DSA Night School - How to Rename a Monument

This one's very personal to me. 

Follow these instructions if you want to rename a monument yourself.

There is an extensive bibliography here. Check it out.

Thank you to DSA San Diego for allowing me to be the Education Secretary for 18 months. 

 

Free Speech Struggles – San Diego, Then & Now

 

Last September, some friends and I on the Education Committee of DSA San Diego made this video about the history of the 1912 San Diego Free Speech Fight.

To see a timeline and an extensive bibliography click here.

Petition Demands Andrew Jackson Name Be Removed from the New Susan A. Davis Post Office

 

Petition Demands Andrew Jackson Name Be Removed from the New Susan A. Davis Post Office Branch in Rolando Neighborhood of San Diego

July 8, 2023 / 1 Comment

By Donald H. Harrison

San Diego Jewish World

...

In June 2020, Anderson started the successful campaign to rename the Post Office’s Andrew Jackson Station, gathering 1464 signatures on a petition to do so. At that time, he had no particular preference for whom the post office branch should be named instead of Jackson; he just wanted Jackson’s name removed. Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) subsequently introduced successful legislation to rename it in honor of Davis, who as her predecessor, served 20 years in the House of Representatives.  Davis and Jacobs are both members of the San Diego Jewish community.

Andrew Jackson Station Post Office has been officially renamed as the Susan A. Davis post office (Photo: Shor M. Masori)

In the new petition, Anderson calls for “removing the signage referring to, honoring and glorifying Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, enslaver of souls, author of the Indian Removal Act and perpetrator of genocide.”

The petition, also seeking the updating of the U.S. Postal Service website to reflect the name change, is addressed to U.S. Postmaster Louis Dejoy; Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego); California’s two Democratic U.S. senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, and to President Joe Biden.

Anderson asserts that leaving the Andrew Jackson name on the building “is an unambiguous violation of federal Public Law 117-134 (which renamed it for former Congresswoman Davis).  There is no need to enact a new public law,” he stated in the petition.  “Tear it down now.”

More...

Ceremony Renames Andrew Jackson Post Office for Susan A. Davis

 

Rolando post office renamed for longtime San Diego lawmaker Susan Davis

BY DEBORAH SULLIVAN BRENNAN

JULY 6, 2023 6:12 PM PT

The Rolando facility was formerly named after the seventh president, Andrew Jackson, who owned slaves and forced thousands of Native Americans off their lands on deadly marches. Jacobs said the renaming was prompted by residents’ desire to shift the focus to a local leader who had improved San Diego.

Erik Anderson, the San Diego man who started the petition to remove Jackson’s name from Rolando’s post office, said he was motivated by protests against the murder of George Floyd in 2020, adding that renaming efforts aren’t about erasing history but revisiting who communities choose to memorialize.

More: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-07-06/rolando-post-office-susan-davis

Ceremony Renames Andrew Jackson Post Office for Susan A. Davis

July 7, 2023

The unveiled plaque read “This Building Is Named in Honor of Susan A. Davis by an Act of Congress, Public Law 117-314, December 27, 2022.”  However, a legend will remain for the foreseeable future in large letters atop the Post Office Building stating: “United States Post Office, Andrew Jackson Station, San Diego, California 92115.” No congressional appropriation has been made to replace the lettering, and according to Davis, such an appropriation is problematic because such legislation would have to incorporate not only this post office branch but other renamed post office branches throughout the nation.

During the ceremony, Congresswoman Jacobs said she received a petition from the Rolando neighborhood, organized by resident Erik Anderson, on her second day in office, January 7, 2021, asking that the post office branch be renamed in Davis’s honor. “I am so thankful to have active, engaged constituents who care about the symbols of our community and what we are teaching the next generation and making San Diego a welcoming home for everyone,” she commented, without specifically mentioning the community’s dissatisfaction with having a post office named for the 7th President of the United States.

More: https://www.sdjewishworld.com/2023/07/07/ceremony-renames-andrew-jackson-post-office-for-susan-a-davis/

Petition circulates to have Andrew Jackson Post Office in San Diego renamed

This is way better than getting a letter to the editor published!

Read the story online at CBS8.com. 

Check out my petition to rename the Andrew Jackson Post Office in Rolando, San Diego!

UPDATE: 6/23/2020

Dave Summers from NBC 7 showed up at my door so I couldn't turn him away.

I don't look my best but I tried.  As of about noon today, the petition has just under 500 signatures.

-----------------

More UPDATES below:

On June 24th, 2020, I managed to get on KUSI-TV:

In March 2021, I was contacted by Charles T. Clark, a columnist at the San Diego Union-Tribune who did half an Op-Ed about the petition to rename my post office. Read the column here.

On November 18, 2022, my Congressmember Sara Jacobs introduced bill H.R. 9308 to change the name of the  Andrew Jackson Post Office to the Susan A. Davis Post Office.

On November 29, 2022, the bill H.R. 9308 passed the House by a majority voice vote, "...the ayes have it."

On December 19, 2022, the bill to rename my post office passed the Senate.

According to ABC News, POTUS signed the bill to rename my post office into law on December 27, 2022. It is now a violation of federal law to refer to it as the Andrew Jackson Post Office in any official document.

* * * 

In March 2023, I was invited to participate in the campaign to rename Clay Park and Henry Elementary across the street from the Post Office Formerly named after Andrew Jackson. Please sign the petition here. 

* * * 

On July 6, 2023, Sara Jacob shouted out my name at the dedication ceremony, and it got into the San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Thus sayeth the King of Funny Faces.

I.Toasted.Omar

I might have just had the best day of my life today. At least so far. I just did a "scene" on Zoom with Thuliso Dingwall who played Kenard on The Wire. Spoiler alert. His instagram is @i.shot.omar.

I was supposed to toast Omar but as I was writing I realized I couldn't do it without roasting Thuliso and Tristan/MackWilds just a little bit. I was a little anxious in my head about insulting someone I don't know with no warning, so I messaged Thuliso about it beforehand. He had been coming into the zoom quite a bit for the past five weeks and he's so nice, so the answer was "Of course lol."

Then I felt anxious in my head for asking a stupid question, and then I thought if I asked him to play a little part in the toast by insulting me or threatening me back and it happened today.

I saw that the whole thing was recorded somewhere. I don't know if and when I'll be able to get the full video of it, but if I do, I'll be posting it everywhere.

I am the King of Funny Faces. If you come at me, you best not miss.

Sarah Rapelje

Before last month, I thought my oldest known ancestor was Stephanus Terhune, a sheriff who worked for King George during the American Revolution and went on trial after the Colonists won the war.

Read more. 

That was until I found out that he was a fifth-generation descendent of Hans Hansen Bergen and, apparently, Sarah Rapelje, the first European Christian female born in the colony of New Amsterdam in what is now New York.

Her family founded Brooklyn and Queens and she is the 9th great-grandmother of Humphrey Bogart.

See a resemblance?

You might not see that much of a resemblance because Bogart is a descendent of her youngest son, whom she had with her second husband after my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather died. Yeah, so that was a pretty interesting thing I found out today. 

Oh yeah, one more thing, Sarah and I share a birthday 350 years apart.

UPDATE: found this:

Nationally Televised Public Humiliation

January 11, 1987 - Philadelphia, PA


To my father's childhood friend, Geraldine Laybourne: thanks anyway for the tickets. It was the thought that counts.

Assaulted at Trump Rally

While my back was turned. 

By a real. classy.  deplorable. kind. of guy.

So Much Excitement at the San Diego Film Festival

Don't believe me? Check out my smile at 2:05.

Published Again

In the eyes of the law, Bullock got a fair trial

By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
on August 28, 2015 at 1:08 PM, updated August 28, 2015 at 1:09 PM

In response to Steve Wilson's letter ("Bullock trial should have been handled on state or federal level," Aug. 10), the trial was held in state Superior Court. Sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault are not federal crimes.

So much moral indignation about this case. It is not at all surprising that there are conspiracy theories about "collusion" and "corruption" on the county level because the judge in the case once worked as a prosecutor where the defendant also served as sheriff. The crime, as described, occurred within the jurisdiction of Warren County. Vicinage 13 is very small. Why not call everyone who ever received a favorable verdict in northwest New Jersey a kiddy rapist? Mass hysteria and jumping to conclusions feels good but it hurts victims.    

The jury was tasked with putting an 86-year-old man who requires a wheelchair and breathing tube in jail for 90 years. The accuser had a criminal record, including time in prison in Wisconsin. This case was lost for one reason: First Assistant Prosecutor Michael McDonald put forward not one unimpeachable shred of evidence to support the accuser's case.

In the eyes of the public, Edward Bullock is guilty as sin. Under the law, he got a fair trial. Not guilty does not mean innocent. Please educate yourself about the law before tarring and feathering an actually innocent man next time.

Erik B. Anderson

San Diego, Calif.

Formerly of Independence Township

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not in Hollywood ) - #25

This film makes me very excited to be moving to San Diego. I really hope I get the chance to perform a meaningful song and get no applause at all, like what the lead character is looking for. Just to be allowed to finish something in public would be such a blessing.

They Make Good Films These Days (Just Not In Hollywood) - #24

24 is my favorite number.

The Island (2006) - Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

Thank you and God Bless you, Pinar Çoral, for the recommendation. I love you.

Watch it on Tubi for free.

The Great John L

My maternal grandfather died on November 18, 1964 - 50 years ago today.

I wanted to go and leave a golf ball at his grave today, preferably one that somebody had chipped into Palmer Park, where my dad's flag is; but, it's freezing cold, I have no car and I also have a doctor's appointment today. I feel bad that I only ever saw his grave for the first time last month.

I'll get there again eventually, then go have some greasy food at Rutt's Hutt. In the meantime, even though I never met you, you are not forgotten.

So Sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

Independence = Freedom

“Decide yourself who was right: you or the one who questioned you then? Recall the first question; its meaning, though not literally, was this: ‘You want to go into the world, and you are going empty-handed, with some promise of freedom, which they in their simplicity and innate lawlessness cannot even comprehend, which they dread and fear—for nothing has ever been more insufferable for man and for human society than freedom! But do you see these stones in this bare, scorching desert? Turn them into bread and mankind will run after you like sheep, grateful and obedient, though eternally trembling lest you withdraw your hand and your loaves cease for them.’”
--from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

50 Years Ago

I used to watch this film every day. I can still watch it anytime, anywhere.

I especially love when Gene Hackman's FBI Agent gets called "Mr. Anderson" by Willem DeFoe's "Mr. Ward". I wish it would catch on as a meme more than that Matrix asshole.

Ward: Just don't lose sight of whose rights are being violated!
Anderson: Don't put me on your perch, Mr. Ward.
Ward: Don't drag me into your gutter, Mr. Anderson!
Anderson: These people are crawling out of the SEWER, MR. WARD! Maybe the gutter's where we outta be! 

 That's sheer poetry, ladies and gentlemen! The true events that inspired this film happened 50 years ago now. It would be naive and silly to go on about how anything's better now than before. I just really like the film and think everyone should watch it and decide what's what for themselves. So sayeth the King of Funny Faces!

LETTER: 'He said/she said' scenario frustrating

Published Again: 

LETTER: 'He said/she said' scenario frustrating 
By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
on June 17, 2014 at 12:05 AM, updated June 17, 2014 at 12:06 AM

Reports have emerged that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his post. It is rumored that soldiers were killed trying to rescue him. 

Reputedly, Bergdahl was discharged from the Coast Guard for "psychological reasons" before the Army recruited him and sent him to Iraq. Allegedly, the soldiers accusing him of desertion were aware of his instability before he disappeared. It is known that at least some of them are anti-Obama political operatives. 

It has been hypothesized that the prisoners exchanged for Bergdahl were going to be released anyway. Conversely, it has been propagated that the prisoners will commit more terrorism. 

But all of it is theory: speculation, reports. A "he said/she said" scenario. Hearsay. 

Neither Bergdahl nor the Guantanamo prisoners have been afforded a fair, impartial jury trial. 

While you're all out there using your imaginations, I'm imagining what it feels like to be locked in a dark cage for months and years. I'm struggling with the idea that the country that knew he was not well when it hired him to keep us all safe now wants him executed for desertion. 

In the meantime, the next generation of Swift Boat propaganda comes of age.

ERIK B. ANDERSON 

Independence Township

StutterTalk Podcast

I just stumbled on this podcast randomly the other day. I don't stutter, but my grandmother - the first Queen of Funny Faces - did. I grew up not knowing there was anything considered socially "wrong" or different about it. I always found it very easy to follow her and be patient. I didn't really think about it until I was older and saw her interact with other people. She was just my favorite person in the world. She passed away 13 years ago now. I wish she could have been a guest on this show. Anyway, this podcast is extremely comforting. Check it out.

LETTER: Why is ex-sheriff Bullock still getting a pension?

By Express-Times Letters to the Editor 
on March 08, 2014 at 12:59 AM, updated March 08, 2014 at 1:03 AM

 It is encouraging to hear that the state of New Jersey “may reconsider” whether or not to continue dispensing a pension to retired Warren County Sheriff Edward G. Bullock in light of his recent indictment on six counts of child sexual abuse, allegedly committed while on duty as sheriff. Those who vote with an eye toward fiscal issues will be very pleased, I am sure.

 In the sixth paragraph of The Express-Times article about this, however, I was astounded to find that Bullock has yet to turn himself in. The indictment was handed up 10 days ago. Last month.

Any reasonable person would presume he collected another payment on March 1. I do hope that we will not have to wait until after April 1 for an arrest warrant to be issued. That would be the worst kind of joke.

ERIK B. ANDERSON

Independence Township

Ex-Warren County sheriff indicted on sex charges

I wonder how well Judge Stritehoff and Sheriff Bullock knew each other.