Don Palabraz

The effects of the recession are being felt everywhere. For independent bookstores and non-profit cultural institutions, the crunch in consumer confidence has taken its toll. Be that as it may, can you envision the greater Los Angeles area or North OC without its mainstays? I don’t want to wake up to a day when Breath of Fire Theater closes its doors or Calacas moves on from Santa Ana. To the north, Teocintl in Boyle Heights unfortunately has already suffred such a fate. Imix Bookstore in Eagle Rock has managed to stay open, however, in spite of the challenges of the economy. Elisa Garcia’s independent establishment remains an integral part of the community.

A new article in Cafe Media profiles her work with the bookstore. As Garcia says, “We are still here because people love us.” It’s important to support outlets like Imix Bookstore. Read the article and show the spot some love:

http://cafemagazine.com/index.php/articles/109-0911/481-against-all-odds

The Wilmington Race Riot of 1898

Back in the day on November 10th, 1898, the Wilmington Race Riot occurred in North Carolina. At least twenty-two blacks were killed by white racist members of the Democratic Party as a municipal coup d’etat was staged. Emboldened by a post-reconstruction general election that brought the party back in power in the state legislature, former Confederate Alfred Moore Wadell led a mob to oust the white Republican mayor of Wilmington as well as black and white members of city government. Neither President McKinley nor the Governor of North Carolina did anything to stop the profoundly violent, racist, and anti-democratic usurpation of power. It wasn’t until 2007 that the North Carolina Democratic Party issued an apology for the Wilmington Race Riot.

The late historian John Hope Franklin once said about the episode that “The Wilmington Race Riot is very relevant today because we haven’t changed as much as we need to change.”

On Tuesday, members of Congress voted on a house resolution to condemn the United Nations’ Goldstone Report. Orange County’s very own Loretta Sanchez was predictably among the 179 Democratic lawmakers who cast their lot against the nearly six-hundred page examination of war crimes committed late last December into early January in Gaza. The fact finding report was overwhelmingly affirmed recently by a vote in the U.N. and takes Israel to task for violations committed during the conflict while condemning Hamas as well.

As opposed to the Goldstone Report, Sarah Whitson of Human Rights Watch characterized the non-binding congressional resolution as “one-sided and biased” in her interview with the Inter-Press Service. She followed by saying that “This sort of resolution sends a terrible message to the international community about American willingness to believe in international justice for all.”

Much of the controversy in the debate is unfortunately based on false premises. As the Goldstone Report moves to the U.N. Security Council, it is truly regrettable that Congress has chosen to call on the President and the Secretary of State to dismiss it outright. Locally, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, whose 47th Congressional District includes an area of Anaheim known as ‘Little Gaza,’ failed her constituents once again. She may pride herself on her international profile, but at the end of the day, she’s just another Blue Dog Democrat…

The Abduction of Calvin Fairbank

Back in the day on November 9th, 1852, Reverend Calvin Fairbank was kidnapped from Indiana and taken to Kentucky. The abolitionist minister was promptly incarcerated in Louisville for assisting the escape of a so-called fugitive slave and her assistant. Fairbank had already been imprisoned previously for similar supposed “crimes,” serving five years of a fifteen year sentence before being pardoned. This time around, as Indiana government and law enforcement officials allowed for his abduction, the dedicated abolitionist stood trial and was once more handed down a fifteen year prison sentence. Fairbank would go on to serve another twelve years in confinement where his health deteriorated. He was once again pardoned, this time by acting Governor Richard Jacob in 1864.

Reflecting on the years of his life lost in prison, Fairbank wrote, “I have suffered from hunger, cold, sickness, insult, corporal punishment, and discontent. But all these sink away into thin air, into dim, distant nothingness – I count them all joy for righteousness’ sake.

Last night was the first Saturday in November which meant that the community of Santa Ana gathered for its 7th annual “Noche de Altares” celebration. Honoring the centuries old tradition of “Dia de los Muertos,” clothing/culture shop Calacas and El Centro Cultural de Mexico teamed together to line the city’s “Fiesta Marketplace” with vending booths, altars, music and most of all, people! And there was a whole lot of people at last night’s event! Each year the celebration keeps getting bigger and bigger. Here’s a few photos promised to you from my humble digi camera: [...]