Photo by Ray Pensador - Sat., Oct. 12, 2013 - Mission & 24th St.
It was about 1:20 P.M. on Saturday, October 12th, a mere 5 minutes after I've boarded BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) on my way to San Francisco's 24th and Mission station, from the East Bay. I was carrying a bag with a shoulder strap, big enough to to fit a small video camera and my Nook, to which I had downloaded a new book I was eager to read.
When I got to page 19, I read a passage that somehow reminded me of the reason I was on BART on the way to San Francisco...
Bia told us that this name memorialized the slaughter of thousands of Native people by white invaders. According to legend, so many people were killed that the river ran red with the blood of Indians for three days.
Just before the road's final plunge into the valley basin known as Round Valley, we paused for a moment at Inspiration Point to note a historical plaque that read, "This valley was discovered by Frank M. Azbill, arriving from Eden Valley on May 15, 1854," and it listed the area's first Anglo settlers. Bia told us that Azbill ruthlessly killed the first 40 Yuki Indians he encountered. She added that the day the official plaque was installed, local members of the Round Valley Indian Reservation put up a handwritten sign of their own: "A Brief History of the Round Valley Area: 1853-1874. White settlers, instead of bypassing the valley as ordered by D.C., slaughtered 11,600 of 12,000 native people and stole their land." The hand-painted sign may be gone, but history doesn't forget. To this day, a river of animosity runs red with rage between the Native people and the white inhabitants of the valley.
The emphasis is mine
Now, the fact that this passage reminded me of the reason I was heading to San Francisco was pure coincidence, as I hadn't thought about it when I purchased the book the night before. The reason I downloaded the book, Lust For Justice - The Radical Life & Law of J. Tony Serra, was because my wife and I are great admirers of this great man, lawyer, humanitarian, and a tireless and unapologetic defender of minorities, the poor, and the disadvantaged, against the brutality of our two-tiered justice system.
Here's how trial lawyer Gerry Spence puts it in the book's foreword (page 10), explaining why he doesn't like Tony Serra:
I have always wanted to be brave and reckless, especially facing judges and the enslaving moguls of corporate America. But I admit, I have never fully succeeded, not to my satisfaction. I have wanted to fight for the poor and give up any hint of economic security and put aside all striving for worldly things. Once I said to my darling, Imaging, I think we should sell everything we have and give it to the poor and live without devoting any of our lives to things, and she said, "All right. I'll go with you." I looked around and saw all the possessions and comforts and said, "Forget it."
~Snip~
These are few of my major failures, and the reason that I don't like Tony Serra much is because he does not suffer the same.
He has vowed poverty and I suppose he will sleep under the bridge if he must. He comes into court looking like a lost tramp in a dirty unpressed suit and tennis shoes. He isn't afraid of judges or opposing lawyers. He doesn't respect those who aren't deserving of respect and isn't hesitant to say so. He will fight an often, evil, broken, judicial system like a mongoose fights snakes...
The emphasis is mine
And as I read all this, the words "enslaving moguls of corporate America," remind me of why I'm on BART heading to San Francisco. And when I read about the stealing of the land of indigenous people by those who pillage and plunder because they can, I'm reminded of how this process continues to this day under the innocuously-sounding name of gentrification.
Gentrification is a shift in an urban community toward wealthier residents and/or businesses and increasing property values, sometimes at the expense of the poorer residents of the community. Gentrification is typically the result of investment in a community by local government, community activists, or business groups, and can often spur economic development, attract business, deter crime, and have other benefits to a community. However, despite these potential benefits, urban gentrification often, intentionally or unintentionally, is generally believed to result in population migration as poor residents of a neighborhood are displaced by wealthier newcomers...
The emphasis is mine
As this corporate-controlled predatory system continues to entrench itself in every corner of this country, the pillaging and looting continues, the taking of lands from indigenous people (residents that have lived in these communities for generations) continues apace. Yes, taking of the land doesn't require the actual slaughter of thousands of people any longer, since the mechanisms for it had been built into the system making what are in essence immoral and predatory practices "legal," but the effects are still devastating, not only to the indigenous residents who have lived and thrived in these communities (in the true sense of the word) for generations, but to the society in general, since these displacements help bring about a sort of crass homogeneous consumerist and corporate ethos, that at first blush may look neat and sanitized, but in reality it replaces real cultura, real diversity, real art, and real people.
[For some reason I'm unable to embed videos. In the meantime, click on the links to see them at YouTube. I will contact the support staff to figure out why videos are not embedding in my diaries.]
Video:
Community Leader & Activist Roberto Hernandez
The people of the San Francisco Mission District are not willing to put up with these injustices with a "si señor, si señor" attitude. They will fight back; they are fighting back. And they are stating the obvious: When the current tech bubble that has brought corporate invaders, opportunists, raiders, from Google, and Twitter, and many other tech companies, burst, the proud people of the Mission District will still be there.
They are not going to let this latest rabid, predatory, irrational exuberance destroy their communities. They will fight back; they will remain just as they have for generations. And they will join forces with other communities of color, including African-Americans, and Asians, to hold the ground (literally and figuratively) against these rapacious corporate invaders.
Stay tuned... Join the fight.
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