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Ventura College students publish works in VC Voices

Twenty-four students from creative writing, composition and literature classes at Ventura College have had their work selected for publication in the 2009 edition of the VC Voices. Of more than 100 pieces submitted for consideration, these selections were chosen for the anthology magazine after three rounds of judging by a committee of English faculty.

The edition offers a wide variety of themes and genres. The publication is funded by the Associated Students of Ventura College, with assistance of the graphic design department and the on-campus Canon Business Solutions printing facility. The magazine is used in more than twenty classes as a teaching tool, and will be available for purchase from the Ventura College Bookstore this month.

The winning students’ work was read and the students honored at a gathering in May.
Award-winning works from nine art and photography students were selected to accent the publication.

Editor Jennifer Garcia, English instructor said that examples of descriptive narratives, argument and research essays, literary analysis and short fiction are all available in the collection. Art styles selected also cover a wide range, including watercolor, pencil drawing, mixed media, photography and ceramics.

The 16th annual Oxnard Salsa Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 25-26 in downtown Oxnard. We talk to new Festival Director Elizabeth Alvarez about preparation for the event, the second annual Ventura County Salsa Dash on July 11 and efforts by the festival to support local charities and nonprofits.

How many people do you expect to attend this year’s festival and what will they see?

“We will have over 45,000 people for the two-day festival. It’s a celebration of everything salsa — food and the dance. Last year, we served over 75,000 samples of salsa. We do have arts and crafts booths (150 vendors) and especially invited those with handmade arts and crafts. We have two food courts and this year we will also have a tiny dance floor in the shade. We got a ‘Kids Korner’ where children will be able to do arts and crafts. The festival starts off each day with a Clave Parade. The foundation of Salsa is the Clave and so the children will have the little blocks of wood and play in time with the Salsa mascot and parade from the Pagoda to the main Salsa stage.”

We see this year you have such performers as Nuestro, Louie Cruz Beltran, Angel Lebron y Su Sabor on Saturday, and Orquestra Charangoa, Opa Opa! and Leslie Paula and the Latin Soul band on Sunday. How important is the music to the event?

“The reputation for the music at the festival goes all the way to New York. I’ve regularly received information from salsa bands that want to take part. We only have six slots, but we get 13 to 16 requests.”

Why was the festival created?

“The festival is a gift to the city from the Oxnard Downtown Merchants Association, created so that people could have a positive experience in downtown Oxnard. Ruth Ballen (the former festival director) really created a professional and beautiful event. It is a safe and family event and the Downtowners are dedicated to keeping it a free event. It has free parking and free admission.”

How important is the Salsa Festival to local charities?

“We raised $60,000 last year. It’s just developed in the last two years and really took off last year with ‘Dancing with our Community Stars.’ We were all surprised. The Rose Parade raised $100,000 last year for charity and we were able to raise $60,000 in just our second year. The quality of the festival is so high, it’s family friendly and we have invited powerful community groups this year: City Impact, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, the United Way of Ventura County, KCLU, the San Buenaventura Friends of the Library and Food Share. These groups have partnered with us because they know we can help them meet their goals. Times are so tough right now for charities and so this is a fun way to raise money.”

How are preparations going for the kick off event, the Salsa Dash?

“We will have a huge turnout this year. Last year, our first year, we had 350 entries and this year we expect 600 entries. They will be going through the historic part of Oxnard. We set up a friendly competition between the Oxnard Police and Fire departments on how many members will be participating. The timing of this year’s event is great. It is two weeks before the festival. We have a wonderful keynote speaker. Audrey Duffy is a two-time lymphoma cancer survivor.”

How important are the sponsors and the volunteers toward the success of the festival?

“We couldn’t do it without the support of the City of Oxnard and all the sponsors. Our main committee has 16 members and we have a total of 250 volunteers. We have a tiny staff, myself and my assistant and a few dedicated consultants. We’ve received amazing support from Time Warner Cable, Gold Coast Broadcasting, the Ventura County Star, Univision/Entrevision and Amtrak. Most people have been so nice and accommodating. I feel people are really supportive of the festival.”

• 2nd Annual Ventura County Salsa Dash 5k/10k walk/run through downtown Oxnard, 11 a.m., Saturday, July 11. The Salsa Dash raised $5,000 last year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• 16th annual Oxnard Salsa Festival, July 25-26
• Music, food booths, salsa tasting, arts and crafts booths, 'Kids Korner."
• Dancing with Our Community Stars to raise funds for area charities: Betty Alvarez Ham for City Impact, Brad “Brick” Conners for Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, Andres Herrera for United Way of Ventura County, Gloria Hidrogo for La Casita de La Virgen at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Ed Summers for San Buenaventura Friends of the Library, Bonnie Weigle for Food Share.
• For more information, call Festival Director Elizabeth Alvarez at 805.276.8270, e-mail at info@oxnardsalsafestival.com or visit www.oxnardsalsafestival.com in English or in Spanish

Time to get your running shoes on for a good cause

The Oxnard Salsa Festival will kick off its 2nd annual Ventura County Salsa Dash with registration at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, July 11 at Heritage Square in downtown Oxnard. The Kids Fun Run begins at 7:30 a.m., with the Salsa Dash beginning at 8 a.m.

The race starts at Heritage Square and then travels through the business district in downtown Oxnard before heading to the Henry T. Oxnard National Historic District. The race concludes at Plaza Park with salsa music, refreshments and an awards ceremony, according to festival organizers.

Kalani Chiropractic is the title sponsor of the Salsa Dash. Other sponsors include Road Runner Sports, Alert Real Estate Services, the Ventura County Star and the Oxnard Downtowners.

Funds raised by the Salsa Dash benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Pre-registration is $25 for the 5K run, $30 for the 10K run and $15 for the Kids Fun Run, with an additional $5 for onsite registration. To register online, visit the festival's web site at www.oxnardsalsafestival.com. For more information, call 805.247.0197.

Getting ready for the parade

Everyone loves a parde and the folks in Santa Paula are no exception. The city will hold its annual Kiwanis Citrus Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 18 on Main Street. This year's theme is "Sweet Fruit, Sweet Life." Local artist and musician Xavier Montes is getting a little help in this year's event.

"I am entered in this parade with my newly formed Conjunto Callejon (the Alley Group). My young neighbors (between the ages of 8 and 10) saw me carrying instruments in and out for gigs. They finally got the guts to ask me for guitar lessons. It's been a blast ever since. This started in December. In May, I organized a 'recital' on Mother's Day. We made our debut for their moms. In late May, we performed at a talent show at Grace Thille School and our group was a hit. So I decided that we were ready for the big time — the annual Santa Paula Citrus Parade. I call our group the Conjunto Callejon. 'Callejon' means alley and since we all live in the alley between Mill Street and 10th, I felt it was a fitting name. Please come and see/hear us play "De Colores" and other songs as we Parade down Main Street."

An interview with Irma J. Lopez, one of the founders of the Rebozo Festival and a local representative for a June 28 fundraiser in Camarillo in support of State Sen. Gloria Romero for California  Superindendent of Public Instruction.

The fifth annual Rebozo Festival was held May 17 at the Camarillo Ranch. How many people attended the festival and how was it received?

A record 800 people attended. Last year we had 725. In our first year we had 225, then 300 the second year. Then when it went over 400, we moved it to the Camarillo Ranch. We’re really pleased that people have liked the event and are attending it.

Each year you select a local charity. This year you chose Parents of Murdered Children of Ventura County. How much money do you expect to raise from the event?

Even with our expenses going up we think we’re going to give them at least $25,000 and that’s not bad for a one-day event. They were really glad to be chosen for our (fundraising) event. One of the secrets is that we don’t charge $150 to get in. We do it all by volunteers and so we are able to keep the price down.

Will you be holding the event again next year at the Camarillo Ranch or seek another location?

We’re in the process of looking at that right now. It’s $3,000 to rent the facility, plus $1,000 for a clean up fee that we get back. When you are working for a charity and you have to pay $3,000, that’s a lot. We would like to be back there, but if we could get it for less, even $2,000, it would help. We’re also looking at the Olivas Adobe (in Ventura) and we would love to get it back in Oxnard. We just need a facility large enough to hold us.

You are also a contact person for a fundraiser in support of State Sen. Gloria Romero, 24th District-Los Angeles, for California Superintendent of Public Instruction (http://www.gloriaromero.org/). Why are you involved in such an effort?

She is running for the Jack O’Connell’s position. He is being termed out. She is the chair of the Senate Education Committee, which was the same position held by State Sen. Gary Hart. She has a PhD., has been in the senate (since 2001) and I think she is really qualified. Eli Broad and Richard Riordan had a really big fundraiser for her (June 16), making her a viable candidate. She has been coming here for the last four or five years. She held a fact-finding event on agriculture at the Oxnard Library and a couple of years ago spoke at a dinner for the Latino Peace Officers Association. She has become friends with many people in the area and she is doing the right thing, not only getting financial support, but going out and meeting people so they can get out the vote for her.

Romero held a fundraiser at the home of Alfredo and Yolanda Plascencia from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 28 at 1031 Corte Barroso, Camarillo. For information, call Lopez at 805.797.6203 or Jim Hensley at 805.382.7959.

We are approaching the one-month anniversary since the launch of www.Amigos805.com and we have been very thankful for all the support we have received from the community and the suggestions for improving our web site. We have implemented a number of changes already, and plan to add new features in the coming months.

Here are some of the comments we have received. Thank you very much for all your kind words and encouragement. Your friends at Tres Amigos…

“Congratulations on your new amigos805.com business venture. Long overdue … The internet is the ‘new journalism.’ It's how the vast majority of people are communicating, including Latinos. Great coverage. Best part is that you're covering the LOCAL SCENE.” — Jess Gutierrez (Publisher, Latino Life & Style, Gente Magazine, veteran columnist and photographer)

“Congratulations. I think that it is a terrific idea to launch Amigos805.com during these difficult times for the newspaper industry. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and interest in the Latino community in order to come up with a project as well-planned as Amigos805.com. I wish you and your group much success…” — Josie Tizcareno Pereira (Former editor, Mi Estrella).

“Group of Latino Journalists in Ventura County, Calif. launches new web site to provide local news that otherwise does not get covered. Among those launching amigos805.com are former Ventura County Star Diversity Director Frank Moraga (a lifetime NAHJ member) and former Mi Estrella de Condado de Ventura Managing Editor Mariana Llamas-Cendón.” — Notice from Parity Project update sent out by Kevin Olivas, Parity Project director, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Washington, D.C.

“Felicidades, Amigos! Your site look great. Mucha suerte Frank, Mariana y Carlos …” — Cesar Arredondo (Los Angeles-area writer, videographer)

“Hi Carlos, Mariana and Frank. Wow! This is a great resource for the community. Very ambitious. I think you've got a hit.” — Vickie Linares (graphic artist)

“Congratulations on your new venture and thank you for including me in the group responding to the question of the week.” — Carmen Guerrero, (Dean, Career and Technical Education, Oxnard College)

An interview with Margaret Cortese of Teatros de las Américas. Her group recently presented “El Pasatiempo Nacional / The National Pastime,” focusing on life in contemporary Cuba, the love of baseball and gay relations. The play was presented in Oxnard, Ventura and Hollywood.

How was the latest play received in the community?

“People have liked it a lot. The only critique I’ve heard is some people saying it’s too long. Otherwise they liked it. The production in L.A. brought out a lot of Cubans. We had a discussion (at the end of the play) and they were going at it strong.”

Besides life under the Castro regime, the play also deals with issues regarding the gay community in Cuba. Was that part of the strong discussion by those who attended the performances?

“We kind of felt that not much has been done to address the life of gay people (in Cuba)… Half the discussion was about the gay issue and half about the Cuban situation.”

Was the play well attended throughout its run?

“As I was leaving (the Hollywood) performance, someone thanked me for putting it on there. I told him I was disappointed by the attendance, but they said for L.A. (80 people) that is pretty good attendance. They said sometimes only eight people show up. (Locally), it’s been a big challenge. It has varied. We had a very full house (at the gala), but it’s been very disappointing at times. The average size of the audience is 30 ... Here at the Café on A, the average number of seats is 60.”

Two years ago you left your permanent home in Oxnard do traveling shows throughout the county. How has that impacted audience attendance?

“For 10 years we were in one pace and the numbers were better. The fact that we are traveling around has hurt our audience numbers. It’s been very difficult. I’ve sort of wanted to stay in Oxnard, but the rent in the downtown area is $2 a square foot and we need 2,000 square feet. That is a very high cost … Finding a home is a pretty big financial challenge.”

Teatro’s next performance is Teatro Infantil / Children’s Theater, 6 p.m. June 6 at the Preus-Brandt Forum at California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks; 5 p.m. June 7 at Casa del Mexicano, 218  S. 11th St., Santa Paula, and 5 p.m. June 13-14 at Café on A, 438 So. A St., Oxnard.

“I was born in Calgary Canada in 1917. My Jewish parents had fled Russia because their lives were threatened by religious persecution — the pogroms that threatened our lives. They took me and my two sisters to Los Angeles and that’s where I grew up and did some important work in my life.

Because of this I know the immigrants’ story which is the story of our country.  I know that many of you have experienced this or have parents or grandparents who are here in our country because of similar circumstances.

Your story, our story is the story of this amazing country, which has its ying and yang, its positive and negative, its Jekyll and Hyde.

In later years as I was growing up I made common cause with others who were outsiders, who in reality are also the life blood of America….

This is our story.   This is what makes our country unique….all comers are/ should be welcome as Ms. Liberty invites us to be here on these shores, one of the tired, masses yearning to breathe free. 

Years later I became a dreamer of what our country should be about, liberty, justice, social equality for all ….. This was considered dangerous and later in my life during the McCarthy era our government through the FBI considered how I might be deported even though I was the daughter of naturalized citizens and had a right to be here like most of you sitting here today.
I have a very thick FBI file.  I am most proud that one of the comments is that I had “no known weaknesses.”

When I reached the age of conscience and consciousness, realized that not everyone was treated fairly, justly or equally in our country.   We did not meet our higher ideals and expectations for justice. I knew that Racism and injustice were the greatest evils; holding us back from all we should and could be.  

I felt a kinship and became a fighter for the marginalized:  blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, ….

I worked to organize labor unions, to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work… What a concept! 

I protested the against the incarceration of the Japanese in California after Pearl Harbor
And ….I was right… Not one Japanese resident of this country was ever convicted of treason…
Later our Congress and even the Supreme Court of the United States had to recognize that we made a terrible mistake against the Japanese people including US Citizens born on US soil.     

I ask you to remember that when our country is ready to question people of different ethnicity, religion or background…..please speak up for justice and our Constitution.

In 1944 I became the executive secretary of the Sleepy Lagoon Defense committee….22 young Mexican American men were wrongfully accused of murder. They were convicted in the press and in the court because of their ethnicity.

Alongside their attorneys, I fought the prejudice and ignorance which accused them of being born to be bad; sentiments fed by the racial prejudices of the day. After a long struggle in the courts, with the help of the public, they were released from prison….

This was one of my proudest and happiest days in my almost 93 years.

But I did not rest and went on to take 86 trips to Nicaragua during the contra war years bringing humanitarian relief and promoting a dialogue and understanding between the people of our countries.

I worked later on to organize the Ventura County Bar’s free legal services by volunteer attorneys to those without the means to get their day in court.

Oh yes, and I taught self defense to women and could flip many of you on your back,  back in the day….

During my life, I have had the pleasure and honor of knowing intellectuals who shaped our country.

WEB Dubois, the author of the Souls of Black Folks, helped me understand that I had to pace myself.  That my passion for social justice should not burn me out, that I should take time to enjoy what life has to offer and to know that tomorrow is another day to fight on. Please do the same…

I knew Carey McWilliams, an important fighter for civil rights for migrant workers and others; get to know who he is…  We both knew that our country needed to put an end to racism which is a continuing scourge of our planet.

In 1944 he asked me to be the secretary of the Sleepy Lagoon Defense committee for those wrongfully accused young men.   As a young woman without a college degree or relevant experience I said “I’ve never done anything like this before…Then he said the magic words.

NOW YOU WILL…

This is my message to you…. Now you will….you can live the kind of life I have.  It isn’t all fun, but it is never boring and you can’t enjoy complacency.    

Use your talents skills and energy and don’t be a bystander in your life and that of your era.

Never be silent in the face of things that matter.  You will sleep better at night, no matter what the consequences; and you will make a difference.  Our world needs you to step up to the plate, now more than ever.

 My best wishes to you today and always….

Love,

Alice

"Latino Community Pulse:"

"What do you feel is the most urgent issue affecting the Latino community in the region and what would be your top solution?"

I believe that the same problems that are plaguing all parts of our society plague the Latino community — all under-served populations, including the Latino population, suffer to a higher degree from social problems because of under representation, lack of information, and lack of resources.

1) One issue of tremendous concern is the education of our children, all of our children. Our system is horrible. The schools value attendance over health, and test scores over learning. It has been said a thousand different ways: children love to learn, and the system today stiffles the natural inclination to learn and explore even in the youngest of our children.

2) We adults, all of us, of all backgrounds, must LIVE as examples of healthy and happy humans. Every day I see parents acting in destructive, unkind and unhealthy ways, in front of their own, and other children. We must, each of us, take responsibility for living truly well and healthfully, as examples to our children of a life worth living.

— Elizabeth Alvarez, Oxnard Salsa Festival director

"In my opinion, apathy is not only an urgent issue but also a continuing issue. Racism is alive and well in the region. We hear it regarding many issues: immigration, low employment, high taxes, cost of education, out-of-control state budget, anti-affordable housing, translation of government documents into Spanish, providing translation services of any kind, cultural events. All these and more are blamed on undocumented peoples – translate that into Latinos, making the assumption of course that all the undocumented are Latinos! The silence from many Latinos is deafening. Where is the outcry denouncing the misinformation being bandied about? Our people are not the cause of the current economic conditions yet the majority of Latinos do not respond to all the negative rhetoric. This apathetic behavior is hurting all of us, not just the undocumented. There are a handful of people working to support the various issues facing Latinos. These few are the targets of hate-mongers and yet many of us just sit back allowing it to continue by our non-involvement. Afteral,l they are not attacking us, right? This apathetic behavior, in my opinion, is a contributing factor to not resolving the many other urgent issues facing Latinos.

"A solution: select a cause and get involved: affordable housing advocacy, promoting literacy among parents and youth, etc. Actively but peacefully respond to the hate-mongers. We need the Latino masses to come out in force so that voices can be heard. Respond to Dolores Huerta’s community involvement movement. No More Apathy!"

— Carmen Guerrero, Dean — Career and Technical Education, Oxnard College

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