Streetvibes vol 18 issue 21

O c t. 1 0 t h - 2 3 r d, 2 0 1 4 | Vo l . 1 8 I s s u e 2 1 ( N o. 2 8 8 )

advocating justice | Building community

Photo Essay: global climate outrage |8

This issue sponsored by Judge (Retired) Mark P. Painter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

SKIRTZ AND DUTTON FOCUS ON JUSTICE ISSUES IN OTR | 4

ANNA LINDERS: INSIDER/ OUTSIDER | 6

SYSTEM CHANGE, NOT CLIMATE CHANGE | 7

THE OHIO RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL | 10

Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

streetvoice | 12

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What Does It Take?!

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JOSH SPRING

W

Executive Director

e all prioritize in our daily lives. In fact, probably every decision we make, from the big ones to the ones we may feel like we don’t even think about are all a part of prioritization. Often, we do think about it though. Prioritizing is the act of deciding what to do now and what to do later and what to do after that.

We are saying that the action we take now, is more important at this time than another action we could choose to take now. For example, some of us may choose to get up at a certain hour because we believe starting the day is the most important task at that time. At other times we may choose to sleep in a bit because we believe that getting more rested is the most important personal task at that time.

The examples are endless.

We also prioritize as a city. Yet the only time there seems to be anything close to semi-widespread discussion about priorities as a city is just before the budget is to be passed.

And typically these discussions are saturated with whether or not to lay off police and fire with a few other issues sprinkled in.

Let’s focus back in on the personal.

Let’s consider a hypothetical situation.

Say, you own a two bedroom house.

Your two elementary-age children share one of the bedrooms and you and your partner share the other. You or your partner is pregnant or you are about to adopt an infant. You know that you do not have room in either of your two bedrooms to safely harbor an additional child. You believe that you need to build an additional bedroom onto the back of your house. But you have a dilemma: your soon to come baby needs a bedroom, but your other two children are lobbying you for their own rooms. So what do you decide is priority: building a new bedroom so that your two children each have their own room or building a new bedroom so that your forthcoming baby will have enough space in the house? Of course, for many, many families this is an unrealistic hypothetical because many families cannot afford their rent much less purchasing a house, much less making an addition to it. But, I would assume that in consideration of this hypothetical dilemma, most of you are saying “duh, there is no dilemma.” Obviously the child without a bedroom would get priority over the children that already have a bedroom.

This is simple common sense.

If we can assume that nearly every person would agree with what to prioritize in this situation, why is it that this common sense, humane process of prioritization does not make its way into our societal and governmental decisions?

In Cincinnati and Hamilton County we have a housing crisis. This is not an exaggeration. We literally have a crisis. The number of people sleeping outside in our neighborhoods is on the increase, with very little opportunity to move into housing. Our single person shelters are at or in most cases, over capacity for both men and women. Family shelters are only able to provide shelter for approximately

twenty percent of the families with children who seek shelter. Street outreach workers, whose positions were originally created to serve single people outside, tell us that they now get calls every day from families with children sleeping outside. Street outreach workers, single person’s shelters and family shelters all tell us that they simply cannot get people out fast enough because there is not even close to enough affordable housing available. We are planning for the Winter Shelter, at which hundreds of people will come and go throughout the winter - people who typically are not in the shelter system. In 2013 at least 42 people died as a result of homelessness.

So let’s look at a similar hypothetical, but this time from a more systematic perspective. Say you and your friends are the city government.

Say you have two proposals brought before you. One proposal is to support the construction of a new or renovated building of expensive condominiums and fine dining on the street level.

You are told that this development is necessary because we need to get more people with strong financial means into our urban core so they will spend more money and improve our economic base. The second proposal is for you to support the construction of a large building that will have apartments meant for people with disabilities, who are currently sleeping outside or in shelters, with the first floor being support offices and community meeting space. You are told we need this because people need to be housed to sustain life and because this will give folks the opportunity to move forward in life, get the services, employment or income they need, etc.

Which would you and your friends choose to support?

Hopefully you would choose to support the development of the affordable housing. In fact this type of housing is called Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). Hopefully in general, whether PSH housing or another form of affordable housing, you would choose to support it.

Hopefully you and your friends would say that building affordable homes for people without homes takes priority over building expensive homes for people that already have homes.

Well in our city, the opposite is continually happening. In the past decade we have invested hundreds of millions of public dollars (mostly state and federal) into development of expensive commercial housing facilities. These dollars usually pass through City Council and could have been spent in other ways. Considering both public and private dollars, we spent around half a billion or more on market rate development. This does not include all the tax incentives and breaks we give as a city to big corporations and their upper administration.

In very recent history, the renovation of the Anna Louise Inn was delayed for years, keeping needed housing off-line. Transitional housing now being built by the City Gospel Mission has been delayed by multiple

years because of politics. The elderly housing recently opened by Overthe-Rhine Community Housing took five years to develop. The Jimmy Heath House for people who have experienced homelessness and addiction, took five years to open. And for five years there has been work to open 90 new Permanent Supportive Housing apartments. The site-location was determined by the pertinent Community Council and supported by the pertinent neighborhood development corporation. The needed tax-credits for construction were supported by both local decisionmaking bodies involved in this, including City Council. The Ohio Housing Finance Agency named it the number one application for lowincome tax credits in the state and approved the credits. Effort was made to get City Council to remove its support. Council again voted in favor of it. The project matches zoning.

Attempts were made to remove other needed funding. City Council again supported the development.

Despite all of this and more, we may lose the 90 homes. The mayor is not supporting the development. That in and of itself should not be enough to stop this National Church Residences development, but the CMHA Board who has the vote on funding the subsidies for the building seems to prefer listening to the Mayor over the Community Council, Neighborhood Development Corporation, Ohio Housing Finance Agency and City Council to name a few.

The question of priority takes center-stage here. In the past decade we have seen numerous buildings in Over-the-Rhine turned into luxury housing and commercial spaces.

We have seen many luxury homes and commercial spaces constructed on the riverbank and in the Central Business District. We have seen luxury commercial spaces appear in Price Hill and Walnut Hills. Simply put, in Cincinnati, in the time it takes to potentially fund, win the inevitable political fight, pass zoning, build or renovate and open one affordable housing building of any size, we can build and open perhaps 60 or more luxury buildings.

Over and over again in Cincinnati we are choosing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on developing homes and recreation for people who already have homes and access to recreation instead of building homes for people who currently have no home, some of whom will eventually die as a result. There is absolutely no valid argument for prioritizing the luxury of one group of people over the life of another group of people.

October is Homelessness Awareness Month in Cincinnati. Stay tuned and contact us to get involved in our City-Wide Shantytown, Homelessness Awareness March, Speaker’s Bureau, Cincinnati Urban Experience, Streetvibes, Day by Day Calendar and planning for our 30th Anniversary Annual Dinner.

-Josh Spring, LSW Executive Director

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty.

Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $1.50 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati.

113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Leslie Moorhead Director of Education: Michelle Dillingham Distributor Program Manager: Anna Worpenberg Layout: Jeni Jenkins, Uncaged Bird Design Studio Reception: Chris Fowler, Steve Reams Clarence Daniels Charles Carpenter Maintenance: Pete Roper CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Benjamin Green, Lynn Williams, Michelle Dillingham, Jim Luken, Michael Earl Patton, Griffin Ritze, Steve Sunderland, Sam Joseph, Jason Haap, Robert Park, Sonny Williams, Ricardo Taylor, Katie Birkle, Willa Denise Jones, Kim Green, Melissa Mosby Photography/Artwork: Jon Hughes, Michelles Dillingham, Jim Luken, Steve Wuesthoff, Bill Woods, Griffin Ritze, Antoinette Haap, Aimee Willhothe Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice.

Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office.

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NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

Skirtz And Dutton Focus On Issues Raised By Josh Spring’s “A Justice Walk” In OTR

opportunity was denied to voters arrested and jailed in those same final pre-election days.

“The right to vote is one of the most fundamental and BILL WOODS cherished rights in a Contributing Writer free and democratic n September 16th a federal about what would happen to a registered society,” said David Executive judge ruled that the State of voter who got arrested just before the Singleton, Ohio and its county boards election. AMOS and OJPC learned Director of OJPC and of elections must make that Ohio law prevented a registered one of the attorneys for provisions for eligible voters to request voter from casting a ballot if the voter the plaintiffs. “People absentee ballots if they are placed into was arrested the weekend before the arrested the weekend custody the weekend before an election. election and was unable to pay bail in before the election The Ohio Justice & Policy Center time to go to the polls on Election Day. are presumed to be (OJPC) filed FEO v Husted in 2012 on The State of Ohio already has in place innocent. If they are behalf of Plaintiffs the AMOS Project, a special voting procedure for voters registered and otherwise Fair Elections Ohio, and CURE-Ohio. who are hospitalized right before an qualified to participate In registering voters in 2012, workers election, where they can vote through in the process, voting is for the AMOS project fielded questions absentee ballot. However, the same still their right.”

Plaintiffs provided expert evidence that showed that at least 400 voters were denied their right to vote in 2012 as a result of the state’s law and policies. Federal District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel, in ruling for the Plaintiffs, stated, “The Court sees no value in taking away this fundamental voting right, even for a short period of time.” The ruling requires the state to extend the opportunity to vote absentee to “late jailed electors” in Ohio.

Photo: Jon Hughes/Photopresse OJPC is a non-profit, public

O

Community Issues Forum Highlights Problems with Economic Inequality BENJAMIN GREEN

O

Contributing Writer

n September 24, 2014 Dr. Nancy Bertaux spoke to a crowd of thirty people at the Christ Church Cathedral about economic inequality as a part of an ongoing series called the Community Issues Forum. Her talk focused mainly on the widening income gap between the rich and poor along with the moral implications of extreme economic imbalance.

Dr. Bertaux began her talk by outlining the difference between wealth and income. She described income as simply the amount of money an individual makes and wealth as the amount of value an individual accumulates through various means such as savings and owning property. She stated that 60% of wealth in this country belongs to richest 1%. The implication of this is that only 40% of wealth is owned by the remaining 99% of the population.

One of the main drivers of this wealth gap has been the simplification of the federal tax code, which has moved this country away from a progressive tax code. Dr. Bertaux explained that progressive taxation

starts with the first $10,000 of income as tax-free. Then from $10,000 to $20,000 of annual income is taxed at a low rate.

The tax rate then rises for each higher tax bracket until it reaches 39.6% for those who make over $406,750 a year. This is a much lower than the 90% top tax rate during the Nixon administration. The implications of this large inequality are far reaching and those who control the wealth, according to Dr. Bertaux, have a larger influence on the political process than those who do not.

The system has become so disproportionally skewed toward the extremely rich that, as Dr. Bertaux puts it, all of the equality gains that we made in the progressive era, i.e. the 1920’s through the 1970’s, are gone.

Dr. Bertaux used biblical verses to highlight our communal obligation to care for those whose life circumstances have led to difficulties economically. In the context of the facts and trends that Dr. Bertaux highlighted, the following biblical excerpt seems even more powerful than when read on its own: Mathew 25: 34-40

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

When did we see you sick or in prison

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Photo: Jon Hughes/Photopresse

interest law office that advocates for a fair, intelligent, redemptive criminal justice system. In 2004, OJPC sued Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell and 22 county boards of elections for illegally disenfranchising people with felony convictions who were no longer incarcerated.

Further information

about OJPC is available at www. ohiojpc.org.

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Photo: Jon Hughes/Photopresse

and go to visit you?’

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

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The Con Plan… shouldn’t be a con MICHELLE DILLINGHAM

T

Staff Writer

he draft “2015-2019 Consolidated Plan” has been released for the public to view and weigh in. The “Con Plan” as it’s casually called, is the 5-year plan that sets the direction for how the City of Cincinnati will spend four federal grants: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Partnership Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/ AIDS (HOPWA). Two of the four grants, the CDAB and HOME funds, are overseen by a citizen advisory board called the “Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB)” whose membership is appointed by the mayor. According to the Municipal Code of the city, the role of CDAB is to “advise and assist the city manager in planning the allocation of federal resources for community development, economic development, and human services in the city.” The board is mandated by the city’s Charter, and their participation is a requirement of HUD. In usual fashion, an FYI Memo summarizing the draft was released by the City Manager on Sept. 29th to the Mayor and members of City Council. Since the only formal relationship between the CDAB Board and members of City Council is via the City Manager, let this serve as a communication to challenge the incorrect characterization of the CDAB board’s stance as an “explicit endorsement”.

From the FYI Memo: “The explicit endorsement of the Hand-Up Initiative for $1.4 million shows the CDAB’s recognition that job readiness, training, and placement are funding priorities in the allocation of the Consolidated Plan resources.”

And later: “The CDAB Resolution helped to guide the Administration’s recommended 2015 Annual Action Plan CDBG Budget which included is as Attachment B.” I disagree with the portrayal that the CDAB Board helped “guide” the resolution, namely because when the CDAB Board walked into the boardroom, it was already written, and up

on a projector screen – a hard copy not even provided at the meeting. The only changes made to the resolution was to negotiate the cuts down from $2.3 million; an effort to lessen the devastating wholesale defunding of critical anti-poverty and anti-blight programs.

In the 2+ years I have served on the board the job readiness, training, and placement has never been the decided and “recognized” priority.

In fact the “Blueprint for Success”, a job training program, was rated at the very bottom of the collective prioritysetting by two separate iterations of the CDAB board. Rather, we have prioritized the creation, sustainability and access to low-income affordable housing. Of course job training is important, as are many other initiatives.

I personally managed a pre-apprenticeship job training program, so to be clear I am not challenging the value of training. Our challenge though, is to set priorities given a shrinking pool of resources, according to the funding allocation rules set by HUD. As I challenged my peers on the board at the August 29th meeting to ask themselves, and will again state publically now – since when has job training been a top priority in the allocation of CDGB funds? Not until the afternoon of August 29th when the Hand Up Initiative was forced upon us, while city staffers asked for an immediate vote of confidence. The initiative whose price tag is $2.3 million dollars was not even provided to the board, and yet we were being asked to approve it within 10 minutes of the start of the meeting. Cutting numerous prioritized poverty-fighting programs to fund one un-vetted jobs program, is simply not in alignment with what community development block grant funding is intended for.

The FYI Memo states: “The Resolution recommends funding the Hand-Up initiative which was reflected in the City Council Budget Motion dated June 2 (Item #201400697) and establishes criteria to fund the program up to $1.4 million”.

The June 2nd motion far from

The Contact Center’s Pancake Social Candidates Forum LYNN WILLIAMS

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Contributing Writer

n Wednesday, October 22nd, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Contact Center will host a Pancake Social Candidates Forum at our location at 1227 Vine Street, Cincinnati. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a panel of individuals who are personally affected by state and local kinship care and other caregiver policies. Contact Center is holding this event so that Candidates running for political office will have an opportunity to hear about concerns affecting residents of Over-the-Rhine and elsewhere in Hamilton County. After the panel by our leaders, Candidates will

have an opportunity to speak about their campaigns and provide feedback on what they have heard from the panel. This is not a debate between Candidates but an opportunity to hear from residents and to speak about their own candidate campaign priorities. Afterwards there will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions of the Candidates, and eat pancakes!

Candidates who have RSVPed as of October 3rd that they plan to attend include Ohio 31st House District Representative Denise Driehaus, Judge John Williams, Judge Pat Dinkelacker, Judge Ralph E. Winkler, Candidate for

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

“supports” this funding strategy, and in fact the motion only vaguely alludes to CDGB funds being used for the Hand Up Initiative. From the motion: “2. Initiate funding for Mayor Cranley’s Hand Up Initiative by appropriating a one-time grant of $250,000 to Cincinnati Works to be paid for by $250,000 of the $500,000 on the Federal Reserve building located at 4th and Race. (It is anticipated that in future years this will be funded by CDBG dollars).” See the votes below– far from unanimous.

FINAL VOTES 06/04/2014

MR. MANN

Y

MS. MURRAY

Y

MR. SEELBACH

N

MS. SIMPSON

N

MR. SITTENFELD

Y

MR. SMITHERMAN

Y

MR. WINBURN

Y

MR. YOUNG

Y

MR. FLYNN

N

In the Con Plan draft report the following priorities are noted as the top priorities, and has the Hand Up Initiative as #1:

CDBG programs:

o Reducing poverty through the Hand Up Initiative o Emergency repairs for low to moderate income homeowners o Neighborhood business district development

Again, these are not reflective of the discussion and prioritization of the CDAB Board. One need only look at the results of CDAB’s priority scores.

The same goes for the proposed “Annual Goals and Objectives” of the plan on page 208-211 where the programs and their proposed funding are listed, including those that will be cut.

Judge Jennifer Branch and Candidate for Judge Pat Foley. All political parties have been invited who are on the Hamilton County Ballot. Contact Center is strictly a non-partisan organization and we encourage all political parties to send Candidates or spokespeople.

The public is welcome to attend this event without feeling obligated to purchase a pancake meal. However the suggested donation of $7 is for a delicious meal of pancakes, sausage, fruit, coffee and juice. We are also accepting donations to cover the cost of providing pancakes free of charge to lowincome people who attend and would find this a hardship to donate $7 for a meal. Donations can be mailed to Contact Center, 1227 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 or simply given to Contact Center at the door.

All donations from the Pancake Social Candidates Forum will be used to provide transportation, meals and

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

What has been the push of CDAB over the last few years is the critical importance of accountability, transparency, and the incorporation of a competitive RFP process in allocating these public dollars. None of these recommendations have been taken up. Instead we are seeing our city government bending to the desires of the mayor, in spite of recommendations from the charterappointed body on the matter, in spite of many community discussions and decisions about priorities, and in spite of the call of expert organizations.

We are in a new era of homelessness in Cincinnati where families with children are sleeping outside every night, and single adult shelters are bursting at the seams because of a lack of affordable housing. Yet, we are taking the limited funding we DO have and shifting it to job-training programs, programs that are already funded by other, more appropriate sources. Try telling a single mom with three children sleeping outside that you can’t offer housing or shelter, but you have a job training program for her.

This five-year plan is very important as it sets the funding for many poverty and blight programs. I urge all citizens to review it, and come to their own conclusions on whether these funds are being used in the best way.

Citizens can participate in offering feedback to the draft plan, and their feedback is to be included in the response documents that are submitted to HUD: Public Hearing Notice City of Cincinnati 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan/ 2015 Annual Action Plan Monday, October 13, 2014 1:00 PM City Hall, City Council Chambers 801 Plum Street, Room 300 Written comments must be received no later than October 29, 2014 at 5:00 PM. child care for Contact Center members to attend upcoming Statehouse Hearings to advocate for kinship care, caregiver policies, and Medicaid Expansion in the upcoming State Budget Hearings. These are expected to begin in February 2015. We believe strongly that making sure all citizens, regardless of socioeconomic class, race/ethnic background, gender, disability, age or sexual orientation have the opportunity to get their voices heard by policymakers. Voting is extremely important, but a true Democracy is also about making sure all citizens have the opportunity to participate and be heard in policy making decisions in the public discourse! Contact Center is fundraising now to make sure we are ready to help assist this participation.

For more information please call 513-381-4242.

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NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

COALITION CLIFFNOTES

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In order to change the world, you have to get your head together first.— Jimi Hendrix

The Contact Center Hosts National Voter Registration Day MICHELLE DILLINGHAM

O

Staff Writer

n September 23 the Contact Center located at 1227 Vine Street joined community organizations across the nation to recognize “National Voter Registration Day. The events were held to raise awareness about the importance of registering to vote,

especially for people who have lower incomes, individuals without homes, and returning citizens who have the same right to vote as other citizens in Ohio. According to the event’s national website (nationalvoterregistrationday.org), “This single day of coordinated field, technology and

Election Deadlines October 6: Deadline for voter registration for Nov. 4 general election (30 days before general election November 1: Applications for absentee ballots for Nov. 4 general election to be mailed must be received by boards of elections by noon (3 days before general election).

November 4: General Election Day. Polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Kat Lyons talking about the importance of voting. Photo: Michelle Dillingham media efforts will create pervasive awareness of voter registration opportunities--allowing us to reach tens of thousands of voters who we could not reach otherwise.”

It was a beautiful day in Overthe-Rhine and The Contact Center provided a table full of information about voting, as well as voter registration forms. Organizers of the event shared information about how to register to vote, and upcoming deadlines for Ohioans. Josh Spring, Executive Director of the Homeless Coalition spoke about how one can still regis-

ter to vote even without a permanent address. He offered a reminder that the Coalition office can serve as an address for voter registration applications if one does not have an address of their own.

In last year’s 2013 election only 29% of Hamilton County’s registered voters cast a ballot. Voting advocates are particularly concerned adults with lower incomes are not voting, causing their concerns to be under-represented.

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HOMELESS COALITION EDUCATION AND OUTREACH “BREAKDOWN STEREOTYPES & ERADICATE MISINFORMATION” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community.

To schedule a speaker, contact Michelle Dillingham at (513) 421.7803 x14

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

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Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

Anna Linders: Insider/Outsider OTR as seen through a special lens

A

JIM LUKEN

Contributing Writer

nyone who lives or works in (or near) “the neighborhood” has his her own take on it. My immediate neighbors and I, who live in a wellcaredfor “tenement” building near the Casino, no doubt experience Over-the-Rhine differently than the affluent folks who live in the gated Broadway condos just outside our windows.

Clearly, the moneyed suburbanites who come to Main Street and Vine Street to eat, drink and “party” have a dramatically different perspective on life than the poor folks who panhandle them (or who sell this newspaper) outside their upscale watering holes.

But it does have consequences, for both current and future residences.”

When she gave this speech, Anna now reflects, “...the neighborhood was still teetering. We were unsure if gentrification was going to continue at the pace it was moving. But now there is no doubt. The main concern is that this is happening in such a way that the poor cannot remain in Over-theRhine.”

Her conclusions are not hopeful. “It all seems inevitable, especially with the massive [proposed] intervention north of Liberty Street. It is really difficult to erect environments where the rich and the poor coexist. Once the wealth takes root, even though nobody removes anyone by violence, they will be removed anyway, The most appealing thing to me because essentially they would be to try to tap into how are priced out of the mardifferent stakeholders feel about ket.” what is going on. As a sociologist, We all know the word for this process: gentrifione would want to bring out new cation. To many of us, it ideas. I’m not entirely sure if Overseems too nice a term. In the-Rhine could provide a new her 2011 speech, Professor example in any way.

Linders pointed out that “the only way to ensure some stability of mixed income neighborhoods is When UC sociology Professor to have nonmarket forces (the state, Anna Linders, PHD, looks at OTR, and/or nonprofit organizations) inshe brings a mixture of professional tervene in the market.” expertise, international sophisticaIn terms of positive outcomes for tion, and local “street cred” to her ob- the present situation, Linders believes servations. that much depends on “...how the city Linders was born, and lived al- thinks of itself in terms of its responmost half of her life in Sweden. Scan- sibility to the poor.” dinavian countries have the reputaAnna Linders came to the US in tion for providing strong social safety 1984. After spending nearly twenty nets for all of their citizens. As she de- years in the States, she gained citiscribes it, “I grew up in a world where zenship (while remaining a citizen of there is a sort of collective respon- Sweden). She had long ago earned sibility, not so much in a charitable her undergraduate degree in Stocksense, but a responsibility in terms of holm. In 1985, she received her “green constructing a good society.” card,” then worked as a waitress in the “Over-the-Rhine is interesting Hamptons on Long Island for many to me,” she continues, “because so years. In 1989, she decided to return many things are happening at the to university and seek an advanced same time, and it is going enormously degree. The process proved to be a quickly.” long one. She continued her waitressThree years ago, Linders gave a ing. In 1998, she received her doctorspeech at a daylong symposium on ate from the State University of New “Economic Development and Social York (Stoneybrook). She has been Justice” at the university. She told teaching in the Sociology Department those gathered that “Efforts are un- at UC ever since. derway to make Over-the-Rhine cool In 1999, Anna Linders bought and hip, to turn Over-the-Rhine into a house in the Prospect Hills neigh“OTR”...Now this is all fine and well. borhood, on the very cusp of Over-

“Pay 2 Play” Loses Its Way MICHAEL EARL PATTON

“P

Contributing Writer

ay 2 Play,” the movie that says it’s about the corrupting influence of corporate money in politics with a focus on Ohio, completely loses its way. I recently saw it at the Esquire Theatre in Clifton. It starts out promisingly enough by discussing the board game MonopolyTM and reviews the Ohio Coingate scan-

dal. MonopolyTM, as the movie points out, teaches children that bankrupting your opponents through monopolistic (and illegal) business practices is good.

Coingate is an actual, real scandal in Ohio which broke in 2005. Because that was 9 years ago, one expects a litany of subsequent scandals caused by grown-up MonopolyTM players,

Anna Linders. Photo: Jim Luken the-Rhine. She says that some of her neighbors like to think of themselves as living in OTR, because it is the “cool” place to be. She walks our neighborhood regularly, keeps track of its goings on, reads Streetvibes, and has been a (nonvoting) member of the OTR Community Council for more than a year (while remaining an active member of the Mount Auburn Community Council for 13 years). “As a very interested bystander,” she says, “I’m fascinated by Over-the-Rhine.”

In our conversation, she carefully avoids calling our historic neighborhood by its “cool” initials.

Linders wants to make it clear to Streetvibes readers that “urban sociology” is not her field of specialization. “Most of my work is historical.”

One of her areas of research focuses on the history of the death penalty. “It [sociology] is not a political project.

It’s a project aimed at understanding,” Citizen Linders seeks to understand our Over-the-Rhine community and its Council. “I’m on the edge, trying to get my feet wet.” When pushed, she will admit that she finds it bit more interesting than the Mt. Auburn Council, if only because there are more conflictive issues. “What I think is relatively unusual is that Council [OTR] actually talks about race.”

In her native Sweden, as in most of Europe, there are immigrant issues, but no racial issues. Before coming to the States, she had never dealt with her “race.”

“When I came to the US,” she says with more than a hint of irony, “I became white.” For the first time in her life, Linders found image metaphorically minted on the white side of America’s strange racial coin. On the

other side are the African Americans, blacks, a huge percentage of whom are poor.

“White people tend to speak about race in euphemisms [polite avoidance expressions],” Linders avows. After her house had been burglarized in 2002, the detective who came to investigate suggested the breakin occurred because “...you are surrounded by Indians.” She understood the detective to mean that she had chosen to live in a place that is obviously surrounded— not by Indians—but by blacks. The officer had used a euphemism. “Often, white people equate blackness with poverty and crime,” Linders says. “It’s a mindless connection that many people make. The wealthy often see themselves as victims and vulnerable. It’s ludicrous.”

“Your Council,” she goes on to say, “they are civic minded. And I think it’s heartfelt when they say they want to live in a diverse neighborhood. Of course, everything that is happening is going to make this neighborhood less diverse. It’s going to become whiter and whiter. They [the OTR Community Council] can’t stop the change. I don’t think it wants to at this point.”

Sociologist Anna Linders says that, at some time in the future, she might decide to write about what she sees happening in our city’s downtown core (including, especially, Over-theRhine). As of now? “I’m more living it than researching it.”...“The most appealing thing to me would be to try to tap into how different stakeholders feel about what is going on. As a sociologist, one would want to bring out new ideas. I’m not entirely sure if Over-the-Rhine could provide a new example in any way.”

or least some sordid revelations. Instead, we see former congresswoman Jean Schmidt so often she should get special billing, but only a couple very brief references as to why she is included. The movie lurches this way and that, constantly dropping narrative threads, and generally loses its way long before it comes to any conclusion.

Example: Towards the end of the movie we see Bill Clinton praising Schmidt’s opponent Paul Hackett for his role in bringing attention to the problems of the Iraq War, but does that mean that corporate money was involved in starting it? That would be

an explosive claim, and some do make it, but not this movie. I guess this scene was inserted to show us that Bill Clinton was above the influence of money. Yeah, right.

The movie stresses that the Koch brothers give large amounts of money to campaigns, and claims that most of those who win have received money from them. But the movie does not say what exactly this did for them.

Were certain regulations protecting our safety left unwritten? Did they get massive subsidies for making shoddy products? The movie doesn’t say.

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LOCAL

NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

System Change, Not Climate Change

A

GRIFFIN RITZE

Contributing Writer

broad coalition of over 400,000 assembled on September 21st for the People’s Climate March and Climate Summit in New York City. Activists representing thousands of environmental and social justice organizations marched in solidarity to demand action from the UN ahead of the Global Climate Summit on September 22nd.

Indigenous populations, people of color, and the rural poor constituted the bloc of frontline communities (those most directly affected by environmental crises) that led the march through Manhattan. The urgent threats to frontline communities posed by oil exploration, the sale of public and native lands to private corporations, and the disproportional pollution of poor urban neighborhoods have emboldened a sense of solidarity in the climate movement.

In this massive display of collective power, this march also demonstrated the space that has been opened to frontline communities within the climate justice movement. The historically white face of the environmental movement is changing as frontline communities share their struggles and organize for climate justice.

As Bolivian water rights activist Oscar Olivera stated in his opening speech “All of us here with rebelliousness and dignity, decided to overcome our fear with our mutual confidence and joy, committed to recognize eachother, and committed not only to resist — but to re-exist.”

Connecting the dots

The effects of the fossil fuel industry on the environment are hidden from most Americans. Even as the United States is poised to become the world’s largest oil exporter by 2020 through the excavation of public lands for hydraulic fracking, the massive industrial footprint of energy produc-

tion is not always visible in our daily lives. From the valleys of West Virginia through the interstates of Pennsylvania, there is little sign of the fossil fuel industry’s destructive activity. Yet only a few miles beyond the suburban sprawl, the Marcellus Shale rock formation has quickly become the world’s largest oil field. While white suburban communities are insulated from some of the most devastating affects of industry, frontline communities are faced with imminent threats to their health and well-being.

“Environmental racism refers to environmental policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities, based on race or color” - Robert Bullard “Confronting Environmental Racism in the 21st Century.”

In urban areas, disproportionately high rates of respiratory illness, cancer, birth defects, and developmental illnesses have been reported in poor minority communities due to negligent land use policies that secure zoning for environmentally hazardous facilities. All five municipal landfills in Houston were located in black neighborhoods through the 1970’s in an era of sharp racial segregation and a Black population of roughly 25%.

Asthma remains more prevalent in Black children over whites due to the exposure to pollution from landfills and energy production facilities in black neighborhoods.

Currently, large uncovered stock piles of dirty petroleum-coke are poisoning a Latino neighborhood along the Calumet River in South Chicago.

Petroleum-coke (Petcoke for short) is a coked byproduct of oil production that is synthesized with coal to produce fuel. Olga Bautista, a resident and organizer with Southeast side Coalition Against Petcoke described the psychological terror of Petcoke

Climate Change March. Photo: Griffin Ritze. pollution in her neighborhood during her speech at the climate conference. On a particularly windy day, the wind carried Petcoke throughout her neighborhood: “In a little league field nearby, the game was called because it looked like the neighborhood was on fire. People were calling 911 and reporting a fire, but they couldn’t say exactly where. A friend of mine was celebrating her mom’s 60th birthday and the family had to go inside because the Petcoke had gotten all over their food and all over their guests.”

No community should be burdened with these conditions.

It is crucial that we acknowledge the link between environmental exploitation and the history of US racism and its tradition of colonialism.

The preservation of racial stratification in institutions of industry, gov-

PAY TO PLAY

ernment, and civic life reinforces the oppression of minorities in the historic ghettos of American cities. Indigenous populations in the US have experienced a similar re-ghettoization in the neoliberal era with the increasing loss of land to the fossil fuel industry. It is no accident that majority white city councils are placing hazardous facilities in communities of color, where barriers to political power trace directly to the exploits of the colonial period.

The people’s climate march affirmed the urgency of the climate justice movement and inspired new possibilities for solidarity and action in the rebuilding of the American left.

Our task is not only to resist the destructive system of global capitalism, it is to fight for a better world.

-----------------------gerrymandering, ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), more pundits, the Occupy movement, and the large amounts of money raised by political candidates. But what effect does the large amounts of money raised have on legislative decisions regarding the minimum wage, immigration reform, sending jobs overseas, military actions, the tax structure, or true national healthcare? If money in politics is the smoke, the movie finds lots of it, but not much fire and even less damage.

Indeed, the movie points out that Jean Schmidt was ordered by the House Ethics Committee to repay the lobby’s gifts and she lost in the subsequent primary election to newcomer Brad Wenstrup. One might reasonably conclude from this movie that the system may be slow, but it does work.

I did see some amusing examples of street poster art. Several times people were shown quickly and surreptitiously gluing humorous posters on public or private property during the

{Continued from page 6} Jean Schmidt’s races against Paul Hackett and Yalamanchili get extensive treatment, but there is only a fleeting reference to her accepting money from a Turkish-oriented lobby, for which she was eventually investigated by Congress. Yet the movie denigrates David Krikorian, who also ran against Jean Schmidt and who was primarily responsible for bringing this to the public’s attention. Krikorian’s sin was that he supposedly made the comment that Yalamanchili could not win against Jean Schmidt because of his odd name.

David Krikorian denied ever saying this, and in fact he pointed out that he himself has an odd name, too. Filmmaker John Ennis does not give him the benefit of the doubt – apparently the charge is far too serious for that.

The movie also features former Ohio Attorneys General Betty Montgomery and Marc Dann, several pundits, Dann’s primary opponent Subodh Chandra (and detours to examine his name), the Citizens United decision, the Hobby Lobby decision,

{Continued on page 13}

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PHOTO ESSAY

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

GLOBAL CLIMATE OUTRAGE

A

REUTERS STAFF

www.street-papers.org / Reuters

n international day of action on climate change brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of New York City on Sunday [21 Sep], easily exceeding organizers’ hopes for the largest protest on the issue in history.

Organizers estimated that some 310,000 people, including UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, former US vice President, Al Gore and actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. Elected

officials from the United States and abroad joined the People’s Climate March, ahead of a UN summit in the city to discuss reducing carbon emissions that threaten the environment.

The New York rally, the largest single protest ever held on the topic of climate change, was backed by similar events in 166 countries including Britain, France, Afghanistan and Bulgaria.

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September 21, 2014-- Clockwise from top left: A girl dances under a protest parachute. Photo: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri; A woman holds a globe with the letters SOS while taking part in a march against climate change in New York.

Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz; Actress Emma Thompson speaks to the media at the start of the “People’s Climate March” in central London. Photo: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor; People march in New York. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz; Some of hundreds of thousands take part in the People’s Climate March through Midtown, New York. Photo: REUTERS/Adrees Latif; People hold posters during a Climate Change march to demand politicians take tougher action to protect the climate at Angel de la Independencia monument in Mexico City Photo: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

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NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

PHOTO ESSAY

9

This combination image shows protest signs being carried during the “People’s Climate March” down 6th Ave. in the Manhattan borough of New York September 21, 2014.

Photos: REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Tens of thousands march down 6th Avenue while taking part in the People’s Climate March through Midtown, New York September 21, 2014. Photos: REUTERS/Adrees Latif

(Left) People march through Times Square. Photos: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz; (Right) Demonstrators in animal costumes walk in central London. Photos: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

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LOCAL WE, TOO, ARE HUMAN:

One Step To Benefit Cancer Treatment For The Poor: The Patient Navigator STEVE SUNDERLAND AND SAM JOSEPH

Contributing Writers

W

hat one health care change would dramatically improve poor people’s chances of surviving cancer, bring health costs down, and improve physician effectiveness?

The answer: Patient Navigation. Patient Navigators support cancer patients as they negotiate the emotional, mental and financial realities that they immediately face from the moment a physician suggests a test for a possible cancer, to a diagnoses of cancer, to treatment options, to life post treatment. Both cancer patients and physicians face a set of frustrating, ambiguous, and often difficult decisions that are further muddied by communication difficulties. For too many people, the experience of cancer is so filled with fear that questions about care are left unasked by patients. Instead of feeling confident about entering the health system, many people find every reason to postpone taking the step to find out whether or not they have cancer and at what stage. Sadly, our health systems have not figured out how to help the poor and minorities gain access to life saving treatments.

For too many patients, for example, the key obstacle is just getting to and from the treatments. No major system for adequate patient transportation is available. (Affect. Inc. (7/20/12).

Summary Report: Stakeholder Research on Patient Transportation Resources. Prepared for the East Central Division, American Cancer Society.)

Similarly, changes in the insurance systems and the recording processes for doctors and nurses have added a burden that is distorting the caring process. Health care providers may have little time to hear the fears and doubts of the patient and the patient’s family when the diagnosis

is cancer. Many doctors and nurses know that the patient is unfamiliar with the terminology of diagnosis and treatment that are so critical for patient participation in a way that supports the best process of treatment.

Effective response to cancer requires the physician to understand a set of tests, many possible treatments, and the understanding and agreement of the patient. The willingness of the patient to follow the treatments are essential for success. The patient knows that they do not know as much as doctors and nurses and, most importantly, they do not want to get in the way of improving their chances for success. Yet, the relationship between the patient and the health team, without any assistance, is likely to result in mis-steps, limited understanding on both parties part, and a weakening of the psychological strengths so necessary for the long process of being a successful patient. The Patient Navigator, acting as an advocate for the patient and as an advocate for the doctor, may make the critical difference in opening the communication process to its greatest strength: the combination of fully supported patient care and completely clear health care treatment. Patient Navigators could make a difference in reducing the number one killer, lung cancer, by encouraging smokers to get a low dose CT scan. Getting screened, a study reports, “...reduced the number of death from lung cancer by 20 percent. (A. McKee and A. Salner (9/21/14. The New York Times.)

Poor people confronting cancer face additional obstacles of access to diagnosis, comprehension of treatment options, choices of kinds of physicians and hospitals, and basic needs of transportation, day-care for

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

children, funding for cab fare, and funding for health bills not covered by insurance. The Patient Navigator is critical for the full exercise of patient choices and for assisting health care staff to understand the personal and cultural limitations and opportunities. Without a Patient Navigator, a person, fearing a lump in their breast, may approach a clinic and/or hospital with little understanding of how to enter and be given treatment. The clinic or hospital staff may not understand the fears of the patient or his/ her family member, about the stage of the cancer, on one hand, or the ways the patient can reach the hospital on a regular basis. A Patient Navigator, presenting themselves to the patient at their request, can immediately step in and make a major difference in the allaying the fears of the patient about both the health options the hospital offers as well as the possibility of support for the basic needs of the patient.

Preparing the patient to meet the health care team starts the health care process off on a positive step.

The patient “knows” they are in “good hands” that care about their possible illness, and the health system has an advocate, too, to assure doctors and others that their suggestions for treatment and follow up will be heard and followed. If the Patient Navigator is experienced with the hospital’s cancer resources, and with the benefits offered by the American Cancer Society, then the chances for a well prepared patient to meet the health care team are substantially improved. (www. cancer.org) The health care team can depend on the Patient Navigator to not “get in the way;” instead, the Patient Navigator acts as a translator for both health care team and patient, offering alternative ways of communicating that attempt to clarify just what is being felt and what the health options can be, now and in the future.

The Patient Navigator is also a “guide” for both parties into the often confusing world of medical jargon, hospital admissions, and meetings with doctors and nurses. Often, the patient hears only a part of what is happening with their cancer and the results of their treatment. The Patient Navigator can shift the patient’s understanding to a deeper level, revealing questions that the patient may have

been too afraid to ask and, sadly, too confused to understand the treatment options. For the health care team, the Patient Navigator acts as a “friendly advisor,” suggesting that the physician may need to repeat an explanation, or describe a procedure’s risks in different ways, or help the physician understand the family pressures on the patient.

Cancer can be a lonely and wasteful experience for the patient. For many patients, especially poor people, a new world of fear opens. Financial concerns begin to overwhelm life choices. Successful treatment of cancer requires a caring health care context and a kind of compassionate communication that is essential for the patient’s psychological and physical well-being. The Patient Navigator is that person that can step in and make a vast difference. Moreover, the Patient Navigator can make a powerful difference in strengthening the patient’s economic reality by helping with hospital and personal finances.

Working with billing departments, physician’s offices, and monies available for patients in need can ease the patient’s mind and strengthen the patient’s resolve to follow treatments. Having patients regularly in agreement with treatment schedules also improves the financial health of the health care system. Patients that are more attuned to the physician and hospital, and who feel more able to manage their conflicting responsibilities, are people that will make serious use of the health care team and hospital’s resources. Currently, patients and health systems waste their lives and financial resources. Uneducated about the health care treatment process, patients are sidetracked and put their lives and welfare at risk. Why not a Patient Navigator for every patient with cancer? Anyone with cancer deserves the humane experience of full knowledge, compassionate communication, and productive partnerships with health systems. It is time.

-----------------------Steve Sunderland is director of the Peace Village Cancer Project and Samuel Joseph is a professor at Hebrew Union College.

The Ohio Renaissance Festival

U

JASON HAAP

Contributing Writer

ntil this past weekend, I had never been to the Ohio Renaissance Festival.

I didn’t really know what to expect, either. I had heard it was some kind of “village,” and that people “dressed up.” I never bothered to look at anything about this online, so when my wife linked up with some other families to spend the day there with the kids, I had no idea what to expect.

The first thing that struck me was the price: for two adults and two children, it cost just over sixty bucks. In my world, that’s a hefty sum of money, so I was curious what that money would get me. Mostly, it got me access to an elaborate, outdoor, specialty shopping mall where everything cost way more than I’d ever be willing to spend - with few exception made for things like a warm cup of honey mead

($6) and a smoked turkey leg ($8).

Is there such a thing as a “designer cloak”? I have to think so, with the $200 price tag I saw on some of these things. My kids had fun looking at stuff (and asked, constantly, for me to buy things), but what use have we for a feather quill pen, a battle axe, a premium magic wand, or a glassblown dragon? I did get the kids some wooden swords ($10 and less), and a caramel apple ($6), but how is shopping for specialty items a “Renaissance Festival”?

There were people in costumes, too - but many had nothing to do with the historical period. I saw several dressed as The Doctor (from BBC’s sci-fi hit Doctor Who), I saw a Ghostbuster, as well as what appeared to be a group of “furries.” (If you are not familiar with the sexual fetish that involves dressing up in full-sized animal

The Ohio Renaissance Festival. Photo: Antoinette Haap.

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NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

servers are not significantly different in ethical disgrace from the routine burning-alive of those fighting the US Empire (and many “innocent” bystanders) in the US “war on terror” by Hellfire missiles and other high-tech weapons monopolized by the major powers. Videos of the US atrocities, taken from drone cameras, can be found on Youtube just like yours, but the pictures are sort of grainy, yours are high def. Your flagrant abuse of selected populations with the wrong tribal associations rises to the level of US crimes against Iraq. Congratulations on achieving the same level of despicable wanton brutality as your declared enemies.

What’s with these primitive tribal pathologies? Don’t you get it? The problem is social class, the political power of capital, not language, religion or custom, the accidents of birth.

The western powers used to be as bad as you are: they burned heretics at the stake, they drowned disobedient women in mill ponds, they enslaved other peoples... but have mostly gotten beyond that because the people figured out what’s up and fought back.

Get a grip, you idiots. Of course, we do

still have our own religious fanatics to deal with; they never totally go away.

And then there’s our prison and torture gulag...

On the related question of women, ISIS guys, what’s your problem? Is your value to your womenfolk so little that you’re afraid that one leering glance from a stranger will steal them away? Having trouble in bed with partners you don’t respect as equals, as humans? You guys need to read some good books.

So here’s the situation. The world is rife with problems originating with colonialism or sustained by global capital: unremitting poverty, increasing income inequalities, environmental destruction (the oceans, the forests, the fields, the atmosphere...), and pandemic disease outbreaks.

The local people and organizations that naturally arise to address these critical problems are systematically marginalized at best or purged by local ruling thugs with generous help from the global elites. The people become desperate and some of them are persuaded that you guys have the answer. History then demonstrates the correctness of that choice because they too become hunted by the colossus of high-tech murder. Their numbers increase dramatically, showing great promise in the face of astounding adversity. Unbelievers have to be pushed aside or eliminated from the

field; it’s the war on anti-terror, and it’s working.

But sooner or later, the databases will catch up with you guys. They’ll have everyone’s DNA, Facebook histories, cell phone plots, bicycle images, addresses, private networks and nobody will be out of sight of their surveillance system sensors. They will do you guys a scorched earth campaign even if it kills millions of your own skeptics. It’s a dead-end, guys.

Think about it.

Here is what you should be doing and the only thing that will work. Do you not know about the working class and class struggle? Do you study history or just repeat it? Have you not read any Karl Marx? What you need to do is organize the people in a secular inclusive campaign to fight for workers’ rights, civil rights, full employment and living wages throughout the world: oil fields, corporate plantations, ports, airports, mines, factories, construction sites, resorts, universities, you name it. Organize the working class and you could bring the empire to its knees. This is a great opportunity for strategies that would work.

Instead, you promote a plan that will implode, demoralize, sanitize, and enslave. Instead of a grand opportunity, a great betrayal. Mohammed would be appalled.

or something. But what captured my imagination the most were the re-enactments of the royal court.

As “The Queen” came past, her royal court basically served to work the crowd. They encouraged us to yell things like “Long live the Queen!” and “Hip-hip-huzzah!” Sometimes, they held up their cups and sang drinking songs, inspiring us to turn the presence of The Queen into a reason to celebrate. (Perhaps not much has changed, if our fixation on the British royal family is any indication.)

I wondered, in that moment, if this is how it might have felt in the

past. If I were a king back in the day, would I have kept my people subjugated by manipulating them into drinking a lot and treating me like a celebrity whose mere presence was cause for celebration? Would that be the kind of distraction to allow me to keep my power and my fortune while the peasants struggled from day to day, finding only the temporary peace of a mug of ale?

In that moment, I looked down at my cup of honey mead, and wondered about the implications of something like the Renaissance Festival when it comes to social class. People

were paying top dollar to be given the chance to spend even more money in a fantasy village where they would be characterized as peasants. Meanwhile, the actors (who I can’t imagine are getting wealthy off this part-time gig) pretended to lord over us with their imaginary fame and fortune.

I’m not sure. But if you’ve never been, and if you decide to go, be sure to get warm honey mead and a smoked turkey leg. Both were amazingly delicious.

Open Letter to ISIS

T

LOCAL

ROBERT PARK

Contributing Writer

his letter is because you guys are screwing-up. Your campaign, in its current form, is going to end really badly for millions of people, but especially for you.

But let’s start with your basic complaints. Some of them, with adjustment perhaps, are actually valid:

1

The world is run by crony capitalists, kleptocracies and other corruptions including the western “democracies” where great wealth determines power.

2

The western powers have plundered and ravaged the peoples of the Middle East for centuries, and installed or tolerated and sustained ruling elites that have little interest in the welfare of the common people beyond what’s needed for profitable exploitation.

3

The brutal attacks since 2001 on people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc. by the US and collaborators are crimes against humanity.

However, your ritualistic beheadings of a few unfortunate western ob-

RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL

{Continued from page 10}

costumes, perhaps you should Google it. On second thought...)

There were some human-powered rides that looked interesting (I don’t know if they were historically accurate or not) - but with a price tag of $4 per kid, per ride, I knew I could lose a hundred dollars in a blink if we spent too much time in that section.

Luckily, there were some interesting shows. The real-life jousting was cool to watch. Then there were the people screaming in a mud pit,

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Member Agency Spotlight The Exit Program

For information, please email info@theexitprogram.com MISSION To help formerly incarcerated men and women rebuild their lives and become law-abiding citizens by providing access and support through transitional housing and treatment services upon post release from prison.

WHO WE ARE The EXIT Program ® (Ex-offenders in Transition) is a 90-day transitional housing program that helps offenders in Ohio make a successful transition to the community upon release from prison or jail. The EXIT Program® is operated and managed by NISRE, Inc. (Nothing Into Something Real Estate, Inc.)- a faith, based, non-profit organization that has been successfully serving the community with the re-integration of offenders from prison since 2002.

NISRE, Inc. is licensed by The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, with whom we contract to provide housing to low risk offenders upon release from prison in a community residential setting. NISRE, Inc. holds certification by The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction as a certified Sex Offender Treatment Program. The EXIT Program® delivers effective supervision and critical resources, which help exoffenders meet strict guidelines required under Ohio law, and helps reduce the threat of future victimization.

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STREET VOICE

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

Street Life: The Line

RICARDO TAYLOR

A

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

s diametrical as the world may seem, it often catches you unintentional. That is to say, where is the line between shame and pride? That for me, is the question of the ages. A product of the street I have first-hand knowledge of what, or how the game goes.

The essence of that lies in whose playing in the game, you have a host of stars and then those who are mediocre. Lo and behold there are those who have an idea how the games goes, yet they are in the mix, so let us take a peek at the line! The line in question is the line between shame and pride! A thin line, or perhaps a wide line?

Living in a civic society we have cultures, mores’, and civic duties which in most cases are spelled out from our upbringings, the rules of interaction with others. From this extent we learn the rules of engagement, the do’s and don’ts for which we are expected to abide. It becomes marred, at least for me when that Oh, so, thin line between pride and shame become bordered.

It is often said that you gotta do what you gotta do, yet, I question what is it that you have to do? When there are no rules to the game, it becomes a problem for me. I say this without the intent of offense, but, seriously! How is a theft a blessing? How is lying, the greatest of thefts a lick (getting some-

thing that’s needed) worthy to a person’s pride!

Our nature imbues us with a sense of both shame and pride, yet, so often I see individuals engaging in activities which totally separate one’s pride from their shame. It becomes OK, to get what you need at everyone else’s expense! Instead of being humble as we should be, we approach with aggression, entirely unmindful or, better yet, with total disregard for the personage we are engaging!

Street people - and my reference is towards those who live the life of a street person - is horrendous to me.

Having a sense of self, and demanding that you respect me, no matter my station in life at the time, is the totality of respect! To feel good about myself is the totality of pride, while to have disregard for you is my shame!

Whew! Got past that! Now let’s take a look at the line! For myself, I often pick up debris, never discard my trash on the ground, I’ll carry my trash with me, It make me feel shameful, if I were to just toss it!

How about the guy who urinates on the parking meter, he’s got all the pride a man could have! “I don’t care he’ll cry grumbling some obscenity to himself”, followed oftentimes by a great display! Pride but no shame, or is shame but no pride? “The line narrows”!

Riccardo Taylor. Photo: Aimee Willhoite.

To be worthy of oneself, is to have a sense of pride. Shame is the gate to; unworthiness! “The line starts to swell”.

So many individuals seem to think that the world is made for them personally, to the extent that they are owed something. Too often this attitude allows them to take for granted that they are entitled. Standing in a line for a meal they start to complain, unsatisfied about what’s being served they become loud and boisterous, throwing a tantrum they become abusive and spew abuse, to the point that

they are asked to leave the establishment! Oh, I don’t need you anyway!

Leaving they look for the first person to ask for a handout! “No shame and much pride,” marring the line, setting in mind how to deprive others for their wants! No shame in their game, and often proud of their conduct they mesh the line between shame and pride. It’s hard to believe that they don’t know, or, understand the difference, taking it for what it is, there is a line between shame and pride.

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Letter to the Editor

In response to “A coloring book for Satanists?” by Jason Haap. My first 3 years of high school was at God’s Bible School & Missionary Training Home & College. I was taught mostly religious theory, history of the Holy Land, reading, math and English. I was never taught science, algebra, geography or U.S. history about slavery. I was taught not to think for myself, but to follow the Bible and do what the ministers told us were facts. I transferred back to Courter Tech High School, now Cincinnati State College.

There is no place for the Church in public schools, and no right for Satanists to pass out violent rituals that are evil and only harm children’s thinking. As the KKK has no right to spread hate, the Satanists have no right in the public high schools.

Respectfully, Sonny Williams, Christian Socialist Clifton

Homelessness A Life Of: From Katie Birkle

In a tunnel both dark and light, where shadows have shadows that give and take and everything in between.

Loneliness strikes at the unresolved pain as it breaths silently with its back against the walls inside and outside – it is called homelessness.

Souls reminiscing of what once was, or could have been and maybe a few moments of what could be. Trapped, blinded as tomorrow is unknown accept agony of year, days, moments gone astray, out of my hands - that my time has created.

Spend the days, moments asking questions such as will poverty rob me, haunt every corner.

The damage done, lack of nutrition, no lack of dirt, dust, grime in an overcrowded shelter with some so beaten down a basic shower seems unattainable, out of reach.

Depression is the enemy, the detour, the denominator. Neutral a foreign concept obstructed. Ruling, willingly, no questions asked, and if you dare it doubles its cruel natural intent.

Questions start to flow. Am I going to have a bowel movement in peace without ten other desperate souls sharing the moment with me?

Will I grab enough toilet paper from the community allotment to cover it? Will I have to grab my pants in the middle half-clean to secure more toilet paper to cover my expungement?

Will I live through another night drenched in volatile, hostile, psychosis that relents against rest still in the night of mental ills - secure and stable in its march.

Will the chip on “our” shoulders due to homelessness rage out of control?

Will self-obligation become background to meet basic needs, or for a sliver of comfort?

Will I be able to avoid the dangerous sidewalks, nooks, and crannies of the streets?

Will I be raped as a homeless woman because of my rags and overstuffed backpack?

Why be in the middle of a riot over a smoke, or facial expression perceived as wrong, as a knife determines the outcome?

Will I become institutionalized by the time my bout with homelessness is over - or am I now?

KATIE BIRKLE

Contributing Writer

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

13

STREET VOICE

NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

INTOXICATION

THE COPY CAT

Intoxication is being drunk if only for a little while Intoxication can become a bad habit with a crooked smile Being high and drunk all alone really makes no sense Being homeless, a panhandler and a drunk can be a bad defense The fear of not knowing what your next move can possibly be Can be intoxicating without a drink, please believe me The fear of failure constantly day in and day out Can be an eye opener to a drunk to make a change, no doubt Once you realize that there is another way to live everyday To work, maintain your money and eventually find a place to stay Things start to fall in order for you surely but slowly As you start to make a change in your life ever so boldly Intoxicating thoughts will no longer be able to hold you back Understanding that with the help of God you can get your life on track So don’t stay intoxicated by the fears of the world today Go to church, read the bible and get on your knees and pray!

WILLA DENISE JONES

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

Copy Cat, Copy Cat climbing up the Copy Cat tree The Copy Cat is always waiting, hanging around On the prowl looking for a victim in the crowd The Copy Cat scratches, bites, lies and deceives Needing attention, it’s what the Copy Cat needs The Copy Cat is a lost soul, wore out and old Bad behavior that can’t be lost Copy Cat you should stop Let’s hope one day the Copy Cat can grow And ask for forgiveness and a new soul

KIM GREEN

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

REFLECTIONS ON THE RECENT SECRET SERVICE SECURITY SNAFU The White House break-in has us nervous About the skills of the Secret Service.

We laughed and were quite able to handle

INVISIBLE?

News of the Columbian Hooker Scandal.

Am I invisible to you? What do you believe you will lose if you should

What now has made us a teensy tense

ever really see me? We share the universe, the planet, the state and

Is the ease of scaling a White House fence.

this city. We share 12th and Vine St., 13th and Main St., Court and Walnut St. We share Peaslee Park, the field at Sycamore and Woodward, and Washington Park. We share Final Fridays and Second Sundays and every day in between them in OTR. I’ve spoken to you on several occasions. When I received no response, I thought maybe I didn’t speak loud

The intruder then found an unlocked door Before being nabbed on the East Room floor.

We don’t mean to sound uncivil and curt, But shouldn’t the Agents be more alert?

BILL WOODS

Contributing Writer

enough. Again I greeted you, “Hello, how are you?” on a different day.

Clearly and audibly I asked. There was nothing obvious in the way you chose to ignore me. You never missed a beat. Yet it was there… because there is no discreet, polite way to pretend someone is invisible.

MELISSA MOSBY

Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer

PAY TO PLAY

{Continued from page 7} dark hours. Actually, I thought some of them were quite good and deserving of proper – and legal – display.

And the history of the game of MonopolyTM was interesting. The basics of the game were actually in the public domain when Parker Brothers started making it. It was originally called “The Landlord’s Game” and was invented as a way to teach how rents enrich landlords and impoverish tenants. It gradually had morphed into something like the present game by the time Charles Darrow copyrighted his version in 1933. Through effective and constant advertising the public now generally believes that Charles Darrow actually invented the game and sold it to Parker Brothers.

This is given as an example of how corporations can control the public’s perception of what the truth is. It is a good story, but an old one. Is this the

best the filmmaker can do? We are immersed in advertising which influences our choices and tries to make us think our happiness lies in products our grandparents never heard of, and this is the only example he picks?

There were many dropped, missed, broken, and mislaid narrative threads in the movie. I have followed Ohio politics for long enough to know that there is plenty of material available for a good and even enjoyable documentary. There actually is much more that could have been told about Jean Schmidt and the Turkish-American lobby, or about a real “pay to play” scandal in the Ohio Treasurer’s office, for example. But this movie isn’t it. It has no material in it that would make even the most precariously-balanced fence-sitter change their mind. However, if you just miss seeing Jean Schmidt, go for it.

------------------------

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

14

PUZZLES

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 53 Across 1. Surname of The Picture of Dorian Gray author 6. Work persistently 10. European river 14. Imbecile 15. English poet and satirist 1688 1744, Alexander ___ 16. Young woman 17. Cut drastically 18. Opposite 19. Upbeat 20. In this place 22. Essence 24. Expert 25. Fish 27. Author of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey ___ 29. Cutting implement 34. Limb 35. Scottish for lake 36. Small monkey 38. Drama set to music 42. Aroma 43. French novelist, ___ Zola 45. Object of worship 46. Overwhelming fear and anxiety 48. Lucky Jim author, Kingsley ___ 49. Make anew 50. Historic period 52. Essential thriller ingredient 54. Waiting for Godot author, Samuel ___ 58. Spoil 59. Fuss 60. Unit of language 62. Concedes 67. Lacking sensation 69. Metal fastener 71. Rain and snow 72. Pinnacle 73. Square measure 74. Dark wood 75. Metallic element 76. Vegetable, related to onions 77. Italian poet, ___ Alighieri

Down 1. Specific desire 2. Not in active use 3. Prevaricator 4. Measure of medicine 5. Principles 6. Health resort 7. Yearn 8. Eye 9. Japanese female entertainer 10. Before or after the chicken?

11. Fragrant plant 12. Pair 13. Senior 21. Loop made with a slipknot 23. Edible root 26. Play 28. Referee 29. Swill 30. Finale 31. Graphic symbol 32. Piercing cry 33. Reads superficially 37. Ancient site of the Trojan war 39. Paradise 40. Fishing implements 41. Succulent plant 44. Literary composition 47. Ship’s company 51. Unkeyed 53. Forced in order to open 54. Hackneyed 55. Elicit 56. Punctuation mark 57. Vestige 61. Dreadful 63. Napoleon esaped from this island in 1815 64. Author of Exodus, ___ Uris 65. Surface impression 66. Eye infection 68. Stratum of rock 70. Currency of Albania

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 17- MEDIUM

PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 287 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 52

SODOKU PUZZLE NO 16- MEDIUM

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com

RESOURCES

NO. 288 | Oct.10th-23rd, 2014

Shelter: Women and Children

1730 Race Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Central Access Point Bethany House

381-SAFE 557-2873

St. Francis Soup Kitchen Churches Active in Northside

535-2719 591-2246

Grace Place Catholic Worker House

681-2365

FreeStore/FoodBank

241-1064

Mercy Franciscan at St. John

981-5800

Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center

271-5501

Salvation Army

762-5660

YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter

872-9259

St. Vincent de Paul

562-8841

1841 Fairmount Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45214 6037 Cary Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45224

1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

131 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Shelter: Men

City Gospel Mission

1419 Elm Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Mt. Airy Shelter

4600 Erie Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 1125 Bank Street, Cinti, Ohio 45214

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House

241-5525

2121 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Caracole (HIV/AIDS)

1821 Summit Road, Cinti, Ohio 45237

Drop Inn Center

217 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

661-4620

682 Hawthorne Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45205

Starting Over

CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing

114 W. 14th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

569-9500 761-1480 721-0643

721-4580 632-7149 381-1171

Tender Mercies 721-8666

27 W. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907

961-4555 381-1954

300 Lytle Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Food/Clothing

Lord’s Pantry Mercy Franciscan at St. John

621-5300 981-5800

OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry

961-1983

Our Daily Bread

621-6364

1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

OTR: 1620 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert, Cinti, Ohio 45206

961-2256

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women

Interfaith Hospitality Network 471-1100 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave Cincinnati, OH 45220 961-4080

Housing:

784-1853

Prospect House 921-1613

Shelter: Both

Lighthouse on Highland (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave Cincinnati, OH 45219

4230 Hamilton Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45223 112 E. Liberty Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

15

First Step Home

2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206

961-4663

Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both AA Hotline CCAT

351-0422 381-6672

Joseph House (Veterans)

241-2965

830 Ezzard Charles Dr. Cinti, Ohio 45214 1522 Republic Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 641-4300

Advocacy

Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center

421-3131 569-1840 381-4242

Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless

721-4700 421-7803

Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center Faces Without Places Stop AIDS

579-8547 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 421-2437

1227 Vine Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202

Health

Center for Respite Care

621-1868

Cincinnati Health Network

961-0600

3550 Washington Ave, Cinti, Ohio 45229

2825 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45219

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED

Crossroad Health Center

5 E. Liberty St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

381-2247

Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 352-6364 McMicken Dental Clinic 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti 352-6363 Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 Mercy Franciscan at St. John 981-5800 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach

Other Resources

351-3500 977-4489

Center Independent Living Options Emmanuel Community Center

241-2600 241-2563

Peaslee Neighborhood Center

621-5514

Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart

381-0111

Goodwill industries Healing Connections Mary Magdalen House

771-4800 751-0600 721-4811

People Working Cooperatively The Caring Place Talbert House United Way Women Helping Women Off The Streets

351-7921 631-1114 751-7747 211 977-5541 421-5211

1308 Race St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

215 E. 14th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202 1800 Logan St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

1223 Main St. Cinti, Ohio 45202

Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry

Northern Kentucky

981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276

Brighton Center

859-491-8303

ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY

859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717

Women’s Crisis Center VA Domiciliary VA Homeless

859-491-3335 859-559-5011 859-572-6226

799 Ann St. Newport, KY

205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011

16

Oct.10th-23rd, 2014 | N O . 28 8

S

treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 50 cents per copy and sell it for a $1.50 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches.

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MEACO WAITE

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QUEENACELESTINE

LEVY

RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008

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VICTOR MUMPHRY

WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010

WILLIAM BURDINE SINCE 8/2009

WILLIAM SIMMS SINCE 4/2014

THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED