WHATS IS 467 STATE STREET?

I had lived in Western Massachusetts all of my life before I moved to Springfield. I had only lived here for a couple of months. I had walked by 467 State Street many times. The sign, ARISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, intrigued me. Social Justice? Well I was pretty sure I was all about Social Justice. Isn't everyone? I would look in the window and see that the folks inside always seemed very busy. There was a mix of folks inside. Older, younger, White, Latino, African American. People going and coming, Most of the folks either on the phone or in front of a computer monitor. Some younger folks making big signs, "JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL"   What the heck do they do in there? I had asked some of my friends if they knew what ARISE was. One dude told me it was a "Lefty cult, very radical, some Jesus freak shit" This made no sense to me. There were signs in the windows, but nothing about Jesus. Nobody was coming out in the street after me trying to recruit me to sell incense and handing out those Jesus pamphlets. No, I was pretty sure my friend was wrong. I would often stop and read the literature posted in the window. "Police Brutality case nearing
close"    http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/former_springfield_police_offi_4.html - "3 Strikes legislation in the House" - "Do you owe Community Service Hours? You Can do them Here". I had to find out what Arise For Social Justice was all about. I owed the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a fine. I wasn't working at the time and paying this fine was near to impossible. The representatives at the Hall of Justice were understanding enough to allow me to perform community service in lieu of the fine. 

This is how I discovered what Arise for Social Justice was all about. On my first day, I was asked to hand out flyers addressing a upcoming rally. The next few weeks I started to get to know the staff and other volunteers. They were working for SOCIAL CHANGE, at a grassroots level. These folks were committed to issues I had been concerned with for a very long time. I did not know that there were local organizations that fought for these important concerns, issues such as Homelessness, Poverty, Police Injustice, Needle Distribution, Tenants Rights. 

On a daily basis I would see families come into the office that were being evicted or losing their section 8 housing. I was amazed at the level of compassionate concern shown to each and every one of these folks. From advocacy to the housing court, to advising individuals of their right with an arrest or a mistreatment by the local law enforcement. 

I discovered there were many issues I knew little about. The Arise staff were kind, generous and patient, educating me on many issues and taking the time to be sure I understood them. On one occasion, I was handing out flyers promoting a upcoming event on the 3 Strikes Legislation currently being considered in Massachusetts. On that day the Governor was scheduled to speak. The New Dunbar Center was merging with the YMCA, and  all of our local politicians showed up. The Mayor, a Congressman, City Councilors, a host of  Springfield businessmen and the media. This was the first time I would identify myself as being from Arise for Social Justice. As Mayor Sarno was arriving at this event, I approached and handed him a flyer denouncing the 3 strikes bill. (Little did I realize I'd be seeing a  lot more of Mayor Sarno.) The feeling I clearly recall from that day was a sense of purpose. Like I was making a difference. Just handing out flyers and asking folks to support us. The issue needed support. It still does! 

On that day, I carried an important message. One person to another. Approaching and talking with a mother with children in tow or a college student or a businessman on lunch, about the great burden this law would put on our Families, our Community our State and our Country. I was beginning to realize that I wasn't just handing out flyers. I was helping to influence a proposed law, at a Grassroots level. I began to realize further that this is how change begins. This is how we can make a difference in our City, in our State and in our Country.

My life has changed considerably since I walked into 467 State street. I have been honored to meet committed individuals who are willing to stand up to the bureaucrats and fight injustice. The folks who call themselves members of Arise, give a voice to the poor and the homeless, speak out against industry that destroys our environment and fearlessly demand answers from our elected officials.

I am proud to stand with my colleagues and call myself a member of  Arise for Social Justice.

Please join us on the firing lines and help us make a difference.

Needle Exchange in Springfield...?!

Legislation has been introduced to lift the Federal ban on needle exchange....and is backed by President Obama (read the article below)!! So, we now have Ward Representation in Springfield (well, for the November 2009 election), which should bring about support for needle exchange...and, possibly, support from the Federal Government to put forth the practical and successful harm reduction approach of syringe exchange to slow the rate of HIV infection among injection drug users. Could this be another victory in Springfield (...and beyond)?

Obama's HIV Fix: Syringe Exchange Is a Major Component

By Allan Clear, AlterNet
Posted on January 17, 2009, Printed on January 20, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/120548/

What if we had a mechanism that stopped the spread of HIV that experts had speculated would work even before the cause of AIDS had been identified and that subsequent scientific enquiry confirmed was effective? We do, that mechanism is syringe exchange.

What if we had national governments dating back to President Ronald Reagan that knew what worked and yet fought against it, lied to the public, bullied local governments and generally saw the spread of HIV as justified, purely because the population that was affected was drug users, and drug use is addressed in the United States by making it as dangerous as possible?

What if men, women and children had been needlessly infected with HIV purely to teach them the "evil of their ways?" And what if we knew that the majority of these people were African American or Latino? Sadly, this is an exact description of the political response to syringe exchange and to the HIV epidemic among injection-drug users in the United States.

A ban on syringe exchange has existed in the United States since 1988, when Congress prohibited funding to support syringe exchange. In order to overturn the ban, it had been incumbent on the surgeon general to determine that syringe exchange prevents the spread of HIV and does not increase drug use. Evidence to support these conditions has been met repeatedly.

In 1998, under President Bill Clinton, Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala certified scientific evidence in support of syringe exchange as a valid public-health intervention, however Clinton did not act to have the ban lifted. The irony is that because of the ban, syringe-exchange research exists in abundance, and it is irrefutable that it is an effective means to stop the spread of HIV.

Not only is syringe exchange effective in halting the transmission of HIV, evidence from New York demonstrates that hepatitis C (HCV) transmission rates among injection-drug users can also be significantly lowered. The incidence of HCV infection among drug injectors has begun to drop from 80 percent to below 40 percent among newer injectors.

Harm-reduction services, such as syringe exchange, promote the prevention of HCV, as well as make medical treatment and social services more readily available to people who are living with HCV. The maintenance of the ban on syringe exchange callously excludes drug users from receiving essential prevention-and-intervention services and carries a symbolic dimension that delegitimizes syringe exchange and undermines public health advocacy efforts.

Regardless of how one might feel about drug users, syringe exchange is effective, is essential and there is momentum for change.

During the recent presidential campaign, each of the Democratic candidates endorsed removing the federal ban during their term in office. One of the candidates was elected president, and another was appointed secretary of state. President-elect Barack Obama's HIV platform says he will "support legislation that would lift the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange as a strategy to reduce HIV transmission among injection-drug users and their partners and children." On Jan. 6, 2009, Bronx Democratic Congressman Jose Serrano, along with 28 sponsors, introduced into Congress a bill -- HR 179, the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2009 -- to lift the ban.

The time to act is now. We need to call and to write our congressional members. We need to insist that the United States joins the rank of syringe-exchange-enlightened countries such as Australia, Holland, Canada, the U.K., Iran (yes, Iran), Moldova, and others. The damage that has been wreaked over the last 20 years cannot be undone, but a new direction can be forged. It is imperative that we participate in cultivating a new course of action and participate in the righting of wrongs.

Help lift the federal ban on the funding of syringe exchange.

Allan Clear is the executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition.

© 2009 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/120548/