Memorial for Al Robles

Sabrina and I went to Glide for the memorial service for my friend, Al Robles.  I remember when Al and Russell were running the Brannon Street Cultural Center and the American Indian Arts workshop had classes and events there. William Snieder taught singing and drumming, his wife Alberta taught beadwork. Those were the days of CETA and CAC artists supported by their government. May those days return soon. I was listening to the JAMs program talk about how hard it is to maintain the programs there and I was thinking, at least they have a program. The Ohlone don’t have a single community  space to call their own. I was thinking of how the Japanese were removed from their homes and businesses during World War II and how similar their experiences must have been to the removal of the Ohlone from their homes during the gold rush times.  What would happen if we shared space for programs to share the costs? Al was always putting people together in new ways and I think he is still doing it.