Calendar of Events

Nationally recognized sculptor and public artist David Avalos will feature a collection of works inspired by Chicana and Chicano moral values, the icons of Mexican popular culture, and the internal contradictions of U.S. immigrant labor policy. Avalos has received fellowship awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council.

Co-sponsored by the Luis Leal Endowed Chair, Department of Chicana/o Studies, MultiCultural Center, Office of Equal Opportunity, UCCLR (University of California Committee on Latino Research), Center for Chicano Studies, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Academic Policy.

Race to Execution is a compelling investigation into America’s death penalty. This gripping documentary explores how race discrimination infects our capital punishment system. The film neither advocates nor repudiates the death penalty; instead, it enlarges the conversation regarding capital punishment, focusing attention on race-of-jury as well as race-of-victim. Directed and produced by Rachel V. Lyon, 54 min, 2006, USA.

Seasoned author Anca Vlasopolos will speak on the genesis of her latest novel The New Bedford Samurai. The work blends historical fiction and meditations on nineteenth-century globalism, and investigates the practices that tie us to outmoded but economically profitable modes of exploitation. The New Bedford Samurai has already been nominated for the Pulitzer, PEN-Faulkner, and Kiriyama Awards.

In this film, tribal leader Ron Eagleye Johnny takes us to four reservations whose inhabitants speak about the negotiations with the U.S. government to place Monitored Storage Retrieval sites on their land. Large commercial power companies have run out of places to bury their nuclear waste and seek to relocate in tribal backyards. Directed by Ed Harriman, 53 min, 1995, USA.

Co-sponsored by the American Indian Cultural Resource Center.

If it were possible to hear the breathing of atoms, it would probably sound like the shakuhachi of Alcvin Takegawa Ramos. Ramos keeps the tradition of learning and playing the koten honkyoku (original Zen pieces for shakuhachi) strong while exploring and expanding the boundaries of the instrument. Born and trained in Japan, Alcvin is the foremost teacher and performer of shakuhachi in Canada. Tickets $5 for students/ $15 general admission. Contact the A.S. Ticket Office at 893-2064.

Racially charged theme parties are a growing trend on college campuses. But the parties have garnered national attention from those who question whether they are just clean fun, or symptomatic of more serious race- related issues in our community. UCSB grad student Reginald Archer will facilitate this discussion.

Adolfo Matos, former political prisoner and riveting community artist will speak about the joining of art and activism in the struggle for Puerto Rican liberation. Curator Jorge Felix and coordinator Alejandro Molina join him to introduce the international art exhibit Not Enough Space, featuring the works of Puerto Rican political prisoners.

Co-sponsored by La Casa de la Raza, UCSB Associated Students SCORE, UCSB MultiCultural Center, the Yuri Kochiyama Fund for Political Prisoners, KCSB, KPFK and the Boricua Human Rights Network.

Traditionally environmental movements have focused on issues such as wilderness preservation, endangered species, recycling, and energy consumption. But how do these concerns relate to race? This workshop highlights the ways environmental justice is bridging the gaps between environmentalism, race, and social movements.

Incisive writer and performer Kristina Wong mixes sharp humor and psychology in Wong Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a swear-to-god-not-autobiographical, serio-comic portrayal of the high incidence of anxiety, depression and mental illness among Asian American women.

Co-sponsored by Asian American Studies, Student Affairs and the Women’s Center.

Legendary corenetist, trumpeter, and composer Bobby Bradfors has been infecting audiences with his smooth jazz for over 50 years. He organized the Mo’Tet in 1983 and not a day too soon. Their stimulating sounds are sure to make you melt in your seats. Tickets $5 for students/ $15 general admission. Contact the A.S. Ticket Office at 893-2064.

Shailja (pronounced Shell-ja) Patel is an explosive Kenyan-Indian-American presence on the national poetry scene. She has performed at U.S. venues from Lincoln Center to San Quentin prison. She insists that the platform we command as artists cannot exceed the size of our humanity. Shailja Patel performs work that makes the space larger for everyone’s voices.

My Home- Your War offers an exceptional look at the effect of the Iraq war through the eyes of an Iraqi woman. Shot in Baghdad over three years that span the time before, during and after the invasion of Iraq, this profoundly moving film brings a perspective that – until now – has rarely been available to U.S. audiences. Directed by Kylie Grey, 52 min, 2006, Australia.

How do we bring the power and vision of art to activism and political change? Shailja Patel, described as the "poetic equivalent of Arundhati Roy," explores the poetics of joyful resistance. In this special encore performance Shailja will be accompanied by student performers from her writing workshop.

Mirrors of Privilage: Making Whiteness Visible is a must see for all people interested in justice, spiritual growth, and community making. Join filmmaker Shakti Butler for this special screening and workshop exploring racism and white supremacy in the United States.

Popular images are telling stories about Mixed-Race- but what are they saying? This workshop will explore ideas about Mixed-Race prevalent in science fiction movies like Harry Potter, Blade, and Underworld, and why people shouldn’t believe the hype- or hate.

Bonnie Thornton Dill is Professor and Chair of Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland and the Founding Director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (CRGE). In this guest lecture, Dill will discuss intersectionality as an innovative and emerging field of study that provides an analytic lens to interrogate racial, ethnic, class and gender disparities. She will also discuss how this framework challenges existing ways of looking at these pervasive forms of inequality.

Travis Matthews’ film, Do I Look Fat?, explores fat on the brain - fat that we feel, fat that we think about and all sorts of fat problems that manifest from fat-phobia inside the fat-wary gay community. Intertwining issues like self-esteem, HIV, Bullying, internalized homophobia and substance abuse, this film tells the stories of seven diverse men, who all struggle with eating disorders. The health issues are interlaced with personal messages told with impact and power. This film jump-starts an important discussion about internal-acceptance and common dysfunctional views on eating and body image.

Dead week and finals are right around the corner and now is the perfect time to let it all out at our quarterly open mic night. Anyone and everyone is welcome to grace the mic with poetry, dance or song in an open and supportive environment. Eclectic I.V. is located just off campus at 6530 Pardall Road.