Todo Bodo Down: The Bac Sierra Blog

Share with lots of love and power:

Just released to the press:

The Coalition of Righteous Roots: 50 frontline community empowerment organizations and individuals have signed onto this open letter to demand San Francisco to divest resources from the police department and invest wholeheartedly in frontline community empowerment organizations. It must prosecute police officers who have unlawfully killed our brothers and sisters on the streets, develop and implement authentic education for our youth, and act with urgency to install the Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial on top of Bernal Heights Park.

Please share widely, and if you can, join us today, Wednesday, June 3 at 4:00 p.m. at Mission High School, San Fran Frisco, where your loved one will offer amor and speak, amongst many others.

We will march to the Mission Police Station, building spirit and taking care of each other along the way.

From: The Coalition of Righteous Roots

To:                   Mayor London Breed, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and District Attorney Chesa Boudin

Date:               Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Subject:          AN OPEN LETTER REGARDING THE OFFICERS-INVOLVED MURDER OF     GEORGE FLOYD AND THE INJUSTICE THAT EXISTS IN SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco-

The officers-involved murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has sparked a new era in America: The Revolt of the Roots.

San Francisco, its politicians and its machine, can embrace and support grassroots’ righteousness or be left behind in bewilderment.

If San Francisco truly represents the spirit of its namesake, Saint Francis, if it actually wants to solve struggles in our most oppressed communities, it must divest resources from the police department and invest wholeheartedly in frontline community empowerment organizations. It must prosecute police officers who have unlawfully killed our brothers and sisters on the streets, develop and implement authentic education for our youth, and act with urgency to install the Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial on top of Bernal Heights Park.

We, the roots, may be lots of things, but we are not stupid, and we cannot afford to live or die based on lies. On Thursday, May 28, the San Francisco Police Officers’ Association made a public statement about police protocol that is disingenuous and full of lies.

The truth is that San Francisco is just as bad, if not worse, than Minneapolis. San Francisco has never criminally prosecuted any officers for killing Brown and Black brothers and sisters. Note some of the most recent egregious officer-involved killings: Kenneth Harding, Jr. (shot in his head in broad daylight for evading a two dollar bus fare), Alex Nieto (shot at 59 times, sparked the biggest movement ever in the United States to defend a Latino victim of a police killing), Amilcar Perez-Lopez (shot six times in the back), Mario Woods (shot at forty times while walking away, while shooting was filmed), Luis Gongora-Pat (shot and killed while lying down), Jessica Nelson-Williams (killed while pregnant), Keita O’Neil (killed by police drive-by shooting).

There is no way to beautify this truth. It is horrible, evil, and unjust. But the Roots are rising. Before the grassroots people rose, the police force and Police Officers Association acted as bullies. Politicians were scared, denied any problem even existed, and did not speak out publicly against the police.

In 2016, the grassroots people ultimately fired former police Chief Greg Suhr. The politicians acknowledged our power and began shifting sides.

San Francisco, you do not have to be scared anymore. You can support the people, and in that way there may be some reconciliation. At the very least, there will be truth. This statement is beyond politics. We need courage, not cowardice, during these unprecedented times.

Divest annual funding and resources from the police department and invest wholeheartedly in community-led health and safety strategies and frontline community empowerment organizations. Prosecute police officers who have unlawfully killed our brothers and sisters on the streets. Expand funds that develop and implement authentic education for our youth. Act with urgency to install the Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial on top of Bernal Heights Park.

Rise in Power, George Floyd.

Sincerely and Con Safos,

The Coalition of Righteous Roots:

Amor for Alex Nieto

ANSWER Coalition

The California Faculty Association at SF State University(CFA-SFSU)

CALLE 24 Cultural District

Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), Northern California

Chinese Progressive Association

Faith In Action Bay Area

Galería De La Raza

Homies Organizing the Mission to Empower Youth (HOMEY)

Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco

Justice for Amilcar Perez Lopez

Justice for Luis Gongora Pat

La Raza Community Resource Center

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Mission Nightwalks

Mujeres Unidas y Activas

Nurse-Midwives of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

Our Mission, No Eviction

Pochino Press Publishing House

PolicyLink

Rafiki Coalition

San Francisco Lowrider Council

Service Employees International Union – United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW)

Sunset Youth Services

University of California, Hastings College of the Law La Raza Students Association

The Young Women’s Freedom Center

Roberto Alfaro, Executive Director, HOMEY

Benjamin Bac Sierra, M.A., J.D., Professor and Author, City College of San Francisco

Kung Feng, Jobs with Justice San Francisco

The Rev’d Jeremy Clark-King, Priest in Charge, St John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, San Francisco

Maria D. Dominguez, Esq., Vice Chair, Alameda County Commission on the Status of Women

Socorro Gamboa, Corafuerte Community Consejos Consultants

Lucia Gonzalez Ippolito, Artist and Activist

Roberto Hernandez, Artistic Director & Executive Producer, SF Carnaval

Jon Jacobo, Vice President, Calle 24

The Rev. Monique L. Ortiz, St. Mary and St. Martha Lutheran – a Sanctuary Church

Adante Pointer, Esq., Civil Rights Attorney

Father Richard Smith, Retired Vicar, St. John The Evangelist Episcopal Church

Rev. Joanna Lawrence Shenk, Associate Pastor, First Mennonite Church of San Francisco

Carla Elana Wojczuk, M.Ed.

I write as an optimist and a realist, two contradictory identities that have somehow joined together in this absurd era.

Today is victory. This is winning, a present moment when we feel and see our power—if we have the courage to allow our empty hands to feel air and our eyes to see truth. With nothing more than our hands and our voices, we fight against guns, and we win simply by fighting. We will forever fight, even until the end of time.

Today is proof of our power.

We, the roots, have made truth, righteousness, and amor our guides. There is no weapon that can defeat Love for your Brothers and Sisters. We are Pura Neta, Pure Truth.

George Floyd was premeditatedly murdered over a “fake” twenty dollar paper bill that is not even as useful or valuable as toilet paper. His broad-daylight murder triggered all the other lies to the full light: the lie of color-blindness, the lie of equality, the lie of humanity, the lie of justice.

This is about George Floyd but also so much more. This is a resounding NO to mass media propaganda. This is NO to the lie that they tell us is history. This is NO to a pre-formatted future with no freedom and dignity. Across the United States today, we, the roots, are in the present moment.

The truth is that less than one hundred years ago, “Americans” would populate and celebrate lynchings. It was Apple Pie, the Fourth of July, and Baseball all wrapped into one event. There were also many mass riots here in the United States started by and fueled unilaterally by White people with red hot hate. We, the roots, have been feeling, listening to, and seeing shit for hundreds of years, but we had forgotten the brutality of history because no one teaches us true history, not even the few sentences written above. Then in 1964 with the Civil Rights Act, the machine began hiding the truth under the idea of colorblindness. The brutality did not stop, but it became a hidden psychological sociological torture full of schizophrenia and paranoia. If we even whispered that the textbooks, the entire curriculum, and everything we see in public propaganda were lies, we would be deemed insane and punished with “F” grades and imprisonment, the death penalty even!

These past three and a half years, Orange 45 and a sect of his followers have been clinging to a failed ideology, and they have been attempting to normalize stupidity.

They did not think we could ever effectively fight back because they never were taught that the past (AGAIN) cannot continue forever.

We fight back, and we win with nothing in our hands except empty air.

For how can Orange 45ers respond to this moment of victory? This is not the old civil rights era (no disrespect intended). All major cities across the United States saw thousands of people of all colors and backgrounds rise up for this moment. Across the pond in Germany, England, all over the world, thousands rose up to fight back even though it is not their specific fight! Yet it is: for it is an international fight for our very own humanity, our individual human being-ness.

Yes, the machine will try to clamp down now and later, try to keep Dixie alive in some song, but there is absolutely no way that they can erase truth of the spirit of what just happened and is happening on the streets, that will reshape this place and provide an unforeseen future based on real roots.

Think about it: how many Orange 45ers fight with the force of amor? Are they actually going to use those AR-15’s and Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistols against masses of unarmed gente? Then go ahead and do it, we say and prove ourselves by hitting the streets, entering the ring, and spreading amor. We will not back down. And then even if the machine went through with it, what would they get? Streets, cities full of murdered men and women, of all colors and sizes, genders and religious backgrounds—and those bodies and their spirit will simply fuel more Loved Ones to come out, mobilize, and keep fighting the good fight.

No, most Orange 45ers wouldn’t do it, some because their conscience would finally kick in, and others because there is simply no reason to do it! This is a very important point: they are fine in their own worlds. Most Orange 45ers are actually not overwhelmingly oppressed. They are middle class, and even if they are lower economic class, they have hope for some American Dream. They have more than enough and are not going to leave their comfortable homes and preconceived ideologies about George Washington to wage war against unarmed people in this place for no good reason. They would rather stay home and watch television.

However, as the late great Gil Scott-Heron famously wrote, the revolution will not be televised!

Many Orange 45ers wanted the nostalgia of post-World War Two American automobiles and dishwashers, but now, most, I believe, are at least starting to sense that is over. All that shit talking from Orange 45, they are feeling and seeing, is a lie. Orange 45 has been proven to be a clown, a buffoon, an insult even to the most stupid person’s intelligence. They are not going to rise up for an idiot. Mostly they want to exist more than they want to fight. That is the way with all wars. The regular folk never just automatically join the fight unless they truly believe in it. Some may imagine themselves as Rambo, but most are conscripted, drafted, or brainwashed into war.

War, in this 21^st century, is obsolete anyway. There is no need for land or capital when the new economy, the new property is intellectual property, data stored in a make-believe nowhere Cloud. There is no longer any reason for all out physical war against anyone.

The new war is and will be about the war specifically to own and control people’s individual minds.

This past week’s uprisings across the United States and the world have proven that we do what we do because we do it, regardless of any intellectual idea. That is what even the smaatest people fail to understand: “I don’t understand why they would protest, “riot”, loot, or anything. It doesn’t make logical sense.”  Spirit is beyond intellect.  Struggling, fighting is victory. Orange 45ers and their allies do not understand that. They want to go back to some John Wayne days when there was a flag to be waved around on top of some hill and then planted, but that does not exist anymore, so they would rather just stay where they are or run away back to some impossibility. They have been fools for wishing for something that never was and that can never be AGAIN.

Today Is Proof of Our Power: We Are Pura Neta, Pure Truth.

Image by Oree Original.

The Law Is a Lie.

We must begin with and pluck out this rotten root, as consciousness of this Lie will always be fuel for the fight, the eternal answer to rebut arguments, and justification for action:

The Law Is a Lie.

As a Juris Doctor titleholder, as someone who is objectively educated with a well-rounded life experience, I can confidently claim that law is pure fiction. The truth underneath law is that it was and is created simply to protect private property. That’s it—the law is there to protect power that revolves around property and its owners—who are fictionalized as powerful people. They are not smarter, better, or more human than others, but the law is on their side.

Most accept the Lie of Law because they do not know any better. The propaganda machine, including the schools (sit down, why?, because I told you to sit down), has brainwashed them Law means something, perhaps coming from God, as they relate law to something like the Ten Commandments. People become afraid of the law, afraid of their own shadows, because they feel the brutal torture that threatens them every day of their existence, so they shut up and play along with the game, forgetting or never knowing that it is all based on Monopoly money.

Sometimes, however, the Lie is clear for everyone to see.

George Floyd was premeditatedly murdered over a “fake” twenty dollar paper bill that is not even as useful or valuable as toilet paper. His broad-daylight murder triggered all the other lies to the full light: the lie of color-blindness, the lie of equality, the lie of humanity, the lie of justice.

We, the roots, may be lots of things, but we are not stupid, and we cannot afford to live or die based on lies.

I can think of no reasonable counter-argument against the premise that Law is a Lie.

I stated the following at the end of the Alex Nieto trial in 2016, where all the lies and evidence were exposed, yet the mostly white jury still decided against Alex Nieto and for the police officers. It is even more relevant now in 2020:

We, the people, did not lose.

Education lost: your fairy tale books about the way intelligence works were proven to be a farce. We argued better than you, with stronger evidence and more compelling logic. Does the stupidity of the verdict answer to you why we refuse to value your schools and teachers and puppet administrators?

We, the people, did not lose.

Your justice system lost: your sham is simply a tool to make-believe everything is fair and just and that we should accept your verdict like good players in a fixed game, where the odds are totally stacked against us.

We, the people, did not lose.

Your morality lost: you, with your white smile and perfect teeth, you were proven to be cowards who could not stand up for the right principle, for a real human being who was unlawfully killed. You feared going back to your villas in Clayton and Danville and telling your friends and family that you voted for a brown person and not the white, clean-cut poster officers.

We, the people, did not lose.

Your United States of America Constitution lost. It lost. You lost. Your lie of equality and freedom lost.

And it is only your naked conscience now that remains, your own personal empty humanity, stripped of predilections, fantasies, and superior justifications. Now, standing there exposed in your own soul, how will you respond?

If you are offended, it is not my fault. You made up the rules.

If you are challenged, it is your chance to do right and spread the news. Fight your father, your uncle, your sister, your privileged community.

We, the people, did not lose, for we continue with the truth, PURA NETA: not forward, but upward, we march, we fly.

ALWAYS AND FOREVER AMOR FOR ALEX NIETO!

Benjamin Bac Sierra, M.A., J.D., USMC, SFM

Rest in Power, George Floyd.

This is what I remember:

I wanted to kill someone. I wanted someone to kill me.

I joined the Marine Corps to be able to legally kill someone and/or to be killed as a macho man. No recruiter tried to conscript me or promise me anything beautiful like a GI Bill or a free funeral with burial plot. I did not know about those things. I knew the Rambo and Commando and Full Metal Jacket propaganda and the street gang respect the Marines held. I had to hunt for a recruiter who would even try to enlist me, as all the other recruiters laughed at me, dressed as a cholo with a long rap sheet. At seventeen, I knew I had to leave the streets, San Fran Frisco. All my fellow brothers were killing, being killed, and getting sentenced to prison during the initial era of mass incarceration in the United States. In 1989 my brother serving time in Susanville Pinta wrote me a letter and advised me to choose another route, one he could never choose for himself. After he was released, he never let the streets go, La Mision. He died in 2008 when he was only 39 years old, a young OG. I remember him.

Four years in the Suck: I remember suffering a lot. Wanting to suffer and hating the suffering. Believing I deserved the suffering. Loving the suffering. Grunt Machine-gunner. M60 Echo Three and Mark 19 Grenade Machinegun. My weapons. My fists. My stupidity. My endurance and obedience to orders. Frontline.

That suffering and vida loca insanity was necessary for me to become humble and grateful. There was no solution or education that would have helped me understand life and death except for life and death. War. Pain. The Sublime that comes after tough operations. Going through it. Drinking. Fighting. Robbing. Rotting.

I met good people, the best, leaders that would crack jokes in the middle of madness and hold their bearing during chemical gas attacks. I added all that spirit to who I am, tried my best to implement that energy in all my activities: education, teaching, familia, amor, Amor for Alex Nieto, community, learning, fighting, writing.

For what does it mean to be a writer if you do not write what you live and live what you write?

I have a memory for the many dead, mostly the other side Iraqis, as we had not been obliterated like them, and also for my brothers who would have wanted to escape to the Marines, too, but ended up dying violent deaths on the streets and in the pens. That is Memorial Day, too.

Memory for the dead.

I have a memory of in the middle of battle being afraid and praying silently to be saved and then promising God, the unknowable nothing that has no name (I am what I am), that I would do something positive with my life if I could simply be allowed to live. Live. After the war, for many years, I was ashamed of myself for praying and asking to be protected.

I am not ashamed anymore. I learned humility, which is a hard lesson to learn in the midst of so much machismo. In honor of my present existence, I renew my promise to God: I will continue doing something positive with my life: Amor.

It is not a solution. It is simply all I can do to honor memory.

“On the Ills of Insanity”

You should stop your insanity so that you can boast of your smooth style.

Imagine you could simply stop being a loco, a sick-with-it street Sav. All of a sudden you become a good guy, a nice person. After a week of you not being a vida loca loco and confident that you can restrain yourself, you push the moment. Kickin it at La Raza Park, your homies Rooster, Joker, Payaso, and Smokey, drinking their beers, ask you:

“Hey, what’s up, why aren’t you loco?”

You respond, holding in all your arrogant insanity, “I quit being a loco.” And you whisper it in a super smooth style, sitting with your legs crossed, eyes squinting out into the beyond, smoking your cigarette and blowing out O’s.

Cool. The antithesis of vida loca.

A nice person cannot be a loco.

I mean, it’s good, better, isn’t it, to be a good guy instead of a sick-with-it street Sav?

The love of locura can lead only to destruction, which is the worst. Niceness, arrogance, and coolness destroy destruction, don’t they?

A man who is a loco is worthless, and a woman who is a loca is a street slut.

So, camaradas, let’s stop the insanity.

This past week, I began sharing community educational videos for all so that we can keep educated and entertained, especially during this shelter-in-place era.

Share COMMUNITY education for everyone:

All amor and power to you all!

Learning and stealing and sharing, this is my life 🙂 During these unprecedented times, it is my joy to figure out new ways to connect to students, even though nothing will ever compare to the human interaction we have in face-to-face classes. Nevertheless, I adapt for them, and through these mediums I am still giving them my best for their best.

As a frontline COMMUNITY college English instructor, I understand our students’ dilemmas. They did not sign up for an online class, and now because of our current situation, they are forced into this “cloud.” They may not even have enough data in their online plans to watch countless videos or to take part in a ZOOM type of medium. Many of them are struggling with shelter and simply figuring things out for the foreseeable future. They are stressed, unsure, confused, and hope for some humanity in all of this distancing.

Respecting their situations, I am only requiring them to download an audio version of lectures, which does not require lots of data memory. I am, however, also creating supplemental educational videos for them so that they can better engage with the content. We are figuring things out and getting edumacated together 🙂

For you all, I have condensed the educational video so you are not concerned with assignments, requirements, essays, etc. I invite you to take part in some critical education and to share this education with others. That is COMMUNITY. I will be posting these videos so that you can learn, steal, and share. A heads up—over the course of the next month and a half, we will be discussing the following topics: poetry, Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The Case for Reparations,” social networking, privacy, and Yuval Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century.

Enjoy our educational adventure!

The Grand Inquisitor to Jesus Christ:

“Great conquerors, like Timoor and Tchengis-Khan, passed like a cyclone upon the face of the earth in their efforts to conquer the universe, but even they, albeit unconsciously, expressed the same aspiration towards universal and common union. In accepting the kingdom of the world and Caesar’s purple, one would found a universal kingdom and secure to mankind eternal peace. And who can rule mankind better than those who have possessed themselves of man’s conscience, and hold in their hand man’s daily bread? Having accepted Caesar’s glaive and purple, we had, of course, but to deny Thee, to henceforth follow him alone. Oh, centuries of intellectual riot and rebellious free thought are yet before us, and their science will end by anthropophagy, for having begun to build their Babylonian tower without our help they will have to end by anthropophagy. But it is precisely at that time that the Beast will crawl up to us in full submission, and lick the soles of our feet, and sprinkle them with tears of blood and we shall sit upon the scarlet-colored Beast, and lifting up high the golden cup ‘full of abomination and filthiness,’ shall show written upon it the word ‘Mystery’! But it is only then that men will see the beginning of a kingdom of peace and happiness.”

                                                     Fyodor Dostoevsky from The Brothers Karamazov

“The Grand Capitalist”

There had been a story circulating on the San Francisco streets that He had resurrected and was gifting love (the miracle) to human beings, those down and out wretched folks in the dumps. And it was for this, He was marked as the worst, most dangerous criminal in the entire system. On Sixth and Mission, under cover of darkness, the SWAT team charged, guns ablazing, and arrested the man who looked like a simple hobo. After interrogating Him and gaining no response except for empty eyes, they brought Him to a special judge at 850 Bryant, The Hall of Justice, The House of Horrors.

With glory and pomp, The Grand Capitalist strutted into the jail’s psych ward pod. Dressed in a sharp red single-breasted sharkskin suit, crisp white shirt, red silk tie, and spit-polished black oxford wingtip shoes, Grand wore white felt gloves that protected his precious soft hands that were used to command. Grand’s face was a strange orange hue that no one dared call strange.

Grand took a seat across from Him who was wearing nothing except for an adult sized diaper, as He had been constrained to suicide watch and was not even allowed toilet privileges. He was a Brown man with hair like wool, unshaven, unkempt, a homeless creature, the most despised in their system.

“I know who you are. Figured you’d have come a long time ago to save your sheep, but no, you did not answer their prayers. There was only me, their true savior.” Grand smiled shiny white diamond teeth. “You have no one to blame except for yourself.” Grand waved over Him. “And now, look at you.” Grand’s face dropped in disappointment.

He, with a funky stink and hollowed out black eyes, looked at Grand, looked into him. Sat silent, lips closed, heart open.

“So, you been out starting shit, ay? For what? You actually think I don’t have enough food or homes to give them? You think you are the only one capable of those miracles? Don’t you know that all I got to do is snap my fingers and every single person on planet earth is fed, housed, and fulfilled? I, not you, have the power right now to make everyone a millionaire! And it will in no way bankrupt me because I simply invent the number, and it is reality!” Grand beat his breast as if it were a giant drum.

“What can you do sitting there all stupid?” It was a pathetic question.

He sat silent and paid attention, while the Grand Capitalist was happy, proud that even the King of Kings must submit.

“What to do with you? My special enemy of the state.” Grand stood up, the creases on his red pants still sharp. He sauntered in a circle, quietly entertained medieval torture, a good old-fashioned barbeque burning at the stake. “No, I do not need torture. I do not need to feed you to the lions or feed you to the flames, especially so that you can become some kind of martyr. Here in my era, in this twenty first century, I am beyond needing torture, because I am more human than you could ever have imagined— compassionate, giving, intelligent.” Grand was giddy, mouth opened wide. “My punishment is humane and merciful. For the rest of your life, eternity, I will imprison you in a crystal palace where you will play games, chess and kites, wilas. Pelican Bay State Prison, Homes! Tomorrow you will be shipped to the SHU—Security Housing Unit, lockdown 23 hours a day. Lots of naps. No escape.” Grand was pleased with the solution, delighted in his genius. The two armed sheriffs shuffled their feet inside their shoes.

“Am I cruel?” Grand confronted Him. “This is necessary, utilitarian. I am the good guy. Allow me to explain:

You fucked up, confused them with hope. Now you have no right to add or change anything to what you said before, because once you open your mouth with your stupid wisdom, you actually curse them all to hell. Humans are too stupid to know what is good for them, such fickle creatures.” Grand thought he almost saw Him smirk and was enraged.

“Do not think that they actually love you. They love you today, but will help send you to your doom tomorrow, for that is what I will tell them to do. They believe in and know me. They will forget You when You are at the Supermax Pelican Bay Prison. They will make excuses that they do not even have money for stamps!” Grand loved his jokes. The sheriffs laughed.

“You fucked up when you gave them freedom, for freedom of faith is a torture, a horrible wicked punishment. Rebels can never be happy. They suffer. They drop out of school. They think they have the answers to nothing and then get frustrated with themselves, finding no peace in freedom.” Grand was serious.

He did not move in his chair. He kept his hands on his naked knees.

“As I said earlier, it is Your fault.” Grand pointed down at him. “You gave us the right, first the organization of the church, which led to total bloodshed, millions murdered, and a perversion of any holy message you had. That then morphed into a racket, the greatest system ever created, and not by God, but by the genius of human beings—Capitalism.” Grand stood straight, took off his white gloves, showcased his bony white hands and gold-ringed fingers.

“You, you, what the fuck did you do but give them images of contradiction that they can never understand, for you speak of a world they can never see, and what the fuck does that mean to men and women that need to see?” Grand’s eyes pushed far out into his face.

He, sitting like a student, kept his eyes sunk into his soul.

“Humans can’t make sense of freedom. Humans understand and love bread. You should have chosen to give them perpetual bread instead of some crazy impossible idea about perpetual life. And since you couldn’t do it, now it is I who have created perpetual bread with my genetic modifications, GMO’s—towering tomatoes, outrageous oranges, super cows! My science destroys your stupid temple with all of its mysticisms and superstitions. Nature bows before me.”

The Grand Capitalist’s red contrasted starkly against the dull gray room.

“Humans are too petty,” Grand continued, “like ants, too insignificant to be free. Obedience—they love it. Freedom has become unbearable and fearful to them. You more than anyone should know the sickness of humans. Agonizing freedom leaves them in hell, and this is Your fault, Your Father, Your Son; it is bad family, bad parenting to give them freedom they cannot handle. It cannot be love to let your children suffer so much. You must hate them.” The capitalist clenched his fists and looked at Him with such fury, ready to tear him apart, to bully the weak-looking hungry Son of Man.

He simply sat there hearing sharkskin’s gruffy voice.

“They love authority, miracles, not mystery! People can’t reject a miracle, but instead of giving them what they want and need, you leave them alone, abandoned, at three o’clock in the morning, trying to believe in something they cannot ever see or hear or understand. When they need you most, you are not there.” The Grand Capitalist was spitting his best logic.

“Man seeks miracles, and if you do not give them to him, he creates them. That is what I have done. I am a good man. I multiplied more powerfully than multiplying loaves of bread during a sermon on the mount. I created new mounts—property. I created technology, the ultimate icon.”

Sitting on the cold steel chair, He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in.

“But, no, you refused to enslave them with your miracles. I, on the other hand, am not too humble to showcase my magic, and that is why they love me more than they love you.” Grand towered over Him.

“You expected them to be at your level? How many? How many in all these centuries, these millennia, have been at your level, ready to be burned in your name, how many did you simply leave in torture? How many lives did you waste?” Grand imagined Him suffering, listening and regretting.

He did not look away. Him just sat there ears open intently.

“Once they figure out your lies, have wasted their lives, they curse your name, but it does them no good. Their blasphemy makes them even more unhappy and confused! That is what your love and free will gives them—unhappiness, confusion, torture.”

The uniformed sheriff guards put their hands on their holsters.

“I, we, give them something new and powerful, a mystery they can truly believe in, for they do not know exactly how it, my system, works, but they trust it nonetheless because they feel its real effects in their lives. We, the geniuses, relieve them from their existential crisis and guilt. The logical, intelligent mystery is what they must obey, not their own stupid conscience, which gives them no answer. We lift their torments from them with things, gadgets, capital!”

“And now, because of the science of technology, the new capital is not even a thing, but nothing, just like You are nothing! I have mastered You more than you have mastered even Yourself! Everything I give them is in a make-believe illusory Cloud, and they obey the Cloud that they cannot see, and believe in and connect it to our thing called money that they believe actually has value because I simply command to them that it has value. And they do not betray me!”

Grand was on a groove, in a frenzy, and did not want or need to say it, but he said it anyway: “I don’t want Your love because I don’t love You.”

He sat still following the capitalist walking and bouncing around. Absorbing everything.

“We are not with you; we are with it: Technology. Perfection. Two plus two! Who can deny that? We use it for our advantage to gain this kingdom on Earth, and ultimately the beast of Technology will wash our feet with its blood. We are the Gods, not it.

We control it.” Grand was smug and sure of smart humans’ power, could not imagine they were in any way enslaved by their own scientific Frankenstein.

“We show stupid humans that they can only be free if they give up freedom and submit to our intelligence, the computers’ algorithms. Then the herd just lives without worrying about freedom and eventually stagger quietly to meet their deaths. That is the best solution we can give them, and it is working. We do not need you.”

His naked scrawny hairless chest heaved up and down, His back against the cold steel chair.

“I am not afraid of you and your impotent power. I was stupid once, but I made the courageous choice to serve madness no longer.” An overwhelming feeling of hatred overcame Grand, and though he prided himself as being a logical player, Grand knew emotion was taking over.

“If anyone ever deserved our prisons, it is You.” The Grand Capitalist commanded it with spite, with a seething revulsion that dripped from his lips. Grand said it intentionally to hurt Him, to kill Him. And He knew it, understood, and accepted all of the man’s brutal truth.

He rose to his feet, stepped forward in a precise motion, and planted a Judas Jesus kiss on the Grand Capitalist’s cracked lips. The sheriff guards tackled Him to the floor.

He did not fight back.

Amor for Alex Actions:

Everything I know about the way the world works I learned from Amor for Alex Nieto.

On this, March 21, 2020, the sixth year angelversary of his death, in honor and remembrance of the brother Alex Nieto, I present to you a comprehensive listing of Amor for Alex Nieto actions. This is impossible history. No doubt. Please note that this was not possible without all amor, all of your amor. Please, as you are quarantined, study the entire list and click the links for proof of our power.

I will sharpen up this posting, which will eventually become its own page (and probably a website), and will add names, dates, images, and more links. I wanted to get this out to you today, March 21, so it is what it is—in honor of the loved one. If I have missed a major action, I apologize and ask that you please send me the date and any relevant links of the Amor for Alex Nieto event. Thank you.

Always Amor for Alex Nieto.

Ben Bac Sierra

Against the violence and injustice of 59 bullets, family and grassroots community arose as a movement to promote the positive spirit and defend the honor of a beloved young man, Alex Nieto, who was killed by the police.

AMOR FOR ALEX NIETO MOVEMENT TIMELINE

2014

• March 21: At 7:18 p.m. on Bernal Heights, San Francisco, Alex Nieto Killed by SFPD. Against the violence and injustice of 59 bullets, family and grassroots community arose as a movement to promote the positive spirit and defend the honor of a beloved young man, Alex Nieto, who was killed by the police.
• March 24: Vigil, community mobilizes.
• March 25: Community Townhall at Leonard Flynn Elementary School, Hundreds attend, SFPD Chief Suhr tells false narrative of Alex Nieto’s death. Nina Parks records: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOgxnuHAh-s
• March 29: First March from Mission Cultural Center to Bernal Heights, thousands attend, hundreds of police in riot gear attempt to intimidate the community.
• April 1: Alex Nieto funeral. Community members literally pick up shovels and bury Alex Nieto at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma.
• April 2: Jesus Barraza creates first Alex Nieto Art Image: I am Alex Nieto and My Life Matters.
• April 3: Amor for Alex Nieto Movement shuts down SF Police Commission Meeting.
• April 4: El Toro Nightclub Benefit for Alex Nieto.
• April 7: KPFA Interview between Davey D. Cook and Benjamin Bac Sierra: Amor for Alex Nieto created to battle mainstream media.
• April 8: KPFA’s “La Raza Chronicles.”
• April 12: Amor for Alex Nieto Movement speaks at San Francisco Mission Cesar Chavez Parade.
• April 15: San Francisco Examiner runs front page coverage of Alex Nieto movement on front steps of City Hall demanding investigation. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/family-of-man-killed-by-sf-police-prepares-to-sue-the-city-claims-the-shooting-was-unjustified/
• April 21: First “Burritos on Bernal Heights” community meeting to honor Alex Nieto. This will be held every month on the 21^st for four years.
• May 4: Cinco de Mayo John O’Connell High School lowriders honor Alex Nieto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39okdPI8Rfk&list=PLN7t5iApQppcCgvTlfGFfbGg_8Xw7MOM3&index=9&t=0s
• May 5: Amor for Alex Nieto Movement petitions (with thousands of signatures) D.A. Gascon to investigate criminal charges against officers who killed Alex Nieto.
• May 21: Burritos on Bernal Heights.
• May 24 and 25: Carnaval: Amor for Alex Barrio Bushido Booth and March and Lowrider cruise through parade with images of Alex Nieto.
• June 21: Burritos on Bernal Heights Community Meeting.
• June 23: National Public Radio contacts Amor for Alex Nieto to cover Alex Nieto movement on Latino USA.
• July 19: Brava Theater show “Love Balm for My Spirit Child” donates all proceeds to Amor for Alex Nieto Movement.
• July 21: Burritos on Bernal Heights Community Meeting.
• July 22: Amor for Alex Nieto responds to vandals destroying community memorial in honor of Alex Nieto.
• August 9: The East Side Story and Chicano Soul Show at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts on Mission Street between 24th and 25th Streets: lowrider cars, photos, paintings, and more. The Amor for Alex Nieto Committee distributed literature for the August 22nd Alex Nieto Rises! March and offered an embrace con mucho carino to all of the community.
• August 11: Amor for Alex Nieto Movement disseminates literature on the streets for the Alex Nieto Rises March.
• August 15: KPFA “La Onda Bajita” Radio interview.
• August 17: San Francisco Chronicle publishes “Death only a part of family’s suffering” By Caille Millner. https://www.sfchronicle.com/living/article/Death-only-a-part-of-family-s-suffering-5691839.php
• August 19: The American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 endorses the Alex Nieto Rises! March.
• August 22: Alex Nieto Rises! March from Bernal Heights to SF Federal Building to submit federal civil action against San Francisco for the wrongful death of Alex Nieto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DdRO9eUT6g
• September 8: Amor for Alex Nieto speaks to Mission Graduates College Program.
• September 13: Amor for Alex Nieto responds to SF Medical Examiner Report.
• September 21: “EDUCATORS FOR ALEX NIETO AT 5:00 P.M., BERNAL HEIGHTS PARK.”
• October 12: National Public Radio Publishes “The Shooting of Alex Nieto” By MARYAM JAMEEL. https://www.npr.org/2014/10/10/355178235/the-shooting-of-alex-nieto
• October 22: National Day Against Police Violence, MECHA invited Amor for Alex Nieto to speak against arming CCSF Police.
• November 3: In San Francisco Mission, “Dia de Los Muertos” procession led by Amor for Alex Nieto.
• November 14: Amor for Alex Nieto distributes literature and speaks at the Keith Haring Political Line Art Party at the De Young Museum, San Francisco. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY1_4o1mNmE
• November 21: Burritos on Bernal Heights Community Meeting.
• December 6: Universal Zulu Nation invites Amor for Alex Nieto to speak at “Meeting of the Minds” at Mission Cultural Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqtopI2GIN4
• December 13: Millions March: More than ten thousand people gather to protest police killings of Brown and Black people and march through downtown San Francisco and stage a mass “Die-In” on the streets. End march at City Hall, where Amor for Alex Nieto speaks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiSGm2Gw0NI&t=63s
• December 22: Amor for Alex Nieto Posada March and Celebration from 24^th and Mission to Bernal Heights.

2015:

• January 2: Officers names released to public. Amor for Alex Nieto responds on news.
• January 5: Amor for Alex responds to officers’ names being released. Press conference statement.
• January 7: Poor People’s Radio interview about gentrification and its role in the killing of Alex Nieto.
• January 17: Filming of “Amor for Alex” on Bernal Heights by Rafael Flores and Ephraim Walker.
• January 25: Lowrider flyering for Amor for Alex. Over 200 lowriders attend. San Fran.
• February 13: Community responds at 850 Bryant Hall of Justice to SF District Attorney not filing charges against police who killed Alex Nieto. https://todobododown.com/2015/02/14/the-real-news-about-alex-nieto-analysis-and-evaluation-of-the-san-francisco-district-attorneys-report-deciding-not-to-file-criminal-charges-against-san-francisco-police-officers-who-killed-a/?fbclid=IwAR24AIkrCDVnyilojL6pP0M3B_Rnpj3UvviEgL1Z-nVA1jEGP956i1fxHDI/
• March 5: Amor for Alex presentation at De Anza College, Cupertino, CA.
• March 21: 1^st Anniversary of Alex Nieto’s killing. Procession from Bernal Heights to Mission Cultural Center for premiere of sold out film “Amor for Alex.” Hundreds of lowriders from all over Northern California attend. Thousands fill the Mission streets. AJ+ International News and many other media attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2pWcuesEmU The film ultimately wins the following awards: Silver Award – 2016 International Independent Film Awards
  Award of Recognition for Social Justice Cinema – 2016 Indie Film Fest Awards
  Headliner – 2016 Tribe City Film Festival. San Francisco, CA
  Official Selection – 2016 Chicano International Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)
  Official Selection – 2015 Indie Night Film Festival. Chinese Theater, Hollywood, CA
  Official Selection – 2015 Matatu Film Film Festival. Oakland, CA
  Exhibition – 2015 Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. San Francisco, CA
  Exhibition – 2016 Google Black History Month Cinema Showcase.
• Amor for Alex film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEryyA9XVUE
• Amor for Alex film premiere at Mission Cultural Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62Yh_nRaJ8w&t=130s
• March 26: Voices Facing Police Violence Poetry Reading at City College of San Francisco.
• April 14: National Day Against Police Violence. High school students walk out and hundreds shut down SF City Hall to shouts of “Alex Nieto Lives!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxYeFrpRzLk&fbclid=IwAR3d8JxfSh07nYkK6MD1pz3fSS-5PbXtSkRdKiS6xYomwtR3VN5nFp2cnRw
• May 2: University of California, Berkeley presentation. UCSF medical students and Cal Hermanos Unidos
• May 3: Amor for Alex booth at Cinco de Mayo at John O’Connell High School, SFM.
• May 14: State of Emergency Poetry at Galeria de la Raza, SFM.
• May 23 and 24: 5^th Annual Barrio Bushido/Amor for Alex Community Booth at Carnaval. Thousands visit and pick up flyers, learn about Amor for Alex Nieto, purchase t-shirts, posters, and post promises to uplift community.
• June 11: HOMEY SF invites Amor for Alex presentation at their 15^th year anniversary.
• June 18: Amor for Alex keynote presentation at Alameda County Office of Education High School Graduation Commencement.
• June 22: Amor for Alex celebrates Father’s Day at Bernal Heights.
• July 3: Filming of Favi Estrella’s “Cruising with You” at La Raza Park, SFM. Hundreds attend. Song and video dedicated to Alex Nieto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhgKGb1Zhdc
• July 11: Community celebration of the purchase and placement of Alex Nieto’s headstone at his grave. Colma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pYP4vQ7hyY&fbclid=IwAR2rUa_Uvcn24iIVhl7ZcaE2pmiU3zNwWgG15RGcpMehQeLLpppKJZY2MPM
• July 25: Amor for Alex represents at First African Methodist Church, Oakland, CA.
• August 12: Loco Bloco Youth perform a docu-theater presenting the impact that Alex Nieto’s murder by SFPD has had on youth of color in San Francisco.
• August 23: Janelle Monae and Jidenna perform on 24^th Street, SFM. Amor for Alex Nieto hosts. https://missionlocal.org/2015/08/pop-artist-janelle-monae-leads-mission-march-against-police-violence/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJnJ-6O5X8A&t=2s
• September 13: Amor for Alex at Freedom Festival, SF Golden Gate Park.
• September 28: Amor for Alex supports Amilcar Perez Lopez at 850 Bryant Hall of Justice, SF.
• October 10: Amor for Alex at Chata Gutierrez Mural Celebration, SFM.
• October: Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial script written and developed to tell true story of Alex Nieto’s killing and to battle mainstream media propaganda.
• November 1: Some scenes for Lowrider Lawyers shot in SFM.
• November 2: Dia de los Muertos Procession with Amor for Alex, SFM.
• November 9: Summary Judgment Motion to dismiss case denied. Amor and Victory Rally at Federal Courts building. Under sworn testimony neutral witness swears Alex Nieto never pointed a taser.
• November 21: Filming of Lowrider Lawyers at location in Hayward, CA. All actors, actresses, equipment, filming, directing, writing, etc. donated/ volunteered for Amor for Alex Nieto.
• December 3: Amor for Alex supports and grieves for Mario Woods. Builds coalition with the San Francisco African American community.
• December 8: Amor for Alex film and Lowrider Lawyers trailer presentation at Balboa High School, San Fran. Building, networking with high school teachers and students.
• December 19: Flyering through SFM for premiere of Lowrider Lawyers.
• December 31: Lowrider Lawyers in depth discussion on air “Connecting the Dots” 89.5 from 100 to 200 pm and on “Hard Knock Radio” 94.1.

2016

• January 3: Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial premieres at the Brava Theater. Because we simply would not accept the mainstream media’s manipulations and the ridiculous police narrative, we created the film Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial! This is authentic education in action, homes, and now they cannot dismiss us because our truth is more powerful than theirs! We must continue to use the writing, art, and positive locura vehicles to transform our world. We cannot expect anyone else to do it except for us, for ourselves, and for our future generations. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/nieto-case-to-head-to-trial-with-contradictory-stories-from-witness-police/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GH0_WCj21s
• January 6: A Solidarity Night March between Mission and Bayview communities unite to fight against police brutality and unlawful killings.
• January 14: Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial encore at the Brava Theater. Sold out show.
• January 18: Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial released on Youtube for free to general public and shown throughout Bay Area at community centers and educational institutions.
• January 26: Unprecedented unanimous San Francisco Board of Supervisors resolution adopted–requesting the United States Department of Justice to investigate the police killings of Alex Nieto, Amilcar Perez Lopez, and Mario Woods.
• January 31: Amor for Alex Nieto and other coalitions rally at Union Square, SF.
• February 22: Casting Call for “On the Hill: I am Alex Nieto” a play created by Paul Flores.
• February 23: Lowrider Lawyers: Putting a City on Trial screened at San Francisco State University.
• February 24: “Amor for Alex” Rally Song created by Francisco Herrera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMewFflJOBo
• February 25: Walkouts for Alex Nieto trial being organized by high school and college students in San Francisco.
• February 26: March to Mission Police Station and rally.
• February 27: Flyering and marketing and wheatpasting and freeway banner droppings for Trial.
• February 29: Projection activists display Amor for Alex Nieto images on Federal building.
• March 1: The Trial: Rally, Mass school walkouts in support of Alex Nieto: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/02/day-one-the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR0rb6KvKscTo12YU0i8JZV3mgQtrR2_Q9crDVHCzVvJHxoms7ENrmm9j3g/
• March 2: The Trial: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/03/day-two-the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR3tJZpWolT-hO0ENxNnC2NgoN1xTulpsvitt9yTOAF-Cxqvc9mqJaIWQOk/
• March 3: The Trial: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/04/march-forthfourth-day-three-the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR1pqMldT25MCkX-6V8gpBeeR9U7AUOtzPxJ_0ad9K663ppj4ajzV1eH2u0/
• March 7: The Trial: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/05/day-four-the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR1ySLi8xTkOWz3Ppq2L2Q0q9xC5n-aEZiH3vcEOKax97DlX7-fPNqADYoo/
• March 8: The Trial: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/08/day-five-the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR0ILVcc5rak-ZuEG6Z7EFp_tG–4kp2x_CO9hFemdsvmG1BFmapOT6KeTs/
• March 9: The Trial: Closing arguments: https://todobododown.com/2016/03/10/the-trial-alex-nieto-versus-the-sfpd-closing-arguments-community-creativity-victory/?fbclid=IwAR3J2jEhOLEv72ObWuFw9MyfUg0V54zReorPoMM6XJypox4RhdvecO0pu9c/
• March 10: Trial ends. Despite overwhelming evidence against them, mostly white jury with no African American or Latinos decides to acquit police officers. At the Mission Cultural Center, community responds by celebrating the life of Alex Nieto and vows to gain justice and love for Alex Nieto.
• March 11: Publication of “A Letter to Privileged People.” https://todobododown.com/2016/03/11/a-letter-to-privileged-people/
• March 18: Black and Brown Unity against Police Impunity Historic Rally at SF City Hall. https://todobododown.com/2016/03/19/black-and-brown-unity-against-police-impunity-historic-rally-at-sf-city-hall-3/?fbclid=IwAR2EagNLRg3xqtlV-w7UuWSNooroGV0TzrTSK1M0_BvRuaw1VjbGe6x99iA/
• March 21: 2^nd Year Angelversary of Alex Nieto’s killing. Hundreds of community members join together at Mission Cultural Center. Leaders speak. Alex is honored even in the Bronx, New York City. https://wagingnonviolence.org/2016/03/nyc-remember-alex-nieto-killed-by-police/
• March 21: International newspaper “The Guardian” publishes “Death by Gentrification” by acclaimed author Rebecca Solnit. Article will be reprinted in books Tales of Two Americas and Call Them by Their True Names. Will be used as instructional curriculum in college courses throughout the United States. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/death-by-gentrification-the-killing-that-shamed-san-francisco
• March 24: In San Francisco’s Bay View, marriage of Black and Brown Communities against Police Impunity.
• March 25: Renowned international singer Chuck Prophet releases song “Alex Nieto.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYyyZHnR7d8
• March 29: Amor for Alex Nieto speaks at San Francisco State University for Cesar Chavez Day.
• April 13: Battle Cry of The People Enough is Enough at City Hall.
• April 15: 1^st 415 Day at Mission Dolores Park. Amor for Alex represents. https://missionlocal.org/2016/04/locals-flock-to-dolores-park-to-celebrate-415/
• April 21: Frisco Five begin hunger strike. The Frisco Five, also known as #Frisco5 are a group of protesters who went on hunger strike on April 21, 2016 in San Francisco, California in front of the San Francisco Police Department Mission Station to demonstrate against episodes of police brutality, use-of-force violations, and racial biasspecifically the deaths of Alex Nieto on March 21, 2014, Mario Woods on December 2, 2015, Amilcar Perez Lopez on February 26, 2015, and Luis Gongora on April 7, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisco_Five
• April 23: Amor for Alex Nieto marches at SFM Cesar Chavez Parade.
• May 1: In support of Frisco Five Hunger Strikers, Lowriders occupy Mission Police Station. http://theguardsman.com/lowriders-occupy-mission-police-station/
• May 4: Frisco Five Hunger Strikers and thousands more march to SF City Hall. Storm Board of Supervisors Meeting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FE0OdCrGh8&t=21s
• May 7: Frisco Five ends hunger strike. Activists occupy SF City Hall.
• May 9: Organized by Amor for Alex, all day general strike at SF City Hall. We picketed in front of the entrances and made a human chain walking around city hall 18 times in honor of the Frisco Five hunger strikers, for every day they went without food. Many wore black and red in honor of Alex Nieto. Unprecedented action of amor.
• May 11: Press conference of lawyers and leaders demanding California Attorney General Kamala Harris investigate the SFPD.
• May 19: The people fire SFPD Chief Suhr, the head of one of the most powerful police forces on Earth. https://todobododown.com/2016/05/20/the-people-fired-sfpd-chief-suhr/?fbclid=IwAR2XgmHKGLpl6GMLv3sONjGuBvqvvDEQt5GNIF6Goj5x7ifgOQouEIzSvbQ/
• May 28 and 29: Carnaval: 6^th Annual Barrio Bushido/Amor for Alex Community Booth. https://todobododown.com/2016/05/29/community-power-and-poetry-at-san-fran-carnaval-2016/?fbclid=IwAR0mSnJRSbgfguxasqJr7HNGOpPmKAx0P4o8NozHTp8fKwF2n86wQ4mAWhk/
• June 18: Amor for Alex receives Community Justice Warrior Award from La Raza Centro Legal.
• July 20: Amor for Alex presents at the Bay Area Video Coalition.
• July 28: Amor for Alex Nieto and other coalitions reject San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission’s Hero Award. Smash the award on board floor. http://eltecolote.org/content/en/features/tempers-flare-at-activism-awards-ceremony/
• August 14: Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers quarterback begins protest. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/sports/nfl-colin-kaepernick-protests-timeline.html
• August 26: March in support of Amilcar Perez Lopez Coalition.
• September: Amor for Alex Nieto unites coalitions and strategizes to officially install the first ever memorial dedicated to someone killed by the police in the United States.
• September 9: Lowrider Lawyers Film packed at the Bernal Film Festival.
• September 13: San Francisco City Hall “Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial Resolution” sponsored by SF Board of Supervisors Avalos and David Campos.
• September 29: Amor for Alex Nieto’s Ben Bac Sierra chosen to moderate debate of SF Board of Supervisor District Nine Candidates.
• October: Obtaining thousands of signatures for official Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial.
• October: Josue Rojas, executive director of Accion Latina and renowned artist, commissioned to develop Amor for Alex Memorial.
• October 27: On the Hill: I am Alex Nieto a play written and directed by Paul Flores at Brava Theater. Sold out show.
• October 29: On the Hill: I am Alex Nieto at Brava Theater. Pachanga poets perform. Sold out show. On the Hill will tour Northern California theaters and college campuses. https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-07/how-artists-san-francisco-are-keeping-questionable-police-killing-young-latino and http://theguardsman.com/alex-nieto-review/
• November 2: Amor for Alex Nieto leads Dia de los Muertos Procession in SFM.
• November 3: On the Hill: I am Alex Nieto at CCSF Mission Campus.
• November 27: Flyering and marketing through Mission for Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial.
• November 28: Townhall meeting at Bernal Heights Center for Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial.
• December 7: Amor for Alex Nieto joins with Black Lives Matter at City College of San Francisco.
• December 12: The Office of Citizens Complaints found that Roger Morse, one of the police officers who shot and killed Nieto in 2014, acted inappropriately when he commented on a news story posted on Facebook in reference to the slain man. https://missionlocal.org/2016/12/sf-officer-involved-in-shooting-could-face-discipline-for-facebook-comment/
• December 13: Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial approved by San Francisco Board of Supervisors 11-1. First ever memorial in the United States that will be dedicated to a victim of a police killing. https://missionlocal.org/2016/12/sf-board-approves-memorial-for-alex-nieto-shot-by-sfpd/?fbclid=IwAR2EeOkTvppjq__rx0-ky0SYH36teIecS5_jPvstQ_jQXFC0tIVrDo0ySao
• December 18: Filming of “Tonight We Ride” by Equipto and Michael Marshall. Amor for Alex organizes lowriders and we took over the streets. SFM. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGQkIGcARMs
• December 21: Amor for Alex Nieto Memorial Celebration on Bernal Heights.

2017:

• February 3: On the Hill performed in Oakland, CA.
• February 10: At Golden Gate University School of Law moderating discussion about police brutality and unlawful killings.
• March 21: “Amor for Alex Now and Forever Memorial Concert,” Tuesday, March 21, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. at the Brava Theater! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02iH7iF9OMs&fbclid=IwAR0nCKXD9rukufDH2RbWxeSIx0AkhavuSPRVdw4Vg2HQ5wrKnCF9RLnzfys
• May 27 and 28: Carnaval 7^th annual: https://todobododown.com/2017/06/06/the-7th-annual-barrio-bushido-amor-for-alex-san-fran-mission-carnaval-booth/?fbclid=IwAR2kFmeTbMWaTIvtIXUdrzNRN1bCmL_M4aWht19wZ4Z4WinYubMma-Fj5rU/
• July 21: Amor for Alex Memorial fundraiser at Yerba Buena Center, SF.
• August 7: At Lunada Poetry Reading at Galeria de la Raza, activists confront police on the street: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dS3jgFgybQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR17v9UzFJaDgjIFcbk_4986YTNe2CPHyEuxJkVxajI3BSNGMO18VJbHHLk
• August 26: Frisco Resistance and other coalitions fight against facism. Leads over 15,000 people in San Francisco rally and march. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/thousands-march-against-right-wing-rally-in-sf-patriot-prayer-flees-to-pacifica/ and https://48hills.org/2017/08/sf-sends-the-white-supremacists-packing/?fbclid=IwAR2mK8EX8BfJXrjXlL_1BegHPUTnuxm83uxcXyxrxpiTbDxU8ky2OHNDbII
• September 15: Lowrider fundraiser show at City College of San Francisco. DACA VIDA students and Amor For Alex Nieto!!
• October 1: All Amor for Alex Nieto at the first annual Alex Nieto Run.
• December 5: Meeting on Bernal Heights with Arts Commission and Recreation and Parks Departments.

2018 to 2020:

• In honor of Alex Nieto, King of the Streets Lowrider Show 2018 held at City College of San Francisco. Thousands of lowriders and visitors attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8nAr5MfL_k&t=1336s
• In honor of Alex Nieto, King of the Streets Lowrider Show 2019 held at City College of San Francisco. Thousands of lowriders and visitors attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkh65sJhdj8&t=55s
• Accion Latina Executive Director Josue Rojas develops international caliber art for memorial. Josue Rojas, Lauren Aviles, Oscar Aguilar, and Twick are invited to be the others artists on the project.
• Hillary Ronen’s office helps facilitate process for memorial.
• Art Commission approves art. The following is the actual art project approved: https://sfgov.org/arts/sites/default/files/190116_6_Alex%20Nieto%20Memorial_final.pdf
• Murals spring up throughout the Mission of Alex Nieto.
• Fundraising for memorial continues.
• Carnaval 2018: https://todobododown.com/2018/05/28/memorial-day/
• Carnaval 2019: https://todobododown.com/2019/05/27/9th-annual-barrio-bushido-amor-for-alex-carnaval-therapy/
• Sept 16, 2019. Free the Children Protest and Rally https://todobododown.com/2019/09/10/i-find-it-in-you/
• 2019: Recreation and Parks approves memorial. Plaque language approved: https://goldengatexpress.org/88292/latest/news/nieto/ Against the violence and injustice of 59 bullets, family and grassroots community arose as a movement to promote the positive spirit and defend the honor of a beloved young man, Alex Nieto, who was killed by the police.
• June 13, 2019: Alex Nieto cited in Mother Jones article about film The Last Black Man in San Francisco https://www.motherjones.com/media/2019/06/the-last-black-man-in-san-franciscos-walking-tour-of-a-lost-city/
• November 9, 2019: Chesa Boudin elected as San Francisco District Attorney. He ran on a platform to prosecute police officers who unlawfully kill people. This platform would have been impossible to imagine before Alex Nieto and the other movements.
• November 17, 2019: Amilcar Perez Lopez Mural unveiled on 24^th and Capp. http://currentsf.com/justice4amilcar-mural/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R87nuMtFih4
• Father Richard Leslie Smith speaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3gjsow63hM&t=41s
• January 2020: Contract disputes with San Francisco. For Amor for Alex Memorial, Brooke Oliver, internationally renowned art attorney, develops new contracts for artists which will protect their rights, give community control over their own art, and the contract will now be standard for all future art community projects.
• 2020: Finally, Alex Nieto Memorial to be installed on Bernal Heights, San Francisco.

The entire system is built on a lie. It is not a mistake or a miscalculation or an accident. The entire system is purposeful, and lies are extremely purposeful.

To it, you do not matter. Nothing you do matters.

I am not saying that you do not matter. I am not a nihilist. I am simply a man trying to understand simple things, like right now. I am trying to get myself into and out of the confusion that is reality, if there is such a thing. Life is a never ending process of untangling the web. That is the only solution even though that is no solution. Any total solution is beyond my understanding or desire.

That is ok.

What we are in is actually beyond any economics, education, environment, politics, medicine, religion, and even the new savior people worship: technology.

Technology does not have a purpose. Technology does not believe in anything. It has no mind. No soul. No eyes. We have made-believe it worships hard work and efficiency because we have told that lie to human beings for so long that we have forgotten that hard work and efficiency are straight up shots of lies.

Hard work and efficiency are vanities.

Hard work enslaves us.

Efficiency is not human or natural.

Hard work has tortured us, raped us, killed us.

Efficiency has dehumanized us, made us ultra-competitive, and been used to justify the most murderous wars in human history.

One Hundred Million murdered during the 20^th century alone. Even if man had the will to war, he alone would be unable to kill so much.

Technology created that impossibility, something that seems totally impossible and totally evil by any objective human standard.

Some might argue that technology is now a worthy God we should submit to and praise. That is missing the point. Technology is oblivious to what you call it. It does not care because it is not a human being with a soul. It does not care if you worship it; it will simply take and eat whatever you give it, even your mind, even your soul, especially if you are voluntarily throwing it away.

We are real people with real concerns, the consciousness of the present moment. The system, which submits to technology in order to please technology, lies to us about the past, present, and future.

If we want to stay human beings with human being amor, we can no longer afford lies. Besides the obvious of today’s Coronavirus, perhaps one of the best examples of the system breaking down is the recent University of California Graduate Student Instructors “Wildcat” strikes.

For me this is a tipping point. Allow me to explain:

In order to be accepted into the University of California graduate programs, such as for the ultra-intellectual international high-caliber Ph.D programs, she must be smaat. She was designated as one of the smaatest persons on Earth, as the University of California is one of the best university systems on planet Earth, according to objective evidence that technology has given to us. This means that the young Ph.D candidate started very young, as a baby. She played chess, got the best grades, won all the awards, and did absolutely everything the system told her to do. She was told she would be rewarded with status, class, genius.

It was all a lie.

He jumped for joy when he had been accepted into the graduate program! He thought they cared about him and his ideas and all the beautiful research he was going to perform and change the world with!

Then he got to the best school on planet Earth. He realized that they did not care about his brains. He had been accepted not to perform important intricate research; no, he had been accepted, he had jumped for joy, to be used as a paper-correcter for hundreds of undergraduate students’ essays. This was not a graduate educational program. This was a job, a slave job. And he was not even able to afford a bed to sleep in, even though he was the smaatest person on planet Earth. They were taking advantage of him.

In the past, she would not have complained. She would have accepted the deceit and humiliation so that she could get a future letter of reference and also those magical letters behind her surname: M.A., M.F.A., Ed.D., Ph.D. etc. These little letters meant something once upon a time. They meant that she would get status and a job, an illusory job that did not require her to wash dishes or clean floors. He would not have to dig ditches or pick lettuce.

Those dream jobs had once been plentiful, something for only smaat people. But…it had all been a lie. They did not need you nor did they ever need you for any vital important job of the future. All your hard work had been a lie. All your intelligence was a sham. All your efficiency a cruel joke.

You had been suckered.

This little bit of web untangling is the beginning of authentic education:

Consciousness.

Pura Neta.

Strike!

The University of California Graduate Student Instructors are on strike. It began at U.C. Santa Cruz, and has now spread to Santa Barbara, Davis, Berkeley, Los Angeles, etc. They realize that there is no other way.

All I know is that we must continue to be conscious. It is only natural. Consciousness is not the ultimate answer, and that is because there is no ultimate answer. As I stated earlier, there is no solution. The best that I can understand is what I understand and do not understand and be ok with both understanding and not understanding. For now, for every present moment, I am challenged to be conscious and natural. That will help me be the best person I am.

I am not upset about the past or ignorant of all the insanity or obsessed with the future. I handle what I can handle in front of me right now. I help others to the best extent that I can. I look out at the air. I crack jokes during combat. That is the best I can do.

We are going to get through what we must get through. You will see. If you are in the present moment, that means you got through it all. When we get through this, technology is going to attempt to fool us that it alone solved our situation. We cannot allow fear to overcome our consciousness.

We must continue to be human beings with and for each other.

Existence is existence.

There is no solution because it is all beyond imagination, which is the truth, Neta, and also simply imagination. There are no words that can explain or help us understand existence. In many religions, you are not even supposed to write God, as the word, the spider symbols themselves are an idol and also a disrespect and a stupidity, because not even God, the word, can substitute or symbolize the infinity of G-d.

Existence is simply existence.

Make-believe. Invention. Insanity.

Hallelujah!

It is not intellectual discourse about the abstraction of existence that will solve anything. It is not any policy that will help us reach out of existence because that is simply impossible to reach out of existence—except through death. No school, no education, no technology will fulfill us out of existence. In fact they are all facades to try to deal with existence instead of simply allowing existence to be existence, something that is here while we are here and that is not here for us when we are no longer here—yet it does, perhaps, continue to exist for those others, perfect strangers, that continue in this world.

So, if I must exist, live, I live to be conscious and to feel.

As far as consciousness is concerned, it was best for me not to follow the strict structures of school normalization and believe that that system would have led me to consciousness. If I would not have dropped out of school in the seventh grade, I would have probably believed in high school and then worshipped a steady job, a job that would probably not even exist anymore or be on the verge of death today. Instead, because I made the stupid brilliant chance choice to feel this life, I became involved with many taboos—drugs, death, destruction, war, love, laughter, light—all of it without any lens to analyze it. I felt it. I feel it. I felt the moment, the sublime and the suffering. This led me to be who I am today: chance choice. I am grateful that I refused the societal mass media mainstream brainwashing.

But that does not mean that I am oblivious to it. I am in it. I am writing to you through this technological medium that entertains me but also keeps me away from myself. I cannot help it. I am a writer. I did eventually receive formal institutional education and mold some of myself through writing and actioning, through mixing together intellectual ideas with vato loco vida loca. I am content regarding my own absurdity because I feel it is somewhat unique, but, still, I, I, the word and the imagined self, am not enough for my own fulfillment.

I do not believe in the system. I play along with it for my own purposes and know I am not totally immune to its effects, but as much as possible I strive to constantly efface myself and to be conscious of the eternal absurdity and corruption of the system. Seeing that insanity, understanding simply the root of that insanity is more than enough to keep me grounded and humble. The roots are always truth. That is why I believe in the concept of family/tribal love. That is the most precise and effective and most natural root on Earth.

We all have roots. We are all indigenous, of this earth. We are family and tribes. That is the entire world, moreso than any imagination of the concept of earth or even humanity. The abstraction of humanity does not do justice to the human being in front of me. You are with me now if you are reading this; you are with me, and I am with you. We together right now are the world. The people you see in front of you are the world at this present moment. The person you stare at in the mirror is the world at this present moment. The perfect stranger that passes you by is the world in this present moment. Family. Tribes.

From my father, regardless of his sixth grade education and his Indio ways as a firewater drinker and shit starter, I received powerful feelings to respect ideas. Although he died when I was nine, his teachings were enough for me to feel what I feel now at 48 years old. I do not remember even one lesson he taught me, nor do I remember his voice, yet it was him and his death, the feelings he left me, not the illusion of the school system, that gifted me the consciousness I now hold. It was a blessing that I rebelled against the school system and dropped out in the seventh grade. I would not be who I am if I would have conformed to their untrue, generic, capitalist driven pedagogies.

Today we are in a place beyond even capitalism’s corruption. Humans are now serving technology. This will become even more apparent in the future. I do not believe any dissertation or policy or school system can change that, nor offer any real effective reform. Technology is simply too powerful and brutal. Even capitalism must submit to technology.

This does not cause me despair, though. We have victory in the present moment. In the present moment, we can learn to feel and critically think and become conscious and unmask the layers of corruption and also invent new methods to fight the power. The best we can do is gift these strategies to our loved ones and let them do their best with all of what they still have in their own human minds. I will not be here in the future, so really it does not matter. I have a duty to my legacy, but I cannot allow that duty to overwhelm me either, or I will not be appreciative of the present moment, and after all is said and done,

The present moment is what builds the future.

There is an energy from the present moment that gets imprinted into the spirit. I believe that love is the most powerful force in the universe to feel the universe and this life; therefore, as long as there is love, love in teaching, love in learning, love in communication, love in feeling, love in loving, love even in suffering, then I know I am fine, and I believe we as human beings can be fine. Combined together, love and the present moment, we will be fine.

This is beyond what I understand, and I am ok with that.

Pura Neta.

G-d.