Tag archives: racism

About Monuments
By Josie Martin   |   July 16, 2020

In Wachtberg near the Rhine is a bronze monument to a heroic German general of World War I. He was able to bring back a few of his men. My German grandfather, Gustav Felsenthal, was among the hundreds of thousands holed up in the terrible trenches of France, 1915-1918. Although Germany lost a war that […]

Our Forefathers, Forecasters? Forthright?
By Gwyn Lurie   |   July 9, 2020

I wrote this letter July 4th-5th, 2020. Growing up, Independence Day was one of my favorite holidays. It was a celebration of the strong shoulders upon which this great nation was built; a celebration of the principles our Founding Fathers fought for and a celebration of the Founding Fathers themselves. The food was great and […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   July 2, 2020

Happy 4th of July Even though COVID means we are unable to celebrate the 4th of July at the traditional firehouse pancake breakfast, we can still stop by this month and donate the price of our meal tickets to show our support for the firefighters and staff who keep our community safe. Our family and […]

Juneteenth: A Holiday that Matters
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   June 25, 2020

We are writing this piece on June 19, 2020, and wanted to wish everyone Happy Juneteenth! For many of our readers, this might be the first year you’ve heard about the holiday called Juneteenth, but it’s been celebrated around parts of the United States since 1886, with more and more people celebrating it each year. […]

Ball of Confusion
By Bob Hazard   |   June 18, 2020

I’m confused. Prior to May 25, law enforcement officers, along with firefighters, doctors and nurses, were celebrated as America’s heroes for showing up as first responders when other workers were told to shelter-in-place. What has happened to unleash a flood of angry protestors with signs that read “Eat the rich. Hang Bankers”; “F*** Capitalism”; and […]

The White Solution
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   June 18, 2020

Last week this column was entitled Half Slave, Half Free and dealt with the reality that people of color are not equal in this country; and, that this condition is a fundamental challenge to our “Union” as envisioned by Abraham Lincoln. Hopefully, after the last two weeks of international protests we are ready to embrace […]

Letters to Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   June 18, 2020

Expressing Needs We need to realize most police officers are dedicated public servants who have a much tougher job than a vast majority of good people could handle. Yes, to use a cliché, there will be a few “bad apples” who manage to get massive publicity, but I wouldn’t want to “not have the police […]

Half Slave, Half Free
By Rinaldo Brutoco   |   June 11, 2020

The two original sins of this nation are the systematic genocide of Native Americans and slavery. Both were the result of overt racism which has become so imbedded in our culture that we’re now left with only this choice: either be racist, or be anti-racist. There is no longer any middle ground. It’s not going […]

Protests Continue in Santa Barbara
By Jun Starkey   |   June 11, 2020

Thousands marched through Santa Barbara once more Sunday, as local high school students united to orchestrate a rally and march against police brutality, as well as present their demands to the Santa Barbara Unified School District and Police Department. “The fuse had been lit years ago,” said Shawn Banks, an assistant boys basketball coach at […]

Phillips Performs on Facebook to Cope with COVID and Racial Divides
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 4, 2020

It was exactly one week since George Floyd died in custody of the Minneapolis Police when Glen Phillips and I talked earlier this week over the phone. The issue of institutional racism and police brutality was weighing heavily on his mind, and would show up six hours later in that Monday night’s solo Zoom show, […]

Thousands March Down State Street in Protest
By Jun Starkey   |   June 4, 2020

Nearly 3,000 protestors marched through downtown Santa Barbara to face the Police Department Sunday, culminating in a blowout between protestors, police, and Mayor Cathy Murillo. “We are going to occupy State Street,” said Krystle Farmer, one of the organizers of the event. The protest was orchestrated by the Black Lives Matter SB group, headed by […]

3 Dylans, 2 Zimmermans, 2 Coopers, and 2 Junes in Minnesota:
By Gwyn Lurie   |   June 4, 2020

What Are We Going to Tell our Kids? The George Floyd video is a Zapruder film of not just the final moments of a man’s life, but a snapshot of race relations in this country, at this particular inflection point. What each of us finds most disturbing about that video is as unique and diverse […]

Cottage ER Doc, Dr. Prystowsky Lays It on the Line
By Mitchell Kriegman   |   March 26, 2020

On date March 18, 2020, Dr. Jason J. Prystowsky, the ER Doctor at Cottage Hospital, gave a webinar talk to over a thousand participants including first responders, hospital workers, and support staff to update everyone on the coronavirus from the ER perspective. Emergency Rooms all over the country are getting slammed by every variation of […]