The gray light and crisp cool air encourages me to put on my black cable-knit sweater while shuffling through boxes of memory triggers.
There is a sharp moment when the passage of time is made painfully obvious by the contrast of my weather-worn skin against the newness of the page.
Today is the 75th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066 that forcibly removed American citizens of Japanese heritage from their homes and sent them to concentration camps because of their ancestors nationality. Over 110,000 Japanese-Americans had their civil rights violated and humanity belittled because of fearmongering and ignorance. This never should have happened, and we cannot allow ignorance and unfounded inflammatory statements to allow such actions again.
Cemetery shrine, Manzanar National Historic Site, 2011.
One of the defining moments in the early LGBT movement was the protest at the Black Cat Tavern in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles on February 11, 1967. The protest was sparked by the homophobic sentiment and brutality of the police, and ended in a riot. After some arrests were made for assault and public lewdness, men kissing in public, the police also beat several patrons of the tavern. The New Year’s Eve raid was was driven by the homophobic state legislation that made it illegal for members of the LGBT community kiss or engage in sexual acts (this included in the privacy of your home too), or wearing clothing that didn’t meet their socially defined gender role. The police action spread to another bar across the street, where several people were reportedly beaten unconscious by the police. After the New Year’s Day raid and riot, there was a public protest held by several hundred people organized by two civil and LGBT rights organizations , and they were met by squadrons of armed policemen. All of this occurred two years before the Stonewall riots in New York, fueled by the Counterculture movement that was strong in Los Angeles.
The event this last weekend was completely the opposite. The police, mayor, councilmen, and city heads were there in support of LGBT rights, in memory of the injustice of 50 years ago, but also standing together and showing solidarity for all of the people that are marginalized or threatened by discrimination and any exclusionary practices. The night was full of positive and powerful speakers, actors, politicians, and musicians. Alexei Romanoff, one of the original protestors after the Black Cat raids fifty years ago, was there as a strong and iconic figure for the night’s rally. The idea of being able to openly give my husband a kiss on the same ground that fifty years ago would have resulted in us being beaten, brutalized, and arrested was both exhilarating and sobering. To know that we are beginning to have the freedoms afforded to other people, at least here in Los Angeles, while there are places in the world where we could be killed for walking down the street holding hands, let lone kissing, made me appreciate the amount of progress that has been made just in my lifetime. It reinforced in me the need to push forward, and keep striving for equality, increasing tolerance and removing exclusionary barriers that have not only tried to hold me back, but so many others because of their sexual preference, gender, skin color, beliefs, or any other perceived difference from the list of perceived othernesses that have been used to justify exclusionary movements.
A few of my favorite photos from the 118th Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown, Los Angeles. It’s so exciting to see sommany people from all over the region come together to celebrate the lunar new year. This year’s parade included several high school and one middle school marching band, ballet folklorico groups, martial art groups, a Charreada equestrian group, numerous dragon dancers, civic groups, and civic leaders.
With all that is happening in the news right now, it was wonderful to see the diverse groups of people converge on the Taoist temple in Chinatown for Lunar New Year’s Eve. Here is a gallery from this year’s lunar new year’s eve celebrations at the Tien Hau Temple, a Taoist temple in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. The temple was built and is maintained by the Camau Association of America, a group created originally by Vietnamese refugees from the Camau Region of Vietnam. The temple is dedicated to Mazu the goddess ofthe sea and patron saint of fishermen, sailors, and those associated with the sea. There are also three other deities associated with this temple: Fu De Gong, God of the Soil and the Ground, God of Blessing and Virtue; Guan Yu, God of War, Loyalty, and Righteousness; and Dizang, a bodhisattva in the Buddhist tradition. Every year the Thien Hau Temple is especially festive during the weeks surrounding the lunar new year, and especially on lunar new year’s eve.
A few of the tribute lanterns that festoon the ceilings inside of the Thien Hau Temple. Peering through the branches, flowers and hanging prayers into the main room of the temple with all of the dazzling colors and people making offerings to the gods of the temple. A view through a gilded dragon motif screen towards the shrine to the bodhisattva Dizang. Another view through a gilded dragon motif screen towards the shrine to the bodhisattva Dizang, as well as a section of the offering altar in front of the shrine. There were so many people placing incense offerings in the central courtyard incensor that there was constant motion, here I slowed down the shutter speed to capture the blur of motion. These two people made such a juxtaposed couple one deeply contemplative, the other full of joy. A group of friends meeting up at the temple. There was a very eclectic crowd at the Taoist temple, such a diverse group celebrating the Lunar New Year together. The musicians accompanying their dragon dancers prepare for their performance. A dragon dancer prepares to ascend the stairs and enter the temple. Dancers in the street in front of the temple. Happy faces in the crowd as they make their way into the temple with their offerings of incense. There’s more than one way to record the action. Dancers performing while the thousands of firecracker explosions scare away the bad spirits and demons so we can start the new year with a clean slate. Two of the firecracker strings reaching their end, which will have a resounding eruption bigger than the string, with the glowing blue eye of a dragon peering through the smoke. The ebb and flow of people in the front entrance to the temple. Many stems of unopened red flowers and decorated with red lanterns for the new year as the people watch the dragon dancers perform in front of the temple. Volunteers clearing a path for a dragon dancers preparing to enter the temple. Offerings of money being given to the dragons. A close up of one dragon costume as the other proceeds into the temple in the background. Amazing acrobatics with the head dancer on the tail dancers shoulders while spinning and dancing inside the temple. A dragon dancing his way to the exit of the temple. Performing a turn around maneuver in a large crowd so the dragon can exit the temple backwards so it can face the altars as it exits. A last look at Thien Hau Temple with a crowd watching a group of dragon dancers standing on the spent casings of the thousands of firecrackers that were exploded to scare away evil spirits so the new year can be started with a clean slate.
Attending and participating in the Women’s March yesterday was an amazing experience, so many people coming together in an affirmation of our common values and deeply held belief that human rights in all of their forms are intrinsic to the future of our society. The last estimates I heard were for 750,000 people at the Los Angeles march, and yet there wasn’t any violence, even though the infrastructure of the city was taxed by the number of people converging on Pershing Square and City Hall on a Saturday morning.
Watching the sunset near Hope Arch, Chinle, AZ, Navaho Nation.We are on another winter road adventure, this time in northeastern Arizona to visit some national parks and lands of the Hopi Nation and Navaho Nation. We started out by Meteor Crater, for whatever reason I’ve never been to it, headed for Homol’ovi State Park to see the old Hopi village sites. We continued north to northeast visiting the cultural center at Second Mesa and passing by below First Mesa in Hopi Nation ( no photographs from there in respect for their wishes and laws not to be photographed). The day ended outside of Chinle, Arizona, on Navajo Nation lands for sunset near Hope Arch. Tomorrow we explore Canyon de Chelley.
Sunset near Hope Arch, Chinle, AZ, Navaho Nation.A beautiful rock formation being lit by the sunset light near Hope Arch, Chinle, AZ, Navaho Nation.Pot sherds and building blocks from the landscape atop Homol’ovi II at Homol’ovi State Park in Arizona.Detail of one of the sets of walls showing internal organization at Homol’ovi State Park in Arizona.
We spent a Sunday afternoon at the Los Angeles Tea Festival at the Japanese American National Museum. This was the sixth annual Tea Festival and we sampled far too many good teas, including two pairing classes, one for tea with cheese and one for tea with chocolate. After drinking our fill we went for a walk around the plaza and through the nearby plaza with all of the lanterns and Christmas tree. We eventually ended up finding ourselves on 1st street and found a restaurant with the shortest wait time to slurp a warm bowl of ramen.
The plaza in front of the arching glass of the Japanese American National Museum.The beautiful blue tile roof of the tower in front of the Japanese Village Plaza.The skyline and signage of the Japanese Village Plaza just across the street from the Japanese American National Museum.The shop fronts along 1st Street in Little Tokyo with a view of Los Angeles City Hall peaking its tip out in the background.The hanging lanterns and trees along the pathway through the Japanese Village Plaza with their decorated Christmas tree in the background and shoppers milling about in the last light of the day.
Tonight is the ninth and last night of Dia de Los Muertos and the festivities are in full swing here at Olvera Street and the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. For nine nights there are processionals, offerings, cleansings, blessings, dancing, and the construction of altars to remeber the loved ones who have died. These celebrations are held every year by the Olvera Street Merchants Association as a way to honor and share their traditions with the city.
Timothy Dahlum 