By Dillan Horton
With Sen. Booker’s campaign announcement today, I wanted to take this opportunity talk about the upcoming Presidential Primary. In the past few weeks I’ve talked to a lot of democrats that are concerned that we have to many candidates and that this intense competition will be bad for the party and our chances in 2020. What I’ve said is, having more candidates is good for the Democratic Party and producing the best candidate.
By Josh Jones
The Green Party cannot, and will never, be authoritarian. Two of our most basic principles are grassroots democracy and decentralization. But our nation has experienced the creeping infection of authoritarianism, currently with the prime examples of Trump and Putin. Fear, guilt, and panic cannot be our guideposts.
Authoritarianism is the opposite of grassroots democracy; authoritarianism is the opposite of the left. Authoritarians use fear, guilt, distrust, and hopelessness to move their followers. In the past, theocracies have also manipulated these emotions in people for social control.
The root aspect of any well supported, long lasting society – of any vibrant and thriving society – is democracy, trust, patience, diligence, intelligence, productivity, and strength in numbers. This is what the left is truly about. This is what social-ism can achieve. We grow in number when we trust each other and work together. Authoritarianism seeks to halt all of that; to rule by fear with an iron fist over fools.
By Rachel Rycerz
There are so many talented people in DMTC's Hunchback of Notre Dame…
Aimee Rose Santone, who plays the role of Esmeralda, is new to DMTC but not to performing. She started dancing 20 years ago, at the age of three; at age 10 she joined a show choir, which introduced her to singing. At first she had difficulty holding a tune, but because it was something she really enjoyed she decided to take private lessons. Her experience in show choir led her to believe that musical theater would be a good fit. After doing theater with her schools, she joined a semi-professional company in her hometown of Redding in high school, and then studied Musical Theater at AMDA in Los Angeles.
Aimee Rose brings her triple threat talent and also her experience as an entertainer to the role of Esmeralda. This is especially true in the first number she appears in, “Rhythm of the Tambourine,” in which her dancing captures the attention of the three main male characters in the play; their captivation with Esmeralda ultimately changes their lives. She shared “Quasimodo, Frollo, and Phoebus when we first meet them are all content with the way they are living their lives at the moment. But as they each meet and interact with Esmeralda, she brings out their true selves.”
Being a performer has also made a difference in Aimee’s own life. Her husband is in the Marine Corps, which means they end up moving to where he is stationed. “Being in a theater I feel like I’m home, so when moving to a new area joining a show is a great way to meet people and make friends.”
Your last chance to see Aimee Rose as Esmerelda is this weekend — Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. You can buy tickets atDMTC.org
by Christy Corp-Minamiji
I've been thinking a lot about symbols the last few days. They've been everywhere — blue ribbons and "Blue Lives Matter" flags stipple my hometown like dotted lines perforating the blocks; pink pussy hats fill videos; red ball caps framed the faces of young men mocking a Native American elder.
The thing with these symbols is they all cause pain to some, and bring feelings of belonging and support to others. None of these is "just a hat", "just a flag," "just a ribbon."
Symbolism digs deep into our DNA. It touches how we think, feel, and connect with others. Symbols give us a shorthand for the things we cherish — identity, our sense of the sacred, unity, and connection.
A flag is not just a piece of cloth. A cross is not two boards affixed at right angles. A star is more than two triangles.
By Colin Walsh
Yesterday Sunday December 16th the Davis Enterprise printed a story on its Front page titled UCD’s “West Village expansion will start this month” by Andy Fell, “Special to the Enterprise.” The online edition omits the phrase “Special to the Enterprise.” In both cases the article ends with the note – UC Davis News.
The problem is, the Enterprise has not properly identified who Andy Fell is in this article. Yet, on page 2 of the same Enterprise there is another article titled, “Body Found Near UCD Campus” that sheds some light on Andy Fell (thankfully, he is not the body).
Climate change is turning working class Californians into sitting ducks. Sadie Fulton writes about how people are struggling to build networks of solidarity in the face of climate disaster, ruling class neglect and the far right.
Thursday 8 November was a unique day for California’s climate. Record low humidity paired with record high winds practically guaranteed that there would be fires. It is uniquely hard to prepare an entire state for the elevated natural disaster risk when nobody has any idea where a spark will start a wildfire.
Dear Friend,
I just became a founding donor to start the Friends of the Sustainable Living and Learning Communities donor fund at UC Davis. This effort hopes to raise enough money to support two or more full fellowships a year, and continued program and infrastructure development for the part of campus including the Student Farm, The Domes, and the Tri-Co-ops. We have already raised a five-year commitment of over $80,000 – just under half of our goal – which is why I am reaching out to you to ask if you would consider joining use with a pledge of $100 or more.
Most of us have seen how much additional pressure today’s students are under. This fund-raising effort is intended to ensure that those pressures don’t mean an end to student creativity and community at UC Davis. Donations to this fund will be allocated 30% to the Sustainable Living and Learning Communities and 70% to the Green Fellowships. You may donate here.
By Sadie Fulton
To my non-Californian friends: today here in California we had unprecedented fire-prone conditions. High winds, dry air and land.
The town of Paradise is under full evacuation (from what is bitterly called the "Camp Fire") and much of it is burning down, and that fire started only this morning. Ventura county, hundreds of miles away from Paradise also caught fire. There were two small fires in Davis today and that's just what I know about.
People are missing in the Camp Fire. Hundreds if not thousands of people just became homeless.
Everyone is discussing how we need to start fighting climate change NOW. But all we are doing is talking to each other, trying to help share the information about who's missing and who's taking in climate refugees, and processing our collective trauma.
What is our concrete plan? March on Sacramento? March on Washington? Total general strike until this gets addressed? What are we going to do?
Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to meet up with migrant caravan that has been traveling up from Central America.
By Nick Buxton
This is a long post but I wanted to share the experience.
Of course, if you believed the news or some political leaders I was about to go and meet up with a gang of criminals, terrorists and armed invaders. But it’s that racist rhetoric and politics of hate that made me determined to go to show my solidarity and support and my opposition to the hostility towards migrants that dominates the airwaves. So I wrote a banner in Spanish that translated roughly says “Trump is a disgrace. But from the peoples of the US we open our arms to you. We welcome you brothers and sisters #WorldwithoutWalls” I walked into the stadium holding the banner initially a little shyly, but then more confidently aloft so everyone could understand why I was there.
