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pstrongRally for Peace in Frisco/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/502/photo_1_supplement.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Liam Holt/p pAs I walked up from the 16th Street BART station towardsbr / Dolores Park where the Peace Not War Rally was beingbr / Held, on Saturday September29th 2001, I walk past peoplebr / already descending the hill. It is mid-daybr / and they are heading for something to eat. They smile,br / they wear bright clothes and face paints. They stillbr / carry their banners, some folded now, some still swungbr / high, some resting back on sore shoulders. Along thebr / streets the traffic signs and road markings arebr / modified, painted and crayoned so that they morph intobr / peace symbols. Bright words are chalked in yellow andbr / white across the sidewalk IHate comes from fear:br / Strength comes from love/i./p pI arrive late to the site but, just as many arebr / leaving the park, many more are still making their waybr / over to the rally. Several thousand people must have been inbr / attendance over the course of the day. As I approachbr / the park I can already hear the voices boom from thebr / stage, resounding around a radius of three or fourbr / blocks. The speakers admonish those who cry for war.br / They speak to reason. “Why are US troops stationed inbr / Mecca and Jerusalem?” we are asked. “Oil,”thebr / answer. /p pThe speaker goes on to encourage the audiencebr / to vote for Proposition 1 in the November elections. Propositionbr / I would reclaim energy independence for Sanbr / Francisco by allowing us to choose our energy source, bybr / ending the corporate profiteering of our electricitybr / supply and by opting out of a system that has caused so muchbr / conflict and pain. All around the field people ask mebr / to register to vote. I can’t, I’m not a citizen./p pI walk over to the main stage. On the way I pass rowsbr / of stands offering a hoard of information: pamphletsbr / and leaflets against war, against globalization;br / petitions for the release of Mumia Abul-Jamal;br / anti-war booklets and zines. /p pAll along the peripherybr / of the field there are musicians and artists, singersbr / and dancers, “conscious citizens”. I make my way to thebr / top of the hill where a young man beams. He isbr / throwing bagels and loaves of bread into the park. Abr / kid drops his hackey sack and playfully bounces abr / Hostess product off his head, grinning back at thebr / food distributor. Further down the slope a small childbr / leans from her mother’s grip and pulls free of herbr / hand. She kneels and starts to organize the scatteredbr / foodstuff into neat piles. The woman next to mebr / laughs, “She doesn’t understand. She just wants to bebr / neat.” /p pThe man with the crates of produce grins andbr / continues to throw the red cabbages and bright yellowbr / leeks into the field. People scoop packs ofbr / Wonderbread and blueberry muffins into their arms andbr / stuff them into their packs. I ask the woman next tobr / me what is going on. She tells me that he’s with Food not Bombs. Hebr / picks up food that grocery stores would otherwisebr / throw out—the day’s bread, foods on the cusp ofbr / their expirtion date—and delivers it to those who needbr / it: the poor, the homeless, those sitting in thebr / scalding September sun to advocate for peace./p pFurther behind the stage reposes the Veterans forbr / Peace bus. A group of ten to fifteen men and woman sitbr / cross-legged behind bongos and make-shift drums of allbr / shapes and sounds. They hammer out an indefatigablebr / rhythm. A tall, smiling man moves among the crowd ofbr / dancers with his five-year-old child raised upon hisbr / shoulders. She grins and claps her hands, swaying herbr / head back and forth; her feet kick against hisbr / shoulders. He slow steps the best he can, holds herbr / steady by her waist. The musicians on the main stagebr / kick into one of their short, energetic, inter-speechbr / sets. The bongo players behind me pause and segue intobr / the rhythm of the main group. The dancers keep onbr / dancing./p pFrom the stalls and volunteers I have collected abr / plethora of information. I have been made aware of abr / multitude of organizations, coalitions andbr / brotherhoods. All of them speak for justice, for love,br / for peace. Everywhere there are slogans. They are onbr / the banners, shirts, stickers and balloons carried bybr / all. They are waved, stuck and worn by people of allbr / colors and ages, by men, woman and children. Theirbr / message is stated in a 100 ways but their meaningbr / is clear: INo more parentless children; Our diversitybr / is America’s strength; Don’t turn tragedy into war. Ibr / am struck by the number of flags/i. /p pAll around me thebr / star spangled banner is flown. The demonstrators arebr / proud of their country. They are true patriots, butbr / they are also citizens of the world—they want tobr / protect themselves but they also want to defend the brotherhood and sisterhoodbr / of man and woman. Across one shirt, emblazoned with the starsbr / and stripes, are these words: IPeace is patriotic/i./p pOn the walk home down 19th Street, I see a mural on abr / church. The mural is amazing, a naked woman and man—br / Mary and Joseph, two stories high—reach above abr / window. Above the window a laughing baby Jesus floatsbr / in a halo of light. On the church doors below thisbr / striking motif are the giant white letters ILovebr / Arabs/i/p pI reflect upon the messages of the day, the voicesbr / still ring in my ears: IWhen they say censorship andbr / surveillance, we say, Freedom! When they instigatebr / racism, we say, Solidarity!/i I remember the chalk marksbr / on the pavement, I had stopped to read them:br / IHate comes from fear. True strength can only come frombr / love/i.br / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongA Low Income Youth of Color Responds to the Call for War?!/strong/p pDIV align="left" TABLE cellpadding="5"TR VALIGN="TOP"TDIMG SRC= "../sites/default/files/arch_img/485/photo_1_feature.jpg" //td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TD/td/trTR VALIGN="TOP"TDTR VALIGN="TOP"TD pby Lawrence Ashton (Youth in the Media Intern)/p piPNN contributor Lawrence Ashton is an intern in the Youth in the Media Program at POOR Magazine, a media and multi-media training program for low income youth in the Bay Area/i /p pI didn’t show up for me - even though it would be me that would be affected - I didn’t wake up early on a Saturday morning for me even though it was me that was missing my extra non-school day sleep - I didn’t march for me even though it was me that had to miss my basketball practice that day... no, I was at 24th and Mission streets on a Saturday morning at 11:00 am for This is Not Our War! a Youth and Community Speakbr / Out!! March and Rally.... for my father./p pMy father left our home a long time ago with his nightmare screams, his cold sweats, his heroin addiction and.... his shopping cart. /p pBefore he completely stopped talking my father used to visit my mother and me and whisper “ ..no matter what”, and he would always stop in the middle of his sentence and look away cause he didn’t want me to see the tears puddling in his eyes and then continue, .. “please don’t ever... no matter what, don’t let another war happen without speaking up!!...” he always punctuated his comment with a short laugh as though he hadn’t really begged me to do something so huge - so impossible- so important. /p pMy father was a soldier in Vietnam, involved in a war he never understood - fighting against an enemy he never knew, for a country who had already treated him with contempt because of the color of his skin. He had lived in the south and was barely out of school - and right before he was shipped off to be the human bullit in some else’s gun, he fell in love with a girl - he fathered a son, (my brother) he had a dream of going to college, or at least, of getting out of the South. Within weeks of getting drafted he was sent very faraway, to a small city in Vietnam. Sometimes he would mumble the name but most of the time he would say he couldn’t pronounce the name of the place - and he didn’t want to cause he wouldn’t be doing that beautiful language any justice- and that would be disrespectful of another person’s culture./p pMaybe some folks could have seen the killing that my father saw and still come out of it ok, maybe some folks could have felt the terror my father felt and been ok but my father was sensitive, young and already kind of unstable due to his already broken apart life - heroin easily slipped into his veins , like a warm blanket of something over his terrified soul- and for a short minute he had some peace in that strange place. /p pSo on Saturday morning I listened to speakers from Loco Bloco, Company of Profits and other community based organizations speak out about how they aren’t being represented in this onslaught of Bush-Loving media coverage that accepts everything the Bush Government says as though it is the holy sacrament. About how they are not willing to go to war and how this is NOT OUR WAR! /p pAs low income youth and youth of color we are not being represented in this country. I, for one am very sorry about what happened in New York, I am very sorry for the families and the folks who died on that day, and it must not happen again, but the answer is not to start shooting at some vague enemy and in the process take out entire cities filled with schools, filled with children and families, adults and elders. /p pAs we set out on the march I let the voices of resistance wash over my body - hoping, praying, that if my father has managed to survive the battle of homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse, he knows that I am taking his pleas seriously and that I know that this is not now, nor has ever been OUR WAR!! /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pIf I'm non American and food,br / radio's and bombs arebr / dropped in my country./p pI wouldn't trust anythingbr / from the sky at the momentbr / unless friends or othersbr / showed me these things./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 pEver heard the expressionbr / "Death From The Skies"? I believe its a World War 1 term with byplanes rata tat tatting with machine guns mounted on the plane synchronized to fire betweenbr / rotating propellers of the planes./p pTuesday, Oct. 9, 2001, 8:25 am. A slow, leisurely shower, brushing flossing, teeth, feeling refreshed, ready to work (not). /p pA few hardy tourists and street folk glide apon red brick and discolored cement of Market Street. /p pThe buspass came in handy today I may have to rethink spending $35 dollars a month or finding someone to sell it me cheap like 10 or 15 dollars which is affordable even cheaper if possible. /p pIn two days it will be exactly a month after the WTCb[World Trade Center]br / /b boming in New York. /p p A bombing that at first devistated and later supposedly strenghtened and united us in our resolve to seek out the people that planned this mass killing of innocent civilians on our own soil which we thought as inviolate./p pI'm still slightly dazed but going about my work as most people are trying to do in the face of home and foreign grown terrorism./p pHow long will this war will rage I've no idea, my only hope is the change in us is a possitive long lasting one leading to a fully mature nation to join with other nations in peaceful global cooporation.br / br /If you have questions, answers, thoughts, join the club... Bye./p pbr /Please send donations to POOR Magazinebr / br /C/0 Ask Joe 255 9th Streetbr / br /San Francisco,94103 USA. /p pbr /For Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br / Market St. San Francisco, C A. 94102br / br /Email: askjoe@ poormagazine.orgbr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongbr / This is a Press Release/Statement from the Black Radical Congress (BRC)/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 PNN Staff/p pSeptember 28, 2001/p pContact: Frances M. Beal, a href="mailto:fmbeal@igc.org"fmbeal@igc.org/abr / Bill Fletcher Jr., a href="mailto:bfletcher4@compuserve.com"bfletcher4@compuserve.com/a/p p/pPbLETTER OF SUPPORT TO U.S. REPRESENTATIVE BARBARA LEE/b/p pThe Honorable Barbara Leebr /br / U.S. House of Representativesbr /br / 426 Cannon House Office Buildingbr /br / Washington, DC 20515/p pDear Representative Lee:/p pThe Black Radical Congress salutes you for your courageousbr / stand in opposing the House resolution to provide the U.S.br / President carte blanche in responding militarily to thebr / horrific events of September 11, 2001. It is an infamous actbr / of violence that brings grief and fear to all decent peoplebr / at home and abroad. While most of our elected officials beatbr / the war drums and promise to spill the blood of even morebr / people - somewhere, or anywhere - it takes a person with anbr / extraordinary level of integrity and political grit to standbr / alone against the jingoism that is sweeping the nation. Youbr / are proving to have such courage and we are proud that youbr / have raised your voice for peace and justice at this timebr / of crisis./p pPlease rest assured that you speak for thousands of peoplebr / in this country who agree "that military action will notbr / prevent further acts of international terrorism against thebr / United States," as you put it in your intrepid argumentbr / against the race toward war./p pIn the years to come, we are sure that your name will shinebr / brightly as a beacon of rationality and the lone voice ofbr / conscience in the halls of the U.S. Congress, at a criticalbr / time in our nation's history./p p We will be doing everything in our power to activate ourbr / membership and our friends in the struggle for peace in thebr / days to come. It is good to know we have such an ally inbr / Congress./p pBlack Radical Congressbr /br / National Officebr /br / Columbia University Stationbr /br / P.O. Box 250791br /br / New York, NY 10025-1509br /br / Phone: (212) 969-0348br /br / Email: a href="mailto:blackradicalcongress@visto.com"blackradicalcongress@visto.com/abr /br / Web: a href="http://www.blackradicalcongress.org" title="http://www.blackradicalcongress.org"http://www.blackradicalcongress.org/a/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pKMEL'S DAVY D FIRED!br /br / CLEAR CHANNEL COMMUNICATIONbr / OWNS IT.br //p pFROM THE PEOPLE TESTINGbr / SONGS ON THE "BANNED WAGON"/p pDID "D" INFORM HIS LISTENERSbr / TOO WELL ON THE "SECRET WAR HYPE"br / /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 pWas it really economic cutbacks at KMEL Radio or discussion aboutbr / the American Flag with historical context brought up by D.J. Davy D. who three days ago was recently fired?/p pIn truth I usually don't listen to KMEL but before Mr. D was fired I did hear talk about patriotism, flag waving and even some of the most hardened rappers showing the flag and being ultra American an Mr. D to his credit questioned the sudden change and President Bush Jr's "If your not with us your against us" rhetoric as dangerous especially in past prewar hype climates./p pJust because you are not down with the war, actually question what happens does not make one an automatic commie, pinko, peacenic American basher./p pThe balance though heated argument is about the multiple meanings of the American Flag and what it means to people in general and black folks in particular. Red, Black, Brown, Red, White, and Yellow poor folk have all been through the ringer in turns it looks like Middle Easter American's, naturalized citizens, and people of Islamic faith are next on the 'beat down, run 'em out, kick 'em out of the country"br / turn. /p pWe cannot go that route - its a rotten way of showing b"American Family Values."/b We have detention centers where individual documented, undocumented and family members are being detained b"This is looking To Damn Familiar like American Japanese being inprisoned for being Japanese./b We must stop this bullshit before we're at each others throats accusing each other on who is more American./p pSpeaking of the flag, we black folk have a special love/hate insider knowlege of America. When a people are taken from their homland, packed tighly on huge ships, thrown overboard to drown when Brittish ships investigate [they also sold slaves but stopped the practice] before America. To continue stripped naked, examined fingered, women made worker/producer of slaves, Men to stud father children they may never see and even separating family for years only to bring them back for experimental incestuous encounter without the slaves knowledge./p pFather's and daughters, sons and mother's, sister's and brother's, or other combinations just to see how offspring fare./p pNo laws to protect man, woman, or child, and after freedom... death at every turn for any socalled infraction, slight, and torture, castration, infants ripped dead or dying black mother's wombs to be stomped by blood thirsty mobs or individual for nothing more than pure unreasoning, irrational hatred of a race they once enslaved but were slowly gaining their rights. /p pUp and over some hill with Ted Rooservelt, World War 1, 2, Korea, Viet Nam, Desert Storm. Our blood in the streets, in other countries overseas and bleeding home, Our blood is on every continent, city, country, county, state, in the United States and yet when we ask, demand reperations its always -"Your free, you are Americans, you vote, what else do you want?"/p pb"Equal treatment under the law forever."/b/p pWe may never get reperations for slavery so lets just save our meager dough and by what we can and own a piece of the rock.br / I've left lots of things out our torturous, blood drenched journey to this new land named after an Italian guy [Americo Verspuchi] who never left but told stories about the new land. (hope I spelled his name correctly.)/p pThis is one of many reasons I like Life Extention Technologies.br / Not only for me but others coming after and for anscestor and contemporaries who didn't have the chance to live long comfortable lives - I like to be one of many to prove this is too is a possibility. /p pFor me the american flag colors don't run, they drip with the blood of millions on it banner and as long as rights are trampled, people are treated unfairly the ghosts of those fallen will haunt the country and their spectral blood will stain, drip and bleed through until America is past its contradictions of everyone's free except a chosen few to heap death on./p pWE American's bicker, fight among ourselves, we may be abr / disfunctional family but WE ARE A FAMILY! So let's get the dialog out in the open, clear the air.br /br / Does anyone have simular or differing views? inform me, I don't know. Bye./p p br /Please send donations to Poor Magazinebr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street,br / br /San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p p br /For Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102br / br /Email: a href="mailto:askjoe@poormagazine.org"askjoe@poormagazine.org/abr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongHow about something long?br //strong/p pbIts rare as 6 foot Pooka'sbr / but here it goes./b/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 pWednesday, Oct. 3, 2001, 7:35 am Market Street is empty of people, for the first time in many years I buy a $35 bus pass I know it will be a long time before that is done again./p pCalled UCSF School of Dentistry to change my appointment it its place I'd give fluid at Erwin Memorial./p pPerfect, my day off giving part of my life to persons unknown is not my idea of doing nothing but at least if one life is saved then its worth doing all the paperwork plus drinking an orange/cranberry juice blend with a wheat bran muffin and again after blood is given a grand reward and benefit to me. /p p12:41 pm. on Market Street, its noisy and I think how vunerable, fragile everything is, supposedly for ones day off nothing is what the plan except their are books, or movies to look at, ponder./p pSleep wins out maybe for me giving blood could be the effect or Sleeping the afternoon is what I really want to do - what's wrong with a few zzzzz's when you've done something good to help strangers./p pbrPlease send donations to Poor Magazinebr / br /C/0 Ask Joe at 255 9th St. Street,br / br /San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/brplease/p pbr /For Joe only my snail mail:br / br /PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St. Sanbr / br /Francisco, CA 94102br / Email: a href="mailto:askjoe@poormagazine.org"askjoe@poormagazine.org/abr / /p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pHere we go, Its "C" Day.br //p pI have little say about it./p p/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 pSaturday, Oct. 6, 2001 – 5:30 am. I’ve just finished taking a shower missing the 10am appointment at Poor Magazine. /p pMarket Street is not busy there’s always a few street folks around and a couple of tourists strolling down the street./p pFor breakfast sausages, three egg omelet, potatoes, and orange juice making me late ordering them at 9:15 am, eating them by 9:27 oh well, a guys gotta eat, it might be the only food eaten all day. /p pI’m late but not late enough or its cancelled, "darn it" Guess I’ll be at a table, sell some of the Magazines, give away free pamphlets, and explain the why’s ‘n how’s POOR Magazine’s birth by the Mother/Daughter team of Dee and Lisa Gray-Garcia./p pI really do like my Saturday and Wednesday’s off when I have actually nothing to do but work on stuff of my own./p pBrought water, comfortable shoes, tee-shirt, sweat shirt in case of a change of weather, bring a book, and some money to buy food or bag lunch also extra batteries for the taperecorder./p pSunday, Oct. 7, headed toward Portrero hill for a free Sunday meal./p p Glad I bought that $35 buspass because I didn’t feel like scrounging for a dollar or walking today. I go there, they had black eyed peas over rice so I gave my number to a woman almost finished with her first or second meal. /p pIt will be a long time before I buy another buspass unless someone sells it cheaper./p pI go to Food-Co, bought two tabloid newspapers, vegie burger,br / soap, and an American mug with the flag on it then looking on the bottom I see ‘MADE IN CHINA, now I don’t know if China is making money from these things or America is from a global economic perspective – I buy the cup anyway and get a few more for my mother, brother, and sister-in-law./p pI found my taperecorder which I thought lost in West Oakland that’s a relief./p p12:46 pm after lunch in Saint Anthony’s I find a plastic inhaler that contracts so by pressing the other end with spray inside makes it possible to more easily get contents into mouth, throat, and lungs quicker. Someone left it, forgot it, its mine now. Even though I walk, exercise, taking long walks, or sex to control my asthema (don’t knock it )sex works great, you just have to remain calm and … controlled is all. There are times when attacks happen when you least expect it, you wake up and you’re out of breath, or walking an it hits, sometimes being stressed out over keeping the place clean and neat so you don’t get thrown out or over what’s happening to family and friends far away can bring on an asthema attack, being around smoke, other people’s pet can set it off. Having an inhaler for emergencies is what I need sometimes and this is an opportunity I could not pass up./p pSo until my lungs regenerate into new healthy ones or clones of my own are available I’ll keep the inhaler given to me by an angel, or some mortal with too much on their mind too remember it.br //p pAbout 6:10 or 15 pm I turned on the tv the stations 7, 4, 9, and found out while I was eating lunch, the first airstrikes began in Afghanistan, dropping food also outside anti-protesters marched the length of Market Street. /p pMe and a employee of where I live stood on the sidewalk watching the procession move forward./p pOn the sidewalk were the ‘Love in or leave it ‘ contingent, we also have papers given to us. /p pI go back inside my building thinking "so far no clashes between war and anti war patriots because make no mistakes there patriots on both sides of this conflict all I can do is be balanced which will be difficult knowing people are going to die in this openly "secret war" Maybe some weird comic novel in the vein of the late Mr. Douglas Adams will help a little though I hope I have an 8th of his talent and humor.br / /ppHope this conflict does not last for years but if it does I’ve got my life to deal with too./p pMonday, Oct. 8, 2001, Columbus Day, 8:55 am. Market Street is less crowded, it might be like this for a long while./p pI’m not doing to much today, still trying to figure out how Capt. Christopher Columbus with backing from Queen Isabella of Spain gets lost, land in an uncharted place, see people greet them already living there and say they discovered the place?/p pAnother thing to ponder is a guy named "Americo Verspuci who tells tales about this new, fertile land of untold riches but has never set foot there and yet have his name? This could be the origin of our contradictions. Bye/p pbWhat do you think?br / /b/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrong pJust Thinking aloudbr / about our tricolor symbolbr / cloth and silk./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 pI've been thinking of the many reprensentations of our American Flag. /p pBesides Scott Key's inspired poem-set to song during the mother country of England's conflict with thirteen colonies./p pMost of whom thought it a daft, crazy, or a lost cause. /p pEventually others get pissed off with England's higher taxes. /p pIn the late 1770's or '80's being this new type of independant people called American is no longer a joke told around the titled gentleman or circles of power in Parliment./p pb"NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION."/b /p pIt was a foolish, close, bold, and ultimately smart thing that had to be done if a new nation is to rise./p pEnough of our tortured, birth and short history. /p pOur flag should represent many views. I envision those 60 peice symbol and 70's yellow smile icon that in the 1980's and 90's became angry, crooked, slanted, and angry in turns. /p pOr a 3D graphic of the flag dripping blood from the red stripes onto the white ones, from small specks to large pools all across-with drips also falling from some of the stars too./p pThe gray or black flag = Death, nation and gay rainbow flag mixed with other past, post modern, to futurist renditions of our enduring symbol plus the same for our national bird and our many states animals, flower symbols./p pIt will take one humongous flag to take all that on but we have competent artists of all persuasions to combine all the elements equally excluding myself./p pThat could be one of many ways we can further heal our selves and give the country a possitive psychological boost and morale builder./p pAny other ideas-ladies, men, boys 'n girls tell me about them? Bye. /p pPlease donate what can to br /Poor Magazine orbr / br /C/0 Ask /ppJoe at 255 9th St.br / br /Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA/p pFor Joe only my snailbr / br /mail:PO Box 1230 #645br / br /Market St.San Francisco, /ppCA 94102br / br /Email:askjoe@poormagazine. org/p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongJoAnn McGuckin lost custody of all six children Friday, July 13, 2001. The state has permanent custody- what will happen to JoAnn the mother without her children?/strong/p p/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 PNN Staff/p pTo: JoAnn McGuckin- PERSONALbr /br / From: Dee @ POOR Magazinebr /br / Re: YOU ARE A MOTHER!!!YOU ARE A HERO - DUE TO THE SIMPLE FACT THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN LIFE TO SEVEN CHILDREN!!!!!/p pDear Ms. McGuckin,/p pThis is our second letter to you and your children. What we are hearing in the news about you is making us very angry./p pThe news reports say your children have been taken into "protective custody" and given to three families./p pThe children are reported to be healthy and well – yet you are in jail for "felony neglect" – FOR WHAT??/p pWe as a society are guilty of "felony neglect"- we and your neighbors, townspeople, and the judge that handed down that charge./p pWhere were that judge and townfolk when you were struggling to care for your ill husband through his death while also caring for your children?/p pThey are guilty of "neglect" for not supporting you emotionally when your husband passed away./p pThat judge is not aware of your struggle or is just a plain misogynist. /p pYou are a mother!! Instead of a criminal sentence you should be receiving an award ./p pSeven children- all healthy; they are all so desirable that three families want them./p pWell, how did those kids become so desirable – because you and your husband- and especially you- cared for them and raised them well./p pCounty Social Workers in child Protective Services for the most part are trained to blame the parents and remove the children from the parents. /p pAll you need is some time, crisis counseling and an in-home care provider and some financial support – food stamps, rent subsidy, an attorney that believes in parental rights and perhaps some training in computer technology or another field that you might like and could make some money in to help support your family./p pYou have been carrying a very heavy burden and yet your children are all well. I am a social worker and a therapist and I am giving you advice based on much experience in my field (and personal experience as a mother )./p pDO NOT BE A VICTIM HERE- DO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE BLAME YOU– DON"T LET THEM BREAK UP YOUR FAMLY!!!/p pTHEY want to care about your children- what about you?? They need to care for you!! /p pYou are the children’s mother!! You gave life to 7 children. You are a HERO!!! These people did not help you in your struggle to raise these children, in your crisis, in your pain- they are the only ones guilty of felony neglect!!/p pRespectfully, /p pDee Gray, M.S.W., M.F.T.br /br / Co-editor, POOR Magazine/p pLisa Gray-Garcia (daughter of Dee )br /br / Co-editor, POOR Magazine /p pPS: We believe what you need first is a rest. Someone needs to donate a trip for you for 3 or 4 days to a resort. Then another trip for you and your children to Acapulco, Mexico, or any other place that has an ocean, for a week to swim, scuba dive, and build sand castles./p p/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p

pstrongA mother in Urbana, Illinois is ordered to get a larger apartment, stop breast feeding in order to get her son back. /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 PNN Staff/p pWe have been following the case of the mother whose son was taken away from her by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services for her breast feeding practices.. The prosecution began when a baby-sitter claimed that the mother was breast feeding her 6 year old son against his will. The DCFS put the child in foster care in July and the Champaign County States Attorney’s office decided to prosecute the mother for abuse and neglect. Judge Ann Einhorn initially ruled that the mother had exposed her son to "enormous potential" for emotional harm. She reversed herself on Dec. 27 and gave the mother 6 moths probation and a list of conditions to meet in order to get her son back.br / The mother countered the allegations by explaining that she was practicing "child-led weaning", where the child would decide when to stop weaning. She claimed that her son gave her no indication that he was ready to stop breast feeding. DCFS also claimed that the son slept in the same bed with the mother and that this was a factor in his removal from the home. The mother explained to the court that she was living in a small apartment that did not have an extra room for him to sleep in. /pp La Leche League reports that several states have prosecuted women for extended breast feeding practices. A Minnesota case against a woman who was supposedly breast feeding a 6 year old in public was dropped when the child was found to be 3 years old. Similar cases of abuse were filed in Florida and Tennessee, but the women were either acquitted or charges were dismissed. The Urbana case would be the first in which a woman was successfully prosecuted for extended breast feeding practices. /pp The mother's insistence that she was practicing "child-led weaning" was ignored by the judge. Articles in the Chicago Tribune and the AP wire insinuated that there was something inappropriate about the mother's continued nursing of her son. A study on advanced aged breast feeding* that was admitted into evidence in the case showed that 34% of parents were still breast feeding after the age of 4. The Associated Press characterized this percentage as "rare, but not unheard of". The mother in Urbana was prosecuted for a practice she has in common with many American families.br / Recent studies have shown that breast feeding into late childhood can be advantageous to the health of the child. There have been numerous studies to show that there is a high correspondence between strong immune systems and breast feeding. There have also been studies to show that the benefits accrue with breast feeding beyond infancy. The US Surgeon General has called any child that is breast feeding at the age of 2 years, "lucky". The WHO reports that the average age of weaning worldwide is 4.2 years. Though this statistic has been called into question, it is clear that many cultures support extended breast feeding as common practice. /pp The most disturbing part of Judge Einhorn's ruling is that, in order to comply fully, the mother must move into a larger dwelling that has an extra bedroom for her son (which she has already done). If poverty is criminalized to the extent that children can be removed from single room occupancies, then few people would be secure in their family's safety. Would affluence have kept this woman and her son together?br / The mother accused the Illinois state Department of Child and Family Services of cultural bias and said they never fully investigated the situation. There is much foundation to thisbr / accusation. The mother explained her nursing philosophy quite clearly and the defense demonstrated that it is a common practice. The only condition that set her apart from mothers around the country was her poverty and it was this factor that made her a target of DCFS. /pp *The study by Texas AM anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler dealt with 1280 families who self-reported breast feeding practices. 375 were still breast feeding at age 4. /pp/p/td/tr/td/tr/table/div/p