"Faces of Prop 8" Opening Reception & Exhibition

Photography Exhibition: “Faces of Prop 8”

Photojournalist Craig Winsor

Opening reception: Wednesday, May 6, 5:00PM to 7:00PM

May 6 through July 3, 2009

Thoreau Center for Sustainability

The Corridor in front of the Library in the back of Building 1016

On March 5, 2009 the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the validity of Proposition 8, which banned the once legal right for same-sex marriages in the state of California. The oral argument was televised in the San Francisco Civic Center and many people attended demonstrating their views on the proposition.

Photographer Craig Winsor stood outside the courtroom photographing images expressing both sides of the debate.

Wildfire Awareness Week

May 3-9 is Wildfire Awareness Week in California. See what is going on at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. And FEMA offers advice on what to do if you see a wildfire coming.

New Book - Unimagined by Imran Ahmad

Now in the collection is Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West by Imran Ahmad, who recently spoke here as part of his US, continent-spanning, clockwise speaking tour to advance re-humanization between America and the Muslim world. An entertaining and insightful writer and speaker, he is also on the board of British Muslims for Secular Democracy. From the publisher:

Part White Teeth, part Adrian Mole, Unimagined is the hilarious and captivating memoir of a Muslim boy born in Pakistan, who moves to London aged one and grows up torn between his Islamic identity and his desire to embrace the West.

The endearing narrator recalls his childhood in a series of vivid snapshots: outrage as deserved victory is snatched away from him in the Karachi Bonnie Baby contest; bitterness as he is tricked out of his collection of Tarzan bubbe-gum cards by junior con artists; the heady early taste of success in the Metropolitan Police schools quiz; joy at passing the entrance exam to the local grammar school; uncertainity as he seeks to become a doctor (like all god Asian boys); bewilderment as he tries to learn about women at university; and shock at experiencing racism in its many forms.

Deliciously funny and painfully insightful, Unimagined is truly a joy to read.