The New Landscape in California, by Marty Hittleman, SATURDAY: An Afternoon with The Ash Grove

From: Victor Cohen [mailto:victor.cohen37@gmail.com]

 

 Event Description:   An Afternoon with the Ash Grove  

  

 When : November 10, from 3-5 pm

Where : Silverlake Public Library, 2411 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, 90039

Parking: "Free parking available just across Glendale Bl. after the 2pm closing of the

               Bank of America in their two adjoining lots. Over 50 spaces, there."

Phone: (323) 913 – 7451

The Silverlake Public Library is hosting an afternoon of music and conversation devoted to the Ash Grove, the Los Angeles club that from 1958 to 1973 acted as a venue for the music and politics that shaped the 1960s counterculture. Come hear several of the figures that helped create the club’s path-breaking blend of music and politics share their experiences and memories, from Ed Pearl, founder and operator of the Ash Grove, to Bernie Pearl, musician and co-founder of the Ash Grove School of Traditional Music, and Gordy Alexandre, longtime manager and eyewitness to the violence directed at the club because of its role in encouraging the radical politics of that era.

This event is designed to introduce the public to an ongoing oral history project focused on recovering the vibrant world that the Ash Grove was a part of, and which the club helped bring into existence. The project has collected interviews not only with musicians and those who helped run the Ash Grove – but also those who attended the club and were deeply moved by the experience. While its most pivotal years saw the club become a center for the 1960s counterculture in Los Angeles, this club continues to live and inspire people whose social, musical and political sensibilities were formed in part within its walls. The interviews will be collected along with the rest of the Ash Grove archive at the Ethnomusicology Library at UCLA, though the work is far from over. If you have a memory of the club, please consider attending this event, and also adding your memories to the project.

The event is free and open to all. Come hear about this moment in Los Angeles history, and your memories as well. There will be time for questions and comments after the presentation.

This program, and project, is sponsored by the California Council of the Humanities Story Fund.

* * *

From: Martin Hittelman [mailto:martyhitt@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2012 2:03 PM
Subject: The New Landscape in California

What a great election yesterday. In California Proposition 30 and 39 passed adding additional tax dollars for essential public services like education and Proposition 32 was defeated. The Three Strike Law was adjusted (Proposition 36) so that the third strike must now be a violent felony. As has happened before, unions were attacked by the big money interests and responded in force on the ground and over the air. As happened before, the vote for Democrats increased due to the work of Labor. In general, elections victories depend on good candidates, good strategy, enough money to reach voters, and strong participation on the ground. Together we win.

At this point, here's the new landscape in California:

• State Senate: Democrats 28 (70%), Republicans 12 (30%). The Democrats picked up three new Districts, SD17 (Monning in Santa Cruz); SD27 (Pavley in Ventura County), and SD31 (Roth in Long Beach)  
• State Assembly: Democrats 54 (67.5%), Republicans 26 (32.5%). The Democrats picked up 2 new Districts, AD32 (Salas in Kings County) and  AD61 (Medina in Riverside)

Note that in both houses the Democrats have more than 2/3rds of the seats -  making the Republicans pretty much irrelevant in Sacramento. 

• Congressional delegation: Democrats 34, Republicans 19. The Democrats picked up 4 House of Representative seats, CD07 (Bera in East Sacramento County), CD26 (Brownley in Ventura County), CD36 (Ruiz in Coachella Valley), CD41 (Takano in Riverside), and  CD 52 (Peters in San Diego)

The Democrats added a couple of seats in the United States Senate and in the House of Representatives and Obama was re-elected. Now if the Democrats will just show some backbone and follow through on their  rhetoric, we can see some positive change in both California and at the national level. It is up to all of us to help provide the pressure on the Democrats for more schools, more healthcare for all, less war, a progressive immigration and legalization policy, and an economy that rewards more than just the very wealthy. 

Marty

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