It is Joe Anybody here

Portland, Oregon -- This post just came in. So beautifully written and heartfelt, it deserves its own post, not lost at the end of where it came into the blog. Whoever you are, Joe Anybody, you are a giant of a human being. Be sure and look me up in the Capitol. I look forward to meeting you and your son. I'm going to live on these vibes for a little while. --Sean


It is Joe Anybody here

I support you and am sorry that your son had to suffer in the way that he did. I admire your spirit and am honored to have met you. I filmed you briefly at a Peace rally when you had a table set up at the WTO Trade Center here in Portland last summer 2007.

I am also in the PDXpeace group and was in the meeting when you briefly spoke.

Thanks for sharing your life with others, I am hoping that we all can turn this mess around. I feel by you being open and willing to let others know what your needing or doing or are concerned about ...that there is all the more hope for a better world.

My heart is torn to feel the pain you have endured for your children
I had my son stolen from me for over a year when he was 5 ...It tore me up.

I have had him in my custody since I found him (with his mom who was the one to take him to NY to hide)

He is now 15 ...
I just like you, don't want to send him to this damn war.

He walked w/ me in the MLK parade here in Portland a couple days ago, he went with me to the LT. Watada Rally last year in Washington, and other various peace events. I love him so much.

I know you love your children just as much. I am proud of your stance and love for your family

I read about your (sic)kidnapping case months ago in a post ...I think it may of been this blog here.

I can not say how much love and good vibes I am sending your way.

I plan on going to Salem in Feb to protest this fricking war and I am sure I will run into you then if not sooner.

I have to run along.... I just needed you to know I am in "solidarity" with you and want to send my love and peace your way .

Stay strong ..... !
~joe anybody
7:25 PM

Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 campaign slides into second gear!

Last week, most of my time was taken up in preparation for and in attending the Joint Ways and Means Committee, which met Thursday and Friday in the Capitol.

On Saturday, I opened my semi-official campaign headquarters at Tupelo Joe’s
www.tupelojoes.com

On Sunday, I hired my campaign manager. Look for an announcement soon.

Yesterday, on Martin Luther King, Jr. day, I attended the Skanner breakfast in the morning and then the “Keep the Dream Alive” celebration at Highland Christian Center.

During her featured speech at the Highland program, Senator Avel Gordly publicly announced her strong support for this campaign to elect Sean Cruz to stand in the gap for the issues that matter most to Oregonians, upon her retirement from the Oregon State Senate in 2009.

Keep the dream alive.

No one knows better than Avel Gordly what it will take in a legislator to continue the fight on the issues she has championed for years.

You can’t plug just anybody into that spot, to work at the Gordly desk in the Senate chamber.

Tomorrow is the Portland Monthly Magazine photo shoot, here at Jim Pepper House. Look for the feature in the March issue.

OK. We’re into second gear now.

Five years plus of Senate District 23 experience. Check!
Major legislative achievements accomplished. Check!
Semi-official campaign headquarters open. Check!
Steering Committee formed. Check!
Campaign manager hired. Check!
Key incumbent endorsement. Check!
Website and blog cooking. Check!
Fund-raising started. Check!
Continuing to work on behalf of the voters of Senate District 23. Check!

Check!
Check!
Send me a check!
Today!

Make the check out to: Friends of Sean Cruz
Mail to: POB 30093, Portland, Oregon 97230
Oregon state law requires you to identify your occupation and employer.

This race is a sprint to May 20.

I need your contribution long before then.

This campaign is leveraging internet resources to reduce costs and redefine campaign fundraising practices.

Here is my premise: If I can reach you electronically, then I don’t need to reach you on television or in bulk mailings, which means I don’t have to raise funds for either medium.

This is your opportunity to enact change and reduce the influence of special interest groups.

Thank you for your support. Please pass this message along to your lists.

Sean

www.seancruz.com

www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com

Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 semi-official campaign headquarters opens!!!

Portland, Oregon—Our semi-official campaign headquarters will be open on Saturday, January 19 from four to six p.m. All are invited.

We are located in beautiful Parkrose neighborhood at a table in Tupelo Joe’s, our premiere neighborhood barbecue house, where the music is live even when it’s not.

There is no smoking, minors are welcome, the staff is friendly, the room is warm, open and accessible.

Here’s the link: www.tupelojoes.com

My Tupelo Joe’s office hours will vary from week to week, but will be posted here: www.seancruz.com

And here: www.BlogoliticalSean.blogspot.com

See you there.

Sean

Why I am running for Oregon Senate District 23, pt 3 (experience)

I described my qualifications to succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate in terms of my life experience in Parts 1 and 2.

Here, in Part 3, I will describe my qualifications for the office in terms of my five years plus of legislative experience, five years of serving the constituents of Senate District 23 and the people of Oregon:

Management: I have managed Senator Gordly’s Capitol and Senate District 23 offices since January, 2003 and have the management experience to keep the Senate District 23 offices running smoothly and efficiently, and five years of experience working successfully with all parties to the legislative process.

Constituent Communication: I developed Senator Gordly’s listserve, improving our ability to communicate key information directly with constituents, unfiltered, electronically, efficiently and at no cost to taxpayers. We do no conventional bulk mailing from these offices. We post all general messages from Senator Gordly permanently on our office website at www.leg.state.or.us/gordly/news

Constituent Service: Our focus on constituent service and problem solving, coupled with the speed of the Internet and our relationships among state and local agencies, has enabled us to bring resolution to a wide range of constituent concerns, often within hours of receiving the original contact.

I coordinate the statewide Mental Health Caucus, co-chaired by Senator Gordly, State Representative Ron Maurer (Grants Pass) and Oregon Advocacy Center Executive Director Bob Joondeph. The Mental Health Caucus has grown to more than 150 participants, including legislators, advocacy groups, mental health professionals, consumers, state and local agency heads, public safety representatives, family members and physicians.

Senate Legislative Achievements: I have established a record of significant legislative accomplishment in the Oregon Senate, even as a staff member:

My 2003 testimony and Senator Gordly's strong support led to the appointment of the Senate President's Task Force on Parental and Family Abductions.

Senate Bill 1041 “Aaron’s Law” (2005) was my original legislative concept, establishes civil liability for persons who kidnap children from the state of Oregon and authorizes the courts to appoint mental health and legal professionals to safeguard the interests of the abducted children.

Senate Joint Resolution 31 (2005) honors the life and achievements of Jim Pepper, the Native American saxophone player and composer, arguably the most important original voice in American music to emerge from Oregon.

Senate Bill 431 (2007) (passed on unanimous Senate and House votes) establishes new rules governing predatory patrol towing, provides protections for all drivers and for apartment dwellers in particular.

Senate Bill 116 (2007) regulating the towing industry. My contribution were the lines authorizing the State and local governments to regulate predatory patrol towing practices and the outrageous charges patrol towers impose on the public (many thanks to Tim Barrett for your fine research).

I have drafted other significant original legislation over a wide range of issues, including the war in Iraq, support for veterans and National Guard members and their families, immigration reform, promoting child safety and revenue reform.

Senate Committee Experience: My direct experience in the Oregon Senate, providing support to Senator Avel Gordly during her service on key legislative committees addressing human services, education, state and local budgets and public safety has familiarized me with the issues of greatest importance to our Senate District 23 constituents.

Once elected, I will seek to serve on these same committees, continuing the work of Senator Avel Gordly, continuing the fight. Those of you who have fought alongside us know that there is much more work to be done, that we cannot afford to lose ground with Senator Gordly’s retirement.

Once elected, I will ask leadership to appoint a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to focus on our veterans, our National Guard and their families. There is currently no Senate counterpart to the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Five years into two foreign wars, these Oregonians have critical needs that are not being met.

Veterans living in Oregon are greatly disadvantaged compared to many other states. The lack of large military bases or defense contractors in Oregon means that we have less clout in Washington, D.C., and a reduced support infrastructure for our veterans and their families. Once elected my goal would be to serve on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

My experience staffing Senator Gordly includes these committees:

2003 Regular Session

Joint Ways and Means (full)
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services

2003-04 Interim

Joint Emergency Board
Joint Emergency Board Subcommittee on Education
Senate Interim Committee on Education
Joint Committee on Human Services
Senate President’s Task Force on Parental and Family Abductions (co-chair)

2005 Regular Session

Joint Ways and Means (full)
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Safety (Chair)
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Education

2005-06 Interim

Joint Emergency Board
Public Commission on the Legislature

2007 Regular Session

Senate Commerce Committee
Senate Health Policy and Public Affairs, Vice-Chair
Joint Ways and Means (full)
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee On Human Services

2007-08 Interim and February 2008 Supplemental Session

Senate Health and Human Services Committee (Vice-Chair)
Joint Ways and Means (full)
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services

Senator Avel Gordly to celebrate February birthday with fund-raiser for Friends of Sean Cruz

Portland, Oregon: Celebrate Senator Avel Gordly’s birthday in February and hear from the great lady herself why she is supporting Sean Cruz to succeed her in the Oregon Senate.

Place:

The historic Billy Webb Lodge #1050
Dahlia Temple #202
The Improved, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World
6 North Tillamook
Portland, Oregon

Date and time: TBA (February)

Dahlia Temple #202 marked its 85th anniversary “Celebrating 85 years of Unity” in December 2007.

Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 whiskey tasting January 9!!

The campaign gets rolling in 2008 with a scotch and bourbon tasting

at Greg’s Backyard Bar and Grill, 3554 SE 82nd Avenue of the Roses.

Here’s your online ticket! See you there!

Friends of Sean Cruz
Scotch and bourbon tasting
5 to 8 pm
Wednesday, January 9th

Greg’s Backyard Bar and Grill
3554 SE 82nd Avenue of the Roses
503-774-3371

Light hors d’oevres will be served


This fund-raising event is authorized by Friends of Sean Cruz

Jim Pepper featured on KBOO 90.7 FM Saturday Dec 22

Portland, Oregon--

Tune in to KBOO at 6:00 p.m. this Saturday for an hour of the late, great Native American saxophone player Jim Pepper on Jazz Rap 2, hosted by Gene the Jazz Machine.

I will be Gene the Jazz Machine’s guest, playing some rare Pepper sides, and discussing the forthcoming 1st annual Jim Pepper Festival of the Arts, to be held in Portland in August 2008.

Connect to KBOO for live streaming audio here: http://www.kboo.fm/listen

---Sean Cruz

Why I am running for Oregon Senate District 23, pt 2

Portland, Oregon: by Sean Cruz:

Four years ago, on Thanksgiving Day 2003, I watched my son Aaron, all 21-years-old of him, pack for deployment to Iraq.

He was gone the next day, driving to Utah to join my other son, Tyler, 19 years old, both members of the same Army National Guard unit.

As we held our last embrace, standing together in my driveway, Aaron in his full dress uniform, I could feel in my heart, bursting with dread and pain, that I would never see him again.

I promised him that his room would be as he left it when he returned, forcing the words out of my mouth, my stomach knotted in grief.

I had spent every day of the previous three months desperately trying to connect Aaron with medical care. We had no health insurance.

I had been among the hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who lost access to health care when the Oregon Health Plan was gutted in 2002.

Senate District 23 was hit harder in sheer numbers than any other senate district in the state.

I understand the access to health care issue on a deeply personal level. This is the core of my commitment to Oregonians as a candidate for the Oregon Senate.

Aaron had a host of medical problems, some life-threatening. He had suffered medical neglect for years while living in Utah, the victim of a 1996 kidnapping from Oregon.

I had recovered Aaron from that kidnapping just three months before, in August of 2003.

He had called me and said, “Dad. I’m ready to come home. Come and get me.”

I had left my job, taken the seats out of my van, and was gone for him the next day.

The joy of recovery was gone as soon as I saw him there in his friend’s living room in Payson, Utah.

He was suffering psychosis, sleep-deprived for so long that his eyes would roll back in his head while he was speaking.

I saw that he had become a chain smoker, and I watched him nod off that morning with a burning cigarette in his hand.

I woke him and told him about the cigarette, and he replied that he did that all the time, showing me the burn scars on his finger joints.

Cigarette burn scars on my beautiful son!!!

Every person I met during the several days it took to get Aaron packed was oblivious to his medical condition, shrugged it off, actually.

It was apparent that others accepted Aaron’s crisis as “normal” behavior.

Aaron had no health insurance, no access to competent care, no one to help him get seen by a doctor, and that had been his situation for the years that had passed since he had disappeared from my home during the major storm that had besieged the Northwest in February 1996.

For days, repeatedly, we would get the van partly loaded, and then Aaron would take everything back out and spread it on his friend’s lawn, over and over, obsessing over this and that.

He would fall asleep in every kind of position and situation, for time measured in seconds, then wake up as if all was well. For Aaron and those in his Utah life, this was considered normal behavior.

When I finally got him home here in Portland, I began the desperate search for medical care, with no health insurance and no financial resources to speak of.

My friend Baruti Arthuree helped me, arranged for Aaron to be seen by a Providence doctor.

The one contact with “medical” care that Aaron had in Utah was his participation in a methadone program there, and we continued that here.

Every weekday morning, from that first day in Portland, I drove my son to the methadone clinic to start the day.

He was too ill to drive himself, too ill even to sit upright in the car. He would lie on the floor of my van both ways, every day, eyes closed, might get four or five minutes of sleep in the process.

Methadone clinics are closed on weekends, so every Friday Aaron would bring home the two weekend doses.

His Providence Hospital doctor really took on his case, really tried to help him, tried to total up the damage from all those years of emotional abuse and medical neglect and figure out a way to keep him alive long enough to give him a chance to improve the quality of his life.

Among the medical issues we were learning about, Aaron had developed a seizure disorder that threatened to take his life. His doctor warned him that there was a strong likelihood that he could suffer a seizure and lapse into a coma from which he would not recover.

I have that warning in writing.

The Bush Administration, however, had other plans for my son, needed Aaron to help them out in Iraq, ordered him to report to his unit by this date, dead or alive.

When he left our home, Aaron lost what little access to health care he had, lost contact with the one person in his life who understood his need, who was committed to filling it.

The Army held Aaron in Utah under medical review, which one would think would include actual medical care, but that is not the case.

National Guard soldiers in this hold status draw no pay and receive no benefits. They are entirely on their own resources. Aaron had no resources in Utah.

During the medical review process, Aaron was required to remain in Utah, where he had no health coverage, was too ill to hold a job, and had no place to call home.

His condition deteriorated until March 2005, when—as predicted—he suffered a seizure, lapsed into a coma and died several days later.

I spent the last five of those days at his side.

As it turned out, Aaron was sick enough to actually qualify for the remaining remnants of the Oregon Health Plan, although that coverage didn’t arrive before his deployment orders.

I spent all of my financial resources during that 2003-2005 period on supporting my son, on paying his bills, on a cell phone for him that was our sole means of communication. I have not come close to recovering financially.

I could hear his worsening illness in his voice, in countless conversations during that period, begging him to come home no matter what the Army had to say about it.

He was focused, however, on finding a way to join his unit and his brother, wouldn’t give up, loved his Guard unit and his brother more than he loved his own life, wanted to be with them more than anything else in the world.

Aaron wouldn’t—or couldn’t—come to grips with his own medical reality. He was ready to sacrifice his life for his country, for his unit, for his brother.

The sacrifice would have ended his own pain, and he welcomed that.

Aaron would have been the first to step into noble glory on foreign soil. All he had left was courage.

I personally had no medical coverage until January 2005

Now it is four years later, and another 3500 Oregonians and their families recently received the news that they will continue to shoulder the burdens of war virtually all on their own.

The fact is that we Oregonians are knowingly sending many of these soldiers off to get their lives ruined, and that we are doing so knowing that we are not doing enough to help either the troops or their families that have gone before them.

The 3,500 soldiers we are about to send off to the war realize this fact, and they have little reason to expect that we Oregonians will value their sacrifice enough to cover their backs.

The focus for the month of December will be on what it always is--holiday shopping and holiday travel.

Much of the holiday shopping involves the purchase of goods made or grown in foreign nations. This does nothing to strengthen the nation in either time of war or peace.

For some of those 3500 soldiers and their families, the gifts could be the last, the holiday spirit a sacrifice already made on our behalf.

Most of the holiday travel involves the purchase of fuel that directly fills the coffers of the nation's enemies.

I can tell you that I personally do no holiday traveling.

The nation struggles with the cost of gasoline at the pump, is locked into a war to keep the price under $ 3.00 a gallon. Nothing gets people more upset than seeing a nickle bump in the cost of fueling their private motor vehicle.

Meanwhile, it costs the US taxpayer one hundred dollars a gallon to get diesel into Afghanistan. That's right, $100 a gallon, but who cares?

These Oregon soldiers and their families know that they are going into the meatgrinder, making sacrifices for people who will begrudge every nickle spent on services for veterans and their families on down the line, for people who will make absolutely no personal sacrifice in return.

Who among us will these courageous people look to? Who will be there for them?

These are important questions, and one that we must settle among ourselves here in Oregon.

Ending these wars is completely out of our control.

As a consequence of its relatively small population, its distance from the national Capitol and the factor of time zones, Oregon rarely has a meaningful role either in the selection of presidential candidates or in the election of the President of the United States, much less a role in the nation’s foreign policy.

We also lack both the clout and the sensibility that comes from the presence of large military bases or defense contractors.

The one thing regarding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that is entirely in our Oregon hands is how we will address the needs of the troops and their families, how we will address the needs of those that have already served, those who are serving and those who will serve.

This is our mutual responsibility, and we are failing the troops and their families.

We are failing them both individually and collectively.

I am committed to changing that.

Access to health care is the key issue for the constituents of Senate District 23, and the voters will have the opportunity to make that statement clearly by supporting Sean Cruz in the May Democratic primary.

I am asking you to send me to Salem, to represent you on those vital Senate Committees on health and human services issues, to fight for access to quality health care for all Oregonians.

I need you to invest in me, and I need your support now!

Sean Cruz thanks Oregon State Representative Mike Schaufler (D-48 Happy Valley)!!!

Mike, I am telling you, from deep within my heart, thank you!

Mike Schaufler, the only member of the 2007 House of Representatives who never missed a floor vote, believes in me enough that he paid for my website!

Here’s the link: http://www.seancruz.com/

Paid for by Mike Schaufler for State Representative.

Here's the link to Mike Schaufler's website: http://www.mikeschaufler.com/

It is going to take a while for me to find all the words I need to express my gratitude to you, Mike…but the time is there, and I have the time, six months of time, to begin with….

Six months until the May Democratic primary determines who will represent Senate District 23.

Six months until the May Democratic primary determines who will attempt to fill the gaping hole in advocacy for our most vulnerable Oregonians that will be left in the Oregon Legislature with the retirement of Senator Avel Gordly.

If the voters of Senate District 23 unite in the May 2008 Democratic primary to select Sean Cruz to represent them in the Oregon Legislature in 2009, then Oregon will have a person committed to living up to the Gordly legacy, working at the same desk in the Senate chamber.

That is the best promise I can make.

Thank you also, Patrick Sieng, for your fine work.

I met Patrick Sieng on a legislative tour of agricultural operations in Eastern Oregon during the 2006 interim. I took the tour representing Senator Gordly’s office.

Here’s the link to Patrick’s site: http://www.pkstrategies.com/

Gentlemen, thank you, and let the momentum-gathering begin….

It's Official!! Sean Cruz for Oregon Senate District 23 campaign goes live!!!

It’s Official!!!

Five years after starting to work for Oregon State Senator Avel Gordly, serving the constituents of Senate District 23, and with her strong support, I have filed with the Secretary of State to succeed her in the Oregon Senate upon her retirement from the Oregon Legislature in 2009.

My commitment is to continue the work that Senator Gordly has championed throughout her storied career of public service.

In order to do that, I will need your help to place me at the Gordly desk in the Oregon Senate Chamber.

We have six months of hard work to do before the May Democratic primary determines who will represent Senate District 23, who will stand for Oregon’s underserved populations, and who will occupy the Gordly seat in state government.

Please join the Friends of Sean Cruz as we prepare for the next stage in our mutual journey:

Sean Cruz for Oregon Senate District 23 campaign kicks off November 29
Celebration!!!

Elect Sean Cruz for Oregon State Senate District 23

Campaign kicks off at Tupelo Joe's

Featuring:

The Bobby Torres Ensemble
(Latin jazz at its finest)

Andrew Gorry
(PSU guitarist)

Special Guests!!!


Bring four cans of food!!!

Please bring four items of non-perishable food for the NE Emergency Food Bank. Winter food stocks are far lower than what is needed.

When: Thursday, November 29, 2007

Time: Starts 6:30 p.m.

Location: Tupelo Joe's, 10721 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Tupelo Joe's is a nonsmoking venue, specializing in family-style barbecue and blues; minors are welcome before 9 p.m.

There is no admission charge for this event. This event is a fund-raiser to support the candidacy of Sean Cruz for election to the Oregon State Senate,

representing Senate District 23.

This event is paid for by the Friends of Sean Cruz (Louis Ornelas, Treasurer).

Please make checks payable to: Friends of Sean Cruz

Hot links:

Tupelo Joe's: http://www.tupelojoes.com

Bobby Torres Ensemble: http://www.bobbytorres.com

NE Emergency Food Bank:

http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/ofb_services/food_programs/harvest_share.html

Link to the latest Blogolitical Thinking: http://www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com/

The Official Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 website debuts soon!

Friends of Sean Cruz
Louis Ornelas, Treasurer
P.O. Box 30093, Portland, OR 97230

Sean Cruz for Oregon Senate District 23 campaign kicks off November 29

Celebration!!!

Sean Cruz

for Oregon State Senate District 23

Campaign kickoff at Tupelo Joe's

Featuring:

The Bobby Torres Ensemble

(Latin jazz at its finest)

Andrew Gorry

(PSU guitarist)

Special Guests

Bring four cans of food!!!

Please bring four items of non-perishable food for the NE Emergency Food Bank. Winter food stocks are far lower than what is needed.

When: Thursday, November 29, 2007
Time: Starts 6:30 p.m.
Location: Tupelo Joe's, 10721 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Tupelo Joe's is a nonsmoking venue, specializing in family-style barbecue and blues; minors are welcome before 9 p.m.

There is no admission charge for this event. This event is a fund-raiser to support the candidacy of Sean Cruz for election to the Oregon State Senate, representing Senate District 23.

This event is paid for by the Friends of Sean Cruz (Louis Ornelas, Treasurer).

Please make checks payable to: Friends of Sean Cruz.

Links:

Tupelo Joe's: http://www.tupelojoes.com

Bobby Torres Ensemble: http://www.bobbytorres.com

NE Emergency Food Bank:

http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/ofb_services/food_programs/harvest_share.html

Link to the latest Blogolitical Thinking:

http://www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com/

The Official Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 website debuts soon!

3rd teachable moment in Portland: Cesar Chavez and the Hopi Elders Prayer

Hopi Elders Prayer

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

Here are the things that must be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know our garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.

Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.

They will try to hold on to the shore.

They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river,

keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves!

For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

--The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

It's On!!! Sean Cruz for Senate District 23 campaign begins Nov 29

Portland, Oregon: The campaign to elect Sean Cruz to succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate will begin with a celebration.


Where: Tupelo Joe’s

http://www.tupelojoes.com/


When: Starts 6:30 pm Thursday evening, November 29

Featuring

the Bobby Torres Ensemble

http://www.bobbytorres.com/

Portland State University guitarist Andrew Gorry

Special Guests


Contributions: Please make checks out to Friends of Sean Cruz

Tupelo Joe’s is smoke free.
Minors (under age 21) welcome until 9:00 pm


Calling for the donation of food:

Bring 4 cans of food (that’s right FOUR!) (I’m going to bring SIX!!) to benefit the Northeast Emergency Food Bank. Food stocks are low! People are already hungry. Please bring the food.

http://www.oregonfoodbank.org/ofb_services/food_programs/harvest_share.html


Note re campaign finance reform:

This ad would have been paid for by the Friends of Sean Cruz if it had cost anything to produce, which it didn’t. It only cost me an afternoon working at home plus a lifetime of experience. Priceless!


Keep up with the latest Blogolitical thinking:

Link to BlogoliticalSean:

http://www.blogoliticalsean.blogspot.com/


Campaign Website debuts soon.


Please pass along to your networks.


Sean

2nd teachable moment in Portland: Cesar Chavez and "el cortito"

Completely absent amid all of the overheated rhetoric in the present “discussion” about renaming Interstate or Fourth Avenue or whatever to “honor” Cesar Chavez is any trace of understanding of either who the man was or what the man accomplished.

If I hear one more summation of the man and his achievements that is built around the word "grapes", I may lose my patience, get upset, start....

People are either trying to find ways to claim authority for “honoring” a man they can't find time to describe accurately, or they are locked into intense and entirely appropriate—given the circumstances of this entire (I don’t want to put the word I’m thinking about in here)—turf battles that have sucked in entire neighborhoods, or they are responding to some political need or pressure….

It is like seeing this giant tower of a human being reduced to a symbol of a symbol, far removed from even an approximation of who Cesar Chavez really was.

Many are just trying to do their jobs amid a near total collapse of the Social Contract and reasoned discourse.

For some, the victory signals unwelcome closure, but ”the Struggle” is hot-blooded intoxication….

Some are not going to like hearing this from me, but the way I see it, four years into the war in Iraq, the beauty of this particular “civil rights struggle” is that no one has to dodge any bullets or IEDs to engage in it.

There is no need to worry about the loss of family (or someone else’s familia), no Traumatic Brain Injury exposure, no personal risk or expense is involved in this fight at all.

This issue has managed to push the war in Iraq clear off the front page for days, and I’m not happy about that, either.

Here I am, digressing again…back to the topic of today’s Teachable Moment:

El Cortito (the short one)

Please read on....


The Death of the Short-Handled Hoe

By Susan Ferris and Ricardo Sandoval

In early 1968, California Rural Legal Assistance lawyer Maurice “Mo” Jourdane was shooting pool in a smoky cantina in Soledad, California, when a small band of farmworkers approached him, a couple of them walking with a rigid gait that spoke of constant pain.

The men stopped to talk with Henry Cantu and Hector de la Rosa, Jourdane’s billiards partners, who were outreach workers with CRLA.

Cantu then translated a simple challenge from the workers to Jourdane: “If you really want to help the campesino, get rid of el cortito — the short-handled hoe.”

El Cortito, “the short one,” was a hoe that was only twenty-four inches long, forcing the farmworkers who used it to bend and stoop all day long—a position that often led to lifelong, debilitating back injuries.

The pool-room meeting with a handful of its victims led Jourdane to try working in nearby fields for two days.

Within weeks of experiencing firsthand the pain eI cortito caused, he and other CRLA attorneys began a seven-year battle to outlaw the most insidious tool ever used by California agriculture.

For Cesar Chavez, who played a pivotal role in the long drama, there were few greater moments than when el cortito was finally banished from California’s fields in 1975.

In his youth, Chavez knew the hoe well, having used it to thin countless rows of lettuce and to weed sugar-beet fields along the Sacramento River.

Later he would say he never looked at a head of lettuce in a market without thinking of how laborers had suffered for it from seed to harvest….


Follow the links:

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/book1.html
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The Struggle for the Health and Legal Protection of Farm Workers:
el cortito


http://marjoriecohn.com/2005/01/struggle-for-health-and-legal.html


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California to Ban Practice of Forcing Farm Workers to Weed by Hand From:THE AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER

http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/weeding092704.cfm


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Stoop Labor in Salinas, California

http://www.objectofhistory.org/objects/brieftour/shorthandledhoe/

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Tribute to the creator of the short hoe memorialized (welcome to the Twilight Zone)

http://www.cwss.org/hoe.htm

A teachable moment in Portland: Cesar Chavez, Chicanos, Latinos and "the Community."

I am going to try to seize a teachable moment amid this mind-numbing conversation that used to be about Cesar Chavez….

Much of the confusion stems from the lack of clarity regarding who is speaking and on whose behalf they claim to be speaking.

Virtually all of the public discussion centers on “Latinos” and the “Latino community”, or “the Community,” and what “they” say “they” ("the Community") wants.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The terms "Latino" and "Hispanic" do not necessarily describe the same people.

2. There is no single Latino "community." There is no formal Latino "leader."

3. There is no single Hispanic "community." There is no formal Hispanic "leader."

4. Often, "Latino" or "Hispanic" people refer to themselves as “Hispanic” in one circumstance, and as a “Latino” under a different circumstance, on the same day.

5. I personally cannot tell the difference between the two. I recognize that these categories were created by the US Census Bureau, and do not necessarily apply to any particular circumstance in real life.

6. “Hispanic” and “Latino” do not indicate any particular ethnic or national orientation.

7. Cesar Chavez's ethnicity was neither "Hispanic" nor "Latino," except in the broadest sense, like "homo sapiens."

8. His ethnicity was "Mexican American" and "Chicano." From the ground up.

9. None of the participants in the Interstate fiesta, nor any of the City officials, appear to recognize this distinction.

9. "Latinos" and "Hispanics" are not necessarily either "Mexican Americans" or "Chicanos."

10. Chicanos are Chicanos. There is no substitute. This is the essence of our identity.

11. The Portland State University Department of Chicano AND Latino Studies recognizes the difference between the two cultures. Educate yourselves. Here's the link:

http://www.chla.pdx.edu/program.htm

12. If any process of appointment or election or other form of open public communal decision-making has indeed occurred to create or empower any cadre of individuals or groups to speak on behalf of “Latinos” or “the Latino Community” or “the Community,” on any issue, there has been no corresponding process in the Mexican American or Chicano communities in Portland.

13. Like Cesar Chavez, I am a Mexican American and a Chicano. No one speaks for me, not without clearing it with me beforehand. We Chicanos are like that.

--Sean Cruz

Mexican American, Chicano Sean Cruz


From the Portland Mercury blog:

After reading Sean Cruz blog, I did pay attention to how the words Mexican American were never used in city council testimony. Thank you for sharing and teaching.

Posted by herein1956 November 16, 2007 9:01 PM


Credit: I want to thank Dr. John Kramer, my former professor and mentor in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Sonoma, for making this day possible, for finding me somehow, and convincing me that I had some talent. Thank you, John. Who knew?