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Language Interpreters Are California’s Lifeline

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Lack of Interpreters is a Life and Death Situation for Many

By Lorena Gonzalez

There are more than 50 languages spoken more comfortable and proficiently than English by the residents in the South Bay and Mid-City San Diego neighborhoods I represent. Throughout California, this challenge is shared by more than 6.5 million Californians, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Ordering food. Asking for directions. Attending school. Interviewing for a job. Filling prescriptions. Rescheduling appointments.

No situation involving a language barrier is as frightening, though, as one that risks the life of a loved one.   [Read more…]

“Everything Comes from the Streets” Filmmakers Seek Funding

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Local Lowrider Documentary Needs Help for Post-Production Costs

By Brent E. Beltrán

In my neighborhood of Barrio Logan lowriders are a ubiquitous presence. They’re part of the cultural fabric that sews this community together. It’s not a new phenomenon. They’ve been around here for decades and are part of the history not only of Barrio Logan but of San Diego as a whole.

Recognizing a need to document and tell that history local lowriding legend Rigo Reyes joined forces with professor Alberto Pulido to create a documentary on the beginnings of San Diego’s lowrider scene. Though the film, Everything Comes from the Streets, might be their first these two longtime San Diegans know their stuff when it comes to lowriders and Chicano history.

Rigo Reyes is a founder of Amigos Car Club, which organizes the annual Chicano Park Day lowrider car show, and the San Diego Lowrider Council, which have been in existence since the late 1970’s. Dr. Pulido is the chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of San Diego. Both have been members of the Chicano Park Steering Committee for many years, Rigo since the takeover on April 22, 1970.

As a professor Alberto has come to recognize that all learning doesn’t happen inside the ivory towers of academia. A lot happens outside the hallowed halls of learning institutions. “As an educator one of the things that I’ve come to realize is that so much of the knowledge that we’re trying to do in the classroom is actually out in the community or like our film says its out in the streets.”   [Read more…]

23 Candidates Running for San Diego Mayor (and Counting) As Councilman David Alvarez Declares His Candidacy

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By Doug Porter

A mayoral contest best characterized thus far by the quantity of candidates took a turn towards being much more interesting yesterday as Democratic City Councilman David Alvarez entered the race.

Should he end up in the winner’s circle come February (which is when a final runoff will decide the victor), Alvarez will be the first mayor of Mexican descent since the city emerged from being ruled by trustees (bankruptcy) back in 1887.

This is no small thing in a city with a growing Hispanic (28.8%) population.  It wasn’t so long ago that brown-skinned people were prohibited from buying homes in many San Diego neighborhoods.

Alvarez is also popular with many on San Diego’s Labor Council, whose participation in get out the vote efforts in recent elections has boosted turnout in less affluent neighborhoods.  His electoral base is mostly south of Interstate 8, which changes the dynamics of an election many thought would be decided by mostly white, older voting blocs in other areas of the city.   [Read more…]

Let’s Start a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ Program for Mayoral Candidates

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By Doug Porter

It seems like ‘neighborhood’ is the new ‘sustainable’ for candidates in San Diego as the campaigns for the mayoral special election on November 19th get underway.  Yes, indeedy, it seems as though this buzzword is on everybody’s lips.

What the word ‘neighborhood’ actually means to the various candidates is what we’ll be looking to find out in the coming weeks. Both the effen (my new shorthand for the anointed candidates that “everybody knows” will win) brothers emphasized the new ‘n word’ in their initial pronouncements.

Meanwhile things are going on in San Diego’s neighborhoods and communities of interest that are symptomatic a return to the business as usual mentality that has dominated the local landscape for generations.   [Read more…]

Las Monthly Ondas September Edition: Spend a Weekend with Picasso

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Herbert Siguenza Returns as the Iconic Artist

By Brent E. Beltrán

Some may have thought that Pablo Picasso died at the gravely old age of 91 while entertaining friends at his home in France. That was not the case because the famous artist lives on here in San Diego.

This month you can see him live and in the flesh as Salvadoran actor Herbert Siguenza, of Culture Clash fame, captures the pure essence of the master himself in A Weekend with Picasso. From his mannerisms and speech to painting live Siguenza channels his inner Picasso and transforms into one of the most influential artists in modern history.   [Read more…]

The DeMaio Dilemma: Congress or City Council?

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By Doug Porter

Will he or won’t he? Run for mayor, that is.

It’s my contention (I’ve been wrong at least once before) that former City Councilman Carl DeMaio will not be entering the upcoming mayoral contest.

First, there’s my transactional analysis of what he’s doing on Twitter.

Yesterday his followers were invited to two fundraising events, “Young Professionals for Carl DeMaio” (tonight at the Hard Rock) and (for those who are young at heart and brain addled) a birthday celebration for the former city councilman on September 12th that specifically mentioned his candidacy for Congress.   [Read more…]

A Trail for Humanity’s Final Walk Begins in Chicano Park

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Video by Horacio Jones

On the morning of Saturday, August 16, more than 100 people gathered by the temescal (sweat lodge) in Chicano Park for a ceremony to honor the walkers of A Trail for Humanity. On July 22, a group of women and children left Merced, California on a journey south to the US-Mexico border in San Ysidro to pressure the Obama administration to put a halt to its deportation enforcement only policies; call for an end to the use of police as immigration enforcement agents; demand an end to family separations; and stem the tide of racial profiling that has incarcerated so many migrants and African Americans.   [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…]

Grassroots Organizing Succeeds, City Attorney Fails As Filner Budget Approved

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Bus Passes, Library Funding and Arts Programs All Get Funded

By Doug Porter

It’s a new day in San Diego as the priorities of the Filner administration are becoming reality with the passage of the City budget for 2013-2014.

Yesterday the San Diego City Council approved a $2.75 billion budget including a $1.2 billion general fund, which pays for basic services like public safety and recreation centers. Virtually all of Mayor Filner’s proposals were endorsed.

The vote on the overall budget was 7-2, with Councilmen Kevin Faulconer and Scott Sherman opposing.  Faulconer complained about a ‘missed opportunity’ with the budget, objecting to an overall increase of $30 million with no cuts in ‘waste’.  Sherman’s negative vote was prompted, according to news accounts, by his objections to ‘expansion of government’.   [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…]

Desde la Logan: The Ice Cream Man Cometh to Barrio Logan

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Family Owned Tocumbo Ice Cream Opens at Mercado del Barrio

By Brent E. Beltrán

Monday, May 13 was a beautiful, hot day in San Diego. Temperatures broke records throughout the county. But in my community of Barrio Logan things were a lot nicer because Tocumbo Ice Cream opened shop. And neighborhood residents flocked to get their cool ice cream fix.

On May 4, as I was walking to a few community events here in Barrio Logan, I was handed a flyer announcing the opening on May 13. Not only did the flyer announce their opening it also offered a free scoop! Happy happy! Joy joy! The opening was around the corner and I was gonna get a free scoop too!

Tocumbo Ice Cream was founded in 2004 by the Ramirez family which includes patriarch Gerardo Ramirez — who works between 80-100 hours a week doing what he loves, his wife Martha and children Omar, Kelly and Crystal. Grandson Junior also helps out as well as do other family members.   [Read more…]

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