5 10 291 https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/60dcbfcf86747919e9b521dddf81587e.pdf f1633614620dfae899ad67f988a7560e PDF Text Text J u n e 2 9 t h - J u ly 1 2 t h 2 0 1 8 | Vo l . 2 1 I s s u e 1 3 ( N o. 3 8 4 ) advocating justice | building community Spirituality, Social Justice & JustLOVE at the Heart of Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp's Life, Actions & Pastorship | 8 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE Cincinnati’s Hills and Hollars | 3 A Very Important Little Dam | 7 Photo Essay: Murals of Cincinnati | 9 Life lessons from Mr. Rogers and breaking with social media | 7 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From The Director: The Delusion of Opportunity Rubbing Off B JOSH SPRING y the time anyone gets this paper from a Distributor, Cincinnati City Council will most likely have passed a fiscal year 2019 budget which goes into effect on July 1. This year, like every year, we had to fight for the restoration of Human Services Funding. Human Services Funding is supposed to be at least 1.5% of the city’s General Fund, but has been well below this percentage for about 15 years. We also had to advocate for funding for the Winter Shelter. On Monday, June 25, the Budget and Finance Committee of City Council voted to bring a budget to full Council on Wednesday the 27th which if it has passed will bring Human Services from its 0.9% level last year to 1% this year and will have funded the Winter Shelter at more than last year, but still at 68% of the full funding needed. These decisions do represent forward movement. It wasn’t until a few years ago that Council started restoring Human Services after years of cuts. It also wasn’t until just a couple years ago that the city budgeted at all for the Winter Shelter. These improvements have come because of years of advocacy and organizing; years of people emailing, phone-calling, meeting and telling the stories of their organization’s work and their own I J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 Executive Director Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition personal stories of the importance of these funds. This work has also lead to the make-up and outlook of council improving. All of that said, we have so much further to go. Lack of access and opportunity, racism and classism, poverty and homelessness are so rampant in our community that portions of the city’s budget that are supposed to affect any change in these areas pale in comparison to the level of problems to overcome. In our city and really in the world, the problem is not that there is a lack of resources. The problem is that the we are allowing the resources to be in the wrong, small number of hands. We allow individuals and companies to flourish financially and in terms of power at the cost of people. Sometimes folks will try to ease conscience or trick us by saying that when these individuals and companies flourish it creates jobs and people who don’t currently have access to opportunity will. Or that these individuals and companies flourishing increase tax revenues which pay for steps like Human Services. Really, you can paint it however you like, but such beliefs are a belief in trickle-down economics and trickle-down access. But real life does not work like that. Just because a large company has an increase in sales or builds a new office or a group of people have success with a tech startup and create some new jobs, that does not mean that lack of access to opportunity because of racism and classism improve. One does not equal the other. If you truly believe that investment in the former really improves the latter, then show your math, I want to see the proof. Because I know the proof doesn’t really exist. Wasn’t it Einstein that said something like continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity? This country (Continued on page 12) WHERE ARE WE HEADED AS A NATION? (Part two) s the first order of business in this country the need for citizens to attempt to restore democracy back to health? At the conclusion of Part I of "Where Are We Headed As A Nation - A Need For Reflection," I promised to review critical problems that are currently receiving either inadequate or completely counterproductive responses, and to also suggest some possible reforms. Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions this month prompted me to place reviving our democratic process at the top of my list of reforms. First off, the Court upheld the policy of the State of Ohio to purge people from the registered voter rolls if they had not voted in two consecutive elections. This policy put in place by Secretary of State John Husted was justified as a way to prevent voter fraud by efficiently BILL WOODS Contributing Writer removing registrants from the rolls who for a variety of reasons no longer appeared to be Ohio voters. Critics and reform groups such as Common Cause and the League of Women Voters denounced the policy as a Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: partisan step to make it more difficult for many citizens to exercise their right to vote. Research shows that thousands of Ohioans were purged from the rolls and a disproportionate number of them were African (Continued on page 12) Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Martha Stephens, Maria Funcheon, Jim Luken, Robert Park, Jason Haap, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, Tony Castrucci, Google Images, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �3 LOCAL Cincinnati’s Hills and Hollars No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN T he Appalachian community in Cincinnati has taught me things that have enriched my understanding and my life. It has taught me that simplicity is often the best solution. It has taught me that music and art can be the centerpiece of both community building and struggle. It has taught me that time is fleeting, and without one another, we have literally nothing. I am thankful that the community has allowed me in from time to time, Staff Writer people in families in Cincinnati. The stereotypes: uneducated, dirty, unsophisticated, poor, and unable to work were deeply entrenched in Cincinnati. Many of those stereotypes I had held, not specifically for expressly Appalachian folks, but for people in (then all-white) Norwood, or even the East End. Having grown up in the East Side, in Hyde Park specifically, I learned classist and WordPlay Cincinnati Performs Where I'm From, a group poem, at the Urban Appalachian Conference Showcase Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman without questions, and embraced me and all my identities. Even more than this, the Appalachian community taught me deep truths about the society in Cincinnati. It has been a mirror to the atrocities that we have perpetrated against those in our community who suffer and struggle. I first became acquainted with the Urban Appalachian Council (which has morphed into the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition today) as a freshly minted Bachelor, returning to my hometown in 2001. I was asked to lead a training on peace and nonviolence, which turned out to be more of a training for myself. Within the structure I facilitated for the session, I learned some things about how society sees Appalachian racist stereotypes from a young age. For example, if we drove through Norwood, which borders Hyde Park, we’d see who could hold their breaths the longest. I vaguely remember that if you passed a white church or train tracks, you could stop holding your breath. The only reason I write this today is because I’m sure ignorant things like this still occur today. But, what I most remember from that training in 2001, was the statement that someone made about the police. One of the elders in the group said, “The reason why we don’t trust the police is because they separate our families.” It was this statement that has stuck with me for years. White, middle-class, people in the United States rarely experience the loss of a family member due to the Curt Ellison Discusses Applachian Studies at the Urban Appalachian Showcase Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman “Breakdown Stereotypes” police, but for others, this is routine. In the context of the conversation in 2001, it was about cultural differences and class warfare. Appalachian people, emigrating from the hills and hollars in the mid-Atlantic states, were literally coming here with nothing. They were forced from the Idyllic areas because they could not find work, or any source of income. It was an economic reality to leave, but when they left, they brought with them their culture. Appalachian folk remedies, the importance of work, the centering of the family, were all strong parts of their culture, but the lack of educational and work opportunities gave us, onlookers, a warped view of who they are. I remember my Grandma, who was born in 1911, was telling me that she had to leave State Street in Price Hill when the Appalachians started moving in. When she was still a child, she moved to Oakley, where later she married a man from the “hills of Kentucky” and raised her 7 children there. She had a hollar in the backyard, where we’d an apparatus of the state that rips families apart. For the Appalachian, it was substandard housing conditions and the inability to find educational opportunities and decent work. Families separated because of these reasons knew that the police were the second step, after social workers, who reported them. Whole communities of Appalachian people were at risk, due to economic factors. Today, we are seeing the same thing with ICE, Homeland Security, and the police as well. African-American families are destroyed by police brutality, but are simultaneously expected to repair the societal ills that harm them. Children separated from families is the tradition in America — from the Africans stolen from their homelands and the system of slavery that encouraged family separation, to the Native Americans whose children have been put in “Indian Boarding Schools,” to Mass Incarceration, to the economic separation of Appalachians, to the Tender Age Shelters that those who are seeking asylum in our country are now facing. Separating families is the history of these United States of America because it fulfills the need of underground human trafficking rings. It also creates an urgency to work Rabbit Hash String Band at the Appalachian Showcase Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman play as kids. When she was 86 yearsold, sitting on her porch, she told me (in high school): “it doesn’t matter what color someone’s skin in, even if they have green skin with purple polka dots - they are still family and they are still welcome here.” This revelation took her many years, as she fought the integration of St. Cecilia in the 50’s. I feel that the Appalachian in my grandfather (which is disputed by my family to this day), was what helped her change her views, and humanized all people. Today, we are seeing the same issues where the police are just harder for less. It creates a system of inequality that benefits the rich, while forcing everyone else’s wages down. It is imperative that we understand how Cincinnati’s history is similar and different than the rest of the country. We are a border town, and this year we hosted the Appalachian Studies Association Conference. We are fortunate to have a rich history steeped in the lived experience of African and Appalachian Americans, who have bestowed upon us a very special power to fight for families and culture as vigorously as we fight for justice and equity. “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Mark Mussman at (513) 421.7803 x14 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL Unions Are More Important Than Ever J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 I MARTHA STEPHENS ’VE STUDIED the recent article in Streetvibes about the socalled “right-to-work” laws in the U. S., and I’m writing to say, as that article seems to suggest, that full union shops will always be what people need. We know that corporate power in the U. S. has been growing ominously for some years, and that business has been homing in on state legislators to get them to cripple workers’ organizations through “right-to-work” statutes, or in effect “right to work for less” laws. About unions, we might remember that fifty years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched alongside striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, and though he knew his life was in danger, he spoke at a certain rally there on that night later on. The next day he was shot and killed. At the rally he had made what would be his last speech, saying that he believed success would eventually come for all God’s children. “I may not be with you,” he said, but that he’d been “to the mountain top” and had seen “the promised land.” It was a long and beautiful speech. The Issue for the Memphis marchers, said Dr. King, was simply “injustice” -- the refusal of Memphis “to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers.” They were marching, he said, “to force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God's children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out.” This great leader would, I believe, want us to persevere today for all workers black and white and of Contributing Writer immigrant origin. THE FIGHT of workers to organize has been going on, it seems, since the late 1800’s. So-called “rightto-work” laws are nothing new and ones that Dr. King understood very well. Some say that such laws began in Texas in 1948, were designed to pit worker against worker, black against white, immigrant against native born. Today such laws are still trying to break union strength and deny the rights of workers to collectively bargain a “closed shop.” In “right-to-work” states workers hired in a company that has a union do not have to join that union or pay union dues, but such workers still benefit from the union’s negotiations for their pay, their healthcare and pensions, for sick days and family leaves. Workers not willing to pay the “fair share fees” are still represented by union staff in any grievance they may bring -- about unfair charges, for instance, or dismissals. IN 2011, Ohio Governor Kasich launched State Bill SB-5 to end closed shops or “union security clauses” in public contracts with workers in AFCSME (city, county, and state workers). SB-5 was defeated in Ohio at the ballot box, with 64% opposed to it. In Ohio there’s a right to a Referendum. That is, if we gain enough signatures, our issue goes to the ballot box, a right that many states such as Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky, do not have. To defeat SB5, Ohio workers and their many supporters gathered over 2 million signatures during many rallies and protests, and delivered those petitions to the state house and Governor Kasich. Kasich eventually accepted the defeat of his effort for right-towork and said that the people had “spoken.” In unions older workers can look forward to a more dignified retirement, with income over and above their Social Security. They will have benefitted from their union’s work for good pay, affordable healthcare, and a measure of job protection, issues union staff face and fight for every day. ON A PERSONAL NOTE, a member of my family began union work years ago and is a union representative in Cincinnati today. It’s hard work, the hours are long, but she is doing what she loves! We don’t see a lot of her at home. As for myself, I helped foment the faculty union at U. C. back in the seventies. I remember going downtown on the U. C. shuttle one day to see a labor attorney, James Paradise. We wanted the university to provide us a list of all U. C. salaries, including those of the administrators, and we knew that state law required this disclosure by public institutions. For several months U. C. tried to get Paradise to be satisfied with salary averages, but we said, “No, no, Mr. Paradise, we are entitled to names and exact figures.” The day our lawsuit was to be filed, the university called Mr. Paradise and said that a full list of names and salaries would be placed in the library the next day. When faculty saw this list, and the differences in faculty and administrative pay, a union team got to work and a faculty vote for a union soon passed. The local AAUP was asked to represent us. During Former Inmates Deserve A Second Chance. Let’s Give It To Them F ormer prisoners re-entering their communities face many challenges associated with reintegration, like landing a job and affordable housing, re-establishing relationships with friends and loved ones, and keeping up with probationary responsibilities. These challenges are compounded by the shame that looms over them because they have served time. Although reentry is touted as a second chance, there are ways society negatively views former prisoners that make this second chance nearly impossible. This shame is detrimental not only to former prisoners, but also their loved ones and our communities. Former prisoners have paid their debt to society, and we must support them in their reentry process in order to truly offer the second chance they deserve. MARIA FUNCHEON Contributing Writer The United States accounts for 25% of the world’s prisoners, locking up more people than any other nation in the world. Over 70 million Americans -- nearly 1 in 3 -- have a criminal record and about 1 in 110 have been to jail or prison in the past year. Chances are, you may work with someone, have a relative, or went to school with someone who spent time in jail or prison and may not even know it. Incarceration is meant to be a punishment paid to society, but it is often paid by those who don’t have much to begin with. The majority of US prisoners lack a high school diploma, and almost 60% were living in poverty at the time of their incarceration. When they are released, they should have a second chance, but society often sees nothing more than an “ex-con”. Many, it’s clear, were not given a first chance. The way we communicate the shame associated with the actions of others, which social scientists call stigmatization, serves to further shame reentering individuals and make their reentry process harder. We cannot preach about second chances when we actively fight against them. Criminal histories can be lifelong barriers to many areas of reentry, including employment, but positive changes are being made. The Ban the Box movement, which encourages employers to not ask job applicants if they have a criminal record, has been successful in allowing a more fair interview process for all candidates, including former prisoners. Similarly, employers may not miss out on a THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED our first strike, we won a 20% raise. I’m not saying it was all easy-going. We were not a closed shop and some faculty did not cooperate (bad for them!), but most of us did. PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS need strong unions, and it is perhaps no accident that the largest of this year’s marches and protests by teachers have come about in “right to work” states -- Kentucky, West Virginia, Arizona, and Oklahoma. Fast-food workers are attempting to organize, and Walmart employees have launched an organization (Our Walmart) that may play a larger and larger part in representing the workers there. Such actions must prevail and be supported by all if we are not to sink further and further into a povertyridden, third-world-like country where fewer and fewer people can make a living, have a family home, count on healthcare and pensions and a measure of job protection. Today people’s voices in their workplaces are more needed than ever, yet we are facing a dangerous Supreme Court that may be deciding, in the Janus case, how unions will be allowed to operate. Whatever happens to us, we must all get busy to elect democratic officials who will stand up, in our legislatures and in Congress, for common people, and will appoint humane and intelligent judges to SCOTUS and the lower courts. Otherwise our unions will be crippled by “right-to-work” statutes and all the other means corporate power is developing to impoverish us. [Martha Stephens is retired from the English Department at U. C. She writes books, as well as a blog at marthastephens.wordpress.com. She can be reached at stephem@ ucmail.uc.edu.] superior candidate who may have a criminal history. Ban the Box was signed into law for public-sector jobs by Governor Kasich in 2015 and is a progressive step toward helping former prisoners get back on their feet. It also helps reduce the stigma associated with having a record when applying for a job. Humans are social creatures. We rely on the support, care, and love of others throughout our lives. As a former graduate student in sociology, I have learned that social support from family, friends, and the community is imperative to more positive outcomes during the reentry process. Furthermore, a 2014 study in the International Journal of Conflict and Violence found that higher levels of social support also decreases crime and poverty rates in communities. Supporting former prisoners during reentry is a win-win. It’s time to reduce the stigma associated with serving time not only for the benefit of those reentering, but also to lift up and improve our (Continued on page 11) �WORLD Good Cop, Bad Cop: A Canadian Perspective No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 C anada. Our best neighbor. Just to the north. Along a 3000 mile border. 35 million (cold) people live there (all enjoying comprehensive health care, and a sane Prime Minister who has real hair). For some reason none of those millions seem to be sneaking across the border, seeking asylum in the land of the brave and the free. We Americans picture most Canadians as being tough as a hockey stick. Resilient (who couldn't be dealing with those temperatures five months of the year?), conversant with moose and bears. Here's the thing about Canada that you can tell your friends in the NRA (are those people actually capable of befriending anything but their guns? Just askin'): It is very difficult, almost impossible, to get a handgun permit in Canada. 30 out of a hundred folks there do own guns, mostly rifles and shotguns. 90 out of a hundred in the US own them, many of those keeping huge collections, including those infamous AR 15 assault rifles. Approximately 2 Canadians in 100,000 die from gunshots each year. 13 per 100,000 here. 65 people died interacting with Canadian police in 2017. 963 died here in similar interactions in 2016. [Statistics can vary for obvious reasons, but they never seem to vary by much in terms of gun violence.] This 2-part series of Streetvibes articles will attempt to articulate the difference in policing “styles” in Canada with those in the US. It will be based on interviews I did with a long-time friend, a retired, Canadian police officer, who has worked at operational and administrative level of policing, which has involved cooperative investigations with FBI, DEA, and ATF. For personal reasons my friend prefers to remain anonymous. Background I met Paul (not his real name) at a writer’s conference in Connecticut during the early 70s. He had been a semi-professional hockey player, a boxer, a rodeo rider. I had been a (mild-mannered) hockey player in Cincinnati. Besides our intense interest in writing, we had Canada's national pastime in common. Paul recalled for me that, during the two-week conference, we were thrilled by the news that Daniel Elzberg had bravely released the infamous “Pentagon Papers” to the New York Times. This brave whistle blower action would play a major role in ending the Vietnam War. Elzberg would continue to inspire the two of us, Paul in his ongoing police work, and me as a lifelong anti-war activist. I treasure our friendship. During the two-week conference, JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer he and I became buds. His dedication to high-level police work has inspired me all these years. His expertise has brought him to the international level, wherein he has addressed both Canadian and international investigative organizations, on law and ethical consideration regarding how these apply to use of force confrontations. Clearly, I had chanced upon the right guy to interview regarding the whole “bad cop, good cop” issue. I remember talking to Paul not long after the murder, in Ferguson, Missouri, of Michael Brown in the tactics. Like many of you readers, I became appalled by the plethora of violent deaths, black and white, that occurred at the hands of police around the US, many of the victims being unarmed men...as well as several women. A few months ago, I began emailing Paul up north of the border, seeking his professional take on this seemingly out-of-control situation. Paul's responses “As for Canadian policing...well, it's a whole different kettle of fish. Our police culture is so radically different for a variety of reasons, including the fact that our policing environment is Sir Robert Peel’s Principles of Law Enforcement 1829 1 2 3 The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions. Police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public. 4 5 The degree of cooperation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force. Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law. 6 Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient. 7 Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence. 8 9 Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. Sir Robert Peel's Principles of Law Enforcement (1829) is a list of professional standards used by Canadian police officers Credit: Wikipedia summer of 2014. He had followed the details of that case. He told me that those officers would be treated very differently in Canada. I didn't follow up on this conversation at the time. A year later, Sam Dubose became the victim of an outrageous police shooting at the hands of UC officer Ray Tensing here in Cincinnati. I began covering Black Lives Matter events for this paper, which involved thinking (and writing) about police not complicated by American racial dynamics, and by NRA 'theology.' “Indeed, when your police approach a car, or for that matter any potential suspect (or even a nonsuspect), they have to make the “safe” assumption that the suspect is armed and then, out of self-preservation, they respond accordingly, which is a recipe for disaster. “One of the things that most appalls me when I see a video of a US THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 suspect who has been shot, is lying on the ground, and there appears to be a collective utter disregard [by the cops] for the well-being of the downed suspect, which gives me the cold shivers. Canadian police would be assisting the individual in a matter of seconds. “Also, I might add that the US military is a huge feeder for your police forces and a lot of vets join police organizations after they have experienced hard combat. On that basis they are used to dealing with “enemies”...as opposed to citizens who [usually would be assumed to] attract the presumption of innocence. Furthermore, (some of) these veterans are...what's the technical term?...'f*cked up' from combat related PTSD and are totally unsuited for carrying a gun, let alone policing. “Anecdotally, I can tell you that in my experience with police units here, Canadian vets who have come back from Afghanistan and join the force are more prone to become 'problem children' regarding (things like) excessive use of force and substance abuse.” Disciplinary actions when Canadian police use lethal force As the statistics above indicate, Canadian policing sometimes results in the death of a suspect (and occasionally the death of an officer. Because of the country's demographics few of those killed by police are black, and their deaths have few, if any, racist overtones. According to Paul, each of these lethal incidents is investigated by a Provincial Office of Independent Investigations. In the US, similar investigations are usually done internally, by the local police force. Paul indicates that the results of such investigations often prove to be similar. “I can say that, in terms of Canadian police shootings involving death, there have been only two, and arguably three, incidents that resulted in criminal convictions in the past 25 years. “That is not to say that all [Canadian] police shootings, or police use of force causing death, are the result of highly professional police work. I would say that there are incidents where officers, on the basis of all of the evidence available, have had an honest but mistaken belief in a factual situation that resulted in the use of lethal force. In such cases no criminality would result, but what could result would be very adverse professional consequences.” It would be statistically arguable that such “adverse consequences” occur much less frequently in the US where there appears to many, especially African-Americans, to be a culture, born out by the courts, of tolerating, to the point of encouraging, excessive use of force by our police. Paul points out that in Canada there is a very different dynamic in terms of police culture. “Countering these incidents [of (Continued on page 12) �6 LOCAL Notable RBG T ROBERT PARK he recent movie RBG is a documentary on the amazing life and work of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. She was at the top of her law school classes (Harvard and Columbia) while raising a child and assisting a very sick fellow law student (a future New York City tax lawyer) who was her husband. As a young lawyer she took cases that built the foundation for a massive assault on the fortress of contempt for women’s rights and dignity in the work place and in other institutions. She won the right of a young woman to attend the all-male Virginia Military Institute, not because she liked Southern racist reactionary militarism but because it was a great case to break down institutional walls – if you could do it there you could do it anywhere. Many other landmark cases followed, argued in the Supreme Court, including the Ledbetter equal pay dispute which A J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 Contributing Writer although unsuccessful in court, energized a strong Congressional move to change the laws. RBG had an uncompromising vision, and told truth to power: she said we’re not asking for special treatment, just “get your boot off our neck.” She took on the good old boys of both parties and smacked them upside the head with arguments they couldn’t dismiss, on Constitutional grounds and on compelling justice that must have unsettled some even in their personal relationships (with wives and daughters). In 1980 she was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and, in 1993, appointed by Bill Clinton to the U.S. Supreme Court. With the rightwing court assembled by Bush et al., victories became less frequent but RBG became a powerhouse of dissenting opinions that themselves help make law. She has become the Notorious RBG of young progressives. In the 2016 election, she made a public statement without naming names to the effect that a candidate for US President should be someone who respects democratic process, the rule of law, fundamental rights and civility (though, after an explosion of public self-righteous indignation, she sort of apologized). RBG didn’t let the fact that the inequities throughout our society sometimes produced Life lessons from Mr. Rogers and breaking with social media new documentary titled Won't You Be My Neighbor? chronicles the impact of Mr. Rogers on American culture, and while I have not yet seen the film, the premise speaks to me - and further it may be the final push I need to quit my social media addiction (even if I just deactivate Facebook for a month, to see how it feels). Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was on television until 2001, ending its long and influential run a full two years before anyone heard of MySpace - not to mention Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), or Instagram (2010). For decades, Mr. Rogers reminded generations of American children - and by extension their parents - what it means to be neighborly. I'm not trying to draw a direct line of causality here, as if to suggest the increasing lack of civility in American discourse is due to Mr. Rogers going off the air and then passing away, but perhaps Fred Rogers was the last bellwether of cultural norms that, with his passing, have started to pass, too. Social media seems to have heralded a new age of smugness, and this criticism applies equally across the political spectrum. This is a dangerously sharp double-edged sword. The last thing we need, in highly divisive times as these, is to further alienate ourselves from one another. We need to hear more ideas that differ from our own, and we need JASON HAAP Contributing Writer to practice the art of neighborly conversation, even when we disagree. Instead, it seems we either revel in call-out culture, or we angrily delete everyone from our feeds who has a difference of opinion. But there is more to it than that. For all of us with Facebook installed on our phones, each of those notification chimes gamify our daily lives. Like the pleasure a gameplayer experiences when earning points, those beeps and whistles remind us that someone noticed us. So, we check our phones, feeling the satisfaction of someone "liking" a post, or responding to comments left by friends. For some of us, argument carries a bit of an adrenaline rush. When things get controversial, some of us relish the conflict. This isn't healthy. It's not like Facebook is an embodiment of the Hegelian dialectic, with people synthesizing theses and antitheses into new and productive ideas. Instead, we're just trying to score points and to win. Then, there are those of us who do not enjoy the sport of online arguing. The conflict makes us angry, and it encourages us to damage relationships in the real world. Either option is bad. These mind games are non-productive, and they may even be bad for us not only as a nation, but as a species! So why haven't I quit? Because, if I'm totally honest, I still get a kind of narcissistic satisfaction from even my non- contentious posts. Every time someone asks me if I enjoyed a movie, or likes my picture of a burger from a new restaurant, that game theory kicks in, with all those phone beeps making me feel like I have a place in the world - one with a larger reach than would otherwise be possible while sitting around the house in my underpants. Am I at a bar with an old friend from high school? If I post a selfie with both of us in it, I will get dozens and dozens of likes - sometimes upwards of 100! High counts make me feel satisfied. But why? What nonsense is that? How have I come THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED weird consequences for the victories she claimed; institutions might have to spend more money providing equal rights for women than for men because the whole system was deformed. Too bad, fix it. RBG is a great role model… but she was not alone in this: her husband (now deceased) was a champion supporter throughout; gave up a lucrative NYC career to move to Washington D.C. with the new Justice and he lobbied D.C. for her appointment to the Supreme Court and, and he had a great sense of humor. to care when people I barely see in real life enjoy, for a second, a picture of me with someone else? What is happening to me, and to a large number of us? These days, when I talk politics with someone face-to-face, things never go crazy and sideways like they do online. And while my faceto-face reach may always be smaller than when combined with my social media reach, there is a quality versus quantity issue to consider. Instead of worrying about "winning," or calling out all the "outrage" on the opposite side of the political spectrum, maybe it's time we get back to some basics like being neighbors to one another. I will certainly be watching the Mr. Rogers documentary soon. But I think the idea of it is enough to inspire me to take a social media break. I encourage you to join me. �7 LOCAL A Very Important Little Dam No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 I MICHAEL EARL PATTON t was just a small increase in the storm water charges that Cincinnati City Council approved earlier this year with Ordinance 68-2018, but as I have been highly critical of water and sanitary sewer billing practices I decided to check this out. (My major criticism is that those who use less than the minimum billed amount of 300 cubic feet per month wind up subsidizing those who use more.) This is the third utility charge that is bundled together for locations in Cincinnati. Storm water is a separate utility, run by Cincinnati, for the purpose of reducing flooding in the public right-of-way. There are several aspects of this such as levees, about 300 miles of storm water-only sewers, and the Mill Creek Barrier Dam. The increase is due to maintenance Contributing Writer Creek and flooded the areas along there, too. About half the damage done was in the Mill Creek valley. In 1948 the barrier dam was completed. Most of the time the barrier sections are out of the way and the water can flow uninterrupted into the Ohio River. But when the Ohio floods, the barriers are installed. Once installed, the Ohio cannot back-flow up the Mill Creek but now there is the problem of the Mill Creek water coming downstream and being blocked. So up to eight very large pumps take the water from the Mill Creek and route it around the dam to the Ohio River. You have probably seen Mill Creek but may not have known what it was. It is a little to the west of downtown and I-75. Part of it is crane motors fails, the barrier panels cannot be lowered and the Mill Creek will flood. One of the maintenance items that the fee increase is for is to replace or refurbish the cranes. One of the cranes is original, meaning it is 70 years old. The amount of the fee increase, by the way, is based on several factors which are not really interesting but do make some sense. The basic charge is going up from $3.54 to $4.11 per month. Mine will be somewhat higher because my yard is over 10,000 square feet. I do support this increase. This may be the first time I have publicly supported a fee or tax increase since I started writing for Streetvibes. The utility has a well-defined mission, flooding in Cincinnati has been a concern since the first settlement, and this is important infrastructure. --------------------------------------- Partial view of the crane system. The crane in back is 70 years old and should be replaced. Note the downtown skyline in the background. Credit: Michael Earl Patton View of the housings for the pumps and motors inside the pump station Credit: Michael Earl Patton expenses and improvements but the ordinance is vague on details. I talked to a representative of the utility and was invited to a tour of the dam. I thought it interesting enough that I am including several photos with descriptions. The Mill Creek Barrier Dam was built because of the historic Ohio River flood of 1937. Not only did View of Mill Creek from Gest Street. The Eighth Street viaduct and the barrier dam are in the background Credit: Michael Earl Patton the areas along the Ohio River flood, but the river back-flowed up the Mill natural and has wildlife. I even saw a video of a beaver that someone took recently – a beaver in Cincinnati! A very ugly section is lined with concrete and runs alongside southbound I-75 near Mitchell Avenue. Having all eight pumps run is unusual but happened during the flooding this past February. Each pump can handle 1.1 billion gallons of water a day. Even so, there was a period during a heavy storm when the water in the Mill Creek was slowly rising and creeping towards Spring Grove Avenue. Fortunately such periods are extremely rare and relatively brief. To supply electricity for the pumps there are three large transformers, stepping down the voltage. If one of the transformers fails, two or three of the pumps may be shut down but most of the pumps can still get power. There are two different high power lines coming from different directions that can supply electricity in case one fails. Eight pumps, 3 transformers, and 2 sets of high power lines. But there is only one set of cranes that lowers the panels. If one of the This passage is where the panels go when installed. Some of the panels are now elevated, others (out of sight) are on the ground next to the dam. Two cranes for the panels are on top Credit: Michael Earl Patton Google satellite view of Mill Creek Barrier Dam. Downtown Cincinnati and I-75 are to the east (right) of area shown THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Credit: Michael Earl Patton �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Spirituality, Social Justice & JustLOVE Are at the Heart of Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp's Life, Actions & Pastorship 8 J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 A s she was growing up, Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp's maternal grandfather would always tell her she needed to become a rabbi to continue the Jewish tradition in her family. She was born to a Jewish mother and to a Catholic Belgian father who converted to Judaism upon marriage. Her parents exposed her at home to the cultural and ritual aspects of Judaism, but it was her grandfather who opened her eyes to its religiosity. "As a baby already, my grandfather would take me every weekend to the synagogue to pray," she says. "He would also tell me the stories of the different individuals whose pictures were hanging there, including those of my relatives who had passed away, in particular Miriam his wife." Born in Texas, Terlinchamp lived in Seattle, WA from the age of 8. Up to the 2nd grade she went to a Jewish school and afterwards to the International School, an alternative liberal arts public institution. But all along she attended 3 days a week a supplementary after school program receiving a Jewish education, learning Hebrew and getting familiarized with Jewish rituals. She also went to the synagogue every weekend. At the age of 16 she had a marking experience witnessing the death from cancer of her best friend, also being part of the spiritual conversations that the latter had on her death bed with her rabbi. These were for Terlinchamp moments that strengthened her faith, pointing to what was important, and to the encompassing presence and love of God. For college, she attended Scripps College in Claremont, CA, double majored in Philosophy of Religion and Studio art, and right after went to SAAD GHOSN Contributing Writer London to the London Slade School of art where she received additional training in painting. "I led in London a free and quite enjoyable life," she states, "but I found it empty, not focusing on 'what things mean'. I knew I was avoiding the essential. So, after 6 months I quit, returned home and changed my path. This is when my real quest towards the rabbinate began." Back in Seattle Terlinchamp worked as a graphic designer for a while, then at the Temple De Hirsch Sinai, as their assistant director of education. Around the same time her sister was in a very bad life-threatening car accident, hit by a negligent and very likely inebriated speeding police officer. The Washington law, then, did not require an alcohol test for officers. Angered by the situation and revolted by the pain and agony of her daughter, Terlinchamp's mother sued the city and the state, won and was able to change the law in order to also have officers alcohol and drugtested. "This made me aware of the privilege we were carrying as white individuals, privilege that enabled us to fight and obtain justice," says Terlinchamp. "If we were black or Hispanic it would have been more difficult to change things." "I realized then the power I had to effect the system; also that I needed to use it to make things better," she adds. This is also when she decided to apply to rabbinical school. Terlinchamp was accepted at HUCJIR Reform Rabbinical School, in Los  Angeles, spent her 1st year studying in Jerusalem, the 4 succeeding ones in LA, and in 2008 received her master’s degree in Jewish texts that Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp likes to quote: "It was for this reason that humans were first created as one person [Adam]: to teach you that anyone who destroys a life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world; and anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world."- Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 "[If] we truly believe that one life is like an entire universe, then all you have to do is change one life, and you’ve begun to change the universe the only way we can, one life at a time, one day at a time, one act at a time. So when, out there, there is despair, let us bring hope. When out there is hurt, let us heal. And when out there is division, let us show that we are enlarged and not diminished by our differences. Let us show the world what it is to stand together and respect one another. Therefore, I say this, never waste a crisis. Never stand still. Go out there, continue the Jewish journey, and be a blessing to the Jewish people, and to the world."- Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Hebrew Letters. Her years at the seminary were happy and productive. During them she served as  chaplain at the Los Angeles Country Men’s jail working one on one with a group of LGBT inmates, at the Los Angeles Home for the Aging ministering for individuals over the age of 100, as a rabbinic fellow 3 weekends a month at Temple De  Hirch Sinai in Seattle, WA, and as a national Kol Tzedek fellow Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp for  AJWS (American Jewish World Service). In 2010 Terlinchamp was ordained a rabbi and came straight to Cincinnati, OH, to join Temple Sholom, selected by its congregation as their spiritual leader. Temple Shalom was then located in Amberley and owned a 30,000 square foot building on a 7 acres property; it was, however, deteriorating, its membership decreasing. Terlinchamp right away raised important questions, asking the congregation to reflect on what it meant to be a relevant faith institution and how the huge space they owned affected them both financially and spiritually. A listening campaign was thus started during which it became quickly obvious that, despite all the attachment and memories the place offered, the wisest solution was to sell the place, get rid of the "stuff", straighten the finances and focus more on the essential faith. Two years later all the goals that were then set were met, the membership was increasing with more youth and minorities, the previous dues model replaced by voluntary participation and contribution by members, and all motivated by faith and spirituality. "Our actions and efforts became to manifest God in us and in the world, to be all about love, and not be tied up by our possessions," she says. This also allowed Terlinchamp to be more vocal for social justice, to serve as the president of the Amos Project and through it to involve her community in various projects such as making the synagogue a solidarity sanctuary for immigrants, supporting the Preschool Promise, participating Credit: Saad Ghosn in various multifaith activities. In a gesture of solidarity, for instance, members of her synagogue participated on several occasions in the Friday prayers at the Clifton Mosque, and their kids mingled and shared activities with Moslem kids at the same place. They also march every year in the Pride parade, manifesting Jewish presence in support of the LGBT community; last year, they were joined by the Black Lives Matter movement. They have been active around the trial of University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing who shot and killed African American motorist Samuel  DuBose  at a traffic stop in July 2015, asking for justice to be implemented and for police violence against black individuals to stop. They have also worked for immigrant rights. Actually, following the ICE decision to deport Maribel Trujillo Diaz, an Ohio Mexican mother of four and Catholic lay leader who has been living in the US for 15 years, almost 500 individuals, including many from Temple Sholom, manifested (Continued on page 12) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 PHOTO ESSAY Murals of Cincinnati 9 TONY CASTRUCCI Contributing Photographer 1. RiversideVineyard (top left) 2. What's Happening Downtown 3. Fresh Harvest (center left) 4. Self - Portrait, Elizabeth Nourse 5. Cincinnati's Table (bottom left) 6. Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon 7. The Hands that Built Our City 8. The Cobbler's Apprentice Plays Ball (center right) THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9. Dawn is Coming-OpenYourEyes 10. Tom Wesselmann, Still Life (top right) �10 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 �JUBILEE CAMPAIGN Is it Time for Another Great Awakening? No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 I was at a breakfast meeting with friends Trenton Davis and Derek Peebles from the Economics of Compassion Initiative’s Jubilee Circle.1 During our conversation, Trenton brought up a podcast he’s been listening to on the conditions that led to the Civil War. I am a history nerd, so I knew that the early 1800s were filled with all sorts of economic ups and downs, large multi-national jointstock companies like the East India Company2 spanned the globe. The British Empire had ruled for hundreds of years. Slavery was a global business and central to the accumulation of wealth for the British Empire and later the United States. It was also a time when our institutions as a country were being built or rethought and re-imagined. There was a sense of deep moral questioning on our identity as a country and our commitment to one another, what bonds us together. The social upheaval of the early 19th century gave rise to the 2nd Great Awakening3. It was a religious revival that led to the resurgence of the church in America. This movement also gave fuel to the abolitionist movement. Several of the leaders of this movement gave rise to preachers like Lyman Beecher and Charles Finney who called for renewed commitment to faith where ending slavery and reconciliation were central. Altar calls during this time were marked by a call to make a stand against slavery.4 The 2nd Great Awakening did not prevent the Civil War, but it laid the foundation for ending slavery. It gave folks a sense of agency and that they could be the change that they wanted to be. However, it didn’t go far enough. What struck me in my breakfast conversation with Derek and Trenton is that upheaval of the early 1800s can be compared to our cultural upheaval today. Our institutions are either in decline or in transition, the political debate has become toxic and MARIA FUNCHEON (Continued from page 4) communities. I became familiar with downtown Cincinnati pizzeria and catering company Venice on Vine when I was a high schooler at the REV. RICH JONES Contributing Writer partisan, violence is being inflicted upon our schools and neighborhoods, faith communities are in peril as their numbers dwindle and as they search for identity, and we cannot seem to find our shared humanity as folks stockpile weapons and look for safety by building walls rather than seeking around a specific dogma or belief, nor is in dominated by any one group. This is a movement rooted deeply in faith and in the desire to connect and to see our neighborhoods and communities flourish. It is a movement that is calling institutions towards re-functioning and to a place of support and encouragement rather than control. Rev. Rich Jones Credit: Jubillee Campaign union. Large corporations control a vast amount of wealth and influence It is also a movement that is calling us towards equity in relationships and racial reconciliation. A movement 11 means that we are created good and loved. It is not an Awakening of “certainty” or absolutism, it is an awakening towards what Dr. Walter Brueggemann5 calls “relational fidelity”. That is the trajectory of the notion of Jubilee in the Torah, and in the Christian tradition as well as many other faith traditions. If we are to address the issues of our day, the issues that divide us. We have a need for a change of heart, a change of mind. A word that sometimes is misunderstood is “repentance”. It simply means just that, a change or transformation of heart and mind. Transformation cannot be legislated well, it cannot be controlled or manipulated. True change, growth, transformation, repentance happens when folks are allowed their full agency in their humanity and can come to a place of recognition, awareness, or “awakening” if you will of who they are and their need for community. This Great Awakening is calling for folks to stand up, to walk forward, to be counted as people committed to ending all that divides us, to put an end to any “ism” or injustice that puts folks on the margins or dehumanizes them. It is a movement that will call our country, our world towards union, or, as we say in my tradition, “communion”- a sharing together in unity. And, in so doing, we can address the pressing issues of our day with different questions, out of community and in community with others. Rich Jones is the pastor of Fleming Road UCC in the Finneytown neighborhood in Greater Cincinnati. He is on the board for Economics of Compassion and Oasis Cincinnati and is an organizing team member and community connector for The Parish Collective. He also coaches cross country at Finneytown Schools and is an obsessive runner. His spouse, Debbie, is a PTA and they have two teenagers, McKenzie and Brennan. in our government as well as other governments. It can seem hopeless at times and that we no longer have personal or communal agency. We are still a relatively young democracy and country. What we need now is another Great Awakening, which, I believe is already in motion and has the potential of going much further than the previous Great Awakenings. This is not simply a movement that rejects the notion of divisiveness and fear that keeps power in the hands of a few. It is a movement that leads towards maturity and awareness of our shared humanity and that we are all created equal in God’s eyes regardless of skin color, economic isolation, gender, identity, sexuality, etc… it rejects the labels that divide us. The only label that matters is “human”, and that we are all created in the image of God, which Notes: 1Jubilee is a concept where every 49 or 50 years, debts are cancelled or forgiven, and the land is returned to its original owners. This concept has captured the imagination of many here in Cincinnati and beyond as we strive to bring about a more equitable community and culture. 2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_ Company 3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_ Great_Awakening 4Some scholars suggest there was a 3rd Great Awakening that occurred in between the last 1850’s and the early 1900’s. However, scholars have suggested that this “3rd Great Awakening” was simply an extension of the 2nd. 5http://www.walterbrueggemann.com School for Creative and Performing Arts in Over-The-Rhine. Venice’s owner, Power Inspires Progress (PIP), offers job training and placement assistance to people who may have barriers to employment (like criminal records). The history of PIP dates back over 30 years, and they have helped hundreds of Cincinnatians find work. If you’re an employer, consider following in PIP’s footsteps by offering a chance to someone who needs it. You may find that taking this chance is just as rewarding for you, your business, and your community as it is for someone deserving a real second chance. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �12 JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) and really the world as a whole has been following a system of putting resources primarily in the hands of the few and claiming it will somehow benefit everyone or simply saying that it does not matter if it benefits everyone, for a long, long time. In our city we hear this all the time. We hear about how great the “renaissance” is and about how we need to give tax incentives to attract new companies BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) Americans and residents of lowincome urban neighborhoods. By a five to four decision, the Court upheld Husted's process as a legitimate way to administer voter registration. Next, the Court punted on the issue of gerrymandering. After the 2010 Census, extremely gerrymandered representative districts were created in a number of states such as Wisconsin, North Carolina and Ohio. By utilizing computer experts to crunch population data, the political parties that controlled redistricting mapping in those states could virtually insure a lopsided majority of safe seats for their candidates. Challenged in the Courts as procedures that established unfair voting in those states, the Wisconsin case was taken up by the Supreme Court last year. This June, however, the Court ruled that the plaintiffs in the case had not JIM LUKEN (Continued from page 5) excessive use of force], the policing culture in Canada promotes considerable, and sometimes unreasonable restraint, that in turn can also attract unreasonable risk to the officers...and has resulted in both injury and death to them. Hence... constraint should have its limits. “That stated, as I have said previously to you, Jim, we have very strict gun laws in Canada and we do not suffer from the great racial divide you have in the USA. So, our officers do not reflectively suspect that every person they encounter on the job represents a threat to their personal integrity.” I asked him about the situation that happened in Toronto several SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) and met in a little church in Carthage. Their reunion triggered the formation of JustLOVE, an association which organizes multifaith spiritual and music gatherings and which is directed by Terlinchamp. The group's monthly meetings prepare for the journey, discussing themes of forgiveness, love, leadership, establishing larger conversations and building allies. REST OF THE STORY J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 and how we need to support startups etc. and that investing in them is actually a way of promoting growth and fighting poverty. I believe that some people in our city truly believe this to be true and that some people say it just to try to shut people up, but either way, it isn’t true. We can legislatively require living wages, we can use tax abatements to spur on the development of affordable housing, we can legislatively provide protections to people who rent, we can refuse to fund, permit or zone projects that displace people from their homes, we can generate and put money directly into new affordable housing, we can tax the stock options of the super wealthy people at the tops of the tall buildings. Imagine how just this short list of changes would so drastically change our city, reduce poverty and increase access. These alone would not be enough, but imagine how much better our city would be. How about we legislate and fund changes that we know would improve life, versus making arguments about how supporting companies is actually good for fighting poverty. Next time you are personally low on money, how about you just go out and buy an expensive car with great gas mileage and when your kids, partner or yourself are hungry because there isn’t enough money to pay for food, just tell each other that it will be okay because you are saving money on gas, and such a great car will lead to new opportunities. (That is sarcasm and a terrible idea). sufficiently proved their contention of harmful damage to Wisconsin voters. They sent the case back to the state, essentially not commenting on the potential Constitutionality of the issue. These cases reinforced my concern about the health of democracy in this country and the number of obstacles that exist blocking many meaningful reforms. Voting rights and the goal of fair elections emerge as the latest aspects of political democracy to be placed in jeopardy by the Supreme Court. Efforts to curb the destructive impact of "big money" on elections have already been stymied by the Court's rulings in Buckley versus Valeo and Citizens United. The ticking clock for reformers in overcoming this series of inappropriate responses to major political and government issues seems to be the limited time available before reviving democracy is no longer a possibility. Most of the activities and decisions eroding democracy bolster the powers of the economic establishment to control government policy. Such control has led to the kind of elitism and income inequality that has disillusioned so many Americans about our current system. One result has been a sharp decline in the number of people who take the time to vote. In fact, Trump's election was in part a reaction by a large number of people that the current system was not working for them. They threw their support to this very loud and angry man who promised to make America great again with simple answers and by attacks on various scape goats. His authoritarian tendencies and his contempt for the complexity and fragility of public affairs make the decline of democracy even more of a scary reality. The challenge is to work toward rebuilding a political and governmental system that citizens can believe is striving to represent "we the people." What makes this challenge particularly daunting is the current set of circumstances. To repeat, "big money" continues to grow as a warping factor in elections at all levels. Legislation aimed at discouraging and actually suppressing voting keeps popping up in many states, and the threat of further extreme gerrymandering still looms as a possibility in 2021. Meanwhile, a vocal minority seems to relish Trump's inclination for authoritarian rule. All this leads to the question of what reforms exist for activists to support in order to make things better? Are there still some significant ways to renew democracy such as the Ohio Constitutional Amendment on Congressional redistricting that voters passed in May? Part III of this series will discuss some of the reform arrows that are still available for activists to put in their quivers. [To be continued next issue. Thanks for reading Streetvibes!] months ago when a man deliberately drove his vehicle onto crowded sidewalks killing 10 pedestrians. The suspect was famously apprehended by a single Canadian cop, without the use of force. This made international headlines. Paul's take: “As for the officer in Toronto, he was correct to eschew any claim to heroism...he had good separation from the subject (over 24 feet), and he did not reasonably fear for his life. Indeed, as I understood the situation, he surmised that he was dealing with a person in psychological crisis who was most likely trying to provoke a suicide by police. “I would say that most of our officers might have drawn down on the subject [i.e., used their guns to threaten him] but would have been very restrained in going 'center mass' given the degree of separation.” in other words, they would not have killed him. Nonetheless, it seems clear to this American student of police use-offorce that such restraint as that lone officer manifested, would be highly unlikely given a similar incident in the US, even though the perpetrator was white. Paul's explanation “All police organizations in Canada are informed by the IMIM, or Incident Management Intervention Model (of policing), where the officer considers the least amount of force required in the given circumstances. Depending on the escalation or deescalation of the level of threat, the officer slides down, or ratchets up, the use of force options he (or she) has, reserving use of lethal force for the most extreme situations.” [To be continued next issue. Thanks for reading Streetvibes!] "JustLOVE is multi faith," says Terlinchamp. "It brings people together; they share their experiences, connect by love, and work for justice. I would like to see it as an example of a harmonious proactive systemic change replicated in various cities across our country." Terlinchamp is also one of 11 invited citizens of different backgrounds and political philosophies to serve on the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Board of Contributors. In that role she writes a monthly editorial in the Cincinnati Enquirer and uses that platform to further her call and message for justice. She is active in Ohio Organizing  Collaborative and serves on several boards and committees  within the Cincinnati Jewish community. "My goal in life is to do good in the world and work for justice," says Terlinchamp, "and my Jewish faith enlightens me and shows me the way." And as a Rabbi, Terlinchamp uses her power and her privilege to expand Sir Robert Peel by Henry William Pickersgill Credit: Jubillee Campaign THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED --------------------------------------- her mission through all the members of her congregation and through the many allies that her leadership role allows her to foster and create in the Greater Cincinnati community. "At Temple Sholom we welcome all people: seekers, interfaith families, and those in search of a spiritual home. We are defined by spirituality, social justice and love, and our mission is to extend these values everywhere and to everyone," she adds. �No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 NO ONE ASKED 13 STREET VOICE No one asked. How are you today? No one asked, Because no one cared Maybe because everyone is too busy TRUMP'S "VERY SPECIAL BOND" What makes The Donald's heart grow fond? For Kim - he's formed "a very special bond." How did U.S. Diplomacy go around the bend By making Kim Trump's new, best friend? Someone went home today Or is it simply Trump's inclination to cater Feeling, sad and empty To any bona fide dictator? No one asked, No one cared Sometimes no one should have to ask. When was the last time you asked someone BILL WOODS Contributing Writer WHAT’S GOING ON could you help them? It’s so sad when no one cares enough to ask! KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer What’s going on asked singer Marvin Gaye What’s going on in our world of today Stealing from each other, killing one another Lying, cheating and still calling each other brother Disillusioned by what our lives should really be Misunderstanding that we’re all born in sin, you and me Forgetting each day to let live and let love Forgetting to give all praises due to God up above Everyone needs to take time out to pray And ask God to forgive our sins each and everyday To replace hate with peace and love where ever we can Only then can we see what’s going on all over the land So, for me this is what’s really going on We as a people must come together before all life is gone!!! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 154 Across Down 1. Abyss 1. Mantle 6. Launch platform 2. Brass musical instrument 9. Retail outlet 3. Desiccated 13. Large artery 4. Crouch 14. Crystals forming rime 15. Percussion instrument 16. Anterior 17. Allow 18. Waterway 19. Certify 21. Distinguished 23. Cooking vessel 24. Lope 25. Deciduous tree 28. Judicious 30. Eating apple 35. Melt 37. Burden 39. Hex 40. Zero score in tennis 41. Claw 43. Pinkish table wine 44. Sports venue 46. Depend 47. Noisy 48. Lookout 50. Contributions to the poor 52. Elfin 53. Young whale 55. A wooden pin 57. Nom de plume 61. Title of ancient Egyptian kings 65. Large body of water 66. Quantifier for every one 68. Scorch 69. Cut closely 70. A division of 65 Across 71. Musical drama 72. Ripped 73. Female chicken 74. Part of a staircase 5. Large elongated squash 6. Heap 7. Playing card 8. Dissuade 9. Tibia 10. Teeming multitude 11. Portent 12. Saucy 15. Professional judge or evaluator 20. Australian wading bird 22. Cleaning implement 24. One of many used to make a beverage 25. Book of maps 26. Land along the edge of water 27. Sheltered port SODOKU PUZZLE NO 284 - MEDIUM 29. Rise rapidly 31. Knitting stitch 32. Alcoholic strength 33. Publish 34. Indigent 36. Moved to another location 38. Small replica of a person 42. Insect larva 45. Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge 49. Edible tuber 51. Lend flavor to 54. Tether 56. Objection 57. Military installation 58. Reverberation 59. Close 60. Part of a church 61. Scheme 62. Afresh 63. Fiend 64. Cure 67. Sheltered side PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 383 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 153 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 283- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 4 | June 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 557-2873 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 411 Gest St. 45203 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 621-7265 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 1125 Bank Street 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 2121 Vine Street 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network Housing: First Step Home 761-1480 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 Talbert House Tender Mercies 221-HELP 721-8666 Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 961-4555 381-1954 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 27 W. 12th Street 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA VA Homeless Food/Clothing 421-0065 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 351-0422 381-6672 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy 977-6800 859-572-6226 First Lutheran Church 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry AA Hotline CCAT 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 114 W. 14th Street 45202 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 471-1100 Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 721-4700 421-7803 Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center UpSpring 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health 621-5300 961-1983 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 535-2719 751-8771 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 721-0643 City Gospel Mission 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen St. George Food Pantry 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 1528 Race St. 45202 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street 45202 15 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 Center Independent Living Options Peaslee Neighborhood Center 241-2600 621-5514 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart Goodwill Industries Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Mary Magdalen House 381-0111 771-4800 579-8547 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 for 26 issues 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 J u n e 2 9 - J u l y 12 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 4 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource June 29-July 12, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Where Are We Headed as a Nation? Pg 3: Cincinnati’s Hills and Hollars Pg 4: Unions are More Important Than Ever Pg 5: Good Cop, Bad Cop Pg 6: Notable RBG Life Lessons from Mr. Rogers and Breaking with Social Media Pg 7: A Very Important Little Dam Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Photo Essay Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Is It Time for Another Great awakening? Pg 12: Josh Spring Continued Bill Woods Continued Jim Luken Continued Saad Ghosn Continued Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 29-July 12, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Martha Stephens Maria Funcheon Jim Luken Robert Park Jason Haap Michael Earl Patton Saad Ghosn Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Tony Castrucci Google Images Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cincinnati Dam Dr. Mark Mussman Google Images Inmates Jason Haap Jim Luken Josh Spring Kim Green Maria Funcheon Martha Stephens Michael Earl Patton Mr. Rogers Photography Religion Robert Park Ruth Bader Ginsburg Saad Ghosn Social Media Tony Castrucci Unions Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/3b617a41506cb916682d17a8be46c4f8.pdf e1ce18971934e19644ea0bc0440fe379 PDF Text Text June 15th - June 28th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 12 (No. 383) advocating justice | building community AHA Celebrates a Win, Recharges for Future Challenges | 3 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE Spiritual Freedom: Daniel Schneider's Actions & Advocacy For Social Justice| 8 On Declaring Freedom | 7 HIV and Cincinnati| 11 Where Are We Headed As A Nation? - A Need For Reflection | 2 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 I LOCAL From The Director: Pedal Wagon Past Death n the wee hours of Sunday, June 3rd two men were shot. Sherrard Dunlap fell on the sidewalk near the corner of East 15th and Moore Streets. As he laid face-down, dying his friends and family were nearby facing an onslaught of emotions. It was evident that the chief among them were the conflicting emotions of enormous demand that he not die and the deep sadness that it wasn’t looking good. People were angry and confused and wanting to save him, but without the ability to do so. People were pacing, lying down, walking, standing, crying, trying to get close feeling like they needed to do something. The police and police tape were attempting to keep people at bay waiting for the paramedics. The fire truck and ambulance could not fit down 15th because of all the cars parked on both sides of the road, so they parked on Vine and came down the street on foot. As Sherrard fell he must have put his hands out to catch himself and so as he lay on the sidewalk his palms were pressed on the concrete with his arms by his side and his elbows pointing upward. It looked like he was holding his arms there, seemingly a good sign. But when the paramedics arrived they moved arms from their propped position to flat by his side and it was clear that, in fact, he was not holding the weight of his J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 JOSH SPRING Executive Director Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition own arms in place. Those gathered exhibited a sense of loss at this realization. As the paramedics left, someone asked if Sherrard would make it. The answer was that they did not know, but they had gotten a pulse. Hours later, on Sunday, I had not heard if he had lived or died. Knowing that if he had died people would have put up a vigil at the sight of his falling, I looked down 15th Street. Yes, there was a growing group of people standing on the sidewalk laying flowers, hanging pictures, hugging and holding each other. Another person had been killed. Sherrard did not make it. The sense of grief and sadness was emanating down 15th. As I looked up from watching the vigil, a pedal wagon full of people drinking and bopping to music rolled directly across the intersection of Vine and 15th and across my line of site, momentarily blocking the view of the vigil happening three buildings down. This juxtaposition hit me and immediately made me angry. The blurring of these two extremely different images displayed deep injustice. Why is it that a group of all white people had the opportunity to ride this party wagon past a group of all Black People mourning the shooting death of a friend and family member? Why did these two groups of people have such polar opposite experiences that morning? I know every individual and every group of people at some point experiences the death of a friend or family member and that while that individual or group is mourning it doesn’t mean that everything else, including recreation, for everyone else just stops. That is not what this is about. This is about the fact that in the same neighborhood and on the same street, different groups of people regularly have opposite experiences, because drastically different opportunities (Continued on page 3) WHERE ARE WE HEADED AS A NATION? A NEED FOR REFLECTION W here are we headed as a nation? As activists and reformers, most of us spend our time in the here and now advocating for changes that will bring about a more just and compassionate society. Every so often, however, we need to take a broader and more detached look at the trends shaping our present and future. This crazy and troubling moment in our history appears to be one of those necessary times to do some reflection. With all the horrors taking place in Washington, D.C.., it is tempting to say that all our troubles stem from Donald Trump and his Administration. If we could just replace Trump and his cronies with saner, less polarizing, and more law abiding and competent leadership then all would be well. Although the country's immediate crises call on us to do BILL WOODS Contributing Writer everything we can to replace Trump and the current Congressional majority, such a change alone won't restore health to our society. Negative social, economic, and political trends were already in place long before Trump's election in 2016. In fact, Trump's victory, can be viewed as the result of these negative trends. Even the efforts of the Russians to damage our political system through social media were aimed at Inflaming already polarized groups in this country. Thus, Trump is a product of negative forces that already existed, (Continued on page 5) Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Mark P. Painter, Martha Stephens, Trenton Davis, Ricardo Taylor, Saad Ghosn, Maurice Golsby, Lee McCoy, James Brown, Mike Carano, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Dr. Mark Mussman, zinnproject. org, Saad Ghosn, Tony Castrucci, Justin Jeffre, Aimee Willhoite, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL AHA Celebrates a Win, Recharges for Future Challenges 3 No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN T Staff Writer he Affordable Housing Advocates’ (AHA) Annual Luncheon Meeting was a resounding success this year. The event took place at United Way and gave us an opportunity to reconnect and celebrate some successes. In years past, we have honored such people as Councilmember David Mann, who has been an advocate for affordable housing in Cincinnati. This year, there was a surprise award, and it warmed my heart to see that the hard work of the last few years, had really paid off. As people came in, I was fortunate enough to work the sign-in desk, which gave me an opportunity to see who was arriving and what organizations were represented. Representatives from banks, community organizations, housing companies, and others were able to come together for a lunch catered by Venice on Vine (Power Inspires Progress), a member of the Homeless Coalition. The food was great, as always, and it was a good reason to take a moment and sit down with likeminded people who are determined to create and preserve quality, safe, affordable housing. Affordable Housing Advocates (AHA) is a group of housing providers, advocates and consumers dedicated to the goal of ensuring good, safe, accessible, affordable housing for all people in Southwest Ohio. Our focus is on meeting the housing needs of very low, low, and moderate-income individuals and families. The work of AHA spans the entire Alms Residents Receive AHA Annual Award Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman region, but we also keep a close eye on what’s happening in Columbus and Washington D.C. As you can imagine, the tone of most of our meetings is not very celebratory, as we talk about the loss of affordable housing across the county, policies that affect the ability of housing providers to create and sustain affordable housing, unsafe housing conditions that often lead to action on our part, and other things that generally paint a dark picture of the future of housing. This is why it’s important for us to take time each year to come together and acknowledge our hard work. Unfortunately, with the proposed 24% cut to Cincinnati’s Human Services Budget, things took a more urgent tone during the meeting. If Legal Aid and the Homeless Coalition Receive Surprise Award Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Josh Spring, Executive Director of the Homeless Coalition, Discusses Many Important Topics Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) and difficulties reach them, and most of this difference in access stems from racial and economic injustice. I have seen multiple vigils at 15th and Vine and in other locations. I have never seen such a vigil of all white people for a white person. I have never stood with a group of people where a shooting has occurred and seen all white people. I have seen pedal wagons roll past often and nearly every time it is a group of only white people. These are not statistical or scientific observations, but they do mimic the injustices, racism and be in line with our ideals. The highlight of the Luncheon happened when the residents from the Alms in Walnut Hills spoke about their organizing efforts to defeat HUD. They spoke of the uncertainty they faced when HUD decided that they wanted to close the 200 unit building down. After years of organizing with the Homeless Coalition and Legal Aid, the residents themselves went to the federal courthouse and listened as Legal Aid plead their case. In the end, the Alms was preserved and will now be purchased by a new affordable housing developer. The Alms Tenant Association was awarded with a special acknowledgement, along with the Homeless Coalition and Legal Aid. Barbara Wolf, local documentarist, is creating a film of the event. I am excited to see and share it when it is ready. Everyone is invited to become a member of AHA, whether you are an individual or organization. We are always looking for more people to become involved because we know how much work it takes to Venice on Vine Catered the Event Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman we are to uphold our promise to the city, that we would spend 1.5% of the total city budget on Human Services, then we cannot accept the .69% that is proposed for the upcoming years. Proposed cuts to the Human Services Budgets have been frequent under John Cranley’s tenure as mayor (although the City Manager proposes the budget, then it’s reviewed by the Mayor and sent to City Council for final approval). The budget shows our priorities, and it’s hard to believe, with the level of homelessness and housing instability, and second most childhood poverty in the country, that cutting human services, (among other cuts to public services), would change policy and public opinion about affordable housing. Affordable housing just means that you pay no more than 30% of your income on housing, including your energy bill, taxes, insurance, etc. That’s all it means. Very simple. Last year, we focused on creating a local affordable housing trust fund, which is still in the works. We are now looking at housing protections, and bringing best practices to our local municipalities. We hope that you’ll join us! classism inherit in our systems. The point is that nothing happens in a vacuum. People don’t just make decisions in the absence of all context. Everything is systematic. That morning a group of all Black People had the choice of whether or not to attend the vigil for a gunned down friend and family member and at virtually the same intersection a group of all white people had the choice of whether or not to pay $20 a piece to ride a pedal wagon, drink, yell and dance to music. The problem is all of the racist and classist systems that led to the enormous difference between those two decisions. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Visit ahacincy.org for more information about affordable housing, or to become a member. �4 LOCAL July 7th THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 �OPINION Uh, Sorry, President Trump, You Cannot Pardon Yourself No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 T MARK P. PAINTER his week, our president took to his favorite means of communication, Twitter, and claimed, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?” First, I have searched in vain to find “numerous legal scholars” who have said this. It’s just another wild exaggeration, a hallmark of Trump discourse, along with outright lies. Of course Trump, not being learned in the law, history, ethics – or anything else except grifting – would not know the legal maxim “No one shall be a judge in their own case.” (And yes, their is correct.) Or for Latin scholars Nemo judex in causa I Contributing Writer sua – no one may be a judge in their own case, or Nemo judex in parte Sua, no one may be a judge in a case he is a party to (Latin should never be used in English, especially in law, but I mention it here to show that the maxim goes back a long way). He certainly cannot pardon himself for impeachment, as the Constitution strictly prohibits pardoning anyone from impeachment. He has surely not read that (or probably any) part of the text. A Justice Department memo in August 1974, about Nixon’s impending resignation, begins, “Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.” The maxim is so clear and widely accepted that the memo didn’t even cite anything else. It assumed that Nixon, or any president, could not pardon himself. More recently, Richard Painter (no relation), law professor and former chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, told CNBC, “He absolutely cannot pardon himself. I do not know of an instance in human history in which a king has pardoned himself. The pope does confession to another priest. A pardon is by its very nature when one person pardons another.” CNBC queried nine legal scholars, and only one suggested that a self-pardon was possible. So much for “numerous.” Playing Soccer is Good For Us, But Watching It In a New Stadium May Not Be LIKE SOCCER. I like watching my grand-children play this game, but I don’t feel any need to watch it in a big-money sportspalace that can’t pay for itself. I want my taxes to go for public housing, for parks and playgrounds. We have learned that a man named Jeff Berding is an expert on building stadiums and getting us commoners to pay for them. It would be great if this spectacular man were to come up with a spectacular new plan for housing people! Is Mr. Berding a reader of Streetvibes? Does he read, perchance, the editorials of Josh Spring about the plight of people with no place to call home? Does he know that the BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) and he has manipulated some of these trends and made them worse for his own political ends. How did we get to this perilous state? One of the triggers that prompted my thinking about long terms trends was reading about the decline of the Roman Republic. As an escape from the present, I recently read a trilogy of books about the life of Cicero, the famous Roman Senator and orator who lived in the era that culminated with Rome becoming an empire ruled by an emperor. Written by Robert Harris, the three novels, Imperium, Conspirata, and Dictator, follow Cicero from his time as a young Senator and lawyer to his final year as an aging statesman when he was assassinated after unsuccessfully working to prevent his beloved Republic from ending MARTHA STEPHENS Contributing Writer city of Cincinnati needs 28,000 more family homes? That working people are being gentrified out of their living spaces, are living on top of each other, that family shelters are overflowing? Does he know that we’re one of the poorest cities in the country? In the state of Ohio, for instance, 19.3% of citizens are poor, but in Cincinnati it’s 34.3%, according to our own CityData.com. CityData tells us that 37.3% of blacks are poor here, 18% of whites, and it’s widely agreed that at least 44% of our children are living in poverty. 70% of our high school students are on free lunch. Yes, we’re poor in this town. Has Mr. Berding noticed that up as a military dictatorship. What I found eerie when reading this day to day chronicle of Cicero's life in the ancient Roman Republic was the comparison I could draw in my mind to what is going on in this country. During Cicero's time, the Senate was comprised primarily of members of Rome's aristocracy. Whereas in earlier days of the Republic, Senators worked for the general welfare of this city state, by Cicero's era, too many of the elite only thought about furthering or protecting their wealth and positions. Personal greed and competition for government offices that would solidify family power over shadowed any efforts to grapple with long or short-term issues. Meanwhile, military leaders continued to expand the geographic boundaries of what was becoming an extensive empire; creating a whole new range of governance problems. Obviously, one should not go too much of our town looks like a war zone, that in spaces where people used to live, pot holes are taking over, weeds are sky-high, structures are empty or falling down? NO DOUBT this man is more than familiar with our tax abatements for developers, and knows that common people have to cover the taxes the big guys don't have to pay. Yet City Council has agreed to provide a certain amount of city money for a new stadium. We’re a 9X city council, so people running for council have to run throughout the whole city, not just in one district, and you have to have a lot of money to win a seat on council. P. G. Sittenfeld was the deciding vote, far in comparing the last days of the Roman Republic in 43 BC to events in the U.S. in 2018. However, studying history does teach us that civilizations and societies rise and fall due to a variety of economic, social, and political forces. What haunted me while reading the Harris' trilogy is the fact that we seem to be mired in a culture of greed not unlike Cicero's Rome. Our corporate and financial elite is fixated on amassing wealth that primarily benefits its members. Meanwhile income inequality continues to grow at a record rate, and poverty remains high in both urban and rural America. Because of the dominance of money in political campaigns, candidates of both major parties cater to big donors and corporations, and the general welfare is often overlooked or ignored by our elected officials. Unlike Rome, the U.S. doesn't rule the world through military conquest, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 This is not a new theory, to say the least. It is part of the “rule of law” established in the Constitution. How about James Madison in Federalist 10: “No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity.” One might argue that this danger does not hold true with Trump, as his integrity is already beyond corrupt. The maxim is credited to Lord Edward Coke in the 1600s, but it had surely been part of English common law long before. We inherited the English common law, hence Madison’s knowledge. So there really is no question; Trump’s tweet is ABSOLUTELY wrong. I am shocked. Mark P. Painter served as a judge for 30 years and is the author of six books, including Write Well and The Legal Writer. He is a member of the Enquirer’s Board of Contributors. I believe, for using city money to help cover the new stadium, and he spent $501,785 in his run for Council last year. (All but two of those who won a seat on Council in 2017 spent at least a hundred thousand dollars.) Donors spent over two million dollars to elect John Cranley mayor ($2,322,502), and Cranley just happens to be another enthusiastic, even ecstatic, supporter of the new stadium. Are we an evil town in an evil country? Plenty of money for our killing fields all over the world, biggest war machine the world has ever seen, while at home we're drifting into third-world-ism? In Cincinnati we’re full of people who can't make it, are suffering, don’t earn a living wage, yet must pay their share for yet another stadium deal? Please! Lovers of soccer like Mr. Berding, Mr. Cranley, and Mr. Sittenfeld should get out and play soccer, if they love this game so much! They’d be healthier, after all, and morally more fit, perhaps, to serve us. but our economic and military strength make us a dominant player in a global economy badly in need of reform. Thus, it is important to examine these long-term trends that could insure our decline. The historian Arnold Toynbee measured the success and failure of civilizations and nations in terms of how well they responded to major challenges over time. If a country's leadership continues to make inadequate responses to economic, social, or political problems, then that country is probably doomed to decline. Part II of this essay will examine some of the major trends that are presently receiving inadequate responses in the U.S., and it will also include a laundry list of needed reforms that just might make a difference. Such an exercise could bog us down in such pessimism that we might be tempted to give up. My purpose, however, is to make us more thoughtful about our activism. �6 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 �7 JUBILEE CAMPAIGN On Declaring Freedom No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 I TRENTON DAVIS n 1865, the Union Army retook Charleston, South Carolina from the Confederates; all the whites had fled the city, and who remained were black folks who were now freedmen. Before the army had arrived, in the latter years of the war, Union soldiers were being held as prisoners of war at the Washington Racecourse- a repurposed horse racetrack. The racetrack was a symbol of the planter class; a people whose cruelty towards the slaves they owned was immeasurably worse than the treatment of Union POW’s. Here at the track, some 260 Union soldiers had died here of disease and were buried in an unmarked, mass gravesite behind it. The black townspeople at Charleston, whom had witnessed this tragedy, went to the site. They reinterred the fallen. They made them proper graves. They couldn’t mark them though, they didn’t have dog tags in those days. They built a fence all the way around this cemetery, and over an archway leading into the cemetery, they painted “Martyrs of the Racecourse”. Then, they held a parade of 10,000 on that racetrack on May 1st, 1865. It was led by 3,000 little black children carrying roses and singing John Brown’s Body. The children were followed by their mothers, fathers, and then finally by regiments of the Union army. This was the first Memorial Day. However, to the freedmen and their families, this was the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution. Slavery was defeated; his bondage was now his freedom; in that moment of reconciliation, the honoring of and faith in the cause of their war, Americans marched together in a Declaration of Jubilee. On May 1st, 1865, we declared our independence from that system of slavery. Today, we use words like underrepresented, disproportionately affected by, unequal, institutional or de-facto to describe what forms of slavery still exist today. For black folks, these words reference a debt that is owed to them. After Johnson’s repeal of Special Field Order No. 15- an order that would have redistributed 400,000 acres of land to newly freed black families- Jim Crow recemented power in the South. 'A Contributing Writer King and the Civil Rights Movement fought for equal protection under the law, but the unfinished work of King lays in equal protection under the economy. The most important piece of American materialistic life has always been property, and we have never given restitution to those that were property. For white folks, a debt is owed from them. Years of the “university promise” of meritocracy has piled hundreds of thousands of dollars onto the backs of families. The mortgage crisis has decimated the credit and financials of the nation. Americans, in their pursuit of materialism, have bankrupted themselves. Whites have now watched what blacks watched during the days of urban sprawla systematic disinvestment from their culture and livelihood. The economy is equitable to all in this way, predatory to one and all the same, regardless of color. The bank of justice, to avoid bankruptcy, now offers Pay-Day loans to all those whose checks return ‘insufficient funds’. Our time of rampant racism, classism, strife, and human suffering is the time before a Third American Revolution. Whites too ask for debt relief. They ask for the reparations that we all seek in our lives- a little relief, a break, a moment to enjoy humanity and our belongingness to each other. We see the symptoms of this slavery in the agony of the opioid epidemic, extremism, and mass shooting violence. Yet, we find the beginnings of a new economic system borne in human-centered thinking through social entrepreneurship, intentional communities, and Place Matters initiatives; these are economies borne of explicit human to human intention. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Lincoln issued the Proclamation and distributed thousands of copies of it to officers, and he ordered them to spread it throughout the South. One of those officers, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, even held a ceremony. His account of what happened next illustrates our need for a new Emancipation Proclamation; a new celebration of freedom. He writes: “All this was according to the program… Then followed an incident so simple and so touching, so utterly unexpected and startling that I can scarcely believe it on recalling it, Union soldiers were laid to rest at this gravesite Credit: Zinnproject.org though it gave the key note to the whole day. The very moment the speaker had ceased, and just as I took and waved the flag, which now for the first time meant anything to these poor people, there suddenly arose close beside the platform a strong male voice, but a little cracked and elderly, into which two women’s voices instantly blended, singing, as if by an impulse that could no more be repressed than the morning note of a song sparrow. ‘My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.’ People looked at each other, and then at us on the platform to see whence came this interruption, not put down in the program. Firmly and irrepressibly the quavering voices sang on, verse after verse, ‘my country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty.’ Street Life: Misery lifetime of misery up and down life's track, how we wish we could give some of the misery back.' This is not a Stephen Spielberg sequence, nor an offspring of his creation. It is indeed a view of reality for many! Living without ambition; your only concern is survival for today! Living in the moment without a plan for the future, you just exist! RICARDO TAYLOR Streetvibes Distributor Misery can be no one's best friend, but often becomes a constant companion! Awakening in an abandoned vehicle at the break of dawn, hearing that old familiar sound of birds chirping, knowing the day has started and that you must get in motion. Hitting the pavement in your run over Others of the colored people joined in. Some whites on the platform began, but I motioned to them to be silent. I never saw anything so electric. It made all words cheap. It seemed the choked voice of a race at last unloosed. Nothing could be more wonderfully unconscious. Art could not have dreamed of a tribute shoes, holes in your pants pockets, your every worldly possession in the book bag you wear on your back, you start your ritual! Finding your way to the soup kitchen hoping you run across a piece of luck; a coin or two that someone lost, or perhaps an artifice you may be able to sell for a small price! Anything to shake off the familiarity of being broke with only a wish! THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED to the day of jubilee; it should be so affecting. History will not believe it…” We must come together and declare freedom. Equity calls to us from the wilderness. Through reparations, we can imagine a new economy for all. Join us in declaring Jubilee in the year 2019: the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States. Join us in the song of Jubilee and ring the call of a new Emancipation Proclamation. This story of the first Memorial Day and Thomas Wentworth Higginson’s journal entry are adapted from Dr. David Blight’s Open Yale Course on the Civil War and Reconstruction lectures 16 and 19: it is available on Apple Music and I highly recommend it. That oh, so lonesome wish for that small piece of luck becomes the reason for living; every thought is geared towards that wishful fate, of running into a happenstance which will take away the hardship. Wandering to and from, you put your hopes in the backseat and start your scavenging for the essentials of the moment. To realize, that all that you have coming is what you had yesterday and what you will have again tomorrow becomes the (Continued on page 12) �8 RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Spiritual Freedom and Inclusive Love Dictate Daniel Schneider's Actions & Advocacy for Social Justice W J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 SAAD GHOSN hen Daniel Schneider was 8 years old, he learned that about a mile south of where he lived, in Shelby County, OH, was a church previously attended by black people from the Rumley community, a community established around 1840 as a haven for freed slaves. He also learned that his own family had had a strong relationship with it. "I am told that my grandfather, when he was born, got his 1st bath from a black woman," he says. "And that when his mother, in 1909, was near her death due to cancer, she was upset at the idea of being buried in a white people's cemetery, instead of with her black friends." This was Schneider's first exposure to a personal story of inclusive diversity relating to black history. The black community, when he was growing up, had moved away, and the church and the school that he attended were then predominantly white. Schneider belonged to a religious family and went every Sunday with his parents, to the First United Church of Christ, a conservative Evangelical church located near the farm where they lived. After retiring, his father had actually become a lay minister. In high school, in the 1960s, he was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and by the Civil Rights movement that he, and his father, supported strongly. But living in the countryside, away from a city, prevented him from participating actively in it. Contributing Writer For college, he attended Wittenberg University, a liberal arts college in Springfield, OH, and he studied history. After graduating, he was drafted for a year in Vietnam, where he was given clerical, instead of combat, responsibilities and also served as the chaplain's assistant. He, nevertheless, strongly opposed the war that he found wrong. Upon his return from Vietnam, Schneider joined Drake University in Iowa where he received a Master's degree in Education, then Ohio State University in Columbus for his PhD in History. While in Columbus he attended the university Lutheran chapel, met his wife, also a Lutheran, and got married. Few months later, in 1977, they both moved to Cincinnati where his wife had secured a teaching job in the Cincinnati Public School system and he, himself, a job in business. From 1983 and until his retirement 3 years ago, Schneider worked vocationally in a field of educational opportunity, helping young persons, primarily low-income students, get into better positions in life. For the 1st 15 years, he worked with Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates, initially as a staff of the organization, and later as its director, preparing high school seniors to get jobs, providing them with skills training, teaching them how to interview, and how to become successful. This exposed him to individuals from different backgrounds, low income, What is UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM  Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Its emphasizes that religion is a universal human quality and focuses on the universal principles of most religions. Unitarian Universalists (UUs) assert no creed, and instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. As such, their congregations are inclusive, counting many atheists, agnostics, and theists within their membership. The roots of UU lie in liberal Christianity, specifically Unitarianism an open-minded and welcoming approach to faith which has its roots in Jewish and Christian traditions but remains open to insights from all faiths, science, the arts, the natural world and everyday living - and Universalism - which theology is defined by universal salvation, the belief that the God of love would not create a person to be destined for eternal damnation, and therefore the rejection of the idea of hell. UUs state that from these traditions comes a deep regard for intellectual freedom and inclusive love. Congregations and members seek inspiration and derive insight from all major world religions. The beliefs of individual UUs range widely, including atheism, agnosticism, pantheism, deism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, neopaganism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Humanism, and many more. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) was formed in 1961 through the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association, established in 1825, and the Universalist Church of America, established in 1793. The UUA is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and serves churches mostly in the United States. African American and working-class students, and led to his interest in and appreciation of diversity. In 1999 he transitioned to UC Clermont College to direct two federally funded programs, Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound, both aimed at helping prepare low income, mostly 1st generation students, go to college. There would be presentations made to schools and also direct work with kids as young as 6 grades until 12, providing them with tutoring, Daniel Schneider monthly workshops on what to expect from college, college visits, helping them with their ACT tests and with their college and financial applications. Through the Upward Bound program, weekend workshops, field trips and summer sessions would also be offered to high school students, all with the intent of preparing them for college. Being federally funded, these programs exposed Schneider to politics, to congressmen and senators with whom he needed to maintain good relations, and once a year took him to Washington, DC, for lobbying. "This got me to become outspoken, to learn how to better talk to people about what's important, also to function more into an activist mode," he says. In 2003 he joined the MLK coalition choral directed by Catherine Roma and sang in its choir for 11 years. The choral would participate every year in the MLK day celebration, and at the occasion, would also perform at the Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, OH, where a group of inmates, also under the direction of Roma, had formed a choir called the UMOJA Men's Chorus. "The inmates would sing for us and we would sing for them," states Schneider. "I met and mingled with people different from me and from the ones I grew up with and I got to respect them as individuals. They made me look at things from a different perspective." In 2006 and during one of these celebrations, Sharon Dittmar, a young Unitarian Universalist (UU) woman minister, spoke. Schneider and his wife were very impressed with her message and teaching. They investigated her faith, resonated with Credit: Saad Ghosn its tenets and a year later decided to join her church, the First Unitarian Church, in Avondale. "We felt that everyone there was accepted and respected and that there was a strong commitment for social justice," says Schneider. "My wife and I had been looking for more freedom to explore our own ideas, and our views of God were different from what the Lutheran church was offering us. We found the Unitarian Universalists a very good fit for us." Through his new church, Schneider joined its UUJO (Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio) statewide organization, became very active in it and was elected co-chair of its board. He also became cochair of the church's social justice committee, helping coordinate many social justice-oriented activities in the community. He is, for instance, heavily involved in the Interfaith Hospitality Network, inviting, several times a year, homeless families to come and stay at the church and be fed; as well as in the operation of the Shiloh Seventh Day Adventist Community (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 9 PHOTO ESSAY Murals of Cincinnati TONY CASTRUCCI Contributing Photographer 1. The Vision of Samuel Hannaford 2. The Queen Shares 3. The Golden Muse 4. Shine 5. No Place Like Home 6. Mr. Tarbell Tips His Hat 7. Energy and Grace 8. Homage to Cincinnatus Restoration THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9. The Face of the Arts 10. Ice Cream Daydream �10 LOCAL J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 July 20 - August 11, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 I 11 HIV and Cincinnati ’m an HIV survivor after 20 years, since September 1997. I was put on medicines immediately and had to fluctuate meds for the right dose— been a whirlwind of 20 years! Some people I tell, some people I don’t. Some people want to play with it, and they shouldn’t. It was a death sentence back then. Now it’s not. You get the right meds, the right doctors, you can make it. I got it recklessly. I’m not mad about it. What am I gonna be mad at a dead man for? I knew going in. I was careless. My partner Tony gave HIV to me. Tony and I worked together in Florence, Kentucky. I don’t have anyone to blame but Maurice. I still love Tony, even though I’ve been with this virus for twenty years. If he was still alive, I would still be with him. He was my bright side, my rock. Whenever I was down, he would do something to make me laugh and smile. We would go out and we’d wear white shirts. We’d go to straight bars but they always knew we were lovers. The straight bars were a mess. But we can’t let them bring us down. I don’t have nobody to blame for my mistakes. When I told my mom she was leery. The health department came by to let her know that I could still use the same forks, same toilet. It’s a disease transferred by blood, nothing else. They came to grips with it, they’re okay with it. I have twelve siblings, half of them are married. I lost my mom 2 years ago, my dad 6 months ago. It took a toll on me. I was in the hospital for a couple days because I couldn’t handle it. I took dad’s death harder than I took mom’s. I was at SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) Services Food Pantry in Avondale. He also tutors kids at the South Avondale elementary school. Participating with the Amos project, Schneider and his church supported, in 2016, the Preschool Promise initiative, canvassing door to door in favor of Issue 44, the school levy that insured opportunities for young kids to attend preschool. Through UUJO he participated, in October 2015, along other social justice groups, in a Walk to Stop Executions in Ohio. They started at the death house in Lucasville, walked through Chillicothe and ended, seven days later, in Columbus. Accompanying them was a man previously on death row but since then exonerated. In addition, Schneider wrote a letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer and sent several others to Ohio politicians and legislators urging them to abolish the death penalty. In 2016 he participated in a Rally for Racial Justice at MAURICE GOLSBY Contributing Writers Deaconess for 4 days. I just sitting there and crying, thinking about my mom. She worked at Frisch’s in Covington for 30 years. That’s how I got into the food business. I did that for over 25 years. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it. I’m trying to go back to it so I can catch up with mom. Her sisters treat me like I’m theirs. I have a prison record, been there three times. Each time I went, my mom worried about me because she didn’t know if I was being treated right. My lawyer made sure the state took care everything I needed. I told her she doesn’t need to worry. I’m in a support group here called Positive Souls, been around since 1999. It’s the only African American support group for HIV/AIDS. They’re like my family. We go out in the community, do different things. The Champion group meets once every last Wednesday of the month. We get ideas together to target the population who are at risk. I have a friend who’s 23 and he’s lucky…he’s been skating by. But he’s been having unprotected sex and he’s had gonorrhea four times. I tell him he needs to slow down—not everyone who’s cute is clean but he doesn’t want to listen to me because I’m older. I have a lot of friends. One knew he had AIDS, but wasn’t taking his meds and was smoking and drinking. He wasn’t taking care of himself. Protect yourself. I don’t care what you do on the street, but protect yourself. You don’t want something you can’t get rid of. I’m licensed to preach. I preach sometimes at my church in Kentucky. Not too many people there know about my HIV. But they will. I told my pastor that there are some things I need to tell people there. I got to two churches, one in Kentucky and one in Cincinnati. The people in Cincinnati know, because I told them when we had testimonies. The pastor said, “Brother, your testimony touched me the most.” They took up an offering for me, bought me some clothes and household supplies. They put the rest of the money on a card and took me shopping. I am so grateful to the church for that. When I go there sometimes they say, “We miss you.” It feels good to be missed in Covington. I was born and raised in Covington. But I like to visit other churches from time to time. Through my journey, it’s been a journey, trust me. It’s been one journey after another. I have a friend who is also positive but doesn’t like to talk about it. But you feel freer when you talk about it. The only people who can help you are Caracole. I love them for helping me over the years. the Ohio Statehouse. UUJO is currently trying to partner with other organizations in support of the Poor People's Campaign, originally organized by MLK and later carried out under the leadership of Ralph Abernathy. The campaign which demanded economic and human rights for poor Americans of diverse backgrounds has been recently resurrected and re-imagined by William Barber, the former North Carolina NAACP leader who rose to prominence behind the Moral Mondays movement. The goal of the new Campaign is to consecrate a new movement to transform the political, economic, and moral structures of society. It plans to organize mobilizations in the spring of 2018, and to orchestrate 40 days of concentrated episodes of civil disobedience in at least 25 states, waging war on child poverty, racism and economic injustice. Schneider also serves on the board of the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center where he helps raise money. A few years ago he attended training on the fair food campaign, and since then has worked and advocated with public entities, such as universities, the purchase of food which has public value and is environmentally healthy. He also worked on getting Cincinnati City Council to approve the Wage Theft Ordinance which penalizes any company that does business with the city and gets tax abatement if found not paying its workers a fair wage. Every Tuesday and Thursday night, and from September until May, Schneider and his wife now teach English as a 2nd language to immigrants, mostly undocumented Latinos, at the Robert Academy in Price Hill. "Teaching English to immigrants is a priority for me," he says. "I like being useful and helping others, but also I find language skills to be essential for the integration of foreigners into our society." With his wife he also went to the Women's march in Washington, DC, in January 2017 and in Cincinnati this past January. Through the social justice committee that he chairs, Schneider also keeps his church involved in social and political issues. He got for instance the congregation to vote on a Black Lives Matter banner now displayed on the church building. Also, on having a yearly reconciliation service and a monetary fund to honor the memory of William Carter, a black Unitarian Universalist minister who had started in 1920/30s the Unitarian Brotherhood church in the West End of Cincinnati but who was ignored and snubbed by ministers of the other UU established churches. Descendants of Carter are invited at the ceremony during which a public apology is expressed. "I am interested not only in social services but also in advocacy for social justice," says Schneider. "I serve currently on 4 different boards and try through them to effect public policy in order to better the world." In all his doings, Schneider is motivated by his faith and by his deep desire for social justice. He abides by what represents for him the two most important messages of UU - spiritual freedom and universal uniting love. Maurice Golsby, Wearing a Caracole Shirt, In Over-the-Rhine Credit: Justin Jeffre THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- �12 STREET VOICE God Always Put Something In My Heart J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 LEE MCCOY Streetvibes Distributor F or once in my life I had to tag this article like this cause, I truly believe that God always puts something in my heart to write something. Today I am so lost. I have written over 50 articles since 2009 and truly it is all by the grace of God. I have no writing skills, but God has always shown me the way. Now that I have started I realized that God is still driving this car and I need to tell the people who really know me something. First of all, I want to thank those who have shown concern about me losing weight My health has been going downhill for a while. I am waiting on some result of a blood test and when I get the answer I’ll share it with you, the good or the bad. Am I scared? Yes, I am. Please keep me in your prayers cause prayers are good. Until then, God bless you. Lee McCoy --------------------------------------- Credit: Aimee Willhoite No More Tears P JAMES BROWN salms 116:8 “For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling” Amen I woke up this morning, had a smell of coffee. Life is so precious. I lost everything in life. My parents had me at 14. I lost my mom March 2nd, 2016. They had to pull the oxygen tubes out. They found my father that Sunday morning. He OD’ed off heroin. This world got me messed up. A and believe me I thank you for your concern so let me tell you a little about this. Streetvibes Distributor I lost family and friends. I wish they were here today to see what was going on. They were grown up with us. They are guardian angels now. But we’re in Revelations right now. Everything they do in the Old Testament, they’re doing right now. What’s wrong with this world today? I understand that people got to take care of bills and their family and everything. I’m not asking for a handout when I’m selling Streetvibes. I’m just out there doing my job, being a people person. I think we need the Homeless Congress back. I used to be homeless down in Cincinnati. You got to deal with attitudes and everything else. Depends how you carry yourself but you got to deal with other people. They just look at you like you’re lost and everything else but I’ve been doing this for nine years like it’s a full-time job. People be thinking we looking for What is it and why are we ignored at home? s an 18-month combat veteran and in the number of years of my life, I have never experienced residents that are against veterans until I came to Cincinnati. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. When you ignore a veteran, that’s disrespectful. Then we say to ourselves. ‘We gave up families, jobs, and friends to go and fight for freedom so you and yours can enjoy the freedom that you have. What the RICARDO TAYLOR (Continued from page 7) totality of your existence! The only difference in a day is its formal name Sunday or Monday, it’s all the same; that constant struggle, not sure of what’s to be gained! An existence where you can only hope that that oh, so, lonesome place of refuge isn't towed for its abandonment! Your mind stuck on the simplest, yet most important factor of being, living physically and emotionally for the security of that one place in which MIKE CARANO Streetvibes Distributor hell is it that makes some people treat us the way they do?’ Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Because of my health and age, I work two part time jobs. My first job is when the Reds play at home. I work as a janitor at Great American Ball Park. When the Reds are away from home, I sell Streetvibes. June fourth, 2018 I was on Sycamore selling Streetvibes. I felt the negative vibes of being ignored, it happened, and it hurt. Everyone of the people walking by ignored me except three of people who did stop, talk and purchase a paper. I remember one woman told me, “Sorry about your luck.” Another told me, “Get off the corner and find a real job.” This needs to be addressed in two parts. The first woman that told me, “Sorry about your luck”, I don’t allow them to bring me down to their level. you can feel alive {your abandoned vehicle} you spend the whole day hoping it stays secure! The loss would be devastating! The idea, or rather the fact, that life is destined for you to always be in shambles, without the slightest chance of change becomes your nemesis, as if this is how it is supposed to be! To lose hope is to lose reasoning, so you just drift alone accepting things the way they are. Living without a past or future, you just exist! How is one to know that life exist without so much pain and pressure? How can one be free from the reality; that which they perceive to be their fate? 'Existing, without a hope or prayer! Such a miserable place to be! You tend to submit yourself to that idea of reality and continue along the life path that you are destined to. Huh? Well, it's like they say. It is what it is!' 'Continuing along life's track you realize that you can't give the misery back', so blindly you accept that position in life.' THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED handouts but sometimes the other distributors get you all messed up. Kroger building—I love my Kroger people. Some of them come from Findlay Market but they come see me sometimes. You get a lot of people who come out from the suburbs. When they come downtown, it’s something different. They think I’m strange and everything because I’m selling Streetvibes there for nine years on my island. The police don’t mess with me no more. The neighborhood don’t mess with me. I’m just right there in the neighborhood. --------------------------------------The woman that told me to get off the corner and find a real job, she doesn’t no anything about me, let alone know me. For her information, before and after my military service I worked as an overhead crane operator for 23 years, Buckeye Steel, Columbus Ohio. Don’t take this the wrong way, because there are residents of Cincinnati that do support veterans as well as the homeless. For the residents of Cincinnati that support veterans and homeless, there’s not enough words to say how much your support means to us. Take care and God bless! --------------------------------------- �13 STREET VOICE No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 I LIVE FOR YOU I live for you! I think for you! THE UNCIVIL MOTHER GOOSE This Little Pig tweeted "fake news," And then this Little Pig passed it on. I love you! I hope for you! I will die for you! This Little Pig told lies on Face Book, And this Little Pig sent a Text saying: I cry for you! I worry for you! I sacrifice for you! "Truth and civility are gone." I pray for you! I write this for you! There’s no me without you! BILL WOODS Contributing Writer I love you! ALL LIVES MATTER My only begotten son AFTER ALL I BEEN THROUGH BEING HOMELESS Rico, stay true! I LIVE TO BE A PART OF HISTORY TO LIVE TO SEE A BLACK PRESIDENT AND A KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer WHITE WOMEN NOMINATED WHAT'S THE MYSTERY IT SEEMS LIKE GOD HAS A PLAN FOR PEOPLE TO COME TOGETHER AND BE AT PEACE AND KNOW WE ALL LIVE AND WE ALL DIE SO WHY THE RACISM DOESN'T CEASE ALL OF A SUDDEN IT MATTERS WHAT COLOR, RELGION AND WHAT CREED YOU ARE THINGS MATTER TODAY WHETHER YOU WORK OR FIND A PLACE TO LIVE SO WHO'S SCARED I BELIEVE WE AS A HUMAN RACE TEACH OUR CHILDREN WHAT TO BELIEVE IN AND HOW I BELIEVE IF WE DON’T SHOW OUR CHILDREN LOVE WITH UNDERSTANDING WE DEAD NOW ALL LIVES MATTER KNOWING THAT ALL LIVES END, LIFE BEING SO SHORT WHAT IS THE FIGHT LET PEOPLE BE BLESSED IN WHO THEY ARE RICH OR POOR JUST GIVE RESPECT THAT'S RIGHT SO WHETHER YOU SUPPORT THE HOMELESS OR NOT JUST PRAY IT WON’T BE YOU SOMEDAY SITUATIONS MAKING CHANGES GOOD, SOME BAD, CHANGING ONES LIFE, ALL LIFE MATTERS I SAY WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 153 Across 1. Insane 4. Unity 7. Mythological vicious winged monster 12. Have confidence or faith in 13. Genus corvus 14. Drama set to music 15. Palliate 17. Interior layout and furnishings 18. Indicating maiden name 19. Deprive of freedom 21. Peculiar 22. Tonality 23. Source or germ 24. Zeal 27. Rotating mechanism 28. Arum 30. Affect emotionally 33. Singing voice 36. Earlier in time 38. Impulse 39. Type of fish 40. In addition 41. Hackneyed 43. Highly excited 45. Necessitate 46. Medicinal, magical or poisonous beverage 48. Frequently 50. Bobbin 51. From a great distance 53. Country, initially 56. Health spring 58. Have as a meaning 60. Steal 61. Large tropical ray 64. Concordant 66. Kind of lesion 67. Hint 68. A horse's manner of moving 69. Glimmer 70. Stitched cloth border 71. Conclude Down 1. Noisy riotous fight 2. Back street 3. Staining substance 4. Talk pompously 5. Observed 6. Large jug 7. Box on a pole for carrying bricks 8. Imitate 9. Bring into accord 10. Urge on 11. Linear unit 12. Relative status 13. Movie house 16. Passport endorsement 20. Mesh 25. Circuit 26. Without qualification 27. Bring into existence 28. Alone 29. Socks, stockings and tights SODOKU PUZZLE NO 283 - MEDIUM 30. Long crusty roll sandwich 31. Snare 32. Lack of knowledge or education 34. Skimpy 35. Two-year-old sheep 37. Pole 42. Prevarication 44. Small beard 47. Past times 49. Liberate 51. Slant 52. Discussion group 53. Relating to a city 54. Financially sound 55. Assist in wrongdoing 56. Self-satisfied 57. Become less interesting or attractive 59. Apiece 62. Beverage 63. Supply with weapons 65. Historic period PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 383 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 152 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 282- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 3 | J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 J u n e 15 - J u n e 2 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource June 15-June 28, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Where Are We Headed as a Nation? Pg 3: AHA Celebrates a Win, Recharges for Future Challenges Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Uh, Sorry, President Trump, You Cannot Pardon Yourself Playing Soccer is Good for Us, But Watching It in a New Stadium May Not Be Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: On Declaring Freedom Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Photo Story Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: HIV and Cincinnati Pg 12: God Always Put Something in my Heart No More Tears What Is It and Why Are We Ignored at Home? Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 15-June 28, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Mark P. Painter Martha Stephens Trenton Davis Ricardo Taylor Saad Ghosn Maurice Golsby Lee McCoy James Brown Mike Carano Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Zinnproject.org Tony Castrucci Justin Jeffre Aimee Willhoite Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF AHA Aimee Willhoite Bill Woods Cincinnati Donald Trump Dr. Mark Mussman Freedom HIV James Brown Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kim Green Lee McCoy Mark P. Painter Martha Stephens Maurice Golsby Mike Carano Mural Photography Religion Ricardo Taylor Saad Ghosn Soccer Tony Castrucci Trenton Davis Willa Denise Jones Zinnproject.org https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/19cb33bb53173df34a4b4c555d396349.pdf a14bdc592a2d6f1b251a70ed6dca70a8 PDF Text Text June 1st - June 14th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 11 (No. 382) advocating justice | building community Religious Peacemakers: Reverend Nelson Pierce's Powerful Tools for Systematic Changes Towards Justice | 8 This Issue is sponsored by Bromwell's Harth Lounge INSIDE THIS ISSUE A New Burst of Energy to Curb Gun Violence| 2 Photo Essay: Cincinnati Murals | 9 "Right to Work"and Poverty Rates | 3 Stadium Deal Revealed Inequities | 7 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 S LOCAL From The Director: Soccer Team ≠ Ecstatic o Major League Soccer has granted FC Cincinnati a franchise. Hundreds gathered to scream, cheer and celebrate. An article in the Enquirer described the crowd as “Offthe-charts ecstatic”. I would hate to live a life where I was ecstatic about the new opportunity to live in a city where men will now talentedly kick a ball around a field at a professional level. I’m not saying I don’t ever enjoy sports or that I don’t ever root for a certain team in a game. I’m not saying going to a match in most any sport isn’t fun. I’m not saying there is something wrong with cheering on a team. But what around you do you have to be choosing to ignore or apathetic about to be “ecstatic” about a sporting team and announcement of a major league franchise? Seriously. At least half of our children in Cincinnati are living in poverty. Both single adult and family homelessness are the worst they have every been. In Hamilton County we have a shortage of at least 40,000 affordable homes (28,000 in Cincinnati), such that so many families are losing their housing that family shelters have to turn away about 70 percent of families with children seeking shelter. More than 100,000 households in Hamilton County are paying more than fifty percent of their income just in housing because J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 JOSH SPRING Executive Director Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition the cost of renting has increased far more rapidly than wages. In some parts of our city a person living on one side of a street will live 20 years longer than the person on the other side. Currently our city is investing virtually none of our local funds into affordable housing. In Cincinnati, on average, Black men live 10 years less than white men and Black women live 6.6 years less than white women. Our neighborhoods are segregated by race and class. Both our city and county are facing significant deficits next fiscal year. Our jails and prisons are crowded, and slave-labor is still legal in our prisons. Greater than half of federal discretionary spending is on the military. We are currently engaged in war in multiple countries. We are in the midst of regular overdose deaths from heroine. Kids in our schools are preparing for someone to walk around with a gun and try to kill them. We are currently bombing and murdering people in a variety of places. We are deporting parents, taking them from their children. People don’t have needed access to water and food. Healthcare is often unaffordable or inaccessible by many in this country and in other countries. This list could go on and on. People are standing up and pushing forward. Locally we are working to establish an affordable housing trust fund and legal protections for people who rent. We are trying to change the unjust ways developers get easy access to our neighborhoods and resources. We are working to prevent and end homelessness. We are working to offer opportunity for people experiencing homelessness to join in the work to end the criminalization of homelessness. We are working to educate children and adults throughout our area about why homelessness exists and how they can work to systematically fight it. We are fighting for equal (Continued on page 5) A New Burst of Energy For the Grassroots Campaign to Curb Gun Violence in the U.S. T he tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, brought a new burst of energy to the ongoing grassroots campaign to curb gun violence in this country. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organized for action, and they were joined by thousands of other students across the nation who began protesting for effective legislation to protect citizens from the ubiquitous misuse of guns. At the Community Issues Forum on May 17th, Lauren Rose, a student activist and at Mason High School senior, and Michele Mueller, Local Group Leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, spoke about the campaign in Ohio and nationally. After the Parkland tragedy, Lauren Rose said that she and some of her class mates at Mason High decided BILL WOODS Contributing Writer that they could not "continue being afraid" of an incident like that happening at their school. At the same time students were organizing protests across the country, Lauren and her peers planned a "school walkout" for March 14th. The event actually took place in the school, and she reported that more than eighthundred people attended. Lauren Rose believes that students locally and nationally will persist in their gun reform campaign beyond this (Continued on page 3) Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Michael Earl Patton, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michelle Dillingham, Jason Haap, Saad Ghosn, Johnathan Diskin, Thomas A. Dutton, James C. Fraser, Steve Sunderland, Jeannie Masterson, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Justin Jeffre, Saad Ghosn, Bill Woods, Tony Castrucci, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL “Right-to-Work” and Poverty Rates 3 No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 MICHAEL EARL PATTON I s there a relation between states with relatively strong unions and poverty rates? In my last article I pointed out the preponderance of workers who earn low wages. Instead of concentrating on just the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) numbers which largely reflect the earnings of the wealthiest among us, what about those who earn far less? Although not the best measure, poverty rate data are generally available so I looked at those. I wanted to know if states with so-called “right-to-work” laws had higher or lower poverty rates than those without. Much has been written about how those laws lead to certain benefits, but do they benefit those near the bottom of the economic ladder? Read on to find what I found out. First, here is one of the graphs I showed last time giving the distribution in incomes. Data comes from the IRS. This sets the stage. I am more worried in the well-being of those on the left-hand side of the graph than those on the right, ergo BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) spring's rallies and protests. For instance, Rose noted that she and others are getting involved in the political process as a way to bring about real change. They have recently registered Contributing Writer the look at poverty rates. I struggled with the title to this article because the name “Rightto-Work” law is misleading. These laws are not about the right to work as such – that was never in question. After all, even slaves have the right to work. Rather, “right-to-work” refers to banning union agreements which require all workers who benefit from an agreement between a union and a workplace, to pay dues to that union. It never was about forbidding someone to work but rather the requirement that if someone wanted to work at union-negotiated wages and benefits, that they also pay union dues. Still, as different billboards around Cincinnati attest (“Right-toWork is a Lie!”), even opponents call such legislation by this name. I will at least put the phrase in quotes. Twenty-eight states have “rightto-work” laws, or the provision is part of the state constitution: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, one-hundred new voters, and some, including herself, are working as volunteers for Aftab Purval in his race for Congress. The new student activists have been welcomed and supported by groups already advocating for gun reform legislation at the local, state, and federal levels. Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Missouri passed such a law in 2017 but opponents gathered enough signatures to postpone the law going into effect until and unless it passes in a referendum. Kentucky’s law was passed in 2017; West Virginia’s law went into effect in September 2017. I found poverty rate data for 2015-2016 by state from the U.S. Census Bureau and compared the average poverty rates for the “right-to-work” states with the others. Because Missouri’s law has not yet gone into effect and Kentucky’s and West Virginia’s laws only went into effect in 2017, I am counting those as non-“right-towork” states for this comparison. There are thus 25 states on each side with the District of Columbia included on the “non-side”. For context, the average poverty rate in the United States for the 2015-2016 period was 13.1%. (I used the table “Percentage of People in Poverty by State Using 2- and 3-Year Averages: 2013-2014 and 2015-2016” from https://www. census.gov/data/tables/2017/ demo/income-poverty/p60-259. html.) For only the “right-to-work” states it is 13.77% when weighted by the population. This means that the poverty rate of, say, Texas with a state poverty rate of 14.3% and an estimated 2015 population of 27,469,114 counts proportionally more than Nebraska. Its poverty rate is just 9.9% but has a population of only 1,896,190. Texas counts about 14 times what Idaho counts in the weightings. Since 13.77% is higher than the national average of One of the most effective of these organizations is Moms Demand Action, and Michele Mueller depicted its history and activities for the Forum attendees. Founded after the Sandy Hook School mass shooting in 2012, it is now active in all fifty states and in hundreds of cities and towns. Mueller 13.1%, the non-“right-to-work” states surely have a lower poverty rate and they do: just 12.62%. If that were the poverty rate for the “right-towork” states, there would be about 1.6 million fewer people living in poverty. That is significant. It is this sort of effect to which I was alluding in my last article when I wrote about the preferential option for the poor and powerless. Before a state legislature votes to circumscribe the right of workers to organize and contract with a company, it should consider the effect on the workers – not just the wealthy. Considering the effect on those with low income is not that different than the dictum for doctors: first, do no harm. The data I see indicate that there might be a negative effect on the low end of the income spread. Apparently, the movement to weaken unions has an effect on wages. This is not to say that unions always do only good, just that they might be doing some good and we should preserve that good. The magazine Bloomberg BusinessWeek has had a couple cover stories in the past year about the lack of worker protection in companies without unions. For the January 8, 2018 issue it was “Life and Death on the Third Shift.” The story is about the (non-unionized) meat-packing industry. For March 27 – April 2, 2017 it was “The New Detroit: The South’s manufacturing renaissance comes with a heavy price.” The cover shows a man who lost his lower right arm in an industrial accident. All of the South is “right-to-work.” This is BusinessWeek highlighting the lack of safety, not Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. If you ever had read that work you would understand how far the pull of company profit over worker safety can go. Unions were a very large part of the reason why there was not a communist revolution in this country. Let’s not go further down that path. emphasized that MDA is not about attacking the Second Amendment or trying to take people's guns away from them. It is focused on putting in place common sense reform legislation and practices that will help to prevent so many tragic incidents of (Continued on page 11) Michele Mueller, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America Lauren Rose, Student Advocate Credit: Justin Jeffre Credit: Justin Jeffre THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL July 7th THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 �No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 O ne question that we routinely receive is “how to tell if someone is faking homelessness.” It’s far too common of a question because it shows our lack of empathy and misunderstanding of homelessness. If we believe that even one person is faking it, will we fight hard for solutions? Mistrust is a difficult place to start, and perhaps, an even more difficult thing to change. If you are making the decision to help someone, it is not unusual to want to know what all the parameters are before you decide to help. When a family member asks for assistance, sometimes you’ll want to know all the details, and other times, you will just help, and not ask “how did you get in this situation?” or “can you prove to me that you need my help?” It’s important to help people as you can, how you can, but it’s even more important to help people in the way that they need help. Short-term needs, like food, water, toiletries, can be helpful today — but they don’t translate directly into housing for people who may be experiencing homelessness. Think where those items fit into the solutions to homelessness: Affordable Housing; Livable Wages; Tenant Protections. Even though it doesn’t have toiletries, food, or water in those solutions, they are necessary for everyday life. My biggest issue with the idea of faking homelessness is the judgmental part. Typically, the topic comes up with panhandling, and whether we should give a dollar or two on the way to the ball game. As I have written before, some people come up with their own ways to determine if someone is worthy enough for their money. It could be based upon what they say, what their sign says, how they interact, the roughness of one’s hands, or how shabby their clothes look. People will say “Well, you don’t look homeless!” and keep walking. This type of judging doesn’t allow for the many types of homelessness, including: homeless at home (not having food, water, electricity, support, etc. at home); doubled up (two families living together due to economic circumstance); couch surfing (staying at friends’ and relatives’ places); or living in a car (often showering at the gym). If you understand the types of homelessness, you’d realize that judging people by how they look will never be accurate. Most people who experience JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) access to housing, employment, public services, health, recreation, public space, development, selfdetermination, freedom from harassment and brutality regardless LOCAL Faking It DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer homelessness work very hard to hide their circumstances. You wouldn’t (or couldn’t) tell by looking at them. This is mainly due to shame and of race and/or economic class. Across this country and world people are fighting to end wars, fighting to limit access to guns, working to make healthcare accessible. People are fighting pollution in order to make clean water available to all. People are working to decrease and end the social stigma. We are constantly bombarded with terminology and visual representations that convey the sentiment that people who don’t have homes are not worthy participants possession of nuclear armaments across the world. Work is being done to keep the right to a quality public education and to improve the quality of schools. We are fighting for a living wage instead of a minimum wage and workers’ rights that show the worker as a person, not a commodity. This THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 in society. Just as they are trying to outlaw panhandling in Dayton, Ohio, we criminalize the lives of people who are already struggling to get by in a difficult world. Criminalizing homelessness actually causes and perpetuates homelessness by giving heavy fines, jail-time, and permanent (Continued on page 12) list could go on too. Considering all of this and so much more; how can you be “ecstatic” about a soccer team? What is that like; to so ignore or not care about important things to the point that you are “ecstatic” about a sport and/or a team? �6 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 �7 LOCAL Stadium deal revealed inequities No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 T MICHELLE DILLINGHAM here is one thing I can agree with Mayor John Cranley on about the recent FC Cincinnati stadium deal: “This can’t keep happening.” The mayor was quoted in a recent column by The Enquirer’s Jason Williams that was met by some with outrage, namely because the writer referred to people who have been working for years on more equitable development and engagement in Cincinnati as “self-serving outsiders looking for a handout.” I’d like to offer a different perspective. A community benefits agreement is defined as a multiparty contract executed by community organizations and developers, meant to hold developers accountable for their impact on the community. Experts who support such agreements often cite Los Angeles’ Staples Center project in 2001 as an example of a highly successful process — one that resulted in unprecedented benefits for the surrounding community. That community benefits agreement included over 30 community groups, labor unions and hundreds of residents who would be Contributing Writer affected by the project. In the end, the deal resulted in developers being responsive to the surrounding community; funding was provided for nearby parks and recreation facilities; a parking program was established to help defray the increased costs to nearby homeowners; affordable housing was built that included income targeting and terms of affordability, and more. There were many problems with FC Cincinnati’s negotiations for a community benefits agreement with West End, including the short timeline and only one community organization being involved. The deal was ultimately a failure because it was doomed from the start. Ideally, these agreements are used to mitigate the negative effects a project may cause in a neighborhood, such as lighting, noise, design and construction impacts. A benefits agreement should not be expected to take the place of meeting basic standards for the use of public tax dollars. It cannot fix the displacement of low-income families through gentrification; however, a city’s inclusionary affordable housing policy can do that. A benefits agreement cannot fix employers not paying a prevailing wage, perpetrating wage theft and not offering minority contracts; a city’s procurement and contracting policy can do that. A CBA cannot fix neighborhood residents from being excluded from authentic participation; a city’s community engagement policy can do that. A CBA cannot fix the widespread inequity of how City Hall hands out subsidies or the fact that millions of dollars meant for our public schools never make it there; but a city’s tax exemption policy can do that. Was the FC stadium process “utter chaos,” as Williams described in his article? Perhaps, but the blame rests squarely on our elected officials who have refused to enact citywide policy on a number of challenges that were exposed by virtue of the soccer stadium deal. In the absence of these policy fixes, our city will continue to fail on important indicators such as Jeff Berding speaks to the press (Continued on page 11) Credit: Justin Jeffre Mona Jenkins convenes with community members at rally against FC Stadium Deal Joe Mallory addresses his opposition to the FC Stadium Deal press conference Credit: Justin Jeffre Credit: Justin Jeffre How about a marketing campaign for those in need? P oor people* need someone to mount a marketing campaign on their behalf. They don't, as a general rule, have an easy-to-identify fanbase whose discretionary spending both advertises their fanaticism to others while earning money for the economically disadvantaged in the process. Soccer fans, on the other hand, have no apparent trouble in this capacity. For example, I just typed "FC Cincinnati shirts" into Google (without the quotation marks), and I see I can buy FC Cincinnati soccer t-shirts from places like Dick's, JASON HAAP Contributing Writer Homage, RallyHouse, CincyShirts, and more. When I'm out and about in the city, I see tons of people wearing FC Cincinnati t-shirts. I know it sounds weird, but I think this kind of branding has something to do with why so many of us believe the myth of sports stadium investments as being good for the economy, while at the same time we seem to turn a blind eye toward helping those in need. For example, according to an item by the Brookings Institute titled "Sports, Jobs, & Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?": Promotional studies also fail to take into account differences between sports and other industries in income distribution. Most sports revenue goes to a relatively few players, managers, coaches, and executives who earn extremely high salaries— all well above the earnings of people who work in the industries that are substitutes for sports. Most stadium employees work part time at very low wages and earn a small fraction of team revenues. Thus, substituting spending on sports for other recreational spending concentrates income, reduces the total number of THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED jobs, and replaces full-time jobs with low-wage, part-time jobs. So, in short, I think, as a people, we are apt to overlook unsound economic arguments because we buy into the hype created from marketing. Could it be possible to focus such marketing efforts on local social causes? Unfortunately, I am neither a t-shirt artist nor a marketing executive - but my novel thought for the day is to wonder what it would be like if someone were to mount precisely such a campaign. *This author subscribes to "identity first" language, whose adherents believe there is no shame in being "poor," so there is no need to wrench the language from its natural form by saying things like "people experiencing poverty." �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Community Organizing and Political Advocacy Are Reverend Nelson Pierce's Powerful Tools for Systemic Changes toward Justice 8 R J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 SAAD GHOSN everend Nelson Pierce knew, as early as 3 years old, that he wanted to become a minister. He started preparing himself for it since the age of 13 through the Baptist church that he attended regularly with his parents. "I grew up in a very religious household," he says. "I was very active in the church, sang in the choir, attended Sunday school every week, participated in children’s retreats, and developed strong relationships with my mentors." "It is there also that I learned about black history..." he adds. In fact, both Pierce's parents were active during the civil rights movement. His mother, a member of the Black Panthers, participated in their many protests between Detroit and Chicago; and his father, from New Orleans, took part in the 1st class of black students trying to desegregate Louisiana State University. "My parents did not speak much about the struggles they went through during that era, but it was very present in the ethics of our house and of what was considered important." Pierce attended Country Day Summit school, a predominantly white Catholic private school, in Cincinnati, OH. He felt there a subjacent racism, subtly embedded in the system, as he had to always prove himself, even though he was as successful academically as other white students. "There was also very little social justice awakening during school," he states. "We talked about it in the context of religious ethics, but Contributing Writer it could barely compare to what I learned through church or at home, especially regarding being black in America." After high school, Pierce went to Washington University, in Saint Louis, MO, to study English literature. While there, he experienced some typical racial tensions. Black faculty, for instance, was not representative of the black student population, neither in number nor in tenured positions. African American studies also were not recognized as a separate Department, did not have their own budget, and could not hire their own professors. Pierce participated in struggles supporting such demands, also in fights for workers' rights. "Secretaries, mostly white, had many benefits, including free tuition for themselves and their children, also very good health care plans," says Pierce. "Groundkeepers and food workers, 80% black or Latino, on the other hand, did not. We protested, occupied the administration building, and went on hunger strike, until we got equal, equitable benefits for all." Graduating from Washington University with a Bachelor's degree in English, Pierce decided to join Eden Theological Seminary, right outside Saint Louis, to deepen his study of religion. A year earlier, at the age of 22, and crowning many years of preparation and a final taxing exam, he had already been ordained a minister. And a year into Divinity school, at age 24, he was hired as the senior pastor of an independent church, in Alton, IL, also near St Louis. Pierce's ministry for his new What is Beloved Community Church Beloved Community Church is an Independent Protestant Christian church. Its Beliefs: *God is always on the side of the oppressed in the struggle for liberation. God is on the side of Black People in the United States and around the world in their struggle against institutional and systemic racism. *The church can and should be a healing place where people can come to be loved and accepted as they are. *The church can and should be a place to strategize, not only to worship; a place where members can plan how to work together to make sure that God's love and justice is at work in the world, and not just something they talk about. Its Mission: *To live into and share God’s revolutionary love and justice so that Cincinnati becomes God’s Community of Peace.   Its Vision: *To be passionate in the pursuit of God’s peace, and intentional in resisting oppression, in oneself, the church, the community and the world. church lasted four years, during which he preached every Sunday and taught Bible studies every week. This is also when he connected with Gamaliel, a foundation that trains and develops leaders in lowincome communities, helping them create, maintain and expand independent, grassroots, and faithbased community organizations with the power to influence political and economic decisions that impact cities Reverend Nelson Pierce and regions. Exposed to community organizing, Pierce became taken by it. At the same time, he was pursuing his divinity studies, discussing daily issues of social justice through his various classes. Being black, he was also experiencing the prevailing racism and discrimination of the city of St Louis. "Before, we felt discriminatory behavior to be normal," says Pierce, "just for being black in America. But at Eden, our conversation became about the world, what it should be and look like, and especially about the role and responsibility of the church as an instrument for social justice everywhere." This led Pierce and his student friends to create a NAACP local chapter and to start using various resources to fight black-targeted police violence in the area. After graduating in 2008 with a Master's degree in Divinity, Pierce left his church and joined the staff of a larger local Baptist church where he participated in its mission and outreach programs. Two years later, in 2010, he returned to Cincinnati to become the senior pastor of the also independent Beloved Community Church in Norwood, a position he holds until now. For the 1st four years, and at the same time as ministering for his church, Pierce worked for Amos as a community organizer. He acted through churches, training pastors to help them understand issues and present them to their parishioners or provide someone to do it; gather petitions, canvassing from door to door asking people to sign them; helping changing laws and rules, etc. Credit: Saad Ghosn His efforts contributed significantly to the repeal, in 2011, of Senate bill 5 which would have limited collective bargaining for public employees in Ohio, and, in 2012, to reinstating weekend voting that the Ohio Secretary of State wanted to eliminate for the then presidential elections. In 2014 and in the wake of the killing of Michael Brown by white officer Darrel Wilson in Ferguson, Pierce responded to a call from PICO and went to St Louis to volunteer on a task force to organize, help the local clergy pay attention to what was happening in their city, teach them how to engage their voices in the debate, how to help their young black kids who were out in the streets. "I thought I was going to St Louis for only few days," says Pierce, "but I ended up staying there four full months. What I saw was so atrocious and the civil rights violations so egregious that I could not leave. The police had transformed Ferguson into a real war zone..." Taking advantage of his connection with Eden Theological Seminary and being one of its board (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 PHOTO ESSAY Murals of Cincinnati TONY CASTRUCCI Contributing Photographer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 �10 LOCAL J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL Is it too late for Over-the-Rhine to be a Mixed-Income Neighborhood? No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 [Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Streetvibes 2016. It still seems relevant and I post it here as a tribute to our late friend Thomas A. Dutton.] onathan Diskin is a professor of economics at Earlham College. Thomas A. Dutton is director of the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Overthe-Rhine. James C. Fraser is an associate professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University. The dramatic transformation of lower Over-the-Rhine is widely hailed as an "urban renaissance." But for whom, precisely? As Xavier’s Community Building Institute’s recent housing study shows, the renaissance comes at a loss of roughly 75 percent of housing affordable to the very poor. That’s alarming. Mayor John Cranley, who once opposed allowing public funds for new low-income housing in OTR, recently proposed new spending for affordable housing, declaring in a June 1 CityBeat article that new development “should not come at the expense of the people who have lived here a long time.” While we J BILL WOODS (Continued from page 3) gun violence in this country. She cited the over two-hundred school shootings since Newtown, and the fact that 93-Americans die from gun violence every day. A personal experience prompted Mueller to get involved with Moms Demand Action. After hearing the news about a school shooting, her young granddaughter said she was afraid to go to school. MICHELLE DILLINGHAM (Continued from page 7) childhood poverty, residential SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) members, Pierce used their facility as a home base for his and his friends' activist actions. For the past couple of years Pierce has also been working at Xavier University's Dorothy Day Center for Faith and Justice where he trains and directs a gospel choir consisting of students. They offer their services to various local churches. He also plans once a year retreats and trips exposing students to what community organizing is, how it can be beneficial, teaching them the tools for relationship building. He just returned from such a week trip to St Louis where he took ten Xavier University students to study racial and economic justice; engaging them JONATHAN DISKIN THOMAS A. DUTTON JAMES C. FRASER 11 and apartments, benefited from an average of about $200,000 worth of public and philanthropic money. Given this public/private arrangement, we can ask those who are reaping private gains from these public expenditures to cover some of the costs of more inclusive housing. The mayor’s call to extend the mechanism created to capture some of this new property value for the streetcar, the Voluntary Tax Incentive Contribution Agreement (VTICA), is a good start in this direction. This mechanism asks developers to contribute some portion of the property taxes that the city agrees to abate for 15 years, to a fund dedicated to some clear purpose. A portion of this money could fund low-income housing and support businesses that serve residents of modest means. Developers are getting sweet deals as the value of their property increases while hundreds of millions in public monies is pumped into OTR. We propose extending this principle of "value recapture" such that those who have invested in OTR property would pay a small tax to support inclusion if they sell and reap a huge capital gain. In a May 26 Enquirer article, Cranley says, “We have room to grow a city with everyone. That is when it really becomes a city." Effort is needed now to ensure housing affordability in OTR and elsewhere. Anything less will simply relocate the very concentrated poverty that he and others claim to address. are heartened the city recognizes that OTR has reached – or passed – a tipping point, clearly we need a greater focus on housing affordability if we are to have, in the mayor’s words, “a healthy community that is mixed income.” If the model of development below Liberty Street is reproduced throughout all of OTR, the neighborhood will be an enclave for more professional, whiter, and wealthier residents; an end game that pushes the poor from valuable areas to those with little commercial value or amenities, reproducing the very isolation that was so denounced by OTR development boosters, including the mayor. If mixed-income development is to be worthy of its name, it must secure the tenure of people who live below the reach of the market. Letting the market run is no option as housing markets segregate by income. Two basic points must be at the forefront of policy deliberation to insure that more of the poor are not displaced. First, demonstrate the same level of commitment to secure poor households as the city did with market-rate development. Small intermittent gestures will not suffice because the market is roaring in OTR and rents and property values are rising rapidly. We need to employ now all the tools that nationwide experts agree work. These can include: • Inclusionary zoning • Limited-equity cooperatives • Community land trusts • Shared equity models •Anti-Displacement and Housing Retention Ordinances (which ironically Cincinnati once had) These policies are hardly radical; many U.S. cities use at least one. But none of these exist in Cincinnati, perhaps due to a lack of real interest in housing affordability in OTR. Inclusivity will not materialize unless concerted action is taken – and soon. Second, fund affordable housing through a "shared equity" model. Make no mistake, OTR’s raging market has been fostered with a huge infusion of public money, from beautification to park renovations to commercial building renovation. Our analysis, based on 3CDC’s public disclosures about its financing sources, shows that new units of housing, including condos The kind of fear expressed by her granddaughter brought home to Mueller how unacceptable the current situation is. Modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Mothers Demand Action has grown to approximately 3.5-million supporters. It's organizers over the years have shaped it to be able to go toe to toe with the NRA (National Rifle Association). MDA's goals include closing the holes in our background check system, supporting limits on where, when and how loaded guns are carried and used in public, and promoting gun safety measures to curb the risks that children are currently exposed to. Fresh from a day in Columbus lobbying members of the Ohio General Assembly, Mueller is optimistic about the passage of a Bill that would allow judges to issue protection orders to remove guns from potentially dangerous individuals. Although Mothers Demand Action is non-partisan, she told Forum attendees that it plans to actively support candidates this fall who advocate for common sense gun safety laws. She concluded by announcing some upcoming events such as a community gathering on June 2nd at Washington Park, 3:00PM. segregation and income mobility. What was so offensive is not that this deal was hatched and negotiated behind closed doors with lip service given to neighborhood residents. Cincinnatians are used to that. It was that the community benefits agreement process revealed how very far we are away from truly equitable development in our city. [Michelle Dillingham lives in Kennedy Heights and is a member of the Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition.] with community activists; examining what happened in Ferguson and the protests in the wake of the recent acquittal of Jason Stockley, the former officer who had shot to death in 2011 African American driver Anthony Lamar Smith; experiencing the current homeless crisis in the face of the bitter cold wave that has been affecting the area. Pierce recently joined the Cincinnati Homeless Coalition board where he will be using his community organizing skills to make a difference. He served as the field director for Yvette Simpson's recent mayoral campaign. And he is very engaged with the Black Lives Matter movement, supporting it in any way he can. Pierce also keeps his church community involved in many of his activities. "I try to equip my parishioners with tools and resources to always stand on the side of justice," he says. "One cannot do Christian religion without speaking of social justice. It is an important part of the Gospel, and an important part of who we are as a church." Pierce's church will be soon leaving Norwood to relocate in Avondale, sharing space with Fred Shuttlesworth's Greater Light Baptist church. He hopes that this proximity will create even more opportunities for his church's engagements in social justice. When asked what he would like to achieve in the future, Pierce is quick to answer: "Help the most vulnerable, the poor and oppressed, which often times mean the blacks, high on the list in America." "I would like to help them organize and create the power necessary to start a systemic change toward an equal and just society," he states; "empower them to fight for their dignity," he adds. Pierce would like also to help reframe and reimagine what religion is like and what society should be. He would always use his strengths of community organizing and political advocacy to achieve his goals of a just and peaceful world. Contributing Writers THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED [Editor’s note: The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition does not endorse candidates.] [Note of the author: An edited version of last issue's article featuring Troy Bronsink has been posted on line at www.sosartcincinnati. wordpress.com.] �12 STREET VOICE WHY IS CANCER MORTALITY SO HIGH FOR MINORITIES IN CINCINNATI? PART 9: PHYSICIAN QUALITY IS UNKNOWN BY PATIENTS 1. Introduction: One key area contributing to patient mortality is the absence of knowledge about physicians who are qualified to treat cancer. Both of the authors of this article have had extensive experience with cancer, one as a navigator and the other as a cancer patient. Our experience suggests that evaluation of competent physicians and hospitals is largely guesswork. Sometimes we have guessed right and had very good results. Other times, the guesses have left us with a feeling of fear of making the wrong decision, with life or death consequences. Theoretically, we thought our decisions would be easier as we had the opportunity, with our insurance and with our primary care providers, to choose from any one of the hospitals with cancer institutes in Cincinnati. In reality, we faced questions that did not have clear answers. We wanted to know: who is the "best" doctor for this kind of cancer? Which is the "best" hospital for having surgery or treatment? What doctors have the best results in terms of short term success and longterm survival? What are the criteria the patient should use to answer these questions? These questions are major obstacles for people who are poor. Not having a history of consistent relationship with a physician or a hospital, the patient resists going forward with screening and treatments. Not knowing who can advise them on doctors who are friendly, competent, and affordable adds to the barriers for movement toward healthcare. Most importantly, many people have had “bad” experiences when going to the Emergency Room or watching how family members have been poorly treated by physicians, nurses, and the healthcare admissions process. 2. Physician quality is controversial: Physicians and patients have been interested in issues of quality since the turn of the 20th century. In 1910, a physician, Ernest Codman, developed the “End Result System.” Codman was interested in how any treatments given to a patient could be evaluated in terms of “end results.” His plan ignored the reputation of the physician and DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 5) records to people who are being marginalized by society. With all these systems trying to take you down, why would you want people to think you are experiencing homelessness? J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 STEVE SUNDERLAND JEANNIE MASTERSON CSJ Contributing Writer the hospital and concentrated on the “clinical consequences of a doctor’s effort.” (I. Rutkow (2010). Seeking a cure: A history of medicine in America. Scribner, p. 143.) Rodman and his system were rejected and found to be too controversial. Other attempts to create lists of “outstanding hospitals and physicians” continue to be sources of conflict and disagreement about the scientific nature of the evaluation versus “popularity contests.” In the absence of an agreed upon method of evaluation, and the rise of health insurance policies that drastically limit the amount of time a physician can have with a patient, the problem of selecting a physician and hospital has only gotten worse. 3. Cancer is a complicated and fearful disease: Most people have known someone who had cancer or who had died of cancer. The persistence of cancer as a major killer has continued to make it one of the most feared diagnosis for a person to hear. People who have not had a doctor or could not afford insurance or didn’t feel welcome in a health center or hospital even when they suspected they may have had cancer, are the most likely candidates for death due to unexamined and treated cancers. Harold Freeman, MD, a New York based surgeon, realized that the high mortality rate in his patients was due, in large part, to their having their cancer examined too late, when the cancer had progressed to an untreatable stage. His program of patient navigators sought to find people in the community who could be encouraged to come earlier to the hospital. Over a 5-year time period, with the navigation program providing assistance, Freeman was able to cut the death rate by 70%. His program spread to other physicians and hospitals, with the same results. Navigators, trained guides who largely worked with individuals in churches, community centers, schools, and neighborhood associations, were able to dramatically improve life for cancer patients in N.Y., Philadelphia, Memphis, Denver, and many other cities. 4. Cancer treatment is helped by compassionate communication in relationships: The key to effective outcomes is regular, trusted, and caring communication. Navigators, working with physicians, nurses, and other health care providers, can provide the needed time for discussion of the emotional, physical, financial, and spiritual impact of a cancer experience. It is clear that many people who are poor or at high risk have little understanding of the dangers of cancer or of the risks of untreated cancer. Feeding oneself and family, adequate housing, maintaining employment, and personal and family safety, may be the major issues and priorities facing a person with limited financial means. Often, there is not a relationship with a healthcare system or with a doctor or hospital whom the person knows and trusts. Without a lifetime of experience with doctors and hospitals or with the questions and concerns that need to be answered as a person interacts, a person can be lost, frustrated and despondent about receiving any kind of health care. Navigators can change this reality. Navigators can establish a trusting relationship with the person, accompany the person to the healthcare facility, assist with transportation, family, and safety obstacles, and sit with the person as they describe their health concerns and help support the person as they listen to what the physician suggests as next steps. One of us experienced a caring two-hour discussion of cancer and many of its implications, all provided without a navigator. We believe that navigators can encourage physicians and nurses to take the time to deepen patient and care staff's understanding of cancer. Trusting relationships, with both a navigator and a physician, can turn around a situation from being a crisis to being an opportunity for health. 5. Compassion pays off for patients, doctors, and the health care system: Research on trusting relationships with doctors and navigators has shown powerful results: reductions in mortality, increases in patient satisfaction from having ongoing caring relationships, reductions in hospitalizations, greater satisfaction by physicians There are several factors that go into trust, including whether someone is an expert, if they are consistent, if they are professional, and if they have some kind of altruistic intentions. People who experience homelessness should be trusted as experts. Their lived experience has weight to it. So, if you are unsure if someone is “faking it,” why not ask them? Why not sit down and ask them to their face? Imagine doing this, and think about how it makes you feel — are you faking being a human who cares for people who are struggling? Or are you just a product of a capitalist THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED who have regained the experience of getting to know the “whole person,” and dramatic savings in health care costs.(K. Tingley (5/16/18) Trying to put a value on the doctor-patient relationship. NY. Times Magazine.) With trusting relationships, a deeper quality of questions can be asked by the patient. The physician has the new opportunity of taking time to explain what is known and unknown in the treatment process and, newly, what the patient can do to increase their own understanding and action. A partnership is created; not bounded by artificial limits of 15 minutes, or by a kind of jargon that is beyond comprehension, or by a coldness that seems to imply limited chances. Instead, the partnership celebrates life, encourages realistic risks, honors the courage of the patient to keep in their treatment, and embraces the basic truth that people who have cancer and are poor are worthy of the most outstanding care. 6. Making a list of the Compassionate and Competent: We believe it is essential to make a list of those practitioners who are both compassionate and competent in healthcare. This list could be acknowledged as highly personal, as a beginning. We would like to see stories of how compassionate physicians, nurses, and navigators made the difference for the patient. We would like to see the list being a valuable addition to what word or mouth, or physician or navigators would recommend. The list would serve as a guide that helps the person without any information take the first steps to finding the allies necessary for facing the unknowns of cancer. [Please send us stories of these experiences to steve.c.sunderland@ icloud.com] --------------------------------------- society that favors profit over people and challenges the experiences of others? --------------------------------------- �13 STREET VOICE No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 NO ONE ASKED THE FAKE NEWS MOTHER GOOSE No one asked. Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, How are you today? No one asked, Because no one cared Heard the news and let out a cry: "Is the news fake or is it quite true? Maybe because everyone is too busy This news dilemma makes me blue. Someone went home today I guess if Trump tweets out it's fake, Feeling, sad and empty It must be true for goodness sake." No one asked, No one cared Sometimes no one should have to ask. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer YESTERDAY When was the last time you asked someone could you help them? It’s so sad when no one cares enough to ask! KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer Yesterday is long gone and so very far behind Yesterday is something only in our minds does it shine Yesterday is when the elders had troubles far away Yesterday I accept is the past so I live only for today Someone said tomorrow is not promised and yesterday has past Someone said right now is what’s going on so tell me how long can it last I believe that a mixture of the past and the present in the world of today Is all we need to endure for the future belongs to only God I say So why not live one day at a time and each moment experience the treasure I believe our lives would be much easier, happier and full of God’s love and pleasure! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 152 Across 1. Affirm solemnly 5. Part of a circle 8. Successor 12. Musical drama 13. Close 15. Exhort 16. Guide 17. Large spider 19. Golf peg 20. Buccaneer 21. Seed case 22. Speck 25. Draw 26. Small dog breed 27. Excusable 29. Lyric poem 31. Wash off soap 32. Symbol 35. Flat-bottomed boat 39. Become liable to 40. Water soaked soil 41. Bakery item 42. Beverage 43. In bed 44. Unit of weight 45. Outward flow 47. Smear 49. Jurisprudence 52. Epoch 54. Succulent 55. Strong elastic wood 56. Inform 59. Hard-shelled seed 62. Close observer 64. Speak up 66. Oracle 67. Information 68. Deplete 69. Merely 70. Beam 71. Simpleton Down 1. Part of a church 2. Intensity of expression 3. Metal-bearing mineral 4. Armed conflict 5. Not in favor of 6. Raise or bring up 7. Unit of weight for precious stones 8. Shack 9. Burst out 10. Ice hut 11. Poised for action 12. Away from home 14. An allotted fixed portion 18. Anything necessary but lacking 20. Leguminous plant 23. Underwrite 24. Grade or level 27. Climbing or creeping plant 28. Tree branch 30. Former currency of Portugal 31. Cut of meat 33. Pool stick 34. Betting ratio 36. Suitable to your needs 37. On one occasion 38. Very small 41. Music genre 43. Overseas 46. Formed a curve 48. Month of the year 49. Lariat 50. Poplar tree 51. Steering device 53. Essential oil or perfume from flowers 57. Scintilla 58. Wear away by rubbing 60. Component part 61. Decimal base 63. Weep 64. Peculiar 65. In favor of PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 382 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 151 J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 282 - MEDIUM SODOKU PUZZLE NO 281- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 3 | J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 557-2873 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 411 Gest St. 45203 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point NAMI of Hamilton County PATH Outreach Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 621-7265 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 1125 Bank Street 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 2121 Vine Street 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network Housing: First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 471-1100 761-1480 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 Talbert House Tender Mercies 221-HELP 721-8666 Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 961-4555 381-1954 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 114 W. 14th Street 45202 27 W. 12th Street 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA VA Homeless Food/Clothing 421-0065 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 351-0422 381-6672 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy 977-6800 859-572-6226 First Lutheran Church 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry AA Hotline CCAT 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 721-4700 421-7803 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 621-5300 961-1983 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 535-2719 751-8771 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 721-0643 City Gospel Mission 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen St. George Food Pantry 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 1528 Race St. 45202 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street 45202 15 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 558-8888 351-3500 977-4489 Center Independent Living Options Peaslee Neighborhood Center 241-2600 621-5514 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart Goodwill Industries Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. Mary Magdalen House 381-0111 771-4800 579-8547 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 352-6363 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 J u n e 1 - J u n e 14 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 3 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource June 1-June 14, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director A New Burst of Energy for the Grassroots Campaign to Curb Gun Violence in the U.S. Pg 3: “Right-to-Work” and Poverty Rates Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: Faking It Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: Stadium Deal Revealed Inequities How About a Marketing Campaign for Those in Need? Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Photo Essay Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Is it too late for Over-the-Rhine to be a Mixed-Income Neighborhood? Pg 12: Why is Cancer Mortality so High for Minorities in Cincinnati? Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1-June 14, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Michael Earl Patton Dr. Mark Mussman Michelle Dillingham Jason Haap Saad Ghosn Johnathan Diskin Thomas A. Dutton James C. Fraser Steve Sunderland Jeannie Masterson Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Justin Jeffre Tony Castrucci Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods campaign Cancer Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman FC James C. Fraser Jason Haap Jeannie Masterson Johnathan Diskin Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kim Green Michael Earl Patton Michelle Dillingham Minorities Mural Over-the-Rhine Photography poverty Religion Saad Ghosn Steve Sunderland Thomas A. Dutton Tony Castrucci Voting Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/374a7bac0bc8845afb342176fb686049.pdf c358e069900d310d01161715ba4a6a1d PDF Text Text M ay 18th - M ay 31st 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 10 (No. 381) advocating justice | building community Mothers Speak Out For SNAP | 9 This Issue is sponsored by Bromwell's Harth Lounge INSIDE THIS ISSUE An Update on Environmental Protection Forum | 2 Number 1 or Number 2 | 3 The Spread In Income | 5 Photo Essay: Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emporer of China | 9 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From The Director: Gentrification is more than just a word I nstead of writing another editorial, I thought it would be good to reprint this recent poem by Dion Harrison and Kenny Carrol. This poem can be found on Shelterforce’s website at: https:// shelterforce.org/2017/10/17/poemgentrification/. Gentrification is more than just a word. Please read, think, feel and act… JOSH SPRING Executive Director Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition “At the top of the stairs,” Meridian Hill (Malcolm X) Park. Photo by Victoria Pickering via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 “Gentrification” I have seen a neighborhood eat itself for dinner look at its vibrant culture and call it a meal when the food ran out they opened a starbucks and called it community transformation M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 repeated the process until property prices popped suddenly every face on the block looked like it belonged in a Even Stevens episode When years ago they were afraid to walk it So here we are The long-awaited sequel to white flight white return I remember when they started calling my home theirs and every story my father used to tell me about these city streets started flying south for the winter Along with the families forced into Maryland I remember turning onto Georgia Ave but for a second I thought I was in Georgetown a place where the food is expensive but the concerned stares are free I remember when the people in the hood grew up so close they called each other cousin When my grandmother became everybody’s grandmother These are the kinds of people whose stories I tell People who have lived here for so long the breeze remembers their names And how they are beginning to vanish into thin air I open my mouth and they redline my voice to silence Which is to say deny it rent based on race And then have the audacity to Name me visitor in a city I was born in And there is such power in a name The way they changed New York Ave into NoMa And no one seems to actually knows what that means The way they turn public schools like Spingarn into dust then watch the scattered students choke (Continued on page 3) An Update on Environmental Protection Forum Focuses on National and Local Realities T he May 3rd Community Issues Forum provided an update on the current decline of environmental protection at both the national and local levels. With the EPA's weakening and actual elimination of long standing regulations and its lack of enforcement of these regs, protecting the environment and public health is moving in the wrong direction in this country. Marilyn Wall, Chair of the Sierra Club's Miami Group, and D. David Altman, an environmental attorney who specializes in defending average citizens from the impacts of major polluters, gave their perspectives on the current crisis. Altman emphasized a point he had made at a Forum last year. Environmental law with its regulations, he noted, stand as the framework for protecting citizens BILL WOODS Contributing Writer from the health hazards of pollution. If these regulations are eliminated or weakened, environmental lawyers lack the legal structure to take on major polluters. Prior to this Administration and Scott Pruitt's (Continued on page 12) Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Dion Harrison, Kenny Carrol, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Lynn Williams, Jason Haap, Saad Ghosn, Steve Sunderland, Jeannie Masterson, Patricia Patton, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Justin Jeffre, Dr. Mark Mussman, Victoria Pickering via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Michael Earl Patton, Lynn Williams, Saad Ghosn, Tony Castrucci, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. David Altman speaks at Community Issues Credit: Justin Jeffre THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �3 LOCAL Number 1 or Number 2 No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Chances are, you head straight into the bathroom to find some relief. Now imagine, you woke up today in an alley, or under a bridge. You still need relief, but where do you go? Pick an alley. Look behind a bush. Your body is telling you it’s time, but your surroundings are foreboding. Maybe I can hide behind this dumpster. Maybe not. In Ohio, public urination/defecation can result in a lifetime of issues. Although it’s a misdemeanor, the resulting fine and possible jail-time, can stay Staff Writer bars read “No Public Restrooms” as if it’s a campaign against restrooms altogether. A lack of readily available restrooms can lead to all kinds of health issues — from urinary tract infections, prostate issues, impacted colons, toxic shock syndrome — to the spread of bacteria and disease. This is a public health crisis. Rarely do we consider how privileged we are to have a shower as well. Getting into the shower at the end of a long day, or to revive yourself in the morning, is something we take for granted. Consider missing those providing them — so why do we fail so badly? You can imagine my consternation when I learned that people have been “banned” from some of our remaining public restrooms by 3CDC employees. One or our Speakers, from our speakers’ bureau at the Homeless Coalition, told me a few months ago that Washington Park employees (Continued on page 5) Sign on Washington Park Bathroom Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Frequently used alley bathroom Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman on your record permanently. Failure to show up in court will result in a warrant, which sets the stage for more serious issues, including harassment by police. The lack of public restrooms is a serious issue in Cincinnati. It doesn’t take an investigator to find proof of this: alleyways smell of urine; piles of feces lay on the sidewalk; signs on JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) Thewaytheychangeddisplacement into renovation And black into impoverished And impoverished into forgotten I’m from Brookland, NE Not Brooklyn, New York I’m from 1.75 is all you ever needed on your smart trip I’m from late nights in gallery place darting under the street lights I’m from calling Malcolm X park, Malcolm X park even though the city renamed it Meridian Hill I’m from Southeast Benning Road I’m from me and my niggas don’t pay for the metro I’m from always walking distance to the white house but opportunities day-after-day, weekafter-week, month-after-month, and you can see what kind of medical issues would pop up. Beyond body odor and matted hair and clothing, serious rashes, unclean sores, or wounds left untreated, will quickly chip away at your quality of life. Lack of public facilities to deal with these issues surely costs us more than still never met the president I’m from calling Malcolm X park Malcolm X park even though the city renamed it Meridian Hill And we always have to repeat it And people who aren’t from my city still ask me what the problem is What this is this is landlords raising prices till the poor fall through this is investors promising to bring back residents after construction then going back on their word this is city council members selling out on morals This is college students benefiting from a community but giving nothing back this is Brookland Manor Columbia Heights Georgia Ave Barry Farms North Oakland Washington Park Public Restrooms Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Rockridge Bayview this is how even with all the love for my city all the anger up in the crook of my mouth I could come back to my home and become a part of the problem My money the smoking gun to the bullet in my chest move in and move out my mans and them So when the suburban settlers begin to tell you what this city means Of how they’ve translated your urban into something that can plymouth rock on their tongues  I hope I tell them This is my home born and raised in I live on these blocks Found First purpose drew first blood left my genes in the cracks of the sidewalk this soil knows my story THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED I learned its face with my finger tips I’ve got its pulse stuck in my palms Here, we are the monuments With cherry blossom hearts Cut us down and watch this city lose its soul the struggle, the way we overcame The way we overcome The future, the past, the way we move And refuse to be moved and really  I just don’t wanna lose my home Kenny Carrol Dion Harrison �4 LOCAL July 7th THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 �LOCAL The Spread in Income No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 N MICHAEL EARL PATTON ormally the health of the economy and the wellbeing of the workers is reported in just a few numbers: GDP (gross domestic product, a measurement of how large the economy is), unemployment rate, maybe a couple others such as average wages and wage growth. These are a good beginning, but insufficient to reveal deep problems. The average condition of my house might be fine even with a roof leak and termites eating away at one corner near the foundation. I wanted to get a look at the range of conditions behind some of these numbers. I recently came across some data for 2016 reported by the Social Security Administration, using data from the IRS (www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/ awidevelop.html), which are the latest data available. I found the spread in income to be much more DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) harassed them when they were leaving the bathroom. This individual sheepishly told me that they had to move their bowels, and once they finished, as they were leaving they were confronted by a park employee who accused them of “shooting up” in Contributing Writer clustered near the bottom than I had imagined. Let’s put some of this in context. The average wage in 2016 was $46,640.94, which was a 1.13% increase from 2015. The unemployment rate for 2016 was about 4.9% using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls. gov); this past April it was just 3.9% (quite low by historical standards). The civilian labor force participation rate was just 62.8%, which is relatively low and where it is today. This is the percentage of civilians 16 years or older who are working or looking for work. Inmates are not counted, nor are retirees. What is interesting and somewhat concerning is that the percentage of people working had been going up until the year 2000, when it started trending down. Some the bathroom and threatened to call the police. This Speaker, who I have grown close to over the years and would have no reason to lie to me, was upset because they do not, nor have they ever used, IV drugs, as they are scared of needles. They were not shooting up in the bathroom, so from where did this baseless accusation stem? Public Defecation can lead to serious health and legal issues Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman of the decrease is due to the increase in the number of retirees, but not all. The percentage of people working who are in their prime working years has also trended down. One possibility is that many jobs do not pay sufficiently well to entice people to work them. Perhaps some of this is due to people choosing to be a stay-athome parent because child care costs make working at paid employment unrealistic. A little over 14% of the employed, including self-employed, work parttime. It is reasonable to assume that most of those who are earning in the lowest range are employed only part-time. A little over 3% want to work full-time but are not for economic reasons such as slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, or Even more recently, I was approached by someone who I consider a neighbor, although they are experiencing homelessness in Overthe-Rhine. This person was visibly upset because they were “banned” from the Washington Park bathroom for allegedly “shooting up.” While this person wasn’t denying that they use IV drugs, they were mad because they, and others, have been accused of doing it in the bathroom when there is no proof. I asked if they knew if people had been “banned” from other 3CDC run public bathrooms — like Fountain Square, and they answered affirmatively. I spoke with a low-level 3CDC employee who said that they were in fact banning people from the bathrooms for drug use, even without visual proof that drug use was occurring. They said they have a camera in the foyer of the bathrooms, but not inside the bathrooms. This employee seemed to believe that banning people from using the bathroom was in their best interest, and would in fact stop people from using drugs altogether. Anyone who has been following the heroin epidemic closely knows that people are shooting up in more public places as part of a safety plan. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 seasonal declines in demand. But even taking out the lowest category, the income levels are heavily skewed to the lowest end. Before I did these plots I had expected a peak in percentages around the average of $46, 640.94, but there is no hint of that. The lower the income, the more people earning in that range. Since I had the data I also looked at those earning at least $100,000. The same trend continues. This shows that the division between the “99%” and the “1%” is somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000. (In case you are wondering, I am nestled well within the 99%.) There are more data collected by the IRS, with the highest range given being those who earned at least $50 million in 2016. There were 143 individuals in that category. This is in no way meant to knock in any way those who earn far more than I and the rest of the “99%” do. (Continued on page 7) If people overdose in private spaces alone, they are not very likely to get help, and could end up losing their life. We also know that sending people to jail for heroin use is also a death sentence, as one’s tolerance drops while behind bars, and once released, the users injects the same amount as before, and quickly overdoses. This is why we will never police our way out of this particular health crisis. What is going to take for the city to own up to its failures to provide decent basic services? Mayor John Cranley campaigned on providing basic public services, but absent in his promises were public restrooms, shower facilities, and even safe spaces for people to inject and exchange. Cranley lacks leadership qualities, vision, and compassion for people in our city who suffer the most — which clearly shows in his priorities. We must treat the health crisis seriously by providing 24/7 public restroom facilities (like Portland Loos), shower facilities, and safe, affordable housing for all who need it in our city. Let’s not shut the door on our neighbors in need. --------------------------------------- �6 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 �7 LOCAL Mothers Speak Out For SNAP No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 O LYNN WILLIAMS n Mother's Day weekend, the Contact Center held a Town Hall Meeting with Rosalind Fultz, the Aide of Representative Steve Chabot (First Congressional District) at the Contact Center. Ms. Fultz represented Rep. Chabot's Constituent Services Office. Many of the people present spoke on the importance of the SNAP (food stamp) program to help them make ends meet to be able to eat. Contact Center members are very concerned about the impact of the latest legislation passed out of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee that is now in front of the U.S. House of Representatives. Recently the U. S. House Agriculture Committee passed H.R. 2, the Farm Bill, that will significantly cut back on funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a minimum of 2 million people are at risk of losing their SNAP food assistance. These include families with children, senior citizens, veterans, and disabled individuals. The average daily SNAP benefit is $4.18 to eat and drink on for one person, or approximately $1.39 per meal based on 3 meals per day. L Contributing Writer However, if H.R. 2, the Farm Bill, passes in Congress it will be $0.00 available to eat and drink on per day. Some of the policies contained in H. R. 2 include: • Eliminates the child care expense deduction in determining amount of SNAP allotment for households with children • Eliminates the high housing cost deduction for people who pay a disproportionate amount of their income for housing, hence less available for the basic essential of food • Mandates a three-month time limit for SNAP assistance for adults ages 18 – 59 who are not working paid jobs or in official job training sites for a minimum of 20 hours per week or 80 hrs. per month. Volunteering at non-profits in order to meet the work requirement will no longer be counted as fulfilling the work requirement if H. R. 2 passes in Congress. To her credit, Ms. Fultz listened very attentively, asked lots of questions and wrote lots of notes. She said she would definitely relay our concerns to Rep. Chabot and let him know we urge him to vote no on H.R. 2. She stayed an hour and a half without rushing out, which was refreshing for us who are accustomed to politicians and their staff being in a great hurry to get away from low- Participants spent Mother's Day discussing SNAP Credit: Lynn Williams income constituents! Contact Center encourages everyone who is concerned about cuts to food assistance to call and write their U.S. House Representative and U.S. Senators as quickly as possible. H.R. 2 is moving rapidly! For help Things That Make You Go Hmmm ast week, I was watching the reboot of Roseanne. If mainstream media is any indication, this show is a runaway hit with conservative America, while liberals blast the real-life Roseanne for being a Trump supporter. In the new show, one of Roseanne's grandchildren is genderfluid, and another is black. Muslims move in next door, they become friends, and Roseanne defends one of them against a racist grocery-store cashier. Something is truly weird in the world when that's the kind of show beloved by conservatives and derided by liberals. Again, if mainstream media is any indication, another issue derided by liberals is "cultural appropriation." A couple weeks ago, a white girl bought an Asian dress for her prom because she thought it looked pretty. She got MICHAEL EARL PATTON (Continued from page 5) What I am trying to show is that just giving the GDP, or the average income, or giving the change in average income, is completely insufficient to show what really matters. As I stated above, I am not denigrating those who earn a lot and lot and lot of money. There may be JASON HAAP Contributing Writer blasted on Twitter and international news for culturally appropriating. Last year, two women who owned a taco truck in Portland were run out of business, accused of "cultural appropriation." OTR is now home to a new "Indian-inspired" restaurant called Injoy. My inquiries are currently unanswered, but based on appearances alone from the website's "Our Story" link, it appears the joint is owned by three white guys. Their tagline - "You a baller" - seems to come straight from black English. Cincinnati liberals seem to love the place. I feel like I just can't understand "the rules" anymore. In other news, is Donald Trump about to oversee new stability on the Korean peninsula, or is he legitimizing a crazy person? I feel like any news something negative to say about this extraordinary distribution (not the individuals), but that will wait for another time and another set of data. What I am saying is that I care more about those at the lower end of the income distribution than those at the highest end. Those at the high end get the attention, they get the special deals from the city and county (as seen in the recent soccer stadium with finding out who represents you check out the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area at www.lwvcincinnati.org or Hamilton County Board of Elections at www. votehamiltoncounty.org For more information about H.R. 2, the House Farm Bill, check out article about Kim Jong-un needs to remind us how he tells his people he doesn't poop. Just think of that! This nonsense is way more outrageous than born-again Christians thinking God sent them a savior in the form of a serial adulterer who pays to have sex with porn stars! To tell you the truth, the fact Kim Jong-un wants to become a nuclear power player seems way more normal than trying to convince an entire country you are too perfect to squeeze a bolus of stool from your rectum regularly. Meanwhile, just this week, I saw a video demo of Google Duplex, their latest innovation in Artificial Intelligence. If you thought sci-fi paranoia about the robot takeover was just the stuff of geeky conspiracy theories, you might want to reconsider your position after checking out Duplex. It feels like the future is almost here! deal and property tax abatements), but they are not the ones who are struggling. There is a social doctrine called the preferential option for the poor and powerless. I am aware of it through Christian teachings but I am certain a similar doctrine exists in other faiths. In brief it means that what you do, and especially what government does or plans to do, should be judged first by its effect THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED https://www.clasp.org To get informed in local organizing to protect SNAP, call the Contact Center at 513/381-4242. [Lynn Williams is the Grants Coordinator and Organizer at the Contact Center. You can contact her at lwilliams@zoomtown.com] These kinds of considerations ultimately remind me of the Fermi paradox - which outlines some theories as to why we have not met extraterrestrial life yet. It could be that, before civilizations leave their planet and start to colonize space, they encounter "The Great Filter." Perhaps it's the case that civilization cannot advance its politics as quickly as its technology. In other words, before they have figured out how to get off the planet, they've all killed themselves. In a world where our president pays hush money to porn stars and schedules international summits with a person who claims not to poop - a world where conservatives love the tv show about the mixed family with the maybe-trans-boy and the Muslim neighbors while liberals try to figure out which restaurants need to be banned due to cultural sensitivity - in such a world, it's easy to imagine we are coming up to The Great Filter. It makes me wonder if Elon Musk will make it to Mars before we kill ourselves. on those who have only the smallest of voice. This is especially important if the number of people affected is large, but can come into play even for a single person. If it hurts them, or the one, then be especially careful and critical of what you are doing or plan to do. Making the wealthy even richer is not sufficient reason. And with better data one can better judge the effects of policies. �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Inclusion, Contemplation and Action Are the Tenets of Reverend Troy Bronsink's Faith; They Help Him Manifest and Make Tangible the Presence of God 8 "I M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 SAAD GHOSN grew up inside a Christian bubble," says Reverend Troy Bronsink. "My parents, Evangelical Christians, raised me in that tradition, and all I knew growing up were the youth groups of the typical Bible belt megachurch I attended in Charlotte, North Carolina, and who all shared my same subculture." Bronsink's parents were both very religious and his father, a generous and compassionate man, would read the Scriptures at the beginning and the end of every meal. He, himself, as a teenager, would have many existential questions, the answers to which he would often find in religion and Christian theology. He was also very early on serviceoriented, always helping others whenever needed. "I would help widows and elderly near us with their yardwork, build playgrounds in inner city neighborhoods, and accompany my father every Sunday morning to feed the homeless in downtown Charlotte." Bronsink's first exposure to difference came through his church who decided to partner with an African-American church in a lowincome neighborhood of the city, and create exchanges between their Contributing Writer respective members' families. Bronsink's family partnered with the Miller's whose son, Antoine, same age and same grade as him, would visit on weekends. "I would also go to Antoine's house," says Bronsink. "I heard for the first-time music by Stevie Wonder, ate different types of food... It surely helped develop why now I feel at home in different communities." He adds, "And for Antoine's parents and mine to find faith as common grounds for doing this cross-cultural work was fantastic." Bronsink went to a religious school where emphasis was on excellence and on righteousness leading a good life, with the hope to create a safe container for growing kids. "There was no emphasis on social justice per se," he says, "but rather a narrative that spoke of the love of God, of God's presence and Grace among us..." For college, he selected Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's right-wing Christian college in Lynchburg, VA, to study religion. He had already decided by the end of high school to be in church ministry and wanted to excel inside the Evangelical spaces. What is the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Presbyterianism, part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism, became a distinct Christian movement during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. As the Catholic Church  resisted the reformers, several different theological movements splintered from the Church and bore different denominations. Presbyterianism was especially influenced by the French theologian John Calvin, credited with the development of Reformed theology, and by John Knox, a Scotsman and a Roman Catholic Priest, who studied with Calvin. The Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to England and Scotland. Presbyterianism derives its name from the presbyterian form of church government, governed by representative assemblies of elders.  Its theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, and the necessity of grace through faith in Christ.  Presbyterians hold the position that there are only two sacraments: • Baptism, in which infants and unbaptized adults are baptized by Aspersion  (sprinkling) or  Affusion  (pouring), rather than by Immersion. • The Lord's Supper (aka Communion), in which Christ is present in the bread and wine through the Holy Spirit. Presbyterians express their faith in the form of "confessions of faith," which represent a community rather than an individual understanding of theology.  They see education as necessary and put an emphasis on equal education for all people, so that they can serve the world in God's name.  In their decisions they follow a Majority Rule, believing that the Holy Spirit lives in individuals but works through the community. Presbyterians generally exhibit their faith through acts of generosity, hospitality and the constant pursuit of social justice and reform. In his freshman year of college an awakening/conversion happened to him that changed his outlook on things and deepened his understanding of his faith. At a Washington, DC political march for the right to life, he and other collegemates Republicans were kicked, pushed and injured by a group of angry counter protesters. "We felt vindicated, proven righteous and that people did not like us," says Bronsink. "But this is Troy Bronsink also when my heart started to break, asking myself whether my feelings were consistent with the loving presence of God I had known all my life." From that point on Bronsink associated less and less with the far right, feeling separation between the values of winning and his ability to remain in loving relationships with others. He started then working with Young Life, a non-profit organization, to build rapport with kids who were not in Christian schools, appreciating diversity and associating with individuals outside his bubble. This led him to realize that God was everywhere and that what counted was to be open to His presence. He started at the same time to write and perform socially conscious songs that explored the otherness. They told stories from underneath, of the unlikely folks, questioning who was accepted and included, and how we love. After college, Bronsink continued working for Young Life, but rid of his earlier anxiety to win others over to Christianity. He had been reading Christian mystics, in particular Henri Nouen and Frederik Buechner, and realized that the brave act is to vulnerably love someone and believe that this someone is loved. This is when he also married and moved with his wife to Spokane, WA. In Spokane, Bronsink met and was confronted to different others such as Buddhists, LGBTQ individuals, minorities, etc. whom he found, like him, connected to God and expressing His presence in their daily life; also to activists involved in local and international justice Credit: Saad Ghosn issues. He also came across a liberal Presbyterian tradition that he found much more generous and accepting of others. "This changed my view that there would always be one who is right," he says. "On the contrary, I acquired a new approach on how to understand and include diversity, appreciating at the same time the strong connection to social justice of my faith. It was a radical shift form the bubble of Evangelicals I had known earlier." In 2002, and after living 2 years in Spokane, Bronsink decided to join the Presbyterian Divinity school in Atlanta, GA, in order to become a minister. His studies opened further his eyes to a different and more encompassing reading of the Scriptures. His teachers, and in particular Walter Brueggemann, introduced him to liberation and Biblical theology, to the pronounced presence of the divine in places of suffering and oppression, and to the importance of seeing the many point of view stories embedded in each story of the Gospel. In Atlanta, Bronsink and his (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �PHOTO ESSAY Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 TONY CASTRUCCI Contributing Photographer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 �10 LOCAL M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �11 LOCAL WHY IS CANCER MORTALITY SO HIGH FOR MINORITIES IN CINCINNATI? PART 8: COMPASSIONATE LISTENING IS UNDERUSED No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 "H ealth knowledge that makes any difference is knowledge that is acquired across a relationship of trust and put into action through connection with other people and organizations...The knowledge that somebody competent cares is healing knowledge--the rest is footnotes" --Gary Gunderson 1. Introduction: We are repeatedly impressed with the power of compassion to make a difference in cancer care in specific and healthcare in general. Compassionate, thoughtful, patient, and loving listening are almost magical in their influence when people are learning about their cancer or any health crisis. Expanding the practice of compassionate listening as a part of a navigation experience may be the key ingredients in fostering early screenings and timely treatments, as it builds trust among all those engaged in the process. 2. Death and Compassion: Many people rightfully shy away from seeking healthcare for serious illnesses because they are afraid of hearing a “death sentence” from a health care provider who is a stranger. Usually a person sits in an office, frightened by expectations of “bad news” delivered in a strange vocabulary, and they SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) wife moved to an intentional mixed income neighborhood and contributed to the building of the local community. They worked closely with an inner-city church attended by homeless, individuals with disability, chronically poor; developed friendships with different people, vulnerable and oppressed; participated in various social justice marches. After finishing seminary, Bronsink worked as a community developer, shared a co-living house with three other families, and organized regular meals inviting individuals across races, ages and background differences to meet and get to know each other. Ordained a minister, he formed "Neighbors Abbey," a Presbyterian community development church, where he pastored for 4 years, living the Good Samaritan's life with others, engaged daily in social actions, visiting prisons, organizing with neighborhood associations to raise social and political consciousness. The area of Atlanta where he and his family lived, however, and after the economic STEVE SUNDERLAND JEANNIE MASTERSON CSJ Contributing Writer are alone. “I would rather die than be treated the way my mother was dealt with at the hospital,” a woman shared with us at a community meeting. Disrespect, unintentional in many cases, is too often the common memory, especially of people who are poor, or a member of a minority group. Confusion and uncertainty are too often the lingering experience of seeing a cancer specialist. Some physicians, wholly untrained to work with people from different cultures, different economic levels, and different capacities of intellectual comprehension, share information that is totally frustrating to the person. The cancer death scare is increased when the physician communicates in ways that heighten the stress of the patient, even if this is unintentional. A compassionate approach by the healthcare professionals, which includes looking the patient in the eyes and a simple touch of hand or arm in many (not all) cultures, alters these feelings and, perhaps, even changes outcomes as patients “understand” their diagnosis and feel that they are not “alone” in facing the uncertainties of cancer. 3. Compassion and Navigation in Health Care: Currently, the Cancer Justice Network seeks to create a hopeful, trusting, friendly, and helpful relationship with people who are ready to be screened for cancer and/or are ready to adhere to their treatments. We have learned from one on one discussions that a Navigator helps when they listen to the patient’s fears about their future as well as listen to the complicated issues of facing economic, physical, family, and spiritual concerns. Cancer may not be in the top five areas of concern for a person who feels they have to individually take care of their family, keep their job, afford a lot of treatments, and/or manage the many steps to showing up at treatments. Keeping a job or a roof over one’s head is often primary. Having food for the family can be more critical. Safety for the family in the transit to the doctor or the hospital might be just too confusing in terms of managing the complexity of details. Navigators can step in with listening ears and open hearts to see where partnering with the person can be critical in reducing obstacles, improving clarity about options, and in finding a realistic way of coping with complexities. The Navigator can help with the preparation for a visit by helping to find the best times for a meeting with the physician as crash of 2007, was becoming rough and somewhat deserted with houses boarded up, vandalism, drug and sex trafficking increasing. His family having been exposed to violence and funds shrinking, Bronsink decided to leave the area and to move to Cincinnati, OH. It was 2012. For a while, he felt defeated and discouraged, and he somewhat retreated; but this is also when he discovered the Christian mystics, the Desert Fathers and Mothers, St Teresa de Avila, St John of the Cross. They brought him back to an interior and meditative practice, to non-attachment, to cultivating God's presence. "I wanted to be successful at changing the world," he says, "and it became very tiring. Increasingly in tune with the spiritual, it became obvious to me that the contemplative not only informs but also sustains the action, that they strengthen each other, and that they are both needed." Bronsink started then thinking of a space that he would create to bring people together, a multifaith, inclusive and across traditions space which will bridge contemplation and action, energize and uncover creativity and provide individuals with the skills needed to discover themselves and unfold. With the blessing of the Presbyterian church which helped him take off, he founded this gathering space that he called The Hive. "It is a place where people come to become and grow, where they find spiritual rootedness, connect to each other, work at the front of justice but also at the interior front of love," he states. The Hive, which has now been in existence for 2 years in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati, offers classes, workshops, lectures, consulting services, retreats. They focus among others on art, poetry, yoga, resilience and trauma, community organizing and how to create change, finances and budgeting... The many other activities include exercises of vulnerability, learning how to be transparent, to share struggles; and various meeting opportunities... Recently a membership program was added in order to facilitate, for participants, continuity in their learning and an ongoing reciprocal support in their growth. "While I am trained and ordained in the Presbyterian tradition, my passion for The Hive is deeply engrained in all traditions," clarifies Bronsink. Bronsink still ministers as a THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED well as securing a van to transport the individual and their family to the screening/treatment and then back home. Equally important, the Navigator can offer help with the psychological anxieties that are natural in facing cancer at any stage. The Navigator listens deeply for how a person’s confidence can be maintained and strengthened. The Navigator knows that few people want to be alone with physicians when important information may be shared and that the fear of the physician, often a stranger to the person, will be offering information in a very short period of time and without much understanding of the culture of the patient. The Navigator, with the permission of the patient, can slow the process and give both the healthcare provider and the patient a real chance to understand the realties facing the treatment of cancer. We have learned from our clients and Gunderson that "(y)ou cannot understand someone to whom you have not listened. You cannot listen to someone with whom you have not spent time." 4. Compassionate Cancer Care Saves Lives: Navigation programs were initiated at hospitals treating cancer in 1990 when a cancer surgeon, Harold Freeman, MD, (Continued on page 12) pastor to a small Presbyterian church in Bond Hill, but he now most identifies with the mystic tradition, a wisdom lineage that understands a similarity between the Protestant and Catholic, a realization that we are called to a deeper consciousness, to a place where we actively participate with God in the world. "This is different from the reform tradition of Presbyterianism that says that there is a belief about God that we organize our thinking around," he says. Bronsink likes to quote Meistre Eckhard, the 13th century German mystic theologian, who said: "The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me." And for him, we need to always widen the aperture, letting love, generosity and grace flow for us and all others. This is what Tronsink himself practices in his daily life, but also what he would like to help all others achieve, irrespective of their religion, gender, age, background... Summing up his faith, he adds: "The story of faith I am drawn to is not freedom from separation but releasing my small kindredness into more and more inclusion, divination and connection to the presence of God." �12 I STREET VOICE Urban Renewal t was without a doubt a familiar ending to the story. FC Cincinnati soccer has been given the green light to re- develop the land where thousands of West End residents have lived for decades in order to facilitate their goal of obtaining a franchise in Major League Soccer (MLS). It is likely that the West End residents feel as I did back in the day when my father’s homicide was the result of the city notifying him that he would have to move his business to construct one of three merging expressways. To have to disrupt lives of families in the name of urban renewal is disheartening. The pattern persisted as I grew into a young woman and saw the same scenario again and again. If my father’s eatery was one of the first to have to relocate the foundation was laid for others to M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 PATRICIA PATTON Contributing Writer follow. The message to continue to reconstruct our community came blatantly and obstinately in and around the city and most noticeable recently. Example: After two years Bootsy Collins - a black well-known funk musician in our community - opened his eatery in 2008, and in 2010 he was unable to compete with the surge of new and upcoming restaurants in the city, its fate was marked and eventually it closed. Was this an effort to maintain only white restaurants in the downtown area? Was the demise in 2016 of Mahogany’s restaurant along the newly developed Banks project an act of discrimination? How did an effort to bring diversity to the table within that project become an attack on the owner, Liz Rogers, so that today all we remember is a knock down battle over debt? What makes us aliens to downtown Cincinnati when retail shops like Saks Fifth Ave, Tiffany’s and Jos. A. Bank alienates us and limits our buying ability? Add to this a string of high class eateries developing as we speak in the downtown area and you’ve mixed another ingredient to the pot that blends into further isolation and invisibility among our race. Are activities such as Octoberfest and a Taste of Cincinnati that are widely celebrated and supported in the media shy in contrast to annual events like the music fest whose attendance is mostly African American an occasion for downtown businesses to close up or disappear until the weekend is over? Are we denied our rightful social visibility? Take another stroll in downtown Cincinnati or ponder riding the 148-million-dollar streetcar BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) EPA, citizens and grassroots groups would take polluters to Court utilizing existing regulations as bases for their cases. With the "dismantling" currently underway at the U.S EPA, continued Altman, the protection of citizens and communities through the courts will become more and more difficult. In fact, declared Altman, the dismantling at EPA has occurred even more drastically then we predicted. He then cited a current EPA decision that has wide spread implications for the future. Almost all EPA regulations, said Altman are grounded on scientific research on pollution and the environmental impacts on health. The Agency now proposes to discount any study on pollution and health that does not list by name the people who provided their medical information. Since almost all scientific studies using personal health data keep that information anonymous, this decision, he averred, would eliminate most critical research as a basis for EPA decisions. Citizens have thirty days to voice their opposition to this new EPA policy before it goes into STEVE SUNDERLAND (Continued from page 11) realized that people were not coming for cancer treatment until the disease had progressed to a point where no treatment was possible. Freeman’s insight was that the best way to get people to come earlier, was to involve navigators, community organizers trained by him to go into organizations and build a positive relationship that could result in the person coming sooner for examination and treatment. Navigators, in five years, reduced cancer death by 70%. Freeman became president of the American Marilyn Wall talks about pollution Credit: Justin Jeffre effect. Marilyn Wall, then, described the work of the Sierra Club in coming to the aid of citizens facing major pollution problems. She cited the long-standing battles with AK Steel in Middletown as a good example. People living near the Company's facilities for refining coal into coke have suffered from major health repercussions such as cancer due to this process. In the first decade of this century, the Sierra Club with the assistance of David Altman helped residents gain some relief from AK Steel's activities. At that time, the national EPA was helpful, and some of the environmental studies that would now be discounted by its proposed ruling were used as evidence of pollution's health impacts on individuals exposed to it. However, commented Wall, this citizen victory was short lived. A new coal refining facility by the Company has created a new and worse situation for residents living nearby. Wall showed attendees several pictures of the coke producing plant and the visible pollution it creates. Sierra Club volunteers have been on the scene interviewing residents and collecting evidence. This kind Cancer Society and shared his program ideas with other physicians and hospitals. Eventually, after much research and evaluation, navigation was seen as critical to cancer care and made part of the accreditation of every cancer program. Freeman’s ideas have been successfully implemented nationwide, with research showing the very positive outcomes in life expectancy, prevention, and massive cost savings. Research at Ohio State University’s Cancer Hospital (The James Center), the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Alabama Medical School, and most comprehensively, at the Congregational Health Network in Memphis, TN, have all demonstrated the power of compassionate navigation on reducing mortality from cancer. 5. Justice in Cancer Care is Compassion: Cincinnati is the cancer capital of Ohio for people who are poor and/or minorities. Life expectancy is seriously lower for low income populations. Local hospitals working with cancer do not have outreach programs similar to Freeman’s navigation approach. The Cancer Justice Network of Navigators is the only navigation outreach program for all of Cincinnati. It is time for THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED investment. Its existence reminds one of its irrelevance and waste of funds. A streetcar that drives around Overthe-Rhine has nothing to do with our desire to create a transportation line that would transport residents to jobs and training opportunities. The continued development or re development of projects within our city at the expense of residents is beyond belief. The disregard for human life in the name of urban renewal will continue to promote broken homes, isolation, and render uncertain futures for the city’s more vulnerable. History demands that we now begin to write a new ending to this story one that will put a period on this destructive process. We must write one that will meet the needs of our community and stop the selfdestructive patterns that it effects. Urban Renewal wipes out poor generations. Cultures no longer exist. The effect is lasting, and the need to change is vital. The time is now to change, and the time to write a new ending to this story is long overdue. of grassroots support, said Wall, is essential in helping people to organize and to realize they can challenge a corporate polluter like AK Steel. Nevertheless, explained Wall, with the U. S. EPA in full retreat, the current situation makes it much harder to hold big polluters accountable. She described how the Ohio EPA merely goes through the motions when asked to examine evidence of the new refinery's destructive pollution. It talks to no one at the plant, and condescendingly asks residents when they last washed their cars. Both Wall and Altman concluded that that the current crisis calls for all concerned citizens to become more involved. The Sierra Club, acknowledged Wall, can always use more volunteers to assist at places like the AK Steel coke refinery. People also need to keep up to date on environmental issues and call their elected representatives about negative policies such as the pending proposal on scientific research. [To find out more about Applied Information Resources or their Community Issues Forums go to http://www.airinc.org/ or email Bill Woods at wkwoods@juno.com] cancer care in our city to look itself in the mirror and ask what can be done to promote healthy outcomes for people with little access. It is time for professionals in healthcare to join with navigation efforts so that patients do not have to face obstacles alone. It is time for action by the Cincinnati Health Department to join forces with navigation efforts and make compassionate care a right for every citizen of Cincinnati. We know that expressed compassion can save lives, reduce suffering, increase confidence in life, strengthen the spirits of both patients and healthcare providers. Let’s do it! �13 STREET VOICE No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 NO ONE ASKED No one asked. How are you today? No one asked, Because no one cared Maybe because everyone is too busy Someone went home today Feeling, sad and empty HOW LONG BOB MUELLER, HOW LONG? How long Bob Mueller, how long? So goes our quite mournful song. We won't stop our continual whine. Public affairs are in such decline. We will keep displaying dismay For at least one horror per day. So, Bob Mueller we beseech. End your report with one word: "IMPEACH!" No one asked, No one cared BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Sometimes no one should have to ask. When was the last time you asked someone BETTER could you help them? Better, is everyday above ground It’s so sad when no one cares enough to ask! Better, is appreciation KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer from everywhere all around... Better, is to upgrade things that are outdated Better, is acknowledging the changes with the recognition that the cost may be outrated Better, is to make downscaled areas be upscaled and look good Better, is to not neglect the people, RICH or POOR! I thought this you understood... Better, is being able to enjoy life in the park, the library, church or just on the square Better, is when I can enjoy upscaled living in this life without my pockets going bare... Better, is to be able to enjoy and have peace of mind no matter what I hear or what the sound Better, is growing from homelessness into housing and gaining respect from all around.... Better, is for me today even though I have to pay taxes for things I may never understand Better, is knowing God is watching us all good and bad all over this land.... WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 151 Across Down 1. Infant 1. Cry plaintively 5. Entanglement 2. Sound 8. Gets stuck 3. Newlywed woman 12. Enticement 4. So far 13. Edible tuberous root 5. Part of a shoe between 14. Paragon 16. Newspaper column 18. Deep ravine 19. Assistance 20. Plate used to stengthen a joist 22. Drawing software, initially 23. Digit 24. Charge per unit 25. Alleviate 28. Lair 29. Sheep with high quality fleece 31. Pike-like fish 34. Fourth dimension 37. Face card 39. Overt 40. Aries symbol 41. Developed 42. Relating to the nose 44. Object of worship 46. Stringed instrument of ancient Greece 47. Boundaries 49. Historic period 51. Extinct bird 52. Feel concern or interest 54. Health spring 57. Employ 59. Anxiety disorder 61. Part of a cable railway 62. Relating to the kidneys 65. Cause to feel self-concious heel and sole 6. Delete 7. Tree trunk 8. Fish lure 9. Fuss 10. Soldier of fortune 11. Heroic tale 13. Someone absent from school without permission 15. Guided 17. Fiend 21. Golf peg 26. Biblical boat 27. One 28. Generator 29. Note, in short SODOKU PUZZLE NO 281 - MEDIUM 30. Finished 31. Spanish title 32. Opaque gem 33. Abode 35. Part of the eye 36. Insane 38. Female sheep 43. Cover 45. Lasso 48. Summit 50. Paraphernalia 52. Small jazz band 53. Church building 54. Relative magnitude 55. Out of fashion 56. Malicious burning 67. Mother-of-pearl 57. Large vase 68. Assist 58. Divisions of an ocean 69. In addition 60. Preliminary race 70. Faction 63. Part of a circle 71. Plaything 64. Allow 72. Part of a hammerhead 66. Strike sharply PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 381 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 150 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 280- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 2 | M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 M a y 18 - M a y 31, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 2 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource May 18-May 31, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director An Update on Environmental Protection Forum focuses on National and Local Realities Pg 3: Number 1 or Number 2 Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: The Spread in Income Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: Mothers Speak Out for Snap Things That Make You Go Hmmm Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Photo Essay Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Why is Cancer Mortality so High for Minorities in Cincinnati? Pg 12: Urban Renewal Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 18-May 31, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Dion Harrison Kenny Carrol Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Michael Earl Patton Lynn Williams Jason Haap Saad Ghosn Steve Sunderland Jeannie Masterson Patricia Patton Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Justin Jeffre Victoria Pickering via flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Tony Castrucci Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cancer CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 China Cincinnati Dion Harrison Dr. Mark Mussman Environmental Protection Jason Haap Jeannie Masterson Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kenny Carrol Kim Green Lynn Williams Michael Earl Patton Minorities Mothers Patricia Patton Photography Religion Saad Ghosn Steve Sunderland Terracotta Army Tony Castrucci Victoria Pickering via flickr Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/9e1f5834b926ea03cb6c92bd87df1f40.pdf 7cf99bcea78890dfd754cac41bd20364 PDF Text Text M ay 4th - M ay 17th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 10 (No. 381) advocating justice | building community Exclusive Interview With Dennis Kucinich | 9 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE The FCC Stadium Deal | 5 Police State Terror | 3 Religious Peacemakers: Deb Simons-Reeves | 8 I Walked into North Korea and Lived to Tell About It | 7 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From The Director: Paranoia M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 JOSH SPRING What would you say to someone you know who owns their home, has regular income and can spend a limited amount of that income however they see fit and decides to spend 66 percent of these limited funds on a security system, guards, weapons, cameras, smoke detectors, fire alarms and sprinklers, which leaves 34 percent for all other expenses? Would you ask them if they were okay? Would you encourage them to seek mental health counseling? Would you be concerned that they might be experiencing paranoia? Would you offer the idea that if they invested more of these funds in basic necessities like their health, housing costs, food and basic repairs, they may feel healthier and their mental health might improve? What if when you said this, they told you they know all of those other things are important, but they just don’t have enough money to pay for all of it and that. In fact, they didn’t have enough money to continue paying for what they were currently paying for? Would you remind them that it was within their power to change how they budget? What if they told you they actually were going to invest some funds into adding a luxury addition to their house because they believe it will generate a better living space, more happiness, show progress and create some new options for them to bring in more income? Would you tell them they should instead focus on the basics by changing how they budget? Would you mention prioritizing needs? I don’t know exactly what you would say or do in this situation, but my Executive Director guess is that you would be concerned for this person and that you would not simply tell them their plan sounds good. I assume you would try to assist them in rethinking their situation. Well, guess what, this is where our city is. This is the everyday lifestyle of our city-government. Of the city’s operating budget, $395,778,798 constituted the unrestricted General Fund in fiscal year 2018. We budgeted to spend 37.82 percent of this on police and 28.15 percent on fire. We budgeted 34.03 percent for everything else like health, public services, planning, economic inclusion, community and economic development and fifteen other categories. Less than one percent was allocated to the Human Services Fund. Even if you consider all operating funds, which includes the funds that are restricted to a specific use because of their source; we budgeted 33.43% for sewers, water and storm water, 24.69 percent for police and fire and 11.71 percent for the collection and administration of income and left 30.17 percent for everything else (less that 0.38 percent for the Human Services Fund). If this were not problematic enough, the city is predicting at least a $30 million deficit next year and has decided to invest more than $30 million in a soccer stadium and to not require the payment of property taxes on this stadium. All while within city limits we have a shortage of 28,000 affordable homes and homelessness is the worst it has ever been. Living on one side of a street versus the Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition other can give or take 20 years from your life expectancy. In the case of your friend spending the same way the city does, you would express how problematic their decisions were and would hopefully push to work with them on making needed changes in order to have a healthier life. You wouldn’t tell them they should not have smoke detectors and a good plan for emergency response, but you would tell them the way they were prioritizing their life was not healthy. Please take the time to tell the city the same thing. However, in the case of the city, their lopsided budgeting affects the lives of more than 300,000 people and most detrimentally affects the lives of the many people in our city who are experiencing poverty and homelessness. In fact, these decisions are lessening not only the health of many people in Cincinnati but are literally decreasing the lifespan of tens of thousands of people. T BILL WOODS Contributing Writer 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Assessing Issue I - It's a Major Reform of Congressional Redistricting In Ohio his edition of Streetvibes hits the streets four days before the May 8th Primary Election, and this article provides a last-minute review of Issue I, the proposal on the ballot to reform Congressional redistricting in Ohio. Issue I has recently been criticized for not going far enough as a reform, and this assessment is a response to these critics. Although the proposed Ohio Constitutional Amendment is complex and not without flaws, it still constitutes a huge improvement of the current process for creating Congressional districts. So much so, that the major groups that comprise the Fair Districts/ Fair Elections Coalition are vigorously campaigning Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. (Continued on page 3) Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael earl Patton, Trent Davis, Jim Luken, Saad Ghosn, Justin Jeffre, Steve Sunderland, Jason Haap, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones, James Brown ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, David Little --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �3 LOCAL Police State Terror No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN F or most of my life, the only nightmares I had were dreams where the police showed up. I would struggle to wake myself up whenever they arrived on the scene. Waking up in a pool of sweat, I would find myself thanking my body for allowing myself to wake up from the nightmare. As a white person in America, it was just a dream — but for people of color it’s a daily reality. All of us feel a rush, a mix of fear, excitement, and shame, when the red, blue, and white lights appear on the interstate behind us. “Am I speeding? Did I change lanes illegally? Please don’t pull up behind me.” When the cruiser passes us by, we release of sigh of relief, wipe the sweat off our brows with clammy Staff Writer America today. It all makes sense when you consider the history of policing. Sheriff patrols evolved from chattel slavery when people were considered property, and bounties were placed, not just on the heads of specific people, but upon an entire race of people — Black people. Even the 13th Amendment, which outlawed most slavery, allows for people who are imprisoned to be used as slaves who create products that you and I purchase every day. Ultimately, this system of inequality is built on a foundation of capitalism, and the police are the executors of property protection. If the function of the police it to protect property, then what form tucked into alleyways or doing rounds around the block, bicycle police stopping on abandoned police creates a paper trail that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. When people of color are pulled over, even as passengers in a car, they are treated as criminals, and this may be recorded as an arrest, even though they aren’t charged with Police Cruisers slightly off of Vine Street Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman does it take? Recently, I have noticed an increase of patrols, arrests, and harassment in the northern part of Over-the-Rhine. Cruisers lots, arresting people. Less than a mile away, in the West End, police are passing out flyers saying that the area is dangerous, and people may face federal charges if they are caught in the area. This partnership with the ATF has been going on for years, and the Cincinnati Police have claimed that this is not part of the FC Cincinnati stadium being forced on the neighborhood. I disagree — it’s all connected as the process of gentrification takes many forms, and certainly the presence of the police is part of the removal of low-income people of color from the neighborhood. Police harassment is part of the strategy. The fact remains that the police do not help people rise out of poverty, but in fact create poverty. When students are harassed by the police in Clifton, the contact with the compactness of future Congressional Districts. Probably the most important sentence in this section of the proposed Amendment reads: "Every congressional district shall be compact." Then follows a series of criteria that define what is meant by compact. For instance, it stipulates that if a city has a population greater than the number of people designated for a Congressional District, then the map makers must attempt to include "a significant portion of the municipality in one district. This section concludes with a guideline that sixty-five of Ohio's eighty-eight counties must be contained in single districts, while eighteen counties can be split "not more than once." Five counties can be split twice. The most complex portion of the proposed Amendment deals with the consequences of the General Assembly failing to adopt new Congressional District maps within the designated time frame and with the required number of votes from the two major parties. If such a failure occurs, the proposal includes several alternative procedures for drawing and approving new districts. Under the first alternative plan, the Ohio Redistricting Commission assumes the role of drawing the maps. Comprised of the Governor, the Secretary of State, the Auditor of State, and four members appointed by the House Speaker, the minority party House leader, the minority party Senate leader, and the President of the Senate, the Commission also creates the new districts for the General Assembly. At least two Commission members who represent the minority party must vote for the final Congressional District maps before they are officially adopted. If the Commission process fails, then the third plan again involves the Ohio House and Senate drawing the maps. This time, only one-third of the members of both major parties are needed to adopt the new districts. However, if only a simple majority in Police Officer Searches SUV at a Vine Street Intersection Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman hands. Now imagine if those feelings were constant no matter where you are and what you are doing — this is the experience for Black people in BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) for it. What is the essential content of Issue I? The most important fact is that the majority party in the General Assembly would no longer control the process of drawing and approving new Congressional district lines every ten years. In fact, the adoption of the final district maps requires the approval of half the members of both major parties in both the House and the Senate. Three fifths of the members of each body must also approve these maps. The proposed Amendment also assures public input in the process. It invites citizens to draft and submit their own Congressional District maps for consideration. It also calls for at least two public hearings before the new districts are approved by the Ohio General Assembly. Issue I includes language concerning the geographic size and THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED anything. For people of color, simple contact with the police may show up on background checks, preventing access to work or housing. This is a separate world for white people, who don’t have to worry about any of this at all because things get recorded differently and white people have the opportunity to defend themselves against accusations. Recently, I was involved in a “routine traffic stop” after the CPD were scanning license plates on Main Street. If you want to hear the whole story, consider booking a walking tour with the Homeless Coalition, but I will just summarize one thing that I learned from it. I felt that the police treated the driver, who is Black, unfairly, so I filed a complaint (Continued on page 12) both Houses vote for the plan, then a series of criteria come into play such as further defining "compactness." The most important criterion says: "The general assembly shall not pass a plan that unduly favors or disfavors a political party or its incumbents." Furthermore, the districts adopted by this mere majority vote of the General Assembly are in place for only two Congressional elections. After two elections, the whole process of drawing district maps would begin again. The biggest flaw in the proposed Amendment is its failure to establish a non-partisan commission to draw the new district maps. Although I agree with the critics about this flaw, I still maintain that the proposal includes sufficient criteria to keep the members of the General Assembly from producing the kind of unfair, partisan, and non-compact districts that exist today. (Continued on page 12) �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 �LOCAL The FC Cincinnati Stadium Deal No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 O MICHAEL EARL PATTON ver the past several months we have been treated to what often looked like a staged spectacle as to where the new soccer stadium should be built – Oakley, West End, or even Newport. The question of where the stadium would be built obscured the question as to whether taxpayers should support the stadium at all. We were all assured that only private money would be used to construct the stadium and taxpayer dollars would be used only for some infrastructure, such as roads, utilities, and parking. That money would be (relatively) minimal. For the stadium in the West End we were told the amount would be a little T 5 Contributing Writer under $35 million. The ordinance hurriedly passed by city council even gives the estimate more precisely as $34,896,800, which is an amazingly precise number for something that supposedly was just recently decided upon. It is interesting that there are no details in the ordinance, 76-2018, on how exactly that money would be spent. I want to examine this deal in share of the tax burden. Services such as fire, police, road maintenance, senior services, the public library, and staffing city hall cost money which has to come from somewhere. The deal states that those of us who have not been granted such favorable tax treatment will continue to pay, but not FC Cincinnati. I do not see any language that says that FC Cincinnati more detail than what has been said in other media so far. First, let’s look at the property tax break. Every time city hall favors a project with a tax break they say it does not cost us anything, but it does. The tax break means that FC Cincinnati will not be carrying its fair will reimburse the city for any and all police, fire, and emergency medical runs, so there will be costs for the rest of us. As for the Cincinnati earnings tax, Ordinance 76-2018 states that the city will provide a tax credit equal to half of the earnings taxes withheld FCC: The Fight Has Just Begun oday, hours after his impeachment hearing was announced, I met with the embattled West End Community Council President, Keith Blake, at his home by the highway. I was interested in his narrative of events; I knew where I stood. Mr. Blake explained that, to his eye, there were two different groups that were fighting for what they believed was best for the West End. One side wanted the stadium; they saw opportunity, a chance at new economic possibility for residents, and they wondered why they needed to wait after living through hard times. The other side wanted a better deal. They worried deeply about the history of gentrification in our City and felt that we weren’t securing a good enough deal to protect the interests of residents. Beneath these conflicts, I found a struggle to communicate. I could have rebutted against some of his claims; we imagine different potential futures. Talking, would have been easy; everyone has an opinion. However, my struggle was to listen. This struggle is a metaphor for what happens in all our embattled neighborhoods. We are all tied to our own interests, passions, and efforts. More than anything, I wanted to express that once the stadium came, TRENT DAVIS Contributing Writer prices would rise, rent could go up, and the culture of the historically black West End would be inevitably changed forever. My fellow advocates justifiably want to decry the process; the vote of a community council was effectively ignored for the profit of some interest groups. However, we all end up as disparate voices, isolated, believing that we know the true wishes of the community. When I was seven, I had a single poster hanging in my room (I’m not great at decorating). It was a black and white portrait of Dr. King as he looked out on the endless crowd surrounding the reflecting pool. I was probably the only second grader that knew Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech by heart and was never assigned to learn it in school. One line seems especially potent to how we proceed in this continuing fight; for the betterment of all our neighborhoods: “…the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.” The roots of our neighborhoods have started to erode through the ebb and flow of time. How can we expect residents to feel they have the power to be a partner in development if they don’t own the home they live in? Effectively, when traditional development rolls into neighborhoods, residents can find themselves as exiles in their own land. Then, in response to this increase in isolation, the human response becomes to protect one’s own interests. I’d like to suggest that in the case of Mr. Blake, he probably feels as though he is becoming an exile in his own neighborhood; ostracized for a deal that he felt is in the wishes of the part of the community he sees. As Peter Block stated so eloquently a few weeks ago, ‘perhaps, we contribute to the power of the “powers at be”’. By creating exiles in our neighborhoods; we become exiles ourselves. I recently heard the rallying cry that “The fight is not over yet”. This is true. The stadium is not built, and the deal is not done. However, when this political fray settles, will our energy dissipate? Will we back down and wait to raise our voices again until the bulldozer is at the door? We don’t have to wait; there is a way forward. This is a “both, and” scenario. We can encourage building both personal and collective power. What innovative ways can developers engage residents to bridge the ownership gap? There is alternative funding for investment in place-based economics and THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED from the employees. Parking in the West End will certainly be an issue, as I wrote about in an earlier article. The preliminary Memorandum of Understanding requires that FC Cincinnati will work with “community stakeholders” in the West End to address issues such as light and noise pollution, litter, traffic, and safety. For stakeholders in Over-the-Rhine the issues are light and noise pollution, litter, traffic, PARKING and safety [emphasis mine]. The implication is that parking is going to be so bad in the West End that FC Cincinnati does not want to bring up the subject. The ordinance says that Hamilton County (Continued on page 11) resident-driven initiatives. Can we build partnerships among those stakeholders to create more individual power in our neighborhoods? How do we grow resident enterprise and ownership in our neighborhoods? Can we create a future for our city that is owned by people that live here? As well, there are community councils, collectives, churches, health clinics, social services agencies, and more that care for the well-being of our neighborhoods. The task is to connect these groups relationally within and across neighborhoods. That way, when the time comes, we can speak with a common, powerful voice. Ifyou’dliketojoininaconversation about creating resident owned land and businesses, go out and engage with companies and cooperatives like MORTAR Cincinnati or FII- the Family Independence Initiative. We must support the efforts we already have. And if you’d like to join in strengthening our relational structures in this city and create a common voice, reach out to this email: commonvoice2028@gmail.com. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but it can only be accomplished together. Finally, I would like to admonish everyone to listen to the media, headlines, and each other with a little more empathy. We may disagree on the deal at hand, but divided we are falling. --------------------------------------- �6 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 �WORLD I Walked into North Korea and Lived to Tell About It No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 “All we are saying is give peace a chance” -John Lennon W ell, it wasn't like I crawled through a barbed-wire fence in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) under a hail of communist bullets. No, I walked into that forbidden place, in much the same way as South Korean President Moon Ji-an did on Friday, April 27. It was the first time for both of us. His crossing the line was historic. Mine was a bit surreal. We seem to have crossed at the same place, outside a small third floor conference room that straddles the 38th parallel (latitude) DMZ, which has divided the two Koreas since 1953, when the cease-fire was signed, ending three years of horrendous bloodshed on the peninsula. Centered atop the third floor lies a conference room containing a large table. That room (and table) also straddle a dividing line, which, when I was there, had been physically painted onto the floor outside and inside the room. Every day soldiers from North and South Korea patrol either side of the painted line, glaring toward one another, at little more than arm’s length distance. It’s as if that war might resume at any minute, as indeed it could…and might. The situation has been described as “eerie,” ominous, an ongoing symbol of the Cold War, between the US and Russia. Although today, I understand the DMZ has become a popular tourist destination, with souvenirs and its own train running north out of Seoul, the (South) country’s capital. The situation would be funny if it weren't so maddeningly serious, if didn't involve nuclear weapons poised on either side of that painted line. Over the years, diplomats from both sides have sat at the negotiating table at various times, attempting to bring closure to the tensions and belligerence that have beset Korea and its people for the past 65 years. Both sides claim a desire for reunification, but the stalemate has held. The 2½ mile-wide DMZ has been called the JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer most dangerous border in the world, preventing the “communists” from escaping the horrible conditions of the north, and preventing family members (thousands of them) from having any contact for more than three generations. Korea serves as a poster-child for the insanity that pervades geopolitics and warposturing. My story. It is brief. I spent 17 days in Seoul in June of 1995 as a freelance journalist for the Peace and Justice Office of the international Franciscan Order (OFM). Korean Franciscans hosted about sixty peace and justice ministers (priests and brothers) from countries all over the world. I reported on some of the issues that were discussed at this meeting, inspirited as it was by the life of Francis of Assisi, the saint of peace. The highlight of my time there had to have been our visit to Panmunjom, what remains of the small town on the 38th parallel where many new buildings, such as Peace House and Freedom House have been built. Along with my Franciscan friends, from as far away as Bosnia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Morocco, I had the thrill—the privilege—of stepping over that line outside that conference room, just as President Moon famously did when he met and embraced his counterpart from the North, Imperial Leader Kim Jung-un. This historic meeting raised huge hopes of reunification, and an end to the ongoing North-South animosities that still carry with them the possibility of nuclear war. A bit of history The peninsula we call Korea (called Hanguk by in the south, and Choson in the north) has existed, dynasty after dynasty for more than 2000 years. In 1910, Imperial Japan annexed its much weaker neighbor, subjugating that country until Japan's defeat in 1945 at the end of WWII. The “victors” of that stalemate, Russia and the US, decided that Korea should be split down the middle between the communists to the North, and the “republicans” to the south. The division was arbitrary and unwise. These were all one people, the vast majority of whom had few ideological convictions. But the line had been drawn, and, in June of 1950, the North, supported by the Soviets and the Chinese, chose to cross it, sending its armies into the South, which had partnered with the US (then as now, almost panicking at the thought of Soviet expansion). The war raged for 3 years. With its Superior firepower, the US destroyed virtually every large town in the north. 3 million Koreans died, along with 33,000 Americans. But, as with Vietnam (55,000 US deaths) in the 1960s victory eluded the world’s greatest superpower. In essence, we lost. And we failed to learn from our mistake. A truce was declared at Panmunjom in 1953. That truce has held, tenuously. That was then, Now is now. A few months ago, after North Korea had conducted a series of impressive missile tests, our bellicose President, was taunting the North Korean “Imperial Leader,” Kim Jongun as a “madman.” Kim famously returned the favor, labeling Trump a “dotard,” someone whose age has impaired his intellect. Now our President embraces “Rocket Man” as “honorable.” The two are scheduled to meet sometime in May. Everyone hopes things will go well and that re-unification of the two Koreas will finally happen. It has been suggested by conservative pundits that Trump could receive the Nobel Peace Prize if things go well. If things go well? Of course they will, our president brags. What could possibly go wrong? The world knows for certain that one of these two leaders is genuinely a narcissistic madman. The other THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 7 one may be as well. Our “deal maker” asserts unequivocally that he will settle for nothing less than “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.” Newly installed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo avows, “Make no mistake… there will be no concessions made.” This would seem to leave the former “Rocket Man” little negotiating room. He has seen his nukes as his only negotiating card. Will there be a breakthrough? A friend from New Jersey says his partner, a native of South Korea, is hanging on every positive sign that comes out of her home country, and so are her family and friends. No doubt, all of us would love nothing more than to sing along with John Lennon and “give peace a chance.” I was nine years old when the Korean War ended, and when the Cold War went into full swing. I had practiced curling up under my runner-desk at St. Al’s grade school in Saylor Park, preparing for a possible nuclear attack. The so-called “Doomsday Clock” still ticks its way toward midnight (at this writing, it is 2 minutes till!). The world doesn’t seem structured toward creating lasting peace. War is just too damn profitable. Jesus is reported to have said “there will be wars and rumors of war, such things must happen.” He seems to have had a godly insight. As I watched it play out on the “M.A.S.H,” the famous sitcom of the 70s, the Korean War seemed to be an odd, sometimes poignant comedy (with Klinger dressing in drag in the hope that his superiors will consider him crazy enough to remove him from the Korean “theater” of war. Gallows humor. Maybe we should let M.A.S.H. have the last word. Here is a verse from the show’s famous theme song. “The only way to win is cheat/ and lay it down before I'm beat/ and to another give my seat/ for that's the only painless feat. “/Suicide is painless/ It brings on many changes/ and I can take or leave it if I please.” Suggestion: Keep your fingers crossed. �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Connecting with the Spiritual, Deb Simons-Reeves, a Christian Scientist & Practitioner, Extends her Help and Prayers to Others to Manifest the Presence of God 8 "I M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 SAAD GHOSN was born an activist with a natural inclination at helping people," says Deb Simons-Reeves. "Already as a child I wanted badly to help my father who was an alcoholic." Simons-Reeves grew up in Saugatuck, a small resort town on Lake Michigan, and from a very young age attended, with her mother, the local Episcopal church. At age 14 she discovered the stories and the teachings of the Bible through an illustrated cartoon-style book, and inspired by it, taught regularly Sunday school. She graduated at age 16 from high school and attended Ringling College of Art and Design, in Sarasota, FL, to study arts. A year later, however, she eloped, interrupted her college education, and became, like her husband, a river boat pilot, maneuvering an excursion boat on the Kalamazoo river. Thanks to her husband, a Christian Scientist, Simons-Reeves became interested in the Christian Science faith. Her interest deepened significantly when at age 19 and pregnant with her 1st child, she became very sick and believes she was healed by Christian Science prayer. She has been a staunch Christian Scientist follower ever since. Wanting always to help others, Simons-Reeves served for 9 years on the school board of her town, aiming Contributing Writer at improving its school system. In doing so she involved mothers in the community and insured the schools were running well and the best teachers were hired. She also served on the chamber of commerce helping develop the businesses of the town. Relocating later with her family to Murray, Western Kentucky, she volunteered in the Kentucky State penitentiary, providing Bible studies and counseling to the inmates. Working in the prisons prompted her to pursue her education and she joined Murray State university, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in both criminal justice and social work. She was then 41 years old. As a social worker, SimonsReeves worked for Brighton Center, in Northern KY. "I ran a government-funded program, helping high school drop outs find jobs, also reintegrate school whenever possible," she says. Simons-Reeves also always cared for and empowered kids. She has been a longtime cub scouts and girl scouts leader, guiding the youngsters and taking them regularly on camping trips. Now older and having difficulty facing the harshness and inconvenience of outdoor camping, she sets up, during the entire summer, a tent in her own backyard, inviting kids form the neighborhood, also their friends, to spend time there. What is CHRISTIAN SCIENCE Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices developed in 19th-century New England by Mary Baker Eddy, who argued in her book Science and Health (1875) the need to return to "primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing;" that a permanent relationship with God results in physical, mental, and emotional healing; and that sickness is an illusion that can be corrected by prayer alone. The book, claimed to be divinely inspired, became Christian Science's central text, along with the Bible. The Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded in 1879 and in 1894 the Mother Church was built in Boston, Massachusetts. Even though a Protestant Christian religion, Christian Science theology holds key differences with other branches of Christianity. Its adherents believe that reality is purely spiritual and the material world an illusion; that humans are "incapable of sin, sickness and death" and that disease is a mental error rather than physical disorder; and that the sick should be treated not by medicine, but by a form of prayer that seeks to correct the beliefs responsible for the illusion of ill health. Eddy taught that the healing Christian Scientists do is in line with what Jesus taught his disciples to do. Christian Scientists refer to God as "Father-Mother." They believe that Christ's call is for all Christians, across denominational borders, to unite together to profess his message. The church is known for its newspaper, the Christian Science Monitor, which won seven Pulitzer Prizes, and for its public Reading Rooms around the world. Membership in the Christian Science Church has been steadily declining over the past 45 years. There are currently approximately 800 Churches of Christ, Scientist in the U.S. and approximately 85,000 members worldwide. She also has been regularly teaching swimming to children, initially in Saugatuck and Murray and now at the YMCA in Norwood where she currently lives. "I have a large van," she says. "I use it on a regular basis to pick up kids of various ethnic backgrounds and from various neighborhoods, taking them to Sunday school at my church, to the YMCA for swimming, to rollerskating, or simply to my backyard to Deb Simons-Reeves camp and do bonfires." For many years she also set up, with other members of her church, an after-school program at the Pendleton Arts Center, downtown Cincinnati. The program was open free, 3 afternoons a week, to any kids from the neighborhood who wanted to study, do arts, or get involved in other recreational activities. In addition to her community, Simons-Reeves remained all along very involved in her Christian Science church. On many occasions she represented it on church councils, meeting with ministers and other representatives, discussing what could be done to improve matters in the community. She has been working in the Christian Science Reading room now for 20 years, initially as a volunteer, and since last year as a head librarian. Interested in becoming a Christian Science practitioner in order to help people heal by prayer, she attended school for that purpose and obtained a certificate that allowed her to practice. "I wanted to ease people's suffering and pain, to help them heal, and I believed in the efficacy of the Bible," says Simons-Reeves. "Most people do not pray or trust in prayer, but I had seen wonderful things happen through Christian Science practice." "I wanted to help others deal positively with their fears, gain confidence, and understand the power of the Bible," she adds. When asked about her practice in relation to modern medicine, SimonsReeves is quick to answer: "It is not either or; they can complement each other." And she clarifies the essence of Christian Science practice stating: Credit: Saad Ghosn "It is not faith healing alone. It is based on connecting with the spirituality of human beings who are created in the image of God. A Christian Science practitioner heals by understanding that spiritual reality which is in fact the real person." Simons-Reeves stresses the importance of establishing a relationship with God thanks to which many wonderful things can happen. She mentions Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's prayer, and the psalms 23 (The Lord is my shepherd...) and 91 (The Lord is my refuge and my fortress...) on which Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, based her religion. "I try to live according to the Sermon on the Mount which teaches us how to behave as human beings, how to show compassion and love, how to lift up our fellow men, she says. "It is a daily discipline not always easy to follow; the human ego is a devil..." Now in her eighties, SimonsReeves would like to continue to grow, always trying to be a better person, learning by helping others. "When I was doing social work we (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �STATE Exclusive interview with Dennis Kucinich No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 J ust over a month ago County Commissioner Todd Portune endorsed Gubernatorial candidate and former Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich was in town campaigning last week and I was able to catch up with him for an interview. Streetvibes: I met you briefly at a media reform conference in 2008. What made you decide to attend? Kucinich: The paradox of media today is that the democratization of media is occurring as media ownership concentrates in fewer hands. There is a myth of control in media dominance. Each person is today a medium, empowered to reach to the world, with print, audio and visual content which can impact public consciousness and opinion anywhere. The conference represented advanced thinking on the evolutionary potential of media in today’s society and the quickening pulse of a public eager for information. Streetvibes: You ran for President in 2004 and 2008 on a very progressive platform, but didn't seem to get much traction in the Democratic Party primaries? Bernie Sanders ran on a very similar platform in 2016 and nearly beat the establishment candidate. What did you make of that, how has the political landscape changed and why? Kucinich: Each one of us stands on the shoulders of giants. When we journey through public life we may 9 JUSTIN JEFFRE Streetvibes Editor walk in a valley one day and arrive at a pinnacle the next. What matters is the journey, the integrity, the courage to express truth in the moment no matter where it leads us. Streetvibes: Currently Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati are facing very large budget deficits. Many are saying that the deficits largely match the amount that the state of Ohio used to invest in local governments, but under Governor Kasich this funding has all but gone away. How would you as Governor help local governments at the state level? Kucinich: I intend to restore funding for local government so that first response and other services provided by local governments can be fully funded. As a former councilman and mayor, I understand full well the urgency of the state returning to municipalities tax dollars which in fact originate at a local level. Streetvibes: The transportation system in Hamilton County lags behind counties that are of similar size. The state of Ohio under Kasich doesn't spend nearly as much as many other states in the Midwest and around the country. What would you do to change that? Kucinich: I have long been an advocate of public transportation, which is why the Transportation Workers Union is supporting my candidacy. I want to see fares reduced, and the frequency and distribution of service improved. This means the state must provide a subsidy for cities' mass transit systems. This is an economic and an environmental imperative. Streetvibes: Cincinnati had been awarded $50 million by the federal government for the second phase of our streetcar. Kasich sent the money back at the urging of a local anti-tax group. Do you support light rail and streetcars? If so why? If not, why not? Kucinich: Yes, I support light rail and streetcars! Cincinnati is one of America's great cities. I've travelled all fifty states, some dozens of times. I can tell you that Cincinnati would benefit greatly from light rail and streetcar service. It would be great for commerce, tourism, the environment and for enable people to reach their places of work, education, health care and worship much easier. I also favor an interurban high-speed rail. Cincinnati would be the key point of origin in the south of our state. I also favor rebuilding our infrastructure. I will fund replacement of the Western Hills Viaduct and work to find funding to rebuild the Brent Spence Bridge. I will pursue an inter-modal approach to transportation planning. Streetvibes: Streetvibes is published by the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition. What would you as Governor do to create more affordable housing, jobs with living wages and to reduce poverty over all? Kucinich: As a child, the oldest of seven, I lived in 21 different places by the time I was 17, including a couple of cars. I understand the urgency of creating more affordable housing. I will lead the state in building new housing; a $15 an hour minimum wage; Medicare for All; universal pre-K, two-year free college and other transformational changes, to enable people to achieve their highest potential. Streetvibes: How would you change tax policies in the state of THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Ohio? Kucinich: I would systemically stop the acceleration of wealth upwards, which the current tax system perpetuates. Streetvibes: The state of Ohio spends a lot of money keeping people locked up. Many see this as a budget buster. How would you address this issue? Kucinich: I will use the power of commutation and power to empty the jails of non-violent first offenders, to put people on a path toward rehabilitation and reintegration into society, thereby saving the state tens of millions of dollars every year. Streetvibes: What sets you apart from your primary opponent Rob Cordray on the issues? Kucinich: He is for assault weapons. I want to ban such weapons. He is for fracking. I want to protect our water supply and end fracking. He is for the death penalty and I am not. He is opposed to marijuana legalization, I am for legalization. He is opposed to Medicare for All, I wrote the legislation in Congress and will fight for it in Ohio. Streetvibes: What makes you the better candidate to take on the Republican candidate in November? Kucinich: First of all, I'm a true blue Democrat who has the capacity to reach across the aisle. I can draw sharp distinctions on major issues which involve people's practical aspirations for jobs, health care, education and public safety. Streetvibes: I recently went to an anti-NRA protest where there were people calling for gun control. One of the speakers lost her granddaughter in the Parkland shooting. Although she acknowledged that Cordray doesn't have a good record on gun control she encouraged people to vote for him. You're seen as the underdog candidate. How do you think your chances are? Kucinich: I think my chances keep improving as people learn (Continued on page 12) �10 LOCAL M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �11 LOCAL Why Is Cancer Mortality So High For Minorities In Cincinnati? Part 7: Giving a Voice to the Impossible No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 STEVE SUNDERLAND 1. Introduction: We are speaking about the impossible: the life with cancer. We know that little is understood about the layers of pain and shock a person undergoes when told they have cancer. Even less is communicated about the realities of present and future existence by many health care providers. Too often the person stands in a space that is totally confusing, dangerous, and foreboding. We question why the healthcare system continues to maintain a situation of ignorance about what patients and their caregivers experience on a minute Contributing Writer by minute basis. While much of cancer care can be said to fall into a "grey area," a place where certainty is nonexistent, there are behaviors that provide support, caring, and compassionate partnership even in the unknown. We have started the only Navigation through Cancer program in Cincinnati by being unafraid of meeting with people and discussing the impossible world of detecting and living with cancer. We want to talk with people who have fears and questions. We want to accompany people on all of their steps into the unknown. We want people with cancer to know that they are in partnership, in the present and in the future, no matter what is found on an X-ray or a biopsy. What is most important is that we will listen, especially at those times when the impossible dominates the mind and heart. 2. A poem from the world of the impossible: This is a poem by my brother, an 80-year-old survivor with Stage 4 lung cancer. It is tough Remembering Mr. Pig Y ears ago, there was a barbecue joint near Findlay Market called Mr. Pig's. The eponymous owner had a reputation for his political acumen, and I remember talking with him in the mid-aughts about racism in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, he died a number of years ago. JASON HAAP Contributing Writer It was Mr. Pig who showed me a decades old Metropolitan Master Plan, which basically spelled out the intentional layout of our city's neighborhoods that would cause us to be one of the most racially segregated cities in the nation. He had theories about what would ultimately come to pass in OTR, too. He called the strategy "count 'em and move 'em." He told me that, after any census count, municipalities secure federal funding relative to poverty. He said the 2000 census documented poverty in OTR, and those federal dollars would be used to gentrify the area. He described MICHAEL EARL PATTON (Continued from page 5) has committed to building a 1000-car parking garage which will be available on game days; it does not state that 1000 spaces will be available in that garage for fans. And as a practical matter, does one expect the city to interrogate people wanting to use the garage if they are planning to go to the stadium and not, say, Music Hall or an event at Washington Park? The same goes for the 750-car space facility, either lot or garage, that the city commits to build. Parking will be wildly insufficient on game days. There will be noise and light pollution. The most will surely come from the new stadium which could be expanded to seat up to 30,000 fans – far more than the existing Stargel Stadium which can seat about 3,000. The noise and light will accordingly travel much farther. There is existing residential housing just across John Street from the stadium. Can the buyers get their money back if they don’t want to live across the street from a new stadium that is 10 times bigger? And what about those who will be living next to the new, relocated Stargel? That site, catty-cornered across Ezzard Charles and John, was SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) studied personality types. I am the helper type and have it in my genes. going to be more residential housing. Now all of a sudden it looks like there will be a high school stadium built there. Which would you prefer to be next to you? Why would you think the residents of the West End to be any different? Finally, a word about the funding. As mentioned earlier, the estimated cost of public improvements is $34,896,800, but how that estimate was arrived at is not stated. The ordinance proceeds to identify sources of funds, such as $7,383,000 from the sale of property at the old Blue Ash Airport, $1,000,000 from a capital improvement program account, and up to $8,000,000 in TIF bonds. This is much less than the estimated cost, but the preliminary memorandum attached to the ordinance also includes up to $1,500,000 per year for 30 years of the transient occupancy tax, that is, the hotel tax which is used to support the Convention Center. There are some differences between the ordinance and the attachment, making a precise sum impossible, but it looks like the city has committed at least $61 million to this project besides the earning tax credit. Further, the memorandum cautions that the Traffic Impact Study has not been I want to help everyone, humans, animals, you name it..." she states. During the winter months, for instance, Simons-Reeves is always concerned for the birds, making sure their feeders are full, and asking her relatives for bird seeds as Holiday gifts. She also takes care of several dogs and cats, domesticated and stray, in her own home. Living her life, Simons-Reeves is in tune with her spiritual being and THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED to read. Try and listen to what he is saying and think about what you might say in response. I reprint it with his permission: Prayers by Lew Sunderland My companion came today. I don’t like him, and I don’t know how to stop his visits. He’s always here, telling me I’m alive and to appreciate the moment. But, if the moment isn’t agreeable, I won’t be sure what to appreciate. My companion gives no guidance and (Continued on page 12) how, shortly after the census, the "white shirts" showed up in the neighborhood, causing general insecurity and making it easier for the political establishment to move in and force people out. He had other theories. When "they" were finished with OTR, he said, "their" next target would be the West End. All these years later, I can't help but think of Mr. Pig when people experiencing wealth start talking about things like a soccer stadium. done and the public improvements to be constructed may have to change once the study is done. I doubt if the estimated cost will go down. At least any disbursement of city funds is contingent upon council’s approval of a final Community Benefits Agreement. Whatever that turns out to be will be interesting. In sum, Cincinnati City Council hurriedly passed this ordinance in support of a major league soccer stadium in the West End and moving the current high school stadium, without knowing the impact to the neighborhood on traffic and parking, and how much it would cost to address those issues. Council does not even recognize parking will be an issue in the West End neighborhood where the stadium would be located, although they recognize it as an issue in Over-the-Rhine. Council does recognize that the neighborhoods have to have a say in this, but it is not clear who the representatives from the neighborhoods will be or how disagreements among the representatives will be settled. And, as I write this, Major League Soccer still has not committed to FC Cincinnati as an expansion team. Stay tuned. --------------------------------------with the presence of God in herself and in others. By her actions and her prayers she always try to extend that presence and make it manifest, wherever she is, and with whomever she deals. �12 STREET VOICE Life on Lifetimes I was born in 1970 November 13th My mama was 14 years old Her name was Senithia Brown My daddy’s name Ricky George They had me at a young age So I had to move with my grandma Her name was Frances Chapel Stayed with her for a couple of years Moved back in with my mom With my two little brothers I started selling Streetvibes March 7th, 2009 I came by one morning, 4, 5 o’clock in DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) with the Citizen’s Complaint Authority whose official response was that the only description the police needed was “Black and Male.” Age, weight, height were not factors that needed to be considered. This system is built to suppress people of color at every turn, and the police are the major actors who have systematized harassing and, ultimately, killing, whether quickly or slowly, people of color. Finding ways to cope with police terror are imperative for people of color. Whether it be through learning self-defense, learning law, or tactics in dealing with the police (such as putting your wallet, registration, etc., on the dashboard so you don’t have to reach for anything), people of color are forced to create ways to physically and mentally protect BILL WOODS (Continued from page 3) In conclusion, I ask readers to remember the saying: "Perfection is the enemy of the good." Although Issue I is not perfect, it will eliminate JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 9) that I am with them. Streetvibes: Although you are the underdog candidate the Cordray campaign has been aggressively attacking you over a speech you gave about peace in Syria? Do you care to STEVE SUNDERLAND (Continued from page 11) often I wish to drive him away with drugs that will make me oblivious to his presence. However, if I do that, I lose “the now” and then, what do I have? What is the meaning of these visits? I wish it could be explained to me. Are these visits all I must look forward to? M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 JAMES BROWN Contributing Writer the morning My pitch is, “Good morning” Took me about a week Everybody was giving me dollars I would buy for a quarter, sell them for a dollar People would give me tips Doors open at 9 o’clock I get more papers For $5 I get 20 more papers The first year, I was number three in sales The second year, the paper went up to 50 cents, sold for $1.50 Third year we got to buy the paper for 75 cents and sell it for $2 If people want to add more to the donation, I tell them it’s for Streetvibes and let them read my badge. I always tell them, it’s a $2 donation but you can give more if you want. Selling Streetvibes is a privilege. You don’t have to be homeless or nothing. I don’t understand why people give up on life selling papers. I even call my cat Streetvibes. You get a full-time job, you sell Streetvibes, and it’s your gas money until you get a check. I’m a people person. I’m just livin’. I got no family. I have my good days and my bad days. I had a lot of people come in to sell Streetvibes and they quit the first week. I tell them not to quit. Sometimes I want to give up on life. We still dealing with 3CDC. They don’t care about nobody. P.S. A lady called the office and was looking for me. I ain’t wrote no article in about two or three years. My Kroger people look out for me. Some of them buy papers, some of them don’t. I still talk to people even if they don’t buy my papers. P.S. Love y’all. themselves — a terror white people can never understand. One outlet is through music, such as this older song, Underdogs, by The Coup: Whole family sleepin on a futon while you're clippin coupons Eatin salad tryin to get full off the croutons 'Crosstown, the situation is identical Somebody's getting strangled by the system and its tentacles Misconceptions raise questions to be solved Alot of b-boys are broke, alot of homeless got jobs You can make 8 bones an hour till you pass out and still be assed out Most pyramid schemes don't let you cash out They say this generation made the harmony break But crime rise consistent with the poverty rate You take the workers and jobs, you gon have murders and mobs A gang of preachers screamin sermons over murmurs and sobs Sayin "Pray for a change from the the ability of the majority party in the General Assembly to draw Congressional District maps that give it a lopsided majority of seats for a ten year period. Since extremely gerrymandered districts are the current reality in Ohio, the proposal would be a major step toward making elections fairer. Timing is the other critical factor that promotes endorsing Issue I rather than waiting for a more perfect reform. The Census will occur in 2020, and Congressional redistricting will take place one year later. Time is running out to pass a reform before the next redistricting process begins. Acknowledging the current flaws in our election system, do we really want to put off Congressional redistricting reform until 2030? For that reason alone, most good government groups and civic activists are endorsing Issue I. comment? Kucinich: Some Democrats vote for war. I do not. I have worked and voted for peace my entire life in public office. Streetvibes: Are there other issues you'd like to address? Kucinich: I am prepared to be Governor. If it is the will of the people, I am prepared to carry forth the aspirations of the people of Ohio, not only for safer neighborhoods, education for all, health care for all and jobs for all, but to redefine government as being a force for good in our society. Streetvibes: Anything else you'd like to add Kucinich: Yes. I would like the support of your readers and your followers on social media. Thanks so much! Am I only rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship? I am so lonely and afraid. SEE MY PAIN, SEE MY TEARS! 3. A poem reaching out to the world of the impossible: Standing By by Steve Sunderland I hear you, I hear the razor thin blade cutting deeply Into hope, into certainty, and into the known. I hear but do not understand your full pain. Who can? We walk on the icy edge together, holding onto some memories, Lifting up some emotions, resisting surrender, and Agreeing to continue in the fog for how long it takes. You are pushed by pain and I can listen and Touch the parts that can be touched. It's impossible to be here and yet I am Accompanying, friending, brothering, loving, And following your lead. We know that even Columbus had a map and Expected to fall off the edge. We have no map and expect to balance ourselves With only guesses, dreams, wishes, and prayers. Thanks for the navigation. 4. The promise: We agree to navigate in the world of the impossible. Until the time when compassion is as important as technology. Lord above you" They'd tear this motherf*****r up if they really loved you CPD Facebook Post Regarding West End Flyers Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED [Editor’s note: The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition does not endorse candidates. We will attempt to interview whichever candidates will appear on the November ballot. Thanks for reading Streetvibes!] �No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 13 STREET VOICE SON THE BOOK TOUR Son talk to me Mommy needs to know What you feel And what you see Son talk to me Mommy loves you With all her heart Seems like we have been drifting apart It’s a feeling, I feel in my heart I will never let anything keep us apart In the heart is where we need to start Like the good old days When learning and hoping were part of our start And we would talk Let’s start over son Because you are my heart Complete with a media allure KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer Is Jimmy Comey's book tour. His book is quite a vivid read. He says Trump is unfit to lead. He also says we better heed, Our Prez has no moral creed. In a rage Trump tweets to all, Comey is just a big "scumball." BILL WOODS Contributing Writer SPRING Spring has always been my favorite out all four seasons Spring has no snow and not too much heat, may that be the reason Spring with it so many misinterpretations and misunderstandings Spring to the light so we can see just what mankind is demanding Spring to the facts: Unemployment and homelessness on the rise, can these things be an illusion Spring into the reality: We as a people trying to control each other, now this is the confusion Spring into new horizons, now living with new politicians, new fights and new killings Spring into arrest which means nothing today for the facts state the state is doing the stealing Spring to the wakeup call so I sprung up one morning and realized my seasons had come Spring into the real understanding that the battles only God has won Spring is the understanding that like all things that come and go, spring is here Spring back to know that all men are created equal is that not what should be made so clear Spring to the knowledge that we as people have choices and can make positive decisions Spring into the word of God and believe with faith, with trust only then can we stop these collisions! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 150 Across Down 1. Chess piece 1. Persistently annoying 5. Sales talk person 10. Health resort 2. Showily imitative 13. Mistake 3. Enfold 15. Trap 4. Observe 16. Possesses 5. Song of praise 17. Condition 6. Tavern 18. Ire 7. Label 19. Residue of a fire 8. Place where children 20. Distinctive are taken in and cared for 22. Rough 9. Exceptional courage 24. Composure 10. Carnivorous fish 25. Domestic fowl 11. Out of fashion 26. Tranquil 12. Livid 29. Remainder 14. Abjure 30. Imitate 21. Attentive and 31. Group of people related by observant blood and marriage 23. Performer 34. Melodic theme 25. Top line of a wave 38. Small hard fruit 26. Waistband 40. Reliance 27. Fencing sword 42. Food grain 28. Spool 43. Serf (Middle Ages) 32. Feeling or showing 45. On the move extreme anger 47. Fish eggs 33. Public transport 48. Legal document 35. Wheel covering 50. Natural abilities or qualities 36. Visual 52. Inspiring admiration or representation wonder 37. Pedal extremities 55. Movable barrier 39. Wet thoroughly 56. Form a queue 41. Largest of the satellites 57. Live in of Saturn 61. Poem 44. Bother 62. Lightweight wood 46. Preferably 65. Elude 49. Make worse or less 66. Cloth border doubled back effective and stitched 51. Foliage 67. A long stay in bed in the 52. Hawaiian greeting morning 53. Broaden 68. Maverick 54. Foe 69. One, some, every or all 55. Colossus 70. Flare up 58. Infant 71. Marine mammal 59. Notion SODOKU PUZZLE NO 280 - MEDIUM 60. Narrate 63. Monetary unit 64. A small drink PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 380 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 149 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 279- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 1 | M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 557-2873 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 Salvation Army 762-5660 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 411 Gest St. 45203 241-5525 Parkway Center 661-4620 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 621-7265 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 1125 Bank Street 45214 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 Prospect House 921-1613 Starting Over 961-2256 2121 Vine Street 45202 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network Housing: First Step Home 761-1480 721-4580 632-7149 381-1171 Talbert House Tender Mercies 221-HELP 721-8666 Tom Geiger House Volunteers of America Anna Louise Inn 961-4555 381-1954 421-5211 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 27 W. 12th Street 45202 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA VA Homeless Food/Clothing 421-0065 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 351-0422 381-6672 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy 977-6800 859-572-6226 First Lutheran Church 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry AA Hotline CCAT 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) CMHA Excel Development OTR Community Housing 114 W. 14th Street 45202 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 471-1100 Catholic Social Action Community Action Agency Contact Center Franciscan JPIC Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-3131 569-1840 381-4242 721-4700 421-7803 Legal Aid Society Ohio Justice & Policy Center UpSpring 241-9400 421-1108 363-3300 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Health 621-5300 961-1983 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 535-2719 751-8771 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 721-0643 City Gospel Mission 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen St. George Food Pantry 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 1528 Race St. 45202 St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 1437 Walnut Street 45202 15 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 Center Independent Living Options Peaslee Neighborhood Center Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels Salvation Army Serenity House Day Center Open Door Pantry Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 for 26 issues 981-4200 863-1445 422-8555 868-3276 859-491-8303 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 241-2600 621-5514 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 M a y 4 - M a y 17 , 2 0 18 | N o . 38 1 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource May 4-May 17, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Assessing Issue I Pg 3: Police State Terror Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: The FC Cincinnati Stadium Deal FCC Pg 6: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 7: I Walked into North Korea and Lived to Tell About It Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Exclusive Interview with Dennis Kucinich Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Why is Cancer Mortality so High for Minorities in Cincinnati? Remembering Mr. Pig Pg 12: Life of Lifetimes Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 4-May 17, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Michael earl Patton Trent Davis Jim Luken Saad Ghosn Justin Jeffre Steve Sunderland Jason Haap Kim Green Willa Denise Jones James Brown Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition David Little Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cancer Cincinnati David Little Dennis Kucinich Dr. Mark Mussman FC Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Issue I James Brown Jason Haap Jim Luken Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kim Green Michael Earl Patton Minorities North Korea police brutality reform Saad Ghosn Steve Sunderland Trent Davis Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/a7e003b7890ae7ec21418bbc5df8ea46.pdf 49131558edcf3e8dbb3c8b35a2e19ab0 PDF Text Text April 20th - M ay 3rd 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 9 (No. 380) advocating justice | building community Rejecting Hierarchical Divisions, Paul Breidenbach | 8 This Issue is sponsored by Bromwell's Harth Lounge INSIDE THIS ISSUE Issues Abound at the Faith Community Alliance Ceremony | 2 Red Bike Announces Equity Program: Red Bike Go | 5 The Deep State Part II: Tails wagging dogs, big and small | 11 Eisenhower’s Farewell Address | 7 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From The Director: From the Coalition Against an FC Cincinnati Stadium in West End O n Monday, April 16 Cincinnati City Council voted 5 to 4 to support a deal for FC Cincinnati to construct a stadium in the West End. This total deal includes more than $33 million from taxpayers for infrastructure needed to support the stadium, a property tax abatement for the taxes that would be due to the city, the payment of half the amount that would be due Cincinnati Public Schools without the abatement, exemption from construction sales tax and approximately $15 million in tax dollars from Hamilton County to build a parking garage. We reject this decision to the highest degree for the following reasons: • The development of this stadium would lead to the displacement of people from their homes and neighborhood. • The City has zero legislative protections for people who rent to prevent displacement by the market. • Approximately 20% of our Cincinnati Public School children will experience homelessness this year, last year more than 137 people A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 JOSH SPRING Executive Director died without a home in our city and county, we have a shortage of 40,000 affordable homes in Hamilton County; 28,000 of which are in Cincinnati, of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in this country, we have the tenth highest number of evictions, the housing crisis is so significant that 70% of families with children who seek shelter are turned away and all of our shelters are seeing greater numbers of people than they have ever seen before. It is wrong to invest funds in luxury while so many in our city are living without out access to the needs of basic survival. It is wrong to subsidize the wallets of billionaires. • Both the City and County are predicting tens of millions of dollars in budget deficit next year. • West End Residents and people from throughout the city have come to numerous meetings and have publicly and vehemently opposed the location of such a stadium in the West End. • The West End Community 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition Council overwhelmingly voted against the stadium and voted to only work on a Community Benefits Agreement if the stadium were forced on the West End neighborhood. Despite this, the president of the West End Community Council, Keith Blake orchestrated work on a Community Benefits Agreement and gave it to FC Cincinnati in opposition to the vote of the Community Council. (Continued on page 3) ISSUES ABOUND AT THE FAITH COMMUNITY ALLIANCE ANNUAL LUNCH AND AWARDS CEREMONY I ssues took center stage at the Faith Community Alliance's annual lunch and awards ceremony at the American Red Cross Building on April 12th. The two invited speakers Catherine Turcer, Executive Director of Common Cause/Ohio, and Todd Portune, President of the Hamilton County Commission, split their time between championing Issue 1, the Congressional redistricting proposal on the May 8th ballot, and depicting upcoming County budget issues. Luncheon emcee Charlie Wallner, longtime leader of this coalition of faith groups and service and community organizations, also discussed the Alliance's current focus on advocating that City Council recommit to allocating 1.5 percent of the general budget to human services. Using a power point presentation to visually display Ohio's extremely gerrymandered Congressional Districts, Turcer explained how Issue BILL WOODS Contributing Writer I, a proposed State Constitutional Amendment, would end this process of one party drawing maps to insure its dominance in the U.S. House Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE of Representatives for a decade. The perfection of gerrymandering through the utilization of computers, noted Turcer, finally got the (Continued on page 7) Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Rev. Rich Jones, Justin Jeffre, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, Jim Luken, Kim Green, Willa D. Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, Dr. Mark Mussman, Jubilee Campaign, Justin Jeffre, White House, Saad Ghosn, Jim Luken, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL Do You Speak Like a Gentrifier? No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 D o you hear things that make your skin crawl? Of course, when you hear racial slurs, (including racist mascots and team names), or when you hear someone treated poorly, your ears might perk up and you make note of the words that someone uses. As an educator, it is important to “meet someone where they are” and understand that they may need some clarification or information to make better word choices, because after all, words do matter. I have written many times about the importance of person-first language when talking about people who are experiencing homelessness. This is to ensure that we don’t erase their identities by equating their circumstances with who they are. Person-first language does not diminish the priority of finding housing, but rather operates outside of “deficit culture” which purports weaknesses above strengths. Person-first language also shows that homelessness is a temporary situation, rather than someone’s identity. Straight, cis-gender, white men will have trouble understanding this because their viewpoint isn’t challenged, and they are rarely labeled. This may be where education comes in. The process of gentrification has many tactics, which result in the displacement of residents. We have begun to mete these out in a recent JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) • Without the consent of the Membership the West End Community Council Executive Board had no legal ability to sign the “CBA” in question today, therefore the “CBA” is not legally valid. • Today’s meetings were the only time City Council had set aside to publicly discuss this deal. BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) attention of the news media and the public. Then the grassroots success of the citizen initiative on redistricting that was already underway goaded the Republicans and the Democrats in the Ohio House and Senate to draft the reform proposal that is currently before the voters. Although the proposed Amendment is not without flaws, Turcer argued that it includes enough safeguards to make it 99.9 percent better than the present process. Besides requiring 50-percent of the members of the Legislature of both major parties to adopt the new District maps, it requires public hearings (including the ability of citizens to submit district maps). It also includes DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer Developers benefit from gentrification Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman 3 contribute to the displacement of low income, typically African-American, residents. Under the guise of “cleaning up the neighborhood” tactics are used to both remove low-income and people of color from the neighborhood. The false narrative, that it’s dangerous and full of criminals, is constantly used to enable property values to drop so that speculators can gobble them up and wait on them until they are ready to develop for luxury housing. As I have written before, this also happens to our public spaces, including parks. This is more than just a war on values or ideas — this is a war on our community, that some call genocide. When people call Over-theRhine “O-T-R” they are using the language of the gentrifier. When 3CDC (Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation) began their assault on Over-the-Rhine, they renamed Vine and 12th the “Gateway Quarter,” which more than clearly demonstrates their goal. First, to rename it provides an avenue by which they can say “it’s not Over-theRhine, it’s the Gateway Quarter — see, it’s safe, and new and shiny!” They attempted to both simultaneously benefit from the gritty, raw, urban landscape, and they allure of wealth. My skin crawls when I hear people call my neighborhood “OTR” as it’s the language of the invaders. Even hastags like #ThisIsOTR were created and maintained by the chamber of commerce, even though they are made to be the voice of brochure at the Homeless Coalition. Concrete things like tax abatements, community development corporations, neighborhood enhancement programs, surveillance, entrepreneurship programs, dog parks, breweries, sidewalk seating, and hostile design denote the displacement of residents in low-income neighborhoods in favor of increased wealth for some at the expense of others. Interpersonal tactics, such as blight determination, favoring businesses over residents, discomfort, criminalization, denial of experience, and the creation and maintenance of a false narrative, also • Some of the land in question is subject to use restrictions pertaining to the end of the federal program, HOPE VI and the City West agreement, thus requiring that this land be used for the construction of affordable housing and therefore the proposed use of this land is not allowable. • This process has been riddled with back-door deals and lies. For these reasons and more, we plan to continue use every method accessible both legally and socially to stop this stadium. We will oppose this stadium at every pertinent zoning hearing, planning commission meeting, county commissioners meeting and city council meeting. We will oppose all liquor permit requests and proposed sales of public land. West End Residents will take the necessary steps to impeach Keith Blake the current president of West End Community Council for his pursuit of an FC Cincinnati stadium in West End in spite of the vote of the West End Community Council. To Don Garber and Major League Soccer and Jeff Berding and FC Cincinnati, it is important that you know, this is not over. We are not done. language calling for compact districts and a minimal splitting up of counties and cities. With both major parties endorsing Issue I, it has a good chance of passing. However, since this is a primary election, less people will go to the polls, and voters often skip or vote against ballot initiatives that catch them by surprise. For this reason, Turcer urged FCA members to inform their friends and neighbor's about the importance of this issue. If we don't take advantage of this opportunity before the 2020 Census, declared Turcer, we will confront the potential of another decade of extremely gerrymandered Congressional Districts. Commissioner Portune used a power point presentation to outline the major issues facing the County as the Commission prepares to tackle drafting the next budget. One of the basic problems confronting Hamilton and other Ohio counties is the loss of state funds. In recent years, these losses have been severe; requiring the Commissioners to find local, resources to try to shore up many departmental budgets. He specifically cited the County's challenge in paying for a number of unfunded state mandates. In his opening remarks to the luncheon attendees, Charlie Wallner spoke with passion about the need for City Council to take seriously its commitment to funding human services. Council, he stated, has sadly regressed from the ordinance put forward over thirty years ago by former Mayor Bobbie Sterne that earmarked 1.5 percent of the budget for these services. Despite giving lip service to increasing funding for services to a level of at least 1.5 percent, the Administration and Council always seem to find budget obstacles that prevent this from happening. With Cincinnati's high poverty rate and the present opioid crisis, noted Wallner, it is a moral imperative that City Government assumes more responsibility for financing critical services. FCA also presented a series of awards to individuals and organizations that have made major contributions to the community. Award winners were Morris Williams, Greg Landsman, Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp, the Greater Cincinnati Black Nurses Association, and the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED (Continued on page 12) --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 �5 JUBILEE CAMPAIGN The “New Parish” in Cincy No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 A s I write this, my faith is in the midst of its Holy Week…as a Jesus follower, we celebrate the cycle of life as demonstrated through Jesus, conception, birth, life, death…and then resurrection. The resurrection of the church is happening all around us, even now, as I write. As traditional and even modern or post-modern churches and faith communities either decline, plateau, or stagnate, they are beginning to recognize that they cannot “work harder or smarter” to grow numerically. Faith communities have often become “purveyors of religious goods” and have committed to an attractional model to bring in new members. Often, those “new” members are simply folks that are migrating from one church to the next, searching for the latest or hippest church. It can become a maddening process that eventually burns out those that are seeking and those that are producing the “next” church or faith expression. Faith community members are fine folk, they have done much of the “right things” to survive, yet they have not been able to thrive. Eventually, all things come to an end, and we are witnessing, in most cases, the slow death of church. That resurrection shows itself through churches that realize that the faith story is not about “winning” converts, but, instead, it is about our own conversion as we stop trying to be constantly relevant. Rather, we can follow the practice of Jesus and “move into our neighborhood” (read the 1st chapter of John in the Bible). Jesus’ example is one of being with us in full humanity and living in community with us as a true friend, and, out of T REV. RICH JONES Contributing Writer that friendship, together with anyone willing to be in friendship, working towards knowing and being known locally in the context of where we live. In every neighborhood across Cincinnati, there is a “mega-faith community.” Unlike some of the large mega-churches or other large congregations of faith that are housed in big buildings, this “mega-faith community” is hosted in many houses of worship. It crosses theological boundary lines and dogma and is marked by the sort of radical inclusion that begins with “everyone belonging and contributing” as best as you can. This has been called the “New Parish” by some. It is a movement of folks who may belong to different churches and/or faith communities/ expressions but are realizing that friendships “trump” everything. God’s very expression of God’s self is in community, in relationship… creating, saving, sustaining. Denominational or man-made religious opinions should not get in the way of humans being truly human and connected with one another in deep and meaningful friendships. This is beyond simply being ecumenical, it is living in authentic connection and community together and practicing radical neighborliness while building up the common good of the place in which one lives. The Parish Collective is a part of the movement that is proliferating this practice of being neighborly and faithfully present with yourself, your neighbors, and within your faith community. Other groups like the Economics of Compassion, Oasis, the Common Good, and so many others share this “DNA” of faithful presence and are a part of this movement also. The ethos of “Asset Based Community Development” (ABCD) has been a key part and practice of faith communities becoming more neighborhood engaged. Many would say that they find God at work already in the neighborhood, building connections and relationships together. The concept of abundance of the neighborhood over scarcity has been a beacon of inspiration for faith communities as they struggle to figure out their shifting identity in a changing world. The church that I pastor in my neighborhood, Fleming Road UCC, has been on a journey towards community engagement well before I was called to be their pastor. Together now, we are having dialogue on what it means to listen to one another and to our neighborhood. We are seeing where there is beauty as well as struggle in our Finneytown community. Through our partnerships with Parish Collective, Oasis (www.oasisfinneytown.com), and the UCC we have found friends, encouragers, and collaborators as we work together to live into this new story emerging in our neighborhood and in our church. We will be walking the neighborhood, sitting in restaurants and bars, engaging the local school district and government and listening and building friendships as we move together with other faith communities in the “new parish” in the months and years to come. Together, we are working towards the flourishing of our neighborhood, just as many others are doing across the country and world. And, in so doing, we are seeing faith communities move from being purveyors of religious goods and experiencing decline, towards thriving communities of authentic relationship and a “re-functioning” of what it means to be “church”. For more stories, check out the Parish Collective and Parish Collective Cincinnati. They are at the heart of the groundswell. Faith communities are connecting with each other and attempting to grow the fabric of love and care across parishes throughout Cincinnati and across the world. Parish Collective is currently undertaking valuable new initiatives to help "grow roots" in the neighborhood and "weave links" across places. We collaborate with practitioners, explore stories, and access resources as we seek to build a network of communities working together to support a movement that is changing the meaning of church as it engages with its neighbors. For more info, go to www. parishcollective.org, also, check out an exciting opportunity coming this fall, the Conspire Gathering at www. conspiregathering.com. Rich Jones is the pastor of Fleming Road UCC in the Finneytown neighborhood in Cincinnati. He is on the board for Economics of Compassion and Oasis Cincinnati and is an organizing team member and community connector for The Parish Collective. He also coaches cross country at Finneytown Schools and is an obsessive runner. His spouse, Debbie, is a PTA and they have two teenagers, McKenzie and Brennan. --------------------------------------- Red Bike Announces Equity Program: Red Bike Go he bicycle has been called by some, “The most efficient machine on earth.” That might explain the popularity of Cincinnati’s Red Bike program which opened in September 2014. Now with Red Bike’s new equity program more low-income riders will be able to access them. During Minority Health Month and just before Bike Month, Red Bike launched Red Bike Go, a discounted $5 monthly membership program to ensure everyone has access to the bikeshare system. Red Bike Go provides people with limited income access to the bikeshare network at an affordable price— helping more people go where they want to go—for health and wellness, JUSTIN JEFFRE Contributing Writer transportation and recreation. The Red Bike equity project is funded by a generous grant from Interact for Health. Red Bike Go is available to residents in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, who receive food assistance (SNAP) or energy assistance (HEAP and PIPP) or are clients of partner organizations and agencies. People can sign up online at www.cincyredbike.org/gopass. For $5 a month, Go Pass holders receive a member card and have unlimited 90-minute bike rides for 30 days. They can pay month to month or set their pass to auto-renew every month at the same price. Payment can be made with a credit card, debit or bank card, most prepaid cards, or cash. Payment cannot be made with an EBT card. If paying with a card, Go Pass holders can sign up online or in-person at an Red Bike Go outreach event or class. Cash payments must be made in person, either at an outreach event or at the Red Bike Shop on a weekday by appointment. Cash renewals can be dropped off at Red Bike during weekday business hours and at Red Bike Go events. To schedule an appointment to pay by cash and get signed up, contact Red Bike Go Manager Elese Daniel at elese.daniel@cincyredbike. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED org or (513) 621-2453. The Red Bike Shop is located at 14 W. 15th Street, 45202 in Over the Rhine— one block west of the Vine Street Kroger. Red Bike is partnering with local organizations to connect their clients to the Go Pass. Initial partners are Ohio Means Jobs, CincinnatiHamilton County Community Action Agency, Greater Cincinnati Urban League, and the Brighton Center in Newport, Kentucky. Red Bike is looking for additional partners. All interested agencies and organizations should contact the Red Bike Go Manager to discuss the opportunity of connecting their clients with Red Bike Go. In addition, Red Bike is working with the Human (Continued on page 6) �6 JUSTIN JEFFRE (Continued from page 5) Services Chamber of Hamilton County to connect the Go Pass to hundreds of clients within their 50 member organizations. There will be a Red Bike Go outreach event at the Ohio Means Jobs Center on Monday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Residents can sign up in-person at the event. The Ohio LOCAL A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 Means Job Center is located at 1916 Central Parkway, 45214 on the edge of Over the Rhine and the West End. Additionally, Red Bike is deploying a Street Outreach Team to help spread awareness about Red Bike Go and the benefits of bicycling and bikeshare at events throughout the city. The Red Bike Street Outreach Team kicks off their efforts later this month at the 15th Annual Health Expo on April 28 in Washington Park. Bicycling can be a convenient way to actively commute around the city, get to work or school, run errands, exercise and enjoy time outside with friends and family. The Red Bike Go program hopes to expand that awareness and interest to be more inclusive and representative of the larger community. Concurrently, Red Bike is releasing a new Monthly membership option at $15 a month, with no eligibility requirements. Monthly members will receive a member card and have unlimited 90-minute bike rides for 30 days. Monthly members have 30 additional minutes of ride time compared to the Day Pass and Annual Pass at unlimited 60-minute rides. The new Monthly membership and Red Bike Go complement the existing Day and Annual Passes to offer Red Bike’s diverse mix of riders options and pricing that best accommodates individual needs. The Red Bike network covers two states and four cities—Cincinnati, Covington, Newport and Bellevue— with 57 stations and 440 bikes. Since launching in 2014, Red Bike has had more than 320,000 rides. Seeking landlords who accept Housing Choice (Section 8) Vouchers for efficiency and 1 bedroom apartments. Interested in developing a long-term relationship with ongoing tenant referrals. Please contact Alexis Aghotte at 513.446.7554 or aaghotte@ shelterhousecincy.org THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL Eisenhower’s Farewell Address No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 R ecent events in the midEast have reminded me of President Eisenhower’s farewell speech that he gave shortly before leaving office in January 1961, to be succeeded by John Kennedy. His warning about the power of the military-industrial complex seems out-of-character for a man who spent almost his entire adult life either in the military or as its commander-in-chief. If the “permanent armaments industry of vast proportions” and its influence are such a concern, then why did Eisenhower wait until the waning days of his presidency to voice his warning? Excerpts of his speech are given below (the full speech is easily found on-line). But first I want to give some context by briefly reviewing a couple events of 1960. Maybe there is a clue as to why Eisenhower gave this speech when he did. During the presidential election campaign of 1960, the Democratic candidate John Kennedy accused the Eisenhower administration of being soft on defense and that there was a “missile gap” between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, with the U.S. being far behind. Kennedy’s opponent was Richard Nixon, then vice-president under Eisenhower. The truth was completely opposite – the U.S. actually had the lead. Nixon knew that, but he could not challenge Kennedy on this without revealing U.S. intelligence capabilities. Eisenhower had Kennedy privately briefed on the true situation, but Kennedy kept on making the erroneous claim. He probably did so because it played well with the media and the public. (This was later one of many things spoofed in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 dark comedy Doctor Strangelove, where the worry becomes the “mine shaft gap.” The U.S., the film acknowledged, had more missiles but was behind in deep underground places that offered protection from atomic fall-out.) On May 1, 1960, a U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The cover story was that the plane was a high-altitude weather research plane operated by NASA over Turkey. The U.S. “speculated” that the pilot may have had oxygen difficulties, became unconscious, and the plane continued to fly over the Soviet Union on autopilot. This was about 2 weeks before the Four Power Paris Summit where the Soviet leader, Khrushchev, and President Eisenhower were to meet. The cover story was exposed when the Soviets announced that the pilot, Francis Gary Powers, had survived. Eisenhower said that he had authorized the flight, but even at the time some blamed the CIA. After all, Eisenhower was certainly aware of the risks involved in such a flight and had wanted the summit to succeed. As for his statement that he had authorized the flight, the alternative 7 MICHAEL EARL PATTON Contributing Writer Dwight D. Eisenhower, official photo portrait, May 29, 1959 Credit: White House would have been to admit that he was not in control of the government. Instead, the summit quickly ended in failure. With that background in mind, here are excerpts from Eisenhower’s farewell address: “My fellow Americans: … This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen … “Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research -- these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel. “But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration… “Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. “This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government… In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together… President Eisenhower concludes by stating the need for disarmament “with mutual honor and confidence,” his disappointment in not making more progress [an apparent reference to the failed summit], and for peace with justice. Was he thinking of the next president, John Kennedy, who may have won the election because of an appeal to more armaments when he had been trying to reduce them? Was his summit with Khrushchev torpedoed by the CIA and their fascination with who is ahead in hardware counts? This is speculative weaving, but the result does fit. In the present day, I have been distressed by the unquestioning attitude of the American major media whenever it comes to our military. As for the supposed chemical attacks in Syria and our response, no one seems to be asking what the actual evidence is or whether video or social media can be faked. (By the way, whatever happened to the discussion on fake news?) Instead, I saw a fascination with American, British, and French firepower. This may not be intentional since military hardware in action is far more visually interesting than a discussion as to what our response should be. And apparently more interesting than even Stormy Daniels. But harm allowed by lack of oversight will last much longer than the better ratings. �8 RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Rejecting Hierarchical Divisions, Paul Breidenbach, an Atheist, Uses His Knowledge of Spanish to Help Immigrants Regain Their Equal Rights A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 P SAAD GHOSN aul Breidenbach grew up in a Catholic family, one which had to relocate frequently, mostly in South America, due to his father's employment at the State Department. As a child, he went to church every week and participated in various religious activities. He became, however, quickly disillusioned with religion and rejected the hypocrisy of its followers who did not live according to its teachings, teachings that he, himself, was not ready to adopt. In addition, Breidenbach did not believe in the presence of a God. When he reached college, he decided to cut all his ties with the church and declared himself a convinced atheist. This, however, did not take away his concerns for the other. On the contrary, he developed a strong sense of equality and of respect for everyone's rights. "My principles are simple," he says, "not to do things to others that I do not want done to myself. Also, to fight injustices, protect people, make sure their basic needs are met, and help them improve things in their lives." For college, Breidenbach attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and studied American History, mentored by Henry Abelove, the radical marxist historian who influenced the way he looked at things. He was also introduced to E.P. Thompson's thinking about class formation in capitalism, also Contributing Writer to his concept of moral economy. He ended up graduating with a PhD in US History from the University of California in San Diego. "During these years, I was not a real activist," he says. "I participated in the recycling Coop of the university, helping collect recyclable material all over campus; also joined a rally and was vocal against institutionalized racism; and raised money in solidarity with El Salvador... But this was practically it," he adds. Breidenbach's studies and the fact that he was fluent in Spanish thanks to the many years he had spent abroad in Hispanic countries, affected, however, the future orientation of his life. In 1996, married and with two kids, he relocated to Cincinnati and there, with his egalitarian and progressive values, he connected right away with the increasing Latino immigrant population. He started meeting with refugee individuals, listening to their complaints, interpreting for them, helping them find solutions to their problems. He did it voluntarily and most of the time without compensation. He also taught part time Spanish and History in a local private school. These activities, however, not being financially sustainable, he decided to join the social justiceoriented union side law firm of Kircher,  Suetholz & Grayson, a firm that represented organizations in What is ATHEISM Atheism, in the broadest sense, is the absence of belief in the existence of deities, i.e. gods. The term emerged first in the 16th century; and the French Revolution of 1789, which witnessed the first major political movement in history to advocate for the supremacy of human reason over the notion of gods, was the first time atheism became implemented politically. The difference between atheism and agnosticism is belief of god and knowledge of god. An atheist (a-theist) does not believe god(s) exist and an agnostic (a-gnostic) does not know if god(s) exist. There can be many combinations of atheist, theist, gnostic, and agnostic to describe people's approach to god. There is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. Conceptions of atheism also vary and accurate estimations of current numbers of atheists are difficult. In 2015 WIN/Gallup International polled 64,000 individuals and found 11% of them to be "convinced atheists". In 2004, a survey by the British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC), however, recorded atheists as comprising 8% of the world's population. Europe and East Asia are considered the regions with the highest rates of atheism. In 2015, 61% of Chinese reported being atheists; and in 2010, a Eurobarometer survey in the European Union (EU), reported 20% of the population not believing in "any sort of spirit, God or life force".  (From Wikipedia) the labor movement and which tried to empower workers in order to obtain mutual aid and protection in the workplace. Breidenbach served there as an interface with the Spanish speaking workers. A few years later he became the interpreter and office manager of Brennan Grayson, the lawyer who had hired him initially in the firm, and who had since become the president of the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center (CIWC, Paul Breidenbach which aims to mobilize, educate, and organize low wage and immigrant workers to achieve positive systemic change) and then the current Executive Director of the Workers Center derived from it. In the meantime, he also worked at United Way for Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a nonprofit organization that deals with inequities and injustices affecting low income renters, addressing the illegalities that arise in rental housing. He served there as the advocate for the Hispanic tenants, representing them face to management, moving forward and officializing their demands, helping them fill out escrow forms that legalized their complaints. Breidenbach got thus associated with The Willow, a 400 unit low income complex apartment in Springdale, mostly inhabited by immigrants from Guatemala and Senegal, also by some African Americans. In response to tenants' complaints of lack of security and of neglected maintenance problems, the management of the place, in a gesture of good will, created and offered an educational space to be used by the tenants and other low-income residents of the neighborhood. Breidenbach has been intimately involved with the operation of the space, now used, among others, by Su Casa and Trihealth. "We can teach English as a Second Language, teach kids music, hold art activities...," he says. "It can be a fertile ground for mutual understanding." At The Willow, and at The Colony, another low income apartment complex also in Credit: Saad Ghosn Springdale, Breidenbach offers tutoring and homework help with English and other assignments to youth living there. He is now helping a 22-year-old immigrant student succeed in passing courses toward his graduation. Breidenbach has also been going to local elementary schools to teach Spanish, encouraging kids to acquire early on a 2nd language. He does it with the hope to facilitate communication and cultural exchange from a young age, away from the rigid stereotypes and prejudices easily developed with age against immigrants. He envisions also achieving the same through the practice of group sports, which have been proven to create bonds in the youth, transcending discrimination. Breidenbach is also working with the Immigrant Dignity Coalition against bullying in the schools, in anticipation of what could happen in the current intimidating political climate. And thanks to his command of Spanish he has always served as a facilitating resource to many union organizations, including the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �NATIONAL “Is Your Refrigerator Running?” (Just asking) No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 I love writing for this little newspaper. Even now, living far away, I'm drawn to being a semi-regular part of something that is doing so much good for so many people. I'm sure you readers look at the back page now and then. Those are the pictures of our distributors who spend hours on the sidewalks and street corners, selling this paper. Obviously, their “job” provides them spending money. They use this money the way you and I do, sometimes for essentials, and sometimes to buy stuff that makes them feel good. I don't begrudge the ones who drink. I drink. Or the ones who might use it now and then to get high. Been there. Done that. Probably will do so again Life is tough, especially for those who live so close to the streets, to the bottom line, to the bone. Selling Streetvibes provides some of these folks with a little extra to make their lives a little easier, a little better. The one thing that sometimes bothers me about this paper (and about the dozens of other “streetsheets” published in cities around the US and the world) is that it is too expensive to be purchased by poor folks, and especially by homeless folks. This means that we contributing writers can seldom, if ever, direct our stories and articles to an audience of the poor, the so-called marginalized. Instead, we write for you, the good people who generously, issue after issue, purchase the paper from our distributors, and hopefully enjoy our non-mainstream insights 9 JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer and perspectives. Our “audience” is primarily you concerned middle class people, generally from the suburbs, who come downtown to work or shop or eat. Now, many of you “upscale” Cincinnatians have chosen to move downtown, but you also choose to support the Homeless Coalition's work and our Streetvibes distributors. On behalf of all the people who work with the poor, or who contribute time to Streetvibes, and on behalf of those who benefit from the services provided, I will take this moment to thank you, sincerely, for being an integral part of what we do as we try to bring an end to the ongoing problem of rampant homelessness. At this point, you readers are probably wondering why this article has so strange a title. As you read on, you may wonder what the refrigerator story has to do with the problems relating to our downtown poor, or to homelessness, here, there and throughout the world. I will try to make some associations at the end, but for now, I'm telling you that I am providing the essay to this (your favorite downtown paper!) in the simple hope that you, my middleclass audience will find it interesting and perhaps enjoyable. I wrote this piece several years ago and entered it in a contest sponsored by Sun Magazine, which perhaps a few of you read regularly. It is a generally a good read, but it did not include my essay among the short pieces it published under the heading of: Refrigerators My entry was titled, “A quick course in refrigeration.” It follows below: Some of us older folks, remember making anonymous phone calls as kids, and asking the person at the other end, “Is your refrigerator running?” If the answer was “Yes,” we responded by saying, “Well, Ma'am, you better go catch it.” Click. I recall it was a scary thing to try, and that the joke seldom worked. If you were to walk into the kitchen and listen to your refrigerator at this moment, the odds are that it would indeed be running. If not, it soon will be. The sounds of its various fans and motors are part of the ambiance of your home, you seldom even notice the noise. Perhaps the most reliable, and vital, household appliance, the refrigerator stands quietly against a wall in the kitchen, and—with no visibly moving parts—keeps our everchanging foodstuffs cold (or frozen) over years, even decades. We take THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED things out and put things in every day of our lives with seldom a thought. I have been in my present apartment for twelve years. I estimate that the fridge is nearly 20 years old. I have yet to replace a single failed component in my own fridge. Ever wonder how this amazing and reliable machine works? As a long-time maintenance technician, I will attempt to explain the process. Of course, you could go to Wikipedia, but my explanation may be easier to grasp. And more fun. In fact, I'm not even going to check. So here goes: A refrigerator (or A/C, or dehumidifier) is a closed, tightlysealed system filled with a gas often referred to as “freon.” Unlike the liquid “gas” (gasoline) that burns off as it powers the engine of your car or lawnmower, freon gas is used over and over and over again to cool that trustworthy insulated box wherein you keep your perishable food. Each refrigerator employs a motorized pump called a compressor. As the heart of the cooling system, the compressor's (Continued on page 11) �10 LOCAL A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL The Deep State Part II Tails wagging dogs, big and small No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 A few months ago, one of the cartoons in the weekly New Yorker magazine was a drawing of two scruffy-looking guys sitting at a bar. One is angry as he says to the other: “What's the point of having a conspiracy theory if everyone's going to conspire against it?” I cut that cartoon out, and it sits here on my desk, annoying me every time I glance its way. Why? Because I am a true believer in many conspiracies, and I'm in no way ashamed to say so. Some six years ago, I wrote a series of essays for this paper about conspiracies related to a variety of topics, The JFK assassination, of course. Also, about Martin Luther King, the fluoridation of our water, and… The day that changed everything My favorite conspiracy, which I researched for years and wrote a full length play about (as well as a short film script and a radio play) had to do with the events of 11 September, 2001. Yes, dear readers, I remain convinced that what happened that day, “the day that changed everything,” were perpetrated by a cabal of operatives JIM LUKEN (Continued from page9) job is to “squeeze” the gas so hard that it becomes a liquid. This process actually creates heat, which is dispersed out the bottom of your refrigerator. The now-liquid freon then “escapes” through a tiny tube called a capillary, or through a carefully-sized orifice called an expansion valve. The escaping liquid expands into a gas, which is quite cold. (Have you ever felt the chill when using an aerosol can, like hairspray? Same principal. A liquid escapes through a small nozzle on the can, expanding into a gas. Your finger feels the chill. The can is cool after releasing the gas). The cold gas in the fridge then expands into a tight coil of copper pipes usually located under the bottom panel (or behind the rear panel) of the freezer section. The fan that you hear when you open the freezer door pulls air through this SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) (CFT), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), in their dealing with labor issues pertaining to Latino immigrants. Breidenbach's involvements all along have also remained with 11 JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer by UC police officer Ray Tensing was handled. The same type of conspiracy takes place regarding virtually every murder committed by uniformed police officers across the United States. There is an almost conspiratorial rule: Even in the most obvious of cases, cops will not be convicted of a crime. I have a friend who is a high-ranking officer in the Canadian Mounties. He told me that Mounties who committed such obvious crimes, like the Dubose killing, would be out of a job in short order, and usually convicted and jailed. Canadian deaths at the hands of police are minimal compared to those in the US. 2) I believe that there was a conspiracy involved in the way Western-Southern, and its CEO, John Barrett, gained possession of the Anna Louise Inn, an historic refuge for poor women in Cincinnati for more than 100 years. That landgrabbing crime should never have happened. 3) I believe that there is an ongoing conspiracy as 3CDC continues to manipulate real estate in OTR, so within what is now known as the Deep State of the United States. More on that later. But for now, regarding 9/11, it is manifestly clear that it was an inside job, that we did it. 9/11 happened because an elaborate, ultra-secret element of top-ranking traitors from every level of our national-security state planned and perpetrated it, then—even more elaborately—covered it up. This writer is anything but alone in my convictions about 9/11 “truth.” Thousands of architects, engineers, pilots, ex-CIA people, ex-military, scientists and academicians from all over the world have signed on publicly, officially, forcefully, insisting that what happened that day was “an inside job.” Many did this at the risk of their jobs and reputations. Some paid with their lives. There is even a huge group which names itself “Patriots for 9/11 Truth.” Look it up. [Or, simply go to You Tube and search: [Retired General Stubblebine “Oh, my God.” A true patriot, Stubblebine's credentials are impeccable. His 15 minute video chat will convince almost anyone.] Conspiracy theory 101 But in this piece, I want to discuss “conspiracy theory” more generally. I don't need to tell you that those two words are maligned by politicians and the news media on an all-too regular basis. “Oh, that's another wacky conspiracy theory.” Perhaps as you began reading this piece, you were thinking that the writer must be a nut. I congratulate you for continuing to read. By the end, I hope you see that I am relatively sane and fairly well-informed on the subject. The technical definition of a conspiracy theory is: “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” That's from Mr. Webster. I like it, because it contains nothing negative about we believers. Nor does it suggest that all conspirators were/are doing something unlawful, or illegal, although that is usually the case. Here let me provide a short list of recent local conspiracies. 1) I believe that there was a conspiracy involved in the way the obvious murder of Sam Dubose finned copper coil (the evaporator). This circulating cold air both freezes the freezer section (to around O degrees) and chills the air in the fresh-food section of your “ice box” (to around 38 degrees). So called “frost free” refrigerators actually do create frost on that finned coil inside the freezer. If your house isn't air conditioned, and the ambient humidity is high, quite a bit of frost will form on the coil. Not to worry. Every twelve hours, a timer turns off the cooling system, and turns on this electric heat element located under, or around, the cooling coil. For a brief time, the element gets red hot, melting the frost away. After about 15 minutes, the timer turns the refrigerator's cooling system back on, and the heater off. The homeowner is seldom, if ever, aware that this defrost cycle is happening, or when. An adjustable thermostat “senses” the temperature inside the refrigerator section and regulates the overall cooling system. Once you set the thermostat to a desired coolness, the compressor and fans are turned on (as the box temperature rises a few degrees) and off (once the compartment returns to the set temperature). The system maintains these levels of coldness day after day, year after year, winter or summer, no matter what the ambient temperature of the kitchen happens to be. Except for having a part replaced now and then, you need do nothing but pay the electric bill. Simple, right? But if you really want to find out if the light bulb goes out inside the fridge when you close the door, you may need to consult an expert. Does anyone remember the character “Vern?” What does this have to do with poverty or homelessness??? Well, nothing, really. But in some ways, it might prove quite relevant. Think about it. If you don't have a home, then you don't have a refrigerator. You don't have the option of going into a room, opening the thick door and grabbing a cartoon or a bottle, then pouring yourself a perfectly chilled glass of milk, or twisting the top on a cold brewski. Or of eating food that has been kept fresh just for you. This appliance, this amazing convenience, which most of us take for granted (unless we lose power during a snowstorm) is NOT part of a homeless person's everyday life. So Reader, in your urban or suburban home, would you miss not having a refrigerator? Of course you would, but probably not quite as much as you would miss not having a toilet at your immediate disposal when nature beckons. Think about it. Everyone should have a toilet. Everyone should have a fridge. Everyone should have a home. Affordable housing for all!!! Now go check if your refrigerator is running. P.S., Once I had written the above essay, I did go to Wikipedia. As I thought, my explanation is much easier to grasp than theirs. Do you trust me? the Workers Center and the Labor Council of the AFL CIO, which represent the interests of working people, promoting safe work places and practices, protecting workers' wages, fighting for their rights, and advocating for social and economic justice for all—regardless of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin. Commenting on the current times, Breidenbach is quick to state that they are apocalyptic, controlled by greed, power and money. He thinks that we should look for solutions outside the classical norms of the democratic structure, and that we need to take our voice instead to the street. He would like to promote alliances between oppressed people who have a lot in common; and bring together those who face similar problems of inequality in order to impact a change. "We are all human beings and equal," he states. "We all have similar rights and should be given equal opportunities. I do not believe in hierarchy or that some are better than others because of birth. We need to fight injustice wherever it is and empower workers everywhere and whoever they are." THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED (Continued on page 12) --------------------------------------- �12 DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) the neighborhood. (Rarely do they include people by focusing on street scenes, sunsets, buildings, etc., but that’s another story.) This goes deeper into the development community. 3CDC (Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation) owns hundreds of buildings in the neighborhood now. How many? Well, we don’t know. They refuse to release their property list — they told me it’s proprietary information. What are they hiding? If you look up properties on the county JIM LUKEN (Continued from page 11) that the poor are being systematically displaced from the neighborhood where their families have lived for generations. 4) There was also a conspiracy in the way an entire north wing of the downtown public library was being sold to 3CDC for a proverbial song...without community input. Fortunately, that conspiracy was unraveled in time, because angry citizens found out in time, although a primary whistle-blower lost her job. 5) Here is a Cincy miniconspiracy. But it affects hundreds and hundreds of our city's homeless and poor. When the downtown area was “renewed,” one facet of that renewal involved hundreds of new park benches. Nice. But each of the new park benches contains an “armrest” built in the very middle. This armrest all but prevents tired or homeless people from sleeping on the benches. Is there anyone out there who could be convinced that these “armrests” were simply installed by accident. No, the planners conspired to have the city buy benches like these. Their conspiracy could not be considered a crime, but it nonetheless seems almost criminal. The Proof is in the pudding All the horrible things our “deep state” has done (mostly without being caught) would seem to prove that we are capable of doing anything. Anything to preserve a status quo that “the powers that be” are so comfortable with. The deep state is potentially free to perpetrate the most heinous of crimes, without ever being called to task. Just as the police are never really called to judgment in the deaths of so many African-Americans. I will give you a very recent example of how conspiratorial forces, the forces of collusion, the deep state, might have chosen to work: Poisoning of Russian former spy in England. We all know the story. This former spy and his daughter were poisoned with a deadly nerve agent. They remain very sick. The entire world is convinced that “Russia did it.” Maybe they did. Most likely they did. Hundreds of Russian diplomats STREET VOICE A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 auditor’s site, they are registered under the address, rather than under 3CDC. There are so many LLC’s (limited liability corporations) it’s impossible to tell which buildings are actually owned by 3CDC. 3CDC will say they are “land banking” but when buddy gray was working with the community to acquire buildings for low-income housing, they were accused of “stockpiling” them. Can you spot the difference between the effect of “land banking” vs “stockpiling?” The language that we use has an effect. All of this is to say that we all, especially white people, have an obligation to do the emotional labor and to learn by listening to our neighbors, doing research, and ultimately distancing ourselves from people who wish to erase the history, culture, and people from inner-city neighborhoods. We must resist false narratives and lies like “no one has been displaced from Over-the-Rhine,” “there are more people living in Overthe-Rhine now than 15 years ago,” “more bars will bring opportunity,” “a stadium is going to bring jobs,” “school life won’t be impacted by construction,” “it’s not removing housing,” etc. Just like in everything else in life — if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. We must hold our elected officials accountable for the decisions that they make that harm our communities, and we must hold each other accountable when we use hurtful or flagrant language that creates barriers to solutions and the truth. If you’d like to learn more about the Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement, please contact us to schedule a tour or a speaker. You can learn more and conveniently sign up on our website, under Education: cincihomeless.org have been expelled from counties all over the world. 60 from the US. But Russia (Puten) claims they didn't do it. Maybe they didn’t. If the Russkies really didn't do it, who might have perpetrated this nasty act? The fact is, because of the election interference, because of the annexation of Crimea, because of militarization of part of Ukraine, Russia is on the ropes right now. So think about it. Couldn't there be at least a possible scenario in which the US or the British planted the nerve agent of the door of Russian spy's boats, attacked the USS Liberty, a technical research (read “spy”) vessel in the waters off the Sinai Peninsula. The Israelis hoped to pin the attack on Egypt. 34 men died and 172 were injured. Surviving crew members were immediately put under a gag order. To this day, Israel insists that the attack was a freak accident, a case of mistaken identity, that continued for more than an hour despite repeated distress signals from the disabled ship. To this day, many of the surviving crew members of the Liberty are house in England so that Russia would be further vilified? And never forget that the US warehouses the largest supply of chemical agents and nerve agents of any country in the world. Why do we find this necessary if we never plan to use the stuff? Again, look it up. Let me be clear, I'm not saying that this is what happened. I'm not saying that the US (or Brittain) created a “false flag” operation, implicating the Russians. But I am asserting that this is a distinct possibility. This is why people who are hard-core conspiracy theorists suggest government (deep state) collusion in the midst of so many tragedies. We've done it before. We could do it again. The attack on the Liberty: an example I'll make this as short as I can. On June 8, 1967, during the “6-day war” with Egypt, an unmarked Israeli fighter jet, along with several torpedo determined to prove that the attack was premeditated and deliberate. The evidence they have produced is all but insurmountable. But the cover-up continues. Why? Because the murderous raid happened at the hands of Israel. We never mess with the Israelis. The attack on the Liberty provides a glaring example of CONSPIRACY between the US and the Israeli governments, and their militaries. The media as co-conspirators Let's bring this full circle. Conspiracies, small and large, take place anywhere and often. In the case of the grandest conspiracies, the mainstream media participate in covering up, and refusing to properly investigate them, although they are often sometimes treasonous crimes. A personal example: During the US “secret” Contra war in Nicaragua (1981-89), an esteemed journalist for our most prestigious newspaper (the New York Times) told a photographer friend of mine that if he were to send home stories that reflected positively on the Sandinista government, or too negatively about the Contras (whom the CIA was secretly directing and funding), he would be given his walking papers. As bizarre as this may sound coming from an admittedly liberal perspective (mine), Trump has reason to speak, in some instances of the “fake media.” Since the orangehaired President seems to present a clear and present danger to our national interests, he is most likely correct in asserting—in so many words—that “the deep state is out to get him.” The “deep state,” those shadowy actors who control much of what goes on in our foreign and domestic policies can conspire against the right or the left. AND they control much of the mainstream media. They are known to have placed “gate keepers” in the employ of every major newspaper, magazine and news outlet in the US. These CIA or NSA people receive two paychecks for making sure that certain negative stories (about the deep state, for example) remain unreported. So they do a sterling job of keeping the lid on stories that might upset the system. Back to 9/11 Thus, regarding the greatest conspiracy of the 21st century— the 9/11 attacks, which killed three thousand people—the media have steadfastly refused to conduct any independent investigations of that monstrous event, or to probe the various cover-ups that continue to this day. Nor will the media provide any kind of forum for the thousands of patriots who have researched that event and would like to present their research to the public. Any call to reopen an investigation of the “crime of the century” goes unheeded and unmentioned. This should qualify as a “conspiracy of silence.” The truth about what happened on 9/11, cannot be exposed. It could destroy our nation's soul. Or as the New Yorker cartoon stated: What's the point of having a conspiracy if everyone is going to conspire against it? THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED --------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- �STREET VOICE No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 SOME EASY CHOICES 13 LIVING BY GOODNESS Each day God gives us life How merciful our creator Would you rather read about Springer Spaniels, He gives us a wonderful start Than Trump's escapades with Stormy Daniels? To live life with breath In our lungs and a beating heart Would you rather read a Shakespeare play, Living by goodness and by grace Than about the horrors of Scott Pruitt's EPA? Thank you God for another day Would you choose to hear real birds tweet, Living by goodness makes one feel good And thankful for Gods good grace Rather than to Trump's social media conceit? Would you rather talk to your neighbor's cat, Than to think about D.C.'s would-be autocrat? If you find these questions pose easy choices, Then you and I better raise our voices. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE PROTESTING HORSE WHO SAID THAT ANIMALS ARE NAIVE TO THINGS WITH THE HUMAN RACE? WHO SAID ANIMALS HAVE TO BE TAUGHT TO OBEY AND STAY IN THEIR PLACE? I SAY THAT THE ONLY DIFFRENCE BETWEEN PEOPLE AND ANIMALS IS WE HAVE A VOICE PEOPLE OFTEN TALK TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE WHILE ANIMALS LISTEN WITHOUT A CHOICE I BELIEVE ALL I SEE AND SOME OF WHAT I HEAR SO THEREFORE I KNOW WHAT'S BEST DO YOU BELIEVE I SAW A POLICEMAN SITTING ON TOP OF A HORSE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PROTEST? DO YOU BELIEVE THE POLICE WAS AGAINST THE PROTEST AND THAT MADE THE HORSE MAD? KNOW THE HORSE PASSED HIS BOWELS AT THE DOOR THE OFFICER WENT FROM HAPPY TO SAD SHOCK SWEPT IN THE CROWD AND I HEARD,"GET A PICTURE SEE THE HORSE NO THEY WRONG!” PROTESTERS STOPPED TO LOOK AND SHOUTED THE HORSE KNOWS AND STARTED SINGING A SONG AINT NO STOPPING US NOW, GOD IS ON THE MOVE, AINT NOBODY GONNA TURN US AROUND EVERYBODY HEARD COULD NOT DENY THAT THE HORSE HAD SPOKEN WITH A CLEAR SOUND!!!! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 149 Across 1. Hobble 5. Assist in wrongdoing 9. Saltwater fish 13. Musical instrument 14. Exists 16. Song 17. Animal hide 18. Decorating material 19. A small room 20. Make a great effort 22. Wild plum 23. In vigorous good health 24. Epoch 26. Fury 28. Dusk 33. Style of glazed earthenware 36. Unit of electrical resistance 37. Kind of fruits with hard rinds 39. Tooth 41. Harvest 43. Outstanding 45. Gown 46. Showing keen interest 48. Claw 50. Beer 51. Religious doctrine 53. Crazy 55. Parts of the Roman calendar 57. Insect 58. Dart 61. Stalk 64. Formerly a European gold coin 68. Parasitic insects 69. Path or track 71. A strong line 72. At a later time 73. Evergreen plant 74. Overt 75. Changed location 76. Melt 77. Following 2. Wild goat Down 1. Smooth gait 67. Collapsible shelter 3. Small burrowing mammal 4. Oceanic bird 5. Any high mountain 6. Prejudice 7. Malevolence 8. Singing voice 9. Unmarried man 10. Region 11. Part of a window 12. Brief occasion for buying at reduced prices 15. Lieu 21. Neat and smart in appearance 25. Highly excited 27. Jewel 28. Ripped 29. Cereal grass 30. Visual representation 31. Pain 32. Trample SODOKU PUZZLE NO 279 - MEDIUM 34. Drift 35. Furniture item 38. Open river valley 40. Tall woody perennial grass 42. Feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds 44. Burial chamber 47. Color 49. Requirement 52. Fractious 54. Nerve cell 56. Swagger 58. Defect 59. A telephone connection 60. Graphic symbol in computing 62. Apiece 63. Mineral 65. Manage 66. Peak 70. Jurisprudence PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 379 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 148 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 278- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 38 0 | A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 A p r i l 2 0 - M a y 3, 2 0 18 | N o . 38 0 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource April 20-May 3, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Issues Abound at the Faith Community alliance Annual Lunch and Awards Ceremony Pg 3: Do You Speak Like a Gentrifier? Pg 4: GCHC Pg 5: The “New Parish” In Cincy Red Bike Announces Equity Program Pg 6: GCHC Pg 7: Eisenhower’s Farewell Address Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: “Is Your Refrigerator Running?” Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: The Deep State Part II Pg 12: Dr. Mark Mussman Continued Jim Luken Continued Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 20-May 3, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Rev. Rich Jones Justin Jeffre Michael Earl Patton Saad Ghosn Jim Luken Kim Green Willa D. Jones Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Jubilee Campaign White House Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman Eisenhower FC Gentrification Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Jim Luken Josh Spring Jubilee Campaign Justin Jeffre Kim Green Michael Earl Patton Red Bike Religion Rev. Rich Jones Saad Ghosn White House Willa D. Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/bcdee635a53362987a94bf07c4e515ac.pdf d55ace1450abd31986bce10cd9361f26 PDF Text Text April 6th - April 19th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 8 (No. 379) advocating justice | building community Sorry, Not Today | 3 This Issue is sponsored by Bromwell's Harth Lounge INSIDE THIS ISSUE The 2018 Library Levy | 5 Commuity Addicts: Excerpts from a Conversation with Ann Livingston | 7 Religious Peacemakers: Adam Clark | 8 Affordable Housing In Louisville – Can It Work in OTR? | 11 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL From The Director: Jeff Berding, But Wait There’s More… W e have been partnered with many people who live in the West End including Residents of Stanley Rowe, Liberty Street Apartments, Parktown, Richmond Village, City West and more as well as several additional groups which include the NAACP, Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition, West End Community Church, Black Agenda, Jurisdiction-Wide Resident Advisory Board and the local chapter of National Action Network. Together we have been fighting former city council person and former Bengals employee, Jeff Berding and the organization he is currently president of, Futbol Club Cincinnati (FC Cincinnati) as they have tried to force a $250 million stadium into the West End. We are fighting this because experience tells us that if a $250 million, 25,000 seat soccer stadium is built in the West End, significant gentrification and thus displacement will follow. Displacement, in addition to being wrong in and of itself, leads to homelessness. FC Cincinnati, which is financially backed by Carl Lindner III, has used the same arguments A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 JOSH SPRING Executive Director gentrifying developers always use: we are trying to bring progress and revitalization, we will offer jobs, we care about the community, we will attract more people to come downtown and more people to come to Cincinnati in general, we will work with the neighborhood, this is a civicminded effort, blah, blah, blah. Their supporters have been in turn stating the same kind of pleas that come from the “money=good” book Berding and Lindner stand on. Among those arguments is the old argument that people and groups who are against the stadium are afraid of change and prefer the status quo. In fact, this has also been the argument of Mayor John Cranley. FCC supporters have also referred to this stadium as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for the West End and the City as a whole. Have you ever stayed up too late and watched one of those infomercials where they show you some gadget that looks really nice? They explain that there are a variety of tasks you need to be able to complete to have a good life and that this shiny new gadget will expertly Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition accomplish all these tasks with ease, but without it, you will remain troubled. If that were not enough, there’s more, you can get it for what they say is a generous price, if you act now! Sound familiar? If you have watched an infomercial it is familiar. This is also the same argument people like Jeff Berding, John Cranley and other developers use to try to sell us their products. Let’s break it down and look at how the claims of infomercial spokespeople are the (Continued on page 3) Reflections From The Front Lines of Public Education: Building Community At Gamble Montessori High School I n a period of government mandated testing and tragic shooting sprees at schools, how do teachers build communities of trust and a love of learning in their class rooms? At the March 29th Forum at Christ Church Cathedral, Jack M. Jose, Principal of Gamble Montessori High School, and Krista L. Taylor, Intervention Specialist at Gamble, addressed that question. Reflecting on their experiences at the High School, they conveyed the challenges, but they also told success stories of how education can be effective when a spirit of community and an atmosphere of trust exists for students. Jose and Taylor just published a book that focuses on their work at Gamble Montessori High School. "Angels and Superheroes" relates their efforts to provide students with "a compassionate education" in this era of teaching to the test. The Montessori philosophy and method offer a solid foundation for what Jose and Taylor are working to achieve in Gamble's classrooms, but the students that arrive there each year provide a multitude of 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------- BILL WOODS Contributing Writer Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. challenges. For instance, a high percentage of students who enroll in the seventh grade come to Gamble with no (Continued on page 7) CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Dick Croy, Jason Haap, Trenton Davis, Saad Ghosn, Jim Luken, Steve Sunderland, Stacia Hollander, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, C. Grabowski, Saad Ghosn, Bill Woods, Homeless Coalition --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �3 LOCAL Sorry, Not Today No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 W henever you pass someone on the street who is asking for help, what is your response? Do you stop to engage in a conversation? Do you have a quick one-line, like “Sorry, not today” or “God bless!” and keep walking? Do you reach into your pocket and find what change you might have? How we respond to panhandling is an important part of who we are. Our response is also a good indicator of the system of beliefs we hold. We recently did a speaking engagement with a group of adults at a local church. We love speaking at churches because it usually means the congregation is taking homelessness, and the eradication of it, seriously. Typically, we’ll meet after a service on Sunday, and give the speaker some time to tell their story, talk about solutions, and engage in questions. The questions can be very revealing. At this church, the questions were coming one after another, but one question really stood out: “How do you know who is worthy of your donation? I mean - if I see someone panhandling, how do you decide if you’d give them money?” This question is not very unique, but the DR. MARK MUSSMAN Staff Writer follow-up to our answer, was more telling than anything. The speaker, very succinctly, described the process of panhandling, the difficulties, the loss of self-respect, and the role of the passerby. If someone walking by makes eye-contact, and has a conversation, that is worth more than money at times. And the intent that you have, when you give someone a little change, is an intent of doing good… so let that intent be your purpose. Questioning how someone spends the money is actually very problematic. The woman’s response to the speaker was very interesting. She said she goes to Findlay Market with her husband pretty regularly. And almost every time, someone asks them for change. She assured us that she and her husband are willing to give, but they have a test. The husband takes the hand of the person who is asking for money and gives them a firm shake. If the hand is rough, she says, then the husband determines that the individual is willing to work and worthy of the donation, but if it’s soft, he won’t give them a dime. At that point, my heart sunk, and my mind started traveling in many directions: Why would someone do this? Is work a requirement for help? What if this is the first time someone had to ask for money? Whose job is it to judge someone’s worthiness? What is an appropriate response? I quickly gained my composure and asked the speaker, who had panhandled, to give their perspective without attacking the method. Of course, the speaker was able to handle the situation, but it is something that stood out in my head for the past couple of months. What kind of society do we live in that demands that not only people look needy enough to be granted help, but also that calluses on hands are a determinant of someone’s willingness to work? I have heard people say that if someone who is panhandling doesn’t look homeless, then they won’t give them any help. You do realize that most people who experience homelessness don’t “look” homeless? That society’s shame of homelessness creates a system where people work so hard to be not perceived as homeless? This is literally many people’s daily goal — to get through the day without being looked down upon for their circumstance. I guess it’s hard to say what the appropriate response is in this situation. Yes, the husband doesn’t ignore them, but he is still judging them. Being judged, whether you are without a home or not, is always a tough psychological situation to face. Once we break the dominant script around race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or home status, it’s very difficult to get that respect and understanding back. It’s important for us to use our knowledge of homelessness (and the other fights in which we are engaged) to be advocates for all, no matter how society judges them (or us, for that matter). If you’d like to gain more knowledge about Cincinnati’s AntiSolicitation Laws and Panhandling, please consider a Streetvibes Shadow Activity, featuring a Streetvibes Distributor and an opportunity to experience panhandling yourself. Contact me at MarkMussman@ CinciHomeless.org or visit our website http://cincihomeless.org and select Education. CUE Streetvibes Shadow with Lee McCoy, Streetvibes Distributor Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) same as FCC spokespeople: • Infomercial says: Your life needs to be better. Jeff Berding says: I care about you and for a long time West End Residents have dealt with poverty, lack of available employment and basic neighborhood necessities. • Infomercial says: We have a brand-new solution: Jeff Berding says: a shiny new stadium • Infomercial says: It will bring you options you don’t have now: jobs, tourists, increased property values, chidren’s soccer programming… • Infomercial says: We will give it to you at a generous price. Jeff Berding says: what we are offering to pay in property taxes to the School Board is more than enough, we even increased what we originally offered. • Infomercial says: We will work with you and guarantee our product. Jeff Berding says: we will agree to a community benefits agreement. • Infomercial says: If you act now you can get this once in a lifetime deal. Jeff Berding says: deadline to the School Board, deadline of time to decide site, deadline, deadline, deadline. Here is the thing, despite all the big talk, people with common sense tend to know they never needed the product the infomercial is offering to THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED begin with and while life may need improvements, the money-grubbing company behind the product isn’t going to bring those improvements but instead will just bring harm with future payments required on the product, etc. FC Cincinnati and Jeff Berding are trying to force the same thing and people of the West End know they never needed a damn soccer stadium! --------------------------------------- �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 �5 LOCAL The 2018 Library Levy No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 I t’s not your fault if you hadn’t heard about the additional tax levy for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County on the May ballot. If there are any campaign signs out there on this issue I haven’t seen them. News coverage has been almost nonexistent since the levy was placed on the ballot. Even when I searched on-line for additional information I found almost nothing. So I was very interested when EmpowerU (www. EmpowerUohio.org) announced that it was hosting a forum on the subject with speakers both for and against the levy. The levy would be added to the property tax bill. Currently there is a 1 mil levy that was renewed by the voters in 2013 for 10 years. The proposed levy would be for another mil, also lasting 10 years, and would overlap the present one. The present levy brings in about $17 million for the library and the proposed one would also, thereby doubling the amount that the library gets from the property taxes if it passes. A 1 mil levy translates to about $30 a year for each $100,000 of property value as assessed by the county auditor (I used my latest property tax bill to calculate this). This is, of course, if your property is not in a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district or does MICHAEL EARL PATTON Contributing Writer not receive an abatement. It is also important to keep in mind that the majority of funding for the library comes from the State of Ohio, that is, it is paid for through state taxes, not local ones. Ohio is almost unique in this regard. Hawaii is the only other state that provides the majority of the funds for local libraries. The first levy for the local library was passed by the voters in 2009 in the wake of reductions in state funding for libraries across Ohio. Elaine Fay and Libby Scott, both library employees, based the case for an additional levy on the widespread usage of the current system and the need to renovate the facilities in Hamilton County – there is a current need for $54 million. Seven of the branch libraries are over a hundred years old and 2 of them have never been renovated. Eight other branches have never been renovated and 6 branches are not handicapped accessible. There are almost half a million cardholders, 41 locations throughout the county, and a circulation of 19.8 million items. This is the second highest circulation of any library system in the country – only the New York Public Library has a higher circulation. The circulation is Public Library - North Building Credit: Michael Earl Patton I up 60% since 2000. The percentage of local funding is the lowest of any system in Ohio. The response was given by Matt Wahlert, a member of the North College Hill Council and a high school teacher. He stressed that he liked the library and think that the system is with the decision to keep the North building, which had been slated for sale to a developer. He questioned why the library could not charge out-of-county residents for library cards, which had been the practice in the past. He also said that the library is being used less and less by Hamilton County residents. While in 2013, 90% of county households had someone with a library card, today only 65% do. Sculpture of books in front of Main Branch Library Credit: Michael Earl Patton important. His argument was mostly based on the fact that the voters are taking the library’s word if they really need the additional levy. Unlike other levies, the library’s request does not go through the Hamilton County Tax Levy Review Committee. This is per the Ohio Revised Code – the county commissioners must place it on the ballot if the library requests a new tax. The review committee would normally go over the books of the institution making the request and determine if they had been spending money appropriately and if they do need the money. With the library they did not do this. There has been no independent review of the books. Mr. Wahlert pointed to building programs and upper management salaries as possible examples where the money might not have been wisely spent. He pointed out that the library built 3 new branch library buildings since 2008, in Clifton, St. Bernard, and Reading. They replaced “storefront” type branches, but were they really needed? He wondered if the levy was connected In the end, the decision on how to vote is based on criteria that are the most important to you. If you like the current library, trust its management, and want to see it upgraded and basically continue, then vote “yes” on May 8. If you think that it is important that there be more accountability for how tax money is spent regardless of how good the library is currently, then vote “no.” EmpowerU is a non-profit organization that offers short seminars on a diverse range of topics. A typical class is about 90 minutes. Many are held at a small studio attached to the FrameUSA warehouse on Northland Boulevard in Springdale. The classes are free and are supported by donations. I have attended several; this is the third one that formed the basis for one of my articles in Streetvibes. See www. empoerUohio.org for a list of classes and seminars. --------------------------------------- AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LOUISVILLE: CAN IT WORK IN OTR? s there a realistic way to provide additional affordable housing for residents being driven out of OTR by gentrification? My wife Joy and I became more aware of homelessness in Cincinnati after we were introduced by our friend Jim Luken to Josh Spring, DICK CROY Contributing Writer executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homelessness Coalition. And I was surprised by the number of buildings Josh said are vacant in OTR: currently over 250, according to Cincinnati Dept. of Buildings and Inspections records. Couldn’t some of these be renovated to help alleviate the loss of affordable housing brought about by gentrification? Having been impressed by an article in the Enquirer about a THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED developer in Louisville doing just that, committed to “giving back” in return for a privileged upbringing, I asked to interview him and find out how he was doing it. Gregg Rochman, 51, and I met at the Silver Dollar, a busy (Continued on page 9) �6 I LOCAL Circular logic loops keep going, and going, and going have long been fascinated by the evolution of the Energizer bunny, which represents for me a psychological phenomenon I see happening in other areas of public discourse. The Energizer bunny first appeared on American televisions in the late 1980's. Back then, the bunny was a toy that kept running long after other toys due to the fact it was powered by an Energizer battery. The catchphrase was that the Energizer bunny "kept going, and going, and going..." I remember being in middle school and seeing the commercials. Sometimes, they'd do multiple spots in a row: the first would show the bunny outlasting other battery powered toys, and then it would seem like a new commercial started, only to be interrupted by the bunny, and the never-ending phrase that it "kept going, and going, and going..." Somewhere along the line, however, a flip happened. Probably A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 JASON HAAP Contributing Writer in the 90's, the bunny started being put inside the battery - as if the unstoppable bunny is what gave an Energizer battery its power. This always fascinated me as it was a complete inversion of the original point. The bunny went from being powered by a battery, to powering the battery! A few weeks ago, when getting my haircut at the barber college, one of the younger students was talking about the phrase "type shit." If you don't hang around younger people, "type shit" has become a popular exclamation. It is a way to express sarcasm, or perhaps something derogatory, such as "President Trump is America's greatest president ever. Type shit." Originally, "type shit" was part of longer phrases. So, someone might say a talented person was "on some next level type shit," or that someone with bad body odor was "on some dirty diaper smelling type shit." In each of these phrases, everything before the word "shit" modifies it: in the first, the shit is of the "next level type," and in the second, the shit is of the "dirty diaper smelling type." Somewhere along the line, however, "type shit" became the object of the modification - so now people talk about "type shit" without any other modification. It makes me wonder "What type of shit?" Just like how I wonder what powers the Energizer bunny toy now that it's powering the Energizer batteries. The history of the phrase "fake news" reminds me of these examples, too. Originally, it meant exactly what the words mean - news that is not factually accurate. Now it is used as an insult for any news outlet that has an editorial bias with which we disagree. It seems like every source has a profile of citizens calling it "fake." It makes me feel like everyone is on some Energizer bunny type shit, stuck in a circular logic-loop. The problem is that so many people are stuck in these logic loops, no matter their political persuasions. Right now, there are homeopathy using, anti-GMO liberals who can't believe conservatives deny the science of global warming. There are conservatives talking about states' rights while opposing marijuana legalization. I know this kind of hypocrisy is nothing new, but I guess the example of the Energizer bunny spins it differently for me. Over time, when we lack collective memory, changing trends may bend back onto themselves in illogical ways, but this illogical thinking only manifests in the context of memory. If we forget the Energizer bunny was originally powered by batteries, then it makes sense for batteries to be powered by the bunny. This is how people end up praising the science they like, and opposing the science they don't as a conspiracy by Big Pharma, or something. Absent a long-term timeline, we narrow in on issues of the day through the lens of our ideology. That's some type shit right there. And it just keeps going, and going, and going... You can contact Jason Haap at jasonhaap@gmail.com Seeking landlords who accept Housing Choice (Section 8) Vouchers for efficiency and 1 bedroom apartments. Interested in developing a long-term relationship with ongoing tenant referrals. Please contact Alexis Aghotte at 513.446.7554 or aaghotte@ shelterhousecincy.org. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �JUBILEE CAMPAIGN Community Addicts: Excerpts from a Conversation with Ann Livingston No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 A nn Livingston is a community organizer from Vancouver, Canada. As a leader of “VANDU”, a community made for and by drug addicts, she has helped to galvanize and organize these people that are often labeled “unorganizable”. Ann joined Peter Block and John McKnight recently for a chat about her organizing work, and about how our culture demonizes, punishes, and casts away users of illicit drugs; even though, as a culture, we are users as well. To Ann, addicts cannot be looked at as simply someone to be fixed. She looks at the world in terms of people. Some “…people use drugs or they don't. When you can come to that place, then it allows you to work with people who use drugs and people who don't.” Ms. Livingston continues by saying, “[Drug addiction], it's a chronic, relapsing condition. For anyone who's ever stopped smoking cigarettes, when you are at that party and you have a drink and then you decide to bum a smoke off someone and smoke again, you don't announce to all your friends that you're now back to smoking. You just sneak that cigarette and you get right back to that nonsmoking business. I think that goes on with everyone who deals with addictions. It shouldn't cause shame. The problem we're having now is with Fentanyl in these drugs, they have that one little sneak and now they're dead. They're found dead. We're in a very difficult [situation], and it seems irreversible.” A stark point. I wake up every day with an energy drink infused with tea and caffeine. If I skip my caffeine and start my day, I end up with headaches. I’m an addict and so are most Americans. Abstinence from the activities that stimulate our day is impossible, and probably, unhealthy. In fact, recently, caffeine has been found to stimulate and open veins to allow blood to flow more freely and increase one’s lifespan. BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) previous Montessori experience. Without this background, they need time and assistance in adjusting to this different but effective method of education. When they arrive with negative attitudes and little confidence in their abilities to learn, trust building and connecting them to a classroom community is essential. Furthermore, approximately 70-percent of Gamble's students qualify for federal lunch assistance, and the High School also provides 7 TRENTON DAVIS Contributing Writer I used to get my caffeine from high sugar drinks like Mountain Dew. In fact, my whole family were users of caffeine. Then, my father was diagnosed with diabetes. Our addictions, when overused and combined with dangerous levels of other chemicals (in our case sugar), could seriously put our health to build an abundant community for addicts too. Instead, we’ve built an empire of reactive, hollow services to treat them. “It's exactly what goes wrong with services if they can't remember what they're doing. It's so important to know that you're saving lives, not building an empire, that you're saving Livingston: It’s getting worse Credit: C. Grabowski at risk. After the diagnosis, for a long while, I was abstinent from caffeine: assured that would solve my problem. However, I would relapse often. Luckily, I found a healthier alternative in tea, and I continue to cope. It’s incredible how similar the lives of caffeine, exercise, nicotine, or even heroin addicts are. For exercise addicts, society builds gym memberships. For alcoholics we have bars or, if you’re young like myself, we simply have ‘college’. Starbucks has made billions constructing the idyllic community environment for caffeine addicts. For drug addicts, what community has society provided? Jail and the alley. Ann Livingston calls for society lives, not making a living, that you're saving lives,” Ann says. She describes the cycle as: "’Come in here, do your drugs, overdose, I stab you with some Naloxone, your life is saved, I call 911, the ambulance comes,’ or whatever. You know, the great heroism of the emergency. Then just basically, you go back to the alley. You have no welfare, no housing, no belonging.” Through VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Abusers, addicts can form a structure of belonging. The planning for VANDU started in her home and after a while they created a harm reduction strategy which included a safe and clean drug injection site. As the community grew, Ann people in the these young people with breakfast. This high rate of poverty among the student body presents another series of challenges in terms of making education an important and positive experience in the lives of students who often confront daily hardships. At the Forum, Taylor and Jose presented several stories of young people who turned their lives around after reaching a trust level with teachers and experiencing community in the classroom. Gamble's field trips such as canoeing on the Little Miami River, according to Taylor, further promote team building and developing a love for learning beyond the classroom. Many of their examples of innovative approaches to education can also be found in their book. Both Jose and Taylor expressed frustration with the current public focus on mandated, annual testing of Public School students. Not only do the current tests fail to adequately measure the progress of students over time, but they often stand as road blocks to creating classroom experiences that fosters a love for learning. Accepting the necessity of some testing, Taylor and Jose stress the need for other ways to THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED network started projects to make the area better. Ann “realized people in the network would go from being someone who had no social status at all to a volunteer who was making the community a better place, and that is a very well-respected person, certainly in Canada and in Vancouver... by being connected to a group that accepts you, you just become a citizen who's engaged in the how to care for your neighbors. VANDU members may not even reduce their drug consumption, but, to Ann, that’s not the point: “One of the things that drug users do all day long, every day, is talk about drugs. In VANDU, they don't talk about that. They talk about the next meeting… I would say, if they're consuming the same number of drugs, they're doing it in a much more efficient way, because they have so much other stuff they have to do.” And the number of deaths has been significantly reduced. It is saving lives. Perhaps, in Ohio and in our nation, we need to take a serious look at Ann’s thoughts because: “surely we're not here just to save their lives over and over again while they live in an alley”. As an Ohioan whose friends and family have and do struggle with addiction, surely the alley isn’t the place for people. These are our neighbors. Though some are eventually able to leave the habit, many will not be fixed. For this group, they need to be organized and supported, made to feel powerful. In a recent study, researchers found that when comparing communities, “Ones that have a high amount of community associations and activities are places where people live longer, addicts or not. Communities with the associational activities, people die sooner. In the one where people live longer, it isn't because they improved their health habits; it is because they have overcome their isolation. Perhaps Americans need to be a certain kind of addict: Community addicts. --------------------------------------gage educational success. As to the current debate on arming teachers with guns or using airport safety check procedures to enter schools, the speakers find these proposals to be the antithesis of good educational environments. As one of Gamble's students declared: "We don't want schools to become maximum-security prisons." Jose and Taylor's articulate and passionate presentation left many of the Forum attendees hopeful about public education. "In this troubling and confusing time," noted one person, "that talk was a breath of fresh air." �8 RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS For Adam Clark, Professor of Theology, Doing God's Work Is Righting Relationships, Healing Brokenness, and Showing Solidarity with the Poor & Oppressed A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 "O ne candle can light thousands of matches," says Adam Clark, "and we have to let the light grow." Clark, a doctor in divinity and an associate Professor in the Theology Department at Xavier University, uses his Christian faith, along with his teaching and writing, to touch his students' and other peoples' lives; contribute to the Kingdom of God on earth by promoting justice, solidarity with the marginalized, the oppressed and the poor; and keep the light expanding and growing. Clark's influence is mostly through his academic activities, the courses he teaches, the lectures he gives to varying audiences, the books and articles he writes. Born in Newark, NJ, he grew up in Syracuse, NY, in a religious family, and attended regularly, with his parents, a liberal multiracial Episcopalian church. His faith from the start was a quiet one, not the proselytizing type, but one more about character formation. And from a young age, he had already many unanswered questions about the meaning of religion and the significance of life. For college he attended Colgate University, a small liberal art college in Hamilton, NY, where, thanks to his mentors, mostly African American priests, he became increasingly interested and involved in religion. These latter exposed him to Liberation Theology of which he had not heard before, helped him learn historical SAAD GHOSN Contributing Writer criticism, and connected his faith to the liberation of the oppressed, in particular that of black people. It was at a time when many social and political movements and events around the world and in the United States were dealing with the black "Struggle." And the antiapartheid movement in South Africa, the Hip Hop and Afrocentric movements in the United States, and the emergence of prominent black leaders such as Louis Farrakhan and Jessie Jackson on the US national scene, had a great influence on him. "In college, I did not need any more to put my mind at the door in order to believe with my heart," says Clark. "I learned how to synthesize and put a more rational approach to my religious faith. Being black and seeing so many wrong relationships due to race, Liberation Theology provided me with a framework to think, analyze and imagine what right relationships could be and how to get to them," he adds. Clark then started pursuing his spirituality rather then just an institutionalized faith, affirming it in his humanity, aiming at becoming more fully human, in tune with others, and this in the name of Jesus. He got also more involved in his school community, participating in various social justice activities. "I joined the gospel choir, connecting to others; and started a black male reading group, discovering seminal books we were not taught in class," he states. A Spiritual text Adam Clark likes to quote "Do you remember in the Book [Christian Bible] Jesus and his disciples were going through the hills and there appeared in the turn of the road a man who was possessed of devils as they thought. In the full moon when the great tidal waves of energy swept through his organism and he became as ten men . . . screaming through the hills like an animal in pain and then he met Jesus on the road. And Jesus asked him one question: “Who are you; what’s your name?” and for a moment his tilted mind righted itself and he said, “That’s it, I don’t know, there are legions of me. And they riot in my streets. If I only knew, then I would be whole.” So the burden of what I have to say to you is, “What is your name— who are you—and can you find a way to hear the sound of the genuine in yourself?” There are so many noises going on inside of you, so many echoes of all sorts, so many internalizing of the rumble and the traffic, the confusions, the disorders by which your environment is peopled that I wonder if you can get still enough—not quite enough—still enough to hear rumbling up from your unique and essential idiom the sound of the genuine in you. I don’t know if you can. But this is your assignment." Excerpts from "The Sound of the Genuine," Baccalaureate Address of Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman’s at Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, May 4, 1980. The chosen books related primarily to black issues and included, among others, Steven Biko's I Write What I Like, reflecting on the need for South African blacks, in order to be liberated, to unite and break their chains of servitude; The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon, the AfroCaribbean revolutionary psychiatrist, addressing the dehumanizing effects of colonization; and Price of the ticket, James Baldwin's commentaries Adam Clark on race in America. Clark also served as Residential Advisor for an African Americanthemed dormitory, catering for individuals interested in African American history and culture. This required on his part weekly programming and the planning of presentations and discussions relating to black matters. Working at the same time for the college cultural center, he was busy all the time. Clark's religious experience during college was decisive in the orientation of his faith toward social justice. He saw it through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and through the eyes of people ostracized all over the world. It was also instrumental in his choice of pursuing theological studies at Colgate Divinity School, a small Baptist-orientated seminary, in Rochester, NY. The years Clark spent there were mostly focused on academics, working hard to learn and to earn good grades, both for his graduation with a master’s in divinity degree and for his further enrollment in a doctorate program at the ecumenical Union Theological Seminary (UTC) in NYC. At UTC Clark was taught and mentored by influential and renowned Professors such as James H. Cone, the father of black theology. Cone had formulated a theology of liberation from within the context of the Black experience of oppression, and had interpreted the basic essence of the Gospels as Jesus' identification with the poor and oppressed, and the resurrection as the ultimate act of liberation. This resonated very much with Clark's ongoing understanding of Christianity and he wanted to Credit: Saad Ghosn learn more about the social justice militant movements going on at the time. He joined many Marxist groups, Malcolm X grassroot groups, Hip Hop and other underground movements going on in NYC, and participated in their membership and public activist meetings. Two issues were of particular interest then, the fight against white supremacy and the fight against aggressive capitalism; and how to resist them and come up with alternatives to them. Globalization, having already started, Clark perceived it as a globalization of capitalism and not of the good for everyone, also as suppressing solidarity movements across the globe, such as, for instance, between Palestinians and Blacks who, according to him, had a lot in common. Clark decided to use his divinity degree for the classroom instead of for ministry within the church. He accepted a teaching position in the Theology Department at Xavier University in Cincinnati where he delivers courses on Black Theology, Jesus and Power, Faith and Justice, (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 DICK CROY (Continued from page 5) upscale restaurant and bourbon bar in Louisville’s Clifton neighborhood – his first development, from a former fire station. Affordable housing isn’t the only area of expertise for this father of two teenage sons who grew up in New York, the son of a wealthy surgeon. He and his wife Maria Whitley, who runs a wellness studio offering early childhood music and movement as well as adult fitness, moved to Louisville 10 years ago to be part of a community that they and their sons could be part of. Vital Sites, originally the Louisville Preservation Fund, was established in 2014 as a nonprofit revolving fund focused on undervalued historic properties in Louisville. Its mission was to leverage resources from private developers, private landowners, and other nonprofits to formulate creative solutions for the reuse and preservation of historic structures.  Here’s how Gregg described his widening sphere of influence in Louisville: “All the real estate development I do is a bit of a mixed bag. I was hired for Vital Sites because of my experience doing adaptive reuse in antique buildings and restoring historic structures. Vital Sites’ first project was restoring five Victorian-era warehouse and merchandise buildings on ‘Whiskey Row’ in downtown Louisville which were threatened with imminent demolition.  “We know that reusing rather than demolishing older buildings is a powerful economic catalyst that can help knit our neighborhoods back together. So in another ongoing project, ‘East Broadway Row,’ five 1890 shotgun houses in a very busy neighborhood were essentially donated to Vital Sites by a company developing two large projects surrounding the shotguns. They needed someone to find a banking deal for the houses, work with the architects and the general contractor, get them completed and sold – to families rather than to absentee landlords. And our hope was to get some affordable housing funds so we could offer them to folks who are in that range of affordable housing needs. “Although we did not get funded in our ask, we do expect to have the ability to transfer historic tax credits to the purchasers of these houses. In essence, they will be more affordable than if we did not have that, but we will end up selling them at market rate because of where the neighborhood is. “The idea is to essentially make the funds that Vital Sites has revolve so we can do this again and continue to save some of these beautiful, old, historic structures from being demolished. This will serve as an example of how developers can work cooperatively with property owners and nonprofits. It will give us a basic NATIONAL operating procedure to replicate this model on similar undervalued and at-risk historic structures. Historic preservation allows the story of our community to continue into the future while paying homage to the past.” Despite the best of intentions and a promising business plan, affordable housing is hard to come by. I asked Gregg whether he sees gentrification as a problem in Louisville. “Yes. I wish I understood what the formula for resolving it is better than I do because people ask me this question all the time. They think I should be an expert in it and I don’t think anybody is. Gentrification is definitely a problem for some people while the idea that it’s bad vehicles that will come and say, ‘It can happen.’” I asked Gregg to walk me through how this non-Section 8 project will be structured. (Essentially Section 8 authorizes the payment of rental housing assistance through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to private landlords on behalf of low-income households.) “A small portion of the total amount of the development project is being forgiven. A portion of the development cost is being funded at a very reasonable rate, and then the banks will fill in that gap with a more traditional type of loan. It’s really that simple. It’s those three layers that can make it happen. And we’re building for a community is offensive to other people. I think it’s very difficult to understand, and it has a lot to do with multiples: a smaller neighborhood has a larger fear of gentrification than a neighborhood with multiple acres and thousands of vacant and abandoned and under-utilized structures. “Right now there is a project we are working on in the heart of Portland, probably the largest neighborhood in Louisville, where we are building 24 brand new apartment units. And they will be in the affordable housing sort of range. We are super excited about it. We’ve been working on getting this off the ground for 3 1/2 years. Literally, like bang your head against the ground –that’s what it’s like. Some people in the neighborhood are very concerned that this is not going to be a very good idea. Other folks are very excited that it’s happening. And that dialogue is really important. “I welcome it even though it’s challenging for me to be in the middle of it. I don’t like to be in the middle of these meetings. I actually like to do things. The organization that I am bringing to the table with two partners is called Urban Acupuncture, and we’re in partnership with two other very experienced development firms. The three companies will be the developers who have finally figured out how to make this thing happen. We expect this to be a proof of confidence, if you will, for other developers and other financial as affordably as possible so the units will seem small for folks around here, but I’m originally from New York and they’re large from my experience in city dwelling there. “They’re a little over 1,000 sq. feet, a decent amount of space for two bedrooms. The two- bedrooms will have one bath; three-bedrooms will have two. They’re going to be beautiful, all brick. One concern that the neighborhood had was they wanted to match some of the existing architecture. There will be a lot of green space. Rents will be in the $750 - $820 range.” I asked him how as a developer he evaluates a potential project. “You kind of know a deal is going to be good for a couple of reasons. You can walk into the building and have a sense of its quality and perhaps a sense of what it can be used for. If it’s a single family shotgun house, for example, it’s obvious what the use is going to be. When we did our first one nine years ago – I think we bought it for $19,000 and put $95,000 into it – it’s probably only now that if we were selling, we would actually make a profit on it. “The next couple we did better. We did smarter, took less money to renovate them and get them ready for use by a family or business. I have a pretty good idea how to do it now because I’ve done it a bunch of times and I can walk into a building and see if it’s worth it. What can I not spend money on here and what do I have to spend money on here. Get a gut THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 9 feeling and calculate on the back of an envelope and then decide whether I want to pursue the project further. If we decide to move forward we have to look at the economics. Most of the time the deal will grow in value over time, not quick profit. You need to be patient.” When East Broadway Row really takes off and it’s not as glamorous as other things he and Vital Sites are doing, would he be willing to do this type of development again? “I expect to do this a lot. This is the first multi-housing project I’ve worked on so I have tons to learn and I’m learning from some of the best people around here how to do it. I’m fortunate, super fortunate to have that opportunity. And, yeah, I would like to be involved in all kinds of different real estate. I’d like to build an office tower some day. I would like to build a bunch of tiny houses on a communal farm in the middle of nowhere where people are completely self-sufficient. There’s nothing I’m not interested in doing and that’s part of my problem: I don’t know when to say no…easily. “I have the good fortune of having a bunch of people I can ask that enjoy working with me and I enjoy working with them, and they will take a look and tell me if I’m crazy or not. Frequently I might be a little bit crazy. If I’m really crazy and it’s an absolute no, they will tell me. But a little crazy is the opportunity. And I don’t mean that from just a financial standpoint but also from a community-growing standpoint, a relationship-building standpoint. Look where we’re sitting now. This was an empty and abandoned building, a historic building. And now this strip of the neighborhood has some of the greatest stuff going on in it because we took a risk, all of us, the whole group of us.” You would-be developers and community leaders might ask whether Gregg Rochman’s experience in Louisville has anything to teach us about how we might help balance the current gentrification of OTR with more affordable housing for current and former residents. Could this possibly improve the quality of life for those living, playing and working there? I’m sure Gregg would be pleased to share what he’s learned and is still learning. Recently featured in the USA Today video series I Am an American to introduce its audience to “an exceptional American who is making a difference to unite, rather than divide, our communities,” he had this to say: “Currently Americans are divided from each other. We cast a blind eye to senseless violence, we do not do everything in our power to house the homeless and feed the hungry, to support each other with the goal of betterment for all, even though it’s always within our reach. We should be ashamed. I am – but I’m trying to make a change, and we all can. We’re capable of anything.” �10 LOCAL A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL The Deep State Part I Tails wagging dogs, big and small No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 A few months ago, one of the cartoons in the weekly New Yorker magazine was a drawing of two scruffy-looking guys sitting at a bar. One is angry as he says to the other: “What's the point of having a conspiracy theory if everyone's going to conspire against it?” I cut that cartoon out, and it sits here on my desk, annoying me every time I glance its way. Why? Because I am a true believer in many conspiracies, and I'm in no way ashamed to say so. Some six years ago, I wrote a series of essays for this paper about conspiracies related to a variety of topics, The JFK assassination, of course. Also, about Martin Luther King, the fluoridation of our water, and… The day that changed everything My favorite conspiracy, which I researched for years and wrote a full length play about (as well as a short film script and a radio play) had to do with the events of 11 September, 2001. Yes, dear readers, I remain convinced that what happened that day, “the day that changed everything,” were perpetrated by a cabal of operatives within what is now known as the Deep State of the United States. More on that later. But for now, regarding 9/11, it is manifestly clear that it was an inside job, that we did it. 9/11 happened because an elaborate, ultra-secret element of top-ranking traitors from every level of our national-security state planned and perpetrated it, then—even more elaborately—covered it up. This writer is anything but alone in my convictions about 9/11 “truth.” Thousands of architects, engineers, pilots, ex-CIA people, ex-military, scientists and academicians from all over the world have signed on publicly, officially, forcefully, insisting SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) Religion and Hip Hop. His aim is to educate students in both the service of faith and the promotion of justice, and to light up candles wherever he can. This is where he sees his main contributions. "Teaching and doing the work of scholarship takes a lot of time," he says, "and one cannot, at the same time, engage the world by leading movements or being out on the streets, immersed in grassroots..." Clark also tries to introduce spiritual practices in the lives of his students, not only training them into academics. He would like them to discover contemplative traditions, get in touch with what's happening inside 11 JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer that what happened that day was “an inside job.” Many did this at the risk of their jobs and reputations. Some paid with their lives. There is even a huge group which names itself “Patriots for 9/11 Truth.” Look it up. [Or, simply go to You Tube and search: [Retired General Stubblebine “Oh, my God.” A true patriot, Stubblebine's credentials are impeccable. His 15 minute video chat will convince almost anyone.] Here let me provide a short list of recent local conspiracies. 1) I believe that there was a conspiracy involved in the way the obvious murder of Sam Dubose by UC police officer Ray Tensing was handled. The same type of conspiracy takes place regarding virtually every murder committed by uniformed police officers across the United States. There is an almost conspiratorial rule: Even in the most obvious of cases, cops will not be convicted of a crime. I have a friend who is a high-ranking officer in the Canadian Mounties. He told me that Mounties who committed such obvious crimes, like the Dubose killing, would be out of a job in short order, and usually convicted and jailed. Canadian deaths at the hands of police are minimal compared to those in the US. 2) I believe that there was a conspiracy involved in the way Western-Southern, and its CEO, John Barrett, gained possession of the Anna Louise Inn, an historic refuge for poor women in Cincinnati for more than 100 years. That landgrabbing crime should never have happened. 3) I believe that there is an ongoing conspiracy as 3CDC continues to manipulate real estate in OTR, so that the poor are being systematically displaced from the neighborhood where their families have lived for generations. 4) There was also a conspiracy in the way an entire north wing of the downtown public library was being sold to 3CDC for a proverbial song...without community input. Fortunately, that conspiracy was unraveled in time, because angry citizens found out in time, although a primary whistle-blower lost her job. 5) Here is a Cincy miniconspiracy. But it affects hundreds and hundreds of our city's homeless and poor. When the downtown area was “renewed,” one facet of that renewal involved hundreds of new park benches. Nice. But each of the new park benches contains an “armrest” built in the very middle. This armrest all but prevents tired or homeless people from sleeping on the them, develop their whole person and become better human beings. This would help them function more effectively in the world, using not only the intellectual but also the practical dimension of their Christian faith. In the community, Clark has lent his support to social justice movements as they progress. He participated in Black Lives Matter seeing it as a faithful resistance to the unjust powers, and as a means to right the wrong relationships affecting the black community. He directed a 6-week contemplative group at the Hive in Northside (a place where community and contemplation meet), considering the role of the Inner Life in the struggle for freedom, through the writings of civil rights icon Howard Thurman. He also gave presentations at Abundant Community on slavery, poverty, consumerism and on the Jubilee idea and how it brings us to the intersection of the Bible and economics. Being Christian, for Clark, is not only to accept something that happened 2000 years ago on the cross, but more importantly to focus on the entire life and message of Jesus, and to try to establish the kingdom of God on earth, making the conditions on earth reflect those in heaven. "The good news Jesus gave the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed of this world, is that the kingdom of God is at hand, among us, and that we're all invited to participate in it," says Clark. When asked about his religious affiliation he says that he is a Christian Conspiracy theory 101 But in this piece, I want to discuss “conspiracy theory” more generally. I don't need to tell you that those two words are maligned by politicians and the news media on an all-too regular basis. “Oh, that's another wacky conspiracy theory.” Perhaps as you began reading this piece, you were thinking that the writer must be a nut. I congratulate you for continuing to read. By the end, I hope you see that I am relatively sane and fairly well-informed on the subject. The technical definition of a conspiracy theory is: “a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” That's from Mr. Webster. I like it, because it contains nothing negative about we believers. Nor does it suggest that all conspirators were/are doing something unlawful, or illegal, although that is usually the case. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED benches. Is there anyone out there who could be convinced that these “armrests” were simply installed by accident. No, the planners conspired to have the city buy benches like these. Their conspiracy could not be considered a crime, but it nonetheless seems almost criminal. The Deep State Now let's go back to those larger conspiracies that occur on the national and international playing fields. Frankly, the more we hear Donald Trump say there was “no collusion” (i.e., conspiracy) with the Russians, the more most of us are convinced there was. Trump has also made reference to a term that seems new to most of us: the deep state. Although the term has come to wider and wider use in recent years, the “deep state” has been around for a long time. There is evidence that Russian operatives, and probably the Russian government was involved in ruining Hillary's chances in the 2016 election, and bringing the Donald to power. If so, Russia's “deep state” was involved. It has lately been revealed that another element was involved in unlikely Trump's rise to power, a corporate version of the deep state. A company called Cambridge Analytical secured the personal data related to 50 million Americans and sold it the Trump Election committee. That, my friends, is a huge conspiracy, both evil and illegal. We Americans have such short memories. In the hubbub surrounding Russia's attempt to manipulate the recent election, we seem to have forgotten that the American “deep state” had been undermining elections in countries all over the world for decades, centuries even. (Continued on page 12) with no denominational loyalty. He right now attends the New Prospect Baptist Church in Roselawn where he responds strongly to the ministry of its pastor. Clark sees his future in continuing to develop his intellectual projects and to make a difference by his teachings and writings. He would like also to frame the debate about issues of religion and faith and disseminate his thinking and his message by all possible means. But what remains the most important to him is that he contributes to peace and justice on this earth, because, as he says, for him "Christianity is about healed brokenness and right relationships in God's kingdom." --------------------------------------- �12 STREET VOICE WHY IS CANCER MORTALITY SO HIGH FOR MINORITIES IN CINCINNATI PART 6: FACING CANCER ALONE IS SCARY AND UNNECESSARY I ntroduction: In this series of articles we have maintained that the mortality rate for minorities in Cincinnati is so high largely because minorities are invisible in terms of their health needs, hospitals and physicians are underprepared for treating large numbers of new patients who are poor, and there is a lack of kindness toward those in greatest need. In this article, we explore some of the realities facing low income citizens as they think about their health and especially about cancer treatment. 2. Navigating the Cancer Health System: Thinking that you may be receiving a diagnosis of cancer is often overwhelming. Few people imagine that they can cope with the words coming from a physician that indicate cancer is present. The anticipation of an emotional weight of a cancer diagnoses is very heavy, often drowning out the capacity to think forward to the necessary next steps. People who have a doctor may have the same emotionally paralyzing response as those without a regular relationship with a physician. Facing the reality of cancer can be a lonely and frightening experience, and bring the person a realization that critical decisions, perhaps life enhancing ones, may have to be made rapidly. Often, a person believes that there are more important priorities than their health such as employment challenges, family crisis, or personal safety issues. Our organization, the A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 STEVE SUNDERLAND Contributing Writer Cancer Justice Network, knows that a Navigator can be critical at this stage to assist in the overcoming of the chief obstacles to finding out about cancer: fear of death, terror of unexpected expenses, and horror about expected pain as a result of the cancer. 3. What a Navigator Can Do to Promote Screening for Cancer: Our Navigators are placed at dinners and other meetings like health fairs. Navigators are introduced as a free resource to assist anyone with concerns that they may have cancer. We meet people where they are in their fears. Sitting down over dinner, we discuss a three-step process for finding and treating cancer: Step One: Being accompanied to a screening: The Navigator explains that early detection can result in stopping cancer as it begins to grow. Our Navigators will go with the person to a health center or a screening agency. We will assist in setting up an appointment, overcoming travel obstacles, and sit with the person and their family at the time of the exam. Step Two: The Navigator will assist with obtaining insurance, financial aid, or finding out if all experiences with health care are covered by Medicaid. The Navigator will check these details before the visit for the exam and clarify any financial responsibilities. Usually, most health services are completely covered by Medicaid. Step Three: The Navigator will accompany the person when the results of the test are to be shared. If cancer is present, the Navigator will assist the person, if needed, in understanding the kind of cancer and the alternatives for treatment. The Navigator will also assist the person if a second opinion from another physician is desired. Often, there are many ways of working with the cancer and it is helpful to hear from different physicians abut alternatives. 4. Navigators Insure a Kind Process: Our Navigators are aware of many of the obstacles that block a person from taking the steps to find out about cancer. Too often, people have had little education about preventing cancer or even some real description about how cancer works in the body. Many people do not know what to do or who to ask about taking the important medical steps. Even if some people are aware, they are afraid of moving forward due to their past experience with cancer in their families: a cancer diagnosis has meant a “death sentence.” Other people have been overwhelmed by the healthcare experience: going to the hospital has been humiliating and a largely negative event. Hospitals are big, access is confusing, and there is the sense that there isn’t anyone who can explain the ways to obtain correct care. Our Navigators are oriented to create a kind process, a way of working with a person to gain their trust and confidence so that the experience of going for an exam is a positive one. Together, the person and the Navigator go to the hospital or health center and go through the entry as a team. Navigators, by their presence, reduce some of the fear and increase the confidence of the person that they are in a caring experience. 5. Navigation can be the critical factor in reducing mortality: We have seen the smiles on the faces of people following an exam and finding out that they do not have cancer. Their fears have been removed and many people sense that they can face life knowing their health is free of cancer. Other smiling people we meet are those who have had their cancer caught and stopped. Being a cancer survivor is becoming somewhat common within the low-income population and often people approach us with their stories of gratitude. As Navigators, we work for more people who can be happy as they are assured that they do not have cancer or that they have been lucky to get successful cancer treatment. Yet, we still face a generalized fear of finding out about cancer from many of the people we meet at health fairs, dinners, or clinics. The Cancer Justice Network is looking to meet people who want to take the steps to a happy health result. Please call us at 513.404.3882. Teaching Kids About being Homeless J ust a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go and speak to kids about being homeless. The kids asked Ms. Mona and I questions about how the people experiencing homelessness are hated in our society. Most of these JIM LUKEN (Continued from page 11) Example: In 1953, the elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddagh was overthrown, permitting the return of the Shah of Iran to power. Those who, for years, insisted that the CIA and other international actors were involved in the coup d'etat were often labeled “conspiracy mongers.” Several years ago, in the face of mountains of evidence, the CIA finally admitted: “Yes, we done it.” And yes, it was all STACIA HOLLANDER Contributing Writer and Streetvibes Contributor questions had me in shock. I didn’t expect kids that young to show such great interest in the homeless. Our homeless rate is 16% and rising. The average age for a child to be homeless is 9 years old. My experience is that it is not easy. It takes a rough toll on me in many ways. I would love to be more involved with the Homeless Coalition. The staff are great. I hope to work there one day. about oil. Political and religious chaos has ensued in Iran. We continue to pay the price for our conspiratorial skullduggery to this day. Additionally, our “deep state” has had no qualms about assassinating left-leaning heads of state who refused to do the bidding of “greatest country in the history of the world.” Some of their names: Allende in Chile, Arbenz in Guatemala, Sandino in Nicaragua. There were many CIA attempts to do in Cuba's Castro. There were others. Probably many of them. Once the “deep state” got away with killing Kennedy, the evil underbelly of our system has felt no compunction about killing those who, like MLK and RFK, were fighting to create a more just system in these United States. I believe that the CIA killed the liberal senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone, by downing his plane. The same for the death of JFK's son, John-John, who’s plane went down of a clear night flying off Nantucket in good weather with his new wife. John junior had been making moves toward becoming a politician. He THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED might have used the Kennedy name, and his considerable charisma, to make his way to the top, to the presidency. Do I have proof of this? No. Nor will I involve myself in trying to prove his death was at the hands of the CIA, and the “deep state”. There are others who are working on this. You could look it up. But John Jr.'s suspicious death moves me toward my main argument. To be continued. [Editor’s note: Look for part II in the next issue. Thank you for reading Streetvibes.] STA HOLLA SINCE �No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 STREET VOICE CRYING RAIN Looking out the window The rain is falling hard, and fast There are intervals of thunder Slashing ever so often And then it suddenly stops Until the next thunder slash appears It lets you know that God is, near So take heed Listen to his might Because thunder and rain, Will, be coming KIM GREEN Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THANKS FOR MARCH MADNESS How do you define the word "gladness?" Does it make you think of March Madness? Basketball is an escape for you and me, From the daily news about Trump in D.C. So, for our annual multi-game immersion, Thanks NCAA for this healthy diversion. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer 13 MY FATHERS HOUSE In my father’s house there are many mansions Many mansions, with many rooms to rest and pray in In good times, in bad times, day, night, sleep or wake times All the time I spend in my father’s house cause his house is mines When I was homeless, a drunkard, a drug addict and all alone I found much comfort and peace just praising him in song When I was hungry, hair nappy, dirty and smelling, really bad I held onto my sanity, when my belief in prayer was all I had As in any house with rules, my father has commandments of ten Even though I would make mistakes, I’d always repent of my sins And ask for forgiveness with the understanding to make a change A change for the best so there would be no more fear or pain Taking what each day brings and pray and always believe Having faith to know that my father’s will is best for me While searching for God’s love, wisdom and understanding I came into the realization of just what my heart was demanding I began to go to church to learn more about my father’s house I found peace and my soul was saved I could finally announce I learned that there is a place in my father’s house for everyone The young, the old, the lost and the sick at heart and mind I learned the mistakes I’d made were all of one kind I understand today that we must learn from the mistakes we’ve made And know only by the grace of God can our souls be saved So, won’t you come visit in the house of my father Learn the bible and know that with my father there is no other Take your time and search your soul to truly find yourself An understand that in our father’s house is where we’ll be forever safe with plenty of help WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 148 Across Down 1. Banquet 1. A notable achievement 6. Man or boy 2. Every one considered 9. Theatrical equipment individually 13. Planet 3. Showily imitative 14. Frozen water 4. Tale 15. Throw with great effort 16. Performer 17. Type of fish 18. Avid 19. Gland near the base of the neck 21. Deluge 23. Edible tuber 24. Rural deity (Roman Mythology) 25. Buddy 28. Starchy tuberous root 30. Serving of drink drawn from a keg 35. Turns litmus paper red 37. Percussion instrument 39. Pertaining to hearing or the ear 40. Relatively many 41. Long past 43. Nobleman 44. Attempted 46. Bowling alley 47. A score of zero in tennis 48. Main course 50. Requirement 52. A great distance 53. Hit 55. Flop 57. Taxonomic group 61. Ancient Egyptian tomb 65. Overhang 66. Golfing term 68. Dodge 69. Broker 5. Pharynx 6. Prevaricated 7. Playing card 8. Greek letter 9. Juicy fruit 10. Fury 11. Kitchen appliance 12. Sauce 15. Rupture 20. Adult insect 22. Not at home 24. Candy 25. Adhesive material 26. Fruit of the oak 27. Boundary 29. A list of names SODOKU PUZZLE NO 278 - MEDIUM 31. Draw 32. Factual evidence 33. Immature form prior to metamorphosis 34. Senior 36. Cervid 38. Segment of DNA 42. Impoverished 45. Abstain 49. Female sheep 51. Compulsory force 54. Poplar tree 56. Crane 57. Scorch 58. Part of a book 59. Fifty-fifty 60. Fractional monetary unit 61. Front part of a vessel 70. Self or aircraft 71. Move sideways 62. Constructed 72. Let for money 63. Not in active use 73. At present 64. Abstruse 74. Sharply sloping 67. In the past PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 378 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 147 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 277- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 37 9 | A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 A p r i l 6 - A p r i l 19, 2 0 18 | N o . 37 9 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource April 6-April 19, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Reflections from the Front Line of Public Education Pg 3: Sorry, Not Today Pg 4: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 5: The 2018 Library Levy Pg 6: Circular Logic Loops Keep Going, and Going, and Going Pg 7: Community Addicts Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Dick Croy Continued Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: The Deep State Part I Tails Wagging Dogs, Big and Small Pg 12: Why is Mortality so High for Minorites in Cincinnati Part 6 Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 6-April 19, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Michael Earl Patton Dick Croy Jason Haap Trenton Davis Saad Ghosn Jim Luken Steve Sunderland Stacia Hollander Kim Green Willa Denise Jones C. Grabowski Saad Ghosn Homeless Coalition Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Bill Woods C. Grabowski Cancer Cincinnati Dick Croy Dr. Mark Mussman education GCHC Homeless Coalition Jason Haap Jim Luken Josh Spring Kim Green Library Louisville Michael Earl Patton Over-the-Rhine Religion Saad Ghosn Stacia Hollander Steve Sunderland Trenton Davis Willa Denise Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/e1de4f5d94a85606c994e613f396ef48.pdf ad5b819b285129e503cfee4a029ea6d1 PDF Text Text March 23rd - April 5th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 7 (No. 378) advocating justice | building community A Natural Path For Peace and Justice: Sister Alice Gerdeman | 8 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE Eyes On The City | 3 Parking and the Stadium | 7 Chess Players Pushed Out | 9 United Nations Report: US Has the Wealth to End Homelessness| 6 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL Coalition Against an FC Cincinnati Stadium in West End C incinnati’s history is that of repeated displacement of Black People and People with low incomes. This has been a constant effort by primarily white, wealthy people to possess, control and sell neighborhoods to other wealthy white people. Increasingly, individuals and companies are attempting to take the model of gentrification and displacement of people from Overthe-Rhine to more neighborhoods, including West End. We are collecting petition signatures, have flyered thousands of doors and made hundreds of phone calls. At every community meeting nearly every Resident in attendance and all organizations standing with them have vehemently told FC Cincinnati to stay out of West End. West End Resident, Earnestine Hill said, “Black Folks with low incomes have been lied to many times in West End and across this city. Big developers make their sales pitch, make their money, and we’re left with nothing but shattered dreams. I’m tired of the lies. I’m tired of their fast money. It is never a win-win. Their winning requires our losing. M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 JOSH SPRING Executive Director We are fighting to stop this”. Ethel Black, says, “I have lived in West End for 35 years. I have raised five kids and one grandson here. It’s the only neighborhood my grandson knows. These developments lead to displacement and we don’t want to be displaced. My grandson’s school is right here. He attends the squash academy in the neighborhood and he is earning scholarships in the neighborhood. We will not be moved.” We have not relented in telling every decision-making body to say no. The School Board has now demanded that FC Cincinnati pay their “fair share” of property taxes toward our children’s’ education, something FC Cincinnati has said they are not willing to do. “We were taught to NEVER let anyone make a decision for you, about you, without you. We will be here until the end of the WAR,” says West End Resident and Liberty St. Apartments Resident Association Vice President Contina Davis. We demand that FC Cincinnati cease its pursuit of West End and Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition publicly state that they have will stop trying to force themselves on West End Residents. Further, we demand that the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education officially end conversation with FC Cincinnati. This is not simply a political struggle, this is having real affect on the lives of West End Residents right now. This is keeping people awake at night, fearful of what the future could hold for they, their neighbors and their children. It is past time to end this conversation. “The West End Community does not (Continued on page 3) WHY CITIZENS NEED TO LEARN ABOUT ISSUE I ON THE MAY 8TH BALLOT BILL WOODS Why are reformers championing Issue I on the May 8th Primary Ballot? Camille Wimbish, Director of the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition, addressed that question at the Community Issues Forum at Christ Church Cathedral on March 15th. She first explained the quick turn around of the Ohio General Assembly in early February that produced Issue I. Because Ohio possesses extremely gerrymandered Congressional Districts, a citizen-based initiative was organized in 2017 to place an Ohio Constitutional Amendment proposal before the voters. Wimbish described how the Fair Districts/Fair Elections Coalition drafted a proposal and put together a statewide campaign that began collecting signatures in late May last year. This all volunteer effort proved highly successful, and by the beginning of 2018, it was well on the way to obtaining enough voter signatures to qualify its proposal for the November Ballot. Aware of the momentum of this initiative and also aware of the growing interest nationally in redistricting Contributing Writer reform, members of the Ohio General Assembly decided to get involved. At first, reform leaders, according to Wimbish, were wary that Republican legislators would write a proposal merely to sabotage real reform. In fact, the Coalition told supporters to tell their representatives to either put the citizen initiative on the ballot or to oppose an alternative plan. Influenced by citizen support for redistricting reform, a group comprised of both Republican and Democratic members of the Legislature cobbled together over the first weekend of February a proposal that passed both Houses of the General Assembly by nearly unanimous votes. This proposed Congressional Redistricting process, now known as Issue I, confronts Ohio voters in May. Wimbish acknowledged that Issue I is not perfect, but it would essentially eliminate the one party gerrymandering of Congressional Districts in Ohio. Drawing Congressional District maps would still be in the hands of Ohio House members, but half of the Representatives from both the Republican and Democratic Parties must approve the final results. If adopted, the proposed Amendment invites the public to submit redistricting plans, and at least two public hearings must take place before the General Assembly approves the final maps. Issue I also includes language about drawing compact districts with minimal splits of counties and cities. Wimbish noted that the Coalition will continue to collect signatures for its citizen initiative just in case Issue I fails at the polls. Nevertheless, it's major energy now goes toward organizing grassroots support for the May 8th Ballot Issue. Pointing to her power point picture of Ohio's current Congressional Districts, she exclaimed it was time to get rid of our highly gerrymandered districts such as "the snake on the lake," a weird district that connects part of Toledo and Cleveland. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Peter Block, Jim Luken, Adam Sennott, Michael Earl Patton, Patricia Patton, Saad Ghosn, Thomas L. Lynn Jr., Stacia Hollander, Cleo Wombles, Lee McCoy, Kim Green, Willa Denise Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Dr. Mark Mussman, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, Adam Sennott, Office of UN Special Rapporteur report, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �3 LOCAL Eyes On The City No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 H DR. MARK MUSSMAN ow often to you get the opportunity to see your city through someone else’s eyes? I have the privilege to do this several times a year through our Cincinnati Urban Experience (CUE) at the Homeless Coalition. Throughout the week, I guide university students through a series of educational and service activities to help them understand how they can get involved in their own community. So far this month, Southern New Hampshire University and University of Vermont have been reflecting on what we’ve revealed to them about our city. Here Staff Writer the prevalent racism in the Cincinnati Police Department, which was subject to a recent report by the City Manager, confirming what many of us have known for years — Cincinnati police officers suffer from extreme bias against the black community. While this could be shocking to some, what was more impactful for me was how almost every speaker also said that the city itself is racist, and that times haven’t changed too much for our black brothers and sisters. CUE participants, who are here for their Alternative Spring Break, are exposed to many aspects of of black communities. Our willful participation in redlining. Our refusal to address racism head-on. Our inability to foster a public service that is fair and serves all of the public. These are all markers in our racist city. — it’s about the collective power that SNCC, the NAACP, CORE, and other groups did to create systems change. Harriet Tubman did not exist in a vacuum. So, while leaders come and go, organizations and movements (like the abolitionist movement) need the aid of all people, using all of their talents, and working within specific roles. Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati, Wage Theft and Worker Right's History at the Interfaith Worker's Center Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Vermont students Shadow Streetvibes' Distributor Lee Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Streetvibes Editor Justin Jeffre Demonstrates the Challenges and Success of the Paper Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Solitary Confinement and Dealth Penalty Session at the IJPC Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman are some of the major themes. 1. Cincinnati is racist. From the top down, everyone is impacted by racism in Cincinnati. At City Hall, during the public input session before the Council meeting, person after person got up and talked about JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) want the devastation the proposed stadium will bring to our front doors. Please not only listen but hear us say Cincinnati’s racism heritage. From Bucktown to the West End and everything in between, the plight of the African-American in Cincinnati is a direct result of the commonly held racist beliefs in Cincinnati. Our neighborhood, school, and church segregation. Our extermination NO stadium in the residential heart of West End”, said Marsha Reese, President of Liberty St. Apartments Residents’ Association. The Coalition Against an FC Cincinnati Stadium in West End includes many West End Residents, 2. Collective action is more powerful than following a leader. This lesson is hard to mete out, especially when our history books are filled with individuals who “made a difference,” but fail to recognize movements of people who aided those individuals rise out of obscurity. The Civil Rights Movement was not about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, or Malcolm X — just as the current movement isn’t about Rev. Damon Lynch Jr., Iris Roley, or Brian Taylor the Black Agenda Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, and the Black United Front, are all strengthened by their members. Organization is how we win. Collective power, such as the determination of many who saved and created the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, is at the core of our future as a city. 3. Voice and Representation are considerably harder to broadcast Residents of Stanley Rowe Towers, Liberty Street Apartments, Park Town and City West, Community Church of Cincinnati, The Black Agenda, Jurisdiction-Wide Resident Advisory Board, the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, the Cincinnati Educational Justice Coalition, Black Lives Matter Cincinnati, National Action Network Cincinnati Chapter, Cincinnati City Council Member Wendell Young, State Senator Cecil Thomas and the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED (Continued on page 6) �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 �JUBILEE CAMPAIGN The “Development Renaissance”: Our Contribution to the Problem No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 T PETER BLOCK here were two compelling articles in the March 9-22 Edition of Streetvibes that got my attention. Both were about the FCC Stadium project in the West End. Alan Smithee made a strong argument that the proposal to build the stadium on the site of Taft High School football field was driven by the convenience of not having to do an environmental impact study on that land. The second article, by Michelle Dillingham, calls for a true investment in the neighborhood that is inclusive, resident focused, honors the culture and history of this neighborhood. She argues for Investment that does not take public land and assets and place them in private hands. Here is my question: Why, in the end, will the FCC stadium likely be built if not on this location, then with a similar process in another neighborhood with residents in a similar low power position? Why will another stadium be built when our history in using public money for sports has been so problematic? Why will this stadium be surrounded by chic, sports friendly restaurants owned by outsiders to the neighborhood? The common answer among those who oppose the stadium and this kind of development is that the problem resides in the power of the rich owners, ambitious developers, the mindset of the politicians, the self-interest of banks and commerce driven institutions. As often said,” The powers that be.” This answer is too easy and this T Contributing Writer is the point I want to make. Smithee and Dillingham are right in their sentiment and point of view, as are the many groups who oppose these kinds of development. The tragedy is that these positions and efforts of opposition are unlikely to be powerful. Right but not powerful. I want to suggest that we, as citizens and activists contribute to making the “powers that be” powerful. Underneath the grass roots neighborhood language and advocacy, the citizen leadership in most of our neighborhoods is fragmented and disconnected. Structurally disconnected and relationally disconnected. On the question of structure, each neighborhood has a Community Council. Most have a Community Development Council. We have Community Centers for youth recreation and adult learning. Most schools have parent associations and Local School Decision Making Committee (LSDMC). There are many churches in each neighborhood who feed, outreach, care for the vulnerable residents. There are Business Associations, Arts collectives, health clinics, social service agencies and affordable public housing units and cooperative businesses. All of these are important. They all care for the well-being of the neighborhood. They each believe they are in touch with the wishes of the community. But they are silos. They cooperate in ways, but they fail when it comes to presenting a coherent and powerful common voice fully prepared to participate as equal partners with the traditional economic development intentions. Plus, in most neighborhoods, far from a common voice, residents have stories of past injustice, injury, differences that make a voice for the commons even rarer and more difficult. And we are wedded to our stories. I speak from experience as well as observation. I am a trustee in Clifton Town Meeting, one of the neighborhood councils. We theoretically speak for the community. Really? First of all, out of 8600 residents in my neighborhood, I was elected by two hundred at most. Do I really represent the interests of my neighbors? Not exactly. Does any single agency, council or group I listed above speak legitimately for the whole? Not exactly. Are there traditional divides in my neighborhood? Yes. Is this different for any other neighborhood group? Some greater collective voice is needed. The point is that if we want to be powerful in future negotiations and partnerships with traditional development efforts, we have to change our own behavior. We have to be as committed to support one another in our neighborhood and across neighborhoods as we are too caring for our own organization or enterprise. This is especially true for the neighborhoods targeted for big development: Avondale, West End, Madisonville, Evanston, Camp Washington, Roselawn, Bond Hill, Elmwood Place and all of Homeless in a (Nursing) Home echnically, “homeless” describes a person who is without a home, usually for an extended period of time. I saw homelessness up-close-andpersonal while living and working in OTR for 16 years. Last July, I moved to rural Rhode Island and found a somewhat “invisible” homelessness there. Difficult to see, but nonetheless very real. I spent a month without a home in the summer of '95, sleeping in my car and on the kitchen floor at a friend's small apartment. Somewhat proudly, I include being homeless in my life's resume. Been there, done that. I'm sure many of you middle class readers of this newspaper have spent at least a day or two without a place to hang your hat. Or, in circumstances where things seemed totally out of your control. You were “at sea,” in a “quagmire,” out of your element, un-grounded in a somewhat dramatic way. Not technically homeless, but may well have JIM LUKEN Contributing Writer experienced an emotional situation wherein you weren't sure what was going to happen next, or you were unsure about your next step...what to do next. Being hospitalized might qualify as such a situation. Or being an old person forced by circumstance to live in a nursing home when he or she would much rather be back home in familiar surroundings. Many of us, too many perhaps, will wind up in this situation. Not actually homeless, but unable to control the ongoing circumstances of our lives. In an institution that has all, or most, of the control. Recently, I made an unscheduled trip home to Cincinnati to visit a very close friend who was near death, in a nursing home in Avondale. Ron was 79 years old at his death. He had lived a somewhat strange, but many-faceted life. A stint in the army. Marriage to a wonderful wife, two adopted kids, grand and greatgrandchildren. He had spent his work-life as a professional bathtub refinisher, spray-painting an epoxylike paint onto abused bathtubs in Chicago, Cincinnati, and in hotels around the world. Even in Qatar and the Arab emirates. He and his family pulled up stakes and left their home town of Chicago in 1983 in order to join a somewhat famous lay-Catholic religious community, centered in Winton Place (now Spring Grove Village). Community life involved a lot of sharing: time, labor, sometimes possessions, and/or money. People from all over the country and the world came to visit this community. Ron's home was often open to quite a few of these visitors. In addition, some single members of the community (themselves homeless) lived with the Perry’s for months, even years, in at least one case. My family would join three other families at the Perry house for dinner every Wednesday THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED 5 our more vulnerable places. These neighborhoods require a different kind of resident friendly investment and development. And this requires a different way of creating a common voice. We can keep on demonizing the “powers that be” and leave it at that. But while it might be satisfying, it is low impact. Leaders and institutions making the traditional development investments flooding now popular “Renaissance Cincinnati” are not the devil. They run hospitals and universities and banks and sports teams. That is just what they do. They are responsible neighbors and citizens of our city. They just believe that the development they promote is the interest of the community. For some it is, just not particularly in the interest of the residents in our neighborhoods of concern. There is something we can do, but it will call for a change in us. We can decide to change our own action and radically come together within our neighborhood and across neighborhoods, all at once. I have written this article to see if there is any interest in an effort like this? Call it a Common Voice Project. Its purpose is to create more leverage in shaping the nature of development where we live. The money to invest differently is available. The good intention is all around us including those who do development. We are just too separated and unconnected. Let me know, whether you are part of the development community or a resident advocate if you want to help in the next five years to try something different. The effort will be slow, but without a change on our part, the future is predictable. Here is an email I have created: commonvoice2028@ gmail.com. There is no plan, just a call for interest. night, over an extended period of time (also years). Ron and his wife were so generous, almost to a fault. About twenty years ago, Ron's life began falling apart. He experienced the first of a series of strokes. He didn't gain control of his left side, so he would never again drive a car. Hugely painful for someone who was always on the move. Then there was diabetes. For a while he rode a threewheeled electric tricycle around the neighborhood. Friends drove him to and from weekday meetings of a “grumpy old men's group” at McDonald's. Eight years ago, his beloved wife died suddenly, not long after their 50th anniversary. Eileen had kept Ron going in these difficult times before her death. Things got worse and worse, Ron's paralysis increased. He took numerous falls and was hospitalized again and again. Then there was financial chaos, and the banks foreclosed on his home. He needed major physical attention, which—as is the case with so many elderly folks— his family simply could not provide. (Continued on page 6) �6 NATIONAL United Nations report: US has the wealth to end homelessness and chooses not to M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 ADAM SENNOTT In early December, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston landed in Los Angeles, the first stop in his tour of extreme poverty in the United States. It was a Sunday, a day before he was scheduled to begin, but Alston said he had decided to get a head start on his mission. One of the first things he learned was that homeless people in the area have access to few public toilets. “All of the streets smelled of urine,” Alston said. He soon DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) when your message isn’t in-line with a consumerist or capitalistic agenda. Breaking through the lies and myths perpetuated by 3CDC and Cincinnati Mayor, John Cranley, is difficult because the media and 3CDC share board members. 3CDC board members are hand-picked by the Mayor, so there is no representation of low-income, minority people on their board. Just as the SORTA (Metro bus system) board does not contain any bus riders (until recently), shouldn’t we also be pushing for lowincome representation on 3CDC’s board? This certainly would be in the best interest of our community, but Contributing Writer discovered that “the homelessness situation in California is pretty shocking.” Over the next two weeks, Alston also visited Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, and Washington DC In his report, Alston said he witnessed homeless people who are “barely surviving on Skid Row in Los Angeles”; heard about thousands of people saddled with “unpayable debt” after receiving minor infraction notices; met people who lost their teeth because they did not have access to dental care; and saw sewage-filled yards in states that “don’t consider sanitation facilities to be their responsibility.” Alston also reported on the extraordinary efforts by municipal officials determined to help the poorest 20 percent of their communities; a church in San Francisco that offers services to the homeless seven days a week; and a community health initiative in because 3CDC’s goal is to amplify wealth, it would be inconsistent with their culture and values. Throughout the week, we are honored to have speakers, educational activities, and service opportunities with our member organizations. It’s always a pleasure for me to see our member organizations in action and doing what they know how to do best — serve, educate, and advocate. We are lucky to have such great people throughout the city who work at our member organizations and who are willing to share part of their week with us. I want to thank them, but I do hope that they understand the impact their knowledge, wisdom, and experience has on each and every participant. Thank you! We are currently accepting applications for groups this summer and next school year. Please visit our website cincihomeless.org and choose Education in the menu for Charleston, West Virginia, that offers medical services to 21,000 patients. When asked why he was exploring extreme poverty in the United States when conditions in other parts of the world are far worse, Alston said it is important to ensure the wealthiest country in the world is doing its part. “Every country has human rights obligations, and every country should be doing the best it can,” Alston said. “So, if we had a system where the only human rights investigations (Continued on page 11) more information. --------------------------------------- Attending City Council Meeting Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Mona Jenkins, Coalition Director of Development Inspires Participants Lively Dinner and Discussion, hosted by Venice on Vine and M. Shannon Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman JIM LUKEN (Continued from page 5) (The same thing happened with my own parents.) He spent the last year of his life in a home for the elderly poor and indigent in Avondale. He shared a tiny room with another guy. Understandably, this meant that 95% of the residents were African Americans, most confined to walkers and wheel chairs. My own experience of living among poor African American neighbors was nothing short of amazing. Their sense of community, their ongoing willingness to help...me or anyone who needed help, literally inspired me. They knew how to be neighbors in a way that I had seldom (if ever) seen in my suburban white neighborhoods growing up. The same was true for Ron in that nursing home. Even though he was sometimes crotchety, the staff, mostly black folks, provided him wonderful affection, care, and a real sense of community as he prepared to “meet his maker”. So, at the end of his life, my friend Ron had found himself forced into a situation of poverty and approximate homelessness. But within those dire circumstances, he became part of a small, semi-vibrant community of others, who shared those circumstances. In a strange sense it provided the kind of loving togetherness—of community— that he had longed for when he left Chicago. So, to some extent, there were blessings to be found in these the most painful of circumstances. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED In the old Over-the-Rhine, and even amid all the gentrification, there was a sometimes wonderful sense of community, and of caring among the homeless population, and among the non-profit professionals and social workers who served and cared for them. We called that part of impoverished, but vibrant, OTR “Our Beloved Community.” On my recent visit with Ron on his deathbed, I felt a deep sense my long-time friend had found a similar “beloved community” all around him during his final days. �LOCAL Parking and the Soccer Stadium 7 No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 I MICHAEL EARL PATTON s the proposed soccer stadium in the West End really dead or, like Dracula, will it rise up again? I don’t know and different news sources have different takes on the question. Certainly not everyone in the West End thinks it is over. I saw a notice there recently about a rally opposing the stadium for March 17. The notice was headlined, “It’s Not Over Till It’s Over.” The neighborhood opposition is based largely on the concern that the stadium and its associated upscale development will force out the local residents, some of whom have lived there for generations. I certainly see where affordable housing would become even more scarce, regardless of any upscale development. I just look at the parking situation and I wonder, where will they put all the cars? I myself live in Oakley, not far Contributing Writer from one of the other proposed sites. I have listened to Jeff Berding give his pitch for the Oakley stadium site a couple times and also listened to my neighborhood’s concerns. The main concerns of the residents in Oakley seem to be the cars of the people who would be attending the games – both in terms of the traffic but also the parking. The Oakley site, at least in theory, has more potential for parking than the West End because this was an old industrial area that is now mostly torn down. Plus the local Sam’s Club closed recently, so there is that area. In contrast, look at the map of the West End area. The stadium site is just north of Taft High School – that is not going to be torn down. It is to the east of new houses at the site of the old Laurel Homes – probably not going to tear those down, either. Satellite Photo from Google, Map Annotations by Michael Earl Patton Credit: Michael Earl Patton To the north-east there is Findlay market and the ongoing renovation of Over-the-Rhine. This is probably off-limits. To the south-east there is Music Hall which is definitely off- limits. Only to the north is there a possibility of significant land that could be “repurposed” and used for parking once a lot of older buildings are torn down. How much parking and how much land? Let’s say the stadium will be 25,000 seats. I don’t know if a definitive number has been given but this is in the middle of numbers I have heard for Oakley. Jeff Berding said that his group is estimating an average of 3.3 people per car coming to the games. There was audible guffawing when he said that at a recent meeting in Oakley, but let’s use his estimate. That means 7575 cars. Where are you going to put them? Even if there are a couple parking garages built (highly optimistic) and each garage will hold 1,000 cars for the game-goers (another highly optimistic assumption), that still leaves 5575 cars. I have been to the West End many times and there is no way anywhere close to that number can be parked on the streets. Except for the new development, there is very little off-street parking. That means that the current residents already park in the streets. In the proposed Community Benefits Agreement for the West End, the Fussball Club Cincinnati proposes a permit parking area, with permits being given to the people of the West End. Uh, huh. This will not create new parking, but only formalize the right of the people who have parked in the streets for decades to continue parking there. And it does nothing for their friends and relatives who come to visit them and need to park themselves. Often these other people run errands for them, but to do this, they need to find parking themselves and will not have one of the permits. Just to have an idea how much space would be needed for surface parking, I took a Google satellite map and blocked out an area that would hold about 1,000 cars. I estimated each parking slot to be 9 x 18 feet and that half again as much would be needed for traffic lanes. I did not include anything for buffer strips and included public rights-of-way into the lot (these particular streets are not heavily traveled). I avoided major structures such as the firehouse at Linn and Liberty and the Boston Beer Company. As one sees, even a lot for just 1,000 cars takes up a large chunk of the West End. Just imagine a few more such chunks. As for the zoning code, the number of parking slots needed is much less than this but there is a twist. The parking spots have to be within a 600 foot radius of the stadium and they have to be used and maintained for the exclusive use of the stadium. Section 1425-19 says there has to be 1 (Continued on page 11) Urban Renewal or Elimination of the urban poor? PATRICIA PATTON T hey are the so-called ugly faces of America. They come in all shapes, all sizes, all colors and all ages. To find a place to stay for the night presents the greatest challenge to them. They are the nation’s most vulnerable and the most overlooked in our society. They are the faces of the homeless. In Cincinnati and other cities, the people experiencing homelessness gravitate towards certain areas of the city. In Cincinnati it’s Over-the-Rhine and the West End. Enter:Redevelopment/ Contributing Writer Gentrification, terms used to define the periodic practice of dislocating the so-called undesirable populations in the city to make way for urban development. I experienced this practice first hand as a young girl growing up in the 50s. My father owned a thriving successful Barbeque restaurant in the West End before he was notified that he would have to move his business in the name of urban renewal. In the 70s I remember as a single parent having to move again from the sub-sized apartment complex where I lived east of downtown Cincinnati. The owner wanted to use the land to build trendy condominiums. So, I was forced to comply moving from apartment to apartment all the while carrying additional stress with me. Fast forward to 2018 and according to an online article from Georgetown University “Greening up urban Communities and displacing the Poor. To work against the potential adverse effects of gentrification there are no quick solutions. The urban renewal programs that focus on tearing down or refurbishing dilapidated housing simply do not work. The article further states that THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED we must also create more jobs, with livable wages, increase healthcare and job training for residents. Adding this would serve to include everyone in the goal of transforming the area. Sounds like a huge task, but one that if exercised would enhance the lives of lower income families and diminish the otherwise bitter resentment and ongoing controversy we now face in this city regarding the FCC. --------------------------------------- �8 RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS A Natural Path for Peace & Justice: Sister Alice Gerdeman’s Faith Shows Her the Way M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 “A ction on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel…” wrote the Bishops, in 1971, in their synodal document “Justice in the World”. Their message prompted the Sisters of Divine Providence in Melbourne, Kentucky, to want to establish an office for peace and justice in their Community. They selected in 1973 Sister Alice Gerdeman to start it and be its coordinator and thus, indirectly, determined her path ever since. Born into a Roman Catholic family, Gerdeman was exposed very early on to the Catholic faith. Her parents were devout Christians, and prayer, high moral values, kindness and charity permeated their daily life. She was also introduced since childhood to issues of social justice, her father, a farmer, hiring every year at harvest season, migrant workers for help. “Texan and Mexican workers would spend a few months with us every year,” she says. “My father treated them well, equally and equitably, always concerned for their well-being.” After grade school, Gerdeman went to boarding school at the Sisters of Divine Providence, and at the end of high school, joined their order. It was a natural progression, one she did neither seek nor question. “I had a strong consciousness of the presence of God in my life; a kind, generous, and forgiving God, one who is everywhere, who could be felt even if not always understood,” she says. “I was also very drawn to the Eucharist, to the Catholic teachings, to the joy of faith, and to serving the poor.” After professing vows of a Catholic nun, Gerdeman taught for several years in schools staffed by her religious community and later was appointed principal of a Catholic parochial school. She was asked at the same time to become educated SAAD GHOSN Contributing Writer about issues of peace and justice and to inform and involve the Sisters whenever possible. What started initially as a hobby grew progressively more serious as she studied, learned, read, attended workshops about the various issues. One year spent interning at Global Education Associates in New Jersey provided her with the administrative skills and the global vision needed to lead, upon her return, the Community’s peace and justice office. Part of her role was to involve the Sisters to read about the various social justice issues as they presented, ask questions, receive informational material, pray and take a stand. She also catered her work around their various ministries: for teachers, helping them introduce in their teaching curriculum relevant peace educational information; for nurses, opening their eyes on justice issues relating to health; for cooks, on issues pertaining to hunger and to unfair trade practices…Well informed, the sisters often resorted to action, demonstrating, picketing, participating in meetings and discussions... Their focus was initially anti-hunger, then anti-nuclear because of the proposed Zimmer power plant in Ohio, against the death penalty, for immigrant rights, anti-violence and anti-war. In 1992, and after 11 years of working at the Sisters Community office, when the Cincinnati Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) needed a director, Gerdeman applied and was hired. She succeeded Louise Akers, a sister of charity, who with 4 other orders, had founded the Center 5 years earlier. The focus of the work, initially primarily educational and involving mostly women, became progressively more activist and more diverse in its audience. The death penalty having been reinstated in Ohio, working with prisoners on death row and with their families was a priority; IJPC provided education, training and needed A Christian Text Sister Gerdeman Likes to Quote: “Rejoice in the Lord Always. Again, I say Rejoice! Be gentle with everyone for the Lord is near. Don’t worry but place your requests before God with prayers and supplications with thanksgiving and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything we love and honor, and everything you learned to be holy and worthy of praise. Keep doing all these things that you have learned and heard or seen. Then the God of Peace will be with you.” (Philippians, 4:4-9) support to advocate for loved ones and effect legislation. Immigrants’ rights were also a big concern, a natural extension of the Sanctuary movement of the 80’s which saw the flood of refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador. Promotion of women rights and their empowerment were also at the heart of the daily activities. Other issues were tackled as they became timely and prevalent; they included opposition to wars, food-based boycotts, anti-nuclear proliferation… Economic justice, Sr Alice Gerdeman. the needs of the poor and the establishing of an equitable society in the sharing of resources and in narrowing the wealth gap were always important considerations; they led for instance to IJPC’s strong involvement in “Occupy Cincinnati”, triggered by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. A branch of IJPC was also started in Northern Kentucky in order to address specific issues to the area, especially when targeting local politicians and legislation. Even though the Center was staffed by individuals each in charge of a given issue, Gerdeman remained the moving force behind its operation. She strongly believed in community building and in the power of prayer for effecting a change, strategies IJPC also used in complementing its actions. “I could not operate without my beliefs,” she says. “God gave me the talents and the ability to be effective in ways I often do not expect. My faith, moral and ethical backgrounds prevent my discouragement and give me strength.” In this doing, Gerdeman also benefits from the Sisters of Divine Providence, the community of sisters to which she belongs. “I am blessed to be supported by 100 sisters who share my views and accompany me daily with their prayers. Ours becomes a communal effort, essential for long term effectiveness. IJPC was also a community; we all worked together, cared for each other, nurtured each other.” For fourteen years Gerdeman also hosted a regular radio show on WVXU then part of Xavier University. Topics pertained to peace and justice, charity and community Credit: Saad Ghosn involvement and featured individuals form the local community who were instrumental in promoting a better world. When asked about the impact IJPC and her work have had, Gerdeman points out that, partly due to their efforts, people were more aware of justice issues, attitudes were changing, respectful dialogue and peaceful exchanges were promoted, some executions were being stopped… “We wanted to become smaller than larger,” she says, “to see conditions get better, legislation that has the needs of the poor and working people passed, peace achieved… and, therefore, our work less needed.” Three years ago, Gerdeman was voted by the members of her congregation as the Provincial leader for all the Sisters of Divine Providence in the United States. She accepted humbly the responsibility and as a result left IJPC. In her new position she tends to the administrative and relational issues that her role demands, making sure that all the needs of her sisters - physical, (Continued on page 12) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �9 NATIONAL Bridging the wealth gap: Former U.S. Labor secretary calls for ‘progressive populism’ to tip the scales for the working class No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 I n November 1994 Secretary of Labor Robert Reich stood before the Democratic Leadership Council and warned that economic inequality was creating a “two-tiered society.” He was worried, he said, that a growing number of angry and disillusioned Americans could be “easily manipulated.” “Once unbottled, mass resentment can poison the very fabric of society, the moral integrity of a society, replacing ambition with envy, replacing tolerance with hate,” Reich said at the time. More than two decades later, Donald Trump rode that wave of white working-class rage into the White House by promising to “make America great again,” referring to undocumented Mexican immigrants as “rapists,” labeling the mainstream press as “fake news” and praising dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Sadly, I predicted it would come about,” Reich said in a recent phone interview with Street Sense Media. Reich now hopes to help poor and middle-class Americans become more politically engaged and tip the scales away from corporations and wealthy elites. In November, Netflix released Reich’s documentary “Saving Capitalism,” in which he explains how the wealth gap has continued to grow over the years and more economic power has flowed to a smaller number of wealthy elites. That money, Reich said, is then spent on campaigns, lobbying, lawyers and other ways that policy is influenced. “Over the past 35 years, most of the economic gains have gone to the top, not to the middle, and ADAM SENNOTT Contributing Writer certainly not to the poor,” Reich said. “They spend that money in order to get public policies that help them become even wealthier. It’s a vicious cycle that’s becoming increasingly more vicious, so that the rules of way through Congress. “That’s almost entirely the handiwork of big corporations and Wall Street,” Reich said. “Average working Americans had no part to play at all.” Robert Reich Credit: Adam Sennott the game, the rules of the economy, increasingly favor people at the top and hurt everybody else.” As an example, Reich said that Americans spend more for pharmaceuticals than people in any other advanced nation because pharmaceutical companies have used their political capital to make it impossible for people to buy drugs more cheaply from Canada; rigged the rules so it’s impossible to beat their patents for long periods of time; and barred the federal government from using its bargaining power through Medicare and Medicare to lower drug prices. He also pointed to the sinceadopted tax bill as it was making its In order to reverse that trend, he said, “there’s no substitute for American citizens becoming ever more actively involved in our politics.” One reason for encouragement for Reich? The support Bernie Sanders received during the Democratic primaries. “There’s a huge craving in this country for progressive populism, not for Donald Trump’s brand of authoritarian populism.” Reich said. “All the energy in the Democratic Party is with progressive populism; much of the energy in the Republican party is with authoritarian populism. But if many working-class Republicans understood what was actually happening and understood how they’re being ripped off, they would become progressive populists.” Reich said his biggest challenge has been overcoming misinformation produced by Fox News and other conservative news outlets. “Millions of people are watching Fox News and falling for the venom and lies that Sean Hannity spouts every night, and others like him,” Reich said. “There are rightwing personalities on the radio who continue to spout right-wing propaganda that has no basis in reality.” Reich also said that while the mainstream media “have done a pretty good job of telling the truth,” he also noted that “they’re easily distracted by the sensation of the day.” Most often, that means a presidential tweet or soundbyte. But such distractions particularly worry Reich after the passing of tax reform, which has left Medicaid and Medicare cuts up next on many Republicans’ agendas. “The tax cut will create a huge budget deficit — I mean much larger than they have today — and Republicans will use that increased deficit as an excuse to call for cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and programs for the poor,” Reich said. “This is the bait-and-switch tactic that they have been rehearsing for a long time, and we need to be ready.” How dire could a lack of preparedness be? According to Reich: very. “I think that unless we join together and make our voices heard,” he said, “it’s possible that we’re going to end up without a democracy.” Chess Players Pushed Out: Indifference to Organic Community at the Cincinnati Library E ven if you have only occasionally found your way to the downtown branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, in all likelihood you will have noticed the chess players in the overpass, pushing their pieces across their boards in that archetypal and ancient game. So far as I can tell, they have been there as long as the overpass, and their presence, though informal, plays a crucial role in the atmosphere of the space, indicating how the Library is so much more than just a building in which to store books. Yet Wednesday, 28 February, without consultation, the library administration removed those tables from the overpass, replaced them with THOMAS L. LYNN, JR. Contributing Writer empty display cases and shunted the chess players to dispersed corners. When challenged as to the reasons for this decision, the response was equivocal. On one hand, it was pled that it was to provide a place for forthcoming exhibits. On the other, that it was to clear out a possible “swing space” to facilitate the work on an imminent renovation of the floor tiles on the first floor. Some might speculate that other factors were in play. But even taking the stated motivations at face value, one is confronted both by another example of the astonishing seclusion of the library administration from the actual cultural life of the library, and, along with it, a vivid illustration of how oppressive cultural currents operate through invisibility. A caveat. It is crucial to distinguish the library administration, especially its upper strata,from the vast majority of the librarians and staff. Indeed, by even the accounting of the library administration’s own surveys, the librarians and staff are in the unenviable position of performing their noble and often difficult work under the Damocles’ sword of a capricious and authoritarian regime. It is from that regime that the decision to move the chess tables originated. Certainly, it was patent in my own encounters with personnel THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED that the individuals with whom I spoke were altogether sympathetic with the objections to the decision, and were regretful that they were in no position to be responsive to those objections in one way or the other. So to be clear, the target of my criticism here is the library administration, not the librarians and staff. Now, some may rejoin additionally that this is to make a mountain of a molehill. After all, aren’t we simply just talking about some moved furniture? The answer to that question is very much, no. The furniture is incidental. What we are more substantively discussing is a decision which (Continued on page 11) �10 LOCAL M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 May 18 - June 9, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �LOCAL No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 MICHAEL EARL PATTON (Continued from page 7) space for every 5 seats (a seat is defined somewhat differently than conventional usage, but let’s ignore that for now). So a 25,000 seat ADAM SENNOTT (Continued from page 6) focused on North Korea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a handful of other basket cases, it wouldn’t be a credible system.” He also noted that while conditions might be worse in other countries, that doesn’t mean the United States doesn’t have its own impoverished populations, and it has a much harder time explaining why that poverty exists in the first place. “Unlike the really poor countries who can with some legitimacy say, ‘Well we don’t have the money, we can’t afford it,’ the United States is in a position to say, ‘Well we do have the money, but that’s not how we want to spend it,’” Alston said. “And that raises pretty direct and obvious questions in terms of really respecting people’s basic human rights.” In his report, Alston noted the 11 stadium means 5,000 spaces. And there is huge allowance if the stadium is within 600 feet of a streetcar stop – the Zoning Administrator can cut the requirement in half (section 1425-23)! In any event, all of these requirements are legal ones that can be over-ruled by city council. For that reason I am not putting that much weight to them. But if Fussball Club Cincinnati wants fans to come to the games, they will have to find a way for the fans to park their cars. I have no idea how they plan to do that if the stadium is built in the West End. At least, I cannot see any way that would be a benefit to the people now living in the West End. of Housing and Urban Development. Only 25 percent of the city’s homeless population was living in a shelter. In Skid Row alone, which comprises about 50 square blocks near downtown L.A., there were 4,633 homeless people, according to the city’s 2017 homeless census. Of that group, 2,669 were sheltered and 1,964 were living on the streets. The UN special rapporteur compared the conditions of Skid Row to those in a Syrian refugee camp. Officials in L.A. would describe how much they were doing and the grand plans they had for the years ahead, according to Alston. But when asked whether their efforts would provide reasonable housing for all of the homeless population, those same officials admitted it wouldn’t even come close. “Even though some money has been mobilized, and there are lots of policies and so on, the basic policy is the super-rich nor the government that represents them is motivated to consider radical changes to the country’s economic system. “It’s a shame.” Kelly Miller, an activist who has been homeless for about six years and lives in Washington DC, recently traveled to Atlanta to share her personal experiences with Alston at a human-rights conference. Because of scheduling issues, she and 19 others recounted their stories to him by “In a lot of countries that I go to, one gets a sense that there are a number of policies that, if implemented, would really make a difference — and that governments might be prepared to look at those policies,” Alston said. “But in the U.S., the problem is much deeper.” In the nation’s capital, Alston said he devoted much of his time to meeting with officials from the White House and Congress. He said that the Trump administration’s approach to --------------------------------------- Credit: Office of the UN Special Rapporteur report missing,” Alston said. “And that is to eliminate all but the most hardcore homelessness.” But it was not just conditions in Skid Row that Alston found alarming. In Alabama, he investigated cases of hookworm, an intestinal parasite that experts believed had been eradicated from the U.S. in the 1980s. Alston said he was shocked by the lack of urgency from public health officials. “This is not a problem that is yet affecting the elites, or the well-off,” Alston said, implying that neither phone. “Basically, I just told [Alston] that I’m a victim of sex-trafficking,” Miller said. “And I told a little bit about the struggles of when I was outside in Kentucky, homeless and fighting, I even had to take a shower in the rain because I didn’t have anywhere to access water.” Experiencing homelessness in a rural area is more difficult than being homeless in a big city, according to Miller. She contrasted her time in Kentucky with her time in the nation’s capital. “In the rural areas, number one, we don’t have a bus system, we don’t have churches that assist like they do here in DC,” Miller said. “We don’t have organizations that assist. You’re just out of luck. You’re actually living in the woods.” She said that while being an activist is harder when you are homeless, it is still possible to make an impact. Nonetheless, Alston was not optimistic by the end of his tour. fighting poverty is to move people from welfare to work. “It’s based on the assumption that most people who are on welfare could work if they wanted to, and it’s only laziness, or whatever, that prevents them from doing so,” Alston said. He said that along with members of the Trump administration, he encountered many state governments and politicians who believe deeply that people’s needing government assistance to survive is an aberrational situation and that many who receive benefits are simply scamming the system. “The reality is that poverty, as I said, I think, in the report, [is] a political decision,” Alston said. “A government can either decide to address it and eliminate it, or can decide that they don’t give a damn.” Courtesy of Street Sense / Real Change / INSP.ngo grotesque discourtesy exhibited by the decision to force them from the overpass likely implies a latent consciousness of them as marginal, and thus, if not disposable, at least easily “dealt with.” If the demography of the chess players was constituted predominantly by wealthy, white men, it seems highly unlikely that they would have been pushed out in so peremptory a manner. Not that this all is thought about in explicit terms. It is the insidious character of structural racism and classism that we often are hardly aware of our own complicity with it. What is fortunate about this situation is that it has easy remedy. The tables can simply be replaced to the overpass. For the exhibit which stands presently, it is something of an innocent bystander in this regrettable matter. However, the space of the overpass is a privileged one in the architecture of the downtown branch. Consequently, it should be arrayed to reflect the values of the library as a public and democratic space. As such, lived relationships and spontaneous community, like that exemplified by the chess players, merit far more weight than objects. This is especially the case in light of the further consideration that there are ample alternatives for the display of exhibits outside of the overpass, or even mutual accommodation within the overpass itself. Consequently, I can only exhort the library administration to correct its mistake, and restore the tables to the overpass, and accord the people who play there the respect they deserve. If you would choose to join me, call the library at (513) 369-6900. Ask for regional manager Holbrook Sample. Tell him we want the tables back. Credit: Office of the UN Special Rapporteur report pervasive contrast between private wealth and public squalor. “American exceptionalism was a constant theme in my conversations,” he wrote. “But instead of realizing its founders’ admirable commitments, today’s United States has proved itself to be exceptional in far more problematic ways that are shockingly at odds with its immense wealth and its founding commitment to human rights.”  There were 55,188 homeless individuals living in Los Angeles in 2017, according to the Department THOMAS L. LYNN, JR. (Continued from page 9) evinces an unfortunately instructive obliviousness to a community who has played a crucial role in lending the Downtown Branch its meaningfulness as more than a structure, its meaningfulness as a shelter and space of community. What does that obliviousness betoken? That this community is effectively invisible to the administration (and, for that matter the librarians and staff who are similarly excluded from the loop of decisions). I say effectively invisible because the THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED --------------------------------------- �12 STREET VOICE What My Eyes Have Seen M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 LEE MCCOY L et me begin, I was born in the year 1952. I am 65 years young. I have seen so many things in my life. Some of the things I am going to talk about you might not agree with. But that’s ok, you’re entitled to your own opinion., but listen to mine for a minute or two. I might burden your view or memory. These things I’m going to say may not come in order. Let me start with the assassinations of JFK, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and the attempted killing of Ronald Reagan. What should’ve been the impeachment of Nixon, who I will always call Tricky Dick. Man’s first step on the moon. OJ running for his life and we stopped a lot of things to watch him fleeing on the expressway, live coverage, hour and hours. Johnny’s Cochran’s famous words, “if it don’t fit, you must acquit.” The malfunction of the Spaceship Voyager. The senseless killing of so many unarmed black men by the people who are supposed to protect and serve and not one police officer Contributing Writer has been convicted as of yet. Not that I know of. If so I’m willing to bet 1,000 to 1 you can count them on one hand. The beating of Rodney King. The Unabomber, Charles Manson, Son of Sam, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, mass killings school after school. Debrah and Alton Coleman who went on a mass murder spree in the tristate area. Seeing a black man holding the highest office, not only once, but twice. The bombing in Atlanta during the Olympic Games. The planes that flew into the World Trade Center which we remember as 9/11. Some of our music icons that will live on forever in our hearts like Michael Jackson, Slick Rick, Tupac, Linda Jones, One of the twins of the Whispers, Jimmy Hendricks, Phillipe Wynn of the Spinners, the King of Rock and Roll - Elvis Presley, and so many more that left us before their time. The Washington D.C. sniper that used a kid to do most of the killing. The Exxon Oil spill that killed so much marine life and so much more. The Vietnam War. The first female President, Bill Cosby indicted for sex abuse by so many women and so many more that use women in so many degrading ways. The slaughter of so many people in Las Vegas the worst killing spree in America. By far too many lives lost. The march of civil rights. The march to Alabama. The Million Man March to Washington. The assassination of Robert Kennedy. Just recently a married couple imprisoned their kids, 13 kids chained up, barely fed. Thanks God one of the kids got away to call 911. What kind of a monster would do that to their own kids? I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to know them. Jim Jones who killed his own church members with mass suicide or murder. Even Bill Clinton got caught up in a sex scandal, and speaking of President, your President not mine. Let’s start from the beginning, he publicly talked about women, building a wall around Struggles in the Streets STACIA HOLLANDER S truggling out here in these streets is no joke. I have endured and seen a lot of hatred out here towards Contributing Writer different kinds of individuals. We have people and the police telling us to go somewhere else. Get it through your heads, we have nowhere to go. Instead of harassing us, help us. Instead of judging the people experiencing homelessness, walk in Jokes from Cleo and friends 1 . What did the green grass seed say to the football field? If you water me I’ll be rooting for you. 2. How do basketball players keep cool during a game? They stand by their fans. 3. What do you call two peas in a fight? Black eyed peas. 4. What do you call a sleeping bull? A bull dozer. 5. What kind of bird works for a construction company? A crane. 6. What do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) psychological, social...- are daily met. Passionate about peace and justice, however, she also facilitates her sisters' engagement in these matters. "We write cards to prisoners on death row; we take stands as a community in support of immigration and the sanctuary movement, against war and death penalty; we keep an eye on legislation and how to affect it; on how to eliminate poverty in the world... We put out petitions and go CLEO WOMBLES Contributing Writer 7. A man took his dog to the Vet. The Vet’s cat ran around the man’s dog three times. The Vet said to the man, “That will cost $3,000. The man asked why $3,000. The Vet said my cat gave your dog a cat scan. 8. What did one tonsil say to the other tonsil? Get dressed, the doctor is taking us out tonight. 9. How does a butcher introduce his wife? He says Meat Patty. 10. This mouse dies and goes to heaven. An angel gives him some skates. A cat dies and goes to heaven. When he sees the mouse on skates he says, “It looks like meals on wheels.” 11. There was Moses, Jesus, and an old man playing golf. Moses knocks the ball 100 feet, but it doesn’t go in the hole. Jesus says, “Pretty good job Moses, but not good enough.” Jesus knocks the ball 1,000 feet into the air and it goes right into the hole. The old man hits the ball and it goes into a tree. A squirrel spots the ball and runs towards it and grabs it thinking it’s a walnut. An eagle spots the squirrel, swoops it up and fly’s away. A lightning bolt hits the eagle. to marches...," Gerdeman says. "Our congregation has a deep commitment to peace and justice, and it is not just me." In addition, and thanks to her leadership role, Gerdeman belongs to the national "Leadership Conference of Women Religious" an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the United States. She serves as the chairperson of its committee "Global Concerns" which has a special focus on peace and justice. "As a group we try to effect change by working through legislation," she says, "but also by trying to change attitudes. For instance, we encourage our sisters, and provide them the means to live a contemplative life, letting goodness seek into them and God be present in their spirit, so this will naturally come out when they deal with people, with war, with aggression..." When she thinks of her role, Gerdeman likes to quote the gospel of Luke, 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Mexico. I believe he had help from Russia. An ongoing investigation is still going on and no way in hell would I own a Trump Bear. He can’t even get along with his own party, and that talk about making America great again. Come on, wake up and smell the coffee, and you can bet it’s not good to the last drop. One thing is for sure, everybody can relate to this. You heard your grandmother or mother say, ‘nighty night, don’t let the bed bugs bite? Then all of the sudden they want to say we have an epidemic. Be real, they knew about them even back then. They are the only pest I know that has frequent flyer miles. In my life I have seen sports, Cincinnati Reds won 5 World Series. The one in ’69 I really don’t remember. But I’ll bet you, me and my Daddy I watched the Cincinnati Bengals go to two Super Bowls and lost both. I pray that I can at least see them win one. The Greatest was stripped of his title because of religious reasons, he didn’t want to fight in the Vietnam War, but the court said he was right and he fought again to regain his title. So many other fighters, but I have run out of paper. May God bless you in 2018. our shoes for a day. Trust and believe me you won’t like it at all. Stand up for us and help us. We deserve to be treated as humans and not trash. -------------------------------------- The eagle drops the squirrel. The squirrel drops the ball. The ball goes in the hole. Jesus says, “fantastic shot Dad.” 12. There was a three-legged chicken running down the road. A man was trying to catch it. The chicken ran into a barn. A farmer comes out and the man says to the farmer, “Did you see that chicken run into your barn. The farmer says, “Yes, my son’s a scientist. My son made the chicken with three legs, so we could each have a drum stick.” The man said, “Great how does it taste?” The farmer said, “We don’t know, we can’t catch it.” --------------------------------------- proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” She is not sure of where life will take her from here and at the end of her mandate as Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Divine Providence. She knows, however, that wherever it is, it would be a place she would suddenly realize she needs to go to and that it would be part of her natural path. --------------------------------------- �No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 NO ONE ASKED STREET VOICE NO CHAOS HERE! Prez Trump tweets that it's too idiotic No one asked. To infer White House staffing is chaotic. How are you today? You have to know Trump gets inspired No one asked, Because no one cared Maybe because everyone is too busy Someone went home today Feeling, sad and empty No one asked, No one cared Sometimes no one should have to ask. When was the last time you asked someone could you help them? It’s so sad when no one cares enough to ask! KIM GREEN 13 Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer By telling employees that they're fired! So West Wing advisors ought to see With Donald's views they best agree. For Trump's message will always be: "This Administration is all about me!" BILL WOODS Contributing Writer GROWING IN PEACE IF YOU HAVE BEEN READING MY POETRY OR YOU'VE READ MY BOOK YOU'LL RECALL A PEACEFUL PLACE THE SARAH CENTER LET'S TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AS THE CITY UPGRADES WITHOUT REGAURD FOR THE HOMELESS AND THE POOR THE SARAH CENTER IS STILL THAT PEACEFUL PLACE HELPING WOMEN WITH AN OPEN DOOR TEACHING THEM TO MAKE JEWERLY, KNIT, SEW, PAINT AND SELL THEIR PRODUCTS FOR A WAY OF LIFE TEACHING THEM TO BE ABLE TO WORK, TALK AND SHARE ALL OF THEIR TOILS AND STRIFE THESE WOMEN WITH THEIR HAND MADE CRAFTS AND THE AID FROM DIFFRENT ORGANIZATIONS THEY HAVE COME FROM MILES AROUND TO PUT TOGETHER ORIGINAL HAND MADE GOD'S CREATIONS THIS PLACE LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN O.T.R. ON VINE STREET HAS NEVER LOOKED BETTER THEIR SHOWCASE OF ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDE HAND MADE JEWELRY, KNITTING, PAINTING AND THEY GOT IT DOWN TO THE LETTER PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY WORD AS A GRAIN OF SALT, GO SEE FOR YOURSELF I'M POSITIVE THERE ARE MANY WOMEN THAT YOU KNOW COULD USE THE SARAH CENTER’S HELP ALWAYS REMEMBER GOD SAID HELP THOSE TO HELP OTHERS IN ORDER FOR US ALL TO GROW CHECK OUT THE SARAH CENTER FOR YOUR HAND-CRAFTED NEEDS BELEIVE ME IT'S A GOOD DECISION I KNOW THANK ALMIGHTY GOD FOR THE SARAH CENTER AND ALL THE WOMEN THERE THANK GOD FOR ALL THEY'VE TAUGHT ME LOVE AND RESPECT, THEY TAUGHT ME TO CARE!!! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 147 Across 1. Remain 5. Ease off 10. Roster 14. Roofing material 15. Come up 16. Small island 17. Wading bird 18. Welcome 19. Midday 20. Recline 21. Entranceway 22. Attack from all sides 23. Lassitude 25. Currency unit 27. Ancient Chinese dynasty 28. Pottery material 29. Stray 32. Religious song 35. Small cut of meat 36. Supplication 37. Center of rotation 38. Garment 39. Stench 40. Fruit machine 41. Carbonated drink 42. Part of a church 43. Small barrel 44. Difficult 45. Singing pair 46. Circular 48. Patio 52. A skilled practice 54. Mineral 55. Prohibit 56. Harangue 57. Upsurge 59. Renown 60. Assistant 61. Musical instrument 62. Detail 63. Narrow secluded valley 64. Sharp end 65. Depend 3. Extraterrestrial Down 1. A static photograph 2. Shinbone to mollify 4. Affirmative 5. Liman 6. Mistake 7. Layer 8. Employ 9. Domestic animal companion 10. Woven fabric 11. Triangle with two equal sides 12. Plum 13. Portable shelter 21. Two-fold 22. Alcove 24. Demon or spirit 25. Plant life in a particular region 26. Ecstatic 28. Youngster 30. Highland fling 31. Garden tool 32. Cylindrical container SODOKU PUZZLE NO 277 - MEDIUM 33. Wheel shaft 34. Boundary between the US and Mexico 35. Combination of musical notes 36. Earlier 38. Read metrically 42. Halo 44. Small shelter 45. Respectable 47. Frequently 48. Behemoth 49. Diminish 50. Cud-chewing mammal 51. Foe 52. Steep rugged rock or cliff 53. Track 54. Magicians or sorcerors of ancient times 57. Concession given 58. Argument in favor 59. Evergreen tree PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 377 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 146 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 276- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RESOURCES No. 37 8 | M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 M a r . 2 3 - A p r i l 5 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 8 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource March 23-April 5, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: Coalition Against an FC Cincinnati Stadium in West End Why Citizens Need to Learn About Issue I On the May 8th Ballot Pg 3: Eyes on the City Pg 4: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 5: The “Development Renaissance” Homeless in a (Nursing) Home Pg 6: United Nations Report Pg 7: Parking and the Soccer Stadium Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Bridge the Wealth Gap Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Michael Earl Patton Continued Adam Sennott Continued Thomas L. Lynn, Jr. Continued Pg 12: What My Eyes Have Seen Struggle in the Streets Jokes from Cleo and Friends Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 23-April 5, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Peter Block Jim Luken Adam Sennott Michael Earl Patton Patricia Patton Saad Ghosn Thomas L. Lynn Jr. Stacia Hollander Cleo Wombles Lee McCoy Kim Green Willa Denise Jones Office of UN Special Rapporteur Report Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Adam Sennott Bill Woods Cincinnati Cleo Wombles Dr. Mark Mussman FC GCHC Issue I Jim Luken Josh Spring Kim Green Lee McCoy Michael Earl Patton Office of UN Special Rapporteur Report Patricia Patton Peter Block Religion Saad Ghosn Stacia Hollander Thomas L. Lynn Jr. United Nations Wealth Gap Willa Denise Jones Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource March 9-March 22, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director The Need to Improve Public Transit Pg 3: FC Cincinnati Pg 4: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 5: Group Urges CPS to Move Back High School Start Times Pg 6: What the Kids Are Thinking Why a Soccer Stadium in the West End? Dangerous Occupations Pg 7: Why is Cancer Mortality for Minorities so High in Cincinnati? Mayor Cranley is Everything That Is Wrong with the FC Stadium Deal Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Ecuador Endangered Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: We’re Having the Wrong Conversation About Guns How Are We Teaching Our Kids? Pg 12: Dave Caudill Continued John Sneed Continued Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March 9-March 22, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Dave Caudill Michael Earl Patton Robert Park Alan Smithee Steve Sunderland Michelle Dillingham Saad Ghosn John Sneed Trenton Davis Staci Hollander Kim Green Willa D. Jones Justin Jeffre Murraycooperphoto Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Alan Smithee Bill Woods Cancer Cincinnati CPS Dave Caudill Dr. Mark Mussman Ecuador FC Gun Control John Sneed Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kim Green Mayor Cranley Michael Earl Patton Michelle Dillingham Minorites Murraycooperphoto Public Transit Racism Religion Robert Park Saad Ghosn Staci Hollander Steve Sunderland Teaching Trenton Davis Willa D. Jones https://streetvibesarchive.net/files/original/08fe1dd3c7f43adfaf14f1d57cb68ae2.pdf 33b400b9002a531343cd35af45cc36c4 PDF Text Text February 23rd - March 8th 2018 | Vol. 21 Issue 5 (No. 376) advocating justice | building community Uber Cannot Replace Public Transit - But It Can Enhance it | 9 This Issue is sponsored by Christ Church Cathedral INSIDE THIS ISSUE new Executive Director of The Child Poverty Collaborative | 2 My Picket Line | 3 Retired Lutheran Minister Dorsey Stebbins| 9 School shootings and other social problems | 7 Find previous issues of Streetvibes online at: cincistreetvibes.org Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition 113 E. 12th Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 streetvoice | 13 �2 LOCAL To FC Cincinnati Fans T he option of building a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium in the West End is not a game. It is not just another match for FC Cincinnati to win. The West End is a neighborhood; a community of people. And meeting after meeting people who live in the West End have come out and passionately said no to a soccer stadium in the West End. People have said they don’t want the stadium because of the gentrification it will bring. Jeff Berding, President of FC Cincinnati, says the stadium would displace nobody. Even if a stadium would not directly take homes and displace people, the prospectors, developers and entrepreneurs who would come to cash in on it, would. Some have argued that gentrification will come anyway, so why not move forward with this stadium. That is such a terrible argument. First of all, gentrification is not inevitable. People can continue to organize and say no to displacement and exclusive “development”. Legislation can be created which would prevent displacement and gentrification. It simply is not inevitable. This F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 JOSH SPRING Executive Director argument is like saying house fires are inevitable so its okay to let people sell tickets for a camp-fire marshmallow roast in the middle of your living Josh Spring Credit: Homeless Coalition room (if you have a home). When the wolf comes knocking at your door, don’t let it in. Here is the thing; the perspective, experiences and needs of people who live in the West End are more important than a soccer stadium. Do you, as FC Cincinnati fans, wish to be in a location where most of the people who live there, don’t want the team because people don’t want their neighborhood to be gentrified? Do you want to be a part of continuing the legacy of racist and economic displacement of Black People and People with low-incomes from the West End? That’s the history and that is why people don’t want this. And this history is still happening. 2,300 affordable homes have been lost in Over-the-Rhine due to gentrification. Thousands of people were forced from their homes in the West End just 15 years ago. If FC Cincinnati fans want an MLS stadium you need to begin telling Jeff Berding to stop trying to locate it in the West End. If the people who live there don’t want it, it should not happen. Further, I can’t imagine that this fight helps your prospect of FC Cincinnati being picked as a franchise by the MLS. Feel free to cheer your soccer players and team, but don’t cheer on your (Continued on page 6) Introducing the new Executive Director of The Child Poverty Collaborative T he new Executive Director of the Child Poverty Collaborative came to the Community Issues Forum on February 15th to give an update concerning this effort to effectively address Cincinnati's high family poverty rate. Although she cited some progress in assisting families in improving their situations, Dr. Karen Bankston emphasized that making a real dent in eliminating poverty in this city was a huge and complex undertaking. She called it "a heavy lift" that requires people to understand that many economic, social and political factors keep people poor. Bankston chided the popular concept that the solution is to convince poor people "to work harder." Many parents. She noted, are currently working two or three jobs but still not able to make a livable income for their families. She cited that 62- percent of Cincinnati's children in poverty have a workingparent, and that 72-percent of this area's jobs pay less than $50,000, the estimated amount needed to provide for a family comprised of one adult BILL WOODS Contributing Writer and two children. The Collaborative, Bankston noted, is currently bringing employers together to look for ways to deal with the very real income gap that exists in our job market. In her previous job at Children's Hospital, she convinced its CEO to do a study of employee salaries and their impacts. This review revealed that 4,000 people working for the Hospital received salaries that kept them below or just (Continued on page 5) Streetvibes is an activist newspaper, advocating justice and building community. Streetvibes reports on economic issues, civil rights, the environment, the peace movement, spirituality and the struggle against homelessness and poverty. Distributed by individuals experiencing homelessness or on the edge of homelessness, in exchange for a $2.00 Donation. Streetvibes is published twice a month by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless (GCCH), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that works to eradicate homelessness in Cincinnati. 113 East 12th St. Cincinnati OH, 45202 Ph: 513.421.7803 FAX: 513.421.7813 WEB: www.cincihomeless.org BLOG: streetvibes.wordpress.com EMAIL: streetvibes@cincihomeless.org Editor: Justin Jeffre Executive Director: Josh Spring Director of Development: Mona Jenkins Director of Education: Dr. Mark Mussman Distributor Program Manager: Justin Jeffre Layout: Key Beck Reception: Larry Johnson, Anne Evans Maintenance: Pete Roper ----------------------------------------------CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE Writers: Josh Spring, Bill Woods, Dr. Mark Mussman, Jason Haap, Michael Earl Patton, Saad Ghosn, Mark Samaan, Steve Sunderland, Bobby Morris, Kim Green, Willa Jones ----------------------------------------------Photography/ Artwork: Justin Jeffre, Dr. Mark Mussman, Homeless Coalition, ECI.com, ABC7. com, ForceOptionsUSA.com, Saad Ghosn, Better Bus Coalition, Bill Woods --------------------------------------------------Thank You For Reading Streetvibes And Supporting Our Mission To Build Community And Advocate Justice. Karen Bankston speaks at Community Issues Forum Credit: Justin Jeffre THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Streetvibes and The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless do not endorse candidates for public office. �No. 37 6 3 LOCAL My Picket Line | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 DR. MARK MUSSMAN L ast year, my high school classmates planned a funfilled reunion weekend. I was excited to see old friends and catch up after all these years. Unfortunately, the planners, with no historical knowledge of the displacement that took place at the Metropole, decided to hold the event at the 21C Hotel. I immediately sent a message letting everyone know how 3CDC unethically and unjustly displaced the residents of the Metropole. I told them that I would not set foot in the 21C Hotel, and I urged others to do the same. It is my picket line. Growing up in Cincinnati, my first experience with a picket line was when Bigg’s employees were on strike. As a child, how could I know the complexity of collective bargaining? Staff Writer some of the protests against the new developments, like the Holiday Inn downtown or Richter Phillips Jewelers, which have been accused to be using unfair labor practices. In my mind, I tuck each of those places into a specific space that reminds me not to support that business. I also take the #NFLBoycott very seriously, and I hope that you did the same. I hope you will continue to boycott the NFL in the future, regardless of whether “your team” is doing well, as wage disparity, health/environmental issues, rampant sexism and racism plague the NFL. Wage theft is also an issue - which means that managers and business owners are withholding pay from their workers. There are many ways in which this occurs, from withholding at the very top, Champion Windows had nearly 700 employees who were finally paid almost $700,000 in overtime that they deserved. Many chain restaurants are on the list, but other smaller businesses, like The Senate in Over-the-Rhine, are also on the list. In Over-the-Rhine, I listen to stories of residents, including youth, who have received inhospitable service at restaurants, boutiques, or bars in the neighborhood. When someone complains that they were looked over for service, not given water or menus, people seated before them, ignored, poor service, etc., and they believe it has to do with their skin color, I file that business away in my brain as a place I should not support. Racism and poor labor practices are not the only reasons why I about it. Businesses that take up a huge amount of sidewalk space with barriers, like Rheinhaus, do that so they can serve alcohol on the sidewalk. Although it is legal, private sale of alcohol is not an acceptable use of public space. Other businesses are located in places that were key institutions in the neighborhood, like the corner store on 13th and Vine, where Homage is now, or the laundromat and school property where the Mercer is now. I refuse to be a part of the indirect gentrification in the neighborhood. Many other businesses are outside of the price range of myself and the original residents of the neighborhood. We obviously cannot afford to pay the starting dinner price of $38 at these restaurants on Vine Street. Finally, another trend, using racism/sexism/transphobia/ homophobia to sell your product will land you on my banned list. This includes the transphobic half taco, Hostile Design in Holtman's Donut Shop on Vine Street Close up of metal slats preventing people from sitting outside Holtman's Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman But, I was well aware of what’s fair and that people should deserve a livable wage and safe working conditions. That instance, of actually seeing people outside a business, holding signs and daring customers to cross the line, was instrumental for me in my understanding of labor issues. Recently, you may have seen wages, to pooling tips unfairly, forcing workers to pay back overtime pay, changing time sheets, etc. Wage theft is rarely punished criminally, but business may be forced to pay back wages. A recent list of wagetheft businesses was compiled using federal data that included 100 local businesses where the employees have recovered their wages. For example, would refuse to patron a business in my neighborhood. Businesses, like Holtman’s Donut Shop on Vine street, where hostile design elements grace their building are also off limits for me. The metal slats under their windows prevent people who are waiting on the bus from sitting down. Even if they just rent the space, they could still do something half hotdog menu item from The Senate named after Caitlyn Jenner, or the poorly thought out menu items at Revolution Chicken “honoring” Gandhi and Harriet Tubman. Even though they changed these menu items, it is very offensive to come into a black neighborhood, where (Continued on page 7) Sidewalk seating forces single-file, tight spaces Spikes on the Fence around Union Hall bordering Imagination Alley Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman Credit:Dr. Mark Mussman THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �4 LOCAL THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 �No. 37 6 JUBILEE CAMPAIGN An Alternative | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 A s anxieties about an economically unstable future grow globally, there is an alternative mindset much closer to home—literally just around the corner, in fact. Instead of relying on federal policy, our local communities are constructing an economy and a way of being that promises more stability and more local control. 2016’s surprise Brexit results in the UK and Trump’s election in the US are an indication that something fundamental is shifting in our economic and cultural landscape. There is waning faith that central governments—whether in Brussels or Washington and whether conservative or liberal—have the capacity to make a real difference in our lives. These votes highlight a profound distrust in some of the closely held beliefs that affect our economic and social well-being. No matter which way people leaned in the ballots, however, voters throughout the West agree that PETER BLOCK Contributing Writer more connected with their local communities. This community-concentrated mindset calls for a long-term shift in our economic thinking. Modern economic beliefs have been founded on assumptions of scarcity and a nearreligious belief in competition and growth. These beliefs have produced a set of betterment measurements: unemployment statistics, average income, purchasing power, and gross domestic product. Up until now, such metrics have become traditional yardsticks for the “good life.” This economic narrative implies that happiness and prosperity can be achieved by brilliant schooling, which leads to well-paying jobs, which leads to increased purchasing power, which leads to bigger houses and more assets. And yet the good life remains out of reach for too many: Families in the US are still impacted by the mortgage crisis, new jobs are in the lower-paying service sector, student structurally alternative economy that is occurring all around us. For example, cooperative housing involves jointly owned property with common spaces for cooking and eating, common areas for children to play, and privacy areas for times you want it. In the business sector, there are an estimated 30,000+ cooperative businesses in the US producing over 850,000 jobs; Ace Hardware and REI are two of the best known. There is also a rising nonmonetized economy. TimeBanks, which currently operate in 30 US cities, record each hour of generosity among neighbors, converting that time into additional volunteer hours to be spent at will. These communitybased models represent a profound shift towards an economics of mutuality. Instead of defining economics as the allocation of scarce resources, these models are based off the belief that in any given system, there is enough. There is also an expanding movement of community-building initiatives, in which neighborliness is assigned practical value. One of the most interesting is the Abundant Community Initiative, which was started in the Highlands neighborhood of Edmonton, Canada. something needs to be fixed. Instead of being outwardly focused on global forces or ceding all power to federal governments, many citizens around the world are turning their sights inward to what they can control: the cooperative economy and becoming BILL WOODS (Continued from page 2) above the poverty line. There are so many factors, according to Bankston, that keep families from lifting themselves out of poverty. She named the lack of affordable housing and the cost and the lack of day-care as two of them. Another negative is the lack of public 5 Working with the city government, local minister and neighborhood activist Howard Lawrence found people to act as “block connectors” for the neighborhood. The block connectors ask residents what they are good at, what they are willing to teach others, and what they would like to help make better in the neighborhood. The results of this experiment included a less isolated citizenry, more trust in the institutions of the city, and increased feelings of safety. The effort is now being replicated in fifteen additional neighborhoods in Edmonton. Now is the moment to take the idea of a cooperative economy and community-building seriously. As David Brooks declared in a recent New York Times column titled “The Great Affluence Fallacy,” “Maybe we’re on the cusp of some great cracking. Instead of just paying lip service to community while living for autonomy, I get the sense a lot of people are actually about to make the break and immerse themselves in demanding local community movements.” This crack could signal the beginning of an effort to reclaim the common good and reinvest in a promise we can believe in. Instead of looking outward or upward for solutions to our economic anxiety, we should be looking inward toward local and cooperative actions, plus a dose of neighborly affection. debt is high, and the average family credit-card debt is over $15,000, not counting car or home loans. And there is a solution that doesn’t rely upon federal political policy or the whims of the global economy. The cooperative economy is a transit to connect city residents with the jobs that exist in the suburbs beyond the City limits. Finally, she is convinced that uncoordinated and sometimes conflicting public and private social service programs must be refashioned to more effectively help families. Bankston says that any effective effort to address poverty has to go beyond economics to deal with the "distrust, anger," and other psychological barriers that grow up in a culture of poverty. She is encouraging the development of more hands-on services that work with families on the whole range of obstacles that keep them from achieving success. She sees the role of the Collaborative as a catalyst to promote and to advocate for the kind of coordinated programs and services THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED and public policies that will truly deal with the complexities of urban family poverty. P.S.- The Forum on March 1st tackles one of the issues brought up by Karen Bankston. A panel will look at the inadequacies of Cincinnati's current bus service and discuss how they can be fixed. -------------------------------------- �6 LOCAL School shootings and other social problems O ur media landscape defines how we feel about touchstone cultural events (no matter the political leanings of our news sources) by virtue of what gets covered, and how. Once again, we find ourselves in the midst of a debate about guns, school shootings, and the limits of the second amendment. But what if the media landscape does not provide an accurate context? In other words, what are the cold hard facts about school shootings? I thought to dig into some number-based facts with regards to school shootings. 1) According to the US Department of Education, in the fall of 2017, there were 50.7 million students in public elementary and secondary schools, and an additional 5.2 million attending private schools. For the sake of round numbers, let's call that approximately 56 million students attending our country's elementary and secondary schools. 2) Jugal K. Patel, writing a recent item for the New York Times titled "After Sandy Hook, More Than 400 People Have Been Shot in Over 200 School Shootings," states that, since the Sandy Hook shooting, "...there have been at least 239 school shootings nationwide. In those episodes, 438 people were shot, 138 of whom were killed." The Sandy Hook shooting happened in December, 2012. For the sake of simple math, let's call that five years ago. On average, then, 88 students per year get shot, and 28 per year get killed. Before looking at the math to determine the probability of a student being shot to death in school, let me be clear: I do not mean to suggest that it is acceptable for anyone to be shot needlessly, in school or otherwise. Instead, I'm just curious how the actual facts match the media landscape which seems to be influencing both what we talk about, and how we talk about it. To find the chances of being shot in a school-based event, I used the numbers from above: 88/56,000,000=0.00000157142, or roughly 0.00016%. Chance of being shot to death in a school-based event: 28/56,000,000=0.00000005, or roughly 0.00005%. I had to look up a JOSH SPRING (Continued from page 2) team trying to force its way into a neighborhood that doesn’t want it. Don’t cheer on your team to continue in a fight that simply makes it look worse and worse. Many of us are fine with FC Cincinnati looking worse and worse, but if you, as a fan don’t want that, tell Jeff Berding to stop trying to force the team on people that don’t F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 JASON HAAP Contributing Writer chart to even know what words to call that number. I'm still not sure. While it is never okay for a child to be shot, a 0.00005% probability is astronomically small - especially compared to how I think the media landscape is making all of us feel right now. The fact that so many angry arguments, some of which can end family relationships or lifelong friendships, are happening over something with such a tiny probability Time for more facts! The National Center for Education Statistics indicates that, in the 2013-14 school year, there were 98,271 public schools in our country. (I'm not including private schools in this computation because, presumably, armed guards for private schools would not be paid by public dollars, but I could be wrong.) According to a 2014 Census Bureau report, the average American In some states, there are no age restrictions for rifles like the AR 15 Rifle Credit: abc7.com Media Guide to AR 15 Rifle Credit:ForceOptionsUSA.com strikes me as worth further thought. The radical right says we need to arm all the teachers. I'm not going to even take that suggestions seriously. But many have called for armed guards in every school. I feel like lots of people find that potential solution more reasonable. income is about $52,000 per year. Let's assume one armed guard in every school costs the average salary plus insurance and benefits. I believe this would take the number above $60,000 in real costs, but let's use that number to be conservative. And let's also remember many schools are want it because their life experiences tell them this stadium would harm their community. --------------------------------------- Jeff Berding at West End Community Council Credit: Justin Jeffre THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED so large, they would need more than one armed guard. Nevertheless, to put an armed guard in every public school at the average salary would cost $5,896,260,000 - or nearly $5.9 billion per year. If these armed guards were able to prevent all shooting deaths (which is highly unlikely), that would mean each saved life (28 per year) would cost approximately $210,580,714. Is it worth $211 million to save one life? According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, "[b] etween 1999 and 2002, hypothermiarelated deaths, totaling 4,607 in number, occurred in all 50 states in the United States." In other words, about 1,152 people die each year from being homeless in the cold. Over 41x as many people die from exposure related to homelessness than are shot in schools. Writing for the New York Times in 2012, in an item titled "Homeless Rates in U.S. Held Level Amid Recession, Study Says, but Big Gains Are Elusive," reporter Annie Lowery cites a housing official who claimed the US could effectively end homelessness for $20 billion per year. I think it's interesting to juxtapose numbers like this. I know there are all kinds of reasons people will cite about why homeless people are not the same as school students. There are all kinds of negative character traits that many apply to homeless people* which they don't apply to schoolchildren - but, at the end of the day, a life is a life, and I guess I kind of wonder what would happen if our culture would debate other social problems as vigorously as schoolshootings, especially when a greater total of lives could be saved. *Advocates of "person first language" believe in using phrases like "people experiencing homelessness," but instead I subscribe to "identity first language," which posits that being homeless is nothing to be ashamed of, and as such there is no reason to contort the typical use of adjectives in the English language. To contact Jason Haap email him at jasonhaap@gmail.com. [Editor’s note: The Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition encourages people to use person first language.] �No. 37 6 7 LOCAL Authorizing Hostilities | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 MICHAEL EARL PATTON N o one I know questions the right to defend our country in the case of an actual attack, but what about in case of a threat? Who makes the decision to respond, what form the response shall be, or if there even should be a response? Let’s leave aside the issue of economic and trade sanctions and focus on military force. Specifically, I am interested in who has the power to deploy our forces to areas where hostilities are likely and also who can order military force to be used, such as a bombing campaign. Since 2014 we have been conducting airstrikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State, which had taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria. We also have about 1,500 troops in Syria to help the Syrian Kurds beat back the Islamic State. The problem is that Syria is not an ally of the United States – far from it. We have heavily criticized President Assad and have said that there is no place for him in a peaceful Syria. Needless to say, we never got permission to station troops there, let alone conduct military operations. Obviously the president, as commander-in-chief, was involved, but was Congress? Was authorization from Congress needed? Did Congress grant it? The Constitution divides the authority over the military between the president, who is the commanderin-chief, and Congress, which has the power to declare war and controls the funding. This split in authority was the product of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, which deliberated greatly on the balance of power between the president and Congress. As described in Edward Larson’s book, The Return of George Washington: 1783 – 1789, many feared giving too much power to the president who could then use that power to become DR. MARK MUSSMAN (Continued from page 3) most of the original businesses have already been forced out, to recreate and rebrand traditional soul food, and make it out of reach of the black residents through racism, price points, or hostile design. I decided that I wanted to give my classmates an opportunity to see why I envision a picket line at 21C Hotel through a walking tour through Overthe-Rhine. Several of my classmates, who were in town for the reunion, and I met at Washington Park for Contributing Writer a monarch. Others wanted to give the president more power to get away from the indecisions so characteristic of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, which formed the first constitution of the United States. Under the Articles there was no separate executive officer, no one person to carry out the laws passed by Congress. And one of the things that vexed Washington was that Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, could not rid the 30,000 acres he owned in today’s West Virginia of Indians. The Indians, naturally enough, said that land and most of today’s Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, belonged to them. A stronger military was important to Washington. And while everyone at the convention trusted Washington to be an excellent first president, the concern was who would be the second. Many like Benjamin Franklin wanted a weaker president. In the end we wound up with the current division with people on both sides hoping that the somewhat vague wording would work to their side’s advantage once the new government got underway. And 230 years later that question as to exactly how to divide that authority is still with us. It must be conceded, however, that the president as commander-in-chief is currently using his power much more effectively than Congress is using theirs. The 1973 War Powers Resolution was passed over the veto of President Nixon. Section 4(a) (1) requires the President to report to Congress when U.S. forces enter hostilities, or it appears hostilities are imminent. Once such a report is submitted, the use of these forces must be terminated within 60 to 90 days unless Congress authorizes such use or extends the time period. Such a report has been given only once, during the 1975 Mayaguez incident, but by the time the report was submitted the forces had been withdrawn. Presidents have reported to Congress on the use of force but generally do not refer to this section, as for example President Reagan did in 1983 during the invasion of Grenada. Both houses of Congress objected and said that the time limit applied, but not in one united resolution. In any event, the forces were withdrawn within 60 days. In 2001 Congress passed the “Authorization for Use of Military Force” (AUMF) following the September 11 attacks. This authorized the President to use “all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.” This authorization for use of force against un-named organizations and persons is unprecedented in American history, but note that the authorization is still tied to those somehow connected to the events of 9/11. In 2002 Congress passed another Authorization for Use of Military Force, this time against Iraq. Note that the implication is that Iraq was not connected with 9/11. As for Syria, President Obama did notify Congress that he was using force but avoided mentioning Section 4(a)(1), instead saying that he was relying on his authority as Commander-in-Chief. He later cited the two AUMFs passed in 2001 and 2002 as giving him authority to deploy troops to Syria and to engage in actions against the Islamic State. President Trump so far has done the same. The problem is, neither of these AUMFs extend to Syria. No one is saying that Syria was involved in 9/11 and the Islamic State, against whom we are fighting in Syria, did not even exist in 2001. The Islamic State is not harboring people from Al-Qaida but is fighting them instead since they are insufficiently Islamic. Many members of Congress have had similar concerns about our actions there but so far have not taken any action. Recent history has been that Presidents act while Congress dithers. Given the recent record of Congress on the budget and immigration issues, it is probably too much to expect things to change soon. I do think this is very important, I just don’t see how things will change given most of the current office holders. (Candidate Hillary Clinton said that she wanted the United States to enforce a “nofly-zone” to prevent Russian and Syrian aircraft from flying over parts of Syria, also apparently without getting congressional approval. No improvement was likely in that direction.) Instead, I present for your consideration the recent votes regarding the proposed budget (H.R. 1892) with its large increase in military spending. The increase will be $80 billion in fiscal year 2018 and $85 billion the next year; the details of which will be described in a later bill. In Ohio Congressman Chabot (R) voted against it while Wenstrup (R) voted for it. Congressman Massie (R) from Northern Kentucky also voted against it. Both Ohio Senators Brown (D) and Portman (R) voted for it. Kentucky Senator McConnell (R) voted for it while Senator Paul (R) voted no and even filibustered against the bill for a few hours. No doubt this topic will be continued at a later date. the walking tour. If you’d like to learn more about hostile design, changes in the neighborhood, and the service agencies who serve the community, please email me or goto https:// cincihomeless.org/about/education/ to schedule an Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement Waling Tour. --------------------------------------- Metal barrier at Rhinehaus creates a difficult situation Credit: Dr. Mark Mussman “Breakdown Stereotypes” “Eradicate Misinformation” The Coalition for the Homeless provides Education and Service Programs that help to portray a more accurate and holistic picture of homelessness in Cincinnati. We believe an educated public can be a more compassionate public, willing to dedicate time and effort towards creating solutions to homelessness. The “Voice of the Homeless Speaker’s Bureau” program is made up of individuals currently experiencing homelessness or who have experienced homelessness, who share their experiences. The program is designed to put a face on homelessness and raise awareness about those struggling in our community. To schedule a speaker, contact Mark Mussman at (513) 421.7803 x14 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �RELIGIOUS PEACEMAKERS Retired Lutheran Minister Dorsey Stebbins' Voice for Peace and Justice Are His Patient and Persistent Protest Signs One at a Time 8 W F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 hen Dorsey Stebbins, 12 years old, was not able to successfully help his father in his business as this latter expected, his father, fearing for him, bluntly told him that he "would not make it" in his life. This affected Stebbins very much and remained with him ever since. It, however, also created in him the determination to be persistent in whatever he did, to put in longer hours at tasks to make up for what he lacked, and that eventually he would succeed. "I am not eloquent at words," Stebbins says, "but I use signs to protest injustice wherever I see it, and I do it day after day, without being deterred, until someone notices." "My persistent protest signs are my voice, and I hope they make a difference, even if a little at a time," he adds. Stebbins was born in 1932 in a religious family, his mother a Lutheran and his father member of the Church of the Brethren. Baptized as an infant, he attended, growing up, the Lutheran church of Miamisburg, OH, the town where his family lived. He felt all along that he was a "child" of God. He was pious, and all those who knew him assumed he would become a minister one day. Heading to college and doubting his capabilities, he tried successively Education, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and finally the Lutheran Church Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, Minnesota. He worked hard, succeeded, was ordained a Lutheran minister and was offered two parishes in the same area. "I wanted to do my best to be a good minister wherever I was needed," he says. "I recognized that God loved me and everyone else, and I wanted to share this message with SAAD GHOSN Contributing Writer my parishioners." Stebbins remained 6 years in Minnesota then moved to lead other ministries in Dayton, then Loveland and Mason; he served as a Lutheran pastor for 22 years total. In 1977, and due to a misunderstanding with his bishop, he had to leave his last parish, the Holy Trinity church in Mason, and remained without one for 3 years. This lapsed time, according to the Lutheran Church rules, terminated officially his ministry. He later got a job as a high school teacher of mathematics in Dayton, OH, and remained in this position until 1992, when he retired to take care of his then wife, diagnosed with Alzheimer. In the meantime Stebbins had met Maurice McCrackin (1905-1997), an American civil rights and peace activist, also a Presbyterian minister who was removed from his church St. Barnabas in Cincinnati's West End, for standing up for his beliefs against the Vietnam War and refusing to pay his federal taxes as a result. McCrackin had then started the small Community Church on Dayton Street, downtown Cincinnati, and Stebbins joined it. "Meeting McCrackin in 1985 triggered my real involvement in social justice as an activist," says Stebbins. "When in college, I was, however, fascinated by any gifted person advocating for social justice and, thus, did contribute a little bit myself." Stebbins first act was in the Fall of 1958 when he and another seminarian went to Little Rock, Arkansas, to interview then Governor Orval Faubus, a Democrat, who was standing against desegregation of the Little Rock School District; and What Is LUTHERANISM Lutheranism is a major branch of  Protestant  Christianity  which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther (1483–1546), a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. The divide between the Lutherans and the Catholics centers primarily on two points: the proper source of authority in the church, or the formal principle (Scriptures alone for Lutherans, Scriptures and Tradition, i.e. doctrinal and spiritual authority of the Christian Church, for Catholics); and the doctrine of justification (i.e. salvation), or the material principle (justification by "grace alone" through "faith alone" in Jesus for Lutherans; through faith and good works for Catholics). Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Catholic Church, including baptism and the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper.  Today Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism including approximately 80 million adherents worldwide. Daisy Bates, the American civil rights activist, publisher and journalist, who, on the other hand, was actively supporting it. They also interviewed a local author who had written an article in The Progressive in favor of it; the president of the White Citizens’ Council, a white supremacist organization founded in opposition to racial integration of schools; and various students at a junior college. Dorsey Stebbins In 1960 and as a pastor, Stebbins attended a businessmen’s gathering and spoke out against accusations made by the House Committee on Unamerican Activities, the committee created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities of citizens and organizations suspected of having Communist ties. A local paper editor soon after and in response to his intervention, wrote in an editorial that colleges in America were now graduating communist sympathizers. After meeting McCrackin, Stebbins followed him and participated in his numerous pacific activities, namely fighting for racial equality, for prisoner's rights, for an end to militarism in the United States, for the sanctuary movement affecting then Hispanic immigrants from Central America, against tearing down hotels that lodged the city’s poor... After McCrackin's death in 1997, he followed leads by Buddy Gray, IJPC, Contact Center, and ACORN, participating in their various struggles for social justice. In recent years, Stebbins protested Econocide (as defined by Alice Skirtz) and the gentrification of the Cincinnati neighborhood of Overthe-Rhine, regularly standing on its street corners, holding signs against the city and corporate actions that displace, in the name of economic development, poor residents they consider neither needed nor wanted. With Streetvibes contributing writer Jim Luken, he protested 5 years ago the proposed takeover by Western & Southern of the Anna Louise Inn downtown Cincinnati and its conversion into a de luxe hotel. The Inn had been functioning for Credit: Saad Ghosn over 100 years as housing for single women providing them with low-cost housing and various health services. Stebbins picketed persistently for 6 weeks in front of the Inn, holding his protest signs in locations visible to the Western & Southern's employees and to passerbys, calling their attention to the unjust issue. His tenacity triggered an increasing number and size of local demonstrations that weighed strongly in the final sale settlement of $4 million by W&S, enabling Anna Louise Inn to continue its mission by building a new home at an alternate site. In 2012, Stebbins was also one of the 1st Cincinnatians to religiously participate in the Occupy movement, hoping for a cultural and political revolution. He picketed, marched, demonstrated and attended the many strategic and sharing gatherings of the movement. "I saw in the Occupy meetings something I had never seen before," he says. "There was respect for everyone's voice, and a lot of diversity; so many African Americans and so many whites involved together, (Continued on page 11) Religious Peacemakers is a regular column highlighting Greater Cincinnati individuals who use their faith and religious beliefs for peace and justice. Saad.Ghosn@uc.edu is the founder of SOS (Save Our Souls) Art, an organization that promotes arts as vehicles for peace and justice and for a change. THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 6 O LOCAL Uber Cannot Replace Public Transit – But It Can Enhance It | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 9 MARK SAMAAN ur bus system has major flaws including 101 buses that are older than 12 years old and break down more often, routes are set up in a 70’s style downtown hub-and-spokes model, and strained budgets have caused service reductions which have increased the time between buses on the same line. These issues together have produced a system which loses riders every year as service declines, which lowers the revenue collected by Contributing Photographer is full, fares paid cover most of the cost of the trip. This type of route needs regular-sized buses to handle the demand, especially during peak hours. As most Route 33 riders’ destination is downtown, the capacity is needed along the entire route so that buses aren’t overfull as they near Government Square. Next consider Metro Route 50 which runs from Addyston to Downtown via River Road and Sayler Buses are so crowded, people have to stand Credit: Better Bus Coalition Metro, which causes further service cuts and continues the cycle. Many have discussed whether private rideshare services like Uber and Lyft could move people around more efficiently and cheaper than traditional bus service. Why replace buses and increase service when rideshare is growing and offers an alternative to driving your own car? Although rideshare offers some serious benefits to the public transportation system, the bus is still the most efficient method of moving large amounts of people at the lowest cost. Consider Metro Route 33 which runs on 8th St, Warsaw Ave, and Glenway Ave through Price Hill and Westwood. This route moves 1.1 million passengers per year and accounts for 8% of the total Metro bus ridership. Over 4,000 riders per day use the 33. The average bus on this line carries 54 riders per trip on its route with most riders going downtown. During weekday peak hours, buses come every 12 minutes and are consistently full. The average cost to provide this service is $1.85 of subsidy per rider. When the bus Park. It carried approximately 300 riders per day over 14 weekday round trips with an average of 15 riders per trip. The subsidy per rider is almost $10, with ticket revenues covering only 12% of the operation costs. So, what if this route was converted to Uber rides only between Addyston and Downtown along the route, but also providing service to the nearest Transit Hub at Glenway Crossing or the Western Hills Plaza? Right now, these riders are mostly all going to downtown and back, but because the ridership is so low each rideshare vehicle would most likely only be able to carry 1 or 2 people at a time except during peak hours. As such the subsidy per rider would be just as high as running a bus, if not higher. This type of line could be considered for rideshare service during off-peak hours, but during peak the bus is still the most efficient way to move people. Beyond cost and transit efficiency, adding tens of thousands of rideshare vehicles per day to our roads would cause major traffic congestion, especially during peak hours in the city. Although transit ridership in Hamilton County is very low at 4% of commuters taking Metro, the system does function very well as an urban core congestion and parking demand reducer. Main and Walnut Streets downtown carry a combined 24,000 bus riders per day in vehicles that make up less than 10% of the total vehicular traffic but 60% of the people moved in vehicles on those roads. Even at 4 passengers per car, thousands of rideshare vehicles would be needed downtown alone during peak hours. In addition to their addition to existing traffic, these vehicles would need significant dedicated loading and unloading spaces on city streets. Driving downtown is already difficult enough with people parking and picking up/ dropping people off. Imagine it with thousands more cars not fully pulling over into the loading lane, cars double-parked while they wait for their passengers, and general delays from people not being at the pickup point at the right time right during rush hour. Moving 4 people per car would also increase the ride times for passengers compared to driving 1 person at a time. Dropping off 4 different people at different locations which are somewhat close to each other could take as long as the ride itself, or even longer if local traffic conditions are bad. The influx of thousands more vehicles onto city streets would make our roads a nightmare and slow traffic significantly, especially in dense areas with lots of pick-ups and dropoffs. Anyone who has witnessed the gridlock on Main Street in Overthe-Rhine between midnight and 3 am has already gotten a glimpse of a future of replacing buses with rideshare. Rideshare does have a role to play in increasing the reach of our bus system and moving people around in low-density areas. One major factor which determines whether or not a person will take transit is how far of a walk the nearest bus stop is from their location which is called the first mile/last mile problem. Rideshare services could act as local shuttles in neighborhoods to bring people to the nearest major bus stop or transit hub, significantly shortening travel times for people who live farther than walking distance from bus stops. For people heading to farther out job centers, an express bus may bring them to that general area as a group, with rideshare vehicles waiting at the stop when the bus arrives to take people to their final destinations. This could especially work in places like Blue Ash and Mason, where a lot of people work, pedestrian infrastructure in job centers are almost non-existent, and buildings are not within a reasonable walking distance of each other. This would provide a seamless trip in the shortest time. Rideshare will not be an effective solution to our local transit woes, but it can offer significant benefits to the riding public and those who live beyond walking distance of transit stops. --------------------------------------- Certain routes are crowded for much of the day THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED Credit: Better Bus Coalition �10 LOCAL F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 March 2 -24, 2018 For tickets please call (513) 381-2273 Purchase tickets online at www.cincyshakes.com AD Donated by Mark and Sue Ann Painter season sponsored by the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 6 LOCAL WHY IS CANCER MORTALITY SO HIGH FOR MINORITIES IN CINCINNATI? | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 11 STEVE SUNDERLAND PART 4: THE ABSENCE OF A WELCOMING HOSPITALCOMMUNITY RELATIONSHIP "It is not surprising that rational decision makers in leadership positions would seek to avoid the complexity of community in favor of simpler models based on service delivery."--Gary Gunderson 1. Introduction: In prior articles questions were raised about the silence surrounding the high mortality rate from cancer for minorities. A question was raised about the absence of any healthcare outreach to those neighborhoods with the highest death rates, usually in those parts of our community that hospitals are located. A question was asked why physicians and nurses have so little experience with minorities and so little training for assisting low income and minority patients with their cancer. This article focuses on how a welcoming hospital and group of healthcare providers working in the community can change cancer mortality outcomes. Hospitals are not commonly thought about as places where friendly communication occurs. The invention of the Information Desk is the single greatest symbol of trying to assist a patient in finding the right physicians or departments. Yet, people leave with "information" but rarely understand how to negotiate the many hallways, especially when they may be suffering from an illness or a fear of an illness. What is needed is a different approach, an innovative way of thinking about the connection between the community and the hospital, especially in terms of cancer treatments. The person, before they are a patient, is filled with anxiety about approaching healthcare unless there is an attempt to make the visit to the hospital both understandable and safe. Going to the hospital can be a welcoming experience when there is a preparation that is trusted in the community. Too often people SAAD GHOSN (Continued from page 8) and all committed to non-violence and to an equal and just world." Stebbins has also been participating in many of the Amos Project activities, for instance in the fight against massive incarceration, and now, for a couple of years, against Judge Tracie Hunter’s criminal sentence. "They convicted her in 2014 for unlawful interest in a public contract, maintaining that she used her position as a judge to hire her brother. But they had no proof of it," says Contributing Writer have heard of or had horrible hospital experiences: treatments for the wrong illness, disrespect for the race, gender, and privacy of the person, long waiting times without any explanation as to why, and costly and often surprising costs. Replacing a history of indifferent or discriminatory expectations about a hospital visit requires a fundamentally different set of attitudes and policies. 2. Cancer care can be a welcoming and trusting experience for minorities and all patients: The key to new approaches lay in starting in the community with a person who is part of a team of a compassionate staff. Having a trusted navigator to assist with transportation to and from the hospital relieves a person who is unsure of how to take the best route. Having a trusted advocate accompany the person raises the possibility that the information about cancer screening and treatment will be better understood and that, if there are questions, the person will feel somewhat more confident that these questions can be answered by the health care professional. Having a compassionate colleague join with the person interested but fearful about cancer can have positive results when the fears are dispelled. Cancer is a confusing, dangerous, and misunderstood illness. It is rarely known that early screenings can catch and stop cancer growth, in many cancers. The presence of a heartfelt ally that can assist in obtaining accurate cancer information that offers the person the strength to continue. In sum, a person with an ongoing relationship with a friendly and knowledgeable friend can reasonably navigate the complex process of starting and completing the steps to knowledge about cancer. 3. Cancer navigators have been recognized as a critical factor in reducing mortality for almost 30 years. Harold Freeman, MD, surgeon, former president of the American Cancer Society, pioneered in 1990 a new approach to cancer care: the patient navigator. Freeman faced the reality that most of the people he met as patients were going to die because they had come too late for screening and treatment. The cancer had grown too much. His skills as a surgeon could not be applied when a patient's cancer had reached the final stage. Freeman recognized that the key to helping people involved coming to cancer care at the earliest stage. When cancer had just started to evolve, the physicians could move to remove all or most of the cancers. Freeman recognized that patients that were afraid of the hospital, terrified about anything to do with cancer, and resigned to fate their chances for survival, were not going to come for either screenings or treatment. Freeman opted to change the reality facing his lowincome patients. He realized that people could not overcome their fears by themselves, especially when they had no one to consult. He also realized that getting to the hospital for a screening and following up on treatments also needed some guidance and navigation by a trusted friend if the patient was going to have a successful outcome. The invention of the "patient navigator" as a person to assist the patient outside and inside the hospital made for the radical change in cancer care. In five years, with the use of patient navigators, Freeman changed the survival rate from 30% to 70%. Thanks to his innovation, every cancer program could develop a navigation program that followed his guidelines. The navigators were not healthcare professionals, nor did they offer medical advice. The navigators were advocates, allies, friends, and critical members of the healthcare process. 4. The spread of navigator programs across the US was a slow but successful process. The concept was seen as ripe for federal research to examine the strengths and weaknesses. Following five years of Stebbins. "Just recently, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters broke the same law  by offering a paid internship to the son of his good friend Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine upon his request, and nothing has been done about it," he adds. Stebbins regularly picketed the streets of Cincinnati, holding his signs in favor of Justice Hunter. In the beginning, he got no public acknowledgement, but after 3 weeks or so, drivers passing by started honking their horns in support. "The issue is not out in the open and very few vocal leaders speak of it," he states. "I am one of the rare white individuals to protest Hunter's unjust sentencing; I see, however, my signs starting to make an effect. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and healthy in our society." Stebbins' main concerns have always been what is right and good for the community, the country, the world. He is for equality for all, and for opportunities for a good and decent life across the board. His commitments stem deeply from his Christian faith. Even though now retired as a Lutheran minister, he still attends the Ascension Lutheran Church, in Montgomery, OH, where he occasionally teaches Sunday school, also the Community Church, THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED national research, navigation was seen as a major factor in reducing cancer mortality and made a necessary part of every cancer program by the American College of Surgeons, a medical association that accredits cancer programs. Three years ago, in order to highlight his program, Dr. Freeman was invited to Cincinnati to share his research on patient navigation with hospital staff from most of Cincinnati's hospitals. His research, accompanied by an additional research presentation by Electra Paskett, PhD, Ohio State James Cancer Hospital, made clear that navigation had powerful positive outcomes in cancer education, cancer prevention, and cancer treatment. Since their presentation, a private non-profit organization, Cancer Justice Network, started the first navigation program. Using volunteers from the UC school of medicine, the Xavier school of nursing, and selected community organizers, a navigation program was begun in places where low income people, minorities, and the aged congregated. At dinners, health fairs, senior centers and school meetings, navigators visited with people and gently advised them about the benefits of cancer prevention. Slowly, the navigators began to hear the list of reasons that people were afraid to go for screenings and treatments. People didn't want to know what cancer does to the body, or understand what a screening involved, or whether they could get the results when they didn't have a primary care provider, or what to do with their children while they were getting screened, or where the best place to go for a screening was, or what the costs would be if cancer were found, or, in sum, who really cared if they lived or died from cancer. The navigators reached out to people, spoke one on one with them at locations outside the hospital, brought people to talk who had survived cancer, discussed that the navigators were going to be with (Continued on page 12) at Dayton St, founded by his mentor McCrackin, and which recognizes his ordination. "I see myself as an activist for justice and peace," says Stebbins. "When unjust issues come up, I jump. I respond to the immediate, and my signs become my voice." Quoting Micah 6:8: "The Lord God has told us what is right and what He demands: 'See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly obey your God',” he adds: "This core sums up my approach as a follower of Jesus Christ." --------------------------------------- �12 LOCAL F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 The Road to Redemption T o start I must say this is about me and my experiences here at Joseph House. These are all my opinions and thoughts. I came here in September of 2016. Having been living with my mom for the past 25 years after getting honorably discharged from the US Army. I came here to save my life. I am an Alcoholic. Writing that simple 9 letter word has more meaning to me than any other word in the human language. I must admit that to myself daily or I will forget why I am here. I was here 3 years ago, but wasn’t ready to stop my destructive lifestyle and more importantly be honest with myself and others. Joseph House is a place for Veterans like myself who STEVE SUNDERLAND (Continued from page 11) people throughout their screening and, if necessary, through their treatment as well. Deeply felt fears about facing cancer, added to prior poor experiences with healthcare staff, and confusion about healthcare insurance, slowed the decision to go with the navigator. Many people that signed up for a screening refused to go when the time came for the screening and often refused the chance to go with a navigator. Many poor people explained that cancer was not at the top of their list of concerns; instead, they were more worried about food, shelter, employment, or their children's lives. The navigators began to understand why cancer mortality was so high in this population: the fears about cancer were in competition with other realities that took precedence in the survival of people. 5. The start of the Cancer Justice Network's navigation program was done with the support of many agencies in Cincinnati that work with the poor, homeless, aged, or people with disabilities. There was widespread recognition that the healthcare needs of this population were spotty and needed new interventions. The navigators were welcomed into agency dinners, health fairs, and meetings to discuss health related concerns. At the same time, the hospitals of Cincinnati did not start an in-hospital navigation program. Even though there was widespread recognition of the need, and an appreciation of Dr. Freeman's work, the hospitals avoided starting a program. The navigators in the Cancer Justice Network didn't have clear connections into hospital cancer programs for those people that needed a next step of treatment. Getting a colonoscopy proved difficult as well as many hospitals were reluctant to plan for such a procedure BOBBY MORRIS Contributing Writer suffer from the disease of Addiction. Let me describe who I was at my mom’s house. I was that creepy Uncle who stayed upstairs at his mom’s house who only came out to get something to eat or to do that weekly chore of putting the garbage on the curb begrudgingly. I was so isolated from life that I forgot how to feel. I was disconnected from my family and from reality. I was in a state of depression many like me can identify with. After years of this I finally had enough and made the call to Joseph House for help. Since that day in September my life has transformed. Redemption had begun without me knowing it at the time I start my day with chores, being responsible is something I lack. At my age this is something I should have learned at 14, but at that age I was drinking and drugging. Joseph House uses simple activities to get me to get in the habit of doing what’s right. It’s a struggle somedays and I think even non-Alcoholics can relate to struggling with things at times. Being a Veteran is a common thread for us. Taking orders and doing things with an attention to detail has been lost over the years but not forgotten. Joseph House reminds me of that constantly. Working in groups and going to meetings allows me to get to know who I am. Here the recovery is individual based. Each one of us have our own difficulties and with the help of staff (my Counselor) I have grown. I am not perfect each day but I see the if the patient was unpredictable in coming for the exam. It was clear that hospitals did not see navigation as a necessary element of their approach to cancer care. One hospital system did reach out and share research on how a navigation program in Birmingham, Ala., had made major steps in successfully working with a geriatric population. A local hospital team was planning on visiting the program and seeing how navigators within the hospital program were being used to improve treatment and hospital costs. 6. At the same time, another program that used navigators in and out of the hospital came to the attention of the Cancer Justice Network. This program is called The Congregational Health Network(CHN) and it is based at Methodist Hospital in Memphis, TN. Reading about this program made clear that navigators, if they were to be successful in overcoming longstanding fears, had to meet people outside the hospital and welcome them to think about their health and then connecting to the hospital if the services were needed. Visiting the Methodist Hospital program, the Cancer Justice Network learned the following: A. Methodist Hospital recognized that healthcare needed to include a partnership with churches in the community that could build trust in both the community and in the hospital. A major program was needed as Memphis had a very large poor and minority population that needed extensive healthcare. B. The chaplain of Methodist Hospital reached out to a small group of ministers to discuss the nature of a sound relationship between the hospital and the churches. Meeting for over a year, they realized that there was a spiritual connection between health of the congregants and the health providers. And they believed that the churches had "assets" that could improve healthcare. C. An agreement was signed, called a Covenant, that spelled out the nature of the relationship between church health committees and a navigator at the churches and navigators from the hospital. Churches would select "liaisons," people well known within the church community to be designated as navigators. These navigators would have direct connection with one of the team of hospital navigators. In this way, potential patients knew there were trusted people in the church who cared about health and that they were in a relationship with a hospital funded navigators. These two sets of navigators would work together, with the hospital navigators visiting the church at times, and the church navigators accompanying their congregants. D. The minister's discussion highlighted that both the church health committee and the hospital needed to demonstrate that people could engage with respect, fostering trust, insuring reliability, using only straight talk, providing a capacity to listen deeply for understanding the needs of the individual, and to make commitments to follow through. Over ten years, 500 churches joined the Congregational Health Network, reaching about 200,000 people. E. The CHN developed five Care Pathways for healthy relationships: These are: 1) to educate by offering short courses that church members can attend for free on diseases and disease prevention; 2) A monthly prevention goal, i.e., discussion about a "disease of the month;" 3) a commitment to intervention, to making sure patients went to the hospital for needed screenings and treatments; 4) a realization that there needed to be a high quality life outside the hospital, and resources to assist; and, 5) a commitment to use the resources of the church for aftercare for the patients in order to assure a THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED small changes in my life. These small changes will eventually lead to a better me and with that a productive member of society. That is one of the goals of my recovery to redeem that in which I have lost and have destroyed in other people. To conclude this brief stint into the life I have here in Joseph House. I would say that I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world right now. I can see the redeeming qualities in myself and the others around me and with that in mind we all can make the people in our lives proud to know us once again. REDEMEPTION IS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE HELP AND AID OF PEOPLE LIKE THOSE AT JOSEPH HOUSE TO CARRY YOU THROUGH THE ROUGH PATCHES UNTIL YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN PASTURES UP AHEAD. --------------------------------------- continuation of healthy behaviors. F. The early outcomes of the CHN's approach are impressive: "... early hospital research data show a 50% decrease in mortality rate, a 20% decrease in hospital readmissions, and a savings of over $4 million in billable costs to the hospital. On all patient diagnosed, the average CHN patient showed approximately 120 days longer between readmissions to the hospital, compared to control patients out of network." G. The CHN has a deep spiritual commitment to making this relationship work for the churches and the hospital. "It's the right thing to do," the Rev. Bobby Baker, chaplain and co-founder of the CHN, says when questioned about the mission of the hospitals and the churches. Clearly, the extra effort to organize ministers, health committees, select and train church navigators, and build relationships with hospital navigators and hospital procedures is a fundamental change for both the churches and the hospital. It is a change that is now welcomed by both partners in the CHN. 7. Cincinnati's hospitals and cancer programs have a lot to learn from the CHN. Facing the problems of mortality in our community will require a new focus and new policies if there is to be any significant change in the life expectancy of most of our citizens. Right now, there is only one navigation program and it is outside the hospitals, and touching about 6000 people a year with education programs and assistance to screenings. The CHN program offers a different methodology with an expectation of different results. We will work for the development of this exciting alternative to health care. --------------------------------------- �No. 37 6 STREET VOICE | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 SON A PARADE FOR HIMSELF Son talk to me Mommy needs to know What you feel Did you know plans are being made For Prez Trump's big military parade? And what you see His desire for a grim show of force Son talk to me Is not a traditional American course. Mommy loves you Democracy's not The Donald's thing. With all her heart Seems like we have been drifting apart It’s a feeling, I feel in my heart I will never let anything keep us apart In the heart is where we need to start Like the good old days When learning and hoping were part of our start And we would talk Let’s start over son Because you are my heart KIM GREEN 13 Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer He's a man who sees himself as King. BILL WOODS Contributing Writer HOME ALONE I feel so blessed that being homeless for me has ceased Ceased meaning yesterday looking at today I still pray for peace I just knew being home alone, finally afer living in the street with a slide That I could finally rest with my memories and let my spirit glide I've learned that being home alone doesn't always make one happy Especially to wake up to the reality that the world you live in actually is crappy I hear a security guard involved in the death of a young man I hear for double murder you get twenty-five years in this land! I find myself afer all is said and done I'm lonely, bored, behind the time or missing people I need to be able to talk, enjoy, laugh, respecting history with loud chimes on the steeples I've learned in order to a make a change is some serious work and a lot of effort for me I've learned that I can not change people I must take the challenge to change myself you see I 've learned to keep my spirit clean for only God knows the truth there is NO DOUBT I'm learning to be honest with myself and living my life is what it's all about For everyone needs to be aware rather it be now or later that the CONSCIENCE KILLS Whether you be good or bad to live in denial just listen your conscience will get you... YOU JUST BE STILL! WILLA DENISE JONES Streetvibes Distributor & Contributing Writer THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �14 PUZZLES F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 145 Across 1. Bring ashore 5. Region 9. Track 13. Woodwind instrument 14. Tether 16. Pronunciation mark 17. Transmitted 18. Out of fashion 19. Loose flowing garment 20. Set at a high angle 22. Spool 23. Elderly 24. Weep 26. Accepted something given 28. A state of adversity 33. Grooved tire surface 36. Colony insect 37. Impart knowledge 39. Sloping edge on a cutting tool 41. Smack 43. A lower limit 45. Brass instrument 46. Hirsute 48. Mistake 50. Relieve from 51. Inflict 53. Totality 55. Soot 57. The night before 58. Aromatic leaves used as seasoning 61. Skilful in physical movements 64. Planet 68. Golf club 69. Edible bulb 71. Painful 72. Metallic element 73. Meaning of a word or expression 74. Finished 75. Brink 76. Trial 77. Requirement Down 1. The result of costs exceeding revenue 2. Assist 3. Not any 4. Hate 5. Any high mountain 6. Raise 7. Facilitate 8. A useful or valuable quality 9. Small long-tailed bird 10. Highly excited 11. Hollow cylindrical shape 12. Pay close attention to 15. Serf (Middle Ages) 21. Dessert wine 25. Cattle reared for their meat 27. Globe 28. Punctuation mark 29. A relative by marriage 30. One of a flight of steps 31. Involves a vendor and buyer 32. Gain points in a game 34. A light shade of blue 35. An accounting entry 38. Tusk 40. Polite name for a woman 42. Mien 44. Memorization by repetition 47. Edible tuber 49. Tear violently 52. Acclaim or praise 54. Rationality 56. Religious doctrine 58. Magnitude 59. Desiccated 60. Percussion instrument 62. Amercement 63. Flip of a coin 65. Wander 66. Diagram often used in genealogy 67. Group of animals of the same kind 70. Fish trap PUZZLE SOLUTIONS ISSUE 375 CROSSWORD PUZZLE NO. 144 SODOKU PUZZLE NO 275 - MEDIUM SODOKU PUZZLE NO 274- MEDIUM PUZZLES from puzzlechoice.com and puzzles.ca THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED �No. 37 6 RESOURCES | F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 Central Access Point 15 381-SAFE Shelter: Women and Children Bethany House 557-2873 1730 Race Street 45202 St. Francis Soup Kitchen 535-2719 St. George Food Pantry 751-8771 2554 Dennis St. 45219 Prince of Peace Lutheran Church 621-7265 Health Resource Center 357-4602 McMicken Integrated Care Clinic and Mobile Medical Van 386-7899 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti, Ohio 6037 Cary Ave. 45224 FreeStore/FoodBank 241-1064 McMicken Dental Clinic 352-6363 40 E. McMicken Ave, Cinti Mental Health Access Point 558-8888 NAMI of Hamilton County 351-3500 PATH Outreach 977-4489 131 E. 12th Street 45202 Madisonville Ed & Assistance Center 271-5501 Other Resources St. Vincent de Paul 562-8841 215 E. 14th St. 45202 1841 Fairmount Ave. 45214 The Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women 2499 Reading Road 562-1980 Grace Place Catholic Worker House 681-2365 1528 Race St. 45202 Churches Active in Northside 591-2246 4230 Hamilton Ave. 45223 Salvation Army 762-5660 112 E. Liberty Street 45202 YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter 872-9259 4600 Erie Ave. 45227 Serves area codes: 45226, 45227, 45208, 45209 Shelter: Men Shelterhouse 721-0643 1125 Bank Street 45214 411 Gest St. 45203 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Men St. Fran/St. Joe Catholic Work. House 381-4941 Charlie’s 3/4 House 784-1853 1437 Walnut Street 45202 City Gospel Mission 241-5525 2121 Vine Street 45202 Prospect House 921-1613 1805 Dalton Ave. 45214 Parkway Center 661-4620 682 Hawthorne Ave. 45205 Starting Over 961-2256 Shelter: Youth Sheakley Center for Youth (18-24 y/o) 2522 Highland Ave. 45219 569-9500 Lighthouse Youth Crisis Center (10-17 y/o) 3330 Jefferson Ave 45220 961-4080 Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Women Shelter: Family Treatment or Supportive Recovery: Both Interfaith Hospitality Network First Step Home 961-4663 2203 Fulton, Cinti, Ohio 45206 AA Hotline 351-0422 CCAT 381-6672 471-1100 Housing: 830 Ezzard Charles Dr. 45214 Caracole (HIV/AIDS) 761-1480 CMHA 721-4580 Excel Development 632-7149 OTR Community Housing 381-1171 Joseph House (Veterans) 241-2965 1522 Republic Street 45202 114 W. 14th Street 45202 Talbert House 221-HELP Tender Mercies 721-8666 27 W. 12th Street 45202 Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board 946-8000 Recovery Health Access Center 281-7422 Sober Living 681-0324 Talbert House 221-HELP Advocacy Tom Geiger House 961-4555 Volunteers of America 381-1954 Anna Louise Inn 421-5211 2401-2411 Reading Rd. 45202 Cincinnati Union Bethel 768-6907 2401 Reading Rd. 45202 VA 977-6800 VA Homeless 859-572-6226 Food/Clothing First Lutheran Church 421-0065 1208 Race St. Food - Last Monday 12-1 Clothing - second Monday 12-1 Lord’s Pantry 621-5300 OTR/Walnut Hills Kitchen & Pantry 961-1983 Catholic Social Action 421-3131 Community Action Agency 569-1840 Contact Center 381-4242 Franciscan JPIC 721-4700 Gr. Cinti Coalition for the Homeless 421-7803 117 E. 12th Street, Cinti, Ohio 45202 Legal Aid Society 241-9400 Ohio Justice & Policy Center 421-1108 UpSpring 363-3300 Health 961-0600 Center for Respite Care 621-1868 OTR: 1620 Vine Street 45202 Walnut Hills: 2631 Gilbert Ave. 45206 3550 Washington Ave. 45229 Crossroad Health Center 381-2247 Our Daily Bread 621-6364 Franciscan Haircuts from the Heart 381-0111 Goodwill Industries 771-4800 Intercommunity Justice & Peace Cr. 579-8547 Mary Magdalen House 721-4811 1223 Main St. 45202 People Working Cooperatively 351-7921 The Caring Place 631-1114 Talbert House 751-7747 United Way 211 Women Helping Women 977-5541 Off The Streets 421-5211 Hamilton County Office of Reentry 946-4304 138 E. Court Street Room # 101 First Floor Hamilton/Middletown St. Raephaels 981-4200 Salvation Army 863-1445 Serenity House Day Center 422-8555 Open Door Pantry 868-3276 Northern Kentucky Brighton Center 799 Ann St. Newport, KY ECHO/Hosea House Fairhaven Resuce Mission Homeward Bound Youth Mathews House Homeless & Housing Coalition Parish Kitchen Pike St. Clinic Transitions, Inc Welcome House of NKY 205 West Pike Street, Covington, KY 41011 5 E. Liberty St. 45202 for 26 issues 859-261-5857 859-491-1027 859-581-1111 859-261-8009 859-727-0926 859-581-7745 859-291-9321 859-491-4435 859-431-8717 Women’s Crisis Center 859-491-3335 VA Domiciliary 859-572-6202 Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky 634 Scott St. 41011 859-291-4555 You can support our mission and spread the word about your business. For more information contact Justin Jeffre at 513421-70803 x 12 or email streetvibes@ cincihomeless.org $100 859-491-8303 Want to advertise in Streetvibes? Cincinnati Health Network 2825 Burnet Ave. 45219 Center Independent Living Options 241-2600 Peaslee Neighborhood Center 621-5514 $150 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED for 26 issues and a $50 donation �16 F e b 2 3 - M a r 8 , 2 0 18 | N o . 37 6 S treetvibes is distributed by individuals who purchase the paper for 75 cents per copy and sell it for a $2.00 donation, keeping the profit they have earned. Becoming a Distributor is a great way for individuals who are financially poor to get back on (or stay on) their feet. This program provides supplemental income for those unable to secure other employment. Money earned helps meet basic housing, food and health care needs. The program is a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all. All Distributors wear a badge and usually a vest and can be found selling the paper in Downtown Cincinnati, Clifton, Northside, Northern Kentucky and at area churches. ALFRED WOOLFOLK SINCE 10/2003 ASRES AYENAW SINCE 2012 BERTA LAMBERT SINCE 1997 BETTIE BAILEY SINCE 10/2017 BRANDON NELSON SINCE 4/2008 BRIAN ADAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHARLES WILLIAMS SINCE 7/2017 CHRISTOPHER KAIHATSU SINCE 7/2017 CLEO WOMBLES SINCE 10/2003 CRANDALL COBB SINCE 2004 DARREL ROZIER SINCE 7/2017 DAVID MCCANE SINCE 2017 ERIC VALDEZ SINCE 2/2017 GERALD FRANKLIN SINCE 7/2017 GRADY COOK SINCE 1997 GREGORY RAY SINCE 4/2015 HENRY BRELAND SINCE 7/2017 JAMES BROWN SINCE 3/2009 JAMES DAVIS SINCE 8/2000 JENNY BURTON SINCE 7/2017 JIMMIE GIPSON SINCE 2001 JON DARBY SINCE 2/2006 JOHN HORN JOSEPHINE BASKERVILLE SINCE 9/2008 J’TORI TYMAN SINCE 5/2014 KIM NGUYEN SINCE 7/2017 KENNY BUSSELL SINCE 10/2009 KAREN COLLETTE SINCE 7/2008 KEITH EUTSEY SINCE 2/2011 LARRY BROWN SINCE 10/2007 LEE MCCOY SINCE 7/2009 LEONARD JACKSON SINCE 2/2005 MARY MUELLER SINCE 5/2005 MARK SHEARS SINCE 4/2012 MAURICE GOLSBY MELISSA MOSBY SINCE 9/2014 MIKE CARANO SINCE 4/2016 RAESHAWN GIPSON SINCE 3/2009 RAYNARD JONES SINCE 10/2008 RICKY WOODS SINCE 4/2015 RICCARDO TAYLOR SINCE 1999 RONNIE PHILLIPS SINCE 10/2009 SAMUEL JACKSON SINCE 10/2006 STACIA HOLLANDER SINCE 2017 STEPHANIE EAKES SINCE 7/2017 SYLVESTER WALKER SINCE 7/2017 TALINA HILL SINCE 2/2011 TIA CASS SINCE 11/2007 TONY THOMAS SINCE 3/2005 VIOLET COLLINS SINCE 2017 VICTOR MUMPHRY WILLA JONES SINCE 1/2010 WINNIE RICE SINCE 7/2017 QUEENACELASTINE SINCE 7/2017 THE VOICE OF THE STREET...UNSILENCED � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 2018 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource February 23-March 8, 2018 Subject The topic of the resource Homelessness Description An account of the resource Pg 1: Cover Page Pg 2: From the Director Introducing the New Executive Director of the Child Poverty Collaborative Pg 3: My Picket Line Pg 4: How to Respond to Panhandling Pg 5: An Alternative Pg 6: School Shootings and Other Social Problems Pg 7: Authorizing Hostilities Pg 8: Religious Peacemakers Pg 9: Uber Cannot Replace Public Transit Pg 10: GCHC Pg 11: Why is Cancer Mortality so High for Minorities in Cincinnati? Pg 12: The Road to Redemption Pg 13: Street Voice Pg 14: Puzzles Pg 15: Resources Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Streetvibes Archive Project Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Streetvibes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 23-March 8, 2018 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Josh Spring Bill Woods Dr. Mark Mussman Jason Haap Michael Earl Patton Saad Ghosn Mark Samaan Steve Sunderland Bobby Morris Kim Green Willa Jones Justin Jeffre Homeless Coalition ECI.com ABC7.com ForceOptionsUSA.com Better Bus Coalition Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF ABC7.com Better Bus Coalition Bill Woods Bobby Morris Cancer Child Poverty Cincinnati Dr. Mark Mussman ECI.com FC ForceOptionsUSA.com Homeless Coalition Jason Haap Josh Spring Justin Jeffre Kim Green Mark Samaan Michael Earl Patton Minorities Public Transit Religion Saad Ghosn School Shootings Steve Sunderland Uber Willa Jones