MAY 1, 2009
6-7:00 PM
National Steinbeck Center
· FILM:
“BRACERO STORIES”
This documentary film explores the Bracero Program through interviews with people on all sides of the controversial U.S.-Mexican government program which granted temporary work contracts to millions of Mexican laborers from 1942-1964. Bilingual, with subtitles.
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March 1-31, 2009
Native Son
by Richard Wright
Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.
Post your comments at the link below thru the whole month of March as we examine Bigger's fate, and our own...
www.salinasstories.wordpress.com
February 22, 2–3:30 PMJohn Steinbeck Library
Book Discussion:
On The Road
by Jack Kerouac
This 1957 cross-country bohemian odyssey penetrated the deepest levels of American culture and influenced a generation. Join us for a conversation about the book and it's effects on our culture, then and now.
FEBRUARY 15, 2–3:30 PM
Cesar Chavez Library
COMMUNITY STORIES:
THE GREAT DEPRESSION & THE OKIE MIGRATION IN SALINAS
Hear community stories of Salinas and Alisal during the Great Depression from residents who lived throught it. Join us for a greater understanding of what our parents and grandparents went thru and how it relates to us today.
Plus you can enjoy Depression-era snacks & music!
FEBRUARY 11, 6:30–8:00 PM
El Gabilan Library
Book Group and Haiku Reading:
May Sky: There is Always Tomorrow; An Anthology of Japanese American Concentration Camp Kaiko Haiku and Poetic Reflections of the Tule Lake Internment Camp 1944
In these collections Salinas Poet Violet Kazue de Cristoforo recounts her experience of Japanese American internment camps through the sparse but beautiful poetic form known as Haiku. Join our librarians as we celebrate and explore the life and times of Mrs. de Cristoforo thru her writings and her poetry. In her honor we will read her Haiku in Japanese and English, and there will be Japanese tea and desserts available for all to enjoy.
Poet Violet Kazue De Cristoforo
Poet Violet Kazue De Cristoforo
with Congressman Sam Farr
FEBRUARY 6, 5–8:00 pm
National Steinbeck Center
(Show extends through April)
Renderings: The African American Legacy Project Exhibition
Early California art works, memorabilia, family and archival photos and reflections from oral history narratives from our regional community. Also presents student work from CSUMB focused on local African American history.
Opening concurrent with Salinas ArtWalk. Reception is free for National Steinbeck Center members and invited guests.
To become a member, call (831) 775-4729.
FEBRUARY 1-28, 2009
Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
This 1952 classic chronicles the travels of a young, nameless black man as he moves through the hellish levels of American intolerance and cultural blindness. Join the conversation by posting your comments on the book. Share your thoughts with the community, and hear what others have to say. To check it out, and post your comment, just click on the link below:
JANUARY 27, 6:30–8:00 PM
El Gabilan Library
Book Discussion:
Animal Farm
by George Orwell
The controversial fable about an uprising of farm animals against their human masters reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. Considered a searing and insightful look at a very volatile time in world history, our librarians will consider how it may relate to our world today. Join us and let us know what you think about the Animal Farm. Is that us?
JANUARY 25, 2–3:30 PM
Cesar Chavez Library
Book Discussion:
Y No Se Lo Tragó La Tierra / And the Earth Did Not Devour Him
by Tomás Rivera, translated by Evangelina Vigil-Pinon
An original and ground-breaking work about the lives of Mexican-American migrant workers of the 40s and 50s. Join our librarians for a discussion of this seminal book. Take a look with us at the state of migrant workers today, and how things have (or have not) changed for the better of the worse. Tell us your own stories of friends and family who may have experienced something similar, and how that has affected them. Help us explore the migrant worker experience, and how it relates to our own lives now, and in the past.
JANUARY 24, 2–4:00 PM
El Gabilan Library
Family Spirit Portraits: An Arts Workshop for Families
Painting workshop for the whole family will celebrate family as the source of strength in challenging times.
JANUARY 24, 2–3:30 PM
John Steinbeck Library
Book Discussion:
In Dubious Battle
by John Steinbeck
The NY Times called it “the best labor and strike novel to come out of our contemporary economic and social unrest.” Published in the year of the 1936 Lettuce Strike in Salinas, which California’s governor blamed on “The Reds. (communists)”
Join our librarians for a conversation about the book that had Salinas in an uproar by taking a hard look at the situation between growers, labor and American agriculture in the 1930's. How different are things today?
JANUARY 1-31, 2009
Nineteen Eighty-Four
by George Orwell
The classic 1949 novel famous for its portrayal of society’s increasing encroachment on the rights of the individual. Post your thoughts online as to how this book published decades ago relates to our own post- 9/11 world where issues of privacy, surveillance, and the eroding of Americans rights and freedoms through government intervention are hotly debated topics in the National dialogue.
We'd love to hear your thoughts so please join us today at:
