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Tag Archives: gentrification

Police State Terrorism: The Murder of Alex Nieto

07 Mon Mar 2016

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Fascism, Mindfulness, Police State, Racism (phenotype)

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Benjamin Bac Sierra, Bernal Heights, Buddhism, City College of San Francisco, CopWatch, cowboy cops, Dennis Bernstein, Flashpoints, gentrification, Justice4AlexNieto, KPFA, Mission District (San Francisco), Pacifica Radio Network, Phillip Burton Federal Building, racial profiling, racial residential segregation, San Francisco, San Francisco Bay Area, Sergeant Jason Sawyer (SFPD), transcript

AlexNieto-ryns-wedding-3-copy1LUMPENPROLETARIAT  Some, such as Dr. Michel Chossudovsky, have argued that corruption, having reached saturation point, had now entered the age of inquisition, where the state openly kills in broad daylight, not by accident, but by design and with the intent to intimidate the general public and send a message of horror, to show the people what the state is now capable of doing.

Messina

 

JUSTICE FOR ALEX NIETO—[accessed 8 MAR 2016]  Who was Alex Nieto?

Alex Nieto was born and raised in the Bernal Heights and Mission districts. He was a beloved son and brother, and an active peaceful member of the community. He was an accomplished:

ryns wedding (3) - Copy

  • Full-time scholarship student at CCSF, earning a criminal justice degree and applying for transfer to a 4 year college program
  • Full-time security guard at El Toro nightclub
  • Provider for his family
  • Practicing Buddhist pacifist
  • Prior intern at the Youth Guidance Center’s Probation Department
  • Member of the Mission Peace Collaborative
  • Campaign volunteer in federal and local elections (Tom Ammiano, Bill Clinton, etc.)
  • Volunteer at youth organizations (Coleman Advocates, HOMEY, etc.)
  • Community event participant and organizer (Carnaval, poetry readings, etc)

Alex dreamt of helping guide youth in a positive direction, which is why he aspired to become a probation officer. He had a gigantic heart, and everyone loved him for his intellect, gentleness, and kindness.

Alex is survived by his loving parents and brother. [Learn more about the Nieto Family.]

SFPD MURDERED ALEX NIETO

On Friday evening, March 21, 2014, Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, 28 years old, was killed when he was struck by 14 to 15 bullets (of a total of 59 shots) fired by four San Francisco Police Department officers, on Bernal Hill Park, without justification. The officers who killed Alex Nieto are: Sgt. Jason Sawyer (then lieutenant), Officer Roger Morse, Officer Richard Schiff, and Officer Nathan Chew. (Read more about the 9 month struggle to obtain their names here.)

Alex was enjoying his dinner near a bench with a sunset view to Twin Peaks, dressed for his security guard shift with his licensed taser at his hip. He was also wearing his elegant new 49ers jacket, and minding his own business.

A dogwalker called 911 simply because he didn’t like the sight of this young Latino working class man on Bernal Heights. Police confronted Alex as he was walking downhill on his way out of the park, and killed him with two sequential volley of shots. The first volley took him down to the ground. The second volley of over ten shots killed him.

New Justice for Alex Nieto Banner!

A KEY FACT: NO THREAT REPORTED

Alex Nieto posed no threat to anyone on Bernal Hill on the clear sunset evening. A witness told reporters: “…he wasn’t threatening to me. He seemed like a guy just eating a burrito.” [Source: ABCLocal; SFBG]

In the 911 Call (narrated by Chief Suhr at the Town Hall Meeting) and in dispatch audio, Alex is simply described as eating sunflower seeds or chips with his taser “at his hip”, never drawn. He is never described as threatening anyone.

All the same, a battalion of officers was sent to the hill to confront him.

A Bernal Heights native, Alex routinely ate dinner in Bernal Park, before going to his security guard shift. He had been with his parents before going out.

WHAT WE BELIEVE HAPPENED: A POLICE COVER-UP

Greg Suhr refuses to release names of officers involved in Alex's shooting

Officers racially profiled Alex as a gangbanger exclusively based on his description as a Latino male wearing a red jacket. Racial profiling is illegal and a violation of civil rights.

Officers gave Alex no chance to respond to warning before they shot him to the ground with two or three shots. With Alex injured on the ground, officers decide—without any evidence of danger—to continue shooting at him, until he stopped moving. 59 bullets were fired.

This looks to us like an unjustifiable police murder —a deliberate execution— of an innocent man.

We also believe SFPD and the City and County of San Francisco are involved in a cover-up of an unlawful killing. We believe they fabricated a false narrative of events and have hid or tampered with evidence.

OPPOSING VERSION OF EVENTS:

WHAT CHIEF OF POLICE GREG SUHR SAYS HAPPENED*

WHAT FEDERAL CIVIL LAWSUIT SAYS HAPPENED**

* [Source: Chief Suhr, Town Hall Meeting 3/25/2014.] [Listen to KQED audio of Town Hall Meeting.] ** [Source: Civil Federal Lawsuit filed 8/22/2014. Read Case Status & original filings.]

EYEWITNESSES PRIOR TO SHOOTING

  • Alex is reported behaving erratically by eyewitnesses.
  • Witnesses recount seeing Alex at the park peacefully sitting alone on the bench enjoying his burrito.

911 CALL

  • 7:11pm: 911 dispatch receives a call reporting a Latin male adult with a red jacket, black pants, and a handgun on his hip, pacing near a bench close to a chain linked fence on Bernal Hill.
  •    7:14pm: Caller (who stays on the line while police arrive) reports Alex eating chips or sunflower seeds.
  •    7:18pm: Calling party hears shots fired by police.
  • A couple -Timothy Isgitt and Justin Fritz- called 911 and erroneously reported Alex as having a black gun on his hip.
  • Alex was carrying his licensed *holstered* taser.
  • The caller does not report that Alex is bothering anyone or posing any type of threat.
  • The caller simply reports Alex is walking near the bench, and eating.

THE TASER

  • Alex was wearing a holstered taser that looks like a gun.
  • When drawn, this type of taser emits a red dot.
  • Alex  was dressed for work, wearing a *holstered*, licensed taser, as part of his security guard uniform.

THE SHOOTING

  • A Sergeant and Officer from Ingleside are the first to arrive on scene.
  • Alex is engaged 75 feet away up a hill, with his back to the west, Officers looking towards horizon.
  • An SFPD Patrol car entered the park and drove up a fire trail before stopping approximately 75 to 100 feet away.
  • Alex at that time was casually walking down the trail to the Park’s entrance, with his hands in his pockets.
  • Two Officers emerged from the patrol car and immediately took cover using their car for protection.
  • Two other Officers arrive.
  • Several other Officers had also gathered on the jogging path, appeared to be carrying rifle-type guns and were positioned behind Alex. (i.e. not facing western horizon as SFPD says.)
  • Alex has his hands behind him. Officers asked him “to show his hands.”
  • Alex responded “you show me your hands.”
  • Alex drew his taser, and tracked officers with the red taser dot.
  • Officers shoot him.
  • Alex wounded, goes down in a prone and tactical position.
  • One of the Officers behind the patrol car called out and ordered Alex to “stop.”
  • Within seconds a quick volley of bullets were fired at Alex.

Ear and eye witness’ revelations say:

  • No additional orders or any other verbal communication was heard between the first Officer yelling “stop” and the initial volley of gunfire that rang out.
  • Alex did not threaten anyone nor verbally resisted Officers.
  • Alex did not attempt to grab or point any object at the Officers prior to being shot.
  • Alex falls to the ground after the initial shots.
  • Prone, wounded, and on the ground, Alex continues to “track” Officers with the red laser dot.
  • Eye witness’ revelations do not see Alex point any object at the Officers, before or after Officers shoot him to the ground.
  • Eye witness believes Alex to be mortally wounded after the initial shots, and says Alex falls over his hands.
  • Officers say they feared for their lives and shot him repeatedly, until he stopped moving.
  • After a brief pause of just a second or two, another barrage of shots were fired.
  • The Officers’ bullets struck Alex in his forehead and at least nine other places leaving his body grossly disfigured and mortally wounded.

THE AUTOPSY REPORT:

Nearly six months after Alex was killed, the Medical Examiner released an autopsy report that deems his death a homicide. The autopsy confirms fourteen to fifteen bullet wounds (one entrance wound is for two shots, therefore, at least 15 shots hit Alex.) Eleven out of the fifteen shots caused downward trajectory wounds. That is, eleven shots are fired from above Alex into his face, temple, chest, shoulders, and back. Seven of those shots are in a head to toe downward trajectory indicating that Alex was in a completely defenseless position when officers fatally wounded him. This could imply criminal intent and murder.

Please check our Diagram and Analysis of the Autopsy Report, for more information.

Alex Nieto Autopsy Side w Title_001

AUDIO:

Audio from a home security camera reveals TWO initial shots fired  (possibly a 3rd), followed by a 6 second pause. Then a continuous volley of at least 10 shots. (We now know that there was a total of 48 bullets fired at Alex.)

The pause between the first and second series of shots is relevant because officers made a deliberate decision to barrage Alex with the shots that actually killed him. This could imply criminal intent and murder.

Learn more at JUSTICE FOR ALEX NIETO.

***

[Partial transcript by Messina for Lumpenproletariat and Flashpoints] [2]

FLASHPOINTS—[7 MAR 2016]  Today, on Flashpoints, we update you in the federal civil trial of the murder of Alex Nieto by  San Francisco police.  Also, an update on Haiti with [Flashpoints] senior producer Kevin Pina.  And, later, we’ll hear from a Canadian writer and activist on Canadian general Roméo [Antonius] Dallaire and his prominence in Canadian national mythology.  My name is Mike Biggs, in for Dennis Bernstein.  All this, straight on Flashpoints. Stay tuned.  (c. 1:00)  [brief music break]

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “In Berkeley, I’m Dennis Bernstein.  You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio

“We turn our attention back to the police murder of Alex Nieto.  There is a federal trial taking place, right now, in San Francisco.  This is an incredibly important case, in which the police shot down—one more time—shot down somebody, who—I guess—they just felt like killing a person of colour.

“Joining us to talk about this situation is a spokesperson for the Justice4AlexNieto; his name is Ben Bac Sierra.  And he joins us from San Francisco.  It was a busy day in court.  And, I wanna hear all about that.

“But first of all, for people who don’t really understand what happened here, please set the scene.  (c. 01:42)

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “I will.  Thank you for inviting me to talk, Dennis.  Alex Nieto was a security guard, a City College of San Francisco student, a beloved son, community activist.

“He was a security guard who was going to work on Friday, March 21st of the year 2014.  He had bought a burrito and some chips.  And he was eating it at a very peaceful, beautiful place to enjoy the view called Bernal Heights, which was only one block away from his house.

“And, so, he had gone up there to relax, to meditate, to eat before what was, probably, going to be a pretty busy night at the nightclub where he worked as a security guard.  He was already dressed for work.  He was wearing black pants, his work boots.  And he also had his licensed Taser holstered at his hip.

“Now, the people who called the police on him do not even claim that Alex Nieto ever even looked at them.  But they called the police anyway because they thought Alex had a gun on his hip.

“And the police come in a military, tactical fashion, very aggressive.  And why did they come in such an aggressive fashion?  Well, even though Alex Nieto has done nothing wrong, they get over the radio a description that he is a Latino male, six-foot tall, wearing a red jacket.  And, with that description, they immediately profile Alex Nieto as a gang member, even though Alex Nieto has never been arrested in his life.  He has actually volunteered at the Juvenile Correctional Facility to help out youth.  I knew him very well.  He was a practicing Buddhist.

“He had no idea anybody had called the police on him.  He walks down the hill.  The police are approaching him in a very aggressive fashion.  In fact, we now know, based on the testimony in court, that they think they are cowboy cops.  They do not wait for any type of back up.  They actually bypass other police officers, that are near them.  And they go to kill whoever is on the hill that fateful, unfortunate night.

“They see Alex Nieto, a neutral witness claims, that Alex Nieto was casually walking.  The officer, the lead person in charge that evening, Sergeant [Jason] Sawyer, he actually claims when he sees Alex Nieto, Alex Nieto was eating from a bag of chips, walking down a hill.

“Now, you figure it out.  That, in no way, is any type of menacing figure, yet they jumped out of their car with their weapons drawn.  And the witness states that they simply shouted, Stop!, once.  Then, they immediately began firing.  (c. 5:06)

“And the testimony today is even more specific about what happened.  But that is the general story of what happened to Alex Nieto.  It is:  He was shot at 58, 59 times, struck at least 14 to 16 times.  And numerous of those shots were while Alex Nieto was face down on the ground.

“And, so, this is a fight, that we’re fighting, that we’ve been fighting for approximately two years now.  March 21st is coming up soon.  March 21st, and that will be the two-year anniversary of his killing.

“We made it to federal court.  And, so, this is a very rare event because we usually do not get this.  They dismiss the case.  Or they will settle out of court.  And, in this case, we actually get to hear the evidence, present it.

“And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past two days now in court. (c. 6:09)

“Yesterday, we had a rally with hundreds, if not a thousand, people in front of the federal court building in San Francisco. [1]  And we did poetry.  We did singing.  We had Aztec danzantes, Buddhist chanting.  And, so, this is a very beautiful, revolutionary moment.  We look forward to all of the evidence coming out.

“But I do have an update for you about the evidence.  But I’d like to ask you if you have any further questions.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Yeah, well, let me come in here.  And, before we get the latest breaking news, I think it’s very important for people listening outside of San Francisco—and we broadcast across the country—that they understand the context here.  That there is an attack on the Mission District, this beautiful, historic Mission District, that is really a part of Central and Latin America, has played a very important role in the City.  People love the Mission District.

“But, of course, now a certain kind of 1% and the people working for the 1% are moving in.  So, there is a major battle going on, a major gentrification, all kinds of crazy fires, every kind of attempt to gentrify and get rid of the people who made the Mission what it is.  You want to talk a little bit about that?  The sort of, the social context.”  (c. 7:41)

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Dennis.  Dennis, Alex Nieto was killed specifically because of gentrification.

“I did not fully explain the context of why somebody called the police.  Alright?  We have two new gentrifiers, new as a far as new to the neighborhood, who come into Bernal Heights.  And Bernal Heights was a working class, blue-collar neighborhood, full of African-Americans, Latinos, working class whites, Filipinos, Samoans, multicultural, diverse.

“Alex Nieto had lived there his entire life.  However, he was able to live there because of rent control.  Now, unfortunately, what happened is, starting in the ’90s, that area began to become gentrified.  And, not, it’s thought to be one of the most expensive places to live in the United States of America.  Places where you could buy a house, back in the ’70s, for $35,000 are now—the same, exact piece of property, the wood hasn’t changed, right, it’s not made of gold now—those same houses are now worth $1.7 million dollars.

“And, so, these new people came into the neighborhood.  And they see Alex Nieto.  And they think of him as being out of place.  And they end up calling the police because they have never had to have a security guard job.  They don’t understand.  What?  A Latino with a red jacket and he has a gun on his hip?  He’s not even facing them.  He’s actually peacefully eating a burrito.  But, supposedly, these people see him with his hand resting on his hip.

“And they, actually, they do not both see it.  Only one of them sees this.  And he tells his friend: Hey, did you see the guy with the gun?  His partner tells him:  No, I don’t see the guy.  I didn’t see a guy with a gun.  And the guy who supposedly saw the weapon first, he doesn’t even have the guts to call the police, himself.  He tells his friend:  Well, I saw a guy with a gun.  You call the police.

“This is total gentrification, racial profiling, and, unfortunately, it was part of the reason why Alex Nieto was killed because he was profiled by the people who called the police.  And he was also racially profiled by the police, who came and killed him.” (c. 10:20)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Let me also ask you to describe how the police treated the family of Alex Nieto.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Oh, what a horrible story.  A very horrible story, here, is that we what have is the police understanding immediately after they killed Alex Nieto, unjustifiably killed Alex Nieto.  Because right after they killed him, they knew that this man did not have a hand gun.  And they claimed that Alex Nieto—it seems like they were just concocting the story.  And we’re proving this right now.

“But I will go over what the police narrative is.  The police narrative is that this person, Alex Nieto, who has never been arrested in his life, who has less than two hours before he has to go to work, is walking down the hill.  And, notice here, the police officer, himself, Officer Sawyer, said:  He’s eating from a bag of chip.  This person, he’s eating from a bag of chips.

“Now, think about that.  When we think about a stereotypical person relaxing, we think about:  Well, that person is a stiff.  You’re on your couch, eating a bag of chips.  This person is walking down the hill, eating from a bag of chips.  There’s absolutely no reason to regard this person as a menace.  And this person, eating from a bag of chips, would have the mind set to, then, know that two officers, who jump out of their vehicle and point their weapons at him is going to, then, throw his bag of chips on the floor, go into his holster, point a weapon at them, and, you know, with a Taser, that doesn’t even fire more than 15 feet—and they’re supposedly 100 feet away—and he’s gonna do this.  Right?

“So, they immediately concocted this story.  And this was all in the mainstream media.  You have the police spokesperson saying:  The person who was killed in Bernal Heights had a gun.  They knew immediately that he did not have a gun.  The knew he only had a Taser.  And they knew immediately who he was.  (c. 12:32)

“Yet, it took them 18 hours to, I guess, think about what they were gonna say.  And try to find out as much dirt, as they could on Alex Nieto and try to go ahead and—18 hours later—go to the parents, and then begin to question the parents without an interpreter.  The parents speak only Spanish.  Without an interpreter, they go over there, start grilling them about Alex Nieto.  And, about 45 minutes into this interview, these very humble, beautiful people, the father ends up asking them.  He had invited them into the house already.  They start rummaging through the house, without a warrant.  And he asked them:  Why are you here?”  (c. 13:30)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “The father asked the cops?”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Why are you here? 

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “The father asked the cops.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yes.  And it is only, then, that the police officers tell them.  Well, we’re here because your son was killed by the police.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Wow.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “And that is just horrific.  There is absolutely no justification for that.  But it leads to us.  It leads us to understand the totality of these circumstances, which is cover up.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “That’s right.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Cover up!  Cover up.”  (c. 14:03)

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Alright.  Let me jump in here because we’re running out of time.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yeah.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “We’re speaking with Ben Bac Sierra.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “M-hm.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “We’re talking about a federal civil trial, that’s taking place in San Francisco now on behalf of the late Alex Nieto, who was gunned down, brutally, by police, a Buddhist, somebody who was actually interested in law enforcement—”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Yes.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “—worked with young people, an upstanding member of the community, gunned down.  Give just—we only have a few seconds left.  But, what’s new in the—was it powerful in the courtroom?”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “What we understood is all of the officers, for one, are professional testifiers, even the rookie, who was on the stand, at the beginning of today.  He has claimed that he has testified already over 50 times.  His father is a San Francisco Police Department officer.  And this person is well-groomed on how to stay consistently accurate with concocted types of stories.

“Yet, we saw that the story is being broken down by excellent attorneys from the law offices of John Burris.  Adante Pointer noted that, very important here, the rookie officer, who first started firing at Alex, claims that he first started firing at Alex because Alex Nieto was walking purposely down; and he made eye contact with Alex Nieto.  He saw into his eyes and saw Alex was angry.  And he also saw his forehead scrunching.  Note, here, it was proven by the evidence today that Alex Nieto had sunglasses on!  And that he had a baseball cap on!  So, it would be impossible for him to have seen his forehead scrunching.  (c. 15:54)

“These are all pieces of evidence, that will show the inconsistency and the illogic; and also I have to say the physical evidence will also prove that the police are–just.  It’s impossible for us to believe their narrative.

“I invite you all, listening today, to follow on Justice4AlexNieto.org.

“You could also Google my name, Benjamn Bac Sierra.  I am posting daily updates about the specifics of the testimony.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Alright.  Were gonna leave it right there.  But Ben Bac Sierra, we’re gonna stay in touch with you.  We appreciate the great work you’re doing.  And we will remember and celebrate the life and times of Alex Nieto, how he died.  And we will cover that moment when that justice comes.

“Thank you so much for being with us on Flashpoints.”

BENJAMIN BAC SIERRA:  “Thank you, Dennis.  Have a great night.  Goodbye.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “Bye bye, now.”  (c. 16:52)  [SNIP]

[SNIP]  (c. 59:59)

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS.

[This transcript will be expanded, as time constraints allow.  Contact us to help transcribe important free speech radio broadcasts.]

***

[1] RALLY!  THE TRIAL: ALEX NIETO VERSUS THE SFPD, MARCH 1st, 2016

The rally was held on day one of the trial in front of the United States federal courthouse in San Francisco’s Civic Center at 450 Golden Gate Avenue.  The federal court building is also known as the Phillip Burton Federal Building.

[2]  Terrestrial radio transmission, 94.1 FM (KPFA, Berkeley, CA) with online simulcast and digital archiving:  Flashpoints, hosted by Dennis Bernstein, for Monday, 7 MAR 2016, 17:00 PDT.

***

[8 MAR 2016]

[Last modified 16:45 PDT  10 MAR 2016]

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Food Not Bombs Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary

06 Sat Jun 2015

Posted by ztnh in Mindfulness, Neoliberalism

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Dennis Bernstein, Flashpoints, free speech, gentrification, Hungry for Peace, KPFA, KPFA/Pacifica Radio internal conflict, Pacifica Radio, police militarisation, police state, sit-lie ordinance, transcript, urban economics

FlashpointsLOGO19-300x225LUMPENPROLETARIAT—Food Not Bombs is one of the most ubiquitous social justice groups around.  In Lawrence, Kansas, when university students from various Midwestern schools, including UMKC, attend a weekend-long Heartland Conference activist workshop conducted by United Students Against Sweatshops, it’s Food Not Bombs, which keeps hungry students well-fed.  During the Occupy Movement, it was Food Not Bombs, which consistently turned up to help feed Occupy encampments.  Indeed, Food Not Bombs has been around for decades feeding the hungry, whilst raising political consciousness.

Recently, Food Not Bombs celebrated its 35th Anniversary.  Flashpoints (KPFA/Pacifica Radio) caught up with Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry (b. 1957).  Listen here or here. [1]

—Messina

***

INDYBAY—(28 MAY 2015) On May 24, the 35th anniversary of Food Not Bombs was marked with a six hour party in Santa Cruz. Those needing nourishment were greeted with live music and an especially celebratory atmosphere, in addition to free food, a free market, and a variety of other free services.

By combining social and environmental justice activism, nonviolent direct action, and a philosophy that emphasizes sharing over charity, Food Not Bombs has differentiated itself from other global organizations that distribute food to the hungry. The organization is comprised of hundreds of autonomous, volunteer-supported chapters that share free vegetarian meals with the hungry around the globe. There are no leaders running Food Not Bombs; local groups use the consensus process.

Hundreds of meals were shared over the course of the six hour celebration in Santa Cruz. A private solar shower booth was set up, and stylists cut people’s hair for free. Books, clothing, and plant starts were available as part of the free market. A number of bands and musicians performed together and separately, and social justice organizations set up informational tables. Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry was in attendance, and his birthday was also incorporated into the celebration. Food Not Bombs volunteers joined hands with other revelers to capture and roll McHenry into a giant human cinnamon bun.

Learn more at INDYBAY.

***

FLASHPOINTS—(3 JUN 2015) Today on Flashpoints: Hunger, food and politics in America. We’ll feature an extended conversation with Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, which just celebrated its 35th Anniversary. Also we feature the next installment of our in-depth multi-part series, “The Battle for Public Education In the 21st Century”

Click on the link below t0 listen to today’s show

Listen here:  Flashpoints 06-03-15

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS.NET.

***

TRANSCRIPT

FLASHPOINTS—(3 JUN 2015) Today, on Flashpoints, hunger, food and politics in America.  We’ll feature an extended conversation with Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, which just celebrated its 35th Anniversary.  And we feature the next installment of our in-depth, multipart series: The Battle for Education in the 21st Century. with host and producer Ken Yale.  All this straight ahead on Flashpoints.  Stay tuned.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “In Berkeley [CA], I’m Dennis Bernstein.  You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  We turn our attention back to food and hunger in America.  And we’re always delighted to be joined by Keith McHenry.  He’s the co-founder of Food Not Bombs, the organisation, just celebrated its 35th anniversary, giving out free food to some of the hungriest people in the country.  Keith McHenry joins us from Santa Cruz, California.  Keith, welcome back to Flashpoints.”

KEITH McHENRY:  “Thanks for having us.  It’s great.”

[SNIP]

[This is a rush transcript. Full transcription pending.]

[SNIP]

McHENRY:  [SNIP] (c. 21:24)  “So, [SNIP] we thought, at the very beginning of Food Not Bombs, we would have a literature table at our meals, that would combine issues like the exploitation of animals, but also of racism, sexism, homophobia, all of these issues about the arms race, about the wars, at that time, in El Salvador and Central America, the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union.

“These issues were all things we were trying to show are, basically, in the same—are all connected.  There’s no, really—what you’re eating as a—in your diet and global politics.  They’re all connected.  And the environment.  These things, you can’t separate these things, we feel, at Food Not Bombs.  And we try to show that.”  (c. 22:15)  [SNIP]

[SNIP]

[This is a rush transcript. Full transcription pending.]

[SNIP]

McHENRY:  (c. 27:58) “It is heartbreaking.  And, the first times when we saw that, I was shocked.  So, we had to, actually—because we felt responsible, even though it’s—really, the authorities should not come in, of course, and steal people’s food from them.  And we’ve seen real cruelty by the authorities, at times, where they’ll actually throw the food into the gutter in front of hungry people.  You could see them crying and everything.  It’s terrible.

“So, what we did was we created a policy, we actually have in my book, Hungry for Peace.  I have a whole section on how to do this because it was so upsetting.  We decided that we would bring small amounts of food out, at first, knowing that the authorities would arrest us.  So, there would be a little bit of food.  A couple of people would be arrested.  That food would be thrown away.  And then, in a little bit, more food would be brought out.  Those people would be arrested.  And that food would be arrested and confiscated and seized.  And, then, for whatever reason, the police tend not to come back on the third or fourth time.  And, so, we would bring out enough food for every single person to eat because it was just so heartbreaking to see people, like, you know, wait, all day.

“I have to say, in America, the number of times people have come up to me in recent months and said they had not eaten in days.  And this is something, that’s really shocking.  In the wealthiest country, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, people can go three days, four days, sometimes seven days before finding a meal.  And, sometimes, that’s because they’re new to a town or, in the case of when I was in Orlando and being arrested there, people commonly say they haven’t eaten in days.  And that was because you, frequently, need a Florida, a valid Florida ID to eat at the soup kitchen.  In fact, there’s a whole programme called I Dignity to get people Florida ID’s, so they can eat at Florida’s soup kitchens.  I mean it’s really a crazy policy.

“But in Santa Cruz, California, now, they have said there was a $300,000 cut in funding from HUD for the local shelter.  Over a thousand meals a day will be eliminated, starting July 1st.  They’re also eliminating the showers.  Some of the only showers in the town.  A lot of other services—48 beds are being closed.  The emergency shelter is being shut down.  This is in a very wealthy community of Santa Cruz, California.  And, apparently, similar things are happening in Monterey and in Santa Clara and in San Jose.”

BERNSTEIN:  “Well, I mean isn’t that why it’s happening?  Because it’s, for instance, Santa Cruz, California—for people listening somewhere else—I mean there’s a boardwalk there.  You know?  There is a traditional sort of rides structure.  It’s a gold mine waiting, if you will—in some people’s minds—to really be developed.  Is this, sort of, the move in that direction, where the super rich take a place like Santa Cruz and really pump it up?”  (c. 31:11)

McHENRY: “Yeah, this is why we don’t have, like, you know, the smoking gun.  But it appears to be.  And it’s kinda crazy that they’re doing it right before the summer when so many people are gonna show up in Santa Cruz to enjoy the boardwalk on all the sights here.  You’re gonna see this visible increase in poverty at exactly the same time.  It seems kind of insane that even the rich would come up with such a plot.  Why don’t they, you know, do this in the winter when less people are coming here?  But that’s what they’re doing.

“And we expect that there’s, actually, going to be an increased number of suicides.  There’s actually been people at the shelter, that said they can’t go back out on the street again.  They’re just gonna take their own lives.  And we are very concerned about that.

“And we’ve had several really passionate letters from residents of the shelter, you know, saying that they’re very, very worried that people are just not going to be able to take it, out on the streets.  And we’re already seen a huge problem with the shelter already, as it is.  (c. 32:20)

“You know.  We had our anniversary celebration on Sunday, the 24th of May.  We provided showers.  We had six or eight people take showers in an outdoor, you know, solar shower arrangement, that we placed there.  We had over 20 people get haircuts at the celebration.  And we had hundreds of people that came, not just for the celebration, but, really, because they needed to eat because the 24th was getting close to the end of the month.  And people were getting desperate for food.  And we see that is increasing already, without a thousand more meals being cut.  Breakfast and dinner at the shelter is gonna be eliminated.  And it’s going to be—it’s already a crisis now—but this will be even more intense.

“And I’m sure that they’ve started making anti-Sit-Lie laws down in Monterey.  And they’re gonna be cutting homeless services there.  And I think you’re right.  The idea is to drive these people, the people that were in many cases born and raised in these communities out of the area.  But the reality is, you know, people will not move out of the area.  You know their social—their friends are here.  The things that they know are here.  And, besides, people don’t have the resources to move to some other place and start over.  (c. 33:40)

“So, you know.  This is a very strange thing that it’s a very wealthy community and we got—the federal government cut $300,000 out of the homeless services, but provided roughly $300,000 for armoured Bearcat vehicle for the local police department.  And, apparently, the police are getting even larger amounts of money, in some cases, grants of nearly a million dollars and so on.  So, you know, more policing of Santa Cruz, while they’re pushing more people into even more dire needs.”  (c. 34:24)

[SNIP]

[This is a rush transcript. Full transcription pending.]

[SNIP]

[Transcript by Messina]

***

[1]  It seems, in past years, Flashpoints’ radio broadcast archives could be found reliably at KPFA.org:  https://kpfa.org/program/flashpoints/

Now, as noted at the official Flashpoints website, Flashpoints.net, some or all audio archives are deleted by free speech radio KPFA:  http://www.flashpoints.net/  Much important radical analysis is lost to the people.  Yet, we affirm:  All power to the people.

(Thus, Lumpenproletariat.org will work to archive as much news, knowledge, and information from radical, critical perspectives as possible, given time and resource constraints.  Contact us here to find out how you can help contribute to the people’s free flow of information and common stock of knowledge at Lumpenproletariat.org.)

With important radical radio archives being deleted, the people’s grassroots historical memory is seriously impaired—so much for the free flow of information, which used to be one of KPFA’s primary objectives.  However, an ongoing internal conflict between pro-Democrat liberals and the rest of KPFA, mostly radical grassroots activists, has led the moneyed pro-Democrats to pursue an agenda of slowly NPR-ising KPFA (and the entire national Pacifica Radio network and its democratic governance structure.)  For example, KPFA’s official nickname used to be “Free Speech Radio KPFA”.  Today, it’s been watered down to “Community Powered Radio.”  This is a very subtle, but insidious, move to de-emphasise free speech and dissent.

***

[Last modified 14:23 PDT 6 JUN 2015]

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Flashpoints Presents: The Battle for Education in the 21st Century

05 Fri Jun 2015

Posted by ztnh in Education, Neoliberalism

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Dennis Bernstein, Flashpoints, for-profit education, free speech, gentrification, Hungry for Peace, KPFA, KPFA/Pacifica Radio internal conflict, Messina, non-profit education, Pacifica Radio, police militarisation, police state, public education, school choice movement, sit-lie ordinance, transcript, urban economics

FlashpointsLOGO19-300x225LUMPENPROLETARIAT—One of the most important daily investigative news magazines on free speech radio in the USA is Flashpoints (KPFA, Pacifica Radio).  Flashpoints is currently presenting an excellent series on one of the most pressing contemporary sociopolitical struggles—the capitalist/neoliberal war against public education.  This is a 15-part series, with a new part being broadcast every Wednesday.  One may listen to Flashpoints archives here or here. [1]  Here’s how Flashpoints’ founder and executive producer has described the series during one radio ad [2]:

Dennis Bernstein:  “This is Dennis Bernstein, executive producer of Flashpoints, heard every weekday at five [PM, PDT] on KPFA.  I’m inviting you to tune in to an exciting new series:  The Battle for Public Education in the 21st Century.  We’ll examine the past, present, and future of public education through a social justice lens.  In this in-depth 15-part series, we’ll explore public education and expose the current corporate-driven education agenda and its negative impact on students and schools and, especially, in the most oppressed communities.  We’ll also explore the most promising movements in education.  So, join us for The Battle for Public Education in the 21st Century on Flashpoints, every Wednesday through June at five pm.  Don’t miss it.”

—Messina

***

FLASHPOINTS—Flashpoints examines the past, present & future of public education through a social justice lens.  Broadcasts every Wednesday for 15 weeks, which began March 18, 2015.

This series is produced and hosted by Ken Yale.

Episode 12 (Aired June 3rd 2015)

Another Education Is Possible

We continue to explore alternative educational approaches, focusing on models outside the U.S. public education system.  Featured are the public education system in Finland, internationally recognized as one of the highest achieving and most equitable in the world, and contemporary indigenous learning lodges, which are being developed across North America by the Native American Academy.

Guests:

Pasi Sahlberg: Visiting professor at Harvard ‘s Graduate School of Education and former Director General in Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture

Rose Von Thater-Braan: Co-founder & Director, Native American Academy.  Former Director of Education at U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Particle Astrophysics

Listen here: Series Part 12

Learn more at FLASHPOINTS.NET.

***

TRANSCRIPT, PART 12

FLASHPOINTS—(3 JUN 2015) Today, on Flashpoints, hunger, food and politics in America.  We’ll feature an extended conversation with Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, which just celebrated its 35th Anniversary.  And we feature the next installment of our in-depth, multipart series: The Battle for Education in the 21st Century. with host and producer Ken Yale.  All this straight ahead on Flashpoints.  Stay tuned.”

DENNIS BERNSTEIN:  “In Berkeley [CA], I’m Dennis Bernstein.  You’re listening to Flashpoints on Pacifica Radio.  We turn our attention back to food and hunger in America.  And we’re always delighted to be joined by Keith McHenry.  He’s the co-founder of Food Not Bombs, the organisation, just celebrated its 35th anniversary, giving out free food to some of the hungriest people in the country.  Keith McHenry joins us from Santa Cruz, California.  Keith, welcome back to Flashpoints.”

KEITH McHENRY:  “Thanks for having us.  It’s great.”

[SNIP]

[This is an excerpt. Read full transcription of McHenry interview here.]

[SNIP]

McHENRY:  [SNIP] (c. 21:24)  “So, [SNIP] we thought, at the very beginning of Food Not Bombs, we would have a literature table at our meals, that would combine issues like the exploitation of animals, but also of racism, sexism, homophobia, all of these issues about the arms race, about the wars, at that time, in El Salvador and Central America, the invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union.

“These issues were all things we were trying to show are, basically, in the same—are all connected.  There’s no, really—what you’re eating as a—in your diet and global politics.  They’re all connected.  And the environment.  These things, you can’t separate these things, we feel, at Food Not Bombs.  And we try to show that.”  (c. 22:15)  [SNIP]

[SNIP]

[This is an excerpt. Read full transcription of McHenry interview here.]

[SNIP]

McHENRY:  (c. 27:58) “It is heartbreaking.  And, the first times when we saw that, I was shocked.  So, we had to, actually—because we felt responsible, even though it’s—really, the authorities should not come in, of course, and steal people’s food from them.  And we’ve seen real cruelty by the authorities, at times, where they’ll actually throw the food into the gutter in front of hungry people.  You could see them crying and everything.  It’s terrible.

“So, what we did was we created a policy, we actually have in my book, Hungry for Peace.  I have a whole section on how to do this because it was so upsetting.  We decided that we would bring small amounts of food out, at first, knowing that the authorities would arrest us.  So, there would be a little bit of food.  A couple of people would be arrested.  That food would be thrown away.  And then, in a little bit, more food would be brought out.  Those people would be arrested.  And that food would be arrested and confiscated and seized.  And, then, for whatever reason, the police tend not to come back on the third or fourth time.  And, so, we would bring out enough food for every single person to eat because it was just so heartbreaking to see people, like, you know, wait, all day.

“I have to say, in America, the number of times people have come up to me in recent months and said they had not eaten in days.  And this is something, that’s really shocking.  In the wealthiest country, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, people can go three days, four days, sometimes seven days before finding a meal.  And, sometimes, that’s because they’re new to a town or, in the case of when I was in Orlando and being arrested there, people commonly say they haven’t eaten in days.  And that was because you, frequently, need a Florida, a valid Florida ID to eat at the soup kitchen.  In fact, there’s a whole programme called I Dignity to get people Florida ID’s, so they can eat at Florida’s soup kitchens.  I mean it’s really a crazy policy.

“But in Santa Cruz, California, now, they have said there was a $300,000 cut in funding from HUD for the local shelter.  Over a thousand meals a day will be eliminated, starting July 1st.  They’re also eliminating the showers.  Some of the only showers in the town.  A lot of other services—48 beds are being closed.  The emergency shelter is being shut down.  This is in a very wealthy community of Santa Cruz, California.  And, apparently, similar things are happening in Monterey and in Santa Clara and in San Jose.”

BERNSTEIN:  “Well, I mean isn’t that why it’s happening?  Because it’s, for instance, Santa Cruz, California—for people listening somewhere else—I mean there’s a boardwalk there.  You know?  There is a traditional sort of rides structure.  It’s a gold mine waiting, if you will—in some people’s minds—to really be developed.  Is this, sort of, the move in that direction, where the super rich take a place like Santa Cruz and really pump it up?”  (c. 31:11)

McHENRY: “Yeah, this is why we don’t have, like, you know, the smoking gun.  But it appears to be.  And it’s kinda crazy that they’re doing it right before the summer when so many people are gonna show up in Santa Cruz to enjoy the boardwalk on all the sights here.  You’re gonna see this visible increase in poverty at exactly the same time.  It seems kind of insane that even the rich would come up with such a plot.  Why don’t they, you know, do this in the winter when less people are coming here?  But that’s what they’re doing.

“And we expect that there’s, actually, going to be an increased number of suicides.  There’s actually been people at the shelter, that said they can’t go back out on the street again.  They’re just gonna take their own lives.  And we are very concerned about that.

“And we’ve had several really passionate letters from residents of the shelter, you know, saying that they’re very, very worried that people are just not going to be able to take it, out on the streets.  And we’re already seen a huge problem with the shelter already, as it is.  (c. 32:20)

“You know.  We had our anniversary celebration on Sunday, the 24th of May.  We provided showers.  We had six or eight people take showers in an outdoor, you know, solar shower arrangement, that we placed there.  We had over 20 people get haircuts at the celebration.  And we had hundreds of people that came, not just for the celebration, but, really, because they needed to eat because the 24th was getting close to the end of the month.  And people were getting desperate for food.  And we see that is increasing already, without a thousand more meals being cut.  Breakfast and dinner at the shelter is gonna be eliminated.  And it’s going to be—it’s already a crisis now—but this will be even more intense.

“And I’m sure that they’ve started making anti-Sit-Lie laws down in Monterey.  And they’re gonna be cutting homeless services there.  And I think you’re right.  The idea is to drive these people, the people that were in many cases born and raised in these communities out of the area.  But the reality is, you know, people will not move out of the area.  You know their social—their friends are here.  The things that they know are here.  And, besides, people don’t have the resources to go move to some other place and start over.  (c. 33:40)

“So, you know.  This is a very strange thing that it’s a very wealthy community and we got—the federal government cut $300,000 out of the homeless services, but provided roughly $300,000 for an armoured Bearcat vehicle for the local police department.  And, apparently, the police are getting even larger amounts of money, in some cases, grants of nearly a million dollars and so on for, you know, more policing of Santa Cruz, while they’re forcing all these people into even more dire needs.”  (c. 34:24)

BERNSTEIN:  “Alright.  Well, that’s not a good sign.  But we just have a minute left.  And, in that regard, why don’t you talk just very briefly?  Again, part of your struggle now is the fact that there is intensified police power.  We’ve seen all kinds of brutality across the country

[SNIP]

[This is an excerpt. Read full transcription of McHenry interview here.]

[SNIP]

[Transcript by Messina]

***

[1]  Included in this article is a rush transcript of Part 12 of the 15-part series.  We will try to cross-post and archive here the entire series.

  • “Flashpoints Presents: The Battle for Education in the 21st Century”
    • Part One, broadast on March 18, 2015  [cf. Flashpoints.net]
    • Part Two, broadcast on March 25, 2015  [KPFA.org lists “Flashpoints  – June 17, 2004” under broadcast date March 25, 2015]
    • Part Three, broadcast on April 1, 2015
    • Part Four, broadcast April 8, 2015
    • Part Five, broadcast April 15, 2015 [cf. Flashpoints.net]
      • “Criminalizing Our Children“:  Explores the impact of the corporate education agenda on students.  Focuses on how the corporate education agenda incentivizes harsh student discipline policies, pushing students out of school and fueling school-to-confinement pipelines.  Highlights the disproportionately negative impact on low income students of color.  Guests:  David Muhammad (Director, National Justice Programs, National Council on Crime and Delinquency); Monique Morris (Social justice scholar, college professor, author, and the co-founder of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute); George Galvis (Executive Director & Co-Founder, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice); Donte Clark and Molly Raynor (Co-Founders of RAW Talent, a spoken word and performing arts group from the RYSE Center in Richmond, California)
    • Part Six, broadcast on April 22, 2015
    • Part Seven, broadcast on April 29, 2015
    • Part Eight, broadcast on May 6, 2015
    • Part Nine, broadcast on May 13, 2015
    • Part Ten, broadcast on May 20, 2015  (cf. Flashpoints.net)
    • Part Eleven, broadcast on May 27, 2015
    • Part Twelve, broadcast June 3, 2015 [cf. Flashpoints.net]

It seems, in past years, Flashpoints’ radio broadcast archives could be found reliably at KFPA.org:  https://kpfa.org/program/flashpoints/  Now, as noted at the official Flashpoints website, Flashpoints.net, some or all audio archives are deleted by free speech radio KPFA:  http://www.flashpoints.net/  Much important radical analysis is lost to the people.  Yet, we affirm:  All power to the people.  (Thus, Lumpenproletariat.org will work to archive as much news, knowledge, and information from radical, critical perpsectives as possible, given time and resource constraints.  Contact us here to find out how you can help contribute to the people’s free flow of information and common stock of knowledge at Lumpenproletariat.org.)

With important radical radio archives being deleted, the people’s grassroots historical memory is seriously impaired.  So much for the free flow of information, which used to be one of KPFA’s primary objectives.  However, an ongoing internal conflict between pro-Democrat liberals and the rest of KPFA, mostly radical grassroots activists, has led the moneyed pro-Democrats to pursue an agenda of slowly NPR-ising KPFA (and the entire national Pacifica Radio network and its democratic governance structure.)  For example, KPFA’s official nickname used to be “Free Speech Radio KPFA”.  Today, it’s been watered down to “Community Powered Radio.”  This is a very subtle, but insidious, move to de-emphasise free speech and dissent.

[2]  Ad was aired at the end of KPFA’s Letters and Politics broadcast for Wednesday, June 3, 2015.  The ad, or cart, may be heard at the end of the Letters and Politics archive.

***

[Last modified 22:27 PDT 6 JUN 2015]

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