuck, Eddie and Delbert Africa) have been eligible for parole since 2008 and have been repeatedly denied parole when appearing before the PBPP.

 

During the August 8, 1978 altercation, a Philadelphia police officer was killed. Following a highly politicized and controversial trial, the MOVE 9 was convicted of third-degree homicide. All nine were sentenced to 30-100 years in prison. Mike and Debbie have been in prison for a combined 80 years!  All for a crime they didn’t commit. Mike & Debbie Africa have been political prisoners since Aug 8, 1978. On June 16 after 39 years and 10 months, Debbie was released, and on October 22, after more than 40 years in prison, Mike was released. They have two kids together, including the child who was born in prison, as Debbie was 8 months pregnant at the time of her arrest. They had their life stolen from them for a crime they did not commit. Anything helps as they work to rebuild the life they had taken from them so very long ago.

 

This victory would not have been possible without the decades of organizing and advocacy spearheaded by the MOVE organization and their supporters. The decades-lonf struggle to free the MOVE 9, gives credence to the saying Ain’t No Power Like the Power of the People…Cause the Power of the People Don’t Stop!  POOR Magazine is proud to have been part of the struggle to free the MOVE 9 and we are also are honored to have utilized aspects of the MOVE organizations model for our Homefulness Project, a Poor and Indigenous Led Landless Peoples Movement. Poor remains committed to freeing our political prisoners.

 

WHAT’S THE CALL?  FREE ‘EM ALL!!!

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

Listen to the Podcast by clicking here

Breathing in
Breathing Out
No More breath to shout
just a gasp
Amerikkklan scarcity models
forged this fiery path

$1.00 a day inmate fire workers earn while mama earth burns
 to gentriFUKation out of our towns, spaces, and centers
we living in forests, tents & highways when we used to live in the bay

Breasting in and Breathing out
No more energy to get thru the day
No More breath left to shout
unhoused fire victims don’t even make the count
now we got more marginally housed poor folks/ fire victims living in tents
the wealth hoarders have made it impossible to afford any place to rent

we are done-
in walmart parking lots
still thinking trump is the one
migrante indigenous familias afriad to even come in
Already unhoused peoples exposed to air filled with smoke filled poison
this time is now
radical redistribution
enacted interdependence  is how
we gonna breathe -
not just one of us
but all of us
and live
and see
a new day

No more time to hoard resources
buy or sell Mama Earth
- open up your unused rooms
garages
your farms
your vacation homes
Stop all this war over ownership and turf
give away your 3rd and fourth cars
support the Po Mamas reparations Fund
help us po folks manifest Homefulness projects Everywhere

this is it- fam
we in this state of emergency
and its called our 21st Century Life
and the only antedote to all this strife is radical redistribution of of your love
of your time

Todays Podcast from a poverty skola is dedicated to all my fellow poverty skolaz who were barely housed before the fires in Califaztlan and are now struggling to even stay in a tent -to  unhoused folks across the bay now facing the dangerous exposure of particulates - and who don’t have what i call the privilege of privacy or coverage- specifically, the people who lost homes and lives were gentrification refugees - already pushed out of urban areas- already marginally hosted, already holding on by a thread- it is why we at POOR magazine work so hard on deGentriFUkaiton efforts - helping people to stay where they are- in their towns and cities of origin- cuz onece we evicted we don’t disappear we move into poor people suburbs or ex-urbs as they have been called further and further away from services -

So we in this time- its very simple - the time for radical redistribution of resources- there are direct things people can do - as reported by friend and co,made 

Examples of racial redistribution range from- buying masks, water, making healing tea and distributing to unhoused folks on the street - and unhoused folks in the towns and cities impacted by these fires-or supporting projects like Mask Oakland- which are giving masks out-  all the way up to buying land for folks so they can launch their own hopefulness projects - giving your excess cars, boats, RV’s that actually work away so folks can live in them- and/or your trust funds or extra resources away to folks who need it  — its is why we have created the Bnk of Community Reparations- with Po Mamaz reparations fund- to give directly to poor families - cars, money - land - housing- and the Tech reparations fund to folks who are victims of displacement and gentrification

Different forms of redistribution for different folks- elders in Chico and Woolsey and Paradise - might need rides to the hospital - help getting medicine and teas and support of whatever they need -opening your homes - extra homes or rooms to families- your backyards to stable places to house folks- sharing your time  thats your time and your bodies if you can-

We are in this time- Mama Earth is struggling- Fires are burning and there is no more time for hoarding- radical unhoarding is necessary- ungentriFUKing - un-evicting- un-buying - to move in every way you haven’t been taught in this kkkrapitalist culture- this is whats necessary now -

To learn more about the Bank of Community Reparations Fund which includes the Po mamas reparations Fund-The tech reparations fund-Homefulness Fund and so much more-  email poormag@gmail.com - to help u learn and enact radical redisibution come to the next session of Peopleskool which will be held Jan 25th & 26th-

And to Conscious Redisibutors, Reparators reading this who are already doing this- so much gratitude, love and respect !!

Below are the "I" stories created by Unhoused residents of Berkeley who live in RV's and Vans on the occupied streets of Berkeley ( aka Huchuin Lisjan/Ohlone Land) in POOR Magazine's Street-Writing Workshop held weekly on the corners of 8th & Harrison streets. This powerful community who calls themselves Berkeley Friends On Wheels of unhoused residents have dealt with harassment, politricksters and ongoing criminalization for doing nothing but living humbly and cleanly in their RV's. They are not giving up and are currently working with POOR Magazine to write their Homefulness Creation Story. If you are someone with land or resources to redistribute to these powerful poverty skolaz so they can build their own Homefulness project please email poormag@gmail.com

(Stay tuned for Unhoused Oakland RV dwellers Poverty Scholarship coming soon!)

 

Amber

The police stole us from our home.

Years later, little to nothing has changed.

Nobody who is landless has a right to exist anywhere these days. There might as well be signs all over Berkeley saying: "Poor People: Go Elsewhere!"

Whatever I do, wherever I go, (eventually) some officer or some official comes along and does whatever it takes to uproot my existence.

 

I am a mother. It may not be obvious to the outside observer. But, it is true.

When the police stole my son, it sent me into an emotional tailspin.

In my broken-down state, I began to see the bigger picture and the deeper meaning of life.

I gave of myself without awareness of my own needs or of the nature of those to whom I gave.

Then, I found peace and healing on the Albany Bulb. There, I grew healthier and wiser and stronger. But, just as the Art around us was ephemeral, so was our Home on the Bulb.

The police stole us from our home.

But, they could not steal our sense of Home.

Now, life on wheels, wrenching, thriving, caring, driving: Home. Helping those whom I know are worthy. I won't help you if your get-down involves harming others. I don't need that shitty Karma.

I mother others: canine and human, young and old, some have money, most do not.

Water seeks its own level.

I will not drown.

I help others float.

We help each other to rise up.

It is VITAL that we stay positive!

I know no other way, I got it from my Momma.

Like mother, like daughter.

It can be hard to keep your head up when it seems as though the majority of those in charge are actively working to keep you down.

So, we band together and stand together.

One thing that they can never steal is our bond and our sense of community.

Kim

It was like I was never there.

This is just one story of many, that started my path to landlessness, no place to be. The company I had worked for-- the company I gave 10 years of my life to, the company I totally loved, the company I thought I would retire from-- let me go, just like that. At first I was in disbelief. I told the HR manager wtf, you’re not funny, and to stop messing with me. When I looked up and saw all of the serious faces of the people who just moments before I called friends, turned on me without blinking an eye. Once it finally set in and I realized what was happening, I started sobbing like a baby, asking why, what did I do? What have I done to be without a job, insecure about myself and without a safe home, and vulnerable?

Becoming a part of Berkeley Friends on Wheels has made me sleep a lot better, knowing someone’s watching.

They kept saying it just didn’t work out. Bullshit. I know for a fact someone was behind this travesty. Five months earlier we closed a smaller office and got rid of everyone except the office manager. The word was she wasn’t happy about the change, and it showed. I won’t go through all the petty things I was getting written up for. I even got put on probation. After almost 10 years of over the top excellent reviews, raises, and promotions, I was put on probation. Got through that with flying colors. 90 days of this person giving me crappy mindless jobs or giving me nothing to do at all. It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I just can’t seem to move on. I try not to let it get to me but something comes over me almost like a death in the family, a sick but sad feeling.

To make a long story short, I got escorted to my desk to gather my 10 years worth of stuff, feeling so, so embarrassed. Packing my desk up, all my peers and co-workers passing by, also in disbelief, wondering what happened. Finally, I couldn’t take it. I grabbed the most important stuff and cried my ass right out of there.

They had a car and driver waiting outside to drive me to my car that I park at BART, El Cerrito, and commute to SF. I guess that was considerate of them. To my knowledge, no one else has gotten a car and driver when they were let go. Another odd thing, when I talked to a few of my coworkers two or three days later, I asked what was the office buzz going around. They all said nothing, not a single word from anybody. Usually the emails are crazy with gossip or speculation of what may have happened. In my case, nothing. It was like I was never there.

To make things worse, when I received my unemployment package, I went directly to the reason for termination page and saw the words “mis-matched set of skills.” Wtf does that mean? Filing for unemployment was a nightmare, and job interviews even worse. Try to explain a mis-matched set of skills after 10 years of employment there. I would recommend they call and ask what it means, because I honestly have no idea. I did know one thing, I was screwed big time. Little did I know this was the first step to having nowhere to be and being without what I’ve had my whole life.

I am now in the city of Berkeley, the place I now call my home, with people I love the most. My husband Patrick and my two dogs. Hoping for a safe place to go for everyone.

 

Pamela

The scariest time in my life was a year and a half ago when out of the blue I became homeless, I have my three dogs and two cats and my pickup, never felt so alone and scared before in my life. I ended up going to the Berkeley Marina where I found so many others in the same situation. Unfortunately, I lost both of my cats within a year, but thankfully I was accepted by everyone at the marina and I feel I have found a purpose in life again despite the pain I carry in my heart! I would be lost without the BMF.W. Love you all.

/span/p pspan style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"/span/p pspan style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"More to come soon!/span/p

p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Shawna Hawk is a Black Power movement builder, a Mother, a Healer and a catalyst for social change. She is creating radical intersectional community in Olympia by transforming a space that has long been a stronghold of white cis male activism - Media Island International - into a space for Women of Color to do healing, activism, art and movement building, and to lift each other up with fierceness and love./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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Olympia, which is both the state capitol and a college town, is a small city of approximately 50,000 people, with over 80% of the population identifying as white. Like any white-dominated city, no matter how ldquo;liberalrdquo; or ldquo;progressiverdquo; it thinks it is, Olympia is full of unchecked racism. Media Island International (mediaisland.org), founded in 1984, is a house and organization in downtown Olympia that hosts a meeting space, radio station, and library/archives. Their website says that Media Island is ldquo;a resource and networking center for culturally diverse people of all ages, groups and movements working for social, racial, economic, and ecological justice, sustainability and peacerdquo; (the term ldquo;racialrdquo; in that statement was only recently added by Shawna). However, despite their intention of being inclusive, their board and other long-term leadership have been almost exclusively middle-aged white straight cis-men, which has kept the energy in the building and their reputation in the community somewhat stagnant. Shawna Hawk is changing all that./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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"img height="468" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nRE3x8whJUH0k1seLaZ3zrvHiA_OErenylmNAfKnQcbGHqbjBNsQubuPdIPklGCbTnV3HxL0S1TT3OOplSHbAI2aAvTVfHT0qESj0bZ_BmS8mg3ssyDYGWI-1aT8T6Mr5cK4QFEs" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" //span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"[image description: nbsp;Shawna Hawk smiling and standing in the sun outside a freshly painted house of blueish-green with brown trim. nbsp;Signs on the big house say Media Island, Black Lives Matter and KOWA 106.5 fm]/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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Shawna is a Black Woman who experienced Poverty and spent time in the foster system, and who raised three kids as a single working Mother. When her twin daughters came to Olympia to look into The Evergreen State Collegersquo;s film program, Shawna followed. She had already met all of her academic goals, but she decided to get another Bachelorrsquo;s degree, post-Masters Degree, on top of two AAs and a couple other BAs, as what Shawna calls a re-fresh, a ldquo;trajectory change.rdquo; She had always been goal-driven by academics in an effort to fuel her career, but had become disillusioned./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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;When I saw that my Masters Degree didnrsquo;t get me beyond any of the white women that were hoarding all the power and the jobs, with lesser degrees and experience, thatrsquo;s when my bubble got burst,rdquo; Shawna says. ldquo;You know, you jump through all the hoops and you see that the privilege is what wins. Not your paper. I had to just be happy with myself and be happy that, lsquo;Damn, I did that! I raised three kids. I did my job.rsquo; I look back now and Irsquo;m like lsquo;how the hell did I do that?!rsquo;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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"At Evergreen, Shawna pursued the things that called to her heart and her sense of Justice. She hosted the show Vibrational Rising at KAOS, the community radio station on campus, and was bringing groundbreaking Black artists and academics to speak and perform. At one point, about five years ago, she accompanied a guest hip hop artist to the house where he was staying, which turned out to be Media Island. She went inside and looked around. She saw that Media Island had a radio station and a social justice library. She saw that the space didnrsquo;t look very cared for, but the books looked diverse. She saw a poster with young Black girls on it. She became interested./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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"img height="468" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xoNd6HpXg8n1NrH5cadFj13L8BBMWKtqyjYzxwD9uGmuM1s6F0fYpu3cysQGFyhkckGRlsaBq5RwVgJHAHxS4Xc9QdQJVA_LCHqjbzPeQniixZR_Rofm_C1pN0Mrc5Ig5LpzN5bV" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" //span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"[image description: nbsp;smiling Shawna Hawk at the back of Media Island, in front of a mural in progress by Marin Kelp. The mural features the Divine Feminine, Goddesses of African descent.]/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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Not long after this introduction, Shawna was voted in as the KOWA 106.5 FM Station Manager at Media Island. Later, she was voted on to the Board of Directors, where she was the only Woman, the only Person of Color, and the only Black person. Her leadership and involvement at Media Island have blossomed over the past four years, creating the Women of Color in Leadership Movement, hosting monthly POC-only healing spaces, brunches and retreats, offering Menrsquo;s Healing Space for addressing toxic masculinity and continuing her radio show Vibrational Rising as Lady Hawk. Shawnarsquo;s work and leadership, and even her impact on the physical space of the building, is obvious. She is bringing the organization alive. But this feels threatening to white men who cling to their positions of power and stronghold over the organization. Media Island is in a unique position to actually DO what its mission has been saying for all these years. There is an opportunity to literally dismantle patriarchy and white supremacy in this one microcosm, and to femmifest, rather than manifest, the hand-me-down privilege fest. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;The house that is Media Island International was donated by one white man of privilege to another white man of privilege. So that white man got a chance to bring on his team, to do his own thing. No one was dictating to him how he had to do that. He made that decision on his own,rdquo; says Shawna Hawk. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Shawna says that white people often bring an energy thatrsquo;s like ldquo;Mine!rdquo; especially as Shawna becomes more established and transforms the space at Media Island. They see what shersquo;s done, and they want it. White men tend to hide behind self-righteousness, while white Women refuse to take direction from a Black Woman, revealing hatred and jealousy with historic roots. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;Me as an African American Woman, our people were being snatched from our homes in Africa, and brought here. Too often times being evicted from places, whether it be violently or sneakily through foreclosures or paperwork. Having our homes stolen, burnt, torched. Being a part of Media Island, and having it be in a house, where a dominant white male owns a piece of propertyhellip;rdquo; Shawna explains. ldquo;Often you hear stories about all-Black towns being destroyed by neighboring white communities who were jealous of what had been built. Not because they had so much, but because they worked so hard for it! So you have Black communities with people who know how to build houses because they had to build all the houses when they were in slavery. Then you (whites) get all mad because they (Blacks) had the skills to build their own house, a better house than yrsquo;alls, cuz yrsquo;all didnrsquo;t know how to do it.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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"img height="468" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iopUnjnx0JK-zNmmyoi0KRtxoOVUDN6r_VqsPrACQrFekSqx2WGAbDBOsQdfm5DC19kqt6oQeUrzdi8obdrW5wfRMSe6QPdoObiK6dwCjgC2g9Y3k_sSntigO0YZaDlNpgE6MsX_" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" //span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"[image description: nbsp;Shawna is out front of Media Island working in the raised food and herb garden beds, she is wearing yellow work gloves.]/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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"White people of Olympia can support Shawna, and the work of Women of Color, by being consistent, by showing up when they say theyrsquo;re going to, and by following through. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;We need the constant support of the majority class,rdquo; says Shawna, ldquo;and for people to put their walk and their action where their talk is. It seems like therersquo;s some eye-opening thing happening where white folks are realizing that /spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"yes, racism exists/spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;" in Olympia. Cuz for many, the focus was on the environment. You canrsquo;t do Environmental Justice without doing Racial Justice! I know not to take beautiful clear skies and crisp drinking water and think that I can be unaware... Irsquo;m on my guard no matter where I am. People are gonna be people no matter where you go.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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"The fact that white people in Olympia and the United States are finally getting the message that RACISM EXISTS is something that Shawna finds hopeful. Shawna sees and feels a sense of urgency for white people to go deep with The Work, to drop that inherent sense of entitlement, and turn over power, unhoard the resources. She loves it when volunteers make themselves available to do projects, like working on the garden, painting, being a part of the change. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"img height="1107" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/S0jyKpiIZm7X_O_D1oSOoi5aHPnnk8NCzA90dFpPcMvKhu8dDOWD_K4isbS374-aB-MogNJetd7TUzKd_wHttcOKE_rfzsfq_XTkoGY8-FQYyUs6AGgWOgoh8UKO-6GYKrKFhm_z" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad); -webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" //spanspan style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"[image description: nbsp;Shawna is up on a ladder painting the exterior of the house that is Media Island.]/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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;Each time a person walks in and says lsquo;I like the feel of it in here, oh my god yoursquo;ve done such a good jobrsquo; - that feeds me! Wersquo;re repainting it right now and that feeds me, I donrsquo;t even have words for it right now. I get excited about things around the house, and I talk to the current founder whorsquo;s shared that hersquo;s on his way out, and hersquo;s like lsquo;I really donrsquo;t care.rsquo; I guess I must care too much because Irsquo;m working here as many hours as I can, you know?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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"History keeps repeating itself, and the men who are sad to lose their clubhouse are lashing out at Shawna and her leadership. However, there is an opportunity to interrupt that cycle at Media Island in Olympia, WA. This can serve as an example of Reparations, of transformative racial justice, at this one house, with this one organization and this one Black Woman. The white men at Media Island are not ldquo;letting Shawnardquo; do this work, she IS doing it. Shawna is in Leadership and Media Island is moving out of the old regime to make way for new energy, for that of Divine Feminine, as a Trans-inclusive Women and Community space where especially Women of Color and survivors feel safe, and the divine masculine is held in balance with its counterparts. This is part of a bigger transition that the world is going through, and the pushback is growing pains. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"To fuel her passion, Shawna stays grounded in the African spiritual practices of Ifa, the study of nature, meditation, dance, music, song, drumming and especially Ancestor worship and engagement with her Spirit Guides. /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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"ldquo;African Americans who came over with the slave trade, we had to keep our practices hidden, we had everything stripped away. So we had to be really creative with our spiritual practice and rituals,rdquo; Shawna explains. ldquo;Wherever I go they go with me, wherever I go I look for my Ancestors and Spirit Guides in the trees, in the energy of the space.rdquo; nbsp;/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-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"________________________________________/span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"span id="docs-internal-guid-4847392b-7fff-4cd5-1e23-79fcd4b424ef"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"Lisa Ganser is a white, Disabled, genderqueer artist and activist living in Olympia, WA on stolen Squaxin, Chehalis and Nisqually land. nbsp;They are a sidewalk chalker, a copwatcher, a Poverty Scholar and the Daughter of a Momma named Sam./span/span/p p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" /pp nbsp;/p

pHunger/p pdrove me to/p pseek sustenance/p pat Safeway.nbsp; Desperately I searched/p pfor food without fillers not born in a lab/p pfor food without pesticide tainting its skin/p pfor food without chemical colors mixed in/p pfor food not injected, infected or foul/p pfor food not obtained through abuse of the wild/p pWhen suddenly from deep inside my soul/p pa deafening tone rose and took control/p pmy body shook as i scremaed and yelled/p pthat the food in the store was not fit to sell/p pand fuck the food industries intent/p pto kill/p pan entire nation/p pto stack dollar bills/p pThen security escorted me/p pout the door/p pas i continued to shout/p pI can#39;td take it no more!/p pStill fuming as i stormed down the street/p pmy grumbling belly/p pwon#39;t accept defeat/p pi hold accountable the corporate mind/p pthat entwines with political designs/p pi won#39;t accept their rancid fare/p pemitting the stench of the death it bares/p pI won#39;t subvert the gift of life/p pevent if it means eternal strife/p pI stubbornly claim my right/p pto resist/p pto insist/p pthat they purify/p pthe food supply and/p pAnd even if I starve to death/p pmy soul will never come to rest/p puntil the life returns to food/p pand humanity once again ruleems/em/p pnbsp;/p pemAniah Hill is a poet with City College of San Francisco#39;s Poetry for the People/em/p pnbsp;/p pnbsp;/p p(c) 2018/p