OB Rag

Back in 1951 my classmates and I at John Spring Jr. High, in Tucson, in our pure innocence, made desegregation work in our part of town.

It was all about love and without it, in heavy doses, many of us black kids wouldn’t have been able to bear the pain and awkwardness that came with the new era. See, there we were on the very first day singing “Hail to John Spring Jr. High” just a summer away from having, for years, sung our “hail to’s” to Paul Laurence Dunbar. At Dunbar Jr. High. Overnight Dunbar’s name was exited from our lives like a word being erased at the blackboard – as though there was no realization that this great poet with pen in hand had captured in his imagery the very essence of our struggles as a people, in black dialect, no less. This man was tied to our very psyche, our sense of self. We couldn’t understand why his name had to go.

by anonymous OBcian

Often these days, we hear so many bad things about our country – the political tensions and the economy -, and we hear so many bad things about our state of California – how its going broke and the legislative stalemate -, and plus we hear so many negative things about our southwestern County – its conservatism and shyness in handing out benefits -, that we sometimes forget where we are.

Well, for one, I want to shout out: “Let’s hear it for the other side – let’s hear it for our country, our state, and yes, even for our county: “hip, hip, hurray, hip, hip, hurray!”

What the heck am I shouting about???

I’m shouting ‘hurray’ loud and clear for everyone to hear — for the safety and social nets of our county, state and country.

by Tim Wise

Let’s play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it’s played is simple: we’ll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we’ll conjure – the ones who are driving the action – we’ll envision black folks or other people of color instead. The object of the game is to imagine the public reaction to the events or incidents, if the main actors were of color, rather than white. Whoever gains the most insight into the workings of race in America, at the end of the game, wins.

So let’s begin.

Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition.

Editor: Our good friend and OB Rag supporter Monty Kroopkin was the nominee for president of Local 221 of the SEIU put up by a reform slate last summer. We interviewed him during the campaign, which the reformers lost. Allegations of fraud committed by the winners were raised by the reform activists. Now, they’ve won a round. Check out this update below.

by Eleanor Yang Su / San Diego Union-Tribune / April 22, 2010

The county’s largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 221, reached a settlement this week over complaints about its election last summer, and will hold a new election under federal supervision before Sept. 30.

Members of the SEIU Local 221, which represents about 10,000 county employees and other public-sector workers, filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor contending that the July 21 election illegally denied nearly 1,000 members the right to vote.

The Republicans have taken the bull by the horns on the immigration issue, proving yet again that they know how to produce b.s. and lots of it.

Arizona was not about to wait for President Obama to address this federal issue. Arizona wants to be as bad-ass as secessionist threatening Texas, although the Zonies themselves are smart enough to not want to actually spend time in Texas, preferring to use their get out of hell card to hang out on a California beach during the summer. Arizona’s approach to comprehensive immigration reform in all of its reducto ad absurdum is a mere two words- racial profiling. Keep it classy, Arizona!

Racial profiling is as American as apple pie and throughout the history of this great country of ours, …

by Jim Wallis / Christians for Immigration Reform /04-21-2010

I got up at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday to fly to Phoenix, Arizona, to speak at a press conference and rally at the State Capitol at the invitation of the state’s clergy and other leaders in the immigration reform movement. The harshest enforcement bill in the country against undocumented immigrants just passed the Arizona state House and Senate, and is only awaiting the signature of Governor Janet Brewer to become law.

Senate Bill 1070 would require law enforcement officials in the state of Arizona to investigate someone’s immigration status if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person might be undocumented.

The San Diego County Democratic Party (SDCDP) Wednesday named the County Registrar of Voters and the Republican Party as conspirators in a legal violation regarding postage subsidies.

The SDCDP plans to report the violation to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

The SDCDP alleges that the County Registrar of Voters, at taxpayer expense, will insert partisan campaign literature into the official sample ballots mailed to Republican voters next month.

by Anna Daniels

Obecians- you have participated in a polite conversation on this blog about the intrusion of government in your private lives recently. The Homeland Security cameras, the life guard towers, etc. Take note that the good citizens of Georgia have recently taken a much more pro-active approach to this issue. The Georgia House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would prohibit “requiring a person to be implanted with a microchip.” Violation of this law would be a misdemeanor.

by Graham Land / Greenfudge.org / April 22, 2010

Bolivia has been hosting an international summit, named the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, in the city of Cochabamba. The talks began on the 19th and finish today.

From a report by the Environmental News Service:

More than 20,000 indigenous, environmental and civil society delegates from 129 countries were in attendance as President Morales welcomed them to the conference at a soccer stadium in the village of Tiquipaya on the outskirts of the city of Cochabamba.

The tone in Bolivia is decidedly political, with an emphasis on nature, poor and indigenous peoples and ‘climate justice’.

Originally posted April 22, 2009

by Frank Gormlie

This was the day a new park was born, created out of the dirt of a Highway Patrol station. The people of Barrio Logan on this day seized land that was supposed to hold a CHP station. They made it into a park – Chicano Park – which today stands as an historic center for murals, art, Chicano and Mexican-American culture.

Closing in on the 4th hour of the afternoon on April 20th (4/20), I grabbed my camera and note pad and headed for the beach. I was in search of the 420 celebration, hoping to catch OBceans partying for the holiday at 4:20 pm. I also hoped I would have more luck than other reporters searching for the same.

Easing my car into the lifeguard parking lot, I scanned the beach for a cannabis style floatopia or some such event. Yet, I saw only a couple here and there on the sand, enjoying the last rays of a sun about to be gobbled up by in-coming clouds. No mass gathering of youthful civil disobedients on this beach, flaunting johnny law to light up on this holiday.

Editor: This is great news. A non-profit in La Jolla has stepped up to sponsor that community’s seven fire pits. Hopefully, a local non-profit in OB could assist our neighborhood in sponsoring our eight fire pits. The issue for OB will be heard at the OB Town Council on April 28th.

By Dave Schwab / La Jolla Light / April 20, 2010

The La Jolla Community Foundation is willing to pay for beach fire pits in La Jolla if other donors and community foundations are willing to follow suit in their communities.