Today is Cesar Chavez Day in Tucson. I used to do a radio show on KXCI every year in Chavez’s honor, and I was lucky that I found the following one from 2014 so that I could share it with you today. I dedicate this to my brother Richard Elias, who was a fierce union supporter. He showed up to every single Cesar Chavez day march and rally in Tucson, from the first to the last.
The following three hour program, a special edition of “The Home Stretch”, is divided into three sections below. I didn’t add the playlists this time around, but the songs are all announced during the show.
I have to admit it feels weird not doing radio these days, but I am glad I have my old shows. I thought I’d share this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. birthday show, in case anyone is in need of hearing songs about freedom and justice. Included are many uplifting tunes and some classics from the Sixties about the struggle for freedom and justice.
Happy Birthday/Stevie Wonder–Woke Up This Morning/Sweet Honey in the Rock–(If You Miss Me At the Back of the Bus)(Ain’t Scared of Your Jail)(Oh Freedom)/Pete Seeger–It Isn’t Nice/Judy Collins–Dog, Dog/The Freedom Singers–A Change Is Gonna Come/Aretha Franklin–Go Limp/Nina Simone–Masters of War/Bob Dylan–The Beatitudes/Sweet Honey in The Rock–Blowin’ In The Wind/Peter, Paul and Mary–Pride (In The Name Of Love)/The Persuasions-(It’s A Hard Life)(Abraham, Martin and John)/Emmylou Harris
(It’s A Hard Life)(Abraham, Martin and John)/EmmyLou Harris–I’m On My Way to Freedomland/Sweet Honey in the Rock–People Get Ready/The Impressions–Pack Up Your Sorrows/Judy Collins–Go Tell It On The Mountain/Fanny Lou Hamer–Keep Your Eyes on the Prize/Pete Seeger–If I Had A Hammer/Barbara Dane–Mississippi Goddamn/Nina Simone–The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll/Bob Dylan–This Little Light of Mine/Sweet Honey in the Rock–We Shall Overcome/Joan Baez–Get On Board, Children Children/Willie Peacock–Carry It On/Judy Collins–Peace/Sweet Honey in the Rock
I’ve been to Philadelphia several times over the years. My last trip there was for this ALA Midwinter 2014 conference. My partner Ruben and I flew out together. At the time, I was a member of ALA Council and president of the local REFORMA chapter, so I had meetings to attend and other committee obligations, but we found time to venture out and explore the city. We also saw our friends Ricardo, Tracy, Karen and Alex and had a very nice time with them going out to dinner and sightseeing. We stayed at the Doubletree on Broad Street and our room was on one of the upper floors. It had a decent view too. Once the conference ended, Ruben and I took a train up to Montreal for vacation. We went from Philadelphia to New York City, then up to Albany where we took another train to Montreal. I’ll post photos and write more about that leg of our trip later. The attached photos include postcards and other ephemera, photos I took and photos I found on the internet. Overall, this part of our trip was a lot of fun!
The Philadelphia Convention Center, where ALA was held.
We stayed at the Doubletree on Broad Street. Ruben didn’t like it. I did.
I thought we had a great view.
It wasn’t bad at all.
Another view from our room.
This is my favorite place in Philadelphia It’s called the Reading Terminal and It’s jam packed with places to eat, fresh produce and meat counters and lots of people all the time. One must be careful when going, however. Our friend Alex had her wallet snatched by a couple of scam artists. It put a damper on her trip, that’s for sure.
Ruben and I ate an Amish breakfast here one morning. We had scrapple with eggs. It’s an acquired taste. Kind of like meatless Spam but not as salty.
My two partners in crime, Ricardo and Tracy, were at this conference too.
Ruben and I had dinner here with Ricardo and Tracy. The Perch Pub has since closed, I believe.
The Bike Stop is gay men’s bar, but Tracy came with me and Ricardo anyway. She was the only female in the place. She’s an adventurous one, that’s for sure! Ruben stayed in the room at the hotel.
We decided to venture out and go sightseeing. It had just snowed overnight and it was freezing.
I don’t do well in this weather. Ruben loves it.
This place was full of tourists from other countries. American tourists didn’t venture out on this particular day, it seems.
It was colder than it looks.
Benjamin Franklin’s gravestone. The cemetery was closed, so I had to take this photo through the fence.
We toured this place. It was nice, with a lot of very old furnishings.
Betsy Ross’s grave.
Chinatown is right next to the Convention Center and the Reading Terminal. There are many fine restaurants. Unfortunately, we ended up at one that wasn’t all that fine. Oh well.
My friends Karen and Alex came with us to dinner.
The jacket and hat were nice and warm. It was freezing. Karen, who lives in Michigan felt right at home. Not me.
Ruben and I made it over to this gay bookstore. It was going to close for good and we were lucky to go.
After the conference, Ruben and I took a train up to Montreal. This is the train station in Philadelphia.
The very first American Library Association annual conference that I ever attended was held in Dallas back in 1989. It was not a pleasant experience. It was the middle of summer, and very hot and humid. My hotel was miles away from the convention center too. Getting around was a big drag, and the wait to catch the bus to where the action was at the various hotels and the convention center downtown took forever. Subsequent trips, in 2006 and 2012, as I recall, were much more pleasant, however. This particular ALA gathering, Midwinter, 2012, was a lot of fun, mostly because I got to spend time with two wonderful friends, Ricardo Andrade, and Tracy Stout. Our hotel was smack dab in the middle of downtown, and there was lots to do. We walked over to Pioneer Plaza one day and had a blast taking photos with the cattle drive sculptures, and then later we went to a reception sponsored by Elsevier, one of the big library vendors. My friend Tracy has a video of me riding the mechanical bull and falling off of it. I’ve linked it in case you want to see me make a fool of myself. Ricardo is one of my best friends, and I miss him very much. I haven’t seen him in a while. He used to work in Tucson at the U of A Library, but has since moved on to other jobs in Chicago (University of Chicago) and New York where he currently works at the Columbia University Medical Library. Tracy is a former Knowledge River (UA Library School) student, and a dear friend who lives in Missouri, where she works as an academic librarian at Missouri State University. We’ve spent time together at various conferences over the years– New Orleans, Philadelphia and Dallas, and each time we’ve had some pretty wild adventures, but it’s been a while. I hope to see them again one day soon!
Pioneer Plaza Cattle Drive Sculptures
My buddy Ricardo.
Tracy Stout, librarian extraordinaire and the most gorgeous woman you’v’e ever met
Moi
I call him my baby boy, or El Sticky Ricky, depending on the situation…
Bob riding the bull (links to an external video of Bob making a fool of himself),
