Voice of the PeopleFall 2013

People Power MovementPeople Power Movement

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

The entire Zimmerman trial repre-sented racial privilege at its finest. Would Zimmerman have had this opportunity to plead his case if he was Black and Trayvon was white?

Ask that to John B. White, a Black man who was convicted in 2007 of killing a White teen in front of his house while protecting his home from perceived danger. What if Zimmerman was a Black woman? Ask that to Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years in Flor-ida for shooting a warning shot in her own home against her abusive husband. These racist injustices are occurring every day in the USA.

Let us not forget the growing sys-tematic occurrences that perpetu-ate racism in this country, such as mass incarceration of people of

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

What is more, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement reported this year that Black people in the United States, on average, are exe-cuted by law enforcement every 28 hours. Therefore, we must not for-get those other African Americans, and even Latino/as, who have been killed by law enforcement, such as Ramarley Graham, John Col-lado, Shantel Davis, Noel Polanco, Reynaldo Cuevas, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Em-mett Till, Rekia Boyd, Tarika Wilson, Amadou Diallo, Kimani Gray, Ken-neth Chamberlain, Tamon Robin-son, Troy Davis, and many others.

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THE ZIMMERMAN VERDICTPeople Power Movement Position Statement

Fall 2013

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THE NEEDLESS TRAGEDY OF KARNAMAYA MONGAR

By Kimberly MoralesFreedom to have an abortion has long been considered one of the most important issues concerning women. The debate rages on, abor-tion opponents have been winning one victory after another, as repro-ductive health care facilities are be-ing closed down in state after state, practitioners harassed and killed, and strict conditions imposed, making it ever harder for women to exercise the freedom of choice. This freedom was supposedly guar-anteed by the Supreme Court back in 1973 in Roe v. Wade. This leaves the field open for the unscrupulous to take advantage of women’s lack of options, especially poor women.

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

and the standard of care scandalous.Mongar died during the abortion procedure, and her death triggered a grand jury investigation. Here are some findings from its report:

“The clinic reeked of animal urine, courtesy of the cats that were allowed to roam (and defecate) freely. Furni-ture and blankets were stained with blood. Instruments were not properly sterilized. Disposable medical sup-plies were not disposed of; they were reused over and over again. Medical equipment…was generally broken; even when it worked it wasn’t used. The emergency exit was padlocked shut. And scattered throughout, in cabinets, in the basement, in a freez-er, in jars and bags and plastic jugs, were fetal remains…The people who ran this sham medical practice in-cluded no doctors other than Gosnell himself, and not even a single nurse. Two of his employees had been in medical school, but neither of them were licensed physicians. They just pretended to be. Everyone called them “Doctor,”…Among the rest of the staff there was no one with any medical licensing or relevant certifi-cation at all. But that didn’t stop them from making diagnoses, performing procedures, administering drugs.”

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

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

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

Inadequate access to women’s reproductive health care is not a “woman’s issue.” It is a social prob-lem. Which brings us back to the tragedy of Karnamaya Mongar, and all the other Karnamaya Mongars in the country. To prevent such tragedies in the future we must not only ensure that Roe v. Wade is fully implemented, but that the government provide the resources to ensure quality, affordable repro-ductive health care for all women. Furthermore, we need to be aware that lack of reproductive health care is just the beginning. Lack of ade-quate and affordable healthcare for anyone, man or woman, is a dan-gerous and life-threatening issue.

People Power Movement

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HEALTH CARE FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR: A GROWING PROBLEM

By Jessica MoralesHealth care disparities, that is, dif-ferences in treatment, are a con-stant problem for people of color who have more health problems and suffer from higher mortal-ity rates than do whites. For ex-ample, Latino children are 40 percent more likely to die from asthma compared to non-Hispanic whites; Latinos are about one-and-a-half times more likely than whites to die of diabetes-related causes; African-Americans are a third more likely to die of heart dis-

ease than whites; and the African-American infant mortality rate was over twice that of white infants.

There are, of course, many rea-sons why the health conditions of people of color are so much worse than those of white people. But among them is the fact that, as a recent big study showed, Blacks and Latinos are receiving worse health care than whites. They are less likely to receive even rou-tine medical procedures, their

serious conditions are more of-ten ignored and go untreated.

So it is clear that in addition to fighting for equal access to qual-ity, affordable housing, equal access to quality, affordable ed-ucation, equal employment op-portunities, equal access to good jobs, we must battle for equal, affordable, quality health care.

Continued from Cover Story Today, in what is prematurely dubbed a “post-racial society,” it is virtually impossible to talk about race, let alone racism, without be-ing repressed. There exists a gen-eral political tone of shutting out discussion of racial inequalities and inequities sneeringly referred to as “the politics of racial griev-ance,” “playing the race card” and skin-color politics, which all en-compass an emerging age of racial discrimination known as color-blind racism. Juxtapose these rac-ist policies to a growing economic crisis, and we find a growing dis-

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

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

THE ZIMMERMAN VERDICTPeople Power Movement

Position Statement

Fall 2013

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GENTRIFICATION HERE, THERE,EVERYWHERE

By Mark Torres

Many of you have probably heard the word gentrification before and might or might not know what it means. I will try to break it down. Gentrification is when middle class or rich “white” people move into a poor and working-class, African-American, Latino, and/or immi-grant community and start buy-ing up the properties. Why is this a problem? Because it means that the rents start going up, the cost of food starts going up, the cost of clothing starts going up, and every-thing we need to survive becomes so expensive that we are forced to move out of our neighborhoods.

Instead of the politicians (in New York City, mostly Democrats) carry-ing out programs that help us, the people who have been living in Harlem, the South Bronx, Red Hook, etc., for all or most of our lives, they pass laws which allow landlords to raise the rents so that they can get rid of us and give our homes to folks from downtown or out of town.

Now, don’t think that gentrifica-tion is only happening regarding our homes. Oh, no, it is happen-ing in our public schools, colleges, workplaces, hospitals, and every-where in this society. The politi-cians and the corporations that have bought them want poor and working people to be their slaves but they don’t want us around af-

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

The People Power Movement-Movimiento Poder Popular has a Harlem Organizing Committee and the members of this commit-tee have been actively fighting the gentrification of a very important program at City College. The Phy-sician Assistant (PA) Program is going through a period of crisis. As the premier program for prepar-ing and graduating working-class students of color, we should all be concerned about what is going on there. For nationally, the number of students of color only account for less than 20 percent of all phy-sician assistants, but our own won-derful program at City College has consistently had a graduating class that is over 90 percent stu-

dents of color. Moreover, these students have for many years ob-tained a 100 percent passing rate for the Physician Assistant Na-tional Certification Examination!

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

More information on page 5

People Power Movement

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Mission stateMentWe are a democratic people’s organization

dedicated to educating, agitating, and organizing for PoPular Control of

our schools, Workplaces, transportation, housing,

policing, levels of government, and all areas

that affect our lives, to achieve Fundamental SoCial

Change.

We identify With the interests and aspirations of

poor and Working people and consider the anti-racist

struggle central in our efforts to obtain a humane

society.

ContaCt inforMationPublish your writings, artwork, and poetry in our community

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Fall 2013

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THE BRONXBy Jay Espy

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

The Bronxwhere were you when the teacher told me I couldn’t make it to collegeWhen my parents hit me harder than the little league team beat the other by mercy25 runsWhere were you when I waited for the subway and those guys jumped me for my metrocardI coulda been thrown on the tracksI might as well have been cuz when they punched meI saw the light rushing to my face

The BronxThe sun doesn’t know whether to shine or hide behind the clouds of murder and ignoranceThe rain dries off the sidewalk with such anxietyit doesn’t want to stay much longerWinter never looks like it’s supposed toIt seems the black panthers finally got what they wantedsome snow of color

The Bronxyou were there when I learned my alphabetWhen I learned to walk and talk my own swagWhen I met my homeboys and sistasWhen I bought home platanos de la bodegayou were thereSpeaking to me in SpanishI understood what chu were sayin

Yo veo Santo Domingo en Fordham RoadSantiago en Bedford ParkGrand concourse es la pita del BronxLa palacia del presidente en Jankee EstadiumY Boca Chica se vive en Orchard BeachEntonces porque no me quieres?

I know I was born in St. Lukes Hospital in ManhattanBut don’t treat me like I was born in Riker’s Island

The BronxI’m tired of you treating me this wayI demand some respect cuz I know you know better than thatThe concrete jungle doesn’t have to be so wildso why u wildin for attention?

I see you everyday I take you with me everywhere I goSo take me as I amSo we can grow and expand