July 1, 2009, carnegie newsletter

JULY 1, 2009 carnnews@vcn.bc.ca www .carnnews.org ( 373 hits per day!) http://harvesters.sfu.ca/chodarr (INDEX)

"What part of NO Don't

You Understand?!"

Carnegie Community Centre Association Board & Committee Meetings: July 2 - CCCA Boa rd, 5:30pm, Theatre.

July 3- Publications, I :OOpm, Assoc. Office (A.O.)

July 9 - Oppenheimer Park, 3:30pm, tba

July 15 - Volunteers, 1:OOpm, Classroom II

July 16- Seniors, 2:00pm, Theatre

July 22 - E ducation/Library, 3:00pm, Seminar Room

July 30- Com munity Relations, 4pm, A.O.

August 4 - Program, 4:00pm, Association Office

August 5- Finance, 4:00pm, Assoc Office

August6 - CCCA Board, 5:30pm, Theatre

Slow and Insidious Readers of The Megaphone will have seen a picture of Diane Brown being beautiful (being caught in a very human moment) and a good story about eating below the poverty line.

Next thing I ran into Terry Hanley, one-time Executive Director of DERA, and she told me an appalling yet unsurprising story. For a number of years really broke locals- anyone know one or a couple of hundred? - could buy a dozen eggs at the Dugout. A lot of people not so broke would save and drop off empty egg cartons so it'd be easier to carry these eggs back to rooms. I think Muggs, a former President of the Carnegie Assoc iation and lifetime member, was involved- she'd use her old truck to pick up and ferry eggs to the Downtown Eastside drop-in on Powell Street. The newest news is that a small bunch of merchants put their names to an initiative of the Gastown Business Improve-ment Association and comp lained to the City of Vancouver that they were the victims of unfair competition. The City thereupon refused to allow the low-cost service to continue.

No more eggs from the Dugout.

The Gastown BIA, once (and maybe still) under the thumb of a tiny cartel ofsocred/liberai/NPA backroomers have been trying to shut down the Dugout specifically and other non-profit endeavours in general in and around Gastown for years. They were behind the idiotic court case- claiming that one architect Gust by chance a cohort of theirs) had the inalienable right to build whatever was to be bui lt on the then-vacant parking lot across the street from the Columbia Hotel. The whole ploy was to disrupt and hopefully destroy the funding commitments that the DE Women's Centre and Bridge Housing had to get to have what is there now built.

The case delayed things for almost 3 years, during which the funding did fall apart and only through the work of Ellen Woods worth and others did the project keep on track until completion. When it finally got to a courtroom and before a judge, he would have been nicer to the BIA 's henchwoman and fellow classjunkies if he' d just used a red-hot poker under her/thei r fingernails. The judge raged against the vicious stupidity and manipulative greed of the people hiding under the rubric of the Gastown BIA and opined that he was unable to hold them in contempt "thi s time".

We lost our Food Bank and over 700 people were told to go to the nearest one, only 26 blocks away (it's only $5 for the bus .. !)

What happens next: will the Dugout get slammed for unfair competition because it charges 25 for a cup of coffee? Will Carnegie get hauled before some bogus business tribunal because you can get a meal here for $1.75 or a bigger, better datesquare than Starbuck's for about a third of the price??!?

This is part and parcel of gentrification, making it too costly to go about one's daily life. First and foremost is the cost of housing, and then everything around the housing goes up in price. The next step is to criminalise behaviours of local people who aren't or refuse to be part of this new " clientele".

The Downtown Eastside is not a zit primed for squeezing until it bursts and bogus growth is all that can happen. We are not a nest of insects dispersed by a huge thumb sq uashing the life out of us and ours.

There's too much information, knowledge and independent sources for any kind of media hoopla to permit the blanket bulldozing of our community.

What part of No don't you understand?!

By PAULR TAYLOR

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Hope in Shadows Community Vote When: July 6 to July 10, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (weather permitting) Where: Hastings Street in front of Carnegie What: Vote for your favourite photographs and help decide this year's contest winners !

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year's contest. Thousands of photos were submitted and there were lots of great images.

If you participated in the contest you can pick-up a copy of your photos from Pivot Legal Society, 678 East Hastings St. The office is open M-F, 9 to 5 (closed for lunch). For more info, call (604)255-970 I.

0 CANADA On Canada Day will we remember?

The Cree soldiers who forgave the British and French And died on foreign soil for a country That to this day does not respect them Will we remember the women murdered On the Highway to Hell outside Prince George?

Will we remember the Chinatown riots?

Or the camp that cloistered Japanese in New Denver?

Or Oka? So many things to remember....

So many blemishes on the clean white face of Canada Still, all in all, it is a beautiful place Too bad you can't eat scenery...

Still, all in all, it is a beautiful place But don't look too hard lest you see

HlNl Aeeee It's like I' ve been waiting for this arrival but departure is something stressful don't worry just avoid the allergies you know there's lots of rain

C ya

After all I'm still thankful Thanx for the welfare cheque And the bedbugs in my SRO Next to folks in New Delhi I live like a prince And they'll even incinerate me for free!

You galla love it, this wonderful country.

Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

AI

the sun what an omnipotent biosphere they' ll surf forever that's not too far Arivadercii Caio Syanara (where ya from?)

G it's like I've been waiting this arrival rain washes impurities natural cleansing a touch of rain on a sunny day Raincouver it's so beautiful to see the clouds break through the sun A little bit of rain -what's that to us?!

Hara

Massive Public Support for H EAT S helters Pivot sends thousands of petition signatures to BC Housing Minister, calling on Provincial Government to keep the H EAT shelte rs open.

PIVOT Petition Gets Thousands of Names; Will It get Attention?

Pivot Legal Society is calli ng on Minister of Housi ng R ich Coleman to comm it ongoing funding to the HEAT homeless shelters, scheduled to close on June 30 unless government funding is extended.

In less than one week, almost 2000 people have signed Pivot's onl ine petition to keep the shelters open, and hundreds more have signed paper vers ions of the petition circulating throughout the community. Today, P ivot sent those signatures to Minister Coleman along with a letter calling on him to commit funding to the five shelters until there is sufficient safe, affordable housing for everyone who needs it. " We' re thrilled by the scale of the response" says Laura Track, Pivot's housing campaign lawyer.

"These shelters have made a profound difference in the lives of so many people who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets. T he government needs to recognize the public support for keeping the shelters open until there are real alternatives in place."

Many of those who signed the petition included comments with thei r signatures: "We need the shelters to stay open, as they are giving people some stability, and a chance to improve their lives. Some will say we can't afford them, but it's people's lives we are talking about, and surely we can all give up something to support them. 路路 Mary Brown, Vancouver Resident "In our aflluent society no person should be without a safe place to sleep. The situation on Vancouver streets is unconscionable. We must support our brothers and sisters ... there but for the grace ofGod go I!"' Carol Ramage, Vancouver Resident ""Adequate housing for the poor and disadvantaged is essential to any just society. We must commit the necessary resources to maintain shelters like this in the interim term while more comprehensive

housing solutions are being built for future use."

Nelson Alexander, Vancouver Resident " The comments show that people understand what a critical service these shelters provide" says Track. " People know that ultimately, a ffo rdable housing is the true solution to homelessness, but until new units are built, the shelters are the only thing standing between hundreds of people and a dangerous life on the streets. We hope the government shows the same level of compassion and understanding as the hundreds of people who have sig ned our petition, and commits to keeping the shelters open."

For more information, contact: Laura Track (604) 721-6349

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An uncnce Agamst uut Community The fence went up around the perimeter of Oppenheimer Park on Monday, June 15, and the bulldozers rushed in voraciously ripping at the grass. In a few hours, our place of peace became a wasteland dotted incongruously by the trees, each with sturdy fencing around it as protection from the machines.

No such protection has been placed around the totem pole, which still stands o n its small concrete platform. On National Aboriginal Day, which f~lls on the summer solstice, a woman from the lntenor set up an altar on the grassy stri p outside the perimeter fenc e? She told me she has been com ing here foru times a year to mark the season's change.

She was shocked and offended, not at all prepared fo r the ugly sight, but she lit her sage and sweetgrass and graciously gave me a smudge.

Mornings are no longer announced by birdsong; the birds have fled the park. Neig hbourhood kids have had their playground demolished. Park 路regulars are scattered, displaced and forced to come up with unsatisfactory alternatives. Only the addicts have adapted wel l, using the fence as an anchor for creative she lter endeavours. A sign has gone uop saying that security guards are patrolling the perimeter. At night those who do not care about these restrictions climb the fe nce and go in - and at night there have been screams.

Meanwhile, around the city, there are other and worse scenarios. The destruction of Little Mountain Housing Co-op is prime among them, as is the closing of the emergency shelters. Unnecessary roadwork has begun at specific s ites, the barriers remaining in place for weeks with no apparent work being done. In fact, although this has a lot to do with the Olympics, it's more for soc ial control than for any structura l necessity.

The Downtown Eastside is being prepared for new neighbours. And what have they planned for us?

Oppenheimer Park Update

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Since the closure of the Park fo r redevelopment, I have heard many complaints and concerns from all kinds of people . I' II respond to a few of them now; those interested are welcome to attend the next Oppenheimer Park meeting on Thursday July 9 at 3:30pm (location yet to be chosen). The telephone number for the Park is 604-665-2210. We will keep you updated in the newsletter.

I. Programs will continue throughout the redevelopment. The temporary offi ce for Oppenheimer Park is at 2 I I Dunlevy Gust down the block from The Sisters' alley). We have been partnering with vari ous community organizations to use their space to put on our programs. For instance, Aborig inal Day events were held at Crab Park, and though it was not the same as having it at Oppenheimer, it was well attended, and seemed very successful.

Along the bac kstop on the Dunlevy side, Park staff have been using this space for programs as well , and we are considering asking the C ity to close part of Dunlevy so that we could use it too, for programs.

2. Completion of the redevelopment is meant to be finished around February of2010.

3. When we move into the new buildi ng, we will bring our programming back to the Pa rk.

4. We will continue to hold Oppenheimer Park meetings (2nd Thursday ofevety month). C ity staff will come to the meeting every few months to update everyone o n the redevelopment. These meetings are open to the entire community.

This whole redevelopment thing has tested the patience and tolerance and goodwill of everyone involved. Now, we wait to see how it wi ll tum out.

See you soon, Matthew, Pres ident, CCCA.

By Delanye

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Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts

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Dalannah Bowen reporting ',

These are incredibly busy times for all of us and I hope that you are taking care of yourselves.

Just to re-cap, I have been part of some incredible gigs like the Sistahood Festival which is put on by Sarah Kendall and her crew & had an amazing time singing/performing with some sisters.

Talkin' bout culture, in one month, I sang at the Japantown Festival, the Sistahood Festival, the Women Of The Blues showcase and the Waterford Festival.

You've got to love that.

I also graduated from my "Road To Eldership" program which includes traditional teachings/ceremonies of the North American Indigenous peoples .. very cool.

We were showcased on Randy Bachman's rad io show "Vinyl Tap" as he did a special on Women In Blues.

It was an honor to be amongst the women that he chose to feature on that show.

I also have my hands full with the development of the Downtown Eastside Centre For The Arts and shaping this vision into becoming a reality. www.decentreforthearts.com This is a very big undertaking and we are taking our time to create a solid foundation. Our goal is to create accessible programs with a humane approach to how the programs/projects are delivered. This is key to offering a new approach to programming & projects that involve the Downtown Eastside. We do not want to be another organization that perpetuates the cyclical situations that occur; from food banks to dependency on social sevice agencies.

We need to find different ways to inspire individuals to participate in their daily living .... and so ... the work has begun to create an accessible art space that invites exploration and new artistic experiences.

It became increasingly clear that with my responsibilities as Creative Director of the Downtown Eastside Centre For The Arts, I could not possibly do the work necessary for what we felt our product deserved. When there are experts and you have reached a certain point. ..go to the experts.

I would like to express appreciation to all of you who supported "Mamma's Got The Blues". We have continued to sell thi s cd, were the top download at CD baby for a month and the music was heard far & wide.

You just never know what can happen.

More news is that I am currently writi ng for the next cd and very excited. A lot of the new material is about men..... hmmmm. We are hoping to record by the fall and will determine a release date soon.

Tentative title ... Them Mens!

Which brings me to now. We have had a wonderful ride with our "Mamma's Got The Blues" cd. The songs, and the cd, have received and are stil l receivi ng positive reviews. Check out the website at www.dalannahgail bowen.com for the May 2009 issue of Canadian Musician and our showcase review.

We wil l be releasi ng one more single from this cd. The song "/ Got This Bridge I Want You To Buy" , which is already receiving some airplay, will be released at the end of June.

In the meantime, your support and continued interest deserve to be acknowledged so ...... we are offering a free download of"Born Under A Bad Sign" at the website. This song is one of my al l-time favo rites. It's down home, gritty ...just the way 1 li ke it and the band ki cks a-- so ... enjoy!

Ti l next time, take care of yourselves and the ones you love and say a prayer for those in need. in peace, Dalannah Gail Bowen

Drop in and Quilt a Square

r . . ._ dtes Centre for the arts Creating Opportunities for the Artist in Evcrvone

CALLING ABORIGINAL ARTISTS The Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts, beginning on July 17 and ending on September 6, 2009, wi ll be showcasing aboriginal artists at the Chinatown Night Market from 6- 11 every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We invite aboriginal artists to come to the InterUrban Gallery at I East Hastings either Wednesday July 8 or Thursday July 9 from 27pm to register to have your art sold at the market.

For more info call Dalannah @ 604-689-2787

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You are invited to drop-in and learn how to create a quilted square. You can take your square home or give it to become part of the Community Quilt Project. The community quilt squares will be sewn to-gether to create a large quilt celebrating the diversity, creativity, and spirit of our community or be a pan of one of the quilts that are auctioned to raise funds for the Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts at the completion of the Community Quilt Exhibit.

The community quilt will be exhibited as a wall hanging in October 2009 at the Interurban Gallery and will be displayed for the enjoyment of the community at our future permanent home in the Downtown Eastside.

Free drop-in workshops Mondays & Tuesdays, lpm to 4pm Interurban Ga llery 1 East Hastings emaillisa@decentreforthearts.com web www.decentreforthearts.com All supplies provided- no experience necessary!

Vancouver Public Library & Carnegie Centre present

Clear the Clutter & Simplify Your Life Paul Talbot returns to Carnegie for 2 workshops to tackle 6 major areas of clutter:

Household, lifestyle, career, hea lth, relationships & finance.

Too much of everything you don 't use, clothes you don 't wear, magazines you don't read?

Friday, July 3, 2.30pm Friday, July 10, 2.30pm Carnegie Centre Theatre Admission is free. All are welcome.

The China Doll In a quiet little town Stood a tiny little store Finery and Shining Things Read the sign on the fron t doors.

Amongst the porcelain dolls Sat one of solid gold Crafted by the merchant

A Poet's Heart A poet's heart, in vanity Falls broken to the page; A poet's plea of sanity Brings magic to the stage; Words to tell of love's sweet pain Whispered in a poet's way.

The sun must long for drops of rain, As surely midnight yearns for day.

Dreams that come as dreams may go, In a poet's final years Gently, though, the words may flow Rhymes of Jove and endless tears.

Heartaches that are seldom heard Graceful as the rhymes may be Still, a poet's final words Bring undying love to me.

Attending storms from quiet skies A poet's life must take its course Tears that fall from a poet's eyes In the solitude of great remorse, Requesting that you read a line A poet's dream from far within Of everything that once was mine, Vanity is my greatest sin ..

A poet's blessing, with what it gives, Enhances dreams of which they speak,

A poet's ghost eternally lives To find with words the love they seek.

Dreams that come as dreams may go, A wave crumbles a fortress of sand, Every Poet's heart should know Not every mind will understand.

The heart may grieve for what it gave The want to etch it into stone In the silence of the grave Every poet stands alone.

A poet finds tranquility In an essay of storms that rage A p[oet's heart, in vanity, Falls broken to the page.

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To be neither bought nor sold So cherished was her beauty That it tempted every heart That ever dared to look upon The mastery of his art.

"She is not for sale," He'd boast, with a clever grin.

"To gaze upon her beauty ... you'll have to wander in."

Many made an offer but the man would shake his head "She is just to fi ll the cabinet."

So coldly he had said.

Her eyes were tiny diamonds Which seemed to hold the tears Time had held her hostage Through many lonely years, No child had ever held her To rock her in their arms To sing her gentle lullabies With all their girlish charms.

With all her priceless beauty She had thought it so unfair She longed _to have a little girl To comb her silken hair.

To represent her heart The man had done his best A tiny heart-shaped ruby Was hidden in her chest Never to be known By any one but himself.

His beloved masterpiece Sat high up on a shelf.

Then, one fateful evening, He closed and locked the door, He put her in a secret place Then died upon the floor.

The lawyers all had come To settle up his will The little doll was never found Her fate 's a mystery stil l.

In a quiet, sullen prison, She is capt ive evermore And not a soul has come again To the little country store.

Judith L Barrett

Judith L Barrett

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James Pau receives "Caring Canadian Award Over 35 years ago a Hong Kong immigrant named James ChiMing Pau landed in Vancouver and made the Downtown Eastside his home.

Trained in western medicine, James went to work as an L. P.N. almost immediately, in order to support himself and his ageing mother. James' profession brought him close to the elcrefly, especially to those suffering from neglect, abuse and age-related illnesses. The indignity and disregard endured by the aged affected him very deeply and he made a vow to treat every person with dignity and to help all those in need.

His compassion for and desire to serve his fellow human beings brought him to volunteer at places like S.U.C.C.E.S.S. where he was part of the home visit program, helping recent immigrants with government demands, medical needs and social interaction and at the Carnegie Centre where James is still involved with the social needs of seniors.

James also volunteered as a tutor for students learning English, as a translator and to assist immigrants with government and medical appointments.

As time went on James used his savings, not to buy a car or a place to live, but to become a practitioner of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (T.C. M.). After completing his studies he then offered treatments to anyone who asked, regard less of their ability to pay. He even went so far as to pay for the pre~c ri ption s he wrote but his patients could not afford to buy. At the same time James also pioneered treatments for people suffering from addictions and HIV/A IDS. Eventually he also helped suppon his own nonprofit organization. the North American Buddhist Order, where he consolidated and expanded his volunteer efforts. About this time James also became involved with government committees and various non-profit boards where he felt that he could help the marginalized by giving voice to their concerns and needs. Needless to say, James also fought against discrimination and racism whenever he found it.

A few years ago James Pau retired from professional life and gave up his practices in nursing, acupuncture and T.C.M., as well as his activities\\ ith the North American Buddhist Order. However the time he gai ned was more than

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• ~ •:• + Summer Classes +•:•~ •

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Carnegie T heatre Workshop

ACTING BASICS How to ...

:; Voice, Move ment, Scene Study :::· ~

(1)

Imagine, Prepare, Explore

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~ -1 Saturday afternoons for 3 hours (1)

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Sat June 27, July 4, 11 and 18 starting at l :30pm Carnegie Theatre Free

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All levels of experience welcome!

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Attend I session, attend all 4 .

No registration required.

C lass size may be limited.

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::s

Led by Teresa Vandertuin For more info call 60-1-255-940 I taken up with his 'retirement' activities. He continues to sit on various boards including Carnegie's and the Consumers' Board, as well as making himself available for committees and private consultations on issues of health and well ness, whether they be with government officials or the poorest immigrant. He also continues his work translating, teaching English and regularly visits the homes of immigrants and. seniors who otherwise might receive little in the way of help or social contact.

Now a senior himself James has redoubled his efforts with seniors. He is still a regular at the Carnegie Seniors functions and is still a sought after dance partner at seniors dances. l ie is also very involved with teaching seniors Tai Chi on a daily basis and always takes the time to listen to problems, help with medical difficulties and making his students feel special and worthwhile.

On Thursday June I Ith 2009 at Government House in Victoria, the Honourable Stephen Point presented James Chi Ming Pau with the Federal ''Caring Canadian" Award. I can't think of a better person to be so honoured. May you volunteer for a long, long time yet James.

By MELISSA EROR

Hard Times

By ROLF AUER .. The measure ofa count1y 's greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable populations." - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest. [Assassinated 1948.]

Nearly all of us in the Downtown Eastside have at least one sad story to tell about what it's like to be poor. I've seen numerous such poems in this very newsletter.

Social justice advocate Jean Swanson describes a couple of personal stories in her book Poor-bashing: The Politics of Exclusion. In one she tells of rais ing two young chi ldren whi le being on welfare, and being forced to go to a charity to get footwear for her kids. What s he was g iven didn' t even match her kids' sizes. She had to trade with other mothers outside the door to get sizes that fi t.

In another story s he tells of trying to get o rdinary mil k to last longer by mixing it with powdered milk. Her k ids hated that, she wrote.

1 have bipolar disorder and live on a disabil ity pens ion. Fortunately the illness isn' t so severe that I can't work (but severe enough that I can't take the s tress of a full-time job) so I work part-time to s upplement my income.

1 am now 55 years old. Thje illness hit me when I was in my early 20s. For a large part of my life I have depended on welfa re to exist.

This story took p lace about 20 years ago. I was living in Toronto, o n Bathurst Street. Down the street was the famous Honest Ed Mirvish's store, which almost exclusively deals in d iscount bargains !lived in an inexpensive apartment bu ilding with teeny tiny apartments, sort of like Vancouver's SRO (Single Room Occupant) hotels (but not quite so bad). Several hallways away lived a group of Rastafarians, who s moked ganja day and night, and played Bob Marley real loud, a lot.

One time, after about the 2000'h time fo hearing No Woman, No Cry at earsplitting volu me, I moseyed over to my perpetually stoned neighbours to ask them to please turn down the music. I felt somewhat out of place, the sole white g uy standing in the doorway of a room filled with about ten Jamaicans (!It least that's what I took them for,

judging by their choice of poison and their passion for Bob Marley).

It was a scary moment. Of course, my plea fell on (literally) deaf ears. I think I resorted to stuffing conan in my ears.

I wasn't eating well. I didn't have much food on hand and barely knew how to cook, aside from some s urvival dishes I had picked up by living outdoors in national parks (but that's another story).

Then I heard that Honest Ed was having a sale, preceded by a "door-crasher." The first I 00 people in line would get to buy a large jar of strawberry jam for 25 l . On the day of the sale, I was one of the first people in line.

It was cold that day and I wasn't dressed for it.

The chill was gening into my bones. I was a smoker then, so I rolled a cigarette from tobacco salvaged from cigarette butts. I lit up.

I didn't realize how weak I was, from the cold and from not eating properly. I passed out.

I woke up lying on the sidewalk, staring up at faces of people standing around me, looking down at me. I got up. I lost my place in line, but I was still within the first I00 people so I got my jar of jam for a quarter. I took a tour of the store, looking hungrily at other food items, which I couldn't afford. Then I went home and had a strawberry jam sandwich.

That's my tale o f utter poverty- the difference between being conscious or not depending on my eating a jam sandwich.

Now go back to the beginning of this article and reread Gandhi's words. It's quite revealing about the governments of Canada and British Columbia, isn't it?

Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP)

Newsletter

I Find us in the Carnegie Association office (604-839-0379)

July 1, 2009

Study sJ'lows DTES housing situation is getting worse A new Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) report says rents in hotel rooms are escalating beyond what low-income Dtes residents can afford.

Still Losing Hotel Rooms: CCAP's 2009 Hotel Survey and Report says at least 694 more rooms are now renting at over $425 per month, $50 above the welfare shelter rate. Last year CCAP 路round 889 rooms renting at over $425 so this brings the total to 1583 hotel rooms, the last resort before homelessness that are not affordable to people on welfare, disability or basic seniors pension.

If hotel room rents continue escalating at the current rate, all rooms could rent for over $425 by the end of 2012, according to CCAP's calculations.

CCAP's second annual report is based on a door to door survey of privately owned hotels in the DTES by volunteers posing as prospective tenants. CCAP checked out 88 hotels with 3605 rooms and got information from 63 hotels with about 9 1% of the rooms.

"Even though about 344 previously closed hotel rooms have opened up under non-profit management and

nearly 338 new units for low-income people are expected to open up this year, "the number of units for lowincome people will be slightly less than last year because of rent increases in

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evicted or displaced from the DTES or other urban, rural, and indigenous communities due to the Olympics.

7) Immediate withdrawal ofthe $! million Project Civil City, wruch includes bylaws that prohibit camping on sidewalks, and an end to police ticketing and police violence.

8) Social assistance rates should be increased by 40 percent, and removal of barriers to accessing assistance such as the three-week wait, two-year independence test, two-year time limit, and single parent employability rules.

9) All women should have access to subsidized cruldcare instead of apprehending children due to women and cruld poverty.

I 0) A full provincial public inquiry into the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered women.

II) Establish a living wage of at least $16 per hour and abolish the $6 training wage.

Cheers to Carnegie board members Sandra, Rolf, James and Gena who show their support at the march.

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Kafuffle at the Dominion Hotel Things were pretty touch and go there for new tenants this month. Business owners were organizing to move them ouL CCAP wrote this letter to the city: June 5, 2009: To Councilor Jang and Councilor Meggs, We understand you are meeting with some business owners in Gastown to discuss the behavior of the tenants of the Dominion Hotel.

We hear from tenants and management of the Dominion that business owners have been aggressive and rude to the Dominion tenants. One of our organizers, Wendy Pedersen, spoke to the Mandula business owner and her friends two days ago.

This is what Wendy said: • Tenants have a historical right to be here and make up 70% of the population of Gastown; • "Gentleness and acceptance" is needed to help those who have been marginalized;

• We can show we care by asking questions and getting involved to get more supports in place if needed as this can reduce conflict and make life better for everyone.

The business owners got very angry and aggressive and said "how dare you come here on your bike without a business card and setting up an appointment. These . people should not be allowed to live here.

They are on the slow track. All they care about their drugs.

They are ruining our businesses. They should get a job."

The whole issue is a good example of why the city should reexamine the DTES Housing Plan's goal of "revitalizing" the DTES by encouraging more market housing. The theory is that richer residents will have more purchasing power and enable businesses to have more customers. This theory seems to be mixed in with a leftover 19th Century poor-bashing one that if you mix the rich with the poor, it somehow uplifts 5

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({Vt~.h""'td. ho- '{'~ ~ ) the poor or teaches them better behavior.

In fact, what happens is not a social mix but social exclusion. Even though 70% of the people who live in Gastown have low incomes, they are not considered part of the power structure or community there. At CCAP's mapping sessions we asked folks what the most uncomfortable and unsafe places in the DIES were. Gastown was listed often in this category because (quotes from Downtown Eastside residents follow): "They are not really a neighbourhood.

They are from the suburbs who don't live here and then drive away."

"They are mainly a commercial centre that is for tourists and not for people in the neighbourhood. High end stores that cater to tourists. I don't think the business owners are sympathetic to the DIES or our interests."

"Gastown. Sinister night crowds and swarms of people waiting to get inebriated; their perception of the environment breeds contempt and legitimizes violence against the people here."

"If you try to walk and look into stores, you are trailed by a rent-a-cop and asked to move along."

To be fair, the DIES Housing Plan calls fo r the housing to be affordable and rental which wouldn't be creating such a large divide in the community.

But this is not happening. The vast majority of the new housing in the DIES are condos, which attract a more

upper class owner and exaggerate the income divide in the DTES. For several years the city has been talking about creating a rate of change mechanism to control condo development, but no action has been taken.

The kafuffle at the Dominion is not the only example of better off people in the DTES trying to get rid of long time residents who are poor. It happened when Van Home residents wanted to get rid of the line-ups at the Dugout; when some Strathcona residents opposed having the proposed new library serve the street population on the North side of Hastings; when some objected to arts and crafts store for low-income women at the Rice Block; when the WISH drop in was opposed and now a new site for United We Can on Alexander Street is being opposed by some residents at The Edge.

To us this means that the situation of current DTES residents needs to be stabilized before new condos are allowed to come in. We will be releasing our 2009 hotel survey s.oon.

This survey will show that at least 694 more SRO rooms have increased their rents to over $425 a month in one year!

Even though the city has provided shelters, the province has bought hotels, and this year some new social housing is opening up, gentrification is pushing up rents in cheap hotels, the last resort before homelessness.

Gentrification includes more than simply replacing cheap with more

6

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(Co~h~~ ~r~•)

( (b~+;~~ ~ p~c. (..) expensive housing. It also creates a different power structure in neighbourhoods (diminishing the voice of low income people), changes the businesses and services that low income people need for survival, and creates rising property values which increase rents and gradually push poorer people out. Gentrification changes the whole feel and comfort level in a neighbourhood. People with health and addiction issues who feel acceptance in the DTES now (the fiist step for recovery) could feel discriminated against and stereotyped by the new residents.

CCAP thinks that the city can solve this problem. In the fall we will present you with a report, based on input from over 1200 low income DTES residents.

It will be a roadmap to stabilize the existing DTES community, nurture businesses that are not in a bubble and that genuinely serve everyone and go on to develop it into an amazing low income neighbourhood that is affordable, safe and healthy for its residents, which Vancouver can be proud of and many people will visit. We hope you will consider these points in your future decisions about the DTES.

- wp .r"J"S

Council continues to get weekly updates from CCAP In 2006 the City's Housing Centre Director, Cameron Gray, wrote that "revitalization" of the DTES "involves introducing middle-income households and workers who bring disposab le incomes that support retail and a normal ization of social behaviour and expectation." This idea that middle-income people will provide an uplifting example to poor people is not based on real evidence.

Much of the research done on this is in the US where the benefit of mixing incomes is thought to be that the low income people get to use the better schools and parks that middle-income neighbourhoods have.

Here are 2 out of 4 Tuesday morning paragraphs sent to counci!_,;,.:T"'na..

Dear Mayor & Co unci I, Why should we preserve the Downtown East side as a low-income community?

Contrary to some what some people think. mixing low-income people with higher income people does not. by itself. create a better situation for the low income people .

( c~nh~~..e.J... <M 'f6-}t- 'a)

7

Lcol\h~~~ ~ r~.e.l) In BC, schools and parks aren't funded by neighbourhood. Services for poor people are not better in richer neighbourhoods because they are almost all services that require money and are not appropriate to the needs of lowincome people. Even community centres in middle-income areas in Vancouver charge fees that poor people don't have.

DTES problems, like drug dealers congregating in several areas, people peeing on the streets, open drug use, and the general appearance of poverty cannot be counteracted by throwing richer people into the mix. To be solved, these problems require decent affordable housing, adequate income and probably the end of drug. Only in a place like the DTES, with its strong history of community activism, can the real solutions to problems like this take hold.

here. I have help from a lot of people which I didn' t have before."

"Four Sisters: It's my home. It 's where I feel free and I feel safe. The DTES is the place where I've drank most of my life and lived in rooming houses .... Here it's like I have a real family. What do they say? Mom and apple pie. It's my family and my home."

"Four Sisters or Lore Krill: You can take pride living there. Lore Krill has a water fountain. The roof top garden is beautiful. It's a sanctuary home. Four Sisters has lots of kids. I like the wine and cheese, the barbeques there, the green space in the middle. Getting a nice home changes your way of thinking."

Here's what two mappers said about living in SROs: "I could have a whole other life if I could just be in affordable housing.

Living in an SRO limits my capability of being a grandmother."

"None of the places I 've been in are adequate that you can invite your family .... " In short, social housing "enables" people to be secure, helps provide a community, and gives people a base from which to seek their full potential.

Dear Mayor & Council, Does social housing "enable" bad behavior?

Here 's what some people in CCAP's mapping sessions said about the social housing they live in: "Housing like the Jim Green Residence makes us feel god about ourselves, not bathrooms that are plugged or with blood all over the wall or ...you have to put thongs on the keep away from the germs."

"I like [the Jim Green Residence]. I have been living in hospitals like St. Paul 's most of my life. This feels like home.

It's safe. People are nice and friendly

Vancity

Support for this project does not necessarily imply Vancity' s endorsement of the findings or contents of this report."

8

DISSOLVE !

There is something about everything I just can't believe like a soon-to-be dead man with a Dead Man 's Hand (Aces & 8's) disease what's up his sleeve? Deceive. Believe. Achieve. Conceive then leave like a ship called companion bandwagons to abandon my post my ship you guess right 1give upo quick, now don't move or your skin will stick.

Like a tumour too big to remove for your own dam good then will come artificial veins that will never again look like they should, I will DISSOLVE you claim to have evolved but have never been taught respect no cause no effect just more lives wrecked like a Wrecking Ballroom Dancing and the fifth you select only show up to collect the selfish even know when to resurrect now dissolve me please: DIS Statute Of Limitations Versus Eternity, now go run it by your District Attorney with compound DISinterest did you ever for a second think you are free follow me know once more with feeling .. DISSOLVE me please, I am your DISease no time for locks&keys this Heaven/Hell tease kills more souls that Satan/God ice cream (a fami ly in its infancy) which reminds me do you have your Ransom Money for one you love dancing?

The one I cannot be blamed or at fault 80% of the earth's water is salt as a matter of fact back in my mind's vault is a note I found in a bottle no fingerprints or DNA very smart on the water's part, the note ended with Acidifically Yours, the Ocean. (In other words HELP!) Anyone with a proven position may be DISmotion even DISiotion I have a notion as a nation starting to burst its seams seriously this is as bad as bad seems DISrobe - DISfigure- DISqualify the DISabled DIScontent breeds DIScouragement and now they have been labeled: D!SSOL VE me, DISsolve me li ke a 21 hundred gun salute (break out the wetsuits) I kept looking for the broken window of opportunity puts me in my proper place soon no births let alone opportunity laughing in my face ...

Like Sonny & Chernobyl I'm becoming the next

I

I

DISneyland cartel theme park with lots of DISlike shall we DISembark I' m still a product of frustration like a door-to-door nail salesman in biblical times if the kidnapped Lindgerg baby was the trial of the century could this be the millennium crime LIVE on your 1200-inch TV T~is is a fu ll-time job absorbing all the regrets I've la1d to rest & the pity that never lacks as the masses keep clinking those full glasses & so what if the whole square world sees you on your ass will some -one please DISSOLVE me?!? DISsolve me ....

DIS-Statute Of Limitations Versus Eternity thank you/you're welcome/time to DISappear!!!

By ROBERT McGILLIVRAy ' There are humble people who, instead of solving a problem, tangle 1t up and make it harder for anybody who wants to deal w1th 1t. â&#x20AC;˘ -Fn'edrich Nietzsche

~&;;-

~ News from the Library The classic women's health book has just come out in a new edition. Revolutionary when it was first published for empowering women by provid ing information about health, sexuality, and reproduction, Our Bodies, Ourselves (6 12.66) has been revised for the first time in a decade, with new information on complementary health practices, growing older, and advice making safer sex more fun.

Convicted in Paris in 1931 of a murder he did not commit, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, Henri Charriere had one goal: escape. Better known as Papillon for the butterfly tattoo on his chest, he was eventually sent to the notorious prison on Devil's Island, from which no one had ever escaped. You may have seen the film (with Steve McQueen), now read Papillon (921 CHA) the book!

Want to find out about classical music but don' t know where to start? The library has 4 new titles in the Compact Companions: A Listener's Guide to the Classics series (780.8): Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin.

Beth, your librarian

Vancouver Public Library

Food Fight!

Libby and NDP Agriculture Critic, MP Alex Atamanenko, invite you to t he:

Central Library 350 West Georgia Peter Kaye & Alma VanDusen Room (Lower Level)

Food Security Forum Thursday, july 9 7 pmto9pm St. Patrick Parish Hall 2881 Main Street @ E. 13th Ave. Special Forum on Food Security with Alex Atam anenko (MP, British Columbia Southern Interior), the NDP's Cri tic for Agriculture and Agri-Food, and Food Security.

book sale

Lots of great fiction for your summer rea ding!

Cash and carry.

C:路

Please bring your own bags.

All sales final!

Alex has been crossing the country on his Food Security Tour hearing concerns about the gaps in our food sys tem .

Alex w ill talk about the need for a National Food Policy as a long-term food security strategy to best deal w ith the many calamities our planet faces such as climate change, global energy insecurities and the world economic crisis.

hours: thu july 9 10 a.m.- 9 p.m. fri july 10 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.

For more information contact libby at:

604-775-5800

Admission ends 30 minutes before sale closes.

Vancouver Public Library

MOVIN' OUT, MOVIN' ON Love me, no you don't, will you ever when i wish you would? I know you won't no worries though 'cause i'll get by, it ain't so hard, big boys don't cry. You fee l my pain .. do you understand my tight shut eyes so no tears like rain this ain't so bad this losing you- i'll overcome staying sad; i've loved, i've lost & so have you; you've been there, sure, no need to fib i know it's true. At the stan it seems so right, so pure, then suddenly it ends with a broken hean, no cure.

Move out, move on, ya that's the way to be. P lease you go first I'll set you free! We're split, we're done, for all our small world to see; you'll take a piee of my soul away- to be gone forever; would you like to have the final say? Forget it, it doesn't maner, so why fret why bother about such and such? Because we see the paths to brand new horizons where the s un will rise no point surmising So we weren't for keeps, us two (too bad) see you down the road OH NO forget it, won't work, can't s leep, special times together are brief. Got memories, some so good they'll bring relief, res pite The thing is this: when all is over, said and done, to shut that chapter leaves nowhere to hide, to run.

My life's an open book you see, don't care, who knows this type of thinking will always set me free.

I' ll feel much bet1er though empty heaned, even though with us it' s finally over i can now renew, get jump-started. It won't be easy that's fo r sure, a vital and most compelling fact.

So so long, take care, farewell, I love you (regrets for me so true you know). We can't go back not ever 'cause we've seen the writing on the oncebarren walls where the ledger adds and subtrac ts, then eventually multiplies only to divide a ll we said by all we wrote and, in the end, although bittersweet, we have of course no other choice so we must submit. The stars commit us to bow down to guidance and to their wishes we must be true we must go against our wills to comply.

ROBYN LIVINGSTONE

Soccer

Cam~ '/,

,_...,

for Kids!

Vancouver Urban Ministries (VUM), directed by Pastor James, is partnering with Union Gospel Mission, Fusion, and Vancouver Serve to present a Soccer Camp and Children's Carnival this summer.

The camp is open to kids, generally ages 7-15.

Although this is a church group, the goal is not to force the gospel down the kids' throats. The purpose is s imply to provide an opportunity for kids to join others in their community to have fun, to learn, and to grow in a healthy and safe environment.

The camp will be July 6-8, and wi ll take place at Pandora Park (on Nanaimo and Pandora Street).

Each day will go from lOam to 3pm, and will include sports, VBS, and arts & c rafts. Lunch is provided. We are asking $5 for registration, if possible. I have brochures that incl ude the registration and waiver forms. If there is a way to get these to families to register anyone who is interested, we can work something out. Otherwise, we may be able to do registratio n over the phone, and the rest (waive r sign ing and registration fee) can be taken care of when the parents/guardians come on the first day of camp.

In addition to the camp, VUM would like to invite everyone to the children's carnival, happening at the end of the soccer camp week! It will be on July IOth, from 12 to 3pm. Everyone is invited, so feel free to bring your family and friends! It will also be held at Pandora Park, and lunch will be provided as well. This event, however, is FREE! If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at 604 751-3580 (my cell) or 604 306-5787 (coworker, Natalie's, cell).

We'd love to see you there!

Wendy Workman

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astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.

December 12,2008 Thursday- 20: 16 Suicide is the final and, I bel ieve to be true, the ulti mate expressio n of one's rejection of her/his own worth as an individual entity.

Taking one's own life is therefore, perhaps, the highest gamble one will ever take because there is that chance of being in limbo indefinitely between planes of transitional stages - whatever it/they may be - working towards to the state of becoming! being the perfect Source of Energy. Then there is the thought/idea/belief/opinion of eternal damnation, along with the knowledge of knowing that there won ' t be another chance given. Ever.

Myla 2009

Cosmic Comments made in 1955!

That's only 54 years ago!

'I'll tell you one th ing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week' s groceries for $10.00.

'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won' t be long before $1, 000.00 wi ll only buy a used one. ' If cigarettes keep goi ng up in price, I'm going to quit. 20 cents a pack is ridiculous.

Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging 7 cents just to mail a letter 'If they raise the minimum wage to $ 1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.

'When I first started driving, who would've thought gas would someday cost 25 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DA MN in it. ' I read the other day where some scientist thinks

it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they cal l

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'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $50,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President. ' I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.

'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women have to work to make ends meet. ' It won 't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work. ' I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.

'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to government. ' There is no sense going on short trips anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $2.00 a night to stay in a hotel.

'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $ 15.00 a day in the hospital, it's too rich for my blood.'

Till the Rain Comes Again The I Ching says, in 24 Return, "friends come and go," so li ke the tide I retreat to the mountains, green and still for in my surrender, I surrender the suffering May you do well on this baked pavement With the effluvia of waste assaulting your nostrils The acrid acid of baked-on urine making you gag Th is for me is the sole smell of summer In the city, sweltering and sticky I will sleep be a cold mountain lake And wake as the sun meanders up into the blue And I will say a prayer And send my love back to you AI

GET CLEAN! Shower up at the

L~rd's

-"Never do ubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead

Rain

There is a shower facility at Gospel Mission, 327 Carrall Street (just otT Pigeon Park). There are towels, soap, shampoo - the works! & Coffee

Modayn: lOam - Jpm; Tuesday: 7- 8:30am; Wednesday (Ladies' Day): lOam- Noon Friday: lOam- Jpm; Saturday: 7- lOam

We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory.

102.-7FN CO-OP RADIO

CFRO •.

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th

Next issue is July 15 !

SUBI\flSSION DEADliNE

FRIDAY, July 10 401 Main Strcct. V6A z.r7

THIS NEWSLE1TER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE O .RNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Artides rrpnsmt tile Yiews of iadiridual Contributors and aot of tho! "-'ri~lian..

CHANGE OF ADDRESS!!!

Mental Health A ction Research A dvocacy As of Monday, July 6, our new address will be

163 West Pender Street (it's a storefront at the sidewalk! ) Phone# 604-689-7938 remains the same.

Editor: PauiR Taylor; cover art by James Whitman Collation & distribution crew: Bill, Liu Lin, Harold, Mary Ann, Miriam, Kelly, Videha, Rolf, Priscillia, Roby n, Nick, Jackie, Matthew, Ida, Nicole, Lisa.

WANTED Artworlc for the CamegU! Newsletter

TIM STEVENSON

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CITY COUNCILLOR

•

SERVING THE COMMUNITY WITH PRIDE

•

City Hall, 453 W l21h Ave, V5Y 1V4 Phone: 604-873-7247

Jenny Wai Ching Kwan MLA Working for You 1070 - 1641 Co mmercial Dr, VSL 3Y3 P hone: 604-77~0790

Law Students' Legal Assistance Program

LSLAP: Carnegie hours Tuesdays: 2pm-5pm and 6pm - Bpm W ed-Fri: 1Oam-12pm and 1pm-4 pm

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• • •

Small illustJalions lo accompany articles and poetry Cover art -Maximum size: 17an(6-3141 wide X 15cm(fi} tigh.

Subject matter relevant to issues pertaining to the Downtown Eastside preferred, but aD worlc will be considered; Black & While printing only Size restrictions must be considered [Le. if your piece is loo large, it will be reduced andfor cropped to lit; AD artists wiB receive credit for their work; Originals wtl be returned to the artist after being copied for publication; Remuneration: Carnegie volunteer tickets.

•

Please make submissions to: Paul Taylor, Editor.

2009 DONATIONS: Barry M.-$150, Libby D.-$70, Rolf A.-$50, Margaret D.·S40, Jenny K.·$25, Sue K.·$30, Michael C.-$50, Jaya B.-$100, Christopher R.·S180, Mel L.-$25, Greta P.·S25, Leslie S.·$25, Harvey B.·$25, Sheila B.-$20, The Edge -$200, Wilhelmina M.-$30, Anonymous $1500

Bud Osborn Hundred Block Rock, Arsenal Pulp Press. 1999

I am old and beat and hurt like a bastard I want to sit beneath a tree a dog beside me the ocean in front of me and write an occasional haiku about a passing cloud I feel like hell my life is a mess I can't sleep worth a damn my health is shot I keep going by consuming caffeine and sugar and nicotine and aspirins I have no paid job and no resources to deal w ith all this shit the agencies the bureaucracies the manoeuvering for advantage all the greed and fear the loss of focus but I remember (and this is why memory is such a liability to self-interest) I remember her eyes glistening with tears in the lobby of the pacific cinematheque after the showing of her documentary tu as erie I let me go a long beautiful love poem to her daughter a heroin addict and prostitute murdered in montreal her film also

complaint of an advocate sad, lord tired and worn and sick so sick of power politics of turf wars of m eetings and committees and subcommittees sick of everything that loses focus because every deception every agenda every meeting every resentment every control grab every move for the money slams down hardest on the most wretched human beings in north america who are suffering and dying in the streets and alleys and shit-hole hotels of the downtown eastside all the pettiness and ambition slams directly down on those who are most afflicted by poverty and illness addiction and discrimination homelessness and demonizing propaganda so, lord I want to quit I want to stop I want to say tuck it it's too fucking hard

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~....

- __ ..__

a plea a challenge to transcend the senseless and bankrupt slaughter of the war on drugs so yeah today when I feel like shit and want to quit I see her eyes glistening with tears after I held up for her that day's vancouver sun with the headline western world's worst hiv/aids epidemic among drug users in the downtown eastside she said don't stop fighting she looked directly into my eyes and said don't stop fighting and today when the fight seems too fierce to deal with when it feels like it's killing me I remember her eyes I hear her words and I remember this junkie in the downtown eastside who has aids and who came up to me recently after our dopefiend discussion meeting where we discussed fighting towards a life-saving and enlightened place he'd been very articulate during the meeting he understands the situation

in his flesh in his misery in his anger he understands how other people hate him and wish he'd just go away somewhere out of sight and die he said to me you know how cynical I am about anything good happening for us but this meeting today it gives me a ray of hope and I see his face illuminated for a moment w ith that most alien and elusive expression hope today when I feel hopeless when the odds are too long the deck stacked against the clock running out and who the tuck am I anyway? a junkie myself a fucking mental case surviving on social assistance straight just a few years and ripped again w ith dopefiend cravings for pain relief shit sitting in meetings

with people paid to be there and I pass up the fucking sandwich lines to sit and listen to them and get frustrated and pissed off and hungry and depressed shit and then I see her eyes and hear her voice and see on his anguished face a ray of hope and then I walk

nearly all of my fucking life I could hustle something better than stretching between the gutter with the scum and meeting rooms with lying backstabbing sleight-of-hand bureaucratic hustlers yeah I remember my father got rid of all our furniture except for the beds because he said furniture was too middle-class so no I'm not too happy with all this

past the walton and the patricia hotels within a block of each other in the downtown eastside and see the first names of my father and mother manipulating glad-ass convivial crap dehumanizing me even further both of whom died homeless and broke but I remember my father full of drugs and booze reading about when he hanged himself in jail the first dirt-poor black man and my mother sprung from an alabama death row wracked by drug addiction for a murder he didn't commit and mental illness sprung largely whose friends at the end through the intense and tenacious efforts were crackheads and thieves of a young black lawyer walton and patricia with a graduate degree from harvard law and remember who could've written his own ticket how my parents were jailed to corporate law firms coast to coast but chose to defend and scapegoated for almost nothing but I still want to say tuck it the baddest and most undeserving of poor people I don't have to do this and this lawyer I'm not strung-out now defines the role of an advocate I've gotten a miracle pass to a new life by telling a bible story why waste it down here in this mess of shit and trouble when jesus came upon some men where I've spent fixing to stone to death a woman who violated their morality

and jesus told them to let the man who never tucked up

dropped their stones

when today hits me so goddamned hard then the fight that is in my blood the ray of hope that is in my soul the high threshold for pain burned into my bones

and walked home but this young black lawyer

remembers despite myself

says that kind of thing wouldn't work now because people today not only don't become ashamed of themselves

who I am and where I stand when the stones

throw the first stone and the men became ashamed of themselves

and who will die and so an advocate today

are being thrown who I am and where I stand when the stones

says the lawyer an advocate today

are being thrown

but are only too eager to decide who will live

must be a stone catcher catching stones with your nerves your heart your skin your life catching stones intended for those like the western world's worst for those like my father and mother today when I don't feel I can take another moment of it when I don't want to take anymore of it when 1think 1 must be a complete fool to go through another day of it

. ..........

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OFF THE STREET A seemingly innocuous (some would just say ' nice') idea came to the Neighbourhood Small G rants Program: Hold an Arts & Crafts Fa ir in a public place, like V ictory Sq ua re at Hastin~s & Cambie, on a weekend, like J une 20'', ad have local artists bring their wo rk, be it Sculpture .. Painting .. Knitting .. Carving .. Beadwork Jewellery .. Quilting .. Fibre art I Collage I Origami ...

Make all tables FREE; likewise admission and sunshine!

A couple of local women did j ust this and the event was o ne of the best held for awhile. A guesstimated FIFTY people brought the ir art I cra fts and a lmost every one sold a piece. There were no ID badges, no listing of people sell ing o r what they were paid and no one pretending to be " In Charge."' Getting tables there and buying, then distributing some basic supplies to our many starving artists (okay, not that stark ... ) was work needing doing but that came together pretty well.

The consequences have been really exciting. There is a Farmers' Market in Thorton Park at Main & Termina l every Wednesday, and organizers for it have extended an incredible invitation to Do wntown Eastside Artists to hold an Arts & Crafts Fair alongside the Market every week All summer! The consequences a lso include individuals havi ng a place free-of-charge to come for 10 minutes or 5 hours and show their creatio ns to the world.

It 's money in people's pockets, there are no licenses to get and the potential fo r again showing the rest of the Lower Main- ~~~"~ land the depth and culture of o ur community is, ......,.!1;!!!!r!!~-..!l.:~~;;ilisto use an unworn word, decent.

One of the women responsible for OffT!te S treet at Victory Square is going back to City Hall to Perm its and Licences to see if any kind of offi c ia ldom will get its nose o ut of j oint if these kinds of loca l fairs cont inue. Great!! !