Gabriela Network goes for the gold!
≡ Category: Politicking, Semi-daily thoughts | ≅ Leave a Comment

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by lunamania
Thanks to Grace and Joy, parol lantern making has become a new holiday tradition. These two sisters are the artistic, bamboo kit assembling, scrap cloth, decoupage and stay up all night force behind the Gabriela Network’s entry into the 2009 Parol Lantern Festival. The last several years, the filipino senior center with their chain link, floral cut recycled aluminum can parols have impressed, but this year Gabnet is going for gold. Step aside, seniors!
Parol making with this crew means learning about Filipino women’s movements and leaders. It’s also time to catch up with old friends and get my creative on with a refreshing glass of Grace’s kalimansi mimosa…great way to support solidarity efforts!
This year the parade theme, Light the Way and Be Counted, aims to raise awareness of the Census. So Gabnet lanterns will feature images from under-counted groups: immigrants, migrant workers, undocumented residents, complex households, homeless individuals, people of color and LGBT people.
I’m not a crafty holiday elf–or any sort of small craft creature unless it involves making model cars from Tamiya kits. But I can use google. So I spent the evening searching for images of these under-counted communities to paste on the parols.
Click the image for pictures from the 2007 production process and presentation. The Big Gay Star was the piece de resistance!
Parol lantern festival and parade: who,what, when, where
PAROL LANTERN FESTIVAL and PARADE
Saturday, December 12, 2009, 3PM to 8PM
3PM to 6PM: Parol Festival games and demonstrations in Jessie Square
6PM to 8PM: Parol Lantern Parade and Performances (Yerba Buena Lane to Jessie Square)
A’s win!
≡ Category: Politicking, Semi-daily thoughts | ≅ Leave a Comment
Saw the A’s trounce Cleveland yesterday.The game was made even better by the American Indian Movement schooling Cleveland on the wackness of having an Indian mascot. They had a two-sided, single-spaced flyer that patiently walked the reader through the finer points of why this is Not So Nice. That’s very kind of AIM. My version of the flyer would be much shorter. It would read: Mascots are team pets. People are not pets. Conversation over.
California budget…tough times ahead
≡ Category: Politicking, Semi-daily thoughts | ≅ Leave a Comment
Looks like Lunamania is on a brief streak of posts about inequities. I promise something lighter soon. In the meantime, California finally has a budget and it looks grim for poor families. The budget sent to the Governor already drastically reduced cash-aid, health insurance and access to in-home supportive services for sick and disabled residents, but before signing, the Governor wielded his blue pencil and cut some more from health and human services.The following are bits from the Western Center on Law and Poverty (WCLP) and the California Budget Project (CBP). Both will most likely have updates on the final version soon. Click on quotes to get to the full link.
This is the first time that CalWorks grants for children are being cut. As the WCLP says:
Grants will be reduced by 25% from a maximum of $566 a month for two children down to $420 a month if the parent can not comply with federal work requirements.
Only good news is that these changes will not go into effect until 2011.


