Month: June 2008

California Fires: Maps, Photos, and Resources

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Because the situation is so volatile, I chose not to include news items in the following summary, except a couple audio reports–ed.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has up-to-date information on the fires, including info by county. The map below is linked to from this page.

The USDA Forest Service has a daily map of active fires burning nationally. The regional map of the West is here.

Here is an interactive map of the fires in the state from the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

UC Berkeley’s Center for Fire Research and Outreach has some good resources, including news and an etensive links page to local and national resources.

The University of California Press recently released this primer on California fire by David Carle, part of their California natural history guides series.

The UC Press also recently published Living with Fire: Fire Ecology and Policy for the Twenty-first Century, by Sara E. Jensen and Guy R. McPherson.

Amazing images at boston.com from a Chico paper photographer and a Monterey County paper photographer.

The National Geographic had this photo essay by Mark Thiessen from the 2007 fire season in the West.

NASA Earth Observatory, Natural Hazards satellite images, updated twice daily.

NASA satellite images of fires in Southern California in October and November 2007.

6/27/08 NPR National report on California wildfires. Interview with a man from Big Sur who had to evacuate his home.

The California Report gave an overview on 6/24/08 and remembered the Angora fire in Lake Tahoe of one year ago.

Hynda Rudd, “Hidden Treasures of LA: The City Archives” (Sun. July 13)

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From Denise Spooner, H-California.

Summer Northrop Lecture on City Archives on Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hynda Rudd, former city archivist and current LA City Historical Society boardmember will speak on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at the central library downtown at 2:00 p.m.

A woman of extraordinary energy and passion for the preservation of our city’s documentary heritage will present “Hidden Treasures of L.A.: The City Archives.” Our lectures are held in the Taper Auditorium on the main floor of the Richard Riordan Library, located downtown at 5th and Flower Streets. Subterranean parking is only $1 with a valid LAPL library card, obtainable the day of the event. Join us for refreshments and conviviality after the presentation.

This facility is handicap-accessible. Validated parking is available for

$1.00 between 1pm and 5pm at the 524 South Flower Street garage; check
www.lapl.org for more information, or call (213) 228-7000. The Metro
Blue Line and Metro Red Line both have stops near Central Library, and most
Buses coming downtown stop near the Central Library; check www.metro.net for
rates, routes and schedules.Los Angeles City Historical Society PO Box 41046, Los Angeles CA 90041
(323) 936-2912 www.lacityhistory.org

CONFERENCE Announcement and CALL FOR PAPERS: Western History Association (Salt Lake City, Oct. 22-25; Denver, Oct. 7-10, 2009 [submission deadline Sept. 1, 2008])

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From H-Urban.

The Western History Association website is located here.

Conference information, including online registration is located here. A little confusing: click on the images.

The 2008 call for papers is located below for more information on the Salt Lake CIty meeting.

2009 CALL FOR PAPERS

49th ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE WESTERN HISTORY ASSOCIATION
DENVER, COLORADO, OCTOBER 7-10, 2009

WIRED WEST

Submission Deadline: September 1, 2008
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

The program committee for the WHA 2009 annual meeting invites papers on the theme of Wired West.

Wire conducts and symbolizes western history. We seek papers that explore the development and interconnection of the North American West, a region divided by barbed wire and border wire and yet one of the first whose sub-regions were united by telegraph, telephone, electric line, and fiber optic cable.

We are interested in the wiring of the world to the West metaphorically and materially. No country in any part of the world is untouched by what happens in the western provinces of North America. Western industries in mine, ranch, farm, and forest, Hollywood and dude ranch, Silicon Valley, Denver, and elsewhere, have drawn immigrants, generated exports, and reconfigured the world’s economies, cultures, and politics. So the world has been wired west, constantly rebuilt, retooled, and rejiggered to accommodate the realities of the rapidly growing and changing region.

Our interests encompass the changing relations of western peoples with the earth, from which wire itself is made, and over which western peoples have fought to determine how best to live. We are equally compelled by the social and cultural wiring of the West— the struggles of natives and immigrants for justice, equity, and autonomy, of women and men to understand sexual, racial, ethnic, and class identity and connections from the most intimate human bonds to the most formal relations, and the constant effort to make and re-make the good society.

We encourage innovative presentations, including performances, workshops or moderated discussions. Submissions may be for an entire session, a panel discussion, or an individual paper. When submitting an entire session, include an abstract that outlines the purpose of the session, if any, and designate one panelist or participant as the contact person. Each paper proposal, whether individual or part of a session, should include a one-page abstract and a one page c.v., including the address, phone, and email address for each participant. Indicate equipment needs, if any. The committee will assume that all listed individuals have agreed to participate. Send all program submission materials to Colleen O’Neill either electronically: colleen.oneill@usu.edu or by mail service: Colleen O’Neill, History Department, Utah State University, 0710 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-0710. Submissions should be postmarked by September 1, 2008.

2008 Call for Proposals

48th Annual Conference of the Western History Association
Salt Lake City, Utah, October 22-25, 2008
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2007

“Risky Business”

Western history is filled with risky propositions. It’s not easy to join a wagon train, or hop a freighter, or brave a wide desert. It takes guts to come out to your parents, or give birth on the side of the trail, or spend a day digging a well. Indeed, the West, past and present, is filled with individuals and communities who have taken risks. The Western History Association itself, surveys say, is at a moment of decision. Poised, it stands mature and self-possessed at the edge of change, while a next generation waits ambivalently, with both old-timers and next-wavers unsure whether to cast their lot with our motley crew.

On October 22-25, 2008, the Western History Association will gather in Salt Lake City for its 48th Annual Conference. Salt Lake City is a welcome venue for both this talk of risk and for risky talk. Carving a new mountain home for generations of faithful is surely a chancy endeavor, not to mention the grit required to journey thousands of miles from one’s birthplace to pound railroad stakes for a living. The city is also well-known, of course, for its winter sports, short-term perils of downhill racers and long-term threats to stable mountaintops. The city too is poised, as newcomers from Latin America and the Pacific Islands mingle and mix with the long-settled, queer and straight alike.

To explore further the risky businesses of Western history, the 2008 program committee solicits proposals for sessions that themselves seek to re-imagine and re-invent the standard conference format. Possible sessions could follow new formats that give fresh legs to the faltering three-paper standard. Workshops could belly up to a range of topics: the perils of public history; the pitfalls of peer review; the problems and pleasures of crossing disciplines; books we couldn’t, and could, do without; museum exhibits we would like to see funded, movies we’d like to make. Other sessions could consider a variety of media — such as essays, web pages, dissertation chapters, K-12 teaching materials, music, public history projects, fiction, or short films—that might be pre-posted electronically and made available through the WHA website. Given the vitality of Asian American history and the history of Pacific Islanders, we are especially eager to receive sessions and individual papers examining the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience in the West.

Submissions may be for an entire session, a panel discussion, or an individual paper. When submitting an entire session, include an abstract that outlines the purpose of the session, and designate one panelist or participant as the contact person. Each paper proposal, whether individual or part of a session, should include a one-page abstract and a one page c.v. including the address, phone, and email address for each participant. The committee will assume that all listed individuals have agreed to participate. Send all program submission materials to: Karen Merrill, Department of History, Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267 (kmerrill@williams.edu). Submissions should be postmarked by 31 August 2007.

Public Policy Institute of California Survey Shows Digital Divide in CA: Baldassare and Bonner Talk in Sacramento (July 9)

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From PPIC.

Statewide Survey: Californians and Information Technology

The link to the event at the PPIC website is here.

The link to the pdf of the report can be found here.

July 9, 2008; 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building
914 Capitol Mall, Room 500
Sacramento, CA

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
While internet use and information technology is expanding, the digital divide is widening for some groups in California. This benchmark survey of Californians examines their access to information technology, including computer ownership, access to the Internet, and the use of mobile devices. The survey also looks at perceptions of the role of government in areas such as Internet regulation and broadband access and availability. The survey details results in the five major regions in California, by race and ethnicity, between urban and rural communities, and among socioeconomic and political groups. Lunch will be provided.

This survey was conducted with funding from the California Emerging Technology Fund and ZeroDivide.

SPEAKERS
PPIC president, CEO, and survey director Mark Baldassare is an expert in public opinion, including political, social, economic, and environmental attitudes.

Dean Bonner is a research associate and member of the PPIC Statewide Survey team.

Some findings of the current survey:

* Less than half of California Latinos (48%) have home computers compared to about eight in 10 or more for whites (86%), Asians (84%), and blacks (79%). Just four in 10 Latinos (40%) have Internet access and a third (34%) a broadband connection at home.
* Among households with incomes under $40,000, half have home computers, but only four in 10 (40%) have home Internet access and just a third (33%) have broadband.
* Twenty-nine percent of Californians have DSL, 19 percent have cable modems, 5 percent have wireless, and 2 percent have fiber optic or T-1 connections. Just 7 percent have dial-up connections.

This is the 87th PPIC Statewide Survey and the first in the Californians and Information Technology survey series, whose intent is to inform state policymakers, encourage discussion, and raise public awareness about a variety of information technology issues. This survey includes the responses of 2,503 Californians in multiple languages, on both landline and cell phones, and was conducted in collaboration with the California Emerging Technology Fund.

Sunbelt Rising: The Politics of Space, Place, and Region in the American South and Southwest, Huntington Library, LA and Southern Methodist University in Dallas (July 19, 2008 and April 25 2009)

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From Denise Spooner, H-California

Announcing the 2008-2009 Annual Public Symposium,

“Sunbelt Rising: The Politics of Space, Place, and Region in the American South and Southwest.”

Co-sponsored by Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University

Initial public presentations will be held at The Huntington Library in Los Angeles, California on July 19, 2008, to be followed by a public symposium at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas on April 25, 2009. Ultimately, University of Pennsylvania Press will publish the papers as a volume edited by conference organizers Michelle Nickerson, Assistant Professor of History, University of Texas at Dallas and Darren Dochuk, Assistant Professor of History, Purdue University.

The Sunbelt, a region born of recent history, has been steadily drawing Americans from older cities to burgeoning metropolitan centers across the southwest since World War II. Warmer temperatures and air conditioning only begin to tell the story. This conference will explore the political, economic, and social transformations that have been making the Sunbelt into a unified region rivaling traditional centers of power in the East.

To register for the summer symposium on July 19th at the Huntington Library, please contact Susi Krasnoo at (626) 405-3432 or skrasnoo@huntington.

Information to register for the spring symposium on April 25, 2009 at Southern Methodist University will be posted soon.

Participants include:

Carl Abbott, Portland State University (Ph.D., University of Chicago) “Real Estate and Race: Imagining the Second Circuit of Capital in Sunbelt Cities”

Shana Bernstein, Southwestern University (Ph.D., Stanford University) “Interracial Civil Rights Activism in the Sunbelt West”

Nathan Connolly, University of Michigan (Ph.D. Candidate) “Sunshine State – Sunbelt Hate: Urban Renewal as Civil Rights in Greater Miami”

Joe Crespino, Emory University (Ph.D., Stanford University) “Rethinking Regional Politics and the Right in Cold War America”

Darren Grem, University of Georgia (Ph.D. Candidate) “The Political Economy of a Chicken Sandwich: S. Truett Cathy, Chick Fil-A, and the Sunbelt South”

Daniel Hosang, University of Oregon (Ph.D. University of Southern California) “Remaking Liberalism: California’s 1964 Fair Housing Ballot Measure and the Politics of Racial Innocence”

Volker Janssen, California State University, Fullerton (Ph.D. University of California San Diego) “Sunbelt Lock-Up: The Move Toward Mass-Incarceration”

Laresh Jayasanker, University of Texas (Ph.D. Candidate) “Sameness in Diversity: Mexican Food and Globalization in the Sunbelt, 1965-2005”

Lyman (Bud) Kellstedt, Wheaton College (Ph.D., University of Illinois) and Jim Guth, Furman University (Ph.D., Harvard University) “Religion and Political Behavior in the Sunbelt”

Matt Lassiter, University of Michigan (Ph.D., University of Virginia) “Big Government and Family Values: Political Culture in the Metropolitan Sunbelt”

Sylvia Manzano, Texas A & M University (Ph.D., University of Arizona) “Latinas/Latinos in the Sunbelt: the Political Implications of Demographic Change”

Andrew Needham, New York University (Ph.D., University of Michigan) “Influence of Civic Boosters on Federal Resource Policies”

Symposium Co-organizers:

Michelle Nickerson, University of Texas at Dallas (Ph.D., Yale University)

Darren Dochuk, Purdue University (Ph.D. University of Notre Dame)

This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs at the Huntington Library (through Sept. 15)

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The Huntington Library has just opened an exciting new exhibition of photography of Los Angeles and its region. The exhibition is called “This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs” and includes images spanning 150 years. The show closes Sept. 15, 2008.

From the Huntington website:

“This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs examines the dynamic relationship between the city and the art of photography from the 1860s to the present. Divided into seven thematic sections – Garden, Move, Work, Play, Dwell, Clash, and Dream – the exhibition explores photographs of the city through the dual lenses of landscape and the human body, as well as the provocative visual interplay between the two.”

For more information, go to the Huntington’s webpage about the show.

After 52 Years in the Business, Berkeley’s Cody’s Books Closes

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After over 50 years in the business, a Berkeley landmark shut its doors this weekend for good. After several moves, and the closing of two other locations in recent years, Cody’s shut the door on its final location on Shattuck Ave. Reports on the closure remembered Cody’s as a backdrop for the Free Speech movement and having suffered a fire bombing and attempted bombing during the Salman Rushdie controversies. The following was some of the reporting that we saw:

Here is a farewell address at Cody’s website.

Fora.tv has an archive of author readings at the store.

The Berkeley Daily Planet has a story and some depressing images.

The Chronicle cited the inroads of the internet and chains into independent bookstore sales, which now command a dismal 3% of the market.

The Chronicle also reported on the 2006 closing of the Telegraph Ave. location.

The NY Times followed suit in 2006 upon the closing of the Telegraph store.

NPR’s Morning edition had a story in 2006 about the Telegraph closure.

Gray Brechin Presents the Living New Deal Project: Talk and Bus Tour in San Francisco (July 28 and 29)

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From graybrechin.net

As part of Laborfest, the massive, month-long program of events that includes a film festival, tours, lectures and discussions in the Bay Area, historian and author Gray Brechin, author of Imperial San Francisco and principle investigator on The Living New Deal Project, will be leading a discussion and a tour toward the end of July. Reservations are recommended.

July 28 at 3:00 pm: “The Living New Deal: Excavating the Public Landscape of the Great Depression”

In less than a decade, President Franklin Roosevelt’s various public works agencies radically transformed the United States, giving employment to and improving the lives of millions while setting the stage for the post-war economic boom. For the past quarter century, however, the New Deal’s ideological enemies have systematically rolled back and erased the memory of its epochal accomplishments without understanding how it profited them and continues to do so. Dr. Gray Brechin will discuss the Living New Deal Project – a statewide collaborative effort to document and map the physical legacy of the New Deal in California and to honor the surviving veterans. The Project will provide the foundation for a national inventory and for a discussion of the role of the public sector in a just society.

ILWU Local 6 Hall 255 9th St. near Howard, SF

July 29 at 10:00 am: WPA-PWA Bus Tour with Gray Brechin and Harvey Smith

Join Gray Brechin and Harvey Smith as they travel through history on a bus tour of historic sites built by unionized labor. You will learn about the major contribution workers made during the depression era of the New Deal program. They will discuss about 75 years of WPA.

Aquatic Park Next to Ghiradelli Square, SF

Co-sponsored by UTU Local 1741
Meet at the bottom corner of Aquatic Park Hyde & Jefferson

Reservation required: call (415) 642-8066

or by e-mail: laborfest@laborfest.net

Make reservation, then send $15 check to:

LaborFest, P.O. Box 40983, SF, CA 94140

(Sandwiches and drinks will be available on the bus.) Bus will be back at Hyde & Jefferson

Tour lasts about 5 hours

Laborfest 2008: Film Festival, Music, Talks, Tours Around the Bay Area (July 5 to 31)

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Below, I have given a brief listing of the events. For full descriptions, visit the Laborfest site and the external sites for each event.–ed.

July 5 (Saturday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Sacco and Vanzetti (82 min) 2006
By Peter Miller
http://www.willowpondfilms.com/sacco_and_vanzetti.html

Eugene Debs & The American Movement
(43 min) 1977
By Cambridge Documentary Films
http://www.cambridgedocumentaryfilms.org/debs.html#

July 5 (Saturday) 7:00, 9.00 PM ($8.00) – Victoria Theatre – 2961 16th Street, at Mission, San Francisco
LaborFest ’08 Opening Night
International Working Class Film & Video Festival

July 5 (Saturday) 12:00 Noon ($15 to $50 sliding scale donation to CounterPULSE). Bring a bag lunchMeet at 1310 Mission St. at 9th, SF
Labor Bike Tour with Chris Carlson of San Francisco’s labor history.
For more info: call Chris Carlsson (415) 608 9035 carlsson.chris@gmail.com

July 6 (Sunday) 10:00 AM (Free) – Meet at the corner of 330 Ellis St., at Glide Memorial Church, SF
SF Anti-War History Walk
By Historian David Giesen
For more information: telekosmos@yahoo.com, 415-948-4265

July 6 (Sunday) 11:00 AM (Free) – Meet at Coit Tower entrance
Coit Tower Walk & WPA Murals Presentation
By Mark R. Johnson
http://www.art-for-a-change.com/exhibits/atwork.htm
http://gosanfrancisco.about.com/od/touristattractions/ig/SF-s-Coit-Tower/Coit-Tower—Full-Shot.htm

July 6 (Sunday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Un Poquito De Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth) (93 min) 2007 By Jill Friedberg.
http://www.corrugate.org

July 6 Dear Mandela (6 min) 2007
By Dara Kell & Christopher Nizza
http://sleepinggiantfilms.wordpress.com

July 6 The Deported (22 min) 2007 By Musgtaque Ahmed (Mahbub), Korean Migrant Media
http://www.mfasia.org/mfaStatements/Statement15-KCTUActionAlert.html
migrantact@gmail.com

July 6 (Sunday) 3:00 PM (Donation) – ILWU Local 6 Hall 255-9th St. near Howard, SF
Postal Workers Video & Forum – Managers Going Postal: Letter Carriers Speak Out!
Video Postal Management Going Postal (20 min) wil be shown.

July 7 (Monday) 5:30 PM (Free) – SEIU 1021 HALL 350 Rhode Island Suite 100, SF
Opening Reception for Labor Art Show
http://www.arthazelwood.com/

July 7 (Monday) 7:00 PM (Free) – Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St., at 20th St., SF
The Search For A Civic Voice, California Latino Politicds
Book reading by Kenneth Burt
http://www.kennethburt.com/index.html

July 8 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) -Labor Archives & Research Center, SFSU 480 Winston Dr., SF
The Federal Theater Project & It’s Work
Presentation by Joel Schechter
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~jschech/

July 9 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM (Free) -Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St. at 20th St., SF
Outside The Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, & The UPS Strike
Presentation by Deepa Kumar
http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~dkumar/book.htm

July 10 (Thursday) 5:00, 8:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
The International / Beynelmilel (106 min) 2006 West coast Premier
By Muharrem Gulmez & Sirri Sureyya Onder (Turkey)

4857 (The Life in Tuzla Shipyards) (30 min) 2008 US Premier
By Petra Holzer, Selçuk Erzurumlu, Ethem Özgüven Kurgu (Turkey)
http://4857-documentary.blogspot.com/
petramh@gmail.com

July 10 (Thursday) 6:30 PM (Donation) -Ironworkers Hall, South Bay Labor Council -2102 Almaden Road, Room 110, San Jose
Overworked and Underpaid in the Silicon Valley
Forum & Presentation: learn about how the South Bay labor

July 11 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Donation) -Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
The International / Beynelmilel (106 min) 2006
By Muharrem Gulmez & Sirri Sureyya Onder (Turkey)
Please check the detail on July 10.

July 11, 12 7:30 PM, July 11, 12 2:00, 7:30 PM (Donation for St. Boniface in community service & help for the homeless.) St. Boniface Theater -175 Golden Gate Ave., SF
I Remember Mama (A Play)

July 12 (Saturday) 10:00 AM (Free) Meet at Harry Bridges Plaza – Front of Ferry Building, SF
San Francisco General Strike Walk
With labor historian Louis Prisco

July 12 (Saturday) 12:00 Noon (Free) SF Main Library – Koret Auditoriium – 100 Larkin St., at Grove
New Deal Films and Presentations
With Harvey Smith, Gray Brechin and others.
For information call (510) 649-7395

July 12 (Saturday) 12:00 – 1:00, 3:00 – 4:00 PM (Free – however, you need to pay to go into the pier) Hyde Street Pier – Hyde and Jefferson St., SF
Living History: SF Waterfront Strike 1901

July 12 (Saturday) 2:00 PM (Free) Phoenix Theatre Annex – 414 Mason St., 4th Floor, at Geary St., SF
Appalachian Redneck (A Play) World Premier
Play by Edward Hernandez

July 12 (Saturday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 6 Hall -255 9th St., near Howard, SF8
1968 – 2008 The Global Lessons From ’68
With Mehmet Bayron, David Ewing, Dahrm Paul, Anatol Anton & others

July 12 (Saturday) 8:00 PM (Free) -885 Clayton St., at Carl St., SF
Song and Poetry Swap

July 13 (Sunday) 10:00 AM (Free) Chinese Historical Society -965 Clay St., SF
Chinatown Labor Walk
Presentation by Charlie Chin

July 13 (Sunday) 1:00 PM (Free) Meet at North East corner of Shattuck & Haste, Berkeley
Berkeley Walk with Richard Schwartz

July 13 (Sunday) 1:30 PM (Free) Meet at Post & Steiner , in front of the mural (Evolution of the Blues), SF
The Black Community & The Western Addition – A Walking History
With local historian Al Williams and Bobbie Webb

July 13 (Sunday) 2:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
To Die In Madrid (58 min) 1963 By Frederic Rossif

Into The Fire – American Women In The Spanish Civil War
(58 min) 2002 By Julia Newman (She will be attending)

July 13 (Sunday) 5:00 PM (Free) City Lights Bookstore 261 Columbus at Broadway, SF
LaborFest Writers Workshop and Waterfront Writers
Also a writer of the waterfront M.C. Warrior will read.

July 13 (Sunday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Dare To Struggle, Dare To Win (96 min) 1968 By Jean-Pierre Thorn

July 14 (Monday) 6:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
In The Year Of The Pig (103 min) 1968 By Emile de Antonio

Blow For Blow / Coup Pour Coup (90 min) 1972 By Marin Karmitz

July 14 (Monday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St., at 20th St., SF
Centennial of The Great White Fleet
A reading with writer and labor archivist Lincoln Cushing and others.

July 15 (Tuesday) 10:00 AM (Free) SF Main Library Meet on 6th floor near the New Deal Exhibit
The New Deal Exhibition

July 15 (Tuesday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
US Premier
Not Just A Matter of Saving Our Skins / Utoia and IG Metal (81 min) 2007 (Germany)
By Holger Wegemann

July 15 (Tuesday) 6:30 PM (Free) Red Hill Bookstore 401 Cortland Ave., SF
The Social and Political History of Bernal Heights
Presentation by Molly Martin & Terry Milne

July 15 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) West Portal Public Library 190 Lenox Way, SF
The New Deal In The Sunset District
Presentation by Gray Brechin

July 15 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
9/11 Dust and Deceit at The World Trade Center (59 min) 2007
By Penny Little (She will be attendin)

The Toxic Clouds of 9/11: A Looming Health Disaster (66 min) 2006
By allison Johnson

Trade unionist John Sferazo from Iron Workers Local 361 and IUOE Local 138 will attend and discuss his efforts to defend the first responders.

July 16 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St., at 20th St.
Red State Rebels

July 16 (Wednesday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Water Front (53 min) 2007
By Liz Miller

July 16 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Lock Out (56 min) 2007 (Australia)
By Jason Van Genderen

The Archive Project – The Realist Film Unit in Australia (98 min) 2006 (Australia)
By John Hughes

July 17 (Thursday) 5:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
SF Mess (42 min) 2008
By Greg Rodgers

Our Families, Our Community, Our Union (12 min) 2007
By Jano Oscherwitz

Justice Can’t Be Temporary (8 min) 2007
By Jano Oscherwitz & Octavio Velarde, SEIU 1021 Organizer

July 17 (Thursday) 7:00 PM ($7.00) -Roxie Theatre 3117 16th St., SF
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
The Ghosts Of Duffy’s Cut (52 min) 2006 Ireland West Coast Premier
Producer: Dave Farrell, Directors: Stephen Rooke & Ruan Magan

The Equal Pay Story:Scenes From A Turbulent History
(29 min) 2008 U.K. US Premier
Directed by Jenny Morgan, Produced by Jo Morris

Labor Music Videos Shorts By Chris Cambell, member Boilermakers Local 146 Canada
Shut Down Blues Canada (2007) 5 minutes, Gotta Be Safe Canada (2007) 4 minutes, There’s A Wild One Going On Canada (2007) 4:42 minutes With singer Renee Gibbon and Writer Daniel Cassidy

July 18 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Donation) –Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Eugene Debs & The American Movement (43 min) 1977
By Cambridge Documentary Films

San Francisco State On Strike (20 min) 1968
This film shows the struggle of the students and teachers in the 6 months long strike at San Francisco State University.

July 18 (Friday) 7:00 PM ($5.00/Donation)
SF Community Music Center 544 Capp St., SF
Concert of The Choruses & Show Me Where It Hurts

July 19 (Saturday) 9:30 – 5 :00 PM (Free) Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts 2868 Mission St., near 25th St., SF
Labor BookFair

July 19 (Saturday) 9:30 AM (Free) Meet at Berkeley High School Main Entrance on Milvia in Berkeley
The East Bay Schools, The New Deal & The Education Crisis Today (Presentation & Walk)
With Harvey Smith, Fred Glass, Oakland Education Association (OEA) and Berkeley Federation of Teachers (BFT) representatives.

July 19 (Saturday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St., at 20th St., SF
Black Workers, Hanging Nooses & The State of The Labor Movement
Panel discussion with Leo Robinson, Carl Bryant, Fernando Gapasin, Jack Heyman and others

July 19 (Saturday) 7:00 PM (Free) Harrington’s Bar & Grille 245 Front Street, Downtown San Francisco
Danny Cassidy Benefit Fund

.July 20 (Sunday) 10:00 AM (Free)
The Redstone Building 16th Street at Capp, SF
The Redstone Walk – Labor, Art & The Politics of The Mission Dist.
By Louis Prisco

July 20 (Sunday) 5:00 PM ($35.00) Terminal E South side of the ferry building, SF (End of the Market Street)
Boat Tour – Building Bridges and Labor Maritime History

July 21 (Monday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St., at 20th St., SF
1968 The Emergence of The Women’s Liberation Movement & Its Relationship to Working Women
With Chude Pam Allen and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

July 21 (Monday) 7:30 PM ($5.00 donation to actors) Fellowship of Humanity Hall 370 27th St., Oakland
Compared To What? (A play reading)
By Judith Offer
For further information, call Anniversary Productions at (510) 444-8521.

July 22 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 6 Hall 255 9th St. near Howard, SF
Will Call Center Servicing Solve Labor’s ‘Customer Satisfaction’ Problems?
A presentation by labor journalist Steve Early and others.

July 23 (Wednesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore 888 Valencia St. at 20th St., SF
Workin’ Man Blues, Country Music In California
Book reading by Gerald Halsom

July 24 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 10 Henry Schmidt room 400 North Point at Mason, SF
The Lessons of May Day ’08
With video screening of May Day 2008 action
No Peace, No Work, ILWU Shuts Down West Coast Ports To Protest War
(20 min) 2008 by Labor Video Project

July 25 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Donation) -Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
International Working Class Film & Video Festival
Un Poquito De Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth) (93 min) 2007
By Jill Friedberg

July 25 (Friday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 6 Hall 255 9th St. near Howard, SF
The Film Movement of ’68 & Independent Media Today
Panel with Connie Field and Peter Gessner

July 26 (Saturday) 10:00 AM (Free) Latham Square Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland
Oakland 1946 General Strike Walk
With Karin Hart of the Labor Studies Program at Laney College and Gifford Hartman of the Flying Picket Historical Society.

July 26 (Saturday) 12:00 Noon to 2:30 PM (Free) Yerba Buena Center 701 Mission Street at 3rd St., SF Syndicate
A walking tour of sidewalk art installations which nod to the history of labor unions at performing arts venues in San Francisco. This tour will be led by Jessica Tully, Kim Munson and historians from the Labor Archives and Research Center.

July 26 (Saturday) 2:00 PM (Free) Niebyl Proctor Marxist Library 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
Workers’ Power In The Present

July 26 (Saturday) 2:00 PM (Free) UCSF (Detailed location will be posted shortly)
From New Orleans & Katrina to Public Health Hospitals in The Bay Area (The Struggle to Defend Public Healthcare & Our Hospitals)
Presenting will be: Brad Ott, Chair Of The Committee To Reopen Charity Hospital Mary Ann Ring, UCSF CUE Local 6, Dr. Jill Atoine UCSF, Dr. Michael Freece St. Lukes Hospital Pediatrics

July 26 (Saturday) 7:00 PM ($5.00/Donation) SEIU 1021 HALL 350 Rhode Island, SF (Enter on Kansas between 16th & 17th)
Music From The WPA
Music From The WPA with The San Francisco Bay Area Labor Heritage Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus, Jack Chernos, Carol Denney and others.

July 27 (Sunday) 10:00 AM ($15.00) Civic Center Between Asian Art Museum & Main Library, SF
WPA Bus Tour
Join Gray Brechin and Harvey Smith

July 27 (Sunday) 2:00 PM (Donation) San Jose State University – Martin Luther King Library Room 255
From The South Bay To New Orleans & The Spirit of 1929 with Videos, Music & Food
With screening of Streetcar Stories about the transit strike in New Orleans in 1929.
By Michael Mizell-Nelson, speakers on Gulf Coast Reconstruction and The Fight to Reopen Charity Hospital with Brad Ott.

July 27 (Sunday) 4:00 – 6:00 PM ($5.00/Donation) 522 Valencia St., at 16th st., SF
SF Living Wage Coalition – Dinner, Raffle & Film

July 27 (Sunday) 7:00 PM (Donation) La Pena Cultural Center – 3105 Shattuck at Prince, Berkeley
Folk This! And Friends

July 28 (Monday) 6:00 PM (Free) Plumbers Hall – 1621 Market St. at Franklin, SF
San Francisco Labor Council Film Screening
Labor & Work In The History of San Francisco
Film showing by Rick Prelinger of Prelinger Library

July 29 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) ILWU Local 6 Hall – 255 9th St. near Howard, SF
SF State Strike & It’s Relevance Today
Screening of San Francisco State On Strike 1968 20 min.,

July 29 (Tuesday) 7:00 PM (Free) Modern Times Bookstore – 888 Valencia St. at 20th, SF (Please note that the date has been changed)
Wobblies On The Waterfront: Interracial Unionism In Progressive Era Philadelphia
Book reading by Peter Cole

July 31 (Thursday) 7:00 PM (Donation) Nap’s 3152 Mission St. at Precita, SF
Closing Party

LA Times Stories Report 500th Californian Killed in Iraq and Afghanistan

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From Tomas Sandoval, CSA Steering Committee

Megan Garvey reported today that the death of two soldiers in the north of Afghanistan brings the death toll of Californian soldiers serving there and in Iraq has reached 500.

Steve Lopez commented on the number as it grew near several days ago in the same paper.

In an article and a video blog in the same paper, Hector Becerra profiled those soldiers who have been killed since 2001.

Becerra also wrote a piece on the 59 immigrant Californians who have been killed.

Tony Perry wrote a memorial piece for the paper.

And a photo gallery of a soldiers cemetery.

Santa Clara Valley Labor Discussion at South Bay First Thursdays (Thur, July 10)

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From Tamon Norimoto, Asian Americans for Community Involvement

“Please join us to learn about how the South Bay labor movement is helping working families in the service sector fight for economic justice and how you and your job in Corporate Cubicle Company can affect the implementation of progressive labor policies. Labor activism in the Silicon Valley looks very different then you think – our panelists will share real life stories about why and how they got involved in the labor movement and what difference it’s making in all of our lives. Their stories about standing up and fighting for respect will inspire you in the most unexpected ways.”

Thursday, July 10, 2008
7pm – 9pm – (Registration opens at 6:30pm)
Ironworkers Hall- South Bay Labor Council
2102 Almaden Road, Room 110
San Jose CA 95125 view map

To RSVP, please visit our Evite

Donations support refreshments, room rental, misc costs, and fee waivers.
Recommended donation for program and food: $10 – $20
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

PRELINGER ARCHIVES: Radio Festival Competition for Archival Production (deadline Aug. 3)

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From Rick Prelinger, the Prelinger Library in the South of Market area in San Francisco and the Internet Archive.

“A collaboration with the Prelinger Library – a very special collection of books, documents and other cultural bits — from the concrete & tangible to the abstract & etherized.

The Third Coast Festival’s 2008 audio challenge invites producers, artists, writers and radio fans of all stripes (newbies to veterans) to submit finished audio works (aka Radio Ephemera) inspired by two books from the Prelinger Library, including the voice of a stranger, and lasting 2:30 – 3:00 minutes.

Submission incentives!

Four RE producers will be chosen to attend the Third Coast Festival Conferencehappening October 9th-11th in Evanston, IL (near Chicago) where you’ll present your submission as an official 2008 TCF ShortDoc. Your registration, flight and hotel will all be covered.

Plus! The first five people to submit to Radio Ephemera will receive a Third Coast Festival t-shirt.

Read more about RE guidelines.
Hear more about RE and how it originated, including vivid descriptions of the books from the PL co-founders.

Pictured below are the books you can choose from. Pick two and connect them somehow, in your story.
Click on each cover to see a gloriously enlarged photo. Click on the link underneath each cover to browse through each book for further inspiration. Note: You are NOT obligated to actually read the books from front to back!

  
“Trees as Good Citizens” “Control of Body and Mind” “The Big Strike” 
Charles Lathrop Park, 1922 Frances Gulick Jewett, 1908 Mike Quin, 1949
browse through this book browse through this book browse through this book 
 
“Trailer Ahoy! “ “The Stork Didn’t Bring You!”
Charles Edgar Nash, 1937 [The Facts of Life for Teenagers] 
browse through this book Lois Pemberton, 1948
browse through this book

Submission guidelines
How to submit your finished audio story
More about the Prelinger Library
Radio Ephemera FAQ page.
Radio Ephemera myspace page.
How and why to submit your submission to Vocalo.org”

Border Governors Conference, Hollywood (Aug. 13-15)

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From Louise Nelson Dyble, Chair of the CSA.

“The Border Governors Conference (BGC) is the largest binational venue to discuss and resolve some of the most important border issues affecting the United States and Mexico. The ten Border States represent the world’s most important and dynamic binational region – with a joint economy that ranks third in the world.

The XXVI Border Governors Conference will be held in Hollywood, California from August 13-15, 2008, and will be hosted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

American Planning Assn. California Chapter, Hollywood (Sept. 21-24)

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From CSA’s Chair, Louise Nelson Dyble. Conference looks good,
but their promotional rendition on “The Office” is fairly excruciating.–Ed.

California State APA Conference
Sept. 21 – 24 2008
Renaissance Hollywood Hotel

Early registration deadline is July 15.

Here is the conference at a glance in pdf.

“Conferences include an opening reception in a spectacular venue, keynote speakers, concurrent tracks of programs and seminars including practical “nuts and bolts” sessions, mobile workshops to local planning related venues, the CCAPA awards luncheon, and the California Planning Foundation auction to fund scholarships for planning students.”

Daniel Libeskind’s Contemporary Jewish Museum opens in San Francisco

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The Contemporary Jewish Museum opened its new building in the Yerba Buena cultural district on Sunday. The museum selected Daniel Libeskind ten years ago before the project was held up in financial and logistical complications. Libeskind won international acclaim–and a mountain of commissions–when he prevailed in the competition for master site planner at the World Trade Center Site in 2003. Two main features of the San Francisco building are its bizarre metaphorical angles and its post-modern hybrid of ultra-modern architecture with an existing 1907 building designed by Willis Polk, a PG&E substation, a hold-over from the post-conflagration City Beautiful movement. Here’s a re-cap of the reporting that went on and some resources for the new building.

The LA Times provided architectural criticism that questions Libeskind’s career development and discusses major features of the building.

Mathew Kuruvila discusses the Bay Area Jewish tradition in the Chronicle.

The Chronicle outlined the setbacks the museum faced in its ten year journey.

John King does a critical piece for the Chronicle‘s coverage of the opening. “Is the Contemporary a great work of architecture. No.”

King also wrote a good speculative article in the Chronicle for the groundbreaking ceremony of the museum in 2006.

Kenneth Baker does a review of the new Contemporary’s exhibits: artists musing on Genesis, John Zorn’s curatorial soundscapes, William Steig’s cartoons, and submitted photos from Bay Area Jewish life.

David Basulto took some good pics in this post for ArchDaily.com

Libeskind’s firm’s website also has some cool images.

SFCurbed also did the Chronicle’s work with these reports (Number One, Number Two, Number Three, Number Four) on and array of photographs of the Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Zeek did an interview with Libeskind about the SF museum.

The Contemporary Jewish museum features an mp3 audio tour with California historian Kevin Starr about the PG&E substation as well as an mp3 audio interview with Libeskind.

Architecture and the City, month-long programs (Sept. 1-30)

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From the SF chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The program is not out at the date of this posting, but the event website has information about past years events.

ARCHITECTURE AND THE CITY 2008: Design for Community

AIA San Francisco and the Center for Architecture + Design are pleased to announce the
5th Annual Architecture and the City festival, the nation’s largest architectural event showcasing tours, films, exhibitions, lectures, green programming and more. Devoted to celebrating San Francisco’s unique built environment and design community, the month long festival takes place September 1-30, 2008 and gives participants the opportunity to engage in conversation about our city.

Last year, more than 20,000 people, from all over the world, took part in the festivities. With your support, we look forward to making the 2008 festival another highly successful, city-wide venture. Mayor Gavin Newsom has once again officially proclaimed September “Architecture and the City” month.

ArtShift San Jose Reports on Censorship of Documentary Photography

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Whitney Aiken’s The Biggest Most Influential Thing that has Ever Happened to Me, sponsored by Space 47, removed from the Tech Museum of Innovation, later installed in WORKS

Whitney Aiken, a lonely voice in the window of Works Gallery
by Erin Goodwin-Guerrero

Space 47, a San Jose Gallery began a sociological investigation by mentoring a selected group of young people in the self-examination of behaviors on the internet. Parents, schools and sociologists have become increasingly concerned over boundaries broken on the internet. What is the subtext of shameless engagement in topics, acts and revelations that in previous generations were considered to be private, personal, embarrassing or incriminating?

On such sites as Facebook, YouTube and Myspace, young people show themselves nude, in sexual postures, drunk and passed out and in many other ways that would have been anathema to their parents’ generation. Why does the current generation seems to have no need to maintain good face, avoid public shame, and conceal “issues”? Honesty, at times brutal, is embraced –perhaps as part of a youthful idealism, mixed with exhibitionism — that we all remember from our years under the age of thirty.

Whitney Aiken prepared The Biggest, Most Influential Thing that has Ever Happened to Me, as part of the Space 47 project. Daily, for six weeks, Aiken broadcast through word and pictures on the internet her grief over the death of her father, her mother’s breast cancer, and her own fears for inherited tendencies toward cancer.

It was more than a neutral exercise in making the private public. Somehow, by bringing into the light, Aiken declares, she was able to dispel her pain, “brush the chip off her shoulder” and “move on”. Psychologists, of course, base group therapy on the healing process engendered by being able to talk about our failures and injuries, and thereby neutralizing the shame and pain.

Curiously, the photographic documents of Aiken herself with bare breasts, and her father, and mother — with scars where her breasts once were, was briefly installed in the Tech Museum of Innovation as part of that forward thinking institution’s Global Youth Voices. It was taken down the second day. Talk about a generation gap and failed outreach to youth! Not to mention thoughtless, shortsighted unwarranted censorship!

Whitney Aiken’s documentary installation can be seen in the front window of WORKS gallery on South First Street during 01SJ.

Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Assn., Pasadena (Aug. 7-9)

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From Louise Nelson Dyble, CSA Chair

Announcing the Annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association
“Historical Scales: From the Global to the Local” in Pasadena, CA, August 7–9

The 2008 annual conference of the PCB will take place at the Hilton Pasadena at 168 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California.

Find a map and general information here.

You can register here.

The main organization website is here.

The parent organization, The American Historical Association, is located here.

20th Annual Envisioning California Conference: Center for California Studies CSU Sac; held at Sac Convention Center (Sept. 18-19)

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Except date and location, details about the conference are not available yet at the Center for California Studies website. Their contact information in below.

The conference portion of their website is here.

Center for California Studies, CSUS
6000 J Street
Sacramento, California 95819-6081
Phone: (916) 278-6906
Fax: (916) 278-5199

calstudies@csus.edu

California Journalism Awards (deadline July 23; Awards in late Sept.)

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From Sac State: Center for California Studies Spring Newsletter.

The Center for California Studies and the Sacramento Press Club will again hold the annual California Journalism Awards competition. The 14th Annual Journalism Awards will recognize stories published or broadcast in 2007 that cover California state government and politics.

The California Journalism Awards are unique in that the entries are judged by current and former journalists. Past recipients have expressed that these awards mean more to them because their work was recognized by their peers.

The California Journalism Awards are given in four categories:

Print Journalism – John Jacobs Awards for excellence in daily coverage, and excellence in special feature or enterprise reporting;

Radio Journalism

Television Journalism

Katherine M. Macdonald Award for excellence in print, radio, or television journalism by a college or university student.

Cash prizes are awarded, with winners in the print, radio and television categories receiving $500 and the recipient of the student journal¬ism award receiving $300. There is no entry fee and all interested journalists in California are encouraged to apply.

The call for entries for the 14th Annual California Journalism Awards will be circulated in early summer 2008, with a postmark deadline to submit an entry by July 23, 2008. Award recipients will be announced in September 2008, and the winners will be invited to attend the 14th Annual Journalism Awards luncheon in Sacramento that same month.

For more information about the Journalism Awards, visit our website here.

California Council for the Humaniteis Oral History and Documentary (Deadlines July 1 and Oct. 1)

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The California Council for the Humanities offers grants in three areas: the “California Stories” oral history grant, the California Documentary Project, and the Youth Digital Filmmakers. They are currently accepting submissions for the documentary and oral history projects.

Youth Digital Filmmakers is our grant line supporting projects that engage California youth in creating short films about how they see California. Eight projects received funding in June 2007. The films will be screened in spring 2008. The program is part of the Council’s youth-based campaign, “California Stories: How I See It.”

The California Story Fund is our grant line supporting public humanities projects that bring to light new and compelling stories from California’s diverse communities. The guidelines for the July 2008 round of funding for the California Story Fund are now available. An online application will be posted on June 2, with proposals due July 1

The California Documentary Project supports documentary film, video, radio and new media projects that explore and interpret subjects relevant to California’s past, present or future. Applicants may apply for a Research and Development Grant, a Production Grant, or a New Media Grant. The deadline for each grant is October 1, 2008.

Don Reuter, Greetings From the Gayborhood: the Evolution of 12 American Gay Districts (June 25, SF Main Library)

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Author and “gay pop culture archaeologist” Don Reuter presents a slide show of photos from his colorful new book on the changes in gay neighborhoods in twelve United States cities. But more than just a (gay) rainbow-colored repository, stuffed with hundreds of nostalgic artifacts and imagery, Greetings from the Gayborhood is inescapably a Pandora’s box: of one controversial minority’s culturally evocative and sexually provocative times and thoughts. It’s also an encapsulation of a time (in the Queer community) not so long gone by, but nonetheless an existence seemingly vanished forever in a flash and replaced by present-day lifestyle as unsatisfying to some as it is comforting to others. Reuter has authored several books on Gay male culture including Gaydar: The Ultimate Insider Guide to the Sixth Sense and Gay-2-Zee: A Dictionary of Sex, Subtext and the Sublime. Cosponsored by the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society.

Locations: San Francisco Main Library Latino/Hispanic B
Address: 100 Larkin St. (at Grove)
Library Sponsored Public Program
Event Time: 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

See the library’s page here.

Dykes on Bikes “30 Years at the Forefront” at the GLBT Historical Society in SF (through July 12)

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Press Release from the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) Historical Society

San Francisco, CA – April 18, 2008 – DYKES ON BIKES® powerfully embodies how lesbians have stood at the forefront of queer pride for 30 years. The exhibit “30 Years at the Forefront,” hosted by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Transgender (GLBT) Historical Society, uses a significant anniversary to look back and commemorate this anchor SF institution that has become internationally renowned. The exhibit also looks forward and celebrates the landmark legal victory DYKES ON BIKES® recently won, securing full ownership over its name.

The exhibit is accompanied by a series of events, including a donor preview on April 24th, a gala opening reception on May 15th, and a Pride week reception on June 26th, among others.

The “30 Years at the Forefront” exhibit invites the general public to revel in the mythic power of DYKES ON BIKES®. Exhibit attendees can even get a feel for riding in the famed contingent by hopping on a motorcycle surrounded by the sights and sounds of past parades. Along with the fun, the exhibit also offers visitors the opportunity to learn more about the organization’s ride down a 30-year road: its history, mission, structure, annual event production, and international reach.

The exhibit also hopes to spur past and present members of DYKES ON BIKES® to collectively remember and celebrate their history, and in so doing locate and archive otherwise uncollected memorabilia, documents, photographs, and artifacts of the organization’s last 30 years.

WHAT

An exhibition celebrating the mythic place DYKES ON BIKES® holds at the forefront of the annual SF Pride Parade, and in the hearts of millions of people all over the world as an inspirational symbol of queer pride and lesbian power.

WHEN

April 24th – July 12th (See below for exhibit and event details)

WHERE

GLBT Historical Society
657 Mission Street #300
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415.777.5455

“La Pulga” Documents the Closure of the San Jose Flea Market (Friday, June 13 in San Jose)

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From Jaime Contreras, Generation Engage.

GENERATION ENGAGE AND MACLA PRESENT PREMIERE SCREENING OF LA PULGA, A DOCUMENTARY OF THE SAN JOSE FLEA MARKET

City of San Jose Council Member, Hispanic Champer of Commerce President, and Flee Market Vendors to Participate in Community Forum Following Screening

Join GenerationEngage and MACLA for the world premiere screening of the film La Pulga, which chronicles, memorializes, and highlights the historic and cultural significance of the San Jose Flea Market, the first and largest flea market in the United States. Before San Jose became the technology capital of the world, the city was known for its Flea Market, which is slated to close in 2010 to be replaced by a BART Corridor urban village. Through interviews with the owner of the flea market, activists, vendors, and city officials, the film explores the conflicts between an existing community’s economic vitality and an environmentally responsible land use plan and reveals the complexity of urban issues and social justice in a changing city.A panel discussion and community forum will follow.

La Pulga was directed by Rene Picazo, and produced by Henry Servin and Alina Kwak.

WHO: City of San Jose Council Member Kansen Chu, District 4; President, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Dennis King; Activist, Chris Lepe; Jesus Banda, San Jose Flea Market Vendor.

WHAT: Students, twenty-somethings, and community members discuss development issues with expert panel after watching world premiere of La Pulga.

WHEN: Friday June 13, 2008

6:30-7pm – Opening
7-7:45pm – Screening of La Pulga
8-9:00pm – Panel Discussion and Community Forum

WHERE: MACLA Castellano Playhouse, 510 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113 Click here for directions.

ANTHOLOGY: 13 at 30: Would We Pass it Again? Would We Be Right?

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30 years ago today, Californians exercised their right as Progressive-era descendants to pass a tax revolt measure at the head of the wily decade of stag(flation) hot tub parties, the battle of the sexes tennis match, and Carter’s malaise speech. Standing at the gates of another recession and budget cutbacks, we weigh in again.

Michael Krasny’s FORUM on KQED featured a panel on Monday, June 9 about Prop 13’s legacy. The panelists included Peter Schrag (Sac. Bee), Marc Dicamillo (Field Research Corporation), Jonathan Coupal (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.), and Isaac Martin (UCSD). 2 in favor, 2 not in favor: he said, she said.

A report published at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association (Howard and Estelle Jarvis spearheaded Prop 13, and continued their work in its aftermath) shows that Californians would pass 13 again.

The Chronicle interviews Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California on the political legacy of Prop 13 and describes the continuation of the public sentiments of malaise and mistrust.

Richard Boggs, an LA tax consultant, wrote an editorial in the same Chronicle that measured tax certainty versus the affects on services.

Speaking of the PPIC, Baldassare co-authored a recent report and survey on Prop 13 (pdf) shows that 56% of Democrats believed that Prop 13 was “mostly a good thing for California.” 80% of the Republicans that were surveyed agreed with the statement. In addition, 71% of all Californians surveyed think that the initiative system is working just fine, in spite of a record-setting decade of 95 initiatives. The survey was split, however, about the effects of Prop 13 on the function of local government. PPIC also did a slew of reports when Prop 13 turned 20.

CSA constituent Peter Schrag rips Prop 13 a new one in the Sacramento Bee: it “brought the gush of ‘auto-pilot’ ballot-box budget measures that’s both driven and restricted state spending and otherwise limited elected government.”

In the LA Times Bill Stall provides a memoir of his time under Jerry Brown and a biting critique of Prop 13’s results.

The LA Times also runs a story that recounts the editorial board’s horror at Prop 13 and its coverage of the bill in Feb. and March 1978.