California

EXPERIENCE, Film, JUSTICE, PLAY, Racial Justice, Sporting

Film Review | Jesse Owens, the Movie “RACE” and the Impact on the 2024 Olympic Games

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Jesse Owens was an African American track athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His story is significant because, in 1936, Europe was on the brink of World War II. Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, hosted the Berlin Olympics with the intent of showcasing its ideology of Aryan racial superiority. However, the Games became notable for challenging this propaganda. Jesse Owens’ victories directly contradicted Nazi racial theories and highlighted the absurdity of racial discrimination.

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People of Note, PLAY, PONDER, Sporting

Person of Note | The Mack Robinson Legacy: Defying the Odds in Life and at the Olympics

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In 1936 at the Olympic Games, the odds were heavily stacked against Black athletes. Many were questioned about why they would agree to compete in a country that was racist toward them while representing another racist country. Yet, those 18 Black athletes knew that they would defy the status quo. By participating in these Olympic Games, they personified the idea of “taking up space,” and understood the lasting impact their presence would have for generations to come.

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City LIfe!!, EXPLORE

Exploring Los Angeles | Rolling Greens – Garden & Nursery Mecca for the Modern Home

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One balmy Southern California weekend in July, I had the opportunity to explore an eminent garden center in Los Angeles called Rolling Greens. I had learned about this comprehensive, family-owned garden center from their smaller shop in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles. But it is the larger flagship center in Culver City is where our afternoon was spent…

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City LIfe!!, EXPLORE

Series | Social Justice Tourism – Napa Valley, California

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At 48, my pallet has evolved from my younger days when the only crushed grapes my friends and I knew were the top-of-the-line wine Carlos Rossi and a motel that would leave the light on. Much has changed with me and Napa as well. Growing up near one of the worlds premier viticulture regions in the world, the epicenter of wine country seemed a world away from my East Bay home in Richmond, California.

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People assemble along the side of the road which is covered in candles. An orange table on the sidewalk provides a congregating point for participants.
JUSTICE, Police Reform

A Memorial for Pasadena’s Reginald (JR) Thomas

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There have been two street-side memorials in Pasadena recently held for young Black fathers killed by the Pasadena Police. One was on August 15th and the other was on September 30th. The first was held in Northwest Pasadena across from La Pintoresca Park just up from Washington Blvd. and the second was held on East Orange Grove Blvd. in-between the intersections of North Marengo Ave. and Garfield Ave.

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