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Day is a journalist, filmmaker and author of “Forty Acres: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers.” He lives in Vista. Lately there is a growing backlash against those who want to teach their students to think critically about racism. Some believe critical race theory fosters White guilt. Its defenders say it points out the systemic nature of racial injustices in our country. This is just one example of a story that needs to be told. Alfredo Figueroa, 88, of the city of Blythe in eastern Riverside County, has spent a lifetime approaching history from the bottom up. His latest passion, maybe his last hurrah, is to set the record straight about the plight of Mexican miners like Joaquin Murrieta who founded Sonora during the California Gold Rush but were forced into exile from the Mother Lode Country with the arrival of the “49ers.” Murrieta, says Figueroa, defended his fellow Sonorans against the atrocities of the newcomers. “He is a hero for all peoples who struggl ....
Print It’s official: The two-month-long Coachella Valley biennial known as Desert X will not include a relocated Judy Chicago piece, the artist has told The Times, and the cancellation of the work is threatening a smoke sculpture planned for San Francisco’s de Young museum in mid-October. Chicago’s Desert X smoke sculpture and performance, “Living Smoke: A Tribute to the Living Desert,” was supposed to take place in April over 1,200 acres at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. The Palm Desert organization, which had approved the work, canceled it after activist, longtime local resident and former Times staffer Ann Japenga raised concerns about the artwork’s effects on the animals in the region. ....
“Of course [the Living Desert] had concerns, which I respected,” Chicago told Artnet News in an email. “We spent a considerable amount of time discussing how to bring my work to that landscape without disturbing the wildlife or damaging the environment.” Last month, when she learned of Chicago’s plans, Japenga sent a letter to the artist, the Living Desert, and Sabby Jonathan, a former Palm Desert mayor and current councilman, among others. (Johnathan previously voted against the city’s sponsorship of the exhibition, according to the Japenga suggested that the piece was unsafe and should be relocated to a more appropriate venue. She included quotes from two local wildlife biologists she consulted, who had raised concerns about possible animal safety issues, including 11 bighorn lambs recently born in the area. ....