Story Archives

by Phil Goldvarg

The eagle is not down,

he's in a different sky,

wings still moving

against the currents of injustice,

there is no death for this peaceful warrior,

he looks down on us,

his quiet fire eyes say,

tu eres mi otro yo,

you are me,

I am you,

somos juntos

en la tristeza de la noche,

en la felicidad

del dia,

the eagle is not down,

he's in a different sky

y los chuecos,

the greedy growers,

the legislators

who legislatre los farmworkers

and their ninos to death

are shaking in fear,

they know there's going to be

some serious huelgas

in heaven and hell,

sabes que, hermano,

the eagle is not down,

he's in a different sky,

there is no death

for this peaceful warrior.

Para Cesar 4/26/93

C/S

by Lani Kent/PoorNewsNetwork

"I'm sick and these old joints have cracked," spoke the 84-year-old Grace Wells as we relaxed into her worn-in sofa, "I can't do no movin' and packin'." Her soft voice and soft skin tensed from behind her neck-brace when asked where she would go if her landlord succeeds in evicting her: "Oh darlin, I don't know...to the park?"

When constant harassment did not intimidate the intrepid Grace, the new property owners at 908 Page St evicted her under the state Ellis Act. Claiming to want to turn the three separate units into a single-family home, they found loopholes around the numerous laws that prohibit evictions of seniors, the disabled, or the catastrophically ill. Grace suffers from arthritis, diabetes and a heart condition.

"86% of evicted people are forced out of the city," said Ted Gullicksen of the SF Tenants Union. A move out of her apartment would not only strip her of the community she knows and loves; she would have to find a new doctor that she trusts, an honest social worker to help her, and good neighbors to look in on her. All rare and hard to come by, that Grace already has at 908 Page St..

As we continued our conversation, and Grace recounted her move from New Orleans to San Francisco back in 1942, Gullicksen led shouting protesters in a picket in front of her house. With the help of Grace's lawyer, Dean Preston, the picket attracted local TV networks and radio stations. "Since owning this building, they have operated it like Grace does not live here," we heard Preston explain to the crowd of reporters outside her front door. "They have threatened to turn her water off, they switched the garbage service around and confused her, and started construction upstairs." This 3-unit building is supposedly being turned into a large mansion-like home. The event was noisy with her personal information and Grace was full of heavy sighs.

"Darlin', what time is it?" she asked with her eyes cast down, watching the dusky shade creep into her living room. Daylight savings had not yet made its way into her spotless sitting room, so all the clocks were an hour off. She hadn't seemed to notice. "Well, I suppose I should take my pills before...." and her voice disappeared into the tumultuous energy rattling through her front windows.

The picket had just hit an all-time "loud" and Grace forgot her pills and instead reached for her walking cane. Picketers chanted "housing for people, not for profit," "stop senior evictions," and "housing is a human right." Grace carried herself to the porch and onto the steps where dusk met her with a small shiver. Reporters met her with big cameras and fancy suits. I followed her into the noise and hoped she would remember her pills after all the lights went away.

"I appreciate this, I think it's nice," Grace said to the camera. She spoke simply and pleasantly, as if appreciating a good home-cooked meal. With elderly elegance, she explained: "Been in this neighborhood a long time and now the new owners have asked me to leave. And I just donít know why."

"How ya doin? Miss Grace?" a neighbor interrupted from across the street. A second neighbor, Diane Mosely, added: "Miss grace is the matriarch on this street." Sadness passed over her eyes and she ran to Graceís side, congratulating her on the successful picket and acknowledging her courage. "This can happen to anyone," said a third worried neighbor, Mary Woods. Watching a sweet 84-year-old disabled woman (possibly) get evicted from her home has sent chills down the spine of this community.

Some might recall a chilling story that occurred last year around this time, when Poor News Network reported and supported the fight to save Lola McKay's home of 40 years. Like Grace, Lola received an Ellis eviction at the age of 84, and with no family to support her struggle, she decided not to fight it. She settled with the landlords and was allowed to live one more year in her home of 40 years. Within months of this lethal settlement she died of "natural cause," despite her pre-Ellis perfect health. Grace Well has no family or children to help her through this ordeal; she is alone and already in poor health.

Grace told her neighbors to give her a call after 7pm, after she rested a bit and was up for more talking. She then sat on her porch, seeing the picket to its conclusion and hoping for the best. The event lost steam as the sky grew darker. Grace grew more tired. I think I even heard non-stop-Gullicksen's voice crack a few times as he concluded: "Eviction by wealthy wealthy wealthy scumlords, don't care who they leave in the wake...put an 84 year old lady out so they can have a mansion." TV Anchors went back to their vans and Grace went back inside her house, locking the door and turning off the lights. She was wiped out by the afternoon and I didn't get a chance to thank her for the company, and the fruit, and all of her wonderful stories.

Just two hours of talking and 84 year old Grace proved too exhausted to lift a bone and wave goodbye. She's right, her old joints have cracked. She can't do "no movin and packin." She just can't.

by Gretchen Hildebran/PoorNewsNetwork

The news these days is pretty bad and some days I can't
make myself pay attention to it at all. Beyond the
tragedy of 9/11 is the daily horror of the war on
terrorism waged by the US government against the
people of Afghanistan as well as any US resident who
opposes their military and economic agenda. The FBI's
unconstitutional detention of over a thousand
"suspected terrorists" based on ethnicity alone hasn't
exactly inspired riots or impeachment hearings. Many
people of color in this country are familiar to this
form of blanket targeting and reprisal by police and
the feds. White activists such as myself are also
discovering their freedom of dissent is no longer
guaranteed. As "nice (middle-class) white people" we
have rarely experienced the targeting and arbitrary
punishment that historically has been reserved for
people of color and the poor in this country. In
times of war, however, even privileged white people
are expected to prove their allegiance or receive the
treatment of a "suspected terrorist."

Nancy Oden, a member of the Green Party USA national
coordinating committee who was detained and denied her
right to travel by National Guardsmen at a Maine
airport. Oden, who is a 60-year old white activist
and organic farmer, was intending to travel to a Green
Party convention from Portland, ME on November 1st.
She was targeted upon check-in, when an American
Airlines employee wrote an "S" on her ticket at the
check-in counter. This employee designated her for
being searched without checking her ID and informed
her, "You were in there (the computer) to be searched
no matter what."

When Oden arrived at the gate, she was pulled aside to
be searched by two National Guardsmen. According to
Oden, "They knew my face, my politics, and I was the
only one whose baggage was searched.î When one of the
Guardsmen grabbed her arm and began yelling his
pro-war views in her face, she responded by
withdrawing her arm and saying "Don't touch me."

Although the search of her baggage and person produced
nothing illegal, when she attempted to board the plane
she was informed that she had not "cooperated" with
the search and would not be allowed to fly.

Evidently her passive protection of her body and
political views provoked a group of six armed National
Guardsmen to detain her. Says Oden, "They were
planning to arrest me, until I pointed out that I had
not done anything." While this logic did keep her
from being arrested, Oden was told she wouldnít be
allowed on any flight out of Portland that day and
that her name had been passed on to all other airlines
at the airport.

"White people don't want to believe that a respectable
white middle class woman who holds dissident political
views would be targeted this way," Oden said in a
phone interview at her Jonesboro, Maine home last
week. "People call me on the phone and ask me, What
were you wearing? What do you look like?" She
believes this treatment was not due to her appearance
but her anti-war political beliefs. Her views against
the war were published the week before a Bangor
newspaper and she has worked in the environmental,
feminist and anti-war movements since the seventies.
The detention has been treated with a virtual news
black-out. National coverage has been minimal,
getting only a mention in the New York Times and other
national papers. No federal agency is willing to take
responsibility for the activist's detention. The FBI
has acknowledged the existence of a list of domestic
"suspects," but they refuse to say who is on the list
or why. Oden has been told that the FBI never heard
of her. She finds this hard to believe given her
history of radical politics and replies, ìWhat are the
going to say? That they are targeting me for my last
two decades of political work?

The FAA also admits that they are using a computer profile to target
people for searches in airports but will not discuss
the criteria of this profile, beyond asserting that it
is not based on gender, race or age. In a Bangor
Daily News article, a FAA spokesperson claimed that
travelers who bought tickets on the same day with cash
were the mostly likely targets of the profile. What
the article neglected to add is that Oden bought her
ticket online with a credit card six weeks earlier.
The article also quoted National Guardsmen claiming
that Oden was detained because she resisted being
searched, a charge that Oden categorically denies.

An outpouring of outrage and disbelief over this
incident has kept the activist on the phone non-stop
for the last two weeks. Many people who share her
political beliefs have never received this kind of
treatment by the government. Meanwhile the Internet
has filled with right-wingnut postings about Odenís
and the Green Partyís ìterrorist affiliations.î But
truly surprising has been the response by certain
members from her own political party.

A press release dated November 4th written by the
Green Party United States stated, Recent press
reports on the incident contained incorrect
information about the affiliation of the Green Party
member, stating that Nancy Oden is a coordinating
committee member of the Green Party of the United
States. Ms. Oden is not a member of the party's
Coordinating Committee (which consists of delegates
from affiliated states), but of a different
organization.

What the press release neglects to further explain
that there are currently two Green Parties in the US
which have very similar names, the Green Party of the
United States of America (GP/USA) and the Green Party
of the United States (GP-US). While Nancy Oden is not
affiliated with the GP-US, she is on the National
Coordinating Committee of the GP/USA.

This disavowal of Oden was followed up by internet
articles by members of the GP-US which leveled
personal attacks on her character, claiming She was
not targeted at the airport because she was a leader
of the G/GPUSA. She was targeted because she was rude
to the security officers,and We risk delegitimizing
ourselves by defending Nancy Oden's hysterical account
of airport security. Another posting by Starlene
Rankin, a GP-US media representative, claimed that
Oden had made a big fuss about it These attacks
also insisted that the GP-US be recognized as ìthe
national Green Party.

What is going on here? The Green Party, which in the
last presidential election provided me with an option
for expressing my dissent, was choosing to smear one
of its own activists rather than denounce the
abrogation of her civil liberties? And what about
these two Green Parties that have virtually the same
name?

According to Oden, the GP-US party is a splinter group
that came into being this summer at the GP/USA
national convention. She explains the rift as
ideological: These people want a seat at the table
of power. Their final goal is electoral participation
and recognition as an electoral body.î The goals of
the GP/USA, on the other hand, is to build a
grassroots movement, with activism coming before
electoral politics. Says Oden of the difference, "If
you want to build a movement, you won't change your
ideology to get elected."

Part of the GP-US agenda is to deny the existence of
the GP/USA, as they expressed in their press release:
The Green Party of the United States is the only
Green political organization organized nationally as a
party, in which at least 31 states are represented
(with other states' memberships pending). Oden
claims that certain members of the GP-US are using
this incident to further discredit her and the
grassroots goals of the GP/USA: This is called
selling out your allies, collaborating with your
enemies.

This strategy has evidently worked for the GP-US, who
on November 8th of this year was officially recognized
by the Federal Elections Committee as the National
Committee of the Green Party, allowing them to accept
up to $20,000 in individual donations. According to
their own press release, this makes them a serious
contender on the political landscape.

Whatever the original schism within the Greens or the
goals of each individual party, it is clear that while
the GP-US has not stood up for the rights of activists
who dissent in wartime. While the GP-US demands that
the US government ìprotect civil liberties and our
constitutional rights of dissent, free assembly,
privacy, due process, and mobility, they are also
actively discrediting an activist who has been
targeted for voicing her dissent.

Despite this treatment, Oden claims she is not
dwelling on the response of the GP-US, but considers
it the actions of a few within a positive
organization. Oden says she is a big admirer of
Medea Benjamin, the San Francisco Green activist whose
party is affiliated with GP-US. Oden explained that,
differences at the party level don't hold true at the
activist level. All Greens who abide by the 10 key
values (founding values of the Green Party) can work
together upon the issues we agree on.

Oden's activist skills have been further inspired by
this incident. She is encouraging people she
communicates with to join a Bill of Rights Defense
Committee, a non-partisan group that will act as a
clearinghouse for incidents of civil liberties
violations, share information about how to resist such
incidents and demand that our politicians "get some
guts and speak up!" To contact this organization go
to: www.billofrightsdefense.net, or send email to:
cleanearth@acadia.net.

When asked why she thought she was nearly arrested at
the airport, Oden said, "That guardsman wanted to get
even with me for resisting him, he was trying to
criminalize me. This is how communities that live in
resistance to the government are treated once they
are arrested for a small incident and in the system
they are forced to live in fear and under the thumb of
the authorities."

The denial of the right to travel experienced by Nancy
Oden is clearly not as catastrophic as the bombed
destruction of Afghanistan or the indefinate illegal
incarceration of "suspects" here in the US. But it is
important to note that the application of the term
"terrorist" now justifies every kind of surveillance
and militarization of our communities. This term will
also be applied to anyone arguing to retain the civil
rights we have learned to take for granted. The state
of the world makes you worry the next time you fly,
but will you worry as well the next time you go to
protest? Talk on the telephone? Publish an article?
(For Nancy Oden's account of the incident, look for it
at www.wartimeliberty.com)

by Mari, PNN Youth in the Media Intern

I walked into The San Francisco City Hall like I have done
for the last two years, but as I gave my bag to the security
guard so they could check and make sure there wasn't
something like anthrax in it, today felt different.
The dome that topped City Hall seemed repulsive, it actually
made me sick. I was thinking about the young
womyn and men sitting inside the Youth Guidance
Center (YGC), San Francisco's Juvenile Hall. So while I looked at the
golden, marble floors inside City Hall, I was thinking
about the dirty, yellowish earwax looking floor of
the cafeteria at YGC, all the gold that
surrounds city hall, and all the dirty grimy concrete
that surrounds YGC.

Today was the day that the Youth Justice Hearing
between the San Francisco Youth Commission's Youth Justice Committee and
the San Francisco's Board of Supervisors Rules
Committee was going to be held on the San Francisco's juvenile justice intake process for youth and alternatives to detention for them.

Right now there is not a central intake process for youth; there is two ways they can enter the system, one is through YGC or Community Assessment Referral Center (CARC). I have talked to my friends who have gone through YGC, and the ones who gone through CARC. All I hear from my friends who have gone through YGC, is that you don't even get treated like a human being, and what I hear from my friends who have gone through CARC is that the staff there listens to you, and that the staff actually wants to help you out.

I myself have never been through YGC. But, when I was 17, I lived in Texas, and over there when you turn 17 if you get in trouble with the law, you go straight to the adult criminal justice system. I was arrested for shoplifting clothes. I was lucky, I shoplifted clothes worth under $50.00, because if I stole more I would have committed a class B misdemeanor, because I would have gone to county jail instead of city jail. I remember signing a paper that if I admitted to stealing , I would most likely be able to go. So of course, I signed it. Well, the store still called the police on me. I was handcuffed, and put in a cop car. Then I was processed and put in a jail cell. I remember how scared I was, how humiliated I felt, and how I wanted to get the hell out of there. It would have nice if someone in that system sat me down and asked me "Why did I shoplift?" Then they would have found out I was dirt poor, and I was living in abusive household, and I was not given money to buy new clothes, for the clothes that my body rapidly growing out of, which usually happens at 17. This event lead me to my major, which is Criminal Justice, and also lead me to work on this issue, so that not another youth ever has to go what I went through.

I am a San Francisco Youth Commissioner, and I have been working on getting
this hearing to happen since March. This hearing is
the first of many hearings talking about the Juvenile
Justice system intake process, and alternatives to
detention for youth. This hearing would also be the
only hearing that the San Francisco Youth Commission's Youth Justice Committee and the San Francisco's Board of Supervisors
Rules Committee would co-sponsor together. This
hearing would be the only hearing where youth would be
sitting on the panel, and facilitate the hearing. Today
is the day where youth get to question the
stakeholders who make decisions of youth's lives, for
example, Chief Probation officer Jesse Willams. Today
would be a historic day in the San Francisco Youth
Justice Movement.

So, walked into the Legislative Chambers inside City
Hall, and I was so nervous. So many questions were
running through my head. What if not enough youth
speak at public comment? What if one of the speakers
doesn't show up? What if there is a piece of food in
my teeth? I then said a silent prayer. This hearing
was in the Creator's hands now. Then, Supervisor Matt
Gonzales called the meeting to order. The Rules
Committee had a few items to deal with before the
Youth Justice Hearing was officially called to order.

Then the hearing was called to order by Youth
Commissioner Millicent Olawale. The first speaker was
up and it was Chief Probation officer Jesse Willams.
He was asked a series of questions. One thing he said
stuck out to me is that today there is 96 youth who
are in YGC. I was thinking 96 youth who have to
sleep, eat, and live in YGC today. The next speaker
was Gary Beiringer, who is the director of CARC.
He and his staff talked about the intake process for a youth who goes
through CARC, and what crimes youth commit who get
sent to CARC. Then there was James Bell, who is from
the Youth Law Center, and he talked about the
evaluation report that was done on the San Francisco
Juvenile Justice System.

Next, was public comment. Youth from different organizations, such as Youth Making A Change (YMAC) and Experiment in Diversity, got up and spoke on
how they feel about the intake process and about
alternatives to detention. One youth pointed out there is more money spent on prisons than education. Then Kathy Weinstien, from
Mayor's Criminal Justice Council (MCJC), talked about
their evaluation report about CARC. Then, there was
public comment again. Parents, youth, and adults spoke
on the intake process and about alternatives to
detention.

Public comment was over. Then, my mind wandered off for a few seconds, I gazed around at the brown stained walls, the nice comfy leather feeling seat I was sitting on. Then the Chair asked for closing comments from the Youth Commissioners, and Supervisors. I said that one of the things the Youth Commission will be doing is taking information from this hearing and make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, and department heads that deal with the Youth Justice system. Then I as I heard the gavel hit, I thought of the statement I had said earlier in the hearing, "We need to make sure our Youth Justice system is not a system of Juvenile Injustice!"

To get involved in San Francisco's youth justice movement contact the San Francisco Youth Commission's Youth Justice Committee at 415-554-6446 or email youth_com@ci.sf.ca.us, also for just more general info can go to www.sfgov.org/youth_commission

by Joe B.

Did most of you have a safe, gut filling Thanksgiving? As many may know the Indians at Plymouth Rock got a rotten reward for helping the Pilgrims survive that harsh winter way back When.

They [Pilgrims] thought of the Indians as wild, crude, uncivilized, and walking around half bare gave their women an eyeful of another type of male physique.

It didn't matter, most of them if not all would have perished from starvation, few even saw the Indigenous people living in natural grace but only as heathens shut off from divine love of their Lord.

Questions have been bubbling up ever since about historical fact, fiction, and lies through the ages.

Were elderly Women, strikingly beautiful mature woman, young or middle aged in the same , plus having midwife skills other healing skills from herbs, medicinal tincture to heal wounds, brake fever's and restore health must have seemed "Devil's Work" indeed to a Patriarchal controlled society.

What happened when a few over aged [25-40] year old spinsters who don't look their age, a normal or hyperactive sexdrive, and able to lure young or older men to them and even give birth?

The older men and young or middle-age women jealous that and their own men's straying their way was test-to-embarrass and/or kill these odd women who seem to the defy time and nature.

Imagine Lena Horn, and Elizabeth Taylor with their legendary beauty in those times. Both through no fault of their own could be tortured, called witches, and be put to death for the sin of "Being too sensual and alluring, otherworldly, sinful, not simply, mortal beauty. "They made a bargain with Satan." is their rant.

Madonna [1980's Material Girl] had the same problem: the powers that be-first said she'd be a flash in the pan, would not be a success, or her talent and fame wouldn't last.

Obviously Madonna herself and fans believed in her too - so much that the powers that be tried to overide entertainment and marketing forces when the young girl, woman, lady, broke through, and continued to change and evolved into the Megastar she is now.

It shows that one person with a will, intelligence, and talent can always move elasticity no matter what others may think and say.

I'm not even getting into Rap and Hip-Hop which again shows the power of the individual can still sway hearts and minds and change lives.

Back to post Turkey Day. The family had a nice dinner, though eggnog is a nemesis I had some pie Ala mode, and cheese cake.
My mother didn't buy, prepare, or cook a turkey this year and she won't do it ever again. "We don't have to have a turkey." she said Wednesday night - microwaved turkey bits or turkey-pot-pies is fine by her.

Years ago my Mother's boyfriends bought already to eat turkey tails. They are already golden brown, buttery with fat dripping on to the bottom of an aluminum covered blue and white speckled turkey pot. It was the best Thanksgiving ever without the bird.

I do understand nearly destroying a bird myself, but if one starts early like weeks in advance you can order a full turkey dinner with most or all of the trimmings 'n fixings from a supermarket.

Take it from mama "Buy it, get it delivered, and eat." Seems simple to me, it cuts out the worry of cooking.

I wonder it you could order a few bottles of Champagne, eggnog, cakes, pies, along with a New Year's Goose, chicken, or turkey again.

It would eliminate some fatal drunk driving accidents, adultery, and a new marketing scheme-ugh, tool-umm, traditional-yeah that's it a new tradition can begin.

Almost forgot the big cloning news about Massachusetts Scientist creating the world's first cloned human embryo's. I saw and heard this on CNN Headline news when half awake and bleary eyed and on the Bart train reading the San Francisco Chronicle going towards S.F. Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester. [I must write down and remember firms with similar names and endeavors, it might save me or a friends life someday soon.]
So the breakthrough cells are grown only a few hours enough to form microscopic balls containing only four to six cells each.

From single cellular fusion of a skin cell and a human egg a potential embryo-to-humanlike being could form. I say humanlike because this early they are still cells yet to become human though formed an resembling one.

What did Right-To-Life people think? That after September 11th. this research would be stop cold, no way while the war rages in Afghanistan science, research and development goes on.

When soldiers, police, or anyone in other dangerous occupations are wounded severely, maybe a finger, leg, hand, spinalcord severing accident happens this fearful, revolutionary, potential life preserving-saving, cellular technology will seem not so Frankenstine-like.

Banning a technology is as silly and serious as banning The Waltz, Classical Music, Ragtime, Jazz, The Big Bands Bluegrass and Country, Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, Rap/Hip-Hop, or music from foreign lands.

It can be slowed, delayed, but it cannot be stopped. Be it Human Cloning, Tissue regeneration-rejuvenation-age reversal It will happen-will it spread global-yes- is it an evil technology?

Technology by itself is not evil, we humans have to take the fall for the choices we make with them.

You see the same fear of the new and unknown? Remember these are the descendants of Wicken [wise women killers, burners of printing press's, people with new ideas, erodes human rights, and biblically-death-bound-life-fearing dangerous, mind-poisoning Moral Majority/Rigid Religious Right Fundamentalists.

Think of The Honorable, Billy Graham Jr. and what he said about the whole Islamic Religion and then apologized for spewing his poison. But he got his words out didn't he?

Sounds like an X-Files show "Apology As Policy" Both Rev's. P. Robertson and J. Falwell spoke their true belief's then take their words back after the sludge has been jettisoned by radio and televised around the globe now its B. Graham Jr.'s turn and he does the same.

These are the death-prone who've always hated, despised, science unless it benefited them. With Cell Tissue Technologies we all may really have the chance to learn, do, be, and instruct others how to live richer, longer lives.

The Devil is not in technology but in our dual personalities.

A new frontier opens up for all of us and the bleak dead-futured cannot see it which is sad and understandable but when they chose to encase us all in their dim, flickering shadow light...

We cannot because the two other kinds of people are the ones with blinders off that can feel, see, touch the future and the ones on the fence waying which way to go - stay with what's known or jump forward into the unknown. I do not belong to group 1 or 2 stumbling blindly between both is my group-3 and I'm leaning toward cell research even if experts say it premature.

I know, Joe is certfiable. That could be true, but are you going to take chances with the Darkside of The God Squad to safeguard or delay, or keep Cell Tissue Technologies for themselves or destroy it?

Think about it... Which World Do You Want Live in Light or Shadow? Bye.

Please donate what can to
Poor Magazine or

C/0 Ask

Joe at 255 9th St.

Street, San Francisco, CA. 94103 USA

For Joe only my snail

mail:PO Box 1230 #645

Market St.San Francisco,

CA 94102

Email:askjoe@poormagazine. org

by Isabel Estrada/PoorNewsNetwork Youth in the media intern (title by Barbara Jameson)

The evening light dimmed as I waited in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland. I noticed a contrast in the people who passed me. Many caught my attention with the brightness in their eyes and then nodded as their lips curled upward into a
half moon. Sometimes they said "hello" or "how you doing". Then there were
the others. They walked briskly, tight-jawed, chin leading the way. Their
pointed shoes invaded the soft air. One hand clutched at a bunch of papers
while the other swings back and forward with superfluous determination on the
other side. They didn't smile at anyone and as far as I could see, had no
brightness to their eyes.

Those gathered on the steps of Oakland City Hall on Wednesday, November 5th at 5 p.m. were of the former group. We were all there to protest a new proposal
from the Rent Board Task Force that would remove the 3% cap on annual rent
increases which is currently the law, though often evaded, in Oakland.
Instead rents would have to coincide with the Consumer Price Index or CPI.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor
defines its Index as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices
paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services."
As an answer to the question of whether CPI measures each individual's
experience with price change, the Bureau writes: "Not necessarily. It is
important to understand that BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics] bases the
market baskets and pricing procedures for the CPI-U and CPI-W on the
experience of the relevant average household, not on any specific family or
individual. It is unlikely that your experience will correspond precisely
with either the national indexes or those for specific cities or regions."
Simply in meeting CPI standards, the annual rent increase in Oakland could
rise to 6.3%. Then, to make matters worse, through Banked Rent Increases,
which allow landlords who have not increased the rent annually for three
years to make up the difference in one year, rents could increase by more
than eighteen per cent from one year to the next.

The proposal was first brought up in a City Council meeting held by Oakland
council member Dick Spees on March 25th 2001. The Task force is made up of
three landlords and Rick Phillips with the Rental Housing Association, three
Realtors, some Oakland City Officials, a lobbyist for the Oakland Realtors
Association (ORA), and James Vann of the Oakland Tenants Union. The proposal
will be discussed in the city council meeting at 7 p.m. on December 11th.
Anyone can speak on the issue but must arrive early and sign up. The actual
vote will take place at the city council meeting on December 18th at 7 p.m.
If approved, the bill will go into effect January 1st of 2002.

Any possible reason why this index should indicate rental prices in Oakland,
California completely eludes me, especially considering the following
limitations that the Bureau itself admits. "The CPI is subject to both
limitations in application and limitations in measurement‚ CPI does not
produce official estimates for the rate of inflation experienced by subgroups
of the population, such as the elderly or the poor".
The CPI cannot be used as a measure of total change in living costs because
changes in these costs are affected by changes (such as social and
environmental changes and changes in income taxes) that are beyond the
definitional scope of the CPI and so are excluded."

The first person to smile at me and ask if I was waiting for the rally was
Ms. Scott, a radiant, formerly homeless woman who became a permanent member
of Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) in 1997, working as a
community builder and activist. BOSS was founded over thirty years ago by
boona cheema to facilitate the transition of homeless and formerly homeless
people into permanent housing. Scott tells me that BOSS provides such
services as transitional housing, shelters, resources, referrals as well as
mental health, alcohol and drug outreach. If the three per cent cap on rent
increases were to be removed it would be virtually impossible for BOSS to do
its work. BOSS generally serves people whose annual income is around 15,000
per year - barely enough to cover current Oakland rents and certainly not
enough to cover an eighteen per cent rent increase.

Kendra Wilson, also a member of BOSS knows all about greedy landlords and
corrupt politicians. As she speaks I am caught by her large, expressive
eyes. A native of East Oakland, Kendra has lived there all her 27 years.
She is currently involved in a court case against her former landlord, Jerry
Curtis, the Deputy Attorney General for the state of California. The tenants
in her former apartment building had been complaining to Curtis about
problems with the roof for months before it actually flew off of the building
in October of 2000. It was only after it had blown off completely that
Curtis sent in the roofers to fix the problem. As it was the rainy season,
the tenants' belongings were ruined during the time that they had no roof.
The city of Oakland said that it was dangerous for the tenants to live under
such conditions and so ordered them to move out until the roof was fixed.
All the tenants complied. However once the roof was fixed Curtis changed the
locks, raised the prices and rented out the rooms to new tenants, making all
the legal tenants homeless. This is only one example of the illegal actions
constantly performed by Oakland landlords.

As the rally begins I see a man step into the circle holding a sign that
reads, "The American Dream is not exclusive, everyone deserves housing." One
speaker is mayoral candidate Wilson Riles Jr. He calls the proposals of the
Rent Board Task Force, "socio-economic cleansing." He speaks of how those
who make Oakland unique, the students and low-income folks, are going to be
the ones "pushed out." Rob Rooke, a member of City Council went on to talk
of the hypocrisy of our government. While it doesn't want to provide $18
million for affordable housing, it gladly gives a $572 million dollar bailout
to the gasoline company Chevron. He asks why the government is pouring
billions into bombing Afghanistan, supposedly to "protect freedom" and yet
can't even feed the 1 in 5 children that go hungry in the United States.

Geneve Allison, a doctor at Highland Hospital in Oakland wrote up a petition
in favor of keeping the 3% rent cap that was then signed by 14 other doctors
and health care workers. An excerpt from the petition reads, "As
professional members of the community, we see the effects of high rents upon
an economically vulnerable population of workers, children, elderly, and
disabled people. On a daily basis we witness the crisis in health that
people experience when their housing situation is unstable. Lack of
affordable housing can become an insurmountable barrier to maintaining basic
health, while the stress of a personal housing crisis can greatly exacerbate
chronic medical conditions."

Gerald Burton also spoke, while his son stood quietly next to him. They live
in Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Their bed is hard concrete, in the middle of a
cluster of benches. Burton recounted how he was recently hit by an AC
transit bus. Because he is homeless and poor, the lawyer for AC Transit
denied that he even had a case. He used to live in an SRO until he was
kicked out. Now he will be able to get a welfare check for disability, but
even with that he will never even have a chance of acquiring permanent
housing if landlords are going to be allowed to raise their rents eighteen
per cent in one year. The eight pins in Gerald's hip make sleeping on the
concrete on a cold winter night in Oakland practically impossible. But for
someone like Gerald, the impossible is the only choice. Almost every night
Gerald is approached by a police woman who asks him and his son to leave
saying, "The mayor don't like you staying here."

While I wait for the Bart train at Oakland City Center I look up at a
billboard for "Spectacular Waterfront Apartments at Jack London Square." The
apartments are freshly painted, and the ultra-blue water of the community
pool sparkles like squeaky-clean glass. There are even a few scenic palm
trees sprinkled among the buildings. The sun lights up the bright scene.
But these aren't destined to house Gerald, Kendra, Ms. Scott or any other
renter in Oakland who doesn't have $1440 to pay for a one bedroom studio, or
$2495 for a two bedroom. Until the CPI/less shelter formula is overthrown
there will be no peace for Oakland renters. Please come and show your
opposition to the CPI/less shelter proposal at the city council meetings on
the eleventh and eighteenth of December.

by Phil Goldvarg

streets are made for walking,

not living,

not beds for children and elders

wrapped in cold night,

hunger forced sleep,

empty lots fill with corporate greed,

warm kitchens disappear

in high rent floods,

bedrooms are replaced by bushes,

cardboard caves,

abandon garages,

beware of the land hunters,

home hunters,

bulldozers at the ready,

cheered on by city councils,

state committees

in research mode for the homeless,

there is this false sense of beauty,

where stone and marble

are clothed before skin and bone,

dark night streets

have no door,

shadows have easy entry,

mothers shiver over young children,

body heat dwindling

into an ice wind,

the streets are made for walking,

not living.

(After the Affordable Housing Rally~Sacramento, CA

Hgold42734@aol.com

by Willie Warren

To all of those who are reading this message,

Instead of doing what one normally would do:

Bend me your ear and I'll tell a short story,

About housing that relates to all of you.

The Homelessness World has many ups and downs,

Leaving people sometimes lost and ignorant:

Like you, my number came up to live here,

And I'm now being a Senator tenant.

I too, went through the interview process,

While visiting twice a week, a good friend.

I'd have lots of fun with most of his guests,

And many things to each other we'd give or lend.

Finally after two years my number got me in,

I felt like a ball team winning the pennant.

I could leave that over-priced Sixth Street dive,

And would live being a Senator tenant.

The day I moved in was physically exhausting,

I hand carried everything that I had;

Although something came up missing on day one,

I knew that life here wouldn't be bad.

Weathering the loss one has to push on,

Little sacrifices produce rewarding times;

Starting over is a pain, you know where;

It sabotages our patience in our primes.

But this was a move higher than square one,

Meeting neighbors that later became friends;

Having a kitchen to cook hot meals at home,

Is a situation we all hope never ends.

As a former homeless person and advocate of rights,

I've graduated from being a street dependent.

All the former war heroes sleeping under the stars,

Would very much enjoy being a Senator tenant.

Ten months have passed, life has gotten good,

With my social and personal life on the rise;

Support Services and I are family and friends,

To all the misled complainers surprise.

Yes, Low Income Housing has it's repair problems,

But no complaint is overkill or redundant.

I work for C.H.P., and I share your concerns,

And I'm enjoying being a Senator tenant.

Willie Warren

Room #715

by Willie Warren

Homeless, exiled, out in the street,

Nowhere to go for cover;

No income to function for survival,

And no one to have for a lover.

Wondering where is help for down trodden,

While survival needs are real strong;

Not knowing where your next meal exists,

"Til a stranger lets you tag along.

He teaches you about San Francisco,

And how the survival system works;

Introduces the G.A. and Disability game,

With all of it's cliques and jerks.

He tells you of a place to hangout,

To keep yourself clean and well;

He walks you through the door of,

McMillan's, 39 Fell

So onward you follow stiff regulations,

Keeping all your appointments on deck;

You sail the winds of need and effort,

'Cause your cash flow wants that check.

Your body is craving a place to rest,

Your sanity is looking for residence;

Your reputation tries obtaining payroll,

With the wallet seeking dead presidents.

Grabbing newspapers and Free Shelter Charts,

You're searching for a way off the street;

Asphalt Jungles can be intimidating,

When fatigued energy rules your feet.

Job Markets, sometimes, really do suck,

With salary offers not so swell;

It leaves you returning nightly to,

McMillan's, 39 Fell.

Each and every time you arrive,

Your tired, and patience is thin;

You can get either a 6 hour chair,

Or a shower when you sign in.

Once inside you see a different life,

Almost like a hidden civilization;

Seing the war wounds and all the scars,

Of former soldiers of our nation.

Binges, addictions, and other depressions,

With sickness have taken it's toll;

Caused by alienation and rejection,

Makes victims of all elements and cold.

All are wanting one lucky break,

To sail their ship away from hell;

'Till they're lucky they'll remain at,

McMillan's, 39 Fell.

Willie Warren

C.O.H. Volunteer

by Joe B.

Ok, on ABC's"Good Morining America" this morning I see Mr.Russel Simmons and other people strolling around on an odd two wheeled vehicled called "IT" or what inventor Dean Kamen calls an [the Segway Human Transporter.]

G.M.A. Hosts Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer took a spin on the two wheeled contraption. A new kind of people mover. [Shades of "The Roads Must Roll."

To me it looks odd with no seat or clear plexiglass to protect people from the elements of wind, rain, or floating dirt.

As for me after looking how it moves I liked and I do belive if it could hover too - what a 21st century fun vehicle it could be!

However as with most new inventions it has to be thoroughly tested by our top experts: children from 8 to 12 years old and their older highschool and colledge siblings.

I'd buy the Segway Human Transorter or in Mr. (Kamen's words) the world's first self- balancing human transporter.

I'm still miffed at not having a personal jetpack or antigravity belt.

The old fog brains in their political correctness decided to delay the process because they themselves weren't ready - That's my opinion.

"IT" has no brakes which should be fixed soon before a happless adult runs into a parked car or bus.

Hey, you budding engineer's, inventors, time to give Mr. Kamen some competition adding brakes and hover/float modes to your own inventions.

I wish Mr. Dean Kamen and other inventors present and future the best in their endeavors to improved our standard of living and healthier, longer lives.

One thing for shore if it can move up San Francisco's steep hills it has already proved its worth.

I wish I knew what other folks were working on just so I will not suffer too much future shock.

"Ginger"? a 65-pound device. [Nice short and sweet named].

Mr. Kamen said the Segway can take its rider up to 15 miles on a six-hour charge from a regular wall socket.

Environmentally Friendly alternative to cars, and expects that in the future the devices will replace the car in urban center. [Kamen's words].

"The price, inexpensive or cheap is $3000."
Not bad, he says hoping the price drops lower.

I must thank ABC's Good Morning America and Mr. Dean Kamen working hard for the "IT" machine.

For me until it flies 'n floats that 15 year old with his blood type changed from O to B by donated umbilical cord blood!

That is a huge change to me.

And although young Mr. Keone Penn will need more surgeries he will not die from Sickle Cell Anemia
disease which there is no trace in his bloodstream!

"IT", the oddball scooter may not change the world.

Its ideas of Mr.Kamen and others present or following in our near future that may repave the way.

Though that funny looking little scooter is indeed pointing the way, laugh while you can folks.

An inexpensive, non polluting, electric, solar, hydrogen, or background energy collecting vehicles could replace the old combustible engine model is on the horizon.

Just because its not here now does not mean it will never appear – it may take longer for the public to be weaned off the old reliable gas-mobile but someday it too will become another of our beloved though obsolete motorized dinosaurs.

That's it for Curious Joe. Bye.

PS Ok, so I added a few extra lines... don't read 'em.

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