In the late 1980s, I worked in the mayor’s office in Houston, Texas. One of my colleagues was a police officer named Alan who worked on the mayor’s security detail. Alan and I occasionally worked together on events or projects, and in listening to him over numerous lunchtimes, I began to understand the sacrifices police officers make to protect us. Alan was as community-minded as anyone I’ve ever known. He […]
Gillian Wegener – Award-Winning Poet, Community Leader
Gillian Wegener was twice the recipient of the Dorothy Rosenberg Poetry Award (2006, 2007), and was honored as one of Stanislaus County’s Outstanding Women in 2015. She served as the City of Modesto’s Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2016. In these troubled, chaotic, and tragic times, the power of poetry to mend wounds or express our deepest feelings is there to be tapped by all, though poetry is often left […]
Leng Power: Award-Winning Community Advocate & Volunteer
Thailand is over eight thousand miles away from the Valley — just about a third of the way across the globe — but that’s where this inspiring local success story begins. The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia had fallen the year before, leaving in its wake a legacy of terror and genocide. But as volatile and traumatic as the situation must have been for thousands of refugees displaced by all […]
Lindsey Bird – Award-Winning Educator, Advocate, Candidate
When Language Institute Co-Founder Lindsey Bird decided to leave her fledging career as a banker to become a teacher in her hometown of Modesto, she could not have imagined the profound impact that decision would ultimately have on the lives of the students who would enter her classroom. She only knew she wanted to make a difference. But within a few short years, Ms. Bird would find her calling as […]
Hard Road to Redemption: Part II
A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]
Michael Baldwin Senior: Hard Road to Redemption
A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]
Award-winning Patty Castillo Davis: A Voice for Social Justice
MAMA award-winning singer/songwriter Patty Castillo Davis is quick to admit that, even as a little girl, she was all about the words, the music, and the beat as she sat in front of the television watching Nancy Sinatra power through the lyrics of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” “I loved Nancy, and I wanted those white boots, and that blonde mop top – I wanted to be her.” Ms. […]
Modesto Poet, Writer, & Activist Tina Curiel-Allen
In sharp, powerful images from her poem “The Things I Stole,” the fine Xicana/Boricua poet, writer, and activist Tina Curiel-Allen recalls one of the most painful but transformative experiences of her life: It wasn’t until jail that I found a place that could steal from me, /I found walls that ate time and tears like money, /And offered no form of recompense. /I felt the extent of my debt in […]
Community Profile: Modesto Poet Laureate Stella Beratlis
When Modesto Poet Laureate and MJC librarian Stella Beratlis heard that her first book of poetry (Alkali Sink, Sixteen Rivers Press, 2015) had been nominated for that year’s Northern California Book Awards, she admitted recently that she was, “totally floored— because in my wildest dreams where I allowed myself to imagine how my book was received, a Northern California Book nomination was the pinnacle. So it was surreal when I […]
Covid-19 Brings New Challenges for Haven Emergency Shelter
While many of us are making often radical adjustments to our lives during this tragic time, those people living in an abusive environment at home can find themselves even more isolated than ever. May Rico, the Executive Director at the Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus, shared her thoughts on that issue in a telephone interview the other day: “If someone is living in a violent relationship, they have few safe […]