8/8/13 California Prisons and Valley Fever

Rally to prevent the transfer of inmates to prisons with Valley Fever

Click here to download the mp3.

Tonight we talk with two members of Asian Prisoner Support Committee about the dehumanizing conditions in California state prisons including the inhumane solitary confinement units. They also talk about a pattern of inhumane treatment, and raise the issue of the deadly Valley Fever fungus, which is blamed for 62 deaths among California prison inmates statewide, with a majority of them in Avenal and Pleasant Valley, yet inmates are still being moved into these facilities. As our interviewee says, “When faced with adversity, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation takes the moral [low] road …because prisoners are the least protected population and they’re able to get away with it.”

Please visit the change.org petition to stop the transfer of inmates to these facilities and for basic human rights for the prisoners at Avenal and Pleasant Valley.

Community Calendar
This Saturday at 6:00 p.m., join Bay Area Philippine Artists at Lumpia and Martinis 2! Held at the Philippine Center Gallery on San Francisco’s Sutter Street, guests can bid on art from over ten local artists, eat unlimited lumpia, and shake it to the rhythms of Kulintronica and DJ Chris from LA. Tickets are $25, and include your first martini. Proceeds benefit the artists. https://www.facebook.com/events/626093670742441/?ref=2

This weekend, join the Diablo Japanese American Club in Concord for their daylong Summer Festival celebrating Japanese culture. The program includes Kendo, Ikenobo, and Judo demonstrations, Taiko and Koto performances, classical and folk dancing, and more! Saturday starts at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday at noon. More information can be found at diablojaclub.com.

On Sunday from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m., embrace your inner otaku at the first ever Anime Night at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. For only a $5, mingle with fellow anime fans, enjoy tasty snacks, sing karaoke, and enter a prize-contest for the best cosplay! All proceeds benefit the OACC, building programs fostering intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue for the APIA community. https://www.facebook.com/events/398550796916586/

Monday at 7:00 p.m. at The New Parkway Theater in Oakland is the film screening of The Women Outside. The film, created by J.T. Orinne Takagi and Hye Jung Park, takes us into the lives of South Korean women who work in the brothels, bars, and nightclubs around U.S. Military Bases in South Korea. Raising questions about U.S. military policy, economic survival, and the role of women in geopolitics, The Women Outside will be followed by a panel of local advocates including Gwyn Kirk from the International Women’s Network Against Militarism. Tickets are $6 with all proceeds funding the Alipato Project, providing legal representation to survivors of domestic violence in Alameda County. https://www.facebook.com/events/200968010068608/?notif_t=plan_user_invited

This upcoming Thursday at 7:00 p.m., the Asian Art Museum screens the documentary Mrs. Judo: Be Strong, Be Gentle, Be Beautiful. The first and only woman with a 10th degree black belt in Judo, Keiko Fukuda is one of only four people in the entire world to hold this honor. By request of her teacher and original founder, Kano Jigoro, Fukuda traveled to spread judo, settling in San Francisco’s Noe Valley to teach at the Soko Joshi Judo Club for over 40 years. Fukuda passed away this February at the age of 99, and Thursday’s screening will include a panel discussion, ademonstration of her signature gentle form of Ju-no-kata, and special guests to honor the legacy of this bay area powerhouse pioneer. https://www.facebook.com/events/415710278547456/?ref=2