On Monday, July 11, at 11am, San Francisco residents, San Francisco Tomorrow, Parkmerced Action Coalition, their attorney Stuart Flashman and members of the Board of Supervisors rallied on the steps of City Hall to call attention to the Board of Supervisors’ approval of a plan to demolish their rent-controlled community. They released the following statement:

STOP THE DESTRUCTION!
Learning from history, social fabric and neighborhoods can evolve organically for the betterment of San Francisco rather than calling for wholesale demolition with short-sighted economic benefits—particularly when true infill development alternatives would be both feasible and profitable.

In order to stop the destruction of one of San Francisco’s few multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and family neighborhoods, San Francisco Tomorrow (SFT) and the Park Merced Action Coalition (PMAC) have filed a lawsuit against the City for its June 9th approval of the Parkmerced Development Project.

The Final Environment Impact Report (FEIR) for the Parkmerced Project is inaccurate and inadequate.  If allowed to continue as approved, the project will destroy 1,538 units of affordable, rent-controlled housing, adversely affect the environment and well being of those living, working, and playing in the region.  In addition, the suit points to the project’s inconsistency with priority policies enacted by San Francisco voters in Proposition M as well as other inconsistencies with the City’s general plan and violation of the City’s Sunshine Ordinance.

The lawsuit calls for the court to set aside the project approvals until the Park Merced Project complies with the California Environmental Quality Act and the City’s general plan policies.

VIOLATIONS INCLUDE:

· Demolition of 1,538 seismically sound rent-controlled townhouses and their surrounding gardens.

· Not addressing livability issues associated with the 20- 30 year demolition and construction project, including: noise, air quality, and loss of open space.  The Project’s findings DO NOT MEET legal air quality standards.

· Failing to assess the seismic impact of the existing towers, nor providing for their retrofits and upgrades.  Additionally, no provisions exist for loss of open space and other unavoidable adverse impacts for tower residents.

· Slaughter of migrating birds by the Project’s shoreline windmills, and a general refusal to look at alternatives that could avoid the Project’s many impacts.

· The faulty reference to development as a “transit village”, since no third party assurances or funding sources are identified for transit and related work.  The addition of 6,342 parking places also contradicts the concept of a transit village.


A new study shows that homeless individuals, especially those suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, have a death rate significantly higher and a life expectancy that is significantly shorter than those with homes. The study, recently published in the journal The Lancet, collected data on people in homeless shelters using Denmark’s nationwide homeless registry. The data consisted of 32,711 homeless people, aged 16 years and up, who where homeless between 1999 and 2009.


To determine the rate of death and life expectancy, researchers separated the homeless registry data into several groups. These included those with psychiatric disorders, those with a history of substance abuse, those with a dual diagnosis of both, and those who had no such diagnosis.

Researchers then compared their rate of death, or mortality, to that of the general population. They discovered that for those homeless, the rate of death was 6.7 times higher for women and 5.6 times higher for men. The group with substance abuse disorders had the highest mortality of any of the homeless groups, followed by those with a dual diagnosis. Information on the causes of death, when available, showed that suicide and violence accounted for more than a quarter of them.


”There was a larger disparity in life expectancy between the homeless shelter population and the general population than previous studies have found,” said study author, Dr. Sandra Nielsen.



The study also revealed that homelessness can cut short lives for those who are still young. For those homeless, age 15-24 years, their estimated life expectancy was, respectively, 21 and 17 years lower than men and women in the general population.



Regardless of age, however, Dr. Nielsen said that the death disparity confirms that homeless people living in shelters constitute a high-risk, marginalized population whose physical and mental health needs require more attention.



In an accompanying commentary in The Lancet, Professor John Geddes and Dr. Seena Fazel of Oxford University wrote that more work needs to be done to end death disparities among the homeless. That includes improved integrated psychiatric and substance abuse treatment to better address the problem.

Another concern regarding the study was its country of origin. Denmark provides free health care and a substantial social-service and housing support infrastructure. These should be helping alleviate death disparities among the homeless.



The Lancet commentary also pointed out potential cross-border differences in data. 
”International comparison of studies of homelessness,” it noted…”is made harder by the different social and housing systems between developing and more developed countries, and between small well-organized and highly socially integrated Nordic countries and larger more heterogeneous countries such as the USA.”



The commentary added that the situation is likely to be worse in countries with less well-organized welfare systems.



And fixing the death disparity problem for the homeless is now even a more daunting challenge. The crash in housing markets and the recent recession has increased homelessness in the U.S. and Europe, all while social services are being cut due to severe government financial restrictions.

On July 1st, protesters in community and labor groups nationwide will take to the streets in protest of the private prison industry’s business model of lobbying for harsher incarceration policies for drug users, immigrants, and other marginalized populations who are often scapegoated as being the origin of our nation’s problems. These policies have devastated state and federal budgets worldwide, forcing a slash and burn of the social safety nets that the poor and middle classes depend upon for survival. Protesters will call on Wells Fargo Bank to divest its holdings in GEO Group (one of the two largest private prison companies in the US that runs immigrant detention centers and Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp for the federal government) and CCA, Corrections Corporation of America. In addition, protesters will demand that Wells Fargo put a moratorium on foreclosures and stop the criminal lending practices targeting communities of color, as well as pay its fair share of local, state, and federal taxes.

Immigrant detention centers cost taxpayers over $10 billion a year while making big money for hedge fund managers and shareholders like Wells Fargo. Prison stock held by Wells Fargo alone is currently valued at over $88 million. The private prison industry and its investors have a long and shameful record of targeting and incarcerating communities of color by lobbying for legislation to enact “three strikes” laws, criminalize undocumented immigrants (through laws like SB1070 in Arizona and a similar bill in Georgia, home of the largest private prison in the nation), and increase sentencing standards for even the most minor drug offenses. Political candidates financed by these groups often run on a “tough on crime” platform. With CCA and GEO Group making $200 a night per immigrant detained, it all adds up to a profit of over $5 billion a year made just by these two companies–at the expense of taxpayers (and the destruction of the lives of thousands of families of those incarcerated.)

Even San Francisco has fallen prey to the financial manipulation of Wells Fargo and its policies of backing political campaigns that increase incarceration. Last August, The Bay Citizen reported that one of the largest contributions to the so-called “Civil Sidewalks” campaign was made by former Wells Fargo CEO and board chairman, Richard M. Kovacevich. The Civil Sidewalks campaign, backed by banks and big business, put Prop L on last year’s San Francisco ballot, which criminalized people for the simple act of sitting on a sidewalk.

The July 1st action is just one event in a long-term campaign for national prison industry divestment. The protest, sponsored by Communities United Against Violence, among other organizations, will feature a rally and street theater beginning at 11am in front of the Wells Fargo Bank at 464 California Street. Several similar-themed direct actions have happened over the past few months, including a protest in May at a Wells Fargo shareholders’ meeting and a Communities Rising rally on June 17th in front of City Hall. The rally on June 17 was sponsored by CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget) and the SF Drug Users’ Union to commemorate 40 years of Drug War failure, calling for an end to the failed War on Drugs and national divestment from the Prison Industrial Complex in order to fund education and health care.

Can’t make it to a rally? Slactivists far and wide can make their voices heard by moving their money from Wells Fargo accounts to local credit unions which invest in our communities. Want to learn more? Surf to immigrantsforsale.org and justicepolicy.org.

Make this July 4th a day to be remembered… Join the rally in Dolores Park by 4pm so you won’t miss the lively and lyrical march to the Open Housing Occupation site.

Festivities both inside and outside the occupation site will include: performance art, live music, FREE dinner (lovingly prepared by SF Food Not Bombs), poetry, and direct action.

Housing must not sit vacant while people are forced to live on the streets. 2010 Census figures over 32,000 vacant housing units in The City while approximately 10,000 individuals remain homeless. People must not be evicted for profit. Human rights should come before property rights. Come out and make your voice heard! We realize the need to respect the individual while we embrace the need for collective empowerment, equitable communities, and mutual aid.

In 2005, there were an estimated 1 billion (yes, BILLION) people worldwide living in squatted homes and squatter shantytowns. By 2030 the projected number will jump to 2 billion or ONE in FOUR people on the planet.. We will unite, we will fight, and…WE WILL WIN!

Actions are taking place in countries worldwide this July 4th, providing a great opportunity to celebrate our autonomy and integrity. We are seizing this moment by creating a liberated space and by gathering squatters and homesteaders from throughout the Bay Area to begin organizing a vital regional squatters’ syndicate based on autonomy, integrity, shared resources, and mutual aid.

We welcome any additional overnight occupiers, musicians, performers, cooks, medics, liasons, and direct action heros to join us, so don’t be shy. For more information about Homes Not Jails, surf to HomesNotJailsSF.org.

All my Beautiful flowers
Flowers such as these light up the world and keep the world moving
Such lovely flowers must be loved
“Rose”, Street Sheet (Hahahahaha),
I said Street Sheet.

All my homeless brothers and sisters who are soldiers
everyday while fighting just to sit down somewhere for a minute

God Bless you wonderful Flowers. The late Dr. Bey who gave me my first job in Oakland and who gave me shelter (years ago, hahaha). Kathy, Sherylynn, all my friends, it’s meditative to talk & feed off eachother’s positivity.
Why shouldn’t flowers bloom togeather? (Hahaha)
I must say, San Franscisco is a giant Flower
because they have all these people but they’re all different, and we still manage to all get along.

Dr. Huey P. Newton (Hahahaha)
need I say more?
Dr. Adams, you da man! (haaa)

Oakland (Wesssssssssside)
hahahahahahah
God.

When we are righteous
We are all flowrs
because we are all 1 (Yessssssssss)
hahahahaha

Honest debate is the cornerstone of democracy;
Dishonest debate is a sinkhole

The Fair Shelter Initiative, to appear on the November 2011 ballot, would clarify that shelter beds are not considered housing under the 2002 Proposition N. This change would both maintain housing and services for homeless recipients, yet create equity in the shelter system. As this is a politically charged issue, there is a whole lot of dishonest discourse out there. Read on to find to find out the truth.

Myth:  Fair Shelter would dismantle Care Not Cash because shelter is a stepping-stone to housing.
Fact: Shelter does not have to be a stepping stone to housing – SF has a policy where people are housed right off the streets called “Housing First.” and it is done successfully by city programs like HOT team.  Under Care Not Cash, people are offered housing if it is available at their monthly appointment, not inside the shelter.

Myth: Individuals could turn down housing and choose to languish in the shelters just to collects their full welfare check.
Fact: Those who turn down offer of actual housing would continue to get their grants reduced under this proposal- just not if it is shelter.

Myth: People will come in from out of town to take advantage of the cash benefits.
Fact: The argument that people will come in from out of town has never been proven.   None of the city’s official reports support that argument.  In fact, a city study found that less then 1.3% came for services.

Myth: Money for housing will go to welfare checks instead, housing funding will siphoned off and people who are housed now will be evicted.
Fact: Funding for housing is protected in the measure. According to the Controller’s Office, the fund is set between $12 million and has reached the cap of $14 million. It can go no higher or lower. Currently it is maxed out, so very little of the money charged to homeless people for shelter goes into the fund.

Myth: Shelters will lose funding because they will no longer get funding from peoples welfare check.
Fact: No money from the welfare checks has ever gone to shelter providers.

• Progressive Supervisors secretly plotted to put this on the ballot (funny, they introduced legislation at a public meeting–isn’t that always the way it goes?)
• Progressive Supervisors put this on the ballot as a wedge issue (hmm, to draw more progressives to the polls? Is there a progressive in town that doesn’t vote in every election?)
• The initiative will dismantle Care not Cash (I thought Care not Cash was about housing. So now they are saying the entirety of the program is shelter?)

The allegations are so long, in fact, that we have included a list of myths and facts here in the Street Sheet just to clear the air. However, I think it is worth talking about why the Coalition on Homelessness decided to pitch the initiative to Supervisors and bring it forward to voters. Why?

You see, the Coalition on Homelessness is just so misunderstood. We are not ideologues–our structure prevents that. We do outreach to homeless people, find out what they want us to fight for, and then we fight for them. This may come as a surprise to some, but our job is to actually represent poor and homeless people: the most hated, disenfranchised, patronized, and demonized group of folks in the city. You see, homelessness is where all forms of oppression intersect–racism, homophobia, fear of disability, all of that. But since it is a diverse group of people who only have in common being too poor to afford a place to live, it is somehow OK to hate them.

We have no political aspirations, we are not political appointees, and we are not seeking to increase any Poverty Pimp contracts held with the City. We simply sacrifice and work hard because we truly believe that every human being has the right to housing, the right to food and economic security, and will thrive if given the opportunity.

Now that the hidden agenda and mischevious motives have been dispensed with, you are probably wondering what this “disturbing the peace in city hall” initiative is all about.

We have been doing extensive outreach to shelter residents and shelter seekers for years and the same issue comes up over and over. There is mass inequity in the shelter system where 7% of the homeless population (adults on county assistance) get 41% of the beds. The rest of the folks–people with disabilities, seniors, working people, undocumented folks, individuals collecting unemployment–must compete for the remaining beds. They start at 3:00 am and go on until 10:00 at night, perhaps (if they’re “lucky”) getting a bed for one night and having to start the process all over again the next day.

Let me break it down for you. Let’s take Sue ZeeQue. She became homeless after losing work. Like most of us, she was “just a paycheck away” from being homeless. She didn’t have any family or a trust fund to fall back on and when her unemployment ran out she went to the city for some help and signed up for public assistance. As she was homeless, the welfare office offered her a shelter bed. It would not have mattered if she took it or not–once it was offered, her cash assistance was reduced by 85%. She may languish in the shelter for months or years before they offer her any real housing, trying humbly to feed herself on two dollars a day without cooking facilities or a fridge.

Meanwhile, Laura Jean has been seeking shelter, starting early each day–pushing her walker across town, trying not to stop and cry. After 8 grueling days, she finally gets a shelter bed, and to her dismay she notices a bunch of empty beds. She asks some questions and discovers Care not Cash is to blame–the inequity locks elders like her out–the empty beds are due to the fact that when county welfare recipients don’t use the bed it is not released but for one night, and late at night. The drill is go to Glide in the Tenderloin at 3:00 am, go to MSC-South at 5th and Bryant at 9:00. Get a wristband at 11:00 am. Come back at 5:00. Wait some more until beds are released at 7:00 pm. Wait some more until 10:00 when the last of the beds are released. Laura Jean was tired.

If the Fair Shelter Initiative passes, Sue ZeeQue would get her full grant until she was offered real housing. Sue ZeeQue could still get shelter, but she would be on equal footing with Laura Jean. With the full grant, her hunger will be alleviated, and the city would be pressured to offer her some housing more quickly. Laura Jean will more likely get a long term bed until housing is available, given that she is elderly and at risk.

The beauty of all of this is that the housing funding under Care Not Cash would be protected. The fund is set at the 2002 expenditure level (what they were spending on cash assistance to homeless people at the time.) It is paying for the housing and will continue to pay for the housing if Fair Shelter passes.

In the end, fair shelter will protect the housing funds, while creating equity in the shelter system.

As for the opposition…why are they freaking out so much? Well, beyond it being viewed as an absolute sin for poor homeless folks to have a little income, it is shaking the tree of absolute truth that has been created in the media: that everything is being done for homeless people, and that those who are still homeless have simply chosen to be homeless, and that Care not Cash is an amazing cure all for anyone who ever wants to get elected.

Back here at the Coalition, well, we are just trying to improve the lives of destitute San Franciscans, and nobody seems to like that. Oh yeah, except the formerly homeless who now have a shot at not dying in the street.

Today we stand in solidarity with community and labor groups that are taking to the streets to protest the private prison industry’s business model of pushing for harsher immigrant incarceration policies. Such policies drive up prison populations and put added strains on state and federal budgets.

On May 3rd, CJJC along with ACCE, SEIU, PICO and many more ally organizations took to the streets for the big Wells Fargo Shareholder meeting protest. We had a delegation of people inside and hundreds outside demanding that Wells Fargo puts a moratorium on foreclosures, divests from the prison industry and stops the criminal lending practices targeting communities of color as well as pay its fair share of local, state and federal taxes.

Today in LA groups are demanding that Wells Fargo divest its holdings in the GEO Group, a private prison company that runs immigrant detention centers and the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp for the U.S. government.

Detentions of immigrants are set to cost taxpayers over $10 billion a year while profiting Manhattan-based hedge fund managers and other finance industry magnates like Wells Fargo who have significant investments in the private prison industry. Wells Fargo’s prison stock is valued at $88 million.

The private prison industry, in league with major investors, is working to increase the criminalization of our communities to further overpopulate our prisons. This industry has a long and shameful record of targeting and incarcerating African American communities, and is now seeking further profit through lobbying efforts to accelerate the detention of immigrants through laws such as SB 1070 in Arizona and its copycat bill in Georgia.

“Now they’re conspiring to get states to put more people in jail for longer periods of time, costing tax-payers millions for no justifiable reason which undermines the credibility of our justice system. We can’t let this happen,” said Peter Cervantes-Gautschi of Enlace, an alliance of low-wage labor groups in the U.S. and Mexico.
This group, in partnership with community groups and unions across the US, is calling on all public and private institutions to divest their holdings in Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group, America’s largest private prison corporations who profited a combined $3 billion.

The major investors in the private prison industry include Pershing Square Capital Management, Wellington Management Company, Wells Fargo Bank, General Electric and others. The protests coincide with the annual shareholders meeting of CCA in Nashville, TN where one of the protests will be taking place that day.

This is the first action and the beginning of the National Prison Industry Divestment Campaign. We are calling on all people of conscience to divest from Wells Fargo and demand that they stop profiteering off the suffering of our communities. Join us today and in all future actions that will be occurring all over the country.

Look for information for another action coming up on July 3rd.

Much has been made of his choice of presentation space inside the Board chambers, which Newsom famously avoided, even after a ballot measure directed him inside.  Newsom was all about conflict, made to play into the hardcore sports fan lust for victory.  Right or wrong never seemed to matter under him – it was always about winning.  He and his staff would try their best to put down the legislative body, tease it like a schoolyard bully, therebye boosting his own political career higher and gaining popularity with the rulers of the school yard.  It was one strategy, but an awful tiring one.  (He was never a consensus builder, so would we categorize him as a desensus deconstructor?)

During the budget season, this style was particularly striking. Former Mayor Newsom would slash and burn the budget, taking care to cut everything important from the more left leaning members of the Board, then hold hostage a pool of money.  The Board was then forced to take away things the Mayor cared about and boom boom pow the game was on!  Firemen would be pitted against children.  Civil service workers pitted against community workers.  Unions pitted against unions.  Things would get ugly, masses would protest, hundreds turning up for hearings to testify, graveyards built in Civic Center Plaza, seniors showing up with safety hats, children begging the board to save their recreation program, folks screaming in the hallways, and just sheer chaos.  The Mayor would hold hostage critical funding for health care and homeless people until the Board put all the patronage positions that help him get elected back in, or his pet projects like the Community Justice Center.  In the end, the Mayor got what he wanted, so I guess you could say he won.  Unfortunately, the losers were poor folks who have seen health care slashed by over $33 million under Newsom, and mentally ill people who have had treatment slashed, and elders with Alzhiemers whose day programs have closed, and rape victims who have lost trauma services, and homeless people who have had six resource centers closed and lost a third of their shelter beds and now have to wait half the night for a bed and….

Fast forward to today. Our interim Mayor, Ed Lee, said from the start that he wanted a collaborative process. He reached out to community members, and talked to the members of the Board.  He held a series of meetings with community groups individually, and collectively pulled together community with department heads.  Most importantly, he actually listened.  Stunning.  He had a very real challenge – he had to close an over $400 million deficit and very little means to raise short term revenue.  The department heads apparently did not get the message at the beginning.  They did the same old thing they would have under Newsom: they proposed slashing pretty much only those programs that left leaning board members would support (you know, the poor people stuff) the stuff that serves communities of color and lifts folks out of poverty.  It took a while, but they eventually got the message, and the budget was updated, even, one could say, radically changed.  Police and fire willingly gave up their raises, it looks like pension reform will move forward without opposition, creative solutions were embraced and the lives of the poorest San Franciscans held some value.

The deepest part, however, was the way the larger community organizations responded.  They didn’t just dissolve into “hold hands and sing Kumbaya” mode, but took it to a whole new level. After having been rejected from the table for so long, they were thrilled to have a place at the table, and so they behaved like perfect plebiscites.  Here they have direct access to power, an opportunity rarely glimpsed and they never bothered to stand up for the people they serve.  Instead, they spoke only in long-winded platitudes and gushing gratitudes.  They felt that by agreeing to sit at the table there was an implicit agreement that they would not make any waves (at all…as in not even a little tiny ripple). This could have been an incredibly dangerous gamble, as poor people could have been seriously played. After all, these very same people have been involved in multiple community processes where after spending hours coming up with recommendations, the report  is shelved with no real outcomes.  Luckily, the needs of the poorest San Franciscans was communicated in alternative vehicles and in the end, Mayor Lee came through with a very thoughtful budget.

The budget Mayor Lee presented to the Board was framed as a work in progress.  It still has about $10,000,000 in reductions to poverty abatement programs.  From one perspective, that seems like a whole lot, but compared to previous years, we would have had almost four times that to fight for.  However, on top of the devastation of the Newsom years, it would not be an overstatement to say an additional $10 million in reductions is catastrophic.  As a community, people will have to stand up and fight – perhaps fight alongside the Mayor instead of against him – but fight nonetheless to get that funding for poor people.  We cannot accept, for example, losing hours at the only resource center in the Tenderloin, or losing doctors at psychiatric crisis.

Now we return to lessons learned for the next Mayor, and there are quite a few. Formerly nasty spitting Mayoral aides frequently witnessed hissing bile into Supervisor Aide’s faces can be seen skipping and smiling down the palace hallways.  Decisions can be based on reason as opposed to political expediency.  Politics do not need to be based on blood sports.  Simply smile and invite your processor’s opponents to the table and they will be putty in your hands.

In the end, Mayor Lee is far more popular then Newsom ever was, is much more respected, and the decisions made (at least in the budget process) are the right ones for the people of San Francisco.  The main lesson: working together actually works.

I awake every day, even up here, to watch, listen, and secure you. I don’t care what day you are due up here with me, Mom, for I’ve always heard you cry, before and after they took me. I’m never leaving you, as we are bonded for eternity.

Before I decided to chronicle the “Idriss Stelley Foundation” series, last year, Idriss’ spirit channeled through my soul and communicated with me to his mom, Mesha Monge-Irizarry through this poem (the poem continues throughout this story.) I called it: IDRISS’S ADDRESS. For everyone that reads this series conclusion chronicled by POOR, you all will see why.

On the morning of June 13th, 2001 at 7:45 am, Mesha worked literally 25 hours due to the shortage of staff. An hour later, she received a phone call that will forever haunt her:

“Mom, I need $2,000 or I am a dead man tonight!” This would also be the last time she would ever hear her son’s voice again. Mesha was stunned by these terrifying words, and very afraid. Her son seldom asked her for any money, given the fact that he was a marble union worker. Idriss wouldn’t go into further details over the phone, and promised her that he would explain everything when she got home from work.

“Me and Mama Dee left out of this theater (Sony Metreon Theater) about a half hour before Idriss was killed,” POOR Magazine/POOR News Network, Co-Founder “Tiny” Lisa Gray-Garcia would later tell me.

Ma, I heard and saw you cry internally, even today, I can see your very tears plague your heart. God called me home ten years ago, and I’ve hovered over you since.

I’m sure that his girlfriend, Summer Galbreath, will never forget those awful words by Idriss Stelley: “Summer, you know that I am going to die tonight!” With that, Idriss was in a somber mood for the rest of the day. While inside one of the movie theaters at the Sony Metreon Theater located at Mission and 4th Street. He and Summer went to watch a movie called “Swordfish,” starring John Travolta. In the movie, there was a scene where Travolta lights up a cigarette. Seconds later, Idriss did exactly the same. A security guard approached Idriss and instructed him to put out his cigarette.

In the “Darkened Theater” (which was titled by the San Francisco Chronicle during its “Use of Force” series that published its own “version” of Idriss’s death) Idriss Stelley stood up and faced the audience. “If you have families or loved ones, leave now. Something bad could happen!” Idriss exclaimed.

Almost immediately, the movie patrons stampeded out of the theater like a wild herd in heeding his words…all but one, a man of African descent, who was asleep in the theater, unaware of the commotion. Summer had gone to use the restroom and was also unaware of what was going on, which is what she asked Idriss after seeing that everyone had cleared out.

“Baby, go home, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Idriss said “Go home to your family.” Summer left, but did not go home and was outside with everyone that left the theater. At this point, Idriss is all alone in the theater, shy of the gentleman who was still asleep. He then dialed 911 on his cell phone.

“Mesha, there are cops everywhere!” Summer said frantically over the phone. “They say that he has a gun, but he ain’t got no gun! I told them not to hurt him!” The call dropped. Mesha called Summer back immediately. It was 11:09pm.

I got called from heaven on that deep dark day, 7 years, 5 and a half months today. Though my life was abruptly cut short, Ma, I heard you cry. Before and after the hail of gunfire tore my body, I heard you on the phone to attempt to save me, but didn’t even get to see me, as you heard me die.

The moment that Mesha Monge-Irizarry called Summer back, she heard the shots ring out in the background that killed her only child, Idriss Scott Stelley. A barrage total of 48 shots is what it took for numerous officers of three San Francisco Police Department precinct stations to calm down a young man who was clearly suffering from a total mental breakdown. Use of Deadly Force.

Those very shots from June 13th, 2001 at 11:09 pm still ring out to this very day in Mesha’s mind. “Why wasn’t I there to shield his body with mine?” she often asks herself.

The three SFPD precincts that “responded” to the 911 call by Idriss and Summer harshly evacuated everyone from the Sony Metreon Theater “with shotguns” according to witnesses, employees, movie patrons, and spectators to the chaotic scene. The precincts that responded were the Tenderloin Task Force, the Bayview and the Mission District Station.

During the evacuation, the black gentleman who was asleep in the theater was seen by a witness led out in handcuffs through a back entrance. “What the f!@#$ is wrong with y’all!” the man was heard yelling to the cops as he was being taken away. “He didn’t have a gun, but you all had weapons!” In fact, the only “weapon” that was discovered on Idriss was a Thumbelina-sized carving tool (hooked to a thin pager chain) that the officers would later claim he tried to cut one of them with.

Summer saw the man from the theatre an hour later as he awaited interrogation by one of the homicide investigators at the SF Hall of “Justice.” The man later “mysteriously disappeared.” The unidentified man was later regarded as an “unreliable source” due to alleged intoxication.

Mesha was hastily driven to San Francisco General Hospital by a friend, grasping onto an ounce of hope that Idriss was still alive. Upon her arrival, she saw two officers at the Emergency Room entrance.

Mesha approached a triage nurse to find out if Idriss had been admitted. Like so many mothers, she received the words that no mother ever wants to hear.

“Your son died at the scene,” said one of the police officers. “You need to come with us to the Homicide Division.” Mesha was so shaken up, in a state of shock, that she doesn’t even remember ever riding in the patrol car.

My demise remerged your very soul, giving velocity to your courage and commitment to save others. My departure from the clutches of the wickedness that’s plagued you and everyone, will never be in vain.

At 5:30am Mesha called Summer to give her the terrible news. “Baby, your man is dead.” Once the word “dead” registered in Summer’s ears, she started screaming at the top of her lungs. All along, while she was being interrogated, she kept asking the officers “How is E (Idriss’s nickname)? Tell me how is E?!”  “Don’t worry, darling, he’s fine. He’s going to be just fine,” kept contending the investigators.

“It is internal policy that when there is a shootout, everyone must empty their gun” Holly Pera, from the SFPD Homicide Detail Division replied, when she was asked by Mesha three days after Idriss’s death, “Why so many bullets?” There was never any real “shootout” because of the blatant fact that Idriss didn’t carry a gun. Or is it possible that the officers emptied their firearms to mislead investigators as to which officer fired first, during the ballistics investigation?

After the officers killed Idriss, they allegedly tried to perform CPR on him for 45 minutes.

They then dragged his dead body through an emergency exit of the Sony Metreon into a dark alley away from public view and scrutiny. Idriss’ body was riddled with bullets that ranged from his skull, exploding his brain, his neck, chest, arms, abdomen, thighs, calves, etc. Idriss’s body was practically covered from head-to-toe with bullets holes and blood.

It was also reported that there were bullet holes in the walls by an exit door of the theater. Was Idriss actually trying to flee despite the hail of bullets that ultimately took his life? This is mind shattering, given the fact that Idriss’s entire body was now literally shattered to shreds, yet now there was an attempt from Idriss’s killers to “revive him?” By performing CPR? On a man whose brain matter is splattered on the theater seats? What was really taking place in that dark alley from alongside the “Darkened Theater” may always remain a mystery.

“Idriss Stelley’s case is at the root of the 40 hour mandatory mental health training,” said SF Public Defender, Jeff Adachi in 2002, a year after Idriss’s death. These sentiments by Adachi were somewhat ironic because Mesha, herself, conducted comprehensive, “de-escalating” police intervention training series at the SFPD Academy and for the SF Sheriff’s Department until 2000, while she was successively the program manager of La Casa de las Madres, Woman, Inc., SHANTI, and Hayward Emergency Shelters.

In the past, Mesha has repeatedly offered her technical assistance to prior SF Police Chiefs: Fred Lau, Earl Sanders, and Heather Fong. In addition, she offered the same to SF Sheriff’s Department. “All, but to no avail,” Mesha stated, disappointedly, but not the least bit surprised by their overall lack of response.

They may have taken my life, but my soul and spirit will continue to inhabit, comfort, and cloud you. I’ve sent you many loved ones, shielders, and protectors, for you are always right as rain.

In 2003, Mesha won an out of court settlement (after she sued the City of San Francisco over the unjustified use of deadly force against Idriss) for the sum of $500,000. After her lawyer, Andy Schwartz, collected 35% of the money, she entered a business partnership with the remaining $250,000 with Willie Ratcliff’s Liberty Builders, Bayview, Inc., while keeping $25,000 to open the Idriss Stelley Foundation and keep a (clients and services) rolling fund. “I did this in the hope to strengthen Black and Brown ownership in the SF Bayview District,” Mesha said during the interview.

A day after the SF “Fajitagate” scandal exploded in 2002 (which involved the indictment of 12 top brass officers), Mesha was issued an apology – at her mediation in front of a retired judge, pointing toward a possible settlement from Heather Fong, who had just been nominated Deputy Chief that very day, before being appointed to head the SFPD by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004.

Fong’s words in front of the City Attorney: “On behalf of our department and the City of San Francisco, I apologize for what happened to Idriss. It was wrong, and we want to make sure such thing never happens again.” Mesha’s attorney was gasping, ecstatic…but she immediately knew that such a contention, occurring during a confidential mediation process was inconsequential in terms of the outcome of her case.

Ma, I heard, and please stop crying, for I’m no longer dying, anymore. You were reborn and revitalized to save others like me, tell people like me, and given a heart like jewel to forgive anyone, even the killers of me.

Mesha publicly forgave the police officers for their execution of Idriss, something most moms or fathers rarely, if ever, do. She decided to use the rest of the money to create the grassroots, nonprofit organization that would hold law enforcement accountable for unethical conduct during the course of their duties: the Idriss Stelley Foundation. “I could not entertain the thought of spending a penny of Idriss’s blood money on myself!” Mesha exclaimed.

You may have not got my justice the way it should’ve been served, on the other hand I placed it on your shoulder, and assured you I’m always there, never past tense.

In September of 2004, Mesha took the SFPD Citizen’s Academy Training 15-week course in order to get a better understanding of the organizational culture of the entire department. While Mesha was attending, she learned the fundamental basics that a police officer would need in order to “serve” and “protect” the public. She learned tackling techniques, applications of containment through pain-inflicting physical measures and weapons. Mesha–understandably–could not bear to participate in target practice. Just a couple of years ago, Mesha showed me a picture of herself, between Lieutenant Flores and Chief Heather Fong while holding her graduating certificate.

Don’t ever think for a second, Mama, that evil will prevail, for my supreme father has toured me through the gates of Heaven and Hell. Many get so discouraged, despite how hard they fight, but little do they know of the glory that is yet to come. That day is coming, they shall all see.

As I prepared to wrap up the interview, Mesha concluded with her final thoughts of hope and commitment to keeping the soul and legacy of Idriss Stelley alive to help others who’ve experienced her pain. “Two nights ago, I dreamt of a storm raging through my bedroom. Idriss was sitting on my bed while dead leaves accumulated around us on the bed sheets. Then without transition, we held each other, looking down the Sphinx River and seeing the bodies of our ancestors drifting down the dark waters. Some of them were rotting, others chipping bones, while others were mere transparent shadows. I felt that Idriss is calling me.”

Before I packed up my paper and pen, Mesha gently tapped my hand. “But it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. I will not rest until we make substantial strides against illegal racial biased policing and lethal force against our Sisters and Brothers. Let’s keep going safe and strong in serving and protecting each other.” As I hugged her goodnight, she quietly told me to “keep a stiff upper lip” and not to take any “wooden nickels.”

“In Pro Per Power!” she said, giving reference to my civil suit against the City of San Francisco over SFPD misconduct last year, when I represented myself with no one to help me. Though I was unsuccessful, I will never misrepresent myself in heeding those very powerful words because they forever echo in my heart.