[Iowa-dx] Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Conference - Minneapolis MN -
Part Two
GreenParty Ron
greenpartyron@activist.com
Sat, 23 Feb 2008 18:43:15 -0500
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
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Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Conference -
Minneapolis MN - Part Two
I have been having a lot of trouble with the computer system
of University of Iowa, so I lost this second part twice in
composing it. That is the reason for the delay in posting
this second part.
While we went to lunch at 12:08 PM, and began eating from a
large selection of pizzas from Pizza Hut and drank carbonated
"sugar water", I noticed several interesting tee shirts that
were worn by members of our conference:
"The individual is indivisible from the whole"
This tee shirt reminds me of the quote from Geronimo:
The individual finger can easily be broken, but the fingers
together form a strong fist.
"STOP: Southside Together Organization for Power"
DISCUSSION: WHAT WE ARE UP AGAINST -- Continued...
At 1:15 PM we went back into session wherein we picked back
up where we left off.
One member stated that the Chicago group is back to the
housing fight: Section 8 could be good for some of the people
some of the time, but it's really bad a lot of the time for a
lot of other people -- like if you do not report your rise in
income in 30 days they kick you out and make you homeless.
In Chicago, low income / subsidized housing is not being
subsidized while they want to knock down public housing
buildings.
Ann said she's been thrown into this by accident. She's been
working at Abbot Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota for 16
years. She started at $5.00 per hour but she had health
insurance, sick benefits, and other benefits. But now the
hospital has eliminated paid time off, holiday pay, vacation
pay, 100% family health coverage and have an alternate plan
that costs the employee up to $600 per month for a family
health care plan! With what insurance they do have there is
a 45% deduction for the co-pay coverage now! It's just
getting worse and worse and worse!
The use of robotics and computerization has resulted in
digital x-rays eliminating 600 people! More people are doing
more work that was done by other people now!
Sister Dorothy said there are inherent obstacles to
organizing the theistic community: you have to know people
in the ministry to get any support at all, and those are
people who are predominantly priviliged people who do not
know the plight of poor people. Having a food pantry in the
church is okay, but putting a shelter in the church or having
direct services, well, no, we will not do that. It would not
look too good.
Organizing is focused on systemic change. But resistence to
what is going on is looked on unfavorably, forgetting that
Jesus was also a resister. We want to have people work with,
not against, to walk with, not to take over, to stand with
us, not over us.
HOW WE ARE DISEMPOWERED (What We Are Up Against, continued...)
In very intentional ways, the poor are very deliberately
disempowered and deterred:
1) There is a heirarchy for meeting survival needs: food,
housing, healthcare, childcare are separate programs.
By making people have to struggle to get something, it
keeps them down rather than achieving anything
2) The basic humiliation of being helpless brings self-blame
for being in poverty -- as if it is our fault, that we
have to resolve our own personal problems first before we
can go for help as a precondition
3) We're not competent to fix the problems ourselves -- the
people with money, with degrees are the only ones who can
help us, so even if we lose self-esteem and confidence to
do it ourselves, we have to do it the way the programs are
set up
4) The government likes to pit us against ourselves and each
other -- our group against other groups so we do not have
the time to deal with major issues -- people for health
care against people for affordable housing. While we are
trying to empower the people we are trying to help, we are
being torn down in our advocacy.
GAINING POWER DISCUSSION:
1) Taming Of Power: trying to reduce or eliminate the abuses
2) Transfer Of Power: change some of the responsibility of
power to those who are the most involved who need support,
rather than power in the hands of uninvolved
administrators
3) Transformation Of Power: to give the power to everybody
who needs something -- affordable housing, child care,
medical services to answer to those who need it
|{ Who has the power over the situation?\
|{ }
|{ How do we get power over them? /
POWER ANALYSIS -- THE PYRAMID OF POWER:
I found the chart to be less informative than the explanation
which I also found hard to record due to how fast it went. I
have mentioned several times in many of my groups that I need
a good voice-digital recorder for taking these notes, as I do
not have the money to buy one I have to rely on my stamina
and alertness to get as much notation written as I can:
/ \
/ \
/ULTIMATE\
/AUTHORITY \ <-----------
/ (top dog) \
--------------
/ WHO CAN TELL \ <---------
/ THEM TO DO IT? \
----------------------
/ WHO CAN TELL \ <--------
/ THEM TO DO IT? \
---------------------------
/ WHO CAN DO WHAT WE WANT? \ <---------
/______________________________\
^ ^
| |
Targets of Targets of
Power Influence
Determining who we go to to get what we want:
1) Who are the ultimate authorities?
2) Who could tell THEM what to do?
3) Who can we get to tell THEM what to do?
When determining what we want, the Pyramid Of Power is an
important way of determining who we should approach:
a. CALCULATE INFORMATION: most of our information is going
out to the middle class of society. We need to inspire
their consciences to get their support
b. INCREASE THE COST OF WHAT IT TAKES TO DO BUSINESS AS
USUAL: boycotting products or businesses who support the
problem until they cannot continue, is a means of gaining
strategic power to change the situation Case in point is
the Hunts Foods tomato harvest workers plight.
c. CREATING NON-VIOLENT HAVOC IN A WAY THAT INTIMIDATES WHAT
IS GOING ON: In 2000 in Philadelphia, when they saw
10,000 people ready to march, it changed the way they
saw the problem. Bad publicity was effective.
d. HUMILIATION AND EMBARRASSMENT: When there is no response,
or opposing obstinance, continue to publicize them for
what they are doing to get the message out.
e. ## MOBILIZING PEOPLE IN LARGE NUMBERS: Ultimately we gain
power by matching our strategies with THEIR weaknesses!
Their misinformation can be compromised by large protests
from allied various groups who pose large demonstrations
to counter the propaganda. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
ASPECT
The Legitimacy Of Power: we know we are in the right because
we are defending those who cannot defend themselves, and we
take a stand against tyranny and dis-information!
Abraham Lincoln (a somewhat famous Illinois lawyer) said:
"The public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment
nothing can fail. Consequently, those who make public
sentiment goes deeper than those who enact statutes or
pronounces decisions."
Scott said people in Chicago asked, 'If you're organizing for
power, why are you stopping only 5 buildings from going condo
when 20 others have already succeeded? When they have only
stopped the closing of one health clinic when a dozen others
have closed?' The answer is because using those fights to
engage the people, saving the roof over someone's head may
force people to think about their own problem, it expands
consciousness. But it always starts out with the Power
Analysis.
Political education is important in gaining power. They use
lip-serve propaganda: The poor people need jobs so we need
sweat shops at minimum wage. Giving people vouchers so they
can move the people out of subsidized housing so they can
tear down the projects.
The political education is that vouchers cause the tenants to
lose their collective power, and they lose their vouchers if
they cannot use them in 180 days, and the fact is that most
people with vouchers end up homeless in one year!
Political education is knowledge within the community. It is
people within the community sharing information with each
other because nobody knows more about a problem than the
people affected by it. H.U.D. started saying they would not
talk with STOP or with the tenants' association, but there
was so much flack over H.U.D.'s response that H.U.D. accepted
the plan.
Using the media effectively is the key. How we work with the
news media is key to success. Here is what the media looks
at:
1) What is the problem?
2) Who is responsible?
3) What is the cause?
4) What action needs to be taken?
The news media never wants to cover "the system" -- they only
want to cover the effects.
It is so easy to feel beaten in what is happening until you
realize that world-wide, we are gaining world-wide: i.e. in
Venezuela, the "Roofless Citizens Committee" is endorsed by
President Chavez:
1) They (RCC) move people in buildings right away to occupy
2) They run the place better than it was before
3) They let the news media know what is going on to gain
support -- President Chavez himself announces vacnat
building locations on television!
We took a break from 3:05 PM to 3:50 PM, during which time
at 3:34 PM Cheri Honaka arrived after having had to take
three planes from Philadelphia to "O'Hair" International
Airport in Chicago -- one flight to North Carolina, one to
Texas, and another to Chicago, and then a plane here, which
is why she was late due to airline flight cancellations.
Immediately the casual atmosphere of the Conference cheered
up and took on a new enthusiasm!
PRE-"PPEHRC" BACKGROUND:
Cheri: The history of the people and happenings before
PPEHRC's formation involved a lot of people who are not even
discussed very often any more. This is incredibly important
because we stand on the shoulders of people who came before
us. You should look up their history, because in particular
before the build-up of PPEHRC and even before, they all made
a lot of sacrifices and contributed a whole lot to the cause:
{note: I probably do not have these names spelled correctly}
ANNIE SMART - Baton Rouge LA - she was with the Wellfare
Rights Organization. She had twenty-two children. She said
the one thing that was worse than the Klan (KKK) was the
utility department. She began first with the Welfare Rights
Organization and that became the National Welfare Rights
Organization.
DIANE BERNARD - Detroit MI - she was active in the WRO. Most
of the leadership of this movement came from poor black women
(predominantly) in the early 1960s to 1980s.
FAITH EVANS - the projects in Washington D.C. - an amazing
man. When people needed their telephones to be turned on
in their offices he got them turned on! And he was a foster
parent for AIDS babies to provide them with a home until they
died. His strong opposition came from NOW (the National
Organization of Women) which organization refused to address
poverty. So finally, he got NOW to hire Faith Evans, where
he worked until he had a fatal heart attack in one of the
project houses that had been won during the early 1990s.
VERNON BELLE COURT - Indigenous American of Twin Cities - he
was effective in dealing with the problems about African
Americans and indigenous American women. Vernon died the
second day that Cheri returned to Minneapolis, after he went
to visit President Chavez in Venezuela and he came back home
with pneumonia.
MARIAN KRAMER - Welfare Rights Union. Her health is still
very much an issue after her heart attack six months ago.
She sent chills down people's spines as she talked but did
not spend a day in college in spite of her great oratory skill
FANNY LOU HAMMER ("Haimer")
ANNIE CHAMBERS - Baltimore MD - She is still alive but has
very, very serious health issues. Like Annie Smart, she
carried a huge shotgun around with her. She took over the
governor's house to address the homeless issue. At the Poor
People's Summit in Philadelphia she made a fiery, emotional
speech.
--=20
Want an e-mail address like mine?
Get a free e-mail account today at www.mail.com!
--_----------=_1203810195109600
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<DIV>
<DIV>Poor Peoples' Economic Human Rights Conference -<BR>Minneapolis MN - P=
art Two<BR><BR>I have been having a lot of trouble with the computer system=
<BR>of University of Iowa, so I lost this second part twice in<BR>composing=
it. That is the reason for the delay in posting<BR>this second part.<BR><B=
R>While we went to lunch at 12:08 PM, and began eating from a<BR>large sele=
ction of pizzas from Pizza Hut and drank carbonated<BR>"sugar water", I not=
iced several interesting tee shirts that<BR>were worn by members of our con=
ference:<BR><BR>"The individual is indivisible from the whole"<BR>This tee =
shirt reminds me of the quote from Geronimo:<BR>The individual finger can e=
asily be broken, but the fingers<BR>together form a strong fist.<BR><BR>"ST=
OP: Southside Together Organization for Power"<BR><BR>DISCUSSION: WHAT WE A=
RE UP AGAINST -- Continued...<BR><BR>At 1:15 PM we went back into session w=
herein we picked back<BR>up where we left off.<BR><BR>One member stated tha=
t the Chicago group is back to the<BR>housing fight: Section 8 could be goo=
d for some of the people<BR>some of the time, but it's really bad a lot of =
the time for a<BR>lot of other people -- like if you do not report your ris=
e in<BR>income in 30 days they kick you out and make you homeless.<BR><BR>I=
n Chicago, low income / subsidized housing is not being<BR>subsidized while=
they want to knock down public housing<BR>buildings.<BR><BR>Ann said she's=
been thrown into this by accident. She's been<BR>working at Abbot Hospital=
in Minneapolis, Minnesota for 16<BR>years. She started at $5.00 per hour b=
ut she had health<BR>insurance, sick benefits, and other benefits. But now =
the<BR>hospital has eliminated paid time off, holiday pay, vacation<BR>pay,=
100% family health coverage and have an alternate plan<BR>that costs the e=
mployee up to $600 per month for a family<BR>health care plan! With what in=
surance they do have there is<BR>a 45% deduction for the co-pay coverage no=
w! It's just<BR>getting worse and worse and worse!<BR><BR>The use of roboti=
cs and computerization has resulted in<BR>digital x-rays eliminating 600 pe=
ople! More people are doing<BR>more work that was done by other people now!=
<BR><BR>Sister Dorothy said there are inherent obstacles to<BR>organizing t=
he theistic community: you have to know people<BR>in the ministry to get an=
y support at all, and those are<BR>people who are predominantly priviliged =
people who do not<BR>know the plight of poor people. Having a food pantry i=
n the<BR>church is okay, but putting a shelter in the church or having<BR>d=
irect services, well, no, we will not do that. It would not<BR>look too goo=
d.<BR><BR>Organizing is focused on systemic change. But resistence to<BR>wh=
at is going on is looked on unfavorably, forgetting that<BR>Jesus was also =
a resister. We want to have people work with,<BR>not against, to walk with,=
not to take over, to stand with<BR>us, not over us.<BR><BR>HOW WE ARE DISE=
MPOWERED (What We Are Up Against, continued...<WBR>)<BR><BR>In very intenti=
onal ways, the poor are very deliberately<BR>disempowered and deterred:<BR>=
1) There is a heirarchy for meeting survival needs: food,<BR>housing, healt=
hcare, childcare are separate programs.<BR>By making people have to struggl=
e to get something, it<BR>keeps them down rather than achieving anything<BR=
>2) The basic humiliation of being helpless brings self-blame<BR>for being =
in poverty -- as if it is our fault, that we<BR>have to resolve our own per=
sonal problems first before we<BR>can go for help as a precondition<BR>3) W=
e're not competent to fix the problems ourselves -- the<BR>people with mone=
y, with degrees are the only ones who can<BR>help us, so even if we lose se=
lf-esteem and confidence to<BR>do it ourselves, we have to do it the way th=
e programs are<BR>set up<BR>4) The government likes to pit us against ourse=
lves and each<BR>other -- our group against other groups so we do not have<=
BR>the time to deal with major issues -- people for health<BR>care against =
people for affordable housing. While we are<BR>trying to empower the people=
we are trying to help, we are<BR>being torn down in our advocacy.<BR><BR>G=
AINING POWER DISCUSSION:<BR><BR>1) Taming Of Power: trying to reduce or eli=
minate the abuses<BR>2) Transfer Of Power: change some of the responsibilit=
y of<BR>power to those who are the most involved who need support,<BR>rathe=
r than power in the hands of uninvolved<BR>administrators<BR>3) Transformat=
ion Of Power: to give the power to everybody<BR>who needs something -- affo=
rdable housing, child care,<BR>medical services to answer to those who need=
it<BR><BR>|{ Who has the power over the situation?\<BR>|{ }<BR>|{ How do w=
e get power over them? /<BR><BR>POWER ANALYSIS -- THE PYRAMID OF POWER:<BR>=
<BR>I found the chart to be less informative than the explanation<BR>which =
I also found hard to record due to how fast it went. I<BR>have mentioned se=
veral times in many of my groups that I need<BR>a good voice-digital record=
er for taking these notes, as I do<BR>not have the money to buy one I have =
to rely on my stamina<BR>and alertness to get as much notation written as I=
can:<BR><BR>/ \<BR>/ \<BR>/ULTIMATE\<BR>/AUTHORITY \ <-----------<BR>/ =
(top dog) \<BR>------------<WBR>--<BR>/ WHO CAN TELL \ <---------<BR>/ T=
HEM TO DO IT? \<BR>------------<WBR>---------<WBR>-<BR>/ WHO CAN TELL \ <=
;--------<BR>/ THEM TO DO IT? \<BR>------------<WBR>---------<WBR>------<BR=
>/ WHO CAN DO WHAT WE WANT? \ <---------<BR>/___________<WBR>_________<W=
BR>_________<WBR>_\<BR><BR> =
&nb=
sp; ^ &nbs=
p; &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; ^<BR> &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p; |  =
; &n=
bsp;  =
; &=
nbsp; |<BR> &nb=
sp; Targets of &=
nbsp; &nbs=
p;  =
; Targets of<BR> =
Power&nb=
sp; =
&nb=
sp; Influence<BR><BR>Determining =
who we go to to get what we want:<BR>1) Who are the ultimate authorities?<B=
R>2) Who could tell THEM what to do?<BR>3) Who can we get to tell THEM what=
to do?<BR><BR>When determining what we want, the Pyramid Of Power is an<BR=
>important way of determining who we should approach:<BR><BR>a. CALCULATE I=
NFORMATION: most of our information is going<BR>out to the middle class of =
society. We need to inspire<BR>their consciences to get their support<BR>b.=
INCREASE THE COST OF WHAT IT TAKES TO DO BUSINESS AS<BR>USUAL: boycotting =
products or businesses who support the<BR>problem until they cannot continu=
e, is a means of gaining<BR>strategic power to change the situation Case in=
point is<BR>the Hunts Foods tomato harvest workers plight.<BR>c. CREATING =
NON-VIOLENT HAVOC IN A WAY THAT INTIMIDATES WHAT<BR>IS GOING ON: In 2000 in=
Philadelphia, when they saw<BR>10,000 people ready to march, it changed th=
e way they<BR>saw the problem. Bad publicity was effective.<BR>d. HUMILIATI=
ON AND EMBARRASSMENT: When there is no response,<BR>or opposing obstinance,=
continue to publicize them for<BR>what they are doing to get the message o=
ut.<BR>e. ## MOBILIZING PEOPLE IN LARGE NUMBERS: Ultimately we gain<BR>powe=
r by matching our strategies with THEIR weaknesses!<BR>Their misinformation=
can be compromised by large protests<BR>from allied various groups who pos=
e large demonstrations<BR>to counter the propaganda. THIS IS THE MOST IMPOR=
TANT<BR>ASPECT<BR><BR>The Legitimacy Of Power: we know we are in the right =
because<BR>we are defending those who cannot defend themselves, and we<BR>t=
ake a stand against tyranny and dis-information!<BR><BR>Abraham Lincoln (a =
somewhat famous Illinois lawyer) said:<BR>"The public sentiment is everythi=
ng. With public sentiment<BR>nothing can fail. Consequently, those who make=
public<BR>sentiment goes deeper than those who enact statutes or<BR>pronou=
nces decisions."<BR><BR>Scott said people in Chicago asked, 'If you're orga=
nizing for<BR>power, why are you stopping only 5 buildings from going condo=
<BR>when 20 others have already succeeded? When they have only<BR>stopped t=
he closing of one health clinic when a dozen others<BR>have closed?' The an=
swer is because using those fights to<BR>engage the people, saving the roof=
over someone's head may<BR>force people to think about their own problem, =
it expands<BR>consciousness. But it always starts out with the Power<BR>Ana=
lysis.<BR><BR>Political education is important in gaining power. They use<B=
R>lip-serve propaganda: The poor people need jobs so we need<BR>sweat shops=
at minimum wage. Giving people vouchers so they<BR>can move the people out=
of subsidized housing so they can<BR>tear down the projects.<BR><BR>The po=
litical education is that vouchers cause the tenants to<BR>lose their colle=
ctive power, and they lose their vouchers if<BR>they cannot use them in 180=
days, and the fact is that most<BR>people with vouchers end up homeless in=
one year!<BR><BR>Political education is knowledge within the community. It=
is<BR>people within the community sharing information with each<BR>other b=
ecause nobody knows more about a problem than the<BR>people affected by it.=
H.U.D. started saying they would not<BR>talk with STOP or with the tenants=
' association, but there<BR>was so much flack over H.U.D.'s response that H=
.U.D. accepted<BR>the plan.<BR><BR>Using the media effectively is the key. =
How we work with the<BR>news media is key to success. Here is what the medi=
a looks<BR>at:<BR><BR>1) What is the problem?<BR>2) Who is responsible?<BR>=
3) What is the cause?<BR>4) What action needs to be taken?<BR><BR>The news =
media never wants to cover "the system" -- they only<BR>want to cover the e=
ffects.<BR><BR>It is so easy to feel beaten in what is happening until you<=
BR>realize that world-wide, we are gaining world-wide: i.e. in<BR>Venezuela=
, the "Roofless Citizens Committee" is endorsed by<BR>President Chavez:<BR>=
1) They (RCC) move people in buildings right away to occupy<BR>2) They run =
the place better than it was before<BR>3) They let the news media know what=
is going on to gain<BR>support -- President Chavez himself announces vacna=
t<BR>building locations on television!<BR><BR>We took a break from 3:05 PM =
to 3:50 PM, during which time<BR>at 3:34 PM Cheri Honaka arrived after havi=
ng had to take<BR>three planes from Philadelphia to "O'Hair" International<=
BR>Airport in Chicago -- one flight to North Carolina, one to<BR>Texas, and=
another to Chicago, and then a plane here, which<BR>is why she was late du=
e to airline flight cancellations.<BR>Immediately the casual atmosphere of =
the Conference cheered<BR>up and took on a new enthusiasm!<BR><BR>PRE-"PPEH=
RC" BACKGROUND:<BR>Cheri: The history of the people and happenings before<B=
R>PPEHRC's formation involved a lot of people who are not even<BR>discussed=
very often any more. This is incredibly important<BR>because we stand on t=
he shoulders of people who came before<BR>us. You should look up their hist=
ory, because in particular<BR>before the build-up of PPEHRC and even before=
, they all made<BR>a lot of sacrifices and contributed a whole lot to the c=
ause:<BR>{note: I probably do not have these names spelled correctly}<BR><B=
R>ANNIE SMART - Baton Rouge LA - she was with the Wellfare<BR>Rights Organi=
zation. She had twenty-two children. She said<BR>the one thing that was wor=
se than the Klan (KKK) was the<BR>utility department. She began first with =
the Welfare Rights<BR>Organization and that became the National Welfare Rig=
hts<BR>Organization.<BR><BR>DIANE BERNARD - Detroit MI - she was active in =
the WRO. Most<BR>of the leadership of this movement came from poor black wo=
men<BR>(predominantly) in the early 1960s to 1980s.<BR><BR>FAITH EVANS - th=
e projects in Washington D.C. - an amazing<BR>man. When people needed their=
telephones to be turned on<BR>in their offices he got them turned on! And =
he was a foster<BR>parent for AIDS babies to provide them with a home until=
they<BR>died. His strong opposition came from NOW (the National<BR>Organiz=
ation of Women) which organization refused to address<BR>poverty. So finall=
y, he got NOW to hire Faith Evans, where<BR>he worked until he had a fatal =
heart attack in one of the<BR>project houses that had been won during the e=
arly 1990s.<BR><BR>VERNON BELLE COURT - Indigenous American of Twin Cities =
- he<BR>was effective in dealing with the problems about African<BR>America=
ns and indigenous American women. Vernon died the<BR>second day that Cheri =
returned to Minneapolis, after he went<BR>to visit President Chavez in Vene=
zuela and he came back home<BR>with pneumonia.<BR><BR>MARIAN KRAMER - Welfa=
re Rights Union. Her health is still<BR>very much an issue after her heart =
attack six months ago.<BR>She sent chills down people's spines as she talke=
d but did<BR>not spend a day in college in spite of her great oratory skill=
<BR><BR>FANNY LOU HAMMER ("Haimer")<BR><BR>ANNIE CHAMBERS - Baltimore MD - =
She is still alive but has<BR>very, very serious health issues. Like Annie =
Smart, she<BR>carried a huge shotgun around with her. She took over the<BR>=
governor's house to address the homeless issue. At the Poor<BR>People's Sum=
mit in Philadelphia she made a fiery, emotional<BR>speech.<BR></DIV></DIV><=
BR>
--=20
<div> Want an e-mail address like mine? </b><br>
Get a <b>free e-mail </b>account today at <a href=3D"http://www.mail.com/Pr=
oduct.aspx" target=3D"_blank">www.mail.com</a>!</div>
--_----------=_1203810195109600--