The Gainesville Iguana

Mildred Hill-Lubin [H], UF literature professor, was interviewed by James Myers [M] in June, 2009; the first part of this interview ran in the Jan-Feb Iguana.

This is the 52nd in a series of transcript excerpts from the UF Samuel Proctor Oral History Program collection. Notes in [square brackets] by SPOHP; interpolations in {curly brackets} by Iguana.

Transcript edited by Pierce Butler.

M: Your son, from what I understand, integrated schools in Augusta.

H: He did, he did. That was one of the most unbelievable experiences. I felt it was necessary. He was in first grade, and President Kennedy was assassinated just about the time he started school, in [19]63. When Whites in the community discovered he was going to integrate schools, they started calling me on the telephone telling me that they were going to kill him as they shot Kennedy. That was a bad feeling. I wrote a letter to myself, and I said, “If he were old enough to go to the Army, he would be drafted to fight for his country to give us freedom.” I felt that enrolling him to help integrate schools was equally important. So, he did integrate the schools. 

by Gary Gordon

I am suspicious of government.

Trump is not the first to lie or to be devious.

So when a ballot measure appears without fanfare I am inclined to wonder why.

On March 19, Gainesville citizens will be asked to vote on whether or not to create a Charter Review Commission: an 11-person citizen committee, appointed by the City Commission to review the Charter and make recommendations. The City Commission can veto the recommendations, called amendments, by a 2/3 vote, otherwise the amendments become proposed changes to be voted on by the public in a November election.

By Debi Martinez, WGOT Financial Director, and Fred Sowder, Station Coordinator

It’s been a busy 2019 for your community radio station. Our 11^th birthday bash was a great party. Thanks to the Atlantic for hosting us every year as well as to the bands for donating their time and talents: BiteMarks, Palimony, Shark Anatomy, and HaveWeMet. We’re looking forward to our 12^th next year. Our next benefit show is coming up on Friday, April 26 at Loosey’s Downtown. We’ve also participated in events including International Clash Day, VegFest, Active Streets and the Gainesville Mini Maker Faire. Stay tuned to our Facebook page and wgot.org for more news.

What: CMC SpringBoard fundraiser
When: Friday, April 5, 6-9 pm
Where: Forage Hall, Working Food

by Joe Courter

The Civic Media Center’s SpringBoard fundraiser will be held on Friday evening, April 5, in Forage Hall at Working Food, 240 NW 10th Ave. This is located behind Afternoon Restaurant and near Cypress and Grove. This is also the location where the CMC hosted its anniversary event with Amy Goodman last October. 

What: March for Fair Food Program
When: Tuesday, March 14, 12:30 pm
Where: Norman Lawn, UF

by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

From March 2-14, farmworkers from Immokalee, Florida, will travel across the nation to four of the country’s top public universities – the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State University in Columbus, and the University of Florida in Gainesville – to join students and community members in calling on these institutions to end their relationships with Wendy’s until the fast-food giant joins the award-winning Fair Food Program. 

What: Strike for the New Green Deal 
When: Friday, March 15, 4-6 pm
Where: Gainesville City Hall

We, the youth of America, are striking because decades of inaction has left us with just 11 years (or less) to solve the climate crisis. 

We are striking because the necessary action to achieve the common-sense and vital goal of fighting climate change is not being prioritized. 

by Joe Courter

The slow motion squeeze being put on Venezuela over the last 10 or 15 years has been so incremental as to not register in people’s minds, or in the reporting on affairs in that country. They hit home for me because I spent 10 days in Venezuela in 2008, in Caracas and out in the country as well, both urban and rural. Chavez was still president, and the many programs put in place to help the poor with education and healthcare were elevating the lives of people we met with. 

Yes, I am sure, then and more so now as sanctions have done their work, the more wealthy folks were not pleased, but this is understandable when an economy is reorganized to give more to those who have less. 

by Glynn Hayes, Santa Fe Adjunct Faculty

In December of 2018, adjunct faculty at Santa Fe College filed for a union election. This is from a speech given by Glynn Hayes, a Natural Sciences adjunct professor, at the Jan. 14 Santa Fe Board of Trustees meeting. 

I have worked as an adjunct at Santa Fe College for more than ten years and am proud to work for this exemplary institution. I often have students take several of my different classes and I spend considerable time talking to students outside of class about their hopes, concerns and goals. I also know that for many adjuncts who have to work several jobs, these types of time investments in our students is desired, but just not possible.

We, as adjuncts, make up more than 50 percent of the faculty. Santa Fe College could not function or maintain its high standards without the service of its adjuncts. Adjunct positions were created as temporary short-term positions, but because of funding cutbacks in education, adjuncting is no longer a temporary thing and full-time positions are few and far in between. 

by Panagioti Tsolkas

You don’t have to declare yourself a prison abolitionist to see that the facade of legitimacy in Florida’s Department of Corrections is fading fast. Even Republican State Senator Keith Perry noted publicly this month, “When [prisoners] get released, they are worse than when they went in.” In February of last year, the Miami Herald’s coverage of reform efforts stated that “Florida is afraid of its prison system.” So much for corrections.  

But it never has been about correction. Florida’s prison system, born in 1868 (a mere three years after chattel slavery was outlawed), inherited the ugly legacy of pre-Civil War politics. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I mean the massive prison economy of rural Florida has literally been providing a social and economic safe haven for the remnants of Neo-Confederate outfits.

by Joe Courter

So here we are two years into the Trump administration.  And pretty much every day is another statement, policy, tweet or appointment that has us shaking our heads. Today it’s the appointment of a climate change (i.e., science) denier to head the White House panel on climate change. Two days ago it was the launching (pardon the pun) of an arms race in space with the creation of the “Space Command.” We watch in horror as immigrants fleeing the turmoil in their homelands are mis-characterized and vilified, to the point that families are being separated, and children are being locked up and even lost in the process. The nation is pulled out of international climate and arms control agreements.  I won’t go on, you get the picture, you know it all too well. 

by Joe Courter

Yes, another election, this time for the City of Gainesville Mayor (citywide), District 4 City Commissioner (which is in the south/central area) and a referendum on charter review (also citywide and discussed in a separate article).

The mayoral race pits incumbent Mayor Lauren Poe against three challengers: Marlon Bruce, a 20-year-old Santa Fe College student with a questionable performance record in student government there; Jennifer Reid, a registered Republican and attorney big on public safety issues; and Jenn Powell, who was and is a strong Bernie Sanders supporter, a community activist, and formerly a candidate for City Commission a few years ago. Being a four-way race, it is possible there will be a runoff stretching to April.

by Marcela Mulholland

World renowned civil rights activist and writer James Baldwin once said, “The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious, one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.” Along this same vein, the development of my consciousness has led me to examine the educational institution largely responsible for this development, the University of Florida.

When I first arrived at UF over three years ago I knew little to nothing about climate change, private prisons or any other social justice issues. I remember sitting in a Facets of Sustainability course during the fall of my freshman year learning about climate change and feeling angry that I had been alive for 18 years without anyone ever telling me that quite literally civilization as we know it is on the brink of collapse. 

The March 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.