by David Smith, Tiny, Leroy Moore

How I remember

By David smith and Tiny

Soft - that's how the aluminum cans felt to my hands as I picked them up from the streets of West Oakland so I could sell them for change to buy food for myself and my three younger brothers….

Hard -that's how the floor felt to my cheek when my head hit the floor…after my older cousin beat me down and knocked me and my brothers out the house…

Cold -that's how the seats of that abandoned car felt when we had to sleep on them…

**************

Soft -that's how gentrification was for the developers who evicted us, demolished our old house and put up a steel fence where we used to sleep

Hard - that's how my rap lyrics feel as they hit people's ears with the truth…

Cold- that's how I feel sometimes when I remember everything…..

Uprooted- but Still Growing

By Leroy Moore

In a place where Black fists covered the sky and people felt protected, empowered and helped each other, now lays vacant souls, boarded up homes and a sense of loss eating away at the community, the birthplace of the Black Panthers, Black power and Black entrepreneurs. This place is West Oakland, CA. USA. In the heart of Black is Beautiful and Black activism lives a new generation that's been kidnapped by outside forces i.e. City Hall, gentrification, developers, artists etc. Now that the defenses are down the growth of domestic weeds, i.e. drugs, alcohol, billboards and corner liquor stores have entered into the vacant souls and into the homes of West Oakland.

This ex-Black utopia has one of many black roses that have and are now struggling for air, food, shelter and all other nutrition that humans need to survive. This black rose gave birth to four off springs; boys, however the rose like many in the community lacked strong roots to take care of the family. The roots\family were dug up by domestic fertilization i.e. drug abuse , gentrification, and Mayor Jerry Brown’s 10k Plan.

Infested with the poverty insects of unemployment, environmental racism, poor health, lack of access to health care institutions and social services and the disappearing act of ownership in the community have increased the risk of disability and homelessness. The four offspring, Tony, Cornell, Jerry and David were all touched by some type of disability. Due to the infected environment of this family, the black rose and its offspring had to go without food for days at a time. The house that this family lived in was a mirror of what has happened in the community. With no help in sight, the machine of the City with the deep pockets and maps of the future of New Oakland fired up their gas chambers and bulldozers and landed on West Oakland. The switch was turned on and the developers went to work. The machine of the 10K plan of Jerry Brown landed on David’s home completely cutting the roots of this Black rose.

Scattering for salvation and survival, this family turned inward for scarce resources by stealing from each other. Big Brother, the city, and their agencies i.e. Child Protective Services, (CPS) waited for the destruction of this family and at the last minute added the last straw that severed the beautiful but struggling black puddles of the rose from its stem. CPS came into the house with guns drawn and the parents were arrested and the three remaining sons were snatched from their environment and placed separately in-group homes far away from West Oakland.

During this time the only hand that half way reached out to the three boys were the hands that were in the back pocket of Brown’s 10K Plan. Some times your enemies become your last hope of survival especially here in the U.S. Just like the Black Panthers were eliminated by the U.S. government and other institutions that work together i.e. police departments and banks etc. and now are asking for justice for Black Panthers in prison. David’s family has been separated and driven to the brink of extinction from the people who have half-heartedly tried to support him, the artists that are invading West Oakland. However David’ family is not an episode of the 1970’s sitcom Different Strokes, the nice to do artists and the White upper class families from Livermore and Pittsburgh hit the reality of reconstructing the roots of a Black disabled young man. David’s roots have been plucked so much that his faith in the so called system has been clouded with insecurity creating a wall that has blocked out others that might reveal sun for the young seed of talent buried within him. The rest of his brothers’ roots have been blowing in the West Oakland winds with no stable foundation or garden of services and advocacy for years.

David finally made his way back home with his relatives in Pittsburgh, CA. but it was a dog-eat-dog life in this house. David was an easy prey with his disabilities. These relatives ate up his monthly Social security check and threw him out. They had no clue or didn’t care that this type of stealing would put David in the red in Uncle Sam’s eyes snatching his only source of income from him for years.

Once again this strong disabled Black youth returned to the deserted streets of West Oakland with some assistance from the new artists that have invaded West Oakland. There is a diamond under this haze of David’s life name Julie. She has rallied activists and organizations around David’s case. Most important during this time David’s roots were replanted and the food of the earth, his new friends and advocates in the Bay Area have provided water to his inner talents and sunny personality that has been dying to appear on the stage of life.

Today David’s battles are far from over. With help from Julie and others, David has gone head to head with the disability services from reclaiming his disability benefits to finally sleeping under his own roof in a transitional housing program in Berkeley, where he can call home for now. There are questions still unanswered! Where is David going to transition to? Throughout his twenty years, David has been in and out of schools. Will the disability services system provide a road to real independence i.e. education that will lead to a successful and empowering paid work environment? Will David receive counseling for all the years of abuse? What about his family and his mother who is still living in West Oakland with no support services to deal with the cycle of poverty that wraps around her like a zipped up sleeping bag.

Can you believe David has been through all of this and he is only twenty? No youth should have had their roots up rooted and plucked for years.

Growing up Black, disabled and poor does not equal three strikes.. it gives us strength to deal with the racism, disabilism and classism to blossom through oppression and live with our colorful images.

by Tiny

Words like Verbs

fly

Institutions are per-turbed

liars are dis-turbed

her mouth and heart a flutter

until time and corporate lies

STOP

MArie re-sists

De-sists,

IN-SISTs!!

until she Gets

Jus-TICE!!

Community organizer, columnist, teacher, Mother,

daughter, grandmother, poverty survivor, creative vision of the goddess

by Willie Warren

I once joined a group,

On a Summer of ’93 day;

We challenged City Hall,

And whatever came our way.

Food Not Bombs we were,

Rebels for all to see;

One guy matched my cool,

He was only five foot three.

Shaved head and dark eyes,

Short legs and little hands;

Big heart and eye glasses

Doc Martens and plaid strands.

Known then as the Hobbit,

Cook and drove regularly;

Dubbed as a pillar of strength,

I saw him as J.T. .



When I left Food Not Bombs,

He stayed on at their side;

Saving their face and character,

Until he felt someone lied.

Slowly drifted away from them,

Like the flight of a dove;

Leaving behind partnerships,

And the loss of a love.

Pushing forward with his wound,

To an office without suits;

Got a job different from,

Early years and Vallejo roots.

Helping people fight back, .

When a landlord becomes a jerk;

Showing people protective ways,

And Eviction Defense Network.



They say that time heals wounds,

But they never say how fast;

Challenging his inner strength,

Placing his wound in his past.

His defending caliber had grown,

Through hardships and distortions;

His reputation had empired,

Up to gigantic proportions

Time passed on as usual,

And gave our lives changes;

He saw his vision created,

I saw better salary ranges.

In between our work schedules,

We’d meet and all would see;

A little guy saying, "Yo Willie,’

A big guy saying, "J.T.."



Maybe we’d have a few minutes,

But then, we’re on our way;

Staying in touch was easy,

But meeting had gone astray.

Again, time passes as usual,

Leaving one no worse for wear;

He had grown a few inches,

And I had grown gray hair.

Switching jobs, he got lucky,

His income suffered no pause;

The Coalition On Homelessness,

Drafted him to a greater cause.

Involvement in other groups,

Is where he found his proof;

In 2000 he started one,

It’s called Right To a Roof.



To write this poem about him,

Takes vibes of a straight shooter;

Unknown to him I wrote this,

At his desk on his computer.

To get this info correct,

I had to see him in action;

I joined his group to help keep,

City Government’s ass in traction.

He definitely shows leadership,

In homeless endeavors and such

He’s a humble Vallejo guy,

And thinks he talks too much.

His birth name, James Tracy,

He’s cool and will always be;

A roaddog, partner, and brother,

And always my homey, J.T

.

by Jewnbug

Born in Mississippi

Afrika Europe mated

Pharaoh Jim Crow decided division regulated

Passin Moses down river

Life savin

Butterscotch baby. passed vanilla.

Until wool of lamb knit sweater

Hot Hot summer days kissed flesh wit caramel sweetness

Passin Moses down river

Cumin ashore 2 Los Angeles

Changes names in courtroom

Hopin 2 forget

Tha brotha that had his black back

Tha children who attacked midnite mysteries beauty

Tha white moma who held her baby 2 her womb only 2 have Bank of America

Cum chargin wit accounts of racizm, lynchin, burnin, murderin!

Tha Dad who he can only wonder bout.

Passin Moses down river

Passin basketball wit brothaz 2 take shots 2-git game

Rejected tha Golden Chyle

N played wit him cuz he ran streetz witout fear

He ran… so his mind… a tyme capsule could jus b still.

Pushed down, pulled up, sent away, welcomed, rejected.

Torn worn pants lookin fo da needle, thread, hands.

Seventeen not on no magazine

Emotions blinded pre-frontal cortex thinkin

Pulls trigger blastin pain

Passin Moses down river

Black Panther on U.S.A most wanted list

Mentored by George Jackson

Martial arts, laws, sports, universal struggles, victories

history, herstory, ourstory

studied intensely. Not acceptin lies.

Questions 2 cum betta undastandin givin birth 2 effective truth

Challenged prison administrations

Advocated 4 prisoners unity 2 combat oppression

His heritage, His experience r credentials 2 learn 2 teach

Chained innocence in San Quentin 6 case…released

Passin Moses down river cums ashore a Revolutionary!

by Staff Writer

Hello People, Folks

My Mom is my Ancestor

I am a Poetess,

But first of all, I am Cora Lee’s Daughter

Cherished from the womb

Even during the Baby Boom

A country-city girl

My mother was a King, a hero, a survivor

Bred & Born in Georgia, Macon County

Me, I was born in upstate New York

As a Traveler

In a Barn, by a Mid-wife

On a Farm, a Modern day plantation

Name’s not important!

I learned small town values, Hella, good

That sustained me

In Large City Ghetto’s

Hovels, boroughs, projects, Fancy Hotels

And Cardboard Boxes

All from this Lady, my mother,

A Resistance Warrior

Corn bread, Ham hocks, Collard greens, Sweet potato

Loving Mother, Warm and Tender hearted

My Mother was a Hard Working, God loving,

Gospel singing, Giants, Willie Mays , Baseball Fan

Living from Crop Season to season

Travelling up and down the Eastern Sea Board

From upstate New York to Miami Beach, Florida

Left KinFolks and said Westward Ho!

Came to California in a old Hooptee

Took 3 months

Stopping at Churches and Missions along the way

4 children and My step-father the Driver

We had Honor back then

Knew how to be a Brother, a Sister, A Friend

A Good Neighbor

Sharing from beginning to end

Through Thick and Thin

I Remember my Mama

In the Bean field, The Potato field

Sending us to school to learn our A B C’s

Keeping the Camp Fire’s Burning

We did not know much about city living

In fact, I didn’t know much ;of anything

Except a Mother’s Love

If we did without

It was with Style and Grace

No Complaints

Doing without was no disgrace

As I sit here reminiscin’ Life going on bye

I have Strength and Courage

Instilled in me!

For times of sorrow

And times of joy

Although I shed tears, I Radiate Joy

When I am Low I remember my Mama

I feel a warm soft glow

I look forward to all the treasured tomorrows

Of the wonderful care, Mrs. Cora Lee King

Bestowed on her Middle Daughter!

by Staff Writer

Due to Recent Domain Name loss and recapture problems our PNN news site
POOR NEWS NETWORK
was temporarily down.

As of Thursday, May, 30, 2002.

My Ask Joe Column is also down, I cannot place my latest musings [MEN’s LIB? in]

Women’s Liberation conjures up bra’s on fire in trash cans, angry faces rage twisted in economic disadvantage and violence against their minds and bodies.

With self defense martial arts classes either with or without weapons. Independent of males if not the male gaze.

The right to choose abortion is tenuous at best even with the RU-486, birth prevention pill.

More women as hero’s saving themselves and men in TV movies, motion pictures, revisited history.

Sensuous, sexy, savvy, solemn, women male dominated his-ignores herstory or Peoplstry? [if there is such a thing].

No longer under control unless it's for their own purpose.

I think the patriarchal chain was always a strain on men not in power but following societies dictates see's no choice but to obey those dictates.

Women struggling to free themselves may have also helped their fathers, son’s, boyfriends, brother’s, and husbands to loosen if not brake these mental chains.

Its been a long faltering process of half steps, reversals, and fear of change but men do change even though both men and women now suffer a 9/11/’01 Terrorist, Wartime 1940’s to 50’s timewarp of conservatism to be married, having children and placing their personal freedom on hold until America’s War On Terrorism ends.

This is a non solution - most of daughters and sons will not timejump back to so called "good old days" especially the then outnumbered minorities but now more numerous minorities who’s great grandparents, and parents live through the "Good Old Days" don’t wish their children to relive them yet again.


Guys. Its our turn again beside fighting on foreign soil or back on home soil in the uniform of our permanent adapted America home-land. We’ve heard the harsh sounding "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" or "Women hold up half the sky."

Well, who holds the other half? Men do. Though more unknown women have been dishonored, died at the hands and words of men. Men have equalized it fighting in wars and killing each other in the streets we are our own worst enemy.

As men we have shown our value by devaluating others this system must change, some of us have changed. Being strong, silent, ignoring internal pain, holding back tears has cost short lives which women have gotten use to that is after women began caring for themselves we should follow their lead.

American men are or seem bland because they are perceived to have had more an easy than difficult time but the sad secret is we suffer in silence and call it being brave when real courage means expressing pain, getting, help, leaning on that strong woman just enough to begin again.

Men are getting better its just at a slower rate we may not be as quick as woman are because we don’t use both side of our brains like they do. Women cannot wait for men to "get it" so they must move fast as men slowly plug along.

But many males see the future and don’t really care if a women is President or head a Mega conglomerate multi national companies we just want to live longer lives with girlfriends, wives, and be with children, and greatgrand children.

Out future may separate for a time but we will always merge or civilizations slow dies.

Someday science and technology may correct the internal disadvantages of woman and men physically and mentally and we’ll be truly a balanced species but for now this intimate battle-of-sexes has no winners everyone loses.

As one the "frog guys" who has all the parts but always comes up short in women’s eyes because of looks, clothes, lack of money, or not being lead by the second head.

I learned the hard way that being my book reading, quiet, thoughtful yet gregarious self puts some women off because I’m not looking to be all for someone - very few people can or are everything to one person and I have to really do my own will and not be or have some else's will submerged or subjugated to mine.

I’ll probably never be the man most women want but I’ll be the man I want to be with few or no regrets and if it leads to life’s lonely crossroads then so be it.

Life is full of choices and mine is to be free as possible in this over civilized 21st century living.

But I know young girls, women will do as I; Whatever the want or need. ...Bye.



.
HouseCare-Pro Price range:
$25 per day or 100 a week for
1 bdrm. Apt, small House.
4 to 3 bedrooms, $50 to $100 a week,
$5,000 a week for 20 to 40 rm. Homes.
$25,000 by the week or $100,000 for
50 to 100 rm Mansions
Prices are negotiable.
Non drinker, smoker, drugs (unless its aspirin & vitamins)
Not a party animal, Boredom, works me.

For Joe only my snail mail:
PO Box 1230 #645
Market St. San Francisco, CA 94102
Email: askjoe@poormagazine.org

by Leroy Moore Jr./Po' Poets Project

Here I stand!

but I'm not Paul Robeson

surrounded by Brown Broken Bodies

Brutality & Bullets paints Blue on Brown skin

Bruises oozing

Brothers canít run anymore

Bones snap by the swing of Batons

Four wheels equals wheelchairs

Brown Broken Bodies are one thing

but Brown Broken souls are deadly

No rehabilitation

now he is weak physically and mentally

Manhood has disappeared

Heads hang down low

He is still young

but he feels & looks old

Here I stand!

holding Brown Broken Bodies on my Back

while Broken souls fills up my heart

giving me a heart attack

Wheelchairs, crutches, canes and schizophrenic minds

ex soldiers now are ex residents

living on the outskirts of their communities

Picking up faces from the ground

but for what!

to see more oppression

to hear racist comments

to feel systemic blows

to stare down the burl of a gun held by a black & blue uniform

to beg for spare charge

Mother nature looks better than manís society

Here I stand!

with books entitled

Why We Canít Wait & Here I Stand

but even on MLKís and Malcolm Xís B. day

Brown Bodies are being abused

Going back in time so where is Harriet Tubman

cause weíve dug up Masta and now heís in the White House again

Both George Washington & George Bush are a lot in common

Finishing the King Alfred Plan

James Byrdís Broken Body didnít create domestic war

But Broken Bodies in New York and Washington are being used

to send more bodies into battle

creating more Broken Bodies and minds

Here I stand!

shouting on an isolated island

sending out an S.O.S. to the motherland

Marcus Garvey I want to go home

A disabled world nation

and Iím their spokesman

but the world wonít give a mike

so I write with my brotherís blood

They speak to me when it is quite at night

My book is a flood

of their wants, needs, anger and talents

Brown Broken Bodies might be scattered all over the world

but their thought patterns are unified

for a seamiest to sew together

creating a warm blanket, cradling and nursing newborns

and covering cold Brown Broken Bodies

Leroy F. Moore Jr.

5\02

by Ashley Adams/PNN media intern

I don't remember where I was headed, but I do remember how my heart raced
when the Berkeley police officer began tailing me. I turned off my tape
player and said to myself, Please don't read my tags please! My out of
state tags had been expired for a year. I could not afford to renew them,
nor could I afford to pay a ticket. I put on my right blinker before
turning, which was my attempt to not be noticed. The cop didn't follow me.
I took a breath of relief and turned my music back up while I questioned why I got
away with no problems, again.

**************

The sun had just set when I was driving home to Berkeley from my mom's
house. I passed the El Cerrito shopping center and that's when the cop got
behind me. I wasnít trippin because I knew I was clean. I have a valid
license, current registration, and no outstanding tickets. Red and blue
lights began to flicker and flash. I tried to tame my racing heart because
I knew I did nothing wrong. I pulled over to the right side of the road a
few feet from a stop sign. The officer came up to my window, asking for my
license. He told me that there was a purse snatching at the shopping center
and that I fit the description of the thief, a black female. Knowing that I wasn't the
thief, I went along with Mr. Officer the best I could. I thought to myself,
Someone's purse got snatched, that sucks! While I sat in my car the cop ran my plates and my license number. I have no criminal history. With no reason to ticket me, the cop let me go.

At this time I just wanted to go home. Getting away from the officer as
soon as possible was the only thing on my mind. Upon my departure, I failed
to come to a complete stop at the stop sign a few feet in front of where I
pulled over. As I turned right, the cop followed. He put his lights on and
pulled me over, again! This time he got me. He gave me a ticket priced at
150 dollars for failing to stop at the stop sign. I figured I was in the
wrong, as usual, considering I have been pulled over seven times in one year
for what I though were valid reasons.

The "valid" reason is dark skin, and this story belongs to my friend, Lache Baily, a 21 year old UC Berkeley student. When I heard of her Driving While Black(DWB) experiences, I was stunned. I am a 22 year old white female that has been pulled over less than five times in the duration of six years. I even drove around with expired tags for over a year. I asked Lache if all the cops
she dealt with were white males, I had a feeling that they were. "Yes, I have never dealt with cops of any other ethnicity." Lache's brown eyes and honey-toned face remain bright with a smile as she confronts the subject of systematic racism.

"I feel like I kind of know its hella shady and racist, " Lache continued in a quick tense voice, "at the same time, every time I've been pulled over, it seems valid so I don't feel I'm in a place to argue. But after I talked to you, I'm asking myself how oblivious am I to this shit?" I think to myself as she is speaking, welcome to the unjust world of racial profiling.

I watch frustration flood her face as she continues, "I was like, you guys suck. I don't like cops, but I never really have stressed on it, or thought about it. It's not until I tell my stories to people that it seems weird to me. When I tell my stories it forces me to think about it."

I personally did not realize how bad the DWB phenomonom was until Lache and I swapped stories of police encounters. We are similar in age, we've been driving the same amount of time, and we live on the same street. Yet when it comes to being pulled over and dealing with the police, Lache has dealt with the biased judgment of law enforcement in ways that seem so casual that they can be easily overlooked.

When I reflect on driving with expired tags for a year and having no problems with law enforcement, I question, "Does white skin have anything to do with it?" I wish the answer was no.

******************************

Should "Driving while black" be a crime?

reprinted from thechronicle.demon.co.uk

Scores of Black Britons – including prominent athletes, Home Office officials and government workers, artists, lawyers, and business leaders -- have experienced the humiliation of being stopped on the streets of London and other British cities for no other apparent reason than being Black and driving a car.

This new "crime" mirrors the common complaint, highlighted in testimony to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, that police officers on the streets systematically target innocent young blacks for "stop and frisk" searches.

No social class among blacks is exempt from a "Driving while black" incident. Carl Josephs, a meat factory worker in Birmingham, was stopped 34 times in 2 years - without a specific charge or even a speeding ticket. He says he was singled out because he was black and drove a car.

When Tim McDonald was pulled over, his father, Trinidadian -born Trevor McDonald and Britain's best known news reader, called on police to end their habit of stopping black youths in cars.

Being pulled over for "Driving while Black" is a traumatic event. Few white motorists have the same story to tell. But, almost every Black Briton can tell you that they or someone they know have been stopped by the police without being found guilty of any violation of the law.

Black motorists more likely to be stopped than whites DWB is a heart-stopping common occurrence for Black motorists, and only a minor nuisance to whites. According to a report in The Guardian 13 March. "Last year in the area policed by the Metropolitan Police, the rate for stop-and-searches was 37 per 1,000 among whites, 66 per
1,000 among Asians, and 180 per 1,000 among blacks". In the London area more than 36% of those stopped were from ethnic minorities, who make up about 20% of the population.

Turner art prize winner Chris Ofili's brush with the law is one example of a continuing trend, says The Guardian. Ofili, who drives a lime-green Ford Capri, and has been stopped
many times, says "It's a very common occurrence...They had absolutely no reason to
stop me...I always carry my license with me so they can't issue me with a "producer" (a
summons to report to a police station and produce a driver's license and car documents)."

"Racial profiling" British examples of DWB take on a more invidious character when compared to a common practice on the State highways of America called "racial profiling". This literally means that police officers are always on the lookout for black males driving cars. The ACLU, an American civil liberties group, has won racial profiling cases in Indiana and Maryland with damages.

In California, San Diego Chargers football player Shawn Lee was pulled over, and he and his girlfriend were handcuffed and detained by the police for half an hour on the side of Interstate 15. The officer said that Lee was stopped because he was driving a vehicle that fit the description of one stolen earlier that evening. However, Lee was driving a Jeep Cherokee, a sports utility vehicle, and the reportedly stolen vehicle was a Honda sedan.

The Road to Freedom Illegal stop-and-searches like "Driving while Black" and the use of racial profiling can be stopped, says the ACLU http://www.aclu.org. In America Rep. John Conyers, a black congressman, introduced the "Traffic Stops Statistics Act" to encourage police departments to keep detailed records of traffic stops, including the race and ethnicity of the person stopped. Here in Britain, such a law could be backed up by the Home Office and the national collection of data to determine the full scope of this problem.

Practical actions include a hotline that victims can call to report incidents involving DWB. Another is a handy printed pocket card that details the motorists' rights in race-stop encounters. Complaint forms should be readily provided by the police to drivers who feel offended by DWB or race-based traffic stops.

Ending DWB and racial profiling on the nation's streets, roads and highways should also be addressed through public education, and by leaflets in major languages made available at all local government offices, libraries and public buildings.

Finally, whether you agree or not, we invite you to post your thoughts to:

editor@thechronicle.demon.co.uk

by Barbara Lee

In the last fifty years, we have seen many of society*s barriers come down.
The color line and the glass ceiling haven*t disappeared, but they are
diminished. We have enacted important laws that helped stretch the social
safety net, such as Medicare and Medicaid. The Americans with Disabilities
Act marked a landmark victory in the struggle for access and equal
opportunity.

But there are still too many obstacles blocking full inclusion in American life
for those with developmental disabilities and their families.

Inclusion embraces both independence and integration. The work you all do
to advance inclusion is so important because it is so fundamental: it*s about
making people*s lives better.

It*s about improving schools and opening classrooms. It*s about jobs. It*s
about family support. It*s about the recreation and socialization
opportunities that enrich life. It*s about access to comprehensive healthcare
and the elimination of artificial boundaries that say that illnesses of the mind
are uninsurable.

Life can throw you curves. But everybody has a right to stand at the plate
and take their swings. Everybody deserves to get in the game.

Too many people, though, are still shut out. Access and integration are
justly considered civil rights issues.

Furthermore, access and integration for everyone is in all our interests. We
all benefit when people enter our workforce and join our economy, and we
all lose when they are shut out. Isolation carries heavy economic, social, and
psychological costs.

We can do more at the federal level to help. We should pass Medicaid
reform so that those facing long-term disabilities have a greater element of
choice in their treatment and so they can utilize community resources and
maintain their independence and dignity at home. I am a cosponsor of this
bill, and I believe we need to maximize choice rather than bureaucracy.

We*ve made some progress. Two years ago, Congress passed the
Developmental Disabilities Act to provide grant money to state and
nonprofit community programs.

But Congress hasn*t provided full funding for the Act, and in this year*s
budget, the President didn*t request any money at all for family support
services. I hope this is not an example of compassionate conservatism.

Family support, as all of you are all too aware, is crucial. It needs to be part
of a network of services that promise inclusion rather than isolation.

The federal government should also fulfill its promises to fund special
education, which currently represents a crushing financial burden for many
school districts. We must fully fund I.D.E.A.

Integration and inclusion should be hallmarks of that educational effort. We
cannot let special education remain a bastion of legal segregation.

Healthcare is also a critical component of our federal effort. Healthcare is
not a luxury. It should be a matter of human rights, not corporate profits.

Forty-four million Americans have no health insurance. That*s a national
tragedy. Medicare does not cover prescription drugs; neither do a growing
number of health plans in California and nationwide.

Improving healthcare also demands increasing our investment in research.

We need to understand why autism rates are climbing, for example, and
what we can do about it.

We need to understand the relationship between toxins in our environment
and the impact on our bodies and our brains.

Tackling this problem requires real enforcement of the Clean Air Act and
other federal environmental laws and demands a renewed investment in
scientific research. Children are especially vulnerable, and these problems
cannot wait.

These issues are not negotiable, they are fundamental to our personal and
national well being.

Developmental disabilities have to be part of this agenda, and inclusion must
be our ultimate goal.

These issues represent national challenges, but they are also local realities. It
is at the community level where many of the daily struggles for inclusion will
be won.

Here in the East Bay, we are still wrestling with these questions, but also
making advances.

The Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley will be one such advance as a center
of learning but also a center of economic and social vitality and accessibility.
In Washington, I will continue to work to secure funding for the Center*s
construction because I understand how big a difference it will make in
people*s lives.

It will stand as a fine tribute to a great man who refused to let barriers get in
his way. It wasn*t enough for Ed himself to make it; he then proceeded to
spend much of his life tearing those barriers down so they wouldn*t impede
the progress of others.

And your work at the Councils is in this spirit. Your coordination of
resources among the regional service providers, your advocacy, and your
education efforts are vital to this community.

We have come a long way in our quest for accessibility, independence, and
inclusion, but we still have a ways to go. I have enormous respect for all of
you who are leading this effort.

Let me leave you with the words of Supreme Court Justice William
Brennan, who wrote "that society*s accumulated myths and fears about
disability and disease are as handicapping as are the physical limitations that
flow from actual impairment."

I would extend his analysis to developmental disabilities as well. With each
and every victory you achieve, with every barrier that you tear down, you
also tear down another myth, another misunderstanding about disabilities.

Thank you for your good work and thank you for inviting me here tonight.

by Tiny

Eviction Victim

Eviction Resistance

23 times and counting

"cause without equity we all at-risk"

Born from three generations of poor women
and countless generations of

colonized others

Raised children from nothing in a society
littered with jagged edges

Fought and sufferred pilgrim bred white men
in lock step with class and

race privledge

Seized education at all costs

Achieving degrees and promises to life of
supposed ease

Brought down by colonizers

Dressed as landlords and supervisors

Art is her arsenal, dreams, her breath

In a love-hate relationship with hope

A one night stand with Plans

Victim of torture

Flesh of my flesh

Mind of my mind

Conceptualist, Singer, caregiver,

Therapist and O.G. poverty scholar

Hollywood-ghetto-fabulous

Living for the ultimate minute

still to come...