notesong

           2009-Black History Month Celebration , ECC San Diego Continuing Education             Thinking back on the speech I made at ECC a few years ago during Black History Month, the celebration's theme "I am because you are" holds a special place in my lived experiences . It is a cultural phrase that places each individual within their community-past, present, and future. The phrase continues to remind me that for the past decade, and now as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century, many teachers whose positive impact has helped shape our school phobic and intellectually challenged--as well as brightest and best-- have endured hardships to educate our children.Today, teachers face an increasingly bleak future. Budget cuts across America will most likely send many teachers into the private sector, too bruised to return to education when the economic crisis subsides. Years of training  will be applied elsewhere. It is the other sector's gain. T

                                                               Delores Fisher blogger   So, as I was sayin' about later in the afternoon . . . Those who know where to go for alternative off the main street performances at the Adams Avenue Roots Festival usually head for two areas: the park or Lestats. This year, the park is set aside for a health fair. I long for the old park stage with what seemed a few years ago to be a really fun-filled venue for loud "funky" bands and equally odd funky fans. This year, struggling with a waistline  in pursuit of the "fried food American spread," a need to justify NOT pursuing the latest hard core work out exercise craze, and a desire to simply unwind without a the sounds of outside frolic---I head for one of Adams Avenue's nationally known cultural houses: Lestats.  http://www.lestats.com       I know from previous years that Lestats has provided one of the Festival's indoor stages. Almost inside, I feel an "A

Pick up yo' feet and clap them hands 'cause the music is live from the people of our global village! The 38th annual music of the people event was one of the most enjoyable I've attended this year. From a block away, music greeted us and invited us in. Walking up from 30th Street to the festival,we spotted a small group of young men playing acoustic instruments.