Story Archives

by By Laurence Ashton/PoorNewsNetwork Youth in Media

" What are you doing in the hall?" A mechanical voice shot through the cavernous hall of Oakland Technical High School. It couldn't have been for me, I thought, I had a hall pass and wasn't causing no trouble for noone

"……did you hear me… what are doing in the hall?" And then it hit me , it was for me and this time it was accompanied the dreaded click click noise of police heels studded with metal tips for that almost like-a-gun sound.

"I have a pass," I turned around and faced two Oakland Police Officers who by this time were now fingering their guns and coming toward me, clicking in unison.

"Let me see it" They had reached me now and one of them was less than five inches away from my face"

I fumbled for my jacket pocket, as I did 'the other cop began whispering into his shoulder, "code… call for back-up"

Suddenly before my nervous hands could find the pass, I was against the wall and they were patting me down. Within seconds instead of weapons, they found the pass and after a short cough, one of them helped me up and said, "you should of spoke up sooner, next time keep your pass in your hand" With that, they both walked on down the hall ready to harass the next unsuspecting student who happened in their path.

Later that day I found out that the Oakland Police Department had been called on campus for "a disturbance" which turned out was nothing, so I figured just to make their day not a complete waste of time, they decided to get me on a casual WWB (Walking While Black) violation. But of course what they failed to differentiate was the fact that I wasn't just "walking" I was a 16 year High School student walking through The Halls of my school and, in my opinion, they had absolutely no right in there in the first place.

This disgusting experience, one of many I have encountered as young African Descendent male living in Amerikka, happened almost 3 years ago, and it all came back to me in living sickening color when my editor at PNN asked me to write about the proposed legislation Proposition Y, which aims to put at least 63 more cops on the streets in Oakland funding it with a new flat tax on Oakland homeowners.

Proposition Y will go on November's ballot because it was approved by a majority vote of the Oakland City Council, and instead of funding the already poverty stricken Oakland schools will direct 60 percent of the newly raised taxes to hire more police officers in Oakland.

Education Not Incarceration reported that just like in my case, cops don't prevent violence, they cause violence, they instigate problems where there aren't any. When there were less cops on Oakland's streets such as between 1995 - 1996 when there approximately 100 less cops on the streets, homicides decreased from 152 to 102 and a similar situation occurred from 1999 to 2000, when homicide rates decreased when the number of Oakland police officers decreased.

Those of us who deal on the frontline of racism and poverty have known all of this for a long time, in my case, not only is it my situation but my fathers' who is a houseless, mentally ill Black man. He lives homelessly in LA and the Bay Area and gets harassed, abused and profiled by cops every day. He doesn't get accepted into over-filled supportive housing or access to scarce mental health treatment just because he is arrested for sleeping in a park at night. And similarly, I don't get a better public education because I get harassed in my school's hall. Police don't get at the root causes of poverty and racism; they just make life harder for the poor folks and the folks of color unlucky enough to be on their radar screen that day.

Now I am not saying that all cops are bad, only most of them, but the idea that getting more cops will solve Oakland's' problems is just more Jerry Drowning of our scarce resources and services to supposedly make life better for scared rich folks who want to move foreward with the march towards a whiter, richer, more militarized Oakland.

by Tiny

"I am the mother of 2 African American young men - one of them is Bipolar …what am I going to do the next time my son gets a manic attack? As this mother spoke her voice trembled with deep rooted tears born form the ongoing assault by the police on the civil and human rights of disabled people of color all over Amerikka who live day to day in trepidation and fear of the next "search and seizure", harassment or like this mother, murder.

This tearful mother spoke at the Q&A section of one of the most powerful "panels" I have attended this year; The War on the Disabled, people of color, speak out, fight back against police brutality, sponsored by The Freedom Socialist Party, Race and Disability Consultants Inc, and POOR Magazine. The panel was moderated by revolutionary poet, race and disability consultant, and PNN's own illin and chillin columnist Leroy Moore and included the mothers of police shooting victims Cammerin Boyd and Idriss Stelly, Marylon Boyd and Mesha Irizarry, as well as, Nellie Wong, from Comrades of Color, Malaika Parker for Bay Area Police Watch, and, Labor activist and mental health worker with The City and County of San Francisco, Roland Washington

"Its not about whether you committed a crime - its about an out of control police department- in fact a lot of out of control police departments- but its also about officers not being trained, but even more clearly its about not enough resources in our communities, police officers should not be responding to medical emergencies" After Malaika presented the cases of disabled folks of color who had been the victims of fatal police shootings, including Joseph Timms and Cammerin Boyd, she got the root of these senseless crimes, i.e., the fact that police officers should NOT be called out on 911 emergencies that are really 5150 ( ie mentally ill) emergencies.

"They are trained in combat, and that is not appropriate training for someone suffering from a mental health crisis." Malaika concluded with calling out for the need for "Real training in mental health crisis for cops and most importantly, discipline, cause without that the training means nothing"

Readers of PNN and the SF Bayview, are well aware of the current fatal shootings of Young African Descendent citizens of the Bay Area, i.e., Cammerin Boyd, Idriss Stelly, Joseph Timms and at least 26 others in the last four years but one of the reasons this panel was so important is the not so well- known factor of these young brothers disability, and when the corporate media reports on these shootings, its reported as the shooting of "a Black youth, or Asian Female" or other media sponsored stereotypes, which in its depiction automatically releases the cops of the culpability for the death of not only another man or woman of color but of the shooting of a Disabled man or woman.

"As a mental health worker who works specifically with homeless Black mentally ill folks in San Francisco, all I can say is, this has got to stop, just stop" Ron Washington, who spoke as a scholar from so many fronts made a point of connecting the dots of his work as a Labor organizer, housing advocate and mental health activist, " I have worked on these police training's, and they only go so far, so maybe we need to do something pre-emptive as a community when we know folks have a problem," Roland described how he personally has been "touched" by the Police departments profiling of African Descendent males as a standard procedure and how it just made him all the more dedicated to seeing the end of this kind of murder.

"I'm already Black, do you think I need a double diagnosis" The next inspiring speaker was human rights activist, advocate, writer, and mother of Idriss Stelly, African descendent youth of 23 who was shot in the Metreon Theatre in 2002 by police, who quoted her multi-talented son, Idriss, who as well as being a teacher, activist and actor in his own right was also very aware of all of the dangers of being a young Black man in Amerikka with a psychological disability. Mesha outlined the entire story of her son's tragic case including the way that the police interrogated her and Idriss' girlfriend to cover-up the accountability of the police in the death of her son.

"It is very important for folks to come to the Police Review Commission hearings" She concluded her compelling story with the plea that we must attend the commission hearings and that if we don't keep holding these public officials accountable they will drop the ball. Which this PNN writer would also urge, seeing as the people, led in large part by Mesha and her tireless work for justice for parents who have lost their children to this kind of violence, were able to get the police review commission to actually be a more community led body rather than the puppet body that it was before the ballot initiative prop H.

"More money for War means less money for domestic violence at home, and as a disabled elder of color I am acutely aware of this kind of police violence" the last speaker of the panel was the poet, writer, vibrant fighter for justice and representative from the Comrades of Color Caucus of the Freedom Socialist Party who connected the larger illegal wars on poor people all over the world as well as the civil rights crimes of the so-called patriot act and other attacks put into full effect by Real Terrorists The Bush administration and its troupes. As well, Nellie brought out the issues of capitalism and the root causes of violence against poor people of color by police.

Finally, The floor was opened up to a very powerful Q&A session in which there were many more voices of scholarship from folks who are resisting these abuses everyday including the announcement of the Bush Administrations October Plan which aims to turn the streets of Amerikka into a pseudo state of Martial Law in October in honor of the upcoming election and how we as people must answer back by getting involved in the organizing work that is struggling to resist these oppressive realities including the work of the October 22nd coalition which will lead a march against police murder and abuse, The Million Worker March, and The Cammerin Boyd Action Committee which will have its first meeting Monday, October 11th at 6:00 pm at 54 Mint street in San Francisco.

Through the work of all these wonderful folks and through the one on one work of mothers everywhere maybe we can solve these senseless crimes and in turn come up with real solutions for mothers and fathers of youth of color everywhere.

by Tiny

Yeah, a mid-night train is coming

Right down "Homeless Row"

The Metro, co-signed by "Mr. Willie"

The Bar-be-cue’s of Bayview, he threw yearly

Oh but it’s going to cost the home owners dearly

Trickin the people to cut their own, pocket books

Yeah, they used to Lynch a Nigga, at Southern Bar-be-cues

Young bloods mis-guided, hating one another

Railroaded to Jail, by the coming of the Lite rail.

No jobs, no homes, get out of the way, toot, tooted!

Excerpt from "The coming of the Rail" by Po Poet Laureate A. Faye Hicks

Large concrete teeth sliced through the asphalt. Dirt filled my shoes, dust infested my nostrils. And I was only half-way across Third Street at Palou. On this bright Tuesday morning in September I wavered between the sort of safety of the crumbling curb and the near death of the middle of the non-street in ground zero of the largest, most devastating gentrification, oh excuse me, Development projects to hit a poor African descedent community since the descimation of the Fillmo.

So how do you destroy an entire community without a bomb, a firefight or missile?

" They are building this project right up the middle of this mostly Black community (BVHP) and they aren't kicking down any of the money or the contracts to the black residents of this very community." After I walked through the mess that is Third street circa 2004. I ran into longtime Bayview resident, Kyle, who has lived and worked (when he can find work) in San Francisco for the last 20 years.

"It’s the same ol story, how do you get rid of people?… sell off their land and their contracts to outsiders until one day they become the outsiders in their own land" Kyle ended by looking in the direction of the other big "gentrification" (read:displacement) project in BVHP which is the demolition of several hundred projects " on the hill" by the Redevelopment agency and the rebuilding of market rate condos in their place, which this PNN reporter considers a frightening example of 21st colinization

Kyle told me that on many occasions he has inquired into job opportunities in the li(t)e rail project from MUNI, the City, EDD, etc, only to be given the runaround in more ways than one

I came to BVHP this morning to meet with Kyle in preparation of a Transportation hearing held later that morning at SF City Hall to approve the funding (with sales tax and release of prop k funds) of The Metro East Maintenance Facility which was chaired by SF Board Supervisors, Chris Daly Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell.

The issue of who will get this contract and who will be hired has the ire of several San Francisco City Council members, including Matt Gonzalez, Chris Daly and even District 10's sometimes ambivalent-to-act, Sophie Maxwell because of the bizarre lack of compliance by MUNI with the hiring quotas of 50% resident, 25.6% minority, 6.9% women and the fact that the multi-million dollar "Lite Rail" project that runs right all the way up 3rd street right through the Black community has so far not been given to a local African-American contractor.

" I have a stack of memos, that are only just that, memos from meeting after meeting with officials, and none of those translate into jobs." At the meeting, I spoke to Gus Amador teacher in one of the Community based organizations doing training for the very jobs that would be needed if MUNI were to follow the hiring quotas and open the bidding to African American contractors rooted in the community. Gus concluded with a sigh "and I am training low-income residents of this community to become union carpenters and the bottom line is these San Franciscans deserve to get jobs in San Francisco."

This meeting was held at the SF Transportation Authority one week after a 300 community member strong meeting was held before the Human Rights Commission. The fact that the Human Rights Commission was so well attended and this meeting (the one that really mattered,) much less so, was no accident, as the CBO's who on one hand will benefit if these hiring quotas are followed because their participants will be hired upon graduation, are also receiving money from the very folks who are leading the charge to gentrification/descimation of BVHP i.e., the Mayors office of Community Development, et al, These same CBO's decided that it was imperative that they hold classes today at the same time as the Transportation hearing.

" I just want to make sure we look at both sides of the coin," A man who represented himself as a consultant to non-profit agencies that provide employment and training spoke to me outside the hearing room in hushed tones, "yes there is always room for improvement in contracting opportunities, and there is always room for improvement in employment and training opportunities, but I do want to say that there are a number of CBO's that have been very successful in training and placement in projects such as the MUNI lite rail project," Now this well-spoken African Descendent gentleman completely confused me with paragraphs that sounded a lot like they came right out of a grant proposal or MOCD Request For Proposal(RFP) so I had to ask again, "are you saying that MUNI is employing the BVHP community or not?"

"Well, what I am saying is that MUNI has been creating some employment for the community and leveraging other funds to create other training and placement situations happen….." At this point a whole rush of youth who had just spoken before the panel rushed out of the door in a wave of protest, only to meet the eager gaze of Apolliona's skilled camera, which caused the perfect distraction for my consultant friend, well-timed because I didn't know how much more double talk my brain could hold.

Some noteworthy comments from the Board members present included one by Chris, " Unless you satisfy the people in the community, I am not voting for this" (funding) and even an unusually scathing comment to MUNI from Sophie, " Aren't you jus doing the same thing again"

As well, several powerful folk from the community did come up and speak, one of which was a young African Descendent woman, Erica Mccrury, proud enough of her hoped for future with MUNI, that she even donned the requisite orange mesh jacket over her gray sweatshirt for a PNN photo, "I am an out of work veteran of Desert Storm, and I just want to make sure that when I graduate ( from my pre-apprentice-ship program, I get a chance to work on the lite rail project rather than them bringing folks in from the outside (to work on the project) "

Editors Note; This piece was first published in the SF Bayview Newspaper in September. Thanks to the resistance of the community MUNI and The African American Contractors Association are currently in negotiation to reach a fair and equitable situation that would include living wage jobs for the community including folks re-entering the community post-incarceration.

by Tiny/PNN

The marble floors glistened like freshly cut diamonds in the morning sun. My feet, shod in my favorite mickey mouse socks glided down the halls like an expert skier It was 6:00 am. I was 10 years old and had sneaked out of our hotel room at The Waikiki Sheraton while my mother was asleep. We were there cause my moms new boyfriend was the head of HouseKeeping so he could get us a room for free in that very expensive hotel. He had been a server for 16 years and finally after so many years of dedicated labor at slave wages was promoted to a pseudo-staff position. It meant he could wear a cheap tie and a better pair of polyester slacks, but most importantly it meant he could get health benefits and a .50 cent raise.

"We’re just trying to hold onto an affordable health benefit plan, and a cost of living (COLA) wage raise, basically we're just trying to survive in San Francisco…that's all" . My brief stint with those marble floors in Hawaii 21 years ago came back to me as I listened to Anna, a housekeeper at the Hotel Mark Hopkins.She had worked tirelessly there for the last 18 years and was a current member of the Local 2 union that was holding a powerful strike of many of the city's most expensive hotels, all of which are owned by some of the worlds largest multi-national corporations. Anna went on to explain that housekeepers like her only earn between $8.00 and 8.75 per hour.

As I walked up the massive hill leading out of the tenderloin where I live to the Monolithic pillar of wealth and privelege that was The Hotel Mark Hopkins and The Fairmont Hotel, I was struck by the tragic irony of these workers' situation, most of whom were immigrants and/or people of color, having to strike just to get basic worker rights like health care and COLA wage increases from the large for-profit corporations, like The Hilton, The Starwood(Sheraton) and The Intercontinental which owns the Mark Hopkins, all of which showed net profits of $156-325 Billion in 2003. The same corporations that if they can get away with it pay virtually nothing to their workers, like my mothers boyfriend who was so afraid to lose his job he never dared join a union or even think about such an act of resistance as striking for benefits.

"They (hotel corporations) are offering us a health plan that will cost an employee with a family of four $273.00 per month to start with an annual increase, a family of four can barely afford to pay rent in San Francisco much-less afford those kind of premiums," Riva , an African Descendent PBX operator for the last 15 years at The Fairmont Hotel concluded by explaining that the new contract proposed by the Hotels did not include a 401(K), IRA or fully funded pension.

The strike was born out of failed contract talks between the Union (UNITE HERE and Local 2) and The Hotel Corporations which began on August 14th when the old contracts between workers and the corporations expired and the hotels refused to change their very unfair contract proposal which included a mere .5 cent raise for workers earning $8.00 per hour and not much more for higher paid workers, as well as the overpriced health care plan. The unions, who were not eager to strike, worrying about the patrons and the City's economy, much of which is built on tourism, waited for 15 days more after they voted to strike on September 14th just to see if the corporations would offer at least something a little better, but they didn't budge by even a nickel.

"We are not striking now, we are locked out," Ann Hunch, a server for 26 years at The Fairmont Hotel clarified the workers current situation "the negotiations (between workers and the Hotels) were stalled after 16 sessions so the Union decided to have a measured strike, just a two week strike at a small group of hotels, cause we don’t' want to mess up the economy at all, and two days later, all of the other multi-group owned hotels like the Fairmont, The Mark Hopkins, and the Holiday Inn civic center locked us all out like garbage, and this isn't regular people, this is big Corporations, like the Fairmont, half of this hotel is owned by a Saudi Prince "

by J. Damu

January 1, 2004 marks exactly 200 years since the culmination of one of history’s most titanic, earth-shaking events. Hundreds of thousands of casualties were sustained, national economies were either wrecked or displaced, the history of the western hemisphere was forever altered and the wars of national liberation of Africa, Asia and Latin America that characterized much of the 20th century were pre-figured. What single event caused so much altering of history and empowerment of Blacks and other colonized peoples?-The Haitian Revolution.

When current Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, rises to speak to what will surely be tens of thousands of Haitians to welcome the new year and commemorate one of history’s greatest achievements, he will speak to the worthy successors of those enslaved Blacks and downtrodden masses who rose up so long ago, and he will speak to those in Haiti who continue today to fight for dignity, peace, improved living conditions for all, reparations and even life itself.

Not surprisingly most academicians sweep the Haitian Revolution under the world’s carpet of history. They do this simply by dismissing the revolution, when they refer to it at all, as an event that created the second oldest republic in the western hemisphere. It accomplished this of course, but it did much, much more.

Soberly considered the Haitian Revolution, more than the American and French Revolutions, which were conducted, after all, by slave holders, was the first instance in the history of the planet, where formerly enslaved men and women, workers from throughout society, unified to overthrow their oppressors and to establish their own republic.

Though European and American slave owners never thought such a thing could happen,
the truth of the matter is Haiti, prior to the revolution, was considered the sugar bowl of the world, producing fully one third of the world’s sugar, and it was by far the wealthiest of all the European colonies in the Western hemisphere. Despite the affluence it created however, Haiti was perhaps the most harshly administered of all the slave societies, with the possible exception of Barbados. This was an important pre-condition for the revolution.

The Haitian Revolution which began in August of 1791 with a slave revolt led by Boukman, a voudun spiritual leader, and culminated 13 years later under the successive leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean Jacques Dessalines was successful due to a prodigious set of circumstances.

Factors often cited to explain the success of the enslaved Haitians in their overthrow of the French slavocracy include the ideological impact of the American and French revolutions on the Haitians, as well as the inter-imperialist rivalries between the U.S., England, Spain and France. These economic and territorial rivalries prevented any of them sending France more than token support to fight the Black armies.

Only the U.S. seemed to profit nicely from the Haitian revolution. Desperate to raise money to fight the Haitians and simultaneously conduct military expeditions in Europe, France offered to the U.S. the Louisiana Territory, a purchase that would increase the size of the U.S. by nearly one third. At the fire sale price of $15 million, the U.S. quickly accepted the offer, after deducting $3.5 million in U.S. citizen’s claims against France.

While these conditions cannot be discounted as contributing to the success of the revolution, the military experience of the Blacks themselves cannot be overestimated. For instance numerous Haitians had participated in the American Revolution and gained valuable fighting experience there. Henri Christophe, who later served as president of Haiti was typical. As a youth he left his native Graneda and traveled to South Carolina, where he and others from the Caribbean participated in the battle of Savannah. By 1790 he was in Haiti and participated in the revolution from its beginning.

Even more important to the Haitian revolutionary cause, however, were the Congolese and Angolan soldiers. Captured in African warfare, defending their homelands, these highly trained soldiers had been enslaved and sent to Haiti. These soldiers, many of whom still considered themselves subjects of particular African kings and queens, organized and fought spectacularly for a free Haiti.

Furthermore, once the Haitian republic was born, its leaders did all they could to continue to promote the twin goals of abolition of slavery and national liberation throughout the hemisphere..

Well aware of Simon Bolivar’s long running attempts to free the Spanish colonies from colonial rule, Haiti’s leaders supported him when they could. On two different occasions, after Bolivar had been driven from the South American mainland, Haitian president Alexandre Petion re-supplied and re-armed Bolivar’s forces. When Bolivar, who is referred to by some, as the George Washington of South America, asked what he could do to re-pay Haiti, President Petion responded, “You can repay us by freeing all the slaves in the Spanish colonies.”

Petion then gave Bolivar something more important than arms and ammunition. He gave Bolivar a printing press on which was printed the declaration freeing the all the enslaved Africans and Indians held by Spain. Bolivar’s declaration did not prove to be lasting until 1846, however.

Today President Aristide has become a modern version of Boukman andToussaint, a spiritual fighter thrust into political leadership on the crest of a flood-tide of the people. Despite international intervention, wide ranging machinations by foreign intelligence services, collaboration on the part of the five oligarchic Haitian families with remnants of the corrupt Haitian military and massive economic penetration and fundamentalist economic policies imposed by world lending institutions, all in an attempt to return Haiti to the old order dictatorship headed by the Duvalier family; Aristide, his Lavalas organization and the masses of Haitian people have successfully resisted and thwarted political reaction and have implemented policies of social democracy.

Despite many successes however, Aristide and his supporters face dangerous times in Haiti. Violence is being threatened by Duvalierist supporters against many who would celebrate the revolution. Pretexts will be created, many say, to force the removal of Aristide before his elected term is up. Much danger yet exists in Haiti.

African-Americans, Blacks in the Diaspora, Africans, around the world should all express support for Haiti during this most difficult period. All should especially embrace Haiti, particularly on the occasion of its bicentennial celebration, as it looks backward in order to go forward.

J. Damu is the Acting Western Regional Representative for N’COBRA
(National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America.) He can be reached at jdamu@sbcglobal.net.

by Joesph Bolden

Ok,this is how bad I am with pc's & online stuff.

I just finished a new column based on what's written in my booklett
tiny paged thing.
Ask Joe,Holding Up The Sky or Joe's Misfit Columns.

Expanded on Platonic Overkill:having a female as friend minus sex yet includes love interest.
precarious the latter part

Luckily posted its all on Myspace.com where I have an online journal of sorts.

Here it is in full.

(The Gender Beef) column,all the rest u can read anytime and comment on them too.

If you want to write your opinions women,men, boys, or girls these are

the two sites to place your views and incidently purchase my book.

Note to self more pages book has too little content.

New Column: Gender Beef, write in folks, we all might learn anew.

Category:Romance And Relationships

Today,after reading
"Platonic Overkill" about personal confusion on the subject of having a woman friend on a non sexual basis.

It occurs to me other males have had this situation in their lives either as youths or as mature adults

like myself who may have missed out on this in their formative growing years.

In either case I didn't know what the heck was happening!

If you've gone through kindergarden,elementary,
grade, highschool,

college,and university the graduate or undergrad schools with friends

of the oposite sex male or female you may know what I'm talking about.

I don't know how females worked it out but I'd like to know how boys who became men did?

Myself,as a child had mainly guy friends until I moved from New York to California in the late 1960's.

My friendship began late in life. Up until the age 48 or 9 I didn't have female friends lovers yes friends no.
I'd like to know, for OG's
Original Ganster's
How did it feel?

Your reaction to it, and what ended it,who ended it,and or if its still going on and why?

I have to say I didn't chose her,she chose me and for a long time had no idea

why'd she'd even dain to visit my place let alone speak to me?

Let's say I didn't question it long just had a very firely, sensually alluring young female to kick with for a few years.

Sure, there was sexual tention mainly on my part she nipped that bud quick and then no probs.

Maybe being Apolitical,an elder while herself younger with politics boiling out her brain

I was not part

her age group more part mentor,companion,fully adult most times

She didn't worry about constant pressure of sex

even though she knew I'd certainly go for it if asked.

I'm a regular horny red blooded guy,

of course I wanted to bed her its basic male programming kicking in

I also missed out social setting as in dance club/bars but learned I didn't have to change to much.

She's told me "Your a scial butterfly."

I still don't know how women know or in her case smelled when a guy had sex but she busted me once on it.

Outward I'm, embarrassed inwardly glad she knew.

Lets face it most young women believe men past 40

are dead below the neck and above the waist.
Man! have they got a few worries in a few decades!

One time I betrayed her so bad online tha I thought the bond broken however we did mend fences and a lesson is learned.

Never betray a trust.

So I had to wash a few dishes,cook rice.

Me being the better cook and go shopping for very revealing undergarments.

She's leaving the city soon and if I can will help carry her belongings

its the least I can do for her putting up with my random self.

My luck to have had a very strong, vibrant, soulful, honest, and lovely friend who happens to be a strong willed woman.

Daresay that I am a better elder male for it but it does not mean for one second other women will befriend me as she had.

One Fem friend is unique experience enough but more friends with benefits,well I want to explore that avenue too.

I'm use to wearing condoms now and buy women's condoms.

Just in case they don't have any better safe than sorry and pregnant.
Reminds me to by more for either sex.

Hey!I'm an elder time is precious and F-W-B's is another step in my personal growth.

As my dear fem friend would simply say "Your a horny old guy Joe."

I hope to place this in
Gender Beef Column

A column on relationships.

Mature Males in these changed times.

Readers can help by going online to Poormagazine.org an placing emailed opinons.

No real names
or you go to Ask/Tell Joe on Myspace.com.

Next thing I like to touch on is:

Why when guys find a woman who cares for them they then dog 'em?

I ask the same of women too?

Maybe both women and men have a few words on that also.

by PNN's Shelter Observer

"I just won’t be getting a bed tonite" PNN’s shelter observer leaned her head against the back of the couch in POOR’s offices, and continued wearily explaining the recent viscious cycle facing San Francisco's homeless folks, " since they closed the sanctuary, if we even want to have a chance at getting a bed we have to start waiting in line and running all over town as early as 4:00 each day, its just too hard for most people"

She was speaking of the crisis caused by the closing of Episcopal sanctuary on October 19th, one of San Francisco’s biggest city funded shelters for an unspecified period of time for renovations.

The odd thing about this closure is that it came on the heels of the implementation of the very problematic and harmful legislation; Care Not Cash, which already caused across the board lockouts from shelters for most housless San Franciscans. These lockouts were caused by Care Not Cash’s policy of prioritizing shelter beds for General Assistance/GA (welfare) recipients over the majority of shelter recipients who like PNN’s shelter observer are on SSI and not receiving GA.

" for the last three nights I just slept on the street", Maury Williams , a 52 year old African Descendent houseless man who is an immigrant day laborer from the Dominican republic, works 16-20 hour days and can’t get a bed because it just takes too much time to go through the hoops that Department of Human Services has put forth since Care not Cash was implemented, and now that they closed Sanctuary he has even less chance of getting a bed, " I am just trying to work and make enough money to afford an apartment of my own, this will make it even more impossible" , Maury concluded in discouraged sigh

As well, the way the city "noticed" the shelter residents was indicative of their overall disregard for the civil and human rights of houseless people. 24 hours prior to the closure Sanctuary's residents were stunned to learn that they had less than twenty-four hours notice before they were required to relocate to makeshift accommodations at other shelters. And well into the next day after the notice they still didn’t know where they would be transferred not to mention the fact that they had to haul al their belongings across town to the City’s Storage space.

" I never got a flyer about the closure at all" , Maury who stays at the shelter whenever he can never received a flyer about the closure, " Most of the guys I know never got one, even the guys who stay in there every night" Maury corroborated the story that many shelter residents reported to me, which is that the residents of the shelter were the last to find out about this closure even though the nights are getting colder and wetter as we approach November. Maury went on to report the fact that there is a rumour about the closure of A Man’s Place, another city funded shelter that houses several of the City’s homeless men for asbestos clean-up or as he put it "something or other"

In light of all of the problems facing San Francisco’s shelters since Care Not Cash San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez introduced a
long-awaited legislation on October 19th, to create a Shelter Monitoring Committee, which would provide public oversight of shelter conditions and policies. If such an oversight body were already in place, residents of Episcopal Sanctuary would have been better informed and prepared for their relocation. This legislation was also heard in front of the Finance committee on October 27th and was supported by Supervisor Chris Daly and will be heard in front of the Rules Committee on November 10th in room 263 at 9:00 am

by by Joanna Letz/POOR Magazine Race and Poverty Intern

"The plan they have for us is war it's the same thing they are doing in Darfur, and in Palestine. They
want our land, push us out, and that's their plan. I don't care how many other lies that they come up with; check their past, and see what they are doing right now," Willie Ratcliff, member of the Bay View/Hunters Point community and publisher of the Bay View Newspaper, called out to the crowd of Bayview Hunters Point residents gathered outside The Whitney Young Child Development Center for a press conference and rally held outside a Town Hall meeting called by Mayor Newsom on last Saturday's cold wet morning.

POOR magazine and the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper hosted the press conference and rally calling for an end to government sanctioned evictions promoted by the Mayor under the banner/guise of "redevelopment." The voices of Bay View/Hunters Point residents and other community members rang out on this, a Saturday in Black History Month, calling for action to stop redevelopment, stop the displacement of poor folks and folks of color and most importantly stop the lies promoted by the Mayor and his corporate developer friends about the destruction of our communities; the Black community, the Latino community, the Asian community, in other words, the real people of San Francisco.

Willie concluded his powerful speech citing the findings released in a recent study on Black California, "The Black Caucus of California
reported San Francisco is the most economically racist city in the state of California."

Tiny, from POOR Magazine first words as she approached the crowd and reiterated throughout the conference, "This town hall meeting does not represent the Bay View community. We are here to make sure the community voices get heard."

The most recent attack on the Bay View/Hunters Point is the proposed closing of the Alice Griffiths house. Alice Griffiths is a public housing unit. The Alice Griffith Housing Project, also known as "Double Rock" was built in 1962 as military housing for Hunters Point shipyard workers and was transferred to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and then the Housing Authority in 1974. The proposed redevelopment plan calls for bulldozing the Alice Griffiths house and replacing it with parking spaces for 49ers fans. This plan is part of Mayor
Gavin Newsom's attempt to get the 49ers to stay in San
Francisco.

The plan says it would include housing for the current Alice Griffith tenants, although many of the speakers Saturday reminded us that the promise of new
homes is rarely followed through. Tiny recalled past broken promises. "Between Lennar Corporation, the John
Stewart Corporation, HUD HOPE IV., the City's Housing Authority, Redevelopment, and the Mayor," said Tiny, "there won't be any Black or poor folks left in San Francisco. These companies and their city counter parts have systematically destroyed many of the public housing projects with the promise of one unit housing replacement for one unit demolished. The problem with that lie is it never happens." Tiny cried out to the crowd.

One sign held at the rally read, "Remember Valencia Gardens." Valencia Gardens was redeveloped and almost no one who lived there before the redevelopment was given housing in the new one. Tiny was adamant that people not forget the history and herstories of destruction and forced diasporas of the
Fill-no more, the Mission and most recently, Valencia Gardens Housing Project.

More than 700 residents of Alice Griffiths face eviction, many of whom have lived there a long time.
A lawsuit was filed against the Bay View/Hunters Point Redevelopment plan, which more than 33,000 San Franciscan residents have signed. The redevelopment plan has a contract with Lennar Corporation. Lennar has promised to provide "affordable" housing, but their current homes in the Bay Area start at above $650,000.

As Byron Gafford, staff writer with POOR Magazine, poet, and life-long Alice Griffith resident said, "If this deal goes through, me and my family will have nowhere to go. They have been trying to get rid of Black folks up here for a while."

The City has given Lennar, a Florida-based company, hundreds of acres from Candlestick Point to Hunters Point Shipyard. Many community based organizers like POOR and The SF Bayview believe that most of these redevelopment efforts are unnecessary in the first place and then if any do happen that San Francisco needs to give these contracts to more neighborhood-based developers who have proven expertise in building affordable housing and community based relationships of truth.

Within the Bay View/Hunters Point Community there are many lies being promoted to the point that some people feel the redevelopment plan will be a good thing for the neighborhood. For some who are homeowners the redevelopment plan is an opportunity for greater land value. But for many who are renters it will mean displacement as property value and rents increase.

Espanola Jackson, homeowner and community activist in the Bay View said, "There is no danger of displacement in the Bay View. The plans are in court, until that happens there is no redevelopment for this area. I am a homeowner, since 1968 and no way will I allow this community to happen to be run over the way
the Western Addition was." Some in the Bay View are more trusting of the court system and the redevelopment plans than others.

As we stood in front of the child development center looking out over the Bay, one could not help but recall the past. Bakara Nutungi, from the community organization Uhuru in Oakland reflected and said, "America was founded on people stealing the land we standing on today, so it's the same situation. They brought black people from down south in the 1940's to build the ships. That's how black people got to Hunters Point to begin with. And now that they don't have no ships and no shipyards they kicking black people up out of hunters point, because its nice property, so white people can have a nice view
of the bay..It is time for the African community to stand up and fight just like we did in the 60's, with the black power movement."

The words of residents from the community rang out demanding to be heard and demanding an end to the lies of redevelopment and an end to evictions. Laure McElroy from POOR Magazine said, "Redevelopment is a joke, a killer joke, people like me, a mother, disabled woman, being shuffled from place to place, 'cause we can't afford the rents... I don't want to see people who can't move, who are disabled, and the elderly displaced by these corporate takeovers, this is murder. " Laure's words struck a chord and stayed for a while; hanging in the air.

Marie Harrison, a member of the Bay View community said, "Together we can stand, together we can save San
Francisco, and stop the mass move on Alice Griffith
and Bay View. There will be no San Francisco of tomorrow, San Francisco will be a city of the rich and the richer." Since 1970 San Francisco has lost one-quarter of its Black community: 25,000 people. Marie continued on to say, "never mind that the rich are standing on our shoulders, San Francisco, built by poor folks, that shipyard, managed by poor folks, Alice Griffiths filled up with poor folks who need to have a place to live. Don't get suckered into that dream they are passing around about becoming homeowners, if your income is $18,000 and under, there is no way in this city you will become a homeowner. People in San Francisco need to stand together and draw the line in the sand to protect San Francisco."

Marie made clear the reality and pressure poor folks face in this city. This city where so many people want to live, this city where poor folks are being evicted to make room for people with bigger wallets. As Marie said, unless we take action, this city will be a city of the rich and richer.

Vivian Hain from POOR Magazine recounted her struggle living in poverty in the Bay Area. "I am a native San Franciscan, my family was evicted out of our community in the Mission because of gentrification, we couldn't afford it anymore. So we ended up put out in the pasture, in some place with no jobs or economic security. What's going on is social and economic genocide. So, Mayor Newsom, it ain't
about wine tasting across the Bay, it's about housing our low-income families, and ensuring their ability to do right by their children."

Julian Davis from the San Francisco People's Organization spoke. He gave perspective about the lack of dialogue in Newsom's town meetings. Julian said, "Newsom's meeting does not represent the people, it is not a model for substantive dialogue. Newsom prefers
pre-scripted public gatherings to genuine community dialogue and civic engagement."

Where was Newsom for the press conference and rally? The SF police department was standing by making sure the entrance to the building was not blocked. Behind the speakers a metal fence stood and beyond that one could see a poster reading, "San Francisco Police Department now hiring." Why were the posters and signs of community members not inside the gate?

Just as the rally was ending the rain started to come down. A chant began, saying together, "We shall not be moved." The police checked everyone for signs and made people leave the signs at the gate.

Inside the hall, Newsom started his speech by saying, "This meeting being held at the Child Development Center is symbolic because the center is not what it should be." Gavin, the police officers prohibited people from bringing signs into the meeting. This is symbolic of the systematic silencing of certain groups of people, and of certain viewpoints. A child's development is intrinsic on self-expression. The silencing of our opinions is symbolic of the lack of democracy and lack of dialogue in your community meetings. You may take signs away, but voices, never.

As Tiny said, " We must demand to be heard. We must ask our questions about displacement, and corporate development. We shall not be moved." Tiny and many others stood up in Newsom's meeting, and
asked, "Why are you stealing our homes, our land?" Newsom did not respond. Some people present at the meeting booed the questions, and booed the interruption.

Within the Bay View/Hunters Point community a consensus has not been reached on the issue of redevelopment. Other voices in opposition to the rampant redevelopment facing the entire Bayview Hunter's Point were members of ACORN, standing in solidarity with flyers that read; WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED! As well as members of People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER), some of whom attempted to be heard about the wrongs of this gentrification effort and others who stood with their mouths taped shut representing the silencing of the community members while their homes are taken away.

Standing outside in the cold, in front of the building where Newsom held his "Town hall meeting," we heard many powerful voices and testaments to the lies being told around redevelopment. We heard voices recounting the history of the Bay View/Hunters Point. As we left, I looked out over the Bay thinking so this is what developers want, this land, this view of the bay. This ground where black folks worked on the ships. The same place where in 1966 there was an uprising resisting police brutality.

As Tiny said, "Eviction is the ultimate capitalist crime, insidious, and when it happens, and the way it happens, we disappear, the poor folks and folks of color."

One of POOR Magazine's responses to the ongoing displacement and evictions is to hold teach-ins in the community around de-gentrification and resistance to the lies of redevelopment. For more information please contact (415) 863-6306

by Elizabeth Aguilera /Denver Post by way of Roll back the Rents

Domestic violence shelters across the country are balking at a new federal directive requiring homeless shelters to provide client information for a new national database.

Advocates say the database, set to roll out in Colorado in January, would jeopardize the safety of abused women and children.

Several Colorado shelters are opting out of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Homeless Management Information System, even though they risk losing future federal funding.

Although the money is desperately needed, advocates say, the funds aren't worth giving up the anonymity of those they are trying to help.

"They are asking us to go to a woman who has been traumatized enough to flee her home with her children and the clothes on her back, and grill her over a few days for information we are not going to use but that the government wants," said Carol Hollomon, executive director at Alternatives to Family Violence, a safe house in Adams County. "It's not going to happen."

In Illinois, all the domestic violence shelters under the state's "umbrella" have refused to participate in the program, risking its share of $1.3 billion of federal support that is available nationwide.

The new information system was created to get an accurate count of America's homeless so the government can streamline services and make sure the right programs are in the right places, said Brian Sullivan, HUD spokesman.

"Without this information, you don't get a full and complete picture of homelessness, specifically in rural areas where a domestic violence shelter might be the only game in town," Sullivan said.

HUD will require a birth date, Social Security number, veteran status, race, ethnicity and family background. The department also urges shelters to inquire about HIV status and mental health.

Advocates worry that such probing will scare the most vulnerable people away from services, including those who are HIV-positive, undocumented immigrants and runaways. More worrisome, advocates say, is the fear of security breaches, access to the database by law enforcement and public- records requests.

"We thought there was no way they were going to require us to breach confidentiality," said Vicki Lutz, executive director of the Crossroads Safehouse in Fort Collins. "The laudable purpose is to track homelessness to provide better service.

"But if one woman dies in the name of data collection, that is one too many. Do we really want to give batterers another avenue of tracking?"

Currently, housing providers are the only groups required to participate, but the system will expand to other homeless services such as food banks, soup kitchens, street outreach programs, mental illness treatment facilities, HIV/AIDS clinics and human services departments, said Tracy D'Alanno, manager of the homeless and resource development program for the state department of human services.

In August, the National Network to End Domestic Violence formally asked HUD to exempt domestic violence programs from the regulation. The department has not responded to the petition.

"This violates our core value of confidentiality for victims and puts them in danger," said Cindy Southworth, director of technology for the National Network to End Domestic Violence in Washington, D.C. "We are happy to help get an accurate count in a less invasive way."

In Colorado, the state department of human services is overseeing the creation and implementation of the program, which will be administered by three nonprofit agencies. It is expected to roll out in January.

According to HUD standards, the system security guidelines are based on those in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

Once the data is collected regionally, HUD will receive aggregate data, including the number of homeless, how many are veterans, what types of disabilities the homeless have and racial, ethnic and gender breakdowns.

HUD officials say personal information will not be linked to create the national database. Still, Jennifer Lynch, information and technology director of the Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is leery of data creep, when information begins to bleed into other systems.

"It's nice to have easy access to information, and it's tempting for agencies to share that information," Lynch said. "But it's going to undermine the ability for people to protect themselves."

Lynch is referring to victims like Ronni, who says she is on the run from an abuser in another state and hasn't told anyone where she is. Not her mother. Not her closest friend. And not the federal government.

The 37-year-old woman said she would never have checked into a Jefferson County shelter if the new system was in place. She traveled to Colorado to get away from her abuser, seeking a haven and anonymity.

"I wouldn't stay if they were tracking," she said. "Just thinking that someone is tracking me makes me feel that potential employers, the community or the schools would know my business."

And, she added, what if her abuser is still trying to find her? "That scares me."

Tough choices ahead

In Colorado, some domestic violence shelters are prepared to give up federal funding and pump private donors, foundations and other sources to make up the difference.

Lutz decided to bypass the $26,000 annually that comes from HUD. The money is nearly 5 percent of her yearly budget.

While such a loss won't close her facility, Lutz worries for rural shelters that rely on HUD for more than half of their funding. Such places have two choices, Lutz said - comply or close.

Hollomon has worked around the federal government for her Adams County shelter. She returned her HUD Emergency Shelter Grant funds to the county to use as part of another community block grant. In return, county officials are helping her find an alternative source for the $22,000 she gave up.

Finding the loopholes beats the alternative, Hollomon said. "They (HUD) are asking us to violate the constitutional rights of folks who come to us for help," she said.

Participation in the new HUD system is listed as an eligibility component on the application for assistance and is part of the grant agreement, Sullivan said.

The only providers that may become exempt are those in states where privacy laws are extremely stringent, including Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, Sullivan said.

Said D'Alanno: "If they want to continue receiving funding, at some point in time, domestic violence agencies are going to have to participate."

HUD, in an effort to get shelters to accept the system, is offering grace periods and delayed implementation.

In Colorado, the system will be based on a unique, confidential identification number, created by a complicated mathematical formula based on personal data, and only that number will be submitted.

by The Hospitality House Art Studio Skolaz

Move With cloud

To remain silky

To kiss Babies cheeks

Solidify Our Grin

Wonder and Waunder

Many Times around

Like Money paved streets

Stuff the Alleyway clean

Wave go-bye to cloud

covering

feel blood dripping

from a tarnished
hand-shake