Story Archives

by Joseph Bolden

This Thursday,March,27th 2008 I was and a few others were honored with plaques from friends,co workers for being tough blokes in
keeping or homes which isn't easy when after being on a streets,in shelters, couch surfing,or bouncing
from relatives places weeks or months at a time.

I didn't mention that friends,interns of Poor Magazine also helped me.

Besides the late (still-hovering-Dee Grey Garcia,daughter Lisa Grey-Garcia)

As Editor/Co Editor of Poor Magazine they took a change me.

Jewnbug and later Mari, Villaluna both with tremenous odds against them showed me what quiet and (Noisy courage is by deeds of action)

Mari told once "Words are nothing,action I trust."

This from her many lives lived on the street as a youth, what many evils

adults are capable of but also survive and thrive what she herself was also capable of.

No way can I ever judge anyone doing their utmost to survive,live,then pass on school-of-hardknocks
lessons so others can avoid or sidestep pitfalls that almost took their.
lives.

To be called a trusted, friend,is an honor I strive to look up to.

Many people have helped me along the way,some have passed, some remain.

Oh,a last thing.

The long running joke about my having three editors overlooking content of my "weird sex/relationship columns...

Its all too true.

The Backstory stems from the very start of moving in to my home.

Being attacked by two 'bro'with a knife and two brown bro's save me with
"Leave him alone,he ain't got nothin'.

That insident's lasting psychological impact of impressing the brevity of life.

Hense the "joe-horny-goat-liking-wym,fems stff.

If any of the reader's heard of "joe PRI/Jo Bo"on SFLR.Net you know how rauncy it gets on Thursday nights!

Also my venturing into Polyamory maybe Onetaste is for more than flesh connections but also the close associations I've missed when houseless,social skills to relearn,brush up on to feel fully part of social network.

Anyway that's why my writing is so oddbally
facinatingly strange.

If I were less hetero and more gay/gayelle styled it would fit S.F. City and being apolitical really shoots oneself
in-the-nuts to book but that's my cross.

At least I get out more and can express myself on a global format.

I'd like having more sex than be wealthy but if being wealthy leads to more sex guess what I'm goin' for wealth.

Any bored wealthy fems up to drain a guy dry and run a train on him?

Half kidding no way will it ever happen,if it did no one would know because I do believe in being decreet.

Take care folks,email when you can and stay alive have safe dirty sex.

No,its not a contradiction one can be creative for safe dirty sex but its doable.

Live,love,long,repeat,
bye.

by Cullette X and Tiny/PoorNewsNetwork

I have lived in Oakland my whole life. I have lived in poverty for most of my life. I have worked since as far back as I can remember.

My story isn't strange or different. I am like many poor people in the US. People you rarely hear from. Rarely consider. Hardly see. This could why the County of Alameda is quietly considering a proposal to cut off the meager General Assistance (GA) benefits given to unemployed workers which will make our already difficult lives even more difficult and eventually will kill us.

As a child, my mother, an immigrant from Haiti, struggled to raise me and my sisters as a poor single mother. She worked two jobs and I had to help take care of my sisters while she was at work. One day a neighbor called Child Protective Services while she was at work and the police came and put me and my sisters in foster homes. I never saw my mother again.

I suffered severe abuse in those homes, those homes I was placed in "for my best interests" and in many ways I have never recovered. I tell you my life story because it informs who I am today. A poor woman struggling to get, keep and hold down a job. A job that pays me enough to live in the town I was born in. A town impacted by gentrification, redevelopment and the rising cost of living.

I have been working since I was 14. I started with domestic work and then graduated to fast food jobs. I trained to be a Certified Nurses Assistant and straddled two jobs for over 14 years in this field until I got a herniated disc and was laid up for over a month.

I am now on General Assistance and am seeking work. I also do work just to get my benefits, unlike the mythology about welfare, there is NO free money. We all work for our cash aid and food stamps. As well, I look for work everyday but I am older now and face a lot of covert ageism from prospective employers. They don't think I am "fit" enough to do a job that involves caring for elders. I am not sure what I can do.

If the County of Alameda proceeds with its plan to impose six month time limits to receiving aid, many of us will starve, resort to underground economies (crime), end up homeless, and/or get very sick and the so-called "employable", yet obviously disabled, unemployed workers who are on GA with me will surely die.

I have struggled my whole life, I am tired, and I am not sure if I will make it through another crisis, but I really don't want to die, which is why I am using my voice to tell the truth about this deadly proposal.

Cullette X (not her real name) is a race and poverty scholar enrolled in the Digital Resistance Media Program at POOR Magazine's Race, Poverty and Media Justice Institute. Tiny is a Poverty Scholar in residence at POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork

Please join poverty scholars, advocates, doctors and service providers from all over the Bay Area at a rally for life on the steps of 1221 Oak Street (at 12th street) in Oakland @ 10:00 am on Monday, April 28th . The rally and press conference will proceed a hearing on this proposal in front of the Social Services Committee of the Board of Supervisors on the 5th floor of the same building at 10:30. Please stay and speak out against this deadly proposal, your voices will count.

by Tony Robles/PNNReviewforTheReVolution

I don't drive beautiful cars

And I don't own an elegant home

Don't have thousands to spend

All chits I got is for the weekend

I'm just an ordinary, ordinary guy

Afro-Filipino, ordinary guy

That's what I am

The ordinary man

You left behind

Sometimes an artist touches you in a personal way with their work--be it a painting, a song or a piece of writing. It is magic when an artist's work says: I created this with you, and only you, in mind. Such is the genius and artistry of Joe Bataan, the King of Latin Soul. He truly defines what POOR magazine calls a music and poverty scholar.

I first heard Joe Bataan's music when I was a teenager. My uncle Anthony had owned about 10 thousand record albums, 33's and 45's. His room was filled with thick green plants and the walls were covered with African masks, Filipino bolo knives and a map of the Philippines. On a shelf sat his record player and one album would always be out, Joe Bataan's Afro Filipino. My uncle would tease me and say I looked like Joe Bataan. I was part Filipino and part black, a mestizo too like Joe Bataan and my uncle would walk up to me and sing the song, complete with the gesturing hands and fancy footwork.

Afro Filipino, ordinary guy, that's what I am, an ordinary guy.

This would embarrass me but what sweet embarrassment. I would look at the album cover. Truth be told, I did see a slight resemblance between myself and Joe Bataan. Then the record would play.

He is known as Mr. New York, the king of Latin Soul, the man who combined the music styles of Boogaloo, rhythm and blues, salsa and disco. Some credit him for recording the very first rap record. The question everbody asks is, "What didn't Joe Bataan sing?� Joe Bataan is truly a living legend but who is this Afro Filipino and how did he become the king of Latin Soul?

Young Gifted and Brown

Joe Bataan was born Bataan Nitollano on a Rainy Sunday morning in 1942 to a Filipino father and African-American mother in East Harlem, New York. Like many in El Barrio, he sang doo wop on the street corner and, like many, was involved in street gangs. At age 15 he spent time in prison for driving a stolen vehicle. It was during his incarceration that he discovered music. 6 months later he began recording. He had a vision of creating something different, combining Latin music with Rhythm and Blues. A self-taught musician, Joe Bataan formed his first band in 1965. His first single was a successful cover of Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions hit, "Gypsy Woman" in 1967 on the legendary and groundbreaking Fania Records. He followed up with the smash hit and among my favorites-- 'Ordinary Guy"--a haunting Latin Soul ballad about a lover left behind. His merging of Latin music with R & B tunes in the 60�s made for the birth of Latin Soul, and its creator was Joe Bataan.

The thing that's so seductive about Joe Bataan's music for me is the honesty of the lyric. His experience on the streets of Harlem informs so much of his music, songs such as "What Good is a castle," "Subway Joe," "Poor Boy" and "Under the Street lamp" take us to the working class world of Joe Bataan. The song, "Unwed Mother" brings to mind the struggle so eloquently voiced by Tupac's "Keep ya head up."

Young, fresh and wild

Unwed with a child

She grew up in the slums of the city

At 16 she was young and pretty

A sad little mother with holes in her shoes

Alone, lost and feeling very blue

What can she do?

She's got to make it through

When Joe talks about many of his compadres of the past, a hint of sadness enters his voice. Many fell victim to the streets. He grew up in El Barrio on 104th Street in Spanish Harlem. He recalls the neighborhood as mixed, Latinos, blacks and some whites. He was the only mestizo in the neighborhood. In the pre-civil rights era he contends that he identified more with his gang then his race. Disagreements were settled with "our hands" in fair fights. When not engaging in disputes over turf, Bataan and his friends would sing Doo Wop harmonies in a place called Love Hall. Bataan recalls the echo chamber that existed in Love Hall. He and his friends would practice their music often, making percussion instruments out of tin cans, garbage cans and beer bottles. Growing up in the neighborhood, I guess there were two avenues one could take to escape our environment in El Barrio, sports or music.

As the 60s transitioned into the 70s, Joe Bataan wore many hats, singer, producer, promoter and record label owner. He produced songs for Ghetto Records and in 1975 he released "Afro Filipino" on the Salsoul label. David Sanborn and one of the Brecker brothers worked on the album that included a version of Gil Scott Heron's "The Bottle."

By the mid 70s Latin soul began to fade. In 1979 Joe had a hit with "Rap-O-Clap-O."The song did not chart in the US but it was a top 10 hit in Europe and is credited as the first rap song in Europe. He even battled Kurtis Blow to a rap duel over the air on a European radio station. Unbeknownst to Blow, Joe had a newspaper and was reading it for inspiration. He laughs when he recalls the incident.

Joe Bataan dropped from public view in the mid 80s. What happened to the pivotal force in so many genres of music? He became a counselor for juveniles, visiting correctional facilities, sharing his experiences with crime, including his conviction at age 15.

In 1995 Joe Bataan returned to the stage after a 20-year hiatus from the music industry. I had the privilege of seeing him perform a couple years back at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. The audience was comprised of old timers and new fans. He celebrates a new album and CD. He has teamed up the rapper Mr. Capone e in a reprise of his hit "Ordinary Guy" and is touring again. It's good to have him back, Joe Bataan, a music and poverty scholar, an extraordinary guy.

For more information about Joe Bataan, check out his website: www.joebataan.net.

Tony Robles

by Tony Robles/PNN Revolutionary Worker Scholar

To Produce each week's Sunday paper, a half million trees must be cut down.

I recently attended an award ceremony of people who have started recycling programs in their residential hotel buildings. When asked what they've learned in their efforts to recycle, many mentioned the fact that it takes a coordinated effort on the part of many people to make it work. Other folks cited the need to save the planet and still others observed that it had been a long time coming, that they should have started it sooner.

It gives me hope to hear people speak of a shared responsibility in trying to preserve the gifts that nature has provided us. In our capitalist reality, the word "share" is so rarely used that one would be hard to find it in Websters Dictionary.

I have worked in restaurants and have seen how much people waste. It is absolutely obscene what people and businesses throw away, food in particular; food that could feed a good many people.

I was watching a local newscast and learned of a bill proposed in the California State Senate that would give airport passengers the option of donating toiletries and other items surrendered at airports to homeless shelters.

Millions of pounds of toiletries are left with airport security every year. Senate bill 1577 would allow several California airports to give those items to homeless shelters. State Senator Dean Florez of Fresno is the bill's author. Florez launched a pilot program in Bakersfield and Fresno in 2007. Hundreds of pounds of toiletries were collected. Passengers would have the option to place these items in bins that would be bound for homeless shelters. Airports and airline lobbyists against the bill cite possible liability issues.

Currently, the massive amounts of toiletries collected end up in landfills.

On April 16th the bill passed the state senate transportation and housing committee. Next it goes to the Senate appropriations committee. If it passes, it goes to the full senate, then the full assembly. If it makes it past the state assembly, it goes to the Governor.

"There is an opportunity here to take something, which is being collected today and sent to a landfill, and instead send it to someone who will use it and appreciate it," Florez said.

It sounds like plain old common sense to me.

Tony Robles

by Tony Robles/PNN

"Profits enslave the world"

--Filipino American labor organizer Philip Vera Cruz

The cat sprayed in the computer and now the government wants to spray on us. The reason? It's called LBAM, aka the light brown apple moth. The state and big agribusiness is putting out propaganda that says this little moth--unless controlled by spraying--will cost California billions of dollars in lost crop export revenue.

Activists and community groups say that the state is being irresponsible, putting the health of people at risk for the benefit of big agribusiness and chemical companies.

As a Filipino-American, the issue hits a very sensitive chord with me. Filipino-Americans were very instrumental in fighting big agribusiness for decent wages and working conditions. Leaders like Philip VeraCruz and Larry Itliong organized Filipino workers throughout California, successfully gaining better wages for workers. Through their work they were able to forge alliances with their Latino brothers and sisters, led by Cesar Chavez, to form what would become the UFW.

It came dollars then, and it comes down to dollars now, at our expense.

In August the state plans to commence aerial spraying of San Francisco, Alameda County and the greater Bay Area with a pheromone cocktail known as checkmate LBAM-F. Monterey and Santa Clara Counties were sprayed last year. People who had never before experienced respiratory problems reported symptoms lasting for weeks and months. If the state has its way, areas will be sprayed every 30-90 days, likely for many years to come. The City and County of Santa Cruz has sued the state, a hearing is scheduled for April 24th

California's office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment says there is no conclusive link between aerial spraying and the health complaints cited. According to their office, the most common complaints were eye, skin and respiratory irritations. According to their findings, those symptoms could have been caused by a number of factors such as allergies, pollen or the common cold. As a result, the agency said they couldn't make a conclusive determination of a link between the health symptoms and the spraying.

Those opposed to the spraying indicate that the use of pheromone-based mating disrupters has never been proven to be effective. The chemical (checkmate) has known carcinogens and has not been tested for safety on humans. The long term health effects of the compound have not been determined.

Community and advocacy groups are working to stop the aerial spraying. The State Assembly's Agriculture Committee is catering to big agribusiness and the wealthy chemical companies at the expense of the health of our communities, in particular our children.

A petition against the spraying has garnered over 23,000 signatures. Please help stop this spraying.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-fumigation-of-citizens-without-their-consent-in-california

For more info:
www.Lbamspray.com and www.pesticidewatch.org.

by Tony Robles/PNN

I woke up and turned on an early morning news program. The announcers were clean and pressed and looked more like mannequins than humans. I listened as they reported on Obama/Clinton, budget deficits, and the upcoming Olympic games in China. I was also informed that my TV would be obsolete if I didn't purchase some kind of electric box by early 2009.

The reporter announced that a man had been shot on I-280 in a case of road rage during rush hour traffic the day before. What else is new, I asked myself. I didn't want to hear about it. I turned off the TV and jumped into the shower.

As the shower jets hit my body I began to think. I thought about my 10 year old son and the kind of world he is going to inherit. I put on my clothes and got on the bus.

I used to pray on the bus. I used to ask God to help me do what he needed me to do. I haven't prayed in a while. I don't know why. A native scholar once said that when you are silent, God is talking to you. You just have to listen.

I'm trying to listen but it's hard, especially when all you seem to hear is bad news.

It turns out that the man who was shot on I-280 was a father of 3. His name was Luis "Al" Solari. He was a graduate of Mission High School, my alma mater. He worked as an appliance installation specialist and truck driver for Cherin's Appliance on Valencia St. for 15 years. He was with his 2 children on I-280 en route to his wife who had gotten off work.

Luis apparently cut off another driver. His 7 year old son recalled 3 men exchanging "mean looks with daddy." One of the men stuck his hand out the window and fired shots. "He prayed and fell down" said Lorenzo, Luis' 7 year old son. The car swerved, coming to a halt along the side of the highway near some ice plants. Luis lay dying, bleeding from the stomach and mouth.

Luis' wife stood waiting. She thought Luis had taken the kids to a baseball game and forgotten about her. She repeatedly called Luis' cell phone. He was never late. A friend had told her about an accident on I-280. It was frantic. When she got to the hospital, her husband was dead.

Luis was a father, a worker and a husband. He was just shy of his 38th birthday. He was a positive presence in his community, a father figure to many children of single mothers in his Iron Triangle neighborhood in Richmond. He played ball and put on barbeques for the kids. He was a father and a man, a man that is needed. Now, one less man.

I pray for his wife and children. And for the children in Iraq who have witnessed the killing of their parents. And for the girl who witnessed the killing of her father in the Western Addition�and the countless others who don't make it above or below the fold in "our" corporate-run newspapers.

I don't have answers. I wish I did. I wish I had a lens to look into the heart of a person that would murder a father in front of his children. I wish I could explain it. I wish I could make it go away.

I keep hearing my father's voice saying: "This life ain't promised, son."

It makes you want to give up, to throw in the towel.

I think of Luis' prayer as he lay slumped in his car on I-280.

I listen for God.

A family benefit account has been set up:

Lilia Solari Family Benefit Account

A.G. Edwards-Wachovia Bank

456 Montgomery, 16th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94104

Anyone with information about the case are asked to call SFPD investigators at 415-553-1145

Tony Robles

2008

by Joseph Bolden/jsph_bldn@yahoo.com

Me,the answer Man?No Way.

This is sort of a column in that I’m giving an explanation.

From time immemorial at least recently there has been both Answer
Men and Women writing from pulpit,platforms,radio, television,on video and digital video disks on every question under the sun,over the rainbow about the human condition.

Through out our short his/her-story persons have stepped up,volunteered or because of the sheer intellect and or sensitivity became
or designated ANSWER MEN OR WOMEN.

Even in varying degrees was an answer man for a time.

A complete accident it happened because of the
ASK JOE, HE DON’T KNOW COLUMNS.

Many people see the Ask Joe leaving out He Don’t Know part.

Though for long time I didn’t know where, when, or how to answer my readers many readers did write in.

First I did stuff on investing funds, healthy eating,and lots on romance, sex [mostly sex] and the changing morals of post 1980’s,90’s and early 21 st centuries interpersonal exchanges.

Then it hit me square in my head,I didn’t much about money,relationships were nearly as bad though I had dated somewhat.

The whole cell phone while dating really ticked me off on how
women especially used them then as now for easing out of a date instead off simply saying to the guy "Excuse me, powder/ladies room, back in a sec."

Of course the guy waits and waits until he gets it."

This way the guy isn’t embarrassed in public which women will do

(1) for their own protection.

(2)so the guy won’t Even think of Ever dating her again.

There are many more examples but those who've experienced them know of what I speak.

It works sometimes too well when arbitrarily a woman finds she’s made an error wanting a do over date.

It takes a brave, confident, male with a secure ego to except a date from any women who done a dine n’ dash on them.

The point is when I though about it I knew in my head not to me anyone’s answer man so my next column is Tell Joe because
Logic told me that my readers have more expertise than
I on various topics so they can tell me and the least I can do in comment on what’s written doing the best I can.

Now theirs Ask/Tell Joe column which will be utterly confusing to me since I’m no answer man.

To think I basically wanted to make this a private date site
that’s before going on lots of date sites and meeting a few people on line and in real life.

The answer man thing isn’t for me I just write what’s in my head and let it go at that and people write back or want a date (women only)I’m a happy camper.

For those wanting to write in private and not be part of Poor Magazine/PNN just write jsph_bldn@yahoo.com
and I’ll be able to write back.

It may take time because of lots of email I must delete from old date sites to popup adds and other stuff filling up my email space.

That’s it folks, and my column is done for this week,bye.

by Tony Robles

"A man is his job and you are f****d at yours!"

--Shelley Levine from the movie GlenGarry Glen Ross

I was sitting at my desk once again contemplating my worth and my value as a person, as a man, as someone who possesses a spirit. My biggest fear is that I will lose my spirit while sitting behind my desk, that somehow the desk will become a coffin that will encase my spirit and ingest my soul into little drawers to be trapped in an eternal communion with rubber bands, paper clips, glue stick and the ever-trusted bottle of white out.

My job is with a non-profit organization in the city as an employment counselor. I find this position to be both funny and ironic since I have been fired from most every job I have held in my life. My first job was a paperboy with the San Francisco Examiner in 1976. I had a fairly big route, about 56 papers. Like many kids, I wanted expensive tennis shoes and I saved my earnings for a pair of red pumas that I had seen in a storefront window.

The job went well for a short time but I got a good number of complaints from people who didn't get their paper. There wasn't a name for A.D.D. at the time and I believe I had it. My boss was a grumpy old-timer who supposedly knew my grandfather in the old days. He dyed his hair the color of black shoe polish. I felt like an idiot when he brought the complaints to my attention. The complaints kept adding up and I eventually had to give up the route. I did manage to buy the 60 dollar pair of Puma's which my father described as a "damn waste of money" and that we could have gotten steak, rice, eggs, chow mein, milk and a roll of Italian salami with that money. He demanded that I return them to get my money back. I told him I couldn't return them because I had been wearing them for a week. He shot me a disgusted look that made me feel like eating my shoes.

Over the years I worked as a dishwasher, security guard, radio DJ and office clerk. Somehow I could never follow the rules. Somehow, the rules were superfluous and the enforcers of the rules, in my estimation, did not have the imagination to conceive of a situation free of rules, a space in which creativity could be appreciated and one could truly be his or herself without feeling guilty. The people who followed and insisted upon the rules were rewarded with promotions and bigger salaries. I was often let go or quit to find another job with rules.

So now I sit at a desk at 7th and Market Streets with a computer and business cards with my name and position printed in a fancy font: Tony Robles Employment Counselor.

People walk in and ask for help in getting jobs. Most are looking for manual labor, janitorial, or maintenance positions. Some have been in and out of prison. Many do not have much education. Many do not feel that they deserve anything but these positions. It is from my desk that I see these leaders.

Eric M. walked into my office 2 months ago. He'd heard that we helped people get jobs so we sat and talked. He indicated that he wanted to get a job as a janitor. We sat down and talked. He was formerly incarcerated, homeless and trying to get his life together. He told me he had worked in Bayview Hunter's point in a mentorship program for young entrepreneurs. He had helped write a grant and create an in-class curriculum for the program.

We talked about his skills and his experience. He wrote down each job he had held and what he accomplished. I watched him write, there was something special there. Maybe it was the care he put into the words. His writing was like brush strokes that said more than any resume could. He said he'd return the next day to work on his resume. The following day came but Eric M. did not show up.

A month later he came back and said he didn't mean to disappear; that he'd been looking for housing and that things had been rough. We sat down and went over his resume. It looked good. We looked on craigslist and saw an opening for a community organizer position at ACORN San Francisco. We called and secured an interview for Eric.

2 days later Eric M. walked into the office and said 3 words: "I got it". We hugged and his eyes held all the light I needed for the day, or any day. I felt good for him. I was in the presence of a leader. We walked to the elevator where we bid each other goodbye.

Eric M. ain't no janitor. He's a strong young black man, a leader. A leader among many leaders who are told they are janitors and menial laborers.

Eric got on the elevator going down but he was really going up. I walked back to my desk, a guy who'd been fired from most every job he's had, soul intact, at least for the moment.

2008 Tony Robles

by anna/pnn

In the year 2001, when Alison Washington, a single mother of two, moved into her new apartment in Northridge Homes, a housing cooperative located in Bayview Hunter’s Point, she was pointing her compass towards success. A year later she went into business for herself, opening a home based learning center in the downstairs of her apartment. The following year, after the passing of her mother, she transformed her grief into support by starting her own faith based family support service ministry S.O.U.R.C.E., Sisters of Unity Reaching Community Entities, which offered community support services such as toys, backpacks, clothing drives, hot feeding programs, and a local food share program which was operated out of St. James Missionary Baptist Church.

For the next three years Alison cultivated her organization into an essential community resource center, anticipating achieving her Non-profit status forming allies with other Bayview organizations as well as winning sponsorships from larger Bay Area organizations. Alison’s course towards success seemed uninterrupted until, in the fall of 2007, she found herself and her family illegally evicted and homeless - along with being told we have no investment moneies to be returned to us. Where did it go? Is her question!

In 2006 Alison’s home was broken into, with nearly everything stolen and leaving her and her children with close to nothing. Pooling together her resources, Alison managed to resume her life, until 2007, when her home was invaded a second time. Again, they were completely violated . Alison fought to regain the life she had before the break-ins, this time using her meager income to install a home security system, and purchased a dog. The damage was done, however, and Alison began to fall behind in her rent.

After finding herself three months behind in rent Alison was served with an eviction notice and sought help from RADCO Eviction Defense, a rental assistance agency. RADCO agreed to pay Alison’s back rent as well as provide her with a monthly stipend, which would guarantee Alison’s rent in the future. When Alison and RADCO attempted to contact (and pay) her landlord, Office Manager Penny Hall and Assistant Yolanda Newton, they received no response. It wasn’t until the day before Alison’s eviction that Hall and Newton responded to them and rejected Alison’s back rent payments, stating that the eviction would continue. The following day, the Sheriffs arrived at Alison’s house, also trying to advocate for their family, but there was no success. By then, she was given 20 minutes to pack her belongings before being forced out of her home and shuttled a hotel, the first of 15 that Alison has lived in for the next two months after that day.

Alison’s mistake wasn’t falling behind on her rent, however. Instead it was choosing to live in Bayview Hunter’s Point, an area that has been targeted as a high crime community, not to forget very expensive. She also tried to remain in her home thinking changes would come about for the better, but it didn't. They lived in an unsafe/unhealthy unit with many repair work orders, which were never fixed. Leaking windows from the rain resulted into sleeping with mold in the room, wet carpet dripping down through the kitchen ceiling onto the floor. Also broken doors off hinges. These work orders were never completed but we constantly received "Sorry we missed you notices from Maintenance, when they knew on Mondays, there was no one going to be home."

The displacement of poor communities of color does not occur only after housing is built, but is a slow deliberate process that begins years before development. This process, which has systematically wiped out black communities such as the Fillmore, West Oakland, and now New Orleans, occurs in areas where market values are high and land is scare.

“We call it ethnic cleansing, to push people out and not give them anything and no say,” say Willy Radcliff, publisher of the San Francisco Bayview newspaper, “The whole city is pushing people out so rich developers can come in and have wealthy people move in. They squeeze the poor and push them out. It’s happening all over the country.”

There are certain elements involved that are responsible for the assassination of gentrified communities. One of these elements is keeping communities poor, specifically by keeping jobs out of the community while rents increase. In Bayview Hunter’s Point the unemployment rate is at 30% and the city has offered a limited amount of direct services in this area, forcing residents to leave the city in order to survive.

“The jobs have never been up here,” says Radcliff, “There’s a conspiracy to keep jobs out of here so they can get the land. They keep jobs away from black people and if you don’t have a job you can’t live in San Francisco.”

Take the hotly debated T-line for example. Initially the project promised jobs to Bayview residents and was touted as a way to promote employment in the area. When ground broke, however, no neighborhood faces were seen working on the line. Instead, in an area that is primarily black, the majority of the construction workers were white.

Jobs weren’t the only sacrifice Bayview residents made for the line. In exchange for the T-line Bayview residents gave up the 15-bus line, which ran every 15 minutes in and out of the Bayview. The T-line runs chaotically and some residents have experienced waits up to three hours, leaving them stranded without a dependable way to get to work or school.

“I think cutting off the service to that area is a way to strangle the existing community,” says Laure McElroy, a former Bayview resident, “Once they get the people out of there they want then service will get better.”

Violence also plays a crucial role in the displacement of communities, where developers have residents trapped on all fronts. Violence feeds violence and whole communities are killing each other off in desperate and ill-fated attempts to negotiate the poverty in their area. For those families who do manage to survive the violence in the Bayview, moving out of the area is the only option to stay alive. Mass media plays a role in advertising sensationalized numbers about the killings and shootings in the Bayview, ensuring that, while families move out seeking sanctuary elsewhere, no one else moves in until the district is thoroughly “cleaned up”.

Alison and her family was a direct victim of this type of violence when her 22-year-old son was shot at late one night. There was no clear reason why, only that her son and his friend were not dealing drugs. After the shooting and eviction, the family was supported through Victim Services, which has bent over backwards to help Alison in her search for housing.

Alison’s eviction has taken its toll on her and her family, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Alison has been in and out of the hospital due to stress related illnesses and her 10-year-old daughter has undergone trauma that has caused her to miss quite a bit of school. The transitional housing shelter system has been very accommodating by placing her daughter, son, dog, and herself in doors with a one-bedroom apartment.

“I’m reliving these incidents every single day as I press forward and support others through their times of grief and discomfort, even in my homelessness,” she says, her voice cracking under the weight of her story, “When is it going to come to the time of living like a normal family again? As a mom, going back to work, to school, and happy.” We stumble upon challenges daily, and everyone deserves a chance get back up. As I, a “Woman of Faith” have and will always continue to travel with the “Armour of God” my hope is to encourage you all that there is hope at the end of all storms!” So many families have lost their strength to go on.”

Alison’s search for housing has been much like her shelter experience. Alison, who refuses to separate her family, is constantly being faced with housing offers that are not adequate for a three-person family, and who's willing to accept a service animal. The shelter and housing system, which are grounded in the Western notion that adulthood equals independence, has been very accommodating to Alison’s family’s needs, but now as time is running out of this dwelling space, it’s leaving them virtually homeless, as they were in the beginning.

“We are temporarily housed at in a shelter and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts,” she concludes, “But we are due to exit in a couple of days and we have no where else to go.”
Unjust evictions and homelessness has to cease, especially when the individuals are trying to make a difference somehow!

Alison would like to thank the following organizations that have supported her through her struggle: S.O.U.R.C.E. Volunteers, City & County of San Francisco Daly City Krispy Kreme Donuts, Dept. of Human Services, City & County of San Francisco Neighborhood Services, City & County of San Francisco District Attorney's Office, City of San Bruno Marine Corps, Clear Channel Radio 98.1 KISS FM, Darlene's Fabrics, Homeless Prenatal Program, Poor Magazine, RADCO Eviction Defense, Safeway Stores, S.F. Sheriffs Office, S.F.P.D./Operation Dream, Shelter Network, St. James M.B. Church

Alison has recently learned that she and her family must move out of the shelter they are staying in this Thursday. They have nowhere to go, if you can help in any way please call 415.863.6306.

by Guillermo Gonzalez and Gloria Esteva/PNN

For English scroll down

Sentado en un auditorio oscuro, lleno de presentimiento malo en la Universidad de Stanford yo escuche las palabras de Gloria Esteva (reportera de la Prensa Pobre y miembro de Voces de Immigrantes en Resistencia en el instituto de Clase, Pobreza, y Justicia en la Prensa Pobre). Escuchando las palabras de Gloria me senti verdaderamente inspirado. Yo soy el maestro de el proyecto de Voces y un reportero immigrante para la Prensa Pobre, y cuando yo oyi a Gloria hablando en esta conferencia, realize que sus palabras y el hecho que nosotros estabamos presente ayi era la manisfestacion de lo que nosotros en la Prensa Pobre juntos con otras organizaciones y individuos estabamos testificando en esta asamblea de la Comision de Comunicaciones Federal (FCC) sobre el futuro del internet neutro en la Universidad de Stanford el Jueves pasado. La palabra de Gloria ha resonado la voz poderosa de comunidades raza migratorias y otros eruditos de pobreza que por otra parte no serian representados en esta reunion.

Un autobs de viaje que fue encargado por la Alianza de Medios transporto una corte transversal de gente incluyendo varios pobres, raza, discapacidados y eruditos migratorios de la Prensa Pobre, Primer Programa de Aprendizaje de Voz, Escuela Secundaria de Oasis y KPFA. Llegamos a Stanford solo para ser saludados por las caras confudidas de los alumnos de privilegio de Stanford. En sus caras, se les miraba que estaban tratando de aberiguar lo que una gente que se mira como nosotros estaban haciendo en su escuela. Tal vez yo era el paranoide , tal vez solo me hago incomodo cuando hay una diferencia de clase sensible, o tal vez esto era por el paseo de autobus largo que solo me tenia sintiendome sobresospechoso. Nos juntamos alrededor de la entrada del auditorio para una foto de grupo cuando a nosotros se nos acerco de repente agresivamente y groseramente una senora que buscaba pleito. "No habra ningunos signos o banderas adentro! Habia rumores sobre algunos de ustedes sacando banderas de sus bolsos. Solo sepa que a solo que nos demos cuenta que sus banderas estan fuera de sus bolsas, seran tirados de la conferencia!" Si, era obvio, nuestra gente no fue querida alli. Pero solo en la manera de PNN,contestamos con respeto y dignidad, y continuamos a realizar nuestra mision.

Despues de que todos nuestros comentarios fueron grabados en video por la Difusion de Publico de Palo Alto, el grupo de mas de veinte de nosotros fuimos para dentro. Como el instructor/facilitador de lenguaje para Voces de immigrantes en resistencia programa, fui instruido por Coeditor de Revista POBRE (y uno de los eruditos de pobreza de plomo de la Revista POBRE en residencia) Tiny a.k.a Lisa Gray Garcia para traducir la conferencia. De este modo, tome un asiento entre Gloria, Patricia, Angela y Teresa, (las mujeres poderosas que arreglan el grupo principal de pobreza y eruditos migratorios del programa Voces) y me dispuse a traducir la idea esencial de la conversacion entre el panel de expertos que hablan sobre el asunto de la neutralidad del internet... Eso es lo que pense. Los expertos continuaban discursos largos, con un lenguaje muy tecnico para los cuales hasta yo necesite la traduccion. Entonces trate de comunicar lo que entendi del panel, que era muy poco. Tal vez era que yo no era tan inteligente como pense que yo era, pero toda esta conversacion de frecuencias de Internet electronicas me hizo sentir como un trabajador del campo inculto en una conferencia de tecnologia.

Los pensamientos y sentimientos de la inferioridad traspasaron mi espina, complementada por el sentimiento que cada uno nos miraba y pensaba, "Esa jente pareze perdida." No iba esta conferencia a ser sobre la libertad de palabra? Por que hacen ellos todo esto sobre la tecnologia cuando la verdadera cuestion va irrepresentada? Deberia yo cambiar mi testimonio para hacerlo relevante a la cuestion de tecnologia de la cual esta gente habla? Pense que yo era el unico que tenia estos sentimientos. Anduve fuera para conseguir un aire fresco cuando fui asercado por Tiny. Ella me dijo lo que yo tenia que oir. Ella me dijo que esta gente trataba intencionadamente de hacernos sentir el inferior, ellos intentaban intencionadamente a enganarnos con toda esta tecnologia para hacernos pensar que esta audiencia no era realmente sobre la libertad de palabra.

Finalmente despues de horas de "expertos" discusiendo del futuro del Internet, la parte de comentario publico de la audiencia comenzo. Altavoz despues del altavoz, la cuestion de libertad de palabra fue mencionada cada vez mas, y el tono de protesta comenzo a crecer entre las altavoces. El publico hablo, y el mensaje estaba claro. En las primeras altavoces, Tiny vino al microfono,"Estoy de pie aqui en honor de todas las mamas pobres, la juventud, los adultos y mayores de color que no estan en esta audiencia de muy menos tienen acceso de Internet." Tiny nos recordo quien no estaba en este cuarto y como esta nueva infraccion en nuestro acceso nos tomaria mas adelante en el problema muy grave del divido digital.

La accion subyacente que trataba de ser cometida por Verizon, Comcast, y ATT era criminal. La estrategia "paga para jugar" que estaba siendo propuesta por las telecomunicaciones grandes reservaba el derecho de cobrar impuestos injustamente sobre Internet y negar a usuarios el acceso a un estado de Internet neutro, uno donde ninguna entidad podria dictar al publico en que podemos y no podemos registrar. Los eventos que preceden a esta reunion eran las acciones inconstitucionales tomadas por Comcast para bloquear deliberadamente la informacion enviada por correo electronico a usuarios de organizaciones que ellos aparentemente sintieron para ser "inmorales."

La razon de la reunion: para darle la oportunidad a la FCC para que calculen lo que ellos deberian hacer sobre este asunto. Cuando Joy de KPFA hablo, recordo a los miembros de la FCC que su responsibilidad es servir a la gente, no los conglomerados de corporaciones que tratan de girar el Internet en aun otra fuente estable de ingresos. No hacen estas companias grandes bastante dinero de los usuarios del Internet? No son ellos contentos en saber que el Internet de los Estados Unidos es clasificado dieciseis en el mundo y aun es uno de los mas caros? Los abastecedores de Internet grandes del Internet de este pais nos sobrecargan para el Internet lento que es mas rapido, y en algunos casos hasta libres en otros paises.

El nombre de Gloria fue anunciado por el asesor y ella se levanto al lado del microfono, "Yo uso el internet para buscar informacion y para complementar mis publicaciones, y tambien para tener informada mi comunidad de lo que ocurre en ella. Al mismo tiempo publicamos sus voces en nuestra revista publicada en el internet, Prensa Pobre. Asi mismo usamos la oportunidad que nos brinda KPFA, y tambien trabajamos en conjunto con otros periodicos de la comunidad. Creo que eso no les interesa mucho pero, yo quiero decirles que yo estoy aqui porque tenemos derecho a la informacion. Y no sola la informacion que nos publiquen todos los que usan el internet, si no la informacion que decimos nosotros y otros organismos que estan tratando de decir la verdad a el mundo."

Su voz encanto la atencion de todos en el auditorio. Cuando ella hablo y yo traduje, note que cada par de los ojos de los representantes de la FCC fue enfocado en la presencia de esta mujer fuerte, inmigrante. Y como podian ellos no ser completamente encantados?

Cuando una campana de limite de tiempo de minuto sono el auditorio entero se elevo con sus voces y exigio que Gloria sea permitida terminar, "Solo quiero decirles, que aun que estemos en la capa mas baja de esta economia, tenemos derecho a la informacion. Porque apezar de que no podemos pagar sus medios tan caros, porque con nuestros trabajos no nos alcanza para pagar por los aparatos que uzamos para nuestras publicaciones. Creemos que se debe escuchar nuestra verdad, y nuestra verdad le esta preguntando a los scientificos y a toda la gente justa de este mundo, porque existimos los pobres? No por lo que dicen los libros, si no por lo que estamos diciendo en nuestro periodico. Porque somos personas que estamos trabajando, estamos contribuiendo a la riqueza de este paiz, y tenemos derecho a que nuestra voz se escuche! Gracias."

Gloria hablo con una pasion que era casi inexistente en esta audiencia. Una pasion inspirada por la opresion constante de pobreza y injusticia que esta mujer sobrevive cada dia de su vida. Ella hablo del corazon, ella hablo con la conviccion de revolucion y angustia sobre la cual todo el personal en la Prensa Pobre se esfuerza por expresar y educar a nuestros lectores.

El discurso de Gloria podria ser oido en la radio KPFA en el internet, por este sitio, HYPERLINK "http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=25881" http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=25881

Para mas informacion en la lucha para salvar un Internet libre y abierto visite a www.media-alliance.org

Poverty, Race, Disability and Migrant scholars from PoorNewsNetwork and the Voces De Inmigrantes en Resistancia Program at POOR speak truth to the FCC on net neutrality.

I sat in a dark, foreboding hall at Stanford University listening to the words of resistance of Gloria Esteva (staff writer of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork and member of the Voces de Immigrantes en Resistencia at the Race, Poverty and Media Justice Institute at POOR). As I listened I felt truly inspired. I am the co-teacher of the Voces program and a migrant scholar myself and as I heard Gloria speak I realized that her words and the fact that we were even there was the actualization of what POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork(PNN) along with other individuals and organizations were fighting for through testimonies in the public comment portion of the meeting of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality at Stanford University last Thursday. Gloria's words resonated the powerful voice of migrant raza communities and other poverty scholars that otherwise would not be represented at this meeting.

A tour bus that was commissioned by Media Alliance to transport a cross section of folks including several poverty, race, disability and migrant scholars from POOR Magazine/PNN, First Voice Apprenticeship program, Oasis High School, Center for Media Justice and KPFA arrived at Stanford and got off the bus only to be greeted with a somewhat unwelcoming aura of academic entitlement generated by the faces of the Stanford kids walking by and wondering what in the world people that looked like us were doing on their campus. Maybe I was just being paranoid, maybe I just get uncomfortable when there is a noticeable class difference, or maybe it was the long bus ride that just had me feeling over-suspicious. We all gathered around just outside the auditorium where the hearing was being held for a group photo when we were suddenly aggressively and rudely approached by a lady in a suit.

"There will be no signs or banners inside! There were rumors about some of you people were pulling out banners from your bags. Just know that if we see you with banners inside you will be thrown out!" Yes, it was obvious, our people were not wanted there. But just in PNN fashion, we brushed off the belittling remarks and glares of the suits, and proceeded to carry out our mission.

After all of our comments were videotaped by Palo Alto Public Broadcasting, the group of over twenty of us made our way inside. As the instructor/language facilitator for the Voces de immigrantes en resistencia program, I was instructed by POOR Magazine co-editor (and one of POOR Magazine's lead poverty scholars in residence) Tiny a.k.a Lisa Gray Garcia to translate as much of the hearing as possible. So, I took a seat amongst Gloria, Patricia, Angela and Teresa, (the powerful women that make up the core group of poverty and migrant scholars of the Voces program) and prepared to translate the gist of the conversation between the panel of experts speaking on the issue of net neutrality on stage... Or so I thought. The experts on stage were going on long, technological savvy rants that even I needed translation for. So I tried to convey what I understood from the panel, which was very little. Maybe it was that I was not as computer savvy as I thought I was, but all this talk of electronic internet frequencies made me feel like an uneducated field worker at a technology conference. Thoughts and feelings of inferiority ran through my spine, supplemented by the feeling that everyone was looking at us and thinking, "They’re in the wrong place."

Wasn't this conference going to be about freedom of speech? Why are they making it all about technology when the real issue is going unrepresented? Should I change my testimony to make it relevant to the issue of technology that these people are talking about? I thought I was the only one having these feelings. I walked outside to get a breath of fresh air as I was approached by Tiny. She told me what I needed to hear. She said to me that these people were intentionally trying to make us feel inferior, they were intentionally trying to trip us out with all this technology mumbo jumbo to make us think that this hearing wasn't really about freedom of speech.

Finally after hours of "experts" talking about the future of the internet, the public comment portion of the hearing began. Speaker after speaker, the issue of freedom of speech was mentioned more and more, and the tone of protest began to grow amongst the speakers. The public was speaking, and the message was clear. In the first queue of speakers Tiny came up to the mike, "I am standing here in honor of all the poor mamaz, youth, adults and elders of color locally and globally who are not at this hearing much-less getting internet access at all," Tiny went on to remind us who was Not in the room and how this new infringement on our access would take us even further into the very real digital divide.

The underlying action that was trying to be committed by Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T was criminal. The "pay to play" concept that was being proposed by the big telecoms was reserving the right to unfairly tax the internet and deny users the access to a neutral internet state, one where no entity could dictate to the public what we can and can't log onto. The events preceding this meeting were the unconstitutional actions taken by Comcast to deliberately block information being emailed to users from organizations they seemingly felt to be "unethical."

The reason for the meeting: to let the FCC figure out what they should do about this. As Joy from KPFA reminded the members present from the FCC, their duty is to serve the people, not the conglomerates of corporations who are trying to turn the internet into yet another cash cow. Aren't these big companies making enough money off of the users of the internet? Aren't they content knowing that the United States' internet is ranked sixteenth in the world and yet is one of the most expensive? The big internet providers of this country's internet are overcharging us for slow internet that is faster, and in some cases even free in other countries.

Gloria's name was announced by the moderator and she was up next to speak, "We at Poor News Network/PNN publish articles written by the Voces de immigrantes en resistencia on the internet, we also work with KPFA El Tecolote, The SF Bayview, and other sources of published media around the bay. I know you're not really interested in that, but, I am here to say, that we have a right to be informed. We have a right to any and all information published on the net. The information that PNN, and other organizations like us, who are trying to spread the truth, is published on the net. We, the people at Poor News Network have the right to be heard."

Her voice captivated everyone’s attention in the audience. As she spoke and I translated, I noticed that every pair of the FCC representatives' eyes were focused on this strong, immigrant woman’s presence. And how could they not be completely captivated?

As the one minute time limit bell rang the whole audience rose up with their voices and demanded that Gloria be allowed to finish, "I just want to say, that although we are at the lowest link of our economy and our society, we still have the right to be informed. Because even though we don't make enough money with our meager jobs to pay the internet fees and the costs of computers, our truth should still be heard, and our truth is asking the scientists and all the righteous people of this world, why it is that poor people exist? Our answers are not what the books tell us, but the truth that we publish at POOR Magazine. We are working people, that are contributing to the economic prosperity of this country and we have a right to be heard!"

Gloria spoke with a passion that was almost non-existent at this hearing. A passion fueled by the constant oppression of poverty and injustice that this woman lives through everyday of her life. She spoke from the heart, she spoke with the conviction of revolution and distress that all the staff at POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork strive to express and educate our readers about.

Gloria's speech could be heard at KPFA radio online, through this link, HYPERLINK "http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=25881" http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=25881

For more information on the fight to save a free and open internet go on-line to www.media-alliance.org