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‘In My Country’ is in his heart
January 15, 2011
“In My Country” is a country that knows no borders; it’s a country of the heart,” Tony Robles said about his inspiration for the beautiful short story published in Mythium magazine and nominated by Mythium editor Crystal Wilkinson for the literary honor, the Pushcart Prize.
The Tough House
January 3, 2011
Bayview Hunters Point is a community not exempt from poverty, violence, racism, police terrorism, gentrification, institutionalized ignorance, displacement and demonizing media coverage. With the Tough House Project, founder Jamal James Modica hopes to give this community a voice.
SF Housing Authority rejects family for being Indigenous
October 18, 2010
“I have been working in the Housing Authority for over 20 years. We do not work with Indians, Indian tribes or the Indian Child Welfare Act. Never have … never will,” said a case worker at the SF Housing Authority to Myron Standing Bear, father of two and Native American social worker.
A poor people-led revolution: The POOR Magazine story
July 15, 2010
“POOR’s rule from the beginning was to break down the myth of objectivity and the implicit ‘other’ stance of journalism. We accomplished this through the integration of self, the use of ‘I’ in every story,” explains Tiny – Lisa Gray-Garcia. POOR needs your help right now. Become a Revolutionary Donor today!
The non-profit industrial complex on trial: One man challenges the myth of ‘supportive’ housing
June 7, 2010
The mainstream media and the educational system indoctrinate us with the propaganda that this society is based on equality and the rule of law. Yet we pay the most and get the least, and trying to exercise our so-called rights becomes a monumental task. We need real housing, not overpriced rented bunk beds and lockers in a crowded facility.
Digital colonization: a challenge for change
May 14, 2010
When the gentrifiers come into our streets and neighborhoods and speculate on our real estate, we can see our demise coming and we just might have a chance to stop it. But when the e-colonizers come into our digital communities or e-estate, we can’t see them. E-gentrifying is much more subtle, insidious, less clear.
Gentrification journalism
May 11, 2010
In this manifesto that shows why JR Valrey is rightly called the Minister of Information, he exposes “gentrification journalism” as “the public relations team that is put in place to make gentrifiers feel safe,” the media’s twisting of the murders of Chauncey Bailey and Oscar Grant to demonize Blacks and the hyper-funding of “hyper-local media” as an effort to drown out community media. Everyone who wants to stop the exodus of Blacks from the Bay must read this.
‘House Keys Not Handcuffs’: Homeless families denied a home even for their convergence
December 22, 2009
Communities from up and down the West Coast that had planned to converge in San Francisco to demonstrate our immense energy and BE THE CHANGE this administration needs to do what is right have been denied a previously approved permit to gather – why? on the grounds that the rally will be too large. Is this a re-run of the rise and fall of the Poor People’s Campaign’s Resurrection City on the Washington Mall in 1968?
A journey to publishing access: POOR Press books for 2009
November 10, 2009
POOR Press will be releasing its new books and introducing their authors at a benefit – “Talk-Story Circle on Land, Migration, Occupation and Resistance” – at Galleria de la Raza, 2857 24th St. at Bryant in San Francisco, this Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. Enjoy good food, DJ, performance and scholarship for $5-$15 or whatever you can spare.
I am unarmed! Don’t shoot!
October 24, 2009
October 22nd, National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation, is much more than just a traditional, methodical way to combat police terrorism. We are demanding no more injustice to be served to us by a just-us system. No batons swung at us. No tear gas or water hoses sprayed on us. No dogs turned on us. No guns fired at us. Just like the ‘60s era, our struggle continues in the 21st century. Our once-silenced voices and visible stances are the exchange of fire that guns us down each day.
It’s impossible to turn a blind eye to murder
October 2, 2009
“I am my father’s daughter,” said former Georgia Congressperson Cynthia McKinney to a standing-room-only crowd on a warm Sunday in August. She was at the theater below POOR Magazine’s offices in the Redstone Building speaking as part of a benefit tour organized by POCC Block Report Radio in support of the Bay View newspaper.
I was born here
July 20, 2009
“I was born here.” Mrs. Patterson didn’t look up as she spoke, her voice inaudible, lost in the cement, concrete, doorways, truck exhaust, honking horns, brick walls and glass storefronts of downtown San Francisco. Her skin, the color of earth and wind, land and nature, was camouflaged in long ago lost clothing, shredded blankets and plastic ware.
‘Jailhouse Lawyers’ by Mumia Abu-Jamal
July 18, 2009
“Jailhouse Lawyers, we are learning, are often people of extraordinary firmness who fight for a law that rarely fights for them.” “Unity is feared … isolation is favored.” – from “Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A.” by politically condemned death row prisoner, journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal
“This landmark legislation (Prison Litigation Reform Act) will help bring relief to a civil justice system overburdened by frivolous prisoner lawsuits. Jailhouse lawyers with nothing else to do are tying our courts in knots with an endless flood of frivolous litigation.” – Sen. Orrin Hatch, former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Newsom ignores voters: $2.7 million poverty court opens on Polk Street
April 8, 2009
Notwithstanding a blistering defeat at the polls and strong opposition from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Mayor Gavin Newsom has opened his Community Justice Center, diverting several million dollars from essential City services to incarcerate poor people for the sole act of being poor.
Legal lynching: The blatant, boastful murder of Oscar Grant
January 16, 2009
The execution of Oscar Grant was a painful reminder of the “legal lynchings” that have been taking place for centuries.
Poor News Network TV: Justice for Oscar Grant
January 10, 2009
For six hours on Thursday, Jan. 8, an apologetic BART board of directors listened to people voice their fury over a BART police officer’s execution of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old father, and authorities’ silence in response. With the usual time… Read the rest »