YOUR VENDOR IS PHILADELPHIA’S STREET PAPER CREATING JOBS; ADVOCATING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE WWW.OSAPHILLY.ORG NOVEMBER 2018 $ 1 THE NEW FARMER DO YOU FOODWHEREKNOWYOURCOMESFROM? FOODGENE-EDITED
WHAT YOU MEAN TO US AT ONE STEP AWAY!
Your support, and the community you build with us, keeps us going when things get tough. You help us get back up after we have fallen down — and you continue to support us as we get back onto our feet. Thank You. Thank you for welcoming us into your life and your community. We are eternally grateful for your hand-up, and not just a hand out. You help us feel part of the Philly community — a member of the Philly family. You have helped us get back on our feet as One Step Away vendors — encouraging the more than 3,000 people who have worked to change their lives since we started in 2009. Thanks to you, every month 60 vendors can work their way out of homelessness and poverty. And because of your support, One Step Away can remain an open opportunity for anyone in need. We believe that no one should have to beg for money to survive, and this past year 416 people came to One Step Away for a second chance.
“Thanksgiving means to come together with family. I’m going to be in Florida with my family this year.”
Your continued support of One Step Away provided training for 127 new vendors, who said their top three barriers to housing were: income, money, and a job. When you support One Step Away, you create jobs for individuals in need. You create an opportunity for people to earn a meaningful and dignified income, reducing panhandling across the city. Your connections help us overcome social isolation and the social stigmas related to homelessness. Even more, your friendships help build up our self-esteem and confidence. You help us take that next step in life. You create a community for us as we work to overcome homelessness and show us that people do care — that you care.
Help us continue to take the next step by supporting One Step Away today. Together, we can create opportunities for people to make positive changes in their lives and in our community. Will you join us?
WHAT DOES THANKSGIVING MEAN TO YOU? WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS? VENDOR VOICES
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“To me, Thanksgiving means loving, caring, festive, fun. This Thanksgiving will be a process for me. Waking up in the morning to get started is a process for me. ‘Where do I go for Thanksgiving?’ Because most of my family is out of the Philadelphia area, traveling is out of the agenda. So I am just trying to have a good day, where ever I can go to eat at, and have a nice holiday.”
Roger Bowman “Thanksgiving means turkeys, and turkey meals. Gratitude: helping people that are in need, people that need help — people who are disadvantaged. For Thanksgiving I’ll probably go to one of the churches that give a Thanksgiving meal.”
Zachary Caldwell
Invest in One Step Away and together we can create jobs, advocate for individuals experiencing homelessness, and build community. We have set a goal to raise $60,000 by our birthday on December 15! Join us as an investor for our 9th year and we can help more people be one step away To donate online, meet your vendors, and connect with us, visit osaphilly.org
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“Thanksgiving to me is watching football usually, just watching sports.”
As I write this letter fall is officially upon us. The leaves are changing, the air is crisp, and the Eagles are at it again. (Here at One Step Away we always believe in the underdog, and the idea that anyone can succeed.) Many of us are thinking about our Thanksgiving plans, and taking a moment to reflect, give thanks, and spend time with those we love. The holidays always have a way of bringing people together. They remind us to be thankful for what we have — food, warmth, comfort, family, love. And for many of us at One Step Away we are grateful for you , because you are our family . Thank you for comforting us, sharing your love with us, and helping us meet our basic needs of food and warmth. You help us feel at home, even when we don’t have a place to call “home.”
Bernard Russell “For Thanksgiving my family usually does something. It will be our first Thanksgiving since my sister passed away, so that will be different. This year I am going to two family dinners.”
Sylvia Williams
Lorenzo Chalmers HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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OUR AFFILIATIONS MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TODAY! ONLINE: OSAPHILLY.ORG MAIL: ONE STEP AWAY, P.O. BOX 63703, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19147 $100 $250$150 $500 $$50 I WANT TO BECOME A MONTHLY INVESTOR. One Step Away is a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) helping 27,000 vendors earn an income each year: www.insp.ngo. We are a program of Resources for Human Development Inc. (RHD), a national human services nonprofit: www.rhd.org. 1 INCOME 2 COMMUNITY 3 ADVOCACYWORKWEHOW 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.
AND
FIGHT“FRANKEN-FOOD”NEXTIGNITESTART-UPSGENE-EDITINGTHE
In a suburban Minneapolis laboratory, a tiny company that has never turned a profit is poised to beat the world’s biggest agriculture firms to market with the next potential breakthrough in genetic engineering — a crop with “edited” DNA.
By Rod Nickel, Courtesy of INSP.ngo scientist holds a genetically modified (GM) rapeseed crop under trial in New Delhi February 13, 2015. Picture taken February 13, 2015. To match Insight INDIA-GMO/. Mukherjee
Calyxt Inc, an eight-year-old firm co-founded by a genetics professor, altered the genes of a soybean plant to produce healthier oil using the cutting-edge editing technique rather than conventional genetic modification.Seventy-eight farmers planted those soybeans this spring across 17,000 acres in South Dakota and Minnesota, a crop expected to be the first geneedited crop to sell commercially, beating out Fortune 500Seedcompanies.development giants such as Monsanto, Syngenta AG, and DowDuPont Inc. have dominated genetically modified crop technology that emerged in the 1990s. But they face a wider field of competition from start-ups and other smaller competitors because gene-edited crops have drastically lower development costs and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has decided not to regulate them. Relatively unknown firms including Calyxt, Cibus, and Benson Hill Biosystems are already advancing their own gene-edited projects in a race against Big Agriculture for dominance of the potentially transformational technology.
GENE-EDITING
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Gene-editing technology involves targeting specific genes in a single organism and disrupting those linked to undesirable characteristics or altering them to make a positive change. Traditional genetic modification, by contrast, involves transferring a gene from one kind of organism to another, a process that still does not have full consumer acceptance.
The USDA has fielded 23 inquiries about whether gene-edited crops need regulation and decided that none meet its criteria for oversight. That saves their developers years of time and untold amounts of money compared to traditional genetically modified crops. Of those 23 organisms, just three were being developed by major agriculture firms. The newly competitive landscape could foster more partnerships and licensing deals between big and small firms, along with universities or other public research institutions, said Monsanto spokeswoman Camille Lynne Scott. Monsanto — which was recently acquired by Bayer AG — invested $100 million in start-up Pairwise Plants this year to accelerate development of gene-edited plants.
North Carolina-based Benson Hill, founded in 2012 and named after two scientists, mainly licenses crop technology to other companies. But it decided to produce its own higher-yielding corn plant
REUTERS/Anindito
BEATING BIG AGRICULTURE
Gene-editing could mean bigger harvests of crops with a wide array of desirable traits — better-tasting tomatoes, low-gluten wheat, apples that don’t turn brown, drought-resistant soybeans, or potatoes better suited for cold storage. The advances could also double the $15 billion global biotechnology seed market within a decade, said analyst Nick Anderson of investment bank Berenberg.
AnPhoto:Indian
“It’s a very exciting time for such a young company,” said Calyxt CEO Federico Tripodi, who oversees 45 people. “The fact a company so small and nimble can accomplish those things has picked up interest in the industry.”
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue blasted the ruling for enacting unnecessary barriers to innovation and stigmatizing gene-editing technology by subjecting it to the EU’s “regressive and outdated” regulations governing genetically modified crops.
A gene-edited crop may take five years to move from development to commercialization in the United States, compared with a genetically modified crop that could take 12 years, said Dan Dyer, head of seeds development at Syngenta.
The firm is working on better-tasting tomatoes that take longer to spoil and hopes to launch a gene-edited crop in the mid-2020s, said Jeff Rowe, Syngenta’s president of global seeds.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, plans to regulate gene-editing in both plants and animals, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote in a June blog post. The agency is developing an “innovative and nimble” approach to regulating gene-editing, he wrote, that will aim to ensure its safety for both humans and animals while allowing companies to bring beneficial products to market.
Supporters of gene-editing say it allows a higher level of precision than traditional modification.
The USDA also has no current plans to regulate gene-editing in animal products, according to a document provided by the agency.
OSAphilly.org ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● One Step Away 5 because of the low development costs, said Chief Executive Matt Crisp. Calyxt plans to sell the oil from its gene-edited soybeans to food companies and has a dozen more gene-edited crops in the pipeline, including highfiber wheat and potatoes that stay fresh longer.
That kind of opposition is why agribusiness giant Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] is pursuing gene-edited technology with caution, said Randal Giroux, the firm’s vice-president of food safety, quality and regulatory affairs. Cargill announced in February that it would collaborate with Precision BioSciences to develop healthier canola oil, but is proceeding slowly on agreements to store and transport other companies’ gene-edited crops pending clarity from regulators, Giroux said.
SECRET FIELD TESTING Other major agriculture biotech firms are moving more aggressively, hoping to take advantage of lighter regulation to speed development.
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DowDuPont — at a secret location in the U.S. Midwest — is field-testing waxy corn, a variety grown for industrial purposes that has been edited for higher yields. The company plans a commercial launch next spring. Smaller firms will be nipping at the heels of these massive companies in the race to bring the next generation of genetically engineered foods to market, said Robert Wager, a biology faculty member at Vancouver Island University.
Although there has been no widespread consumer resistance to gene-editing, activists who have long opposed genetically modified crops remain suspicious of any sort of tinkering with DNA. The new technique raises risks of creating undesired changes in the food supply and warrants increased regulation, said Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.
“The lack of USDA-regulated status is a huge game-changer,” he said, “for universities and small startups to enter the market.”
With CRISPR, one popular type of gene-editing technology used by Syngenta, scientists transfer an RNA molecule and an enzyme into a crop cell. When the RNA encounters a targeted strand of DNA inside the cell, it binds to it and the enzyme creates a break in the cell’s DNA. Then, the cell repairs the broken DNA in ways that disrupt or improve the gene. Biotech firms hope the technology can avoid the “Frankenfood” label that critics have pinned on traditional genetically modified crops. But acceptance by regulators and the public globally remains uncertain.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) ruled on July 25 that gene-editing techniques are subject to regulations governing genetically modified crops. The ruling will limit gene-editing in Europe to research and make it illegal to grow commercial crops. The German chemical industry association called the decision “hostile to progress.”
Developing and marketing a traditional genetically modified crop might easily cost $150 million, which only a few large companies can afford, Crisp said. With gene-editing, that cost might fall as much as 90 percent, he said. “We’re seeing a huge number of organizations interested in gene-editing,” Crisp said, referring to traditional crop-breeding companies, along with technology firms and food companies. “That speaks to the power of the technology and how we’re at a pivotal point in time to modernize the food system.”
“We really do want to see gene-editing evolve in the marketplace,” Giroux said. “We’re watching to see how consumers adopt these products and react to these products.”
Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo
The USDA, by contrast, chose not to regulate geneedited crops because the process typically introduces characteristics that are “indistinguishable” from those created through traditional plant breeding, which take much longer, USDA Secretary Perdue said in a March statement.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the SNAP program is the idea of fraud or people cheating the system — an occurrence that is less than five percent of the USDA’s $70 billion budget in 2015. This nonexistent problem is exacerbated by the social stigmas perpetuated by the media’s portrayal of cheating the system, which fuels partisan resistance to the SNAP program, threatening the entire system.OnSeptember 30, 2018 the Agriculture Act of 2014 expired, with no new Farm Bill. Every five years
People can experience food insecurity due to a lack of money, resources, or access to food. In 2017, the USDA reports that 15 million US households were food insecure — affecting 40 million people, and 6.5 million children. One of the programs designed to respond to the food crisis in America is SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Based on their October 2018 report, 40 million persons and 20 million households receive SNAP benefits. Close to 70 percent of SNAP participants are families with children, while a third are seniors or people with disabilities. Monthly, SNAP provides an average of $125 per person and $252 per household in benefits.
Most importantly, knowing how you will pay for your next meal helps families and individuals not have to sacrifice food for other living expenses. Giving people the freedom from choosing between rent and food reduces poverty. In 2016, 3.6 million people — including 1.5 million children — were lifted above the poverty line because of their SNAP benefits.
According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), SNAP helps reduce hunger and food insecurity, bolster local economies, improve dietary intake, and lift millions of people out of poverty. FRAC’s December 2017 study states, “SNAP serves as the first line of the nation’s public policy defense against hunger and undernutrition as well as an effective anti-poverty initiative. This invaluable program has a critical role, not just in reducing food insecurity, but in improving the health of the nation, especially among the most vulnerable Americans.”
15 MILLION US HOUSEHOLDS ARE FOOD INSECURE
According to Feeding America, hunger is a feeling that anyone, and everyone, experiences at a point, and differs from person to person. For this reason, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) adapted the term “food insecure” to describe a person or household who does not have enough food or is unable to acquire enough food to meet their needs. These needs differ between each household but is dependent on the amount of mouths who need to be feed. Simply put: is there enough food for the amount of people in the house — and is that food safe and nutritious?
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1 IN 8 PENNSYLVANIANS ARE FOOD INSECURE
As the battle for SNAP funding continues urge your Congress Members to protect our nation’s neediest families by investing in the SNAP program. But most importantly, do not buy in to the misconceptions and myths about people cheating the system. As a society, we should not favor short-term budget cuts that will lead to long-term expenses, both as a country and for individuals’ health, well-being, and stability. Don’t make people choose between food or bills because keeping people in poverty hurts us all.
THE FUTURE OF SNAP — AND MILLIONS OF AMERICANS FRAC researchers estimate that half of all American children will receive SNAP benefits at some point during childhood, and half of all adults will access SNAP between the ages of 20 and 65. Despite this research, the USDA concludes that at any given time, 1 in 6 people eligible for SNAP do not participate in the program. Older adults are less likely to participate in the program, citing a variety of reasons, including barriers to mobility and technology, or social stigmas related to how SNAP works and who can qualify.
The same report states seniors receiving SNAP benefits have better health, use less acute and long-term care, and cost less in Medicaid and Medicare compared with seniors not on SNAP.
SNAP recipients vary based on geographic location and income level. In Pennsylvania, 1.8 million people receive SNAP benefits — each household member receives $121 per month, or $1.32 per person per meal. Of the 1.8 million Pennsylvanians receiving SNAP benefits more than 63 percent of participants are families with children, and 42 percent are households with an older adult or individual with disabilities.BasedonPennsylvania’s
BENEFITS OF SNAP SNAP improves the health and well-being of low-income Americans. The program reduces food insecurity, improves dietary intake, protects against obesity, and supports economic stability and academic outcomes according to FRAC.
Currently the final 2018 Farm Bill is stalled as negotiators from the Senate and House try to reach an agreement. With the expiration of the 2014 Farm Bill, 39 programs were “orphaned” losing authorization and mandatory funding on October 1. The Congressional Research Service identified these orphaned programs which ranged from aid to military veterans entering farming, trade promotions, and small rural businesses.
FOOD INSECURITY IN AMERICA Photos: Map from Feeding America 2016
Congress must reauthorize the Farm Bill which includes provisions related to agriculture, conservation, and food, including SNAP under the USDA’s domain. In the US House of Representatives the Farm Bill narrowly passed which includes more than $20 billion in SNAP benefit cuts over 10 years and imposes harsher work requirements for recipients. Conversely, the Senate passed a bill that maintains SNAP’s current benefit levels while reducing barriers to enrollment, strengthening employment opportunities for beneficiaries, and improving quality and integrity in the program’s operations.
Department of Human Services February 2018 report, compared to their peers, youth who receive SNAP benefits have increased high school graduation rates, and better adulthood earnings and health.
Photo: People stand in line for the food aid given by UN’s World Food Programme in Raqqa, Syria April 26, 2018. REUTERS/Aboud Hamam
Among the countries surveyed for the study, Peru tops the list with the most affordable plate at the NY equivalent of $3.44, just 1.6 percent of per capita income, vs. what that same plate would cost in New York, amounting to 0.6 percent of per capita income.
The index looks at whether food costs for the original 33 countries analyzed in 2017 have risen or fallen. Then compares costs for the same meal in some of the world’s poorest places with one of its richest, using the New York baseline to highlight vast gaps in global food affordability.Inmanycountries, it was found that food affordability measured in this way has actually improved since 2017. This is situational, thanks to strong economic growth, political stability, and/or a better rainy season — or in the case of southern Africa — humanitarian assistance helping to offset the effects of severe drought. Though despite such progress made in many countries through the past year, food costs are often still intensely disproportionate in relation to income. This is the case across much of Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and, to a lesser degree, of Latin America.
However, the impact of WFP and other humanitarian actors in saving and changing lives cannot be sustained without political investment, good governance, transparent markets, and wider partnerships. Societies cannot lift themselves out of the poverty trap if families are continuously priced out of providing their children with the nutritional meals essential for them to develop into healthy and productive adults. As climate degradation continues to threaten food security and development gains, and if protracted conflicts continue to destroy societies, it will force young talent elsewhere.
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With a concerted global effort, the international community can achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals and end hunger and malnutrition.
It now costs twice the national daily income to buy a plate of food in South Sudan. Northeast Nigeria took second to last place, at $222.05, or 128.6 percent of daily income in 2018, up from $200.32, or 121 percent of daily income in 2016.
The fact that this still occurs defies both reason and decency, and it’s why we — the World Food Programme and other humanitarian partners — are there.
In the rich Global North — say, in New York State, USA — such a meal would cost almost nothing to make: 0.6 percent of the average daily income, or $1.20.
How much would you expect to pay for the most basic plate of food? The kind of thing you might whip up at home — nothing fancy, just enough to fill you up and meet a third of today’s calorie needs. A soup, maybe, or a simple stew — some beans or lentils, a handful of rice, bread, or corn?
The private sector must embrace that turning a profit can go hand-in-hand with advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through employing young people to boost incomes, sourcing from smallholder farms, and through working alongside leaders to strengthen supply chains.
The shocking and outraging numbers in this year’s Counting the Beans index highlight that peaceful societies and affordable food go hand-in-hand. We have the modern technological capacities to end world hunger, but first we must end the conflict that fosters it.
Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo
While Laos and Jordan are close runners-up to Peru, other countries have deteriorated. Almost invariably, these are nations where peace has been (further) eroded by violence, insecurity or political tension, including South Sudan — where the cost of a plate of food has soared from the exorbitant 155 percent of daily income in 2016 ($321.70) to 201.7 percent of daily income in 2018 ($348.36).
THE COST OF A PLATE OF FOOD AROUND THE WORLD
In parts of the developing world, by contrast, food affordability can shrink to the point of absurdity: in South Sudan, a country born out of war and disintegrating into more war, the meal-to-income ratio is 300 times that of industrialized countries. It is, in other words, as if a New Yorker had to pay nearly $348.36 for the privilege of cooking and eating that plate of food. How do people in South Sudan afford it? It’s simple. They don’t. This is not a unique issue to South Sudan. Across the board, food is becoming ever less affordable in poorer countries that are subject to political instabilities. Lack of access to food, and the costliness of it, has many causes: climate extremes, natural disasters, post-harvest losses, or bad governance, all of which can damage — or even shatter — farming supply chains and markets. But, one overriding cause stands out: conflict. At the World Food Programme (WFP), we’ve long known that hunger and war are tragically symbiotic. Which makes it that much harder to eradicate the one without ending theTheother.2018 edition of WFP’s Counting the Beans: The True Cost of a Plate of Food Around the World index, now spanning 52 countries, underscores this clear correlation between food affordability costs and political stability and security.
Courtesy of Inter Press Service / INSP.ngo
These abysmal numbers highlight the vast gaps in global food affordability, where 821 million people go hungry while elsewhere one can get a simple nutritious meal with just a handful of change.
Governments must engage with and support their developing country counterparts in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and disaster risk reduction.
Together, we can work towards reversing the figures in this year’s index, and ensure that in the future, nobody will have to work a day and a half to afford a simple meal.
By Herve Verhoosel, Senior Spokesperson at the UN World Food Programme.
VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT
Crystal remembers a poll worker handing her a provisional ballot.“(I was told) if you’re at the right location, it’ll count,” Crystal said. “If you’re not, it won’t count. I said, ‘OK let’s do it then because I know this is where I stay.’”Before we get too far, there are some things you should know about Crystal. She is a mother, grandmother, and a felon, whose vote under supervised release — it’s similar to parole — is sparking discussions about voter suppression around the world. While voting, Crystal focused on copying her driver’s license information onto the ballot, but didn’t read the fine print along the top of the form. You could call Crystal careless, but how often do any of us read the fine print?
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The oversight would prove to be a life-changing mistake. Crystal left the polls thinking everything was normal. And for a bit, it was.
So, just how did Crystal become the poster child for voter disenfranchisement? And why was her vote a criminal act?
According to The Sentencing Project, an estimated 6.1 million Americans have lost their ability to vote because of disenfranchisement laws, and, well, those conditions can be confusing. Depending on what state you live in, you could retain the right to vote while in prison or be banned from the polls permanently. In Texas — like Oklahoma and 29 other states — individuals under any kind of criminal justice supervision (parole, probation or supervised release) are unable to vote. A felon can vote in Texas — and Oklahoma — but not until all supervision or parole hasThexpired.eSentencing Project also reports that 2.2 million black US citizens are banned from voting, and felony disenfranchisement policies overwhelmingly impact minority communities. Black Americans of voting age, like Crystal Mason, are more than four times more likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population, with one of every 13 black adults disenfranchised nationally.
“I got a job within three days. I went to work, school and church,” she said. “You know, what I was supposed to do.”
Crystal unknowingly joined the 500,000 Texans barred from voting due to a felony conviction 6.1 Million Americans can’t vote because of Disenfranchisement Laws 2.2 Million Black US Citizens are frombannedvoting
“I can’t even say it’s an honest mistake because I didn’t know it was a mistake,” Crystal said. “When you get out, all the people tell you not to be around guns or drugs. They failed to tell me, ‘Hey, you can’t vote.’”
Despite taking numerous re-entry classes, Crystal claims that no one covered voting rights. Her supervised release officer testified that to the best of her knowledge, Crystal had never been made aware that she was ineligible to vote. In fact, the probation supervising officer — who oversees supervised release, probation and parole programs — testified that despite being responsible with helping rehabilitate felons, voting rights are in no way part of the supervised release program.
ILLEGALLY VOTING
V. CRYSTAL MASON
Crystal had unknowingly joined 500,000 other Texans barred from voting due to a felony conviction.
By: Nathan Poppe and Whitley O’Connor
Voting has more power than you’d think.
All this for voting.
On August 30, Crystal sat in Burnett Park across the street from the Eldon B. Mahon United States Courthouse. She was sharing her story with a national news outlet. When the interview ended, she greeted us warmly and offered a quick hug. As we walked across the street she looked at us and said, “I hope to walk out of those doors with you guys today.”Shedid, but not how she had wanted. Whatever excitement you’ve enjoyed from TV legal dramas shrivels in an actual federal courtroom. It’s quiet, sterile, and church-like. No
THE FINE PRINT When The Curbside Chronicle met up with Crystal, 43, last month in Dallas, she was just one night away from her federal sentencing hearing. She faced up to five-years in federal prison, made all the more grim by the prison sentence she’d already received after losing her state case in March. Crystal is currently appealing the state’s decision, but if her appeal fails, Crystal will have to serve an additional five years in prison on top of a federal sentence.
A few months after the election, a police officer approached Crystal after a short-notice supervised release meeting and told her to put her hands behind her back. Crystal wanted to know why. For illegally voting. “I’m like, ‘No ma’am. I used my ID.’ I used everything I was supposed to,” she said. “It’s gotta be a mistake.”
So, does the fine print outweigh Crystal’s attempt at rehabilitation after leaving prison?
HER DAY IN COURT
On that provisional ballot, the fine print reads: “I am a resident of this political subdivision, have not been finally convicted of a felony or if a felon, I have completed all of my punishment including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned.”Backin2012, tax fraud charges landed Crystal behind bars. After her release in early 2016, she quickly found a job with the Texas Department of Transportation, started taking night classes to become an aesthetician and slowly began rebuilding a life with her family.
Crystal Mason will never forget the ballot she cast in the 2016 presidential election. But the Texan shouldn’t have been anywhere near a polling station, even though she was hearing different.
“My mom was like, ‘Go vote. Go vote. Go vote,’” she said. Her mother’s persistence on that November morning weighed heavy. So, after work, Crystal parked at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Tarrant County and got in line to vote at the Fort Worth poll. But her name wasn’t on the roster. That can happen for a number of reasons, including an extended absence from voting or being at the wrong polling station. But she was confident she was in the right place. It’s where she’d voted in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. Her mom had voted there earlier that day, too.
As the federal hearing drew to a close, Crystal made a compelling, although nontraditional, argument for why her most recent charge of felony illegal voting simply didn’t make sense.
So, we’re left to wonder: Given Karl’s testimony that he didn’t know Crystal was a felon under the State’s supervision and couldn’t vote, what exactly led him to call the DA? Every provisional ballot is subject to review, but did someone or something influence his call? It’s unclear, even in testimony.
This discrepancy cast a large shadow of doubt over Crystal’s case. Who do you believe, the veteran or the felon?
Crystal’s legal team attempted a two-part strategy: 1. Illustrate how Crystal was unclear about the terms of supervised release. 2. Beg the question, is casting a provisional ballot truly voting? Judge McBryde refuted both arguments. He said he outlined Crystal’s punishment years ago and instructed Crystal in her initial sentencing for the tax fraud case that by pleading guilty, she “may lose some of her civil rights, including her right to vote.” But “may” isn’t certain and no one ever discussed voting rights in any of Crystal’s re-entry classes or supervised release meetings. As for the ballot — although it was never tallied in the 2016 election — it counted as an act of voting. The judge spent much of the hearing focusing on Crystal’s past. Her tax fraud case wasn’t a small matter to the federal government. She’d prepared hundreds of falsified income tax returns — totaling $4.2 million — for her clients. As restitution, Crystal is expected to pay the amount back in $500 monthly increments. That’s just shy of 165 years of payments. In addition, Crystal was deemed indigent — too poor to make said payments — but given no relief or reductions to the amount owed. “That offense combined with other criminal conduct is in itself disturbing,” McBryde told the courtroom.
“In this case a two-year sentence is available,” McBryde said. “I will ... sentence her to 10 months imprisonment and 26 months supervised release.”
Strangely enough, the neighbors were away from home during much of the same time period. While Crystal transitioned between prison and a halfway house, Karl was overseas serving a two-year tour in Afghanistan. This overlap in absences could account for the disconnect.
There’s a moment that sticks out to us in regards to Crystal’s State case. It involves a man named Karl Dietrich, who was the election judge at Tabernacle Baptist Church. He was the State’s key witness in Crystal’s trial. Karl has spent five years on active duty in the Navy and another 25 in the Navy Reserves. Oh, and there’s one more thing you should know about Karl — he lives across the street from Crystal. Defense attorney Justin Moore, said Karl called the District Attorney’s office after Crystal left the poll. Karl also said so on the witness stand, recalling that he had originally left a message at the DA’s office before receiving a return call. He testified to reporting Crystal’s illegal vote. Court records show Karl recalled walking his neighbor through the provisional ballot, and that Crystal spent time reading over the ballot.
For her part, Crystal said she has zero memory of interacting with him on Election Day. However, she does remember Karl welcoming her back from prison and noticing the improvements she’d made to her house.
UNBROKEN SPIRIT
After the hearing ended, you could see Crystal trying to hold back her tears. She started toward the exit, following a procession down a staircase. It halted. Crystal broke down. Her sobs echoed throughout the halls.
“When you get out, all the people tell you not to be around guns or drugs. They failed to tell me, ‘Hey, you can’t vote.’” phones. No cameras. No nonsense. Just a lot of listening and chattering as everyone tries to comprehend the proceedings.
But Crystal didn’t take it that way. And who could blame her? Having worked hard to turn her life around, she was now going back to prison for voting. More time away from her kids, grandkids, church, friends and work. All because of this one ballot.
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“I pay taxes. So, I should be able to vote. I want (my kids) to go to the poll because we have to make a change and a difference,” she said. “The real victim is me. You know? And the system really failed me. We need to be educated on who’s actually eligible to go to the polls.”
Courtesy of The Curbside Chronicle / INSP.ngoIllustrations by Gary Myrick: 1: Crystal Mason 2: Mason and the judge
Karl also testified that he was not aware his neighbor was a convicted felon. He knew his neighbor had legal issues, sure, but didn’t grasp the severity. However, Crystal hotly contests his knowledge of her legal standing.
“If I wanted to go to jail again, I’ll catch a real charge. A beneficial charge. This voting? How does it benefit Crystal? How does it benefit Crystal’s kids?” she asked. Although not a legal argument, it’s a valid point. Passing hot checks, altering public assistance documents and gaming tax returns had all financially benefited Crystal and her family. Voting for president in a winner-takes-all state where the Democratic candidate hadn’t won since Al Gore narrowly beat out George Bush in 2000? It clearly didn’t fit her past criminal motivations.
WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?
Having previously committed a total of four felonies — which Judge McBryde described in great detail at the August federal hearing — a five-year federal sentence seemed like a sure bet. But then, McBryde surprised the court by showing leniency. He said he would give Crystal the benefit of the doubt.
Crystal received an arson charge in 1992 at age 17, but was only sentenced to probation. She dealt with probation again in 1997 when she tried to pass off a fake check. Then there was the matter of entering false information into an application for public assistance back in 2010. Through these charges, including two felony counts, Crystal had avoided prison until she pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2012, for which she received 60 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
Given Judge McBryde’s strict track record, the ruling almost seemed like a victory.
So where does that leave us? By the time you read this, Crystal will be in prison again. Her federal sentence will cost taxpayers nearly $20,000. Yet, Crystal remains resilient. Bruised, but not broken.
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“The best services,” Strader said, “all have great intentions for the outcomes we hope to help families achieve, but it is all for naught if we are not successful in actually getting the families in the door. Centralized intake is an avenue to help that initial process be more successful.”
The formula for how the length of wait times for city social services impacts people in need is simple, according to Carlita Owens, a licensed clinical social worker.When it’s quick, she said, clients are more likely to get better faster. When it strays longer than a few days, the consequences mount: relapse for those with substance use disorder, suicide ideation and more.
Kathleen Strader is the senior director of operations at the national home visiting organization Healthy Families America (HFA) and oversees 550 affiliate sites, all of which abide by the same application and training requirements. HFA is also one of six members in the National Evidence-Based Home Visiting Model Alliance (NHVMA).
• The team initially meeting the client may be employees of the providers participating in that centralized intake system or third-party employees.
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“Sometimes, there are just people who are standing outside and having to sit in a waiting room for an extended period of time. For somebody dealing with some type of mental health issue,” said Owens, who works in mental health for the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, “it’s very difficult for them to have all that stimuli around them and waiting for a bed. Or someone who is trying to enter recovery… there may be people around them who are under the influence, and that’s triggering.”
These systems all require collaboration among service providers, but the way they make referrals and place clients can vary. Here are three models that fall under the umbrella of c-intake systems:
US House of Representatives consists of 435 seats total, 6 are currently vacant. Republicans hold a majority with 236 seats, Democrats hold 193 seats. Republicans would need to lose 48 seats for 2018 to flip the House.
Centralized intake systems
The national trend Strader noted has not skipped Philadelphia, as more and more sectors in the city have taken on this method.
• Owens said she favors systems that allow for a level of conversation and choice between providers.
WHAT IS A C-INTAKE SYSTEM?
• In this system, participants collectively develop materials to distribute to potential clients, who decide themselves what provider they’d like to NHVMAaccess. published a report on c-intake systems that included suggestions for providers interested in developing their own. Before establishing a c-intake system, providers must decide “which of those models might be the best fit within a community,” said Strader, who helped write the report. “Part of what we were wanting them to think about when they were making decisions…is what level of coordination already exists between service providers.”
THE STATE OF C-INTAKE SYSTEMS IN PHILADELPHIA
THIS INNOVATIVE INTAKE SYSTEM MODEL AIMS TO SHORTEN WAIT TIMES FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
Centralized intake systems hinge on collaboration between providers. In Philadelphia, the homeless services, home visiting and legal sectors are all developing ways to bring the method to their clients.
Libertarian: Kenneth Krawchuk and Kathleen Smith Green: Paul Glover and Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick
Collaborative intake systems
Shortened wait times is one of many goals of centralized intake systems (we’ll call them “c-intake systems” here), which hinge on collaboration between providers.InPhiladelphia, the homeless services, home visiting and legal sectors are all currently developing ways to bring this method to their clients. This summer, the William Penn Foundation even put a $1.3 million price tag on the idea for a centralized referral center for local home visiting providers.
WHAT IS ON THE PA BALLOT?
• To receive services, clients access one point — whether it’s a hotline or a physical center — for assessment and receive a subsequent referral to an appropriate provider.
US Senate consists of 100 seats total, with two representatives from each state. Republicans hold the majority with 51 seats, Democrats hold 47 seats, Independents hold 2 seats. Republicans would need to lose 7 seats for 2018 to flip the Senate.
By Grace Shallow, from Generocity.org
WHAT ARE YOU VOTING FOR THIS ELECTION?
Strader said c-intake systems are relatively new, and internal evaluations are necessary to prove their effectiveness. Over the last few years, though, she said they’ve become more popular within the home visiting sector and across the country because the providers that have the resources to come together realize it can be one of the best ways to serve clients.
• Coordinated intake systems differ because the providers within this system collaborate to decide what the best fit is for the client. People’s initial interaction with a coordinated intake system may be a result of communication with an individual provider or a unified outreach effort by them all.
Loveis Wise, @cosmicsomething photo from streetsdept.com
PA Governor is the highest state office and head of the Executive Branch and will oversee PA’s redistricting process. 2018 Governor and Lieutenant Governor Candidates & Parties: Democratic: Tom Wolf and John Fetterman Republican: Scott Wagner and Jeff Bartos
LOCALPARTNERSHIPREPORTING
16 One Step Away ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
PA House of Representatives consists of 203 seats total, ALL 203 seats up for election. PA Senate (even-numbered districts voting) consists of 50 seats total, 25 seats up for election.
Coordinated intake systems, or coordinated entry
ELECTION DAY: NOVEMBER 6, 2018, 7AM — 8 PM
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— A 24/7 hotline started in 2005 and run by partners Women Against Abuse, Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Lutheran Settlement House and Women in Transition
A number of other providers in Philadelphia are under the umbrella of a c-intake system, or are developing one, including:
“You get to also avoid gaps in services,” she added. “We believe we can tailor our services to what our families need, and I’m sure other sectors have that ability, too.” Broke in Philly is a collaborative initiative among 20 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.
Sara Kinsman is the director of the health department’s Division of Maternal, Child and Family Health, which received the grant. The first iteration of the centralized referral system will be a hotline that she hopes is launched by next summer.Kinsman said that the providers will work
Adjusting providers and clients to CEA-BHRS has been an intensive process that has spanned over the last several years, said Sara Pagni, the senior program manager of coordinated entry and special projects in OHS. Characteristics of the city, such as its size, have made the process a challenge at times. “What makes it difficult is the idea that we want to redo something that people are very used to doing and entrenched in doing and may or may not believe that it needs to be redone,” Pagni said. “We’re not redoing things because the way we did it was wrong or bad. It was built a certain way at a certain time for a certain reason, and…it’s just a constant evolution.”
Other Sectors
OHS is a veteran: For almost 20 years, it has employed a centralized intake approach for placing people in one of the city’s nearly 5,000 shelter beds, said Roberta Cancellier, the office’s deputy director. The office has changed its centralized services recently. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced all participants in its nationwide Continuum of Care (CoC) program — including Philadelphia — must establish a coordinated (not just centralized) intake system by January 2018.
•organizationsPhiladelphia Domestic Violence Hotline
• Behavioral Health Special Initiative — Operates under the Office of Addiction Services and refers patients to drug and alcohol providers with the help of Community Behavioral Health and the Office of Mental Health
Per Cancellier, CEA-BHRS changes include relocating emergency assistance staff to Center City intake center Apple Tree Family Center; adding two youth-specific access points at LGBTQ centers Attic Youth House and Valley Youth House; and distilling the application process for housing to one form.
Home Visiting This $1.3 million centralized referral system will involve eight home visiting providers, including the Philadelphia Department of Public’s Health Healthy Start Program, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Parent-Child Home Program. [Read Generocity.org’s explainer on home visiting programs in Philadelphia: “Home visits from education experts are improving outcomes for Philly kids in poverty.”]
There’s an average of 51 available slots per home visiting program in Philadelphia County, according to a Spring 2018 report on the local home visiting system by United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. Kinsman hopes a centralized system better connects providers so they’re serving as many families as possible.“Thissystem represents a lot of people wanting to come together to make it happen,” she said.
together to plan the system’s next phases. But they already agree that its final form will allow for family choice, meaning the system’s clients will be included in the decision-making process about which provider seems best for them.
Philadelphia’s CoC program was established in 2014. To comply with HUD’s top-down order, OHS has developed the Coordinated Entry and Assessment-Based Housing Referral System, or CEA-BHRS for short (employees pronounce the acronym like “sea breeze”). CEA-BHRS and all other CoC participants across the country must meet a slew of HUD requirements for its coordinated intake process.
As a social worker, Owens’ experience with c-intake systems has varied. Some systems seem more efficient; others have flaws that may leave people waiting. The crux of them all, though, is a clear desire to be better social services providers, sheKinsmansaid. agreed, noting that more organizations working together “maximizes your impact.”
• Equal Justice Center — A hub set to open in 2021 that will co-locate about 20 legal
Office of Homeless Services (OHS)
Stallworth didn’t speak to the former Klan leader again for nearly 40 years, when Duke called out of concern for how he was going to be portrayed in Spike Lee’s adaptation of the BlacKkKlansman
Stallworth said that Duke was “very pleasant on the phone, [and] a very nice conversationalist, but he couldn’t go five minutes, if that long, without talking about race and genetic superiority of whites over minorities.
In October 1978 Detective Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Colorado Springs’ chapter of the KKK, making him the organization’s first black klansman. The investigation allowed Stallworth to look behind the curtain as notorious white supremacist David Duke attempted to rebrand the Klan by hiding the group’s racism under the guise of white heritage. But behind the scenes Duke and other white supremacists spewed racial epithets, planned cross burnings, and talked about arming klansmen with rifles “in order to shoot wetbacks walking across the Rio Grande” border, Stallworth said.
He decided to respond.
Stallworth, who used his real name when he responded to the ad, said he thought he would only receive literature, pamphlets, or a copy of the Klan newspaper in response. Instead, he received a phone call from the head of the chapter, and the investigation began.
“He said Trump’s not a racist or white supremacist because what he’s doing to keep minorities out is to help preserve white culture and white heritage,” Stallworth said. “That’s just one of the things, there was a lot.”
“We talked for an hour about a variety of things,” Stallworth said. “[Duke] said he was not a racist and a white supremacist in spite of endorsing Trump, who is.
“I was an intelligence detective,” Stallworth said.
“The two are united and one gives cover to the other.”
Duke also wasn’t afraid to spew racial epitaphs in private either, according to Stallworth.
“[I] wanted to have a photo that clearly indicated that I was in the moment with this fool,” Stallworth said. Although he no longer has the photo. “It’s been lost for years,” Stallworth said. The investigation was abruptly shut down in 1979 after the Klan chapter attempted to make Stallworth it’s leader. He said he would like to have seen it through to the end.
“I was a trained undercover cop,” Stallworth said. “We don’t get nervous, we do our job.” He called the operation a “typical police investigation.”
Unlike the times they spoke during the investigation, Stallworth was able to push back against Dukes rhetoric.
“I had no agenda in mind when I started the investigation,” Stallworth said. “We weren’t hoping to do anything other than to gather the information that was out there on the KKK and its impact on Colorado Springs.”Whenthe Klan invited him to participate in two of the cross burnings it was planning, Stallworth said he alerted police dispatch, so the area would be saturated if they followed through with their plans.
“Every chance I got, I did,” Stallworth said. For his part, Duke said, in an interview for this article, that Stallworth’s book is inaccurate and that the movie it was adapted into is “nothing more than a lie.” He said that the movie inaccurately portrayed the Klan members conspiring to bomb a group of Black activists and that “there was no evidence whatsoever of any threat to the community.
Duke also left the Klan that year, telling the The Daily Telegraph that he was unable to stop members of other klan groups from doing “stupid or violent things.” He went on to form the National Association for the Advancement of White People. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have replaced Duke’s former chapter and currently have a statewide presence in Colorado.
By Adam Sennott
Along with foiling the cross burnings, Stallworth also reached out to the Klan’s national hotline, and was surprised when David Duke answered the phone.
“It’s the norm now for white supremacists to claim their views in a political guise, and that political guise is in sync with that of conservative Republicans,” Stallworth said.
“Monitoring subversive groups was part of my job, and the Klan is a subversive group, so I simply did my job.”
“In private he threw the word nigger around all the time in talking to me,” Stallworth said. “In public he never used it at all.”
Stallworth was 19-years-old when he joined the Colorado Springs’ Police Department in 1972 and became their first Black police cadet, according to his book. He began his investigative career by infiltrating a speech given by Black Panther’s leader Stokely Carmichael. Three months later he became the department’s first black undercover narcotics detective. It was a path that led him to notice an ad that the Klan was looking to establish itself in Colorado Springs.
Stallworth, who detailed his undercover efforts in his 2014 memoir BlacKkKlansman, was able to help prevent several cross burnings the group had planned for the area, and unmasked two klansmen who had top security level status at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). While the Klan did not take root in Colorado Springs, Duke was able to successfully take his brand of white nationalism mainstream in the decades that followed, Stallworth said.
“They chickened out as a result of that,” Stallworth said. Had they been successful it would have “unnerved the community.”“Crossburnings always unnerve a community,” Stallworth said. “That’s been the history of it.”
AN INTERVIEW WITH RON STALLWORTH & DAVID DUKE
Despite the complexities of the investigations, Stallworth said he was never concerned that the Klan members would discover that there were two Ron Stallworths.
“The first phone call, when he picked it up, I was surprised because it was supposed to be a recorded message,” Stallworth recalled.
For more than seven months Stallworth pretended to be a white supremacist and spoke with the chapter leader and other Klan members over the phone, while a white detective met with them in person.
18 One Step Away ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
“We didn’t get to an ultimate conclusion,” Stallworth said. “I would like to have seen how far we could have gone.“We’ll never know,” Stallworth said. “It would have been fun to find out though.”
The two eventually met when Duke visited Colorado Springs, and Stallworth was assigned to protect him. During his visit Stallworth asked if they could take a photo together. As the polaroid was taken, Stallworth quickly threw his arm around Duke.
“On the phone he revealed himself,” Stallworth said. “In public he concealed a lot.”
The country is now paying a price for electing Trump, Stallworth said. “We’re going to have to live with it until we can right this wrong,” Stallworth said. [At the time of print, an October 23, 2018 Politico article quoted Trump as saying: “I’ve never heard that theory about being a nationalist. I’ve heard them all,” Trump responded to a reporter who asked if the word [nationalist] was code for white nationalist. “But I’m somebody that loves our country. When I say a nationalist, I don’t like it when Germany is paying 1 percent of GDP for NATO, and we’re paying 4.3 percent. I don’t like Stallworth’sthat.”]book the BlacKkKlansman gives a glimpse inside the KKK and white nationalism from an outsiders point of view. The movie adaptation by Director Spike Lee is currently in theaters. While the movie is billed as a comedy-drama, Stallworth’s experiences serve as a reminder of the subversive groups active in the United States — and how we can choose to progress as a society.
“This movie presents these people as full of hate, and this type of thing, and it’s just not true,” Duke said. “And as far as using the N-word, I didn’t even use the N-word privately.” He also said that while some Klan members may have talked about having armed klansmen guarding the border, it was not something the other.Dukedoesn’tStallworthdid,”armed.theyCalifornia,watchesdidthatsupported.organizationHeaddedwhiletheKlanhaveborderinArizona,andTexas,werenever“That’snotwhatweDukesaid.Intheend,saidhethinkmuchofonewayorthe“DavidDukeisjust another man to me,” Stallworth said. “He was just another subject of an investigation. I didn’t give him any special creedence one way or the other.”
OSAphilly.org ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● One Step Away 19
Subscribe OSAPHILLY.ORG NEVER MISS AN ISSUE SUBSCRIBE TODAY! AMPLIFY OUR VOICES SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA INVEST IN LOCAL JOURNALISM E-subscription Read One Step Away on all of your devices with an electronic subscription. Or have paper issues mailed to your home, office, or school. Photos courtesy of Flatiron Books. Page 17: BlacKkKlansmanthe book and movie cover. Page 18: Ron KlanKnightsphotographColoradoStallworth’sSpringsPoliceand1979oftheKuKluxmembershipcard.
“We were totally nonviolent,” Duke said. “There were no arrests of anybody in Colorado Springs.”Headded that in order to join the klan members had to take an oath of non-violence. “They swore not to do any sort of violence,” Duke said. “This was part of the solemn oath of theDukeklansman.”alsodenied using racial epithets in any conversations with Stallworth.
Today, Stallworth said, the most power white supremist lives in the White House. “Donald Trump is a bigoted racist...” Stallworth said. “People know it, but there’s a certain segment of our society — namely the Republican Party — that provides him cover to be bigoted and racist, and not call him out on it.”
Republicans, Stallworth said, have “lost the moral“Americacompass.”haslost the moral compass too,” Stallworth said. “Donald Trump should be nowhere where he’s at — America screwed up two years ago and allowed him to get into that office.”
· By Eric Hazelwood · IDENTITARIAN REALISM · By Eric Hamell · STEPS · By Bryant E. Culpepper ·
UNCOVERED ISSUES
It strikes me that the ongoing campaign of “left” identitarian authoritarians (sometimes called “social justice warriors” or SJWs) to infiltrate and take over various geek subcultures and then try to drive out anyone who doesn’t conform to their agenda, is analogous to the “socialist realist” school promoted as the only valid form of art and literature in Stalinist Russia. Socialist realism insisted that art had to portray class struggle along the lines of a simplistic, vulgarized kind of Marxism. While this was ostensibly supposed to advance the interests of the workers, its real function was to allow the Stalinist bureaucracy to maintain an iron grip on thought within the USSR and prevent the appearance of any independent working-class politics.
CULPEPPERBRYANT Bryant is a poet and author whose work examines his own journey him.theandhomelessness,withthestateofworldaround
It should be noted that there’s an intellectual confusion, promoted by the Right, that tries to conflate this sort of identity politics with Marxism, often by calling it “cultural Marxism.” This is quite inaccurate, since IDpol is neither class-centered nor, in the last analysis, even materialist — both essential features of Marxism. To be sure, identitarians will occasionally reference class — usually as part of the stock phrase “race, class, and gender.” But it’s interesting that, of all the categories of “marginality,” this is the one that they most often omit to mention — probably because the working class is the only such group to which none of the core SJWs belong, a fact to which it wouldn’t serve their interest (or self-image) to draw attention. The implicit rationale for calling IDpol “Marxist” would seem to be nothing more than its totalistic character — combined with a false of equation of Stalinism to Marxism — but by that reasoning one might just as well call Christian fundamentalist politics “Marxist,” which would be manifestly ridiculous.Infact,postmodernism and its political offshoots are better seen as a stratagem whereby capital, expressing itself through corporatized universities, has seduced many intellectuals who like to see themselves as radical to abandon any effective kind of radicalism by replacing the materialist focus on class, and the concrete institutions that maintain class, with a semantics-obsessed preoccupation with the abstraction of “marginality.” This leads to a politics that is more interested in symbolism than substance and, to the extent it has a practical effect, is about advancing a layer of “marginal” people within the structures of the academy and other institutions. Or, as Chris Hedges has put it, “It was always about patronage, not revolution.”
I hope and pray that somebody somewhere got something out of this exhortation. Because I sure did. May God continue His awesome work on all of us in our upward climbs in life.
P.S. On Twitter, where I’ve posted a link to this piece, Hannah Wallen (@ oneiorosgrip) suggests the focus on geek subcultures is because this is where the most creative activity occurs, and totalitarians can’t allow creativity. Have there ever been times in your life when it seems that patience starts to becoming an aggravated situation? You begin to start telling people all of the problems and down falls you are experiencing. And all they can tell you is to just wait on the Lord. It’s going to happen…just have patience. I’m tired of all the elevator music when making a call on the telephone, telling me to please hold! I don’t want to have to wait till tomorrow, or weeks, or months, even sometimes years. It’s hard to wait on something when you have nothing. I am tired of twiddling my thumbs, sitting on lonely couches of life waiting!!! Oh what a miserable situation. Steps…steps…steps. Steps are kind of hard to climb when you are tired. But steps are ordered to take you to higher levels in life.Have you ever been in a department store where the elevators and escalators are out of order? Going up a non-working escalator seems like forever. So many steps. It’s hard and tiresome to climb steps. My legs are truly tired from climbing up all these stairs. But I’m here to tell you that it’s necessary to climb. Even when the cramps and pains of life starts to take its position, we must continue to persevere. We must continue in our journeys to keep climbing. Who wants to have patience when resources are coming to an obliterating end. It is in the process of climbing that most folk give up. But you must understand that the process is the elixir that eases the pain. It is in the process that miracles are created. We need the steps of life to triumph and have victory in a weakening economy. It’s only in the steps that we are prepared to maintain and be good stewards of our successes. So don’t fret or complain about the upward battles and climbs in our lives. However, because the steps are ordered for God’s divine purpose upon our lives.
Eric was a One Step Away vendor and homelessness.towhowriterworkedovercome Eric is now in housing and is sharing his story of recovery.
For some years now, there has been a tradition taking place like no other. This event is The Recovery Walk. The tradition has participation from all of the recovery houses in the Philadelphia area. The people that participate in this walk are recovering addicts. People who were once homeless and caught up in the grips of drug and alcohol addiction. These people have surrendered to the fact that they were powerless over drugs and alcohol. They saw help in prayer and meditation and found that it did not work. They finally found help in the rooms of N.A., Narcotics Anonymous, and in the recovery houses. They developed a social network and realized that you cannot do this alone. Homelessness is a condition usually associated with drug and alcohol addiction. Other factors include mental health and disabilities. This writer was, for years affected by both. The PTSD, (post dramatic stress disorders) suffered as the result of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, as a youth, affected me for years. I could not come to grips with the realities of my past, but instead focused on being a giant of my dreams. I lived in a world that I had created where I was the man despite the facts that I was slowly committing suicide with the use of drugs and alcohol. I lost my self-respect, family and friends due to the disease of addiction. The important thing to remember here is that addiction is a disease and can be arrested at some point. With help, I was able to arrest this disease and recovery was then possible. One Step Away was crucial in my deliverance, as I now have a roof over my head. I am now attending college and making payments out of pocket. I do need help with that but have turned my life over to the power of GOD and don’t give my money to the drug dealers anymore. I have a strong social network and my friends all have one thing in common, they do not use. I am grateful for the opportunities that this GOD of my understanding has given me. I am grateful for this newspaper and the Recovery Walk.
Similarly, SJWdom is ostensibly about advancing the interests of various “marginalized” groups as defined by postmodernism-inspired identity politics, but its actual function is to help a section of the Western intelligentsia maintain its grip on a section of the academy and to further extend it by taking over one area after another. This campaign isn’t limited to geek subcultures, but a lot of the effort has gone there first, probably because these are seen as smaller and easier targets than some other aspects of society.
HAZELWOODERIC
20 One Step Away ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
RECOVERY WALK
ERIC HAMELL Eric Hamell was born in 1961 to parents who belonged to the Socialist Workers Party, at that time a Trotskyist organization. As an adolescent he joined the SWP’s youth group and was subsequently forced out on trumpedup charges because he couldn’t stop thinking for himself. He remains politically active and still considers himself a Marxist, but is no longer affiliated with any Marxist group.
Far from undermining capitalism, this performs the function of reinvigorating it by co-opting “the best and brightest” from various demographic groups, giving them a stake in the present system, while splintering the working class.
MY STORY · By William Hawkins · I’m William. And I’m homeless. It’s my second time. My first homelessness occurred from October 11, 2016 to December 31, 2016. This current homeless experience started on July 27, 2017. I couldn’t take it anymore. I was fighting internal problems in me every day. And I was fighting daily problems on the outside. I faced daily harassment by others. I faced daily adult bullying by the same people. And then in my home, my already troubled relationship with my mother was getting worse. Things were becoming so bad that I began to retaliate against my tormentors. And this was causing problems with my mother, whom I already was at odds with. And then people’s backs began to turn on me. When they saw that I was trouble and troubled, they threw me away. And it showed. I was feeling unloved. The daily harassment, the daily adult bullying, my retaliations against my tormentors, my mother, and people’s backs turning on me, and my own struggles had all crashed. It was all finally over. I went to my room, packed my bags…….and departed. One year later, I do go back to see my mother. However, I’m still faced with so much. There is some sunshine in the story. I’m still alive a little. I still do photography, I still drink coffee, I still have journals, and I still pray. And I see myself off the street next year. I’m only partially defeated. But not totally.
RICHARD RAMSON Richard Ramson - “Ram” - is a One Step Away vendor and poet. He took a brief hiatus from writing to take care of his newborn daughter, Symphony. You can often find him at Trader Joe’s at 21st & Market. He likes the healing powers of spoken word, and records on YouTube under “Ram Riches.” He’s happy to be a father and to start writing again in One Step Away
William Hawkins was born and raised in the South portion of Philadelphia. He loves animals, coffee, photography and does have light college experience but is not a graduate. William enjoys reading, writing, and movies. He longs to travel internationally.
HAWKINSWILLIAM
OSAphilly.org ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● One Step Away 21 UNCOVERED ISSUES
This is my fourth time being in a shelter since 2013, and I am going to say it’s the toughest and worst experience of them all. I’m surrounded by people who openly use drugs right in the room where we all sleep. In the other shelters that’s NEVER happened! You have people out right shooting up drugs in the bathroom leaving blood on the floor. They keep the light on all night where we sleep, so I haven’t had a decent night’s rest in a few months. Am I complaining, no! I am just simply stating the facts. I’ll be turning 40 years old November 20th. That means I’ve lived on this earth for four decades! It is time for me to step my life up to another level where I thrive instead of struggling! It is time for me to live and enjoy my life! It is time for me to be in a stable home and environment for me, but especially for my daughter! It is time for me to stabilize my finances so that I can provide for my daughter financially! She didn’t come here to struggle, she came to thrive!!! I will do what I have to do by any means necessary! I will remain optimistic and I will continue moving forward with a positive attitude while I stabilize my life. I thank you OSA for giving me the opportunity to generate income and to share my poetry with a readership that truly loves and enjoys what I write! I thank all my supporters greatly for your heart of compassion and giving. You help to keep me going. Thank you greatly!
UPDATE · By William Powell · Hello, and how are you today OSA supporters? This is William. We have had a crazy summer with all this heat, and now for the Fall Breeze, I can function better. Things are coming along just fine, surely but slowly. Some people recover in a slow manner and others in a nippy. I just wanted to bring a few things to your attention as far as showing yourself, I just happen to be a Saint, Born Again and trusting in the Lord for recovery and I don’t see anything wrong with that. I don’t blame Snoop Dog for repenting and becoming a Born Again Christian, he is right, you want to be Save and not lost so that is a good thing. People want to bother with you so you warn them so they will know to leave things alone. So I wanted to let everyone know that I am Born Again just like Snoop Dog, and I will talk to you later.
POWELLWILLIAM William is a One Step Away vendor. He likes to share his monthly updates with his readers.
RAM’S UPDATE · By Richard Ramson · Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve submitted to OSA! There has been a lot going on in my life! I am a Father now! My daughter is 8 months old! Her name is Symphony! She is a beautiful blessing! Also, this year OSA decided to give away awards! I am the 2018 recipient of the Advocacy Award along with Bill Anderson of Fox 29 news! Thank you so much Emily (OSA Director) for the major acknowledgment. I am honored to receive such an award. It was a beautiful & wonderful surprise! I am grateful! With all that great news it’s also been a tough year as well. I’ve been an OSA vendor for almost 7 years, and for the first time I can say the donations I normally receive have dropped considerably. Yes, I am thankful for those who still support me, but the support just isn’t the same. With that said it is at a time where I need the support the most because I’ve been in a shelter since June.
WELCOME SYMPHONY TO THE ONE STEP AWAY FAMILY!
Thanksgiving is a time to remember what you are thankful for,
And the food that my lady cooks, that makes your taste buds craves for more, Turkey, ham, and greens, While you’re watching football on your TV screens, Macaroni and cheese, And some more sweet potatoes please!
CHALMERSLORENZO Lorenzo is a One Step Away vendor and just submitted his first poem. Find CenterthroughoutLorenzoCity. BARBOURKEITH Keith is a poet and a regular One Step Away contributor. His poetry draws from the good times and the struggles.
THANKSGIVING
And when the storm is on the horizon, will you truly say hi again?
P A R S L E Y S W G O C A I L G O U R D C S O N T A E D I A J B C E L E R I A C P R T G R I R H H R R K M P O A N L P T C O I C A R O I T H E T O I I A C L M E T B A C L N D N M C P C I H H A T V L H R L I E H E O G C R O S R D E I U O N O R L T L P S S S A G E V N T K C I H J M B C W E D E K E O E F O P A A E E P E N I F Y A M K V R E I A L E U D D S I K N S K L N Z N E T T L E I H A M O O J A E G R E E N S R V L W C U Y J P G Y F E N N E L E R S P I T A M P S F A T A L T A N H S O A P A M I C E E N C E P H A L O G R A P H Y A G O R A M U N C H I E S M A G E N T A S U E P I X I E S L O S S I M P A I R E D P O L I O S E L F P O L L I N A T I O N I N U R E E M O T I O N S S U M O G A R A G E B U N M O L L U S C L E I S U R E S L I N E R I N S T R U M E N T A L I T Y F I L E S I R O N A T O P E D E M A C A R T C E N T 9 5 2 6 4 8 3 7 1 8 3 6 9 7 1 5 2 4 1 7 4 3 2 5 9 6 8 3 6 5 4 1 2 7 8 9 4 1 7 5 8 9 2 3 6 2 8 9 7 6 3 4 1 5 6 9 1 2 5 7 8 4 3 5 2 8 1 3 4 6 9 7 7 4 3 8 9 6 1 5 2 Crossword#1SUDOKU 2 9 6 1 5 3 8 7 4 8 3 5 7 2 4 6 9 1 7 4 1 8 6 9 5 3 2 4 6 2 3 7 5 1 8 9 1 5 7 9 8 6 2 4 3 9 8 3 2 4 1 7 6 5 6 2 4 5 3 7 9 1 8 5 7 9 4 1 8 3 2 6 3 1 8 6 9 2 4 5 7 #2SUDOKU Oct. Solutions SearchWord
LIFE IS PRECIOUS
By Keith Barbour ·
Family, friends, loved ones, and so much more, Like the roof over your head and the carpet on your floor,
Cranberries string beans and pumpkin pies, All dancing around before your very eyes, Biscuits, gravy, and green olives too, With stuffing that smells good what are you going to do?
· By Lorenzo Chalmers · Life is precious, and knowing we are not guaranteed tomorrow be mindful of the legacy you leave behind today, I go say goodbye to a true friend, and this is real, the memories that were left behind is all I got left, I just thank God that He created them as I look in this casket, I don’t see they’re gone, but that they have moved on. No longer stuck in a world where you’re restricted, But free from all hurt, harm, and danger that trip into forever we all get – that one-way ticket. I speak hoping to inspire others the way I fight to inspire myself, I talk a lot about life, And if you want to know how you’re doing in life, be quiet and listen from the soul, life will tell you exactly where you’re winning and losing, And the response to what you hear is in your actions, We all can talk a good game, But we also know that’s not what wins the game.
WILL YOU SAY HI AGAIN?
· By Bryant E. Culpepper ·
The past shall be no more, even thoughts could cause a strain.
22 One Step Away ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
Growing up I thought life was something easy to see, And becoming what I want was something easy to be, But then reality showed up and choices became chances, and chances led to decisions, And in that process alone, it started switching my vision, Looking back on the past with only just a quick glimpse cause now it’s mind over matter just trying to make real sense.
Of the forces that separate us, while feeling all the pain. I do think of you often, but we both know that is wrong. Not just me but also you, cause you’re always finishing my song. Even though we still cross paths, both our hearts skips a beat. No more making the wrong decisions, no more sharing of the treats. But we still will hold this notion, to always remain the friend.
POETRY
·
The small moments we had, I cherished with much joy. The heart jumped once again, in this little brown boy. Though this play was wrong, in every which of way. Both our worlds came crashing, with so much more to say. Daydreaming we both pondered, of the awful thing we’ve done. Because you belong to someone else, and he and you are one. But we did promised each other, to always remain the friend. And even in the rain, will you say hi again?
Spread out all over the table just for you, But most of all being alive and well with you is a blessing and this is true, So, this is what I would like for you to do, Remember the people, the places, and the smiling faces, And the time and the effort that they took out of everyday living to make this a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! To YOU and YOURS from Keith Barbour.
OSAphilly.org ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● One Step Away 23 One Step Away is a community newspaper, accepting submissions from anyone who would like to lend their voice to the conversation. Writers can be homeless, housed, or anywhere in between. Submit to OSA@RHD.ORG 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67CROSSWORDWordSearch 3 9 6 5 2 4 8 5 2 8 8 1 6 2 6 9 1 8 7 4 6 9 3 5 4 7 6 2 9 5 9 8 6 1 2 9 8 4 5 7 4 1 2 8 6 9 7 5 8 6 Z E A H F U S T E T S P U D T C A S S I A Z A H U L A H A B M U S A T R W M B E I N O N R R R M B C E I U B T A I P E A C T F I H O R S N E N L U P K Y I M G N I L U B H E R B R E M C A G R A P E W O R T E M F A A R C U O O A A L P I A A K D O R N T L I I P N S S I D A D I A P S N R C P O D W H I N E B M A E A R W O R T E B A S R E I L C R W A G R T A R O M H R L I I D S K C A N E T A X G I F R K N E E H O L L Y O A G S H I V Y G E U M S E D G E SUDOKU The object of a Sudoku puzzle is to fill in the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Good luck! CONTRIBUTED BY Street Roots, In Portland, ORegon See our December Issue for Puzzle Solutions puzzles GaleFustetFitchFicariaErsEar-wortDornCuminCosCornCassiaCaneBrakeBoxBiggBeetBeanAsterAnilAlpiaAkee OatNepNardMusaMarramMadiaMadderLingLianeKneeKansIvyIrisIberisHopHerbHempGriasGrapewortGilleniaGeumholly ZeaYamWhinUrticaThTaroTamusSpudSloeSidaSedgeRutsRushRueRubusPotatoPeaOsierOpuntiaOleanderea Across 1. MRI or PET 5. Lion’s pride 9. PayPal funds 14. Gas station name 15. “Ah, me!” 16. Nearly eradicated disease, thanks to a 18.17.vaccineBearing“Buona ___” (Italian greeting) 19. Marsh 20. Person in possession of their place of residence 23. Clogs or mocs 24. Dad, slangily 27. “Gimme ___!” (start of an Iowa State 28.cheer)Narc’s find, 30.perhapsDrone, e.g. 31. Grumble 34. Artillerymen 37. Tamil director and activist ___ Sultan 39. Amniotic ___ 40. Divided 41. Medium on which libraries preserve old 60.58.55.51.reporter49.47.46.45.44.documentsBrewsTokyo,formerlyGood,longbath“___rang?”Info-gatheringContemplateLikesomewindsKindofdogBBs,e.g. 61. Excursion 62. 63.matchLarge-headedOneofseveral on a fancy wedding cake 64. Dial ___ 65. Game of strategy 66. Sea eagle 67. Units of work DOWn 1. Tropical palms 2. Pub ___ 3. Grape seeds 4. It’s often ruled 5. ___ lodge 6. “Smart” ones 7. Bust maker 8. Biblical birthright 9.sellerFrat house letters 10. Intimidated 11. Danger warning 12. ___ card (cell phone 21.13.necessity)BounceHoward of “Happy 22.Days”Game on horseback 25. Cliffside dwelling 26. Crows’ homes 28. Natural talent 29. Foot part 31. Beast of burden 32. 59.(Abbr.)58.57.56.54.53.52.dish51.50.poetically48.43.42.38.36.35.33.compoundChemicalIdentify___MinorShoulderdecorationPrayerbeadsSourceBlightFrequently,DoubleagentsJapanesenoodleTrial’spartnerStatic___VarietiesDetestTurkishtitleOzoneenemy“Comeagain?”
24 One Step Away ● NOVEMBER 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
