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Art With a Personal Connection

Andrea Serna
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Art With a Personal Connection

Artists as Collectors

By Andrea Serna, Arts Writer

Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, who was married four times, once asked romantic crooner Frank Sinatra, who also took four trips to the altar, “When you are in a mood to make out, whose music do you put on?”
In the show Artists as Collectors, curator Ron Linden takes a similar question and provides us with insight into the collection of art that professional artists surround themselves within the most intimate environment, their homes.
“Because it is artists collecting artists you will find more astute collections than you might find anywhere else,” Linden said. “The reason is that non-artists buy art for completely different reasons.”
The inference is that artists’ collections reflect not only their aesthetic but also the relevance to their own lives. The exhibition consists of 32 works loaned to Transvagrant and Gallery 478 from the personal collections of eight local artists.
Photographer and graphic artist Mark Dunham has submitted works from customers to his private business.
“All the pieces that I brought to this show are from artists that I have done work for,” said Dunham. “I spent time with their work, doing reproductions or printings and it starts to grow on you. It’s different than walking into a gallery and having something smack you in the face. This snuck up on me.”
Dunham submitted This is Not a Map from the late artist Ali Acerol, whose work was legendary in the Southern California art world. Acerol was noted for his stunning maps of countries and continents and as a friend and contemporary of renowned conceptual artist John Baldessari.
Artists have always shared their art with their artist friends, sometimes as barter or sometimes simply to clear space in the studio. Artist Marcel Duchamp gave much of his avant-garde away to friends because his work was so poorly received. Visit the home of an artist and you will most likely find pieces created by their contemporaries, rather than art that may be considered “collectible.”
“Most artists have work in their collections that inspire them and give them confidence that they are not alone,” said Linden. “There is a shared sensibility. I like to collect things that give me a jolt. If you are an artist you like art.”
This definitely applies to Ray and Arnee Carofano, who own Gallery 478. Over the years many distinctive artists have exhibited in their gallery and several have left behind exquisite gems that cover the walls of their loft studio. For this show, they have loaned photos from their good friend artist Audrey Barrett, Neil Nagy and photographer Anthony Friedkin. Harold Plople holds a distinct place in their collection, a schizophrenic who was a highly prolific artist was a resident at Harbor View House in San Pedro for seven years until he overcame alcoholism. His figurative work portrays faces with vacuous eyes that seem to reflect focus and deterioration at the same moment.

Collecting versus investing
Most of us, those outside the art world but especially artists, can be forgiven for joining the outrage of a banana taped to a wall that sells for $120,000. Comedian, by Maurizio Cattelan was sold – twice! – at one of the worlds most prestigious art shows, Art Basel. To add to the intrigue, another artist took it off the wall and ate it.
The commodification of art, something that used to live outside of the world of high-finance, is now firmly rooted inside the global economy. In 2014, casino billionaire Steve Wynn purchased a Jeff Koons sculpture of Popeye the Sailor for $28 million and sold it 14 days later for $60 million. How did art get pulled into the greedy world of the 1 percent? It was partly due to the enormous wealth that has migrated to the top, along with willing participants like Koons. Jeff Koons has now become the highest-selling living artist after his Rabbit sculpture sold for a record-breaking $91.1 million.
Distaste for this version of art for profit does not escape the artists who are participating in Artists as Collectors. Artist Ann Webber submitted a small bronze sculpture titled Banana by Yoshitomo Saito.
“So many of my artist friends were responding to this banana story from the Art Basel show,” said Webber. “My friend Yoshitomo had previously done a large art installation called Banana Caligraphy of 40 or 50 bronze cast bananas which reflected his daily breakfast of coffee and a banana. This was his commentary on the beauty of the mundane. He sent out a Facebook post that said, ‘How would you like to buy a banana from a real artist?’ He offered them for $300 and of course, I bought this one.”
Saito and Webber attended grad school together at the California College of Arts and Crafts and have remained close ever since. Her addition of the banana to her personal collection demonstrates the deeply personal connection artists have to the art pieces that they bring into their own homes. In the same way, the novice collector would be advised to include art that you love, art that has a personal connection to your life, and like Ron Linden says, art that gives you a jolt.

Artists as Collectors runs through April 4, 2020
Time: Open each month during the San Pedro First Thursday art walk, 6 to 9 p.m.
Cost: Free
Details: 310-732-2150 or 310-600-4873.
Venue: Gallery 478, 478 W. 7th St., San Pedro

The Backlash to ‘American Dirt’ is Not Just Skin Deep

RL Intern
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The Backlash to ‘American Dirt’ is Not Just Skin Deep

By Velia Salazar, Editorial Intern

When Oprah Winfrey recommended American Dirt to her book club on Jan. 21, she never imagined the headaches her commendation would stir up. 

American Dirt tells the fictional story of Lydia Pérez and her eight-year-old son, Luca, both of whom leave Mexico to escape the cartel violence in that country. 

The controversy that erupted stems from the fact that the novel’s author, Jeanine Cummins, wrote about the immigrant experience without either being Mexican or an immigrant. Later, Cummins, who identifies as white, stated that one of her grandmothers is Puerto Rican. For some people in the Latinx community, the recognition of American Dirt also is a slap in the face, considering that many Latinx authors, who also write about the immigrant experience, struggle to get published. 

“The other part was that she received so much money for this particular book,” Dr. Marisela Chávez, an associate professor and chairwoman of Chicana/Chicano Studies at Cal State Dominguez Hills. “I get it. She’s already a published author, she has a proven track record. But then I start to think about other Chicanx/Latinx authors who try to get their stories published and don’t get that kind of recognition nor do they get that kind of money.”

Cummins earned seven figures for this novel. 

Cummins writes about how the main characters had to leave the country because of a cartel. Lydia Pérez and her eight-year-old son, Luca, survive the slaughter of the rest of her family at her niece’s quinceañera by hitmen of Los Jardineros cartel in Acapulco.

Some critics believe the premise of the story is stereotypical because not all Mexicans that come from Mexico are in the United States because they had to get away from a cartel. There are numerous reasons why people come to the United States.

“I’m not speaking for the whole department,” Dr. Chávez said. “I’m speaking for me. I was disappointed in the way that the book was publicized…. I have a problem with that because there is not just one immigrant experience. There are so many different experiences and can’t just homogenize them into one thing.”

Cummins did not help her case by writing in the author’s note section of her book that she wished someone “slightly browner” than herself would have written it. Many people were puzzled with her statement and wondered why she would even write that.

“I was just trying to understand where she was coming from,” Chávez said. “And, to me, that told me that she might have been uncomfortable with the topic, but she did it anyway.”

It’s easy to see why the book has rubbed people the wrong way when you consider the current political climate. 

 “The conservatives are already rallying to keep migrants out of the U.S by any means necessary,” said Karmela Cooper, the administrative support coordinator of Chicano Studies at CSUDH. “Author Cummins describes in her afterword that during her four-year writing process, she did extensive travel and interviews in Mexico. Where are these people and why haven’t they come forward to give their side of the story?”

Cummins has stated in an interview that she did extensive research when she was in Mexico. She did not simply write a book without knowledge of what she was talking about. That is something Chavez was confused about. 

“In the Latino USA interview, Cummins said she spent a lot of time in Mexico,” Chávez said. “But she didn’t elaborate or be specific about what exactly she did for research.”

Yet, some people still are perplexed about the nature of the controversy. Chicano Studies assistant professor Alfredo Gonzalez said he didn’t initially understand it, other than it being listed on the Oprah book reading list.

“It was a book written by someone that didn’t necessarily go through the experience,” said Alfredo Gonzalez, an assistant professor of Chicano Studies. “So, when it comes to how you view Chicano/Chicana literature, Chicanx literature, it’s usually coming from a more genuine perspective…. It is something that folks have seen or experienced themselves or within their families. Although she is very explicit that it’s a work of fiction, it is still a work of fiction that she’s trying to get passed off as an experience that people in this country have gone through. My view is she’s appropriating the experiences of Latinx folks in this country. For me, that’s the issue.”

Cummins tried to respond to critics during an interview on NPR podcast of Morning Edition called ‘American Dirt’ Author Jeanine Cummins Answers Vocal Critics.

She explained that she did not mean to be offensive. She just wanted to bring awareness about the stereotypes. Cummins states that she felt like there was a national dialogue for people to examine the humanity of the people involved in a much more personal way. She was hoping her novel would be able to do that.

Many of the times Mexican journalists are being murdered because they want to speak about the truth, yet they are always silenced before the light comes out. Cummins interpreted that in her novel since the significant other of Lydia Pérez (the main character in the story), Sebastián, is an investigative journalist. He was working to discover the leader of this new narcotic cartel. Once his story got published, that was when everything changed. This is something a lot of journalists face in Mexico since the freedom of the press is not respected like it is in the United States.

“Not everyone has to love my book, you know?” Cummins said. “I endeavored to be incredibly culturally sensitive. I did the work. I did five years of research. The whole intention in my heart when I wrote this book was to try to upend the traditional stereotypes that I saw being very prevalent in our national dialogue.”

The LA Harbor International Film Festival Kick Off

Melina Paris
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The LA Harbor International Film Festival Kick Off

By Melina Paris, Arts and Culture Reporter

Spring is soon arriving and for the 17th year, the Los Angeles Harbor International Film Festival will kick it off with a slew of documentary films and their special Read the Book See the Movie program from March 12-15. The founder, Stephanie Mardesich, announced the festival at a press launch on Feb. 13 at Janny’s Space & Showroom at People’s Place in downtown San Pedro.

Over four days, LAHIFF will screen six films and returning for its eighth year, New Filmmakers LA shorts will feature 26 films on Los Angeles themes at the festival. All of the short films are timed at one to five minutes. The films will be featured at the Warner Grand Theatre.

LAHIFF is a non-competitive, non juried festival with movies chosen by research or referral. The festival will kick off on March 12 with Read the Book See the Movie program –a festival feature that promotes student literacy and film appreciation. The Port of Los Angeles’ traditional bag-piper and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s mounted enforcement deputies will greet students arriving at the theater.

On the opening night on March 13, the Academy Award-winning Cinema Paradiso will screen at 7 p.m. The film is an homage to the recent naming of the Little Italy district in downtown San Pedro.

On March 14 NFMLA will screen the short films of the finalists in their annual community engagement program.

At 7 p.m. on that same date, LAHIFF will feature its Hollywood Nostalgia Tribute film, Grease (Grease is the Word). LAHIFF invited the Boys and Girls clubs of San Pedro and Wilmington, SouthBay Youth Club and I <3 Wilmington to attend the program and the marching bands at Dana Middle School and San Pedro High School to perform.

Closing day is Doc-Sunday which will feature the documentary short, On the Waterfront, which focuses on the renaissance of the Georgetown Waterfront National Harbor and architect Arthur Cotton Moore. The documentary explores the environmental approaches to waterfront development in the District of Columbia. The film is timely for this community with the new San Pedro Waterfront development scheduled to break ground in 2020.

The environmental feature for this year is Artifishal, a film with “immense visual and aesthetic appeal” that reveals the challenges ecologists and conservationists face in the lucrative salmon-hatchery industry. A Question and Answer panel discussion will follow the film.

The closing film on Doc-Sunday and the festival itself is the documentary, Say Amen Somebody, which was originally released in 1982. The film documents the American gospel music scene of that time, focusing on two of the movement’s pioneering forces, Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie May Ford Smith. The Los Angeles Chapter of Gospel Music America Workshop will perform before the film screening and participate in the traditional opening program in which members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Wilmington Post #2967 will present the national flag.

Time: March 12-15 Cost: Tix can be purchased at the box office or online Details: www.laharborfilmfest.com, brownpapertickets.com                Venue: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro

LAPD Harbor Jail Re-Opens

Hunter Chase
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LAPD Harbor Jail Re-Opens

By Hunter Chase, Reporter

The Los Angeles Police Department hosted a grand re-opening of its Harbor Jail on Feb. 10. Police officers gave tours of the facility to the press and the community. The main purpose of re-opening the Harbor Jail was so that patrol officers who work at the LAPD Harbor Community Police Station do not have to drive to the 77th Street community police station to book detainees after arresting them, Alex Rodriguez, detention officer, said. The 77th Street station is in downtown Los Angeles and driving there reduces the officers’ time in the field.

The Harbor Jail has 65 beds, 45 for men and 20 for women, Rodriguez said. On a typical day, there will be about a third of that number detained there.

Most detainees will stay three days, said Lt. Thomas A. Mason, the officer in charge of the jails in the Harbor Area. They are taken to court from the harbor facility or released on bail. Once they leave the facility, they will not come back unless arrested again.

The LAPD Harbor Community Police Station, which houses the Harbor Jail, opened in October 2009. The jail was operational for nine months, said LAPD Chief Michel Moore, until budget cuts led to its closing.

“It was so disappointing, I remember then the shuttering of this jail because the workforce of the LAPD shrank [by] nearly 1,000 civilian personnel,” Moore said.

The city was dealing with budget deficit and did not have the money to staff the Harbor Jail or other jails in the region.

The LAPD still has about 600 fewer civilian employees than it did at the department’s height in 2007 or 2008, Moore said. However, the past three years the LAPD has been bringing more civilian personnel into the department. This allows more police officers to be in the field and on patrol.

Detention officers are not allowed to carry lethal weapons inside the jail, including handguns and batons, Rodriguez said.

Instead, they carry tasers and pepper spray. The detention officers have special training. The additional funding that the LAPD is receiving from the city pays for more of them. There are some training in their academy, which takes about three months.

Part of their training includes technical training, specifically on how to use their digital video monitoring system, Rodriguez said. There is a camera in every cell, which is one of the renovations prior to the jail being re-opened. From a monitor, the officers can access the view of every cell, as well as other portions of the facility.

In addition, at least one (but usually two) of the officers are behind a large one-way mirror where they have view of the cells for all the people that have already been booked, said Juan Carlos Romero, senior detention officer. These cells include both the male and female cells and there is a wall that can be lowered electronically between the two areas when both men and women are being held at the facility. Otherwise, the area is open and detainees have access to the entire area on the bottom floor outside their cells during the daytime. They can watch television and make phone calls. The cells on the second-floor house detainees who are kept separate.

In addition, there are several cells to hold detainees before they are booked, Romero said. The detainees are separated by sex as well as by severity of the crime they allegedly committed, with a different holding cell for misdemeanors and felonies. There is also a “drunk tank” with no benches, but a soft floor to prevent inebriated detainees from hurting themselves.

Detainees are served three meals a day, Romero said. There is a general diet plan, but also more specialized options available, such as kosher options, or options for lactose intolerant or diabetic detainees.
In addition to the cameras, every cell has a recording device, as well as an intercom, Romero said.

Sharefest Gift Gives to Community and Youth

Melina Paris
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Sharefest Gift Gives to Community and Youth

By Melina Paris, Reporter

John D. Rockefeller said, “Giving should be entered into in just the same way as investing. Giving is investing.”

In that same vein, near the end of 2019 Southern California philanthropists Melanie and Richard Lundquist gave $1 million to the Harbor Area’s Sharefest Community Development, which enabled the launch of the Lundquist Youth Leadership Center at the old San Pedro jail in the Beacon Street municipal building.

On the seventh floor, the youth center is a naturally lit, spacious transformation of the old jail labeled Seventh Heaven — so named for its views of the harbor and its amenities from a bygone time, like bathrooms, shower baths and kitchens. Police once routinely rounded up unruly offenders in the Beacon Street area and ran them up to the seventh floor to ponder their fate in jail. But a portion of the jail cells remain intact just down the hall from the modern, comfortable space.

In the spring, a large group of volunteers will gather, travel to dozens of sites across Los Angeles and complete hundreds of beautification and improvement projects at schools, parks and other community locations. It’s called the Sharefest 17th Annual Community Workday and project submissions are now open for the May 2 workday.

The Harbor Area nonprofit, founded in 2003, works with youth within the Los Angeles Unified School District’s continuation schools, whose students face significant barriers to college and career paths and are at greatest risk of dropout. Sharefest helps equip the students through academic achievement, personal development and community service. Its mission is to empower under-served young people to transform their futures and to become leaders of collaborative community change. To do this, the nonprofit is able to complete service projects and gather resources and volunteers through collaboration between local organizations, the faith community and businesses.

Chad Mayer, co-founder of Sharefest. Photo courtesy of Sharefest.

Random Lengths News spoke to Chad Mayer, founding director of Sharefest, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former assistant pastor at King’s Harbor Church. Mayer works to bridge people and resources to benefit the youth he works with along with their families and communities. He envisions a future where underserved youth are empowered to change their communities.

“Witnessing civic decline all around South Bay communities from graffiti to rundown parks to overrun gardens and desolate school grounds, we believed that small improvements in communities could begin to change the tide for community members,” Mayer said.

So Sharefest started as a single day, Workday, where churches, neighbors, community leaders and businesses came together with the purpose of beautifying and improving the communities in the South Bay.

Year after year, Sharefest has mobilized volunteers to give back to the community since its first day of service in 2004. The event prompted what they now call their “big day of service.” Soon after, when the 2006 season of ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition chose a South Los Angeles home, the San Pedro-based company, Cornerstone Contracting Group, was chosen as the lead project manager. Cornerstone Contracting Group brought on Sharefest which fielded 3,000 volunteers, including skilled and unskilled trade workers. The makeover was for Los Angeles Police Department officer Kristine Ripatti who was shot in the line of duty and paralyzed while on patrol in South Los Angeles.

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“To see the community, churches, builders and contractors come together to rebuild this family’s house — it was the genesis to do more,” Mayer said.

In 2006 Sharefest incorporated and became an official 501(c)3. Today, it has served more than 3,000 youth, close to 392 students per year both in traditional and continuation high schools and middle schools.

“We want to eliminate college and career barriers,” Mayer said. “College isn’t for everyone. If there is the aptitude and the determination to go to college, we want to help them succeed but [we want] to identify careers which [are] important with our continuation school students.”

Through Sharefest’s after-school program, students earn credits and can accelerate receiving their high school diploma. The funding from the Lundquists will provide students with one-on-one mentorship opportunities, assist them in writing out a plan and purpose for their lives and make connections to community college or trade programs to live out that plan. Sharefest’s mentors consist of past and present program instructors who students are familiar with and trust. The organization is working to expand its mentorship program and introduce students to additional leaders of community businesses and organizations. Sharefest is like a boutique organization, Mayer said, not like a Boys and Girls Club or the YMCA. With their small population they can offer more individual opportunities.

Through the funding Sharefest will increase the number of students served from 200 to more than 250 and help grow the middle school program by doubling the students it serves to 200. And, it will help expand community services projects where students work side-by-side with civic partners. The goal is to increase social connectedness by showing students that they have the power to transform their future.

“All our students are below the poverty line, affected by gang violence, or are first generation, college going students,” Mayer said. “That’s the criteria for accepting students in the program.”

Soon after Sharefest incorporated in 2006, a tragedy struck the Harbor community. In the aftermath a youth center rose up. Cheryl Green, a 14-year-old girl was shot and killed right outside her grandmother’s home in Harbor Gateway during a spat of racial gang violence. Then-Councilwoman Janice Hahn created a task force that decided the community needed two things. One was a community center and the other was to establish positive summer programming. Sharefest signed up for both. They partnered with the mayor’s office, the councilwoman’s office and several contractors to build the Cheryl Green Community Center and then gift it to the Boys and Girls Club.

“We were able to take a [bungalow] that the LAPD was utilizing here in Harbor Division while their new police headquarters was being built,” Mayer said. “We took that and we put it on a trailer and we created a youth center.”

Soon after, Sharefest began its first summer program at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

“With the summer model that we established, we were able to take the same framework and tweak it just a little and start a program at Avalon Continuation High School in 2009,” Mayer said. “The summer programming is great but the center came into play because we wanted to stay consistent with our students throughout the whole year. What started from serving 35 kids has now served over 2,500 kids over the summer months.”

They offer programming both at school sites and the center. From there they expanded to four continuation high schools at Angels Gate (San Pedro), Avalon (Wilmington), Patton (Harbor City), Simon Rodia (South Gate), Moneta (Gardena), Watts, Harbor City, which are still going on now.

“The place we’re in now is a huge accomplishment, too,” Mayer said. “Just [having] the will power and working with the city, securing space and the amount of capital you need to do any construction, but it feels like a home in here.”

Sharefest wants students to foster relationships, transform their future and build social connectedness or social capital — meaning there’s outside resources, people, networks and connections to which to expose them.

“It’s the idea of bringing in those resources from people who want to help,” Mayer said. “Many people and organizations want to help, they just don’t know how. We want to connect the resources with the needs in the community, build mentorship opportunities and more. It’s also about having [the children] understand that they can become leaders.”

Sharefest welcomes people who want to volunteer and mentor students, learn more about their programming or invest in a child’s life to really make a difference. The organization has helped to increase high school graduation rates. But the next evolution of their programming is building an alumni network and continuing to help foster youth past high school.

“There’s a huge gap between those who have resources and those who don’t,” Mayer said. “That’s why we’re always looking to help foster generosity through time or financially. We believe our kids are a great investment.”

Details: visit www.sharefestinc.org

100 Years of Red-Baiting Will Not Stop Sanders

James Preston Allen
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100 Years of Red-Baiting Will Not Stop Sanders

Dave Arian, Harry Bridges and Bernie Sanders

By James Preston Allen, Publisher

The sky was overcast on Saturday, Feb. 8 when I showed up at the foot of Kaiser Point at the intersection of 22nd and Miner streets for the street renaming ceremony in honor of labor icon Dave Arian. Arian, who passed away in 2019, was both president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Local 13 at different times and had more recently been appointed to the Los Angeles Harbor Commission by two different mayors. This event, held a year after his passing, was yet another eulogy of his life that honored him with his own bench and a plaque with his likeness at this tip of land overlooking the harbor where he once sat.

In attendance were a mixture of old longies, political friends and family, as well as an assortment of port staff. This was a reconciling of Dave Arian’s legacy as a working class hero with his radical roots in the labor movement and his role as a thinker on the Harbor Commission. He was a local raised in Pedro by parents with equally radical views and a connection to the great ILWU leader Harry Bridges, who was accused of being a “communist” many times during his life. However, Arian was not limited to just parochial views, but thought more globally — as any good Marxist would — of world perspectives on injustice and working class causes. In his later years he was remembered as just this guy in a hat and a Hawaiian shirt who’d come into the port commission greeting everyone with, “Hey, hey.”

Arian’s radical roots weren’t explicitly acknowledged in the outpouring of the gathering this year. His radical roots weren’t really acknowledged during the public street renaming of Miner Street to Dave Arian Way, with the exception of his daughter, Justine, who referenced a line in his journal in which he asked, “What’s happened to all the Marxists in the ILWU?” There was some polite laughter that underlined these words, but few cared to answer this question. There also wasn’t any commentary about his dying of cancer after living a short distance from the port, near one of the most toxic chemical terminals in the Los Angeles Harbor — an area once studied as a cancer cluster by UCLA. And, there wasn’t any commentary about how he worked for some 50 years at jobs that exposed him to some of the worst pollution at the twin ports.

At this point, no one was red-baiting Dave Arian, as he had made his point by sitting on the Harbor Commission, which if anyone cared to notice is a curious form of socialism run like a capitalist enterprise. After all, the ports of California are technically owned by the people of the state of California and run under agreements with cities that are adjacent to them — supposedly for the benefit of the people.

The reason for this ownership by the people was something that came from the Progressive Era, roughly 1890-1920, that brought about great reforms in California and the nation. The main objectives of the Progressive movement were addressing problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, immigration and political corruption. If one were to replace the first two of these with automation, homelessness and gentrification today, we might recognize that we are facing some of the very same conflicts our nation was in 1906 — and we think we’ve made such great advancements.

Back then the progressive movement primarily targeted political machines and their bosses. By taking down corrupt representatives in office, a further means of direct democracy was established with the referendum, recall and initiative. They also sought regulation of monopolies (trust-busting) and corporations through antitrust laws. Upton Sinclair, the popular socialist author of those early years, wrote his 1906 novel The Jungle to expose the unsanitary and inhumane practices of the meat packing industry. This resulted in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration under the last progressive Republican President Teddy Roosevelt.

These reforms shaped most of what we now accept as commonplace in regards to child labor laws, public education, old age pensions (think social security) and much later, Medicare for senior citizens. All of these and more were considered “radical ideas” at the dawn of the 20th century and were fought for by muckraking journalists, radical unions like the Industrial Workers of the World, later the ILWU and socialists like Eugene Debs, who ran for president from inside a federal prison in 1920. Some of these very same popularly supported reforms are now being attacked in President Donald Trump’s budget.

Back then, our forebears were confronted with some of the same kinds of tyrannies that are affecting us today—low wages, expensive or no health care, unregulated capitalism and a political system rigged to favor the monied elites, not the working class, or as we now call them, “the one percenters.”

Candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders come from this same historical line of American democratic socialists. Yes, he and his supporters are reformers in the very American sense of the term “socialist” that believe the economic system that runs our country should be for the benefit of the majority of the people not for the exclusive profit of the few.

For most of Arian’s life, he was red baited and branded as a commie. Yet this didn’t stop two successive Democratic Los Angeles mayors from appointing him to the Harbor Commission. The hand wringing that the Democratic party and corporate media are engaged in over whether Sanders is too red to beat Trump is curious, especially given Trump’s penchant for palling around with Russian oligarchs, North Korean dictators and just about every other corrupt autocrat, king and bully on the global stage. Frankly, Trump may have more friends who actually are practicing communists than Sanders or Arian ever had.

The question still remains: will the majority of voting Americans be more afraid of Donald J. Trump getting four more years to corrupt our nation or will they agree that the antidote to this kind of corruption is a strong dose of democracy with a side-dish of social ownership to curb what ails this nation?

March 3 may tell us the answer to that question.

Chef Sison Brings Experimental Classics to Monday Night Market

Terelle Jerricks
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Chef Sison Brings Experimental Classics to Monday Night Market

By Katrina Guevara, Contributing Writer

Former 555 East American Steakhouse executive chef Chris Sison has opened a test kitchen at Monday Night Market to serve what he knows best: steak and mashed potatoes. Sison offers a menu with familiar American dishes, but he ensures it is made with quality and an experimental kick whether it is Birria style or lobster scampi mac and cheese Cajun fries. He says he hopes the people have a grasp on the classic dishes first. In one week, he lists a New York steak and rib eye with a choice of red wine or spicy cilantro aioli on the blackboard at his booth.

Sison is used to serving “the king of the beef,” so his steaks at his public and community catering company are also corn fed and USDA quality. His simple done right philosophy lives on.

Chef Chris’ Mobile Kitchen booth is one of more than 20 food, craft and lifestyle vendors, which flickers under the streetlights around Third and Fourth streets at Monday Night Market in downtown Long Beach. Other vendors sell potted plants, kettlecorn, soy candles and more.

“We want to be able to serve those residents and guests who can’t join us during the day on Friday with an evening opportunity for their weekly grocery shopping that also includes entertainment and dining options,” Tony Shooshani, managing director and owner of The Streets, said in a press release. “As the downtown area continues to grow, The Streets is set to be the gathering place or village square where locals and visitors can go and interact while shopping, eating and playing.”

The Monday Night Market is at 300 The Promenade N, Long Beach, CA 90802 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every week.

Catalina in the Winter

Terelle Jerricks
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Catalina in the Winter

By Gretchen Williams, Dining and Cuisine Writer

Avalon in winter is the Catalina of old California. The quiet streets and clear skies are reminiscent of the days of Norma Jean and big game fish. Original Catalina tiles ornament the front street. Golden Garibaldi fish swim in the crystal waters of Lover’s Cove. Buffalo roam the hills near the Airport In The Sky. Gray whales are migrating offshore.

Catalina locals know the magic of Avalon in the cooler months. The wind and rain can be raging around the island, or socked in fog and Avalon will be bathed in sunshine. The ocean is a chill 58 degrees, glassy and clear to the bottom.

The voyage to Avalon from the mainland is a little over an hour, but feels like a trip back in time. Change is slow on the island. The gentle walk from the ferry into town is now crowned by the Trailhead, the Catalina Conservancy’s new headquarters, gift store, shuttle stop, restaurant, party space and gathering spot.

On the site of the old Catherine’s Hotel, The Trailhead is where all Catalina activities begin. The “gift store” is a far cry from the typical cards and knick knacks. Fantastic maps, books and guides start the fascinating look through the store, with excellent guides to local flora and fauna as well as the celestial wonders above the island.

Children and adults have an assortment of outside gear and warm hoodies; the best was a child’s explorer’s vest with loads of pockets, for girls and boys. The jewelry is lovely, made with natural shell materials and silver. The secret weapon of the Trailhead? The clerks at the gift store also sell tickets to the various tours and shuttle bus operated by the conservancy, and know everything about Avalon and the island.

The Trailhead is blessed with the Toyon Grill, a kitchen, bar and barista. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, the restaurant also has a terrific happy hour, with great coffee and munchies available all day. On the second floor of the Trailhead building, the Toyon Grill has an expansive view over Avalon Harbor, with a splendid shot of the casino. The Toyon Grill has an imaginative menu, with some unusual and delicious dishes as well as favorite classics.

Avocado Toast is a cliché in many circles; in Avalon, it is the basis for a beautiful breakfast with bacon and sunny-side-up eggs, charred scallion cream sauce, garnished with crunchy radishes, for $8. The Toyon Bay burrito is a formidable breakfast, scrambled eggs, chorizo, tomatillo salsa and cotija cheese, wrapped in a warm tortilla, for $11. Greek yogurt parfait is a light and gorgeous creation, with granola, berries, honey, pepitas and coconut.
Do not miss the incredible coffee. The baristas know how to tighten up the coffee with a shot of Kahlua for breakfast of champions, if you like. Cookies, scones, muffins, bagels and killer brownies are available all day, as well as coffee drinks, teas, sodas and The Boost, a spectacular smoothie made with banana, spinach, kale, apple, lemon, chia and coconut water.

“Appies” are appetizers and small plates meant to share, with snack potential as well as alongside a main dish or a sandwich. The standout of this list is tempura’d asparagus and green beans, crunchy finger food with nice dip, it’s fun for kids and adults. Mary’s chicken wings are state of the art. Mains are larger offerings, with a pleasing Asian chicken salad heading a star list. Napa cabbage, edamame, almonds, carrots and crispy wontons are tossed with a candied ginger dressing. The grilled fish tacos are the pride of Avalon, with fresh local fish, avocado, shredded cabbage, tomato, Cotija cheese and tomatillo salsa. Pulled barbecued bison and pork sandwich is a local special, served on brioche, with Swiss cheese, jicama slaw and chips. Slightly charred baby back ribs are also a local specialty, as is fried Mary’s chicken, which is always a favorite. Room for dessert? Brownie parfait or an ice cream and cookie sandwich hits the spot!

Toyon Grill is a low-key watering hole, with GR “Catalina Trailhead” Blonde, 14 Mile High Spot Pale Ale, 9 Mile High Spot Hefeweizen, 182 Mile High Spot IPA, Kona Brewing Lavaman Red Ale, Mission Brewery Shipwrecked DIPA and San Diego, all on tap.

The extensive wine list includes house wines by Grand Cru, a selection of California and international wines, as well as Rusack Santa Catalina Island Vineyards, $80 a bottle. Handcrafted cocktails are creative and novel, including Trailhead Prickly Pear Margarita, Old Ben’s Mai Tai, Toyon Gin and Tonic, Toyon Smoked Honey, Casino Kombucha Highball, Two Harbors Old Fashioned, Cold Brew Coffee Martini, Interior Fig Mule, Buffalo Bull or the Nopal Cactus Mary.

Toyon Grill (Trailhead Building, Catalina Conservancy), 708 Crescent Ave., Avalon Catalina Island, 310-510-8599

The Struggle For The Democratic Party’s Soul

Paul Rosenberg
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The Struggle For The Democratic Party’s Soul

By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

“We always tend to blame the wrong people. We blame the banks.” – Michael Bloomberg, attacking Occupy Wall Street, 2011.

“You have $500 in the bank, and you spend $2.75 on a subway swipe in the crumbling MTA. A billionaire has $64 billion in the bank and spends $350,000,000 on TV ads bragging about how good of a mayor they were. You’ve spent more of your wealth than the billionaire has.” — Jack Califano, Sanders 2020 Deputy Distributed Organizing Director.

“Mike Bloomberg is the perfect climate candidate for 2007,” Charles Komanoff, co-founder of the nonprofit Carbon Tax Center

California’s March 3 presidential primary will be the most consequential one in history, for three simple reasons:

1. California has never gone so early,
2. The election has never been so wide open,
3. It’s a key battleground in the struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party—with 415 delegates at stake, more than 10% of the total and 30% of those at stake on Super Tuesday.

Will the party look to its own billionaire to save it in the battle to defeat Donald Trump? Or will it turn to an anti-billionaire champion instead? Or will it muddle along somewhere in between? Although things could change by the time California votes, right now there appear to be two possible candidates for each of those options:

  • Billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg,
  • anti-billionaires Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders,
  • and in-betweeners Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. They’re not billionaires, but they’re not focused on fighting them, either.

In turn, each of these three pairs presents distinct differences. Bloomberg’s extreme wealth, troubled racist, anti-Muslim history as a three-term Republican mayor of New York City, and habit of using his wealth to stifle critical voices makes Steyer seem almost monk-like in comparison. Yet, even if Steyer is ethically far superior to Bloomberg, he’s still a billionaire, nonetheless.

Labor lawyer and philanthropist Dianne Middleton sees only one anti-billionaire choice.

“It is time for real political change,” Middleton said. “Bernie Sanders has been unwavering in his determination to take on the billionaire class, the fossil fuel industry, and big pharma. He calls for immigration reform and a pathway to citizenship, an end to the prison industrial complex, college debt, endless war and – his signature stance – Medicare for all.”

Middleton went on to say, “He has my wholehearted support because he says, ‘It is not about me. It is about us.’ Any student of history knows change must come from the bottom up. Enough with ‘gradual change’. It isn’t working.”

But Sanders isn’t the only one calling for sweeping structural change and relying on small donors to do so. Warren is doing so as well, but they come from different political lineages.

Sanders comes out of the working-class democratic socialist tradition of Eugene Debs and Michael Harrington, whose book, “The Other America,” inspired the War on Poverty. Democratic socialists see the very existence of billionaires as a moral failure: such extreme concentrations of wealth necessarily entail profound widespread deprivation as well.

Warren comes out of the more middle-class progressive tradition of Teddy Roosevelt and Robert La Follete, who see billionaires as threats to both fair markets and a functioning democracy. The two traditions are distinct—sometimes at odds (the progressive city manager model had both anti-corruption and anti-socialist motivations), but sometimes overlapping (as when the Socialist Party supported La Follete’s 1924 presidential campaign). Both opposed oligarchic power in pre-Great Depression America, and both contributed to the creation of the New Deal. Warren’s more detailed focus on restoring governmental integrity reflects the progressive tradition’s focus, which was echoed by Peter Warren, a founding member of Indivisible San Pedro.

He cited two things he said needed doing, which so far, only Warren is addressing:

Elizabeth Warren said she would create an independent DOJ task force to investigate corruption by government officials during the Trump administration.

The Democratic presidential hopeful said her goal is to restore “integrity and competence” to the federal government after President Trump leaves office.

“If we are to move forward to restore public confidence in government and deter future wrongdoing, we cannot simply sweep this corruption under the rug in a new administration,” Warren wrote.

Warren is also crystal clear on Bloomberg’s unfitness, in light of his 2008 remarks blaming the financial crisis on the roll-back of redlining—a GOP narrative that even most Republican economists refused to endorse.

“Anyone who is out there trying to blame African-Americans for the financial crash of 2008, anyone who defends bank discrimination and then blames the victims is not someone who should be representing our party,” Warren said on MSNBC over the weekend.

Bloomberg’s redlining remarks came to light after a 2015 recording of racist remarks defending his stop-and-frisk policies at the elite Aspen Institute.

“Ninety-five percent of murders, murderers and murder victims, fit one M.O. You can just take a description, Xerox it, and pass it out to all the cops. They are male minorities, 16 to 25,” Bloomberg said. “The way you get the guns out of the kids’ hands is to throw them up against the wall and frisk them. And then they start, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get caught,’ so they don’t bring the gun.”

Bloomberg then issued a statement saying he “inherited the police practice of stop-and-frisk,” and “By the time I left office, I cut it back by 95%”—an utterly misleading statement, since stop-and-frisks increased over 700% before coming down, primarily because of a lawsuit which ended with the practice being found unconstitutional. Rates were still double in Bloomberg’s last year compared to his first.

But racist narratives and policies are just one facet of a broader “authoritarian streak,” writer and radio host RJ Eskow wrote recently at Common Dreams:

As mayor, Bloomberg had a history of suppressing peaceful demonstrations, sometimes with brute force. His police spied on Muslim gatherings and engaged in racially-biased “stop and frisk” tactics that expanded sevenfold under his leadership. He took advantage of privatized public spaces, including Zuccotti Park, to suspend basic liberties within them, while renting out his police force to the banks the movement was protesting. His unconstitutional suppression of Occupy even included the needless destruction of the movement’s library.

Bloomberg has spent massively to bury and obscure that history. For example, a chapter about NYPD surveillance of Muslims that mentioned Bloomberg eight times was deleted from a 2015 report on anti-Muslim bias in the United States from the Center for American Progress, which receives major funding from Bloomberg. Now he’s betting that Democrats just won’t care — that they’ll put up with anything to beat Trump, and he’ll spend whatever it takes to convince them that only he can do it, despite years of polling to the contrary. Notably, Sanders polled stronger than Clinton vs Trump during the 2016 primaries and continues beating him solidly today.

“Electability” was the number one concern cited by former Port Attorney Pat Nave. “I’m supporting Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar,” Nave told Random Lengths. “I think voters are looking for people who can address health care, gun violence, prescription drug prices, income inequality, infrastructure, etc. and they don’t care whether they have an R or a D after their name,” he said. “I think a good ticket would be Bloomberg/Buttigieg or Bloomberg/Klobuchar.”

Nave’s citing of what “voters are looking for” reflects a widely observed phenomena this election cycle: voters adopting a pundit-like concern with what others may be motivated by. But others, such as homeowner activist Janet Gunter, remain focused on what concerns them.

“The environment is my greatest priority,” Gunter said. “I completely believe that we are in a literal ‘freefall’ in killing our planet and depleting any remaining healthy environment. The short term stock market and 401K values of our time will not protect our children and their children from the ravages of environmental ruin.” In fact, economic losses due to climate change are mounting far faster than had been expected.

“Any of the candidates running are better than Trump on that issue,” Gunter said. But there are also substantial differences as well. All the candidates except Bloomberg have agreed in principle to a Green New Deal. When it was introduced as a House Resolution by Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, he called it impractical and announced his own plan instead, pledging to redouble his efforts to phase out coal plants while announcing he would not run for president. When he changed his mind and entered the race last November, InsideClimate News ran a story asking, “Why Aren’t Activists Excited About a Run for President?” which had multiple answers—mostly coming down to being out-of-touch and behind the times.

“Mike Bloomberg, with all his vision and good will, is too discordant of what is the new reality of forcing the ultra-rich to give up huge portions of their wealth to finance the Green New Deal,” Charles Komanoff, co-founder of the Carbon Tax Center said. His support for natural gas as a bridge fuel put him further at odds with most climate activists, who also see him as discordant with environmental justice concerns that are an integral part of the Green New Deal.

But there’s also differences among the other candidates as well. Data for Progress did a detailed analysis, identifying 48 essential Green New Deal components, and determined where candidates:

1. addressed a component with a proposed federal policy or action,
2. acknowledged a component but lacked clear policy details, or
3. did not include a component.

It rated Sanders, Steyer and Warren’s plans as “very thorough,” and rated Klobuchar, Buttitieg and Biden’s “thorough.” Sanders addressed 45, and acknowledged 1, Steyer addressed 40, and acknowledged 3, Warren addressed 38 and acknowledged 6. Buttitieg addressed 30, and acknowledged 7, Klobuchar addressed 21, and acknowledged 11, Biden addressed 26, and acknowledged 9.

“I was a 100% Bernie supporter but also now like both Tom Steyer and Mike Bloomberg,” said Jesse Marquez, founder of Coalition For A Safe Environment. He laid out a detailed list of things he was considering, from past accomplishments to having a published campaign blueprint on major issues, and the support of local community leaders and organizations.

“I would have to lean toward Tom Steyer because he is from California. No other state has provided unique pioneering leadership in the nation like California,” he said. “Tom researched and invested in grassroots organizing concepts and solutions to help address major community issues.”

“I think the most important issue is the choice voters have to make between becoming an authoritarian society again, or to continue to try to perfect a republic that uses a democratic base as its model,” said June Smith, former co-chair of the Port Community Advisory Committee.

“We know that education is essential to the ability of people to make rational, not just emotional, choices, and we also know that the dissemination of factual knowledge is at the base of that education. We must all choose,” she said, adding, “I’m not certain, yet, of my choices, but I know a couple I won’t vote for: Blumberg, Sanders (I think he’s too ill and shrill) and Gabby.”

Healthcare is another major concern that’s been subject to enormous confusion and fear. Medicare for All enjoys continued support despite many months of attacks, according to extensive polling by Data For Progress. “In a randomized trial, the Democrat running on Medicare for All performed between 4 and 10 points better than a Democrat running on improving the ACA [Affordable Care Act],” they reported, just before Christmas.

This polling directly clashes with the conventional wisdom that there’s a trade-off between big, transformational plans and political practicality. Most importantly, Data For Progress noted, “In all cases, the Medicare for All Democrat easily defeated Trump.”

In the next two weeks, the choice will be in Californian’s hands.

Music Community Remembers Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Terelle Jerricks
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Music Community Remembers Ladysmith Black Mambazo

By Melina Paris, Arts and Culture Reporter

Editor’s note: Due to the passing of Joseph Shabalala the group’s performance date will be changed to March 19, so the company may attend the funeral in South Africa.

The death of Joseph Shabalala, retired founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Feb. 11, occurred just as the choir was about to perform at Royce Hall. Shabalala died in a hospital in Pretoria with his wife by his side. He was 78. The South African songwriter brought Zulu music to listeners worldwide.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo came together in the early 1960s. The name, Ladysmith comes from his hometown, in the province of kwaZulu Natal, halfway between the city’s of Durban and Johannesburg. The word, Black, references the oxen, a strong farm animal. It was Shabalala’s way of honoring his early life on his family’s farm. Mambazo is the Zulu word for chopping axe, a symbol of the group’s vocal strength.

On its Twitter account Ladysmith Black Mambazo announced:

It is being with our friend & fans that we can live with this terrible pain in our lives. We are not canceling our concert tours. We will continue to celebrate the life of Joseph Shabalala, as we have done since he retired in 2014….

Through the 1970s and early 1980s Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the most successful singing group in South Africa. By the mid-1980s, musician Paul Simon visited South Africa and incorporated the group’s rich tenor, alto bass harmonies into his famous Graceland album. The landmark recording was groundbreaking in introducing world music to mainstream audiences.

A year later, Simon produced Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s first worldwide release, Shaka Zulu, which in 1988 garnered the group its first Grammy Award, for Best Folk Recording. The group has won three more Grammy Awards; Raise Your Spirit Higher (2004), Ilembe (2009) and Singing For Peace Around The World (2013) and 19 Grammy-Award nominations, more than any other world music group in the history of those awards.

Closer to home, Random Lengths News reached out to musicians and cultural influencers to get their thoughts about the particular impact Shabalala has had on them.

“I first heard Joseph Shabalala with Paul Simon on the Graceland album,” said film composer, pianist and guitarist Frank Unzueta of San Pedro.

“The song Homeless completely bowled me over with its serenity and spiritual feeling. I saw them perform with Paul and at their own concert and have been loving their music ever since. My attorney contacted his management about recording with my band, One World on our first album, Spirits Beckon You. They were very interested but scheduling conflicts didn’t permit it. What a joy it would have been to sing with him! He took a part of my soul with him.”

Max Viltz, the owner of Village Treasures, is a promoter of the arts and music and is an influencer for African American culture in Long Beach. She said that she has always loved music and various genres including Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

“It has such beauty and flow of movement,” Viltz said. “They seem to flow through their performances. I think because of the Paul Simon influence that it has such crossover appeal that it reached so many people.”

Harold Greene, musician of multiple string and percussion instruments and furniture maker of San Pedro, said though he didn’t know of Joseph Shabalala he remembers seeing the group in person on their first U.S. tour with Paul Simon.

“The power of their voices was stunning as well as their unique dance style,” Greene said. “I believe Miriam Mekeba was also featured. It was a beautiful concert and the first time I’d heard African music live.”

On his website Paul Simon wrote the following, remembering Shabalala:

Joseph Shabalala took Ladysmith Black Mambazo and brought their music all over the world. Imagine! What a great accomplishment for a boy from Apartheid South Africa. I admired him for his music and his Godly spirit. People love Mambazo. I love Joseph. We had a great time.

A favorite of the late great Nelson Mandela, Ladysmith Black Mambazo traveled with the future South African president, at his request, when he went to Oslo, Norway in 1993, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. One year later they were singing at the inauguration of the newly elected president. Mandela proclaimed the group South Africa’s Cultural Ambassadors to the World.

In 2014, Shabalala retired after more than 50 years of leading his group. Four of his sons perform in the current lineup and will carry the group into the future. The group sings of peace, of love and for people to live in harmony.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo
South Africa’s five-time Grammy-Award winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo have warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide with their uplifting vocal harmonies, signature dance moves and charming onstage banter.
Time: 8 p.m. March 19
Cost: $39 and up
Details: 310-825-2101
Venue: UCLA’s Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles

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