SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2:00 PM!
CESAR CHAVEZ LIBRARY!
El Teatro Campesino comes to the Salinas Public Library! Come on out this Saturday for a lively, interactive time with members of this legendary theatre company!
Bring the whole family and celebrate El Teatro’s years of achievement since its first performances in the fields in 1965, on the back of flatbed trucks. A great time will be had by all!
Aided by a popular and progressive young teacher, Sal Castro, Paula Crisostomo and a group of young Chicano activists battle parents, teachers, bureaucrats, the police and public opinion to make their point.
Along the way, the students learn profound lessons about embracing their own identity and standing up for what they believe in.
Set in 1968, a tumultuous year that shook America to its foundation, Walkout is a vivid reminder that people can change the world.
MOVIES IN THE CHAVEZ is a new movie series that will happen from time to time at Cesar Chavez Library in Salinas, CA.
& TUESDAY, MAY 12, 6:30–8:00 PM
Conversation: Books – The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
Four young Chinese women born in America and their mothers born in feudal China explore their difficult mother-daughter relationships. Join us for another in our series of book talks where we use books as the starting point for enlightening conversations.
It doesn't matter if you've read the book or not because you'll find out about it when you come, though you might want to check it out when we're done!
El Gabilan Library
FREE!
MAY 9, 2009
3:30-4:30 PM
Cesar Chavez Library
· 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.
&MAY 1-31, 2009
The Spook Who Sat by the Door
by Sam Greenlee
An explosive, award-winning novel in the black literary tradition, "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" is both a satire of the civil rights problems in the United States in the late 1960s and a serious attempt to focus on the issue of black militancy.
Dan Freeman, the "spook who sat by the door," is enlisted in the CIA's elitist espionage program. Upon mastering agency tactics, however, he drops out to train young Chicago blacks as "Freedom Fighters." As a story of one man's reaction to ruling-class hypocrisy, the book is autobiographical and personal. As a tale of a man's reaction to oppression, it is universal.
Post your thoughts about this wild ride through America's racial politics at the link below! Could it really happen?
www.salinasstories.wordpress.com
&
MAY 4, 2009
6:30–8:00 PM
John Steinbeck Library
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
by John LeCarre
Alec Leamas, a British agent in Cold War Berlin, is given a final, scary assignment: go deep into Communist territory to checkmate the bad-guy spies on the other side.
Join us for another intriguing discussion of a masterpiece!
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.
&
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:
