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Keeping a Neighborhood “Be the Best” Spirit Alive

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Recently I received an email from a friend asking me if I would lead a conversation that would begin with a piece of art, next April, on issues important to Dunbar, the neighborhood in Tucson, where I spent the first 24 years of my life.

I couldn’t get back to her with the answer, “Yes,” quick enough. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do, in life, than take part in a rap session on behalf of a community that resides at the core of who I am as a human being.

I mean, I am Dunbar personified. I long ago bought into the neighborhood’s esprit de corps, “Be the Best” which was our motto at Dunbar School, the K-9 all-black school. Such thinking has pretty much been my life’s Golden Rule.   [Read more…]

‘My Way Or the Highway’ Isn’t a Rallying Call for Activism

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In a not-so-improbable dystopian future, forces loyal to fearless leader Donald Trump will have rounded up local labor leaders, only to be surprised to learn of a faction demanding a separate firing squad…

A breakaway group –the San Diego Working Families Council– led by deposed Labor Council President Mickey Kasparian includes seven local branches of some big-name unions.

Today, the San Diego Free Press offers up three perspectives of what this split means for local activists.   [Read more…]

What’s the Matter with Labor in San Diego?

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…there is no great philosophical debate over principle at stake here in San Diego. In fact, principle or coherent strategic thinking has nothing to do with the current state of affairs at all.  

By Jim Miller

In one of my first columns of the year, I made a plea that San Diego labor should not allow itself to be distracted by the trials and tribulations of Labor Council President Mickey Kasparian.   

With everything from a looming anti-labor shift on the Supreme Court and at the National Labor Relations Board, to “right to work” legislation in Congress along with a host of other perils, I argued that the Trump era simply holds too many dangers for labor to get bogged down in the petty drama surrounding one leader…   [Read more…]

Looking Back at the Week: May 7-13

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This week’s edition of Looking Back at the Week features articles, commentaries, columns, toons, and other work by San Diego Free Press regulars, irregulars, columnists, at-large contributors, cartoonists, and sourced writers on: the Comey firing, the Kasparian firing, Indivisible in Coronado, disposable people, the greatness of national monuments, homelessness in SD, whiffs of Watergate, the death of George Winne, Jr., and lots of other grassroots news & progressive views from San Diego’s friendly, neighborhood, all volunteer, slightly funky, community news site.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Drawn

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DRAWN

I’m drawn
to divided cities
where roads end in amputations
town squares cleaved
lives bifurcated

Walk into walls
that ache with separation
anxiety oozing through bricks   [Read more…]

Progressive San Diego Activist Calendar – May 12-23, 2017

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San Diego continues to be an activist powerhouse, with demonstrations, teach-ins and cultural events throughout the upcoming weeks. This past week’s actions in Coronado attracted national attention from the media and other activist organizations around the country.

In case you haven’t noticed, El Presidente is becoming a little more unhinged every day. I’m starting to think maybe the networks should just create a timeslot for his daily rants. Morning Meltdowns would be a good title, I think.

So what will you do? Check out this week’s Progressive Calendar listings   [Read more…]

Indivisible Activists Prick RNC Bubble in Coronado

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Nearly 400 activists with the network of 88 Indivisible-affiliated groups in Southern California took to the beach on Thursday, aiming to send a message to the Republican National Committee’s Spring Meeting at the Hotel Del Coronado.

Inside the building, it was business as usual for GOP delegates from around the country.

On the beach side of the luxury property, activists sought to drive home the message business as usual will include public protests, no matter where the GOP tries to meet.

They wanted to make it clear that the toxic policies and conduct of President Donald Trump will cost the party its majority in the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.   [Read more…]

South Bay Loses an Icon and Faces a Journalism Crisis

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The loss of Susan Luzzaro comes during a time when the entire country faces a crisis in journalism. With the Trump Administration waging a “fake news” war on most major news outlets — including the Washington Post, which supports an ever-decreasing number of investigative journalists — the South Bay has also taken several hits.

I can identify only two full-time paid journalists whose focus is to exclusively cover the South Bay (defined as anything South of the I-54 to the border): Robert Moreno, who is the only full-time journalist at the Chula Vista Star News and Allison Sampite-Montecalvo at the San Diego Union Tribune.

Think on that for a moment. One full-time paid journalist (Robert Moreno) is hired to cover all of Chula Vista & National City which make up approximately 250,000 and 60,000 residents respectively. The Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary school district in the state of California.   [Read more…]

Trump’s Next Target: Voter Rolls

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“Asking Cookie Monster to be your pastry chef is like asking Kris Kobach to head your voter fraud commission”

Given that today is “Root Canal Appreciation Day,” it seems appropriate to share some painful news coming out of Washington DC: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order setting up a commission to review election integrity.

ABC News reports senior administration officials saying Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be Chair and Vice Chair of the ‘Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.’

As is true with so many actions announced by the administration, this executive order is based on a falsehood, offers up multiple opportunities for implementing a right-wing social agenda, and serves to flatter Donald Trump’s fragile ego.   [Read more…]

Comey Firing Is an ‘Assault on the Rule of Law’

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In a world where up is down, right is wrong, and war is peace, the firing of FBI director James Comey by President Donald Trump for treating political opponent Hillary Clinton unfairly makes perfect sense.

In order for us to bend the arc of history towards justice, we cannot let this latest outrage pass unnoticed. There are things you as a citizen need to do.

The real question, re: Comey, is: Why now? Why not months ago? And the answer is: shit is about to hit the fan. The timing of the FBI director’s firing was no coincidence.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Living With The Gods

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Didn’t know
I arrived
because I never left Olympus

No need for words
when the mouth is full of baclava from Damascus
dried apricots and cinnamon
aged in oak casks   [Read more…]

$250 Million Proposed Cuts Threaten Our Estuary and South Bay Homeless Numbers

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Today is Cinco de Mayo and if you think it’s Mexico’s Independence Day — you’re wrong. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Lauryn Mascareñaz at Teaching Tolerance gives a description of the holiday and then, importantly, explains the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation.

That said, let’s celebrate! After a four year absence, Chula Vista will host a Cinco de Mayo Music Festival. Twenty musical and cultural dance performances will be showcased on Sunday, May 7th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at J Street Marina Park (550 Marina Parkway). The event is FREE.   [Read more…]

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