Tijuana Maquiladora Tour: Mar 23

TIJUANA MAQUILADORA TOUR
Come to learn about Tijuana communities and workers'
conditions and struggles!

Saturday, March 23, 9 am to 3 pm

– Important Notice:

·         Citizens returning from Mexico should present an U.S. passport. (Otherwise, they need an official ID, birth certificate, and waiting in line when returning to the U.S. for a period of time to be decided by the border gate officer.) More information: the U.S. State Dept. travel alert “Mexico”

·         All tour participants must read the US travel alert to Mexico and sign the tour waiver. Please read the attached file.

– Schedule (There may be slight variations from tour to tour.)

·      9 am sharp- San Ysidro/Tijuana border-bus station. We will walk together to cross the border gate and travel to our locations in Tijuana using chartered buses for transportation.

·      9:15 am- The crosses at the border: More than 7,000 immigrants have died trying to cross the border since 1994, when NAFTA was imposed.

·      9:30 am- Otay Industrial Park, Sanyo and other maquiladoras: workers’ labor conditions, labor rights and struggles

NOTE: We will visit the Tijuana industrial area but won’t enter any factory.

·      11:15 am- Rio Alamar, or how maquiladoras, distorted urban development and wild industrialization define Tijuana

·      12:00 pm- Foxconn: the largest maquiladora in both Tijuana and the world

·      12:45 pm- Lunch

·      1:15 pm:- Group dialogue about the experience; time for questions and comments

·      2:00 pm- Working women in Tijuana are organizing artisan cooperatives and promoting an alternative economy. They will bring their handcrafts to the tour. To learn in advance
about these cooperatives, please go to http://www.ollincallicm.blogspot.com/

·      3:00 pm- Return to the bus station

– Donations

·      $30 regular, $20 students, $ 50 solidarity

·      Donations cover the bus, lunch, and a donation to the workers’ organizations.

For tour reservations go SD Network Tour Reservations

 Or contact:  Maquilatijuanasandiego@earthlink.net 

Sponsored by Colectivo Ollin Calli Tijuana, San Diego Maquiladora Workers' Solidarity Network, Environmental Health Coalition, and Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras

Whistleblowers: March 23

fundraiser for AB-540 scholarships- March 22

 

Friday March 22nd 2013

An Unstoppable Dream is to fund the education of AB 540 students
at City College and bring awareness to the struggle these students go through
to achieve an education.

 

We will be having a silent auction, jewelry and crafts made by the members of
IDEAS, music, poetry, and some
performances.

Centro Cultural de la Raza
(2125 Park Blvd San Diego, CA 92101)

Silent Auction 5:00pm-7:00pm

Performances 7:00-9:30pm

$5 Entrance Donation Fee

A night to support Rio Alamar, Tijuana- Mar 22

 

March 22, from 7 pm

 

Music, Dance, Nature

Rio Alamar, Tijuana

 

http://alamarsustentable.org/

 

 

Help to protect the Rio Alamar

River yes, canal no!

 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alamarsustentable

Chicano Art History: Presentations by Salvador Queso Torres Mar 21-April 15

Learn firsthand the history and development of the
Chicano visual arts and muralism in San Diego with artist
Salvador “Queso” Torres

 

Sponsored by MEChA and the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department

San Diego City College

Open to the general public. Free events

More information

Juanita Lopez
MEChA president, City College
crazy_j_619@yahoo.com

Enrique Davalos

Chicano and Chicana Studies Department Chair, City College
edavalos@sdccd.edu

 

Four Presentations

 

Centro Cultural de la Raza—March 21, Thursday, 6-8 pm, in attendance: Prof. Abel Macias, Chicana and Chicano Studies City College and Mesa College. Meeting at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, 2004 Park Blvd., Balboa Park. More info Centro Cultural de la Raza, Prof. Abel Macias: 408.219.8891

 

Cesar Chavez Park—April 3, Wednesday, 2:20-3:45 pm, in attendance: Prof. Jade Sotomayor, Chicana and Chicano Studies City College. Meeting at the Cesar Chavez Park, 1449 Cesar E. Chavez Parkway in San Diego, CA. 92113-- near the Barrio Logan Blue Line trolley stop, follow the bay to the left if you are looking north. Meet up by the Huelga Eagle statue/tree that’s near the entrance to the park. More info on Cesar Chavez Park

 

Chicano Park—April 9, Tuesday, 11:10 to 2:10 pm, in attendance: Profs. Elva Salinas and Justin Akers, English and Chicana and Chicano Studies City College.  Info on Chicano Park

 

City College—April 15, Monday, 9:35-11 am, Room MS 462, Overview San Diego Chicano Art, in attendance: Profs. Alicia Lopez and Enrique Davalos Chicana and Chicano Studies City College

 

Salvador Roberto “Queso” Torres, born in 1936, spent the majority of his first six years on a cotton plantation in Northern California-remembering using the “short hoe” as he worked alongside his parents in the fields at this very young age. In 1942, the Torres family started a new life in Barrio Logan. It is at this time that his experiences formed close to heart his dedication to the community, as his home was one of dozens that were bulldozed to make way for the construction of the Coronado Bridge. Torres chose to take on the challenge of “making something tragic into something beautiful”, and thus began a life time of work and dedication to the creation of incredible mural art, the transformation of Chicano Park, and to Barrio Logan.

Torres has constructed 6 major murals in San Diego, as well as facilitated the creation and application of a majority of murals, most notably those found in Chicano Park. Described as “the most important Mexican American artist and Chicano Activist of his generation” by Jorge Mariscal, Prof. of Literature at UCSD, Torres ‘s track record includes picketing and marching for farm worker’s rights, teaching art and mural art to children, and of being the creator of one of the most recognized symbols of Chicano/Chicana Civil Rights Movement-the “Viva La Raza” series with the image of a red phoenix rising. (LaPrensa de San Diego)

 

Film: Guarda Bosques (Forest Keepers) – March 18

Centro Cultural de la Raza

March 18, Monday

7:30 pm

Free Event
Face book Forest Keeper

Film

“Guarda Bosques” (Forest Keepers) 45 min.

On April 15th 2011, when organized crime thugs teamed up with the logging industry and different government agencies to pillage precious and sacred forests at gun-point, the indigenous Purepecha community of Cheran, Michoacan, Mexico rose up with sticks, rocks, and bottle rockets against what can only be described as their local narco-government. Since then, they have taken the authorities offices, weapons, and pick-up trucks, ousted all political parties and all local and state police, and have re-established a traditional form of self-governance that includes its own council of elders, a community “police”, known as a “ronda”, and its own forest defense team, or forest keepers, known as the “Guarda Bosques.”

Facilitated by Simon Sedillo

Quisiera invitarte a ti y a tus estudiantes a la pelicula "Guarda Bosques" Se presentara gratis en el Centro, Lunes, Marzo 18, 2013 a las 7:30 de la noche. Se trata de los Purepechas en Cheran, Michoacan que hartos de los asesinatos, las extorsiones, desapariciones y secuestros por grupos del crimen organizado desde tres anos, los mas de 15 mil habitantes de Cheran han recurrido a la autodefensa. Por favor vengan a ver al documentario y conozcan a Simon Sedillo el que hizo el documentario. Habra DVD's de venta. Ah! y si tienes contactos con otros Profes, favor de correr la voz a todos y todas que vengan con sus estudiantes tambien por please. Gracias!

THIS EVENT IS FREE!! GRATIS!!

San Diego Latino Film Festival: Mar 7-17

March 7-17

Films and Schedule here: Films

 

Film Inocente

Fim Inocente
With Inocente and Matt D’Arrigo, CEO, A Reason to Survive

Watch the movie online

Thursday, March 14

12:45 – 2:10 pm

Room V-101

San Diego City College

 

http://inocentedoc.com/

http://www.areasontosurvive.org/arts/?page_id=2

A personal and vibrant coming of age story about a young artist's determination never to surrender to the bleakness of her surroundings. At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by being an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years. Color is her personal revolution and its sweep on her canvases creates a world that looks nothing like her own dark past. 'Inocente' is both a timeless story about the transformative power of art and a timely snapshot of the new face of homelessness in America: children. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in her story proves that the hand she has been dealt does not define her, her dreams do.

Feminist Art- March 14 to April 18

San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery

By the Feminist Image Group (FIG)

 

Opening Reception and Performance: Thursday, March 14, 5-7 pm 

Panel Discussion following reception 7 pm, G101 

Panelists: 

Doris Bittar, artist and owner Protea Gallery 

Amy Galpin, Ph.D, Associate Curator, Art of the Americas, San Diego Museum of Art 

Allison Wiese, Assistant Professor of Art, University of San Diego 

Allyson Williams, Ph.D, Adjunct Professor of Art History, San Diego State University 

Moderator: Susan Myrland, independent curator and artist, Silvergate Consulting 

Conversation with the Artists: Wednesday, April 3, noon, Art Gallery D101 

Gallery Hours: MTW 11-4 pm, Thursday 11 – 8 pm. Closed Fridays, weekends and school holidays.

Mujeres--March 9

Africa’s Legacy in Mexico- Mar 5

Sherehe Hollins, Writer

“Africa’s Legacy in Mexico”

11:15 am – 12:30 pm

Rom V-101

San Diego City College

http://sherehehollins.com

Film Chicano Park- March 5

Hilton Mission Valley Workers

Over 600 people have sent a message to Tarsadia Investment executives, the soon-to-be new owners of the HEI-owned and managed Hilton Mission Valley, by signing a petition demanding that Tarsadia retain workers at the hotel. The struggle for job security escalated last week when  over 250 workers and community supporters demonstrated at the hotel. Twenty workers and supporters were arrested for engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience, demanding that HEI refuse to sell the hotel without a promise from Tarsadia that it will keep the current workforce.

 

 

 

Please sign and urge at least 5 more friends to sign onto the petition. March 21, the day Tarsadia takes over, is rapidly approaching. We need to continue increasing the volume of our message: More layoffs are bad for our neighborhoods, bad for San Diego and bad for California. Thank you!

 

In solidarity,

Riddhi

  

Research Analyst

UNITE HERE!

33 Harrison Ave., 4^th floor

Boston, MA 02111

C: 707-695-2364

F: 617-426-7684

School System Burdens Low-Income Children

Democracy Now, Feb 20, 2013

Dept. of Education Panel Says School System Burdening Low-Income Children A federal commission has found U.S. education policies are burdening students from low-income families. In a new report, the Equity and Excellence Commission concluded: "No other developed nation has inequities nearly as deep or systemic; no other developed nation has ... so thoroughly stacked the odds against so many of its children." The panel goes on to call for greater investments in public education, better training of teachers, equality in allocating funds, and a new push for more ethnically diverse schools. The commission was created by the Department of Education, but its findings largely reject the department’s bipartisan education reform effort, saying the focus on charter schools and standardized testing has been "poorly targeted."

Equity and Excellence Commission
NEW Report: “America’s education system fails our nation and our children.”

National Women's Law Center
Posted on February 22, 2013 | Posted by: Valarie Hogan, Fellow

On February 19, 2013, the Equity and Excellence Commission, a federal advisory committee, released a report detailing the inequity in the American K-12 educational system and asking the Department of Education to take action. The Equity and Excellence Commission is made up of thought leaders in education such as Russlynn Ali, Michael Rebell, and Randi Weingarten, among many distinguished others. The Commission was responsible for advising the Secretary of Education on the disparities in educational opportunities that give rise to the achievement gap.