10_2018

Craig Murphey

HOW WE WORK

One Step Away creates jobs for individuals who are experiencing homelessness or poverty. Vendors complete training and receive their first 20 papers for free. After that, they purchase papers for 25 cents each.

One Step Away vendors distribute each paper for $1, keeping what they make. This allows them to earn income, gain self-sufficiency and employable skills, while engaging with the community.

The monthly newspapers provide a platform for vendors to write about personal experiences, share insights, and advocate for social justice.

As a nonprofit organization, One Step Away relies largely on donations to fund our program.

(INSP)

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GHOST BIKES

Originally written by Whitley O’Connor and published in The Curbside Chronicle, Oklahoma. [Editor’s note: One Step Away added Philadelphia specific information regarding Ghost Bikes, traffic fatalities, and Vision Zero.]

Each year, between 45,000 and 50,000 cyclists are injured in traffic accidents in the United States according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2016, 840 cyclists died. Stark white, chained to a fence or lamppost, and often bearing flowers, ghost bikes stand as somber memorials to these fallen riders.

Last fall, Henry Hargreaves, missed being counted among this statistic by less than two inches, narrowly avoiding his own ghost bike. Since then, Henry, an internationally renowned photographer, has gone on to share his photo series Ghost Bikes as a haunting reminder of just how close danger is for cyclists and to start a much-needed discussion on sharing the road.

Henry first noticed white bikes chained to lampposts around his apartment in Brooklyn several years ago. “When I moved to New York and went around, I’d see these white bikes that were chained up to lampposts on street corners. I never really paid much attention to them until one day I passed one with a little placard with someone’s name and a range of dates. I realized that they were marking the deaths of cyclists,” recalls Henry. “It’s kind of became this haunting symbol of the road for me. This was also around the time I started becoming a cyclist, so it was sort of a reminder that you’re always just two feet away from a fatality. It was this spooky thing.”

Ghost bikes are a relatively new phenomenon. The first recorded ghost bike appeared in 2003 in St. Louis, Missouri when Patrick Van Der Tuin — who had witnessed a motorist hit a cyclist in a dedicated bike lane — painted a bike white and placed it at the scene with a sign saying, “cyclist struck here.” Observing improved awareness from motorists near the scene following the bike’s placement, Patrick recruited people to help spread bikes across the city.

The movement soon took hold, with ghost bikes spreading as far as London by 2005. Now, more than 630 ghost bikes can be found around the globe.

A Metaphor for the corpse

Oklahoma, where street paper The Curbside Chronicle first published this article, has seen its own share of ghost bikes. In Oklahoma City, a ghost bike was placed along Lake Overholser in 2013 to honor a fallen cyclist who was killed while participating in a charity bike ride. Another bike placed in 2010 along East Britton Road still remains today to commemorate a fallen cyclist.

“To me, they’re kind of a metaphor for the corpse,” Henry said. “When they get placed, they’re pristine and white. But from the pictures I took, you can see various levels of decomposing that’s happened. People come in and steal the wheels off of ghost bikes, and to me, it’s almost like raiding a grave. Sometimes, they just completely disappear.”

New York City has been the epicenter of the ghost bike movement, and Henry had been photographing bikes in Brooklyn for several years. But it wasn’t until his own cycling accident that Henry realized the purpose for these photos. While riding his bike from his apartment to his photography studio, Henry was car-doored. Without looking, a man illegally parked opened his car door as Henry approached, sending him over the handle bars and catching his throat on the corner of the door. Bleeding profusely, Henry insisted the driver take him to a medical center several blocks away. The driver dropped Henry off and quickly sped away.

“The corner had caught me right between my jugular and my wind pipe, so a couple inches either way and it would have been much more serious,” said Henry. “I got a dozen stitches and a $1,500 medical bill.”

Henry left the experience determined to do something. “I had been working on the project before this happened, just documenting ghost bikes,” Henry said. “Then afterwards, I wanted to put it out as a way to make people more aware of cyclists on the road and to make the cyclists more aware of the dangers around them.”

Since releasing his photo series, Henry has received a lot of positive feedback, with many people saying they had seen the bikes but didn’t know what they symbolized. It has created a conversation.

“Cycling cuts down on congestion and environmental impact. It’s good for your health, and it doesn’t make noise. Most of the effects are pretty beneficial to everyone around you,” said Henry. “Cyclists have such a small footprint — tire print if that’s what you want to

call it — on the road that we’re easily ignored. If a few more people think about cyclists and are a bit more cautious, then it has been worthwhile doing this whole series.”

With Oklahoma ranking 46th in the country in The League of American Bicyclists’ 2017 Bicycle Friendly State Rankings, this is a conversation we need to have. “The whole thing was wanting to put up a magnifying glass to just respect each other more and be more courteous on the road,” Henry explained. “Opening a dialogue through this project was the goal.”

According to the Bicycle Friendly State Rankings, Pennsylvania ranks 12th in the country, with Philadelphia receiving a silver ranking. The 2016 US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates that 2.2 percent of workers commute by bicycle in Philadelphia — making it the most biked US city with over one million residents. However, at six percent, Philadelphia has the highest traffic deaths per capita compared to NYC, LA, and Boston. Every year 10,000 traffic crashes occur in Philadelphia — killing 100 people and severely injuring 250 more. Per each 10,000 bicycle commuter that number is higher in the city — averaging 426 crashes annually with three fatalities, compared to the gold standard average of 0.2 bicycle fatalities.

The Ghost Bikes of Philadelphia

Last December, a ghost bike memorial was created for 24-year-old Emily Fredericks at a traffic light at 11th & Spruce Streets. According to a Philly.com article about Emily’s memorial, she was riding in the bike lane when a private trash truck turned right onto 11th Street, striking her. The police reported she died at the scene. Sixty people attended the memorial to remember Emily, and the more than two dozen bicyclists who have died on Philadelphia streets since 2010.

“We don’t want Emily to disappear, to be forgotten about,” said her father, Richard Fredricks. “This dedication is just the beginning.”

In Philadelphia, ghost bikes are often removed after a few weeks, but some tributes remain. Randy LoBasso of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia said a ghost bike has stood for four years at 2nd Street & Girard Avenue in Northern Liberties, where it memorializes the 2014 death of Johnny Brenda’s cook Tony Aparecio. Another ghost bike is chained at 19th Street & Girard Avenue in Brewerytown, where PhillyCAM filmmaker Jay Mohen was killed in 2015, Randy said.

In the wake of Emily’s death, the Bicycle Coalition advocated for more protected bike lanes in Philadelphia. “Hopefully, the ghost bike will be here as long as the traffic light is here,” said Randy. “It’s important for people who drive by this corner to know and be reminded.”

In the summer of 2017, a protected bike lane was built on Chestnut Street through University City, and last year ended with the City of Philadelphia committing to protect more than six blocks of bike lanes on South Street to the Schuylkill. Mayor Kenney stated he wants 30 miles of protected bike lanes in the city by 2022 — presently 2.5 miles of the city’s 200 miles of bike lanes are protected.

According to the Bicycle Coalition’s database documenting Philadelphia’s traffic fatalities, 2018 saw 65 deaths, with six hit-and-runs claiming four child victims. Since May 2018, three bicyclists have died after being struck by vehicles: Tomas Montanez Jr., 40, in Hunting Park, Julian Angelucci, 11, at 10th & Shunk Streets in South Philly, and Pablo Avendano, 34, died near 10th & Spring Garden Streets days before the Ride of Silence.

The Ride of Silence takes place every May, and according to the event’s Philadelphia Facebook group, “the purposes of this silent ride are to honor cyclists killed/injured in motor vehicle related accidents and to raise awareness about the rights of cyclists to ride the roads.”

0 deaths by 2030, Vision Zero

On November 7, 2016, Mayor Kenney signed Executive Order 11-16, setting a target of zero traffic-related deaths by 2030. Vision Zero, adapted from Sweden, is meant to eliminate traffic-related deaths and severe inquiries, while increasing safety, health, and mobility for all.

“When I took office, I pledged my commitment to making Philadelphia streets safe for everyone, regardless of age, physical ability, or choice of transportation,” Mayor Kenney wrote in the city’s three-year Vision Zero plan.

Data from Vision Zero showed that 50 percent of all traffic deaths and severe inquiries occur on just 12 percent of Philadelphia streets, deemed the High Injury Network. According to the city, traffic crashes do not affect all Philadelphia neighborhoods equally. In Philadelphia, neighborhoods with higher proportions of residents living in poverty are subjected to a disproportionate number of traffic crashes. More traffic deaths and severe injuries occur in neighborhoods where most residents live below the poverty line. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia analyzed specific Census Tracts to determine if there was any connection between poverty, people of color, and the High Injury Network. Their work revealed that 46 percent of the High Injury Network and approximately 35 percent of Philadelphia’s street miles are located in these Census Tracts corresponding to poverty and race.

Meaning almost half (46 percent) of the High Injury Network streets are in impoverished communities of color. Based on these findings, the Bicycle Coalition encourages the city to uphold racial justice and engage low-income communities and communities of color prior to any enforcement tactics surrounding Vision Zero. To assist in ensuring all communities are fairly represented, a group of government, advocates, and businesses formed the Vision Zero Alliance. The Alliance aims to include more grassroots organizations and community voices across racial and socioeconomic groups. Together, the Alliance supports a comprehensive Vision Zero

Christopher Doyle

Matthew Brenner

Matthew von Ohle

strategy in Philadelphia by providing input to city government officials working on implementing Vision Zero strategies.

Vision Zero does not consist of one solution, but multiple programs to keep our vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists safe. For tracking vehicles, the city installed speed cameras and automated enforcement. But the Bicycle Coalition is also looking at more innovative ideas, such as the Bike Nice Campaign, protected bike lanes, and tracking road fatalities in real-time online. Unveiled in fall 2016, PHLtrafficvictims.org puts the statistics and available information of every victim who needlessly lost their life due to traffic violence. The Vision Zero Alliance is the only organization in the City of Philadelphia to keep a public record of traffic victims.

Protected Bike Lanes in Philadelphia

In Kenney’s campaign document, he committed to increasing bike lanes, to create a safe bike network, and implementing at least 15 miles of new bike lanes a year. In 2016, not long after the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia proposed 30 miles of new protected bike lanes under the new Kenney Administration, funding was approved to begin that process.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) awarded the region $7.6 million in Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) project money. Philadelphia will receive $300,000 for “on-road improvements,” according to the DVRPC’s press release, “including flexible delineator posts, signage, and pavement markings, for cyclists at designated locations throughout the City of Philadelphia.” This is being coupled with an expected $200,000 from PennDOT for improvements.

The Bicycle Coalition believes this is the beginning of a series of high-quality on-street, protected bike lanes, which will make the roads safer for all road users in Philadelphia.

The city applied for funding for 15 projects through the TAP program. As construction on protected bike lanes throughout Philadelphia continues through 2019, the Bicycle Coalition is continuing to advocate for all of these lanes to be installed.

In the meantime, Philadelphia residents must continue to be mindful of each other when out on the roads. There are far too many injuries and deaths occurring on our streets. Especially in our most vulnerable communities.

Three bicyclist deaths in the past six months — come on Philly, we can do better.

ELECTION COVERAGE 11.6.2018

TO THE POLLS #

PHILLY MURAL EXHIBITION TO EXCITE VOTERS

A collaboration with StreetsDept, Mural Arts

Philadelphia, and 10 local street artists

Streets Dept’s Conrad Benner and Mural Arts Philadelphia are hosting To the Polls, a pre-election mural exhibition featuring the work of ten Philadelphia artists at 448 North 10th Street in Spring Arts. The exhibition is free and open to the public from September 26 through October 3, 2018, with viewing hours and on-site voter registration from 125pm. To the Polls aims to excite the electorate, encouraging civic engagement to counter historically low voter turnout for midterm elections.

Curated by StreetsDept.com’s founder Conrad Benner, all ten artists participating in To the Polls have a history of using their work to promote activism, empowerment, and engagement. The featured artists are Loveis Wise, Wit López, Willis “Nomo” Humphrey, Nilé Livingston, Marisa Velázquez-Rivas, YOMI, Blur, Joe Boruchow, Alloyius Mcilwaine, and Busta.

Each artist created an 8×8-foot temporary mural that rallies the community around civic participation through the act of voting, and explores the many complex issues affecting Philadelphians today. To the Polls will investigate whether art can effectively illustrate the stakes of national issues, and remind people of the power of collective action. The exhibition aims to encourage and excite Philadelphians about their capacity to influence the world around them.

Get involved or learn more at bicyclecoalition.org or visionzerophl.com

FROM THE ARTISTS

This is a political statement. A call to rouse. A spiritual expression. Not just lines and blocks of colors that were conceptualized, sketched, vectored, printed, and painted. It’s a visual utterance of the persistent battles and achievements the Latino community has experienced since before the Mexican–American War. In this message there is camaraderie, community, and leadership — it is a plea to realize the weight of our voices and fight the good fight. We are here, and we belong.

Marisa Velázquez-Rivas, @marisa.vr

We’re coming to a point in our history where a major paradigm shift could occur. During this shift, the momentum could swing towards growth, understanding, and prosperity…or we could fall down the rabbit hole. The midterm elections could change the face of American politics…so it’s incredibly important to let our voices be heard! My piece uses energy and historical benchmarks in American voting to show why voting is so important.

Alloyius Mcilwaine, @culturesclothing, #alloyiusmcilwaineart

The urgency is clear. Without true mass engagement our democracy will not survive. This election and every other, vote. Vote to protect your children. Vote to sweep away the rubbish. Vote to preserve your mental and physical health.

Joe Boruchow, @joeboruchow

~Each

is captioned with the

of the accident it commemorates~ Cover: Craig Murphey. Page 4: Matthew Brenner and Christopher Doyle. Page 5: Erica Abbott and Matthew von Ohlen. Page 6: Nicolas Djandji, Anna Rodriguez, Lauren Elizabeth Davis, Mathieu Lefevre. And we remember, Jonathan Neese.

Photos pages 7-10 are To the Polls behind the scenes photos from StreetsDept.com. See more on Instagram: @StreetsDept, @MuralArts. Thank you to all the artists who painted murals for the To The Polls Exhibition.

And Remember, behind each decorated white bike, is a bicyclist who lost their life.

Photos by Henry Hargreaves

photo

victim

Anna Rodriguez

Lauren Elizabeth Davis

Mathieu Lefevre

ELECTION DAY: WHAT’S ON THE PA BALLOT?

NOVEMBER 6, 2018, 7am — 8 pm

US House of Representatives US Senate Governor

WHAT’S ON THE LINE?

Lt. Governor

PA Senate (even-numbered districts)

PA House of Representatives

All 435 US House seats and 33 US Senate seats are up for election. Heading into the election, the Republican Party holds a majority in both chambers.

Ballotpedia.org uses the term wave elections to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. They ask: How many seats would Republicans have to lose for the midterm election to be considered a wave election?

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

The US House of Representatives consists of 435 seats total, 6 are currently vacant.

Republican Party holds the majority with 236 seats.

Democratic Party holds 193 seats.

For the US House, Republicans would need to lose 48 seats for 2018 to qualify historically as a wave election.

The Democratic Party is well-positioned to gain seats in the chamber in 2018 for the following reasons:

The party of a newly elected president is historically more vulnerable than usual in the following midterm.

The majority of seats in the closest races in the country are currently held by Republicans.

As of September 2018, there are more open seats in districts held by Republicans than Democrats.

US SENATE

The US Senate consists of 100 seats total, with two representatives from each state.

Republican Party holds the majority with 51 seats.

Democratic Party holds 47 seats.

Independents hold 2 seats.

For the US Senate, Republicans would need to lose 7 seats for 2018 to qualify historically as a wave election.

The Democratic Party is at a disadvantage to gain seats for the following reasons:

Democrats have 25 seats to defend (2 of which are held by Independents, while only 8 seats up for election are held by Republican incumbents.

The Democratic Party must defend seats in 10 states that Donald Trump won in 2016: Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and only one state with a Republican incumbent that was won by Hillary Clinton in 2016: Nevada.

There are 13 states with a Democratic incumbent that have a Republican governor but no states with a Republican incumbent and a Democratic governor.

PA GOVERNOR

PA Governor is the highest state office and head of the Executive Branch.

Serves 4 year terms, with 2 term limits.

PA has been a divided party state since 2014 when Democrat Tom Wolf was elected Governor. Since 2010 Republicans controlled PA’s government, Wolf won in 2014 by a margin just under 10 percent.

In 2018, Wolf is seeking re-election, against a 2016 presidential election state swing to Republican, and party seat changes in 6 out of the past 10 governor elections.

The winner in this election will be involved in PA’s redistricting process, which draws new maps for U.S. House seats following the [2020] Census. The governor has the power to veto these district map proposals.

2018 Governor and Lieutenant Governor Candidates & Parties:

Democratic: Tom Wolf and John Fetterman

Republican: Scott Wagner and Jeff Bartos

Libertarian: Kenneth Krawchuk and Kathleen Smith

Green: Paul Glover and Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick

PA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

PA House of Representatives consists of 203 seats total, ALL 203 seats up in the 2018 election. 2 year terms.

In 2016, the Republican Party increased their majority seats from 119-84 to 121-82. 15 races were won by less than a 10 point margin: with 8 Republican and 7 Democratic wins.

In 2018, Democrats need 20 seats to take control of the chamber, Republicans need to gain 14 seats to secure the 2/3 majority to override Governor vetoes.

For the PA House, the 2/3 majority to override vetoes is up for election this year with a Republican win.

PA SENATE

PA Senate consists of 50 seats total, 25 seats up for 2018 election. Staggered 4 year terms.

In 2016, Republicans increased their majority from 31-19 to 34-16, giving them the 2/3 majority to override Governor vetoes.

In 2018, Democrats need to gain 1 seat to break the Republican 2/3 majority.

For the PA Senate, Republicans currently have the 2/3 majority. 2018 winning candidates will serve through 2022, playing a key role in PA’s redistricting process.

2018 REMEDIAL PA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

On January 22, the PA Supreme Court declared the PA congressional map unconstitutional The old map ranked as one of the decade’s most extreme partisan gerrymanders giving Republicans a 13-to-5 advantage

There is a new and fairer congressional map for the upcoming November 2018 elections — a majority of counties lie fully within a single Congressional District.

Philadelphia County falls within Districts 2, 3, and 5.

Alloyius Mcilwaine, @culturesclothing, #alloyiusmcilwaineart

Joe Boruchow, @joeboruchow Blur, @blurstreetart

Nile Livingston, @nilelivingston

YOMI, @yomitgmb

Loveis Wise, @cosmicsomething

PHILADELPHIA BALLOT QUESTION

INFORMATION:

Should the City of Philadelphia borrow ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY—

ONE MILLION DOLLARS ($181,000,000.00) to be spent for and toward capital purposes as follows: Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development?

Statement: This ballot question, if approved by the voters, would authorize the City to borrow $181,000,000 for capital purposes, thereby increasing the City’s indebtedness by $181,000,000.

Capital purposes means, generally, to make expenditures that will result in something of value with a useful life to the City of more than five years, for example, acquisitions of real estate, or construction of or improvements to buildings, property or streets.

The money to be borrowed would be used by the City for five identified purposes, namely: Transit $5,171,000; Streets and Sanitation $36,932,000; Municipal Buildings $97,741,000; Parks, Recreation and Museums $26,591,000; Economic & Community Development $14,565,000.

Above amounts totaling $181 Million identified in Bill No. 180552 (approved September 14, 2018). City Council would have authority, by ordinance, to change the intended allocation of these proceeds.

City of Philadelphia Bill No. 180552: Authorizing the Bond Committee to sell bonds at public or private negotiated sale, to provide funds toward various capital municipal purposes; providing for appropriations to the Sinking Fund Commission for the payment of such bonds; authorizing agreements to provide credit or payment or liquidity sources for the bonds in connection with issuance of the bonds, and certain other actions; providing for obtaining the consent of the electors to increasing the indebtedness of the City; and fixing a day and providing for arrangements for holding the election for obtaining such consent.

VOTE FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T

BARRIERS TO VOTING

CRIMINAL HISTORY

More than 6 million Americans can’t vote due to a past criminal conviction. 1 in every 13 voting-age African Americans has lost their right to vote which is four times more than all other Americans.

People with past convictions can’t vote in 34 states and 3 states permanently ban people with a felony conviction from voting — Kentucky, Florida, and Iowa. (Florida has a measure on their November 2018 ballot to change this.)

IN PENNSYLVANIA: You can vote if you are on probation or parole.

You can vote with an absentee ballot if you are: in jail or prison & convicted of misdemeanors. under house arrest. being held in jail while awaiting trial. on parole or probation and living in a halfway house or community corrections center: (You cannot use the halfway house address as your registration address. You MUST use a previous or future address.)

You can’t vote if you are: in jail or prison because of a felony conviction and won’t be released before the election. convicted of violating PA election laws within the past 4 years.

Get an absentee ballot by: Sending the application form to your county board of elections by 5pm on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. Then return the ballot to the county elections board by 5pm on Friday, November 2, 2018.

Already registered to vote? You don’t need to do anything to regain your rights. Need to update your address or register to vote? You must register to vote or change your address by Tuesday, October 9, 2018.

Trouble registering or voting? Contact the ACLU of Pennsylvania at 877-745-ACLU (2258).

VOTER ID

34 states have voter ID laws enforced in 2018.

IN PENNSYLVANIA: You do not need to have or show an ID to vote (unless you are a first-time voter or new at your polling place).

PA Voter ID law is no longer in effect.

Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley deemed PA Voter ID law unconstitutional on January 17, 2014, entering a permanent injunction against the enforcement of Voter ID at the polls:

“[The in-person voting requirement in the Voter ID law] is invalid and unconstitutional on its face as the provision and issuance of compliant identification does not comport with liberal access and unreasonably burdens the right to vote.”

VOTER PURGES

A process of cleaning up voter rolls by deleting names from registration lists, can prevent eligible people from voting.

16 million voters were removed from the rolls by states between 2014 and 2016.

4 states engaged in illegal purges, and 4 more states have implemented unlawful purge rules.

Know your rights when it comes to voting. This election guide includes information from: Ballotpedia, The Brennen Center for Justice, the ACLU, the Committee of Seventy, VotesPA, and the City of Philadelphia. Visit votespa.com for all of your election needs.

Busta, @busta.art

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INSP.ngo

A weighted blanket, filled with evenly distributed weights, offers instant comfort — with research showing that such blankets can soothe people suffering from a wide range of ailments, from anxiety to PTSD and insomnia. Donna Durham, the company’s founder and president, first made a weighted blanket in 2014; now she has a staff of 30, which is largely made up of refugees and immigrants keen to work hard and integrate themselves into life in America.

Drive up to the headquarters of Weighting Comforts and you could be in Anytown, USA. The small corporate office complex in South Nashville is indistinguishable from neighboring buildings and its outer façade hides any hint as to the activity going on inside.

Now enter the office of Donna Durham, the founder and president of Weighting Comforts, and take a seat. Durham will arrange one of her signature weighted blankets around you, and sure enough, as the cool fabric shifts around you, you’ll feel like you’re home, wherever that may be: the bedroom you grew up in or the loft at your beloved grandmother’s house.

That feeling is what Donna, who has a master’s degree in marriage and family counseling, aims to bring to all who purchase a Weighting Comforts blanket. She wants to provide them with a night of peaceful sleep, free from anxiety.

But that’s just one part of her story.

In the beginning, there was Donna — a college home economics major and mother of four. The Durham family moved home to Nashville in 2011 after living in Iowa, where Donna’s husband, Jamie, was teaching.

While she was in her final semester of graduate school for counseling at Nashville’s Trevecca Nazarene University in 2014, her advisor asked her to make weighted blankets for all the student offices.

“She knew about my background in Home Ec.,” Donna says. “It was amazing to see someone who was very anxious and unable to sit still, and then to put a weighted blanket on them. It was part of a tool chest of self-care.”

Weighted blankets have recently become popular for

people who have trouble sleeping, especially those with anxiety, PTSD, or autism. Medical writers say the blankets, which are filled with evenly distributed weights, provide users with the same tactile feeling as they would experience when getting a hug. Researchers also say that the blankets prompt the release of serotonin; a chemical that reduces anxiety and improves mood, as well as melatonin; which promotes sleep and regulates the sleep cycle.

Soon, friends were asking Donna for their own weighted blankets: “My son Josh said, ‘I think you have something here’ and he built our Facebook page and website.” She had two orders within the first minute of putting the site online.

She began the business by hand-sewing blankets and meeting customers at fabric stores where they could select the fabric they wanted. But demand became too much for one person to handle, and Donna enlisted the help of family members. She even paid the neighbors’ children to help her box and ship the blankets over the Christmas period.

Enter Rita Atkins and Sew For Hope. In early 2015, one of Donna’s friends suggested she reach out to Sew For Hope, a nonprofit started by Christ Presbyterian Church members to teach sewing skills to refugees and immigrants in the Middle Tennessee area.

On April 2, 2015, Donna met several Sew For Hope graduates at the Thrift Smart store where she taught them how to make her blankets. For two years, every week, Donna met her sewing group in the Thrift Smart parking lot, where they exchanged raw materials for finished products.

Weighting Comforts’ first employee was a woman named Anwar, an immigrant from Iraq who was a physics and mathematics major in her home country. Anwar, who remains the senior staff member in the Weighting Comforts manufacturing facility, spoke gently to Durham one day.

“I know ten women who need work,” said Anwar, a tall woman with a ready smile. “I know a widow from Syria with four children who doesn’t want to be on food stamps: she wants to be able to earn a living.”

Fast forward to June 2018. Weighting Comforts now has 30 full-time employees, many of whom are seamstresses who came to the company through Sew For Hope. They make

more than 100 blankets per day, each one taking about 45 minutes to complete.

Employees come from all over — from besieged Myanmar, from Iraq and Iran, from South America, from Tennessee.

The Weighting Comforts’ office manager is a veteran of the Iraq War who graduated from Belmont University’s Entrepreneurship Program. He speaks a little bit of Arabic and has a cultural understanding of the women working in the sewing room.

Weighting Comforts also offers English as a Second Language classes one night a week to its employees, most of whom are women. A brightly colored map in the ESL room has push pins and thread that connect each country of origin to photographs of the company’s employees. “We want to provide a safe place to learn English; we want this to be a stepping stone,” Donna says, pointing out that religion prohibits many of the women from working side by side with men.

All segments of the manufacturing process are handled within the Weighting Comforts facility: measuring the PVC beads (blankets come in different weights and have a different colored measuring cup for the amount of beads needed for each); stitching the beads inside the quilted blankets; quality control; packaging and fulfillment.

Donna credits many people with the success of her stillnew company: her son, Josh, who is now Weighting Comforts’ CEO and marketing guru (“He’s a genius,” says his proud mother), Rita Atkins from Sew For Hope, Anwar, the women who sew, and finally, her own faith. “Faith is important,” she says simply. “This has been a life-changing experience.”

It has certainly been life-changing for Donna, but also for everyone touched by their interactions with the company, whether they be the women who learn English and find employment through Weighting Comforts or the blanket buyers who find peaceful rest.

For more information on Weighting Comforts’ blankets, go to weightingcomforts.com.

By Holly McCall, Courtesy of The Contributor /

live? your gender? 35 What best describes your level of formal education? ❑ Employed, working full-time ❑ Employed, working part-time ❑ Not employed, looking for work ❑ Not employed, NOT looking for work ❑ Retired ❑ Disabled, not able to work 36 What best describes your employment status? 27Which topics do you prefer reading? (Select all that apply). 32 In what ZIP code do you live? 37In what ZIP code do you work or attend school? 38What industry do you work in? ❑ Multiple page articles ❑ Single page articles ❑ Brief articles (shorter than a page) ❑ A variety of lengths 28 What other content would you like to see in One Step Away's newspaper? HELP US GET TO KNOW YOU! 29What length of articles do you prefer? 30 On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend One Step Away to a friend or colleague? Name: Address: City: State, ZIP: Company: Email: Phone: 43Contact Information WEIGHTING COMFORTS: THE BLANKETS OFFERING BOTH SOLACE AND OPPORTUNITIES

PARTNERSHIP

DEMOCRATIZING FOOD

By Jill Harkins, The Philadelphia Citizen

More than 10 years ago, husband and wife Haile Johnston and Tatiana Garcia Granados went to a farmers’ produce auction and bid on a lot of apples. They were looking for fruit and veggies for their communitybased nonprofit that worked to bring healthy food, among other things, to their Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

In the excitement of the moment, they put their name in the ring for the apples without knowing how many cases they would get or how much it would cost—and they won. This was a scary moment—buying one case of apples from a distributor in Philadelphia had frequently cost them upwards of $25, and they weren’t sure how many cases they had purchased. They were relieved to find that they had bought only 10—and perplexed to learn that their total, for all 10, was less than $50.

The pair realized the wholesale distributor who bought from the farmers and sold to the consumers was profiting way more than they had expected. “There’s a gap between what farmers are making and what consumers are paying,” explains Johnston, who, with Garcia Granados, founded wholesale distributor The Common Market in 2008 to try to alleviate this middleman cost. “We wanted to make the function in the middle less extractive.”

The couple set out to create a non-profit wholesale distributor that could bring down costs for consumers and bring up profits for farmers, not necessarily eliminating the middle man, but becoming a much fairer middle man themselves. They wanted to also rebuild connections between the institutions in Philadelphia that serve thousands of meals daily and the farmers that are so close to them. “Within the last 50 years we’ve seen this breakdown in favor of global trade,” explains Johnston. “Larger wholesales were favoring price and shelf stability, and this meant they weren’t going to local farmers.”

The Common Market has redrawn those connections with local farmers and brings their products to their warehouse in the heart of Philadelphia at the intersection of Erie and D Streets. They partner with their farmers to determine jointly what makes sense to take on that season, both making recommendations for planting choices and looking for new farmers who are already doing things that satisfy market trends. Most of their farms are located within 100 miles of the city, though they sometimes have to extend to 200 miles in the case of products like veggie burgers and maple syrup.

They then sell to some co-ops and small grocery stores where individuals can buy and cook their product, as well as to large institutions like colleges, school districts, elderly

care facilities, and prisons in an effort to guarantee large purchases for farmers and to meet consumers where they are already eating—at work, at school, or in the case of nursing homes and prisons, sometimes at home.

In 2018 alone, the Common Market’s ingredients have been used in 4.2 million meals. Their purchases have supported nearly 18,000 acres of farms and more than 1,100 farm jobs. Since their inception in 2008, they have provided ingredients for more than 12 million meals.

Johnston and Garcia Granados decided to hone in on institutions instead of simply trying to bring more farmers’ markets to low-income communities because people simply do not eat all or even most of their meals at home, particularly in low-income communities where access to high-quality grocery stores is often limited and access to bodegas and fast food is ample.

Cheryl Bettigole, Director of Chronic Disease Prevention for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, says this discrepancy makes eating healthy foods in lowincome neighborhoods incredibly difficult. “Shopping often requires multiple bus rides to get to a supermarket and paying for a ride home because SEPTA doesn’t allow people to bring multiple grocery bags on its vehicles, nor would that be terribly easy,” she explains. “Little in the way of healthy foods is available in corner and convenience stores and these foods are often both lower quality and higher in price than those in larger grocery stores.”

By serving institutions where food is prepared for employees of visitors, the Common Market can introduce local, nutrient-dense food to a high volume of people who might not otherwise be getting it. “Large institutions that employ and/or feed large numbers of people, particularly those with low-income employees, provide the opportunity for people to taste healthy foods they may never have had before and for them to re-imagine what food can and should be,” says Bettigole. Since these institutions buy in such high volumes, they can also impact market trends in a way individual buyers can’t, thus encouraging manufacturers to prioritize healthier products and causing ripples through the food system.

In 2018 alone, the Common Market’s ingredients have been used in 4.2 million meals. Their purchases have supported nearly 18,000 acres of farms and more than 1,100 farm jobs. Since their inception in 2008, they have provided ingredients for more than 12 million meals.

Though the apples were a standout moment in Johnston and Garcia Granados’ path toward founding the Common Market, the kids they worked with in Strawberry Mansion while running the East Park Revitalization Alliance, and their obvious lack of access to healthy food, were the source of passion for the project. The group frequently led healthy cooking classes, but Johnston and Garcia Granados quickly realized that the skills the participants learned in class couldn’t be transferred into their real lives if they couldn’t purchase healthy ingredients in their neighborhoods. As a result, reaching low-income communities and “democratizing access to good food” has always been a priority for the company.

Johnston and Garcia Granados got the non-profit business off the ground with the help of funders like the Claneil Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, but the model has become largely self-sustaining and in the past two years has expanded to have hubs in both Georgia and Texas. The hub that operates out of Philadelphia, labeled the Mid-Atlantic, encompasses New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, and even Virginia. Johnston says they aim for individual hubs to be able to cover the costs of aggregating and distributing food between years three and four, though they still may rely on philanthropic outlets to support events and activities. They hope to create a hub out of Chicago in the next few years.

“The food systems and markets are focusing on values that aren’t supportive of consumer well-being,” explains Johnston. “Cheap only comes through exploitation, whether that’s exploitation of the environment, or of farmers, solely so owners and brokers can drive a profit.”

With this expansion comes a focus on underrepresented farmers; in Atlanta, 40 percent of food purchased by the Common Market was sourced from black farmers. “We’re trying to create special opportunity for these farmers who have been excluded from market opportunities for generations and who have suffered systemic land loss,” explains Johnston.

In addition to expanding throughout the country, Garcia Granados and Johnston have been working to expand in Philadelphia where it all started; the Common Market began working with the School District of Philadelphia and Revolution Foods just last fall to incorporate healthy, local ingredients into meals in schools that lack full kitchens. The Common Market provided frozen vegetables and whole and sliced apples, among other ingredients, to Revolution Foods, who then made meals for the schools, which were then delivered by the Common Market daily. The pair is even expanding within their own warehouse,

making room for other start-up nonprofits who work toward the same goals as they do. In 2013, Soom Foods, a company run by three sisters that produces tahini products from Ethiopian grown sesame, got its start in the warehouse. In 2014, a mushroom farm popped up in the basement of the urban facility, courtesy of Mycopolitan mushrooms. “We’re always trying to figure out how to build out our infrastructure,” says Garcia Granados. “How do we leverage that beyond what we can do ourselves and create conditions for others to grow?”

The Common Market launched a workplace-centered farmshare program in 2012 that is a cross between a CSA farmshare and a meal delivery subscription kit like Blue Apron. You can choose from a variety of plans, ranging from a $22.75 biweekly poultry share of 3 pounds of chicken and turkey, to a $32 biweekly fruit, vegetable, and egg share that includes 8-9 seasonal produce items and a dozen eggs. You can pick up from the Academy of Natural Sciences, the First United Methodist Church, or one of 50 total site locations. Johnston says that the idea was to make the traditional CSA model more accessible by working with multiple farms and allowing for monthly payments, making it more affordable and ensuring those who buy into it that they will definitely get the food they paid for, regardless of weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

Participants often pick up their shares at their workplaces, and now that the program has been around for several years, the Common Market had hired the Penn Center for Public Health Initiative to produce an impact study assessing the program’s effect on employee attendance rates and workplace behaviors.

Garcia Granados and Johnston, who met while undergraduates at Penn, both grew up in homes with heavily used gardens and kitchens. In Garcia Granados’ case, that garden was actually a farm in Guatemala, which provided her with first-hand agriculture experience starting essentially at birth. When Johnston was in middle school, his dad began produce vending, and Johnston would often tag along to the fast-paced farm stand events. Both founders have degrees from Wharton— Garcia Granados her MBA—providing them the business acumen that pushed them to transform their formative childhood experiences into a deep understanding of the global food system and into a career that uses business strategies for social good.

The Common Market’s goals are ambitious, and the hope is that eventually, the entire food system will shift, and it will no longer be cheaper to get food from across the globe than it is to get it from your own backyard.

Currently, that’s not the case. “The food systems and markets are focusing on values that aren’t supportive of consumer well-being,” explains Johnston. “Cheap only comes through exploitation, whether that’s exploitation of the environment, or of farmers, solely so owners and brokers can drive a profit.”

Now, the founders hope that they can create additional jobs and economic opportunities to fight food insecurity from all angles. “The root cause of food insecurity is poverty,” says Garcia Granados. “We’re working at the root causes.”

Photo via The Common Market

HOW TO GET PEOPLE INTO HIGH-PAYING JOBS?

THIS ROBOTIC ARM COULD HOLD AN ANSWER

By: Roberto Torres, Technical.ly

With Philadelphia’s poverty rate stuck at a painful 25.7 percent — the highest percentage among the 10 largest U.S. cities — the city’s potential for growth hinges on doing more to get people into family-sustaining jobs, and doing it quickly.

Backed by a $150,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, a six-week training program at makerspace NextFab could offer one pathway: teaching people how to control a robotic armed used in advanced manufacturing.

The program is called RERAMP, or Readiness for Employment in Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing Program. Participants will spend a month and a hal getting hands-on training from NextFab, including the fundamentals of controlling and operating a robotic arm called the “Kuka,” a 1,200-pound KR210 model that was a medical robot used to treat tumors in cancer patients in its past life.

Applicants to the program must be at least 18 years old and hold a high school diploma or GED, and will work with instructors at the makerspace’s South Philly spot. Those interested can apply online by Dec. 1.

“Whether you are an enthusiastic student or someone new to making, we want our facilities to inspire and assist in the learning of new skills,” said Lisa DellaPorta, director of education at NextFab. “This program provides opportunities for those who might not normally have NextFab’s resources at their disposal.”

DellaPorta said scholarships will be granted on a first come, first served basis. For participants who want to pay their own way, the program cost will range between $300 and $700, depending on the specific classes they choose to take within the program. NextFab did not immediately say how many participants could end up receiving full scholarships.

“The grant funds are providing scholarships for participants in the training program, our development of an industrial robotics training facility, and development of new educational content in industrial robotics,” NextFab President Evan Malone said via email.

So what’s the Kuka arm used for? At advanced manufacturing hubs and workshops, robot arms like the Kuka let technicians create prototypes or artistic shapes with great precision. Operators are known as CNC machinists, an acronym that stands for Computer Numerical Control.

Do a quick search on job post site Indeed and you’ll find there are around 170 open jobs for CNC machinists or operators within an hour’s drive of Center City. Still, with total manufacturing jobs shrinking in the Philly area, will the trainees land the high-paying jobs needed to stem poverty?

DellaPorta said NextFab isn’t guaranteeing trainees a job at the end of the program; the makerspace says it will, however, work to connect participants with area manufacturers. Consultants and instructors will monitor participants’ progress to align with employer needs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual mean wage for a CNC machinist in the Philly area is among the highest in the country: $65,200, or around $31 an hour, which more than quadruples the current minimum wage.

LOCAL REPORTING PARTNERSHIP

Broke in Philly is a collaborative initiative among 19 local news organizations to provide in-depth, nuanced and solutions-oriented reporting on the issues of poverty and the push for economic justice in Philadelphia.

This effort is led by Resolve Philadelphia, a new hub for the city’s general interest, community and ethnic news organizations to produce collaborative solutions reporting and community engagement activities that address urgent social challenges.

Learn more at brokeinphilly.org.

UNCOVERED ISSUES

GETTING REAL ABOUT SCOTUS

By: Eric Hamell, One Step Away Vendor & Writer

I am constantly getting emails, these last few weeks, trying in various ways to get me to take action to try to stop the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. To grab more eyeballs, they often even cloak this objective in other language, like one subject header the other day that urged me to “Keep Donald Trump from Stopping Environmental Progress for Another Generation!”

This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder: are these people being disingenuous, or just ingenuous? The math isn’t hard to do. Even if Democrats take back both houses of Congress this fall, they won’t have the two-thirds majority in the Senate that they would need to remove Trump from office. And even if some unforeseen turn of events actually moved enough Republicans to vote that way, the impeachment of Mike Pence isn’t on the horizon. So, there is no prospect whatever that any progressives will like better than Kavanaugh being nominated prior to January 20, 2021. There are also reasons to suspect the scare-mongering is an exaggeration. For instance, prominent civil rights attorney Justin Robinette was quoted in the July 13-19 Philadelphia Gay News as saying:

a sense of urgency around this nomination is simply that it helps get people in the mood to donate money.

At the same time, it allows the Democratic base to feel politically engaged in a righteous and urgent effort, and that Democratic politicians are showing leadership. The function of this campaign, in other words, is basically sociological and is about maintaining in-group cohesion and enthusiasm.

That being said, you may ask, “But is there anything wrong with this?” I would answer yes, there is, because resources are finite, and while this sort of effort may be great for raising enthusiasm and funds for Democratic politicians, it diverts attention from the kind of efforts that could actually make a positive difference.

The perennial focus on the Supreme Court, especially in connection with the abortion issue, reflects a major long-term strategic error on the part of progressives.

Contrary to what many say, SCOTUS is not the “last line of defense” for civil rights and liberties. The hearts and minds of the American people are.

Although, in practice, many Justices have certainly shown their willingness to ignore the actual text of the Constitution in favor of their own ideological

“Kavanaugh worked as [Anthony] Kennedy’s clerk, and that may have a significant impact on how he handles cases he’s appointed. I think he could put a burden on abortion rights, but I don’t believe that he will be responsible for reversing precedents such as Roe v. Wade.” And Akhil Amar, described by The Stanford Review as a “liberal lion of the legal academy,” has written, “I propose that the Democrats offer the following compromise: Each Senate Democrat will pledge either to vote yes for Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation — or, if voting no, to first publicly name at least two clearly better candidates whom a Republican president might realistically have nominated instead (not an easy task).” — Justin Robinette, civil rights attorney quote from Philadelphia Gay News

Then there’s what Eleanor Smeal, founder of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said at a rally in 1990:

“I know that David Souter is the fifth vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.” (I heard it with my own ears.) He wasn’t, of course.

This being clearly the case, why all the emails? Some of those lower down in the liberal apparatus may actually have deluded notions about the possibilities of impeachment, but surely those at the top don’t. The motivation must be something else.

One clue is that so often these petitions and other calls to action, including ones from politicians, are accompanied by appeals for funds. My suspicion is that a big part of what motivates this attempt to whip up

preferences — both liberal and conservative — this comes with an ultimate cost. It has inevitably led to the politicizing of the appointment and confirmation process, with many voters being motivated to vote for federal candidates who pledge to reverse result-oriented decisions that they don’t like. And when this happens, the resulting decisions may actually veer further to the right than those that non-result-oriented justices would have made.

In the short term, of course, decisions like those typical of the Warren court looked like victories to progressives. Doubtless many individuals have benefited from them. But something negative happened at the same time, from which many averted their eyes: a backlash wherein the Right was able to wrap itself in populism and pose as the defenders of democracy against judicial tyranny.

I think this is actually one of the biggest reasons such an intense ideological polarization has developed in the United States in recent decades specifically around “culture war” issues, especially abortion. And it’s one of the major reasons so much of the population is “siloized” into groups who get different news and have different conceptions of the national reality. (Several years ago I heard a conservative co-worker say about liberals, “It’s like they’re living in a whole different world,” and of course that perception goes both ways.)

The end result of this process is that we not only have a President who feels impelled to promise his base that the next SCOTUS member will vote to overturn Roe — (although past experience shows that such things are never really predictable). We also have a large chunk of the electorate who think that this would be a good thing, and whom the Left has done next to nothing to persuade otherwise, because we were misled into thinking we can rely on the courts to protect liberal values, and that changing the minds of our fellow Americans was unimportant or impossible.

Well, the fact of the matter is that it has always been important, possible, and necessary, and if we’d been acting accordingly these past few decades, we probably wouldn’t have someone like Donald Trump in the White House. And, now that the overturn of Roe and other progressive decisions may be imminent, it’s urgent to start taking this task seriously.

How can this be done? It requires getting out of the rut, in which many activists are all too comfortable, of just doing more of whatever it is that we’ve been doing and assuming that that will suffice.

For many years it felt like I was talking to a brick wall when I tried to interest fellow activists in taking an evidence-based approach to what they were doing — their usual response was one of total incomprehension. It was only in 2010 that a book finally appeared to take up this task: Nick Cooney’s Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change. (There’s a hilarious passage near the beginning where he offers his version of what a letter to shareholders from Pepsico’s board of directors might look like if written with the same light-on-data approach typical of many nonprofits.) In addition, I would strongly recommend the foundational work in this field, Robert Cialdini’s Influence

For now, I’ll focus on one idea that seems particular apt given the role “siloization” has played in getting us to this impasse: we need to put a human face on the issues. Right now, for most Red State people, the face on the abortion issue is five unelected Supreme Court justices. What it must become instead is the millions of

women who are alive today and fulfilling their potentials because they were able to terminate their pregnancies. Just consider the difference “coming out” has made for the BGLT movement. As long as most people (thought they) didn’t know someone who was bisexual, gay, or transgender, it was easy for them to picture only stereotypes with which they didn’t feel empathy. As more and more people came to know friends, acquaintances, and family members weren’t straight and cisgender, they increasingly cared about how oppressive policies and practices affect their lives. They started communicating their concerns to lawmakers, corporate leaders, and others with power, amplifying the messages of BGLT people (especially since some, being closeted, didn’t feel safe communicating such concerns themselves), and policies started to change.

And, in this case, it regularly generates occasions for coming out to others as someone who chose abortion.

Another, somewhat less dramatic example: someone might choose to wear multiple bracelets, one for each of her children — including the one she aborted.

I recognize that some of these versions of coming out could attract protesters and, as a clinic escort at Planned Parenthood, I know that they can sometimes be unpleasant. I couldn’t blame any woman for thinking very carefully before doing something that could attract that sort of attention. Nonetheless I think it could really help the issue for some women to take that risk, and I personally pledge to support them in that choice in whatever way I can.

There’s one more aspect that needs to be addressed, which again has a parallel in the BGLT struggle. As

The same thing can happen for the abortion issue. Reproductive rights activists can start making a priority of encouraging women who’ve had abortions to “come out of the closet” by sharing their stories and explaining how important it is that they had this option.

This may necessarily depend more heavily on organized public events than it did for the BGLT movement, because fewer opportunities are afforded on a daily basis for mentioning an operation that’s in the past. Nonetheless, women may find ways of being creative here once they appreciate the value to society talking about it adds.

If marriage is an important life event, so is divorce, and increasingly we’re seeing people celebrate it. Similarly, if bringing a pregnancy to term is an event whose anniversary we observe, the termination of a pregnancy can be as well. The tone of such an observance would no doubt vary depending on the individual woman’s moral, philosophical, or religious outlook. Some might make it celebratory, while others choose a more somber observance treating the procedure as a necessary but unhappy choice. Indeed, even women who regret the choice that they made — but not the fact that it was their choice — could hold observances and invite their friends to participate.

This, too, would help humanize the issue and replace stereotypes with real people.

anti-BGLT politics grew in importance, many of its practitioners turned out to be people who were privately part of the gay community. And, not without controversy, some activists decided that such politicians’ hypocrisy negated their claim to privacy. I agree with that view, since after all the only reason someone’s sexual orientation, attested by their interactions with large numbers of people (including in public places such as clubs), has been considered a “private” matter is the stigma attached to it. A general rule against outing people without their consent is justified by the consideration that doing so makes life harder for people whose lives are already harder because of prejudice and discrimination. But if the person protected by this rule is actually helping perpetuate, or even worsen, the prejudice and discrimination suffered by others, that negates the whole rationale for considering the rule to apply to that person.

This isn’t just about punishing such people or deterring them from their activism. It’s actually much more important than that — because it’s an interesting fact that almost every anti-BGLT politician who’s been outed in this way, rapidly switched to being pro-BGLTrights. It appears in retrospect that their bigoted stance was simply a screen to deflect any suspicion about their orientation — a hypocritical adaptation to social pressure. Once this strategy was rendered impossible by forced outing, they had no reason to stick to their antiBGLT position, and promptly abandoned it. Similarly, many of those involved in abortionprohibitionist activism or politics have had abortions themselves or have helped loved ones obtain one. This is normally considered a private matter, but if someone is publicly campaigning against choice when they’ve personally exercised that same choice, it’s reasonable to argue that their hypocrisy is something the public has a right to know about.

There will probably be fewer opportunities to engage in such outings, since typically only a few people may know that someone had an abortion. Those who were involved in performing it, of course, are bound by federal law to keep it confidential. And others “in the know” will usually be people close to the hypocrite — meaning that they are likely both to share her antichoice politics and, even if they don’t, to be unwilling to embarrass her. Nonetheless every effort should be made to encourage such outing. If publicity is given to historical examples, it may induce some people to come forward with fresh ones.

About the Author: Eric originally wrote this piece for his blog, but also wanted to share it in One Step Away Below is a picture of him with other Green Party members at a demonstration. He is the one in the Planned Parenthood t-shirt.

A few years ago, I overheard someone describing how a woman she knew always set a place at her table for her child that she’d aborted. The person on whom I was eavesdropping called this “sick,” but I strongly disagree. How someone deals with an often-painful decision like this depends on that individual’s needs. Acknowledging the regret, one may feel about something one had to do, in whatever form that may take, is in fact much healthier than trying to pretend to oneself that it wasn’t a big deal.

“QUOTABLE QUOTATIONS”

WITH ZACHARY CALDWELL

COMMUNITY SUBMISSIONS

DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE

By Bryant E. Culpepper

United States Army officer & a Union General in the American Civil War

“Those

know, do not speak.

who speak, do not know.”

Chinese Philosopher, from the Tao-Te-Ching

“Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly.

Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren’t going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.”

Dr. Martin Luther Kind, Jr.

United States Civil Rights Leader, passage from his final speech in Memphis, TN, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, on April 3, 1968

As I sat out on the verandah, my mind had taken me onto a pondered thought. The thought was of mankind. Yes, the both sides of our human nature. The good, and what some might see as the bad…Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde. All throughout the day I become sort of a transparent type. Our spirits are filled with joy and the goodness that comes along with it. Constantly we think of ways we can be good to the presence of society. We want to share what has been given to us. Our thoughts are always the good that comes out of other folks. If one says half, I say full. If another says dark, I think of light. It’s such a good feeling to give others accolades they so much enjoy and deserve. Yes, Dr. Jekyll is on the prowl. Looking to uplift another when all to them seems down. I want to heal hurts, open closed doors, turn frowns into smiles. Dr. Jekyll I am. I am he that makes the best of me. My smile is your smile. My mile is yours that I walk all to allow you to rest from a day that has beaten you down. A day that has grasp hold of your goodness, only to make you cry. Ah, I am the Jekyll of your eye. I am here. Touch me, feel me, hold me for comfort. I am the Jekyll that silenced the heckle from an opposing society. I am the good that was made from good himself. Oh, but lo and behold, Mr. Hyde is now on the scene. The sun has set. The transparency has fallen asleep. The pupils of life have now awakened and open wide. Yes, wide for Hyde to cruise tides of the night. The red-light district has opened for business. Miniskirts and torn shirts to magnify all types of hurts.

JUST HAD TO GET RIGHT

By Brian Belcher ·

To struggle on a daily basis has me always with a feeling. Just like when I was younger.

On a day when business was slow and I was dealing. Out there hungry as ever doing things, I said I would never. I knew, I just had to get right!

Then another note to take. No break to stop the flow be wishing and dreaming. To be on top getting this cake, I’m pushing to the limit. The max with extreme thoughts of. All, I would do with a strong team. Just had to get right! Know that this is all it would take. To stand up for everybody in my circle and put up a strong fight!

Walid Jumblatt

Leader of the Lebanese Druze, quoted in the London Sunday Times December 29, 1985, speaking of the events in Lenanon in the wake of the Israeli army’s withdrawal

Hey, do you have a dime for the pocket of mine to lure you into deceiving good times. My hat’s pulled low to cover red-shot eyes that houses many lies and false prizes. Don’t sleep because Mr. Hyde is on the creep, hunched over limping on one side to crutch Hyde’s bad side, all to stand in deception. I don’t understand the bad that I do. Don’t want to do it, but wickedness takes control of the flesh that lands many into lots of mess. Mr. Hyde has stepped up on the stages of life only to cause much strife. Tell you that it’s half empty instead of half full. He’ll tell you that it’s dark and never light. Yes, deception is his title. Oh, wicked man that I am. I touched what was hot, and I knew it. But my Hyde instincts tells me that it’s o.k. To you in the darkened lights of night, I look tempting and tasty. Come, take a bite of my forbidden fruits. Come walk on the wild side. Allow me to make you cry. I love your tears of heartaches and pain. I love to see you captured in cages of confinement. Allow me to swallow the keys of your captivity. Allow me to love you falsely and never be true. Lift down your head, let me bound your arms never to free you from incarceration. I’ve got you captured. I am the guard that won’t ever let you go. Lay on my bed of loneliness. My darkness will cover your light. My cup is prepared to capture your sadden tears overflowed. My hammer is stretched far back, allowing my triggers of darkness to ignite and pow!!! Blow your mind of innocence into confusion…Mr. Hyde is still on the prowl, seeking to devour and destroy all that stands in its way. But wait!!! My Jekyll and my Hyde is all one created by HE, the great I AM. The HE that created, has given choice to us all. His most expressed created. And that creation was man. Good versus evil…we all have the choice…

For me to see later down the line what things could be like. Through all in all, and for all! I just had to get right. Do the best that I can to run a tight ship. To stay afloat even on this struggle daily. When I’m feeling broken thinking just maybe. Mentally all shook up with hope. That by the end of the day, I’d get the whole hook up to cope. Just had to get right!

I will come to you soon out of the dark to shed this light. No need to go fishing in a river that has no fish to bite. A waste of time no matter the bait you deliver. When it gets late you’ll shiver with no food for the fire. Then hurt with hunger!

just to sit and chat about the things of your desire. When will the bad turn to the good then come to an end? Let it out!

Then know that everything will be alright. When things pull together you’ll then see. That in all through the process of things. You just had to get right!

Iman Ali

Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam

Gary Gilmore

Condemned criminal’s last words before he was executed by a firing squad in 1977

ZACHARY CALDWELL

Zachary is a One Step Away vendor and writer. He studied history at Temple University, which informs much of his writing.

UPDATE

· By William Powell

Hello and how are you and to all my supporters this is William. So, what has been happening how do you like that heat out there it is out of this world. Things look like they are coming along just well, and I am confident, I can’t wait until this thing with my apartment is solved. I just keep on putting this thing together and it is coming along little by little. It is like a mystery, you see how it all began and you try and guess the ending. Just a little bit more and I will see you in a few.

I SHOT THE DEVIL

· By Bryant E. Culpepper ·

I shot the devil, but I did not shoot the deputy. He tried to destroy me, and truly get the best of me. But only with the help of God, did I take down this foe. To allow His light to shine in me and pick me up from below. The sting of death is no more, on eagles’ wings I soar. I gaze above the heavens, as I ascended from the floor. Only to spread the love of my savior to all those around. To let more light shine in them, as they ascend from the ground.

So, go on live life and be free, be all that you can. A new life has been born of shedding that age-old man. So, I did shoot the devil, crushed his head with my heel. And the love of God inside of me is all the love I feel.

WILLIAM POWELL

William is a One Step Away vendor. He likes to share his monthly updates with his readers.

“If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.”

General Philip Henry Sheridan

who

Those

Lao Tzu

“Here, even the law of the jungle has broken down.”

“If one saves one man’s life, it is if he had saved the whole world.”

“Let’s do it.”

HALLOWEEN

By Keith Barbour ·

HALLOWEEN —

Goblins and ghosts will be your host, with witches with teeth that’s brown like toast, that wants to cook your head like it was a roast, so monsters will come out from coast to coast.

HALLOWEEN

—

Is a creepy scene, spiders crawling through skulls of slime that turned green, witches with black pointy hats, and black eyes like cats, fly around on their brooms, followed by bats, in the mist of the night, when the moon is full and bright, zombies walks the earth, while Dracula is being re-birthed, coming back to life, looking for a wife, so she can cut your heart out with a knife, you can find ghouls in the pools, and zombies in the shed sharpening some tools.

HALLOWEEN —

Screeches and cries, and howls and screams, all will awaken you out of your dreams, it’s the season of Fall, when HALLOWEEN comes around and makes your skin crawl, eye-of-newt in your soup, finger food from a corpse that’s nude, and a brain from a maniac that was rude, HALLOWEEN dude, yeah.

Keith is a poet and a regular One Step Away contributor. His poetry draws from the good times and the struggles.

OUR FEATURED POETS & WRITERS

Did you solve last month’s puzzles?

BRYANT CULPEPPER Bryant is a poet an author whose work examines his own journey with homelessness, and the state of the world around him.

KEITH BARBOUR