Justifiably triumphant POOR Press authors (clockwise from left) Valerie Harvey, Brother Y, Dale Ray and Merilee Crawford display their books. Photo: PNN staff

At the bus stop I heard an elderly African-American man screaming at the top of his lungs and banging his walking cane on the back of a 72R bus. He kept repeating the phrase "I'm not gonna' let him get away with that!" to anyone who would listen as he approached the front of the bus. As the old man got on the bus he began arguing violently with the bus driver over his perceived disrespect. The bus driver quickly grabbed his telephone and called the sheriff's office to haul the old guy to jail.

But before the news media could get another piece of bad news coming from violent Oakland, a young African-American man wearing a black New York Yankees baseball cap put his long sinewy arm on the old guy's shoulder and spoke firmly: "It ain't worth it, O.G. It ain't worth going to jail over. Let it go, O.G. He (the bus driver) ain't worth it."

The youth began pulling the old man off the bus while telling him he didn't want him to go to jail. When he got the oldtimer on the street, the 72 bus driver closed the door and rapidly drove off in a huff.

I had just witnessed refusal to be criminalized. I also witnessed a youthful African-American male defuse a potentially violent situation and be a peacemaker. I also viewed inter-generational dialog between young and old, with the young extending wisdom and guidance to the elder. And the elder accepting the wise words. This is just the opposite of the image put out in the media about young Black men and Black people in general. Black history unfolding in front of my eyes.

A revolutionary project of POOR Magazine aimed at penetrating the racist and classist publishing industry, POOR Press Publications has just released nine new books from mamas, daddies, sons, daughters and grandmothers who have struggled with poverty and racism in Amerikka. Six of the books have African-American authors! They exhibit that same spirit that refuses to be marginalized, criminalized or de-humanized. These books touch on themes that are universal but retain that unique Poor Press flavor of resistance.

Bruce Allison's "The Land Under Golden Gate Park" is a fantasy about the weird world underneath Golden Gate Park and also serves as a satire on San Francisco politics or, as Mr. Allison says, "Just have fun reading it!"

Rico Stone Crawford's "First, the Last-Featuring Visions" is a book comprised of poetry written by the late Rico Stone Crawford and co-authored by his mother, Merilee Crawford. Even though Rico was told at the young age of 19 he had two months to live, he lived an additional 20 years, which gave him time to express his many talents.

Marvin Crutchfield's "Paradise Ventures 3" is his third book of gospel poetry. It is mainly about how to get saved by Jesus Christ, because he is the author of light, and it tells about what will happen if you refuse him.

Byron Gafford's "One Man's Journey into Institutional Abuse" is a compilation of poetry written by Byron Gafford about institutions all over the world that were built to tear families apart and ruining lives for monetary gain.

Valerie Harvey's "Love Lights the Way: A Book of Poetry About Love" is a book of poetry about the different types of love: romantic, friendship, love of one's ethnicity and familial love. One of the goals of the book is for people to be more in tune about love in general.

Ruyata Akio McGlothin's (RAM) "Another Broken Heart Mended" is about the trauma Ruyata went through as a child which lead to his drug abuse, which also lead to his recovery. According to RAM, "I'm trying to get people away from negative internal dialogue."

POOR Magazine's own welfare QUEEN Vivien Hain's book of struggle, resistance and art, "SuperbabyMama: In the life of one poor mama in the USA," focuses on the life of a poor family dealing with racism, poverty and criminalization in the U.S., and then the powerful essays, articles and art of poverty and race scholar and journalist Brother Y's book, "The San Francisco County Jail Cookbook."

The powerful essays, articles and art of poverty and race scholar and journalist Brother Y's book are included in his first publication entitled "The San Francisco County Jail Cookbook."

Finally, Dale Ray's "To Hell and Back" is a story of uplift and hope. As Dale puts it, "Your past does not have to dictate your future. Through will power you can overcome your obstacles just like I did!"

To purchase a copy of any of these powerful publications, please call POOR Magazine at (415) 863-6306. Or to buy them on-line with your credit card, go to www.poormagazine.org and click on POOR Press. They will all be available at a table at Whose Poverty, Whose Crime, a symposium on the Criminalization of Poverty held at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall on March 6 and 7.

Sam Drew is a staff writer at Poor News Network. Read more about issues of poverty and race written by the people who face them daily at www.poormagazine.org.

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