Yes, corporate welfare recipients should have to take drug tests as well. The way they were running the banks, there is no other way to tell what they were smoking. All of those CEOs should be marched down to the clinic and have to give a “sample.” Food welfare is a human right and many innocent children benefit. We should not punish children over their parents’ choice to use drugs.

I guess the discussion turned more into one about welfare rather than drug testing for welfare:

I have been to the welfare office lately, for the person who asked. I acutally office literally across the street. I do not envy our people who have to go there. I have interviewed many of them and spent time with them. The vast majority need the assistance. I work hard myself, and it is irksome to see people abuse the system for their own materialism. When that money could go back to the people.

I have had close people mention how some welfare and medicaid recipients drive better cars than do I. I think that if you take the time to find out the truth only a minority of people abuse the system for material gain.

I won’t believe otherwise until some of the people making these generalizations spend the same time that I have with welfare recipients. In fact, I invite you to come with me and find all of these supposed ballers with all these gold chains and rims at the welfare office, because you won’t find them.

When we go together and find them, then I’ll listen to you. Otherwise, you are simply having an emotional reaction to something that you saw one time in a store, but back to the original question:

No, we shouldn’t keep it simple and test all welfare recipients. If the perpetrators of the Nazi Holocaust were fed while they were imprisoned, why should some children go without food over their parents’ choice to use drugs. Underfed children create underdevelped adults and underdeveloped communities. Food is a human right.

Remember, welfare is one of the last ways that the rich keep the poor from revolting. Do you really want to take it away?

Tuesday's Food Stamp Protest

So on Thursday of last week, almost spontaneously, Lisa Azios brought about a dozen women to my office to go across to the street and protest in front of the Food Stamp Office.  Despite record, extreme heat, many of them stayed out the entire hour. 

The next day, Lisa scheduled a meeting with the regional director of Food Stamp’s administrative office.  A gentleman from the Austin office of their civil right’s division was there.  Channel 45 showed and got some interviews, and it aired briefly that night.

During the meeting, Lisa completely let them have it.  I would like to tap into my creative writing skills and get you details about the meeting, but I’m writing this on the run.  By far, she is the most ferocious person that I have been in a meeting with.  She didn’t let them have one inch of breathing room.  I believe a new nickname is in order: Lisa “Feroz” Azios.

Long story short and two hours of bureaucratic speak later.  They’ll get back with us this week, and we should send them each of the individual complaints.

Another thing which made them pretty uncomfortable was my question as to whether we had the right to go and take surveys of the people waiting.  In retrospect, it wasn’t a genuine question, because I know that the only permission I need is the first amendment.

Yesterday, the protests continued, and I went with one of the food stamp applicants to survey the people.  I was surprised to see more than one hundred people waiting, and I even spoke to a stroke victim who had to stand in a line that looked as if it would take at least two more hours.  All of this happened across the street from my office.

I wish I had the time to give this post more justice, but I’ve been working very hard on organizing, work and family. More details to come.

La lucha sigue.

She is a local realtor, but she does much more for her customers than sell them houses. People have come to depend on her for everything from protection against physically abusive cops to filling out paperwork. Lisa told me a few weeks ago that she was getting call after call from people that needed help getting food stamps, and that the system was failing.

Lisa contacted me early this week, that the system was out of hand, and that apart from poor to no service, our Raza was being specifically targeted and being denied service altogether. De facto discrimination via the old runaround. I spoke to someone that I know, and she told me that when she was applying, she heard one of the employees say “how do they expect food stamps if they don’t even want to learn English.”

Lisa introduced me to people who have been waiting nine months for their food stamps, and who have had to return up to thirteen times to the office, and still have no service.

Being the do-for-self nationalist that I am, I am not a big fan of our gente having to depend on the system. In my Dreams of Anahuac, we would take care of our own. 

However, we’re not living in my dreams, and Lisa touched a soft spot in me. I am also a father, and she reminded me that we were talking about children who were going hungry. She also pointed out that without proper nutrition at a young age, their brains would not develop properly. In fact, she said, “we are talking about genocide.” Underdeveloped brains create underdeveloped communities.

So being that I don’t have the means to feed them, and I don’t know anyone else who will, I was on board to get the children their food.  We’ll work toward self-determination as we go.  If anyone can commit to a long-term plan for feeding our own gente, let me know.  I’m down.  A certain community gardens project comes to mind for next year.

More to come on part 2.  We ended up meeting with some “officials” and stuff.