spare change news | october 5- october 18, 2012

7/31/2019 Spare Change News | October 5- October 18, 2012

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spare changenews

barney rankthe liberal lion9

5 voterdisenranchisment

chris hedges:an american journey

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0 romneycarevs.obamacare

ex-elons &votingrights 3

4 ma voterbill o rights

10 arab autumn

poetry:martn espada + essays:athers13 16

aung san suu kyi 11

2 interdependence

homelessvote

October 5-18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Anniversa

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(op-ed)Spare Change News

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Editor-in-ChieRev. Osagyeo Uhuru Sekou

Editor-in-ChieemeritusMarc D. Goldinger

Senior and Online EditorNoelle Swan

Senior EditorAdam Sennott

EditorJ. Marechal

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Puzzle EditorSamuel Weems

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Zoe FowlerChalkey Horenstein

Leanne OBrian

Editorial InternsHannah BartolLynsey N. Bourquin

aylor EverettEric Gerdner

Jessica GuaySamuel Needham

Alex ParksMar Romero

Contributing Writers

Benjamin Barber

Beatrice BellAlison ClarkShaundra Cunningham, MDiv

S. Emmaunel EppsK. Heller, MDivHolliday

E.L. Kornegay, PhdJacques Fleury

Marc D. GoldingerDarnell Moore, MDiv

Sarah PageGayle Saks

James ShearerRobert SondakPatty omsky

Howard Winant, Phd

PhotographersMichael ConnorsGlen Eric Friedman

Marcus SmithChristopher Swan

Peter Yang

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Reggie

he Conventions are over. Whew.But how striking is it that in this,the worlds most powerul nation,

two months away rom a criticalpresidential election whose results willprooundly impact over 7 billion people

world-wide, issues o oreign policyand globalization have been nearlyinvisible. In an unprecedented age ocosmopolitanism and interdependence,our election rhetoric is parochial,inward and sel-absorbed. EvenPresident Clinton whose Foundationpursues a Global Initiative stuck tothe domestic agenda in bringing theCharlotte Convention to its eet.

Tere has been ar more talk atboth conventions about AmericanExceptionalism than about the need or

common action to secure an imperiledcommon world. More U.S.A.! U.S.A.!than us we the people o planetearth. We hear anxiety about the warin Aghanistan, a gnawing worryabout Irans weapons program; and theusual rhetoric about Jerusalem, playedexclusively as a domestic Jewish voteissue (not in the Platorm!? Obamamust love Hamas!)

Otherwise, all the talk has beenabout jobs (in America), mortgages(in America), reproductive rights (in

America), gun violence (in America),taxes (in America), health care (in

America) and big government and the

pernicious role o money (in America).Dont get me wrong: I can think o

no topics more crucial to Americansthan jobs, mortgages, reproductiverights, gun violence, taxes and healthcare. And there is no raming issuemore vital than the size o governmentand the impact o money. My problemis with the in America part. I caredeeply about the American commons.But today our commons is global,and our uture, i we are to have one,

will be shared with the whole planet. Iour American citizenship is to count,

we must also become citizens without

borders, patriots o the planet.

Other than Governor Romneysthrowaway line ridiculing the riseo the oceans, there has been almost

no discussion o environmentalsustainability, though America acesno challenge more perilous than global

warming. Te Parties compete orthe drill-baby-drill crown proerredby the petroleum industry, and agreethat energy independence is bothpossible and desirable. Yet in this age ointerdependence, there is no such thingas energy independence. Tere is oneglobal oil market and prices uctuate

with global supply and demand nosingle country can control. Nationalmarkets simply do not exist anymore-- not in steel, not in oil, not even inlabor. Our immigration problems are

a unction o a global labor marketbeyond our reach, o global workerschasing global jobs across borders thatno longer contain the global economy.

We live in a 21st century age o brutalinterdependence where every challenge

we ace rom warming and immigrationto pandemics like the West Nile virusand the drug trade, rom terrorism toglobal nancial markets, reect thereality o global interdependence. odeal with such problems, we will eitherhave to democratize globalizationor globalize democracy. NeitherRepresentative Ryan nor Mayor Cruz,each promising that the 21st century

will a second American century, willbe vindicated by history. It will beneither American nor Chinese but acommon century. It will belong to allo us, or to none.

Tis kind o interdependence is notdreaming, its realism. But its hard orpoliticians to talk realistically aboutinterdependence when citizens punishthem or it, calling them Europeanor socialist or Un-American (asin wheres your birth certicate?)In his rst year in oce, PresidentObama gave speeches in Istanbuland Cairo in which he urged globalcooperation and actually used the term

interdependence. Since then heslearned to avoid cosmopolitanism inhis politics. It may be prudent policybut is political poison.

Nor can we blame citizens or beingso punitive when our media -- Fox andMSNBC alike -- pay so little attentionto the world. Grab your remote andchannel sur rom the American cableshows to the BBC or even Al Jezeeraand you will be amazed to discover thatimportant news o crucial importanceto American interests emanatesdaily rom parts o the world many

Americans cant nd on a map.

ry to nd news rom East imor --where Clintons wie ound hersel asSecretary o State during her husbandsrousing speech. (East imor is part o

which country!? she is there why?!)

Or news rom Libya -- did you knowSai Qada is still held in Zintan withno trial in sight while local militiadominated by extremists increasinglyturn Libya against America? Or newsrom the India/Pakistan rontier--where the risk o a regional nuclear

war is much greater than an Iranianattack on Israel.

Conventions wont talk global issuesuntil politicians are willing to do so;politicians wont think or talk likecosmopolitans until citizens applaudtheir global realism; and citizens wontbe ready to cross the traditional nationalrontiers that have dened their

parochialism until an inormation-grounded media help them grasp themeaning o interdependence. Likereporting international news in depthand why its important or Americans.

September 12 is Interdependence Day-- a day on which the ocus is on bridgesnot walls, cooperation not rontiers,commonality not exceptionalism. Butonly when Election Day also becomesInterdependence Day, are Americancitizens without borders likely tobe able to respond efectively to ourmultiplying problems without borders.

-Benjamin R. Barber

interdependence&the elections


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Ho w covert, and sinister, a nation can become; classwarare- the idea itsel, leaves a bad taste in ones mouth.Here we are, and lets think, but not only about how wegot here; but also about how we came to be, and what itmeans. What it means to be a elon, and what it meansto be denied sufrage, and what it means to be alone and

without opinion. Isolation, rooted in ear, maniests in allwalks o lie; it is truly something you would not wish onyour worst enemy. President Reagan, despite a decline indrug crimes, declared the rst War on Drugs in 1982--playing on the pieces rst set in place by the RockeellerDrug Laws in 73.

However, it would seem that the War on Drugs wasconned only to inner city communities and the ghettos,

very rarely encompassing the suburbs or the middle classor that matter. Also, it was more ocused on the pursuit osmall-time dealers and possessors o drugs, particularly inthe case o marijuana. Ultimately, the War on Drugs wasa boost to Reagans campaign; he had made a declaration

o war, and as ar as the public was concerned, he waswinning. Reagan ound conrmation in the propaganda

about and the romanticism o the War on Drugs, andthe mass publication in media outlets, rom comics to thepapers to the screen. As an incentive via the ederal drugoreiture laws, police were allowed to keep 80 percento whatever they might conscate. Fast orward to the

present day, more than three decades o a system put inplace to produce elons out o non-violent crimes. Yes,the Rockeeller drug laws have been reormed (rom aminimum 15 to lie or possessing our ounces or moreo a controlled substance) and there has been progress,but there is still the War on Drugs. Tere are two states(Maine and Vermont) that have unrestricted voting lawsor elons. Te rest o the 48 states are divided betweenhaving to wait out the length o your parole beore youcan vote, or waiting until ater your sentencing and doing

your time incarcerated. Tis Civil Death has silencedthose who are now athers and grandathers, and istrickling down to a new generation.

In Florida alone, 200,000 potential voters have beendisenranchised this year because o voter reorm to targetormer elons. It is possible that 11 million Hispanic

voters will be denied their right to vote, nationally,

despite being naturalized citizens. Te new votingwill require new voter IDs o them, as well as expepaperwork and proo o citizenship; such documentalso requires time and application that could discoumany o whom that may vote not to.

It is important not to be discouraged; it is actimperative. I we are to progress as the great natioplan to be, everyone has to be heard and changes to be made.

-Holliday

civic death

about our contributors: Benjamin R. Barberis a scholar at the Graduate Center o City University o New York and the author oJihad vs. McWorldand the orthcomingbookI Mayors Ruled the World. Based in Saint Louis, MO, CBabi Bayoc is producing 365 paintings o athers this year.Common Dreams is a non-proit newscentercreated in 1997 as a new media model. Joshua Eaton is a reelance journalist writing about Buddhism, religion and politics, poverty, and the American South, as well as a

ibetan translator. Called the Pablo Neruda o North American authors, Martn Espadais a English proessor at the UMASS-Amherst. SCNs Editor-in-Chie emerMarc D. Goldingeris the author oPoison Pen and he Resurrection o Syliva Plath. Chris Hedges is a Pulizter Prize winning journalist and the author o War is the. Anative o Ft. Smith, AR, Hollidayis a ormer student at the Berklee School o Music. J. Marechal is a writer and artist based in Cambridge, MA. Samuel Needham isa irst year MDiv student at Boston University School o heology. Joe Saccos bookPalestine, garnered the 1996 American Book Award. James Sheareris a ounder andormer board chairperson the Homeless Empowerment Project. Vendor/Writer Robert Sondakis the director o the Nutrition Education Outreach Project. Anthony

Thames has been a vendor/writer with SCN or several years. Patty Tomskyis a reelance writer based in Greater Boston.

At one time Mitt Romney was my neighbor.Well, I use the term neighbor loosely but he did live inBelmont, just not in my section o town. Where I live,there are predominantly two or three amily houses and,rom what I understand, ormer Governor Romney livedin a mansion.

I remember when Romney was running orGovernor and talked about riding around with his uture

wie in a Rambler. What he ailed to say was that his

ather owned the company that manuactured Ramblers.Tere are times Romney leaves certain acts out o hisstatements.

It puzzles me how a man so obviously in the spotlightcan say to one audience, I longed in many respects toactually be in Vietnam and be representing our countrythere. Ten, according to Rolling Stone, at anotheraudience hell say, I was not planning on signing up orthe military. It was not my desire to go of and serve inVietnam.

So Mitt doesnt want to place himsel in the aceo death in a oreign country, yet he speaks hawkishly

when he criticizes Obama or not wanting to leap intowar with Iran. It may be true that Iran verbally attacksus, but i we choose to go to war with any country thatspeaks to our aults, we would do well to remember what

happened to other empires when they stretched out soar that they ell apart.

Mitt Romney speaks o being rugal with our money,yet when he was in charge o the 2002 Winter Olympics,he spent $1.5 million in taxpayer money, more than theother seven Olympic Games held in the United Statescombined.

According to Rolling Stone, in 2010 a companycalled Carlyle teamed up with Bain to drain $500 millionout o a company known as Dunkin Donuts in whatmight be called a hostile takeover. Dunkin Donuts hadto borrow $1.25 billion to stay aoat and pay dividendsto their new owners. I like Dunkin Donuts. I dont likethe act that theyre going to have to sell people like me2,011,834 small cups o cofee to pay of the $500 milliondividend sucked out o them by the rm that Romneybuilt.

I Mitt Romney becomes our president, what will hedo with our money? When Mitt was running to win theprimary a ew months past, he stated that he was goingto decline Medicare or himsel and his amily. I wish weall had that option.

I also wonder why our Congress opts out o SocialSecurity and Medicare and has their own retirement planseparate rom ours. Obviously, the money that we paythem has come rom our taxes. Te diference betweenMitt Romney and his ather was that his ather mademoney building things, like cars, that we all can use.Mitt Romney builds transactions and makes his moneybuying and selling companies.

Mitt puts down 5 percent o the value o a companywith a solid cash ow; it becomes his and then heborrows the rest o the money rom an investment bank

to conrm his controlling interest. Now the company hasa giant debt to pay of. Te management company (Mittoperating under the name o Bain) starts to re peopleto manage the debt. Te interest on the loan sucks theprot rom the company and they have to slash employeebenets, and the company has to pay Bain managementees. By vacuuming the cash value rom the rapidly dying

rm, Bain wins and gets out with a prot while company and possibly the small town the company alive is shuttered.

I wonder what Mitt Romneys plans are orUnited States. Just recently, that amous statemRomney made about not caring about the 47 percenthe United States that is poor keeps echoing in my m

I Mitt Romney wins, how much damage cando in our years, possibly eight years? I think oSupreme Court Justices who are appointed or

wo appointments are coming up. It may be Mitt appoints those two Justices, afecting the direction oUnited States or the next 50 years. Justice Gins

was born in 1933, which makes her 79 years old. JuKennedy was born in 1936, the same year Justice Sc

was bornmaking them both 76 years old.

I wonder; i Romney replaced Justice Ginsburgwhich direction would the Supreme Court lean?

I Mitt Romney wins, how much damage, I repcan he do in our years? Look back, i you will, at theour years o George W. Bush. Our debt is outstandMaybe we need Bain & Co. to straighten it out, eh?

-Marc Goldnge

gordon gekko or president ( opinion )

( opinion )


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Your voting rights are protected. Tese rights are guaranteed to qualied registered voters.

You have the right to vote i you are a qualied registered voter.

You have the right to cast your ballot in a manner that ensures privacy.You have the right to vote without any person trying to inuence your vote and to vote

in a booth that prevents others rom watching you mark your ballot.

You have the right to remain in the voting booth or ve (5) minutes i there are other voterswaiting and or ten (10) minutes i there are no other voters waiting.

You have the right to receive up to two (2) replacement ballots i you make amistake and spoil your ballot.

You have the right to request assistance when voting rom anyone o your choice.I you do not bring someone with you, you have the right to

have two (2) poll workers assist you.

You have the right to vote i you are disabled. Te polling place must be accessible,and there must be an accessible voting booth.

You have the right to vote i you cannot read or write or cannot read or write English.

You have the right to vote but must show identication i: you are a rst-time voter whoregistered to vote by mail and did not submit identication with the voter registration orm; or yourname is on the inactive voter list; or your vote is being challenged; or i requested by a poll worker.

Acceptable orms o identication are: Massachusetts drivers license, other printed documentationcontaining your name and address such as a recent utility bill, rent receipt on landlords letterhead,

lease, or a copy o a voter registration acknowledgment or receipt.

You have the right to vote by absentee ballot i: you will be absent romyour city or town on Election Day; or i you have a physical disability that prevents

your voting at the polling place; or i you cannot vote at the polls due to religious belie.

You have the right to cast a provisional ballot i you believe you are a qualiedregistered voter but a poll worker tells you that you are ineligible to vote.

You have the right to ollow up any challenge to your right to votethrough the complaint process.

You have the right to vote i you are not currently incarcerated or a elony convictionand have registered as a voter ater your release.

You have the right to take this Voters Bill o Rights or any other papers,including a sample ballot, voter guide or campaign material into the voting booth with you. Please

remember to remove all papers when you leave the booth.

You have the right to vote at your polling place any time between 7am and 8pm or state andederal electionshours may vary or local elections. I you are in line

at your polling place when the polls close at 8 pm, you have the right to vote.

You have the right to bring your children into the voting booth with you.

I you eel that your right to vote has been violated in any way, call the Secretary o theCommonwealths Elections Division at 1-800-462-VOE (8683). Tis call is ree withinMassachusetts.

voter registration inormationYou can also request a orm be mailed to you by calling 617-727-2828 or 1-800-462-VOE or

e-mailing your request to [email protected].

OCOBER 17HIS HE LAS DAY OREGISER FOR HENOVEMBER 6H ELECION

source: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleifv/howreg.htm

WEDNESDAYOCTOBER

17th

ISLAST DAY TOREGISTER

TO VOTE FORNOVEMBER

6TH ELECTIO

TUESDAY,NOVEMBER

6th

ISELECTIONDAY

4 October 5-18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Anniversa

ma voter bill o rights


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20th Anniversary ( national) October 5-18, 2012 5

he disenranchisement o democratic leaning

constituencies (including low-income, working, welare,Arican American, Latino and student populations) hasbecome a major ocal point, breeding political negativity.

Tis is along with corruption in the voting process asour national election between Republican Mitt Romneyand the President Democrat Barack Obama loomsapproximately six weeks on the horizon.

Adhering to the implementation o the NationalVoter Registration Act (NVRA), which was passed in1993 under another Democrat, President Bill Clinton,has orced several states to challenge this law. Statesincluding Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Florida and

exas, are either petitioning ederal or state courts toalter how their state implements NVRA.

Te controversy over Pennsylvanias voter ID law was

sent (but not resolved) rom the State Supreme courtback to the lower court and asked or a judge to halt the

laws implementation, should he nd that voters cannotget their documents easily. By a 4-2 decision, the StateSupreme sent the case back to a Commonwealth Court

judge, who initially said the controversial law could beimplemented.

Judge Robert Simpson was asked by the higher court toissue an opinion beore Oct. 2, roughly one month beoreelection day. Just two months ago, during a hearing inthe Pennsylvania State Court, political science expertstestied that 1 million registered voters (about 12.7percent o the states registered voters) did not have

valid identication to vote under the new law. Both thelocal American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACPhave complained that the new law would efectivelydisenranchise a large number o voters who are Arican-

American, Latino, elderly or in school.

On uesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ord

the lower court to once again look at its decision icontroversial voter ID law. Voting Rights advocatessaid that this law would have disenranchised as ma750,000 individuals. State ocials say it will take 90to implement the law and provide training to stafthe policies.

Pennsylvanias Commonwealth Court Judge RSimpson told lawyers on uesday September 25the states controversial ID law may be blocked. I tits a possibility there could be an injunction here,Simpson, ater hearing testimony on whether

voters would be disenranchised.

Te Commonwealth Court is to le its supplem

ucked away in a corner o the mail-in voterregistration orm or the Commonwealth oMassachusetts is a small diagram o a city intersection,

with streets labeled north, south, east and west. Tischart, or those who cannot describe their place oresidence as a number and street or as a rural route andbox number, is the closest that people experiencing

homelessness can get to an address.

Te act that homeless persons are unable to usestandard language to describe their lives that theymust draw, rather than write, their place o residence is a testament to the larger disconnect between those

who call the streets home and those who merely sojournthere. Tere is no system or indicating a residence orpeople experiencing homelessness, not even the postalcode. Public discussion o voting, roused rom dormancy

once every our years in the all, speaks directly to thisproblem.

Moreover, there are many who do notconsider the question o homelessdisenranchisement a problem in

the moral sense. Some weeks ago, so-called votesuppression laws in Pennsylvania and elsewhereoccupied space in the news cyc les. Tese laws, wh

would require government-issued identication voters at the time o voting, have been touted asreasonable requirements to rein in voter raud. Buopponents have pointed out that the laws specictarget and disenranchise those whose daily lives

ar alienated rom the status quo that they are unobtain a government ID or would have no reasonso.

Tose who must draw their place o residence

homeless vote: Losing ones home does not mean one loses the right to vote.

RIGHT TO VOTE continued on pag

Regressive voting lawspushed by Republicancontrolled legislatures in23 states across the country

could keep more than 10million Latino citizensrom registering and votingthis year, according to anew study to be releasedMonday.

Voter ID laws havebecome increasinglypopular in what manysuspect is a ploy to suppressthe minority vote. Te newreport by the AdvancementProject, a multi-racial civilrights organization, is therst state-by-state analysiso how voter suppression

eforts will thwart theability o Latino citizensto have their voices heardat the polls. Te analysis

will also look at such votersuppression could impactelection results both within

specic states and nationally.

Overall, the Latino vote in theU.S. makes up approximately10 percent o the electorate. Inmany states, according to thereport, the number o eligibleLatino citizens that could

be afected by new state lawsexceeds the margin o victoryin the 2008 presidentialelection.

And Reuters reports:

Laws in efect in one stateand pending in two othersrequire proo o citizenshipor voter registration.

Tat imposes onerousand sometimes expensivedocumentation requirementson voters, especially targetingnaturalized American citizens,many o whom are Latino, theliberal group said.

Nine states have passedrestrictive photo identicationlaws that impose costs in timeand money or millions oLatinos who are citizens butdo not yet have the required

identication.

Republican-led slegislatures have passed mo the new laws since party won sweeping victoin state and local election2010. Tey say the laws meant to prevent voter racritics say they are designereduce turnout among grothat typically back Democ

Decades o study hound virtually no usealse identication in Uelections or voting by ncitizens. Activists say bigger problem in the UnStates, where most electisee turnout o well un60 percent, is that elig

Americans do not bothevote.

-Common Dreams s

Published on September 22012 by Common Dreams

no voto latino:New laws could disenranchise10 million Latino voters.

voter suppression:Millions o minorities and youth may be turned away on election day.

VOTER continued on pa


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6 October 5 -18, 2012 ( exclusive) 20th Annivers

an american journey across expendable communities and people In ajourney across expendable communities and people, the collateral damage created by an elite oligarchical and political class ChrisHedges, along with illustratorJoe Sacco, trenchantly and compellingly write o an America in which democracy has become a

aade, not a unctional tool o change.| Excepted with permission rom their Hedges and Saccos new book, Days o Destruction Days o Revolt(Nation Books, 2012)

Chapter Two: Days o Siege

In a room across the street rom Sacred Heart CatholicChurch, where meals are provided or the homeless onSaturdays, a group o Arican American women bowtheir heads over a table and hold hands. Tey are led byLallois Davis, 67, known as Lolly, a heavyset woman whoradiates an indomitable spirit.

Te poor have to help the poor, Davis says, becausethe ones who make the money are helping the people

with money.

Davis raised our children, and then when a neighbordied and let behind her two small grandsons, Davistook them in and raised them as well. She wears a largecross around her neck. Most in the neighborhood callher Aunt Lallois.

My heart is heavy, says a 69-year-old woman namedBrenda Hayes, her head bowed and her eyes shut. Tereis so much heaviness. It is wounding me. How can I not

worry?

Yes, Jesus, yes, Jesus, the other women respond.

I know you didnt carry us this ar to drop us now,Hayes says. I know there is no burden so heavy that wecant carry it with your help. I thank you, Lord, or riends

who have carried me through the roughest times.

Yes, Jesus, nothing is impossible with you, Jesus, thewomen say in unison.

Bodies, Hayes says to me ater the prayer. Bodies outback. Bodies upstairs. People stabbed. I dont go out atnight. Te last one was twenty eet away rom me onmy oor. Tere was one kid, he lived in the back o theprojects, eighteen years old. Tey buried him two months

ago. Gunshot. Tere were our kids I knew murdered,one in the parking lot who was killed last year. He wastwelve or thirteen. He was sleeping, some say he wasliving, in a car.

Tere are parents who are addicts who send theirchildren out to sell drugs, Hayes says. I know a mother

who is a prostitute. Her oldest daughter sells weed to go

to school, and then the mother stole the weed and soldit to buy crack.

Black Christianity, while it uses the same iconographyand language as white Christianity, is very diferent. Itclings erociously to the cross. Te cross is a paradoxicalreligious symbol because it inverts the worlds valuesystem with the news that hope comes by way o deeat,that sufering and death do not have the last word,that the last shall be rst and the rst last, writes thetheologian James Cone in Te Cross and the Lynching

ree. And this belie is absurd to the intellect, yet, asCone points out, prooundly real in the souls o blackolk. Te crucied Christ, Cone writes, or those whoare also crucied, maniests Gods loving and liberatingpresence in the contradictions o black liethattranscendent presence in the lives o black Christians

that empowered them to believe that ultimately, in Godseschatological uture, they would not be deeated by thetroubles o the world, no matter how great and painultheir sufering.

Cone elucidates this paradox, what he calls this absurdclaim o aith, by pointing out thatto cling to this absurdity was possibleonly when one was shorn o power,

when one was unable to be proud andmighty, when one understood that heor she was not called by God to ruleover others. Te cross was Godscritique o powerwhite power

with powerless love, snatching victoryout o deeat.

Lolly Davis lives in one o the brick

row houses on Emerald Street, some owhich have been reurbished throughFather Doyles Heart o Camdenproject. Other brick and wooden rowhouses on her street, a block romSacred Heart, bear the scars o decay

and long abandonment. Tere is a pungent sme

garbage. Davis, whose blood pressure had recently shand whose kidneys shut down, is home rom the hosHer twenty-one-year-old adopted grandson, nicknaBoom Boom, or Boomer, answers the door and saygrandmother will be right down. Te white blindclosed on the ront window. Te living room, with itbeige couches, matching armchair, and a large at-stelevision, is dim. Tere is a stone replace with a mcrowned with amily photos. Rain lashes the winBoomer nished a special education program last He is a heavy young man and wears an orange -and blue shorts. He is making a peanut butter andsandwich in the kitchen.

Lolly gingerly makes her way down the stairs. She sinto an armchair and begins her story.


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20th Anniversary www.sparechangenews.net October 5-18, 2012


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October 5 -18, 2012 ( cover story) 20th Anniversary

Spare Change Newstalked with Congressman Frank at tFreedom Rally to talk about the legalization o medical marijuana.

SCN: How did you eel about President Obamas rescindingo the policy enacted and sent out by his Attorney Generalsoon ater his election, in the letter the state Attorney Generalssoon ater his election regarding the non pursuit o Federal

prosecutionFRANK: I was disappointed. I told the President personally

I thought it was a big mistake. I am planning to see the AttorneyGeneral on this.

SCN:What chances does the ederal law have o passing?

FRANK: Teres a lot o support. Speaker Nancy Pelosiasked me to represent her on this, and to get the U.S. JusticeDepartment to stop harassing people. And [RepublicanCongressman] Ron Paul is on board now. We hope to haveenough support or the law to be enacted within ve years.

SCN: I marijuana were legalized, what would this mean orpeople currently incarcerated or cannabis ofenses?

FRANK: I the law is done right, it could absolutely mtheir release. Tere is legal doctrine that states that i yoin prison or a crime, and the law changes, that you are released.

SCN: How much do you think the state could realize in revi marijuana was legalized?

FRANK: Hard to say, but its a double tap in savings. we would stop spending money on arresting and locking pup. Ten, we would be receiving revenue rom the commgenerated. Te net savings possible could be in the tenmillions.

SCN: MASSCANN is promoting a legislative arc o De2008. Medi 2012. Legal 2016. Do you think that timeliprobable?

FRANK: I everyone here [at the Freedom Rally] regand votes, yes.

PHOTO/WORLDECONOMICFORUM


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10 October 5 -18, 2012 (national & international )

When Mitt Romney spearheaded the healthcarelaw here in 2006, supporters shouted that Romneycareushered us into the mythical realm usually reserved orunicorns: Healthcare reorm that worked.

Ten the Feds joined the ray. Obamacare was upheld

in a legendary 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court thissummer, so the Afordable Healthcare Act (AHA)

jumped one o the last hurdles (besides re-election, ocourse!) toward enactment in 2014. What ollows, kids,is the stuf o myth and legend.

I dont have a roo, how the heck can I aord healthinsurance?

I you have no income, or make less than $15,000 ayear, your state is expected to apply or ederal Medicaidsubsidies to pay or 90-100 percent o what it coststo cover its uninsured adults. Te local health centersthat many turn to now are expected to become evenmore crucial to the communities they serve. And istates opt in, there may be an opportunity or thesecenters to expand Medicaid oferings such as mental

health services and services that benet people with

a qualiying disability. It is clear that whatever theoutcome, community-based homeless assistanceprograms will need to pay even more attention to statepolicymakers to ensure that their neighborhoods get theexpanded services they need.

What about the children?Homeless kids on Medicaid and those already using

state-run, saety net health services will be afected ona state-by-state basis, as each state under AHA appliesor expanded Medicaid or the uninsured.

Romneycare expanded Medicaid or children up tothe age o 18 whose amilies make between 133 percentand 300 percent o the ederal poverty level. Obamacareexpands Medicaid to adults, as well, but cuts ofeligibility at 133 percent o the ederal poverty level.

Te ederal law lets amilies o our earning less than$29,000 annually join Medicaid.

I plan on having a job soon, and defnitely by 2014,when Obamacare is expected to go into eect. Willmy employer have to pony up?

Under Obamacare, small businesses qualiy or tax

credits by paying hal o their employees insurance

Te denition o small business here is ewer than25 ull time employees who each earn less than anaverage o 50K per year. Obamacare doesnt ne sm

businesses with ewer than 50 employees. Companiwith more than 50 employees only pony up or nei their employees qualiy or tax credits via the newlaw. Romneycare nes businesses with more than11 workers who do not pay a air and reasonablecontribution to employee health insurance.

According to www.endhomelessness.org, a lot isstill up in the air. I states do get Medicaid expansio

which services will be covered? Will it all really hapby 2014? What i a state misses the 2014 deadline odecides not to take up the expansion? Tis story haew endings, all o which hinge on who is elected thNovember. Heres hoping we all live happily ever ain the era o the AHA.

-Patty omsky

romneycare vs. obamacare: SCN breaks down the diference between the Obamand Romney universal healthcare legislation.

inside the arab autumnTe tragic death o Ambassador Christopher Stevens anthree other Americans in Libya and the worldwide anti-American protest over an anti-Islamic lmmay give cause to doubt the promise o the Arab Spring. Journalist Mona Eltahawy is still a believer

Mona Eltahawy held up her arms to block theblows rom gendarmerie batons. Tepolice had crossed rom the coolevening exterior o the crowd into

the steaming, dusty, tear-gas-chokedinnards o a movement. Te rule hadbeen that when the police enter theheart o the square, the weight o adying regime lands with every strike otheir batons. November 24, 2011 wasno exception to the rule.

Her orearm and hand shattered,Eltahawy was dragged rom thechurned ground and thrown into policecustody. Te next twelve hours werea cacophony o interrogations romthe Interior Ministry and the militarypolice, o consistent sexual assault, ando urther beatings. Blindolded andexhausted rom resisting attempts at

rape, her broken arms went untreateduntil her release.

Eltahawy had made her stand on that autumnnight in the square called ahrirwhich translates,appropriately, as Liberationwith thousands oellow Egyptians as they had or 303 straight days.

Te people o Egypt rose against a Hosni Mubarakadministration that had wielded violence, censorship,and electioneering as tools o oppression.

Te peoples action in Cairo, coextensive withrevolutions in unisia, Libya, Syria, Yemen, andelsewhere across the Arab world, ousted Mubarakand yielded transparent elections or the rst time inEgypts history. And, as Eltahawy says, Te revolutioncontinues.

odays revolution in the Arab world is, like allrevolutions, a motion o indictment against global

oppression. Imam Al-Hajj alib Abdur-Rashid,President o Te Islamic Leadership Council oMetropolitan New York, puts it this way: Te realityo the 1percent and the 99 percent is global, notnational. Te Arab people act or justice against that

which is unjust, responding to oppression at home andabroad. An aspect o this is the very real struggle in theMuslim world, between the orces o oppression (under

various cloaks), and those o justice, writes Imam alib.Oppression in the Muslim world occurs sometimesunder a cloak o rue Islam, others under a cloak odemocracy, others still under secular progress. Onehas to look beyond the labels to perceive the reality.

One o the labels with which the Western world

has been comortable is Islamic extremism. Longconusing the activities o ringe groups with the

core identity o Muslim people, Westernonlookers have oten trivialized the dynamo revolution in the Arab world. And thismisunderstanding o Other necessarily ent

misunderstanding o Sel. Imam alib speaEvil Uncle Sam, the correlate to an idealiU.S. nom de guerre whom Middle Easternreadily perceive. [He] is Uncle Sams eviltwin who imposes hegemony upon poorerand weaker nations in the world while histwin espouses reedom and other high idea

American eyes have long reduced the Arabworld to a radical-religious quagmire, whilremaining blind to the consequences o theown vision o reedom.

Te problem o this dual misconstrual is, Syrian-American activist and Boston-areanative Nadia Alawa, the backdrop or hercommunitys response to ringe groups whoattacked Western embassies earlier this moOur participation in rallies or reedom in

Syria, she writes, are attemptson the part o ougroup o mostly Muslims, many Arabs, Americansalso Christians and specically Arab/Syrian Christstanding unitedto make our voices be heard overthat [sic] o acts o extremism. Alawas action is ademonstration o the humanity o those who live inMiddle East and North Arica.

Extremism in the Arab world, as in the Westernworld, as in the world in which we all live, is neverabsent rom public lie. But, as Alawa notes, aterthe attack that killed U.S. Ambassador to LibyaChristopher Stevens on September 11, Libyans

MONA continued on next page


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immediately took to the streets to rally and let theworld know that the extremist acts were not supportedby the majority there. Alawa organized a vigil orStevens in Harvard Square on September 13. Amongthe moving gestures o peace was a sign that read:Violence committed in the name o our Prophet ismore ofensive than any lm. Te revolution continuesin the demonstrations o peace and mourning in theace o violent extremism.

Stevens was not a member o the revolution. Hisinterests were U.S. interests. But his short tenure inBenghazi was aithully dedicated to a Libyan people inthe throes o change.

Change or the people o Libya, Egypt, Syria, andmany other places means that the courageous will bebeaten and killed. Violent responses to movements opositive change are not responses to crude American

videos (in reerence to Te Innocence o Muslims

trailer, Alawa writes: Te movie itsel is not worthdiscussing) but to the ear o change. Tis is a ear those worth discussingactivists like Eltahawy, olike Stevensdo not share. Te blood in Cairo andBenghazi bears witness to their courage.

-Samuel Needha

October 5 -18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Anniversary

the lady Human rights activist turned parlimentarian Aung San Suu Kyi visits theUnited States or the rst time since her release rom house arrest under the repressive Burmese junta.

MONA continued rom page 10

Ive always thought o mysel as a politician, AungSan Suu Kyi explained to a packed audience at theHarvard Kennedy Schools John F. Kennedy Jr. Forumon September 27.

Suu Kyi is the daughter o General Aung San, whoounded the modern Burmese army and is consideredthe ather o Burmas independence rom Britain.She studied political science and economics in Delhi,Oxord, and London. Ater returning to Burma in1988 to care or her sick mother she helped ound theNational League or Democracy (NLD) and lead thestruggle or democracy against a series o military juntas.

Suu Kyi spent 15 othe last 21 years underhouse arrest. TeNLD won 80 percento the parliamentseats in Burmas 1990general elections, butthe junta reused tohonor the results. SuuKyi was awarded theNobel Peace Prize theollowing year. Herhusbanda scholaro ibetan studies atOxorddied in 1999in England while sheremained in Burma orear o being unable toreturn i she let thecountry.

Suu Kyi nally receivedthe peace prize in personand delivered her Nobeladdress earlier this

year, when she traveledoutside Burma or therst time since her nalrelease rom house arrestin 2010. She was electedto the lower house oBurmas parliament in the 2012 by-elections, along with42 other NLD candidates.

Now Americans are nally getting to meet the BurmeseSuu Kyi in person ater decades o admiring her as adistant hero or human rights and democracy.

On September 19 she met with President Obama atthe White House and received the Congressional GoldMedal, which she was unanimously awarded in 2008.She traveled to New York City on September 21 tomeet with Ban Ki-Moon at the UN, where she workedrom 1969 to 1971. While in New York, Suu Kyi alsoreceived the Atlantic Councils Global Citizen Awardalongside Henry Kissingerthe symbol o nonviolentresistance in Burma and the man who played a key role

in the bombing o Cambodia standing side by side.

I saw Suu Kyi speak to two crowds o college studentsat Amnesty Internationals Rights Generation event atthe Newseum in Washington, D.C. on September 20and at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge.

Its dicult to overstate how inspiring Suu Kyi is,especially in person. o begin with, shes the very imageo poise, projecting a cool aplomb that displays herIndian and British education. More striking are herobvious strength o will, her character, and her lack oanimosity toward the regime that held her captive or15 years.

I never thought that I was making any sort o sacriceor undergoing any kind o sufering, she said at theNewseum. I always thought o mysel as ollowing apath that I had chosen or mysel.

She also revealed her ondness or the Burmese army,which her ather ounded. Suu Kyi said the generalswho ruled Burma always treated her as a member othe amily, albeit a rather troublesome one.

Forgiveness, she said, is not an issue. I dont eel Ihave anything to orgive them or.

As Danny Fisher wrote or Buddhadharma, theaudience at Suu Kyis Amnesty International eventpalpably liked her. Tat was just as true at Harvard,

where it was apparent that even those asking her

dicult questions were addressing someone they deadmire.

Still there were dicult questions, and not all othem were resolved. Alicia Mara, Farah Kahn, AleHeywood, and Chelsey Watrob rom the UniversityBufalo drove all night see Suu Kyi in DC, whom thcalled a rock star and a once-in-a-lietime experieBut their enthusiasm was qualied.

You can tell shes gone rom being an oppressedindividual . . . to a politician, said Kahn, and maybshes acting that way.

Te NLDs transition rom dissidents to politicianhas been increasinglyclear. Newly-electedNLD parliamentarianincluding Suu Kyi heoriginally reused to tan oath o oce thatrequires them to respa constitution they wchanged dramaticallyHowever, they relenteater a week-longboycott because, as thLos Angeles imes

reported, they decidethey could do more bjoining as lawmakers maintaining their boyon principle.

Suu Kyis speech atHarvard ocused heavon personal responsiband the need to educaindividuals as ree anresponsible citizens.

While she expressedconcern over the stateBurmas judiciarywis widely corrupt andlargely under politica

controlshe sidestepa question about building Burmese civil society. Anappeared to back of some o her earlier criticisms oBurmese government in which she now serves.

At Harvard, or example, Suu Kyi told the storyo seeing girls in tears on election day because theirnames had not been on the voter lists. Tere weremany weaknesses o that kind, she explained. I dothink all o these problems were deliberately createdby the Elections Commission, although some thougotherwise. But it was just that they had not been abget their act together.

Compare this to what Suu Kyi said beore the elecwhen the NLD was attempting to address widespreirregularities with voter listsand even the outrigh


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opinion on or beore Oct. 2, over deployment o IDcards as attached by the General Assembly.

Meanwhile, on Monday, September 24, because o thecontroversy o South Carolinas voter ID law, there hasbeen a ling concerning the disenranchisement there as

well. Te issue o tens o thousands o black residentsdisenranchisement was brought up by the U.S. JusticeDepartment and the League o Women Voters that it

will be harder or black residents to vote.According to USA oday, state ocials told the courtsthat South Carolinas voter ID law doesnt discriminateagainst blacks and allows minorities to cast ballots even ithey dont have proper identication. Monday Sept. 24sclosing arguments ollowed a trial that will determine ithe ID law that necessitates a valid government-issuedID to vote will pass. Justice ocials described the lawas discriminatory ater the South Carolina enacted it inMay 2011. Te state eventually led suit in response.

Harold Christopher Bartolomucci, a Washington lawyerrepresenting South Carolina, said the measure passedthe state Legislature only ater minority lawmakers

who at one point staged a walkout to protest the proposal agreed to support it.

According to USA oday, Justice Department attorneyMatthew Colangelo said Te state points out that only1.9 percent o South Carolina voters lack valid ID. About8.8 percent o registered black voters in South Carolinalack valid ID, twice as many as whites.

Down in the southern part o the United States, Floridacivil right groups are ghting over voting registrations.

Te state passed a law in 2011 that cut back on thenumber o early days to vote in the ederal elections.

Te state also made penalized voters who ail to updateaddresses ater moving within the state. Tey have alsomade it harder to conduct third-party voter registrationdrives.

According to a study written by Daniel A. Smith, apolitical science proessor rom University o Florida,almost hal o the nearly 1.1 million black population

that voted in the 2008 general election in Florida votedduring the early voting period.

A ederal judge in allahassee on the week o Monday,September 17, threw out the registration-drive changesater the local Language o Women Voters was sued. Teother parts o the law have yet to be ruled out. Tese arecurrently being challenged by state civil r ight groups andalso Congresswoman Corrine Brown.

Teres been a ull-edged assault on the voting rights ominorities in F lorida, Smith said to USA oday.

But Republican Governor Rick Scott told USA odaythat these laws are meant to rule out raud and do nottarget any specic demographic group.

In late August, a ederal court struck down the exas

ID-law which would have required voters to showgovernment issued identications to cast ballots in theNovember ederal election.

Te ederal court said the ruling placed strict,unorgiving burdens on the poor by charging those

voters who lack proper documentation ees to obtainelection ID cards. Tere were three-judges present inthe U.S. District Court or the District o Colombia asall three judges called the exas voter ID law the moststringent o its kind in the country. Governor Rick Perryalong with State Attorney General Greg Abbott made a

vow that would appeal the decision to the U.S. SupremeCourt. Te same three judges then ound that the exasLegislation had discriminated against minority votersand that it was intentional. Tey did this by drawing upelectoral district maps, the same section was cited in theVoting Rights Act o 1965.

Te Senate Bill-14 requires voters to show one o veorms o ID: a drivers license, a U.S. passport, a U.S.military ID card, a citizenship certicate, or a licenseto carry a handgun. I an individual does not have anyo the ve types o ID, they have an option to obtainan election ID certicate. Tis is a government-issuedcard similar to a drivers license. Although this card isree, prospective voters would need to travel to a stateDepartment o Public Saety and prove their identity byshowing a birth certicate. Tis would cost them roughly$22. Te ederal judges believe that these costs (travelingand ees) or the poor and minorities are unair.

Te ederal judges released a 56-page ruling on exasvoter-ID law, stating: While a 200-250 mile trip toand rom a D.P.S. oce would be a heavy burden orany prospective voter, such a journey would be especiallydaunting or the working poor, reerencing the manycounties in exas that do not have a Department oPublic Saety oce o their own.

Governor Perry among other exas Republicans arguedthat to have voter ID laws was a perectly constitutional

way o preventing voter raud. Tey also truly believedthat actors such as poverty would not be taken into

consideration (legally) when it came time to determine ia law complies with the Voting Rights Act.

United States Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr., toldthe N.A.A.C.P. in July that the exas laws requirementsamounted to a poll tax, praised the ruling.

Te courts decision today and the decision earlier thisweek on the exas redistricting plans not only rearmbut help protect the vital role the Voting Rights Act playsin our society to ensure that every American has the rightto vote and to have that vote counted, Holder stated to

Te New York imes.

Voter ID laws enacted in Republican-controlled statesin recent years have created a national controversy.Supporters, mostly conservatives, say that such restrictionsare needed to prevent raud. But critics, mostly liberals,

say voter impersonation raud is rare and contendthe restrictions suppress turnout by legitimate v

who are less likely to have a photo ID card and whoto support Democrats, like students, the indigentminorities.

Te case could add to pressure on the questiowhether voter registration applications includedrivers licenses and change o address orms submto State motor vehicle oces must be given to eleauthorities. Te Supreme Court is deciding whethreview an appeals court decision upholding the VRights Act in the ace o a constitutional challengShelby County, Alabama. exas is one o the statesis also challenging the constitution o the law in theo voter IDs, along with Florida and Alaska.

Science proessor Daniel A. Smith said: Teresa ull-edged assault on the voting rights o minoin Florida.

Scott and his surrogates have consistently said thaelection law changes are meant to root out rauddont target any specic demographic group.

In late August, a ederal court struck down the ID law which would have required voters to government-issued identications to cast ballots in

November ederal election.Te ederal court said that the law put strict, unorgburdens on the poor by charging those voters whoproper documentation ees to obtain election ID ca

Te three-judge panel in United States District Cor the District o Columbia called exas videntication law the most stringent o its kind icountry. Gov. Rick Perry and the states attorney geGreg Abbott, vowed to appeal the decision to the UStates Supreme Court. Te same three-judge pcourt ound that the exas Legislature had intentiodiscriminated against minority voters in drawinelectoral district maps, citing the same section oVoting Rights Act o 1965.

Te new voting law, commonly reerred to as Senate14, requires voters who show up at the polls to ide

themselves with one o ve orms o ID, includdrivers license or a United States passport. Tose laone o the ve types o identication must obtaelection identication certicate, a government-icard similar to a drivers license. Prospective voters wneed to travel to a state Department o Public Soce to get an election ID card, and, although it isthey would have to veriy their identity to obtain onsome cases paying $22 or a certied copy o their certicate.

-Robert Sondak

VOTER continued rom page 5

THE LADY continued rom page 11

12 October 5 -18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Anniversary

purchase o votes by military-backed parties in someconstituencies. Fraud and rule violations are continuing,and we can even say they are increasing, she told RadioFree Asia at the time.

Most troubling, however, was Suu Kyis response torepeated questions about ongoing human rights abusesagainst Burmas minority Rohingya population, whoare Muslim. She chided a student in DC or using the

word persecution to describe Burmas treatment o theRohingyas, saying that condemnation does not alwaysbring reconciliation. While hinting that the 1982law that stripped the Rohingya o citizenship might

need to brought in line with international standards,she stopped short o condemning the anti-Rohingyasentiment that is widespread among Burmas Buddhistmajority.

At Harvard Suu Kyi spun the question to discuss howboth Muslims and Buddhists in the afected areas hadbeen oppressed by the military junta, and she reiteratedher reusal to take sides. I think there are too manypeople who try to make political capital out o thissituation by speaking out or one side or the other, sheexplained, And I do not intend to do that.

Western human rights organizations were quick tocondemn abuses against he Rohingya. Burmese security

orces ailed to protect the Arakan and Rohingya reach other and then unleashed a campaign o violenand mass roundups against the Rohingya, explaineBrad Warner, the Human Rights Watchs Asia direcHe went on to call Burmas treatment o Rohingyasstate-sponsored persecution and discrimination.

Western activists have venerated Aung San Suu Kas an icon o human rights and nonviolence or te

years, but the esh-and-blood politician may provemore complicated.

-Joshua Eaton


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October 5 -18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Anniversary


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would be potentially excluded rom the voting process

i these laws passed. o quote Bobbie Ibarra or theHungton Post (9/22/2012), Individuals experiencinghomelessness ace several barriers when trying to vote.One o the major hurdles is establishing residency. Inorder to do this, you must provide a mailing addressIndividuals experiencing homelessness do not have asteady residence and keeping documents such as a birthcerticate is challenging i not an unsurmountable task.

According to an article on homeless Americans votingrights (Sasha Stumacher, journalism.nyu.edu.htm),Michael Stoops o the National Coalition or theHomeless has stated that poor people and homelesspeopletend to vote more Democrat than Republican.

Tis act is not insignicant to the conversation on votersuppression laws. However, Neil Donovan, the executivedirector o the NCH, has said, Only one-tenth o un-

housed persons actually exercise the right to vote, and

over the years, the number has been airly consistent.But the issue o homelessness and voting is deeper

than whether the center-right can demographicallymanipulate an electoral victory over the center-let.

Te issue is whether citizens and legal residents o theUnited States can exercise the one r ight that yieldsaccess to all other rights.

September 30th was the second-to-last day o NationalHomeless and Low-Income Voter Registration

Week, an operation o the National Coalition or theHomeless. Teir activities in Boston and Cambridgeand every other city are crucially important to thiscountry not only or those without homes, notonly or the Democratic Party, but or all Americans.

When one voter is disenranchised, all voters rightsare trampled. As the NCHs 2012 Voter RegistrationManual rightly puts it, lending poetry to a sense ohelplessness that many o us can relate to:

Tere isnt a way that I can encourage Americashomeless to vote.

Tere isnt a way that I can encourage Americashomeless.

Tere isnt a way that I can encourage America.

Tere isnt a way that I can encourage.

Tere isnt a way that I can.

Tere isnt a way.

Tere is.

-Samuel Needham with Alison Clark and Jessica Guay

circumstances... with no training or legal counsel, andinadequate regard or their saety.

Te article states: Every day, ofenders are sent outto perorm high-risk police operations with ew legalprotections. Some are juveniles, as young as ourteenor teen. Rachels Law, composed by the parents otwenty-three year old graduate student Rachel Hofman,

who was murdered in the course o one such procedure,was enacted in Florida in 2009--but cannot be expectedto stop the practice when departments relevancy iscorrelated to quantity over quality arrests.

Why not und police departments at a stable rate? Arate equal to what they are paid under the current method.

Tis rate should explicitly engender no reduction inmonies or equipment or salary. It is an insult to theintelligence o police ocers to have marijuana users aprimary pursuit. Society needs to utilize their strengthto protect our country rom real threats.

RIPa training ex. Recent case o tainted lab samples.

On this issue, the public is ahead o the politicians.Americans have a history o standing up or reedom;this is your chance to actively engage in that history.

-J. Marechal

FRANK continued rom page 8

RIGHT TO VOTE continued rom page 5

-source: Te Boston Occupier, July 2012

14 October 5 -18, 2012 www.sparechangenews.net 20th Annivers


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(poetry) arts&culture

Sheep HaikuAchill Island, Ireland

A lone sheep cries out:Tere are more o us thanthem!

Te ock keeps grazing. -Martin Espada

For the Jim Crow Mexican Restaurant inCambridge, Massachusetts, Where My CousinEstaban was Forbidden to Wait ablesBecause He Wears Dreadlocks

I have noticed that the hostess in peasant dress

the wait staf and the boss

share the complexion o a our tortilla.

I have spooked the servers at my table

by trilling the word burrito.

I am aware o your -shirt solidarity

with the reugees o the Americas,

since they steam in your kitchen.

I know my cousin Estaban the sculptor

rolled tortillas in your kitchen with the ngertips

o ancestral Puerto Rican cigarmakers.

I understand he wanted to be a waiter,

but you proclaimed his black dreadlocks unclean,

so he hissed in Spanish

and his apron collapsed on the oor.

May La Migra handcuf the waitstaf

as suspected illegal aliens rom Canada;

may a hundred mice dive rom the oven

like diminutive leaping dolphins

during your Board o Health inspection;

may the kitchen workers strike, sitting

with olded hands as enchiladas blacken

and twisters o smoke panic the customers;

may a Zapatista squadron commandeer the rerigerator,

liberating a pillar o tortillas at gunpoint;

may you hallucinate dreadlocks

braided in thick vines around your ankles;

and may the Aztec gods pinned like butteries

to the menu wait or you in the parking lot

at midnight, demanding that you spell their names. -Martin Espada

Alabanza: In Praise o Local 100For the 43 members o Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees

Local 100, working at the Windows on the World restaurant,

who lost their lives in the attack on the World rade Center.

Alabanza. Praise the cook with a shaven head

and a tattoo on his shoulder that said Oye,

a blue-eyed Puerto Rican with people rom Fajardo,

the harbor o pirates centuries ago.

Praise the lighthouse in Fajardo, candle

glimmering white to worship the dark saint o the sea.

Alabanza. Praise the cooks yellow Pirates cap

worn in the name o Robeto Clemente, his plane

that amed into the ocean loaded with cans or Nicaragua,

or all the mouths chewing the ash o earthquakes.

Alabanza. Praise the kitchen radio, dial clicked

even beore the dial on the oven, so that music and Spanish

rose beore bread. Praise the bread. Alabanza.

Praise Manhatten rom a hundred and seven ights up,

like Atlantis glimpsed through the windows o an ancient aquarium

Praise the great windows where immigrants rom the kitchen

could squint and almost see their world, hear the chant o nations:

Ecuador, Mexico, Repblica Dominicana,

Haiti, Yemen, Ghana, Bangladesh.

Alabanza. Praise the kitchen in the morning,

where the gas burned blue on every stove

and exhaust ans red their dimunitive propellers,

hands cracked eggs with quick thumbs

or sliced open cartons to build an altar o cans.

Alabanza. Praise the busboys music, the chime-chime

o his dishes and silverware in the tub.

Alabanza. Praise the dish-dog, the dishwasherwho worked that morning because another dishwasher

could not stop coughing, or because he needed overtime

to pile the sacks o rice and beans or a amily

oating away on some Caribbean island plagued by rogs.

Alabanza. Praise the waitress who heard the radio in the kitchen

and sang to hersel about a man gone. Alabanza.

Ater the thunder wilder than thunder,

ater the shudder deep in the glass o the great windows,

ater the radio stopped singing like a tree ull o terried rogs,

ater night burst the dam o day and ooded the kitchen,

or a time the stoves glowed in darkness like the lighthouse inFajardo,

like a cooks soul. Soul I say, even i the dead cannot tell usabout the bristles o Gods beard because God has no ace,

soul I say, to name the smoke-beings ung in constellations

across the night sky o this city and cities to come.

Alabanza I say, even i God has no ace.

Alabanza. When the war began, rom Manhatten and Kabul

two constellations o smoke rose and drited to each other,

mingling in icy air, and one said with an Aghan tongue:

each me to dance. We have no music here.

And the other said with a Spanish tongue:

I will teach you. Music is all we have.

-Martin Espada

Calledthe Latino poet ohis generation and the PabloNeruda o North Americanauthors,Martn Espada

was born in Brooklyn,New York in 1957. He haspublished seventeen books in

all as a poet, editor, essayistand translator. Te Republic o Poetry, a collection o poemspublished by Norton in2006, received the Paterson

Award or Sustained LiteraryAchievement and was a nalistor the Pulitzer Prize; Tesepoems have been selectedrom his bookAlabanza, New& Selected Poems 19822002published by Norton Press(2004).

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spare change news | october 5- october 18, 2012

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