Politics

California’s Central Valley is undergoing immense change. A dramatically expanding population is encroaching on some of the world’s richest farmland, putting increasing strain on water, clean air, roadways, and health. What must the Valley do to create a livable, perhaps even abundant future? In 2009, the Great Valley Center of Modesto convened a conference to [...]

The rise and fall of the multi-issue Mission Coalition Organization is recounted in A Community Organizer’s Tale, a richly detailed story of people power set in San Francisco’s predominantly Latino Mission District. Employing strategies inspired by community organizer Saul Alinsky and the Deep South civil rights movement, the organization defeated urban renewal, negotiated jobs for [...]

This long-awaited catalog of political posters pays homage to an influential and populist art movement that has created some of the most enduring imagery of our time. In All of Us or None, author Lincoln Cushing examines key selections from a remarkable archive of over 24,000 posters amassed by free speech movement activist, author, and [...]

From cuisine and martial arts to sex and self-esteem, East Eats West shines new light on the bridges and crossroads where two hemispheres meld into one worldwide “immigrant nation.” In this new nation, with its amalgamation of divergent ideas, tastes, and styles, today’s bold fusion becomes tomorrow’s classic. But while the space between East and [...]

In the wake of wartime panic that followed the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans residing along the West Coast of the United States were uprooted from their homes and their communities and banished to internment camps throughout the country. Through personal documents, art, and propaganda, Only What We Could Carry [...]

Sonya Rapoport has long been a pioneer in the merging of science and technology with art. Now in her eighties, she has had work shown internationally, including as part of traveling exhibitions sponsored by the U.S. Information Service and the National Endowment for the Arts. In honor of her tremendous contributions and accomplishments, twelve noted [...]

California is locked in a constitutional crisis. Its schools are in decline, its water system near collapse, and its prisons in disarray. It is unable to avoid a yearly budget crisis, maintain its public facilities, or care for its sick. Nor can its citizens remedy these ills under present arrangements. A land once known for [...]

Lake Tahoe transformed America, and not just once but many times over—from the earliest Ice Age civilizations to the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe. It even played a hidden role in the American conquest of California, the launch of the Republican Party, and the birth of John Steinbeck’s first novel. Along the way, Lake Tahoe [...]

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), close to three thousand young, idealistic Americans formed the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and joined thirty-five thousand people from around the world in the fight against Franco’s fascists, who were supported by Hitler and Mussolini. When these young people returned home, they were labeled communists and blacklisted. Surviving members of [...]

“A worthy tribute and a good lesson on the conservation movement.” —Kirkus Reviews The twentieth-century environmental movement owes much to a single man: David Brower. Countless natural wonders would have been lost if not for his efforts and the tremendous energy put forth by organizations he directed and/or founded (including the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, and the [...]

Upon returning to American soil after the Vietnam War, Patterson has only one rule: “Never take a job you couldn’t quit.” And so begins his formidable journey of learning how to re-adapt to civilian life. Patterson describes moving to Sonoma County, sleeping in a barn, and picking up whatever odd jobs were available. From digging [...]

”The more than 100 black-and-white images evoke the topical and the transcendent…Accompanied by informative and urgent essays about the political, environmental, and social challenges facing the region, the book makes a stirring call to change the way we consider the disenfranchised by offering a window into their lives.” —Publishers Weekly Ken and Melanie Light have [...]

Wherever There’s a Fight captures the sweeping story of how freedom and equality have grown in California, from the gold rush right up to the precarious post-9/11 era. The book tells the stories of the brave individuals who have stood up for their rights in the face of social hostility, physical violence, economic hardship, and [...]