Tuesday, February 7 2014

Papa Bear leaned forward in his seat, with elbows on knees. Folks at the Community Newsroom directed their attention, faces, and cameras toward him, POOR Magazine's "Panhandler Reporter." He then began reporting the news, his monthly state of San Francisco summary distilled from his daily studies and experiences of Geary Blvd.

A majority  of the people on SSI and Social Security, including this poverty scholar, want to pay back the community by working regular jobs, and pay back into the tax system and pay back the debt I owe the society.

The POOR magazine' Indigenous News-making Circle/ Community Newsroom was really fierce last week when a man came and talked about the injustice committed against his relative, Leonard Peltier. As a young African-American woman I have been born and bred on corporate media and until i came to POOR's People Skool I hadn't even heard of Leonard Peltier, which, sadly is similar to many of my peers,

Newsroom is packed this month, filled with stories.  Papa Bear comes late— says he had gotten a ticket on the bus trying to get to our sacred monthly circle.  As he sits down next to me, I can feel his anguish. And I feel my own deep sadness, because when he speaks I hear what he’s really saying: that he wants to go home, that he is tired of living a hard life, that he wants to rest. 

                   COUNCIL STATEMENT

a guy with a

gray afro was

on the #14 bus

this morning

plowing through

the mission where

I first learned my ABC's

Ms. Carolyn Smith, my grandma, was a community activist and played many roles and wore many hats, but I am just going to talk about the ones she bragged about the most.    

Editor's Note:  Thanks to Angola 3 Newsletter for contributing this piece to PNN.

Well, the old man has decided to leave us! I am sure it was a very hard choice for him, who will I serve, the ancestors who have called me home, or humanity whom I love so much?

*Co-editors Update: Today, After a beautiful resistance of community and family the elder Lee Family and their disabled adult daughter were evicted from their family home.The San Francisco so-called progressive sheriff never stopped this from happening. 

The Lee Family Eviction

by Tiny aka Lisa Gray-Garcia

(There will be a memorial service next Tuesday, August 13th at 2 pm at Richardson House at 365 Fulton, SF to honor Valerie Schwartz. Please join us in honoring this Poverty Hero, Valerie Schwartz, and her life.)