Politics and
History
Wednesday, April 11
When the Mission was Low and Slow
Join a special screening and talk by members of the Mission
Archives on April 11, 8 pm, at CounterPULSE. Back in the
late 1970s and early 1980s Mission Street was famously the
home to a wild scene of lowriders every weekend. Bouncing,
shimmying, and gleaming cars full of excited kids and long-time
Missionistas would sometimes stretch along Mission from
16th all the way out to Geneva and back again. A unique
public space erupted every week for several years in the
face of police harassment, created and maintained by the
ever resourceful youth of Latino San Francisco. Join original
participants, filmmakers and today’s young activists
with rarely seen footage, a new documentary, “Why
We Ride: From Low to Show,” shares the stories about
the unique culture of the lowrider movement in San Francisco
Mission District and the silencing of that culture by the
police. We’ll also discuss the changing nature of
youth culture, street life, public space, and life in San
Francisco’s Mission District.
The event is free, but donations $5-$50 are requested
to help both CounterPULSE, the evening’s host, and
the Mission Archives/Conscious
Youth Media Crew, who are providing facilities and video
training for local youth.
Wednesday, May 2
From Enclosures to Industrial Fast-Food:
Immigration and Work and Agriculture....
Immigration is as old as history, but major population
shifts don’t begin until common lands become enclosed
in the late feudal period. Today the process continues with
the replacement of subsistence agriculture in the global
south with agribusiness export crops. Loss of land starts
the movement of populations into cities, eventually leading
to migration across borders too...
When people leave home they take their favorite foods with
them. Over the past century waves of immigrants have brought
with them many different kinds of foods to California, which
slowly have merged into components of “California
Cuisine”... Ironically--perhaps tragically--the folks
who are immigrants these days very often find themselves
working in the fields for agribusiness (even the newly organic
businesses) OR in the restaurants and hotels of SF, often
in kitchens and food service sector...
video clips: 1) occupation strike in Paris
at a McDonalds by largely African immigrant workers; 2)
scene from Peter Watkins’ movie “La Commune”
wherein a group of Algerians sits around a table talking
about immigration and capital--in 1871!
Speakers; Grey Kolevzon, Chris Carlsson, and TBA
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Nature in the City
Wednesday, April 25
The National Park Where We Live
Amy Meyer is essentially the “godmother”
of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). If
not for the heroic efforts of Amy and other environmental
activists, we might not have a GGNRA today. Amy has written
a book entitled, “New Guardians for the Golden Gate:
How America Got a Great National Park,” in which she
and her co-author, Randy Delehanty, provide exquisite details
of the social and political context for the creation of
our local urban ecological jewel, which is internationally
important. Join us for a typical Counterpulse evening, during
which Amy reveals the politics of national park conservation.
Wednesday, May 30
Butterflies in the City
Despite the revolutionary ecological changes on the San
Francisco peninsula over the last 240 years, the city abounds
with spectacular native biodiversity, including a couple
of dozen species of butterflies. Like many insects, butterfly
species have co-evolved with specific plants in an ecological
co-evolutionary dance over millions of years. The Franciscan
bioregion is home to several locally endemic species, such
as the mission blue, which only lives on coastal bedrock
ridgetops. A subset of our native butterflies have adapted
to some non-native plants, including some weeds. Join us
for an exhilarating and beautiful ride through this fascinating
subject. Barbara Deutsch, Deirdre Elmansoumi, Mia
Monroe, Liam O’Brien.
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