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Brief History of OB Grassroots Activism – Part 2

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This first appeared at the OB Rag.

This is Part 2 of my “brief” history of modern OB activism. Here’s Part 1. It is taken from a talk I gave at the Open House of the Green Store on July 14th.

The Eighties

The 1980s were a period of accommodation. Hippie businessmen and women emerged on the scene in OB and were accepted. The projects of the hippie radicals of the late Sixties and Seventies had all but faded away – many of the hippies remained however, buying homes in OB or Point Loma, getting married, and having careers and children. But the radical pioneers had paved the way for a new wave of hippies – it was the coming of age of the “hip-oisie”, a type of hip petite-bourgeoisie.

Young, hip businesspeople not only emerged and opened up shops within OB’s business centers, but they became the leaders on Newport Avenue, breathing new life into a older, moribund business elite that had grown out of touch with the residents of the community.

The new hip-oisie ushered in a new type of activism, an activism that resulted in such mainstays that they are taken for granted today : the OB Christmas-then-Holiday Parade, the Christmas Tree, the OB Geriatric Surf Team, the annual OB Street Fair. In essence, then, over the decade, there had been a re-making of the main commercial street in the village. Newport Ave had experienced an overhaul.
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Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial to Get Wired

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by Frances Zimmerman

Influential and privately-funded Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial Association (VMA) got backing Monday afternoon from the volunteer citizens advisory group at La Jolla Parks and Beaches (LJP&B) to install an electrical easement at the City of San Diego’s 118-acre Mount Soledad Natural Park.

The motion, made by LJP&B members Dan Allen and seconded by John Beaver, passed 9 to 3. An earlier motion to deny the VMA’s request to install lighting failed 10 to 3. A representative of the Sierra Club was among those who spoke against electrification, citing light pollution and negative effects on celestial observation.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line — Drinking the Right Wing Kool-Aid in Mission Valley; UT-SD’s Quest to Demonize President Obama

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How low will the UT-San Diego’s editorial board go in its quest to demonize President Obama?  Will they manufacture or twist history to portray him as the worst chief executive in history? You betcha!, as they did in an editorial profile (Presidential busts: The worst of all: Barack Obama...) this weekend. Will they cry “wolf” when one of contender Mitt Romney’s financial backers’ activities gets scrutinized by the federal government after years of investigations by state governments? Oh, yes!, they will.   [Read more…]

Sex In San Diego: Teaching Sex In the Classroom

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RH Reality Check / Martha Kempner

Middle school and high school sexuality courses frequently become the subject of controversy most often because parents become upset after they learn of something said or done in class that they deem too explicit. By the time young people get to college, however, much of this potential for controversy fades for a number of reasons; parents are less involved, it is more acceptable for college students to be sexually active, and there is an understanding that human sexuality courses are voluntary — students know what they are getting into. Still, every once and awhile, the national media or perhaps worse a state politician gets wind of something that has happened in a college classroom and we start to debate again how far is too far in college sex education.   [Read more…]

A (Brief) History of Ocean Beach Grassroots Activism

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The following is based on a talk I gave at the Green Store’s Open House on Saturday, July 14th.

This is an outline of the history – the modern history – of OB grassroots activism – which began in the late Sixties with the development and growth of the hippie sub-culture, the counter-culture.

By 1967, Ocean Beach had become the Haight-Ashbury of San Diego. OB was the San Diego equivalent of that fabled and iconic San Francisco neighborhood that had become synonymous with “hippie-ism”. If you were a hippie or a hippie-wannabe during this time somewhere in San Diego, you ended up in OB.

Of course, other factors contributed to the incubation in Ocean Beach of a community sympathetic and supportive of the new emerging counter-counter: before there were long-haired hippies in OB, there were long-haired surfers – as this community had been a center of surf-culture for years by time OB had morphed into a hippie haven. And, more in general, OB had been a classic southern California beach-college town, where students and young people made up a huge proportion of the residents. There were no colleges right in OB, but there were plenty close by. Cal-Western (now Nazarene) was just up the hill in Point Loma. Plus OB was a bedroom community for USD – also not too far away, but especially for San Diego State, and Mesa, City, UCSD.
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4th Night of Unrest in Anaheim As Protesters Confront Police – Support Caravan Planned From San Diego

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Hundreds of Protesters – 24 Arrests and 7 Hours of Confrontations

Unrest continued last night – Tuesday, July 24th – in Anaheim, the fourth night in a row – between community residents protesting recent police lethal shootings and law enforcement. 24 arrests were made yesterday and overnight, near a half dozen injuries occurred during the seven hours of conflict Tuesday that ended around 2 a.m.

Anaheim police remained on alert Wednesday. The family of the man fatally shot on Saturday is suing the City and police and a support caravan from San Diego is going up to Anaheim on Sunday, July 29th.

Between 500 and 600 demonstrators were reported to have carried out protests throughout Tuesday, as hundreds of extra police were brought in to supplement Anaheim’s city police. Many of the protests were peaceful, yet police again fired pepper balls and beanbags at unarmed protesters. Some business windows were smashed, rocks were thrown at police, and dumpsters lit on fire.
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A Blast From The Past! City Heights Community Garden 1991-1996

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The City Heights Farmer’s Market recently celebrated its fourth anniversary. This market offers fresh fruits, vegetables and good food that speaks to the varying tastes of our diverse community. Here in City Heights we are also growing our own food in community gardens. Do you remember when First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Crawford New Roots Community Garden in 2010?

Community gardens offer something different than gardening in your own back yard or shopping for fresh produce at a farmer’s market. Community gardens are where the power of nature meet the power of people. Community gardens grow relationships, they grow community as much as vegetables and fruit.   [Read more…]

Restaurant Review – Old Town’s “LA PIÑATA” – Tasty Food & a Treasure Chest for Kids

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Last night I had a fun evening with my daughter and her two grandchildren. Yes, they are my great grandchildren, and it is always a joy to be with them. My great-granddaughter is 3, going on 15; my great-grandson just turned two.

When asked if they wanted to go to dinner with me, they were excited and asked if we could go to the “Treasure Chest” restaurant. (Can you imagine that at their ages they already have a favorite place to go?) My daughter agreed, because she has the best motivator for making sure that the kids behave themselves.  La Piñata has a “treasure chest” filled with all kinds of goodies for the “good boys and girls.” My daughter and granddaughter have set the rules for the family:  IF they eat their meal AND if they behave, stay in their chairs; speak with “restaurant voices” at the end of lunch/dinner, etc. they can pick one gift each from the treasure chest. It works like a charm.  And they are consistent with the rules.  (For example, last night my great-grandson did not eat all his dinner. He did not get to choose something from the treasure chest. His sister did everything she was supposed to do and she did get a trinket from the chest. He was not unhappy about not getting anything. Even at two he knows the rules.)   [Read more…]

The Animal Cracker Conspiracy: Puppet Slams Popping Up in San Diego

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By Jim Bliesner
Ian Gunn and Bridget Rountree are masters of “creative collaboration”. Their Animal Cracker Conspiracy is part of the Puppet Slam Network which states, “Underground puppet shows are popping up everywhere. They feature contemporary short form puppet and object theatre for adult audiences, open late at night in small venues, night clubs and art spaces, Puppet Slams exist at the nexus of vaudeville, burlesque and performance art through the intersection of experimental theatre, art, music and dance as a viable alternative to the culturally homogenous digital mass media”.

Wow, quite a conglomeration of expectations and styles to live up to, but the Animal Cracker Conspiracy pulled it off at their “Adult Puppet Cabaret” happening at  3rdSpace, Friday, July 20th. KaPOW!. The 3rdSpace is a membership only creative incubator at 4610 Park Blvd. provides space for a variety of performance events on their elevated small stage theatre.   [Read more…]

The Starting Line – California Republicans to Push Voter ID Measure in Quest to Completely Marginalize Party

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Just shoot me, please… On the heels of a New York Times article describing the California Republican Party as “caught in a cycle of relentless decline, and appears in danger of shrinking to the rank of a minor party”, the State GOP has announced plans for sponsorship of a Voter Identification initiative for the next election cycle. To kick off that effort the party has invited conservative columnist John Fund, co-author of the forthcoming book “Who’s Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk.” to its August convention in Burbank.

The move to enact a Voter ID law is sure to alienate minority voters, who are poised to become a majority of the electorate in California in the near future. Attorney General  Eric Holder characterized Voter ID laws as a new poll tax at the recent NAACP convention. Two new reports — released by the Brennan Center of Justice at the NYU School of Law and the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication, respectively – have further undermined the GOP’s discredited claims that voter ID laws do not have a discriminatory impact on persons of color and are not intended to be discriminatory on the basis of race.   [Read more…]

Anaheim Police Assault Mexican-American Community After Fatal Shooting of Unarmed Man

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Cops Fire Bean Bags, Rubber Bullets, and Pepper Balls and Unleash Dog on Crowd that Included Children

The City of Anaheim, California – home to Disneyland – is in the national spotlight right now for a vicious police assault Saturday on a Mexican-American community.

It all started Saturday, July 21, when Anaheim police approached three men in an alley. The men reportedly fled, but one – Manual Diaz – a 25 year old man – who police said was a known gang member – was chased to the front of an apartment complex where he was shot and killed by police. One eyewitness told the media that he witnessed Diaz being shot in the back or buttocks area, that he fell to the ground, and then was shot again in the head. The Anaheim police chief later said that Diaz was unarmed.   [Read more…]

Women Too: An HIV Allegory

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by Kit-Bacon Gressitt

My daughter is dying.

“Oh, oh, I’m so sorry!” You are stunned. You clutch your heart.

Of course you are sorry, but my daughter is dying.

“How terribly sad for you,” and you fall silent, uncertain what to say.

But it’s more than sad. My daughter is dying a slow and frightening death.

“Oh, dear,” you comfort, “that is so tragic.” And you thank your god it’s not your child.

But it’s worse than tragic, even worse than that. My daughter is so young, so beautiful, and she is slowly dying before my eyes.

“Oh, there is nothing more painful than a parent losing a child,” you repeat from somewhere. But you don’t really understand.   [Read more…]

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