{"id":235392,"date":"2012-02-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-03T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/free-speech-movement-of-1912-featured-at-centro-cultural-de-la-raza\/"},"modified":"2012-02-03T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-02-03T08:00:00","slug":"free-speech-movement-of-1912-featured-at-centro-cultural-de-la-raza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/free-speech-movement-of-1912-featured-at-centro-cultural-de-la-raza\/","title":{"rendered":"Free speech movement of 1912 featured at Centro Cultural de la Raza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anniversary exhibit draws comparison to current political climate<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Free<\/a>
(Courtesy Centro Cultural de la Raza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Kendra Atleework | Downtown News<\/strong><\/p>\n

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the fight for free speech in America, Centro Cultural de la Raza, located at 2004 Park Blvd. in Balboa Park, will feature the San Diego Free Speech Fight 100-Year Anniversary exhibit. Running through Feb. 12, this exhibit includes photos, first-hand accounts and media reports surrounding the San Diego free speech fights in 1912.<\/p>\n

Other highlights of the exhibit include an exploration of California\u2019s labor history and work by local artists. Secretary, Treasurer and CEO of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council Lorena Gonzalez said the exhibit is \u201ctruly is a must see for all San Diegans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1912 movement began when city officials banned free speech and assembly for 49 square blocks in downtown San Diego. Jim Miller, author and professor of labor relations at San Diego City College, said that, at the time, the ordinance was one of the most severe free speech bans to have occurred in the United States.<\/p>\n

Miller said the ordinance targeted the Gaslamp District, which was frequented by working class people from many ethnic backgrounds, and was ripe organizing territory for progressive activists. The activists most feared by San Diego\u2019s government and ruling class, Miller explained, were union organizers promoting Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).<\/p>\n

Miller called the IWW unique because it embraced workers of all ethnicities. IWW members, also called \u201cwobblies,\u201d organized workers by delivering public speeches that often pointed out the excess wealth of large San Diego corporations compared to the relative poverty of many workers.<\/p>\n

Although there were only 50 IWW members in San Diego in 1912, Miller explained that this small group met with intense repression at the hands of the ruling class due to the changes the IWW members posed to the city\u2019s economic and cultural future. \u201cThe free speech fight was a strong indicator that the city\u2019s elite did not want an unruly, organized working class population,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

\"Free<\/a>
(Courtesy Centro Cultural de la Raza)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Free speech and assembly rights were restored in San Diego within the year, however Miller pointed out the fight of 1912 is still underway by illuminating similarities in today\u2019s political climate. \u201cThe local right [wing] wants to make San Diego the Wisconsin of the West by attacking unions and ensuring that folks in low paying, service sector jobs stay passive and unorganized while the elites run the show,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Miller said there is an \u201cobvious and striking parallel\u201d between the political climate, actions of dissent and methods of repression that occurred during the 1912 free speech fight and the current action surrounding the Occupy San Diego movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have moved back to a situation of massive economic inequality in this country, much like a century ago,\u201d he said, \u201cand people are beginning to fight back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez estuvo de acuerdo y dijo: \u201cEl movimiento Occupy trae recuerdos v\u00edvidos de desobediencia civil con temas de libertad de expresi\u00f3n y libertad de reuni\u00f3n que tuvieron lugar en San Diego hace 100 a\u00f1os\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both Miller and Gonzalez stress the lessons they hope viewers take from the Balboa Park exhibit. \u201cIf something like banning free speech by an overzealous city council can happen once, then it can happen again if we aren\u2019t careful,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

Miller added, \u201cThe lesson is those rights we think of as fixed and eternal can, and have been, taken away. We need to fight to preserve them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit will be at Centro Cultural de la Raza Tuesdays through Sundays through Feb. 12 from noon to 4 p.m. For more information call (619) 235-6135 or visit centroculturaldelaraza.org.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anniversary exhibit draws comparison to current political climate By Kendra Atleework | Downtown News In honor of the 100th anniversary of the fight for free speech in America, Centro Cultural de la Raza, located at 2004 Park Blvd. in Balboa Park, will feature the San Diego Free Speech Fight 100-Year Anniversary exhibit. Running through Feb. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":235393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Free speech movement of 1912 featured at Centro Cultural de la Raza","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}