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What Should the City of San Diego Do With the Old Library?

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By John Lawrence

San Diego has a flashy new Central Library and it’s all paid for without taxpayer funds thanks to local philanthropists. I wrote in another article about the Grand Opening. But that brings up the question: what are we going to do with the old library, a historical landmark, that sits vacant on E Street downtown across from the Post Office.

There have been some suggestions. Interim Mayor Todd Gloria stated: “As soon as we open up that new facility, I want to make sure we have a plan in place for the old facility, and make sure that we put it back into a useful life for the citizens, the taxpayers, and of course the residents of downtown.”

Well, the new library opened September 28, 2013, eight long months ago, and there are no plans at this time for doing anything with the old building which is increasingly turning into an eyesore. We are coming up on the one year anniversary, June 9, of the closure of the old library and still there are no plans for it.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Amerika

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By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Amerika
is a good idea
that can’t live up to itself
looks better on the page
than in streets

Amerika
promises what it can’t deliver
takes from many
gives to few
is more muscle
than grey matter…   [Read more…]

Remembering Maya Angelou

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By Anna Daniels

SDFP contributor Ernie McCray wrote a moving tribute to Maya Angelou following the news of her death on May 28th. His poem makes reference to her 1969 autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

You said, of a caged bird,
that it “stands on the grave of dreams,”
singing of what’s unknown
but still singing of someday
being free –
and you’ve helped me believe
that we can, …

For many of us, that autobiography was our first introduction to the works of Angelou. It provided a glimpse into the circumstances which would shape her life as an intellectual, civil rights activist and writer.

  [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Flags

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By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Flags

Up here
earth is one body

Then comes the declaration
slashing breath

Sound of shells
splitting
flesh
spilling
blood
scratching imaginary lines
between grains of sand   [Read more…]

Many Thanks, Maya

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By Ernie McCray

Many Thanks, Maya

I miss you, Maya,
but you will forever reside
in the breezes of
the breaths of fresh air
you gifted us with
when you were here,
ever so lovely and dear,
so wise beyond any years,
captivating us with your smile
and your wit
and your humor, all the while,
teaching us the ways of “We,”
you, him, her, them, me –
all of humanity. …   [Read more…]

San Diego City Works Press Calls for Submissions for Sunshine/Noir II: Writing from San Diego and Tijuana

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By Jim Miller

San Diego City Works Press is soon approaching its 10-year anniversary. SDCWP is run by a 100% non-profit collective and is the only small literary press in San Diego that focuses primarily on the publication of local writers with an emphasis on our region that moves beyond the postcard version of our reality.

In an era where commercial forces and hegemonic instrumentality are drowning out what remains of literary culture, we have persisted against the odds. We invite all interested parties to be a part of our beautifully useless endeavor.

To celebrate our anniversary, we are putting together a second edition of our first anthology, Sunshine/Noir II. All local writers are encouraged to submit work for consideration.   [Read more…]

Poem: White Like Us

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All the salons in the city couldn’t perm that culture out of her hair

By Raymond R. Beltran

When I was young, I thought I was white,
my skin being much lighter
when I stood next to a black boy,
and we all spoke English
unable to grasp culture.
English, Spanglish, Caló, Spanish,
The transition has been devastating.
Pocho! They used to scream.
Standing there, speechless,
I thought I would cut out my tongue.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press Contributor Update: Recognition and the Continued Pursuit of Justice

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Karen Kenyon, Richard Juarez, Will Falk, Sam Ollinger, Ishmael von Heindrick-Barnes, Frank Gormlie and Brent Beltrán

By staff

San Diego Free Press contributors and editors are involved in myriad activities beyond writing articles for this site. We would be remiss if we don’t mention some of those activities that have occurred this month.   [Read more…]

Lady Annabelle

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By Tokoni Uti

She has a will, she has a choice.
Now too loud to hear the noise.
All those who never wanted to be.
And all the voices that we see.   [Read more…]

Another Look at Thomas Piketty’s “Law of Inequality”

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By Frank Thomas

This is a follow-up to the article Capitalism: A Comparison of Marx and Piketty by John Lawrence.

Utilizing massive historical documentation, Thomas Piketty argues that as returns to invested capital outstrip the rate of economic growth, income from wealth grows faster than the economy – concentrating more and more money and power in the hands of a few. As these returns are reinvested, inherited wealth will grow faster – concentrating even more money in fewer hands.

When incomes from capital become more concentrated than incomes from labor – e.g., today, the wealthiest 10% earn almost the same amount of income as the rest of the country – personal income distribution will also become more unequal. So far, this is not an earth-shaking economic revelation.   [Read more…]

Geo-Poetic Spaces: Burn Area

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By Ishmael von Heidrick-Barnes

Burn Area

Why does it take fire
to knock down flames?
Peeling back undergrowth
exposing artifacts
tossed from windows
on reckless drives off roads?   [Read more…]

Poem: From Imperial, Up Euclid

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By Raymond R. Beltran

Give me the streets, the concrete streets
any day. I’ve paid high prices to be in touch,
in touch with curls, black curls and
brown heads gleaming at the rising sun,
gleaming through housing projects in The Dip.

Black-fisted murals, black eagles encircled in red flags,
give me the streets, the poor contrast,
colorless streets, where green outshines the gloom.
The green of bling bling, big bodies
rollin on twenty inch chrome blades, making
that hustle through Little Africa.   [Read more…]

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