Story Archives

by Chris Barrett/PNN

Amnesty International made news last Friday by calling on Bill Clinton to exercise his executive power and release Leonard Peltier. The issue of clemency has been ignored by this government for years. The original clemency appeal was filed back in 1993, but Peltier supporters feel that the time is right to press the matter. The letter's timing is crucial because we all know that the next man to sit in the Oval Office will not have the courage or the inclination to pardon anyone. Pierre Sané, Amnesty International's Secretary General writes, "Since all of Leonard Peltier's legal appeals have been exhausted, it is our firm view that an act of clemency is not only timely, but a necessary step in the name of justice," Peltier has been in jail for 23 years and the next Parole hearing on his case is scheduled for 2008.

Peltier stands accused of shooting two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Reservation during a gunfight involving 150 FBI agents and 30 Native Americans. A young Indian activist was also killed in the shootout. Leonard Peltier was an activist and member of the American Indian Movement, which was being targeted by the FBI's Couner Intelligence Program. During the early 70's the Pine Ridge Reservation was under the control of a BIA backed tribal chairman, Dick Wilson. The sovereignty of the Sioux Nation was and is a murky question and FBI presence on the Reservation was a source of agitation for years. 64 people were murdered during the years of Wilson's administration and though the land was covered with FBI agents, no investigations into the violence were carried out. AIM responded to the terror through armed resistance.

The questions surrounding Leonard Peltier's case are numerous and grave. Three other men were accused. Two were acquitted by juries who saw evidence that the FBI fired first and felt that the men acted in self-defense. A third saw the charges dropped so that the government could bring its full attention to the Peltier case. Judges denied his right to produce a ballistics test proving his innocence. The FBI coerced witnesses and actively lobbied for his conviction. His appeals are spent and the Parole Board refuses to hear his case until he confesses. The urgency of his release is compounded by the fact of his deteriorating health.

There is no political currency to be gained from denying his clemency. His appeal is supported by such diverse and knowledgable sources as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Rigobertha Menchu, the Judge who denied his Appeal and the US Pardon Attorney Roger C. Adams. The Democratic Party of California even passed a unanimous resolution in support of Executive Clemency for Peltier. Clinton's Presidency has been marred by a continual slide to the right. Would pardoning Peltier put an asterisk on his legacy? Would it make national news and give American history a taint of social justice? It could be the most profound act of the Clinton Administration. It would surely be a leap of faith, but also a return to the progressive ideals of Clinton's past that could rejuvinate a cynical and tired electorate.

Peltier supporters are urging people to get the message out, as major news organzations ignore the story. There is a phone campaign to combat FBI efforts to deny clemency. People are encouraged to call the White House and support the appeal for clemency. To do this call the White House Comments Line at 202-456-1111 or send a letter to the White House fax number at 202-456-2461. More information and a petition can be obtained form the Leonard Peltier Defense Committe website http://www.freepeltier.org/ and Amnesty International at
http://www.amnestyusa.org/raisetheroof/action/peltierindex.shtml.

Let William Jefferson Clinton know that he can still make a difference.

by PNN

POOR Magazine will be celebrating the publication of "POOR Magazine Volume IV: The Mothers Issue". In honor of the occasion POOR will be hosting a release party/benefit on Friday December 15, at 7:00 pm. The event will feature spoken word performances by all the contributors. Dinner will be served with homeade soup and bread . $0-10.00 sliding scale.

Celebrate and support POOR Magazine’s ongoing resistance to poverty, race and class oppression through literary, visual and performance art. Celebrate Volume IV, The Mother’s issue with a poem, a drawing and/or a photograph of your mother. This issue of POOR was an act of media and multi-media resistance for all the very low income and homeless adults and youth writers and artists at POOR as they not only wrote and created all the work for the magazine, but the mothers and "sons" from POOR’s welfare to work job training program did the design and layout for this beautiful, intentionally glossy magazine about issues of poverty and the political state of motherhood.

This will also be the debut of the new super-shero-Superbabymama- a poly-lingual multi-racial mama who fights economic justice everywhere, contributors also include Mumia Abu-Jamal, Delores Huerta, Evri Kwong, Diego Rivera and many more.

Where: 255 9th St. between Folsom and Howard

When: Friday December 15, at 7:00pm

Contact: POOR @ 415-863-6306

by PNN Staff

For the last few weeks Ted Gullickson of the San Francisco Tenants Union began staging protests in front of several open houses in San Francisco - open houses which used to belong to elder tenants, many of whom were African-American and/or low income - open houses being sold as vacant units or as tenants in common units (TIC's) -many of whom were being sold by Monarch Realty. Two weeks ago, we covered and particpated in a protest at 308 Scott street in San Francisco.

At the scene of the "housing crime" PNN staff interviewed Dan Gosset from Monarch Realty who gave his opinion of the protesters as well as the then pending ballot measure, Proposition N, which would have put a stop to evictions for TIC's or condo conversion, but was ultimately defeated in the November election.

Dan Gossett:"I’m representing the seller and I’m not having the sellers property taken over by protesters, you’re welcome to protest outside"

PoorNewsNetwork: "Are you the Realtor?"

DG: I’m the broker, owner of the company-yes."

PNN: How many units are there?"

DG:There are four units, this building was "ellised acted."

PNN: "How many units are in the property and how much are they going for?"

DG: "Well, actually there are four units in the property-we aren’t selling units we’re selling T I C interests [Tenants In Common] in the whole building.
People own the building together as a whole, that is one of the things your legislation’s (prop N) is attempting to speak to but its not being sold as exclusive occupancy rights."

PNN: "How do you feel about the protesters?"

DG: "Hey, I grew up in the 60’s everyone has a right to protest, the other thing I ask is they let people come and go as they should-and they’re welcome to continue their protest."

PNN: "Can I just ask you-do you understand the feelings behind the protest?"

DG: " Absolutely, you know I ... I am a San Francisco resident, I’m also a person very committed to working with people - such as artists who are being displaced, my company helps artists-some artists who are able to purchase... we work with sellers in putting things together such as TIC’s which alow them opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have; also I think what is unfortunate is... I think its really important that we look at this as a city wide issue and a shared responsibility... Affordable, low income housing is a problem in our city and what solutions can we come up for this... I’m very supportive of it - unfortunately this legislation I don’t think is the best route to go."

PNN "Which one is That?"

DG: "Proposition N, one its anti-gay, its anti- non traditional couple, there’s lots of things about it that just... are bad for tenants and also bad for the city at large?" But does it bring attention to a really growing problem in our city - and that is affordable housing."

PNN: "What did you think about L [Prop. L] that whole measure that’s on the ballot about what’s going on in the Mission all over?"

DG:"At this point I’m opposed to that (L) as well."

PNN: "Why do you think that N is anti-gay?"

DG: "Because it does not allow for a vehicle in which I... and my life partner can work with If ‘want to will my interest to that person - under this legislation I can’t do that, its not well thought out legislation it was attempt I think to have an impact on Ellis Acted buildings and certainly Tenant In Common interests in the city - and from that standpoint; it had an impact but its not really dealing with the major problem in the city which is affordable housing"

PNN: "Do you know how many properties that your company represents are dealing T I C’s conversions?"

DG: "We have several T I C’s and have dealt with T I C’s in the past, I’ve been a broker for years at another company - so T I C is just a form of ownership, the exclusive rights of the occupancy is the question with this not Tenants Common interests-because that’s simply a vehicle to own property."

PNN: "Did you say what company your from?"

DG"I’m from the Monarch group."

PNN "Thanks."

We then interviewed Ted Gulickson from the San Francisco Tenants Union-

PNN: "Ted, can I get you to say a couple of things? what is the T I C legislation about?

TG: "... what is says in a nut- shell if you sell a unit individually it can only be sold persuant to the condo conversion law - what that means is that senior cannot be evicted for condo conversions, it means, that there can only be 200 conversions a year, and right now what we’re seeing... Tenancy’s In Common being used to get around the condo conversion law so evictions and conversions are unlimited and senior and disabled tenants can be evicted; so what prop. N means is that whenever you sell a unit individually it can only be done persuent to the condo law. The sale of these particular units is illegal under prop N. and so we want to stop the sale of these units."

PNN: "Where are we today and what are we doing here today?"

TG:This building at 308 Scott Street is a building which all of the tenants were evicted under the Ellis Act including some senior tenants - they were evicted the day after Christmas last year. [1999] The realtor who had bought the building this Monarch Group evicted the people the day after Christmas because there were ammendments to the Ellis Act which took affect on January 1st. which would have required that the seniors here get a one year’s notice; instead they rushed the evictions to make sure they only had to give ‘em 60 day notice-subsequence to that when all the tenants moved out they began advertising the units as vacant because prop. M has a retroactive effect the date of July we’ve been pretty much able to chill the T I C market over the summer and they’ve only been able to sell one of these units and they’re making a final push to try to sell the units before prop.M comes into affect."

PNN: "Can you tell us how many other units of the Monarch Group have done T I Cs?"

TG "They are a fairly small company but they have three other T I C’s that they’ve done recently - one on Noe Street, I forget the address of other one but pretty much everything they do is T I C’s."

PNN "What do you think of prop. L?"

TG: "Prop. L is also the important measure on the ballot to stop gentrification and evictions. Where prop. N will stop evictions such as these, prop. L will have a great impact of reducing the gentrifiying effect in San Francisco which is ‘kinda a lot of the fuel for these because-here we have half a million dollar condo’s and its the Dotcom’s workers, its the people coming into San Francisco with a lot of stock market wealth, very wealthy people who are buying up these units so we need to stop the demand for half a million dollar condo’s for one thing and the real estate speculators the Monarch Group are making a killing evicting tenants then selling all the units as condominiums."

PNN: "Your process of protesting open houses we think is brilliant , could you comment on your strategy?"

TG: "We actually want to stop the sales of the units, we want this building returned back to the rental market, if we can stop the sale of the units via these actions, and prop. N then the owners of these buildings will have no other choice but to rent the units. Our goals... this is basic direct action-we ‘wanna stop the sale of the units and we’ve been successful at doing that."

PNN:, Thank you."

PNN interviewed a former tenant, Mrs. E, that was evicted from the building.

PNN: "Say your name and tell when you got evicted?"

E: "We got evicted... I lived right up at 116 Lion Street, we right between these two streets, its been about a year and a half last November; not only were we evicted I had only ten days to be out and the guy went into the house and took my stuff out the house and set it on the sidewalk - everybody had a big free sale by taking my furniture and stuff; and I been ‘livin there 20 years."

PNN "And is this your daughter, what’s her name?"

E: "Jennifer"

PM: "Are you now living with your mom?"

E: "No, We’re trying to find her a place to live that she can get in and out of... where they relocated her to she has to go up four steep flights of steps that she can’t walk, you see her knees are swollen up!

PNN "Sounds familiar."

J: … and we’re still trying to find her a place, and the rent is so high over here... [San Francisco] The rent is so high you can’t move back in."

PNN: "The same thing with Oakland, I just came from over there, same thing over there." They just want to put everybody...they ‘wanna push us all out."

E: "We can’t move anywhere, the poor and seniors can’t move anywhere.I’m 48, we’ve livin been here all my life."

PNN: "That’s why we can’t stop fighting this"

PNN interviews Iris Biblowitz, one of the protestors,

PNN: Do you think Proposition is M is anti-gay ?"

IB" "Not at all, its pro-gay I’m gay, I’m a lesbian, its anti-gay landlords maybe anti-gay rich people who want to evict people from their homes and sell condominiums for five hundred thousand; maybe its anti-gay realtors. But its not anti-gay poor folks, working poor, poor middle class folks who are tenants who are just trying to make a decent living be honest and not lose their home."

PNN: "What’s your name?"

IB: "Iris Biblowitz, its a class thing to say its anti-gay is absolutely a lie and a distortion."

Prop N did not pass but in a follow-up interview with the SF Tenants Union, Ted explained that they will proceed with the legislation on a statewide level as well as locally with The newly appointed board of supervisors so they can prevent real estate speculators like Monarch Realty from using the Ellis act to illegally evict tenants in San FRanciasco or to use the words of one of the chants; "Realtor.. Realtor.. bad bad bad!!….

To get involved with the continuing efforts to protest illegal open houses call the San Francisco Tenents Union at (415) 282-5525

by Mario Osava

courtesy of Homeless Peoples Network,

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 18 (IPS) - Groups leading the struggle for housing in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, have begun to occupy abandoned buildings and set up living quarters in downtown streets to press the government to respond to their demands.

The tactic is similar to that which has brought results for the Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST - Landless Movement), which has garnered widespread support both at home and abroad for its fight for faster and broader agrarian reform, through well-organised occupations of land left idle by large landowners.

Around 30 buildings, most of which belong to the government and have stood empty for years, have been ''invaded'' by squatters in the past few months.

And when they are evicted on court order, some families set up living quarters with their scant belongings, in the street next to the building, in a glaring protest against the lack of affordable housing.

Some 2,000 homeless gathered outside the seat of the government of the state Wednesday, demanding that announced low- cost housing projects be implemented, and that their voices be heard when it comes to setting priorities for the state housing budget.

The housing problem in Sao Paulo, a city of 10 million, has been getting worse and worse. ''Every day there are more people living in the streets,'' said Maria Inés Volpato, legal adviser to the Housing Pastoral, a local Catholic organisation that has assisted the homeless for decades.

With the high unemployment rate, families cannot even afford to rent space in what are known locally as ''beehives'' - old houses packed with dozens of families living in ''terrible conditions, unimaginable for a human being,'' said Volpato.

The city Secretariat of Housing estimates that some 400,000 Sao Paulo families lack even minimally decent housing. But experts in the matter and grassroots movements put the number of people living in the city's ''favelas'' (shanty-towns) at around two million, with 600,000 crammed into ''beehives''.

Given that outlook, taking part in organised occupations of buildings, even if illegal, becomes an attractive alternative as a free of cost and sometimes lasting situation, said Volpato.

The occupations are headed by organised groups, like the Union of Movements for Housing (UMM), founded 12 years ago by residents of ''beehives.''

Recognised by local authorities as the informal mouthpiece of the homeless, the UMM launched an offensive on Oct 25, urging families to move into six buildings simultaneously.

Such actions are aimed at forcing the municipal or state government to seek solutions to the housing problem, whether by providing low-cost housing with long-term financing or land on which to build apartment buildings or small houses.

Once plots of land are obtained, the UMM organises joint projects, mobilising families to work together in solidarity to build their homes, in what is known locally as the ''mutirao''.

Besides building a sense of community, the shared projects pull down construction costs, thus maximising the scarce resources available for assistance to the poor, says the UMM, which adds that it builds each unit at a cost 35 percent below the price tag quoted by the city government.

But the group also fights for all of the rights to which citizens are entitled, such as sewerage services,
low-cost childcare, recreational spaces and, especially, schools.

Everyone has to study, in order to achieve effective political participation, said Donizeti de Oliveira, one of the group's three coordinators.

Official statistics put the housing shortage in Brazil at 5.4 million units nationwide.

The movement for affordable housing in Sao Paulo has become more radical lately, as new organisations, like the Movement of Homeless Workers, have cropped up.

The success of occupations staged early this year, when 277 families set themselves up as squatters in two buildings, allowed Hamilton de Souza, the leader of the group seen as sort of an ''urban MST,'' to conquer new followers.

An occupation, even if it does not successfully obtain housing for the families involved, is a political act that helps the movement grow, said De Souza.

The increasingly combative movement for housing is also attracting street vendors, who have been at the centre of violent demonstrations in recent years after being banned from doing business in certain neighbourhoods or streets.

We decided to react this way to the city government's repression of our activity,'' because if not allowed to work, people cannot pay their rent, said José Ricardo Teixeira, director of the Union of Informal Economy Workers, which claims 12,000 members.

by Tabeson for PNN

"They said--freeze! You're all under arrest...

Arrest that soup, and those bagels...

And those bags of bread..."

Keith Salvage, poet (an excerpt)

"We'll be on the steps of City Hall in a silent vigil....for as long as Mayor Brown's orders for the arrests remain..." Sister Bernie, San Francisco.

Though community support to end the intense political harassment and senseless attempts to criminalize grassroots organizations like Food Not Bombs (FNB), who feed the working poor and homeless, keeps growing, the San Francisco Police Department has stepped up its low level warfare against anyone serving food at the UN Plaza. In the wake of Mayor Brown's re-election campaign, his police forces have arrested thirteen FNB volunteers since October 20, 1999, while enforcing even tougher restrictions on the group's ability to serve hot meals to the homeless at the Civic Center.

Here in San Francisco, FNB has a ten year history of confrontations with the SFPD. Food Not Bombs is a non-violent, direct action group that has served hundreds of thousands of free vegetarian meals to hungry people since 1988. "Over the years we have been arrested at least 1000 times," admitted Sasha Vodnik, a loyal volunteer with FNB. "We have also created a community forum to talk about the root causes of and solutions to our society's economic disparities."

Throughout the last seven weeks the SFPD resumed persecution of FNB's free meal gatherings, resulting in five more arrests. On Friday, October 10, 1999, at precisely 6:00 pm, police task forces ambushed the hungry crowd and two FNB volunteers in the process of distributing free bagels and fresh fruit juice to the tired hoard of low-income and homeless people at the UN Plaza.

Following the October 22nd National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality rally between Mission and 16th streets which led hundreds of marching protesters to City Hall stairs, some fifty SFPD officers in full riot gear and heavy duty armaments marched in just before the commencement of the FNB's free community vegetarian meal; two more volunteers were snatched and taken into custody.

Keith Savage, a notable poet and fellow homeless comrade of mine, had just received his FNB ration for that day and was shaken down at the scene by the invading San Francisco police sqauds. They condemned the bagel he held and his bowl of hot soup was also arrested.

The next series of arrests occurred on Tuesday, October 19th, during a demonstration for the release of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, a national outcry rally at Union Square marching from Market Street to the UN Plaza which later prompted a stay against the journalist's scheduled execution. Two additional FNB volunteers were arrested following that event while handing out hot soup and bread to hungry homeless people at the Civic Center.

"I'm talking about the soup...

that Food Not Bombs soup...

I had some in my hands...

yea, I had some in my mouth..."

"....and so,in front of city Hall...

upon the balcony---What do we see? Willie...

Willie Brown--the Mayor of this town...

He says--yes, arrest those bagels plus that soup...

and take them up in a single scoop...

away! I say, take it all away...

you shall not feed the homeless...

or a pigeon in this town...

not while I'm around...", sang the poet, Salvage.

Since a long time before Willie Brown became mayor of San Francisco, going back through three of his predecessors, handing out lunch bags and hot meals in public and park places to poor hungry citizens and strangers alike was an established Food Not Bombs trademark. The group served dinner to the poor and the homeless, uneventfully, until the mayor assumed his office some four years ago; he quickly denied FNB permission to serve food.

"We are close...we are very close." These were the last words of Board of Supervisors president, Tom Ammiano, at the December 8th hearings of the finance and labor committee.

The hearings were held to consider San Francisco's long history of confiscating food distributed by Food Not Bombs.

"It is not only a question of permits; it is really a political question, that no city official has yet fully addressed." Speakers at the hearing made it clear that the public should not be sidetracked by rhetoric that complicates the main issue, which is that charitable food servers like FNB be allowed unfettered access to feed the working poor and starving homeless citizens of San Francisco.

"Those laws could be amended, both local and state laws," Mayoral Candidate Tom Ammiano said, on his way out of the session. "Until it is resolved, I want to continue working on this issue." There was no action taken from the committee hearings.

by Challa Tabeson,Tiny and Gio Barela

*Jane Gorman, 52, nurse, and resident of the Temple Hotel for 18 years................................ EVICTED!

*David Kennedy, 70, retired warehouseman, resident of the Temple Hotel for 25 years........EVICTED!

*Jack Ross, 71, security guard, resident of the Temple Hotel for 25 years................................. EVICTED!

The long time residents of the Temple Hotel at 469 Pine Street, in San Francisco, have received formal eviction notices from their landlord, Walter Shorenstein. The 88-unit residential hotel has been slated for demolition, leaving all the low income and elderly tenants with no housing.

Walter Shorenstein, San Francisco's largest landlord, has given his tenants no affordable housing options. The tenants have been given two choices; accept $3000 checks to move elsewhere within 30 days or be forcibly evicted from the building. The tenants, represented by Stephen Collier of The Tenderloin Housing Clinic, are asking that the landlord comply with the S.F. Residential Hotel Conversion and Demolition Ordinance, which requires that property owners ensure housing for tenants before closing down a residence.

The Tenderloin Housing Clinic., who held a press hearing in front of Temple Hotel, November 4th, 1999, and conducted a brief tour of the Hotel interior, insisted Walter Shorenstein has taken advantage of the law by suddenly applying the Ellis Act, which allows the billionaire free play over city laws and regulations,without undergoing the due processes of time and reasonable agreements between all parties affected by residential displacements.

The Act stipulates minimizing any adverse impact on the housing supply and on displaced low income, elderly, and disabled persons resulting from the loss of residential hotel units through conversion and demolition. And in which the implementation be accomplished by establishing the stature of residential hotel units, by regulating the demolition and conversion of residential hotel units to other uses--and by even more appropriate administrative and judicial remedies.

"It is daring to undermine city and county laws by pre-empting the Ellis Act..." noted Steve Collier, the defense lawyer for three displaced low-income elderly tenants at the Temple Hotel residence; all of whom are now putting up their last efforts in order to see a temporary injunction against the eviction notices. " We are also calling upon the electoral candidates to see how their policies do adversely affect the working poor..."

"Shorenstein owns the politicians," responded Jane Gorman, who stood helplessly among a small press corp on the sidewalk in front of the Hotel lobby, "he's got connections; he's got power," she said, referring to questions about how her eviction might fair in the courts, "this has been my home for the last 18 years, I have no where else to go."

David Kennedy, a 70 year old retired warehouseman and a Temple Hotel resident for the last 25 years, appearing worn out from the ordeal, "We are up against a bad system." David was determined he'll not relocate, unless forcibly removed from his home.

Retired as a security guard, Jack Ross has been living at the Temple Hotel for the past 18 years, and wonders where else he will find permanent lodgings as safe as the one he's being ordered out of. "They just want us to go so they can put in a high-rise." Jack warned that he'd rather be forcibly evicted than voluntarily move out of the Temple Hotel with $3000.00 because, "there is no housing left for hard working folks in San Francisco."

by Joseph Bolden

In San Francisco, Friday, October, 29, 1999 hundreds of people fed up with suspicious arson, owner move-ins, and the massive eviction of low and very low income tenants in San Franciso, marched on city hall.

James Tracy, the lead organizer from Mission Agenda led the march which was comprised of the working poor, homeless, disabled, students and struggling artists who have been or are on the brink of being evicted due to the extreme housing shortage and loft and housing development ""History repeats itself only if we let it." James led the chant.

"South Of Market was stolen from the workers who used to live there, since the land was given to corporations like Sony, Metreon, Holiday Inn and the AMC Kabuki (American Movies Corp.) It is only fitting that these businesses pay the people back in full, rebuild the International Hotel (200 senior Filipino's were evicted from the hotel in 1977.)

James Tracy introduced former tenants of the International Hotel
'I'm glad to be here my name is Bill Saul I lived at the International Hotel, I was an attendant there, thirty years ago, the first evictions happened in 1969, what we said in 1969 is still as relevant then as it today; "POWER TO THE PEOPLE." the crowd chants "POWER TO THE PEOPLE."

"We are finally faced with a situation.",.a speaker named Malique began, "where we are seeing residents getting evicted on all levels and all classes, its no longer just the poor being affected. "

A young woman named Stephanie Hughes stepped up to the mike, "The reason I'm here today is for families, people are staying in these hotels who are being left out in the cold with their children, I have five children, four boys and one girl. On December 28th 1996 my house burned down, since then I have been staying in cars, trucks, warehouses, and hotels, none of them could give us long term tenancy because there were too many of us, or I didn't have enough money- I had to quit three jobs in order to be with my children and then I was so afraid that C.P.S. (Child Protective Services) would come and take my kids .."

"I hear It takes a villiage, well where was this village when that hotel burned down and these children were on the street? WHERE IS THE VILLAGE RIGHT NOW, I WANT TO SEE THIS VILLAGE THAT CARES AND COMFORTS SO MANY FAMILIES, AND I WANT TO SEE IT IN THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO AND I WANT TO SEE IT TODAY!

I used to sit and see people when I was walking down the street homeless, hand out and I had nothing to give them and I had money in my pocket but I had nothing to give them - It wasn't until my house burned down, and everybody turned their backs on me, then I realized, OH MY GOD, THESE ARE PEOPLE, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN ITS GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU; AND WHEN IT DOES THEN YOU WILL FEEL WHAT WE FEEL WHICH IS... OH GOD, SOMEBODY HELP ME, SOMEBODY HELP ME! I AM A NATIVE SAN FRANCISCAN, BORN AND RAISED, HOW DARE YOU TELL ME to leave my city "

More eloquent speakers discussed rents, arson, rules and regulations that single parents and families go through, trying to find housing. They are true tales of horrors description of people falling through the safety net on to the hard cement of uncaring economic prosperity of the San Francisco Real estate gold rush.

by Joseph Bolden

On a sun drenched, near cloudless day the weather is crispy cold, the air if not freezing has the possibility of turning dry ice-like with a cutting wind chill. The sun shines bright yellow-white but soon as you step into supposedly warm rays the illusion is gone. San Francisco’s wonderful weather has fooled me again-the sun’s radiant sheen isn’t what it appears.

Protesters, photographers, newspeople recording, curious onloookers at ground level and above in a nearby hotel look on are all dwarfed by the 50 Fremont Center building, next to a huge skyscraper that dominates the now graying skies.

Younger Asian female voices say loudly “Apologize.” Guess their Gov-ernment is just as stealthy, secretive, and cold as ours. [U.S.A.]

Asians of differing nationalities walk in solidarity with two for-mer comfort women protecting them for the rush of press and audience outside the orange barriers, I now believe the barriers were not for stop-ping cars as much as protect the few brave elderly Asian women willing to speak about such a personal time in their lives.
One woman Soon Duk Kim, age 80. Born in 1921, in Uiryong, South Kyonsang Province, Korea. In 1937 at the age of 17, she signed up to be-come a factory worker, and instead, found herself a comfort woman [ prostitute of Japanese soldiers during world war II.]
stationed in Shanghai and Nanking, China. After becoming seriously ill, she begged an officer for release, and returned to Korea in 1940. In 1992, Kim moved into the House of Sharing after giving her testimony. She works from dawn to dusk, keeping very busy to block out her memories of her past. Her nostalgia for childhood, experience of being taken away from home, and hard life are captured in her paintings.

Ms. Kim must have related this part of past in full because on Fremont and Market Streets while standing was speaking about it but could not go on afraid, of the bullhorn that amplifies her voice may have fright-ened her, or her ordeal is still too fresh. even now to her.

There are times I am truly glad not to be too professional concentrating only on the story if re-cording her or other survivors is all I get so be it; just being out here in public, to reveal her governments hidden, shameful secrets to America and in other countries takes more cour-age, determination, will, and soul than most of us ever care to admit or have.

Protesters block off some traffic with bright orange barriers.
Its about the Japanese Government in World War II and what was done to 200,000 women of Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and other Asian nationalities in time of war. Comfort WomenThey and young Asians both demand the Japanese Government to public apology for their treat-ment, make corrections to text books History for the atrocities during World War II.

[Confort Women is a euphemism for prostitute ] Many young girls are from the country, a few from cities all are turned into whores for the Japanese army hence the name Comfort Women. It is a disgraceful, horrendous story the Japanese Government does not want to reveal. Can they argue [“It was wartime, we had no choice, or other countries have no right to question are culture or customs - soldiers-men have needs or their military would be in chaos.” Could be some of the multiple replies or reasons the Japanese Government. Over fifty years! Were the Japanese Government waiting... Are they still waiting for every former Comfort Woman and their heirs or adopted children to die thereby keeping that shameful history secret forever? Its a good thing at this point in time that women nation wide live longer than men, maybe this is one the reasons why. So at some point as anger, wisdom, sensitivity outweighs fear the survivors come forward while most of the male perpetrator’s die off.

How could this happen? Ms. Yuri Kochiyama, 79 years old in
frail health says A young Korean woman is translating Ms. Yuri’s
perfect English into Korean - That’s an unexpected switch
“As children of Japanese ancestry, I thank you for giving me this opportu-nity to give a solidarity message to Korean Women and other Asian Women victims in world war two.”

“It was a time - slavery in which some 200,000 women mostly Korean were cruelly victimized and abused must be told to the world, the Japanese Government must condemned and forced to pay reparations, an apology is meaningless decades and most of the victims are gone. Again young voices “THAT’S RIGHT REPARATIONS.”

“Perhaps never in the history of war, [Yuri continues] has a na-tion so blatantly and massively organized a means of deceiving and kid- napping woman for the sole purpose of sexual abuse; imagine 200,000 women who knows how many were killed”?

He few must be alive today, and many of Japan’s young generation is ignorant of the horrendous truth because its educational system have cov-ered up real history; the Japanese Government don’t want to admit what happened-I do not know why these war crimes were not brought up in the tribunal just after the war; the use of the terminology ‘COMFORT WOMEN’ is also insulting and misleading...” The Korean Women in Seoul? [Korea]
vigilantly demonstrate every Wednesday demanding reparations I think is a message to all of us to support their efforts.
I understand there’s a woman named Soon Duk Kim, I commend and thank her for speaking out - on this important issue, for it is important to know the truth.”

“What Japan’s Imperial Army did through out Asia was devas-tating and despicable. We must all unite, assert our outrage at Japan human rights violations and in whatever way possible so such war time atrocities will never happen again.”
Ms. Yuri’s speech is heart wrenching being true yet not heard for many years hidden. Isn’t good to know that all soldiers-in-arms are truly broth-ers, these acts by human against fellow humans are universal, that inhu-manity against woman as well as men is a given if governments can find ways to motivate men under their command?

Daisil Kim, an independent filmmaker and writer since 1988, Korea born Dai Sil Kim-Gibson came to the United States in 1962 to per-
sue graduate studies in religion. She received her Ph.D in Religion from Boston University and taught at Mount Holyoke College, followed by her career as a federal and state government employee: senior program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities and director of the media program of the New York State Council on the Arts. Her films include America Becoming, a feature documentary exploring the changing faces

of America by new immigrants; Sa-l-Gu, literally April 29, a film about the 1992 Los Angeles crisis from the perspective of Korean woman shop- keepers; A Forgotten People: The Sakhalin Koreans, an hour documentary about the forced Korean laborers on Sakhalin island, initially indentured by Japan, then fell into the hands of the Soviet Union in 1945 and were for- gotten for half a century; and Olivia’s Story, a 14 minute drama, which is currently being cablecast on the Sundance Channel. All three documentaries were nationally broadcast on PBS and were distributed world wide.

A recipient of many awards and grants, most recently she was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship for Silence Broken, her most recent film. She also received an Asian American Media Award and the Kodak Film- maker’s Award for this film. An Author of many articles, Silence Broken: Korean Comfort Women is her first book.

Hyejin seunim [pronounced Heh-Jeen, seunim is Korean for Bud-dhist monk.]

Hyejin is the Executive Director of the House of Sharing in Ko-rea. Established in 1992 with support from Buddhist and social organi- za-tions, the House of Sharing offers residence, community and support for these elderly women, or “grandmothers.” The History Museum of the Japanese Military Comfort Women was built in 1998 on the grounds of the House of Sharing which serves as a clearinghouse of information and learn- ing about comfort women history. Hyejin has played an active role in raising international awareness to the movement for justice for former com
-fort women in Korea, as well as throughout Asia.

A 50+ year old war still killing, silencing its victims long after the conflict has ended. Mrs. or Ms. Kim, Yuri, and others are right.
Educate young and old to the past, how it still affects the present, Japan’s shame lasted this long because they [government and indivisual soldiers] chose to ignore, lie, let time pass hoping the women will be dust ending this horror - most have, it’s up to those former soldiers at reveal more of the truth ending their countries dishonor-noHari Kari it would be more dishonor than the courage, helping their countries gaping wounds finally heal clean with less open scabs and more closed, sealed, scar tissue. “Soldier”, you’ve not much time left, tell your part, settle your soul’s journey. JAPAN will continue suffering moral-psychic trauma passed on to generations if this festering past evil remains hidden in gov-ernment legalisms. The whole world is watching America - it also see’s Ja-pan. What will you do? If not collectively then soldiers on their own...

by David Rosenzweig, Erika Hayasaki

A federal judge said Friday that she plans to issue a temporary
restraining order barring police from harassing the homeless on Los
Angeles' skid row.

Officers would be prohibited from stopping homeless people at random,
demanding their identification and threatening them with arrest,
according to a draft of U.S. District Judge Lourdes G. Baird's pending
order.

Police would also be prevented from seizing homeless people's
belongings, which are sometimes left unattended on sidewalks, and
discarding their possessions.

Baird circulated a copy of her proposed order during a court hearing
Friday attended by lawyers from the city attorney's office and the
American Civil Liberties Union.

In remarks from the bench, the judge also indicated that she would bar
the police from forcing the homeless to keep moving from place to place.

After soliciting comments from both sides, Baird said would consider
their arguments and issue a final ruling on Monday.

The ACLU filed a civil rights suit last month on behalf of 26 homeless
residents and social service workers who complained that a recently
launched crime-fighting drive in the 50-block skid row area had turned
into a campaign of harassment against the homeless.

Police officials deny those allegations.

"I don't think the homeless won today," said Lt. Paul Geggie of the
LAPD Central Division, which patrols skid row. "What's going to happen
is, it's going to be more dangerous and dirtier."

Joann Barnes, 46, who has lived on the streets of skid row for two
years, said Friday night that she didn't believe police were harassing
the homeless in the first place. "I think they are concerned about the
welfare of the people," said Barnes.

But Dominique Cholon, 41, said he was glad police would be prevented
from giving him and other homeless people tickets for blocking the
sidewalks, or from confiscating their possessions.

"They've been . . . harassing folks for little things. They might be
doing their job but they overdo it," said Cholon, who has been homeless
for four years.

In her 23-page draft, Baird wrote that she was obliged to weigh the
city's needs against the rights of the homeless.

The injunction, she said, may slow down the Police Department's
initiative to reduce crime and clean up the streets and sidewalks in skid
row. But she added that the homeless face a greater harm: loss of their
constitutional rights.

She said the police actions, unless checked, "are likely to displace
homeless individuals and threaten their ability to access charities for
food, shelter and assistance in skid row."

Douglas E. Mirell, a plaintiffs' attorney, said he was gratified by
Baird's tentative ruling. "The decision to grant a [temporary restraining
order] is particularly important at this time of the year because the
weather is getting colder and the conditions that the homeless have to
live will become much more extreme." Deputy City Atty. Deborah L.
Sanchez, who represented the police at Friday's hearing, said afterward
that Baird's tentative order would cause no substantial changes in
official department policies.

In her 23-page draft, Baird wrote that she was obliged to weigh the
city's needs against the rights of the homeless.

The injunction, she said, may slow down the Police Department's
initiative to reduce crime and clean up the streets and sidewalks in skid
row. But she added that the homeless face a greater harm: loss of their
constitutional rights.

She said the police actions, unless checked, "are likely to displace
homeless individuals and threaten their ability to access charities for
food, shelter and assistance in skid row."

Douglas E. Mirell, a plaintiffs' attorney, said he was gratified by
Baird's tentative ruling. "The decision to grant a [temporary restraining
order] is particularly important at this time of the year because the
weather is getting colder and the conditions that the homeless have to
live will become much more extreme." Deputy City Atty. Deborah L.
Sanchez, who represented the police at Friday's hearing, said afterward
that Baird's tentative order would cause no substantial changes in
official department policies.

"Stopping people without reasonable suspicion or searching their
possessions without probable cause are things they're not supposed to be
doing in the first place," Sanchez said. "The only issue I would have
with the court is that the [restraining order] is unnecessary."

At the hearing, however, attorney Carol A. Sobel, representing the
ACLU, told Baird that police have been seizing homeless people's
belongings, which they must leave on the street before entering feeding
halls.

;She said the items are thrown into city trucks and discarded in
violation of a state law requiring authorities to hold on to abandoned
property for at least 90 days.

The ACLU has also asked Baird to certify the suit as a class action on
behalf of Los Angeles' entire homeless population, a move the city
attorney opposed.

Although the judge did not rule on that issue in her tentative order,
she indicated that class certification was likely.

Officials estimate about 11,000 people are living in transient hotels
and on the streets along skid row.

So far this year, at least four homeless people have been killed in
the Central Division area and 32 others were victims of rape or sex
crimes, said Geggie. About 40 homeless people are robbed, assaulted or
victimized each month, he added.

Since September, Capt. Stuart Maislin of the Central Division has
ordered his officers to cite the homeless for occupying sidewalks and
other public nuisances. Arrests, citations and drug arrests have gone up
while crime has decreased, police said.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, however, Central Division officers said they
would temporarily stop citing or warning people for blocking the
sidewalks; they also suspended the confiscation of abandoned personal
property.

"So a community that is 50% mentally ill, a community that can only
marginally care for itself is going to be forced into the traffic because
we can no longer issue tickets for blocking sidewalks," said Geggie.

by Leroy Moore

Buried Voices

The next generation
Is being plucked off one by one
On the streets, in schools and in prison

Little ones snuggled
In small coffins
Buried voices have many stories

Voices from down under
Crying for their mothers and fathers
Had a lot to say but no one bother to listen

Buried voices speaking in harmony
Tossing and turning in the grave
They want their justice

Hunting the soulless
Young spirits creeping in the minds of the old and wary
Their hit list is endless

Years of abuse
Caught up in the system
And can't get loose

Black, young and disabled
Always been labeled
Home was not stable

Elders set in their ways
They want to lock us away
Can't teach old dogs new tricks

Christopher, Seth and Dion
Blacks disabled boys can't grow up to be Black disabled men
I'm one of the chosen few
Buried in mainstream news
Buried in the community
Can't breath, can't hear, can't see

Layer after layer
Ism after ism
Wrapped up like a mummy

Buried voices are singing in the cemetery
No rest for the restless
They are voicing their short and painful history

Buried voices rising with the sun
Young disabled corps walking the earth
Talking back and heading north

Now everybody is scared
Running in fear
Cause judgment day is here

Parents, teachers and politicians
Listen to the voices
They demand your attention

Buried voices
Are always with me
They are in my head guiding my pen

I write with the blood of disabled youth
I'm their agent
Writing and speaking their messages

And they told me to tell you
Many are still in pain
Bullets and fists falling down on them like pouring rain

Poems can't bring them back from the dead
Do you hear that, buried voices want me to speak the raw truth
This poem wants you to think with your heart first then your head

The truth hurts
But it also heals
We need to get real

But I feel the tension
Every time I mention the reason
Why I wrote Buried Voices

What the hell is going on? Can you answer me? First, it was disabled adults of color. Now, disabled youth of color are under attack in schools and on the streets. Do you hear that? Disabled youth are yelling and crying for help and attention. Are we going to go on like everything is o.k.? Well I'm here to tell you everything is not O.K. The next generation of disabled leaders won't be if we continue our silence on the street violence and abuse that has been a reality to many.

In November of this year I came across three cases in San Francisco mainstream newspapers dealing with street violence, rape and physical abuse of disabled youth. All three cases have similarities and differences. All three appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the victims were all disabled youth of color and all three victims were overpowered by more than one person or an elder.

The first case was the long-,awaited court case and verdict of a 1995 beating and stomping attack of Seth Woods, an African American, mentally disabled young adult. Seth Woods was attacked by five Samoan youths while walking home. After five years of waiting, the Woods family received their justice. On November 9th a San Francisco jury returned verdicts of second-degree murder, torture and sodomy.

The second case is recent and very heartbreaking. A twelve-year-old African American girl with learning disabilities was sexually assaulted at two different schools in Berkeley, CA. The first assault involved nine classmates and took place after school on October 25th. According to the news reports, a pack of nine boys allegedly dragged the girl to 11 different locations, sexually assaulting her for more than four hours. Then, on Nov. 8th, her second day at a new school in Berkeley, a 13-year-old lured the girl to a secluded area on the school campus and raped her.

I came across the most recent case when I confronted a headline at breakfast screaming "Police Probe, S.F. Boys Claim Teacher Threw a Yardstick at Him." At that moment I dropped my spoon in my oatmeal and screamed, "What in the hell?" The article said that a sixth-grade special education teacher threw a yardstick at a 9-year-old special education student. The stick hit the boy's face and caused scratches under his right eye and on his nose. Now the teacher is placed on leave, pending an investigation by the district.

The above cases are only recent cases, but this is not a new trend. In 1988 Tony G., a 13-year-old Samoan boy with Down Syndrome, was walking home with his favorite toy, a toy gun. A San Francisco police officer thought the gun was real, so he shot and killed him.

These cases are not only in California. The unbearable story of Marcus Hogg of Texas made me cry. In June of this year Hogg, an African American disabled teenager was approached by two white teens who proceeded to tie his hands behind his chair and his legs to the legs of the chair. Then the two teens placed a noose around his neck and joked about throwing the rope over the rail to hang him. Like my articles on the abuse and brutality toward disabled adults of color, the above issue has been hush-hush in the disabled communities and communities of color.

So what is the answer to the violence and brutality towards disabled, especially those of color? I have been hearing that disabled youth should not be mainstreamed with their non-disabled peers. Parents and people with disabilities fought for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other special education laws that promote and support the rights of parents and disabled youth to receive a free appropriated education along side their non-disabled peers. We have been fighting too long to return to "separate but equal," to be locked away in institutions.

What we need in both public and private schools is formal collaborations with grassroots organizations that have the skills and experience to advocate and educate the student body and the administration.

Teachers, students, school administrators and principals can all benefit from hands-on workshops, awareness trainings and classes on disability rights, history, culture, self-esteem building, role play etc. from organizations like The Race, Poverty and Media Justice Institute that are led by disability scholars who have experienced these situations first-hand.

The issue of a lack of hands-on training is a common factor across the board, from police to teachers, on how to deal with people, students and youth offenders with disabilities. We need to adopt a proactive stance towards educating and training our youth, teachers, police force, politicians and our community at large about people with disabilities and our issues. Right now we have walls between our schools and the community. We can't afford to lose one more disabled youth.