PPM-MPP Voice of the People - Fall 2013

Voice of the People Fall 2013

People Power Movement

THE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT

People Power Movement Position Statement color, an epidemic of stop-andfrisks, and stand-your-ground laws which, significantly, have been adopted by every Confederate state except Virginia, whose northern population is moving away from identification with South and being incorporated in Washington, D.C. bureaucracy.

The latest Zimmerman verdict is tragic, yet not surprising. A jury, absent of any black males, believes that Zimmerman is not guilty of stereotyping, profiling, and murdering a young Black teen. This decision is representative of a historically racist criminal (in)justice system. In other words, this verdict proves that this system works in favor of anti-black laws and policies.

The entire Zimmerman trial represented racial privilege at its finest.

Would Zimmerman have had this opportunity to plead his case if he was Black and Trayvon was white?

Ask that to John B. White, a Black man who was convicted in 2007 of killing a White teen in front of his house while protecting his home from perceived danger. What if Zimmerman was a Black woman?

Ask that to Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years in Florida for shooting a warning shot in her own home against her abusive husband. These racist injustices are occurring every day in the USA. Let us not forget the growing systematic occurrences that perpetuate racism in this country, such as mass incarceration of people of

What is more, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement reported this year that Black people in the United States, on average, are executed by law enforcement every 28 hours. Therefore, we must not forget those other African Americans, and even Latino/as, who have been killed by law enforcement, such as Ramarley Graham, John Collado, Shantel Davis, Noel Polanco, Reynaldo Cuevas, Aiyana StanleyJones, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Emmett Till, Rekia Boyd, Tarika Wilson, Amadou Diallo, Kimani Gray, Kenneth Chamberlain, Tamon Robinson, Troy Davis, and many others.

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Fall 2013

THE NEEDLESS TRAGEDY OF KARNAMAYA MONGAR

By Kimberly Morales

Freedom to have an abortion has long been considered one of the most important issues concerning women. The debate rages on, abortion opponents have been winning one victory after another, as reproductive health care facilities are being closed down in state after state, practitioners harassed and killed, and strict conditions imposed, making it ever harder for women to exercise the freedom of choice.

This freedom was supposedly guaranteed by the Supreme Court back in 1973 in Roe v. Wade. This leaves the field open for the unscrupulous to take advantage of women’s lack of options, especially poor women.

Karnamaya Mongar, a 41-year-old mother of three, after learning that she was pregnant with a fourth child, decided to undergo an abortion procedure. She went to the Women’s Medical Society, a Philadelphia clinic, and became a patient of Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Prior to being referred to Gosnell, Mongar had been denied care in two other clinics. Dr. Gosnell’s facility was one of the very few places that offered inexpensive reproductive health care services. But as it only later became public, the clinic was filthy

and the standard of care scandalous.

Mongar died during the abortion procedure, and her death triggered a grand jury investigation. Here are some findings from its report: “The clinic reeked of animal urine, courtesy of the cats that were allowed to roam (and defecate) freely. Furniture and blankets were stained with blood. Instruments were not properly sterilized. Disposable medical supplies were not disposed of; they were reused over and over again. Medical equipment…was generally broken; even when it worked it wasn’t used.

The emergency exit was padlocked shut. And scattered throughout, in cabinets, in the basement, in a freezer, in jars and bags and plastic jugs, were fetal remains…The people who ran this sham medical practice included no doctors other than Gosnell himself, and not even a single nurse.

Two of his employees had been in medical school, but neither of them were licensed physicians. They just pretended to be. Everyone called them “Doctor,”…Among the rest of the staff there was no one with any medical licensing or relevant certification at all. But that didn’t stop them from making diagnoses, performing procedures, administering drugs.”

Mongar’s death was due to a drug overdose administered during the abortion procedure. Abortion opponents see this case as vindication of their position. However, what was demonstrated was that women, es-

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pecially poor women, are forced to utilize grossly substandard services.

Of course, reproductive health care facilities do not only provide abortion procedures. They also offer testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS, as well as other sexually transmitted infections, do cancer screenings, PAP smears, provide contraceptive devices, and general gynecological care. These facilities are essential to the health of women, especially poor women and women of color who are now being particularly hard hit by the growing scarcity of reproductive health facilities. A major portion of our population is now in danger. For women of color are less likely to get regular Pap smears which could help detect cervical cancer and more likely to die of the disease. Low-income Latinas are nearly twice as likely as low-income white women to have an unintended pregnancy.

Inadequate access to women’s reproductive health care is not a “woman’s issue.” It is a social problem. Which brings us back to the tragedy of Karnamaya Mongar, and all the other Karnamaya Mongars in the country. To prevent such tragedies in the future we must not only ensure that Roe v. Wade is fully implemented, but that the government provide the resources to ensure quality, affordable reproductive health care for all women.

Furthermore, we need to be aware that lack of reproductive health care is just the beginning. Lack of adequate and affordable healthcare for anyone, man or woman, is a dangerous and life-threatening issue.

People Power Movement

HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR: A GROWING PROBLEM

By Jessica Morales

Health care disparities, that is, differences in treatment, are a constant problem for people of color who have more health problems and suffer from higher mortality rates than do whites. For example, Latino children are 40 percent more likely to die from asthma compared to non-Hispanic whites; Latinos are about oneand-a-half times more likely than whites to die of diabetes-related causes; African-Americans are a third more likely to die of heart dis-

ease than whites; and the African- serious conditions are more ofAmerican infant mortality rate was ten ignored and go untreated. over twice that of white infants.

So it is clear that in addition to There are, of course, many rea- fighting for equal access to qualsons why the health conditions of ity, affordable housing, equal people of color are so much worse access to quality, affordable edthan those of white people. But ucation, equal employment opamong them is the fact that, as a portunities, equal access to good recent big study showed, Blacks jobs, we must battle for equal, and Latinos are receiving worse affordable, quality health care. health care than whites. They are less likely to receive even routine medical procedures, their

THE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT People Power Movement Position Statement

Continued from Cover Story Today, in what is prematurely dubbed a “post-racial society,” it is virtually impossible to talk about race, let alone racism, without being repressed. There exists a general political tone of shutting out discussion of racial inequalities and inequities sneeringly referred to as “the politics of racial grievance,” “playing the race card” and skin-color politics, which all encompass an emerging age of racial discrimination known as colorblind racism. Juxtapose these racist policies to a growing economic crisis, and we find a growing dis3

satisfaction among EuropeanAmerican segment of population encouraging the scapegoating of Black people, the “Black menace,” rather than the banker menace, as the culprit of financial decay.

Ultimately, the Zimmerman case and verdict is symbolic of a long history of systemic racial oppression that reminds us that in the eyes of the U.S., Black people are just as worthless as they were during slavery. As we organize against this racist tragedy, we must remember to connect the dots to the bigger picture of institutional and systematic racism against Black people in this country.

Fall 2013

GENTRIFICATION HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE

By Mark Torres

Many of you have probably heard the word gentrification before and might or might not know what it means. I will try to break it down.

Gentrification is when middle class or rich “white” people move into a poor and working-class, AfricanAmerican, Latino, and/or immigrant community and start buying up the properties. Why is this a problem? Because it means that the rents start going up, the cost of food starts going up, the cost of clothing starts going up, and everything we need to survive becomes so expensive that we are forced to move out of our neighborhoods.

ter we finish working for them.

So they continually have the cops “stop-and-frisk,” harass us, lock us up, drain us with all kinds of fines.

The People Power MovementMovimiento Poder Popular has a Harlem Organizing Committee and the members of this committee have been actively fighting the gentrification of a very important program at City College. The Physician Assistant (PA) Program is going through a period of crisis.

As the premier program for preparing and graduating working-class students of color, we should all be concerned about what is going on Instead of the politicians (in New there. For nationally, the number York City, mostly Democrats) carry- of students of color only account ing out programs that help us, the for less than 20 percent of all phypeople who have been living in sician assistants, but our own wonHarlem, the South Bronx, Red Hook, derful program at City College etc., for all or most of our lives, they has consistently had a graduating pass laws which allow landlords to class that is over 90 percent sturaise the rents so that they can get rid of us and give our homes to folks from downtown or out of town.

Now, don’t think that gentrification is only happening regarding our homes. Oh, no, it is happening in our public schools, colleges, workplaces, hospitals, and everywhere in this society. The politicians and the corporations that have bought them want poor and working people to be their slaves but they don’t want us around af4

dents of color. Moreover, these students have for many years obtained a 100 percent passing rate for the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination!

In this struggle we were able to get some PA students to participate but due to many reasons were not able to get a significant number of them to support this fight. Without their participation we had to see the directorship go to a person who was not qualified and who was illegally given the job. We have not given up on the program but we fought a good fight and will use the lessons learned to continue to fight for Access and Excellence in CUNY for our communities. If you want an update on this campaign or want to join us in other campaigns against gentrification please contact us at (917) 289-0964 or 2011PeoplePower@gmail.com.

More information on page 5

People Power Movement

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Fall 2013

THE BRONX

By Jay Espy

Mission Statement We are a democratic people’s organization

dedicated to educating,

agitating, and organizing for

Popular Control of

our schools, workplaces, transportation, housing, policing, levels of

government, and all areas that affect our lives, to

achieve Fundamental Social

Change.

We identify with the interests and aspirations of poor and working people and consider the anti-racist struggle central in our efforts to obtain a humane society.

Contact Information Publish your writings, artwork, and poetry in our community newsletter!

(917) 289-0964 2011PeoplePower@gmail. com FB.com/2011PeoplePower PeoplePowerMovement. tumblr.com YouTube.com/ user/2011PeoplePower

The Bronx I love you with all my being So why don’t chu love me back?

Why don’t chu love me when I return from a long days work with sweat dripping from my pores reeking of truck smoke and alcohol The police sirens shook me today I wanted you to hold me I thought the cops were gonna shoot me today to the point where God almost took me today I wanted you to be there to stop them But chu didn’t.

The Bronx where were you when the teacher told me I couldn’t make it to college When my parents hit me harder than the little league team beat the other by mercy 25 runs Where were you when I waited for the subway and those guys jumped me for my metrocard I coulda been thrown on the tracks I might as well have been cuz when they punched me I saw the light rushing to my face The Bronx The sun doesn’t know whether to shine or hide behind the clouds of murder and ignorance The rain dries off the sidewalk with such anxiety it doesn’t want to stay much longer Winter never looks like it’s supposed to It seems the black panthers finally got what they wanted some snow of color

The Bronx you were there when I learned my alphabet When I learned to walk and talk my own swag When I met my homeboys and sistas When I bought home platanos de la bodega you were there Speaking to me in Spanish I understood what chu were sayin Yo veo Santo Domingo en Fordham Road Santiago en Bedford Park Grand concourse es la pita del Bronx La palacia del presidente en Jankee Estadium Y Boca Chica se vive en Orchard Beach Entonces porque no me quieres?

I know I was born in St. Lukes Hospital in Manhattan But don’t treat me like I was born in Riker’s Island The Bronx I’m tired of you treating me this way I demand some respect cuz I know you know better than that The concrete jungle doesn’t have to be so wild so why u wildin for attention?

I see you everyday I take you with me everywhere I go So take me as I am So we can grow and expand