Renew your hope with John McCutcheon

By SANDY SAMPLE

Give yourself and those you love a special gift that’s bound to cure the January doldrums, renew your faith in the human spirit, and invite your commitment to peace, justice, and community: the lively presence of folk musician John McCutcheon in Modesto.

John McCutcheon Concert
Wednesday, January 16, 2001
7 pm
Modesto Church of the Brethren
2301 Woodland Avenue, Modesto

Suggested Donation:
$15 advance, $18 at the door, $10 children under 12
available at Richard’s Custom Framing, 1323 J St., Modesto
or call (209) 523-1438

Sponsored by our local Song Circle, John McCutcheon’s first-time-in-Modesto concert on Wednesday, January 16 is a benefit for the Modesto Peace/Life Center — so your presence will not only nurture your spirit, but also support the Center’s efforts to encourage non-violent approaches to local community and world issues.

No matter how varied your musical tastes may be, John’s superb musical and storytelling talents are sure to delight you. His songs and stories focus on the lives of ordinary folk, on family issues and basic human needs, on grassroots community, on peace and justice issues both local and global. More than that, they reveal his deep sense of hope.

John writes most of his own songs, but also weaves in traditional music with rich Appalachian and global roots. He masterfully accompanies himself on hammer dulcimer, guitar, autoharp, banjo, fiddle and piano, and introduces many of his songs with stories about what inspired them, or the powerful connections they have created.

Every song in John’s huge repertoire affirms and lifts the listener’s spirit. He is honest about life’s struggles and political realities, but never succumbs to cynicism or distasteful barbs. His light touch, wit, charm, and playful spirit always warm the heart, conjure up a smile, and invite audiences to tap a toe or sing along.

I have heard John McCutcheon in various Northern California venues on what he calls his yearly “Left Coast” tour, and I have always left his concerts more hopeful than when I entered. Many of these concerts have been fundraising events for activist groups: the Santa Cruz Resource Center for Nonviolence, the Mt. Diablo Peace Center, the Napa Valley Hospice. Even though I was a stranger in all these locales, John’s music welcomed and invited me in. No matter what concerns or heaviness I carried in with me, his music always touched my heart, nourished my spirit, made me laugh, made me weep.

On one memorable stormy night in Sutter Creek, only 20-30 hardy souls braved the wild storm to show up at the old gold rush-era theater. The planners were sorely disappointed at the turnout, but John graciously received it as an opportunity to play his music the way he had 25 years ago. He disconnected the sound system, plunked himself down on the edge of the stage, beckoned the audience into the first two rows, and offered to sing whatever we wanted to hear. It was a powerfully intimate evening.

When Song Circle folk trekked to Walnut Creek last January for one of John’s concerts, we approached him with a dream that had been simmering for awhile, for a concert in Modesto to benefit the Peace/Life Center-- and he was open to the possibility. When we contacted his manager a few months later, his Northern California tour was already fully booked, and we had to defer our

dream. In early November we received an e-mail with the news that an opening had become available. We quickly said, “We’ll go for it.”, and have been having a whale of a good time organizing the dream into reality.

As an added bonus, we’re delighted to present as John’s opening act a young Tracy-area folksinger, Megan Slankard, who will bring her own youthful energy, enthusiasm, and passion for folk music, and keep it from being a substantially grey-haired audience.

Since it’s a school night, we’ve asked John to focus his family/children’s music in the first half of the concert, in case parents need to leave early to put kids to bed. Tapes, CDs, and autographs will be available at intermission.

When we first dreamed of bringing John McCutcheon to Modesto, we did not know that the events of September 11th and its aftermath would shake our world and leave us all feeling vulnerable. Now we see this concert as a way to reconnect, reclaim hope, and anchor ourselves in the things that make for peace. The concert is Song Circle’s gift to Modesto; your presence will be a gift that helps keep the Modesto Peace/Life Center’s alternative voice strong and vibrant.

Mr. McCutcheon's website is http://www.folkmusic.com, and Megan Slankard's website is http://www.meganslankard.com

 "I'm Just Musically Curious"- An Interview With John McCutcheon in The Hormpipe

Danny Glover WILL speak at MLK Event
By JAMES COSTELLO

"The interesting thing I find is that Martin Luther King wouldn’t be invited to his own event."                                                                                                     — John Lucas

Danny Glover, noted actor, activist, and death penalty opponent, will speak at the Eighth Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration at the Christ Unity Baptist Church, 1320 L St., Modesto, Saturday, January 19, 2002, at 7:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. The church seats between 600 and 700 people.

Danny Glover has appeared in many films, including, Places in the Heart, Witness, The Color Purple, the Lethal Weapon  series, and To Sleep with Anger. He received the NAACP Image Award as well as an ACE Award for his performance in HBO’s production of Mandela. Glover hosted and executive produced Courage, an one hour, weekly, prime-time series for the Fox Channel profiling real people who have shown courage and bravery in moments of crisis. Courage was selected by TV Guide as one of the Top Ten Inspirational Shows on television for 2000.

In response to the AIDS crisis in Africa, to raise awareness about the impact of the disease on underserved communities in the United States, Glover has extended his tenure as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program. Glover also serves on the board of the Algebra Project, a math empowerment program developed by civil rights pioneer, Bob Moses.

The Modesto Peace/Life Center, along with the Martin Luther King Commemoration Committee and the King-Kennedy Center, has consistently helped organize and support the Martin Luther King Commemoration each year. These events have been increasingly successful, especially with support from the City of Modesto and, last year, Modesto Junior College.

This year is different.

The City of Modesto pulled its financial support from the event due to controversial remarks Mr. Glover made at Princeton University about Osama bin Laden (he should not be killed), about being vigilant regarding President Bush’s assault on our Constitutional principles, and about racism in America. Modesto Junior College also withdrew its money, and the use of its gymnasium, citing security concerns.

In spite of the controversy, Mr. Glover has agreed to speak anyway for a fee of $6,000 (reduced from $20,000). While the Peace Center and the King Committee are very gratified with the support coming from groups and individuals, more money is needed to insure that Danny Glover has a forum to fully express his views in the spirit of Martin Luther King.

Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke truth to power and was murdered for it. The Peace Center asks you to remember his vision and sacrifice by assisting it in allowing Danny Glover to exercise his right to speak.

ACTION: Please make checks payable to: The Modesto Peace Center — MLK Event. Send them to: The Modesto Peace/Life Center, P.O. Box 134, Modesto, CA 95353-0134  Note: Any excess funds collected will be saved for next year's MLK event.

CORRECTION: A Modesto Bee  report made it appear that the City of Modesto was going pay the entire $20,000 fee. From the beginning, the City of Modesto had never planned to spend $20,000 to bring Glover here. Other groups and individuals were also contributing substantially (i.e., MJC, $5,000) until the controversy broke.

Danny Glover under attack, article from Yes! Magazine by Frances Korten

Danny Glover Under Attack, The Black World Today, 1/7/02

Rally goes ahead despite right-wing campaign, Workers World, 1/24/02

McCarthyism Watch, The Progressive, 12/11

Verbal weapon: Actor Danny Glover’s anti-death penalty stance (even for Bin Laden) is getting slammed by the right as ‘un-American’, WorkingForChange, 12/20/01

Danny Glover: an interview with Sarah Ruth van Gelder, Yes! Magazine, Spring 2001We did overcome! 

The Death Penalty in this Great Nation of Ours--full text of Danny Glover's speech at Princeton University, November 15, 2001

Sara Thompson made the ordinary extraordinary

By NANCY VEIGA

One hot July day six years ago, my then five-year-old daughter and I learned how to paint with watercolors. Our teacher was Sara Thompson. While the baby “painted” with his own markers on the floor, Sara patiently taught Sofia to wet the paper first, then the brush and then ever so gently run the brush over the paper. We were making auction prize cards for the annual Connections Fourth of July celebration and Sara insisted everyone paint. As was Sara’s way, she and Sofia collaborated. Sofia’s attempt to depict a dinner party with a table, chairs and oblong-shaped plates became a three-course dinner with full wine glasses and eating utensils. It became the “Dinner for Four” masterpiece.

This was just one of the many times that Sara did what she did best: make the ordinary extraordinary. Whether it was tasting a plum from the farmer’s market or discussing the latest book she’d just read, her curiosity and spirit, her wit and generosity, always came together in a way that made every minute spent with her special. Sara Thompson died September 21 at the age of 55 of cancer. It has become a cliché to say the good die young, but in Sara’s case it is true.

I met Sara when she joined the Connections editorial board seven or eight years ago. I liked her immediately. I didn’t know her long or especially well, but in the too-few years of our friendship I felt I’d known her all my life. She lived fully in every moment, no matter how mundane, and so you always knew she was fully there with you. That’s a rare and precious gift in these times of glib pleasantries handed off as friendship.

Sara Thompson was a research librarian in Modesto for 25 years. Her large dining room table was always stacked with books she was reading, thinking about reading or had read. Every corner of her home was filled with books. She read everything with appetite, and she was not a book snob. Her descriptions of books were often punctuated by her loud, gut-busting laugh.

Reading was not Sara’s only passion. Her back porch was given over to her passion for art. Jars of brushes, water colors hung to dry, vases of flowers and pallets of colors were themselves organized into a still life. Nearby her bread dough would be rising and the fragrant yeasty smell mingling with the classical music.

Her home was like Sara: serene, interesting, a shelter from a harsh world.

Odessa Johnson speaks her mind

Taken from her speech at the Esto Broughton reception, a celebration of the Stanislaus County Commission for Women. Edited.

I rejoiced at the prospect of speaking to a room full of women (and a few good men) leaders.

Tonight we celebrate the achievement of women in elected office. Esto Broughton was the first female lawyer in Stanislaus County and the first woman to preside over the California State Assembly, to which she was elected four times.

Born in Stanislaus County, she graduated from the University of California Law School in 1916, specializing in irrigation law. She authored the law which allowed irrigation districts to develop and sell electric power. During World War II, she practiced civil law in Modesto and fought for the rights of Japanese-Americans. She was truly a pioneer elected woman.

There are currently 152 elected women in Stanislaus County, and I congratulate all of you for the roles you have taken. We can’t forget those who have gone before us — school boards, Modesto Mayors Peggy Mensinger and Carol Whiteside, Council members Janine McLenahan, Mickey Peabody, Sue Siefkin (currently a judge). Judges Loretta Began, Marie Silveira, and others. And we welcome Pat Paul, only woman on the Board of Supervisors, Kenni Friedman, only woman on the Modesto City Council, Pat Kuhn and Britta Skavdahl, Oakdale City Council, and many others currently serving.

Sometimes I ask myself why would we ask — beg — plead to take on these positions? Unless you are really blessed, an election campaign costs lots of money; then there is campaign strategy. And then the forums, something akin to pop quizzes, and then, of course, letters to the editor. So we’ve got at least three months of hard work before getting elected to serve our public. And then, of course, after the election, our major tasks begin.

If I asked each one of you why you chose this way of service, I believe the core response would be that our voices need to be heard. “If we are not at the table, we are going to be in the kitchen,” someone said. Women bring a different perspective to policy and to leadership. We bring different experiences and voices. We are mothers and caretakers. We are more likely to vigorously advocate for quality of life issues like health care, child care, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, good schools, clean air and water. We are natural born leaders. If Esto Broughton were alive today, she would remind us that much work is still to be done.

There are generally more of us in school board positions. Statewide, 21 of 80 Assembly members are women. In the State Senate, women hold nine of the 40 seats. 25% is considerable progress from a decade ago, but not close enough to the 50/50 by 2020 goal set by the League of Women Voters. We need to encourage the next generation of women to step up to the next higher position in leadership. We cherish the bonds that exist between one life and another, and we believe in the possibility of new connections, stronger ties and possibilities for the future.

Which reminds me of another trail blazing woman, Rose Ann Vuich, the first woman elected to the State Senate in 1976. She, like us, made her home in the Central Valley. When she was elected, there was no women’s restroom on the senate floor. Today, the women’s restroom still doesn’t say “women” on it, it just has a pink rose on the door, a rose after its namesake. Rose used to ring a bell on her desk during senate discussions every time someone forgot about her and began to address the “Gentlemen of the Senate.”

So, ladies, as leaders let us continue to ring our bells, but ring them with compassion, integrity, responsibility, initiative, courage, dependability, respect, loyalty and dignity. We are here because of the public’s confidence and trust in our ability to lead. We have proven that we can lead and the only thing better would be to have more women in leadership. Let us roll up our sleeves as did Rosie the Riveter in World War II and say, “We can do it.”

However, I would leave you with one word of caution: Go forth and do good, but take care of yourself. Don’t overextend. No dying politician has ever said, “I wish I had spent more time on the campaign trail.” God bless you and God bless America.

I resolve

By KEN KOHLER

It is that time of year again when we resolve to lose weight, quit smoking, quit procrastinating etc. I would like to make 10 suggestions that will make your life and the lives of others better if you agree sign and date the bottom and put it where you can see it everyday. Here they are:

1) I will not tell, listen to or tolerate others telling jokes that put down others because of their race, religion or sexual orientation.
2) I will advocate justice, but not revenge, or violence on a personal or national basis.
3) I will be proactive in environmental issues locally, nationally, and internationally.
4) I will take full responsibility for all of my own actions.
5) I will meditate for at least 15 minutes each day.
6) I will forgive all transgressions against me, but I will not allow them to happen again.
7) I will budget and use credit wisely.
8) I will contribute to at least one nonprofit charity.
9) I will develop a personal mission and vision statement.
10) I will do random acts of kindness at least once a week.

Signed:
Date:

If you only do 1/2 of these, you and others will see a significant improvement in your life. I wish you peace and happiness for a very happy new year.