Category: History

By E.A. Barrera / Originally Published on March 17, 2011

“We may now imbibe freely of the contents of bottles and forthright books”

Morris L. Ernst, Co-Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. December 11, 1933.

The same week this country ended Prohibition, America opened the doors to let people legally read James Joyce’s Ulysses. With St. Patrick’s Day once more at hand, the greatest of 20th Century novels and the author whose genius gave us at look into our own daily souls, deserves a brief remembrance.

Ulysses is the story of a working man named Leopold Bloom during a single day of his life. Making his way through the streets of Dublin on June 16, 1904, Bloom’s day is an adaptation of the story of Odysseus trying to get home, from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey.

This originally appeared in the March 8 issue of City Times

“The Irish are the blacks of Europe,” says the band manager in “The Commitments,” the 1991 movie about his quest to put together a soul act in pale, white Dublin. “Say it loud — I’m black and I’m proud.”

Noel Ignatiev, a Massachusetts College of Art history professor and controversial scholar of American race relations, uses that classic line to kick off “How the Irish Became White.” The 1995 book offers an in-depth analysis of America’s assimilation of the millions of Irish who emigrated in the 1800s.

When Tanja Winter – the matriarch of  San Diego’s progressive community – was 12 years old, she watched as German Nazis…

A little while ago I read a book by longtime Tucson Citizen sportswriter, Steve Rivera: The University of Arizona Basketball Vault, the History of the Wildcats.

What a nice trip down memory lane the book was for me as I’ve followed Wildcat basketball since the 40’s. And, never in my wildest dreams, did I ever think the program would evolve to what it is today although the school had a couple of pretty good teams in my childhood.

Sitting with thoughts dancing in my mind about all the hope that I had recently seen rise in Cairo, I looked online for an image to match how I felt inside and a picture of a rich yellow sun rising or setting in a reddish orange sky caught the attention of my eyes and I literally found myself mesmerized by its beauty.

7:55 pm PST: We will be signing off now as Ed Shultz – who deserves a lot of props for…

Recently elected Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker has proposed a bill that would eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for most public workers and slash their pay and benefits.

Walker has also notified the state’s National Guard to be on alert for actions taken by unsatisfied state, county and municipal employees.

8:44 pm PST It is Friday, Feb. 11th, in Egypt and massive demonstrations are expected in Cairo and elsewhere. They…

Where “Inalienable Rights” Have No Meaning

by Roberto Rodriquez / CounterPunch / February 9, 2011

Jose Olivas holds a drawing of a baby as he protests against Arizona’s Senate bill 1308 and 1309 outside Arizona’s Capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona, 7 February 2011. The two bills seek to overrule the 14th amendment of the US constitution by denying American citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants.

SeaWorld in San Diego is announcing today, according to the San Diego U-T, that it plans a real roller coaster…

There has been a lot of scary talk in the mainstream media and from politicians regarding Social Security, and it’s…