Story Archives

by Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia, Daughter of Dee

The pain of a thousand mamaz and daughters - the pain of isolation, capitalism, racism, sexism, violence and poverty - the pain of women, the pain of children- too much pain for a film screen, a book, or a dream...-

Hot , thick tears consumed my face carving deep rivers into my skin, deep rivers with no bottom. As i stumbled out of the new movie Precious; based on the novel Push by Sapphire last night an empathic usher held out his hand as i passed him to comfort me- his eyes holding mine for a just a second - a long enough second for me to know he is one of us - one of the many quiet humans who roam the earth with half filled cups of sanity and over-filled cups of sorrow from the abuse at the hands of our mothers and/or caregivers.

I went to the theatre to see Precious in trepidation of a movie filled with harmful depictions of poor black mothers and children on welfare, poor women, poor people, racist, classist images that constantly fill the pages, mouths and broadcasts of corporate media channels, politicians and ignorant US citizens by the minions. I went in trepidation of something my own brilliant and tortured African/Boricua/Irish mama coined "Motherism" the blaming of all ills in a US capitalist system that criminalizes poor women rather than support them, on the mama. I went to the theatre ready to be indignant , mad, and critical of more outsider art about us - without us.

Instead i found a movie about my mama, my mamas mama, and most devastating of all, about me A movie so layered and complex and beautiful that had so much to do with the struggle of poor women, and women period in this patriarchal, racist, classist, society that intentionally isolates people from each other - women from their matrilineal lines, families from their support systems. A movie that is about women and their constant onslaught of abuse by predators - not just predatory men - but predatory non-profit industrial complexes and predatory education systems and predatory shame.

Early on the movie centers us in the perpetually dark apartment of Precious and her mama lighted almost solely with the running lie of a television screen piping in images of game shows offering quick entrance into wealth and whiteness. We see the seemingly horrible ( and oscar -winning) depiction by Mo'Nique as an abusive hateful mama to her own daughter, attacking her own because of jeously over a man. An attack so common in a society that has us competing with our own girl-children for love, survival and perhaps the worst thing of all, so we wont fall into the logical progression of capitalism, aloneness and desperate isolation.

We watch the alone-ness of 16 year old illiterate Precious adrift in her high school classroom passed between grades without so much as a glance. A very real portrayal that happens much more often that one would want to know in Amerikkka over-stuffed, under-funded classrooms filled with poor children of color long ago sorted, separated and forgotten by linguistic domination, racist and classist funding streams. You watch Precious have a crush on her white male math teacher because he at least calls on her and expects her to finish her work.

The camera rests on the beautiful and textured face of the actress Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe moving across her deep chocolate features from below. With this angle you not only see her admixture of pain, confusion, and fear, but her pride and clarity and ultimately her deep heroism .

Eventually we find out that Precious is pregnant with her second child from rape by her father - an act of abuse carried out with her mama looking on impotently. The depth of this horribleness and director Lee Daniel's gaze sets the viewer up to be extremely angry with the mama - and that's where the uncomfortableness begins. Like all silenced and hated people my welfare dependent, mixed race, daughter of poor woman of color skin crawls when i see one dementional racist characterizations of african descendent mamas on welfare being crazy , abberant demons like the embodiment of every racist stereotype that would make Daniel Moynihan* proud.

But then something happens, something that has to do with the power of women-centered narratives and the power and love of women - women of color healing, silencing men and white people in their wake-

We as viewers, together with Precious, discover sister-hood, sister-hood of her mandated alternative high school- sisterhood of her teacher. and sister-hood of her new-found friends all in struggle to somehow "make it" and with the teachers help, heal through the art and love of writing and reading and talking and thinking.

At its core Precious is about women. women in all our beauty and horrible-ness brutality and strength. In one scene this theme was underscored by a filmic "trick" a filmmaker friend once told me about, that whenever one fillmmaker shows another film in in his or her movie- its a metaphor for the theme of the overall movie, In one typically destructive scene - this time rooted in food and its relationship with mama and daughter they watched a televised rerun of the Fellini film The Women, a perfect metaphor for this powerful womyst movie.

This movie was also about the gaze between people- a gaze filled with so much more than the moment- filed with fear, and hope and desperation and dreams and hope and hate and above all desire, Every-time the camera rested on precious- as she rested her eyes on mama - you saw everything she wanted to see- didnt want to see - dreamed of seeing - couldnt stand to see- - you also saw everything her mama couldnt be- wanted to be- wasnt - u saw the pain of a thousand nights and days and mornings beween a mother and daughter in struggle - between a family in crisis - between two women who were at once in love and in hate with each other - and at once deeply dependent on one another the way only family can be.

This movie was also about consumerist media and the depth of its power to reach us and speak to us in our isolated, capitalist apartments and rooms, houses and corners and lie to us and make us want - make us desire everything us poor people never have access to but always are taught to want.

But above all this movie was about the strength of our mothers and our daughters to get through an endless onslaught of "little murders of the soul" as my mama used to call most of her life.

At one point towards the end of the movie, Precious says a line in a narration to herself that will resonate with all abuse and torture survivors. "Nowadays, all that (pain) seems like a really bad dream that i dont really remembe.r"

As she says this line i listen and nod in immediate understanding and then catch myself with the irony, until, I say quietly through more tears, you see a brutal, terrifying and brilliant wake-up call like this movie.

* Daniel Moynihan helped shape welfare code with his "Study" of single mother-headed households in the projects in New York in the 1960's. With one sweep of his "outsider" pen he criminalized and pathologized our matrilineal households as abberant because they didnt fit his idea of a sane and healthy nuclear family

by Pamela Juhl

(Hello Illin-N-Chillin Readers! As I approach middle age I want to display my rich family's history so I talked to my White, non disabled Sister in Demark through Skype and she wrote this below.)

It has always been a state of mind to observe, like the fly on the wall - and all through childhood, while growing up in the heart of New York City - this was my motto. The circus of life - the haves and the have nots, the sane and insane, the druggies and the hippies, the kind and the evil doers - this city had it all during the 70s and 80s. The only question I used to ask myself, who was responsible for this mess? It all just seemed like complete chaos, and yet somehow it all just worked in its dysfunction. That became the norm - the abnorm - the crimes, the violence, the street gangs, the bullies, the rich avoiding the poor - and the poor evaporating into the subways, as the city became a tourist hotspot for the Giuliani Mayor regime of let's get NYC cleaned up.

As a child, I never thought much about color of the skin, until my best friend (whom I consider my sister) and I needed to run from racist white kids who wanted to kick our asses because she was dark skinned and I was light skinned. My family was not rich and the whole concept of money was a stressful issue, and as I felt my own family's struggle to keep things together, I saw those less fortunate than us hangin' out on the street corners - lookin' for ways to make a life better - either in a jam, a funk, a jive, a jig, a crime or a line. And as the perverts followed me home at age 9, it became a reality that life, as my mother used to say, was not fair.

My mother's best friend Lela (The Moore family) had 3 kids; my brother and I considered them our family - our brother and two sisters. We all spent summers together, and I was able to see how the world treated us - a family of mixed race - The normal stares were a standard, the racial comments, the ill treatment, the whispering behind backs - it all seemed so strange - and never at one point, did I think it was us with the problem - for we, as a family, were happy together - enjoying each others’ company and learning from each other. The white neighbors, who lived beside The Moore family, seemed like rancid, bitter monsters of hate in their way of treating my family (all of us) differently because of our skin color. I felt, at times, deeply ashamed to be white, because I could see how it made people treat me better than my dark skinned brother & sisters. I learned to be clever and to use the whiteness of my skin as a tool to open up doors for others of a darker shade, and till this day - I consider my skin color a key to doors locked for others, and I realized that what I was born with, I could use it and share it to provide for others in this "unfair" world - until the real change came to eradicate all racism. These moments, as a child, were fraught with insightfulness into the minds of the prejudice and discriminating entities - the attitudes & learned behavior from adults and the surrounding environments which promoted separation and individualization as opposed to togetherness and cooperation.

As I walked through my childhood, never really knowing what it was like to have any kind of physical disability, only the ones in a mental sense (insecurities, peer pressures and societal expectations), my brother, Leroy, the son of my mother's best friend Lela Moore, showed me how to care with humor. My sister, Melissa and I, used to watch over Leroy "Roy", especially after he had one of many hip operations. We used to take him for “walks” around the block on a flat piece of wood with wheels, while his whole lower part of his body was in a cast. And as I reflect back on those moments, we never saw him as different, but rather the "boy" who got to see inside how we "girls" lived; what we spoke about, and how we processed the world. I remember the suburban white community, where the Moore family lived, and how the neighbors looked upon Roy. This confused my understanding of what I thought a small community should be like. They were afraid of him, and used to make fun of him. I compared it to NYC, and thought to myself, wow “ these neighbors are mean; but I knew from NYC, that people were mean and treated people differently based on color and ability. My sister and I only saw Roy's physical disability as an opportunity to be the first ones to run for the ice cream truck or find ourselves first in line for a morsel of something good from the kitchen. I never actually thought about his hardships and pain until later in life. My sister and I simply included him in our moments of girlhood, where other boys were not allowed to be; a peek into the world of young women and how we thought about things. We were always conscious of his presence, and I felt he was a part of our world; a part of our understanding of what we were experiencing as kids. I felt bad, at times, when my sister would be harsh to Roy, but in the end, I was just happy he was there. To me, he was a “boy” first; where we girls got the opportunity to expose to our “girlish” ways of doing and seeing things – in front of him, without him having the power to run or dominate.

In the mid 90's, I worked for the private corporations, while attending the university at night. I used to sit on a brownstone stoop during lunch off of Park Avenue, and cry as I saw the complete injustices of those sleeping on the streets in card board boxes (begging for a quarter), while the suits and ties walked right by, not even flinching an eye - talking on their cell phones. I dove right into a plan to get out - make a difference and I wound up in Panama with the Peace Corps. I was soon to realize, the bigger plans of bureaucracy did not always include those less fortunate; it was more about what things looked like on paper than the reality. And as I integrated into the mountainous lifestyle of the campesinos of Panama, my heart grew even more fierce and determined to make a difference. Seeing the children with no shoes, toothpaste, school books, bed linen, food or proper education burned me to the core. And in their lack of resources, there was still a kindness and compassionate warmth in their being that I had yet to experience in the hearts and minds of the busy NY City streets.

After Panama, I yearned to know who were my other brothers and sisters - suffering and dreaming of a better life. I moved to Mexico, and there, I volunteered at several orphanages where I saw another kind of poverty and hardship. I will never forget the eyes of these little children who, even in their hardship, carried a kindness in their hearts, and a curiosity of compassion expressed in simple ways of being. They lived in the now, and learned to survive, all the while, having a depth of purity and innocence that pervaded their conditions. No one can justify these outrageous states of being for our children of today, and everyone’s hands carry the burden of its manifestation.

Now I live in Copenhagen Denmark, and see social injustices of yet another kind. The one that says - it's "us vs. them" (the foreigners invading the "purity" of Denmark). It's a strange feeling to be a foreigner here - and especially for those with darker skin or of another faith - like Muslim; it can be even worse than strange - down right painful. Imagine a world where people don't look at you, don't acknowledge your presence, and don't even converse with you on a basic social level on a cue at the market, on the bus, in the park or on the streets. A place where it is uncommon to hold the door for someone or to say “please” or “thank you”. I remember when I first came here, many Danes used to say, "OH, you won't amount to anything here unless you learn Danish." I thought to myself, but I already am something, can't you see? It frustrated me to think that the doors of acceptance were based on learning their language. Yet, many foreigners here, who learn the language, are still marginalized and ostracized by the society and culture. Why? for the simple fact that they are different. To be different here is a threat and not widely accepted. In my opinion, it is a nation of followers - with few possessing leadership qualities - and the idea of co-existence is foreign. My goal has been now to find the few Danes who do not agree with the norm of the culture and its ruling political party prejudice agenda towards foreigners, and to work together with them to create positive integration between various people, cultures and traditions.

As an international press photographer, and a humanitarian activist supporting the voice of the voiceless through photography, TV, journalism, multimedia, and activism, I see that with each and every problem any society faces, irregardless of its origin of source, is everyone's problem. Thus, we are all responsible for all that we are faced with today. I have come to the conclusion about the social injustices of the world; in order to heal any situation, one must begin from within. This entails certain conditions of letting go of the ego, learning how to forgive, learning how to let go of our past, and learning how to be in the now with compassion, respect and understanding of our differences. I realized in all these years working as a press photographer that I am no different than the one I am shooting - we are all the same - just on the outside we appear different - it is up to us to decide that which we see, and if we see ourselves as individuals searching for our own piece, this is what we will find.

Multimedia is the key to linking those who are like minded at heart, and it has become a tool of the future for those who are considered cutting edge Doers in humanitarian rights, activism, social justices, and the like - however, we must remember that what would happen if our internet were cut off, our connection and dependency to the multimedia world just simply vanished - and we had no way to communicate internationally to each other? And what truly would stop the powers that be from doing this, perhaps one day. I ask you now, to think about this, because as big brother becomes even bigger, and tax payers keep pouring money into military, war, political agendas of the elite and the corporations - at some point it will come to a simple fact.

And then the question of communication gets very basic - how are you with your neighbor? Are you kind, open, caring, forgiving, understanding, or bitter, angry, resentful, cross, and full of rage.

How well you treat people on a daily basis throughout your day, this is the real way to create an environmentally effective change. Sure, we can all join a group, speak out, collect in numbers, and this does work as well. However, if you have joined a cause, or are marching in a demo, or simply sitting back in your home connected to all causes via internet - what does it all mean if you cannot be kind and caring in the moment which you are living in - the now. A simple smile can change a person's whole day, and this, after all these years in the field of media, is what it boils down to - the kindness extended to another - no matter what they look like or who they are - we are all human first. Hate is the very emotion which feeds the beast which enslaves our people.

As I see racism and injustices here in Copenhagen Denmark against the immigrants and asylum seekers here - I hold one thing true - integrity of action - how am I being today? What have I done to improve the well being of another? These are the questions which will lead us to a better world - to be bold enough to make a stand, to support a voice, to move forward into the unknown with a surety of heart and kindness - that breeds compassion in others - for we are only the action which we take in the moment - and every moment needs to be cleansed of the ills which we have been conditioned to have - for we know now that there are some who benefit from our dysfunctions. We must heal each other and be there for each other; to embrace that which scares us the most - and face our fears - act boldly for those in need. Look deep inside yourself, and do one good deed from the heart today - and see how it feels. There is freedom in this; true freedom deep within our being - nothing can take away the bliss of being compassionate and in alignment with love for all, including yourself.

We must all begin to see that we are all together in this mess, and it is simply about those who are compassionate for others and those who choose to abuse others - in power and control - we will prevail - and we cannot be chained - for our freedom is from within - extending out to all. The social injustices, the senseless murders, the exploitations, the abuse of our planet - its all because we are conditioned from the greedy and ego minded ones not to believe in our power to be. If there is anything in my life that I have learned - it is me who is responsible for this mess - because we are all connected - thus - I am obligated to be love, to be kindness, to be compassion, to be a bridge, to be the platform for the voice of the voiceless - in hopes that that we all will eventually see without eyes but with heart, that we are all one. If we all saw through our hearts, no one could hurt another - and every piece of bread would be shared equally.

by PNN staff

“Immigrant children, like all children, are our children, our responsibility, our future. With his rejection of this legislation, Newsom condemns our children to ongoing abuse and unending criminalization, said Lisa Gray-Garcia, single mother and executive director of POOR Magazine.

Thousands of community members, advocates and fellow board members in an 8-2 vote on October 20th supported Supervisor David Campos Legislation to give due process to immigrant youth who face arrest in San Francisco before Immigration and Customs Enforcement is contacted. After the vote Mayor Gavin Newsom publicly stated that he would not follow the legislation and that it had no merit, which means their will be increased attacks and ongoing abuse of the basic civil rights of our immmigrant children.

In response to the Mayors statements, a cross-cultural coalition of mothers and fathers are publicly accusing the mayor and ICE of child abuse and criminalization of our immigrant children and youth as the impact of deportation and incarceration without due process is a serious form of abuse.

“Immigrant children are everyones’ children,” said Kim Swan, mother of three African-American children.

“Why do they continue to criminalize our babies, this is a form of child abuse,” said Ingrid DeLeon, mother of four immigrant children.

by PNN Staff

The Hip-Hop Generation Can Call For Peace
by Jeff Chang

This past weekend, as we mourned the countless victims of 9/11 and built
with each other in passionate conversations on what to do next, President
George W. Bush finally and unequivocally declared war.

He ordered a call-up of 50,000 reservists—the first step towards
reinstituting the draft—while preparing Americans for a long, ground war
that could leave many innocent Afghanis dead or displaced. Reversing the
Powell doctrine to seize upon a desire for vengeance, he warned that there
may be no forseeable end to this war, and declared no specific enemy.

This does not bode well for the hip-hop generation. As STORM, the Bay Area
hip-hop activist organization says, "Increasingly, safety at home will
require justice abroad." Bush’s open-ended war could leave us increasingly
insecure, subject to more terror not less, with less justice for all in the
world.

Because of its history, the global hip-hop generation can play a crucial
moral role in the call for peace—peace on the streets where we live, and a
global peace free from terror.

At one time, others dissed our generation by saying that we were privileged,
that we had never been tested by war. [This was before Bush’s father opened
the Persian Gulf War.] The fact is that hip-hop was born under the
conditions of war. It grew and spread as a global alternative to war.

Before hip-hop, during the early 1970s, Jamaica’s bloody tribal wars
fostered a music and culture of defiance in roots, dancehall and dub reggae.
This music and culture—a safe space from the bloody gang runnings on the
street—immigrated to the Bronx—a space so devastated by deindustrialization
and governmental neglect that when Ronald Reagan visited in 1980, he
declared that it looked like London after World War II. In the Bronx, the
Universal Zulu Nation, hip-hop’s first institution and organization,
literally emerged from a peace forged between racially divided, warring
gangs.

As Reagan took office, immigration was rapidly browning the face of America.
The "culture war" was declared—a way to contain the nation’s growing
diversity. Culture warriors went after youth in their schools; they fought
multiculturalism, ethnic studies, and affirmative action. In Congress, they
sought limits on movie and music content.

Hip-hop turned out to be everything they detested—it was real,
truth-telling, unapologetic, and, worst of all, their kids loved it. Imagine
how they felt when Chuck D enlistened millions into the opposition by
rhyming, "They’ll never care for the brothers and sisters cause the country
has us up for a war."

In one sense, hip-hop won the culture war. By the end of the 80s, Public
Enemy and Spike Lee, John Singleton and N.W.A., and other brothers and
sisters had crashed the lily-white pop culture mainstream. Hip-hop became
the single most potent global youth force in a generation.

But the culture war had serious political consequences, too. Right-wingers
manufactured the conditions—moving drugs and guns into the ghetto via the
wars in Central America—for a resurgence of gang warfare. And they succeeded
in stigmatizing inner-city gangs—whose ranks, of course, were swoll with
young, poor people of color—as mindlessly, irredeemably violent and evil.

Hip-hop reveled in the young generation’s diversity. The culture warriors
taught other generations to be afraid of it. When the 90s came, they warned
of a coming wave of juvenile crime, one that would crest with the darkening
demographic surge.

Their apocalyptic predications began a dramatic shift in juvenile justice,
away from rehabilitation towards incarceration. 48 states made their
juvenile crime statutes more punitive. Dozens of cities instituted curfews,
anti-cruising laws, and sweep ordinances (which were ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court but have reappeared in many cities).

Especially after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, as urgent gang truce work
forged peaces across the country, the new laws were implemented at a
feverish clip and enforced with a heavy hand. Juvenile arrests and detention
populations skyrocketed, even as juvenile violent crime rates plummeted.

Local police, the FBI, and private companies began compiling gang databases.
Every young boy or girl of color who fit the profile—sagging, baggy jeans,
athletic shoes, hip-hop swagger—became fodder for the gang databases. In
Cook County, IL, the gang database was two-thirds black. In Orange County,
CA, 92 percent of those listed in the gang database were of color. Angry
Black, Chicano and Latino parents in Denver, CO, learned that eight of every
ten young people of color in the entire city were listed.

Postmodern racial profiling was invented for the hip-hop Generation, the
most catalogued and surveillanced in history. Along with the "war on
drugs"—the only result of which has been racist sentencing and the largest
prison population in world history—what hip-hop activists called the "war on
youth" left a generation staring into a tense present and an insecure
future.

These are the reasons why thousands of hip-hop activists came out to protest
at the Republican and Democratic Conventions last year. They took courageous
stands against the massive profiling and imprisoning of a generation;
against the death penalty; for better education; and for stopping gang
violence. They linked these issues to global struggles for economic and
racial justice.

Now that President Bush has declared an open war with no clear enemy, the
global, multiracial, polycultural hip-hop generation can elevate beyond the
chant of "No justice, no peace"—a cry that, in truth, sounds much different
when uttered by Bush.

If we can understand the history of wars from Israel to Afghanistan the way
that we understand our own generation’s history, we can link what is
happening on our streets with what is happening in our world.

We can call for peace on our streets—to be free from profiling and
imprisoning, to be free from the cycle of violence that causes us to kill
each other needlessly.

And we can call for peace in our world—to be free from the kind of terror
that strikes our bodies and our hearts, to be free from the cycles of
violence driven by geopolitical posturing and economic greed that cause us
to kill each other needlessly.

Everyone deserves a better, safer future. Hip-hop has already survived many
wars. Time and again, we have learned how to react to crisis by forging a
principled peace. As we stand on the brink of the biggest war we have ever
faced, let us come together to find the most powerful, lasting peace yet.

[Reply to: cantstopwontstop@mindspring.com]

9-11 ATTACKS: STORM’S FOUR MAIN POINTS IN RESPONSE
TO THE BOMBINGS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
& THE U.S. PENTAGON
by STORM (Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary
Movement), Bay Area activist group with deep hip-hop roots

1. Oppose terrorism, and build people’s power: We mourn the loss of life
and the great pain endured by those who have suffered as a result of these
attacks. Those of us who desire a world free from exploitation and
oppression must rely on the consciousness, capacity and confidence of
working class and oppressed people to carry out our own liberation. There
are no shortcuts in this process. Acts of terrorism against civilian
targets do not advance this process, but retard it. We oppose the use of
terror tactics - especially such tactics against civilian populations – as
destructive to the fundamental aims of the liberation movement. We must
organize our people to liberate themselves with the clarity of their own
minds, the courage of their own hearts and the work of their own hands.

2. Oppose the narrowing or elimination of the people’s democratic rights:
The U.S. government must stop using the suffering of the victims of these
attacks as an excuse to narrow and eliminate the people’s democratic rights.
We oppose any and all efforts to increase the funding and authority of U.S.
police and intelligence agencies as a "solution" to this crisis. We are
disgusted by the present attempts by the U.S. security and surveillance
establishment to use this tragedy to orchestrate a cynical power grab and to
cash in on the pain of the victims. We oppose any efforts to wipe out the
people’s fragile and precious privacy rights; we oppose any efforts to
curtail the people’s basic First Amendment rights to assemble, speak,
publish, protest and organize free from government harassment and
surveillance. We must now be extraordinarily vigilant against threats
directed against the people - not from underground cells, but from the
highest levels of government.

3. Rely on global justice to deter future attacks: The system, in the
United States and worldwide, has continually denied peaceful, "legitimate"
attempts by those seeking justice and freedom. Through its own reckless,
violent and oppressive actions against poor people and people of color, the
United States government has fueled frustration, grief and outrage here and
across the globe. Just as we mourn the pain and the loss of life stemming
>from these recent attacks on U.S. soil, we continue to mourn the pain and
the loss of life that U.S. military and economic domination inflicts on
people worldwide. Suffering under this oppression, people throughout the
world are becoming more and more desperate. Neither police repression at
home nor U.S. bombs abroad will ease this fundamental despair; to the
contrary, such actions will only continue this vicious cycle of frustration
and violence. Ordinary people in the United States can best deter future
attacks by insisting that the U.S. government abandon its oppressive role of
keeping down workers and dominating poor nations around the world.
Increasingly, safety at home will require justice abroad. Intensified
police crackdowns at home and military savagery abroad are not the answer;
the answer is justice. We must not allow the United States to respond with
bombs for Third World people and continued support for repressive
dictatorships and rapacious corporations. Instead, we demand that the US
respond to this crisis with efforts to meet the legitimate demands of the
majority of the human family.

4. Oppose racist, anti-Arab bigotry: The media is already feeding the
frenzy of anti-Arab hysteria. We cannot allow U.S. racism to blind our
minds or cloud our hearts. Stereotypes and scapegoating will not lead us
out of this crisis. Solidarity and compassion will. All people – and
especially African-Americans, Asian/Pacific-Americans, Latinas/os and Native
Americans – must stand in solidarity with our Arab and Muslim sisters and
brothers.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL STORM/Standing Together to Organize a
Revolutionary Movement, 510.496.6094

*WHERE IS HIP HOP? RIGHT HERE!*

by Davey D

Over the past week, I've had a number of discussions and read a number
of emails with people pointing fingers demanding to know what the Hip
Hop community is going to do and where does the Hip Hop community
stand on the WTC Attacks? The questions have been asked in such a way
as to imply that many of us have removed ourselves from tragedy and we
have not been effected. It implies that even at this sad moment cats
are running around drinking crystal and trying to keep it 'gangsta'.
I wanted to take some time out to give props and perhaps set the
record straight.

First, many Hip Hoppers were upset, traumatized, worried and now
grieving like everyone else...When the attacks first occurred many
people were concerned about family and friends. 'We're they safe?'
'Did they witness the horror?' 'Was anyone they know missing?' This
drama was complicated by the fact that many in the Hip Hop community
were still grieving over the loss of Aaliyah who had perished less
than two weeks prior to the WTC attacks. Y'all recall seeing cats
like DMX break down? Others like Q-Tip and Damon Dash were
devastated. Candlelight vigils were being held all over the country.
Grief was in the air from coast to coast. Here in the Bay Area people
were not only dealing with that loss but also the sudden fatal car
accident that resulted in the deaths of two popular Bay Area artists.
This happened a week after Aaliyah died. The funeral for Cougnut was
scheduled the day of the attack. Cats all over the Bay had heavy
hearts. All this was being processed when the attacks occurred.

Shortly after the attacks, I saw an email circulating from my man Yoda
of the pioneering group The Crash Crew letting folks know his cousin
was missing. I'm not sure of the end results. Hopefully tragedy
didn't strike his family. Another email circulated indicating that
rap star Dana Dane who worked at the World Trade in the computer field
was also MIA. For several days people were concerned. Fortunately,
there was a happy ending. Dana Dane was found alive and well. He
wasn't at work that fateful morning. Many other artists and Hip
Hoppers found themselves on the road stranded from their home base.
If you lived in NY and was outside of NY it was damn near impossible
to get phone calls through. I know for myself I was on pins and
needles for several days as I waited anxiously to hear back from
family, friends and loved ones that were on my list who I couldn't
reach from 3000 miles away. It was mad hectic and continues to be for
many within Hip Hop.

With that being said I have to be honest when I say we have to give
major props to many in the Hip Hop community who have stepped up big
time in the aftermath of last week's terrorist attacks. First we have
Dr Dre who has dug deep into his pockets and donated 1 million dollars
to help relief efforts and rescue workers. His fat donation was done
in conjunction with a larger relief effort being put forth by Los
Angeles' Power 106 radio station. Other artists like Snoop Dogg,
Warren G, Shaq and Jay-Z who was stuck in LA for the past week have
also chipped in... Big Boy [another Hip Hopper] who hosts Power 106's
popular morning show set a goal of raising 1.6 million dollars. It's
an achievable figure if each of Power's listeners donate 1 dollar
each...

Wyclef Jean who recently lost his father a week or so ago, in a freak
accident will be participating in tonight's [Friday] TV Network
telethon 'America A Tribute to Heroes". Others like Busta Rhymes and
Run DMC are participating with the 'We Are Family' benefit project
which is being put together by producer Nile Rogers who is bringing a
number of other artists together to re-record the Sister Sledge
classic of the same name. The Wu-Tang Clan has donated 10 thousand
dollars to Hot 97s Hip Hop has a Heart Foundation. DMX and his Ruff
Ryders crew will be doing a special concert to raise money for relief
efforts.. There are dozens of others who are have been contributing
money.

P-Diddy stepped up and chipped in with his parent company Arista
Records to donate 2 million dollars to relief efforts. Other groups
like the Da Beatminerz have put on charity events like the one they
did last night [Thursday Sept 20th]. The Arsonists have pledged to
donate 50% of their album sales. FUBU clothing has donated 25
thousand bucks. Last week Michael Franti and Spearhead did not one,
but two free concerts to show support and solidarity with Arab
Americans who have suddenly become the victims of vicious hate crimes.

The day after the bombing, Bay Area Hip Hop organizations like Lets
Get Free, Youth Force Coalition, STORM, and Underground Railroad
teamed up with community based organizations and held the first of
several Anti-Arab solidarity rallies drawing more than 500 people.
They felt it was important that communities of color in Oakland come
together and make a statement. Everyone from local artists to poet
June Jordan came through and represented.

Dwayne Wiggins gathered up dozens of local poets and artists and had a
huge event at his Java House Coffeeshop where folks spoke out about
the recent attacks.. BET actually had a crew on hand to cover it.. I
have no idea when it will be shown. So many people came through that
folks wound up having to stand outside to listen.. Local artists
Company of Prophets, Underground Railroad and Loco Bloco are helping
organize a solidarity March and Rally Against Racism and this
Saturday, September 22 at Delores Park at 11 am..

Many Hip Hop writers and journalists have been stepping up and writing
compelling pieces dealing with this event from various angles. For
example, Hip Hop writer Jeff Chang has penned an incredible article
called "The Hip-Hop Generation Can Call For Peace". Author Ferai
Chideya of Popandpolitics.com has a number of articles on her website
dealing with before, during and after the event. Yvonne Bynoe of
Urban Think Tank which is a hip hop think tank and publishes Doula
Magazine, has a reflective essay about how she became 'more American'
after the attacks. Hip Hop photographer Ernie Paniccioli has also
penned some deep words in an essay which is being widely distributed.
Cedric Muhammed of Blackelectorate.com continues to drop all sorts of
knowledge on the ins and outs of Middle East politics and culture. He
clearly explains all the challenges that we as a country will be
facing.

Producer/ artist Kwame Anku and his Urban Campfire project which does
a lot of work with Chuck D has been traveling the country from
Connecticut to San Diego holding townhall meetings and providing young
people with an important forum to express their views. In a recent
radio interview he pointed out that a lot of people are being brought
to the table to speak on all these issues. What has been missing our
the voices of young people and the Hip Hop community. He noted that
whatever solutions are laid out, this audience should have some sort
of perspective out there being considered. He has been doing what he
can to ensure that happening. The Urban Campfire project will be
doing a big townhall next week during The Congressional Black Caucus.

All this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many are doing what they can
under what are some extremely stressful and mind boggling conditions.
I've witnessed Hip Hop and mixshow DJs taking time out to educate
themselves so they speak intelligently on the air about this
situation. Others have been launching projects ranging from blood
drives to on air fundraising efforts..

I thought I'd share some of this information because lots of people
who stay glued to CNN and MSNBC have arrogantly stated that they have
not heard from the Hip Hop community.... Mmmm Did they expect artists
to be sitting up there on CNN next to Chris Mathews? Did they expect
artists to be offering expert opinions alongside Katie Couric on the
Today show? There are many within Hip Hop who certainly could speak
on the issue. Many have traveled around the world. Many have
political perspectives. The question is 'did they get the call to be
invited on these shows?

I saw rappers speaking out at some of the solidarity rallies. I saw
cameras there. I saw newspapers there. I even saw some of them being
interviewed. However, when it came time to showing the final cut on
the evening news the artists were missing. It was like they weren't
even there even though they played a major part in both the organizing
and participating. Hence because of the narrow casting in news
coverage, the average person has no idea what Mos Def, Common, Talib
Kweli or KRS-One is thinking.

There are many Hip Hoppers with national name recognition who are of
Middle Eastern descent who stay abreast of international politics.
Why not get a guy like King Tech of the Wake Up Show or famed producer
Fredwreck to offer their unique perspectives on all this? There are
many artists within Hip Hop who are Muslim. Let's get their
perspective. Are they being attacked? Harassed? Accused of being
unpatriotic? Last week we had a number of local Muslims Hip Hoppers
on our airwaves talking about their take on things. It was a powerful
show in which they spoke about the true meaning of Islam. They broke
down how there were people from all races who practice Islam and they
also loaned critical insight to some of the political happenings in the
regions where were are about attack. I know our audience got a lot
out of it. Too bad we couldn't hear these same Hip Hoppers on some of
other news outlets.

We continuously make the mistake of thinking if they ain't on the
local TV show in the local paper or heard on the local radio station
then they don't exist. I always suggest to people, instead of asking
what have the rappers been doing. Ask local reporters have they
gotten a perspective and insight from the Hip Hop community. If I
can sit up here and watch TV shows go out and get opinions of actors
like Arnold Shwartznegger, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, then
certainly they can go out and seek the opinions of Chuck D, KRS-One or
even Ice Cube.

Also I'd like to add this for us to think about. Hip Hop is a lot
larger than the artists we see in videos and hear on radio. Hence
there are a number of people and organizations that people can get
insightful well understood perspectives. I'd love to turn on CNN or
even my local news show and see or hear sitting at the table a Kevin
Powell, Michael Franti, April Silver, Ferai Chideya, Jeff Chang,
Cedric Muhammed, Yvonne Bynoe, Harry Allen, Boots, Van Jones, Kwame
Anku, Cheo Choker, Raquel Lavina, Dominique Diprima, Adissa Banjoko,
Bas-1, Hodari Davis, Akiba Solomon, Will Power, Najee Ali, Kuttin'
Kandi, Christie Z Pabon, Bambaataa, Fabel, Crazy Legs etc. The list
goes on. There are lots of folks within Hip Hop who are out and about
organizing, speaking out and making things happen. Lets not act like
cats aren't around doing things. The Hip Hop community has responded
big time. From Dr Dre to P-Diddy to Company of Profits to Michael
Franti. Hip Hoppers have rose to the occasion. Lets make no
mistake. And the Hip Hop community does not need to be subjected to
some sort 'patriotic' litmus test.

Lastly let me say this.. There are dozens of Hip Hop radio shows and
publications all over the country. I would certainly hope our
'leaders' take advantage and use those mediums to reach out to that
large audience. I know for myself, my very popular Hip Hop shows have
been blessed with lots of insightful, heartfelt discussions.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee blessed our airwaves this past weekend as
did Boots of The Coup. Calls are out to Reverend Al Sharpton,
Reverend Jesse Jackson and Cornel West to name a few. The doors are
open and the opportunity is there for them to speak. Whether or not
they do so is on them at this time. I would encourage such leaders to
speak directly to our audience and provide the insight and expertise
they have worked so hard to achieve. To not do so is to widen the
communication gap and leave all of us scratching our heads asking
'Whats up"?

So where is Hip Hop and What has Hip Hop been doing? Hip Hop is
right here alongside you doing their part and trying to deal with what
was once seen as unimaginable. Now Hip Hoppers have to deal with not
only their grief, but also the the prospect of war that will change
their world forever and certainly involve them. It's a lot to
shoulder, but I'm certain we will do the right thing.

THE WTC ATTACKS

by Ernie Paniccioli

First, before anything keep in mind the loss of life pain and
suffering of the victims and the survivors. The impact of this day
will be felt for generations. No religion, political party, belief
structure, cause or grudge can justify or condone this beast like act.
Our lives will not be the same in America or any other place in the
world. The financial loss alone will be felt even in the poorest
shantytown in the Third World. Anywhere else in this world especially
Japan, the Presidents, and CEO s of the hijacked airlines would have
been on TV apologizing and offering to resign for allowing not one,
but possibly five planes to be hijacked. To my knowledge, this has
not yet happened.

A sad coincidence or irony is the airlines involved were American and
United and now every minute we hear the call for a United America.
Were the hijackers trying to tell us something like using 9-11 (911)
as the day to commit this crime? Many folks slept on prophecy and
when what they though was the millennium had passed they snickered at
scripture and prophecy. If the millennium is the celebration of the
2000th birthday of Christ, then it must be celebrated in 2001. Does
Revelation 18 refer to the World Trade Center; I for one suggest it
does and further it talks of New York City as well. We must now go
from the spiritual to the political and ask what does the future hold
for our youth and the so-called Hip-Hop generation. Try these on for
size to see who benefited from this crime against humanity.

(1) Forced induction into the military.

(2) A vast erosion of civil rights and civil liberties.

(3) Possible Martial Law.

(4) Widespread layoffs and financial hardships including a stand still
of the airline, hotel and tourism industries.

(5) Massive deportation of thousands of undocumented aliens who have
committed no crime being poor, hungry and having the desire to work
and feed their families.

(6) Racial and ethnic profiling, both by the government and misguided
"patriotic Americans".

Experience has taught me nothing happens in a vacuum, the week before
the horror America, Zionism and Israel were being skewered at the
Conference On Racism, America was being asked to pay reparations which
would amount to billions of dollars. All signs and the stock market
indicated America was headed into a recession and the tensions in the
Middle East were at the boiling point Americans were divided over
whether or not we had witnessed a Coup d etat and a stolen
presidential election. There are voices even now that suggest this
horror might be the second phase of that Coup d etat or another phase
of the activities of the establishment of The New world Order.

We must never feed into the Zealot mind set. Never believe as so many
do that we alone are the chosen people, that our religion our God is
the only valid form of worship. That our way is the only way or that
God has put you on this Earth to shame or civilize the heathens.
Fundamentalism, zealotry and racial bigotry will create wars and
hatred for generations to come. The worst enemies of peace on this
planet are the zealots and fundamentalists, they can be found in every
religion. They all worship some musty book and not the creator it is
supposed to represent. They all feel they are the chosen of God, that
they are somehow wiser, more enlightened more sacred, more holy, than
other people who share the Earth. They all have scapegoats, the
filthy Jews, the dirty Arabs, the dumb niggers, those honkies, those
stinking dot-heads, those porch monkies, etc., etc., etc. Remember
the words of Haile Selassie as sung by Bob Marley "Until the
philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is
discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war ."

Lets analyze this Osama bin Laden scenario carefully, he is an avowed
enemy and hater of America, and if he were to admit or boast about
having committed this horror he would become the terrorist "super
hero" and poster boy. If he did it, one of the most heinous act of
modern history why would he not take credit for it? A great rule of
thumb is that whenever anything important happens turn on the VCR and
record every news flash. I taped about 24 hours of events that
happened too fast to be filtered or censored. One amazing item I
"caught on tape" was "someone called the Secret Service on Air Force
One, had their phone numbers and secret codes and said we re coming
for you now" while Bush was in the air fleeing Washington. Either
these assassins had "inside" help every step of the way or else all
the money we have poured into defense and security has been wasted,
stolen or misused. If "angry, red blooded Americans" are seeking
justice by killing and beating up Arabs, Muslims and other "Middle
Eastern" types did they do the same when the Oklahoma City bomber was
revealed to be a blonde haired, blue eyed good ol boy ?

On a more personal note I visited the fantastic restaurant Windows On
The World at the top of the World Trade Center for my daughters
birthday just a couple of weeks before the explosions and felt sick
with dread, told my family we ve got to split and saw dead people
dancing in the club. I have been in those building hundreds of times
and never before experienced anything like that premonition. My
daughter saw the plane crash into the second tower and the buildings
crumble from her window at work.

Lastly I suggest those of you who read to please check out "Rule By
Secrecy" by Jim Marrs and to check out www.rense.com. These may help
you explore other insights into what happened and where we may be
heading in the next few weeks and months. My heart aches and I
suggest this is a powerful time for unity as human beings on this
Earth. We need reason, calm, hope and prayer to get through this
together. This is a good time to be kind and gentle to folks, you
don t know if the person next to you lost a love one, a friend or
their job or is just in shock or denial.

Peace Ernie Paniccioli

Send comments, questions and concerns to

mailto:misterdaveyd@aol.com

mailto:mrdaveyd@aol.com

The FNV Newsletter

written by Davey D

http://www.daveyd.com

http://www.rapstation.com

c 2001 All Rights Reserved

by Ace Tafoya/PoorNewsNetwork Community Journalist

Promise me everything, and give me nothing

Give with one hand

Smile and Grin; then take Back with somebody’s else Hand

Prop N! My Friend, No! No! No!

Help, House the Homeless! No

Help Cripple the homeless, and throw them out not off the streets

An excerpt from Contract Law(Lies) By A. Faye Hicks PO’ Poet Laureate/POOR Magazine

On the corner of Van Ness and Market St. last Monday afternoon, I saw a disturbing figure. A figure of a person lying on the street with a yellow blanket pressed tightly over their body. "Hell!," I said as I was ‘shocked and awed’ at the sight!... This country is spending billions of dollars on an unnecessary war. Billions that can make a difference in services all over the country.

I was part of a demonstration on Thursday, April 17, 2003 at the Next Door Shelter sponsored by the Coalition on Homelessness, POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), POOR Magazine as well as many other agencies. Supposedly a model shelter for the city of San Francisco, Next Door which has a capacity of roughly 250 beds, was handing out eviction notices to clients in response to Proposition N or Care Not Cash initiative last week "I don’t like them (the eviction notices)," JoAnn Sanders a homeless advocate said to me at the rally. "I’m not sure if they are warranted. It’s amazing that the major politicians (Gavin Newsome, Willie Brown) plant their platforms on the backs of the poor and homeless."

Roughly 50 – 70 people turned up to speak out and let their voices be heard on the corners of Geary and Polk Streets. Even eggs that were thrown from across the street in our direction could not deter us from our protest.

Ed Willard and Marisa Franco from POWER led the people and the chants on the streets of the Tenderloin. We marched from the Coalition on Homelessness on Turk Street to 1001 Polk – Next Door Shelter. 

"Shelter Bed and $59

That’s Not Care –

That’s A Crime"

We want to let the City, Department of Human Services (DHS); the Board of Supervisors know what they are secretly doing behind closed doors in reference to Prop. N is not acceptable. "I think it is wrong giving out eviction notices to people who are on GA (the city’s welfare assistance program). This is only the early stages," Darrell Godbay from Shout said to me at the protest.

Reps from POWER have three simple demands for DHS, Trent Rhorer and the other co-horts: NO EXPULSIONS OR EXCLUSIONS FROM SHELTERS; HOUSING NOT CUTS AND NO FINGERPRINTING IMAGE MACHINES AT THE SHELTERS.

"People who most need the services (from the city) will be displaced," Garth Ferguson, a member of POWER said to me at the rally. A. Faye Hicks of the Po’ Poet’s Project of POOR Magazine let her lovely voice come through strong on a beautiful piece of poetry she recited. I tried to get a few comments from people who live at that shelter, but they uttered silence. "We aren’t going to put our fingers in your damn machines," warned Juan from Housing Not Borders. "The real crazies are the people like Trent (Roher, DHS). The war is here on the floor!," MC from Caduceus Outreach Services said at the podium.

Postscript;

After protests from the city’s poor and their advocates The Next Door Shelter later rescinded the eviction notices- and at this point the effort is to overturn Prop N through the courts and The San Francisco Board of Supervisors- To get involved in this effort call POWER at 415-864-8372. To read more about Prop N resistance scroll down this page and read Economic and Racial Cleansing #101

by Vlad Pogorelov

I stayed up all night before the eviction, listening to Beethoven’s 5th symphony - “Ta-da-da!....” The sheriffs were supposed to come at 6 am. By 8 am I said to myself: “Fuck it”, and went to sleep. I woke up in a couple of hours, fixed myself a breakfast, had two cups of coffee. It was promising to be another decent day. I unlocked the gate and went outside.

There were 3 cars sitting in front of the house. A big sport utility vehicle, a locksmith’s van and a smaller car. A sport utility was occupied by a Filipino couple. The locksmith was in his van. When I walked out into the front stairs they all stared at me and stopped talking. There was something in their eyes, in their expressions which reminded me of vultures waiting for the dying animal to expire.

I came up to the SUV and asked the man if he was a landlord. He confirmed that. “Fuck you”, I said, “you gonna make me homeless. Fuck you”.

Then the locksmith came and asked me for the key. “Fuck you both”, I said and went back to the house.

My roommate Rob started to fantasize: “If sheriffs don’t come today then maybe they won’t at all, at least not before Thanksgiving...”
Poor Rob. He has been living in this little house for almost seven years. A long time , long enough to fill almost every square inch of it with hundreds, and hundreds of pieces of junk he found on the street -— TV’s, old record players, broken computers...you name it. And now he was about to loose his treasures. I saw this incredible sadness in his eyes. Just yesterday, upon learning about the inevitability of the eviction he threatened to commit suicide., and sheriffs department sent him to a mental hospital. They let him out ,however, so they can evict him properly.

“Maybe I can talk them out of it”, I told him. I went outside and locked the gate behind me. There was some commotion on the block — a few white official looking cars rolled in. Half a dozen of sheriffs with guns came out and joined the vultures. They all looked tense.

“What are you doing here?”, they asked me.

“I am here to watch you”, I told them.

“Do you live here?”. One of them pointed at the house.

“I was”, I told them,” until today”.

“Give us the key”, they demanded.

“I paid a dollar for my key. Have you got a dollar?”

None of them had a dollar. Greedy bastards. Or maybe they wanted to see the locksmith in action. Who knows...

A smooth voiced sheriff who called himself supervisor got on the phone and called Rob. “Come out Rob. We are not going to hurt you. We just want to do this eviction. It’s lunch time. The boys are hungry”, he said while looking at his troops.

“Come out with your hands up”, I joked.

The supervisor gave me a dirty look. “I would advise you to stay away”, he told me.

“Don’t do it Rob”, I screamed.

They negotiated with Rob for about half hour. Then I saw him emerging behind the gate. The sheriffs moved against the door. Skinny, little Rob—a strange Jewish guy who made his living by collecting junk—against 6 well fed, fat sheriffs with guns. He did not stand a chance. Suddenly, he became even smaller, as if he shrunk suddenly. He unlocked the gate. The sheriffs rushed in. “You have five minutes to get your papers, medications, etc. We will supervise you while you doing this.”

I went into my room and grabbed a female mannequin and a few books. I came out carrying the mannequin in my arms as I would carry a wounded comrade. “This guy is crazy”, somebody said. Then I saw Rob coming out of the house. He had a scarred cat in his arms. The cat really hated to be evicted. The sheriffs stood there in a circle, laughing. Fat, ugly bastards who are just doing their job and will go back to their families just like the Nazis did after torturing Jews at the camps.

Me and Rob shook hands. “Where would you go?”, I asked him.

“I don’t know”

“And you...?”

“I have no idea. Probably will sleep in my car”.

The sun just came out from behind the clouds. “A beautiful day to start a new life as a homeless person”, I thought as I was leaving a little white house in Potrero Hill— my home for the past 4 month.

Part Two

It’s only a few weeks later and I am already feeling like it was a few light years ago. My lifestyle has completely changed since I became an individual without address. For the first three weeks I had to sleep in my car, and later, thanks to a friend, I was able to move into a broken motorhome parked on a dead end street by the San Francisco Bay. Sometimes, I wonder if I am at a “dead end” myself. I was literally driven almost into the water and there is nowhere else to go but out of town.

Bad news for Rob—it is his last day to remove his belongings from “our house” as he calls it. And then almost immediately he would correct himself: ”Our former house”. It seems that he just can’t get over being evicted. Last night he started discussion about Sylvia Plath and her suicide. “I was thinking a lot about this subject”, Rob told me.

“You know Rob, I have a propane leak in my motorhome. You can smell it a block away. So, if you are contemplating to follow Sylvia—welcome to my place.” He only laughs: “I am too old for this kind of solution. After all I am almost 50. And Sylvia was this adolescent girl who never grew up.”

“It’s never to late Rob”, I am telling him while watching his reaction. But he only shook his head and doesn’t say much.

We drove to “our house” in Rob’s beat up van and started loading it in somewhat chaotic manner trying to save Rob’s treasures but he still had to loose almost ninety percent of his possessions after the deadline. About 4pm we decided to get some food and “recharge our batteries” for the final push. I volunteered to make a run to the local store and get us sandwiches. It took me about fifteen minutes. On my way back to the house I noticed that something was very wrong over there, There was a police car sitting outside the house and Rob was in the back seat of a cruiser, looking like a caged rabbit waiting to be used for some bizarre scientific experiment. I noticed two policemen and the landlords drugging a heavy garage door and trying to put it back on hinges. (We had to take the door off the hinges in order to move out some large objects.) After a collective of “real estate and law enforcement forces” finally succeeded in putting the door back in place they let Rob out. “You have thirty minutes to clear out”, the cops told Rob.
“We’ll check on you soon. If you are still here with your stuff on the sidewalk then you gonna loose it to the Street Cleaning Department.”

“You don’t have to do that”, he replied. “The landlord will call them for you.”

I saw landlords walking back towards their SUV and smiling with relief. Finally, they succeeded in shutting the doors of the house for good.

I helped Rob to load the remaining belongings into the van. “Why did they detained you?”, I asked him.

“They said, I was trespassing.”

“But you were not! You had until 5 pm. They cheated you of almost an hour, man!”

“They sure did. But I don’t feel like fighting anymore. I am about to give up and move far away from this nightmare, my friend. Maybe, even to the countryside...you see I am fed up with this city. This city is being sold to the highest bidder on a daily basis and I don’t want to be a part of this Sodom anymore. Count me out. I quit.” Rob was sounding tired and depressed.
“You see, I just was inside the house packing my stuff”, he continued,” and then the cops came and ordered me to come out immediately. Well, I invited them to come inside since I wasn’t trespassing but they only got angry and drugged me out of the house, searched me and took away my “Leatherman” tool.”

“Did you get it back?”

“No. But I am about to call Bayview Police Station and ask for it”. He got on the phone and called the police station. “...what do you mean, you don’t know who you send to harass people?...you mean you don’t keep records of which car was dispatched?...”, I overheard the pieces of conversation. “It is hopeless”, Rob conceded. “They told me, they have no idea who these policemen were.”

We sat on the curb for sometime, not talking much, contemplating our dim future. It was getting dark. We both looked at the house again as if saying last “Good bye” to the ordeal of the last two months, got in to the heavily loaded van and drove away towards even greater uncertainty.

by Boys and Girls Club of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe

Tricia

Slam Bio

My color is brown

My taste is spicey



My touch is soft

I think I would be a cute little fish

That swims with lots of other fish

My tribe is Ute

I think we function very well with lots of things im grateful for that other tribes don’t have

by Laure McElroy and Tiny/poverty and race scholars, Vincent Bevins/race, poverty and media justice intern; introduction by Jeff Adachi

Introduction

On Sept. 21, 2005, at 11:00 in the morning, Tyrelle Taylor, then 18, was shot at least three times, twice in the back and once in the hand, while running away from the SFPD near his home on Northridge Road. Police are claiming that Tyrelle pointed a weapon at them. At the time of the incident, several witnesses said that Tyrelle was running from the police at the time the shots were fired.

Although no shots were fired by Tyrelle, he was arrested and then charged with assaulting three police officers who shot at him. Initially charged with attempted murder, he was later charged with assaulting a police officer, brandishing a weapon, resisting arrest and being a member of a gang.

Tyrelle, who is now in custody in the San Francisco County Jail, recently had his preliminary hearing before a judge to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to support the charges. Judge Marla Miller dismissed several key charges, including charges that Tyrelle was a gang member, rejecting the prosecutor’s claim that the alleged assault on police officers was done for a gang related purpose.

The judge heard the evidence at the hearing, which lasted for five days, and found that the gang charges were not true. It was a significant setback for the prosecution.

A trial date was set, but instead of proceeding, the prosecution dismissed the case and then brought the case to a grand jury – a secret grand jury – where the case is presented without the presence or involvement of a defense attorney. Tyrelle is now charged with eight counts of assaulting police officers – even though only three officers were named as supposed victims – and the prosecution added a sentencing enhancement that would add 10 years to each charge.

This is a clear case of overcharging, where the prosecutor has made charges just to increase the time in prison this young man faces. Before going to a grand jury, there were only three charges of assault – now there are eight.

Something is wrong with this picture. I plan to ask District Attorney Kamala Harris to personally review the case.

Tyrelle’s situation worsened when he was re-arrested one year after the initial incident for weapons possession and additional charges were added to his case, which is set for trial in June. Although this complicates the case, I still firmly believe that the punishment called for by the charges is completely out of line with what actually happened.

Tyrelle Taylor was shot three times – no officer or anyone else was injured in either incident – yet he is the one who faces 20 years in prison.

Tyrelle was one of the five children who were attacked by police on Martin Luther King Day 2002, as their parents and neighbors crowded around. The case resulted in a settlement for some of the children who were injured.

Although I haven’t seen any evidence that the earlier incident was connected to the 2005 incident, I know that Tyrelle grew up in an environment where he was fearful of police. Running from the police may seem unwise to someone who has never had negative dealings with police, but Tyrelle’s experiences have been very different.

Tyrelle grew up in Hunters Point, where he lived at the Northridge housing projects with his mother. He grew up very poor, and had to fend for himself, living in a dangerous neighborhood. His father has been incarcerated since he was a little boy, so he had little support.

Tyrelle did well in school but then began receiving poor grades in his early teens and later dropped out. He was attending the Life Learning Academy at Treasure Island at the time of the September 2005 incident.

According to the police report, police say that they received a call of two young men in a car with a gun. Several San Francisco police officers, known as “specialists,” a version of SWAT team, responded and began pursuing the vehicle. They then claim the vehicle stopped and Tyrelle came out and pointed a gun at them.

The police did not have to discharge their weapons

'I don’t believe that it was necessary to discharge their weapons, and I do question their claim that Tyrelle actually pointed a gun at them.' These words from San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi give validity and official support to the most fundamental conclusions of witnesses who watched in horror the morning of Sept. 21, 2005, as 18-year-old Tyrelle Taylor ran from police sharpshooters emptying their guns into his back.

Adachi, who is personally representing Tyrelle, sat down with Poor Magazine and poverty scholars Laure McElroy and Tiny to talk about Tyrelle’s case. It was after our interview that the prosecutor heaped the new charges on Tyrelle, and Adachi graciously offered to update our story by writing the foregoing introduction.

'He’s running from the police. There are about three to six police officers behind him. They’re everywhere. I yell out his name; he yells back and says, ‘Sister, I can’t run no more. They’re trying to kill me,’' Lata Price, Tyrelle’s neighbor, recounted in a story she wrote for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. 'And police – damn near all of them – shooting at him as if he had a grenade launcher pointed at them.'

'They never once said freeze or stop,' said Ebony, another neighbor and witness.

Now, ironically, it is Tyrelle who faces 16 charges from this and his subsequent arrest last year. Yet Adachi sees hope in the young man’s future.

'Tyrelle is a good hearted person. It’s just that he has not had the opportunity to really know himself, and he hasn’t had the kind of mentorship he needed at crucial times in his life,' Adachi said. 'He loves to read – and has been reading a new book every week since he’s been in jail.'

After Adachi remarked, in reference to Tyrelle’s voracious appetite for books, that 'some people don’t get an opportunity for an education until they’re in jail,' Tiny began to silently cry, recalling her own awakening while incarcerated.

It is extremely rare that a public defender – Adachi’s responsibilities include supervising the 93 attorneys who work for his office – actually takes a case himself, let alone such a controversial one. In response to Laure’s question as to how he feels about the fact that some San Franciscans might think he is doing it for public relations value, he simply responds that his job is to lead and he chooses to lead by example.

Adachi has made a reputation for himself as a smart and fiery defender of the people of San Francisco, and he does not hesitate to define the larger context in which the incident took place and its implications for the community – in his words, 'laws that institutionally oppress people of color, courts or law enforcement that target them,' and “gentrification.”

By way of examples, he offers a statistic and an anecdote. Only 15 percent of drug users are of African American descent, but 70 percent of people incarcerated for drug offenses are of African American descent. The poor, of course, are also disproportionately targeted.

In a recent case, a Rite Aid executive who embezzled $1.3 billion received a sentence of five years. A mother of two who was a small-time “drug mule” received a sentence of 20 years.

If Tyrelle Taylor is convicted, he could receive a similar sentence. This resonates deeply with Tiny and Laure’s poverty and race scholarship that informs their work in the welfare queens play and media project, addressing the rise in the incarceration of poor mothers.

Adachi has come to know young Taylor well since his shooting and visits him often. “I don’t think he’s somebody that would have pointed a gun at police,” Adachi says.

This is what Adachi argued at Taylor’s recent preliminary hearing. The evidence showed that there was no bullet in the chamber of the gun allegedly possessed by Taylor.

“Who would do that? What’s there to gain by simply pointing a gun at some cops, not firing and then running away?” These are some of the question that will be raised at Tyrelle’s upcoming trial.

With his trial likely to begin in June, Adachi said that Taylor receives occasional visits from family members and friends, many of whom have sent him books to read. “He enjoys reading,” Jeff Adachi repeats.

Upon hearing this, Tiny jumps ups from her chair. “Well, let’s see if he would be down to start reporting for PNN, start writing, that is.”

Jeff nods emphatically. Laure and Tiny register excitement – a new poverty and race scholar is born.

Listen to the interview with San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi on KPFA’s Morning Show broadcast Monday, March 12, at 7:30 a.m. in the archives at www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=19133. Read more about issues of poverty and race written by the people who face them daily at www.poormagazine.org. The interviewer, Laure, a woman of African descent like Tyrelle, has written extensively about her experiences with race and class oppression. Tiny, a mixed race poverty scholar, recounts her experiences in and out of jails due to her poverty and homelessness in her new book, “Criminal of Poverty: Growing up Homeless in America.”

by Staff Writer

· Welcome M-1 of dead prez to the Bay Area – East and West Oakland, San Francisco, Sonoma, San Jose, Santa Cruz – for six days of sharing his recent experiences in Gaza, Cairo and Europe and comparing them with ghetto life in the U.S. – six events Sept. 24-29 benefiting the SF Bay View and Block Report Radio. Get ready for some explosive revelations! Get a foretaste with 24 hours in Gaza by M-1.

by Tom Gomez

Sunday morning I went out the door of my shelter at 6:30 am. I intended to go to sit on a bench in U.N Plaza and read my Sunday Times while waiting for the Quaker services I regularly attend to begin at 11:00 am. Sitting on those benches and reading my morning paper is a daily ritual for me. If I have an extra dollar I also like to enjoy coffee with my paper. My job (yes, I have a job, and so do most homeless people I know) doesn’t start until 3:00 pm and nothing opens until 9:00 am. I would stay in and sleep late like most of you probably do, but I live in a shelter. So I occupy a bench at my local park, reading my paper and watching the sunrise while sipping my coffee.

The city is offended by that. Channel 4 is outraged by it. On Saturday the City removed the benches. A bench removal that had been planned for several months. Channel 4, I’m told, portrayed the park as an open sewer where homeless people sell and use drugs flagrantly. I don’t have a television. I missed the report. I miss the benches too.

Does the city expect me to believe that with literally thousands of officers they are powerless to prevent a few dozen criminals from selling and using drugs in broad daylight? The crime the city has targeted here has nothing to do with drugs being sold or used. The city wants to purge its downtown of poor people and especially men of color. Throughout the whole weekend after the removal of the benches I observed police stopping black men exclusively, for no apparent reasons, demanding they produce identification and conducting random searches.

I am tired of being victimized for no better reason than my inability to pay $2,300.00 a month rent on my income from a $9.00hr catering job! Being a man of color is not a crime, and should not constitute “probable cause” nor invite forced warrant checks and random searches.

No one supports urban blight. But in this case the city is responsible for failing to enforce existing laws for years, thus creating public outrage, and then mounting an outright attack on the poor in response. If the city is tired of seeing desperately poor people littering the streets of this city, I have a fine suggestion: BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING! And instead of punishing all of us, forcing us off public benches and into the streets at dawn, how about the innovative solution of curbing crime by arresting criminals? What a concept. Someone should suggest it to Chief Lau and Mayor Brown.

A coalition of groups and individuals is organizing to oppose the city’s racial profiling and its attack on the poor and public space. Persons interested in getting involved in fighting this injustice should contact Adam Arms at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, 468 Turk, San Francisco CA 94102. (415) 346-3740

The Camera’ s gaze panned across the landscape at San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza lingering at discarded bottles, crumpled paper bags, empty beer cans...and then....a face... a man...An African-American man....smoking something...a cigarette, perhaps.. we’re not sure..then another African-American man.. then an African-American woman...then an African-American child...then another....then another and..another..and another and...until one would believe that the entire population of homeless folks in UN Plaza was African-American and then a voice, the voice of truth, the voice of.....authority?..

“At the United Nations Plaza our hidden cameras uncovered the rampant drug use of Homeless People in UN Plaza...” This so-called “undercover” report by KRON-channel 4 (which incidently is owned by the Hearst Corporation) was followed by a “shocked” interview with Mayor Brown - who after viewing the tape I just described, commented that he “would have his office look into it and see what could be done”

Several hours later the Benches at UN Plaza were removed, or rather