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www.carnnews.org camnev;s@vcn. be .ca
NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 15, 2008 •
401 Main SIH!el, VancotJVer V6A 2T7 (604) 665-2289
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Dear people, It has always amazed me that the press, in all their
wisdom, for the most part focuses on the negatives about the Downtown Eastside. I, personally, think 2007 has been one of those years that we will look back on and possibly say â&#x20AC;˘ "that's when I started to notice the difference," or think that there was something different in the air. I am not saying that all of our problems are solved or that the broader community gets that we are more than the visual they only relate to at Xmas time. It's not that we don't' appreciate the thoughts or contributions; however, our struggle is to be recognized as a functioning community that yes, has its problems, but also has a lot to offer. We want to be included in decision-making in and about our community. We want to know that we have a say in any planning, whether it be buildings or by-laws, which affects our community. No-one knows the obstacles and challenges,( and yes, how to fix it), that face the members of our community bet, ter than we ourselves. Having said that, I wanted to start a list, and I ask for your patience as l know I haven't covered everything, that says: we've been busy making sure our voices are heard and that the points listed here are achievements to be proud of.
The 2007CELEBRATE THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE ACHIEVEMENTS List ..The Award to Jean Swanson for her continuous and consistent work for the disenfranchised and for housing in the downtown eastside. .. the appointment of Wendy Pederson as CCAP coordinator which has played a huge role in the continuous profile of housing needs in the Downtown Eastside .... well done .. the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre's successful efforts to create night programming for homeless women in the downtown eastside and for the appointment of Harsha Wahlia as coordinator of the Power To Women Group. She has mobilized both DEWC women and women from the communi-
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ty at large to participate in furthering equality for women . .. the work oflNSITE to continue to be proactive in its efforts to save this essential program for the Downtown Eastside community. .. the Carnegie Centre for staying open during the strike and their continual operations of a vital service centre in the Downtown Eastside .. the United Nations forum and the Special Rapporteur, Miloon Kothari; who came to see for himself the housing travesty taking place in our community by walking the streets and talking amongst us. .. the Downtown Eastside Community Arts Network for the first Fearless Festival which took place on Canada Day in Pigeon Park .. the Aboriginal Mothers Centre for program initiatives that create opportunity and have a positive and long-lasting impact on young mothers. .. Nathan & Chapel Arts Centre for its tenacity in staying open and with us despite all the road blocks that City Hall, in all its wisdom, created for him to be there. .. FEARless TV, Sid Chow Tan & his volunteers who, through television programming, give voice to members of the Downtown Eastside .. the 2007 In The Heart Of The City Festival which grew in quality, content and diversity .. the City Opera society for bringing opera to the Downtown Eastside and its determination to contribute to the artistic fabric of our community .. Donna Spencer, the staff and the Firehall Theatre for their continuous support of out-of-the-mainstream theatre .. the continued progress of communication between artists and art groups to becoming more unified in their vision of the Downtown Eastside from an artist's perspective. 51 .. the 21 birthday of the Carnegie Newsletter, it's twice-a-month publication of20-28 pages of writing, poetry and graphic art fostering ideas and activism and going around the community as a mustread; the 3ih edition of Help in the Downtown Eastside. .. the many individuals who have made an effort to improve their lives by making changes, volunteering, speaking up and out.. .. .IF TI liS MEANS YOU "THANK Y-OU" FOR TAKING THAT STEP. There are lots of other good news stories for our community, the Downtown Eastside, that are not listed. This is just a sample of things that are exciting and positive.
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Our challenge for 2008; get connected, get involved start participating whether it's the poetry corner at ' Carnegie or helping with a mail-out; whether its' marching for the Missing Women or taking part in a drum circle: GET INVOLVED. In peace, Dalannah Gail Bowen
Michael Clague is made a Member of
The Order of Canada
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CARNEGIE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 'Twas right before Christmas, when all from the street, Came to the Carnegie for a free Christmas treat; The coffee was served by volunteers there, In hopes that everyone would get their share; Egor was nestled in, showing a Christmas flick, WhiJe sleepers annoy security Rick; And Rika in ,her elf hat, and Mikey in his cap, Had just settled down •for the long night of crap,
Local Kid Makes Good. After several years trying to recuperate from the fun of working here, Michael When out on the step there arose such a clatter, is being forced to come out from behind-the-scenes. A lex sprang from the desk to see what was the matter. Not that he has stage fright or is overly shy (Hah!) Solving the problem, he came back into this place, Operating on the somewhat misplaced principle of only to see the surprise on poor Daniel's face. "~ea)( no ill of the dead" "Speak only good of the dead" the newspaper article says he got awarded for When a patron stumbles in full of cheer, his work in social services. Michael retired about a with no winter jacket but carrying a beer, year and a half ago as director of our Carnegie CenWith A lex flex'n his muscle, and Rick's toothy grin, tre (not the 'several years' the paper wants us to The fellow had no hope of even getting in. swallow, and I can only hope he was never stuck with the moniker "executive" - that implies he was As the man staggered away, beverage in hand, in charge!?) The article goes on to say he was the Christmas tunes can be heard, played by our band. executive director of the Britannia Community CenNow they whistled and sang and we called out their names; tre, the Community Social Planning Council of "Sing, Mark! Sing, Dean! Sing, Stan and Andy! Greater Victoria and the Social Planning and Research Council ofB.C. Who knows? Maaaybe ... Play Steve and Mike! Play, Robyn and Ricky! Michael did okay while he was here (in Carnegie) Without any pitch! Louder than all! and rumour has it that they still let him in the door While Marlene complained she had too much to do, without security having to keep a hairy eyeball on Jerry's chili was causing a line at the loo. him. The Heart of the City Festival started during his tenure and he remains without visible scars for So on the third floor, the fingers they flew, his support of the local Arts Community. Poking fun at the staff, even Mr. Moss too. We rely on Barb, his better ten-elevenths, to keep Bob came after midnight, when the bellies were full,\ his constantly swelling head humbled. It was a task His task is now easy; the staffthinks "That's BULL!" for those of us at the Carnegie Newsletter, even • • when his sterling presence was somewhat overdone We could hear the mumblings, they are quite clear, in other media and we tried to be nice in setting the "Bob will be servin' Chili this time next year!" • record straight. The 1OO'h Anniversary of the CarneWell that is our stmy; hope. it wasn't a bore, gie building was a case in point. He doesn't look that old. Now the people are being herded straight out the qoor. On the other hand, Mike is a good guy to have on • your side when coming head-to-pocketbook with the "Meny Christmas to all, now get out of"c' .-otsnobs and snots of extreme community makeovers. Alas, Poor Michael. Suffering self-righteously , Jason & Keith pissed wannabees at local meetings after same were featured in biased, insulting and crude coverage in Ye Olde Carnegie Newsletter .-.-7,
A II the best. By PAULR TAYLOR
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Dear friends, It's with great sadness that l heard about the death of dear Chris Laird. I had tried to get hold of him before Christmas as I hadn't heard from him and was worried about him. I really loved seeing him, his quiet way of helping people, his care for people and his deep concern about health in the Downtown Eastside and his advocacy for people with diabetes. He was a wonderful person and like many I will miss his presence and strength in the community. 1 always think he was one of the unsung heroes in the DES. He really worked so hard and always so positive and it feels like a terrible loss. But I think he would want people to keep active and keep strong and care for each other- like he did. Libby Davies MP Vancouver East
Hello Friends Chris Laird, a popular community activist of the Downtown Eastside, passed away on January 4th . 2008. Chris cared about his community and became a Board Member of DERA & Carnegie Community Centre Association for many years, and the Diabetes Foundation invited Chris to attend and speak at Diabetes events. They had him do quite a lot of things. Carnegie will be celebrating Chris Laird's life on January 30th 2008@ 4 PM in the Carnegie Theatre on the 1st floor.
SENIORS FORUM Thursday, January 17,2008 I !O:OOam- 12:00noon at the Lion's Den Seniors Centre 770 Commercial Drive (at Adanac)
Go to basement entrance, on Commercial Drive Parking is available on the North side of the building Guest Speakers
Chris Charlton, Federal NDP Spokesperson for Seniors On government pensions, and a Seniors Charter for Canada Hazel Bissky, Grandview-Woodland Community Police Centre On safety Jean Sickman, Council of Senior Citizens of BC On health promotion
Carnegie Centre 28th Anniversary Friday, January 18, 2008 Refreshntellts 2:00p111 Chamber Music Concert J:OOp111 Dance to " The Reasonables 11 7:00p111
Victor Beale March 1947 - December 2007
Free Lecture at SFU Harbour Ccnh·e
In memory of our dear friend Vic.
5 J 5 West Hastings Street
In celebrating his life a gathering will be held at Oppenheimer Park, 11 am on Friday, Janua 18
uTile Night Before the Opera"
,.THE ITAliAN GIBliN AlGIERS" By Rossini
Wednesday, January 23, 7pm Carnegie Centre Theatre The first 75 people will receive free tickets to the final dress rehearsa l of the opera.
Saturday, January 191h at I :00 p.m.
Albert Einstein: A Most Comprehensibly Incomprehensible Rebel-Genius Scientist and historian Walter Cicha discusses how · Einstein's work was informed by his concern for humanity. Free admission, info 778.782.5100 To All the Volunteers of Carnegie I salute you all. We are the best in what we do. We hardly get 'paid' but put up with all the abuse. So there volunteers: I hope you keep up Lhe good work. Thank you Paul Taylor for all of your free time and most of the good work in theN cwsletter/
Presented by Vancouver Opera & UBC Learning Exchange in collaboration with the Carnegie Centre.
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All my relations, Your fellow volunt~er, Bonnie Stevens
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Margaret Prevost, President Carnegie Community Centre Association
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As you know, I have been the City's Se'nior Planner for the Downto»'n Eastside since 1994. I will be leaving the City government in a few weeks and wanted to let you know how much I've ,come to appreciate and admire the work of the Carnegie staff, volunteers and the board that hold this incredible organization together. The Carnegie Community Centre is one Vancouver's finest achievements of the last 30 years. It has had a great line of staff directors including Dianne, Donald, Michael and now Ethel. It also had the strong and consistent leadership of board members like you and Muggs and others. Like with any active organization, democracy doesn't mean that everyone likes or agrees with one another or with others who work in the community including City staff. Sometimes the arguments can be intensive. But the r:arnegie Association has demonstrated that its fonriula is successful. It is the place I show people interested in learning about the best in inner city planning practices. None has ever come away without a sense of awe at how so many people can use a facility so intensively and creatively. I have gone to many meetings at Carnegie and have stopped in talk with Paul, Tom, Peter, Wendy, Mathew, Jean, Bob(s), Leigh, Bud, Dan(s), Jeff, Sharon, Jim, Steven, John, Sandy, Rika, Andy and others. r especially enjoy the m·agic that is the theatre . In addition to intensive and informed community meetmgs, tt s amazmg to see that room transformed to become the set for community plays, opera, jazz, poetry, drumming and every kind of ceremony. •
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Virtually every Carnegie initiative on which I've ) participated has proven to have been either successful or at least worth trying. These have included closing problem businesses, lane clean-up, historic mosaics, Outdoor Street Program as well as developing the outdoor patio, the Contact Centre and other health facilities, Oppenheimer Park renovation' Downtown Eastside Housing Plan and the SRA dylaw, and community arts- from the Walls of Cha~ge to Heart of the City. , The Carnegie Action Project reflects the views of many of the neighbourhood's low income residents and their supporters. It has worked tirelessly in raising public awareness of the issues of homelessness displacement and the need to raise th~ welfare rate.' It has helped me understand the importance of the Downtown Eastside banne'rs in recognizing the community's identity. I know Carnegie will continue to work on these and emerging issues. I hope that you will welcome Jessica Chen in her new role as the Senior Planner for the Downtown Eastside and see her as a partner. She has been the planner for Chinatown and has worked on many other initiatives to help secure inclusive public spaces, affordable housing and the neighbourhood, s historic character. Although I'm leaving City government, I intend to remain involved in some issues. I' II also continue to subscribe to the Carnegie Newsletter- which, with Paul's skill and persistence, is an incredible mix of . poetry, politics, history, news and a voice for ~ommunity of people who really think about public , 1ssues and debate them with the passion and clarity that I wish every neighbourhood could experience.
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Congratulations to our two new Board members. The Carnegie Community Centre Association held a ' by-election at its meeting on January 10 and Sandra Pronteau and Rolf Auer were elected. This brings 1 the active membership up to 14. The l5 h member, elected in June 2007, is William Simpson, whoremains barred from the Carnegie Centre indefinitely. It was a good example of bad journalism when the Vancouver Sun accepted one of its hack's piddle about the scenario of Simpson and his persona nm. grata status. Ban·ing of an individual from Carnegie is done according to the guidelines of Security. For the ban to be lifted, said individual must recognize that the behaviour went against «conduct. .. in a civil and proper manner." To regain access an honest person agrees not to indulge in said anti-social acti.vity again. Simpson apparently refuses to do so. A far subtler and more insidious action is that of the Sun's executive/owner. A journalism student would fail for submitting such trash but in the Sun it was placed at the top of Page 3 in the front sedtion. Motive is to undermine credibility here, tb foment a bogus controversy so our ongoing resista~ce to the corporate agenda of gentrification - poor or addicted or mental1y ill or pensioners out, wealthy &/or good, honest consume.-s in - can be labeled as the delusion ' of 'a local special interest group.' I ask ya ..... '
PRT
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. -8oren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) , 'J ,:j· .. . .,. ... . . .. ' \ ' '
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On Shelagh Roger's program (Sounds Like Canada), they ~re continuing with their health theme: specifically the adequacy/nutritional quality of hospital food :
What caught my attention (and the reason I am writing) is that they started talking about the dollars spent per day on food for hospital patients in the context of a patient 'bill ofrights'.When the figure of $5-7 per day for food is mentioned, Shelagh Rogers gasps and says that she is shocked. What galled me was that $5-7/day is found to be shocking even though most people on social assistance are forced to live on a lot Jess than that once they have paid their rent. When I thought about why people are indiffyrent to the amounts which the poor are forced to rely on for food while being 'shocked' by the amounts spent on
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hospital food, I was reminded of what we saw so vividly when, in 1996, the feds repealed national standards/rights for the poor which had been protected in the Canada Assistance Plan while rigidly insisting on the maintenance of health care rights under the Canada Health Act; a classic doublestandard for rights protections--essentially because the middle and upper middle class are big users of Medicare. While clearly unintended, the CBC discussion on the quality of hospital food highlights that double standard--a genuine concern for adequacy/quality/ amounts spent on food but it is only a concern when it is the middle class which is forced onto a 'nutritionally inadequate diet. email soundslikecanada@cbc.ca Vince Calderhead, Halifax
Council, Mayor, I am a resident of Vancouver's West End. The cur• rent housing crisis affects a majority of Vancouver families and individuals. For people with multiple barriers this is often compounded by a lack of resources and support. There is a lack of comprehension by the most privileged of this society about why someone would "choose homelessness" this is often how I've heard it referred to, as though one chooses: disability, mental illness, discrimination, harassment, assault. Decades of cutbacks to essential social services created homelessness, along with complicit governments, unlimited growth, and lack of affordable housing. I was reading a statistic on the number of youth who are homeless in the United States; the number was over one million. Is this the legacy we want for our youth and children? ' There is a solution to homelessness, by providing immediate and long term housing, as was advised by the United Nati6ns. This responsibility lies Civically, Provincially and Nationally. In agreeing with speakers before me I want council to: 1. Stop advertising that they have solved homelessness. We're far below the targets in the Homeless Action Plan. 2. Strengthen Bylaws and use all the other means to slow speculation in the DTES 3. Moratorium on the hotels so they don't convert. 4. Replace hotels with decent housing in the DTES. 5. Advocate for welfare increase.
Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre Our new pamphlet Are you a renter in British Columbia? ' is now available in English, Chinese>Punjabi, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Persian and Arabic. . Also, our new bookiet, the Landlord Guide, is available in English, Chinese and Punjabi. \
You can order copies from TRAC by calling (604) 2553099 ext. 100 or by emailing info@tenants.bc.ca
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Mayor Sullivan aqd City council, With tourists arriving every hour, the homelessness of this city reflects very poorly on you as mayor and council, who were elected to serve us! And we are getting ready to show Vancouver to the world with the 2010 OLYMPICS! We get to climb into. our warm beds at night. Let's do something for the homeless now! As a citizen of the .city can we ask to have the Reserve Armouries opened for IMMEDIATE OPEUATIONAL REQUIREMENTS to allow the homeless to have shelter at night? Colonel Bell, the current commanding officer of the British Columbia Regiment, along with the former commanding officer, were asked, and both officers stated that the Reserve Armouries are ready any time. In fact, previous civic governments have utilized these buildings before -Under the Queen's regulations and orders, as well as the National Defence Act, the only requirement for "aide to the civil power" is that the municipal government ask for military aide! As the temperature drops, we must remember that people are sleeping on sidewalks and doorways as we are peacefully crawling into our beds. Let's do something right now!!!!! Please respond. Brian Baker (Originally sent in March 2007; again in December 200.7)
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Untitled Poem *for Diane Wood, who knows r see Pam every time I look at her.
"All you have to do is be a good man, one time, .to one woman, and that'll be the end of the road." -Janis ioplin .
Euclid Bishop Berkeley Vermeer Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) William Blake Charlotte Bronte I reincarnated as Sylvia Plath Emily Dickensen I reincarnated as Sylvia Plath Soren Kierkegaard 路路 August Strindberg Fredrich Nietzsche Fyodor Dostoyevskii Vladimir Mayakovsky Erwin Schrod inger Wassily Kandinsky Martin Heidigger Rene Magritte ; And every lesbian 9n earth for all time.
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Stephen Belkin
Author 's note: See what happens when accuracy trumps aesthetics? Oh well, it is no less hallow for that nd by the way, just in case not everyone knows, Lesbians are sacred to men. All my love from as near a distance as humanly possible, i.e. Green-Lantern-close In brightest day In darkest night No evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might ~eware my power: Green Lantern's Light.
- Stephen (i.e.) Belkin Being a secretary for the Bicyclefiche messenger service. (The renuermation for which remains somewhat obscure.) Bye for now. Kisses for all and all a night.
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Fighting for Scraps by Sean Condon Outside of The Door is Open, the catholic charity on East Cordova, Mike Blenkhorn stands in the sun munching on some soup and a bun. Blenkhorn has been coming to The Door is Open for the past decade for prepared meals and canned food, but the recent decision by the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society to close down its food bank at the charity has made it more difficult for the Downtown Eastside resident to get fed. "It's a real pain," he says, in between bites of food. "Now I have to go on my bike to get to another food bank, or I just don't go." Last month the Food Bank closed its depot at The Door is Open, its only one in the Downtown Eastside, because it felt that most of the people in the J1eighborhood did not have access to kitchen facilities to prepare their own meals. However, the Food Bank's move has upset many in the DTES who feel they've lost an important resource. "There are a lot of families in the Downtown Eastside," says Blenkhorn, "and they need to be able to prepare theit' own h1eals instead of being dependent on others to make their meals for them. Even those that live in [~ingle Room Occupancy hotels] have access to a Hotplate and can cook their own food." While there are still lots of places in the neighbourhood where people can get free or cheap meals, the food bank's decision to close shop has taken the community by surprise. Julia Ruggier, who runs The Door is Open, says her regulars are complaining that the nearest food bank is too far. Now if residents want to access a food bank they have to go east of Nanaimo. . But Cheryl Prepchuck, the executive director of the Great~r Vancouver Food Bank Society, says it's just a matter of re-prioritizing its services. Prepchuk says since most people in the neighborhood don't have an ability to prepare their own food, the Food Bank has decided to give The Door is Open more food for prepared meals. So while there is no food bank at The Door is Open, the number of meals it prepares a week has increased from roughly 60 to 1,000. The Food Bank has also increased its food delivery program and doubled its resources for community kitchens in the neighborhood. "What we're tying to do is get people meals that are more nutritious and through community kitcheri programs address people's isolation challenges/' says . Prepchuck . •
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However, the compensation is not sitting well with many in the Downtown Eastside. A petition is being circulated around the neighborhood by Rob Morgan from the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society asking for the food bank to be reinstated. "We understand that the Food Bank gave 1000 more meals and support to community kitchens in exchange," the petition states. "However, we have our own cooking facilities and rely on the food bank donations so we don't have to stand in lineups for soup or be in community kitchen groups in order to feed ourselves. We do not have bus fare to get to the nearest food bank outlet at the Longhouse on Franklin Street (back of London Drugs on Hastings)." The closure has caused a great deal of anger and panic in the neighbourhood fi·om people who already feel besieged by the dual forces of poverty and gentrification. While having access to a food bank can already be difficult for many people, at least they have a sense of normalcy by taking the food home and preparing it themselves. Despite the angry calls she's received, Prepchuck insists there is no ulterior motive for closing the food bank down. Regardless, the move has now pitted many in the neighborhood against the food bank, which should be a natural ally, and forced the community to fight over scraps.
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Food Bank Closure at Door is Open 'Beyond Logic" Want to vomit, read the "praising" report of Cheryl Prepchuk of the Vancouver Food Bank in last weekend's edition of the Courier. It did not mention what Cheryl recently did that affects nearly everyone in the DTES. . Cheryl, for a reason beyond logic, decided that the low income residents in the DTES did not need a foodbank at the Door is Open. She told the Door is Open that most of the residents in the DTES do not have stoves so if they are hungry they will line up at soup kitchens. Something like if you don't have bread, eat cake. Cheryl arbitrarily decided to do this although the Oppenheimer area is mostly populated by people with social housing who do have kitchens. Contrary to her statement that this 'decision' was arrived at after consultation with and agreement by the staff and volunteers "in the community" Eric Stamp, a regular volunteer there, said that no one knew about the·closure until the last day when
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Democracy is playing like Foolocra~y
someone just announced it: "By the way, this is the last day for this Food Bank. If anyone comes by in 2 weeks (the service shut during the week welfare cheques came out) give them our phone number ... '' almost as an afterthought. "We'd give out food for hundreds of people every week," said Eric. "This is just wrong. They think we're stupid, that we won't figure out that some people with money wanted it closed to increase property values or something..'' The food bank was closed in Octobe.r 2007 .. Now, the residents of the DTES, if they need a bag of groceries, have to trek all the way to Franklin and Pentieton (near the PNE) (25-blocks). Most residents in the DTES are on assistance or on pension, are elderly and have medical problems. lt is too far to walk and then carry a bag of groceries back. And $2.25 each way for bus fare is very ex• pens1ve. If Cheryl cares about the poor why is that I have never seen and no one I know has ever seen her lobbying for them in the DTES. Maybe it has something to do with her six-figure salary. Audrey LaFerriere
Mother Nature's Skies CHORUS
Mother Nature's Skies Mother Nature's Skies Where is your disguise For killing Mother Nature's Skies You crucified a man Some kind of evil plan I don't understand Why you kill the land And Mother Nature's Skies CHORUS
You're driving in your car Trying to get to Mars There is death upon the shores You kill yourselves in wars
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You doctor up disease There are no bumble bees You're serving wine and cheese While you're killing trees CHORUS
You're always telling lies , And inventing alibis Saying everything dies While your baby and Mother Nature cries FreeDom •
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Democracy is defined as 'government of the people, by the people and for the people.' But in fact in the majority of the society are fools; wise people are always in a minority. Thus, finally democracy is nothing but "foolocracy The corporate powers contra I the press to a very high degree. The press and the professional pollsters create surveys to determine which candidate is leading-- before the actual election takes place. And · based on these very polls-- which are easy for the capitalists to manipulate-- certain "unfavourable" candidates can be virtually ousted from the elections before a single vote is cast. -Firstly, the public needs to be made adequately aware about every candidate's character and qualifications so that one will not be so easily swayed by popular opinion. -Secondly, corporate powers must not be able to have such a firm grip on party elections.They should not be the ones controlling the newspapers and funding the polls which determine the popularity of a particular candidate. -Thirdly, in order to give proper weight to each vote, when the actual voting process does take place, all the votes should be kept strictly confidential and sealed until everyone has voted. Then and only then should the votes be counted and made known. Whether or not a candidate gets elected usually depends upon party affiliation, political patronage and election expenditure. In some cases it also depends on antisocial practices. Throughout the world, money plays a d~minant role in the electoral process and, in nearly all cases, only those who are rich and powerful can hope to secure elected office. The farce of democracy has been likened to a puppet show where a handful of power hungry politicians pull the strings from behind the scene. In liberal qemocracies, capitalists manipulate the mass media such as the radio, television and newspapers ... there is little scope for honest, competent leaders to emerge in society i Mass education is one of the basic necessities for the successful and effective running of democracy. In some cases even educated people unjustly abuse their voting rights. People cast their votes at the insistence and inducement of misguided local leaders. To approach a polling booth like a herd of cattle to cast votes in ballot boxes is meaningless. Is this not a farce in the name of democracy? P.R.Sarkar
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The Aftermath · Children stolen from illumination Eagle's embrace The ·first phase of the circle of life. Kidnapped and abused, shackled hearts forgotten,, Child within screams no more, dying's freedom from pain. The aftermath of survivors, traumatized for life. I dread a repeat hellbent shocking memories, though many stories remain silent. Still I search for truth of the Indian Residential Schools' aftermath Where many shattered dreams fall in an oblivious river of sin. Culture stolen, lost pride, fi·agile dreams lost in a void, No way in, No way out, deathwish screams at my door, Alcohol and drugs all right! I'm now at the altar of death Singing songs of blues, drowning my life in the aftermath of spoil Awaken the innocent mouse and self-teaching coyote, teachers And alter my silence, to speak truths that cry in vain. The deadliest compounds of life are spoken lies Poison rattles the world of prejudice and hate The aftermath of all cultures and humanity's fate. The Aftermath: My Story •
Awaken, awaken, awaken the horrid dreams of a nightmare Suicidal highspeed chase, RCMP tried to put me in my place Demon on wheels, clocked in at over 120 mph Alcohol pumpin' faster in my alcoholic brain waves Curse it! Curse it! I scream out my open window Come get me copper, this is no fantasy, no Hollywood dream. Violently I inflict diabolical, fender-bending pain on 14 Cop cruisers- all totalled out - smoke flying wheels burning , rubber people running Hell's going crazy with vanishing paint! I attempt a 90 degree turn while racing over 120 mph Hit a curb, blew two front tires, didn't make it... One block later, 20 trigger-happy cops with drawn shotguns Surround my hellspent, brutal and insanely driven monster. I strummed a limp lizard, holding strings to a guitar, or was that · a case of high test beer I drunk b'fore my surrender to those cops threatening to blow my alcoholic brain waves away. Rhythmic rebol!nds chased away lyrical sounds of yesterday's nightmare. Sout1rls- of songs I once loved, never hated, sounds of war, Soun·d·s. .'of shattered dreams, awakened at the sound of genocidal ' bloodBaths. , Raunchy roads of hell, suicides, killings, crime, drugs & alcohol A}¥..aken, Awaken my demons scream A..Waken to the aftermath, the aftermath, the aftermath. Awaken ' . ·· ·~
All my relations, William Arnold Combes
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I want to express my opinion but, in that attempt, will I ostracize myself from my people? I often am troubled by things I read, hear or witness. Common Experience Payments (CEP) arc being sent to people who suffered in residential schools. The payments vary upon time spent in these institutions. People arc being compensated, but trust me, there is nothing common in their experiences. I've heard stories of sexual abuse, physical abuse, children forced to work . Children were whipped for trying to speak to one another in their own tongue. Would someone tell me how do you begin to compensate peop le for that? 1 In my day to day activities I am exposed to the aftermath of the residential schoo l system. I see brothers and sisters hiding beh ind addictions to help them cope with memories of that 'common experience.' I see families fragmented because of that 'common experience.' The aftermath of that schoo l system will, no matter the amount, never compensate the hurt felt by so many. I fear for those who receive their payments. I see a form of genocide. The government, in its efforts to assuage us, has adopted a system that hands thou-. sands of dollars to those least capable fo handling it. In their add ictions, the extra money is more a death sentence than compensation. I wonder if that was the plan? I pray that what I feel is just that. But I know that people will continue to suffer no matter what the compensation. How do you compensate for a generation of peopte? How do you compensate a lost childhood .. lost trad itions? We should be trying empathy, love, and most important of all acknowledgement. Survivors need to know that they have been heard; that their suffering is shared by all the people in the country. Creator, keep my brothers and sisters safe. Ease th painful memories with love. Hear their words, for there is a Jesson yet to be learnt. All my relations, R. Bowen
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Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)
Newsletter Visit CCAP office 2nd floor at Carnegie or call 604-839-0379
Jan 15,2008
DTESers are not from Vancouver says NIMBY Update fro1n City Hall: Dec. 19111 \vas the
I thought the most courageous speaker was Jay Revoy. Revoy had to li sten to a
day that the NIMBY 's came out at Vancouver City Ilall. NIMBY' s are people who say "Not In My Back Yard'' when faced with the possibility of a development that they don ~t want in their neighbourhood. In this case City Council was dealing vvith a proposal to build 1100 to 1200 units of supportive housing on 12 sites that it owns. CCAP organized Downtown Eastsidcrs to speak at the n1ecting because we wanted council to lobby for federal and provincial fund s for more housing, stop even thinking of ending the Single Room J\ccon11nodation bylaw which is supposed to keep hotels from evicting their low income tenants, and to urge the province to increase welt~ue rates and end the barriers to getting on \Ve l fare that arc making so many people homel ess. Over 100 people frotn around the city signed up to speak, many of them from the Downtown Eastside, so it took 3 nights at City I lall to hear everyone-.
lot of poor bashing and bashing of people with n1ental iII ness and people who are hon1eless before he spoke on the third night. " How can placi ng fpeo pl e with mental illness ! in our neighbourhood not be a threat:' asked Cheryl Clausen of Kitsi lano. " Downtown Eastside people are not frorn Vancouver,'' she asserted. " Why should taxpayers pay f()r peopl e not from here? It will take down the value of our property." /\not her \VOJnan sai d she didn · t want the devc lopn1cnt because homeless people don' t moYe when you say ··excuse m e.~ · It was prett y di sg usting. Then Revoy got up. his fi rst time eYer speaking before City Co unc i I. and said he was 32 years old and had sc hi zophreni a. r re sa id the homeless and peopl e ,,·ith menta l illness \\·ere bei ng stigmati ;:cd. ··Jtow are \\·cas impoveri shed groups or people wi th mental i 11 ncsses to deal with our economi c insec uriti es in the face or
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blinding stereotypes and walls of ignorance,'' he asked. Matthew Matthew spoke on the fi rst day, or being a Downto\\'n Eastside resident. ··Poverty drove me there," he said, and •·the community keeps me there.'' f'v1atthcvv said the neighbourhood is bei ng .. igno red, destroyed and built over;' and he detnanded ·'how could you promise so much to the Olyn1pics without seni or government commitment s?" Delanye i\zrael tolcl co uncil they were inciting a civil war, instead of a civil city. She warned that the people will fight back. ··jf you continue with your party and your Olym pics without taking care of the people.'' Sandy Hirschen, a condo owner from the Downtown Eastside, told co unci1 that the small suites they arc proposing in the ne\\' bui ldi ngs arc "'warehousing, not housing.'' ··Minimum s become maximums or a standard by which all v\'iII be devel oped:· he said. Dalanna h Gai l Bowen told council lhat the D O\\ n l O\\ n Eastside is a con1munit \' that "works together. Ii ves together, and loves toge ther .. , l\1ichad Clague. the former director of Carnegie made some good po ints too.
''These developtnents don ' t turn the ti de,'~ he said. The net ga in doesn' t make up for the net loss.'' ''Half o f the h01neless have no income they' re not on welfare. How do they get into housing," he asked. " Displace1nent by erosion is not being addressed. We need to slow the tnarket down and declare the Downtown Eastside a special development area to benefit people who Ii ve and work in the area." At the end of the speakers, the Di rector of the Housing Centre, Cameron Gray, told Council that they were not doing away with the SRA bylaw; that staff is going to report back on it in 2008 and ''that is the appropriate place to deal with issues CCAP raised" like so il conversions (people being slowly and quietly etnptied from hotels as rents go up and roon1s are converted to other uses). Council voted unanitnously to pass their 3 recon1n1cndations to go ahead with building on the 12 sites (if they get the n1oncy fr01n the province). They also slipped in another resolution that gives lhem the power to in1plcn1cnt recommendations fro n1 the Dobell repot1 whi ch would ~ort of pri vati ze soc ial housing by getting in vestor.s and donors to prov ide money in exchange fo r huge tax write-o ff's. --Jean Swanson
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Raise the Rates to $1300/month person, the new rate lockatd In poverty woul d have been about . '' . $9 15 per month. . ' J'&.. • No\v, RTR is asking ... t•.l .... I that the I/\ rate be raised w\vw.ra i sel heral~.Qrg. . . ' to the Market Basket If you haven' t heard of it. TI)6 1NC<I l'•MJ8 18 ~ hlJY& 1M lc·~tl ~Measure, a poverty line here are the fi ve basic indi cator sli ghtly lower in value than demands of RTR: • • • Stati stics Canada's we ll - known !.ow1) mcrcase mcome asststance rates In come Cut Off. Still , if s $ 1,300 per for all n1onth plus change. That' s roughly 2) retnove the barriers to getting • double the current tncome \velfa re rate. assistance The MBM is 3) let all lA calcul ated recipients primaril y on vvhat have an • it \Vould cost <1 earnmgs person to buy exen1ption, f()od, shelter, $500 • transport<1tion, mtntmum clothing, phone 4) increase the • • service. plus other tntn1mun1 goods and wage to services- quite an $ 10/hr, indexed to arra\' or innation commodit ies in 5) build at totaL and much least 2.000 uni ts of non-tnarket more real istic than what is currenth per yea r all o\\'ed. housino b There is an i nl()nnative article on the Recently, the fi rst demand evolved somewhat. Originally, it was ''raise M IHv1 on The Tyee(\~~'' .th~J~ Cl:.~; a) ti tled J>orerty Amhl.\·t Plenly by rvtarc income assistance rates by 50 per cent". l.ec. At the current rate of $6 10 for a single Rol r A uer
You n1ay be aware by now of the Raise the Rates cmnpaign. It even has. its own website:
Alnv.J~\ -4~0,000 p{lopUil•n D C at o
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Check out what CCAP did in 2007 • •
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Rail ied at city O\\ ned lot ( 1005 Station St) for N J.. , social housing Proksted the Board of Trade's meeting with Atl anta' s Olympi c Mayor who hid the h01nclcss Ralli ed a l Burns Block Hotel Auction to shmnc new owners Formulated the Inner City Inclusivity Ol) mpic housing and income promises I Jcld a press conference to support the Inner Cit) lnclusivity Olympic promises Open letter to Premi er in Province Newspaper to rai se welfare rates Rall ied against ev ictions at Little Mountain Pied Pi per parade for housi ng and rall y at lJnion ofB C Municipaliti es Challenged Vancity/Gulf and Fraser banks on mortgages or DTI ·~S spec ulators Un\'e ilcd Countdown to triple hotnelcssness cl ock at 1\n CialJcry Rail ) outside Carl Rooms against evicti ons Co ll ected 1200 letters and 100 endorsements from organizations for ICI I los ted dialogue on housing \\ ith tedcral politicians at Unitarian Church Started u n C\\ Citywide I lousing Coa liti on Treasure I luntto a bank in Victo ria with hidde n $250 mil housing fund RnlliL'd .. , ree the ri s h ~ ll omes lo r People .. against Aquariu m c:\ pansion Organ i/cd delegat ion to l Jnitcd Nati ons pu bli c hearing about homeless crisis Press con fercncc to raise \\'elfitre rat es <)rgani:;ed delegati ons to ( 'ity llall hearings for I) tnoratorium on hotel con,·ersions, 2) 0 1) mpic housing promi se-.;. 3) 1200 new social housing Rcscm·ch and took positions on Ri\ crv ic\\ . South East False Creek, Do bell h .tirburn. 54 l Ioteb report_ numbers or peopl e \\ ho apply for \\'el fare and arc tkniccl. numbe r or units governments arc ··reall y'" building WP
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Prepare for rezoning Vision for a better hood
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first think oC rather the real securitv to "' know that we can put down roots and not be pushed out. We've had other visioning sessions in the last few n1onths and out of 160 people participating, housing carne on top as the thing n1ost needed. We heard that getting into social housing is like literally winning the lottery. We have award winning h01nes in this neighbourhood and can't seen1 to get enough of it. The next step for visioning is to ask DTES residents what the neighbourhood should look like 15 years from now (what would the housing look like, the services, the streets after dark, the businesses, where is the pool going to go, where will the housing be exactly. how many of us should live here. how will purchasing power be increased and if we should live with rich people (those \vho can afford to bu) a condo) in th~ same building. If you belong to a group o f ~0 or n1orc people. we could arrange to meet with them about this. If you don · t. be in touch anvwavs and \Ve 'II mak e sure "' "' your voice is hear -- yours truly fi·om your researcher, Wendy P
Recently. CC AP met with 35 locals at Li feskills and 30 won1en at VAN Dl I. The purpose of the tnecting was to explore our values and find out want is n1ost needed in our neighbourhood so we can pass that on to city hall w·ith some evidence when they rezone the Oppenheimer area next year. The first thing we asked was: What n1akes our comn1unity strong? S01neonc at Lifeskills got the ball rolling and said . "our numbers .. , A won1an at V ANDU said we· rc strong because '"'everyone is watching us because of the Olyn1pics". Soon others were inspired. At times the rooms were very intense. quiet and reflective while people listened to each other and spoke from their hearts. We he,Llr~l c·ommcnts like: \Ve 're strong because of our friendships. our eyes on the streets. our patience is a strength because of all the BS \Ve go through. \Ve have lots of resources. we're good at survival. we have a stronl!...... sense of unitv . and \Ve recognize and knO\V by name more of our neighbours than anyone else in the city. 'Ne also heard that more securitv• is desired. Not the kind of security thal people from outside our nei ghbourhood 5
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DE Wins! Evictions for Renovations at the Dominion NOT Legal un fo rtunately. the day before the first 7 hearings began, the Don1inion landlords convinced the other 7 tenants they should sign agreements that they would move out for a certain amount of money. The atnount is no more than what they would have gotten if the evictions wou ld have been upheld. But the landlord pulled out his cheque-book and 7 tenants are now n1oving. Thanks to DERA. it looks like hotel tenants may be abl e to win the ri ght to stay in their hotels during renovations which will hold rents at lower levels. I Icy all you hotel tenants out there, think about staying in your roon1 during renovations to keep rents in our area low untiI we can . win enough replacement soc ial housing ''in our neighbourhood." At the very least challenge your evictions and hold out fo r a big payout. ·--Wendy P
As you n1ay know, the Dom ini on I Iotel gave eviction notices to tenants and plans to convert their roon1s by renovating them, · likely for hi gh paying renters. Earlier in December, we got word fron1 Anna and ' ' Stephanie at DERA that the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB) n1ade their first decision on an eviction notice given to one of the Dominion Hotel tenants. The tenant won!!!! I I ere is what we heard from Anna: The Dispute Resolution officer tnade the decision that the landlord did not ' have the permits when he ' ... . . issued the eviction notice and more in1portantly. the landlord DID NOT prove that vacant possession was . NECESSA RY for the repairs to be c01n plcted! /\ nna said they are wait ing for one more decision and have three more hearings with the RTB. But '~
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Fight the bulldozer plan in 2008 ~.
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Recentl y I heard a defini tion of "optimistn" that I like. Optin1isn1 is about the facts. Things are looking good. It's going to get better. Compare that to a definition of "hope." Hope n1eans jt doesn' t look good out there at all, but we~re going to take the leap to create a new vision based on possibil ities. Hope can be contagious. It encourages people to engage in heroic acti ons against the odds. With hope, there's no guarantee whatsoever about the result. At City Hall in December, CCAP to ld the Mayor and Councilors about odds we're fac ing. We said that despite the good news of plans for son1c more social housing around Vancouver, City Hall 's policies for the DTES comm unity look like bulldozer plan, such as the: • alarn1ing reference in the City's latest report aboul housing that mentions lift ing the SRi\ Bylaw in 2008 • exaggerated num bcrs of nc\V homes com ing for those in need • fai Iure to factor the rate or housi ng lost in 2007 into replacen1ent housing plans • fai lure to prioritize homes for street hon1elcss in the nev.: plans
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ignoring the 2005 poli cy that Sullivan and Ladner voted fo r that says hotel replacetnent housing should be inside the DTES • failure of City to fi x up hotels and bill the owners as the law al1 6ws • failure to enforce SRA bylaw in Columbia and Dominion Hotels and curb massive speculation with legislation to prevent n1ore slow conversiOns • support to privatize social housing • Olyn1pic and Civil City plan to clean up the DTES by getting rid of people • failure to push the Province to freeze rents to prevent rent hikes beyond what people on welfa re can affo rd • ceo-density n1otion to up-zone the DTES to allow condo towers and drive up the price of land to levels only affordable to the tnega-rich. • the will to let Concorde Pacjfic, the biggest real-estate company in Canada. to qui etly build condos behind the Number 5 Orange (wi thout social housing) and to amass a 11 the lots across from /\rm)' and Navy on I Iastings faced with th is, CCAP \vill keep doing our stuff. •
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We had son1c victories in 2007 to build on. In 2007. CCJ\P and other community groups did a bunch of actions and we had son1e victories like: \Vel fare increase: the purchase of 10 hotels: son1e con1mitment fron1 Province to fund 12 ~ity-owned sites for housing; n1cdia latched on to our definition of Olyn1pic cotnmitments (3200 units of housing). That's some indication that pressure frorn activists can work. In our favor, 5000 or n1ore reporters will be here in 20 I0 and the general publ ic wants hon1elessness to end. In 2008. CCAP will have the 1st annual
pove11y olyrnpics and ask the IOC for funding. We' II also ask for foreign aid. No doubt~ rnany of our good neighbours will come up with more ideas to keep the pressure up. Our capacity for action gives me hope. As Jean said to not too long ago when I \vas feeling down: just a handful of us used to n1arch across the Burrard Bridge to end war. 100,000 rnarch now, right? At son1e point we n1ay get to the tipping point in our favor but that can't happen unless \Ve keep doing our little bits. --WP - - - - -路- --
RAISE THE RATES Present s the 1st Annual
CCAP's "Eastside Story" on CO-OP RADIO 102.1 FM
POVERTY OLYMPICS
Listen on your con1puter www.cooprad in.org/1isten/indcx.html
Sunday Feb 3 2008 1:00 - 4 :00 pm Carnegie Theatre Food and Fun Games to watch I
2:00-2:30 Mondays
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Welfare Hurdles Long jump over the bed bug infested mattress Unveiling of Poverty Torch
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''.\'upportfor this pn~ject does not necessarily imp~y Vancity 's endorsement (?lthefindin?,s or contents qf'this .. report.
Missing Women Listen! Listen! Listen!
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Missing women, missing women All your relations search in vai n Searching, searching through sleepless nights over and over again Mothers, sisters, daughters Feel heartaches and pain Endless dead-end roads, through sunsh ine, snow and rain.
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Whiplashed hearts, tears fa lling like rain Fathers, brothers and sons seek in vain Whose energy's depleted, minds overwhe lmed trying to keep sane Weary and weak, rest time; tomorrow they'll search again.
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Ancient wisdom seats the souls on sacred ground Calls of ances'tors, teachers of the circle that goes round and round White buffalo and white great spirit, dance to a healing song A gu iding song for missing women they drum and sing all night long
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They ask for silence. Listen to your heart for an immaculate minute Their spirits sing magical songs that are mystically infinite Spiritual apprehension of truth is sought through the eyes of wise men Who search the universe, listening for songs of missing women. Listen! Listen! Listen! Thunder and lightning crash out loud Spirits move joyously amongst the crowd Whispering silently in your ear We'll always be with you, always near Listen! Listen! Listen!
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Herstory Ca,ce I I
A monthly event for women's history buffs.
F r1"d ay .
Missing · I look at the wall of faces and feel all the pain. All walks of life but they are all in the same boat. Missing from a loved one's life .. the pain and sorrow of missing. Lost in their own world and don 't know their way back. A world of tears but we still can't find them. Lost souls - may they each be found. Our heart aches to find them and bring them back into our li ves. The faces are different from one another, man or women, but they are all missing. So when you are out and about please keep your eyes open . They might be your best friend, brother or sister; maybe s6meone's mother or father, daughter or sonm so please keep all eyes open in your daily lives because we want to find all the lost souls and bring them back. Our lives are emptier without them. All my relations, Velma B. ·
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uMasked Avengers Fighting Sexism & Racistn ip the Art
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I Guerrilla Girls: ·I 1 I I I
an illustrated talk by
Barbara Tyner, MA Art Historian
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All my relations, William Arnold Combes
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Stop the violence - stop the violence Stop the violence against women,
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'We liave tlie WJfO£P. cafe for tliis event, so come car(y, eat
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Carnegie Library's New French Collection There is a new small French collection in Carnegie's Reading Room.
La Nouvelle Petite Collection Fran~aise dans Bibliotheque Carnegie Bravo! Bient6t, vous trouverez il y a une nouvelle petite collection franc;aise dans Ia bibliotheque Carnegie, y compris Ia fiction et le Nonfiction, classique et provisoire. Certains des titres nouvellement disponibles sont :
Fiction - Le Periple de Baldassare I Am in Maalouf(2000) Patti sur les routes en 1665 , le narrateur de cette histoire, Baldassare Embriaco, Genois d'Orient et negociant en curiosites, est a Ia poUt·suite d'un livre qui est cense apporter le Salut a un monde desempare. Sans doute est-il a Ia recherche de ce qui pourrait encore donner un sens a sa propre existence. - J'ai nom sans bruit !Isabelle Jarry (2004) «J'habitais dans Ia rue, certes, mais je restais Ia meme femme. Je n'etais pas folie, ni mal elevee, j'avais un peu de culture etje savais renechir,j'etais capable d 'echanger des idees, a plus forte raison des banalites. Mais non, personne ne desirait bavarder • avec moL» - La femme qui attendllil I Andre'i (2004) En 1945, Eva avait 16 ans ... Ia guerre Ia separe de l'hommc qu'elle aime. Un premier amour qui ne revientjamais, et qu'elle attend malgre Ia fuite du temps. Non fiction - Lettre aPicas!J·o (1927-1970) I Dali (2006) En depit de !'opposition de leurs choix politiques et ideologiques, Dali et Picasso resterent en contact tout au long de leur vie. Le present ouvrage recueille pour Ia premiere fois !'ensemble des cartes, messages et billets que lepremier adressa au second jusqu'en 1970. lis attestent de Ia fascination jamais demen tie que Picasso exerc;a sur Dali, du desir d'exister, de s'affirmer de celui-ci face a un aine prodigieux, et legerement menac;ant, par Ia puissance et Ia variete de son invention. I
- Antlwlogie de Ia poesie fnm~aise I De vi lion a Verlaine (1998) Composer une nouvelle anthologie de Ia poesie franc;aise serait bien temeraire, si cette initiative n'avait ici pour justification pratique et pour fin d'offrir au plus grand nombre un modeste et durable
viatique : pour lcs plus jeunes, a I' age des premieres. decouvertes litt<~raires, un bref et stimulant aperc;u du somptueux domaine qui les attend; pour les autres, un discret rappel des syllabcs immortelles qui les sont enchantes. - Le scaplumdre et /e papillou I Jean-Dominique Bauby ( l 997) Ce livre a etc ecrit par un hommc entre deux ages qui avait souffert une course devastatrice. Apres que Ia course il ait pu seulement deplaccr une paupiere, et ainsi le livre a ete laborously dicte a Ia lettre, en utilisant le clingnotement de son oei l pour choisir des lettres d'un ecran d'ordinateur. Dans le livre il parle de son etat, et medite au sujet de sa vie, toutes Jes deux avant et aprcs Ia course. Elle est contraindre lu. Elle vous donne l'perspicacitc dans le genre de vie au lequel peu de nous auraient n'importe que! acces. Elle derange simplement parce que VOltS ne pouvez vous empecher de penser a Ia fac;on dont vous reagiriez dans Ia meme situation.
News from the Library Main & Hastings Book Club: The Main & Hastings Book Club is now back in action. We meet every Tuesday at I I am in the 3rd floor gallery. Our book club is different: instead of just talking about a book, we read a book, fi·om cover to cover, out loud to each other. Come and join us if you want to read, or if you just want to listen. We're finishing up reading Patrick Lane's There is a Season. Our next book is Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. A bitterly funny novel, told from the perspective of a 15year-old autistic boy and math genius, this book won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Prize for best first book. When Christopher Boone finds his neighbour's poodle murdered, he decides to investigate the crime with the logic of his hero, Sherlock Holmes. But his investigations soon lead to troubling truths about his parents' broken marriage. He struggles to understand a world of emotions, nuance and intrigue, and his openness and inability to lie leave him vulnerable and make him one of the most touching, original characters in recent fiction. Beth, your librarian.
about editing at that time but decided that I would just try to learn it through the computer. The days turned into weeks but finally I had completed the production and editing down to a 58 minute documentary. November 24th, 2007 The Carnegie CommuniJy Centre showed my documentary to an audience of about 50 people. I felt quite satisfied after the showing as everyon.e clapped and congratulated me on a job "well done." I did realize that film work is a difficult art but if you have passion and determination for what you are doing, it is enjoyable to see your work completed. I have now begun work on a second documentary and hope to have it completed in a few months. Colleen Carrol, a vo~unteer at The Carnegie Community Centre, sets up the documentary film nights that are held on the 2nd, Jrd, and 4th Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. Everyone is invited and coffee with pastries are served following the movies.
The Making Of A Documentary Well, although l am a fourth year Journalism student, I have always been interested in film work and especially documentary films. When an oppor- tunity to actually develop and create a documentary came my way, I latched onto the idea like a binner with a cart full of bottles. For the past four years Pivot Legal Society has been handing out single use cameras, once a year to DTES residents. The hope is for the amateur photographers to capture interesting pictures of the DTES and their community and to create a calendar. Since I only volunteer with the Carnegie Newsletter and actually don't live in the DTES, I was not eligible to . partake in the calendar event. So, because 1 still wanted to help out in the event, 1 thought 'why not document the entire process?' I spoke with Harold Asham, who also volunteers with the Newsletter and lives in the DTES. He confirmed he was indeed getting a camera from Pivot and Asham was very obliging and let me shadow his moves. For the next four months I documented the process of developing the pictures from the 200 cameras that Pivot provided. Paul Ryan from Pivot Legal Society let me film the procedure of separating and numbering all the photos; then I filmed the actual voting process that was taking place on the sidewalk outside of the Carnegie. Usually the voting on the top 40 pictures is done inside but because of this summer's striking city and library workers, the voting took place outside. 1 think the sounds of actions on the street added to my documentary: Screeching buses, ambulances racing past with sirens blaring all added to the dramatic sights and sounds of the DTES. l spoke with some of the photographers who were fortunate to have their photos chosen in the top 40. I was present at the awards ceremony at Infinity Stu- . dios where the top 40 photos were displayed on a large film screen. This years first place winner surprised everyone, not because it was Mercy Walker, but because she is only 10-years-old. The entire filming took five months. I knew nothing
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By 1ACKIE HUMBER
Making Your Mark on the Vancouver Map A free 4 week workshop Purpose: to submit a piece of writing (300 words maximum) to The Writing & Publil¡hing Prol[ram 's Memory Project Contest 111
Dates: Februal'):' 14 - March 6 1'\ 3 - 5 pm Thursday afternoons Where: at Carnegie Centre Sign up: with 3 rd floor ad min office at the Carnegie Centre Lead by: two graduate writers from The Writer's Studio at SFU/Harbour Centre The Writing & Publishing Program at SFU/Harbour Centre is seeking submissions of writing on people's memories about Vancouver. These will be displayed at Harbour Centre and a later published in a small book. Do you have a memory of a building, smell, person, time, experience or event that took place in Vancouver you want to write about? You can also include a photograph or artwork with your written piece. The 4 week workshop will assist you in identifying the most interesting memory (or memories) that you . might write about then provide a workshop in which you test out your piece of writing, finish it, and then submit you piece to the W&PP jury via the workshop leaders at the final workshop. â&#x20AC;˘
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The FACEBOOK Trap! The Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance (welfare) and the Ministry of Children and Families are using Faccbook, MySpace and other public computer domains to find evidence of: Undisclosed co-habitation (living with someone) Spending beyond what is provided by the ministry Casual Employment Leaving the province for more than 30 days Gifts, pets and other income They are using th is information, based on postings on personal websites, to deny welfare and disability pensions. Anyone on long term disability or involved in collection action or the Canadian Revenue Authority should also be aware: 路 Even more vicious and ludicro~s: A local poet who had her work published in the Carnegie News letter was contacted by Welfare. They'd 'googled' her name, found that she had been published, and said that showed she was employable despite her disability. This means there must be thousands of full-time jobs available for poets. All those former (or current) Downtown Eastside Poets now raking in the dough as professional poets, please share the wealth by at least providing the names and addresses of the corporations hiring poets. I
Helping Hands from The Seventh-Day Adventists Church On the cpld and dreary morning of Jan.Sth, members of the congregation of Burnaby's Seventh-Day Adventists Church gave a hand-up to residents of the DTES. The group of children, mothers and fathers accompanied by Pastor Davis and Pastor Anderson stood on the corner of Hastings and Main Streets while handing out touques, socks, gloves and platters of cookies to all who passed by. Pastor Davis explained their mission. "Well, this is our 3rd year of handing out goods to people who need them," said Davis. Also available were pamphlets with information to lift people's spirits. Next year the congrega tion plans to hand out even more. By Jackie Humber
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To the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance (MEIA): I am writing to find out about the payments that I am and have been waiting for. About ten years ago I was put on a Waiting List for the $100 available for people with disabilities who do regular volunteer work. I have never received it or even been contacted by this Ministry to say that I had reached the top of your list. I would like you to look into this matter for me. Florence Jean Green 40 I Main St, Vancouver
Huckleberry and Me Winter's wild ways wane The days are to lengthen Soon, springtime again Together we strengthen Soon the precious cherry petals Will show pretty pink in puffed profusion Our senses will find their way Through yet another confusion Our reward to enjoy the cherry of springtime Our reward to be here enjoying the taste of cherry Away from the wintertime's delusion Soon it's time for spring's fair day For now my friend Let's be going rafting again Or find a ride on th'e old freight train Sneak a ride on the riverboat to its end Michael McCormack
When You Sec Me On The Street For Lynne
"Every word that I say is frue."-Santima
If when you see me on the street You say to yourself or to the friend you're with'there goes the deadheart - the white warrior He has no choice you know: he must take everything literally;- you will have made me happier than I was before you saw me for I must quit Vancouver you see except Eagles keep telling me I can never leave. -Stephen Belkin
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There goes that rumbl ing again that" polite noise that lets you know you have missed it by a min ute, was that sound going north or south once again by word of mouth I just missed it by a minute, don't play Helen Keller although you couldn't if you tried, missed it by a minute 路 let's hope the next thirty-one minutes quickly go by, there's room at the back but it's evil and scary down there I'd rather stand by the front doors and back up the people outside it's windy and pouring rain but I'm sure they won't care, actually they do but at least their bus is there, in my circumstance (every circumstance) there's a chance to be on time but that's fun when my fingers could be blue and numb as long as blue doesn't turn black there is no reason to whine, just 'cause I missed it b~ a minute eventually I think 1 will arrive, I'm not sure if it's the destination destiny has its mind s~t on just as long as I am still alive. EVERYBODY NOW, MISSED IT BY A MINUTE that one damn minute I thought I had to spare the minutes turn to hours but my inner powers have made me willing and able not to care, until. ... missed it by a second STOP! I WANT OFF and I missed my stop as well, oh well, farewell until we wait again Robert McGillivray I
Perpetual In-Action Banting Pressing persistent pain, inwards, outwards, inside, outside, sideswiped and satire, kicked 'n snared, pathetic~lly punched, low blows below the belt, putdowns, rnsults, put-ons, stepped on, put upon not to mention runarounds with shrieking, deafening
sounds by those both close and by the testosteronic out-of-towners, ecstatic dolls enswirled with stale . flat, fired- up juice and laid snakeishly low by an a_ssort~ent of colourful, disturbing downers, capsullzed p1pe dreams and piled up pestilence from riled up folks who coasted in from suburbia - saturated slick streetscapes slowly sliding into eternal oblivion -scanned by some through a muddled tin canned putridity en route throughout, propping dripping glasscned eyes, slipping, tripping, skidding, sliding, through a deepening debris of misbegotten dreams , . pot10ned together with entrusted staggering, nightmares gained then squandered ... luckily into a vested vortex of venomous van ity yet onward and upward, staggering quite aimlessly throughout their despotic deft debris. The clashing clutter of clashes of classes and 'cultures' wreaking havoc as terrified, unsheltered residents clear a track (our tracks, our streets, our roads, our turf, ou r homes) to be chased and run over by punks on boards that surf the asphalted_, cemented binary byways on their rusting, squeakmg wheels; just imagine this trip, this out-oftune charade where, carloads of yahoos squeal their brakes, slam their doors and lean on their pathetic pounding, honking horns, hiding behind their tint~d shatterproof windshields and classy foreign chassis's guzzling toxic gas, spewing sooty toxic carbons of monoxide, yeh, a back-blast shot of plumes cooked, smothering pollutants, pew! gasping at a depleted oxygen supply, depleting quicker than a fleeting flash in a pan, greased lig htning scorched as these h~ckling jackasses pass swiftly by the ways of humamty, whooping it up like hyenas circling a soon-to-be motionless, passive, dying carcass, to shred molti ng fur and to greedily gnaw on bloodied, warm bones and, then, to move on guffawing in a galvanizing sinister creaking crescendo of fearmongering phoniness, stalking and gallivanting over ho~rifical.l y image-conscious imaginations until they arnve tw1sted, recoiled, at their so-called Hell's Half Acre, a prefabricated fiefdom of flawed fallacies and pathetic, proverbial rantings. What's their poison? I ask as they, dangerous, with marked, stacked, unshuffled crooked cards feel entitled blind to the pick of the deck and to pass their arbitrarily select sentences of crimes, mischief and misdemeanors Heh dig that! Do you tune into that scene; ain't it exces- ' sive? Ain 't it extremely obscene to view this trip? "What?" you say. Ca~e closed to this distorted mixture. Do ya get my pomt? Do ya get the picture? By ROBYN LIVINGSTONE
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The Atomization of a Poem and the Poem Itself "Kiss tomorrow goodbye." Robbie Robertson The weight of time, which never completely lifts, does subside whenever the cost becomes too high (analogous to a gyroscope I suppose). 'But say!, what cost?!' you ask and well you may you lightfooted ones; you mere dancers to the so-called music of Hegel - we Heideggerians can only sneer. There!! I've lost my train again no thanks to the screeching banshee howls you all so kindly provide me every waking moment of my life it seems. Thank the Tao for dreams. Blue noise. The weight of time subsides When the cost becomes too high, Force the meaning through the needle and trust the body to follow
Housing Crisis Old man alone in a basement room. You've outlived your time, you say. You hope that maybe sleep will come to soothe your loneliness. It wasn't always so. You travelled in our country coast to coast. You built the bridges crossing mighty rivers, and logged the valleys of Vancouver Island. You sweated as a miner I and like a meteor you came to town â&#x20AC;˘ shaken by the bleakness I of the northern camps. )
You found an old-time residence near Main and Hastings, and lived with friends until that cunning pack of money makers destroyed your home, not caring where you went. A few just died, and solved the housing problem in that way. Some left town. You wandered to a basement room alone.
The weight of time subsides ... The cost has become tbo high, temporarily I mean because fallenness intrudes~ seductive bitch and no I've not left the realm of metaphor: it annoys me that idiots are also let into the party - nobles oblige, fallenness intrudes ...
Reflections on the Weight of Time foor Pam neming
''you're gonna carry that weight a long time" -The Beatles
The wait of time subsides amid the rubble like a thought lost arriving. (Lose a point.) Blue noise enters in its wake ...
I greet you, friend, and wait to hear the stories you have lived. Tell me our heritage that is not found in school books. Tell me of those. who really built this nation.
for a while;
Sandy Cameron
for a while. I am fallen. Now again and forever till we die. Happy?
And as such I have I have the rights of all children
I am, for the moment.
I have the right to be alive
Stephen Belkin
I am a child of the universe
I have the right to have my own space in the
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and the right to be happy I have the power to make it through this day I can get what I need and trust that the universe works to take care of the rest I will pay attention today and I will not abandon myself Submitted by Lu
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P<)WNT()WN EASTSIDE Y(>UTH ACTIVITIES SOCIETY 612 Main Street 604-251-3310
NEEJ>LE EXCHANGE VAN -3 Routes: 604-685-6561
City - 5:45pm - 11:45pm Overnight -I 2:30am- 8:JOa1n Downtown Eastside - 5:30pm - 1:30um
CFRO 102.7FM CO-OP RADIO Submission deadline for next issue:
Tuesday, January 29 PauiR Taylor has been volunteer Editor- of the Carnegie Newsletter since Dec. IS 1986-21 years.
NEWSLETTER TillS Nf ~ WSU:rn : rt IS A I'UULil'ATION OF TilE CAitNHiiE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent I he views of indiv iduol contributors and nul of the Assuciation
Cover & Layout assistance, Lisa David I
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Wt acknowlrd~t that ( :.rntglt Community ( :rntrr, and this
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l N!w!!rl!!r'.!r!_h•J!P~InJ o! a~ ~u!!"i!!' ~t~n'!tr!.ri!!!_ry.:. _I
2008 DONATIONS: Barry for Dave McC.-$250
WANTED
Rolf A.-$50 Margaret 0.-$40 Paddy -$70 Huddy $50
Artwork for ahc Carnegie Newsletter
WHEN COLLECTING ISN'T JUST A HOBBY
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Carnegie Centre announces a new group meeting Sunday evenings, beginning January:
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H.A.
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Hoarders Anonymous 6pm, Classroom II, 3rd floor. [Contact Rika Uto for more information]
• •
• •
Jenny WaiChing Kwan MLA I
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c. WOfk1ng !Of
y
OU
1070-1641 Commercial Dr VSL JYJ Phone: 775-0790 Fax: 775-0881 _
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Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry <'over art - Maximum si1.c : 17cm (6-J/4") wide x 15 em (6..) high Subject malter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside is preferred, but all work will be considered. Black and white printing only Size restrictions must be considered (i.e., if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit) All artists will receive credit for their r'ork Originals will be returned to the artist after hcing copied for publication. Rcnumcration: Carnegie volunteer tickets I
Please make submissions to: t•aul Taylor, EdUor
DEllA helps with: Phone & Safe Mailbo•es Welfare Problems; Landlord disputes; llousing problems & unsafe living conditions.
At 11 E~~~llastlngs St. or caii604-682-09Jf
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:Jesus Came Down From the Cross '
Whose mind are you living today To whom did you turn to hear what to say Did they tell you what you need to expect Did you help them tie a noose 'round your neck
Jesus came down from the cross this year He abides now in the young men & girls Huddled together against the cold, wet winds Of monsoon in the Northwest.
Not that I care It don't matter to me I'm looking at it humourously
In their makeshift beds of cardboard and crates Tents if they are fortunate In the alleys and alcoves Among the discarded clothing Orange rinds & coffee grounds Candy wrappers twinkle like gold & silver Cigarette butts & syringes mixed Surround these sleeping angelic faces -mostly young and bearded.
I see you hooked up to that 911 line Talking and pictures, in touch all the time You're paying your bill with a smile on your face Another cell phone junkie in the human race
Not that I care I laugh when I see Another strungout cell phone junkie
The women have more choices or maybe not at all Their flesh is worth a bit of money Or a bed for the night Dumped out at 6AM before the day shift
J see you frown when the service goes down
'Cause you can't pay the bill or lost it downtown Your frenzy & panic at another dropped call Has got me in stitches, out of touch from it all
Oblivion perhaps blessed with alcohol and drugs
1 may be crazy, it's just my point of view
We know none of these 'discomforts' We pride ourselves on our "charity work" -our donations of designer-duds to Downtowners 1 No, smug in our downy beds, comfortable with companions or comfortable with pleasant dreams in the bosom of our families
And the garbage is full Of old cell phones too Freedome
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Spirit Call ''you've got to pick up For Joyce Williams every stick"-Donovan Oh! my virginity I grow weary of your embrace.
Let not the night ever fall from us, my distant Love; Let not the day die from envy Let us instead play together until we die Yes oh! yes, in each other's arms, my darling, my love, my Athene. (Don't tell Dianna)
Looking forward to a bright day of wonderfulness New toys, new friends and GOOD FOOD in this city of a million or more eateries Shall we have Chinese tonight - Sichuan? Or that roasted goose, brown & lovely -silver shines & crystal sparkles And NO LINE-UP in the rain! Opera, Symphony Concerts, fetes of all kinds But just for the carriage trade - the bet1er class NOT you, you imbecile. Who wants to see your none too clean hungry face 'Twould take a person's appetite away Here's five dollars - have a party! And there are alf these clean warm beds st the Salvation Army waiting for Y-0-U (Hurry up .. Don't be late for check-in now.) But I sound grateful God may strike me down if he sti II exists. ...
Stephen Belkin (Hermes to you)
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Wilhel~ina
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CARNEGIE THEATRE
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- poverty line high jump - welfare hurdles
TORCH MASCOTS
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