31.7.16

720 hrs of Resistance

I would like to apologize in advance. I was up all day and night anticipating camping out in a hurricane at the Campamento. My work may suffer for it as I try not to doze off.

On the 29th of July, the Campamento celebrated 30 days of holding space. That is 720 hours  of 80 degrees in the rain weather, organizing actions, sign and shirt making, three-hour assemblies, workshops on everything from civil disobedience to origins of PROMESA, heated debates around racism and patriarchy. 720 hours of disrupting traffic in the financial district. 720 hours of documenting pickets and feds patrolling with dogs. The day was celebrated with a picket, cake and some music performed by comrades.

How much sleep has anyone gotten in that 720 hours is hard to say but my impression is not much. I myself  get six very unrestful hours a night at best. In no way have I been the best participant or contributed the most or have worked the hardest. I do struggle with the balance of doing my job as a journalist and as a participant in resistance against colonialism and capitalism.

I have been planning this project for months. Days before I had even boarded my plane PROMESA was passed and the occupiers moved into the intersection of Chardon and Hostos. It took a few days before I approached anyone in the camp. I took some time to follow it on the local news. It was the minimum coverage of the mainstream media that gave urgency to my desire to go to the camp. Besides, I came to document resistance and there it was. My story had set up camp in the middle of the financial district, right in front of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico


Boriken has a long history of government programs, such as COINTELPRO, where activist have been falsely imprisoned, tortured, killed. Some dude, that no one knows, with fancy audio recording gear and says he is from a radio station in Portland, Oregon that no one has heard of and speaks Spanish with a funny accent is going to look suspicious. I had to be open to rejection and make sure I asked for consent. Freedom of speech is cool but it only protects you from the government and it is not a license to be an asshole. Your subject could always tell you to fuck off and you may not get your story unless you fabricate from snippets of truth and your own hurt ego.

I had been treated nicely considering just the day before some guy with a similar story but none of the credentials waltzed and then suddenly disappeared. Still has not been back so who know what his deal was. If you take time to study the local history you may become just as paranoid. The federal government loves dirty evil tricks and the democrats like to make you feel good about it. Fascist have the advantage of access to people with marketing and advertising degrees.  They can make you get over the fact that your taxes paid for the bombing of schools and hospitals, or that agent orange was tested on the people that make all the world's Tylenol.

The space was only a week old and it was very organized and coordinated. No one seemed to be in any specific organization or just were not sharing that information with the press. Part of an organization or not, there was organizing happening before my eyes. There was a kitchen, it was clean and the food is on time and taste great, dishes get cleaned by everyone. There was a system that fell into place and expectations are constantly communicated. Sometimes I'll jump into the sink just to wash everyone's plates because I got time to kill and waiting for news is boring work. I'll get busted eventually and someone will ask to take over and share the labor.

There was one person I recognized when I started staying at the camp and became embedded with my subject. She was a poet I knew back when I used to read at poetry slams and poetry was my hustle to supplement my diet of lentils, chorizo and movie rentals. We spent the whole day working together and I was not sure if they had even recognized me. At the end of a long day of building revolution she shared with a group of us how she knew me from where we both would do open mike. She later confided me that she used to hate me with a passion. She reminds me of that  every few days. It may be a way of saying, “Oh boy did I hate your fucking guts but gosh you're one swell comrade!” It is a lot nicer than it stings. I am sure I deserved rancor. My popular work from that time was never the work I was proud of and would not dare duplicate now.


I have gotten involved in some organizing of projects around the camp. With an effort not to dominate, I have learning how to motivate, coordinate and mobilize with others. With maximum effort some of us put a proposal together to form an Intersectional Collective for people from marginalized demographics. Very broad but we got it passed and we are one step closer to balancing out the distribution of power.

The morning before the hurricane we got our hands on a newspaper and spent much of breakfast and part of lunch reading the paper out load and discussing current events. Even if you're using a mainstream capitalist piece of media, group discussion can help separate the bullshit from the real shit.

Later we started to prepare for the storm and secure books and tie down tents. At 3pm I saw no sign of the storm getting impressive so I retired to my tent. I woke up at 8 am to find everyone huddled under the tarp in the kitchen having discourse and playing chess. Someone made a quiche/pizza concoction. I am not selling it well but I promise it was delicious.

Inclimate weather was not enough deterrent to drive us away. The gods would have to do better. Palante, Siempre Palante!

If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.


26.7.16

9 Ways How NOT to Be a Radical Org and Not Shitty to Your Childcare Givers ( The រិនណា រ៉េម Method)

Here is a list of 9 ways you can NOT be a radical organization and not be an asshole to childcare workers based on the writings of រិនណា រ៉េម, a radical comedian and childcare giver.

  1. •Asking me to work with less than 24 hours notice.
  2. •Extending or changing the schedule of your org’s event/meeting without asking the child care providers if it works with their schedule.
  3. •Asking me to help you find child care providers when I’m unavailable.‪#‎unpaidlabor‬
  4. •Not providing a SAFE child care space. (Once at an org’s retreat at Menucha, the org’s point person initially placed the child care center in a basement with SO MANY hazards. They found us another spot when I was like “um… I don’t want one of the babies crawling under the furnace.”)
  5. •Not respecting pronouns.
  6. •Not providing any materials like books and toys for child care.
  7. •Hiring too few child care providers for larger groups or when there are babies who need more one-on-one care. 
  8. •Not paying in a timely manner.
  9. •Not providing breaks.
Pro-tip: Be good to the people who take care of you

25.7.16

Being Embedded and Participating in Revolution in Puerto Rico

Today marks one week since I started staying at the Campamento Contra La Junta. It has been challenging and empowering. Being embedded with highly motivated, loving , passionate radical people that organize and work collectively is delightful. It is hot, the feds have gas powered lighting towers pointed toward the camp, they come out and patrol with dogs sniffing around the tents. There is no internet and charging your phone requires luck and coordination. Even with all those challenges the camp works and does what it was meant to do. The camp creates space for people to discuss not just the fiscal board but the colonial relationship Puerto Rico has with the U.S.


Youth in revolt while on summer break.
The camp has been a staging ground for projects and actions such as:


  • The march in the capital against Naled.


  • In Plaza Las Americas,the largest mall in the Caribbean,  fliers were handed out and activist held space and gave speeches about PROMESA and its impact on Puerto Rico.


  • Mobilization to support actions against Energy Answers from burning of trash near rural towns like Arecibo.


  • The camp has also provided food services, entertainment, educational activities and creative projects for the youth.


It has been interesting living in the space between activist and journalist, not that I have been either for very long. Luckily there is a label for my style. I am apparently doing Gonzo journalism, much like the Algerians during the revolution or Hunter Thompson. I am not as good as any of those but considering I am in the shit and have limited resources I should embrace that style. Mainstream journalism is biased in favor of capitalism and neoliberalism why can't I do the same thing against the current?


Revolutionary work is sometimes organizing the pantry.
It's is frustrating to be working with limited resources knowing that in a few months you will have resources that would benefit your host. Even though you are  operating far from home on a very small and tight budget and embedded,dealing with some of the same pain as your host, working with your host, building relationships, even becoming comrades but in a few months, bam! You find yourself 3000 miles away from all their troubles.

My presence has been received with gratitude but I feel like a burden most of the time. Maybe it is my internalized capitalist thinking, maybe it's that European settler imported guilt, maybe journalist are just remora. Not that there is anything wrong with a remora. A remora and its host benefit from their relationship greatly without the host feeling any effects. That should be my goal as a journalist, be beneficial without being an expense. Not easy and probably impossible.


The best I can hope for is that this experience makes my skin thicker, my brain sharper and my entire self more motivated. My body feels beaten down and tired and I am always sticky but my heart beats with love. Never before in Puerto Rico was I ever told I was this cool. It's like I went into a spaceship and traveled near the speed of light for a minute then came back to five years into the future. On the other hand, my time in Portland gave me the resources and experience be useful and motivated here in Puerto Rico.
More of us than there are of them.


No one is a perfect revolutionary. Fame,sainthood, martyrdom and medals should never be your goal. I would say sometimes assholes, pirates and trolls are needed on the radical left. As long as you're using those impulses to destroy capitalism without being shit to your fellow working poor or marginalized people then have at it. There are times I really want a monster on my side working with me to defeat the bourgeois and elite. Sometimes that is what it takes. Rebel scum and scoundrels.

No matter how I perceive I myself, the important thing is if my actions are hurting the very people I am supposed to be helping. Am I serving the people? Am I fighting against capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, ableism and queerphobia? Am I working for an oppressive system or am I building revolution. I don't have to feel good about myself I need to do the work and be open to fuck off when asked to.
Why even have a caption?


I am interested to see what Portland will be after Trump wins and how I will engage with Portland in the fall. Will I see myself differently? I don't know but I hope my time here will do more for the people I am embedded with than what they have all done for me.



LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

PALANTE, SIEMPRE PALANTE!

If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.

Through Our Own Eyes Episode 4: Food Security

We meet with Tara RodriguezBesosa,Co-Founder of Departamento De La Comida. We talked about Monsanto, food security and the agricultural industry. Listen to this episode here.


If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.

22.7.16

Borikuas March Against Naled

People gathered in Plaza Colon in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 22nd of July 2016 to demand that the local and federal government not spray
Naled (Dibrom) over the population.

This is a response to the news of the CDC bringing the organophosphate insecticide to the island. Even at low levels it can be very toxic and is considered one of the most dangerous pesticides by the Pesticide Action Network.

This is not the first time toxic chemicals have been sprayed over the population of Boriken. Some may recall that Agent Orange, a product of Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical, was tested on the population and environment during the 50’s and early 60’s before being deployed in Vietnam.



The Mayor of San Juan Carmen Yulín Cruz has stated that the spraying of Naled on the population is an act of eco-terrorism. She has demanded that governor takes action and put a halt to the poisoning of the land and its people.

How is a relationship beneficial when you're partner keeps causing you physical harm and only gives you enough so you can stay alive and keep being used and exploited?



If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.

19.7.16

Praise and Critique of Campamento Contra La Junta

French Toast for the prole.
The mobilization against PROMESA in Puerto Rico has been slow but steady and strong like a tortoise. And like a tortoise, Campamento Contra La Junta will become massive. The local media has tried to depict the participants as dirty, unemployed college students that are just hanging out. I would say the discipline and organization is superior to what I had observed in Occupy Portland although Portland had mobilized more people initially and did not obtain support from the mayor.

San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, of the Popular Democratic Party, has provided verbal and material support up to now for the protestors. The camp area receives regular visits from the cities sanitation department providing trash pickup and portable latrine maintenance. That does not mean that this has been an easy occupation.

Totem of  Devils
Most of the participants I have encountered have been staying at the camp and going off to their jobs then returning to continue working on the camp site. As I said in a past article Work and Resistance, capitalism does not accommodate organizing or resistance. The same still applies to colonialism. There are folks sacrificing personal time off and leisure time to stand up for the rights and emancipation of millions of people. The work to maintain themselves and donate their energy and labor to disrupt the operations of the federal government. All of this is happening in the heart of the financial district amidst the towers of Banco Popular, UBS, AIG and other devils.

The camp does not exist just to become contested space. This action has created an opportunity for dialogue between people that would never have met. One of the major topics is decolonization and independence. Can you have independence without decolonization? Is independence the same as decolonization? My own outsider opinion is that independence or autonomy is part of decolonization but independence itself does not equal decolonization. Hawaii on the other hand was “decolonized” in status and made a state but it still is very much colonized. So decolonization is not independence but independence would be a milestone for progress in that direction. Once you achieve independence you likely will have to deal with neo colonialism where a former occupying nation matins or strengthens political and economic control over a former colony nation. All that this can be another article for another time soon.

My critique of the Campamento Contra La Junta is the dominance of voice and space of European or White presenting individuals. There is an abundance of people of color but directing voices seem to come from folk with white privilege and people of color, especially women of color and queer folk get drowned out. To be clear I observe this not so much in the evening meetings but in conversations and discourse in the camp. It is not something that goes unnoticed but some folks may be tired of fighting for space. The fact that it is even discussed and acknowledged gives me hope. It has given me a chance to put into practice not taking space and making sure others are heard. I hope I can contribute to women of color and queer people going a voice. There is a lot of work to be done when it comes to our misogamy and the silencing of queer voices. We are getting there but more is needed. Too often ,as a collective,we put it off feminism and equity. 

Intersections at the Intersection
It is creating a space that educates and is now starting to agitate. Just the other night I had a conversation with a young person who felt awaken and empowered by this action. The impact does not look huge and glamorous but the impact is there and I hope it will have a lasting effect and increased momentum. I believe that the camp is serving as an incubator for some bad ass radical folks.
If you live in Amerikkkan and are anti-colonization then Boriken should be on your radar. What is happening on the island should not be ignored and needs the material support and advocacy of the very people that benefit from the subjugation of Borikuas.  Reach out to them on Facebook and follow this blog for further updates.


If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.

15.7.16

Leisure Colonization


 

I cannot ever remember, in the five years I lived
in Oregon, hearing a person of color say that they were moving to Canada or some other country, just to get away from Amerikkkan conservatism or its ruined economy. I cannot recall hearing that from anyone but European folk. Maybe it’s because I live in Oregon and there are an abundance of white European settlers. Growing up, when people of color talked about moving they had their eyes on the United Snakes. Is this a coincidence?       

It was not uncommon to find many of the tourism jobs being owned or operated by European Americans or Europeans from the continent managing staff at chain hotels tour companies. You can see it from the Hilton in San Juan to the catamaran tours in on the west end. There is nothing wrong with people of any skin tone making a living. 

It is interesting that a person from a world power moves to a colony or a struggling nation and will get chosen for an entry level job over a local even without speaking the dominate language of the region. Tourism is a monolithic industry in Boriken with a preference for English speakers. Yet few of us are fully bilingual or comfortable operating in English. 

I was a bar back one summer in a west side town called Fajardo. There I was offered a job by one of the patrons to go work in Culebra as a grounds keeper. I explained to them I knew nothing about landscaping or even what to do with a trimmer. They made it very clear that they needed me because they  where a manger but they knew no Spanish. They wanted someone bilingual that they could trust. I cannot recall everything that was said but there was stress on the need for trust.

Working twelve hours a day, at $6.00 per hour and no overtime pay as a bar back, bouncer, stock boy, janitor at the same job then offered $8.00 an hour to work in Culebra, of course I took the job. Keep in mind Culebra is an island off the coast of Boriken and many of the business are owned by Europeans, from the US and from Europe, but staffed by locals that would not have the capital to own the businesses. The few Borikuas that own the business are from the mainland and are coming from economic privilege. 

After a week there it turned out that pool maintenance would be the best role for me because 1) I was the only groundskeeper that spoke English 3) I knew how to “behave” around guest and 2) I was not great at mowing huge lawns on a steep incline. When I was not caring for the pool or raking up leaves I was running back and forth between my manager interpreting instructions and responses. Mostly I was interpreting lies that I would be blamed for. 

Soon I was to assistant manager of grounds keeping but the pay did not change. The title should have been assistant to the manager of grounds keeping, I was put in charge of supervising, ordering (because I spoke Spanish and my boss still did not), inventory, pool maintenance, waiting on guest. 

It was a strange position to be in, I was not a boss but because I bilingual I had to float my boss and be the face of his reprimands and frustration. It was not fair to me and it certainly was not fair to my coworkers. I left that job promptly after I got wind that they were shutting down the resort after only eight months in operation. 

Some resorts are run by hotel management companies but the infrastructure is rented out to them. The property owner is a rich European man from Puerto Rico that had developed the property despite local opposition to is construction and devastation to the environment. He had not been a great landlord and the company owner, a German guy named Walter that once worked for Donald Trump, decided to pull out. I gave my notice and picked up another job, selling brightly colored garbage to tourist in a boutique for the same pay and less responsibility. The owner was also a European from the US but I hardly saw them and did not have nearly as much drama to deal with. 

I worked a few more tourist jobs on mainland Boriken before I moved to Oregon and the whole time, if I ever heard a person of color on the island talk about moving they meant to go to the US. Meanwhile, even homeless Europeans would find their way down to the island with less proficiency in Spanish than money. Here I was struggling working in restaurants but always hungry with no way of leaving for the US and no one in there that I knew. Vacation friends never rite back and if they do it’s remind you what a great time they had.  

Tourism does not bring island to the people, at best it creates demeaning low wage jobs for some locals that further the colonization process. Tourism in itself is not bad but it neither is a blade. A blade could be used to cut bonds or slit thoughts. ToTourist under capitalism and colonialism is a rapier that is used mortally wound minds and bodies. 

If you enjoyed this article check out Through Our Own Eyes at KBOO 90.7 FM and get a post card from Puerto Rico when you make a donation to our project before the 1st of November 2016.

11.7.16

Through Our Own Eyes Episode 2: Civil Disobedience at Federal Court House in Puerto Rico




Translation: The Government Hates You
On Wednesday 29th of June 2016, activist began to occupy the entrance to the United States District Court of Puerto Rico in response to the passing of PROMESA. PROMESA will establish an oversight board that would have power to control policy and the entire local government. 

The seven members of the board, only one of which has to be a resident but not necessarily a Boricua, would not be paid but could accept gifts during their time on the board.

How long the board will be in place is indefinite. The commitment of the Campamento Contra la Junta, a movement against the fiscal oversight board, intend to resist is equally unlimited.


This week we spoke with Victor Torres, a communications committee member for the camp, about their efforts to mobilize the masses against the implementation of PROMESA , and to demand the decolonization of Boriken.

Victor also told us how federal officers have used fumes from generators and bright work lights to smoke out activist from the encampment.  

Listen to the full interview here and every Monday on KBOO 90.7 FM on the evening news at 5pm. 

Through Your Own Eyes is made possible by contributors like yourself. 

Every contributor will receive a postcard from Boriken with our gratitude. If you enjoyed this program and would like to support it click here. Be sure to look us  up on KBOO 90.7 FM and Facebook

9.7.16

Luxury Poverty

If being poor is expensive then living under colonial rule is baller. Between an 11.5% and the Jones Act, goods in Puerto Rico are very expensive. With the passing of the PROMESA Act, Borikuas and other residence may face even greater economic challenges both as a nation and individually. 

At the time of writing this I have been living in Portland for five years and some of the comparisons I will be making will be with Oregon summer 2016 and Puerto Rico summer 2016. 

In Portland, Oregon you have the option of taking the bus, light rail, or streetcar. You can get a pass for 2.5 hours for $2.50 with unlimited transfers for that time window on to any of those vehicles. The system is reliable except in bad weather and bridge raisings. All vehicles in Portland’s public transportation fleet can transport bicycles. 

In the metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, the bus fare is $.75 no transfer. Their schedule is unpredictable and there is no reliable app to track the bus. They do not go very far so you have to walk or pay for another bus when you transfer. There is the Tren Urbano, 10.7 mile long train system that runs through part of the western part of the metro area. The fare for the train $1.50 and you get one transfer but you can only use it from the station. You need to buy a card included in the price of the fare and it has to go through a device on the bus that reads it. Often the card does not work so a rider will have to pay $.75 for the fare. Then there are Carros Públicos, a kind of shared or public taxi. The cost starting at $1.00, not the most reliable or comfortable but more abundant and available than the bus system is during the day. 

The entire system operates on both local and federal funds. With so many people relying on public transportation for employment and access to services, any tampering with the system by the board could be devastating on top of the already destructive effects PROMESA will have. 

The minim wage in Puerto Rico is currently $7.25 and few people work 40hrs a week. Studio apartments on average are $600 in the metro area. You would have to work 82.7 hours to make that, assuming you are not paying income taxes. 

Assuming you were working 40 hrs. and not paying taxes, that leaves you with $560 a month. Say you live on the other side of town from where you work. You would need to take probably a bus and the train. With the bus being so unreliable you have to set out early. So that could be an extra hour or two of your day along with the $.75 for the bus and the $1.50 for the train. You just spent 2.25 and you may, if you’re lucky only have to spend that same amount for the trip home. That would be $4.50 every day for six days a week assuming your 40 hours being made at the same job and you work 8 hours a day. With an average of 4.47 weeks in a month, one could spend $120.69 a month on public transportation between home and work. That leaves $439.31 a month. Does not sound too bad, but anyone making minim wage probably does not have these ideal conditions to work with. 

The PROMESA Act will lower the minim wage to $4.25 an hour for people under 25 in their first 3 months of employment at a new job. So instead of working 82 hours to make rent for the studio one would have to put in 141 hours and have only $39.21 at the end of the month, after transportation and before taxes. All this under the same ideal conditions that no one is actually living under on the island. This model is a best case scenario in a difficult living situation.

Food is another huge expense on the island, much of the produce needs to be imported and thanks the Jones Act the cost are much higher than they would need to be. Foreign goods with imports destined for Puerto Rico have to travel to Jacksonville, Florida and be unloaded then reloaded onto US ships with US crews. Then they must travel 1462nm and 6 days to Puerto Rico. 

Say that you were a box of plantains from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is only 254nm and 1 day away but you would travel 2816nm before making it to the supermarket in Rio Piedras, PR. 

All these steps cost money and distance will have an impact on cost. What is to keep the Fiscal Board from raising taxes on imports, similar to how the US had invaded the Dominican Republic to control their Customs authority?

Puerto Rico is considered a paradise by many tourist but it is a struggle for those that live and work on the island. Many people that provide the friendly tropical utopian facade may never have a vacation other than a few days off. Even in leisure the working poor of Boriken are struggling and working to make ends meet and to aces goods and services they need to be well enough to work. It is a luxury to live under capitalism and to struggle in a system that will exploit you and your body. With these wages and cost of living, surviving in Boriken with minim wage is the most baller thing someone can do.

1.7.16

Dear Comrades

Dear Comrades,


Summer has begun but the violence has already started. As this season gets hotter so to will the political and social climate. We may see Trump tone down a bit but we will see more violence. We are all angry, both ultra right and far left. Please be aware of yourselves and others as you navigate the following months. Reach out to your comrades and make sure you all know what to do in a worst case scenario, try to have a plan.


Make sure you hydrate.


Try not to not wander off alone without telling someone where you are going.


Get plenty of rest.


Stay hydrated.


Those of you that have been following my blog and project, I thank you. I only do this because I know you are all reading these post. Some of you have even benefited from them. We are growing as we struggle side by side.


Five years and some change, I left everything I knew and took a one way trip to Oregon. I learned a lot about myself and changed much of that. I came here a stranger and now I leave a comrade. I leave you at a dangerous time. Know that I am not jumping ship. This planet is all we got and we are all fighting to keep it going while also seizing control. I hope my efforts will be a step forward in uniting us all.


You have all taught me and I hope to apply all I have learned. Soon I leave to join my kin but carry you all in my heart. I hope to return in the fall. Then we will all be reunited and we shall share stories and ideas.

I love you all.
PALANTE,SIEMPRE PALANTE!

Stevie Elepan