Feed and clean resolution, community voices, and MLK holiday preview

Somebody make you think that God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, you are too arrogant. If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God. The promises of the great society have been shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam. Making the poor, white and negro bear the heaviest burdens both at the front and at home. Though the civil rights leaders for various reasons refuse or can't take a stand or have to go along with the administration, that's their business. But I'm afraid that I know that justice is indivisible. Injustice is the law. Justice anywhere is the threat to justice everywhere. Dr. Martin Luther King preaching about righteousness. Now next week, a special Qumran report in celebration of Dr. King Day. We will have a live in-studio reading of the play If the Shoe Fits, Voices from Solitary Confinement at 8 o'clock p.m. Right here at Skid Row Studios. We will hear more about the event. And our community calendar. Welcome to the Qumran report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson. Coming at you live from Skid Row Studios. I'll call in numbers 800-893-9562. You can listen to us live or download our show and any past show by googling in skidrow.la. And hit Qumran report. Now this week on the Qumran report, we will hear some community voices with Manuel O.G. Mancapito. We got Bobby Buck in the studio with his 15-minute monthly section talking about networking and community issues. Also later on, I'll be talking to Darius Kelly. He's a member of the Writers Guild Veterans Writers Program. O.G., welcome to Qumran. Welcome to Qumran report. Well, thank you very much, sir. Yeah, now before we get down to talking about the feed and clean resolution, can you introduce your other guests? Well, I have right here in my right hand, I got Tom Grode. He's a member of the Skid Row Brigade. I got Pastor Q, another member of the Brigade and Operation Facelift and the Ministry on the Street. I think we got Coach Ron over there. We got Bobby Buck over there. Bobby, who you bring with you? He's a Lehigh. Yeah. Yeah. He's a Spanish rapper. Okay. Spanish rapper. I hear him rapping. Oh, yeah. We'll take him out. All right. So these are all brigade members. All of these are commanders with rank. They help control and run Operation Facelift. They've been cleaning up the streets since 2008, you know, and dealing with the city and all the social providers and stuff. So I'm glad to have them here with me. Okay. And that's what I want to talk about. First of all, I want to talk about the feed and clean resolution. Can you tell our listening audience what is the feed and clean resolution? Well, I have it here with us. And basically what it is, it's our position, the homeless position, the Skid Row community position on feeding and feeding in the community, basically. So what it's basically about, we want people to feed in our community, but we want them to be accountable, you know, to the community and clean up behind itself. So it came about because there's been so much controversy. And as you look at the documents dated to 2012, okay, this is 2014. And we was addressing the issue whether people should be a city ordinance, you know, banning feeding. You know, some people say, well, just get rid of feeding. You know, I know LAPD, a central division, they were just saying, bring them some hygiene kits, don't feed them. Okay. So they don't understand the feeding situation in Skid Row. Everybody that relies on food. They are not homeless. They come up out of these missions and they come up out of these hotels and they rely on that food that's brought down to them. You know, everybody that goes out there to the street ministries to eat are not just homeless people. They're just low income people living in a residential hotel. Okay. So the question was, whether you're going to ban feeding or what to do about it. So our thing was, it came about as a community forum that we hosted, you know, to put it on the table, talk to the preachers. What should be done. So it came about. We are against stop feeding. But we do want you to clean up. Okay. So the resolution was a community resolution. But it didn't have to carry any weight. You know, we couldn't give nobody no tickets. So it was our solution to the problem. Okay. So that was 2012. The city didn't say no attention to it. Nobody paid attention to it. And then what about a month ago Hollywood councilmen. Hollywood councilman, because there was feeding out there and trash was everywhere. We've been dealing with this for 20, 30 years, trash everywhere. He decided he wanted to have a ban on feeding. You can't stop feeding in one part of L.A. without feeding in the rest of the park. So why he didn't know about the feeding clean resolution, maybe because the people we gave it to didn't pass it along. So this is being brought up now, again, to address the same problem. If you don't want nobody trash all over Hollywood, then make people clean up. So now we're pushing this resolution so there can be a city ordinance. Okay. Let me read the resolution, then we'll come back and talk about it a little. This is one that you took down on December 23rd to the Los Angeles City Council, subject clean and feed resolution. We are representative. We are asking the positive movement in the skid row community, which has an extremely large number of homeless and low income individuals and family. Today, December 23rd, 2013, we are at City Hall to speak on the issue of feeding the homeless. We want to present our feed and clean resolution, which evolved from a series of community forms. We are asking that every councilmanic district representative say a word about the horrible social, economic, and political conditions in Skid Row should fall on Council District 14. Every councilmatic district has someone living in Skid Row. As of 2014, we will hold every councilmatic district representative responsible and demand their participation in the solution. Okay. You want to comment on that? Well, I'm going to add on from the actual page here a quote from our great Coach Ron, where he said the Skid Row community activists and the youth mentor thinks that the cleaning component will do wonders for the community. Feeding is one thing, but to feed and clean makes more sense. Okay? It's just that simple. But see, people think that Skid Row is just a place. It's just a place you bring your old clothes, your old food. Bring it. Bring it down there and give it to some people. I see people take clothes and throw them out on the ground and drive off. Okay? They're not held accountable. I don't know if I should mention this, but just to give you an example, as far as cleaning. I've seen this gentleman, Coach Ron, get a ticket for dropping a cigarette butt on the ground. This man been cleaning up Skid Row since 2008. Now he got a $200 fine for a cigarette butt. But the police ride around and see people throwing trash on the ground all day long and don't do anything. This is what we talking about. So everybody's been in cahoots with this here. We're just cleaning up Skid Row, man. Come on. We cleaned up Skid Row for eight months. And I mean clean. We didn't leave a cigarette butt. Now, why is it that the city... Now, I'm going to add some stuff. Operation Healthy Street. They're going to have a meeting on the 23rd. Operation Healthy Street, which was started by Viragosa, is getting ready to receive one... $1.3 million. They didn't clean up nothing last year. Now, the people listening to this here, go out and look at your alleyways. Go out and look at your streets. They're going to spend $1.3 million on Skid Row. It ain't going to get cleaned up. And the rest of the city of Los Angeles is looking like a duck yard. Okay, so that's the problem about cleaning, man. We got some serious issues. And it doesn't take a lot to clean up. Like I said, we did it with no money, volunteers, brooms, and we kept it clean without a cigarette butt. So why is it looking the way it's looking? Now, let me ask you this. What have been the reaction of the service providers community down there to the resolution? Go walk down the street. They don't know. I don't even think they pay attention to the resolution. Them people get to work, go in them little doors. They stay there until 5 o'clock, and then they go home. They're too bogged down with the day-to-day functions of their own business. I don't care if it's the union, the rescue mission, you know. But it is sad that on a street that ain't but two blocks, where you got the midnight mission, the L.A. mission, the union mission, you got SROs, and they can't keep a street clean? They can't work together? The reason why Skid Row look like it look is because people are not working together. They're not working together. And the homeless people think I'm lying, ladies and gentlemen. Get in your car, go ride down to Skid Row in the daytime, and look at all the homeless encampments that got brooms and garbage cans. The homeless people going out and getting their own brooms and garbage cans. Come on, and you want to get a city $1.3 million, do what? The only reason they came out before is because the county cited them for allowing Skid Row to become a biohazard community. Again, Coach Ron told them that in 2009. Mm-hmm. Well, look, let me ask you this. What would it take to implement a clean and feed resolution? It means the city got to take it and go through the proper process and then pass it as an ordinance. Mm-hmm. Just that simple. Mm-hmm. Now, what can the community do? Call down there to every councilman, every district person, demand that they support this resolution. Go down there. If you ain't doing nothing, and the homeless, you need to go down there because they talking about getting rid of you. Mm-hmm. They don't want to feed you. So go down there. I don't care you go down there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We went down there for the New Year, did a cold call, and walked through every one of their offices and let them know what we talking about. So you got to get up and go down there and do something if you want it. Okay. It's really that simple. So I know Tom, I mean, Bobby was in Hollywood when the protest went down. So he probably have more information. Tom, he goes to the meetings, and he stays in contact with CD14. So they might can share some light, too. Okay. Coach, we had Frank. Frank Tamburello, who worked with Emily Kane, Pete White, and Becky over there. He's the one that brought on the show, and he made us aware of what was happening in Hollywood. And this councilman, I think, is it called LeBlanc? LeBlanc? Tom LeBlanc. Tom LeBlanc or something like that. They wanted to bring this resolution to the forefront. Okay. Want to comment on anything like that? You want to talk about that? What are you? I would just say, I love what OG is saying, because this resolution that was drawn up through community forums for Skid Row was sort of under the radar. And so the Hollywood situation has surfaced it. And there are similarities to Hollywood and Skid Row, but then there are differences. So it's a serious situation that people have to come together and really examine and really dialogue. And I don't, for the most part, think that's happening. If people do that, probably the solutions are pretty simple, even obvious. But if people aren't communicating, then even the obvious never happens. Okay. Anyone say something? Yeah. I think one of the problems, I'm past the queue, I think one of the problems is that as a community or as a city, we feel like Skid Row doesn't have a voice. Those who are in power doesn't feel like Skid Row has a voice. So all of these resolutions are being passed without input from homeless people as if they don't exist. That's the root of the problem, because the homeless people do have a voice. We're representing them now. And so if you're going to come up with a solution or a resolution, then the people's voice has to be considered if you're going to make legislation or if you're going to do anything. Anything you're going to do, you have to at least listen to what the people have to say. Okay. And that's why that resolution has been gone under the radar, because they're not listening to the community. Let me ask you this. What is the reaction of the homeless representative on the neighborhood council? To the resolution? Well, I think O.G. would probably speak to that a little bit better than I can. Well, I'm going to tell you that my pastor told me, I don't know. Because I remember the last homeless representative was Max C. If I can recall, and Max C gone. Actually, there was supposed to be a vote tomorrow night to determine who the next one is. How about Kevin Michael Key in jail? General in jail. Yeah, they're on the council, but not as the area-wide homeless representative. So that's a decision that's supposed to be made tomorrow. Yeah. But I mean, they still look out for what's happening down there in the community. Had a resolution been put before the neighborhood council also? No. I'll talk to McGill now. I think they're still going through the process, these procedures, to bring it to the council. Yeah. So, to do it. So, we're trying to hear that whole nonsense off. You know, you're spinning your wheels. You know what I'm saying? Nobody's going to stop these people from feeding. You know, when we talked about the possibility, I remember that. People started feeding all over the world. I came out here, it was feeding like boom. Well, I'm not sure. Did General Jeff, I'm not sure if General Jeff even brought it up. I'm sure he must have. I don't know. I haven't talked to him on it, but yeah. Okay. All right. All right. I want to go over to old Sal and Ron over there. Old Chick Hearn. He can't ever speak up in here. Let me get your thoughts on what's happening with the resolution, Ron. Fill us in. Hey, I'm here, live and in color, in a place to be. And I truly believe that people have the right to extend their charity through food. And one thing I can say, food brings people together. It really is a gateway to connecting and bringing that human feel of charity. Right here in World Famous Downtown. So I'm just all for the food. I like to eat myself and I like to prepare food. Okay. We'll come back around to open up a little. I want to get into Bobby Buck. Bobby Buck, you have your guests here, right? Oh, yes. They just came on in. Come on. Pull a couple up over here and then we'll open it up in the second half of the show. Pull them over here. We're going to take over for the... Okay. And we'll dabble into this a little deeper. Bobby, why don't you introduce your guests over there? All right. Now, here we got Mr. Oh, yeah. Come on. Sit down. Here we go. Mr. Terry Taylor and Scotty Gray come from Hope for Life Foundation. Good evening. And they have some real important information that the people know what's happening. Not this weekend, but for the rest of this week. So it's going to be cracking. So y'all get ready for this information that's about to happen. So who wants to speak first on what's going on this week? Let the people know. Okay. I don't mind at all. Good evening. Thank you so much for having me on the show. This week we have Doers Convention 2014. And we're very excited about it. It starts Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It climaxes on Sunday. Now, what we do at this day, this isn't a convention where we say doers. Doers are blessed. People talk about it. But we need you to be about it. Do the work. Do the work. We are our brother's keepers. And we need to care. And we need to do something to affect the change in the lives of our communities. Right on. That's what I'm saying. Because we're looking for all people doing action in the communities. And that's what they're doing right here at 9-1-1. What's your name, ma'am? Linda Pratt. All right. So what you got going on with this action? Well, I'm working with Scotty Gray and Hope for Life Foundation. I have a company in Atlanta. I'm a promoter. I promote major artists like Adele Fondas and Charlotte. But I'm working with... I'm in every capacity because I truly believe with what Hope for Life is doing. And the Community Day celebration is one of their huge... It's the 18th annual Community Day celebration. This will be my first attending with them. Talking to the mic, please. Thank you. So it'll be your first. So you're working inside. Yes. Yes. All right. She's working with the entertainment. And she has a lot of exciting artists that's coming out this year. And we can't wait. And also on that day, we're having a massive food giveaway. It'll be entertainment all day. We have a recognition banquet. We're doing that for a breakfast. That's a recognition prayer breakfast for people in the community like yourself, Bobby, who will be honored on that day for your services and what you've done in the community. People that have worked without pay and has just always poured their heart and cared about what people are doing and care about their well-being and see about people getting jobs and places to live and food and clothes. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. Totally. That's what we're recognizing and honoring on this Saturday, January 18th. And I'm also heard you have something going on. What's going on on Sunday? Sunday, we're having a concert at 6 o'clock. All right. A concert at 6 o'clock. We're going to have some great talent there. We have some speakers coming out that will be talking that morning at 11 o'clock. And then at 3.30, they have another special service with R.A. Williams, Pastor R.A. Williams. And then we'll climax that evening with the concert. All right. All right. So, I think I met someone who's going to be working with the entertainment also, Mr. Terry Taylor. Bobby, you in so much trouble right now, man. Let me tell you about yourself, Bobby. What did I do this time? I've been talking to this man for about three and a half days, and you've been holding out with Skid Row Studios, man. I'm not going to give you enough for that, man. Everybody in Radio Land, this brother right here is a phenomenal individual, and has been doing a phenomenal job at helping us out, me personally. So, Terry Taylor, the Doors Convention, and Hope for Life definitely want to give you a personal thank you, man. And also to Skid Row Records. Skid Row Studios. Did I say that right? Oh, yeah. Skid Row Records might be coming next. Oh, my. We got something coming. We got a surprise for y'all in July. But I did want to comment a little bit just on the entertainment aspect of the show, because we have so many different singers, dancers, and groups and bands coming from far and wide to touch the spirits and the lives of our audience. So, not only are you able to get clothes and food and resources, but more importantly, you're able to be entertained. Right on. For the bands and the artists that we've booked, I mean, people pay anywhere from $100 to $200 for these tickets. Absolutely. Yes. And what's great is that everybody gets to take advantage of the show absolutely free. We're giving back, and we're doing it in a big way. We have artists from American Idol, NBC, The Voice, and it's really all for the community. I mean, we really stretched our arms wide. And what's amazing is that everybody is volunteering their time, man. Right. Yes. And that is amazing to me. I've always been doing big, big shows. I say a lot about the music. Oh, say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. Oh say a lot about the music. know if you got pen and paper please write it down the address is 1430 West Manchester Avenue that's in Los Angeles California zip code is 90047 and the cross street is Normandy and we start at 12 o'clock sharp and I want to see all you beautiful faces out there thank you so much for having us hey that's what I'm saying y'all y'all better be there cuz I'm gonna be there I'm gonna be taking pictures looking for all of y'all so come on out and have a great time and support the community just to add to it a little bit I have a promoter it's gonna be coming he's coming in tomorrow from his name is James Womack Bobby Wilmer's nephew he's the ambassador for the Olympics are gonna be held on 2016 in Brazil oh so he's gonna be there so all the professionals is there is very possible can be added to work in the Olympics so it's not what just what you see is a lot of it's gonna be sitting in the audience it's gonna be watching what's going on absolutely so that's connections that's fantastic it could be a very important event absolutely beneficial absolutely money will be there maybe it's the golden opportunity absolutely somebody will be blessed absolutely that's what it's all about right and that's how it comes right that's how it comes come from the heart absolutely all right I'll tell you what so any final words miss Scottie Grace yes I just want to make sure that everybody remembers Community Day this Saturday from 9 to 11 30 it will be a recognition prayer breakfast where we will be honoring Bobby Buck and others and then at the end of the day we'll be having a special event and we're going to be a meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal meal We love you guys. We love you. We love you. And I think James Brown is saying, Scottie Gray is the hardest working woman here. Yes, she is. Yeah, thanks. She should be honored before anybody. Yes. Absolutely. You guys are too kind. She got a great party. Community day. Right on. It's your party. All right. All right. That's Bobby Buck, 15 Minutes of Fame, and we out. Okay. Thank you, Bobby Buck. Let's take a little short break for our community calendar. Then I'm going to come back with Darius Kelly from the Writers Guild, Veterans Writers Guild. Oh, yeah. This is the community calendar for the month of January. Tuesday, January the 14th, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Veterans Community Theater Workshop for veterans and non-veterans will start for a 10-week session. The sessions will continue. The classes will consist of training stage managers, training productions assistants, and stage costume assistants. Registration fee is $25, which will go for supplies and workshop materials. Also, please ask about qualifying for scholarships. Instructions for the training will be Melvin Ishmael Johnson, teaching stage managers, Geza X and Patrick, teaching productions assistants, and Larva, teaching stage managers. And the stage costume assistants. Judy Bowman from the Robey Theater Company will do an orientation on the Dunbar Hotel Project. The location, the Vortex, 2341 East Olympic Boulevard. This is at the corner of Santa Fe and Olympic. For more information and registration, or to pre-register, contact Drama Stage 1 at yahoo.com or call 213-908-6587. This is a special event. Monday, January 20th at 8 p.m., Drama Stage Kulwar, the Peace Center, and ICUJP presents as part of celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King's holiday, the reading of the play, If the Shoe Fits, Voices from Solitary Confinement. The play is compiled by Melvin Ishmael Johnson, and is available for purchase at www.drama.com. www.drama.com.com. This is Dr. Ishmael Johnson and Andy Griggs. Tune in and listen online, live, at www.skidrowstudios.com. Click on the Quran Report. Tuesday, January 28th at 6 p.m., the Nazana Zone Open Mic. Called in all poets, spoken word artists, musicians, and anyone who want to showcase their talent or announce an upcoming event, or just come out and network. Sign up, begin at 6 p.m., and you get five minutes. Your hosts for the evening will be Andrea Ross and Willis Boyd. This is a free event, and all are welcome to attend. There will be light refreshments served. The location is the Vortex 2341 East Olympic Boulevard. For more information, contact Dramastage1 at yahoo.com, or 213-908-6587. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to Dramastage1 at yahoo.com. Attention, Earlene Anthony. The call-in number for our show is 800-893-9562. Now, back to our host. Okay, as I mentioned earlier, at the top of the show, we'll be doing a live reading from the play If the Shoe Fit Next Week, here on the Coon Round Report at 8 o'clock. And I would like to play a short two-minute clip entitled The Bus Ride to Pelican Bay State Prison. The heat inside the bus was as stifling as the tension which lingered in the surrounding atmosphere. As the bus roared angrily down Highway 101, the trance-inducing drone of the big diesel engines lulled me into reflections of my life, memories that had soared past me like the scenery flying by outside the barred, tinted windows of an anonymous gray goose and as swiftly as the life I had led thus far. The restless, dismal chimes of shackles and chains broke me away from the melancholy spell I had fallen under. And there followed the sound of the bus's engine and the sound of the bus's engine. And there followed the sudden realization that the world of oceans, mountains, and landscapes would all soon be but a memory of another lifetime. Looking around me, I found not to be alone in this realization. For the other prisoners there seemed to be entertaining similar thoughts. No one dared to speak of them. What awaited us at the Pelican Bay Shoe with its eerily silent corridors was a purgatory of sorts, a vacuum of uncertainty, sealed off from everything and everyone, a place where one is virtually entombed in a concrete vault with scarred and pitted walls depicting the idleness, boredom, and in some cases, the lunacy of a previous occupant. It's a world of its own where, for most, refuge can only be found through a dreamless state of slumber. There's a look in the shoe prisoners' eyes that is haunting, a foreboding look from eyes that have themselves stared into the eyes of madness and human cruelty, eyes that have looked far into the abyss, abyss of emptiness, eyes belonging to a species of a lesser god, Hector Gallegos, Pelican Bay State Prison. Okay, from the play, If the Shoe Fits, a live reading of the 40-minute play next week on the Coon Ram Report. Now, at this time, I'm delighted to have with us in the studio Darius Kelly. He's a member of the Writers Guild Veterans, the Veterans Writers Workshop. Yes. Darius, welcome to the Coon Ram Report. Thank you. Thank you, Mel. Can you tell us what is the Veterans Writers Guild Workshop? The Veterans Writers Guild Workshop is for any veteran that just, whether he's been recently in service or he's been out of service, as long as he's a vet, he qualifies and he just has to take a, it's a little bit of a screening process. You write an essay and you fill out an application, you turn it in, and then they, you know, choose you from among hundreds. How did you get involved? Well, I came out here in California some, like, 10 years ago to be a writer. So I went to a lot of their workshops and a lot of their seminars and met a lot of people. And when they opened this up, I definitely knew this was an opportunity since I served my country many years ago. Mm-hmm. Now, for those veterans who would want to become part of the Veterans Writers Guild, this is the Writers Guild, the major Writers Guild up on 3rd and February, right? Fairfax. Fairfax, yeah. Fairfax. Oh, say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say look comedian over there to do something for us. Can you tell us about, because you know I'm part of the Writers Guild Veterans Workshop. Also, tell us, mention some of the mentors that we have down there. Oh, yeah. Some of the mentors we have is Tim Wurtz. He wrote for us a screenplay, made a lot of money. We also have Larry Anders, or Lawrence Anders, who was executive producer of Boomtown USA. We also have Chris Knopp, who did Empire of the North. It was a movie back in, I think in the 60s, but it started Lee Marvin. And it was about a station engineer who was really, no, no, I'm sorry, Ernest Borgnine played the antagonist, and Lee Marvin played the protagonist. And then Marie. Oh, yeah, Marie. Yeah, she wrote the screenplay for... The ref. Yeah, the ref for Dennis... Was it Dennis Leary? Yeah, Dennis Leary, yes. He wrote a screenplay. And she wrote some other screenplays, but that's the best known. She's best known for that. Yeah. Now, who was your guest, or the comedian? This is Dennis Lavender. He's from Comfort. I think California. Very talented comedian, up and coming. And I'll let him speak for himself. Yeah, because we hope to get both of you on a show later on coming up. Well, thanks for having me. Just on you? Just on me? Okay. Like I said, my name is Dennis Lavender. A lot of people get confused with my name, especially girls. They be like, Lavender, that's your real name or your stage name? I'm like, no, no, that's my... That's my real name. A lot of Spanish dudes get confused, though. They be like, your name is Dennis? Like the restaurant? I be like, nah, nah, almost. Not quite, not quite. I love talking to Spanish people, though. Because no matter how much English they speak, I always want to tell them how much Spanish I know. You know? You ever do that? Be like, yeah. In the middle of the conversation, I'm like, si, si, si. Adios. Adios. But nobody ever do that to black people. You know that nobody ever do that to black people. You never see anybody like, hey, black man, black man. Ali Bumbaye. Ali Bumbaye. You never see this. Like a double standards. I'm not actually from Compton. I'm actually from South Central Los Angeles. Yeah. South LA. That's what they call it now. It sounds a lot better than South Central Los Angeles, though. They don't sound as violent. But it's crazy growing up. Growing up in South LA because nobody trusts anybody in LA. That's why everywhere you go, they have a bulletproof glass window. You know, you go try to cash a check. You go get something to eat. You go to the gas station. They all have bulletproof glass windows. But the gas station is the worst place to go to. Because they always repeat what you give them through that glass speaker. Like, you be like, hey, let me get this on pump number six. They be like, you want $3 on pump number six? Like, man, you didn't have to lay everybody in line. I know that. But that's from LA. That's being in LA. Being in LA, I don't trust anybody neither. You know, especially the women out here. You know, when I had sex, I don't even use condoms anymore. No, we had to do it behind a bulletproof glass window, too. Like, do you like that? No. I said, do you like that? Oh, man. But it's fun over here being on the Skid Row Entertainment thing. Entertainment or studios? Skid Row Studios. Skid Row Studios. The Coom Round Report. The Coom Round. A lot of, but, you know, it's a lot of homeless people in LA that need to be looked after. I don't know why homeless people don't have jobs. Because it, you know, I feel like homeless people make great Eagle Scouts. You know, because who else is better qualified to live off the land? Than a homeless person. But anyway, thanks again for having me. And hit me up on Twitter, Dennis Lavender. The Comedian or Facebook, Dennis Lavender. That's it. That's pretty much it. I got you. All right. All right. All right. Okay. Thank you, Dennis. We got to get you back in here. Yeah. Just sit down and get your material rolling. Yeah. All right, then. And thank you, Darius. Okay. For updating. Thank you for updating us on the veterans. Let me just jump back over to, we're going to get a little serious for a moment and get back over to the feed and clean resolution. There's a couple more things that O.J. and Tom wanted to say. Speak up on it. Well, one thing that we have, you know, going back to the actual resolution that General Jeff so cordially drafted, it was talking about, you know, if all the individuals and organizations both feed and clean and skid row, this will contribute mighty toward curtailing the area's significant trash and rodent problems. And it gets to be that simple, man. Come on, man. And what we've seen over the last year in our attempt to work with the city and different agencies is like, I was talking to him today, I said, if you clean up your bedroom every day for a whole year, you're going to get a lot of trash. Every day. Even a child would get better. They clean up skid row every day and it get worse. It gets worse. There's no coordination. You know, one time we had, you know, they told me they were going to put out some trash cans. We're going to put out 10 trash cans. They put the trash cans out the next day to pick them back up. You know, that kind of stuff. You know, you buy a McDonald's and you're walking down the street, where do you put the trash at? In your pocket? I mean, just nonsense. Okay. So, and then you got all these million dollar missions sitting right there, won't come outside. And the worst part of all of them have residents. Majority of the residents at one time was on the streets throwing trash on the streets themselves. So you would think that you would send them back out there. So I have friends that are, you know, drug problem, got involved in the mission. I said, man, we want to help you clean up the streets, but we can't do it because they'll consider us AWOL. You can't cross the street. You'll be AWOL. And the trash, the worst part about the nonsense is if the trash is across the street, the wind going to blow it over on your side anyway. So why wouldn't you want to cross the street and help clean up your own community? You're making millions of dollars. Every mission makes millions of dollars. Every residential hotel making millions of dollars. And you can't, you could give $2 to a homeless person to sweep a street up every day. Come on, man. It don't make any sense. What's going on? It's nonsense. And like I say, today you're going to give $1.3 million back to public works, sanitation department. And I love the men and women that work in sanitation. But they also see the homeless people cleaning up the streets. And so when we go to the city and say, okay, I don't want to get paid to clean up my bedroom. But what about a little stipend? Even when you was a kid, you got a little gift. You know what I mean? If the city's not cleaning up the streets and the homeless people's cleaning up the streets, you don't think they should? You think they should get a stipend? So now they go through all these different things. Well, we can't give you that. But you can give the public works, sanitation $1.3 million and they ain't cleaned up the streets yet. It doesn't make any sense. So what I brought with me is the Bureau of Sanitation and the Bureau of Street Services and their phone numbers is, ladies and gentlemen, get your pens and pencils out. Mm-hmm. Bureau of Sanitation, 800-773-2489. Call them up. Call them all day long if you got to. Bureau of Streets and Services, 800-996-2489. Call them. Mm-hmm. And tell them to do what they need to be doing. Just that simple. What have the council been doing? What have they been doing? What have they been saying about this? Well, anybody want to pick up on them? Wazar. Anybody want to pick up on them? All right. I'll say a couple of things. One is I don't think they have a location yet, but there is a community forum January 23rd to look at all this stuff and the public is invited. So that would be a great way to come out. Yeah. And express yourself. And if you're a feisty, don't worry about it. Feistiness is okay. But the other thing I want to say is where OG is coming from is like the wisdom of the streets. A lot of it is just common sense. The problem is, and I'll piggyback on something Dennis said, is people in LA are not trusting each other. So what's that nice, solid, middle ground, common sense thing because people are on opposite sides just fighting and yelling at each other. Not listening to each other. The common sense thing never happens because people aren't trusting each other. And it becomes unbelievably frustrating when the solution is obvious, but yet it's never received or implemented because the people in authority are just too busy fighting. Okay. Now, we're going to come back around for some closing comments from everybody. But next week is Dr. King's holiday. And so what I would like to do now is to get ready for Dr. King's holiday next Monday, January the 20th, 2014. I would like to play a clip on why J. Edgar Hoover used COINTELPRO to attack Dr. King. Get us ready. Now, after J. Edgar Hoover used this method. He used this methodology to bring down Marcus Garvey and destroy the Universal Negro Improvement Association. As I mentioned, he would perfect this into a technique that would be used in the 60s, most notably against Malcolm X and against Dr. King. Now, what was it really about Minister Malcolm X? And Dr. Martin Luther King that made him such a threat to the American ways of life in the eyes of J. Edgar Hoover? The answer to that question is found in a memo by J. Edgar Hoover in response to a discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King. Now, this memo in which J. Edgar Hoover was sent around to most of history. The trusted FBI agent would become known as the Hoover Memo. The memo reads, To prevent the rise of a Messiah who could unify and electrify the militant black nationalist movement, Malcolm X might have been such a Messiah. He is a martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely. Carmichael, and Elijah Muhammad all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammad is less a threat because of his age. King could become a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obedience to white liberal doctrine of nonviolence and embrace black nationalism. Now, this was an FBI memorandum that was issued. On March the 4th, 1968. And keep in mind, that was just a little, a month, what, a few weeks after that, up in April? The assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis. The goal of this memo was to prevent the rise of a black Messiah who could unify the black masses. Hoover never forgot his experience with Marcus Garvey and the fear that the godly movement caused him to be a terrorist. He was a terrorist. He was a terrorist. He was a terrorist. And a terrorist was a GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET GET the control of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, he was no threat to duplicate the success of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The same in relationship to Dr. King. As long as Dr. Martin Luther King was under the conservative nonviolent movement of civil rights, he was no threat to duplicate the national and international success of the Marcus Garvey movement. But with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize in his opposition to the Vietnam War, this took him, like Malcolm X when he separated from the nation of Islam, out of the arena of civil rights into the arena of human rights, from the national scene to the international scene. Moved by Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King from the national arena to the international civil rights to the international arena of human rights, which signed the death law. Dr. King's holiday coming up next Monday, January the 20th, 2014 national holiday. So let's take some time. We still got a few minutes, take a minute or so and let's go around for some closing comments and contact information. I'm going to start over there with O.G. Okay. Okay. You can reach us on our Facebook, Operation Facelift. You also can go to our website, which is www.OperationFaceliftSkidRow.webs.com. You also can call us on Skid Row Cleanups. And you need to reach me personally, 818-693-3255. I would just, I wish I could tell you an exact location, but the public forum to talk about these things coming up in Skid Row, 23rd of this month, and it's for the public and hope people can come out for it. Yes, Pastor Q, church without walls, the row, L-A-T-H. H-E-R-O-W-L-A.com. Or you can find that same name, facebook.com forward slash Darrell LA. Find us on Facebook. And Church Without Walls every Friday night on the corner of Wall and Winston at 7 p.m. That's where we've been having our services for the past seven years in August. It'll be eight years. So we're on the streets. Like OG said, we know the pulse of the community and the heart of the Skid Row community. So contact us. Yes, Coach Ron, it's in the house. You can reach me at 626-277-3457. We're having an MLK Day, Service Day, January 20th, right here in world-famous Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, feeding the homeless and providing baby diapers to the homeless. Mothers with kids. Give me a call if you'd like to participate. This is Darish Kelly. Be sure to pay attention to the Oscars coming up because I think it's going to be historical. For the first time in history, a black director is going to win. I'm pretty sure. I'm positive. A black director is going to win the Oscar for directing. Steve McQueen, he's a British. He's Afro-American British. And he has a movie in the 12-year. Slave. And make sure you go see that movie. I know some people said they don't want to go see it, but they need to see that movie. If you went to see Quentin Tarantino's Black Exportation, Jamie Foxx's rendering of, you know, that was all made up. But this one is from a real book, and it was a real incident. And please go see this because if you don't support great drama, then we'll always have the, we'll have the, the Mudeas and the other send-ups. So make sure you support great dramas when they come about. Okay. This is a rare, this is a true incident that happened. There were some black people born free. And during slavery, they were born free. And he lived in New York. He was born free. Okay. Oh, yeah. Just reach me, Bobby Buck, at 213-293-7983. Or you can join bobbybuck.com, which that's going to be the action positive movement that we're doing online. And like I said, we want to pay tribute to everybody in the community who's doing real positive action. Not the false actions. Because I actually came up with the word action when I was homeless. And I started seeing these shelters make all this money doing false actions. So I said, I want to start networking and find people doing the real positive actions to help people and promote them and advertise them myself. Okay. And I'd like to mention again, please join us next week on the Coon Brown Report for a special King Day reading of the play, If the Shoe Fits, Voices. Voices from Solitary Confinement. And I'd like to make a little quick note about the community. I'd like to say the community must always have dual plans that work together. Number one, plans that's long term, where you're reaching out for resources like grants and other funding support to achieve your major goals. But also you should have a backup plan. Two, the other plan is short term. And based upon creative community control of resources in the community to support and achieve your major goals. Now, I would like to extend a special thanks to my in-studio guest, Manu Oji, Man Capito, and his guests. Tell us your name again. One more time. Tom Grody. Tom Grody. Q. Coach Ron, the one and only. Yeah. The comedian over there. Always give your comments. I can tell you need to get this man to wait out there and scoop you up. Yeah, that ain't funny, man. That ain't funny. I'm going out. Well, hit me up on Facebook, Dennis Lavender, like the color, D-E-N-N-I-S-L-A-V-E-N-D-E-R. And thanks again for having me. You smell good. Okay. I'm hoping you're going to give us some feedback on that artist collective thing and, you know, I'm going to get him. Oh, yeah. Okay. Got the errors sitting over there from the Writers Guild. Great organization. And make sure you go to my movie in the future. It'll be coming out hopefully soon. Okay. What do you mean movie is coming out in the future? Oh, you got it. 13 years of slave, man. 13 years. It feels like it, I tell you. One more thing. Yeah, so thank you for tuning in to the Coombran Report. Please listen to past shows of the Coombran Report on iTunes. Facebook, Stitcher, Tumblr, Googler, and Skid Row. Thank you for tuning in to the Coombran Report. From your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with Dr. Martin Luther King talking about righteousness. Somebody make you think that God chose America as his divine messiah. And he forced to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment. And it seems that I can hear God saying to America, you're too arrogant. If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power. And I'll place it in the hands of God. I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God. The promises of the great society have been shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam. Making the poor, white, and Negro bear the heaviest burdens both at the front and at home. Though the civil rights leaders, for various reasons, refuse or can't take a stand, or have to go along with the administration. That's their business. But I'm afraid that I know that justice is indivisible. Injustice anywhere is the threat to justice everywhere. And if the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution, then the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution. And if the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution, then the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution. And if the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution, then the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution. And if the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution, then the Constitution was a threat to the Constitution. Hey, this is Eddie Solis, producer and host of Los Angeles Nisa. Make sure you listen to the show live every Monday night, 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time at skidrowstudios.com. And make sure you download the Skid Row Studios app or your iPhone. Hey, yo, it's Thursday night, 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. You done wasted your whole life already. You got nothing to aspire to. What else is another hour going to take away from you? Tune in Thursday night, 9 p.m., Nestorius Public Radio. I'm Nestor Rodriguez. This is Simon Kaufman with Nestorius Public Radio on skidrowstudios.com. We're huge, bro. We're blowing up. We got a Facebook fan page, dude. Check it out, yo. Nestorius Public Radio. Thursday nights, 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Go to iTunes. You know what to do. Look up podcasts. Look up Nestorius Public Radio. Subscribe. You know what I'm saying? Just do it. We're going to have our own video game soon, bro. It's huge. It's blowing up. We're trending. We're trending. iTunes, new and noteworthy. That's right. I'll send it out. I'll send it out. Oh, God. Oh God!