East Palo Alto Today Page 9 October - November 2011

Journalist Elaine Ray finds her rootsBy Kaara BaptisteEast Palo Alto Today

As more and more of ourlives migrate to the Web, opportu-nities to uncover information aboutourselves and our families andfriends have become easier…and can lead to unexpectedresults.

For one woman, technologyled to an exciting journey to thepast, reconnecting her with her fa-ther and the legacy of talent shehad been unaware of for decades.

Elaine Ray is an accom-plished writer and editor who kneweven as a child that she wanted towrite. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-nia native was particularly drawnto poetry, fiction and creative writ-ing. “I did always know that Iwanted to write,” she says. “I alsoalways knew that I wantedto eat,so I was looking for ways to fulfillthat desire to write but also makea living.”

And that she did, pursuing her

passion as an English major atChatham College and later receiv-ing her M.A. in Journalism fromKent State University. Her careerbegan in book publishing but ex-panded to magazines, as editor atEssence Magazine, then to news-papers, as part of staff at theBoston Globe. Stanford’s KnightJournalism Fellowship brought herto the West Coast in 1995, whereshe stayed on afterwards with theStanford News Service.

As Ray’s writing career beganto take off, her mother and severalfamily friends frequently told herhow proud her father would be ofher path. But it was hard for her tomake the connection.

Her father, Ebenezer Ray,passed away when she was only13 years old, leaving behind hiswife and three daughters. Hedidn’t mention anything about acareer in writing.

“He was ill with Parkinson’sdisease most of the time I remem-ber him,” she recalls. “He was

pretty quiet and didn’t talk much.”What she knew was that he

had spent some time in New Yorkbefore moving to Pennsylvaniaand that he was a printer and oc-casional writer with the PittsburghCourier, a black newspaper. But asimple Internet search would soonilluminate Ebenezer’s years inNew York and the rich writing her-itage he left behind.

In April 2010, as she wasdoing research for a fiction piecebased on her father and his firstwife, Elaine took to the Internet, asshe would occasionally do, to findinformation about Ebenezer.

She found his Ellis Islandrecords—he was a Barbados na-tive—as well as two citations ofcolumns that he had written in the1930s and 40s; one from a seniorthesis, the other from an anthol-ogy.

Both citations referenced theNew York Age, which along with itscompetitor the New York Amster-dam News, was a well-known

black newspaper. Intrigued, shethought “Well, the next time I’m inNew York, I’ll go to the Schomburg[Center for Research in Black Cul-ture] and get those two articles.”

A month later, Ray was at theSchomburg in Harlem, ready toget those two clips and go on herway. “I said to myself, ‘This won’ttake me long, I’ll be out in 20 min-utes. But, then I get down thereand I’m turning the microfilm reeland there’s just one column afteranother.’”

Her 20-minute errand hadturned into so much more, as shediscovered that her father wasn’tjust a printer and occasional writer,but that he had been a regularcontributor to the New York Age,writing weekly columns from 1925to the mid-1940s. Overwhelmedand excited by this revelation, Raygot right to work chronicling herfather’s work, creating a blogentitled, My Father’s Posts.See http://ebenezerray.com/

Initially, the blog was just a

tool to digitize and organizethis treasure trove of her fa-ther’s writings. But over time,Ray saw an opportunity forsomething more, and the sitehas evolved as his writings arecombined with her reflectionsto provide a fascinating portalto the past with links to con-temporary issues.

Some posts feature her fa-ther’s columns alone, whileother entries may feature

continued on page 14

My tooth doesn't hurt, why do I need a filling?By Dr. Virginia HumphreyEast Palo Alto Today

Tooth decay occurs veryslowly through the enamel fromthe acid by-product in the bacterialplaque on your teeth, which formseveryday. Sugar and refined foodsfeed the plaque increasing itsgrowth and acid secretion.

Once through the enamelinto the dentin, which is softer, theprocess accelerates. Most oftenno pain is associated with thisprocess.

Sometimes when the cavitygets large enough, you may feel

sensitivity to sweets, or otherchemicals. By the time you feelcold or hot pain, the caries is veryclose or already in the nerve, usu-ally requiring root canal therapy.That is why it is important to getregular exams to catch carieswhen they are small.

At the examination appoint-ment, the dentist will checkyour X-rays, and feel for softspots in your teeth. Since radi-ographs are two dimensional,dentists are not able to see ex-actly how much decay is pres-ent, only that it is there.

You always have the choiceto wait and keep an eye on

smaller areas using fluoride toslow it down. However thestandard of care is to removethe decay and place a filling toallow as much healthy tooth toremain.

If a cavity is already verydeep, the dentist may try toplace a large filling or crown,but sometimes the nerve is al-ready damaged and pain willoccur after the procedure.

Large fillings weaken thetooth leading to fractures, rootcanal treatment, crowns, andpossibly tooth loss. A simplesmall filling is a great preven-tative solution to keep your

teeth healthy, and breathfresh. Dentists will replace oldfillings that are leaking beforethey hurt, in order to preserveyour tooth structure.

Alternatively, when cavitiesor older fillings are borderlinein how severe the need for re-placement is, and since a den-tist doesn't know for sure howmuch decay is present beforegetting in there and cleaningout the problem, differences inopinion of treatment plansexist.

When in doubt get a coupleof opinions, and go with theone that makes the most

sense to you. No dentist getsrich off of fillings, and mostproviders honestly just want tohelp people. Great communi-cation avoids unnecessaryconfusion.

As our life expectancy in-creases, we want our teeth tobe healthy and strong, so theywill last as well.

Dr. Virginia P. Humphrey, IIis a doctor of dental surgery(DDS). She maintains a dentaloffice at the RavenswoodShopping Center. You can getmore information about herfrom her ad which is directlybeside this article.

Elaine Ray

Lifecycles

East Palo Alto Today Page 10 October - November 2011

loans as “short term lendingtransactions where a borrowerrites a postdated check to alender who provides immedi-ate cash, and the check is de-posited on the borrower’s nextpayday.”

It was pointed out thatpayday loans are limited to amaximum of $300 under Cali-fornia law. However, that lawallows payday lenders tocharge a fee of up to 15% feeor as much as $45. The fee isdeducted from the originalamount of the loan, which inthis case, leaves the borrowerwith just $255. The annual per-centage rate or APR of such aloan is approximately 460%,fifteen times that of the highestrate credit card.

After Armento’s presenta-tion the council then heard 15speakers express their sup-port or objection to havingpayday lenders in East PaloAlto.

Fernando Pena was givenfive minutes to speak on be-half of the industry to disputethe harm many contend isdone by payday lending busi-nesses. Pena, is a represen-tative of Cash America and theCalifornia Financial ServicesProviders, the state trade as-sociation for the payday ad-vance and check cashingcorporations. In making hispresentation, Pena began bythanking Mayor Romero forpostponing a previous sessionto give him the opportunity towork with the city’s staff tomake its report better reflectthe statistics and factsabout the industry. Pena said,“Members of these corpora-tions provide jobs with fullmedical benefits. The loans re-quire no collateral and there isonly one upfront fee. Paydaylending staffers volunteer intheir respective communitiesand the industry itself canshow examples of being a

strong com-munity part-ner.

K e i t hOgden, a staffattorney withC o m m u n i t yLegal Servicesin East PaloAlto said,“Payday len-ders create in-stability anddisruption es-pecially in lowincome com-munities. Pay-day lendersare taking akeen interestin East PaloAlto.” Ogden ispart of theEPA FinancialStability Work-ing Group thati n c l u d e sCLSEPA, Ren-aissance Cen-ter, Nuestra Casa and otherlocal and regional partnersthat work to increase the useof asset building strategies bylow-income communities.

Lorraine Holmes, a politi-cally active EPA senior told thecouncil, “Payday loans are notfor East Palo Alto. I had afriend who was trapped in acycle of payday loans afterborrowing jus $200 to fix hercar. Every time she went backthey would add more fees. Ittook two years and cost her$900 to get out of it.”

Tiombe Jama, an activistand longtime volunteer withcommunity youth also spokeagainst payday loans. Shesaid, “We should take a pre-emptive strike against paydaylenders. People are desper-ate. That’s why they go to pay-day lenders. They’re legal loansharks.”

In also speaking againstpayday loans, Pastor Paul

Bains of St. Samuels Churchin EPA said, “I applaud Can-dice, Keith from CommunityLegal services in East PaloAlto and Nuestra Casa fortheir work on this issue. Usuryis not supported by the bible.With all the evidence from a $3billion dollar foundation, acounty supervisor and citystaff there should be no loansharks allowed here. It’s aform of financial crack. Peoplebecome addicted to it.”

Court Skinner, CEO ofComputers for Everyone, re-ferred to a book by DavidGraeber called, Debt:The First5000 Years in his remarks re-garding payday loans. “Thefirst thought that comes tomind is outrage. If you buy ahouse for $500,000 and pay5% interest with $25,000 ayear in mortgages or 10% in-terest with $50,000 a year inmortgage payments that isnothing like 460% interest.There is no reason to chargethat much interest. The key iseducation. Kids should under-stand how these things work,”Skinner said.

After the community com-ments, the discussion bycouncil members carried simi-lar levels of concern. MayorCarlos Romero reflected onhow the loss of a credit unionand bank fairly close togethermakes this a city particularlyvulnerable to payday lenders

and check cash-ing services. Hesaid “Paydaylenders arepredatory.”

C o u n c i lmember PeterEvans spokeagainst placinga ban on pay-day lenders inthe city. Heasked, “Wherewere the lead-ers years ago?Beneficial Fi-nance, MorrisPlan have beenin poor commu-nities for a longtime.

Some of ourresidents haveno choice. It ex-ists becausethere is a need.Some are un-d o c u m e n t e d ,with no way to

access these types of financialservices. We have no obliga-tion to tell people where theycan spend their money. Noweveryone is coming forward.The banks left because thecommunity wasn’t supportingthem.”

Evans continued, “Youcan’t draft an ordinance to pre-vent a legitimate businessfrom coming here. They are abusiness like any other thatpeople choose to use.

In response, Romerosaid, “We don’t let people jumpoff a cliff just because theywant to.”

Council member DavidWoods said , “We should haveacted against this back thenand maybe it wouldn’t be sucha problem now. Just becausethey have been here does notmean we should let this con-tinue.”

Council member RubenAbrica pointed out that “othercities have already enacted or-dinances against paydaylenders. It’s our responsibilitydo this. Let’s analyze thosecities' efforts.”

A report commissioned bythe Silicon Valley CommunityFoundation and completed bythe Public Interest Law Firmgoes into great detail on pay-day loans. The reports statesthat payday lending busi-nesses came about during the

1990’s as an offshoot of checkcashing businesses. The re-port discusses predominantusers of these lenders and theeffects of that use.

Patricia Krakov, who is aprogram officer who managesthe SVCF economic SecurityGrantmaking Strategy for theSilicon Valley CommunityFoundation, told the audienceabout two myths she wantedto correct. The first was thatborrowers of payday loansonly do it once. The secondone was that the loan is usedonly for emergencies.

She added, “ One and ahalf million customers took out$12 million in loans. Fifty eightthrough ninety six percent ofthem did it more than once,"she said.”

The Silicon Valley Com-munity Foundation fundsagencies, organizations andconsumer advocates that areconfronting this problem onbehalf of the clients they serveas well as the community atlarge.

CLSEPA, Nuestra Casa,with support from SVCF,made a video called U-PAY-US: The Payday LendingShow. The Financial WorkingGroup has asked the city touse its legislative power toenact ordinances, which limitthe activities of payday lendersfor the protection of the city’slow income population.

The council agreed to in-struct staff to investigate legalstrategies like zoning, densityand interest rate limits thatcould be used.

A report will be made backto the council at one of its nextmeetings. Interestingly, statelaw does allow a city to pro-hibit payday lending types ofbusiness within city limits.

EPA Council considers cont. from page 1

Facts about Payday Lending

Gathering information from a number of sources they foundthat race tops income as a factor in the location of payday loanoffices. The report revealed these lenders are nearly eight timesas concentrated in Latino and African-American communitiesas compared to white neighborhoods. In one community the dif-ference was notable; the more affluent section of the city housedonly 4 payday lenders while its low-income portion had 25 ofthem.

It was also pointed out that about $247 million in fees havebeen sucked from African-American and Latino households inCalifornia alone. Because of the high interest rates, the cycle ofdebt caused by the frequent inability to pay off the initial loan.

This can be devastating to already financially strapped in-dividuals and families. So, another loan is taken out sometimesat a different outlet to pay for a previous loan and even more in-terest and fees are added. The borrower will sometimes spendmany times the amount of the first loan to pay off the debt. Someconsumer advocates refer to this as a “debt trap.”

-Written about the research done by the Silicon Valley CommunityFoundation and other organizations about payday lending

By Brent A. ButlerEast Palo Alto Today

The Ravenswood CitySchool District and the City of EastPalo Alto are pleased to announcea new partnership for the first everjoint pedestrian and bicycle safetyeducation classes, and bicyclegive-away!

Working collaboratively with

the San Mateo County Office ofEducation and Health System, theDistrict and City have plannedthese classes to start in the winterand spring of 2012.

The goals of this joint effortare to teach the rules of the roadand to ensure that parents andmotorists are fully aware of safevehicle operation and pedestrian

safety. For anyone wishing to partic-

ipate, two steps are necessary.Register for a chance to receive afree bicycle by indicating the fol-lowing: 1) your preference for in-struction – bicycle or walking, 2)your preference for the length oftime of each class, and days ofweek preferred, and any other rel-

evant information. To register contact Guido

Persicone at gpersicone@city-ofepa.org

Brent A. Butleris the plan-ning manager of the PlanningDivision in the City of EastPalo Alto

Participate in bicycle and pedestrian safety education

Brent Butler

Mayor Carlos Romero isshown at the meeting duringthe discussion on PaydayLending.

County,Project Sentinel, HIP, Mental

Health Services, San MateoCredit Union, Wells Fargo Bank,PNC Mortgage, Housing andEconomic Rights Advocates, Cal-ifornia Reinvestment Coalition andmany others.

The diverse groups partner-

ing at the fair covered subjects likeloan modifications, foreclosure, re-verse mortgages, transitionalhousing. One of the most soughtafter areas for information andcounseling was loan modification.

According to a number ofsources, loan modifications areextremely difficult to get if at all.

Percentages of success aresometimes ten percent or lowerout of all troubled homeowners.The largest number of those whoapply for one will be denied for amyriad of reasons. Also, govern-ment loan programs like HAMPand KYHC have qualifications thatexclude large groups of home-owners.

The subject of transitionalhousing was not an easy one forMario Argeta ,who said, “I need aloan modification, but since thebank won’t agree to it, I’m doing ashort sale. I don’t understand whythey would rather accept lessmoney for the house when Iwould pay full price with just anadjustment in my mortgage pay-ment.” Argeta wept over the com-ing loss of his home.

Those who missed this year'sfair, which was held at the Arrillaga

Family Recreation Center inMenlo Park, can contact Supervi-sor Jacobs Gibson's office at (650)363- 4570 for more informationand referrals.

Additional information can befound in the Foreclosure Preven-tion Resource Guide, which isavailable on the Supervisor's website at

www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/roseja-cobsgibson. Those who call Ja-cobs Gibson office and request acopy of the guide can get a copymailed to them for free.

According to Irwin, “Theguide is a comprehensive re-source that walks homeownersthrough the foreclosure process,informs them of their rights, offers

East Palo Alto Today Page 11 Spring - Summer 2011

¿Le preocupa la gente deEast Palo Alto que no tienenun lugar donde vivir?

¿Ha notado un aumentode personas sin hogar ennuestra comunidad?

¿Tiene ideas de comohacer frente a este problema?

¿Los servicios de apoyo yopciones de vivienda deben

ser ampliados o modificados?

Si es así, por favor vengaa una reunión comunitariapara ofrecer su opinión sobreun Plan de Soluciones parapersonas sin hogar de la ciu-dad de East Palo Alto:

Jueves, 10 de Noviembre

a las 7:00 de la noche

Sala de la Comunidad2415 University Avenue

Habrá traducción al es-pañol. Para más informaciónllame a Russell Averhart

al (650) 853-3126 oraverhart@cityofepa.org

East Palo Alto plan de soluciones para personas sin hogar

Photo courtesy of Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson’s officeParticipants at the foreclosure fair in San Mateo County

2376 University Ave East Palo Alto, CA 94303

Realty andNotary Pub-lic Services

Call650.328.6100

x224 Bus.

Residents get assistance continued from page 4

homeless people struggle tomeet basic needs like foodand clothing and face barri-ers to participating in theworkforce and in communitylife.

The East Palo Alto com-munity has responded tothis problem with generosityand compassion.

Dozens of dedicated or-ganizations and individualshave stepped up to providefood, shelter and other serv-ices to those in our commu-nity who have no place tolive. Yet more needs to bedone.

The East Palo Alto City

Council is launching aprocess to develop a Home-less Solutions Plan.

An experienced consult-ing team has been engagedto analyze the problem andrecommend strategies thecommunity can put in placeto help more of our home-less residents to secure asafe and affordable place tolive. As part of the initialsteps of developing the plan,the City is holding a meetingto solicit input from the com-munity.

“We are looking forwardto bringing the communityand local homeless activists

together to develop solu-tions that will have a majorimpact on homelessness inEast Palo Alto,” said MayorCarlos Romero.

The community meetingon homelessness will beheld on November 10th,2011, 7:00 p.m. at the CityCouncil Chambers, 2145University Avenue.

All are encouraged to at-tend and share their ideasabout how to address thiscritical problem. Spanishtranslation will be provided.

City to develop continued from page 1

Por Brent A. ButlerEast Palo Alto Today

El distrito escolar deRavenswood y la ciudad de EastPalo Alto se complacen en anun-ciar una nueva alianza para im-partir clases de educación sobreseguridad para peatones y ciclis-tas y para rifar una bicicleta de re-galo!

Trabajando en colaboracióncon la Oficina del Sistema deSalud y Educación del Condadode San Mateo, el distrito y la Ciu-

dad han planeado estas clasespara iniciar en invierno y la primav-era del 2012.

La meta de este esfuerzounido es el enseñar las reglas deconducir y garantizar que lospadres y los automovilistas sepancomo operar seguramente susvehículos y mantener la seguridadde los peatones.

Para quien quiera participar,son necesarios dos pasos.Regístrese para tener la oportu-nidad de recibir una bicicleta gratisindicando lo siguiente: 1) Su pref-

erencia para instrucción, ciclista opeatón, 2) Su preferencia por lacantidad de tiempo de cada clasey días de semana preferidos, ycualquier otra información rele-vante.

Para Registrarse contacte aGuido Persicone:gpersicone@cityofepa.org

Brent A. Butler, Divisiónde Planificación, East PaloAlto

Clases de Educación de Seguridad para Peatones y Ciclistas

FREE 3 lbs of bananas with any $10 purchase, good thru November 30, 2011

Limit one per customer. Must present coupon.

An Open Air European Market atSan Antonio and California Streets in Mt. View! Near WalMart, Ross, Bev Moand 24hr. Fitness in the San Antonio Center

East Palo Alto was oncethe agricultural hub of

the Peninsula...Question-

Did you know that there are horses in EastPalo Alto at the Ravenswood Ranch?

http://ravenswoodranch.com/index.htmlWhere is the ranch? Find out at

State Assembly member Gordon speaks to participants atthe foreclosure fair in San Mateo County.

East Palo Alto Today Page 12 October - November 2011

By Brenda BerysEast Palo Alto Today

Almost a decade ago,free access computer roomscalled TAP (TechnologyAccess Point), establishedby Hewlett Packard withlocal non-profits, opened upthroughout East Palo Alto toprovide computer availabil-ity to the public.

The centers offered aproductive and stimulatingtechnology-based work en-vironment for the commu-nity, a place where communitymembers can learn to usecomputers, access the Inter-net, get practical solutionsto everyday problems suchas search for work opportu-nities, and children can dotheir school work.

Today, only one TAPCenter is fully operationalin EPA and it is located atSt. Samuel Church at 1199E. Bayshore Road, which

runs along the 101 Fwy. This TAP Center is op-

erated by Project WeHOPE,and was managed by Mr.Keith Jones, a longtimeChurch leader, loving Fa-ther, husband, and musi-cian.

Sadly, Mr. Jones passedaway in early August. Hisgood work helping familyand children at the TAPCenter was succeeded byThe 1-800-JC Project, alocal 501c3 non-profit or-ganization.

Currently, St. Samuelsis the only place in EPA that

a community member canfind an open TAP Centerfully staffed by helpful vol-unteers. The center hasbeen aiding adults in onlinejob searches, resume writ-ing, basic computer knowl-edge, and children withhomework and a safe placeto go afterschool.

The Tap Center is cur-rently open Tuesday thruThursday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.,with flexibility to accom-modate individual needs.

Needless to say, theTAP Center is not the onlymeans to access free Inter-net. In 2010, East PaloAlto’s Digital Village andComputers

For Everyone launchedWiFi 101, a free wirelessnetwork for residents ofEast Palo Alto and EastMenlo Park.

The availability of freeWiFi is excellent butdoesn’t help those that are

Using an operational TAP Centerunable to afford to havecomputers or laptops intheir homes. This is whycommunity computer roomsare important to have avail-able to the public.

A few notable centersare the EPA Public Library,YMCA, Boys and GirlsClub, and various publicschools.

The TAP Center run byThe 1-800-JC Project offersmore than just computer ac-cess, but also an opportunityto fulfill much needed courtordered or school commu-nity service hours while alsoreceiving educational opportuni-ties to strengthen computer skills.

The use of technology

positively impacts and fos-ters motivation to engage inlearning practices leading tonew ways of thinking, un-derstanding and communi-cating.

The 1-800-JC Projectwelcomes anyone to comeand use the computers, uti-lize the volunteers that arethere to assist, and also en-courages community mem-bers to get involved.

For more information youcan contact: info@1800jc.org

Brenda Berys is the co-founder of The 1-800-JCproject.

Go to www.1800JCpro-ject for more information.

A photo of the TAP room atSt. Samuels Church in EPA.

By Michael UhilaEast Palo Alto Today

There's an accronymthat goes around in a re-covery program that youmight want to payattention to. It's HALTand it stands for:

H is for HungryA is for AngryL is for LonelyT is for Tired

I'm no expert but whenthings get hectic for me Iremind myself of HALT. Ithappens. I'm not going tolie to you. If I missedbreakfast or just had cof-fee and it's 2:00 PM. I'mHUNGRY. I'm not theonly one here so what ifyou're in your car driving.A little frustrated abouthow you're marriage isgoing. Someone cutsyou off and you startwaving your fist, cursingat them and yelling. Youcould be ANGRY. Howabout if you have no fam-ily in America. You'rehere for school. You're anintrovert and nobody ap-proaches you to befriend

you or give you a hug. Turn that into 5 years ofyou being that way andyou might be LONELY.Did you get by on just 2hours of sleep for thepast 7 days because youhave some deadline tomeet in 5 minutes? Can'tcomplete a conversationwithout a yawn betweenwords? You must beTIRED.

If you're HUNGRYwouldn't it just be easy togo eat? ANGER couldhave many cures but fornow let me choose-laughter. If you'reLONELY wouldn't it beeasy to just go aroundpeople and start socializ-ing. If you're TIREDwouldn't it be easy to justgo take a nap or getsome rest.That's simple right butleave it up to peoplethey'll make it compli-cated and continue onwith HALT

Why do we keep doingit? Why do we continueon even if we're HUN-GRY? Why do we want

to stay ANGRY? Do we have to be LONELY allthe time? Is it neccessaryto walk around TIRED allday to be functional? Is itjust me or is you too? I'mno expert but for me,when I'm going alongwithout food, laughter, ahug and a nap, you willsee a mess. Why is it amess? Because I letHALT get the best of meand if you don’t watch outyou might HALT too. Didwe forget that we shouldstop and have a meal toavoid the HUNGER. Arewe so serious about whowe are that any shiftingof that causes us to beANGRY. Do we forgetthat humans need to so-cialize to avoid beingLONELY. If we don’tsleep enough or go sleepwe’ll be TIRED. I don’tknow if you know aboutHALT but it matters to methat I can either preventHALT or manage it.

Now you know that IHALT it’s good to knowthat you HALT too.

Halt in recovery

HOUSINGDISCRIMINATION

Are You A Victim?

If you have been discriminated

against in your housing situation,

visit Project Sentinel,

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(888) F-A-I-R-H-O-U-S-I-N-G, (888)324-7468

Llame a Project Sentinel,Una agencia no lucrativa1(888) F-A-I-R-H-O-U-S-I-N-G1(888) 3 2 4-7 4 6 8

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GETTING THE DRIFT?We help landlords and tenants develop smoke-free apartment buildings.

Make Your Home Smoke-Free.Call the Tobacco Prevention Program at (650) 573-3777.

East Palo Alto Today Page 13 October - November 2011

goals and policies that will ad-dress issues.

East Palo Alto may have abad reputation in neighboringcities, yet many people forgetthat this community is one ofthe brightest, diverse, and cul-turally rich places in the BayArea.

As we move forward asa community, we need tomake decisions that hold thebest interest of the community.

The renewal of the Gen-

eral Plan is a key piece thatwill help to insure that EastPalo Alto continues to moveforward while creating greateropportunities, happier fami-lies, healthier, and more in-formed people within thecommunity.

I love East Palo Alto, andthis is why I do what I do.

Marco Aguilera is anEast Palo Alto teen who is amember of Youth United forCommunity Action (YUCA).

Why I do what I do cont. from page 7

Operation FourthT

Quarter Update continued from 5

continue to provide services tothose participants that are al-ready in the program.

Enhance enforcementprograms targeting streetgangs and drug dealers

Officers will continue pa-trols in “hotspot” and targetspecific gang members sus-pected of violence.

The Department is con-ducting comprehensive gangand drug investigations andcoordinating its efforts with theSan Mateo Gang Task Force,the Narcotics Task Force, andother state and federal agen-

cies. Increase Parole & Proba-

tion Accountability The Department will con-

tinue its partnership with stateparole and county probationand increase the current oper-ations in which officers andagents conduct home visits,searches and drug testing.

Nuisance Abatement The Department will

launch a special “holiday”clean-up program in partner-ship with the community thatfocuses on trash, blight, graf-fiti, and abandoned car re-

moval. The Department will also

target specific gang and drughouses using the nuisance-abatement process againstproperty owners who refuse toclean their property.

Prevention & Intervention Police Activities League

(PAL) PAL will continue to pro-

vide services to an estimated100 youth during this period inprograms such as basketball

and golf.

“Make the Call” Cable-Television Show

In November, the Depart-ment and the Media Channelwill host its fifth Episode of the“Make the Call” televisionshow which will profile two un-solved murders, highlight theshow’s website, anonymoustext-a-tip program and anti-vi-olence PSA, and provide acommunity discussion oncrime and violence in our com-munity.

Closing Although our shootings

are down over 50% so far thisyear, our murders have in-creased and we have experi-enced an increase inshootings in October. I amconfident that Operation 4

th

Quarter (like our Summer Vio-lence Reduction Plan) will besuccessful if we remain vigi-lant and work together.

Respectfully, Chief Ronald Davis

cases before the SupremeCourt, but she wants to raisemoney first.

Tiombe Jama has been agrass roots advocate in thecommunity since the 1970’sand she told EPA Today, “Idon’t think this system is evergoing to change. The laws

were set up for blacks, Lati-nos, Pacific Islanders and indi-gent whites to fail.” Is thesystem designed for blacks,Latinos, Pacific Islanders andindigent whites to fail? Take alook at this study by GeraldMcleod:

1 in every 45 Americans is

on parole or probation. 1 in every 100 Americans

is in jail or prison1 in every 11 African

Americans adults is in jail orprison

1 in every 27 HispanicAmerican adults is in jal or

prison1 in every 45 white Ameri-

cans adults is in jail or prison(there were no figures to

show where Pacific Islandersfit)

These women said thattheir goal is to get as muchsupport from the community

and elsewhere help to helpthem fight the “injustice” thatblacks, Latinos, Pacific Is-landers and others daily expe-rience, especially in the justicesystem and in the penal insti-tutions. For more informationabout All of Us or None, go to"http://www.allofusornone.org.

All of us continued from page 5

ing in East Palo AltoWhat’s the difference incommunity organizing andcommunity service?

How can your ogranizationmake east Palo Alto a bet-ter place?

What do you want the resi-dents of east palo alto todo to work with you?

Is there anything that you

can do to improve rela-tions that the residents ofeast palo Alto has withyou?

What do you like aboutworking in East Palo Alto?

What do you dislike aboutworking in East PaloAlto??

What are you organiza-tions Strengths

What are your organiza-tions weakness?

What has your organiza-tion done to improve thequality of life in east Paloalto and it’s residents

Do you have a criteria forpeople to join?

What are your goals? Arethey attainable for you?

The East Palo Alto nonprofit cont. from page 7

Hewlett Packard sparks hope and createsconfidence for JobTrain studentsBy Kail LubarskyEast Palo Alto Today

Hewlett-Packard the multina-tional information technology cor-poration and one of the world’slargest IT companies in the world –is equally dedicated to building suc-cessful community relationships. Infact in 1994, founding partner DavidPackard gifted $1M towards thepurchase of JobTrain’s currentbuilding.

Nearly two decades later, HPis still investing time, energy and re-sources to helping Silicon Valleyresidents improve their livesthrough programs and services of-fered at JobTrain.

On July 15, 2011, Hewlett-Packard hosted job readiness work-shops exclusively for JobTrain.Students gained practical skills in fi-nancial workshops and learned bothhow to open a checking account andcreate a budget.

During the one-on-one ses-sions with their HP mentors, stu-

dents benefitted from simulated jobinterviews and received expert ad-vice on improving their resumes.And just when students thought theirday couldn’t get any better – HewlettPackard surprised them all with raf-fling signature laptops, tablets and giftcards for JobTrain.

The sense of excitement andappreciation was evident by thesmiles on everyone’s face – HPmentors and JobTrain students

alike. “Working with JobTrain pro-vides the students with the confi-dence and tools to help themsucceed in this competitive job mar-ket and also provides our HP col-leagues with the emotionalsatisfaction of giving back to ourcommunities and taking pride in thesuccess of others.” - Liza Sichon,VP HR Transformation, Commu-nications & Operations at HP.

Photo courtesy of Siosiua Vea of JobTrainThis photo shows Frank Sinclair in his HP jacket at theHewlett Packard event that took place at JobTrain.

at the East Palo Alto Li-brary in a binder entitled“Flood Protection Informa-tion for the City of EastPalo Alto”. The binder inthe library provides thou-sands of pages of informa-tion pertaining to flooding,including multiple publica-tions from FEMA regardingflood damage mitigation,copies of local flood protec-tion regulations and infor-mation regarding the City’sparticipation in FEMA’sCommunity Rating System

(CRS). The City of EastPalo Alto was recentlyawarded a Class 8 ratingunder the CRS program,which entitles those whoown property in the floodzone with a 10% discounton their flood insurancepremiums.

The City’s CommunityDevelopment Departmentis another excellent re-source for information re-garding floodpreparedness. CommunityDevelopment Department

staff can be reached at(650) 853-3185 and will as-sist members of the publicwith questions and con-cerns.

In the next year, staffwill be starting several newinitiatives to promote floodsafety in the city. First, staffwill be preparing a localannex to the Association ofBay Area Government’sRegional Hazard MitigationPlan.

The annex will enhancethe City’s ability to prepare

for and resist natural disas-ters, including flooding.Staff is currently workingon a draft annex and islooking for public input tohelp prioritize mitigationstrategies.

The public can partici-pate by attending an infor-mational meeting onWednesday, November 7,2011 at the Palo Mobile Es-tates, 1885 East BayshoreRoad. Additional publicmeetings will also bescheduled. For more infor-

mation contact Chief Build-ing Official, Frank Rainoneat (650) 833-1829.

Staff is also seekingmembers of the public toform a committee to helpcreate a public outreachplan for flood prepared-ness. This committee willhelp develop programs toengage the community inmatters related to floodprotection.

For more informationabout participating, contactPlanning Manager BrentButler at (650) 853-3121.

East Palo Alto Today Page 14 Spring - Summer 2011

Preparing continued from page 1

Ray’s commentary in tandemwith her father’s writings, con-textualizing the topic with cur-rent events. A recent post, forexample, juxtaposed Ebenezer’scommentary after Harlem’s firstrace riot in 1935 with Elaine’sobservations of the conditionsthat led to this summer’s upris-ings in London. Other postsmay not directly featureEbenezer’s writings but con-tain a personal connection to anews event. No matter thetopic, the posts feature a en-gaging blend of history, newsand commentary through aper Isonal lens.

And the response has beenpositive. “People really like it,”Ray stated. “They find it excit-ing that I’ve found thesethings, particularly as history,family history.”

As her blog states, discov-ering these columns allowedRay to see that her “roots in

journalism run deep.” She’sdiscovered the wit, charm andintelligence of her father, hisunfiltered written words reac-quainting her with a voice sherarely heard. She’s also pickedup on similarities in their writ-ing. “He has a sort of sarcasticsense of humor, which I some-times have,” she admits.

They both share a strongeditorial sense as well.Ebenezer’s columns covereda range of topics, including thecourt system, the raciallycharged Scottsboro Boys tri-als, lynching, New York poli-tics, as well as the arts andother aspects of life in Harlem;injustice was an issue he feltstrongly about.

Ray has carried the batonyears later, during various ed-itorial stints, including a timeon the editorial board of theBoston Globe, covering topicssuch as civil rights, domestic

violence, the Boston schoolsystem, and issues in SouthAfrica and Haiti. She is cur-rently the director of CampusCommunications at Stanfordand serves on the board of theFoundation for a College Edu-cation.

This project has also takenher passing interest in geneal-ogy to new heights as she un-earths more about both sidesof her family’s history. She did-n’t know much about her fa-ther’s side of the family inBarbados, until she found acolumn he wrote about hismother in 1936 when she died.

With that information, shehas been able to retrieve hergrandmother’s death certifi-cate, which may open the doorto finding more long-lost rela-tives.

Ray continues to go throughthe New York Age archives,conveniently accessible on the

Stanford campus, to docu-ment her father’s writings; shehas about five years worth ofcolumns left to review.

When she’s through, she’dlike to step back and look atrecurring themes and subjectsEbenezer was passionateabout, as well as exploringmore about the role of blacknewspapers during the time.

“They served a huge pur-pose at the time. [They cov-ered] civil rights, advocatingagainst lynching, all kinds ofnational issues,” in addition tocovering the everyday goings-on of the black community—items not covered in today’spress.

She sees many possibilitiesfor the future of this project, in-cluding expanding the storybehind it to a book, one-manplay, or even a fiction piece.

Regardless of where thisproject and family researchleads her, she’s alreadyreaped the most gratifying re-ward—learning more abouther father and their sharedpassion.

“It sounds a little cor-ny thatyou have to know where youcame from to know whereyou’re going, but I think it doesground you in a big way. Thatsort of information is powerfuland empowering and I think alot of people could benefit fromdoing research in their familytree.…It’s a powerful thing,”she said.

Kaara Baptiste is a clientmanager in the Office of De-velopment at Stanford Univer-sity. She formerly served withPublic Allies in East Palo Alto.

Elaine Ray finds her roots continued from page 9

ings can be substantial.ARMs were indeed associ-

ated with some of the worst as-pects of the housingbubble. People who werebeing enticed to buyhouses they couldn't reallyafford often got there byway of ARMs with such du-bious features as "no doc"(no documentation of in-come or assets required),minimal down payments,and extremely low teaserrates for very short terms.Some lenders even offered"pick-a-payment" mort-gages, which typicallymeant a negative amortiza-tion loan. With these mort-gages, a borrower'smonthly payment amount

didn't even cover the fullamount of the interest, sothe principal actually in-creased as time went on.

It would be a big mis-take, though, to see allARMs in light of the mostdubious forms these loanscan take. For many people,an ARM -- like a 5- or 10-year fixed rate mortgagewith payments that arebased on repaying over 30years -- is a very smart op-tion, and will help peoplekeep a little more money intheir pockets and buildmore equity in their home.

Arkadi Kuhlmann is thepresident and CEO of INGDIRECT.

The Long-Term Satisfactioncontinued from page 7

Marking a 50th AnniversaryBy Kaara BaptisteEast Palo Alto Today

In August, the East PaloAlto Seventh-day Adventistchurch celebrated its 50th an-niversary as an organizedchurch in the community. Thechurch commemorated the oc-casion with a weeklong cele-bration, from August 14-20,under the theme of “AlmostHome: But Until Then…”

Former pastors spokethroughout the week on topicssuch as “Faith,” “God’s For-giveness,” and “The HolySpirit.” The culmination was aspecial service featuringpreaching, lunch, a ceremonyhonoring the church foundersand pillars, and a rousing

gospel concert. Throughout the week,

many choirs and vocalists ledvibrant praise and worship in-cluding choirs from the neigh-boring New Sweet HomeCOGIC and St. John Mission-ary Baptist churches, as wellas singer/songwriter SheleaFrazier. In addition to the fea-tured speakers, many formermembers came from out oftown to reunite with family andfriends and partake in theweek’s proceedings.

The church was organ-ized in July 1961 after a seriesof evangelistic meetings in theEast Palo Alto/Menlo Parkarea. But those efforts weresparked by the faith of fivefaithful women who gathered

daily at noon, for years, to prayfor a church. The small groupof believers that resultedrented several locations be-fore finally purchasing landand building at the church’scurrent address of 994 BeechStreet.

Several civic leaders rec-ognized the church for its mile-stone and years of service inEast Palo Alto through pro-grams such as Vacation BibleSchool, community services,and Pathfinders (a scouting or-ganization).

Kaara Baptiste is a clientmanager in the Office of De-velopment at Stanford Uni-versity. She formerly servedwith Public Allies in East PaloAlto.

Friends of the East Palo Alto Library -November 28, 2011

The Friends of the East Palo Alto Librarywill hold its monthly meeting on November28th at 6:30 PM, as part of its work plans inadvocating the importance of library serv-ices in East Palo Alto and helping to raisefunds to achieve library goals in accomplish-

ing its strategic plan. The Friends group meets on the last Mon-

day of each month at 6:30 PM at the EastPalo Alto Library, which is located at 2415University Avenue. For more information,contact Patrick Sweeney, Library BranchManager, at (650) 321-7712, ext. 227. Gohere for more information.

East Palo Alto Today Page 15 October - November 2011

Photo courtesy of Talking with HenriettaMeet the candidates for the East Palo Alto Sanitary DistrictBoard. Seated from left,Goro Mitchell, Glenda Savage, Talkingwith Henrietta show host Henrietta J. Burroughs, MartiasVarela, Betsy Yanez, Sani Wadunia and Edrick L. Haggans.

28. Mrs. Delores Randall29. Mrs. Johanna Depres30. Carmelinda Oaks31. Mrs. Lily Jefferson (whoworked with Mom at GardenOaks Computer Lab)32. Mrs. Lily Wing (Ravens-wood biology professor)33. Mme Foltz…. Ravens-wood French teacher fromTexas (Bonjour)34. Mrs. Roddy35. Mrs. Helen Price…whostopped my doctors for prayeras I was being wheeled intothe operating room to have apesky brain tumor removed inAugust 2006.

This is just my own short listand there are so many I haveleft out by virtue of my badmemory…..but these aresome of the women who mademy life what It is today.

Mom always said “If it’s notwritten…..it never happened.”Certainly what we are sharinghere today at the first Annual

Menlo Park/East Palo AltoBeautiful Women’s “White At-tire Affair” will be written about,reported on and talked aboutfor months to come.

How three friends from whatwe used to call the Ghetto de-cided it was time to bring to-gether women from the samearea….different time zones…..to share the wealth of whatwe learned. We were notpoor…..we were rich in all thatmattered: loving parents andrelatives, the drive for educa-tion, determination to progressand fight for civil and humanrights.“Feared things first”I could bore you all to tearswith my personal history…..instead I’d like to simmerdown the last 50 years of mylife into a short list of things Iwant you to remember…..bet-ter Yet……ideas I’d like toyou to carry away with youtoday.

1.Be Passionate…..Not justabout your husband, yoursweetie or man but learn tobe passionate about some-thing that matters to youmost. My passion has al-ways been France and open-ing people’s eyes to theworld. I decided I would moveto Paris when I was 11 yearsold and my parent’s wentback on their promise that wewould move to the city ofLight! 2.Be curious…..don’t believeeverything you see or hear inthe news. Be willing to dig formore information to get to thetruth.3.Dream and encourage yourchildren to live their dreams.It’s said what the mind canconceive the body canachieve! We all came herewith a mission. I think if moreof us understood and ac-knowledged our dreams, wewould have happier, more ful-

filled people.Father/Mother/God broughteach of us into this life for areason. If we4. Spend more time with yourfamily and loved ones….thepeople who care about youand make you their priority. 5.Don’t make anyone a prior-ity who does not make you anequal priority!6.Turn off the tv and talk toeach other.There are so many distrac-tions….things keeping Ameri-cans apart. Get rid of thedistractions!!!Make evenings (or as manyas you can schedule) yourtime….couple time or familytime.7. Have dinner with your hus-band, your children, yourfamily at least three times aweek. Studies have shownthat family groups who pre-pare meals together and thensit down at the dinner tablehave less stress, less obesity,

and better communication.8.Make real friends and thenwork to keep those whoprove themselves worthy ofthe title “friend”. 9.Love yourself first…..Ifmomma ain’t happy, no oneis happy.10.Be a creature unlike anyother11.Take time to exercise….walk a lake or a beach with adear friend12.Take time for your spiritualhealth….church, prayer, med-itation, chanting{Here, Ricki made extempo-raneous remarks about hermother and her love ofParis.].

In closing it is my belief thatwe must pass on the tradi-tions and ceremonies thatwill provide memories for ourchildren and grandchildren.

For me, it is the simple Act of singing the NationalBlack Anthem….better knownas “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Celebrating continued from page 8

Seeing is believing:Facebook is AWESOME!By Kail LubarskyEast Palo Alto Today

JobTrain staff had a MAG-NIFICENT time at Facebook’sSneak Preview event on October13, 2011.

Dave Ebersman, Facebook

CFO delivered a wonderful wel-come address to the attendees.Menlo Park Mayor Rich Cline,was particularly proud to welcomeFacebook to the community.

“This match is wonderful. Forus as a community, I want you tostart thinking BIG and broad about

what this partnership means.What are the opportunities? Thisis a unique chance for the ultimatepublic and private partnership.Very rarely do you get to bearound and part of the ‘changeagent.’ And this is the ultimate‘change agent’ for the city and par-ticularly in the Belle Haven com-munity.”

The event was perfectly or-ganized and Facebook definitelyshowed their support of commu-nity and made each and everyguest feel part of their family.

The Facebook chefs are bril-liant and the food they preparedwas quite literally, “out-of-this-world.” Special thanks to the eventorganizers and to Glenda Heid-sick, Facebook’s Global ProjectCoordinator for the awesome tourof the extraordinary campus!

Kail Lubarsky is the directorof marketing and PR at JobTrainin Menlo Park.

Photo courtesy of Kail Lubarsky of JobTrainThis photo shows some of the festive decorations at Face-book’s sneak preview event on Willow Road in Menlo Park.

Community CalendarSee more community calendar events at

the website for the

East Palo Alto Today newspaper

www.epatoday.org

Talking with HenriettaMeet the Candidates - Part 2

There are six candidatesrunning to be on the board ofthe East Palo Alto SanitaryDistrict. Find out more aboutthe district and the candi-dates on the current edition ofTalking with Henrietta. Dur-ing the show, the candidatesdiscuss why they are runningand what they hope to ac-complish if they are elected.

This edition of the showwill air on Channel 27, on theMidpeninsula from Sunday,

October 30, 2011 through Fri-day, November 11, 2011.

This show can be seenon Sundays at 5 p.m., Tues-days at 8 p.m., Wednesdays at3 a.m. and 11 a.m., Thursdays at8 p.m., and Fridays at 3 a.m. and11 a.m. This show streams onthe web at the above daysand times at www.midpen-media.org.

See an excerpt at:http://youtu.be/r1NGi7PcnhY

East Palo Alto Today Page 16 October - November 2011

The deadline to respond is November 18, 2011 at 3 p.m.

For more information on the Request for Proposal and job op-portunities at the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, go to

http://www.epasd.com/message_board.php