Category: History

On Saturday, March 17th, the San Diego Labor Council honored Jim Miller as one of eight Union Heroes the Council honored at their annual Awards Dinner.

Jim is not only a regular columnist for the OB Rag – writing his weekly “Under the Perfect Sun“-, he is a celebrated progressive author, primarily a professor at City College, and an activist in his local union, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Local 1931. Jim is also a family man and father – his son, Walt, is constantly at his side.

Lorena Gonzales – leader of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council – said this about Jim when she introduced him at the dinner:

 “Jim Miller – AFT Guild 1931 – He brings dignity to labor activism. Jim campaigns tirelessly to raise awareness about an education system under siege in California – all the way from San Diego to Sacramento, no matter the roadblock.”

Lorena’s reference was to Jim’s across-the-state walk promoting education in 2010 when he traveled from San Diego to Sacramento.

It does appear – after two strips this week – that Doonesbury artist, Gary Trudeau, has taken on yet another social issue. This time it’s marijuana farms in California. Take a look at these two strips that have run this week.

Oh, and it’s not like this is the first “social issue” that Trudeau and his characters have taken on. The “old” San Diego U-T used to ban the cartoon from the comics page on a regular and daily basis – and print it on the editorial page. Something Jeff Light – the current editor – failed to do this time when our daily paper killed the strip for the entire week last week due to its subject matter of women’s reproductive rights.

By Carlos Batara / Immigration Newsletter / Feb. 29, 2012

Back in my days as a political science professor, I would point out how candidates scapegoat politically powerless individuals for self gain. Like undocumented immigrants. Since they cannot vote, their ability to fight back is nearly non-existent.

[A recent] narrow proposal by the Obama administration, addressing the needs of some immigrants trying to adjust their status to lawful residents, is a stark reminder of this history. However well-intended, the limited changes fail to offset the human misery inflicted by the 3 and 10 year re-entry bars – bars to legalization caused by political attacks dating back to 1996.

Lately, it seems, when I get news from my beloved Sonoran Desert it’s filled with vibrations that chill my soul, tales of senate and assembly bills that threaten the well being of some of its citizens, tales of students being denied studies that motivate them to reach for great things in their lives, tales of books being banned that inspire critical thinking.

But the other day I received a bit of refreshing E-News from the College of Education at my alma mater, the University of Arizona, that made me feel vibes that made me want to sing “U of A! U of A!”

It was about UA athletes sharing fun and exercise with “little wildcats” during the university’s second annual Track and Field Day, teaching them how to become and stay healthy.

These first through fourth graders got to play outdoors in fresh air on a wonderful day, running and jumping in individual events and in relays, under the mentoring of superbly fit and well trained college athletes like some of them might become some day. My kind of story. A story of love and giving. I applaud the track team for gifting these kids with such a wonderful life experience.

I wrote in the guest book of her obituary:

Pearlie Mae. What can I say.
On my family tree.
A cousin but like a big sister to me.
Part of my history.
Here when I arrived.
Could always count on her love.
In my heart she will always reside.

She was a prominent member on our branch of the Windham/Windom family tree. Our grandmother’s Lillie (hers) and Alma (mine) were sisters. It’s hard believing that she’s now resting in peace with those two extraordinary women.

Her obituary states how selfless and loyal she was to family and friends and confidantes and I sure got a sense of that early on in life.

By Linda Greenhouse / The New York Times – RSN / February 23, 2012

Is there really a chance that the Supreme Court might reconsider Citizens United?

A week ago, I wouldn’t have thought so, and I still think it’s an extreme long shot. But a provocative statement last Friday by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer makes this crazy idea worth pondering – which is undoubtedly what the two justices intended.

From Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association / Feb. 21, 2012

The Ocean Beach Woman’s Club has been a “Hub of Activity” in Ocean Beach for eighty-eight years. The majority of the club’s history from 1924 to 1937 has been lost from the official records. The information that we do have comes from historians and newspaper articles of the time. On September 21, 1997 the building sustained major fire damage. Again much of the club’s records and history was lost or damaged by the fire. It is gratifying that the sons and daughters of old time members are finding and presenting the club with memorabilia of the club in years past.

The Ocean Beach Woman’s Club was founded on November 24, 1924, and is one of the oldest civic groups in San Diego. Forty five charter members are listed as having signed the charter. Many of the club’s charter members were married to the Chamber of Commerce men, so the women had long been involved in public affairs. Records indicate that the club was a member of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs prior to 1936. The club was organized with a Constitution, Bylaws, and its first Board of Directors on January 12, 1925.

By Jed Sanders / Nug Magazine / Originally published Jan. 6, 2012

Mario Acevedo Torero pushes art beyond the level of a tangible commodity and employs it to build community, beautify surroundings, enrich lives, and encourage understanding. Born in Lima, Peru in 1947, Mario was introduced to the arts at a very young age by his father, renowned artist Guillermo Acevedo. His family came to the United States when Mario was 12 years old.

He established Downtown San Diego’s first art gallery along with his father, which later became the first multicultural arts center. He later opened Acevedo Gallery in Mission Hills, which operated throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. His public art can be seen in numerous places locally, including Chicano Park, various spots around the Boulevard, and UCSD in La Jolla. He has also created public works throughout other cities in the United States as well as internationally in Peru, Japan, Costa Rica, Barcelona, and Czechoslovakia.

Mario is a self-proclaimed “Artivist”; a term that is very fitting to his visionary and warrior-like persona. He has founded, and is active, in many art, cultural, and politically related groups and organizations. He gives his time and knowledge to teach painting to people of all ages through his Cosmic School of Art. Mario also currently operates the Mundo Gallery in University Heights.

Editor: Author and radical observer Chris Hedges has opened up a current dialogue and debate within the Occupy Wall Street movement, in the shadow of last month’s confrontations between Occupy Oakland and the Oakland police. He points the finger at what he calls “the Black Bloc anarchists” and calls them the “cancer in Occupy.” In response to Hedges, David Graeber’s article below asserts that Hedge’s rhetoric is inaccurate and even “dangerous”.

The Cancer in Occupy

by Chris Hedges / TruthDig / Posted on Feb 6, 2012

The Black Bloc anarchists, who have been active on the streets in Oakland and other cities, are the cancer of the Occupy movement. The presence of Black Bloc anarchists—so named because they dress in black, obscure their faces, move as a unified mass, seek physical confrontations with police and destroy property—is a gift from heaven to the security and surveillance state. The Occupy encampments in various cities were shut down precisely because they were nonviolent. They were shut down because the state realized the potential of their broad appeal even to those within the systems of power. They were shut down because they articulated a truth about our economic and political system that cut across political and cultural lines. And they were shut down because they were places mothers and fathers with strollers felt safe. …. (Come inside for the remainder of this article.)

By David Graeber / n+1 / Posted Feb. 9, 2012

I am writing this on the premise that you are a well-meaning person who wishes Occupy Wall Street to succeed. I am also writing as someone who was deeply involved in the early stages of planning Occupy in New York.

I am also an anarchist who has participated in many Black Blocs. While I have never personally engaged in acts of property destruction, I have on more than one occasion taken part in Blocs where property damage has occurred. (I have taken part in even more Blocs that did not engage in such tactics. It is a common fallacy that this is what Black Blocs are all about. It isn’t.)

I was hardly the only Black Bloc veteran who took part in planning the initial strategy for Occupy Wall Street. In fact, anarchists like myself were the real core of the group that came up with the idea of occupying Zuccotti Park, the “99%” slogan, the General Assembly process, and, in fact, who collectively decided that we would adopt a strategy of Gandhian non-violence and eschew acts of property damage. Many of us had taken part in Black Blocs. We just didn’t feel that was an appropriate tactic for the situation we were in. … (Come inside for the remainder of this article.)

It has leaked out: tomorrow, February 7th – the San Diego City Council will issue a proclamation commemorating and basically “apologizing” for what happened 100 years ago in regard to suppression of free speech during the infamous San Diego Free Speech Fight of 1912. The proclamation will be presented to ACLU at the City Council meeting (see below).

This is extremely important in light of the current suppression of free speech at the Civic Center – nicknamed “Freedom Plaza” by Occupy San Diego. OSD and their supporters, and other civil libertarians throughout the City are invited to attend this commemoration. As best we can tell, it will occur at the opening of the City Council meeting, which begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers, 12th floor of City Hall.

Commemoration on Wednesday at 6pm at 5th and E Streets – the Original Soapbox Site

This year, we commemorate the 100-year anniversary of a city ordinance that banned public speaking and assembly in the area around 5th and E Streets in downtown San Diego and the subsequent battle that followed. During the course of this struggle, many people were arrested, beaten and even killed for asserting their rights to simply stand on a soapbox and speak. Today, anyone who enjoys the right to assemble, protest, and speak in public in San Diego has the Free Speech League of the Progressive Era to thank for fighting to maintain basic rights for all San Diegans

The 100-year anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight is a celebration of the legacy of local labor and civil rights activism and a reminder that if we are not vigilant in the protection of our rights, we can certainly lose them.

There’s this book ban
in Arizona
which is supposedly
in the USA
where book banning
isn’t supposed to take place
but they went on and did it anyway.
And it happened “quicker than
you can say,
Jack Robinson,”
an idiom from a long ago day.