tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35269347573873273452024-02-18T21:16:02.884-05:00ARISE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICEArise for Social Justicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11502055832666259625noreply@blogger.comBlogger441125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-28791652984259550332016-07-24T09:34:00.000-04:002016-07-24T09:34:05.740-04:00Homeless Youth - This Week at Arise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SflAoWgsuTCV-Au4jomJlPyZ2hNmbzpepQiqibEFU3DXTVkN0yp00HNO0oyer9EByUUin4b3gtPZXypLW6Pg3N-80ikvWEzU50NBPm3wM8j9Ubel86vG2LzQHUfL2Hpnr0109jKssm4/s1600/right+to+the+city.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SflAoWgsuTCV-Au4jomJlPyZ2hNmbzpepQiqibEFU3DXTVkN0yp00HNO0oyer9EByUUin4b3gtPZXypLW6Pg3N-80ikvWEzU50NBPm3wM8j9Ubel86vG2LzQHUfL2Hpnr0109jKssm4/s400/right+to+the+city.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Kei'shairra is an amazing young woman who walked into Arise earlier this summer and has now organized a youth committee. She's also been doing summer activities for the kids at a local park, including some kids from a homeless family we helped get into shelter.<br />
<br />
Yesterday she returned from the park with a young man, we'll call him Neal-- homeless, gay, Puerto Rican, very hot and very down in the dumps.<br />
<br />
There are a couple of programs that take in youth under the age of 18, but Neal, unfortunately, turned 18 a few months ago. Still, I called around to see if anyone could make an exception, and lucked out-- the <a href="https://gandaracenter.org/">Gandara Center</a> had just opened a new program for homeless youth eighteen to twenty-four! They found a temporary foster situation for him and when he came to visit today, he was in a much better place.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the next young person-- a woman-- who came to us was twenty-five. Miguel King, our former Senior Aide who we found a way to hire when we had to hire him or else lose him, helped her think through job training and housing options. There was no immediate fix for her except the Worthington shelter, but fortunately, they had space.<br />
<br />
Earlier this week the employer of a young woman who had been living in her van with her dog and her cat called us-- the woman was at the end of her rope. Could we help? <a href="https://www.dakinhumane.org/">Dakin Humane Society</a> used to have a program that could board animals of homeless people until they could get back on their feet, so I called them, but that program has ended-- lack of funding. One of our members was able to take them in for a while, while the woman figures things out.<br />
<br />
It was quieter on the homeless family front. Liz met with a couple of families facing homelessness and helped to prepare them for applying for shelter to DHCD. Meanwhile the<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/2ex39t8"> Go Fund Me </a>page that Joanne Ehret set up for us-- to have a little slush fund to place homeless families in a motel overnight when necessary-- inches toward its $1,000 goal. Please contribute if you can.<br />
<br />
Aaron McBryar, our STEPC intern from UMass, is almost finished with updating our <i>Food Pantry Guide </i>and <i>Homeless Singles Survival Guide</i>, and we'll be passing them out this week wherever people are most likely to need them.<br />
<br />
Arise and Springfield No One Leaves folks also met to talk about the major housing action we are planning for September 22nd. Both of our organizations are members of <a href="http://righttothecity.org/">Right to the City/Homes for All,</a> which is coordinating a National Day of Action for Renters' Rights. Stay tuned!<br />
<br />
This could be a big week for the Environmental Justice work we're doing. Health Commissioner <a href="http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/decision_looms_for_springfield.html">Site Assignment Hearing</a>-- that is, have we provided enough evidence to convince her, as we convinced the Public Health Council, that the threat to public health and our environment from Palmer Renewable Energy's proposed plant requires a hearing? And the <a href="http://www.clf.org/">Conservation Law Foundation</a> will be in Springfield on August 3 for oral arguments on their/our challenge to the issuance of an air permit for the incinerator. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Ej3qgIaz7nq019qIzkNsFyiowdb_ZOIoqw78GqmeR1xsncWRGIh_rOt3wIbSKCXi7kz0mKBF1nNNagO81fOosbTtYtctuFnpox4uj_2ncDNA7arl9VFi7ZIF8Ao_1vEa9JQL7UjjhEo/s1600/bio+rally+masslive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Ej3qgIaz7nq019qIzkNsFyiowdb_ZOIoqw78GqmeR1xsncWRGIh_rOt3wIbSKCXi7kz0mKBF1nNNagO81fOosbTtYtctuFnpox4uj_2ncDNA7arl9VFi7ZIF8Ao_1vEa9JQL7UjjhEo/s640/bio+rally+masslive.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Helen Caulton-Harris says she'll decide this week if the biomass incinerator we've been fighting for eight years deserves to have a <br />
<br />
I found out this week that Pat Sullivan, head of Parks, Recreation and Facilities for the City of Springfield, has gone ahead and posted <a href="http://eye.necir.org/2015/07/19/high-mercury-in-mass-fish/">Fish Advisory</a> signs ahead of the city council taking up our ordinance (proposed through the Green Committee). Most people don't know that freshwater fish in Massachusetts are contaminated with enough mercury that women of childbearing age and children under twelve years of age should NOT eat them. (Really, should anybody?)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF1p_r9YE-EMe1f-akJonFqNz4qGoZ-WzwUXQXs88U7q_SG4yGrfDiO5V4kmfKcJaNlexUfaTqFU344nqTLUHHAC-UAaL0T7vi4tZYz1X8_nRV4EFCZIDhDV_0KJkK4zS2qP4xUk9gIA/s1600/fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF1p_r9YE-EMe1f-akJonFqNz4qGoZ-WzwUXQXs88U7q_SG4yGrfDiO5V4kmfKcJaNlexUfaTqFU344nqTLUHHAC-UAaL0T7vi4tZYz1X8_nRV4EFCZIDhDV_0KJkK4zS2qP4xUk9gIA/s320/fish.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Our organizers Lisa Torres and Jesse Lederman met this week with Steve Bryant, President and CEO of Columbia Gas, to continue negotiations around sealing the "super emitters" of gas leaks in Springfield and around the state. <a href="http://climateactionnowma.org/">Climate Action Now</a> has taken this up as one of its major campaigns. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RLUupHXWgZROv2TPbfdY-lrGqED9N7LcJMqOnyZwHnIzi6op0qm5vlkyR7JvT3aIIbaqiaw64muVtDwvLe45z6YWKthTAtKPAIaLwzVIQjdL3SUm9EqzxRRno0ivhtk9JG0Gfnvxmaw/s1600/rally4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RLUupHXWgZROv2TPbfdY-lrGqED9N7LcJMqOnyZwHnIzi6op0qm5vlkyR7JvT3aIIbaqiaw64muVtDwvLe45z6YWKthTAtKPAIaLwzVIQjdL3SUm9EqzxRRno0ivhtk9JG0Gfnvxmaw/s320/rally4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Not last and far from least, those of us who helped to organize the<a href="http://www.masslive.com/springfield/index.ssf/2016/07/black_lives_matter_413fedup_ra.html#0"> Black Lives Matter/#FedUp413 </a>rally against police shootings on July 11 are meeting this week to plan a large community meeting.<br />
<br />
So much more I could tell you about from last week....Want to get involved in organizing for social justice? Call Arise, 734-4948 or email us at Ariseforsocialjustice@gmail.com.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-41966803135681848152016-06-27T21:21:00.002-04:002016-06-27T21:21:55.214-04:00Monday at Arise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LLf-rb40Jf8TyWQhOdtlNf-evCz9_rzVm01sf6r2CwpRzca0w1agN8HDE72RggQIbgwfntTGb0_-R-mhIdaCpgLeml1VQhhnpT5AKM0ZR8VjfgAGVsj6IkaVkSdc_vkE85ixcILk22w/s1600/bread.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LLf-rb40Jf8TyWQhOdtlNf-evCz9_rzVm01sf6r2CwpRzca0w1agN8HDE72RggQIbgwfntTGb0_-R-mhIdaCpgLeml1VQhhnpT5AKM0ZR8VjfgAGVsj6IkaVkSdc_vkE85ixcILk22w/s400/bread.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Folks, we could use some food-- simple things, crackers, cans of soup, juice-- because we've had a lot of homeless kids in our office the past couple of weeks and sometimes their families are just out of money. And it is just impossible to eat food in front of hungry people unless you have enough to share.<br />
<br />
One family today spent several days with us last week, also. We get to be headquarters, so they can make calls without having to use up their cellphone minutes, look apartment leads up on the computer, and, of course, bring each new piece of information about their shelter eligibility to us so we can figure out what it means and what to do next, if there is a next thing that can be done.<br />
<br />
A father and his three children came in with a DHCD denial letter, and I think we can fix this one pretty easily-- DHCD thinks it was an illegal sublet (which would make them ineligible if the primary tenant gets evicted) but no, he actually paid his rent to his friend's mother, who was the owner of the house. So he needs to get a letter from his friend's mother, not his friend. (Maybe if DHCD weren't so busy, they could spend more time exploring how a family could become eligible.) The bank took the house in April, and the family has been bouncing ever since. He works third shift, so the kids get to sleep at their babysitters.<br />
<br />
"And when do <i>you </i>sleep?" I asked him.<br />
<br />
"I stay where I'm working and catch a couple of hours when my shift is done," he said. The rest of the time, with school out, the kids are with him all the time.<br />
<br />
The family who has spent the most time with us recently has a complicated story, too long and too revealing to tell, so you'll just have to take my word that the main cause of their homelessness is racism.<br />
<br />
Marion at Community Legal Aid has offered to do another training for us in the Emergency Assistance regulations to we can train more people, and we're going to take her up on it. Let us know if you'd like to be involved. <br />
<br />
Meanwhile, organizers are organizing, Jackie, as volunteer coordinator, is getting the kids to help fold brochures, and the phone is ringing, ringing.<br />
<br />
We need a bigger place.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-74929898687352785502016-06-24T12:25:00.000-04:002016-06-24T12:28:14.755-04:00We're back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BhPuETzDJkvet-iJBT_17k9sVvgKkDlJzgh6XCEZJZqxjkbK3IUaxxkqQquYUvREUfGW-N3rwxbandjiKBRzTcws515mp8MRnpGaOzAUSorl5aIeggtJWyQXihkiYfnqaAu_vAO9rIc/s1600/SUNFLOWER1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BhPuETzDJkvet-iJBT_17k9sVvgKkDlJzgh6XCEZJZqxjkbK3IUaxxkqQquYUvREUfGW-N3rwxbandjiKBRzTcws515mp8MRnpGaOzAUSorl5aIeggtJWyQXihkiYfnqaAu_vAO9rIc/s1600/SUNFLOWER1.jpg" /></a></div>
Hi, All,<br />
<br />
Through a series of misadventures, our website crashed and cannot be restored. We're starting over but it will take a while. In the meantime, our blog is back in action!-- and, as is always the case, if you have a story to share, email it to me at Michaelannb@gmail.com or Ariseforsocialjustice@gmail.com. Watch this site! And there's great stuff in the archives. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-52843358001331620022014-10-17T12:52:00.000-04:002014-10-17T13:05:16.248-04:00This blog no longer active, but don't despair.........<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://arisespringfield.org/"><img alt="AriseSpringfield.org" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA91BCYpJoTtoRuL3mvG2wmlnzOv_QmNn7LoFbxoc1H78ySQjkPDoJ27oBSq_t-RlGDoIKfmp9Z5nhRlcjd9msfUQpfUecCPLVMSqucZ5v_js_av7ZLAe7Uy7hnF2F4YHBXPLKge4GWuI/s1600/ARISELOGODRAFT5.png" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, folks, it's been fun....but this blog is no longer active. To keep up with Arise for Social Justice from this point on, go to <b><a href="http://arisespringfield.org/">AriseSpringfield.org,</a></b> our new, great website! So long, farewell, see you at our website!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-71770425327085182502014-06-12T19:00:00.001-04:002014-06-12T19:00:29.009-04:00Climate Change Plan Meeting June 26<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbkQSlemqMudbQpBOpVPa5Oet3KEcvu5ufbawgAfJI1zxw-3urcpdqYkk14i8XZQh7ux4NLlBcgKHICOncBiFS01IF6JZyA0LvJTKNq0rArleqtTycUrdslGSBj1gCzQe7bfYWU6QePiu/s1600/Climate+change+is+a+local+problem-1-page0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbkQSlemqMudbQpBOpVPa5Oet3KEcvu5ufbawgAfJI1zxw-3urcpdqYkk14i8XZQh7ux4NLlBcgKHICOncBiFS01IF6JZyA0LvJTKNq0rArleqtTycUrdslGSBj1gCzQe7bfYWU6QePiu/s1600/Climate+change+is+a+local+problem-1-page0001.JPG" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
<br />Arise for Social Justicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11502055832666259625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-47961426023360926942014-02-18T15:50:00.001-05:002014-02-18T15:50:59.846-05:00What a bad day for an addicted panhandler<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazS-p3N1bsGfXoUERGdKecY3CKQA_BmRMClejWCdr4NK_xOXELSQi3qwXEP85vnc6RwMIWnDiDPksaXFEjwnapmymItnUlKtvE4WN2uYEet869kl_6PiA1iY1iG7ZLBF9hrlmkFKU5Bs/s1600/panhandler-of-the-day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazS-p3N1bsGfXoUERGdKecY3CKQA_BmRMClejWCdr4NK_xOXELSQi3qwXEP85vnc6RwMIWnDiDPksaXFEjwnapmymItnUlKtvE4WN2uYEet869kl_6PiA1iY1iG7ZLBF9hrlmkFKU5Bs/s1600/panhandler-of-the-day.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today was by far the worst day I have
had since I have been making money panhandling-- bad day in so many ways. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">First,
a dear friend of ours, who was severely alcoholic, died tragically. She was in
her 50’s and was basically housebound with her husband and a very close friend
of ours. They were drinking very heavy and she slipped and fell, hit her head
on the floor and suffered a massive brain injury. She was pronounced brain dead
and died at 3:00am this morning. I got the news as we were leaving my friends
house to go to work (Panhandle-Signing) It set the somber mood for the day.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
have been addicted to opiates for many years, with brief periods of clean time.
So when I am begging for money, it is not only for food and a place to stay for
a night, but to also maintain my addiction. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Before you judge me, please hear me
out. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have served a 5-10 year Walpole sentence for crimes I committed trying
to maintain a drug habit, such as unarmed and armed robberies, breaking and
entering, burglaries of businesses, shoplifting, fraud, credit card theft, and
a host of other lesser crimes-- all the time telling myself that I had no choice.
I was physically addicted and subject to violent sickness if I did not have the
drugs I needed. This is what I believed at the time. It is not uncommon to hear
an addict say that. In fact only today, a fellow panhandler came to the spots
late. Therefore he was not able to get prime real estate, as they were all
taken by 9:00 am. He was drug sick. (Apparent by his sweating and snot dripping
nose.) He looked fucking terrible. He is 26 years old, and homeless. However he
told me that his Mother got him a hotel room for the week and he had one more
night in the room. He was severely depressed and told me that he was now out of
choices. He said he had to do some boosting. Said he was going to do a CVS
where he had been caught two times before and arrested. The dude said “I don’t
have a choice”. I understood completely. I really wanted to try to talk some
sense into him, but realized where he was at and knew it futile to even
attempt. I told him to be careful, and it felt so shallow. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Please allow me to
continue explaining my views and experience on the benefits of panhandling to
society and myself. When panhandling the money is slow, but it does come,
sometimes sooner than others. By asking for help, I am not hurting anyone and
am breaking no laws of seriousness. Therefore I am not breaking into your home, or
stealing your car, I am not shoplifting or hurting anyone. I depend on the
kindness of you for help. There seems to be a lot of logic in this from where I
stand. I am in a constant struggle to arrest my addiction, but until that
happens, I do not want to hurt anyone by stealing. So I simply ask, and then it
is your choice. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What you see is a man who is bearing his impoverished soul, and
begging for help. PLEASE HELP ME. Do you realize how hard that is? To stand
there, knowing many folks look down on you, even despise you? They look at you
like a piece of garbage. Many will not even acknowledge your very existence. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But then there are the few who want to help another struggling human being.
They make you feel worthy and warm and show you that you matter. This is a
great experience for a panhandler. Today a young woman road by me on her bike.
As she rode by she said to me “I See You.” I was completely struck by her words
because for the past hour I had been quietly forming the words ‘Please See Me’
as folks would drive by me. I just wanted people to see me, and not ignore me
as if I didn’t matter at all. Of course no one could understand what I was
saying, except by maybe my look or body language. I wanted to matter to you.
You didn’t have to give me any money, just SEE ME. Tell me, I matter, Please.
None of this occurs when you're breaking into someone’s home. That mind and heart
set is dark and just the opposite of what I just described. This is my take on
panhandling and why you should acknowledge the person behind that HOMELESS sign.
Show compassion. At least wave. Look at them. Nod. My experience has brought me
to put great value on those simple expressions of kindness that cost you
nothing. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My friend and I worked for 4 hours and between us made $80.00, a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>$10.00 coffee shop gift card, a $10
supermarket gift card, a couple bags of chips and a couple beverages. It was
cold when we started out this morning at 9:00 am – 30 degrees, a little wind,
and high humidity. Standing for 4 hours is tough in this weather. We made an
agreement to stop at 1:00 pm and make our way home. (About 19 miles) </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have
been staying in my car. It is unregistered. I keep the car running as long as I
can to stay warm. But some nights, I just can’t afford the gas. So I bundle up
best I can. When we arrived back in our town, we got something to eat at
McDonalds and the went to buy some drugs. We saw a young Latino who we knew to be
a drug guy. As we were making the deal with him for $25, he pulled a gun and
robbed us of all we had just worked for. He robbed us of every penny we had. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After he ran off and disappeared, my friend began to weep. I was choked up.
Very angry. Realizing there was nothing two old guys could really do about it.
We quickly made a decision to head back to our panhandling spots. 19 miles
away. It felt like a hundred miles away. We were very cold and broke and not
feeling very good. We needed the drugs as much as we needed food and water and
a warm place to sit for a while. We could not afford that luxury. We got back
to our spot at 2:15 pm, we agreed to work until 4:00 pm. We met up at 4:15
pm, pooled our money and had another $80.00, It would have been an amazing day.
Enough where we wouldn’t have to have gone out for 1 day. But now its late and
I am so very tired. We will hit the road at 7:00 am tomorrow. Back to our spots
to live another day. Other than our friend dying and getting robbed, it was a
very ordinary day in the life of a panhandler.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Good Night<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Please See Me Tomorrow. </span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-73932862595674237762014-01-20T10:11:00.000-05:002014-01-20T10:11:14.364-05:00The Real Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUSs7jKcPEoPHyoYpeu72Sfm291NBAkS4cClcseHcENvC1TMLpYoLLlXP3dYdJgTjIsSwMF9MtGwS4B1HbrdmVvqLxNhx_PhhUIVJKhyphenhyphenzd_2mY0byT4TAp1HVV8_uXxI7G8r4kSCXUkk/s1600/AA-MLK-Civil-Rights-woman-arrested.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUSs7jKcPEoPHyoYpeu72Sfm291NBAkS4cClcseHcENvC1TMLpYoLLlXP3dYdJgTjIsSwMF9MtGwS4B1HbrdmVvqLxNhx_PhhUIVJKhyphenhyphenzd_2mY0byT4TAp1HVV8_uXxI7G8r4kSCXUkk/s1600/AA-MLK-Civil-Rights-woman-arrested.jpg" height="521" width="640" /></a></div>
By HamdenRice from the Daily Kos on August 29, 2011<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>We don't often reprint an entire article from another source, but this article, recommended by Martin F. Jones, reminds us of what we may have forgotten-- or may have never known at all.</i><br />
<br />
<div id="intro">
This will be a very short diary. It will not contain any links or
any scholarly references. It is about a very narrow topic, from a very
personal, subjective perspective.<br />
<br />
The topic at hand is what Martin Luther King actually did, what it was that he actually accomplished. <br />
<br />
The reason I'm posting this is because there were dueling diaries
over the weekend about Dr. King's legacy, and there is a diary up now
(not on the rec list but on the recent list) entitled, "Martin Luther
King, Jr.'s Dream Not Yet Realized." I'm sure the diarist means well as
did the others. But what most people who reference Dr. King seem not
to know is how Dr. King actually changed the subjective experience of
life in the United States for African Americans. And yeah, I said for
African Americans, not for Americans, because <strong><em>his main impact was his effect on the lives of African Americans, not on Americans in general</em></strong>. His <em><strong>main impact</strong></em>
was not to make white people nicer or fairer. That's why some of us
who are African Americans get a bit possessive about his legacy. Dr.
Martin Luther King's legacy, despite what our civil religion tells us,
is not color blind.<br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="divider-doodle">
</div>
I remember that many years ago, when I was a smart ass home from
first year of college, I was standing in the kitchen arguing with my
father. My head was full of newly discovered political ideologies and
black nationalism, and I had just read the Autobiography of Malcolm X,
probably for the second time. <br />
<br />
A bit of context. My father was from a background, which if we were
talking about Europe or Latin America, we would call, "peasant" origin,
although he had risen solidly into the working-middle class. He was
from rural Virginia and his parents had been tobacco farmers. I spent
two weeks or so every summer on the farm of my grandmother and step
grandfather. They had no running water, no gas, a wood burning stove,
no bathtubs or toilets but an outhouse, pot belly stoves for heat in the
winter, a giant wood pile, a smoke house where hams and bacon hung,
chickens, pigs, semi wild housecats that lived outdoors, no tractor or
car, but an old plow horse and plows and other horse drawn implements,
and electricity only after I was about 8 years old. The area did not
have high schools for blacks and my father went as far as the seventh
grade in a one room schoolhouse. All four of his grandparents, whom he
had known as a child, had been born slaves. It was mainly because of
World War II and urbanization that my father left that life. <br />
They lived in a valley or hollow or "holler" in which all the
landowners and tenants were black. In the morning if you wanted to talk
to cousin Taft, you would walk down to behind the outhouse and yell
across the valley, "Heeeyyyy Taaaaft," and you could see him far, far in
the distance, come out of his cabin and yell back. <br />
<br />
On the one hand, this was a pleasant situation because they lived in
isolation from white people. On the other hand, they did have to leave
the valley to go to town where all the rigid rules of Jim Crow applied.
By the time I was little, my people had been in this country for six
generations (going back, according to oral rendering of our genealogy,
to Africa Jones and Mama Suki), much more under slavery than under
freedom, and all of it under some form of racial terrorism, which had
inculcated many humiliating behavior patterns.<br />
Anyway that's background. I think we were kind of typical as African Americans in the pre Civil Rights era went.<br />
<br />
So anyway, I was having this argument with my father about Martin
Luther King and how his message was too conservative compared to Malcolm
X's message. My father got really angry at me. It wasn't that he
disliked Malcolm X, but his point was that Malcolm X hadn't accomplished
anything as Dr. King had. <br />
I was kind of sarcastic and asked something like, so what did Martin
Luther King accomplish other than giving his "I have a dream speech."<br />
<br />
Before I tell you what my father told me, I want to digress. Because
at this point in our amnesiac national existence, my question pretty
much reflects the national civic religion view of what Dr. King
accomplished. <strong><em>He gave this great speech</em></strong>. Or some people say, "<em><strong>he marched</strong></em>."
I was so angry at Mrs. Clinton during the primaries when she said that
Dr. King marched, but it was LBJ who delivered the Civil Rights Act.<br />
At this point, I would like to remind everyone exactly what Martin
Luther King did, and it wasn't that he "marched" or gave a great speech.<br />
<br />
My father told me with a sort of cold fury, <em><strong>"Dr. King ended the terror of living in the south."</strong></em><br />
<br />
Please let this sink in and and take my word and the word of my late
father on this. If you are a white person who has always lived in the
U.S. and never under a brutal dictatorship, you probably don't know what
my father was talking about. <br />
<br />
But this is what the great Dr. Martin Luther King accomplished. Not that he marched, nor that he gave speeches.<br />
<br />
He <strong>ended the terror of living as a black person</strong>, especially in the south.<br />
<br />
I'm guessing that most of you, especially those having come fresh
from seeing "The Help," may not understand what this was all about. But
living in the south (and in parts of the mid west and in many ghettos
of the north) was living under terrorism. <br />
<br />
<strong><em>It wasn't that black people had to use a separate drinking fountain</em></strong> or couldn't sit at lunch counters, or had to sit in the back of the bus. <br />
<br />
You really must disabuse yourself of this idea. Lunch counters and
buses were crucial symbolic planes of struggle that the civil rights
movement decided to use to dramatize the issue, but the main suffering
in the south did not come from our inability to drink from the same
fountain, ride in the front of the bus or eat lunch at Woolworth's.<br />
<br />
It was that white people, mostly white men, <strong><em>occasionally went berserk, and grabbed random black people, usually men, and lynched them</em></strong>.
You all know about lynching. But you may forget or not know that
white people also randomly beat black people, and the black people could
not fight back, for fear of even worse punishment. <br />
<br />
This constant low level dread of atavistic violence is what kept the
system running. It made life miserable, stressful and terrifying for
black people. <br />
<br />
White people also occasionally tried black people, especially black
men, for crimes for which they could not conceivably be guilty. With
the willing participation of white women, they often accused black men
of "assault," which could be anything from rape to not taking off one's
hat, to "reckless eyeballing." <br />
<br />
This is going to sound awful and perhaps a stain on my late father's
memory, but when I was little, before the civil rights movement, my
father taught me many, many humiliating practices in order to prevent
the random, terroristic, berserk behavior of white people. The one I
remember most is that when walking down the street in New York City side
by side, hand in hand with my hero-father, if a white woman approached
on the same sidewalk, I was to take off my hat and walk behind my
father, because he had been taught in the south that black males for
some reason were supposed to walk single file in the presence of any
white lady. <br />
This was just one of many humiliating practices we were taught to prevent white people from going berserk. <br />
I remember a huge family reunion one August with my aunts and uncles
and cousins gathered around my grandparent's vast breakfast table laden
with food from the farm, and the state troopers drove up to the house
with a car full of rifles and shotguns, and everyone went kind of
weirdly blank. They put on the masks that black people used back then
to not provoke white berserkness. My strong, valiant, self educated,
articulate uncles, whom I adored, became shuffling, Step-N-Fetchits to
avoid provoking the white men. Fortunately the troopers were only
looking for an escaped convict. Afterward, the women, my aunts, were
furious at the humiliating performance of the men, and said so,
something that even a child could understand.<br />
This is the climate of fear that Dr. King ended.<br />
<br />
If you didn't get taught such things, let alone experience them, I
caution you against invoking the memory of Dr. King as though he belongs
exclusively to you and not primarily to African Americans.<br />
<br />
The question is, how did Dr. King do this -- and of course, he didn't do it alone. <br />
<br />
(Of all the other civil rights leaders who helped Dr. King end this
reign of terror, I think the most under appreciated is James Farmer, who
founded the Congress of Racial Equality and was a leader of non-violent
resistance, and taught the practices of non violent resistance.)<br />
<br />
So what did they do?<br />
<br />
They told us: -- <em><strong>whatever you are most afraid of</strong></em>
doing vis a vis white people, go do it. Go ahead down to city hall and
try to register to vote, even if they say no, even if they take your
name down. <br />
<br />
Go ahead sit at that lunch counter. Sue the local school board. All things that most black people would have said back then, <em><strong>without exaggeration</strong></em>, were stark raving insane and would get you killed.<br />
<br />
If we do it all together, we'll be OK.<br />
<br />
They made black people experience the worst of the worst,
collectively, that white people could dish out, and discover that it
wasn't that bad. <em><strong>They taught black people how to take a beating</strong></em>
-- from the southern cops, from police dogs, from fire department
hoses. They actually coached young people how to crouch, cover their
heads with their arms and <strong><em>take the beating</em></strong>. They taught people how to go to jail, which terrified most decent people.<br />
<br />
And you know what? The worst of the worst, wasn't that bad. <br />
<br />
Once people had been beaten, had dogs sicked on them, had fire hoses
sprayed on them, and been thrown in jail, you know what happened?<br />
<br />
These magnificent young black people began singing freedom songs in jail. <br />
<br />
That, my friends, is what ended the terrorism of the south.
Confronting your worst fears, living through it, and breaking out in a
deep throated freedom song. The jailers knew they had lost when they
beat the crap out of these young Negroes and the jailed, beaten young
people began to sing joyously, first in one town then in another. This
is what the writer, James Baldwin, captured like no other writer of the
era.<br />
<br />
Please let this sink in. It wasn't marches or speeches. It was
taking a severe beating, surviving and realizing that our fears were
mostly illusory and that we were free.<br />
<br />
So yes, Dr. King had many other goals, many other more transcendent,
non-racial, policy goals, goals that apply to white people too, like
ending poverty, reducing the war like aspects of our foreign policy,
promoting the New Deal goal of universal employment, and so on. But his
main accomplishment was <em><strong>ending 200 years of racial terrorism</strong>,</em> by getting black people to confront their fears. <strong><em>So please don't tell me that Martin Luther King's dream has not been achieved</em></strong>,
unless you knew what racial terrorism was like back then and can make a
convincing case you still feel it today. If you did not go through
that transition, you're not qualified to say that the dream was not
accomplished.<br />
<br />
That is what Dr. King did -- not march, not give good speeches. He crisscrossed the south organizing people, <em><strong>helping them not be afraid</strong></em>, and encouraging them, <strong><em>like Gandhi did in India, to take the beating</em></strong> that they had been trying to avoid all their lives.<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Once the beating was over, we were free</em></strong>.<br />
<br />
It wasn't the Civil Rights Act, or the Voting Rights Act or the Fair Housing Act that freed us. It was <strong><em>taking the beating and thereafter not being afraid</em></strong>.
So, sorry Mrs. Clinton, as much as I admire you, you were wrong on
this one. Our people freed ourselves and those Acts, as important as
they were, were only white people officially recognizing what we had
done.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-2528182297605964662014-01-14T14:42:00.000-05:002014-01-14T14:45:18.076-05:00Activists (our own Ellen!) Occupy National Museum of American History — Install Torture Exhibit to Mark Guantánamo Anniversary<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcGXuCokE3l_dSW3j6eI_OjhL8Ko1AKBbVDptcoXg92B3QThe9_CQw_g1hJH12pZFu5cg8_N1o4CFdTcQEKctThavv4305UVqXuY60v96Ld8y3vYoaLSrK_iXdJCsO7i9zBHbCQ3M1TU/s1600/guantanamo+ellen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcGXuCokE3l_dSW3j6eI_OjhL8Ko1AKBbVDptcoXg92B3QThe9_CQw_g1hJH12pZFu5cg8_N1o4CFdTcQEKctThavv4305UVqXuY60v96Ld8y3vYoaLSrK_iXdJCsO7i9zBHbCQ3M1TU/s640/guantanamo+ellen.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 24.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Vowing to “Make Guantanamo History,”
human rights advocates from around the country marked the beginning of the
thirteenth year of torture and indefinite detention at the prison camp with a
dramatic protest at the National Museum of American History. 150 activists
occupied the atrium of the crowded museum for more than two hours, speaking out
against torture and calling for Guantanamo to close.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The activists hung banners, stood in
stress positions in hoods and jumpsuits, spoke to the tourists, and with their
bodies and voices revised the museum’s “Price of Freedom” exhibit to include
twelve years of torture and indefinite detention as the bitter cost of
the United States’ misguided pursuit of “national security.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In a booming chorus, members of
Witness Against Torture and other groups read from a statement that<b> </b>closed
with the lines: “to honor freedom and justice and the struggles of Americans
for these things, we must end torture, close the prison and make Guantanamo
history.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chantal deAlcuaz, a Witness Against
Torture activist from Anchorage, Alaska spent the two hours in an orange
jumpsuit and black hood. She reflected that: “We came here today because we
want to see Guantanamo relegated to a museum — to be shuttered and condemned,
but also understood as an example of where fear, hatred and violence can take
us.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The museum protest followed a robust
and spirited rally at the White House that featured speeches from grassroots
activists, Guantanamo attorneys and representatives of national human rights
organizations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It was so great to see the spirit
of hope at the White House, in the streets of DC and at the museum,” said Chris
Knestrick, a divinity student form Chicago. “We definitely moved closer to our
goal of closing Guantanamo today. And the work will continue!!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since Monday, January 6, Witness
Against Torture activists from throughout the country have gathered in
Washington, D.C. to engage in street theater, demonstrations, fasting and
direct action to demand that Guantanamo be closed immediately. There were
also anti-Guantanamo protests and vigils throughout the country, including in Los
Angeles, CA, Boston MA, Chicago IL, Santa Monica, CA Erie, PA, and Cleveland,
OH.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Witness Against Torture</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is a grassroots movement that came into being in
December 2005 when 24 activists walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners and
condemn torture policies. Since then, it has engaged in public education,
community outreach, and non-violent direct action. January 2014 is the eighth
year the group has gathered annually in Washington, DC to call for justice and
accountability. To learn more, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.witnesstorture.org%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEehDyK1ELu5R52qU8hdMLd6zRoHQ" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">www.witnesstorture.org</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday, January 11, 2014: FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br />
PRESS CONTACTS:<br />
Jeremy Varon, 732-979-3119, <a href="mailto:jvaron@aol.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">jvaron@ aol.com<br />
</span></a>Frida Berrigan, 860-389-8566, <a href="mailto:frida.berrigan@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">frida.
berrigan@gmail.com</span></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-89307427429798334492014-01-09T16:45:00.001-05:002014-01-09T16:45:19.596-05:00<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" style="text-align: center;">
WE NEED YOUR HELP! FAMILY HOMELESSNESS IS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH.</div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" style="text-align: center;">
IT'S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" style="text-align: center;">
WE NEED YOUR HEL0P NOW!</div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
Call your elected officials and ask them to
request an investment of at least $87.5 million in the Massachusetts Rental
Voucher Program (MRVP) as well as a modest reform to the Emergency Assistance
(EA) shelter safety net in the Governor’s FY 15 Budget Proposal. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C3XRU2eYdHRZzaJCwWbUORHWfAkEwfizjBp4nKgLZR8a38Cne0Bn01xcTfRMjLgPHp_gFdA063TBsFKETMJbGUs0AAs-I15RTlTOHevoaFdWlzNGHKEEIZ-bd5pTXhFspENi0wjKdZyt/s1600/New+Picture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C3XRU2eYdHRZzaJCwWbUORHWfAkEwfizjBp4nKgLZR8a38Cne0Bn01xcTfRMjLgPHp_gFdA063TBsFKETMJbGUs0AAs-I15RTlTOHevoaFdWlzNGHKEEIZ-bd5pTXhFspENi0wjKdZyt/s1600/New+Picture.png" height="312" width="320" /></a>The final FY 14 budget funded MRVP at $57.5
million, a $15.5 million increase from FY13, providing vouchers to an
additional 1,000 families across the Commonwealth. This was a much needed
investment and yet if we are to address the growing family homelessness crisis
in the state in a meaningful way, we must take sustained and significant steps
to expand investment in MRVP and other forms of permanent, affordable housing
for our lowest income residents. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
Family homelessness in Massachusetts is at an
all-time high, with over 4,000 families currently living in shelter and many
more in unsafe or unstable double-up situations. The single most significant
cause of family homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
We have witnessed first-hand the devastating
human and economic consequences of the current family homelessness crisis. It
is well-established fact that homeless children, as compared to their housed
peers, have:</div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"> </span>higher
rates of acute and chronic illness, </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3106" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3105"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3104"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>more
nutritional deficiencies like iron deficiency anemia, </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3103" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3102"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3101"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>greater
rates of hunger, </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3099" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3098"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3100"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"> </span></span></span>higher
rates of developmental delays and </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3097" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3096"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;">
</span></span>more difficulty focusing in school, if they make it to school at
all, resulting in risks of repeating years in school.</div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3097" style="margin-left: .75in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
Worse, placing families in motels and shelters
costs more – approximately $3000 per month –as compared with funding an MRVP
voucher which costs just $1028 per family per month. And long term, the costs
of family homelessness – in health care, education, public benefits, and to
society at large – are substantial. While we must continue to fully fund EA
shelter, since it is such a critical safety net while so many families are
homeless and at risk of homelessness, we must also substantially increase our
investment in permanent, affordable housing if the need for shelter is to
decrease. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i96qfgfpzhlO1TtzAuQg6TmStn-85fYh8_cb84Edmo4CCWC2O3Qw_rlW8B7-DnRqle50q50-2OgLLjbPdvqTiRBGovuWH8Khd18KnKhenkrSev4LDirKH_AEX_IgpvVygI5f5ABkYcKO/s1600/New+Picture+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4i96qfgfpzhlO1TtzAuQg6TmStn-85fYh8_cb84Edmo4CCWC2O3Qw_rlW8B7-DnRqle50q50-2OgLLjbPdvqTiRBGovuWH8Khd18KnKhenkrSev4LDirKH_AEX_IgpvVygI5f5ABkYcKO/s1600/New+Picture+%25281%2529.png" height="213" width="320" /></a>We are asking for a proposed investment of at
minimum $87.5 million in the MRVP line item in the Governor’s FY15 Budget
Proposal. This would be a $30 million increase over the FY14 investment, and
would create between 2,000 and 3,000 additional vouchers. Permanent, affordable
housing is the centerpiece to child health and a stable education and has a proven
record in contributing to substantial long term cost savings.</div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
At the same time, we know that families
experiencing homelessness need access to emergency shelter until they are able
to secure permanent housing and we are very concerned that many families cannot
now qualify for EA unless and until they have had no choice but to stay in a
place not meant for human habitation. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
The lack of this protection is putting a
strain on our medical, educational and social systems. Families in dire straits
sometimes have to resort to staying in the emergency room when they’ve been
denied shelter and have no other housing options, thereby driving up medical
costs. The educators among us have noticed students out of school as their
families bounce around from place to place, and have had to take time away from
teaching to address the homelessness crises of our students. </div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
We are asking you our elected officials to request
that the Governor's proposal slightly expand eligibility for EA shelter to
families who provide credible information that they are within 24 hours of
having to stay in a place not meant for human habitation with their children.
This should increase cost very little, if anything because these families are
qualifying for shelter now but only after having had to go through the trauma
of staying in places not meant for human habitation. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupy_2ZkrqmX7BVQMR1qK0wLRx6U5TDqhLOgxz2sw_j2uXm5h7vIsugZm-ja9m4SMsH37xdfvm9hxSwF3fA7Nc6UJVvj-rItmmehlvWl1tNB03ApE-wokyS0F2Bqz_Ny_hx32WFqs2b3hQ/s1600/New+Picture+(2).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupy_2ZkrqmX7BVQMR1qK0wLRx6U5TDqhLOgxz2sw_j2uXm5h7vIsugZm-ja9m4SMsH37xdfvm9hxSwF3fA7Nc6UJVvj-rItmmehlvWl1tNB03ApE-wokyS0F2Bqz_Ny_hx32WFqs2b3hQ/s1600/New+Picture+(2).png" height="263" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0929880920msonormal" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389296324814_3047">
We
ask you to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>urge the administration to
take this step to ensure that children are kept safe and off the streets while
simultaneously setting a strong precedent toward ending family homelessness by
proposing to fund the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program at $87.</div>
5 million or
higher.<br />
Arise for Social Justicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11502055832666259625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-34516045584699084282014-01-01T13:34:00.003-05:002014-01-01T13:34:38.897-05:00Notes on pandhandling from a friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYYb8JAnJMb-8-GZjm3N5S5xiAB0zIQlN5AwDeMDDNhL21ZxQkUJW_SMr2R_HYhGSKH-tYekuAvxgD9HcameC4dl2pnc2WVdG2VGYXGazlOD7lG3tr11KZk78AvNfgiG7IvU94Sk75ok/s1600/panhandler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYYb8JAnJMb-8-GZjm3N5S5xiAB0zIQlN5AwDeMDDNhL21ZxQkUJW_SMr2R_HYhGSKH-tYekuAvxgD9HcameC4dl2pnc2WVdG2VGYXGazlOD7lG3tr11KZk78AvNfgiG7IvU94Sk75ok/s400/panhandler.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>I have never had to survive from panhandling before, but </b><b><b>I have discovered many things about people while doing it. </b></b><br />
<br />
<b>First, it's
the poor who help the poor. That surprised me. It's not the brand new
Cadillac with a well dressed couple. It's the older model mini van with 3
kids in the back. </b><br />
<br />
<b>Begging makes folks uncomfortable. Eye contact is
intensely avoided. Smiles are hard to get. Children get confused, but
always smile. </b><br />
<br />
<b>People spit on panhandlers. I'm not sure I understand
that. On the other hand, folks are incredibly kind. I had a young woman
give me half of her ham sandwich. I had another couple who saw me and
then went to D & D and brought me back a hot coffee and a donut. It
was about 10 degrees and windy that day. I had a Youngman who stopped
and prayed for me and then gave me his change. This one woman who I
noticed each day walking by me stopped one day and told me she had been
watching me. She had noticed that very few folks stopped to help. We
talked for 10 minuets and then she gave me $20.</b><br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr">
<b>I read something the other day that helps me when I am at my lowest, when no one stops for an hour or so: "It is a beggar's pride that he is
not a thief."</b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b> </b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b>I have lived the life of a thief. It hurt a lot of folks.
It darkens the soul. It becomes impossible to look at others because of
shame.</b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b> </b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b><b>It is very hard for me to ask for money, but w</b>hat I have been doing to get money
does not hurt folks. I
sincerely wear a face of gratitude. I take no more than I need. I share
what I can.</b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b> </b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b>There is a lot to this story. I
have just begun to write about it. It is another world. The comradely
feeling amongst others doing what I do, is strong.</b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b> </b></div>
<div dir="ltr">
<b>Ill keep you posted as I trudge this road for now.</b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-21646918281011989002013-12-14T09:21:00.003-05:002013-12-14T09:21:54.131-05:00An unfortunate racial incident as related by Martin Jones<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">An Unfortunate Racial
Incident
At Bruegger's Bagels in Northampton, Massachusetts</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk9ocS39B9uLMR94HM3OI5oXBSuEVdDqd9KaUosW3Wi2eeqYW4ZMTQnKUt3isSzcDMgMVfyD19nBnhzdDYk3ny1NNoz6B61Y-qMVm-2DeYx7XCExTEEJiFIDyU9TWguv4TSSarRU0wXA/s1600/nelson1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk9ocS39B9uLMR94HM3OI5oXBSuEVdDqd9KaUosW3Wi2eeqYW4ZMTQnKUt3isSzcDMgMVfyD19nBnhzdDYk3ny1NNoz6B61Y-qMVm-2DeYx7XCExTEEJiFIDyU9TWguv4TSSarRU0wXA/s1600/nelson1.JPG" /></a></div>
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">A black man was
ordered to leave the premises under threat of arrest after the
management angrily confronted him and said he couldn't stay there all
day without making a purchase. He had just arrived and was trying to
link his laptop to the Wi-fi before settling in. On past occasions he
had been unable to access the wireless service and he wanted to make
sure it was working. If it worked, he would stay and make a purchase. If
it did not work, he would leave. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">The management pointed out that there were other places he could go and
that there were families who came there. Apparently, the families were a
factor in the matter. Apparently, the management had hoped that he had
initially chosen another coffee shop and never came there in the first
place. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">Within seconds after telling him he had to make a purchase, she came
back and told him to just leave and furthermore, she would not allow him
to make a purchase. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">What she did not realize is that the black man was startled and had been
taken aback by the confrontation which she initiated. It was
characterized by her angry, aggressive and threatening posture towards
him and he was at first understandably reluctant to immediately approach
her thereafter in the process of ordering and making a purchase. So he
paused and took a minute to regain his composure while waiting for his
computer to link with the wireless service. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null"> If the hesitation was construed as defiance, it was probably due in no
small part to the common and widely</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikc9-QRQUlIMqAzYIOoWicV4Vwi5wLKGTvHvVNTXmCk_abFMl86-z2XXmChoJedC9LPZxbVm9jLFbZU2ahLco9ZIoDvanL_c7Kob0AUN5t3amGCRY2U8wOXTJvXYtQMukAT81QuBc9n5s/s1600/nelson_mandela3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikc9-QRQUlIMqAzYIOoWicV4Vwi5wLKGTvHvVNTXmCk_abFMl86-z2XXmChoJedC9LPZxbVm9jLFbZU2ahLco9ZIoDvanL_c7Kob0AUN5t3amGCRY2U8wOXTJvXYtQMukAT81QuBc9n5s/s400/nelson_mandela3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
preconceived expectation that black
men are violent troublemakers.<br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">She was obviously certain that he was a homeless man who had just left
the overnight shelter that closes every day in the early morning,
discharging the homeless guests who have to spend the day seeking places
to go to escape the harsh winter weather. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">What she did not know was that the black man was not a transient, but a
years-long resident of the city and a well-known local musician who was
only there at the early hour because of a once-in-a-lifetime event that
was occurring overseas at that very moment in Johannesburg, South
Africa: the funeral of Nelson Mandela. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">World leaders from dozens of countries had traveled from around the
globe to pay tribute to the hero of the anti-apartheid struggle in South
Africa. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">The event's featured speaker was none other than Barack Obama, the first
black president of the United States. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">The black man nonetheless found himself barred from access to that event
under circumstances which led him to believe that his race made him an
unwelcome element at the bagel shop where he had hoped to watch the live
coverage of Mandela's memorial service online.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null"> He ultimately resolved to put the ordeal behind him and left the
establishment after the manager rebuffed his belated attempt to purchase
a cup of coffee. Instead, she placed an imaginary phone call to the
local police department and no officers would arrive there until being
asked to do so by the very same black man who had subsequently
encountered them getting coffee at a Starbucks down the street. After
hearing the black man's story and confirming that no police call had
actually been made, they agreed to grant his request that they go back
to the bagel shop and relay to the manager on his behalf the explanation
that he was never allowed to give in his own words. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null"> The black man was left feeling emotionally devastated by the experience,
coming at such a poignant moment in history. He eventually decided that
there would be no further action from him on the matter, except to
never venture into that business again. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">Any attempt to peacefully resolve the situation would likely be viewed
as threatening and result in the engagement of more law enforcement. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">The black man has now retreated to the solitude of his home, which
unfortunately is beginning to feel like a prison cell. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3Cbz-S4Pe49uAcoTPZFefvnqcXCU2QLy_W0msyVlxNj2fjtj4BgJhfd7KWE76whZc1_f5ay4MHrxmyZtHKUOD-dpXNNuvBgDfZ1TT2xhnHSEaBVnChp2mln6Olfvf7Nqiog2Z5NYH_I/s1600/racial+equality.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3Cbz-S4Pe49uAcoTPZFefvnqcXCU2QLy_W0msyVlxNj2fjtj4BgJhfd7KWE76whZc1_f5ay4MHrxmyZtHKUOD-dpXNNuvBgDfZ1TT2xhnHSEaBVnChp2mln6Olfvf7Nqiog2Z5NYH_I/s400/racial+equality.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">How truly appropriate indeed it all is, happening on this of all days
when such a towering giant of freedom and justice as the great Nelson
Mandela is being laid to rest. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">Let us all hope that the struggle does not die with him. It is pointedly
clear that the fight against racism continues and must be carried
onward with courage, grace and dignity. </span></span><br />
<span data-measureme="1"><span class="null">Martin Jones</span></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-11430469622330392292013-11-19T00:33:00.000-05:002013-11-19T08:15:59.596-05:00Nobody wants these two beautiful children<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MtnX63cLUed2GjY8ICvQ51aDx-TeA8QdAM4hAsKNNvggmXQKr-5K-YUUhf7DwvF1zK5hgUpRdpuh7At3VTCp7ofJ8JiMiTuZpryPe00OA2ZY4PvykoOcd7fGvxkGcwVShIzt-Z0DRSo/s1600/homeless+girl.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3MtnX63cLUed2GjY8ICvQ51aDx-TeA8QdAM4hAsKNNvggmXQKr-5K-YUUhf7DwvF1zK5hgUpRdpuh7At3VTCp7ofJ8JiMiTuZpryPe00OA2ZY4PvykoOcd7fGvxkGcwVShIzt-Z0DRSo/s320/homeless+girl.jpeg" title="" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've been wanting to write about the Jobs With Justice 20th Anniversary event last Thursday, and also about the death of one of Arise's founders, which I found out about at the JwJ event, and I will, but first I want to write about the two beautiful homeless children who had been sleeping in the girl's father's car before they came to Arise today.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope they will forgive me for calling them children-- legally they are, not yet being eighteen. But they just<i> felt </i>so young and fragile to me-- no flesh on their bones. I couldn't take my eyes off them. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
They were brought to Arise by a friend, Carlos, who has been volunteering with us.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"This is Mia and Alex," he says. "They're homeless and they've been sleeping in a car. They're seventeen, boyfriend and girlfriend. . I told them to come to Arise because I knew you guys could help them."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My heart sinks. The last thing we can ever do is <i>promise</i> someone we can find them shelter. But we can at least listen and then do our best.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I talk to Alex first.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"Where were you living before you became homeless?" I ask..</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was in DCF custody." (That's the Dept. of Families and Children.)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"Don't they have a program for young people who are aging out of the system?"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"F**k them!" he said. "DCF totally screwed up my life. I don't wanna have anything to do with them." I decided not to push,, because I did once help a young woman to get back under DCF supervision (not easy) but now was not the time.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"Do you have any family in the area?"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"No, I've been in the system since I was one. " he says Long pause. "You just can't imagine. I've been beaten, I've been burned, I was almost molested. DCF totally screwed me."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Next I talk to Mia.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"How did you become homeless?" I ask.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"My mom's new husband-- my stepfather-- is very strict," she says. "He has a lot of rules, and I got kicked out."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We keep talking and she tells me that not too long ago, she was living in a domestic violence shelter with her mother. I can't help wondering if her mom is now in a similar relationship to the one that brought her into shelter..</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"You guys have a car?"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"No, we've been sleeping in my father's car. He'd like to let us stay there, but his new girlfriend says no."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"Have you tried Worthington St. Shelter?"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"We did, but they told us we couldn't stay there because we're not eighteen, and they have lots of pedophiles there and stuff, and it wouldn't be good for us." Damn, I'd forgotten. (And where did Worthington St. refer them, if anywhere, I wonder?)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Next a couple of hours of leaving phone messages and getting callbacks. Might they be eligible for EAEDC, a small income of about $300 a month for Elders, the Disabled, and Children? Maybe if they can get into the educational programs at Mass Rehab. Food Stamps? Mia tells me that her mom is still receiving welfare for her, and she's still in the mom's food stamp budget-- is there any way <i>she</i> can get that money? Food stamps yes, cash assistance no. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Then calls to the only two teen shelters I know about-- SHINE at Gandara, but they are full, as usual, and the Safety Zone at the Center for Human Development, where there uis a glimmer of hope. The woman I spoke with says she'll make some calls and see what she could do. The teens CHD serves, those ages 14 to 17 are placed in a home with a family-- food, showers, a bed of their own-- but only for 21 days and, of course, not together. My guess (but I'll find out) is that they provide some case management, but she also asks me if we will continue to work with them. I say yes, and start wondering who might have a room in their house they'd let Mia and Alex stay in? </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
While Mia and Alex and I are waiting for CHD to call back, they make themselves something to eat in the back office (thank you, the person who brought the canned ravioli in today) and then they help staple copies of our Homeless Persons' Survival Guide. They get to talk to some of the people sitting around our big table, and help staple copies of our Homeless Persons' Survival Guide. I hear someone saying to Mia, "Well, at least you don't have any kids, and you're not pregnant. Stay that way!"</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
CHD calls back; the woman has found places for both of them. Thank you! Can I get them to West Springfield by 3:30? Yes, I can. Mia and Alex are happy but also apprehensive.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We drive first to their father's car, where they have a few bags of clothes in the trunk, and then toward CHD. Alex sees someone pushing a shopping cart full of cans. "That's what Mia and I were doing in Hartford, to get food," he says. The we arrive at CHD, where we wait a little awkwardly in the waiting room for the woman I've spoken with to come down. There's an older Latina also waiting, who I only realize later is probably from one of the host families.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"Do you guys speak Spanish?" I ask.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"I do," Alex says, "her, not so much." Mia smiles and shrugs a bit.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The CHD woman comes down. We introduce ourselves and shake hands. She shakes hands with Mia and Alex. Then she says to me, "We can take it from here."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I feel a both a pang and a sense of relief. .The three of us hug and they both say they'll keep in touch-- might even come see us every day. I've given them $10 each so they'll have a bit of bus fare and can call each other. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
When I get back to the office, Carlos says, "I <i>knew</i> this was the right place to bring them! I knew you could help them."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
"It was luck," I say. "I just made phone calls." And that's what it was, pure and simple-- luck. We know too well how easily it could have gone the other way. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Mia and Alex: struggling to overcome broken families, broken promises, broken communities, broken economy.. At seventeen they are pretty much blameless for the situation in which they find themselves. But in six or seven years, if life doesn't quite measure up to the dreams Mia and Alex have right now, if getting out of homelessness and finding a place where the ground doesn't move under them somehow continues to elude them, then there will be plenty of people to judge them and talk about all their bad choices and how they could get ahead if they really wanted to.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I hope we see them again. I hope they become part of our family. But whatever happens, I wish them well..</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-51087406932050656152013-11-13T17:07:00.003-05:002013-11-13T17:10:20.762-05:00If even white guys are coming here.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aQtr0wzqs6xbuNqx4RA0EKd7W-ku5SGBwjjfh2dCd-GoZsLEi4W89sCIJrK8h-b0YWKqAOLqnnDM7XnvWbi5Vge5KZuafdqPvoMWcmnUo7ufwv2w8ZMTKL6nsW5Z2MGKhWtq8BfWY2U/s1600/econo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aQtr0wzqs6xbuNqx4RA0EKd7W-ku5SGBwjjfh2dCd-GoZsLEi4W89sCIJrK8h-b0YWKqAOLqnnDM7XnvWbi5Vge5KZuafdqPvoMWcmnUo7ufwv2w8ZMTKL6nsW5Z2MGKhWtq8BfWY2U/s400/econo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
"Things must be getting bad out here," Jackie said, "if even white working guys are coming here for help."<br />
<br />
Jackie was commenting on a guy who was working, but only part-time, who was looking for a room to rent-- under $400 a month, please-- because he's being put out of the room he's been renting in someone's house. <br />
<br />
She should have been here a few minutes ago, when a white guy <i>in a suit</i> came in to get one of our food pantry brochures.<br />
<br />
The first couple of hours of today were relatively quiet but of course by 11 am., it was pretty non-stop.<br />
<br />
We talked to three families today who have been determined to be not eligible for emergency shelter-- not, of course, that that makes them any less homeless.<br />
-- A single dad with a 16 month old daughter who left shelter on January 31st, and won't be eligible until a year has passed. (White.)<br />
-- A single mom with a 3 year old boy who left shelter 5 months ago after being assaulted by another resident. Not eligible. (White.)<br />
-- A single dad with three kids who is working fulltime but lost his apartment after an illness. He's sleeping in his car while the kids stay with his ex-girlfriend, who keeps saying, "When are you getting these kids out of here?" He's over-income for shelter.<br />
<br />
We tell them what we can.....one of our members took the woman with the 3 year old home for the night.<br />
<br />
Carl came in. He was hit with a brick two days ago when out on the street and his assailant stole $9, all that he had. He had a concussion but no money for the prescriptions given him.<br />
<br />
So what is to be done? I've been working on the Freedom of Information Request to the state to get information about how many people have been banned by Friends of the Homeless who may be out on the street. And <i>huge</i> numbers of families have no place to go. But nobody wants to help them, because they can't get paid by the state to do it.<br />
<br />
Got a few other things done. Members and volunteers made more copies of our Homeless Survival Guide. We made outreach calls for Ayyub's next court appearance on Friday. I'm going to the Indian Orchard Citizens Council meeting to talk about Solutia and air pollution.<br />
<br />
The photo is from our demonstration at the Econolodge last Friday.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-73666201787062010492013-11-07T08:54:00.002-05:002013-11-07T08:54:40.325-05:00A rat in the pool: Does protesting injustice make a difference?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hnVY5m_b54O3M5N4xZV6T24Z6X6Ss2MuxtZAlg2qSBjcQHlaH8itg52vUpqk4OS0HsqJWPWMLe5E-hjJz19XWQkv7ymo8IEXyjBhjeN5TyrH4LOm_E1sTvPvYfXp7dR5_3Mmo2VFHJ0/s1600/100_1435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9hnVY5m_b54O3M5N4xZV6T24Z6X6Ss2MuxtZAlg2qSBjcQHlaH8itg52vUpqk4OS0HsqJWPWMLe5E-hjJz19XWQkv7ymo8IEXyjBhjeN5TyrH4LOm_E1sTvPvYfXp7dR5_3Mmo2VFHJ0/s400/100_1435.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
A few things of note from yesterday:<br />
<br />
I missed a call from a woman from the Econolodge welfare motel, who had just taken a photo of a rat in the motel's swimming pool......I hope to reach her today and will post her photo if I can.<br />
<br />
Then we got a call from the Chicopee Police Department-- it was pretty noisy in the office, but I'm pretty sure the caller said he was Police Chief Charette. He wanted to let us know that the Econolodge owner had called and, not surprisingly, we are NOT allowed on the Econolodge property. The chief was concerned about where we would stand for our protest, as the street is very busy and there is no sidewalk. He said the owner felt like he was being unfairly targeted. He said the owner has plans to tear down the motel and build a Comfort Inn. More power to him.<br />
<br />
Of course the Econolodge is not our <i>primary</i> target-- it's the head in the sand homeless and housing policy of the Department of Housing and Community Development. It's always tricky protesting a welfare motel, because the last thing we want to have happen is for DHCD to close motels as long as they are needed. This is what happened two years ago (<i>not</i> as a result of protests) when DHCD policies about shelter eligibility lead to a denial rate of homeless families of about 60%. (We'll have to make sure we ask for the current denial rate in our FOIA request.) But assuming for a moment that the denial rate is the same, and knowing there are about 4,200 families in shelters and motels, then we can assume there are close to 11,000 homeless families in Massachusetts.You understand that DHCD is not saying these families aren't homeless-- just that they don't meet the eligibility criteria.<br />
<br />
We did hear yesterday that 100 new shelter beds are coming online in Western Mass, to be managed by the Center for Human Development and the New England Farmworkers Council. That's good news. But it's still a bandaid on a bandaid. If we can't stop the market trend of ever-increasing rents, then we're going to need <i>permanent </i>subsidies and massive investment in new housing.<br />
<br />
Last but scarcely least, we got a call yesterday from staff at Worthington St. Shelter, saying they had "good news" for Lisa, and that she should get in touch. Now all we have to do is find her.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-68136984916549515622013-11-05T22:07:00.002-05:002013-11-05T22:07:18.264-05:00Worthington St. Shelter put Lisa's life at risk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcO5baCgRv6r_PAHijZNs9XKDEfLBSzhS57zrGMOSdIMu-uW4-hKBv3HhntJo1VRnu-rF6bj9sxALvNWtWLKlUhp3puriLHM22ohXpRXqbp9kvuA66KJg8dgQWwqav7TQQeWtWyNtyI9I/s1600/Homeless_woman_in_Washington,_D.C..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcO5baCgRv6r_PAHijZNs9XKDEfLBSzhS57zrGMOSdIMu-uW4-hKBv3HhntJo1VRnu-rF6bj9sxALvNWtWLKlUhp3puriLHM22ohXpRXqbp9kvuA66KJg8dgQWwqav7TQQeWtWyNtyI9I/s320/Homeless_woman_in_Washington,_D.C..jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I said in my last post that we'd been worried about Lisa, a homeless woman we hadn't seen in nearly a week. At 5 pm today she came to the Arise office. She was crying, saying she was not doing too good. I asked where she'd been staying and she said, "On the street." <br />
<br />
Jackie said she'd call Worthington St. Shelter and plead for them to let her in.<br />
<br />
"They won't let me in," Lisa said, "because the police brought me there last night at midnight and they turned me away anyway. Worthington said I was banned."<br />
<br />
"Why did they say you are you banned, Lisa?"<br />
<br />
"Because I stole a scoop of Cremora when I was there a month ago."<br />
<br />
What I knew had happened a month ago was that she had applied to get in, but staff told her she would have to go to detox first. So she'd spent the whole of the next day at our office, calling detox every hour, as she'd been directed, but they never had a bed for her. I emailed Bill Miller, Director, about her to ask why she couldn't stay at the shelter and make her calls to detox from there? Bill said that was entirely possible-- and yet, she was still being turned away.<br />
<br />
Sure enough, when Jackie called, staff said her case was "under review" but that she was still banned.<br />
<br />
We still had a lot of folks still in the office. Carl, the guy sleeping under a bridge, had turned up about 4 pm., bringing a young homeless woman with him. They were hungry. Fortunately, Cynthia Melcher had brought us some food earlier in the day, so they cooked something up on the hotplate in our back office. Two of our members were there, and they both took me aside and asked what I thought of their taking Carl, Lisa and Carl's friend home with them for the night. (This could be a long discussion, but on a night when the temperature will fall to the low 30's, there is only a short answer.)<br />
<br />
Lisa had fallen asleep sitting up in a chair and for a while had been snoring deeply. But when I went to shake her awake and tell her the good news, I couldn't rouse her. I wasn't even sure she was breathing!<br />
<br />
Folks rallied around while I called 911, who connected me with the ambulance service. Via instructions from the dispatcher, we got her on the floor, determined she was breathing although shallowly, and then she started to cough, deep and phlegmy, and rolled on her side. When the paramedics arrived, they managed to get her to her feet and they walked to the ambulance. <br />
<br />
I thought, at least she'll have a place to sleep tonight. I thought, what if she hadn't come here and had gone to some doorway in the city-- would she have been alive tomorrow? I realized my blood was boiling; in fact, the office was full of concerned, angry people. <br />
<br />
I asked Liz what I could possibly say to Worthington St. shelter staff that wouldn't get me accused of making a threat. She suggested I phone in a report on the status of Lisa. So I did. All I said was, "I am calling to give you a status update on Lisa, the woman you turned away from shelter tonight. She collapsed in our office and was taken away by ambulance. You understand, this is the woman you turned away. She could have died." They hung up on me-- it must have been the barely controlled rage in my voice. <br />
<br />
Earlier today I talked with a Worthington St. resident who said things were rotten at Worthington-- that favoritism was rampant, that Worthington only wanted "the cream of the crop" of homeless people, that people were turned away night after night. He and I will talk more later this week.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
~~~~~~~~~~~~ </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Rose Evans at the <span class="st">Division of Housing Stabilization at DHCD did, indeed, call me back today. She told me that if I wanted information about the number of people on Worthington St.'s banned list, i would have to submit a Freedom of Information request. She said it was their policy.. I said, wasn't it more costly and staff-intensive to use a FOIA, instead of just giving me the information? She said it was their policy. I asked if, by the way, she could give me the figure for the number of families in shelter? (I know the motel numbers because they are posted on the DHCD website; as of Tuesday night, 2,120 families were in motels.) She said if I wanted that information, to put it in a FOIA, which is really ridiculous, because it's pretty common knowledge among providers that the number of families in shelters about equal the motel numbers. But still, OK, I'll put it in a FOIA. I made a few calls to statewide allies and asked them if while I was at it, was there anything that <i>they</i> wanted to know from DHCD? </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span class="st">We've decided our demonstration at the Econolodge will be on Friday at 1 pm. We'll save Worthington St. for next week.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-832366122960274852013-11-05T09:07:00.001-05:002013-11-05T18:08:32.967-05:00Shelters, motels bulging at the seams with no end in sight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCOJT5MT1E0dCaINfwQZWztsCbgZqXjIrYHAuroq8vtywDcabOk8tIislIlOn_DkxIQdVTw8tS1coUi-rxWEqam9CpKJnZxur4j7Tj_tZzDDiB1V-159zm7ms7CJR2s4c6wsL8bW4Dk5B/s1600/homeless-family.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCCOJT5MT1E0dCaINfwQZWztsCbgZqXjIrYHAuroq8vtywDcabOk8tIislIlOn_DkxIQdVTw8tS1coUi-rxWEqam9CpKJnZxur4j7Tj_tZzDDiB1V-159zm7ms7CJR2s4c6wsL8bW4Dk5B/s320/homeless-family.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Today
was just incredibly hectic at Arise (not that this is unusual). We
talked with four currently homeless families, all calling from the
Springfield or Holyoke welfare offices, and all being told they're not
eligible for shelter, and one homeless woman with two kids who is placed
at the Econolodge in Chicopee in a room that has bedbugs.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>One quite pregnant 18 year old was told she needed proof of
pregnancy. Liz took care of her by providing a list of places that
would do same-day pregnancy tests. You'd think the Dept. of Housing and
Community Development (the actual providers of shelter in
Massachusetts, but housed at the Dept. of Transitional Assistance
offices)would have a list like this together by now.</li>
<li>I talked to a man who has custody of his 16 month old son but he was
being denied shelter because he and the child's mother were in a
homeless shelter for the month of January. We got Community Legal Aid
and Mass Justice Project involved in his case, but it doesn't look good.</li>
<li>Another woman and her one child left North Carolina (she had friends
up here) after three incidents of being battered by her husband and
having the police called made management decide not to renew her lease.
Doesn't look good for her, either-- she <i>should</i> have stayed in
her apartment post-lease and forced her landlord to evict her, so she
wouldn't fall in the category of having "abandoned" her housing, but how
was she to know? She's coming to the office tomorrow so she can have
police reports faxed to Arise.</li>
<li>The one I feel worst about (at the moment) is a woman with three kids who probably <i>is</i>
eligible for shelter, but the documentation DHCD is asking for is
lengthy, and hard to gather when you have 3 kids, no car, and four
suitcases to lug around. I was going to tell her to ask for
"presumptive placement" but didn't write down her phone number because
by that point I was too utterly disorganized. She didn't call me back.
</li>
</ul>
Why was I disorganized? It shouldn't have happened but our
senior aide was out today so when the phone rang, I just answered it. I
<i>could</i> have called one of the three very kind members/volunteer
advocates or asked Jackie, Terrette or Tina, who were trained by us a
few weeks ago to do intakes and who were working on collating our next
homeless newsletter, but I forgot! And of course as it gets later in
the afternoon, the window is closing on being able to get folks into
shelter for that night, so you just tend to try to act fast. I'll do
better tomorrow.<br />
<br />
The rest of my day, and much of Liz's
day, was taken up with figuring out if we were going to have a
demonstration tomorrow at the Econolodge and in trying to reach the
"policy people" who can answer some essential questions if they would
only choose to do so. More on that part later.<br />
<br />
Last
week a woman called me from the Econolodge, one of DHCD's motels for
homeless families, saying she was overrun with mice in her room. I told
her to call the Chicopee Board of Health, which she did ; the BOH
contacted the motel, and they moved her into another room-- but this
morning she and her daughter had numerous "bites" which she could only
assume were bedbugs. <br />
<br />
I told her maybe it was time for
us to go picket the Econolodge (if that was OK with her) but that we
needed to do some research first and I'd call her back. So Liz called
the Chicopee Board of Health and I called MJP to doublecheck on the
number of "noncompliances" a motel resident can have before being
terminated-- it's one, with termination on the second (you get one more
chance in a shelter) and to make sure that participating in a First
Amendment activity wouldn't count as noncompliance for motel residents
(should be OK). The Board of Health had some interesting things to say.
Apparently they act quickly on complaints and ask for written proof the
complaint has been resolved. Seems like the Econolodge is certainly no
worse than many other "welfare motels" and is better than some.<br />
<br />
I
talked to my contact at the motel again and she mentioned how
Econolodge employees provide a shuttle van a few times a day which drops
people at the Springfield bus terminal so they can look for work! This
is NOT required by its contract with DHCD as far as I know. (This
doesn't help my friend; one child leaves for school at 9 am, another at 1
pm, and then the first one gets home from school at 3 pm, so she has
exactly a two hour window to be out looking for work. Motel and shelter
residents are not allowed to babysit for each other.)<br />
<br />
"Look,"
I told her, "in this case, the problem is not the motel-- the problem
is that there's not enough shelter and not enough affordable housing.
We can still come picket, but let's make DHCD the target."<br />
<br />
So looks like we'll be doing this on Thursday.. I'll post on Facebook and email the time.<br />
<br />
As
of Monday night, there were 2,122 families in Massachusetts being
sheltered in motels. Add the number of families actually in shelter,
and we're over 4,000 homeless families being sheltered.<br />
<br />
I
wonder if religious communities in each town where families are in
motels could mobilize to help them meet some of their basic needs? I
wish I could say Arise has the resources to organize this.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, homeless single people are also much on our minds.<br />
<br />
We've
been worrying about Carl, a homeless STCC student who has been
sheltering himself under a bridge. Haven't seen him in a week. And
we're worried about Lisa, who was sexually assaulted on the streets last
year, and who we haven't seen since last Wednesday. I know she was
trying to get to Westfield, and last Friday, a news article said a woman
had been sexually assaulted by a man who had offered her a ride home.
Was it her?<br />
<br />
I have been trying to get a list of people
both permanently banned and banned for a year from Worthington St.
Shelter for the last three weeks. I asked the director, Bill Miller, to
let me know the numbers (not the names) so we could get a sense of
who's out in the community and unsheltered. But apparently he has no
intention of doing so. I asked two of his board members if they could
get the numbers, and Bill said he would provide them, but he <i>still</i>
hasn't done so. (I did hear that he will provide names of banned
people to Gerry McCafferty, Office for Housing, so they can be
prioritized for Housing First-- and I know <i>that</i> wouldn't have happened without our badgering.) <br />
<br />
This
is no academic exercise. We hear that Juan Rivera, who was crushed to
death last month while sleeping in a dumpster, was on the list of banned
individuals. How many people are sleeping out on the street? While
the "banned" numbers will not exactly correlate with street
homelessness, it gives us a ballpark. And seeing as we know of two
rooming houses, housing more than 100 people, were recently closed in
Springfield, we know that the availability of affordable housing in
Springfield is NOT increasing.<br />
<br />
I've been calling Rose Evans, <span class="st">Associate Director for the Division of Housing Stabilization at DHCD, twice a day for the last seven business days. <i>She </i>can
get this information for us if she ever chooses to return my call.
(UPDATE: I decided to call her before 9 am just now, and she actually
picked up the phone. She says she will get back to me by the end of the
day.)</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Just what are we to do about this insane situation?
Unless you're in the low-income community, you just have no idea who
unstable our whole community has become.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">I want to thank those people who said they'd be willing
to assist with a building takeover (I'll get back to you all personally
later today). But we're definitely looking for the right place! I've
been talking to Catholic Charities about church-owned property that is
vacant-- there's a LOT of it! WHY isn't it being pressed into service
for homeless people.</span><br />
<span class="st"><br /></span>
<span class="st">Christina has been holding homeless committee meetings
at the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, 35 Chestnut St. The next meeting
is tomorrow at 1 pm, and the meeting after that is Wednesday, November
20. But you don't have to wait that long to get involved. Call Arise
at 734-4948.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-53946059543258533782013-10-28T22:36:00.002-04:002013-10-28T22:36:12.732-04:00Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – you should still care and must attend!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiGVLH-YJYlFzh8sJGnxMkHUYBedjn3zwYAyH7DOIAe8Ns235HNYiayuLvUoXqKUM1Y7RCx24fIggNi6Ak5JlM9pay2k6QUoBMuafZnY_Jep7KSjzL_EE8JPDCzDU8JEN1vClgWxiOury/s1600/sm_livelatcourt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiGVLH-YJYlFzh8sJGnxMkHUYBedjn3zwYAyH7DOIAe8Ns235HNYiayuLvUoXqKUM1Y7RCx24fIggNi6Ak5JlM9pay2k6QUoBMuafZnY_Jep7KSjzL_EE8JPDCzDU8JEN1vClgWxiOury/s1600/sm_livelatcourt.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Back in January, I <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2012/12/23/why-we-must-attend-the-smug-v-scott-lively-lawsuit-in-court-january-7-2013/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Why we must attend the SMUG v. Scott Lively Lawsuit in Court January 7, 2013">blogged </a>“Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – why you should care, why you should go!” The case is ongoing and heating up. Until now Scott Lively and his defense team have been mustering up every tactical move than can to avoid this trial. But they have <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/09/24/scott-lively-denied-second-motion-to-dismiss-of-crimes-against-humanity-charges/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Scott Lively denied second Motion To Dismiss of Crimes Against Humanity charges">run out</a> of moves to try to get out from under the Crimes Against Humanity charges brought against him. The proceedings continue with a discovery scheduling meeting before the magistrate on November 6<sup style="border: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">th</sup> at 11am in the Springfield MA Federal Courthouse.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, now again we are saying again – “Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively – you should <strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">still</strong> care and <strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">must</strong> <strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">attend</strong>!”</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After being charged with Crimes Against Humanity and eve after the Court refused to dismiss the case against him, Scott Lively has not slowed down from his life’s work of persecuting the LGBT community worldwide. In fact, he has stepped it up.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This past week <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/10/18/scott-lively-in-russia-to-bolster-anti-gay-hate-and-partner-with-russian-orthodox-church/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Scott Lively in Russia to bolster anti-gay hate and partner with Russian Orthodox Church">Lively was in Russia</a>, again, where he has been so many times. So proud of his work in Russia, and what he perceives as the resulting anti-gay legislation, he told Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association: “I indirectly assisted in that and it’s one of the proudest achievements of my career.”</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Keep in mind he is bragging about his influence on the recent spate of Russian anti-gay legislation including the <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/06/11/protests-and-arrests-as-russias-state-duma-passes-anti-gay-promotion-bill-unanimously/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Protests and arrests as Russia’s State Duma passes anti-gay promotion bill unanimously">gay propaganda ban law</a>, the <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/06/18/russian-bill-set-to-stop-adoption-to-nations-allowing-same-sex-marriage/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Russian bill set to stop adoption to nations allowing same-sex marriage">gay adoption ban law</a>, the arrest and deport foreign nationals suspected of being gay law, the label advocacy NGOs ‘foreign agents’ to cripple them law, and the new bill to <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/09/06/new-russian-bill-seeks-to-take-biological-children-away-from-gays-and-lesbians/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="New Russian Bill Seeks to Take Biological Children Away From Gays and Lesbians">remove children from gay families</a>.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Lively even has a campaign going, supposedly supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, to<a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/09/11/scott-lively-says-the-rainbow-belongs-to-god-not-you-gays/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Scott Lively says The Rainbow Belongs to God not you Gays!"> take back the rainbow</a> for the Christians so the nasty gays can’t use it to protest their persecution at the Sochi Olympic Games.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s been busy here <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/07/02/scott-lively-incites-war-against-the-homosexualization-of-states/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">in the U.S.</a> as well fanning the flames of anti-gay hate. This year he has visited Oklahoma, Nebraska and Missouri on his First Amendment Supremacy Clause tour, signing up foot soldiers in the war against The Gay Agenda, specifically Human Rights Ordinances and the First Amendment liberty of individuals to refuse public accommodation to the gay community.</div>
<blockquote style="background-image: url(http://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/premium/bold-news/images/blockquote.png); background-position: 0px 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 50px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</b>I have just returned from a nine-stop speaking tour in Nebraska, which is now on-board with the First Amendment strategy, along with Oklahoma and Missouri. I am looking for more invitations to conservative states where we can put these in place as a roadblock to the homosexualization of those states and perhaps build some momentum in the other direction.” Scottlively.net July 2, 2013</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In September, after their last appeal of the dismissal ruling was denied, Lively even issued <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2013/09/26/scott-lively-sends-out-a-hit-list-targets-federal-judge-and-lesbian-activist/" style="border: 0px; color: #6c7343; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Scott Lively Sends Out a Hit List Targets Federal Judge and Lesbian Activist">a hit list</a> of sorts complete with names, photos and places of employment of those he felt were responsible for the lawsuit brought against him. Not his persecution of the Ugandan LGBTI community, of course, but local activists supporting the case complete with ridiculous charges such as “especially aggressive against me and against our church”.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So yes, Lively is still at his bullying and bragging. As much as ever. He is still persecuting the LGBT community near and far. With nothing much stopping him, we need your help and your presence will show Lively that his behavior is abhorred by our community.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It will also help create opposition against his crazy notion that he is worthy of being the Governor of MA.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERUAW_R4iCNGv22nkixyzxdAqjNuOuoOtpnBNbvap6Hd62Gzn14gSf4_Xmo_hOaMm75qVkA5xx26bDvWWcPUiIaRdqW49KFaJFLr1p8EaKt_LQj6b-X_GkMXbYC5kttu3J4YSjHiJd1lo/s1600/sm_courthouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERUAW_R4iCNGv22nkixyzxdAqjNuOuoOtpnBNbvap6Hd62Gzn14gSf4_Xmo_hOaMm75qVkA5xx26bDvWWcPUiIaRdqW49KFaJFLr1p8EaKt_LQj6b-X_GkMXbYC5kttu3J4YSjHiJd1lo/s1600/sm_courthouse.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sexual Minorities Uganda is proceeding with their lawsuit. It’s time for <em style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everyone </em>opposed to American Evangelicals exporting hate and homophobia to come out and support SMUG. </div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
See you in front of the Federal Courthouse in Springfield on November 6<sup style="border: 0px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">th </sup>at 10:30 am<span style="font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px;">.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #7d7d7d; font-family: droid-sans-1, droid-sans-2, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px; margin-bottom: 1.2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: 15.555556297302246px; line-height: 23.99305534362793px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Cathy Kristofferson</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">GetEQUAL/MA and Stop The Hate and Homophobia Coalition Springfield</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="color: #003366; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">crosspost from <a href="http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/">O-Blog-Dee-O-Blog-Da</a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346679212702304228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-30266174820477598842013-10-03T14:21:00.000-04:002013-10-03T14:21:05.351-04:00<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7C3II1tXNKIWJLHFupcdhiQEvIFwJJy2xhyphenhyphenDELNFqVEGOYJLi2-GteTuLxg6d0MJE41Q6Oqfv92hqH9J2EUXr1qeRrpGlCxQKmOwQ_Taety01eLPfn89M4PCGMi__kGeULaz2n2SP-zYc/s1600/notice+oneida.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7C3II1tXNKIWJLHFupcdhiQEvIFwJJy2xhyphenhyphenDELNFqVEGOYJLi2-GteTuLxg6d0MJE41Q6Oqfv92hqH9J2EUXr1qeRrpGlCxQKmOwQ_Taety01eLPfn89M4PCGMi__kGeULaz2n2SP-zYc/s320/notice+oneida.jpg" width="320" /></a>A Historical Journey by - Doug George-Kanentiio
For the past few years the Onyata, aka “People of the Standing Stone” or Oneidas of Madison County have pl<span class="text_exposed_show">ayed
an increasingly large role in the economic affairs of central New York.
While much has been reported about the Oneidas in the newspapers, the
following information should give readers a better understanding of the
Oneidas. We are told the Oneidas were part of a larger Iroquois family
which originated in the American southwest thousands of years ago. The
migration to the northeast took many hundreds of years to complete but
ended when the Iroquois entered present day New York at the confluence
of the Oswego River and Lake Ontario.
From there the Iroquois separated into six distinct groups settling
throughout the region. The Mohawks created a homeland along the Mohawk
Valley followed, east to west, by the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and
Senecas. The sixth group journeyed far to the south, finally ending up
in the North Carolina area. These were the Tuscaroras, a native nation
which retraced its s teps to their ancient homelands in the year 1712
after losing a bitter war with English colonists. Oneidas refer to
themselves as the “Standing Stone” because they had, in each of their
villages, a large rock they would gather around to hold their ceremonial
activities. The Mohawks are referred to as “People of the Flint”, the
Onondagas are “People of the Hills”, the Cayugas are “People of the
Swamp”, the Senecas call themselves “People of the Great Hill” and the
Tuscaroras are the “Shirt Wearing People”.
Originally, the Oneidas lived in an area which stretched from the St.
Lawrence River to northern Pennsylvania and from the Chittenango
Creek-Tioughnioga River on the west to the Unadilla River-West Canada
Creek on the east. Total area for the aboriginal homeland of the Oneida
Nation is estimated to be about 3,600,000 acres. Oneida life in
pre-European times was centered around their villages. They were
primarily agricultural with crops such as corn, beans and squash forming
the greater part of their diet. They enjoyed a rich spiritual life with
a major ceremonial gathering during each lunar month.
Clans were essential to the orderly flow of Oneida culture. All social,
political and religious functions were dependent upon the clans, as was
the distribution of material goods. There were three clans: Bear, Wolf
and Turtle. Each clan appointed three female leaders (clanmothers) and
three male leaders (rotiiane or “chiefs”) to the national government.
Also, each clan selected a man and a woman to serve as advisors on
spiritual matters. These were/are the faithkeepers.
All leaders were nominated by the clanmothers and were subject to
ratification by their respective clan. They served for life unless
impeached by their clans for such violations as insanity, greed,
assault, rape, treason and incompetence, among others. The clan might
also indicate they have no confidence in a leader or he/she might by
their own actions commit crimes which violate their oath of office
thereby removing themselves from office.
With regards to a rotiiane his clanmother would give him three cautions
to rectify his behavior. At the third such ‘warning’ she was accompanied
by a young man who would, upon her instructions, remove the rotiiane’s
deer antler headress, which was his symbol of office.
Once removed, such a person was considered as “walking dead”, without
voice in the people’s affairs or ever to be entrusted with any type of
influence or power. They might also be banished from Iroquois territory
either permanently or for a set period of time.
In order to function as a qualified leader the candidate had to have a
secure and stable home life, a solid marriage, be willing to accept the
criticisms of the people (his skin was to be “seven spans thick”), live
simply and without thought of personal enrichment, have considerable
knowledge as to the traditional spiritual values of the community and be
an active participant in all of the ancient rituals. Once selected as a
candidate by the clan the prospective leader had to be endorsed by the
Oneida national government (but not each individual member) then by the
Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy at a
ceremonial called “Condolence” which the Council might elect not to do
if they disapproved of the candidacy thereby sending the entire process
back to the respective nation for a repeat of the selection process.
For many generations the Oneidas prospered in their ancestral lands but
with the arrival of the colonists in t he northeast they endured
considerable cultural stress. Devastating epidemics of European borne
smallpox and influenza killed hundreds of thousands of Native people in
the east and the Iroquois suffered periodic plagues resulting in
displacement, disorganization and chaos. In the 1600’s the Iroquois
endured a century of warfare as the native nations in the northeast
fought to reestablish political and economic power. The Confederacy
engaged in brutal struggles with the Eries, Susqeuhannas, Algonquins,
Crees, Chippewas, Illinois, Hurons, Mahicans, Abenkais and others until a
general peace was secured in 1701. Also enveloped in this war were
Dutch, English and French settlers who, in some instances, adopted a
policy of playing one native nation against the other as the Europeans
sought to expand their seacoast land base. The Oneidas were quick to
adopt the new technologies brought to the region from across the sea.
Firearms, tools and ornaments found a ready market in Oneida as the
natives brought their furs for exchange to markets in Montreal and
Albany. The Iroquois derived great political power by controlling the
fur trade along with material prosperity.
But the Oneidas were feeling the pressure of expanding European
settlement; they watched with growing alarm as the Mohawks were driven
north to the St. Lawrence River to escape the colonists. Likewise, small
groups of Oneidas also went north but to seek easier access to the
Catholic church since many of them had converted to Christianity.
Oneidas settled across the river from Montreal in 1660 and in the 1730’s
established a community called Oswegatchie near present day Ogdensburg,
NY. During the American Revolution the Oneidas desired neutrality but
were drawn into the conflict when their homelands were invaded by both
American and British forces. In addition, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland was
an influential advocate for the rebels and used his authority to divide
the Oneidas, many of whom actively fought for the US. After the war, the
Oneidas believed they would, because of their loyalty, have their lands
secured but New York State adopted a policy of alienating Iroquois land
by intimidation, threats, bribery and outright fraud.
Through a series of highly controversial, and illegal, transactions New
York assumed control over most of Oneida territory resulting in the
displacement of the Oneida people. When US President Thomas Jefferson
sought to remove all Natives west of the Mississippi, the Oneidas felt
they had no choice but to secure their survival by finding refuge far
from the settlers. Led by a Mohawk preacher named Eleazer Williams, most
of the Oneidas left their homelands beginning in 1820 for territory
among the Menominee Nation in eastern Wisconsin. This group was
primarily Christian while another so-called “pagan” faction elected to
form a community on the Thames River near London, Ontario. Another group
chose to live on the Onondaga Reservation south of Syracuse while a
fourth, the Marble Hill Oneidas, refused to leave and held on to their
few acres outside of Sherrill, NY.
Throughout the 19th century the Oneida lands in New York were gradually
whittled away by New York in violation of federal law. Although the
Oneidas complained vigorously not until 1985 would the merits of their
case be upheld by the US Supreme Court. During those dark years the idea
of the Oneidas returning home to live on an expanded land area was kept
alive by a few individuals.
In the 20th century patriots such as Mary Winder and her sister Delia
Waterman filed numerous petitions to the US government to seek justice
for their cause. While Mary Winder died in 1952, her sister continued to
press the government. In 1972 the Oneidas remaining in New York filed
legal action in the US courts before finally prevailing 13 years later.
With the arrival of commercial gambling in Indian country in the late
1970’s the Oneidas sought to create an economic base by opening a small
bingo hall which was later expanded. Throughout the 1980’s, however,
intense internal struggles for control of the Oneidas resulted in
violent clashes, recriminations and arson.
In 1977 the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee acknowledged three
individuals, Lyman Johns, Richard Chrisjohn and Arthur Raymond
Halbritter, as messengers for the Oneida people residing in Central New
York. With the death of Johns and Chrisjohn, Halbritter assumed
unilateral powers and created an organization called the “Men’s
Council”; a decision made without the approval of the Oneida people and
condemned by the Grand Council.
In April, 1993 Halbritter concluded secret negotiations with New York
Governor Mario Cuomo resulting in a gaming compact to open a casino on
disputed territory. The Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee stripped
Halbritter of his status as an Oneida spokesperson which then ratified
by the US Department of the Interior on August 10 then rescinded a day
later after the intervention of US Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) a
sponsor of Halbritter and gambling advocate
Halbritter moved to create a 54 member, completely non-Native police
force to consolidate his power on Oneida territory. Using US government
funds, Halbritter built a housing project and offered expanded social
services to gain support. In August 1993 the Turning Stone Casino opened
to quickly become the largest single employer in Oneida County. The
Halbritter regime refused to comply with the 1988 Indian Gaming Act by
supplying the National Indian Gaming Commission with audits from
1993-1996. Not until the Commission threatened to close the casino did
the Halbritter regime acquiesce and submit a report, yet despite efforts
by the Oneidas to obtain a financial accounting of the casino
operations they have yet, as of May, 1999, to see such a document.
On March 20th, 1995 the Wolf Clan members of the Oneida Nation gathered
to meet at their Longhouse to find the locks had been changed. The
non-Native police officers were instructed to arrest anyone trying to
enter. They moved the meeting to the Wolf Clan Mother’s log cabin
(Maisie Shenandoah) where the Wolf Clan members decided to remove Ray
Halbritter as their Representative due to the numerous injustices done
against the Oneida people.
The Halbritter regime responded by stripping the “dissidents” of their
status as Oneidas resulting in a loss of employment, health insurance,
educational allowances, quarterly stipends and all other Oneida Nation
services.
In 1996 the traditional Oneidas, or the Onyota’a:ka, initiated suit in
US federal court to have Halbritter, deemed a US citizen, removed as
Oneida representative. The complaint was dismissed at the District level
but appealed at the Second Circuit which found sufficient evidence to
order a hearing in the US Department of the Interior to determine
Halbritter’s status. The Federal Court dismissed this case without
prejudice and now it is up to the people to exhaust all remedies. This
is impossible due to the structure of the current leadership.</span>Arise for Social Justicehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11502055832666259625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-41538396180749178312013-08-21T09:14:00.000-04:002013-08-21T09:14:49.476-04:00Stop the Hate and Homophobia Coalition in Springfield continues to organize locally as a historic lawsuit seeking accountability from local Evangelical Preacher Scott Lively moves forward<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACtVlBqaqumjp-4ZMuS20kecz7kRlb6zXkC129C_S_BzybTwKzJApOzQC8-NoGO6nEE7bbe4ieaWa_HvdB_TcAguge8JIznEtziPGcuQnByhhryxlxGychJCsEHqToK8AMPngtkEqQgIE/s1600/fea_scottlively4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiACtVlBqaqumjp-4ZMuS20kecz7kRlb6zXkC129C_S_BzybTwKzJApOzQC8-NoGO6nEE7bbe4ieaWa_HvdB_TcAguge8JIznEtziPGcuQnByhhryxlxGychJCsEHqToK8AMPngtkEqQgIE/s320/fea_scottlively4.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Courtesy Boston Magazine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">SMUG v. Lively:</span></u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">On March 14, 2012, the Center for Constitutional
Rights (CCR) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Sexual Minorities Uganda, a
non-profit umbrella organization for LGBT advocacy groups in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Uganda</st1:place></st1:country-region>, against
Abiding Truth Ministries President Scott Lively. Filed in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> District Court in <st1:city w:st="on">Springfield</st1:city>,
<st1:state w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:state>, the suit alleges that Lively’s
involvement in anti-gay efforts in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Uganda</st1:place></st1:country-region>, including his active
participation in the conspiracy to strip away fundamental rights from LGBT
persons, constitutes persecution. This is the first known </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/kiobel"><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Alien Tort Statute (ATS)</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">
case seeking accountability for persecution on the basis of sexual orientation
and gender identity.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">To learn more, please see: <u><span style="color: #44658e;">http://ccrjustice.org/LGBTUganda</span></u></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt;">Update:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">On
August 14, 2013 the Court </span></b><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG_OrderDenyingDefMTD_08_13.pdf"><b><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">denied</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"> Defendant's Motion to Dismiss,
and the case has been referred for pretrial scheduling!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt;">Description:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Sexual Minorities Uganda,</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
an umbrella organization located in Kampala, Uganda, which represents the
interests of its constituent member organizations in advocating for the rights
of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (“LGBTI”) in
Uganda, brought this case against against defendant <b>Scott LIVELY</b>, a
U.S.-based attorney, author, and self-described world-leading expert on the
“gay movement,” for the decade-long campaign he has waged, in agreement and
coordination with his Ugandan counterparts, to <b>persecute</b> persons on the
basis of their gender and/or <b>sexual orientation and gender identity.</b>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">The case is brought under the <b>Alien Tort
Statute (“ATS”), 28 U.S.C. §1350,</b> which provides federal jurisdiction for
“any civil action by an alien, for a tort only, committed in violation of the
law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” United States Supreme
Court has affirmed the use of the ATS as a remedy for serious violations
of international law norms that are widely accepted and clearly defined.
Persecution, as a crime against humanity that is universally proscribed
and clearly defined in international law, is such a violation.
Persecution is defined in international law as the<b> “intentional and
severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by
reason of the identity of the group or collectivity.”</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt;">Timeline:</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">March 14, 2012</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">:
Sexual Minorities Uganda filed its </span><a href="http://www.ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG-Amended-Complaint.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">complaint </span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">against
Scott Lively in the Springfield Division of United States District Court,
District of Massachusetts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">May 11, 2012:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Lively, represented by Liberty Counsel, filed a </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/Lively%20Memo%20in%20Supp%20of%20M%20to%20stay.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Motion to Stay</span></b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"> </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
the case pending the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in <i>Kiobel
v. Royal Dutch Shell</i>, a case also brought under the Alien Tort Statute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">May 25, 2012:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Sexual Minorities Uganda filed its </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG%20Opp%20to%20Stay.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Stay</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">June 1, 2012:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Court denied Lively's Motion to Stay and ordered him to answer or otherwise
respond to the complaint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">August 10, 2012:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Lively filed a </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUGvLively_MTD.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Motion to Dismiss</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">September 20, 2012: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Sexual
Minorities Uganda filed its </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUGvLively_Opp_to_MTD.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Opposition to
Defendant's Motion to Dismiss</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">January 7, 2013:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"> Court
heard oral arguments on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">April 17, 2013:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Lively filed a </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG_Def-NoticeofSupplementalAuthority_04_13.pdf"><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Notice of Supplemental Authority</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
in support of his Motion to Dismiss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">May 7, 2013:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
Sexual Minorities Uganda filed a </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG_Pl-ResponsetoDefSupplAuthority_05_13.pdf"><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">Response</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;"> to Defendant's April 17 Notice
regarding <i>Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Shell.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">August 14, 2013:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">
The Court issued a </span><a href="http://ccrjustice.org/files/SMUG_OrderDenyingDefMTD_08_13.pdf"><b><span style="color: #44658e; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Memorandum & Order</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 15.0pt;">,
denying Defendant's Motion to Dismiss and referring the case for pretrial
scheduling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17346679212702304228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-58117194263490821292013-07-27T15:25:00.001-04:002013-07-27T15:26:26.046-04:00NATIONAL NIGHT OUT! AUGUST 6TH, A GOING AWAY PARTY FOR DRUGS AND VIOLENCE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F9ar61SS9aM/UfQeTPbCJbI/AAAAAAAAAFg/q6s5ZkWsJLo/s1600/nationalnightoutflyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F9ar61SS9aM/UfQeTPbCJbI/AAAAAAAAAFg/q6s5ZkWsJLo/s640/nationalnightoutflyer.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-12823509878161480652013-06-16T22:48:00.000-04:002013-06-16T22:48:31.859-04:00Join us. Lets tell the city- No more tax title auctions in Springfield<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3x4QAi0Chsa3RNVNWk7Kuipkig2uAYFgTiVQmM77Z1w4dvzxMVndw_-NxdcnR2FLIx5tNH7qNokkVa_aAQcZvfPyBByynPCZbx8JWajWrSji6pmCrNuxnD1r1yH9gX645X2e5g82E2Q/s1600/Jackie+and+Son+H4A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK3x4QAi0Chsa3RNVNWk7Kuipkig2uAYFgTiVQmM77Z1w4dvzxMVndw_-NxdcnR2FLIx5tNH7qNokkVa_aAQcZvfPyBByynPCZbx8JWajWrSji6pmCrNuxnD1r1yH9gX645X2e5g82E2Q/s640/Jackie+and+Son+H4A.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie and Son picture by John Morris<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;">Please join Arise and Springfield No One Leaves to let the city of Springfield know that we will not stand for one more sale of property by auction that has been taken by tax title and sold to speculative developers instead of serving the citizens who are in need of housing in their very own city.</span></h2>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Tuesday June 18th, 2013</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Springfield City Hall </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">5:30pm</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: black; font-size: large;">We will meet in front of city hall- located across from Court Square downtown Spfld</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: small;">Visit Arise Facebook Page for updates and more information on contacts and directions</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/75509399798/"> <span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/groups/75509399798/</span><br />
<br />
</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/75509399798/"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BLbuUNFA1F2cnnmC7Zoz2UgnISlQ_BN5CU3t0fTOQZICxSeLoL8yVLX3PkzseRYRhEVT1KC9gZYGXwUrG0ACILls-b6JMeS53KPk2_WZ-1XY8vtTovHC7x2HKdItL_EC1FtNjyZNN3Y/s1600/Michaelann+and+Ellen+H4A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-BLbuUNFA1F2cnnmC7Zoz2UgnISlQ_BN5CU3t0fTOQZICxSeLoL8yVLX3PkzseRYRhEVT1KC9gZYGXwUrG0ACILls-b6JMeS53KPk2_WZ-1XY8vtTovHC7x2HKdItL_EC1FtNjyZNN3Y/s400/Michaelann+and+Ellen+H4A.jpg" width="150" /><strong><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">Please Join Us Let our voices be heard</span></strong></a></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5bV7HM7KqNH4SNK0qCELjAcCy1-sz6Q1xZ2x6jGiZLj5Prz1tlqWQH0HnenrnIiSALPWfEW-piWSiIdRyIIMF5_rnh6OP3ZXup2kqOQMM3DW9rm_K3ALZYCc2W-ke6DkSBKMw7cW4_k/s1600/fist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG5bV7HM7KqNH4SNK0qCELjAcCy1-sz6Q1xZ2x6jGiZLj5Prz1tlqWQH0HnenrnIiSALPWfEW-piWSiIdRyIIMF5_rnh6OP3ZXup2kqOQMM3DW9rm_K3ALZYCc2W-ke6DkSBKMw7cW4_k/s200/fist.png" width="125" /></a></div>
<br />
johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503002269345358623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-60191956637293423712013-06-09T08:25:00.001-04:002013-06-09T08:28:26.840-04:00Mass Parole Board Immediately Release Donald Perry Please Sign Petition<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0m1xvu4XzV5Ot65KhsSVW8hzc6I_YC0-jgeWyv67rhw0DurVOdLV9-WXCxf_8SOQfeNTeXiepvZsjRIahYDGcIyYYJQqpSMUpWne2PhrE4jSB40FWdOLCjzLme4rYAoK_dsFBOJ2Q8E/s1600/Donald+Perry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC0m1xvu4XzV5Ot65KhsSVW8hzc6I_YC0-jgeWyv67rhw0DurVOdLV9-WXCxf_8SOQfeNTeXiepvZsjRIahYDGcIyYYJQqpSMUpWne2PhrE4jSB40FWdOLCjzLme4rYAoK_dsFBOJ2Q8E/s640/Donald+Perry.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Please follow the link below. Consider signing this important and powerful petition. Let the Massachusetts Parole Board know that men like Donald Perry are vital to our community.</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">This may be one of the most important petitions you endorse this year. Please let your voice be heard. Please circulate this urgent demand to all of your concerned friends and contacts.</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><strong>Peace,</strong></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #0072c6; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/massachusetts-parole-board-immediately-release-donald-perry">http://www.change.org/petitions/massachusetts-parole-board-immediately-release-donald-perry</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503002269345358623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-52869316877954338932013-05-27T09:33:00.002-04:002013-05-27T09:33:49.938-04:00Call to Action- The Goverment is selling us out- To Monsanto<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/mLb_ag2tpoA/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/mLb_ag2tpoA&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/mLb_ag2tpoA&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
We all know times are hard. We eat what we can when we can. Most folks don't question what they eat, especially poor folks, like me. The family needs food. We shop at the cheapest stores. Buy what we must to survive. Meanwhile, our government conspires with big business for a profit at our ex pence. Our government officials protect the interest of Monsanto over the interest of our most vulnerable citizens. Daily, we are fed foods that have been altered by GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) and most folks have no way of determining what foods have been altered or not. The government has refused to support labeling of GMO's on our food products. There has even been an amendment to a bill introduced this year in the <strong><em>2013 Farm Bill</em></strong> protecting Monsanto from being forced to comply with labeling.<br />
On Saturday May 25th, about 100 supporters gathered in the Mason Square area of Springfield MA, <strong><em>Michaelann Bewsee of Arise for Social Justice</em></strong>, helped with a great organizing effort that brought folks out in the rain and cold to push back against Monsanto. This action was in solidarity of 250 other marches that happened the same day in the USA, and millions more across the globe.<span style="font-size: large;"><strong> </strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"></span></strong><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><strong> Learn more and Join the Facebook page at: </strong></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheMarchAgainstMonsantoSpringfieldMA/"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheMarchAgainstMonsantoSpringfieldMA/</strong></span></a></div>
<br />
<strong>People need to know: </strong>GMO's have not been proven safe, and in fact, a growing body of independent peer-review studies have linked these foods to allergies, immune problems, infertility and cancers.<br />
<strong>Most folks have no idea! </strong>GMO's were quietly introduced into our food supply in the 90's, and the FDA requires no safety testing or labeling.<br />
<strong>What is truly outrageous</strong> is the connection between the largest company in the world that creates these GMO's and our elected officials. Watch this very informed video, where Heath Bleau gives shocking facts, definitively linking some of our top government officials to the interest of Monsanto. Even the President of the United States. This is very disturbing.<br />
<strong>What can we do? </strong><br />
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Declare your Right to Know!</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Support Mandatory Labeling of</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's)</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Public Hearings June 3rd and June 11th 2013</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Let Them Know</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">June 3rd 2013</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10:00am - 2:00pm</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">David Prouty High School</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">302 Main Street Spencer MA</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">June 11th 2013</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">10:00am</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Massachusetts State House</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Room A-1</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Boston MA</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Hearings are open to the public.</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Sign up or submit your testimony online at</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><a href="http://marighttoknow.org/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">marighttoknow.org</span></a></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong></strong> </div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">If you are worried------You should be!</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Take Action -- Wake Up</span></strong></div>
<div align="center">
<strong></strong></div>
johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503002269345358623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-21195408954080664482013-05-01T07:45:00.001-04:002013-05-01T07:45:05.141-04:00May Day Poem (Thanks, Jon and Lynn!)<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">To be of use</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">by Marge Piercy</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdn-UURgo-urNwHVdmbjU3Q_bJT00hWFBDrrG-MCl3VU7wRk2YMA88dsM4ls9cvyNLstFx9eI1Nslzo9s2O2IqS5efZ1ZQJQ7ZACNQJ6hQgAYN6qTe1uCwtQyN5YBCUiCPhbWO8Yp57g/s1600/mayday1ak6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmdn-UURgo-urNwHVdmbjU3Q_bJT00hWFBDrrG-MCl3VU7wRk2YMA88dsM4ls9cvyNLstFx9eI1Nslzo9s2O2IqS5efZ1ZQJQ7ZACNQJ6hQgAYN6qTe1uCwtQyN5YBCUiCPhbWO8Yp57g/s320/mayday1ak6.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";"><span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif";">The people I love the best<br />jump into work head first<br />without dallying in the shallows<br />and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.<br />They seem to become natives of that element,<br />the black sleek heads of seals<br />bouncing like half-submerged balls.<br /><br />I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,<br />who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,<br />who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,<br />who do what has to be done, again and again.<br /><br />I want to be with people who submerge<br />in the task, who go into the fields to harvest<br />and work in a row and pass the bags along,<br />who are not parlor generals and field deserters<br />but move in a common rhythm<br />when the food must come in or the fire be put out.<br /><br />The work of the world is common as mud.<br />Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.<br />But the thing worth doing well done<br />has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.<br />Greek amphoras for wine or oil,<br />Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums<br />but you know they were made to be used.<br />The pitcher cries for water to carry<br />and a person for work that is real.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03455366984301716210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3526934757387327345.post-47583891953852268082013-04-20T14:20:00.003-04:002013-04-20T14:23:14.568-04:00'No More Hurting People' Vigil- Monday April 22- Noon- Court Square Spfld MA<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRhY0q-1YVhfLMA4VKU8ryrbSkNWJqYrz7EwwSzKNF2b9_ffXCpum24N1xzGY47Yx2WwlCaW1TAIRj63V0sRZ6DEjkzSx9ro4XDAHgb5WvDdJ_ZBSP9duf7Ct3JFbEc4RQwCiLOfCHwk/s1600/Try+to+be+a+Rainbow-Maya+Angelo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikRhY0q-1YVhfLMA4VKU8ryrbSkNWJqYrz7EwwSzKNF2b9_ffXCpum24N1xzGY47Yx2WwlCaW1TAIRj63V0sRZ6DEjkzSx9ro4XDAHgb5WvDdJ_ZBSP9duf7Ct3JFbEc4RQwCiLOfCHwk/s320/Try+to+be+a+Rainbow-Maya+Angelo.png" width="320" /></a>Please join us at noon on Monday April 22 2013, in downtown Springfield. Court Square, as we honor the victims of violence injured and killed in the Boston Marathon Bombing this past week. We remember the kind words of 8 year old Martin Richard, who died in the blast, 'No More Hurting People'. Come stand with us as we call for an end to violence in Springfield. As we recognize all victims of violence and call for peace in our state and in our country. Guest speakers are welcome. The general public is welcome. Please contact Arise for further information.<br />
We will stand with you on Monday, as you stand with us. Together we do make a difference.johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05503002269345358623noreply@blogger.com0