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pstrong"KNOW YOUR RIGHTS" TRAINING Saturday June 30 11am-2pm./strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/372/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Copwatch/p pCopwatch will present information on what to do if you arebr / br /stopped by police, what your rights are, how to observe cops safelybr / br /and what you can do if the police violate your rights. Thisbr / br /training is free and open to the public. Learn how to documentbr / br /incidents of abuse and how we can work together to defend the civilbr / br /and human rights of all people in our communities./p pFor Information Contact Copwatch at (510) 548-0425br / br /Located at 2022 Blake Street (Near Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley)/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pbFriends and family of my brother and his fiancée are on their way, by car or by jet, to Las Vagas, Nevada. p/p/b/p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pThis column is dedicated to anyone born with a rotten sense of direction who dreads driving, walking, flying, or taking trains or other kinds transportation to destinations unknown. This is not for the know-it-alls who, with only vague approximations from others maintain perfect or near perfect powers of direction. Like the perfect pitch musicians and singers are gifted with, some of us have gifts in abundance while most can only look on admire this true talent./p pIt has taken me three weeks to get over my brother’s marriage, not the marriage itself, but gearing up for the special event and going to it./p pSuddenly there were new clothes to buy, work to be missed for a few days, money to be taken out of the bank, maps to be read, and studies to be done on how tospend less on food than gas./p pMy mother, brother, and I live in three separate areas of California—Fairfield, San Jose, and San Francisco. /p pIt is lucky for me that some years ago, while emptying trash from my one- room apartment there was a dirty brand name portable icebox. You know the kind, They are multi-colored and rubber-lined for water proofing when filled and perfect for keeping sandwiches, sodas, water, or whatever is placed inside in deep cold until ready for use./p pI was glad to have something of value to contribute, since I didn’t have enough money to buy gifts for the bride or broom on such short notice./p pPresent at the wedding were my immediate family, the couple to be wed, their close friends, and two more relatives from out of town. My mother bought me a complete suit that decked me out from head to toe as well as one for my brother./p pThe wedding was to take place in Las Vagas, Nevada. I will not name the hotel casino where we were because immediately after the wedding there was a medical emergency, It was one of the rare times I was glad that there were persons with cell phones who could call an ambulance for medical help./p pEven before that incident, two weeks before I was a nervous wreck worrying about gifts I could not buy, Do I have a gambler’s genes, or do I write about this another time. So many questions were swimming in my head as I rode the Richmond BART to the El Cerrito del Norte station.br / br /My mother picked me up at the station to drive me to Fairfield. All of my new clothes were in a clean, dry, aluminum-lined portable icebox whose brand name will remain unknown, since I don’t want to give a free plug unless it’s a charity or I’m paid a few dollars. The aluminum provides extra padding that will protect both the icebox and the new clothes within.br / br /At this point I have never used the icebox. I have only cleaned it. Its use as a carrying case is only for purposes of not damaging the clothes. At my mother’s home, I carefully took the clothes from the icebox and hung them up carefully. /p pI placed the icebox in the bathtub and took the foil out for reuse, before running water in it. Then I closed the box and let it sit./p pThis is the background, before my trip to Las Vagas, Navada.I dislike doing a second part to this; however, if I didn’t no one would believe how people with a map can go so wrong, both to and from Las Vagas, Nevada. But it is a true story./p pbPlease send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St.Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 USAbr / For Joe only my snail mail: PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email:askjoe@poormagazine.org/b/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pbThe traveling to and from my brother's wedding takes its toll/bbr / /p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pMy mother and I were ready for the eight-hour drive to Las Vegas. The "Gilligan’s Island" theme song was playing in my head, unfortunately I didn’t heed the context of travel in the famous refrain, "A 3-hour tour…"./p pDresses, suits, belts, and vests were ready and packed. The night before, the portable icebox filled with water hadn’t leaked one drop of water—a good sign that food and especially water would be the least of our problems on this combination road trip/gambling junket. We’d packed some cold cuts, wheat bread, mayonnaise, non-dairy-product cheese, plus knives, forks, spoons, and fruits for snacks, instead of candy or other non-essential foods. We’d be riding through the Mojave Dessert and the best liquid to have cold or warm is plain old water. It could mean life or death without it./p pMother and I were suppose to be up, washed, cleaned, and dressed and out by 2am. We woke up at 3 maybe 4am. That was our first of many errors in judgement. But we had a map… if both of us knew how to read it properly everything would’ve have turned out fine. Unfortunately the two people in the car were looking at landmarks instead of the map. Two hours later we were still in Fairfield circling like demented homing pigeons./p pI thought it was a straight route to Nevada. I was to learn the hard way that there are twists, turns, and on and of ramps that make or break connections between highways. We kept going North and nothing was familiar. I did not like that sinking feeling that we had missed something./p pMy mom, her eyes steady, has a crooked smile and says, "Oh shit. We’re lost." We both had our crooked smiles on, knowing from sad experience that this was going to be one long drive on the endless asphalt highway./p pbPlease send donations to Poor Magazine C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/b/p p For Joe only my snail mail:PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongOur society is in for a rude awakening and I say, “Bring it on!” /strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/377/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy F. Moore/p pI wonder, are you ready for the next generation? I don’t think so! Our society is in for a rude awakening and I say, “Bring it on!” The creative talents, voices, and the revolutionary stands of disabled youth are doing their Spring cleaning—airing their words, images, and politics for the world to see, feel, taste, and smell. Here is a little taste of what disabled youth are serving up locally, nationally, and internationally. Open wide!/p pIn the arts and entertainment section of the Asian Weekly a couple of months ago an article on the voice of one of the characters in the new Rugrats movie, iRugrats in Paris/i, appeared. Dionna Quan, 22, of San Francisco beat one hundred and forty-seven actors for the part of Kimi in iRugrats in Paris/i. She is visually impaired. Quan began acting at the age of 14 and has taped commercials; CD-ROM games, and an animated series. She has moved to LA where the show is taped./p pStephen Michael Nelson has engulfed the world through his heart and love for mankind, through praise for his mother, honor for his grandfather, and thanks to all the individuals who care for him on a daily basis. This young Native American disabled teen has displayed his first words for the world to read in his book of poetry, iStephen: Letters of Courage and Hope/i. Stephen had more courage than the Wizard of Oz. Stephen spoke through a mechanical device. According to his mother, Chrissy, the writing process was not easy for Stephen. Individual letters were selected one at a time to form each word and resulting sentences. Chrissy wrote that Stephen’s process of writing took hours and sometimes even days to complete a single poem. Unfortunately, Stephen passed away Friday, June 1st, the day before he was expected to promote his book of poetry. For more information contact the Stephen’s Hope Foundation at (630) 235-2245 or HYPERLINK a href="http://www.stephenshope.org" title="http://www.stephenshope.org"http://www.stephenshope.org/a, or a href="http://www.stephenshope.org" title="www.stephenshope.org"www.stephenshope.org/a and let you soul read his words of love, courage, and healing./p pMichael Seal, Jr. of LA has a smile like Magic Johnson, a mind like a business tycoon, and images that will put bright colors back into the gray world we live in. Michael, an African American disabled teen who is a painter and entrepreneur has done what artists have trying to do for decades; he has figured out how to mix the business world with art. Michael has blended the two worlds to create and promote both sides of his reality. I had a chance to talk to Michael at a conference in LA. where he was selling his paintings and talking about future business ventures. Although only in his mid-teens, Michael gets around, I mean AROUND in his sports wheelchair. His photo album reads like a night at the Grammies. This teen has met many stars, politicians, and musicians. But what caught my eye were the colorful imagines he had on display. Michael lectures, gives workshops, and is working on future business plans. He says that everything he does is incorporated into his artwork, i.e. his own personally designed postcards, envelopes, stationary, etc. He is working on his own website. Drop Michael an e-mail at HYPERLINK a href="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com" title="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com"mailto:okra-head@Juno.com/a a href="mailto:okra-head@Juno.com"okra-head@Juno.com/a or 17701 S. Avalon Blvd., #1 Carson, CA. 90746/p pbOn the Political Side/b/p pYou are never too young to be an activist! Nkosi Johnson, a 12-year-old South African boy who contracted HIV during birth, became a young activist in 1997 after battling to force the public school to admit him despite his health disability. He later campaigned to raise AIDS awareness and fought for the government to do more to save other babies from being infected. He also spoke during the opening of the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. This young man died last month./p pIn the US, disabled students are rocking the boat with revolutionary advocacy, thoughts, and organizing. On February 21st, 2001 the National Disabled Students Union (NDSU) was founded to stop the backlash on our civil rights. Check out the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama et al v. Garrett et al. NDSU has recognized that the voices of disabled students of all ages have been left out in decision-making, in the media, and even in our own disabled community. NDSU is a national, cross-disability student organization. The main goal of NDSU is to mobilize and organize students with disabilities throughout the nation by bringing them to the table in order to continue the legacy of empowerment and community solidarity that is our heritage. The NDSU held its first nationwide LEAVE OUT demonstration on April 17, 2001 to protest the Garrett case and other attacks on our rights. Disabled students and their allies left their schools, jobs, and homes to remind the government that we mean business when it comes to our legal rights. Check out their website at HYPERLINK a href="http://www.aboutdisability.com" title="http://www.aboutdisability.com"http://www.aboutdisability.com/a, a href="http://www.aboutdisability.com" title="www.aboutdisability.com"www.aboutdisability.com/a, or e-mail or call Sarah Triano at HYPERLINK a href="mailto:strian1@uic.ed" title="mailto:strian1@uic.ed"mailto:strian1@uic.ed/a or a href="mailto:strian1@uic.ed"strian1@uic.ed/a, phone (773) 463-4776./p pI like to leave you with a quote from Mutinda Kimilu, a nine-year-old disabled activist in England. He writes, “We have certain rights! What I need from you is only my rights, not a lot of sympathy.” So I asked you again, are you ready for the next generation? /p pStay tuned for more words and images from disabled youth and young adults./p pbBy Leroy F. Moorebr / Poet and Executive Directorbr / Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization/bbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongMirant Corporation attempts to double production and further polute a low income community of San Francisco/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/378/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Dee Gray/p pi"I can't breathe here…"/i/p pThey were the largest cement squares inside of a sidewalk I had ever seen./p pMy mother and I were stranded on one... holding on to each other for dear life. I was eleven years old. We were in downtown Los Angeles - the Rampart district, which is on the edge of the Crenshaw area, known for its gang activity, drive-by shootings and opaque landscapes filled with giant alabaster apartment buildings that droop over the immense streets and sidewalks. /p p"I can't take that job….I can't breathe here……br / …..I've got to get out of here," her words came out in tense clumps./p pI could not stop focusing on the sheer depth of each concrete square, and as she spoke, the squares got larger and the thick concrete foundation at the base of the apartment building in front of us seemed to stretch and bend until it curled around us. After several minutes I only heard parts of her words, and then it was just the consonants rubbing and twisting together, jumping up and down in the atmosphere, smashing into my ears, fighting to get in./p p"But couldn't you just try it for one week,” I begged nonchalantly, my desperation dangling in the silent white-brown afternoon air. I looked up to find some sky, some indication of blue, or tip of cloud - some sound, wind or ray of sun, but was only met with the same diffused-almost air and the omnipresent glare, a sky color specific to Los Angeles, which was generated by reflections off of windshields, chrome bumpers, sunglasses, apartment windows, billboards and the bottom of planes./p pI went on, "…You need this job, it might be the last one you get......," while she pondered momentarily. Parts of my stomach that were drowning in an admixture of adrenaline and acid came up for air. "We' re not going to make it without that job- we have no savings, what about the rent?" Desperation was seeping into my voice./p p"But you know I can't breathe in this smog.... I just don't know what to do.........."/p pMy whole body waited for something else to say, knowing so securely, so perfectly clearly that if she did not take this job, if she did not get out of the house NOW and get back to normalcy immediately, life would change forever. Not partially or for awhile, but completely, irreversibly, and forever. Excerpt from uCriminal of Poverty/u by Lisa Gray-Garcia /p pLow income people suffer abuses of many kinds – most of the time they are not obvious – abuses such as environmental racism and classism. When we were living in Hollywood, California, at first we weren’t sure that the increasing asthma I was suffering from was because of the smog of the LA Basin. When we finally figured it out, it was almost too late- my mother’s lungs were permanently damaged – and our only option, to leave LA, was too difficult financially, like moving, relocating, or leaving is for most poor people. We finally managed to move to Venice Beach , thinking the air would better near the ocean. However, because of oil drilling off the coast of Venice, the air was just as bad as in Hollywood, making it necessary for us to leave once again./p pIn low income, predominantly African-American communities of San Francisco there has been a well-documented history of environmental racism and classism against the residents. The most recent example of this is the attempt by the Mirant Corporation, owner of the existing power plant at the foot of Potrero Hill, which wants to more than double its production./p pThis expansion would further pollute the Bayview/Hunters Point community, which is already among the most polluted sections of San Francisco./p pThe following is a partial list of the environmental impact of this expansion compiled by the Communities for A Better Environment:/p p1) There are 1000 children at 3 Potrero Hill schools within a mile and abr / half of the power plant./p p2 ) Almost 2 out of every 10 children in Bayview/ Hunters Point schoolsbr / have asthma./p p3 ) Over 80,000 people live within a 3 mile-radius of the power plant. Sanbr / Francisco’s Planning Department concluded our area had the greatestbr / increase in new housing in the city./p p4 ) The plant expansion would add 110 tons of dangerous air emissionsbr / each year for the next 40 years. Our community already has two existingbr / power plants and suffers from high levels of pollution from nearbybr / industries, diesel trucks, buses, and freeways./p p5 ) With the expansion, the Potrero Power Plant would have a peak capacitybr / of 900 megawatts. The City has concluded that, in terms of power plantbr / size and proximity to dense urban population, the State has no directlybr / comparable power plants./p p6 ) Mirant Corporation is being sued by the City and the State for unfairbr / business practices./p pPlease join PoorNewsNetwork staff in the effort to stop this expansion!/p pTuesday, June 19, 6:30 pm: Public Comments on State preliminary assessment at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House at 953 DeHaro St. Hear and be heard!/p pFor more information, please contact Mike Thomas with Communities for a Better Environment at (415) 642-1091/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongbLast Tuesday on June, 12, 2001br / Inside the Metreon Theaterbr / br /Mr. IDRIS STELLEY, a 23 year old/b/strong/p pblack man, shot to death by 8 policemen.br / br /His body riddled with 26 bullets.br / More questions of WHY Mmultiply. /p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joseph Bolden/p pbr /And for what? a 1 to 3 inch penknife police say was larger weapon? br /bIs this the start of a cover-up, framming the dead?br / br /Won't Happen Now, With or Without Witnesses, This Is Not Going Down Asb"Rightous Shoot, End Of Story."/b/b/p pNo way not today Not Again Folks Because it can be br /any of us facing some out of control cop or bandbr / br /of brother's, sister's at the end of their '38,'45 or shotgun; Wanna Take That Chance? I Didn't Think So.br / /p pThe fact that his mother Mrs. Meesha is trainned in calming down her son and others with br /simular mental problems means nothing./p pInicially, she calls police for help with her son who has a mental disorder, I heard he was having bouts of depression.br / br /Even when Mrs. Meesha explains her son’s problem.br / br /All the police could think of is “LEATHAL FORCE.” shooting the young man so many times that they hit one of their own.br / br /This has happened again and again Mr. Dialo taking out his wallet outside his doorway at his own home in New York shot fourty times, or knocking on the wrong door in Oakland killing someone defending his home from intruders.br / br /Its always been a gastly bleakbNightmare in America/b for people of color especially black folk in particular. /p pJust as in England blacks,Indians (of India and Indian Decent), Pakistani peoples or Irish/Scottish were treated less than human in that country. I say that knowing that these people know how a word, look, or any control method can be mean death to persons under the oppressor’s yoke. /p pI do not know all the details but I do know since the br /Mother was there, she knows what her son had and it was no weapon.br / br /This reminds of rap and video by 'N.W.A., "Digital Underground, “911 is a joke in our town” or Ice-T's “Cop Killer.” Remember all the flack Ice went through to the point of then President Bush Sr. used him as hisbr / scapegoat ticket for another term in the White House./p pThe Police (not the one with ‘Sting’) but the blue guys and women with guns blazing wanted no one to buy Ice-T’s CD because of its content told people to defend themselves, take a few ‘em with them if ‘somethin broke off. Meanwhile “cops killing” goes on in communities all over this country./p pMost police uphold, abide by the law, work within the system even thebr / hotshots know where to draw the line from lawlessness; but other br /jerks in uniforms make everyone fear all cops./p pHere’s an Idea, Get rid of the rotten driftwood and the black silhouette. Instead use multicolor ones.br / br /those black silhouette in use now make all black people living, breathing targets without the need of a bullseye-since our whole body to police is the /ppb BULLSEYE!/b /ppten years later, a brand new century young black men are still seen asbr /bTARGET PRACTICE/b It’s time for an updatedbr /b“COP KILLER, BEAM ‘EM DEAD. ten album CD set along with all the other ills. Use Rap instruct our young and old in street survival it seems many of us have forgotten the price paid "Living in AmeriKKKa."/b Someone will say I’m advocating violence./p pGet it right, I’m advocating survival, self defence, of anyone including those who gets jacked up by cops just because cops can jack‘u up. One of the best ways to fight this bGOON SQUAD MENTALITY IS GATHERING EVIDENCE OF THIS DEADLY PATTERN ALL OVER THE COUNTRY THEN INTRODUCE AND DEMAND LASTING CHANGES TO THIS "DEADLY TARGET PRACTICE."/bbr / br /If I ever do buy a gun, lets just say one will not be enough I might have to invest in bullet proof vests, and gas masks too. Notice what the police ware to counteract riots and we as citizens should do the same they don't have all the firepower bTHEY WANT US TO THINK THEY DO./bbr / I’m beginning to thinkbpigs/bas long as they can some will go on “Joykills” being a powerful group they can always say b“THE SITUATION ESCALATED OUT OF CONTROL, SORRY ABOUT THAT.”/b Remember Appology as policy, do a public appology and keep on killing people.br / br /This Tuesday, June, 19, 2001 on the steps of Thomas C. Hill Hall of Justice at 850 Briant St. there is a new media feeding frenzy.br / br /Mr. Van Jones, Executive Director of PoliceWatch held a tight reignbr / on the media explaining the circumstances of another young man’s death.br / Mr. Jones said “S.F.P.D. Protocol responce is Deadly, training is escalate, escalate, escalate.”br / br /After this a silent prayer for the fallen young 23 year old./p pThere are signs protesting the way police killed the man some of them read,br / br /b911 = Blood Bath, pCalled The Police, Better Call The Ambulance, /ppPolice Road Rage, br /A Cops Fears, Equals a Mother’s tears, /pp26 bullets, Another Dead Black Man, br /Swiss army pocket knife does not call for 26 Bullets./p/b /p pQuestions float about Mr.br / Idris having head wounds and police denialbr / while morticians working on the body indicate reconstruction problems with Mr. Stelley's head. /p pI don't know I haven't view the young man's bodybthrough close relatives, close friends who did canbr / br / shed more light on this./b/p pThe full truth will outbr / br / and this time it won't take years to uncover./p pPolice have to be trained in fundamental new ways on how to cope with a changing society, that color and mental disablility cannot be solved with stun guns, bean bags, rubber bullets, or tranquilizer darts.br / br /Incidently, why didn’t they bring alternative defense/subdue weaponsbr / in case they were needed?/p pThe police needbr / schooling in altinate kinds of in br /defence of life not just the taking of it. /p pCops might have to keep their vests and visors on 365 daysbr / a year, 24 hours a day year in, year out, br /until they learn they work for the public not to br /isolate and kill them. /p pPlease donate what you br /can to Poor Magazine orbr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th br /St. Street, San br /Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.San Francisco, br /CA 94102br / br / Email:askjoe@poormagazine.br / orgbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongbA 911 Call Meant Death for a Young African-American San Franciscan/b/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/380/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Leroy Moore and Tiny/p pOn Friday, June 15th 2001, I sat in my chair at the Mayor’s Council on Disability under the gold dome of City Hall, listening to a representative of the San Francisco Police Department talk about the first graduation of the new Police Intervention Training. This training is geared to improve the safety and outcomes of police encounters with people with mental illness. However, two days before this meeting, a young African-American man with mental illness became target practice for three White police cops, who fired twenty shots at Idris Stelley, a twenty three year old college student living with mental illness. The shooting took place at the Sony Metreon movie theater in San Francisco while the movie Swordfish was showing./p pIdris Stelley knew what many Black men know. He knew that if you are a Black man the quickest way to end your life is to call the police, especially if you’re a Black man with mental illness. From Margaret L. Michell of LA. to Errol Shaw of Detroit, the police have put many Black men and women with mental illness in the coffin. This is why Police departments from Memphis, Tennessee to Los Angeles and now San Francisco, California are forced by community organizations, advocates and parents to get training on how to deal with people with mental illness. /p pBut is the training working? In San Francisco only one officer per station graduated last month from this new training, and only those who volunteer are signed up for this training. After almost two years of fighting, community organizations and advocates convinced the police and city political leaders to make the training a part of SFPD.br / Idris Stelley knew that the confrontation with police would end up in his death; that is why he told people in the theater to “Go home now,” if they wanted to see their loved ones, because he was going to die. He knew that the police were coming. He even kissed his girlfriend and told her to go home. /p p Unfortunately he was right, as the confrontation with the six White officers ended up with three officers firing twenty shots at Stelley. According to the San Francisco Examiner, Stelley had a keychain knife and was approaching, trying to stab one of the officers, who had a bulletproof vest on. The article, quoting Homicide inspector Holly Pera of the SFPD, said that the officer had tried to pepper spray him./p p“My baby was going to be 24 years old, he had a 4.0 grade point average..at Heald College.. he was a lover of animals and people- they butchered my baby...” Idris Stelly’s mother, Mesha Irizarry spoke at a rally at the Hall of justice on Tuesday, June 19,when I heard her speak those impassioned words, I realized while reading the Examiner article that the only voice I heard was Holly Pera, of the SFPD. What happened to the voice of this mother, who is a dedicated community activist?/p p“I am extremely upset about what the SFPD did- there were eight officers present- it was wrong”, Summer Galbreath spoke to the crowd while holding back tears,” Summer had told me in an interview the night before that the officers were very rude to her when she asked questions about the shooting, and that they knew about his illness. /p p“The reports have said that he had a “large knife”... we believe that the investigation will show that the knife was no bigger than this , as he spoke to the crowd, Van Jones, from BayArea PoliceWatch dangled a two inch pocket knife in front of his face for the crowd to see, he continued, “the rush to judgement on the part of the police was wrong, the SFPD training protocol is about escalation”/p pWhy were twenty shots fired over a keychain knife, knowing that the officer had a bulletproof vest on? Were the officers scared of a Black man with mental illness and a keychain knife approaching them? Did they think that a keychain knife could slice open a bulletproof vest, or were they not thinking, just reacting!?/p pBack in 1999 Margaret L. Mitchell, a Black college graduate who became homeless and mentally ill, was shot by Officer Edward Larrigan in LA. Larrigan claimed he had feared for his safety. Mitchell was 5 feet tall, one hundred and five pounds, her only weapon a foot long screwdriver. In Detroit last year Errol Shaw, a black man who was deaf and mentally ill, was shot to death because he was swinging around a four-foot rake, even though his family was screaming to the police that he couldn’t hear. /p p The shooting of Idris comes three weeks before a groundbreaking forum entitled Senseless Crimes: Brutality against People with Disabilities. Cases like Idris Stelley’s are why Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, in conjuction with Crime Victims with Disabilities Initiative, the Coalition on Homelessness and Poor Magazine will be hosting the Senseless Crimes Open Forum. This is only one avenue of educating, empowering and providing a supportive network for our disabled brothers and sisters and their families who have dealt with crimes and brutality. We also need to pressure the San Francisco Mental Heath Board, political leaders and our own Black community to take action politically and at the grassroots level in a proactive way. /p pIdris Stelley and many other Black women, men and youth with mental illness are screaming for help, but many of us in the Black community also know that we can’t call the police for help. Did the action of Idris prove that 911 is not in the business of protecting us, but will serve to eliminate us!? /p pA prayer was led by a friend of the family at the rally..Idris's mother, Mesha, spoke the last words to the silent crowd, “ My son is here... he is protecting us... he is watching over us and he wants to make sure that there are changes in the system... so no more children suffer like he did - we don’t want revenge.... we want justice” /p p/ppCheck out the Po' Poets Tribute to Idris Stelley by clicking the Po' Poets button on the front page. (URL "http://www.poormagazine.org/index.cfm?L1=newscategory=8story=392) /p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pI’m half asleep listeningbr / to Mr. B.Ward’s take on ’Select‘br / Prez Bush's European visit withbr / the elected President of Russiabr / bVladimir Putin./b/p pAre both men bclonesbr / of each other?/bbr / br /Do they needing militarybr / might and theb”good 'ole daysbr / of brinkmenship?”/bbr / /p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joe Bolden/p p“With these two leaders both our countries br /br / br /Russia and America are in submarines made with leaky screen doors.br / br /We’re taking on water slowly sinking; lets jettison these two./p pThe above are my words. br /I listen and think of others not only conservative butbr /ultra conservative stations whooping up this “Star Wars, br /Floating Missle Denfense “shinola” System again./p pbr /Who can blame Mr. Putin for upgrades of Mother Russia’s Nuclear defense brwhen ourbUnilateral/bbr / br /uneven,br /one-sided, br /single,br / skewered, basymetrical,br /lopsided, br /unequal br /leader won’t change his mind on particular situations that call for deeper thinking and reasoning./b/p pbr /Isn’t this why we elect officials, for their ability to see farther than their own personal gain?br / br /Oh, G.W. was “Selected” by the Supreme Court not elected bybWe The people/b-I forgot that vital fact./p pbWe cannot go back to multi-headed ballistic nuclear missles./bbr / br /Remember the “One Nuke can ruin your day?” bWell, multi-headed ones from space will br /bFUCK THIS ONE WORLD PERMANENTLY!/b/b/p pbr /All this to militarize space. /ppI said it before and I repeat G.W. Bush Jr. is a man of yesteryear with rear-view-window vision./p pbr /Yes, we are a superpower however we need each other it happens with complexity./p pbr /We are not alone in the world we need cooporation not multi-phallis flexing. /p pbr /This Missile Defense System is a stupid move. /p pbr /I thought Conservative meant putting on brakes to keep cool heads and advance slowly to better futures./p pBut this administration is a - and I use the expression in the extreme is a brbHORRORSHOW.br / br /Is Bush a livingbr / br /“Clockwork?”br / br /Maybe Mr. Albert Gore never attacked G.W’s Jr. heart but his neural net or wetware may be contaminated by lead poisoning. /brb/p pbTHIS GUY’S AMERICAN FEATHER NEAR, HIS FRONTAL LOBES ISN’T CLICKED ALL THE WAY FORWARD./b/p pbr /Can we start impeachment proceedings now, or at least give him and "Heart-man" complete medical and psychological checkup starting with the latest M.I.R. scans./p pQuestion, is G.W.B. Jr. our early 21st.Century version of br /b‘Doctor Strange Love?/bbr / br /Is he really capable of snatching war out of the relatively shut mouth of peace? /p pbr /Is Mr. Yesteryear so afraid of peaceful coexsistance with other nations or boring things like improved health care for all, a future where spacers come in every hue, religion, sex, and living in space is so boring and routinebr / br /that fatalities are not as upsetting br /because every country has known grief while living and working in space's high frontier?/p pbr /I’m just speculating positive from negative aspects.br / br / Bush is acting very negative in his first year in office, good the more he reveals the more people can get him out of office in 2004. /p pbr /Sounds fair to me. Lets keep up another tradition like father, like son give 'em both one term in office./p pbr /Hope folks are taking notice of ‘Prez Bush and our socalled leaders and not just two browns across the bay. /p pIts ‘gettin scary ‘n hairy in Washingtoon, uh, ‘ton now Mr. Bush knowsbr / br /California is not an isolated case, this energy crisis? as other states start suffering brown/black outs, gas, oil, and other shortages./p pMr. Bush is talking a differently on it. /p pbr /There are choice words I’d say about this ultra conservative, God fearing, family values, moral, right wing administration.br / br /I won’t because there are others more elequent than I can ever be.br / br /So let them go prosy and sling wet dirt with a much larger circulation than I and the hard working scribes of Poor Magazine./p pbr /Please donate what can to Poor Magazine orbr / C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / PO Box 1230 #645br / Market St.br / San Francisco, CA 94102br / Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pbA trip to and from to Las Vagas,br / Nevada is as close br / tobr / Purgartory without actually dying Continues./bbr / /p/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Joe B./p pWe did make it to the crowded casino, found our rooms collapsing in our beds. br /Though my mother and I are in separate beds she decides to do some gambling saying “You don’t go to a casino to sleep.” Made sense to me except I am so tired, I br /mumble /p p“If you gamble half asleep you’ll lose money and still be tired.”br / By 9am. br /I’m enjoying the amenities of our hotel/casino’sbr / bathroom, shower,br / wash cloths, soap, bath gels, combination shapoo/hair conditioner, crispbr / white towels and the always clean fresh feeling of a bath or shower. /p pAfter having a pleasent breakfast with bride to be and groom,br / friends and my mother are having a lively conversation ofbr / family secrets and me not wanting know keeping silent speaking only br /I felt I could contribute to it being so worried about thebr / wedding and how I’d look not wanting to embarrass anyone including myself./p pThis is a special and solemn occassion and I didn’t want to ruin it. /p p Downstairs the usual-arm-bandit machine is my level of playbr /blackjack, keno,dice table or spinning wheel to me is to fastbr / br / stick to quater machines is safer,recently the move tobr / silver dollars machines is my next level of betting./p pI’m a cheap gambler using ten dollars worth of silver dollarsbr / to play figuring if that’s lost the real test tobr / see if I had a true gambler’s gene, blood, conditionbr / or whatever the syndrome is./p pAfter downing several coins and using another the maching came up br /with 40 which means I won fourty dollars./p pThe decision is taken from me when I’m called to br / visit my Aunt Delores in another casino, who I hadn’t seen br /in years but remember her. /p pCousin Melvin had visited before but at the time my C.N.A. job br /kept me from seeing much of him. /p pHe's been in Nevada for two days and already knows the lay of the land./p pLong before that my mother and I walked in the hot sun to another casino past the “Pirate Of The Caribbean” for excercise. /p pThe live action are full of large scale explosions, people jumping br / off authentic looking 17th century ships into the sea. /p pIt’s so crowded we resolve to walk on the opposite side of the street on our return.br /br / Time is relative in Nevada casino’s because clocks are not seen and the lightingbr / br /is enough to see but can lull the senses into staying up delaying br / or resetting your bio-rythms./p pIt was close to 7 or 8pm. I’m ready to sleep butbr / we’re picked up by Alvin and Phyllis and Melvinto visit Aunt Delore’s at her hotel/casino./p pI don’t know about my mother but I knew zzzzzz’s are in my eyes/p pThe last thing I want to do is walk anywhere but br /someone in our group had the bright idea “Let’s visit the br /New York, N.Y. hotel/casino, its only a block away.” /p pI didn’t want to go, but how many free trips to Nevadabr / does one get and this is my brother’s last night as a br / single guy everything has a special glow about it./p pIt must be a last minute rush of adrenaline and the harty br /lunch and dinner in the casino before going out again br /that gave us an extra boost of energy because its abr /long walk to the New York Casino and my energy is flagging./p pWe are suppose to meet back at a certain time at thebr / entrance we came in of course that didn’t work with ourbr / group splitting up and heading in different directions./p pI went some place to sit after going to the bathroombr / waiting for mother to return from the women’s restroom./p pI kept her insight while using my exra winning to againbr / gamble and test my resolve./p p In-laws to be, myself and mother are sitting down br /on soft backless seats next to dollar slot machines./p p“What’s that your drinking” I asked my motherbr / br /“Sex On The Beach, want one, its free?” she replies./p pThe small orange-red miniature sunrise drink looks temping and I saidbr / “yes, please.”/p pWhile waitng for the light acholic drink I feed thebr machine win/lose - win/lose as I’m down to my last br /nine dollars of my original winnings and before the ladybr / in a cute short, skimpy french maid costume gives me my br /“Sex On The Beach” from a tray I press the lighted spin square./p p80 is the number I hit as bells ring and the noisebr / of silver coins hitting the stainless steel slot trays below./p pListening to dropping coins, looking at my mother, she looks at me and other people looking around./p pWhen it stopped I say to myself more than my motherbr / br /“That’s it for me.” /p pGrabbing my winnings and exchanging it for 80 dollars in cash. /p pMother made 20 dollars off one coin she stopped too.br /br / I know, gambling is something I can do without being addicted, as a non smoker, drinker, drug/pill user, and br /now gambling made me feel more relaxed and rememberingbr / being real sick in the late 1980’s getting well and wondering if I’m one of those br / immune to the aids virus which I never thought of until that moment.br / I think 'nah, I'm not that blessed that happensbr / only in science fiction, fanasy,or tall tales./p pTommorrow is the big day and sleep tugs at me./p pAunt Delores left early as I enter the casino looking all over to find herbr / my younger brother paged her twice without success which is why he’s br /watches human white cell anti bodies and I write my strange br /columns on the fringes of science and applied science./p pThe walk back took whatever reserved energy I have left luckily there br /is a smorgasbord like dinner where I can proudly say evenbr /though I ate tree healthy plates of dinner and some pie ala’ modebr / I was not stuffed the gills with that belly ache feelingbr //p pbut satisfied with full stomache and bladder to empty until its time for bedbr / Meanwhile I hurry to find the elevator to the tenth br /floor as my mother decides to play kino for awhile./p pI want to be up early so I shower, be and br /feel clean and be properly dressed in my new suit, shirt,br / tie, sox, and shoes./p pSleep is easy. br /This is it one ‘bro about take the plunge and me, br /well the blushing bride-to-be has been hinting for weeks br /to get me hooked up with someone in her half br /jest/half serious tone. /p pI don’t think of myself as a catch, I’m blind tobr / br /stuff others may seebr / to me all the non things I don’t do is no big deal. /p pDid I bring all the clothes, will they fit, am I ready for this?/p pThe last question is easy No, I’m still not readybr / for this br /but its herebr / bDeal With It 'Bro. Deal.br / /b/p pPlease send donations to br /Poor Magazinebr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th br /St. Street,Sanbr / br /Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.San Francisco, br /CA 94102br / br /Emailbr / br /a href="mailto:askjoe@poormagazine.org"askjoe@poormagazine.org/abr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/386/photo_2_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Bao Xiong /p pJust becuz i'mm a Asian doesn't mean u have ta be racistbr /br / Just becuz i'mm a da color brown doesn't mean i have ta get downbr /br / Being what i am ish just how it ishbr /br / I luv being the color brown and i'll always be truebr /br / And never let mah people downbr / /p pJust becuz I'm Asian and i don't date other racesbr /br / That doesn't mean i'mm a racistbr /br / I luv other race and they are mah peepsbr /br / And i will always be their homiesbr //p pJust becuz i'mm a Asian doesn't mean i'm let each and every one of yah gobr /br / I have respect foe yahbr /br / Just becuz we are all different color doesn’t mean we have ta hate each other foe lifebr //p pI luv mah self and i will never put mah self downbr /br / I luv all the thangz i dobr /br / I luv who i ambr /br / i thanx god foe taking mehbr /br / and making meh come into this worldbr //p pBut Just becuz I'mm a Asian doesn't mean u have ta hate meh.... br //p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p