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I Bought Into Bob Filner as Mayor and Was Betrayed

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I’m not a registered Democrat or Republican (or as I prefer Democrata or Republiklan). I never bought into the two party system and I probably never will. As the late Chicano leader Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez said, Democrats and Republicans “are one party that feed from the same trough.”

Under rare circumstances have I ever voted for either political party. When I did it was usually to vote against the Republican candidate. For most of my 20’s I didn’t vote at all.

I didn’t vote for Bill Clinton or Al Gore. I didn’t vote for John Kerry either. There was no way I would’ve voted for either of their Republican opponents. During the Clinton elections I didn’t vote. During the Bush/Gore race I voted for Ralph Nader and during the Bush/Kerry election I voted for imprisoned American Indian Movement activist Leonard Peltier.   [Read more…]

Las Monthly Ondas August Edition: Mesa College to Pay Tribute to Long Time Chicana Activist

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Event to Raise Funds for Gracia Molina de Pick Glass Gallery

By Brent E. Beltrán

In March I wrote about long time San Diego activist/educator Gracia Molina de Pick donating $80,000 to the Mesa College Chicana/o Studies Endowment. This month the San Diego Mesa College Foundation and the Mesa College Chicana/o Studies Department return the favor and will honor Sra. Molina de Pick with a tribute fundraising event.

“The Chicana/o Studies Department is partnering with the San Diego Mesa Foundation to create a tribute event to Gracia Molina de Pick in order to raise funds to commission a series of naming honors that will create the Gracia Molina de Pick Glass Gallery on the San Diego Mesa College campus in the rotunda area of the Languages, Humanities and Multicultural Studies Building,” said Chicana/o Studies chairperson César López in an email.   [Read more…]

Adventures in Comic-Conlandia: A Nerd’s-eye View Wrap-up

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By Brent E. Beltrán

I survived another San Diego Comic-Con International. This one, perhaps, being the most grueling.

I had initially planned to write my wrap-up on Sunday night but was too tired. I was then going to write it on Monday but my exhausted corpse refused to get off the couch.

So here I am on Tuesday, slightly less exhausted but determined to finish writing about my Adventures in Comic-Conlandia.

Of my many Comic-Cons this was the first where I actually had work to do. I volunteered in the past but I don’t consider that work. Over the course of Comic-Con I posted 160 photos to Instagram and only three short videos. I had hoped to take more Instagram videos but I got caught up in everything and went the easy route by mostly snapping pics.   [Read more…]

Adventures in Comic-Conlandia: A Nerds-eye View Day Three

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By Brent E. Beltrán

The third full day of San Diego Comic-Con International started off the same as the first three, with me walking from my neighborhood of Barrio Logan. It’s only 1.2 miles from my apartment to the Convention Center but after trekking all over Comic-Con for a few days it can feel light years away.

I’m not really one to map out my day at Comic-Con. Usually when I do something comes up (usually long lines) and I stray from the plan. On Saturday, I had three plans: get an autograph of former UFC lightweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, take tons of photos of cosplayers all dressed up showing off their costumes and walk a bit on 5th Ave. to check out what’s going on outside the Convention Center.

For some strange reason I ended up doing all of that. And I got to hang out a bit with my buddy Tri Huynh, his girlfriend Kelly Smith and her son Ty. Perhaps it was the Universes smiling on me.   [Read more…]

Adventures in Comic-Conlandia: A Nerds-eye View Day Two

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Story and Photos by Brent E. Beltrán

For the second full day of the greatest popular arts convention in the universe my wife Olympia and I had grand plans. We were going to spend the entirety of it in the Convention Center’s infamous Hall H.

Hall H is the largest programming room at Comic-Con. It seats 6000 or so people (not sure how many Wookies it might hold) and has the some of the best and most attended panels. And this Friday’s lineup was spectacular.

The two of us thought that if we got to the convention by 10am we might at some point get inside.

We were wrong.   [Read more…]

Adventures in Comic-Conlandia: A Nerds-eye View Day One

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Photos & Story by Brent Beltran

Just as expected Thursday, July 18, the first full day of San Diego Comic-Con International, was the nerdgasm I knew it would be. I’ve been to numerous San Diego Comic-Cons dating back to 1985 and I feel at home here amongst my fellow misfits.

I’m comfortable geeking out with the multi-cultured, multi-generational masses that make up the Comic-Con audience, all of whom are here for the sole purpose of enjoying and indulging in their favorite sci-fi/fantasy/horror/comic book/movie characters, stories and assorted items.   [Read more…]

Adventures in Comic-Conlandia: A Nerds-eye View

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By Brent E. Beltrán

It all started with Star Wars in 1977. My tia Maggie and her husband took me the year it came out. I was 7 years old at the time. Saw it at the Mission Valley Theater. That was followed of course by Empire and Jedi. I was hooked. Still am.

The Christmas it came out my parents bought me all kinds of Star Wars toys including a Landspeeder, an X-wing and the most badass toy one could hope for at the time, the Death Star. They also got me a bunch of action figures including Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, a Jawa, a Tusken Raider, Hammerhead, Walrus Man, Greedo, and a Stormtrooper….

…The summer of 1985 was a big year for me. It was the first time I had the opportunity to attend Comic-Con and I was super stoked! My buddy Tri Huynh and I planned to attend. I was in summer school at Clairemont High between my 9th and 10th grades. I was taking an extra class, Geometry, to get ahead. I took the city bus to school and that day I carried a small duffle bag filled with comics to get signed by my favorite writers/artists.

Back then the Con was held at the San Diego Community Concourse near City Hall. It was a much smaller event than today’s corporatized, Hollywierd monster. It was mostly comic book centered.   [Read more…]

A Good Day to Exercise Our 1st Amendment Rights; Barrio Logan BofA Chalk-In Demonstration a Success

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By Brent E. Beltrán

On Saturday, July 6, a little over a dozen people showed up in my neighborhood to exercise our 1st Amendment rights with chalk. At noon we gathered at Bank of America’s Barrio Logan branch on the corner of National Ave. and Sampson St.

The reason for our action was to protest not only Bank of America’s policies but to show our solidarity with Jeff Olson who had recently been put on trial by the out of control San Diego City Attorney, Jan Goldsmith. Mr. Olson faced up to 13 years in prison and a substantial fine for writing anti-bank slogans in chalk outside of BofA branches in North Park and Hillcrest on the publicly owned sidewalk.

The push to prosecute Mr. Olson was at the behest of Darrell Freeman, Vice President of BofA’s global corporate security. He made numerous efforts to get the San Diego Police Department’s Gang Unit to forward the case to the City Attorney’s office to prosecute.

And boy did they. The equally out of control deputy city attorney Paige Hazard went after Mr. Olson as though her life depended on a conviction. Her zeal to see Mr. Olson behind bars bordered on the ridiculous if not a downright obsession. Luckily the jury saw through her madness, as well as Lincoln Club stooge Goldsmith, and acquitted Mr. Olson of all charges.   [Read more…]

Las Monthly Ondas July Edition: Free Speech Chalk-In at BofA Barrio Logan and Other Branches

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By Brent E. Beltrán

Last week floundering Republican City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, at the behest of Bank of America, chose to prosecute Occupy San Diego protester Jeff Olson for writing anti-bank slogans on the sidewalk, in washable chalk, in front of their North Park branch.

Mr. Olson was charged with 13 counts of vandalism and faced a year in jail and a $1000 fine on each count. He faced a total possible sentence of 13 years in jail and $13,000! Luckily a San Diego jury on Monday, July 1st, using common sense, found him not guilty on all counts.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith wasted over one hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer’s money to prosecute someone for exercising their 1stamendment rights, on public property, to do the bidding of his corporate master.

Freedom loving progressives and liberals all over San Diego are tired of right wing politicians working on behalf of corporations and the rich instead of defending the rights and interests of average citizens like Jeff Olson.

So tired that a Recall Jan Goldsmith Facebook page has garnered over 230 likes in less than a week. So tired that a nationwide Chalk-In is taking place this Saturday at various Bank of America branches throughout San Diego and the rest of the country.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: Artist Mario Acevedo Reflects on Golden Hill

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By Brent E. Beltrán

Mario “Torero” Acevedo is one of those crazy cats that you look at and instantly think this guy is an artist. He rocks the cool shades with a stylin’ hat, neatly trimmed white beard and occasional outlandish, paint splattered threads.

But he’s more than just a crazy artist. He’s San Diego history. He is Chicano history even though he’s from Peru. And since he came to San Diego in 1960 he’s been an integral part of Golden Hill’s history.

Torero has a long history of being an artivist in San Diego. From the founding of Chicano Park and the Centro Cultural de la Raza to the Community Arts Center and Sol Arts Gallery to Reincarnation, the Art Station and more. He was instrumental in leading the effort to change the name of Crosby St. in Logan to Cesar Chavez Parkway. His artwork can be seen all over San Diego.   [Read more…]

Las Monthly Ondas June Edition: Taco Shop Poets Dream of Sugar Skulls

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Read Tacos. Eat Poetry.

By Brent E. Beltrán

Has it already been twenty years since a band of guerrilla word slingers thought to share poetry with taco shop patrons? Apparently so, as the Taco Shop Poets are back in poetic motion for a gig at The Front in San Ysidro.

Founding Taco Shop Poets member Adolfo Guzman Lopez told me “it’s been 20 years since the idea for taco shop poetry was put in motion. We’re presenting the group’s 2011 book Sugarskull Sueños at the Tijuana book fair and what better place to reflect on our personal journeys as Mexican Americans, Chicanos, Latinos, cuarentones, border vatos, and fathers than a homegrown community space in San Ysidro.”

Originally started as a large, loose knit group of mostly Chicano and Latino raconteurs the Taco Shop Poets almost singlehandedly helped recreate the California spoken word poetry scene. They eventually whittled themselves down into a tight collective of border bards that have toured the nation and beyond. Their influence on the Chicano poetry world can still be felt today even though they’ve been relatively dormant the past few years.   [Read more…]

Desde la Logan: They Served and Are Now Finally Recognized for Their Sacrifices

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Chicano Park Memorial Honors Logan Heights Veterans 

By Brent E. Beltrán

On Saturday, May 18 military veterans from the community of Logan Heights were finally recognized for the sacrifices they have made throughout the years. Located in Chicano Park, a large stone memorial and flagpole—which initially broke ground on November 11, 2008—was dedicated to the many veterans from the Logan Heights area who have served and died in this country’s armed forces.

Around 300 people were on hand to watch the dedication ceremony near the pedestrian bridge that crosses over the I-5 freeway. Many were veterans, family members, friends and community members. Including almost a dozen veterans from World War II as well as many from the wars in Korea, Viet Nam and more recent ones like Iraq and Afghanistan.

The dedication ceremony, emceed by Logan Heights Veterans Memorial Committee member John Crespin, included a presentation of the flag—which will fly on the Fourth of July, Veterans and Memorial Day— by veterans Adam Gastelum, Tony Milan and Ruben Rivera; a singing of the National Anthem by Julia Price; and a twenty one gun salute and the playing of Taps by the Airborne Honor Guard–National City.   [Read more…]

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