Author Archives: admin

by Jenn Powell, Alachua County Labor Coalition Co-Chair and CWA Local 3170 Organizer

The 2023 Florida legislative session dealt many blows to Florida residents and undid years of work by the Alachua County Labor Coalition, but SB 256’s attack on public sector unions is and will continue to be a devastating blow to the union movement. All public sector unions in Florida are affected except police, fire, and corrections unions, which are exempt. (Their support staff is NOT exempt.)

by Jody Farmer, Cade Museum

The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is happy to announce the opening of a new exhibit, Tom Petty: Among the Wildflowers, featuring artifacts previously on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.  

Tom Petty: Among the Wildflowers explores the joys, pains, and creative awakenings that Gainesville native Tom Petty experienced while pouring his soul into his magnum opus, Wildflowers, released in November 1994. Through this exhibit, guests can hear first-hand accounts from Tom and the Wildflowers team about the album’s spirited creation.  

On Juneteenth (June 19) at 10am, the County honored the life and legacy of the late Dr. Patricia Hilliard-Nunn by unveiling the Sankofa Statue on the West Lawn of the County Administration Building at 12 S.E. 1st St. in  Gainesville. 

In her remarks at the dedication, Nkwanda Jah said: 

“Today we paid tribute to my friend Dr. Patricia Hilliard-Nunn/Tricia/Trish/Zoe/Nefertari with a monument. The monument is a Sankofa bird, Sankofa taken from the Akan people of Ghana – a proverb meaning to reach back and fetch your past to inform your future. She did this from the streets of Liberia to Egypt to Ghana to South Africa to the streets of Gainesville and Alachua County. So proud to be here with her family and friends.” 

A profile of Patricia Hilliard Nunn can be found in Atrium magazine at atriummag.org/steel-and-smiles/.

by Carson Stanton

Elsie Marie Allen took her final breath on May 19. She was born on July 17, 1946, in Richmond, Indiana. She is survived by her spouse of 57 years, David Allen, of Alachua, Florida; her daughter Wallace Mohlenbrok of Winston Salem, North Carolina; her son Damon Allen (Melanie Barr); her daughter Carson Stanton (Ken); and her son Flynn Allen, all of Gainesville; her grandchildren Gabriel Mohlenbrok of Greensboro, North Carolina; Margaret and Dorothy Mohlenbrok of Winston Salem; and Arrow and Nebraska Stanton of Gainesville.

This 2017 interview of Ms. Sophia Threat [T]of Groveland, Florida, by Deidre Houchen [H], offers a small peek into the ways race and labor played a role in everyday life in rural Florida in the mid 20th century, and how strong and resilient families had to be to survive. Threat recalls her childhood hearing about the Groveland Four: two of the falsely accused men were her uncles. Transcript edited by Donovan Carter.

H: Where were you born, Ms. Sophia?

T: I was born and raised in Groveland.

H: And who did you live with?

T: My mom, Louise Threat and E.T. Threat, my dad. 

by Alachua County Labor Coalition

On June 28, Governor DeSantis signed the GRU Tallahassee takeover bill. This comes on the heels of his vetoing an ethical meat processing plant in Newberry. We are deeply disappointed — but unsurprised — that DeSantis has decided to continue Rep. Chuck Clemons’ and Sen. Keith Perry’s War on Gainesville.

It’s clear this bill is the first step in stealing our public utility and is eerily similar to Jacksonville’s public utility saga, when a small cartel of corporate fat cats attempted to steal their utility through shady astroturf groups and purchased politicians. 

Friends of Susan B. Anthony is happy to announce that Women’s Equality Day (Aug. 26) will be celebrated with their annual luncheon at the Best Western Gateway Grand in Gainesville on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 11:30am. 

The community is invited to this event, which began as an informal birthday party for Susan B. Anthony over forty years ago, and is now held in conjunction with the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. 

On June 24, National Women’s Liberation, Gainesville Radical Reproductive Rights Network, and Planned Parenthood organized a demonstration outside the Alachua County Courthouse to protest the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, effectively ending abortion rights provided by Roe v. Wade. Below is the text of a speech given by Laura Blecha.

My name is Laura and I’m a member of the Gainesville chapter of National Women’s Liberation. We’re a grassroots, gender-affirming, radical feminist organization fighting back against male supremacy, white supremacy, and capitalism.

by Joe Courter

Note: A bulk order of War Made Invisible has been purchased for a fundraiser for the Civic Media Center. The new hardcover book, listed at $28, can be purchased from either Third House Books or from me at the Thursday Heartwood or Monday Cypress & Grove farmers markets. A donation of $15 to $20 is requested. Text me at 352-378-5655 if you want one and I will bring it. This is what City Lights Bookstore said in their review of the book: 

From the acclaimed veteran political analyst, a searing new exposé of how the American military, with the help of the media, conceals its perpetual war.

by Ethan Maia de Needell, Rural Women’s Health Project

In an effort to rally Alachua County and to show up to the moment we all find ourselves in, local advocacy groups, nonprofits, faith institutions, and social service providers have come together to form the We Are Stronger Together campaign. 

As of July 1, Florida has ushered in a batch of legislation targeting our most vulnerable and marginalized communities. Our trans community is under attack by bills like SB254, which aims to impede trans adults from receiving their medical services and completely ban treatments (which have been validated by nationally recognized mental health authorities such as Columbia University, American Psychology Association, National Institute of Health) for trans minors. 

by Joe Courter

When you are planning for a trip, you think about all that you need to know and do. How will you get there? Where you going to be staying? What will you need for food? Maybe consult the long-range weather forecast? That preparation ahead of time can make things go so much smoother.

Well, our trip has begun, the train has left the station. Not many of us had time to pack, and some people had been oblivious about their being on a train that might be departing that quickly. Turns out there was no preprinted schedule to consult. There’ve been rumors and speculation, but suddenly …  All aboard!

CMC film screening August 6 with director in attendance

by Joe Courter

8:15 Hiroshima/from Father to Daughter is a new film airing on PBS in August. Locally it will air on WUFT TV at 5pm on Saturday, Aug. 5. On Sunday, Aug. 6, the Civic Media Center will host a special screening of the film with its director, J. R. Heffelfinger, who recently moved to Gainesville. Doors open at 5pm, and the film will start at about 5:30 with a discussion and reception afterward. The Civic Media Center is at 433 S. Main St., with parking across the street or along East 5th Avenue.

by Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson, Gainesville Residents United, Inc. 

Now that the State has officially taken over Gainesville Regional Utilities from the City Commission, there are a lot of things to do.

Some folks are recruiting prospective Utility Authority board members for the volunteer position of running the combined utility systems for the City. This includes setting rates and service levels, hiring and firing employees, running the power and water plants, establishing the half-billion dollar annual budget, and managing over a billion dollars in debt. 

The July/August issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.

New Immigration law sparks fear and worker exodus from Florida 
by Ana Goñi-Lessan and John Kennedy | USA Today | June 21 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1630
Florida’s new immigration law, which went into effect on July 1, is prompting many migrant workers to leave the state. The departures are sparking fear that a labor shortage will leave crops unpicked, tourist hotels short of staff, and construction sites idle. Even some of the governor’s supporters are starting to question the hateful new law, albeit because they’re concerned it’s bad for business and not because they’re concerned for the lives it will upend.

North Central Florida LGBTQ+ Town Hall (video)
Pride Community Center | Facebook.com | June 1 | tinyurl.com/Iguana1631
This is a video of the very informative town hall held at the University Club on June 1 to address the horrible anti-LGBTQ laws passed in Florida this year and how the community can remain resilient. It breaks down what the laws actually say, and don’t say. Great panel and Q&A, valuable for anyone to hear, whether here in Gainesville/Florida or elsewhere.

by Renée Hoffinger

Editors’ note: The article below is a rebuttal to an article published in the May/June 2023 Iguana: https://gainesvilleiguana.org/2023/articles/the-case-for-local-meat-processing-lets-opt-out-of-industrial-ag/.

No matter how you slice and dice it, animal agriculture is a major contributor to global climate change. So I was surprised to see an article in our progressive, climate-aware Iguana supporting Alachua County’s proposed meat processing facility. The proposed slaughterhouse is purported to provide economic relief to local ranchers who currently truck their livestock to large corporate processing plants. The price tag (omitted from the article) of $5.2M includes $2.5m of federal American Rescue Plan funds, $1.75m state funds (recently vetoed by the governor), with the remainder coming from the county. While I applaud efforts for ‘more humane, environmentally sound, and economically viable food production’, in the face of current science and the state of our planet, this current proposal is none of that – but rather misguided and socially irresponsible. Such a huge sum of money could be spent in more climate-friendly ways to benefit a larger segment of our county’s population.