December 26, 2021 through January 1, 2022 Kwanzaa is a yearly cultural celebration inspired by African harvest festivals and created in 1966 to bring African American families together in life-affirming ways. According to founder Maulana Karenga, the name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili expression, matunda ya kwanza, or “first fruits.” Dr. Karenga is recognized for his accomplishments as a community builder and a professor and chair of Black Studies at CSU Long Beach. He studied

Summer beckons us outside to visit the mountains, river valleys and coastal shores. When we connect with Nature it gives us a sense of wellbeing. We rely on Nature’s resources to survive, but we also need to give back. Local leaders of the Amah Mutsun tribal band call it reciprocity. To practice reciprocity is to take only what we need and to live in balance with our planet and all living things. As stewards of the Earth, we have not lived up to our end of the bargain. Negati

Memorial Day sees its share of parades and BBQs, but in truth, it is a solemn day of remembrance of the human toll exacted by war. The tradition of honoring those who died in battle dates back to Ancient Greece and Rome. After WWI it was referred to as Decoration Day, reflecting the practice of leaving flowers and flags at the graves of fallen soldiers. U.S. Civil War history reveals twists and turns about the birth of this day that may surprise you. . . Learn more online: 8

May 2021 America’s heritage is enriched by generations of immigrants from Asian and Pacific Island nations. Our tradition of celebrating this heritage during the month of May began as a way to commemorate two milestones: the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843; and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 by a workforce largely made up of Chinese immigrants. According to the National Endowment for the Humanities, a 14-y

Dolores Huerta A Woman of Influence During Women’s History Month we honor Dolores Huerta, one of California’s most influential women leaders. Huerta’s fight for human rights and social justice is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s and ‘70s. Her passionate and effective activism influenced American history and became a model for generations of women, men and youth to follow. Join us to connect with Huerta’s remarkable story during a multi-media virtual event presented by

What Poetry Teaches About History ". . .the hill we climb if only we dare it, because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it.” From “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman Spoken word poetry preserves the human experience in a way that textbooks and academic lectures cannot. Poetry makes the exploration of history a more approachable, personal and thoughtful journey. African-American poetry, like music, has been with us si

December 26th marks the beginning of an annual Pan-African holiday known as Kwanzaa (derived from the Swahili for “first fruits”). You may be surprised to know that Kwanzaa was conceived in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a noted Black American scholar and activist. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, he wanted to instill a spirit of unity and cultural self-discovery among Blacks in America. Kwanzaa was an invitation to learn about their rich and diverse history and heritage a

Thanks to a crazy confluence of events, California leapfrogged “territory” status and achieved statehood in September of 1850. In January of 1848, gold was discovered near Swiss immigrant John Sutter’s sawmill in Coloma. The following month, Mexico and the U.S. signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican War and yielding 525,000 square miles of western frontier to the U.S., including present-day California. That same year, the Gold Rush brought people from far

Water has been central to the development of our region’s agricultural economy—from orchards, row crops and vineyards to cattle ranches, chicken and egg farms, and nurseries. As with other natural resources, water is precious, finite, and must be conserved. Our water management practices have greatly evolved since the first primitive wells were drilled and “sack dams” were fashioned from burlap and earth. We’ve learned that pumping without recharging groundwater leads to shor

Planet Earth Photo credit: Live Science Rachel Carson Photo credit: New York Times In 1962, Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” awakened America to the downside of industrial development and the dangers of pesticides. It all began when a friend with a bird sanctuary wrote to Carson describing how all the birds were dying after DDT spraying took place. More than 500,000 people read Carson’s New York Times Bestseller. Meanwhile, the pesticide industry tried to demonize Ms. Car